Evaluation of released particles from the blood pump during extracorporeal circulation is an important aspect because the particles may cause microembolism. The Gyro C1E3 is a centrifugal blood pump that has an impeller suspended by double pivot bearings inside the housing; therefore, it is important to evaluate the released particles. The C1E3 was driven for 14 days to simulate clinical left ventricular assist device (LVAD) and percutaneous cardiopulmonary support (PCPS). Also, a roller pump was driven for 2 days as a comparison. Released particles were weighed and examined by SEM. After 14 days of pumping, the particles from the C1E3 were 238.6 microg in an LVAD condition. The particles with the roller pump were 270.2 microg after only 2 days. Average particle sizes with the roller pump and C1E3 were 3.7 and 0.6 microm, respectively. These results suggest that the Gyro C1E3 substantially reduces the risk of microembolism from released particles.


Introduction: Leaving the abdominal cavity open is a well-described and frequently utilized technique in the treatment of severe intra-abdominal sepsis. Irrigation through a negative pressure wound therapy device is a technique employed to assist in the closure of wounds as well as the reduction of bacterial contamination. Furthermore, hypochlorous acid has been found to be safe and effective in microorganismal elimination from extremity wounds. There is no literature regarding the infusion of hypochlorous solution into the abdominal cavity for intra-abdominal sepsis or mucopurulent abscesses or biofilm. Objectives: A 47-year-old man with granulomatosis polyangiitis was started on weekly rituximab. After 4 infusions, skin sloughing, ultimately diagnosed as toxic epidermal necrolysis, developed. During the hospital course, he developed sepsis and bowel perforation necessitating an exploratory laparotomy. The abdomen was left open with a temporary abdominal closure using the Abthera open abdomen negative wound therapy device; however, the abdomen remained infected with visually diffuse, thickening mucopurulence despite multiple washouts. Therefore, a VAC Vera-Flo irrigation device was combined with the Abthera open abdomen negative wound therapy device and cyclical irrigation of hypochlorous acid. After 72 hours, the purulence visually was improved and no adverse events were recorded with the placement of intra-abdominal hypochlorous acid. Conclusions: The combination of two medical devices for the intra-abdominal instillation of irrigation is considered "off-label use" from the manufacturer's recommendations. In addition, the repeated instillation of hypochlorous acid solution has not been described but was noted to have visually decreased the contaminated effluent within the intra-abdominal fluid.


Code semantics similarity can be used for many tasks such as code recommendation, automated software defect correction, and clone detection. Yet, the accuracy of such systems has not yet reached a level of general purpose reliability. To help address this, we present Machine Inferred Code Similarity (MISIM), a neural code semantics similarity system consisting of two core components: (i) MISIM uses a novel context-aware semantics structure, which was purpose-built to lift semantics from code syntax; (ii) MISIM uses an extensible neural code similarity scoring algorithm, which can be used for various neural network architectures with learned parameters. We compare MISIM to four state-of-the-art systems, including two additional hand-customized models, over 328K programs consisting of over 18 million lines of code. Our experiments show that MISIM has 8.08% better accuracy (using MAP@R) compared to the next best performing system.


Biological and health effects of electromagnetic fields (EMF) have been investigated for many years. Exposure standards have been developed internationally, that provide adequate protection against all known adverse effects of exposure to EMF. The guidelines developed by the International Commission on Non Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) are widely recognized and have formed the basis for national regulations in several countries. Concerns for hypothesized, but unproven, long-term effects of chronic exposure to low-level EMFs have created a demand for precautionary measures beyond the standards for recognized, acute effects. However, such measure should be separate from exposure standards, and adopted with special care to avoid undermining the credibility of science-based guidelines, and of health protection agencies.


Using the reasoned nitrogen (N) fertilization method in potato crops (Solanum tuberosum L.) requires the validation of its parameters under the probable conditions of crop response. A field experiment in an Andisol was established to assess the parameters of this method and the nitrogen utilization efficiency of the crop. To describe the crop N response, five statistical models were used. Dry matter production and nutrient concentration were measured in tubers, leaves, fruits and roots. At both the beginning and the end of the experiment soil samples were collected to evaluate the mineral N. The quadratic-potential model was the most appropriate to describe the positive response of the potato crop to available nitrogen, from an initial level of nitrogen (the control, zero application ) to a maximum application of 200 kg N ha-1. The relationship between the N doses and the potato yield reached a physical optimal of productivity at a rate of 228 kg N ha-1. Higher rates (300 kg N ha-1) resulted in a decrease in yield, generating phytotoxicity for cultivation. This variation allowed us to evaluate the reasoned application method under different nitrogen availabilities (deficiency, optimal and above-optimal) in addition to the variation of the parameters generated.


In this paper, we propose a modified traffic model in which a single car moves through a sequence of traffic lights controlled by a step function instead of a sine function. In contrast to the previous work [Phys. Rev. E 70 (2004) 016107], we have investigated in detail the dependence of the behavior on four parameters, ω, α, η, and a1, and given three kinds of bifurcation diagrams, which show three kinds of complex behaviors. We have found that in this model there are chaotic and complex periodic motions, as well as special singularities. We have also analyzed the characteristic of the complex period motion and the essential feature of the singularity.


We have designed and implemented three class A GaAs field-effect transistor (FET) power amplifiers. Two of these three cases have a 50 /spl Omega/ microstrip line utilizing an improved doubly tapered and a singly tapered periodic bandgap (PBG) structure for harmonic tuning respectively, while the other has only a 50 /spl Omega/ straight line. The doubly tapered PBG structure has more significantly improvement in output power and power added efficiency (PAE) than a singly tapered case and also has the ability to terminate the second and third harmonics. Measurement shows the improvement of output power and PAE with 0.5 dB and 4 % respectively by using a doubly PBG structure compared with a singly tapered one, and with 0.8 dB and 7 % improvement without utilizing a PBG structure.


Gradenigo's syndrome (GS) classically involves a triad of ear pain due to acute or chronic otitis media (OM), facial or retro-orbital pain in the distribution of the trigeminal nerve, and an abducens nerve palsy. The simultaneous presentation of all three components has become less common in cases of GS reported in the literature, particularly in the era of antibiotics effective against typical organisms attributed to OM and petrous apicitis. In addition to infectious petrous apicitis arising directly from OM, more recent cases of GS are attributed to the compression of the same traversing cranial nerves in the presence of various expansile petrous apex (PA) lesions, both benign and malignant. We report a case of a 24-year-old male who presented initially with nausea, fever, photophobia, left-sided retro-orbital pain, and headache. He was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis by lumbar puncture and treated with empiric antibiotics, with CSF eventually revealing nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae. Several days into his course, he developed diplopia with leftward gaze. Brain imaging revealed an expansile, erosive PA cholesterol granuloma with associated contiguous dural and leptomeningeal enhancement. The patient improved with antibiotics and eventually underwent surgical intervention. This atypical presentation of GS with a rare complication of meningitis in the setting of a PA granuloma demonstrates the importance of early recognition of this syndrome, as well as consideration of added surgical intervention in patients with pre-existing petrous lesions at potentially higher risk of dangerous complications of GS.


Cancer immunotherapies aimed at neutralizing the programmed death-1 (PD-1) immune suppressive pathway have yielded significant therapeutic efficacy in a subset of cancer patients. However, only a subset of patients responds to antibody therapy with either anti-PD-1 or anti-PD-L1 antibodies. These patients appear to have so-called "hot" tumors containing tumor-reactive T cells. Therefore, checkpoint blockade therapy may be effective in a larger percentage of cancer patients if combined with therapeutics that also activate tumor-reactive T cells. Radiotherapy (RT) is a prime candidate for combination therapy because it facilitates activation of both local antitumor immunity and antitumor immunity at non-radiated, distant sites (abscopal response). However, RT also promotes tumor cell expression of PD-L1 and facilitates the development of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC), a population of immune suppressive cells that also suppress through PD-L1. This article will review how RT induces MDSC, and then describe two novel therapeutics that are designed to simultaneously activate tumor-reactive T cells and neutralize PD-1-mediated immune suppression. One therapeutic, a CD3xPD-L1 bispecific T cell engager (BiTE), activates and targets cytotoxic T and NKT cells to kill PD-L1+ tumor cells, despite the presence of MDSC. The BiTE significantly extends the survival time of humanized NSG mice reconstituted with human PBMC and carrying established metastatic human melanoma tumors. The second therapeutic is a soluble form of the costimulatory molecule CD80 (sCD80). In addition to costimulating through CD28, sCD80 inhibits PD-1 suppression by binding to PD-L1 and sterically blocking PD-L1/PD-1 signaling. sCD80 increases tumor-infiltrating T cells and significantly extends survival time of mice carrying established, syngeneic tumors. sCD80 does not suppress T cell function via CTLA-4. These studies suggest that the CD3xPD-L1 BiTE and sCD80 may be efficacious therapeutics either as monotherapies or in combination with other therapies such as radiation therapy for the treatment of cancer.


Enrollment in online courses has grown drastically over the past decade. Institutions of higher education are offering online courses and more students are becoming enrolled in online courses and programs. One aspect of the growth in online courses involves the relationship between student feelings of isolation and online learning. The purpose of this study was to measure the relationship between communication types and the development of a sense of community in online education at a small, private institution. The study measured the relationship between communication types, trust, and participation with the development of a sense of community in online education at a private institution. Data were collected using the Classroom Community Scale survey. The sample for the study included students enrolled in online courses during a selected term at one small, private university. The survey results showed a strong relationship between connectedness and learning. Surprising results indicated a significant relationship between trust and the variables of sense of community and feelings of isolation. As trust increased, the sense of community decreased and feelings of isolation increased. A faculty development unit was created based on the results of the data analysis. The development unit includes a focus on activities and tools that will encourage community building within online courses. Instructors will participate in a variety of the activities so they can experience the activities to be better equipped to implement the activities and tools in their own courses.


The immunity in the mammary gland can be, as in other systems, classified in innate or adaptive immunity. The innate immunity is the predominant defense during the initial periods of infection. The non-specifics answers are present or are quickly activated in the infection's site by numerous stimulations, and these answers are not enhanced by repeated exposure to the same agent. The first obstacle to be faced by the agent is the barrier represented by the teat sphincter and the keratin plug. When the pathogenic agent crosses the teat canal and reaches the teat cistern, starts to act the humoral factors and the phagocytic cells starts do act. Among the humoral mediators there are the lactoperoxidase, complement, cytokines, lactoferrin, lysozyme and NAGase. The non-specific cellular defenses are represented by neutrophils, macrophages and natural killer cells. If these mechanisms have been functioning adequately, the majority of pathogens will be eliminated in a short time, before the specific immune system be activated. The fast elimination of the microorganisms will not allow these alterations in the amount or quality of produced milk. The best understanding of the defense mechanisms of the mammary gland and its alterations during the critical periods of infection, is an useful tool in devising and developing methods to control the mastitis, the major illness of dairy ruminants. This paper overviewed the most important aspects of the innate immunity of bovine mammary gland.


The case of a 39 years old female patient suffering from a painful, ulcerated nodule on the sole of her left foot for the last 15 months is presented. Clinically, for its localization and resemblance to a pyogenic granuloma, the lesion was considered to be an eccrine poroma. However its depth and tense, cystic feeling on palpation, were considered somewhat unusual. Microscopically the lesion was a "mixed tumour" of the salivary type with ductal differentiation and no cartilage formation. Seven other cases of plantar "mixed tumours" were gathered from the literature but neither ulceration nor poroma looking features were mentioned in any of them.


The objective of this paper is to provide a multiuser transmission technique for underwater acoustic communication in the framework of an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) fleet. By using a variant of a Hyperbolically Frequency-Modulated (HFM) signal, we describe a new family of transmission techniques called MultiUser Chirp Spread Spectrum (MU-CSS), which allows a very simple matched-filter-based decoding. These techniques are expected to provide good resilience against multiuser interference while keeping good robustness to Underwater Acoustic (UWA) channel impairments like Doppler shift. Their implementation for the UWA scenario is described, and the performance results over a simulated shallow-water UWA channel are analyzed and compared against conventional Code-Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and Time-Division Multiple Access (TDMA) transmission. Finally, the feasibility and robustness of the proposed methods are verified over the underWater AcousTic channEl Replay benchMARK (Watermark), fed by several channel responses from sounding experiments performed in a lake.


Summary Cancer patients have a four-to seven-fold increased risk to develop a venous thromboembolic event. Accumulating evidence from experimental and clinical studies indicates that microparticles (MPs), small procoagulant membrane vesicles that are defined by size and a negatively charged phosphatidylserine rich surface, play an important role in the pathogenesis of cancer-related venous thromboembolism (VTE). However, the clinical significance of MPs as a predictive biomarker for VTE in cancer patients has not been fully elucidated yet. This might be due to unresolved methodological problems and a lack of data from large prospective clinical studies that investigate the role of MPs in cancer-related VTE. It is the aim of this review to give an overview on the most important characteristics of MPs and studies dealing with the role of MPs in cancer-related VTE. Also recent progresses, unresolved problems and future perspectives in this research field will be discussed. In the conclusion we will assess the clinical significance of MPs in cancer-related VTE.


BACKGROUND
The aim is to evaluate the clinical utility of a long-read sequencing-based approach termed comprehensive analysis of thalassemia alleles (CATSA) in prenatal diagnosis of thalassemia.

METHODS
A total of 278 fetuses from at-risk pregnancies identified in thalassemia carrier screening by PCR-based methods were recruited from 9 hospitals, and PCR-based methods were employed for prenatal diagnosis. CATSA was performed retrospectively and blindly for all 278 fetuses.

RESULTS
Among the 278 fetuses, 263 (94.6%) had concordant results and 15 (5.4%) had discordant results between the 2 methods. Of the 15 fetuses, 4 had discordant thalassemia variants within the PCR detection range and 11 had additional variants identified by CATSA. Independent PCR and Sanger sequencing confirmed the CATSA results. In total, CATSA and PCR-based methods correctly detected 206 and 191 fetuses with variants, respectively. Thus, CATSA yielded a 7.9% (15 of 191) increment as compared with PCR-based methods. CATSA also corrected the predicted phenotype in 8 fetuses. Specifically, a PCR-based method showed one fetus had homozygous HBB c.52A > T variants, while CATSA determined the variant was heterozygous, which corrected the predicted phenotype from β-thalassemia major to trait, potentially impacting the pregnancy outcome. CATSA additionally identified α-globin triplicates in 2 fetuses with the heterozygous HBB c.316-197C > T variant, which corrected the predicted phenotype from β-thalassemia trait to intermedia and changed the disease prognosis.

CONCLUSIONS
CATSA represents a more comprehensive and accurate approach that potentially enables more informed genetic counseling and improved clinical outcomes compared to PCR-based methods.


Most nuclear medicine studies use (99)Tc(m), which is the decay product of (99)Mo. The world supply of (99)Mo comes from only five nuclear research reactors and availability has been much reduced in recent times owing to problems at the largest reactors. In the short-term there are limited actions that can be taken owing to capacity issues on alternative imaging modalities. In the long-term, stability of (99)Mo supply will rely on a combination of replacing conventional reactors and developing new technologies.


Protamine, a small, strongly positively-charged protein, plays a key role in achieving chromatin condensation inside sperm cells and is also involved in the formulation of nanoparticles for gene therapy and packaging of mRNA-based vaccines against viral infection and cancer. The detailed mechanisms of such condensations are still poorly understood especially under low salt conditions where electrostatic interaction predominates. Our previous study, with a refined coarse-grained model in full consideration of the long-range electrostatic interactions, has demonstrated the crucial role of electrostatic interaction in protamine-controlled reversible DNA condensation. Therefore, we herein pay our attention only to the electrostatic interaction and devise a coarser-grained bead-spring model representing the right linear charge density on protamine and DNA chains but treating other short-range interactions as simply as possible, which would be suitable for real-scale simulations. Effective pair potential calculations and large-scale molecular dynamics simulations using this extremely simple model reproduce the phase behaviour of DNA in a wide range of protamine concentrations under low salt conditions, again revealing the importance of the electrostatic interaction in this process and providing a detailed nanoscale picture of bundle formation mediated by a charge disproportionation mechanism. Our simulations also show that protamine length alters DNA overcharging and in turn redissolution thresholds of DNA condensates, revealing the important role played by entropies and correlated fluctuations of condensing agents and thus offering an additional opportunity to design tailored nanoparticles for gene therapy. The control mechanism of DNA-protamine condensates will also provide a better microscopic picture of biomolecular condensates, i.e., membraneless organelles arising from liquid–liquid phase separation, that are emerging as key principles of intracellular organization. Such condensates controlled by post-translational modification of protamine, in particular phosphorylation, or by variations in protamine length from species to species may also be responsible for the chromatin–nucleoplasm patterning observed during spermatogenesis in several vertebrate and invertebrate species.


Tests of citrus seedlings exposed to a series of hardening temperatures showed that kumquat, Fortunella hindsii (Champ.) Swing., acquired more hardiness at 21°/10°C than did 'Redblush' grapefruit, Citrus paradisi Macf., or citron, C. medica L. After 8 weeks' hardening kumquat was the most cold hardy; citron, the least. Leaf photosynthetic CO2 uptake decreased, and leaf diffusion resistance (sec/cm) increased with hardening in all cultivars, but did not reflect the degree of hardening attained. Stomatal closure during hardening was not caused by moisture stress. Ethylene evolution from leaves did not change during hardening of kumquat, mandarin, C. reticulata Blanco, or grapefruit, but did increase from hardened citron leaves.


PURPOSE
The use, safety, and efficacy of intrathecal medication administration with implantable pumps for cancer and chronic pain management are reviewed.

SUMMARY
Implanted intrathecal drug-delivery systems (IDDSs) are used for long-term management of persistent, severe pain despite a multimodal approach with conventional pain treatment options. Currently, consensus papers published in the literature are used as guidelines for determining patient selection and medication administration, because there is a lack of supporting evidence from randomized, controlled, clinical trials. Pharmacists have a critical role in the safe use of intrathecal medication. Most of the medication concentrations and combinations administered through IDDSs are not commercially available and therefore must be compounded in a pharmacy. Medications commonly administered through IDDSs include opioids, local anesthetics, clonidine, baclofen, and ziconotide. It is important for pharmacists who prepare products for IDDSs to understand the pharmacology, adverse effects, and concentration limitations of each medication in order to prevent adverse events related to postoperative subarachnoid hemorrhage, infection, catheter-tip inflammatory masses, withdrawal, and overdose. Pharmacists play an important role in maintaining quality assurance of intrathecal drug use, including the use of standard procedures for ordering and compounding medications, documentation of patient education, and monitoring of patient outcomes.

CONCLUSION
The use of long-term intrathecal drug delivery for the treatment of intractable pain or intolerable medication adverse effects has expanded to include the treatment of patients with chronic or cancer-related pain. Important considerations for the use of intrathecal drug therapy include the appropriate selection of patients, delivery systems, and medications, as well as potential complications of therapy and quality-assurance measures necessary to ensure patient safety.


Abstract. This work describes a method to retrieve the location and geometry of clouds
using RGB images from a video camera on an aircraft and data from the
aircraft's navigation system. Opposed to ordinary stereo methods for which
two cameras with fixed relative position at a certain distance are used to
match images taken at the exact same moment, this method uses only a single
camera and the aircraft's movement to provide the needed parallax. Advantages
of this approach include a relatively simple installation on a (research)
aircraft and the possibility to use different image offsets that are even
larger than the size of the aircraft. Detrimental effects are the evolution
of observed clouds during the time offset between two images as well as the
background wind. However we will show that some wind information can also be
recovered and subsequently used for the physics-based filtering of outliers.
Our method allows the derivation of cloud top geometry which can be used,
e.g., to provide location and distance information for other passive cloud
remote sensing products. In addition it can also improve retrieval methods by
providing cloud geometry information useful for the correction of 3-D
illumination effects. We show that this method works as intended through
comparison to data from a simultaneously operated lidar system. The stereo
method provides lower heights than the lidar method; the median difference is
126 m. This behavior is expected as the lidar method has a lower detection
limit (leading to greater cloud top heights for the downward view), while the
stereo method also retrieves data points on cloud sides and lower cloud
layers (leading to lower cloud heights). Systematic errors across the
measurement swath are less than 50 m.


Pain Research and Management has retracted the article titled "Effects of Scrambler erapy in Patients with Failed Back Surgery Syndromes and Factors Associated with Depression Affecting Pain before and after the erapy" [1]. Scrambler erapy® is a registered trademark held by Prof. Giuseppe Marineo and may only be used to refer to approved medical devices, which does not include the Pain Jammer ENS-1140. e authors do not agree with retraction.


The reading of printed materials implies the visual processing of information originated in two distinct semiotic systems. The rapid identification of redundancy, complementation or contradiction rhetoric strategies between the two information types may be crucial for an adequate interpretation of bimodal materials. Hybrid texts (verbal and visual) are particular instances of bimodal materials, where the redundant information is often neglected while the complementary and the contradictory ones are essential.Studies using the 504 ASL eye-tracking system while reading either additive or exhibiting captions (Baptista, 2009) revealed fixations on the verbal material and transitions between the written and the pictorial in a much higher number and duration than the initially foreseen as necessary to read the verbal text. We therefore hypothesized that confirmation strategies of the written information are taking place, by using information available in the other semiotic system.Such eye-gaze patterns obtained from denotative texts and pictures seem to contradict some of the scarce existing data on visual processing of texts and images, namely cartoons (Carroll, Young and Guertain, 1992), descriptive captions (Hegarty, 1992 a and b), and advertising images with descriptive and explanatory texts (cf. Rayner and Rotello, 2001, who refer to a previous reading of the whole text before looking at the image, or even Rayner, Miller and Rotello, 2008 who refer to an earlier and longer look at the picture) and seem to consolidate findings of Radach et al. (2003) on systematic transitions between text and image.By framing interest areas in the printed pictorial material of non redundant hybrid texts, we have identified the specific areas where transitions take place after fixations in the verbal text. The way those transitions are processed brings a new interest to further research.


Indian youth has a strong inclination towards the gadgets with preference for latest software. The factor of success for smartphones over the years has been not only in their ability to run well, but also to give access to extended capabilities via third-party apps. A customer attitude model is being developed through the variable taken as service quality, service value and service involvement is being designed and validated through the empirical method of factor analysis by using the questionnaire of sample size 200 technical and non-technical students and executives in India. The SEM of customer preferences has developed through the factor analysis of 20 statements about the different smartphone companies. Keyword: Smartphones, Customer Attitude Model, Third-Party apps.


Abstract Taosa longula Remes Lenicov (Hemiptera: Dictyopharidae) is a planthopper from the South American tropics that feeds on water hyacinth, Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms-Laubach (Pontederiaceae). The biology of T. longula was studied in the laboratory and field to evaluate it as a potential biological control agent for this widespread aquatic weed. The developmental time of nymphs was recorded at different temperatures (15, 19, 23, 25, 27 and 30 °C), and developmental threshold temperatures were obtained for the different instars. The host range was evaluated in terms of development and feeding preference. Development from instar I to adult was recorded in two no-choice trials, one with cut leaves of Pontederiaceae, and a second with growing whole plants. In the cut-leaf tests, adults were obtained from Pontederia cordata var. cordata, P. rotundifolia and water hyacinth. In the whole plant test, T. longula adults were obtained only from water hyacinth. Feeding preference was evaluated by means of a paired-choice test with 10 T. longula first instars on whole plants of P. c. cordata, P. rotundifolia and water hyacinth. The number of insects that fed on water hyacinth was significantly higher than on P. c. cordata and P. rotundifolia. Taosa longula showed a clear preference for water hyacinth and exhibited warm climate requirements, making it an attractive candidate for water hyacinth biological control in tropical and subtropical areas.


The paper is focused on the lightning protection of overhead lines using Metal Oxide Arresters (MOA). Among many different possibilities to equip a line with arresters, the case of an overhead line without earth wire was studied, using the ATP code. Considering both the lighting stroke on the tower and on the phase conductor, the outage number reduction for the entire line is presented for different distributions of protected towers along the line. The influence of tower foot resistance is also shortly presented. The main conclusion derived from this study is that the flashover probability decrease is not linear dependent on the share of the protected tower.


A review was performed about the clinical and pathological pictures caused by the venoms of Crotalus durissus terrificus and Bothrops spp. in cattle, buffaloes, horses, sheep and swine. The data were compiled from experiments in livestock species found in the literature, from experimentation accomplished by our research group, and from communicated natural cases of snakebite poisoning. The most important data were placed on two Tables, the analysis of which revealed some interesting aspects: (1) in our experiments the venom of Crotalus durissus terrificus caused in horses severe edema at the site of subcutaneous injection, to the contrary as observed in all other experimental animal species, an aspect not recorded in the literature; (2) in our experiments the venom of Bothrops species in cattle, sheep and horses, injected subcutaneously, did not cause edema as generally reported in the literature, but caused severe subcutaneous hemorrhages at the injection site. In the non fatal cases the blood was reabsorbed in a few days without leaving sequelae; exception was the reaction to the venom of Bothrops jararacussu, which caused edema in the experimental sheep, and severe tumefaction resulting in fistulous elimination of serous liquid in the experimental horses. The aim of this study was to contribute for the diagnostic of snakebite accidents in livestock.


The acute coronary syndromes (ACS), consisting of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), non-STEMI (NSTEMI), and unstable angina, remain a leading cause of death in the United States. Through the process of atherothrombosis, underlying atherosclerosis can progress to an acute ischemic coronary event. This disease mechanism is also common to ischemic stroke and peripheral arterial disease. As ACS is a heterogeneous disease, accurate patient diagnosis and risk categorization is essential. Treatment approaches for both STEMI and NSTEMI ACS consist of a combination of surgical intervention and pharmacotherapy, with antiplatelet agents such as clopidogrel, aspirin and glycoprotein IIb/IIIa receptor antagonists playing an essential role.


Living in a fast moving world of automation people want the comfort to access all their home appliances remotely, smart home is an emerging technology in this field. This paper proposes a design for smart home control system which allow people to control their home appliances by using a smart phone(android) application and provide security when user is away from home. The smart devices are controlled using a DCU(Data concentrator Unit) which is embedded with ZigBee technology(IEEE 802.15.4) to communicate with devices. The potential increase in electric bills or damage to home can be averted by using the smart android application, by controlling home devices by sending appropriate messages through GSM(Global System for Mobile communications). Keywords—Smart home,Android phone,DCU,ZigBee,GSM


With the advent of mobile phone, digital multimedia broadcasting(DMB) service is to be realized for multimedia data communication. For an acoustic part, a smaller and lighter microspeaker is also soon to be realized as an MP3 song player and a speakerphone. Sound quality in the microspeaker is becoming more important in mobile phones. It is evaluated by total harmonic distortion(THD). THD is the proportion of higher order frequencies output response to sinusoidal input signal. It is affected by uneven magnetic distribution and nonlinear response of diaphragm. In this paper, harmonic distortion is analyzed by considering magnetic and mechanical coupling effects. Simulated results of THD are compared with experimental data. Results show that THD in lower frequency range is higher due to high displace on voice coil and high mechanical response of high order frequency.


Abstract : Object: The object of this work was to provide accurate data on the toxicity of cyanogen chloride to white mice. The redetermination of this value was carried out under Project A 3 as one of the tests of a compound believed to have possibilities for development as a quick-acting nonpersistent agent. The new data also constitute a revision of the data on this important compound given in the summary of mouse toxicity data now being prepared (E.A.T.R. 109) under Project A 10. Discussion: Mice exposed to a lethal concentration of cyanogen chloride for 10 min. show, first, a period of excitement followed by quiet, then another period of excitement of very short duration followed immediately by convulsions and complete collapse. The median lethal concentration on mice for 10-min. exposures is twice as high as the median lethal concentration for phosgene and four times as high as the median lethal concentration of hydrocyanic acid gas for the same length of exposure on mice. Conclusions: The experimental lethal concentration on mice for 10 min. exposures is between 0.75 mg/l and 0.781 mg/l using a 24-hr. observation period. The median lethal concentration, as read from the curve, for an exposure of 10 min. and an observation period of 24 hr. is 0.74 mg/l.


The structural characterization of low populated states of proteins with accuracy comparable to that achievable for native states is important for understanding the mechanisms of protein folding and function, as well as misfolding and aggregation. Because of the transient nature of these low populated states, they are seldom detected directly under conditions that favor folding. The activation domain of human procarboxypeptidase A2 (ADA2h) is an α/β-protein that forms amyloid fibrils at low pH, presumably initiated from a denatured state with a considerable amount of residual structure. Here we used Carr-Parcell-Meiboom-Gill relaxation dispersion (CPMG RD) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to characterize the structure of the denatured state of the ADA2h I71V mutant under conditions that favor folding. Under these conditions, the lifetime of the denatured state of I71V ADA2h is on the order of milliseconds and its population is approximately several percent, which makes this mutant amenable to studies by CPMG RD methods. The nearly complete set of CPMG RD-derived backbone (15)N, (13)C, and (1)H NMR chemical shifts in the I71V ADA2h denatured state reveals that it retains a significant fraction (up to 50-60%) of nativelike α-helical structure, while the regions encompassing native β-strands are structured to a much lesser extent. The nativelike α-helical structure of the denatured state can bring together hydrophobic residues on the same sides of α-helices, making them available for intra- or intermolecular interactions. CPMG RD data analysis thus allowed a detailed structural characterization of the ADA2h denatured state under folding conditions not previously achieved for this protein.


The conformation of a polymer in a solvent is typically defined by the solvent quality, which is a consequence of the solvent and macromolecule's chemistry. Yet, additional factors can affect the polymer conformation, such as non-covalent interactions to surfaces or other macromolecules, affecting the amount of polymer-solvent interactions. Herein, chemically folded polymers with protein-like architectures are studied and compared to their unfolded linear precursor in good solvents using rheology measurements. The current research reveals that permanent folding by intramolecular chemical cross-linking limits the chain mobility and therefore causes a reduction in polymer-solvent interactions, making a good solvent become theta. This change not only affects the "solvent quality" but also leads to a change in particle-particle interactions as a function of concentration. These findings provide crucial insight into the effects of intramolecular cross-links on macromolecule solubility and self-assembly, which are critical for mimicking structurally similar biological materials.


Sensory perception is often impaired by self-generated movements. This effect of sensory suppression has been commonly observed in voluntary hand-movement-induced tactile sensation during the period of motor preparation and execution. However, it remains unclear whether such suppression also occurs in the visual domain and if it can be induced by the preparation of other body movements. To extend our knowledge about sensory suppression, the present study investigated visual sensitivity during the preparation of head rotation. Participants wore virtual reality goggles and rotated their heads horizontally according to a visual cue presented on the goggles screens. Before the start of head rotation, a target of Landolt C was displayed at a peripheral location that was directed by the head-rotation cue or a symmetric location in the opposite visual field. After each head rotation, participants reported the target's orientation, allowing the measurement of the discrimination threshold. Besides, the discrimination sensitivity was also measured in two head-still conditions with or without the presentation of a visual cue. The results showed that the discrimination performance was largely impaired by the preparation of head rotation. This effect of sensory attenuation increased with the approach of head-motion onset. However, the attenuation was not found on the discrimination of auditory stimuli during the preparation of head rotation, thus excluding the account of general dual-task requirement. In contrast to the previous findings of improved perception by preparation of saccade or reach, our findings indicate that sensory suppression rather than attention shift plays a major role during the preparation of head movement.


The dependences of electrochemical potential at the interface between carbon nanotubes and electrolyte upon temperature and electrolyte concentration are studied. Carbon nanotubes were synthesized by hot filament chemical vapor deposition with Si as the substrate. Four substances were tested: NaCl solution, KCl solution, water and alcohol. It is found that for NaCl and KCl solutions, at the interface, there is a large electrochemical potential which increases with temperature and is larger for an electrolyte of higher concentration. There is a significant field effect of carbon nanotubes with electrolyte as the gate, and the effect depends on the ionizability of the electrolyte. Such physicochemical property invests carbon nanotube a potential application in nanoelectronics.


A model that has been shown to give very accurate predictions of dynamic forces between deformable emulsion drops and bubbles is used to quantify the effects of internal flow and viscosity ratio on the hydrodynamic interaction in such systems. The results demonstrate that direct force measurement using an atomic force microscope can readily differentiate whether the interfaces of drops of different viscosities respond as immobile (no-slip) or fully mobile (no tangential shear stress) boundaries.


Aging in the upper third of the face manifests as rhytids and ptosis of the frontal, glabellar, and brow regions. Frown lines may occur even in younger individuals as a result of habitual or dynamic forehead muscular hyperactivity. Multiple treatment options have been advocated to address forehead rhytids and brow ptosis. This article reviews 3 of the more commonly used treatment options: collagen, botulinum toxin, and surgical forehead lifting. Additionally, an algorithm is proposed as a guideline for selecting the most appropriate option for a given condition.


Profitability of a rabbit's production unit was evaluated through the analysis of two nonconventional food alternatives (mixing tulip forage, ramon forage and balanced food) compared with the conventional food (balanced food). For analyse the profitability, economic assessment indicators were used: the Net Present Value and the Internal Rate of Return. Based in the obtained results, this study concludes that the more profitable alternative was the ramon forage and balanced food.


A new method for measuring long gauge blocks using a fringe-counting interferometer with a 633 nm wavelength-stabilized He-Ne laser is described. Two subgauge blocks, which have V-type graduation lines covered with glass plates, are optically contacted with both sides of a long gauge block. They are handled with bare hands and the surfaces of the glass plates are wiped with a paper towel after the optical wringing procedure. Using the National Research Laboratory of Metrology 2 m line standard automatic measuring machine, several gauge blocks up to 1 m long are measured with a repeatability less than 0,1 µm in standard deviation. A comparison between the lengths of gauge blocks measured by the new method and by the conventional excess fractions method is made. The results show that the length of gauge blocks up to 1 m can be determined with an expanded uncertainty U = 0,3 µm, corresponding to a level of confidence of about 95 %.


We present the stability analysis of uncertain bilateral teleoperation systems and numerical test cases via a formulation in terms of integral quadratic constraints. Frequently used robust stability conditions originating from network theory in the face of passive human and environment operators are shown to be particular cases in this framework. This allows us to subsume seemingly different frequency-domain methods to one formulation. Using this unified approach, different uncertainty classes can be incorporated into the stability test simultaneously. A few commonly encountered uncertainty types and the corresponding stability analysis tests are derived and numerically illustrated for a simple teleoperation system. These numerical examples highlight the need for a refined modeling of the human and the environment in teleoperation systems.


Pedestrians constitute the largest single road user group in Bangladesh. From MAAP Data Base, it is observed that highest frequency of pedestrian casualties in Dhaka city occur at road side and footpath (48%) [1]. Hence pedestrian walking along the roadway in lieu of walkway is a major problem to be concerned for Dhaka city. The study aims at evaluating the current scenarios of major pedestrian walkways in Dhaka city from various category areas to determine whether there are any need to redesign those or not. Eight walkways representing eight category areas of Dhaka had been selected in this regard and level-of-services of those walkways were quantified following Highway Capacity Manual method. Walkways were investigated for two conditions (i.e. existing condition, and considering no obstruction condition) to come to a conclusion about the effectiveness of selected walkways. For simplicity of field observation, only pedestrian unit flow rate (p/min/m) was used as service measure of LOS. Pedestrians walking on both sidewalk and roadside (both directions) were taken into account in the study. From the result it is found that in existing condition, on an A (most comfortable) F (least comfortable) scale for the walkways surveyed five out of eight are performing in LOS-C, LOS-D and LOS-E which conform to poor condition. Whereas, if there were no obstruction present in these walkways, seven walkways would provide LOS-A and LOS-B which depicts majority of the walkways in Dhaka are adequate in dimension to provide comfortable walking. KeywordsPedestrian, Walkways, LOS


The lack of reliable biomarkers makes predicting the conversion from intermediate to neovascular age-related macular degeneration (iAMD, nAMD) a challenging task. We develop a Deep Learning (DL) model to predict the future risk of conversion of an eye from iAMD to nAMD from its current OCT scan. Although eye clinics generate vast amounts of longitudinal OCT scans to monitor AMD progression, only a small subset can be manually labeled for supervised DL. To address this issue, we propose Morph-SSL, a novel Self-supervised Learning (SSL) method for longitudinal data. It uses pairs of unlabelled OCT scans from different visits and involves morphing the scan from the previous visit to the next. The Decoder predicts the transformation for morphing and ensures a smooth feature manifold that can generate intermediate scans between visits through linear interpolation. Next, the Morph-SSL trained features are input to a Classifier which is trained in a supervised manner to model the cumulative probability distribution of the time to conversion with a sigmoidal function. Morph-SSL was trained on unlabelled scans of 399 eyes (3570 visits). The Classifier was evaluated with a five-fold cross-validation on 2418 scans from 343 eyes with clinical labels of the conversion date. The Morph-SSL features achieved an AUC of 0.766 in predicting the conversion to nAMD within the next 6 months, outperforming the same network when trained end-to-end from scratch or pre-trained with popular SSL methods. Automated prediction of the future risk of nAMD onset can enable timely treatment and individualized AMD management.


This paper proposes a model of a nonlinear mathematical pendulum for use in mathematical modeling of TCP connections in the infocomm systems. Application of numericalanalytical approach using the Krylov-Bogoliubov-Mitropolsky method for solving nonlinear differential equations of the pendulum allows you to apply qualitative methods for analysis of the oscillatory dynamical systems behavior in the phase plane.The proposed approach allows us to study differential equations considered when the value of the parameter included in them in a wide range. Thus for small values of the parameter asymptotic method can be applied for solution, whereas for large values numerical methods should be used. This parameter is in this case the so-called order parameter.


ABSTRACT Increasing deployment of cellular networks across the globe is pushing the energy consumption in cellular networks at an exceptional rate. The integration of renewable energy (RE) harvesting technology into future mobile networks has the potential to positively cope with environmental contamination and ensure self-energy sustainability as a means to decrease fossil fuel consumption. Diesel generator (DG) in conjunction with on-site RE harvester has emerged as an economic and extent efficient option where commercial grid supply is not viable. This paper is focused on the cost aware energy management framework addressing to least net present cost (NPC) for the envisioned hybrid powered green cellular base stations (BSs) considering tempo-spatial traffic dynamics. In such wireless networks, solar photovoltaic modules are considered as a primary energy source, while the DG and energy storage device are kept as the standby supply in case of inadequate solar energy to ensure zero outage. A comprehensive simulation-based investigation is carried out in the context of downlink Long-Term Evolution (LTE) cellular networks for evaluating cost-efficiency and reliability performance under a wide range of network settings. Particularly, this paper examines the energy yield, greenhouse gas emissions, and cost analysis based on the optimal architecture of Remote Radio Head-enabled LTE BS. Moreover, wireless network performance in terms of throughput, energy efficiency gain, and radio efficiency is thoroughly investigated using Monte Carlo simulations. Numerical results demonstrate a substantial reduction of carbon footprints with minimum NPC while satisfying the quality of service requirements.


To the Editor. — The letter by Drs Joseph and Korn 1 in the Sept 16 issue of JAMA discusses the attitudes of veterans toward smoking restrictions in a Veterans Administration (VA) hospital and the feasibility of smoke-free VA hospitals. We were encouraged and delighted to hear that the Minneapolis VA Medical Center has become a totally smoke-free hospital. All other VA hospitals, on the other hand, still allow smoking by patients and staff in a number of areas. The number of places where smoking is allowed in the Denver VA Medical Center has been reduced significantly in the last few years, but further efforts to restrict smoking have met with considerable resistance. To determine the extent of this resistance among patients, we gave a questionnaire (June through August 1987) to outpatients awaiting primary care clinic appointments. Completed questionnaires were received from 84% (468/553); 40% were current smokers, 45% were


Despite that a number of central government ministries and local authorities and non-state sector agencies have adopted a number of policies and strategies to address urban poverty, women prevalently continue to dominate low-return development activities. In this regard, there is the undermining of women potential as they undertake low-profile activities like selling of tomatoes. From evidence available and experience, it can be argued that the low-income-earning males, compared to their female counterparts, have 'graduated' into full-scale champions in various sectors – micro-scale finance (chimbadzo), construction, manufacturing, trade, transport, to mention but a few. As a result of a vicious cycle of poverty wreaking havoc and ever menacingly unwinding itself in the economy, women engaging in least-rewarding activities, a downright deterioration of the standards of citizens, more profound for the poor urban household will but perpetuate the urban poverty and deep marginalization of women. This study found out that policy-makers and implementers need be informed on practical and feasible ways of alleviating the problem of urban women engaging in unproductive or least-rewarding activities (where resources in terms of both inputs and outputs are limiting) will be found. An examination of the policies in force has been made in order to evaluate their effectives in addressing the gap in urban women livelihood activities and engagements. The case study of Harare hereby used reveals that it is still along way to real eventual empowerment of this disadvantaged group. Three are many factors inhibiting the smooth flow of the empowerment drive in Harare in particular and Zimbabwe at large.


The objective of this study was to determine the effect of replacing soybean meal with dried brewers' grains (DBG) in intake and digestibility of the nutrients and the ruminal parameters of cattle. Four ruminal cannulated Jersey oxen with initial body weight of 662.7 ± 85.5 kg were distributed in a 4x4 Latin square design. The treatments were levels of 0%, 33%, 66% and 100% DBG replacing soybean meal in the diet. Dry matter (DM) and crude protein (CP) intake were not influenced by the treatments. There were linear increases in ether extract (EE), neutral detergent fibre (NDF) and acid detergent fibre (ADF) intakes because of higher levels of these nutrients in diets with DBG. Non-fibre carbohydrate (NFC) and total digestible nutrient (TDN) intake showed a decreasing linear effect. Dry matter and NFC digestibility decreased linearly with rising DBG levels, while EE, CP, NDF and ADF digestibilities were not affected. Ruminal pH was not influenced by DBG levels in the diet. There was a quadratic effect in ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N) concentration in the rumen, with the maximum occurring at a level of 36.7% DGB. The replacement of soybean meal with DBG in cattle diets did not alter DM intake and ruminal pH, but reduced TDN intake. Keywords : Ammonia nitrogen, by-product, digestibility, intake, pH


Background Currently, limited information is available regarding selection of the most successful strategies for recruitment of older adult kidney transplant recipients as research participants. Objective The aim of this study was to explore multiple modes of recruitment strategies to enroll older kidney transplant recipients in a 1-year longitudinal study. Methods We used a feasibility design to explore the following recruitment methods: face-to-face contact in the transplant clinic, paper flyers placed in the transplant clinic, Facebook, an online transplant newsletter, and a university website listing of research studies. Results Enrollment was open for 9 months, during which time websites and the Facebook portal were active, 142 newsletters were e-mailed, and 424 patients were approached in the transplant clinic. Among patients approached in the clinic, 12 did not own a smartphone required for the study. The sample consisted of 60 participants (39 men, 21 women), with a mean age of 64.5 ± 4.7 years. Of the participants who enrolled in the study, the largest number (75%, n = 45) was recruited using the face-to-face method in the transplant clinic. The online transplant newsletter was the second-best recruitment source (18%, n = 11). Discussion Recruitment strategies using face-to-face contact and the online newsletter associated with the transplant clinic organization appeared to be more effective than strategies not associated with the transplant clinic (Facebook and university website). Findings suggest that using a familiar organization communication method to recruit older chronic disease population may be the most beneficial.


The high frequency of recidivism with convicted sexual perverts is mainly due to the compulsive character of perversion. The classical methods of treatment are seldom satisfactory: Surgery provokes ethical objections, psychopharmaca and oestrogens lead to disagreeable side effects, psychotherapy of any kind is unlikely to be efficacious because of the unfavourable atmosphere the nature of perversion causes it to take place in. However, the climate of both psychoanalytical treatment and suggestive and directive psychotherapy can be enhanced by a combination with an anti-androgen treatment, which eliminates the patient's fear of conviction by inhibiting his sexual urge. Two cases illustrate this combined method. On the basis of a positive disposition, which arises from the improved climate, sublimation of the sex drive and the achievement of a feeling of social responsibility is aimed at. The advantages of the combined therapy are then discussed in comparison with the existing treatments. It is concluded that this combined treatment, next to social guidance and an attempt at solving the fundamental problem of loneliness, can promote the social reintegration of the convicted sexual pervert.


An arithmetical error in the derivation of a theoretical expression by Celasco and Mazzetti (1972) has led to a prediction inconsistent with experimental results.


The adoption of CRISPR systems for the generation of synthetic transcription factors has greatly simplified the process for upregulating endogenous gene expression, with a plethora of applications in cell biology, bioproduction and cell reprogramming. In particular the recently discovered Cas12a systems offer extended potential, as Cas12a is capable of processing its own crRNA array to provide multiple individual crRNAs for subsequent targeting from a single transcript. Here we show the application of dFnCas12a-VPR in mammalian cells, with FnCas12a possessing a shorter PAM sequence than As or Lb variants, enabling denser targeting of genomic loci. We observe that synergistic activation and multiplexing can be achieved using crRNA arrays but also show that crRNAs expressed towards the 5' of 6-crRNA arrays show evidence of enhanced activity. This not only represents a more flexible tool for transcriptional modulation but further expands our understanding of the design capabilities and limitations when considering longer crRNA arrays for multiplexed targeting.


This study aims to analyze the influence of SPIP (Government Internal ControlSystems) and Internal Audit on corruption prevention mediated by theimplementation of accrual-based accounting at Ministry of Transportations of TheRepublic of Indonesia. The type of research used was descriptive and causal.The research method used was questionnaire, with the scope of employees inthe field of Internal Audit and Accounting, which consists of Senior Auditors andStructural Officials in the field of accounting at the Head Office of the Ministry ofTransportation as many as 91 respondent. The analysis data is processed usingSPSS ver.23.0.The results of the research shows that the SPIP has no significanteffect (indirectly) on prevention of corruption through the implementation ofAccrual-Based Accounting, while Internal Audit has a significantly indirect effecton Corruption Prevention through the implementation of Accrual-BasedAccounting.


Seeds of the wetland legume, Lotus uliginosus, were germinated and grown in vermiculite which was either continuously flooded or well-drained. Plants from both treatments were infected by Mesorhizobium loti strain DUS341 via a 'classical' root hair pathway, although some flooded plants appeared to be infected via enlarged epidermal cells. Subsequent to infection by M. loti, nodule meristems, which had developed within the root outer cortex, were penetrated by infection threads that released bacteria into the meristematic cells. The infection threads and infection droplets were immunogold labelled with monoclonal antibodies (MAC265 and MAC236) that recognize epitopes (at approx. 155/170 and 170/210 kDa, respectively) on a glycoprotein component of the matrix that surrounded the bacteria within the threads or droplets. Although labelling of infection threads or infection droplets with MAC236 was stronger than that with MAC265, both antibodies strongly labelled material occluding intercellular spaces in the cortices of developing nodules that had not yet expressed nitrogenase (as determined by a lack of signal after immunogold labelling with an antibody raised against nitrogenase component II). After 60 d, nitrogenase activity, shoot and root dry weights, and nodule fresh weight per plant did not differ between the treatments. After a further 30 d submergence, the flooded stems developed extensive aerenchyma and there was profuse development of (nodulated) adventitious roots. Nodules also formed at the junction of adventitious roots and the subtending stem and these were connected vascularly to a small stalk of tissue which gave rise to both a nodule and an adventitious root. The flooded nodules had prominent lenticels, and possible air pathways from the atmosphere to the nitrogen-fixing bacteroids are discussed.


Background: Natural mating colony cages for parent-stock layer breeders, instead of conventional cages with artificial insemination, have been widely adopted by many commercial farms in China. However, the fertility rate of this system is unstable and varies greatly among different cage tiers. We speculated that the difference in fertility rate might be caused by uneven illumination because vision appears to play a central role in hens' behaviour, including mating, which is an important factor that affects the reproductive performance of hens. The objectives of this study was to investigate the effects of 4 LED light colours (white: WL, red: RL, yellow-orange: YO, blue-green: BG) with 2 light intensities (10 lux, 25 lux) in each colour on mating frequency and fertility for layer breeders in natural mating colony cages. Results: A total of 32 identical cages were involved in the 8 treatments, with 4 replicates for each treatment and 5 males and 45 females per cage. The results showed significant effects of age, light colour, light intensity and colour-intensity interaction on the frequency of mating behaviour, integrity of matings and fertility. Overall, flocks treated with WL and RL and a higher light intensity in natural mating colony cages during the laying period showed a more frequently mating behaviour, a large proportion of relatively complete matings and a higher fertility. All components of mating behaviour and fertility declined from 30 through 40 to 50 wks of age, but no significant correlation was found between fertility and mating behaviour. Conclusions: In summary, the results of this study illustrate that different LED light colour and light intensity influenced the mating behaviour and fertility of layer breeders. WL and RL and a higher light intensity could increase the frequency of mating behaviour, the proportion of complete matings and fertility. No significant correlation was found between fertility and mating behaviour. Such knowledge can help to understand mating behaviour in natural mating colony cages and provide a basis for the optimization of light environment regulation.


Acinetobacter baumannii has developed resistance to various antimicrobial drugs, and its drug-resistant strains cause nosocomial infections. Controlling these infections has become a global clinical challenge. ABSTRACT Colistin, which targets lipopolysaccharide (LPS), is used as a last-resort drug against severe infections caused by drug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii. However, A. baumannii possesses two colistin-resistance mechanisms. LPS modification caused by mutations in pmrAB genes is often observed in clinical isolates of multidrug-resistant Gram-negative pathogens. In addition to LPS modification, A. baumannii has a unique colistin resistance mechanism, a complete loss of LPS due to mutations in the lpxACD genes, which are involved in LPS biosynthesis. This study aimed to elucidate the detailed mechanism of the emergence of colistin-resistant A. baumannii using strains with the same genetic background. Various colistin-resistant strains were generated experimentally using colistin alone and in combination with other antimicrobials, such as meropenem and ciprofloxacin, and the mutation spectrum was analyzed. In vitro selection of A. baumannii in the presence of colistin led to the emergence of strains harboring mutations in lpxACD genes, resulting in LPS-deficient colistin-resistant strains. However, combination of colistin with other antimicrobials led to the selection of pmrAB mutant strains, resulting in strains with modified LPS (LPS-modified strains). Further, the LPS-deficient strains showed decreased fitness and increased susceptibility to many antibiotics and disinfectants. As LPS-deficient strains have a higher biological cost than LPS-modified strains, our findings suggested that pmrAB mutants are more likely to be isolated in clinical settings. We provide novel insights into the mechanisms of resistance to colistin and provide substantial solutions along with precautions for facilitating current research and treatment of colistin-resistant A. baumannii infections. IMPORTANCE Acinetobacter baumannii has developed resistance to various antimicrobial drugs, and its drug-resistant strains cause nosocomial infections. Controlling these infections has become a global clinical challenge. Carbapenem antibiotics are the frontline treatment drugs for infectious diseases caused by A. baumannii. For patients with infections caused by carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii, colistin-based therapy is often the only treatment option. However, A. baumannii readily acquires resistance to colistin. Many patients infected with colistin-resistant A. baumannii undergo colistin treatment before isolation of the colistin-resistant strain, and it is hypothesized that colistin resistance predominantly emerges under selective pressure during colistin therapy. Although the concomitant use of colistin and carbapenems has been reported to have a synergistic effect in vitro against carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii strains, our observations strongly suggest the need for attention to the emergence of strains with a modified lipopolysaccharide during treatment.


In recent years, the rapid development of Internet information technology has brought profound changes to Internet Finance and its development, and has a huge impact on the traditional financial industry, as well as changing the vocational needs for financial talents. As the important places for talents cultivation in China, financial teaching reform in higher vocational colleges is imperative. Based on the background of "Internet Plus", this paper deeply analyzes the problems existing in the teaching of financial management in higher vocational colleges, and puts forward corresponding countermeasures and suggestions, and then trains more internet financial professionals, so as to meet the needs for social development.


This paper considers the effectiveness of fire safety regulation in Delhi, India. Ten theories are summarised that are used to explain why regulation does or does not work, or why fires might increase. Can imperfect markets generate institutions outside of the political process that produce reasonable results despite challenges of poverty, rising population density, social chaos, widespread corruption and non‐compliance with rules? In Delhi, city fire departments, albeit hampered by dysfunctional or non‐existent regulation, along with social and individual incentives provided by markets, have produced a relatively high level of safety.


OBJECTIVE
The set of pregnant females suffering from bronchial asthma-retrospective analysis.

TYPE OF STUDY
Retrospective analysis.

SETTING
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Hospital Na Bulovce, First Medical Faculty, Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic.

SUBJECT AND METHOD
Our set consists of pregnant women suffering from bronchial asthma and attending our Antenatal Clinic & delivering at our Maternity Hospital from January 2008 through December 2009. Retrospective analysis of the set based on the medical records was performed.

RESULTS
80 females suffering from bronchial asthma gave birth at our Hospital during the studied time span, i.e., 1.7% of all deliveries at our Maternity Hospital. In 4 females (i.e. 5%) the asthma attack was observed during the pregnancy. 33% of all females suffering from bronchial asthma did not require any bronchodilator medication, 22% were just on betamimetics, 23% required inhalational betamimetics with intermittent inhalational corticosteroid and 21% use both regularly. Perorally corticosteroids or leukotrien inhibitors were not used at all. There was no negative influence on subjective felling of the female during her pregnancy and labor in 71% of cases. 24% of all females suffering from bronchial asthma delivered by Caesarean Section but just in two of them it was indicated due to the bronchial asthma itself. We observed no case of IUGR or congenital defect. No change in the length of the hospital stay in comparison to the other females was shown.

CONCLUSION
The nowadays standard treatment of bronchial asthma during pregnancy is based on local inhalative bronchodilator and anti-inflammatory medication. Pregnant females are usually well compensated, and thus their perinatal outcome shows no difference compared to the healthy population.


Introduction Seasonal variation in croup has been well documented by at least 12 reports, bat there are some regional differences. Evidence is lacking, however, for daily variation in croup. Aims To determine seasonal and daily variation in croup. Methods We reviewed all emergency department calls for croup in Vinnytsya region (Ukraine) over fourteen years (1995–2008). Results The number of emergency department calls per month (Figure 1) was significantly higher in spring and autumn months and lower in summer for croup. Mean monthly calls for croup ranged from 46% below average in August to 49% above average in October. The number of emergency calls for crop per hour was significantly higher from 1 to 4 AM (Figure 2). During this time there were 31% of daily calls. The lowest rate of calls was during the daytime, which rapidly increased from 11 PM. Abstract PO-0208 Figure 1 Monthly percentage variation in emergency department call for croup in Vinnytsya, Ukraine, 1995–2008; (0 represents the sum monthly variations) Abstract PO-0208 Figure 2 Hourly percentage variation in emergency department calls for croup in Vinnytsya, Ukraine in 1995–2008 (0 represents the sum hourly variations) Conclusion We confirmed seasonal variation for croup and revealed specific daily pattern for croup based on fourteen years observation in Vinnytsya region of Ukraine.


WSN consisting of a large number of small sensors with lowpower transceivers can be an effective tool for gathering data in a variety of environments. As sensor nodes are deployed in sensing field, they can help people to monitor and aggregate data. Researchers also try to find more efficient ways of utilizing limited energy of sensor node in order to give longer life time of WSNs. Network lifetime, scalability, and load balancing are important requirements for many data gathering sensor network applications. Therefore, many protocols are introduced for better performance. The lack of infrastructure and dynamic nature of mobile ad hoc networks demand new networking strategies to be implemented in order to provide efficient end-to-end communication. Some researches have been proposed to organize the network into groups called clusters and use different routing protocols for inter and intra clusters to propagate an information. But with these solutions, the network first needs to be organized into cluster and next, we need to construct each routing table[16]. In the available literature, multi-hop routing protocol is well known for power saving in data gathering [5]. Researchers have used such types of the cluster-based (e.g., LEACH, EERP), the chain-based (e.g. PEGASIS) and the tree-based (e.g. TREEPSI) to establish their energyefficient routing protocols. In this paper, we propose an improved version which uses both cluster and tree based protocols. The proposed protocol improves the power consumption by improving FND.


The two main themes of this book, logic and complexity, are both essential for understanding the main problems about the foundations of mathematics. Logical Foundations of Mathematics and Computational Complexity covers a broad spectrum of results in logic and set theory that are relevant to the foundations, as well as the results in computational complexity and the interdisciplinary area of proof complexity. The author presents his ideas on how these areas are connected, what are the most fundamental problems and how they should be approached. In particular, he argues that complexity is as important for foundations as are the more traditional concepts of computability and provability. Emphasis is on explaining the essence of concepts and the ideas of proofs, rather than presenting precise formal statements and full proofs. Each section starts with concepts and results easily explained, and gradually proceeds to more difficult ones. The notes after each section present some formal definitions, theorems and proofs. Logical Foundations of Mathematics and Computational Complexity is aimed at graduate students of all fields of mathematics who are interested in logic, complexity and foundations. It will also be of interest for both physicists and philosophers who are curious to learn the basics of logic and complexity theory.


type="main"> Competitive intelligence (CI) activities open new opportunities for firms to acquire and disclose information. We show that disclosure depends on the relative usefulness of information to the competing firms and is generally less (more) likely with Cournot (Bertrand) competition and when firms adopt product differentiation strategies. When CI costs are independent of information characteristics, each firm seeks information solely useful to itself and discloses it unless it is a Bertrand competitor with customer information. Only when the cost advantage is sufficiently great does each firm seek information useful to itself and its rival.


Proceedings: AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011‐‐ Apr 2‐6, 2011; Orlando, FL

Background: Platinum-based chemotherapy exerts its cytotoxic effects by forming intra-strand DNA adducts that inhibit replication. Excision Repair Cross Complementing group 1 protein (ERCC1) plays a critical, yet undesirable, role in repair of DNA damage induced by platinum. Absence of immunohistochemical expression of ERCC1 has been shown to be associated with response to platinum-based chemotherapy regimens in non small cell lung carcinomas. Experimental data suggests that triple negative breast cancers may have increased sensitivity to platinum-based chemotherapy, particularly in BRCA1 mutation carriers, whose cancers cluster among the basal-like subtype, as defined by gene expression profiling. We investigated the immunohistochemical expression of ERCC1 in relation to response to neoadjuvant platinum-based chemotherapy in a cohort of patients with triple negative breast cancers.

Materials and Methods: We reviewed the diagnostic core biopsies of 32 triple-negative breast cancer patients treated with neoadjuvant docetaxel plus platinum-based salts at our institution between 1999 and 2007. Fifteen (46.9%) study patients had pathologic complete response (pCR), defined by the absence of invasive carcinoma in the breast and axilla. Immunohistochemistry for ERRC1 (ABCAM) was performed in all cases using the LSAB method. A nuclear immunohistochemical reaction in >1% of the tumor cells was scored as positive for ERCC1. Fisher's exact test was used to compare pCR rates by ERCC1 status.

Results: Sixteen of 32 (50%) triple negative breast carcinomas were positive for ERCC1 by immunohistochemistry. Reactivity was present in 10 to 50% of the tumor cell nuclei. The remaining 16/32 (50%) carcinomas were definitively negative for ERCC1. Significantly higher pCR rates were found in patients with ERCC1(−) tumors, 11/16 (68.8%), compared to 4/16 (25%) patients with ERCC1(+) tumors, p=0.032. Findings were similar for pCR confined to the breast (75.0 v 31.3%, p=0.032), and for pCR in the axilla (75.0 v 43.8%), although the latter result lost statistical significance, p=−0.149.

Conclusion: Absence of immunohistochemical expression for ERCC1 is predictive of pathologic complete response to platinum-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy for patients with triple negative breast cancers.

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 5502. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-5502


Multiple sclerosis is a chronic, inflammatory, demyelinating disease which affects the central nervous system and is linked to autoimmune disorders. Although the precise causes of multiple sclerosis remain unknown, some evidence points towards hypovitaminosis D. Apart from the maintenance of calcium and phosphorus homeostasis, vitamin D also plays a major role in other aspects of human health. It is caused by the vitamin D receptor, which is present in many human organs and tissues. Vitamin D is an immunomodulating factor and accordingly has a potential to be effective in both preventing and treating autoimmune diseases, including multiple sclerosis. The aim of this review was to present up-to-date knowledge about vitamin D, especially its impact on risk of multiple sclerosis onset, relapses, and potential to modify the immune response. A further objective was to describe the role of vitamin D supplementation and its provision in the everyday diet for both prevention and treatment of multiple sclerosis.


We propose a set of indicators to evaluate how grazing by livestock and grassland management can help preserve biodiversity in the insect communities of grassland ecosystems. These indicators can be calculated for any grassland for which management and botanical composition are known, and they do not require advanced knowledge on conservation biology and entomology. Based on the scientific literature and expert interviews, each indicator combines pressure (i.e., 16 management classes) and state variables (i.e., sward botanical composition and several of the plant functional characteristics) to assess the effects on butterfly, bumblebee, and grasshopper abundance and species richness. Each indicator was based on a multicriteria decision tree with fuzzy partitioning to account for uncertainty in the threshold values between different alternatives. The output validation of indicators was performed by comparing decision tree output with standardized measurements from 10 surveys across France, Germany, Switzerland, Wales, and Italy. The prediction of grassland suitability for butterflies was more accurate for butterfly species richness (P < 0.05) than for butterfly abundance (P = 0.10), as even under standardized transect counts, recorders will observe disproportionately more individuals when it is sunny and warm. The sensitivity of the butterfly species richness indicator was then tested using an independent dataset of 395 French grasslands. There were significant differences in predicted species richness (χ215 = 121.16; P < 0.05) among the 16 management classes, and they were ranked consistently in spite of very parsimonious assumptions in the decision tree. The prediction of grassland suitability was good for bumblebee abundance (P < 0.05) and species richness (P < 0.01). This prediction was also successful for grasshopper abundance (P < 0.05) and species richness (P = 0.05), all outliers coming from a highly diverse grassland community located on shallow soil in the Italian survey. This set of indicators can thus provide a cost-effective evaluation of temperate grassland suitability as habitat for three insect taxa. These indicators have more relevance than general insect species richness, and their application does not require any entomological skill. The indicators can help stakeholders to make adequate decisions for insect conservation in grassland ecosystems, but do not have direct applicability to higher conservation value taxa or species.


ABSTRACT Most of the Norphlet sandstone examined in four cores (-15,770 to -22,500 feet) is eolian in origin as shown by thick, high-angle crossbeds, bimodal texture with well-sorted laminae, and relict hematite grain coatings typical of desert sand. Norphlet sandstones average 77 percent quartz, 16 percent feldspar, and 7 percent rock fragments. Partial to total loss of halite cement from cores during coring and slabbing operations hampers the interpretation of diagenetic history. However, the inferred sequence of diagenetic events is: cementation by illite, K-feldspar, quartz, calcite, anhydrite, and halite; development of secondary porosity by dissolution of halite, plagioclase, VRF's, and carbonate cement; hydrocarbon migration and pyrite generation; dolomitization; and cementation by late-stage illite and quartz. Halite and anhydrite were derived from the underlying Louann. Pyrite is present in most samples and formed when sour gas passed through the sands and reduced hematite grain coatings to pyrite. The scarcity of quartz cement is attributed to the lack of shale beneath the Norphlet. Illite cement of two ages is present. Early-formed illite is leaflike flakes that coat quartz grains that inhibited the development of quartz overgrowths. It is not a seriously deleterious mineral. Late illite is thread-like and grows in narrow secondary pores where it seriously reduces permeability. Illite cement and sericitic alteration of plagioclase are more abundant deeper than 19,900 feet. Halite was introduced after moderate burial because prior to its development the sandstones underwent modest compaction as shown by sutured quartz grains and pre-cement porosity values of 22 to 30 percent (indicating compactional losses of 15 to 23 percent porosity before cementation). The original texture of the sands strongly influenced diagenetic events.


The Fairweather small-group model, developed some 20 years ago, has been proven to be an effective form of treatment for chronic patients who have spent long years in institutions. However, there have been no recent evaluations of how small-group programs work compared with contemporary rehabilitation programs and how effective they are with the "new chronic patient" recently described in the literature. In a study of such patients at the Florida Mental Health Institute in 1977, the authors compared matched patients in a small-group program and a rehabilitation therapy program on measures of self-concept, perception of kind and degree of help received, and recidivism rate. They found that patients in the small-group program spent significantly less time in treatment. Moreover, the small-group program was effective in reducing recidivism over an 18-month period and was less expensive than the rehabilitation therapy program.


Emergency open laparotomy in patients infected with HIV is accompanied by high mortality. The authors investigated the potential role of a laparoscopic approach for the management of acute abdomen in such patients. Prospectively, 10 patients with HIV disease (9 with AIDS) underwent laparoscopy for acute abdomen. The treatment was exclusively laparoscopic in 6 patients. A conversion to laparotomy was necessary in 4 patients but through guided elective incision in 3 of them. The postoperative course was uneventful in all patients but 1, who died. We advocate a laparoscopic approach, when feasible, as an initial step in the management of acute abdomen in HIV-positive patients.


In response to a growing concern to mitigate arc flash incident energy hazards, the latest edition of the National Electric Code NFPA70-2017 includes requirements for reducing clearing time of overcurrent protective devices with a continuous current rating of 1200A or higher. Section 240.87 lists seven options for reducing arc fault energy. This paper will briefly review the defined methods of reducing incident energy as outlined in the Standard, with focus on option 4: energy-reducing arc flash mitigation systems.


Magnetic gears offer a promising alternative to mechanical gears with the added benefit of contactless power transfer. However, quick and accurate analysis tools are required to optimize magnetic gear designs and commercialize the technology. Therefore, this paper proposes an extremely fast and accurate 2-D magnetic equivalent circuit (MEC) model of radial flux magnetic gears with surface mounted magnets. This MEC model's distinguishing characteristics include a heavily parameterized gear geometry and a parametrically adjustable systematic flux tube distribution which allow for accurate and efficient analysis of a wide array of designs. Furthermore, the model is fully linear which results in very quick simulation run times without sacrificing significant torque prediction accuracy for most practical designs. This is Part I of a two-part paper and focuses on the implementation of the MEC model. Part II validates the accuracy of the MEC model by comparing its torque and flux density predictions with those produced by nonlinear finite-element analysis.


A survey was conducted on Banks Peninsula and the Port Hills in Canterbury, to detennine the present distribution and the potential for further spread of the subterranean pasture pest Adoryphorus couloni. It was found that A. couloni had spread from previous known infestations and that further spread was likely. In particular, it was found that several sites in Gebbies Valley and near McQueens Pass had been colonized by A. couloni and that invasion of the Canterbury Plains in the future is a distinct possibility. The rate of spread of A. couloni on Banks Peninsula and the Port Hills was estimated using a simple dispersal model. Natural dispersal was predicted to occur at a rate of 1.136 km/year and it is possible that human-assisted dispersal could have aided this species' spread. A review of the relevant literature identified environmental conditions preferred by the species and potential methods of control.


Human vision can detect spatiotemporal information conveyed by first-order modulations of luminance and by second-order, non-Fourier modulations of image contrast. Models for second-order motion have suggested two filtering stages separated by a rectifying nonlinearity. We explore here the encoding of stationary first-order and second-order gratings, and their interaction. Stimuli consisted of 2-D broad-band static visual noise sinusoidally modulated in luminance (first-order, LM) or contrast (second-order, CM). Modulation thresholds were measured in a two-interval forced-choice staircase procedure. With increasing noise contrast, first-order sensitivity decreased (owing to masking) but sensitivity to contrast modulation increased. Weak background gratings present in both intervals produced order-specific facilitation: LM background facilitated LM detection (the 'dipper function') and CM facilitated CM detection. LM did not facilitate CM, nor vice versa, and this is strong evidence that LM and CM are detected via different mechanisms. Nevertheless, suprathreshold LM gratings masked CM detection, but not vice versa. High-amplitude CM masks had little or no effect on CM or LM detection. A broadly tuned divisive gain-control mechanism applied to the first-order filtering stage has been proposed by Foley (1994 Journal of the Optical Society of America A 11 1710 – 1719) to account for masking of luminance gratings, and this might also explain the masking of second-order by first-order stimuli. First-order maskers would drive down the effective contrast of the carrier, thus reducing second-order sensitivity. But for second-order maskers the mean contrast, and hence contrast gain, remained constant, independent of modulation depth. Thus second-order gratings would produce no masking effects, as observed.


In this paper, using calcium chloride and sodium molybdate as raw material, polyethylene glycol (PEG2000) as surfactant, the nanocomposites of CaMoO4: Eu were prepared by a direct feeding microwave synthesis method. The asprepared sample was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron micrograph (SEM) and photoluminescence spectrum (PL). The XRD Pattern showed that the samples are scheelite structure of CaMoO4. The SEM image showed that the majority of as-prepared sample is a relatively flake structure, and some fine particles attached to it. PL spectra showed that asprepared samples have strong luminescence properties; it had purity red emission at 615 nm. The effects of different Eu ions doping amount and surface active agent on the photoluminescence properties were studied. The results showed that when the molar ratio of Eu was 0.10, PEG2000 as surfactant, the luminescence intensity of as-prepared sample was maximum.


Flow properties and aging mechanism were analyzed at three different pH, under simple Bingham approximation of steady flow, for complex suspensions containing finely powdered In2O3 and SnO2 sol that was in situ precipitated during griding processes. At pH 5, near isoelectric points of both oxides, gelation was mainly attributed to crosslinking of the pre-existing flocs. In contrast, increase in the viscosity durin aging at pH 2 and 9.5 was mainly due to increase in effective floc volume. The total pore volume, median pore size, and Vickers hardness of slip cast body were found to be closely related with the change in the Bingham yield value during aging.


Task optimization in the presence of signal-dependent noise (TOPS) has been proposed as a general framework for planning goal-directed movements. Within this framework, the motor command is assumed to be corrupted by signal-dependent noise, which leads to a distribution of possible movements. A task can then be equated with optimizing some function of the statistics of this distribution. We found the optimal trajectory for obstacle avoidance by minimizing the mean-squared error at the end of the movement while keeping the probability of collision with the obstacle below a fixed limit. The optimal paths accurately predicted the empirical trajectories. This demonstrates that controlling the statistics of movements in the presence of signal-dependent noise may be a fundamental and unifying principle of goal-directed movements.


Objective: Treatment of patients with a history of breast cancer who are diagnosed as newly found solid pulmonary nodule is still controversial. Our study is to find out whether the pulmonary nodule represents a primary cancer, metastasis, or benign lesion secondary to breast cancer can be differentially prognostic. Methods: A total of 165 consecutive patients who underwent surgery or biopsy for pulmonary nodules between 2007 and 2013 after curative operation for breast cancer were reviewed. The postoperative survival rate was analyzed and the difference in survival rate was assessed between groups of pulmonary nodules representing a primary cancer, metastasis, and benign lesion. Results: Among these 165 patients, median age was 59 and mean follow-up was 51 months (range from 5 to 398). The pathologic diagnoses of pulmonary nodules were pulmonary metastases of breast cancer in 71 patients (43%), primary lung cancer in 59 (35.8%), and other diagnoses in 35 (21.2%) (hyperplasia in 11; pneumonia in 9; granuloma in 6; sclerosing hemangioma and pulmonary fibrosis in 4 each). In those who were diagnosed as malignant pulmonary tumor, about one half (56.4%) were secondary malignant and the rest were metastatic. There was no statistically difference in median age or disease free interval between operation date of breast surgery and pulmonary surgery or biopsy among these groups. However, those who were diagnosed as primary malignant or benign lesion had significantly higher incidence of isolated pulmonary nodule shown on their CT scan results (P=0.036). The incidence of positive lymph node involvement and negative ER/PR status was significantly higher in metastatic breast cancer patients (63.8% and 70.6%, respectively). Among patients with metastatic pulmonary nodules, rates of discordance between primary breast tumor and metastasis foci were 20.3%, 23.7% and 14.7% for ER, PR and HER2, respectively, which changed a lot the regimen used for treatment of metastatic breast cancer. Both the 5-year and 10-year disease-free survival from the initial mastectomy were significantly shorter in metastatic breast cancer patients (72.9%, 35.3%) when compared with patients with primary pulmonary cancer (82.9%, 53.8%) or pulmonary benign lesions (91.6%, 67.8%). Prognostic factors in metastatic breast cancer patients were a disease-free interval of >60 months with 10-year survival of 48.3% (P Conclusions: We think that pulmonary lumpectomy is the best option in selected cases of solitary or multiple pulmonary nodules from breast cancer, which can be useful for differential diagnosis, predicting prognosis and deciding the drug treatment strategy in some cases. Citation Format: Zhebin Liu, Yihua Sun, Fangjing Ma, Hong Ling, Keda Yu, Guangyu Liu, Genhong Di, Zhen Hu, Canmin Chen, Yifeng Hou, Jiong Wu, Zhenzhou Shen, Zhimin Shao. Differential prognosis of pulmonary lumpectomy in patients with a history of curative breast cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Thirty-Seventh Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: 2014 Dec 9-13; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(9 Suppl):Abstract nr P2-18-04.


This article highlights both theoretical and experimental experiences in the field of helmet-mounted cueing systems. The current state of these systems is described as optical and hybrid. The adventures of the positioning under local magnetic field are considered, and the directions for further improvement of magnetic technology are identified. A new method is proposed for the local magnetic field creation to increase update rate, to reduce the influence of the Earth's magnetic field, and to reduce energy consumption of helmet-mounted cueing systems in relation to known prototypes. A mathematical model of positioning field is offered. The accuracy of the field mathematical description is studied for different shapes of windings. The transients are investigated in the source of positioning field and in the interior of the cockpit. In addition, a mathematical model of magnetic measurements is proposed, and the main sources of measurement and positioning errors are investigated. The calculation algorithm of the helmet's coordinates is considered based on the results of magnetic measurements. The results of physical models research are given, and the operation of a sample in the full range of angles is shown. The trial mapping is conducted for the field created by the source with a ferromagnetic core. Positioning of the helmet's movement on specified paths is performed, and the results make it possible to figure out the next generation of helmetmounted cueing systems with extended angles range, higher angular and linear accuracy, increased update rate (200 Hz),and minimized influence of Earth's magnetic field.


The natural extension and reformulation of the unified theory (UT) proposed here makes it integro-differential and capable of describing the distant quenching of excitation by electron transfer, accompanied with contact but reversible exciplex formation. The numerical solution of the new UT equations allows specifying the kinetics of the fluorescence quenching and exciplex association/dissociation as well as those reactions' quantum yields. It was demonstrated that the distant electron transfer in either the normal or inverted Marcus regions screens the contact reaction of exciplex formation, especially at slow diffusion.


are now aware of the explosion of interest in this procedure as a way of revascularising the ischaemic brain. This book is a testament to the enthusiasm with which the operation is being carried out on many thousands of patients, and to the careful study of those patients, and of the technical problems involved in achieving a successful anastamosis. No one doubts the ability of the procedure to increase blood flow in the middle cerebral territory for example, nor the fact that patency can be achieved in


Resonant contact atomic force microscopy (resonant C-AFM) is used to quantitatively measure the elastic modulus of polymer nanotubes and metallic nanowires. To achieve this, an oscillating electric field is applied between the sample holder and the microscope head to excite the oscillation of the cantilever in contact with the nanostructures suspended over the pores of a membrane. The resonance frequency of the cantilever with the tip in contact with a nanostructure is shifted to higher values with respect to the resonance frequency of the free cantilever. It is demonstrated that the system can simply be modeled by a cantilever with the tip in contact with two springs. The measurement of the frequency shift enables the direct determination of the spring stiffness, i.e. the nanowires or nanotube stiffness. The method also enables the determination of the boundary conditions of the nanobeam on the membrane. The tensile elastic modulus is then simply determined using the classical theory of beam deflection. The obtained results for the larger nanostructures fairly agree to the values reported in the literature for the macroscopic elastic modulus of the corresponding materials. The measured modulus of the nanomaterials with smaller diameters is significantly higher than that of the larger ones. The increase of the apparent elastic modulus for the smaller diameters is attributed to the surface tension effects. It is thus demonstrated that resonant C-AFM enables the measurement of the elastic modulus and of the surface tension of nanomaterials.


The Flammulated Owl (Otus flammeolus) is widely distributed in the montane forests of western North America (Bent 1938). The owl is insectivorous (Ross 1969) and is presumed to be migratory in the northern part of its range (Balda et al. 1975). Little is known of the nesting behavior of this species, especially during the postfledging period. Here, we present the postfledging behavior of adults and young and describe the occurrence of brood division in Flammulated Owls.