In low and middle-income countries, access to cancer diagnosis and treatment is suboptimal. Further, compliance to cancer treatment is a major issue due to various reasons including financial barriers, lack of family support and fear of treatment. This article discusses the determinants of treatment completion in cancer patients of a government-run hospital, in a rural part of Punjab in India. The Sangrur hospital-based cancer registry data for the year 2018 have been used. We have registered 2,969 cancer cases, out of which 2,528 (85%) cases were eligible for the analysis. Of the total 2,528 cases, 1,362 (54%) cases completed the cancer directed treatment and 1,166 (46%) did not. The data have been collected from the electronic medical record (EMR) department and entered into CanReg5 software. The bivariate and multivariate binary logistic regression analysis was performed to see the effect of variables on the treatment completion. The results indicate that the elderly age group (>60 years) (odds ratio (OR): 0.52, (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.31–0.86)), distance from hospital (OR: 0.67, (95% CI: 0.50–0.89)) and access to government health schemes (OR: 0.13, (95% CI: 0.10–0.19)] have direct correlation with the treatment completion. The educated patients (OR: 1.49, (95% CI: 1.13–1.96)) and patients who received curative treatment (OR: 2.7, (95% CI: 1.88–3.88)) have shown 58% and 84% compliance to treatment completion, respectively. The other variables like the clinical extent of disease, religion, gender and income do not have any significant effect on the treatment completion. Determinants like age (young), education, distance from the hospital, curative treatment and availability of government health schemes for financial support have shown positive effects on treatment completion. These factors have to be considered by the cancer hospitals, health departments and policymakers while planning for cancer care or control in India.


In this paper we describe an implementation and modeling of a novel fatigue monitoring sensor based on integration of piezoelectric transduction with floating gate avalanche injection. The miniaturized sensor enables continuous battery-less monitoring and failure predictions of biomechanical implants. Measured results from a fabricated prototype in a 0.5mum CMOS process demonstrate excellent agreement with the theoretical model in computing cumulative statistics of electrical signals generated by the piezoelectric transducer. The power dissipation of the sensor is less than 1muW which makes it attractive for integration with biocompatible poly-vinylidene diflouride (PVDF) based transducers.


Existing approaches to species delimitation use the extent of divergence between taxa. However, processes, such as gene flow during divergence or secondary contact, as well as population expansion and migration, complicate this task. Smith and Carstens introduce the R package delimitR, which uses machine learning to integrate gene flow into species delimitation inference.


Obesity is considered to be a major factor in the pathogenesis of hypertension in industrialized countries. Recent studies have suggested that the kidneys may play an important role in the development of obesity-induced hypertension. The purpose of this study was to determine whether obesity-induced hypertension is associated with abnormalities in the pressure-natriuresis relation. Renal function studies were performed in anesthetized control dogs (body weight, 20.2±0.8 kg) and obese dogs (body weight, 26.4±0.7 kg) that were maintained on a high-fat diet for 5 to 6 weeks. Mean arterial pressure averaged 122±5 mm Hg in the control group (n=6) and 148±7 mm Hg in the obese group (n=8). The effects of renal perfusion pressure on renal hemodynamics as well as sodium and water excretions were examined at five levels of renal perfusion pressure ranging from 75 to 165 mm Hg. Pressure-natriuretic and diuretic responses were reduced in the obese dogs by 40% to 50%. The renal blood flow and glomerular filtration rate autoregulatory responses and fractional lithium excretion responses to changes in renal perfusion pressure were similar in the control and obese dog groups. Associated with the attenuated natriuretic response to renal perfusion pressure in the obese dogs were significant elevations in plasma renin activity (4.3±1.6 versus 1.6±0.5 ng angiotensin I/mL per hour), plasma aldosterone concentration (34.4±6.4 versus 15.3±3.2 ng/dL), and plasma insulin concentration (30.5±6.8 versus 20.9±2.9 IU/mL). The results of this study establish that obesity-induced hypertension in the dog is associated with a shift in the pressurenatriuresis relation. The underlying mechanism responsible for the abnormal pressure-natriuresis relation in this model of obesity may be due to activation of various sodiumretaining systems such as the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system.


Introduction: Installation service system at the Emergency Department (ED) Soetomo Hospital is a coordinated and integrated system under one roof. Include emergency medical and emergency surgery in a very important component of health services at each hospital. The information published on the patient profile and the usefulness of emergency care services indeveloping countries and developed countries is still very rare. This study aimed to describe the characteristic of patients attending the ED at Soetomo hospital Surabaya.Method: This study was a retrospective study. The profile of patients visiting the ED for 1 year were recorded and presented descriptively.Result: The total number of patients visiting the hospital was 5,835, with a monthly average of 486 patients. The children at the age of 1–5 years presented the largest age group (33.6%). The main diagnosis was respiratory tract infection (31%), diarrhea (17.%), followed by seizure (12.4%). The overall mortality rate was 1.7%.Discussion: Respiratory tract infection in children at the age of 1–5 years still count as a major problem at Soetomo Hospital Surabaya.


Compared with the ground-based traffic surveillance systems, the airborne platform takes advantage of convenience and low cost. In most of the existing aerial-based systems, the airborne platform is only responsible for data collection and the ground station is in charge of all data processing for vehicle detection. However, such architecture has a low real-time performance unless with the support of specifically constructed wireless networks. This paper proposed an airborne traffic surveillance system, which can detect vehicles in real time with only a general narrowband wireless network support. In our system, the airborne platform not only gathers video information but also carries out data pre-processing, and only the useful data is transferred to the ground via a GPRS/EDGE network. Moreover, more accurate vehicle flow detection with a false-alarm reduction module is performed on the ground station. Experimental results preliminarily show that the system can achieve real-time vehicle flow detection with a high detection rate and a low false-alarm rate.


COVID-19 had a "catastrophic" impact on patient engagement in health research, says Bertrand Lebouché, a clinicianresearcher at McGill University Health Centre. Prior to the pandemic, funding bodies increasingly required investigators to involve patients throughout the research process --from setting priorities to translating results into practice. "It gives an opportunity for the patient to become part of the solution," says Lebouché. With COVID-19, these requirements mostly fell by the wayside. Patient partnership can be costly, time consuming and complicated, so it's understandable why it stalled in the first months of the pandemic. Yet more than a year later, many funding calls for COVID-19 research still don't mention the need to include patients or the public as partners.


This article examines the underlying fairness of applying equitable security presumptions to the deposit of title documents belonging to third parties. It argues that within such transactions, the focus of the equitable jurisdiction must be upon the intention of the owner of the title documents rather than presumptions arising from the fact of the deposit. It suggests that there is no logic in applying equitable presumptions, founded on the principles of part performance, to infer a security intention in transactions involving third party title documents. The fact that the parties to a loan advance may have intended to create a mortgage between themselves does not mean that the third party owner of the title documents also intended to create a mortgage. In third party transactions, the objectives of the equity jurisdiction are best achieved through a comprehensive assessment of the intention of all parties and the abolition of presumptions based upon the bare fact of title deposit.


Professor Thompson's first edition, which appeared five years ago, gained its deserved place as the standard general work on population problems. Presented in the form of a textbook, it proved to be a work which no one interested in the subject could disregard. For the general student and interested reader, it was a comprehensive and authoritative treatment of the subject as well as a handy reference for otherwise inaccessible data. For the special student it was the systematic presentation of the views of one of the field's leading research students. The second edition is the worthy suc-


It is well known that the chromosome number of a plant may be a character of importance to taxonomy; it can often give a better insight with respect to the place of a taxon in the System. It is, therefore, particularly important to determine for any species the chromosome number of as many individuals from as many localities as possible. Publications of lists of documented chromosome numbers as presented by Love in the IOPB reports in Taxon are very valuable and so are lists of chromosome numbers of plants from more restricted areas (Greenland: Jorgensen et al., 1958; Iceland: Love and Love, 1956; the Netherlands: Gadella and Kliphuis, 1963; Poland: Skalinska, 1950, Skalinska et al., 1957, 1959, 1961; Sweden, Skane: Lovkvist, 1962). These lists enable us to ascertain whether or not there are differences in chromosome numbers within a species and whether or not there is a relation with the geographical distribution or the ecological preference. Apart from the number, however, the size and shape of the chromosomes and, consequently, their 'portrait' may be of value. In the Angiospermae this character plays an important role almost exclusively in the Monocotyledones.


A conceptual analysis is offered that differentiates four types of motivation for community involvement: egoism, altruism, collectivism, and principlism. Differentiation is based on identification of a unique ultimate goal for each motive. For egoism, the ultimate goal is to increase one's own welfare; for altruism, it is to increase the welfare of another individual or individuals; for collectivism, to increase the welfare of a group; and for principlism, to uphold one or more moral principles. As sources of community involvement, each of these four forms of motivation has its strengths; each also has its weaknesses. More effective efforts to stimulate community involvement may come from strategies that orchestrate motives so that the strengths of one motive can overcome weaknesses of another. Among the various possibilities, strategies that combine appeals to either altruism or collectivism with appeals to principle may be especially promising.


Non-oil tax revenue constitutes an integral part of the total revenue of Nigeria. It is expected that the introduction of the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) will have a significant effect on total non-oil tax revenue since more companies would be captured by the tax net. This paper therefore set out to empirically investigate the effect of TIN on non-oil tax revenue through a comparative analysis of pre and post TIN years of 2000 to 2015. Data was collected from Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Statistical Bulletin. The study employed both descriptive and pairwise t-test statistical techniques for analyses with total non-oil tax revenue as the dependent variable while CIT, VAT and TET were the independent variables. Findings showed that there has been a significant increase in total non-oil tax revenue with the introduction of TIN. Also, revenue generated from CIT and TET after the implementation of TIN improved significantly. VAT revenue however, did not improve after the implementation of TIN. Recommendations include that the VAT base needs to be enlarged through electronic capture of all VATable persons.


Three variations in narrational unreliability are discussed along with four proposals aimed at formulating a teleology of unreliable narrator. The variations include back-loading signals of unreliability, deploying partial awareness of self-incrimination, and using a limited first person narrator. Apropos teleology, we argue that unreliable narration helps to subvert the moral and or epistemological worldview of the narrator. Secondly, unreliable narration facilitates an effective examination of the strengths and weaknesses of unbridled imagination. In addition, unreliable narration permits a reconceptualization of our understanding of truth and falsehood. Finally, unreliable narrators who overindulge in imaginary flights provide one of the best sources of narrative humor. Reinaldo Arenas, José Donoso are Jorge Luis Borges provide the raw materials for this dual effort in design and purpose.


Invariant operator method for discrete or continuous spectrum eigenvalue and unitary transformation approach are employed to study the two-dimensional time-dependent Pauli equation in presence of the Aharonov–Bohm effect (AB) and external scalar potential. For the spin particles the problem with the magnetic field is that it introduces a singularity into wave equation at the origin. A physical motivation is to replace the zero radius flux tube by one of radius R, with the additional condition that the magnetic field be confined to the surface of the tube, and then taking the limit R → 0 at the end of the computations. We point that the invariant operator must contain the step function θ(r – R). Consequently, the problem becomes more complicated. In order to avoid this difficulty, we replace the radius R by ρ(t)R, where ρ(t) is a positive time-dependent function. Then at the end of calculations we take the limit R → 0. The qualitative properties for the invariant operator spectrum are described separately for the different values of the parameter C appearing in the nonlinear auxiliary equation satisfied by ρ(t), i.e., C > 0, C = 0, and C 0) or continuous (C ≤ 0).


OBJECTIVE
To examine differences in patterns of and barriers to health care utilization between black and white children who have frequent ear infections (FEI).

METHODS
Analysis was conducted using the 1997 and 1998 National Health Interview Survey-Sample Child Files. Data on 25 497 children under 18 years of age and 1985 who were reported by the parent/guardian to have had "3 or more ear infections during the past 12 months" were analyzed. The data were weighted and analyzed to represent all black and white children nationwide, accounting for the complex survey design.

RESULTS
Of white and black children under 18 years of age in the United States, 8.0 and 6.6%, respectively, had FEI in the past year. Among those with FEI, whites and blacks exhibited significantly different patterns in the type of health insurance they had and in the usual source of care. After accounting for sociodemographic factors, health insurance, and usual source of care, there were still significant differences in health care use between whites and blacks. The affected black children had an increased risk of getting delayed care because of transportation problems (odds ratio [OR]: 2.32) and a reduced likelihood of seeing a medical specialist (OR: 0.49) and having surgery (OR: 0.39) in comparison to white children.

CONCLUSION
Although black children with FEI were as likely as white children to be covered by health insurance and have a usual place of health care, they were significantly more likely to face barriers in obtaining the care, especially the more specialized care.


Using traditional statistical models, like ARMA and multilinear regression, confidence intervals can be computed for the short-term electric load forecasting, assuming that the forecast errors are independent and Gaussian distributed. In this paper, the 1 to 24 steps ahead load forecasts are obtained through multilayer perceptrons trained by the backpropagation algorithm. Three techniques for the computation of confidence intervals for this neural network based short-term load forecasting are presented: (1) error output; (2) resampling; and (3) multilinear regression adapted to neural networks. A comparison of the three techniques is performed through simulations of online forecasting.


With the aging of the general population in industrialized nations, calcific aortic stenosis (CAS) is becoming an increasingly important medical problem. The etiology is for the most part, dependent on the age at presentation; the two predominant causes in the western world are calcific aortic valve disease arising in a tricuspid aortic valve and bicuspid aortic valve (BAV). CAS is a progressive disease, exhibiting a spectrum of pathologic findings, ranging from valvular sclerosis to severe nodular calcification. Aortic valve replacement is the recommended treatment for severe disease but tissue valves may also calcify over time. Various atherosclerotic risk factors have been linked to aortic stenosis and there are mechanistic similarities between atherosclerosis and CAS. The precise pathologic mechanisms underlying aortic stenosis are poorly understood.


Aims: This symposium will show how the study of individual differences in relation to skin disease can inform patient care. It aims to emphasise the importance of psychological researchers working in collaboration with patient groups.

Rationale: Psychological research with skin conditions has received little attention. The symposium provides an opportunity to hear about innovative research.

Summary: The first two papers investigate psychological and behavioural variables relevant to many dermatological conditions. In the first paper Thompson et al. report on a mixed methods study examining psychosocial distress reported by people with alopecia and associations between this and wig use. The findings suggest that participants valued using wigs, however the relationship between wig use and social confidence is complex. In the second paper Schmidt et al. report on a survey which enabled analysis of the indirect effects of appearance concern and skin picking behaviour on group differences in depression, anxiety, and well-being, using mediation modeling. The findings suggest that concerns about appearance and skin picking can contribute substantially to distress. The third paper takes a different focus, and moves the symposia onto examining how differences in patients' beliefs might influence adherence to medication for psoriasis. Thorneloe et al. study provides some guidance as to identifying the factors that warrant further investigation in addressing patients concerns about treatment. The final oral presentation shares the promising results of a group mindfulness based cognitive therapy intervention. Alopecia UK has created a film enactment of a 'typical' interaction between a patient and health care professional from the patient perspective. The brief film will conclude with a summary of patient views as to the future psychological research priorities. The final discussion will invite the audience to reflect upon how individual difference researchers can better work with patient groups to ensure that research results in advances in care.


OBJECTIVE
To examine whether preschool children with Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) utilize more speech and language therapy (ST), occupational therapy (OT), and physical therapy (PT) services and are more likely to be placed in special education (SPED) classrooms as compared to their peers. Corresponding financial consequences were also examined.

METHODS
The amount of ST, OT, and PT, as well as SPED placements, was examined in 3- and 4-year-old children with and without ADHD (n = 109 and n = 97, respectively) during the baseline portion of an ongoing, 5-year longitudinal study. Costs for individual services and aggregate cost were determined per child and compared across groups.

RESULTS
Preschool children with ADHD were more likely to receive individual and multiple services. Higher rates of service utilization translated into increased costs for each individual service with the exception of PT.

CONCLUSIONS
A comprehensive understanding of service utilization in the early years of development is important in addressing the increased service use in the preschool years and assist in guiding allocation of resources.


In the past years, the possible involvement of inflammation in the pathogenesis of dementia has been the subject of several investigations. However there are restricted data about the profile of the inflammatory and soluble proteins in well evaluated Alzheimer's disease (AD), vascular dementia (VD), mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and healthy controls. There are also no reliable data regarding the relationship between the overlapping protein levels and cognitive or functional decline. We measured levels of IL-1β, IL-2, IL-6, IL-18, TNF-α, β-Amlyloid 1–40 and α1-antichymotrypsin levels in plasma in groups of total 82 subjects with AD, MCI, VD and controls using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. Our study samples showed high levels of proinflammatory cytokine levels (especially IL-18) in all patient groups but only high levels of α1-antichymotrypsine in VD patients compared to controls. There is no significant correlation between the laboratory and clinical variables except for a link between IL-1β and NPI scores of AD. In conclusion, this study yielded evidence of some shared mechanisms underlying AD and VD and thus motivates further studies of inflammatory markers in various types of dementia and MCI.


The computation of the inverse of a number in finite fields, namely Galois Fields GF(p) or GF(2n), is one of the most complex arithmetic operations in cryptographic applications. In this work, we investigate the GF(p) inversion and present several phases in the design of efficient hardware implementations to compute the Montgomery modular inverse. We suggest a new correction phase for a previously proposed almost Montgomery inverse algorithm to calculate the inversion in hardware. It is also presented how to obtain a fast hardware algorithm to compute the inverse by multi-bit shifting method. The proposed designs have the hardware scalability feature, which means that the design can fit on constrained areas and still handle operands of any size. In order to have long-precision calculations, the module works on small precision words. The word-size, on which the module operates, can be selected based on the area and performance requirements. The upper limit on the operand precision is dictated only by the available memory to store the operands and internal results. The scalable module is in principle capable of performing infinite-precision Montgomery inverse computation of an integer, modulo a prime number. We also propose a scalable and unified architecture for a Montgomery inverse hardware that operates in both GF(p) and GF(2n) fields. We adjust and modify a GF(2n) Montgomery inverse algorithm to benefit from multi-bit shifting hardware features making it very similar to the proposed best design of GF(p) inversion hardware. We compare all scalable designs with fully parallel ones based on the same basic inversion algorithm. All scalable designs consumed less area and in general showed better performance than the fully parallel ones, which makes the scalable design a very efficient solution for computing the long precision Montgomery inverse.


Under observation were taken 39 young men studying at the university, throughout their lives, who had low muscle activity and started systematic volleyball training 3 times during the week. The control group included 35 young men studying at the university, who for at least the last 2 years systematically participated in volleyball training at least 3 times a week. During the study, traditional biochemical, thematic, and statistical methods for obtaining scientific information were used. After six months of regular physical training in the blood of young men, there was a normalization of the content of products synthesized from arachidonic acid, a decrease in the content of cholesterol molecules, and acyl hydroperoxides in the erythrocyte membranes with an increase in the number of phospholipids. By the end of the observation in the blood of young men who started volleyball training, there was an increase in the number of discoid erythrocytes and a decrease in the content of erythrocytes with a changed shape. It can be assumed that with an increase in the level of muscle activity due to systematic volleyball training, previously physically untrained young men develop optimization of the surface characteristics of erythrocytes, which can facilitate microcirculation and metabolism throughout the body .


Plasmodium vivax is considered to be absent from Central and West Africa because of the protective effect of Duffy negativity. However, there are reports of persons returning from these areas infected with this parasite and observations suggesting the existence of transmission. Among the possible explanations for this apparent paradox, the existence of a zoonotic reservoir has been proposed. May great apes be this reservoir? We analyze the mitochondrial and nuclear genetic diversity of P. vivax parasites isolated from great apes in Africa and compare it to parasites isolated from travelers returning from these regions of Africa, as well as to human isolates distributed all over the world. We show that the P. vivax sequences from parasites of great apes form a clade genetically distinct from the parasites circulating in humans. We show that this clade's parasites can be infectious to humans by describing the case of a traveler returning from the Central African Republic infected with one of them. The relationship between this P. vivax clade in great apes and the human isolates is discussed.


During oxidation impurities in a integrated circuit can change its electrical, chemical, and even mechanical properties. Redistribution of impurities in the thermal process is very important for the production of three dimensional integrated structures of increasingly higher integration degree, impurities move to other areas or redistribute because of the thermal process, error occurs in the formed areas. The three-dimensional field-effect transistor adequate selection algorithm in the integral three-dimensional structure which estimates local oxide influence is created. The algorithm estimates etching technologies, local oxidation process, and rational parameters and has feedback to other technological processes stages.


ending up with Giddens on structuranon (nor the dearest exposition). No interesting questions are posed to ground the analysis and motivate the structure. In fact the book raises questions about what media studies has come to from its politically engaged beginnings. The ideas here are so superficially dealt with, the references so geographically vast and the position so uncommitted (media institutions have power bur audiences are active) that one wonders how this analysis might help anyone think about anything practical, like policy issues. It seems to be a case of increasingly space-binding theorising that celebrates the endless variations of cultural hybndiry in the world but could be used to justify any kind of cultural regime. Helen Wilson


Information about the difficulties which may occur in the skin around the ileostomy outlet was obtained from 451 patients. Dermatitis was reported by 58 % of this group; it generally occurred in the early postoperative period (6-12 weeks). The high incidence was ascribed to the prolonged contact of the usually unprotected skin with the ileostomy effluent. The epithelium underlying the ring used to attach the collection bag to the skin was commonly irritated or excoriated by pressure or by adhesive agents. A stoma opening flush with the skin invariably caused irritation, but ileac stumps that were too long were liable to trauma. An ileac stump about 2 cm. in length appeared to be optimal. Karaya powder was reported as helpful by many patients in developing individual techniques of skin care. Many of the patients who had least difficulty in adjusting to and caring for their ileostomies reported "ileostomy clubs" as the best source of help.


Although the important role of Foxp3+ Tregs in suppressing immune responses to solid tumors is well accepted, to date, there has been little success in targeting this population other than by their transient depletion or "secondary" modulation by mAbs to CTLA-4. In contrast, we have undertaken a mechanism-driven approach to Treg targeting based on our ongoing research into the post-translational modifications that regulate Foxp3, such as its acetylation by one or more histone/protein acetyltransferase (HAT) enzymes. Our analysis of each of the main HAT families has shown that members of the Myst family have the greatest contribution, with Tip60 deletion leading to lethal autoimmunity within 3 weeks of birth. We have now translated these insights into the development and testing of a new pharmacologic inhibitor of Tip60 (Tip60i) that binds to the Ac-CoA site of Tip60. First, submicromolar levels of this Tip60i impaired Treg function in vitro but preserved conventional T cell proliferation. Second, Tip60 administration in vivo (10 mg/kg/d, 14 d) revoked Treg-dependent allograft tolerance induced by CD40L mAb plus donor splenocyte transfusion, and restored T cell-dependent cardiac allograft rejection. These studies illustrate the ability of the Tip60i to impair Treg functions while preserving protective effector T cell functions. Third, treatment of immunocompetent mice bearing established TC1 lung adenocarcinomas (which we have shown is a Treg-sensitive tumor) with Tip60i (1 mg/kg/d) significantly impaired tumor growth (p Citation Format: Wayne W. Hancock, Liqing Wang, Kheng Newick, Aaron Beeler, Steven M. Albelda. Inhibition of the histone/protein acetyltransferase, Tip60, impairs Foxp3 acetylation and Treg function and thereby promotes antitumor immunity. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Fourth AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Basic Cancer Research; 2015 Oct 23-26; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(3 Suppl):Abstract nr A03.


The history of resources use, as revealed by current metabolic profiles, has put different world regions on different path dependencies and therefore creates very specific sustainability problems for each region. discussed among the wider public. Pressure points including climate change, water and food availability, price surges for strategic raw materials, and peaking global oil supply are converging rapidly in an unprecedented manner. The current global patterns of production and consumption are hitting the real limits of global ecosystems. The global economy seems to be at a turning point where decisions are urgent while information is incomplete. The urgency of addressing issues of industrial metabolism1 and managing the amount of natural resources used and the waste and emissions generated in our economic activities is reflected in a number of high level policy initiatives. In the year 2000, the Group of Eight (G8) addressed the need for sound information on global resource use and emissions, and commissioned the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)2 to provide guidance in the process of establishing information systems and indicators. A number of countries have moved ahead by establishing high level policy goals and objectives related to sustainable resource use, most notably Japan, the European Union (EU) and China.


OBJECTIVE
The authors examined consumer outcomes before and after implementing CommonGround, a computer-based shared decision-making program.

METHODS
Consumers with severe mental illness (N=167) were interviewed prior to implementation and 12 and 18 months later to assess changes in active treatment involvement, symptoms, and recovery-related attitudes. Providers also rated consumers on level of treatment involvement.

RESULTS
Most consumers used CommonGround at least once (67%), but few used the program regularly. Mixed-effects regression analyses showed improvement in self-reported symptoms and recovery attitudes. Self-reported treatment involvement did not change; however, for a subset of consumers with the same providers over time (N=83), the providers rated consumers as more active in treatment.

CONCLUSIONS
This study adds to the growing literature on tools to support shared decision making, showing the potential benefits of CommonGround for improving recovery outcomes. More work is needed to better engage consumers in CommonGround and to test the approach with more rigorous methods.


Abstract Objective: This study aimed to investigate whether the serum N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and troponin I levels at emergency department (ED) presentation predict long-term neurologic outcomes after acute charcoal-burning carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning. Methods: This retrospective study included 220 patients suffering from charcoal-burning CO poisoning. The demographics, serum NT-proBNP and troponin I levels at ED presentation, treatment, clinical course during hospitalization, and long-term neurologic outcomes were collected. Results: The median serum NT-proBNP level at presentation was 48.8 (16.5–259) pg/mL, and 78 patients (35.5%) had elevated troponin I (>0.04 ng/mL) after acute charcoal-burning CO poisoning. The upper NT-proBNP and elevated troponin I groups had higher prevalences of respiratory failure, hypotension, and myocardial injury during hospitalization and altered mentality (GCS ≤14) at discharge than the lower NT-proBNP and normal troponin I groups. The incidence of persistent severe neurologic sequelae at 25 months after acute CO poisoning was 10.9%. The upper NT-proBNP and elevated troponin I groups had a higher incidence of poor long-term neurologic outcome than the counterpart groups. Log-transformed NT-proBNP and elevated troponin I were associated with poor long-term neurologic outcome in the univariate analysis, but only the adjusted log-transformed NT-proBNP remained an independent factor in the multivariate analysis. Compared with a predictive model including previously proposed predictors, the addition of log NT-proBNP improved the diagnostic accuracy for predicting poor long-term neurologic outcome. The serum NT-proBNP values for predicting poor long-term neurologic outcome were 74.6 and 32.7 pg/mL at fixed sensitivities of 95 and 99%, respectively. Conclusions: Elevated serum NT-proBNP at ED presentation is correlated with a risk of poor long-term neurologic outcome after discharge in cases of acute charcoal-burning CO poisoning. NT-proBNP could significantly improve the risk stratification of patients who will experience poor long-term neurologic outcome after CO poisoning. This potentially valuable marker should be further validated.


Transport of solid-liquid slurries in pipeline transport over short and medium distances is very important in many industries, including mining related processes. The particle image velocimetry technique was successfully utilized to investigate the velocities and kinetic energy fluctuations of slurry particles at the tongue region of an optically-clear centrifugal pump. The experiments were conducted using 500 micron glass beads at volumetric concentrations of 2.5% and 5% at pump speeds of 725 and 1000 rpm. The fluctuation kinetic energy increased approximately 200% to 500% as the pump speed was increased from 725 rpm to 1000 rpm. The directional impingement mechanism is more significant at the pressure side of the blade, tongue and the casing. This mechanism becomes more important as the speed increases. This suggests that the impeller, tongue and the casing of the slurry pump can wear out quickly, especially with an increase in speed. In this paper the emphasis is on the tongue region. The random impingement mechanism caused by the fluctuation kinetic energy of the solids can play an important role on the erosion of the tongue area.Copyright © 2002 by ASME


The quality of the longissimus lumborum muscle (Holstein-Friesian Black-and-White- HF BW x Belgian Blue - BB bulls) was determined after 14 days of storage under different modified atmospheres (MA) (vacuum; 40% CO2 + 60% N2; 30% CO2 + 70% Ar) and 6 months of frozen storage following 14 days of MA storage. Weight loss and cooking loss were smaller, and drip loss was greater after frozen storage compared with refrigerated storage. The pH of stored meat was typical of high-quality beef. TBARS values increased after refrigerated storage and after frozen storage. The changes in color parameters point to metmyoglobin formation in frozen meat. Both refrigerator and freezer storage had beneficial influence on tenderness, and shear force values decreased in frozen beef. The composition of MA during refrigerated storage had no effect on the analyzed parameters of beef. Frozen meat that was stored in a MA containing Ar prior to freezing was characterized by the lowest weight loss, and vacuum-packaged meat - by the lowest TBARS values.


Restriction fragment length variant analysis employing a mouse cDNA probe was used to localize the gene encoding murine activating transcription factor 4 (ATF-4) to mouse chromosome 15 in close proximity to Sis (the cellular homolog of the simian sarcoma virus oncoprotein). Previous studies suggest that conserved linkage relationships exist between this region of mouse chromosome 15 and human chromosome 22q. The chromosomal locations of genes encoding most members of the ATF and cyclic AMP response element binding protein (CREB) subfamily of b-zip proteins have not been determined. This study demonstrates that the location of the gene for murine ATF-4 is not linked to the genes for JUN family members, CREB1 and CREB2. Further mapping of individual ATF/CREB subfamily members in the mouse will provide insight into the evolution of this multigene family.


In Shale plays, EURs relay almost exclusively on "primary" production with practically no account for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) practices. However, many recent works show the feasibility of using different techniques to improve the well's EUR by means of some kind of assistance. Lean gas, CO2 and water injection, mostly in a huff-n-puff manner, seem to lead the industry's most accepted EOR methodologies in ultra-tight (shale) formations. Conceptual, theoretical and experimental work has been made in the water huff-n-puff arena including lab and field work and documented in previous work published by the authors. The methodology consists on a novel operative sequence to enhance oil production in multi-stage fractured Tight/Shale Oil scenarios involving countercurrent water imbibition processes and consists of a cyclic scheme of (i) high pressure water injection, (ii) soaking and a (iii) production period. These cycles could be repeated until capillary effects fade out. These phenomena, which should occur in areas where a substantial portion of the shale matrix contains water-wet effective porosity, could explain some anomalous behaviors such as the low water recoveries observed in many cases, rapid salinization of the flow-back water and the rapid appearance of hydrocarbons at early flow-back times, when no substantial % of the injected water is yet recovered.
 This work shares the partial results of the second field test performed in the Vaca Muerta resource play, implemented on a vertical, three-stage well in the black oil window, similar to the first field experience from previous work. The test design was modified (i.e. lower water volumes and alternation of injection and shut-in periods) based on the insights gained in previous tests, to minimize the test complexity, costs and to extract additional information from the transients. The results of this new field test showed that it was possible to inject significant water volumes without reaching original fracturing pressure and without damaging the fracture network productivity. Compared to previous tests, the surface and downhole operations were simpler and inexpensive. Partial results were encouraging, as the pre-test oil rates were recovered and even slightly improved with less than 40% of the injected water volumes recovered. Despite this, due to the shut in periods included and operative issues, in this particular trial, oil rates were not as instantaneous and as important yet, as to compensate for the cumulative oil losses during these shut-ins.


Sirs, We read with interest the article by Wong et al. on the prevalence of gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in a Chinese population and that by Spechler et al. on racial differences in GERD. We would like to share our own data on racial disparity in the prevalence of heartburn in an ethnically mixed non-migrant Asian population. The prevalence of GERD amongst Asians has been reported to be low and has been attributed to a lack of a word for heartburn in the Chinese language, the smaller body mass of Asians, the low-fat Asian diet and the high prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection. Indeed, there is no word for heartburn in certain other languages spoken in Asia, e.g. Tamil and Malay. Not surprisingly, Spechler et al. found significant differences amongst racial groups in the reporting, understanding and experience of heartburn, which were exceedingly low in East Asians (2.6%) when compared with Caucasians (34.6%) and Afro-Americans (46.1%). Studies from Taiwan report prevalence rates for erosive oesophagitis and Barrett's oesophagus of 15% and 2%, respectively, both of which approach those of published Western reports. 6 Our own data from Malaysia reveal a prevalence rate of endoscopically documented oesophagitis of 6% and a similar value for biopsyproven Barrett's oesophagus (both long and short segments), i.e. not dissimilar to published Western data. In view of the conflicting prevalence data on GERD in different geographical locations within Asia and the ethnic differentiation in the prevalence of oesophagitis and Barrett's metaplasia, we studied the prevalence of heartburn and health care-seeking behaviour in a multi-racial population. Furthermore, we sought to determine the proportion seeking treatment for GERD, be it Western or alternative medicine. In our cross-sectional study, we used the Gastrointestinal Symptoms Questionnaire previously validated in an Asian (Singaporean) population with a similar multi-racial mix, provided by Ho et al. Our questionnaire contained 24 ⁄121 response items in relation to GERD in the last year. Heartburn was defined as a burning feeling rising from the stomach or lower chest up towards the neck, and acid regurgitation as a very sour or acid-tasting fluid at the back of the throat. In particular, the severity and duration of heartburn, nocturnal awakening and aggravating and relieving factors were all included in the questionnaire, as were frequent psychosomatic symptoms. The study population was from the State of Perak (population, approximately 2 million) whose ethnic composition is as follows: Malays, 51.4%; Chinese, 31.3%; Indians, 12.8%; others, 4.5%. This ethnic distribution and basic demographic characteristics are representative of the rest of west Malaysia. Subjects were identified from the National Household Sampling Frame created for the 2000 Population and Housing Census. Subjects were recruited from both rural and urban areas using a race-stratified disproportionate random sampling procedure to ensure a sufficient number of members of ethnic minorities. To avoid ethnic ambiguity, only subjects without racial admixture in the immediate two preceding generations were recruited. A team of interviewers trained by one physician (SR) interviewed the subjects at home in the languages ⁄ dialect usually understood and spoken by the respondents. Subjects aged 18–81 years (mean, 33.6 years; standard deviation, 13 years), who were successfully interviewed and analysed, totalled 949 (478 males, 471 females), consisting of 314 Chinese, 314 Malays and 321 Indians. Heartburn at least once a year was reported by 319 (33.6%) respondents, with a female to male ratio of 1.3. Monthly and weekly prevalence rates were 31 (9.7%) and 19 (6.0%), respectively. The prevalence of annual heartburn by ethnic group was as follows: Chinese, 92 (29.3%); Malays, 91 (29%); Indians, 136 (42.4%) (Indians vs. Chinese: odds ratio, 1.77; 95% confidence interval, 1.26–2.50; P < 0.001; Indians vs. Malays: odds ratio, 1.80; 95% confidence Aliment Pharmacol Ther 2004; 19: 375–378. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2036.2004.01814.x


Worldwide, over 2.6 million persons receive treatment for end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) and this number is expected to double by 2030 (1). Nearly all patients with ESKD develop anemia and the current standard of care is to treat with a combination of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) and intravenous (IV) iron (2). Patients on dialysis, and particularly those on hemodialysis, tend to have relatively low iron stores due to low dietary intake, poor gastrointestinal absorption of iron, and blood loss from hemodialysis, lab draws, vascular access procedures, and gastrointestinal hemorrhage.


Development of aviation biofuels has attracted great attention worldwide because that the shortage of fossil resources has become more and more serious. In the present paper, the development background, synthesis technologies, current application status and existing problems of aviation biofuels were reviewed. Several preparation routes of aviation biofuels were described, including Fischer-Tropsch process, catalytic hydrogenation and catalytic cracking of bio-oil. The status of flight tests and commercial operation were also introduced. Finally the problems for development and application of aviation biofuels were stated, and some accommodation were proposed.


Introduction Elinor Ochs Part I. Acquiring Language and Culture through Interactional Routines: 2. Calling-out and repeating routines in Kwara'ae children's language socialization Karen Ann Watson-Gegeo and David W. Gegeo 3. Prompting routines in the language socialization of Basotho children Katherine Demuth 4. Interactional routines as cultural influences upon language acquisition Ann M. Peters and Stephen T. Boggs 5. What no bedtime story means: narrative skills at home and school Shirley Brice Heath Part II. Acquiring Knowledge of Status and Role through Language Use: 6. Social norms and lexical acquisition: a study of deictic verbs in Samoan child language Martha Platt 7. The acquisition of register variation by Anglo-American children Elaine S. Anderson Part III. Expressing Affect: Input and Acquisition: 8. Teasing and shaming in Kaluli children's interactions Bambi B. Schieffelin 9. Teasing: verbal play in two Mexicano homes Ann R. Eisenberg 10. Teasing as language socialization and verbal play in a white working-class community Peggy Miller 11. The acquisition of communicative style in Japanese Patricia M. Clancy 12. From feeling to grammar: a Samoan case study Elinor Ochs.


The present study aimed to prove that the angle and distance between the superior mesenteric artery (SMA) and the aorta are significantly correlated with the body mass index (BMI) in order to establish a strong etiological role of the BMI in the development of SMA syndrome. SMA syndrome is characterized by the compression of the third segment of the duodenum by the mesentery at the SMA level, resulting in duodenal compression, oc casionally accompanied by gastric compression. The syndrome is closely associated with the depletion of the fat pad between the vessels, which re duces the angle and distance between the vessels. This prospective study in cluded 300 patients [163 males and 137 females; mean age, 51 (range, 40– 70) years] who underwent multislice detector computed tomography (CT) scan in Alzahra Hospital in 2017 for various complaints other than SMA syndrome. CT scans were performed by the standard protocol including a plain phase scan, followed by arterial and venous phase scans, to measure the SMA–aorta angle. The patients were categories as per their BMI into four categories defined by WHO. The mean values for the distance and an gle were calculated, with P values of 5% (95% confidence intervals) indicat ing significant difference. Pearson coefficients between the parameters and BMI were also determined, and the t-test was performed for comparisons. A strong positive correlation was observed between BMI and the SMA–aorta angle, indicating that the angle increases with increasing BMI, which reduc es the risk of developing SMA syndrome.


The surfactant nonylphenol (NP) is an endocrine‐disrupting compound that is widely spread throughout the environment. Although environmental risk assessments are based on total NP concentrations, only the bioavailable fraction posses an environmental risk. The present study describes the bioavailability and biodegradability of NP over time in contaminated river sediment of a tributary of the Ebro River in Spain. The bioavailable fraction was collected with Tenax TA® beads, and biodegradation was determined in aerobic batch experiments. The presence of NP was analyzed chemically using gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry and indirectly as estrogenic potency using an in vitro reporter gene assay (ERα‐luc assay). Of the total extractable NP in the sediment, 95% ± 1.5% (mean ± standard error) desorbed quickly into the water phase. By aerobic biodegradation, the total extractable NP concentration and the estrogenic activity were reduced by 97% ± 0.5% and 94% ± 2%, respectively. The easily biodegradable fraction equals the potential bioavailable fraction. Only 43 to 86% of the estrogenic activity in the total extractable fraction, as detected in the ERα‐luc assay, could be explained by the present NP concentration. This indicates that other estrogenic compounds were present and that their bioavailability and aerobic degradation were similar to that of NP. Therefore, we propose to use NP as an indicator compound to monitor estrogenicity of this Ebro River sediment. To what extent this conclusion holds for other river sediments depends on the composition of the contaminants and/or the nature of these sediments and requires further testing.


We report on the observation of ultrafast (<1 ps) recovery of all‐optical modulation based on below band gap, optically induced excess absorption using pump pulse energies of less than 4 pJ. At higher pump pulse energies, the hot carriers produced by two‐photon absorption significantly reduce the recovery rate. The increase in absorption recovery times at the higher densities of hot carriers is consistent with a contribution to the nonlinear absorption change from hot electron assisted absorption. The measured hot electron assisted absorption cross section of 2×10−20 m2 is in good agreement with the theoretical value.


INTRODUCTION
Neurotic excoriation is a psychodermatological disease of primary psychological/psychiatric genesis, responsible for self-induced dermatological disorders. Childhood traumatic events are closely related with self-injurious behaviors. The aim of this study is to evaluate the psychiatric features of neurotic excoriation and to investigate the effect of childhood traumatic events on the disease.

METHODS
Thirty-eight neurotic excoriation patients who did not receive any psychiatric treatment within the past year and 40 healthy individuals having similar sociodemographic features were included in the study. For clinical evaluation, the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders, Beck Depression Inventory, Beck Anxiety Inventory, and Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form were applied to all the individuals.

RESULTS
In this study, we observed that 78.9% of neurotic excoriation patients were diagnosed with at least one Axis I psychiatric disorder, the most frequent diagnoses of which were major depressive disorders and anxiety disorders. The anxiety and depression levels were significantly higher in the patient group than in the healthy individuals. Regarding the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, emotional neglect, emotional abuse, and physical abuse subscales and weighted average total scores were found to be significantly higher in the patient group (p<.05).

CONCLUSION
Our study has shown a close relationship between neurotic excoriation and childhood traumatic events as well as the accompanying psychiatric problems. We suppose that early interventions by both dermatologists and psychiatrists and especially a detailed investigation of childhood traumatic events by establishing a therapeutic collaboration are highly important and that using psychotherapeutic interventions can result in better treatment outcomes in many patients.


In real-time control of electric grids using multiple software agents, the control performance depends on (1) the proper functioning of the software agents, i.e., absence of software faults, and (2) the behavior of software agents in the presence of non-ideal communication networks such as message losses and delays. To evaluate the control performance of such systems, we propose T-RECS, a virtual commissioning tool. T-RECS enables testing the performance of software-based control in-silico (before the actual deployment of software agents in the grid), saving both time and money. Developers can run the binaries of their software agents in T-RECS where these binaries exchange real messages by using an emulated network and simulated models of the electric grid and resources. Consequently, the control of an entire microgrid can be tested on a standard computer. In this paper, we first describe the design and the open-source implementation of T-RECS. Second, we measure its CPU and memory usage and show that our implementation can accommodate eight software agents on a standard laptop computer. Third, we validate the simulated grid used in T-RECS by replaying data collected from experiments performed in a real low-voltage microgrid. We find that the average error is 0.037% and the 99th percentile of the error is less than 0.1%. Finally, we present some typical use-cases of T-RECS such as performance evaluation (1) under extreme grid conditions and (2) with non-ideal communication networks. The former, i.e., performance evaluation under extreme grid conditions, is difficult to test in the field due to safety concerns.


To the Editor. —Irwin et al 1 recently reported that women who used oral contraceptives had no increased risk of invasive cervical cancer compared with women who had never used oral contraceptives in a case-control study in Costa Rica. We recently concluded a case-control investigation of invasive cervical cancer in Maryland, 2 which demonstrates that oral contraceptive use is protective against invasive disease (relative risk, 0.48; 95% confidence interval, 0.22 to 0.95). We conclude that rather than there being a biologically plausible association between oral contraceptives and invasive cervical cancer, the protective effect reflects increased screening among those seeking contraceptives, as others have suggested. 3,4 Further, our data demonstrate that lifetime use of any type of contraceptive leads to protection from invasive disease (relative risk, 0.38; 95% confidence interval, 0.20 to 0.72), with diaphragm use (relative risk, 0.29; 95% confidence interval, 0.12 to 0.67) and vaginal spermicides (relative risk, 0.28;


1 Ethnopharmacological relevan ce: Chinese medicine formula (CMF) has a long history 2 of clinical use in the treatment of various diseases under the guidance of traditional 3 Chinese medicine (TCM) theory. The application of CMF can be divided into three 4 levels, crude extracts, homologous compounds mixture, and specific compounds. 5 However, the modern scientific connotation of the CMF theory has not been clarified. 6 Aim of the review: To critically evaluate the research strategy for the investigation of 7 compound-based CMF (CCMF). 8 Materials and methods: The related information was collected from the scientific 9 databases, including CNKI, Elsevier, ScienceDirect, PubMed, SpringerLink, Web of 10 Science, and Wiley Online. 11 Results: The research design including discovery, screening, optimization, 12 pharmacodynamics models, and target research techniques including the targets for 13 compatibility compounds were evaluated. Essentially it has been evaluated that the in 14 vitro multicellular three-dimensional culture or organoid model has been proposed for 15 the optimization model for compatibility research of CCMF. Based on these, the 16 traditional compatibility theory of CMF, such as Monarch-Minister-Assistant-Guide 17 (Jun-Chen-Zuo-Shi in Chinese), can probably be elucidated by the CCMF research. 18 Conclusions: CCMF has the clear advantage of providing the exact composition and 19 controllable quality of modern medicines, in addition to having the characteristics of 20 multi-ingredients and multi-targets synergistic effects of TCM. However, CCMF is still 21 associated with challenges which need to be addressed for its future use. 22 23 24 25 26


The drill core of Funafuti Atoll, collected by The Royal Society Coral Reef Expedition in 1896–1898, has been dated using high–precision 14C and Sr isotope measurements determined by mass spectrometry. The core top is a Holocene reef deposit, reflecting 26.4 m of reef growth since 8 ka, and is underlaid by Pleistocene reef–lagoonal deposits separated by a series of inferred hiatuses at 26.4 m, ca.30 m, ca.65 m and ca.80 m (ca.0.1 Ma, ca.0.2 Ma, ca.0.3 Ma and ca.0.6 Ma, respectively), reflecting atoll carbonate deposits associated with late Quaternary sea–level changes. In turn, the underlying sequence below ca.80 m comprises an upper section of additional Pleistocene reef–lagoonal deposits, having a high accumulation rate greater than 100 m Ma−1, and a heavily dolomitized lower section. Sr isotope data in the lower section provide maximum (oldest) ages for dolomite formation and, depending on the extent of the isotopic memory from precursor CaCO3, reflect ongoing diagenetic alteration from ca.2.3 Ma (i.e. the oldest dolomite) or in one or more discrete diagenetic events at ca.1 Ma, and possibly at ca.2 Ma. This sequence reflects interaction between atoll carbonate sedimentation, tectonic subsidence and eustatic sea–level change.


An anomalous warm winter 2015–2016 lead to the lowest winter ice extent and highlights the sensitivity of the Arctic sea ice. Here we use the 6 year record of an improved sea ice thickness product retrieved from data fusion of CryoSat‐2 radar altimetry and Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity radiometry measurements to examine the impact of recent temperature trend on the Arctic ice mass balance. Between November 2015 and March 2016, we find a consistent drop of cumulative freezing degree days across the Arctic, with a negative peak anomaly of about 1000 degree days in the Barents Sea, coinciding with an Arctic‐wide average thinning of 10 cm in March with respect to the 6 year average. In particular, the loss of ice volume is associated with a significant decline of March first‐year ice volume by 13%. This reveals that due to the loss of multiyear ice during previous years, the Arctic ice cover becomes more sensitive to climate anomalies.


We investigate the spin-Hall effect in a two-dimensional heavy-hole system with Rashba spin-orbit coupling using a nonequilibrium Green's function approach. Both the short- and long-range disorder scatterings are considered in the self-consistent Born approximation. We find that, in the case of long-range collisions, the disorder-mediated process leads to an enhancement of the spin-Hall current at high heavy-hole density, whereas for short-range scatterings it gives a vanishing contribution. This result suggests that the recently observed spin-Hall effect in experiment is a result of the sum of the intrinsic and disorder-mediated contributions. We have also calculated the temperature dependence of spin-Hall conductivity, which reveals a decrease with increasing the temperature.


Among the most important short-term dynamic biological processes are diurnal changes in canopy water relations. Plant regulation of water transport through stomatal openings affects other gaseous transport processes, often dramatically decreasing photosynthetic fixation of carbon dioxide during periods of water stress. Water stress reduces stomatal conductance of water vapor through the leaf surface and alters the diurnal timing of stomatal opening. Under non-water stressed conditions, stomates typically open soon after dawn and transpire water vapor throughout the daylight period. During stress periods, stomates may close for part of the day, generally near mid-day. Under prolonged stress conditions, stomatal closure shifts to earlier times during the day; stomates may close by mid-morning and remain closed until the following morning - or remain closed entirely. Under these conditions the relationship between canopy greenness (e.g., measured with a vegetation index or by spectral mixture analysis) and photosynthetic fixation of carbon is lost and the remotely sensed vegetation metric is a poor predictor of gas exchange. Prediction of stomatal regulation and exchange of water and trace gases is critical for ecosystem and climate models to correctly estimate budgets of these gases and understand or predict other processes like gross and net ecosystem primary production. Plant gas exchange has been extensively studied by physiologists at the leaf and whole plant level and by biometeorologists at somewhat larger scales. While these energy driven processes follow a predictable if somewhat asymmetric diurnal cycle dependent on soil water availability and the constraints imposed by the solar energy budget, they are nonetheless difficult to measure at the tree and stand levels using conventional methods. Ecologists have long been interested in the potential of remote sensing for monitoring physiological changes using multi-temporal images. Much of this research has focused on day-to-day changes in water use, especially for agricultural applications. Ustin et al. showed seasonal changes in canopy water content in chaparral shrub could be estimated using optical methods. Vanderbilt et al. followed asymmetric diurnal changes in the reflectance of a walnut orchard, but could not attribute specific reflectance changes to specific changes in canopy architecture or physiology. Forests and shrub lands in California experience prolonged periods of drought, sometimes extending six months without precipitation. The conifer and evergreen chaparral communities common to the foothill region around the central valley of California retain their foliage throughout the summer and have low transpiration rates despite high net radiation and temperature conditions. In contrast, grasslands and drought resistant deciduous species in the same habitat are seasonally dormant in summer. Because of differences in the mechanisms of drought tolerance, rooting depth and physiology between different plant communities in the region, it is likely that they display differences in diurnal water relations. The presence of diverse plant communities provides an opportunity to investigate possible diurnal landscape patterns in water relations that could be observed by an airborne hyperspectral scanner. This investigation of AVIRIS data collected over forest and shrub land represents the continuation of a prior investigation involving spectral mixture analysis of diurnal effects in the same AVIRIS data set.


ABSTRACT The objective of this study is to utilize an expanded granular sludge bed reactor for removing heavy metals and sulfate from synthetic acid-mine drainage (AMD) using sewage sludge fermentation centrate as the substrate. The reactor was bioaugmented with an enriched consortium of sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB). The bioreactor performance was studied with different chemical oxygen demand ratios, liquid upflow velocity (Vup), hydraulic retention time (HRT) and influent pH. The highest COD, sulfate and heavy metal removal efficiencies were achieved at a ratio of 1.5, Vup of 4.0 m/h, HRT of 15 h and influent pH of 6.0 (68.2%, 92.1% and 100%, respectively). The activity of SRB greatly increases the effluent pH. Even at an influent pH of 3.0, 60.8% of sulfate, 41.3% of COD and 91.2% of heavy metals could be removed, and the effluent quality can meet the national discharge standard of China. The activity tests demonstrate that the sludge fermentation centrate is an excellent carbon source for SRB. This study shows the potential of synchronous treatment of residual sewage sludge and treatment of AMD.


In the context of haze days during the period 1961-2005 over China,the characteristics and changes of temporal and spatial distribution of haze days as well as possible reason and the relationship with the trend of global solar radiation and sunshine duration are analyzed.Result shows that the spatial pattern of annual and seasonal haze days presents more in eastern and less in western China.There are three regions with the number of haze days coinciding with the economically developed regions:the lower and middle reaches of the Yangtze River,North China and South China.Apart from Northeast China,the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and western part of Northwest China with small annual variation and less in values,the annual variation of haze days is obvious in most of the other regions.The haze days are maximum in winter and the minimum in summer.In recent 45 years,the national mean annual haze days exhibited obvious increasing trends with the maximum in 2004.In most parts of eastern China,the number of haze days shows increasing trends,particularly in areas such as the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River,Pearl River Basin and west of Henan Province with obvious trends and the increments of haze days are great,where the increasing air pollution caused by human activities and climate change are the possible reasons.In western China and Northeast China,the trend is decreasing.In North China,the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and South China,the trends of haze days and sunshine durations are opposite.The increasing haze days may be one of the reasons leading to the decrease of global solar radiations.In Northeast China,Northwest China,Southwest China and Tibet-Qinghai Plateau,the trends of haze days show slight decrease and are identical to the change of sunshine duration.But in these regions the haze seldom occurs and the change of it will not greatly affect the change of sunshine duration and global solar radiation.


Computer experiments can emulate the physical systems, help computational investigations, and yield analytic solutions. They have been widely employed with many engineering applications (e.g., aerospace, automotive, energy systems). Conventional Bayesian optimization did not incorporate the nested structures in computer experiments. This article proposes a novel nested Bayesian optimization method for complex computer experiments with multistep or hierarchical characteristics. We prove the theoretical properties of nested outputs given that the distribution of nested outputs is Gaussian or non-Gaussian. The closed forms of nested expected improvement are derived. We also propose the computational algorithms for nested Bayesian optimization. Three numerical studies show that the proposed nested Bayesian optimization method outperforms the five benchmark Bayesian optimization methods that ignore the intermediate outputs of the inner computer code. The case study shows that the nested Bayesian optimization can efficiently minimize the residual stress during composite structures assembly and avoid convergence to local optima.


PURPOSE
To investigate cone beam CT (CBCT) image quality using novel combinations of kilovoltage (kV) and megavoltage (MV) beams and detector materials.

METHODS
MV and kV CBCT imaging was simulated using the Fastcat hybrid Monte Carlo application. CBCT imaging with various beam energies was investigated: 2.5 and 6 MV photon beams generated with carbon, aluminum and tungsten targets and a 120 kVp x-ray tube beam based off of a Varian Truebeam on-board imager (OBI). A cadmium tungstate (CWO), gadolinium oxysulfide (GOS), and cesium iodide (CsI) detectors with identical pixel pitch of 0.784 mm were evaluated. Modulation transfer functions (MTF) for all detector/beam combinations were calculated. MV and kV CBCT images for each detector/beam combination of a contrast phantom containing inserts with rib and spongiosa bone, lung, and adipose tissues were simulated with an imaging dose of 7 mGy. Contrast to noise ratio (CNR) of all inserts were compared for all detector/beam combinations. CBCT images of an anthropomorphic head phantom with silver amalgam fillings were also generated.

RESULTS
The CWO/120 kVp beam combination resulted in the highest MTF at low frequencies and the CsI detector showed the highest MTF for all other beams and at high frequencies. The CWO/120 kVp beam combination showed the highest CNR for all tissues. The unoptimized CWO/2.5 MV carbon target beam showed the highest CNR of the MV beam/detector combinations with CNR 4% and 17% worse than the optimized Truebeam CsI 120 kVp setup with a bowtie filter and anti-scatter grid. Additionally, the CWO 2.5 MV setup showed qualitative reduction of metal artifacts surrounding silver amalgam fillings in an anthropomorphic head phantom.

CONCLUSIONS
This finding makes a compelling case that further optimization of this CWO carbon target setup could produce CBCT images with similar CNR to current OBI CBCT for equivalent dose with added resilience to metal artifacts. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


A trifluoromethyl-substituted benzothiadiazole-cored phenylene vinylene fluorophore (1) was synthesized and displayed piezo- and vapochromism and thermo-induced fluorescence variation in solid phase. Grinding could disrupt the crystalline compound 1 with orange emission into amorphous compound 1 with green emission, and heating treatment could change the amorphous compound 1 into crystalline compound 1. Ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) absorption spectra, (13)C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) characterizations demonstrated that crystalline and amorphous compound 1 possess different molecular packing. A differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurement revealed that the emission switching was due to the exchange between the thermodynamic-stable crystalline and metastable amorphous states. The ground sample exhibited vapochromic fluorescence property. Furthermore, compound 1 showed interesting supramolecular assembly characteristics in solution. Slowly cooling the hot N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) solution of compound 1 resulted in the formation of orange fluorescent fibers, whereas sonication treatment of the cooling solution led to the generation of organic molecular gel. The field emission scanning electronic microscope (FESEM) and fluorescent microscopy images revealed smooth nano- or microfiber and network morphology properties. The PXRD spectra confirmed that these nano- or microstructures had a similar molecular-packing model with the crystalline state of compound 1. Slow evaporation of the toluene solution of compound 1 could produce green emissive microrods, which exhibited interesting thermo-induced fluorescence variation.


There exists an apparent negative correlation between performance and interpretability of deep learning models. In an effort to reduce this negative correlation, we propose Born Identity Network (BIN), which is a post-hoc approach for producing multi-way counterfactual maps. A counterfactual map transforms an input sample to be classified as a target label, which is similar to how humans process knowledge through counterfactual thinking. Thus, producing a better counterfactual map may be a step towards explanation at the level of human knowledge. For example, a counterfactual map can localize hypothetical abnormalities from a normal brain image that may cause it to be diagnosed with a disease. Specifically, our proposed BIN consists of two core components: Counterfactual Map Generator and Target Attribution Network. The Counterfactual Map Generator is a variation of conditional GAN which can synthesize a counterfactual map conditioned on an arbitrary target label. The Target Attribution Network works in a complementary manner to enforce target label attribution to the synthesized map. We have validated our proposed BIN in qualitative, quantitative analysis on MNIST, 3D Shapes, and ADNI datasets, and show the comprehensibility and fidelity of our method from various ablation studies.


Identification and mechanism of Echinochloa colonum (L.) resistance to bispyribac-soduim via physiological and anatomical differences between susceptible and resistant biotypes was investigated. The physiological and anatomical differences that were take into account were growth reduction, chlorophyll content reduction, protein analysis, lamina thickness and xylem vessel diameter in both susceptible and resistant biotypes of E. colonum. The results showed the growth reduction fifty (GR 50 ) of resistant biotype was 10.2 times higher than that of the susceptible biotype E. colonum treated with bispyribac-soduim. The chlorophyll content was highly reduced in the susceptible biotype relative to the resistant one of E. colonum treated with bispyribac-soduim. An anatomical test showed significant differences in the cytology of susceptible and resistant biotypes of E. colonum treated with bispyribac-soduim with respect to lamina thickness and xylem vessel diameter. Furthermore, leaf protein analysis showed significant differences between the susceptible and resistant biotypes of E. colonum in the number and the density of protein bands. The resistance of E. colonum to bispyribac-soduim may be due to the faster metabolism of bispyribac-soduim below the physiologically active concentration or the insensitivity of its target enzyme, (acetolactate synthase). These results implied the occurrence of E. colonum resistance to bispyribac- soduim in Egypt and provide conclusive evidence that a single resistance mechanism alone cannot explain insensitivity in E. colonum to bispyribac-soduim.


We give better lower bounds for M(n, d), for various positive integers d and n with d < n, where M(n, d) is the largest number of permutations on n symbols with pairwise Hamming distance at least d. Larger sets of permutations on n symbols with pairwise Hamming distance d is a necessary component of constructing error correcting permutation codes, which have been proposed for power-line communications. Our technique, Parallel Partition and Extension, is universally applicable to constructing such sets for all n and all d, d < n.


The promotion of knowledge for sustainable development is essential to ensure environmental quality for future generations. It is more important because we live in a globalized world where population is growing rapidly. However we live in the paradigm of "disciplinarity" of professionals when nature conservation is increasingly dependent of integration and dissemination of knowledge within and outside the scientific community. The concept of biodiversity have been widely publicized and debated by biologists and environmentalists since 1980. However the geodiversity concept was employed only in 1993 and it is still unknown to most people. This poll was conducted through questionnaires to identify the perception of elementary school students in the city of Andarai / BA about on a new geosite identified, the Manga do Ceu. Its main objective was to analyze how geodiversity is perceived by this public and so it works through environmental education. It was found that this perception is not direct, but linked to issues such as climbing, local history and landscape, suggests that geodiversity highlighted to broaden the perspective of students and nature conservation.


In order to test whether alterations in Na+ transport systems occurring in women when the hormonal status is disturbed such as in pregnancy, under contraceptive or estradiol therapy are a direct result of hormonal action on these transport systems, Na+,K+-pump Na+,K+ outward cotransport and passive Na+ permeability were measured in erythrocytes of ovariectomized rats receiving estradiol or progesterone. No significant changes in Na+,K+-pump were observed in either conditions. Conversely, progesterone was found to decrease Na+, K+-cotransport and estradiol to increase this system, whereas both steroids increased passive Na+ permeability.


The purpose of the research is to analyze the role of SMEs in the improvement and consolidation of social infrastructure in the regions of the Republic of Moldova.

The methodology of the research - în the research, the comparative method, the scientific abstraction, etc., were used. Also, the inductive method was used, with the help of which concrete facts were generalized, analyzed, synthesized and conclusions were formulated on the researched problem.

The results of the research - the contribution of SMEs to the economic growth and regional development of the Republic of Moldova is evaluated, to the generation of jobs, the stimulation of economic activities in different regions of the Republic of Moldova, the problems and trends of small business development in the Republic of Moldova are identified.

The practical importance of the research - to identify effective tools to support small and medium-sized enterprises in order to develop the regional social infrastructure in the Republic of Moldova. The importance of supporting SMEs is argued as essential for increasing the quality of life and reducing inequalities in the country.

The originality and scientific novelty of the research - consists in approaching an important topic for the social and economic development of the Republic of Moldova, with an emphasis on the contribution of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to the regional social infrastructure.


Canadian health technology assessments (HTAs) are coordinated by government agencies, while HTA activity in the United States is conducted haphazardly by a variety of interest groups. As a result, biologic therapies have diffused more slowly and rationally in Canada, according to the authors. If HTAs were conducted similarly in the United States, the distribution of biologics might occur more efficiently.


Sir,

We report the effect of sequential Pegylated-Interferon-alpha-2a (Peg-IFN-alpha-2a)/telbivudine treatment in a patient affected by a severe Hepatitis B e Antigen (HBeAg) negative chronic Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) infection treated at our facility. We discuss the rationale of this innovative therapeutic strategy for the prolonged/long life treatment of severe chronic hepatitis B (CHB).

A 63-year-old man with a 22 years history of CHB presented at our center for HBV infection evaluation. He was affected by a clinically documented severe CHB infection, confirmed also by Fibroscan® (fibroscan stiffness Kp 13). The patient was HBeAg negative, HBV deoxyribonucleotide (DNA) positive (basal HBV DNA levels 2,700,000 IU/mL by real time polymerase chain reaction (rt-pcr)), serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels 140 IU/L (upper normal limit, UNL 41 IU/L), functional class on admission Child-Pugh score was A5 without portal hypertension, negative for anti-Hepatitis delta virus (HDV) and anti-Hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibodies.

At the basal screening, several possible causes of liver diseases including, autoimmune, thesaurismosic and metabolic origin-were excluded.

On February 23rd 2007, patient began antiviral therapy with Peg-IFN-alpha-2a (180 μg weekly subcutaneously) with a satisfactory virologic suppression at week 4 (HBV DNA 159,000 IU/mL; ALT 339 IU/L) and week 12 (HBV DNA levels <30 IU/mL, ALT 65 IU/L). At follow-up, 48 weeks after beginning of Peg-IFN-alpha-2a, blood tests documented a complete suppression of HBV DNA levels (<12 IU/mL) and a normalization in ALT plasma values (38 IU/L). Antiviral treatment ended on February 6th 2008.

At week 4 and 8 following treatment suspension, we recorded an increase in HBV DNA plasma levels (28,200 IU/mL) with normal ALT values [Figure 1].

Figure 1

Alanine aminotransferase values and Hepatitis B Virus DNA plasma levels during Peg-IFN-alpha-2a (180 μg/week) treatment

After 12-week drug-free period, on May 6th 2008 we decided to start antiviral therapy for HBV reactivation using telbivudine 600 mg/day in oral therapy. A rapid virologic and biochemical response was observed after 4 weeks; specifically, HBV DNA was undetectable (<12 UI/mL) and ALT values were normal. No increase in plasma creatine phosphokinase (CPK) levels was observed [Figure 2].

Figure 2

Alanine aminotransferase, creatine phosphokinase and Hepatitis B Virus DNA plasma levels during telbivudine oral therapy (600 mg/day)

At the 52nd week of telbivudine therapy, we recorded an increase in CPK levels. Anamnesis suggested CPK peak was related to an intense physical activity. After 3 days of muscular rest, CPK levels spontaneously returned to normal values as documented by a following medical checkup.

Currently, on March 2012 after 167 weeks from the beginning of telbivudine, blood tests show normal ALT and CPK plasma values, and HBV DNA remains undetectable (<12 UI/mL). Moreover, no adverse drug reactions associated with telbivudine treatment have been observed [Figure 2].

In conclusion, we report the effect of Peg-IFN-alpha-2a/telbivudine sequential treatment in severe chronic HBV infection. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the efficacy of a sequential therapy including the administration of telbivudine as NA.


Recently, the field of development of the novel enzyme-based drugs showed remarkable advances. In addition to L-asparaginase which have been already used in oncohematology for more than 30 years, the two new enzymes, L-arginine deiminase and ranpirnase, underwent the several phases of clinical trials. Anticancer activity in vivo at the preclinical stage was shown for a number of enzymes: L-methionine-gamma-lyase, L-lysine-alpha-oxydase, and binase. This review discusses the enzymes which possess anticancer activity and prospects for their use in oncohematology.


In order to study the main factors affecting the behaviors that city residents make regarding public bicycle choice and to further study the public bicycle user's personal characteristics and travel characteristics, a travel mode choice model based on a Bayesian network was established. Taking residents of Xi'an as the research object, a K2 algorithm combined with mutual information and expert knowledge was proposed for Bayesian network structure learning. The Bayesian estimation method was used to estimate the parameters of the network, and a Bayesian network model was established to reflect the interactions among the public bicycle choice behaviors along with other major factors. The K-fold cross-validation method was used to validate the model performance, and the hit rate of each travel mode was more than 80%, indicating the precision of the proposed model. Experimental results also present the higher classification accuracy of the proposed model. Therefore, it may be concluded that the resident travel mode choice may be accurately predicted according to the Bayesian network model proposed in our study. Additionally, this model may be employed to analyze and discuss changes in the resident public bicycle choice and to note that they may possibly be influenced by different travelers' characteristics and trip characteristics.


The in vitro and in vivo effect of melatonin on delta-aminolevulinic acid-induced lipid peroxidation in rat cerebellum, cortex and hippocampus was determined. The concentration of malonaldehyde and 4-hydroxyalkenals was assayed as an index of induced membrane oxidative damage. The rise in malonaldehyde+4-hydroxyalkenals concentrations induced by delta-aminolevulinic acid in cerebellar homogenates was concentration-dependent (P < 0.001) and also time-dependent in cerebellar, cortical and hippocampal homogenates (P < 0.01). In vitro melatonin and vitamin E protected, in a concentration-dependent manner, against delta-aminolevulinic acid-induced lipid peroxidation in cortical, cerebellar and hippocampal homogenates. In in vivo experiments it was demonstrated that delta-aminolevulinic acid-induced lipid peroxidation (40 mg/kg) in cerebellum and hippocampus was reduced by acute melatonin (10 mg/kg) treatment (P < 0.05). The results show that both in vitro and in vivo melatonin confers protection against delta-aminolevulinic acid-induced oxidative toxicity in brain regions. The findings suggest that melatonin may be useful in reducing neural damage in individuals suffering from acute intermittent porphyria.


Previous results indicate that GH-releasing factor (GRF) induces a dose-related stimulation of somatostatin (SRIF) release from median eminence fragments incubated in vitro. In the present investigation we examined whether this action was mediated by other neurotransmitters or neuromodulators. Studies using receptor blockers for dopamine (pimozide), alpha-adrenergic receptors (phentolamine), and muscarinic cholinergic receptors (atropine) revealed that these receptor blockers, at a dose of 10(-6) M, which was capable of blocking the response to the relevant transmitter in previous studies, had no effect on basal release of SRIF in the static incubation system and failed to modify the response to GRF (10(-10) M). On the other hand, the opiate receptor blocker naloxone at a dose of 10(-6) M, although failing to alter basal release, completely blocked the response to 10(-10) M GRF. To determine the opioid peptide involved in mediating the SRIF release induced by GRF, highly specific antibodies directed against beta-endorphin were added to the in vitro incubation system. These antibodies significantly depressed basal release SRIF and completely blocked the response to 10(-10) M GRF. Incubations in the presence of normal rabbit serum or highly specific antiserum directed against alpha MSH had no effect on either basal release of SRIF or that induced by GRF. These results suggest that in this incubation system there is a beta-endorphin tone which is partially responsible for the basal release of SRIF and that the stimulation of SRIF release induced by GRF is mediated via beta-endorphin terminals, which presumably synapse on the terminals of the somatostatinergic neurons in the median eminence fragment.


This essay was prompted by and is a response to Yiannakis' (1989) article in which he called for a more applied orientation on the part of sociologists of sport. In our response, we argue that Yiannakis' position is flawed because he fails to explore the oftentimes political overdetermination of academic process and the links between the marketplace of physical culture and the prestige hierarchies that exist within the university—How do the two connect? We present a practical alternative to Yiannakis' programmatic call for an applied sociology of sport.


We have previously demonstrated that Phoneutria nigriventer venom (PNV) causes blood–brain barrier (BBB) breakdown, swelling of astrocytes end-feet and fluid permeation into brain interstitium in rats. Caveolae and water channels respond to BBB alterations by co-participation in shear stress response and edema formation/resolution. Herein, we showed post-natal developmental-related changes of two BBB-associated transporter proteins: the endothelial caveolin-1 (Cav-1), the major scaffolding protein from caveolae frame, and the astroglial aquaporin-4 (AQP4), the main water channel protein expressed in astrocytic peri-vascular end-feet processes, in the hippocampus of rats intraperitoneally-administered PNV. Western blotting protein levels; immunohistochemistry (IHC) protein distribution in CA1, CA2, and CA3 subfields; and gene expression by Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR) were assessed in post-natal Day 14 (P14) and 8–10-week-old rats over critical periods of envenomation. The intensity and duration of the toxic manifestations indicate P14 neonate rats more vulnerable to PNV than adults. Histologically, the capillaries of P14 and 8–10-week-old rats treated with PNV showed perivascular edema, while controls did not. The intensity of the toxic manifestations in P14 decreases temporally (2 > 5 > 24 h), while inversely the expression of AQP4 and Cav-1 peaked at 24 h when clinically PNV-treated animals do not differ from saline controls. IHC of AQP4 revealed that hippocampal CA1 showed the least expression at 2 h when toxic manifestation was maximal. Subfield IHC quantification revealed that in P14 rats Cav-1 peaked at 24 h when toxic manifestations were absent, whereas in 8–10-week-old rats Cav-1 peaked at 2 h when toxic signs were highest, and progressively attenuated such increases until 24 h, remaining though significantly above baseline. Considering astrocyte-endothelial physical and functional interactions, we hypothesize that age-related modulations of AQP4 and Cav-1 might be linked both to changes in functional properties of astrocytes during post-natal development and in the BBB breakdown induced by the venom of P. nigriventer.


To assess the effect of local anesthetic wound instillation on visceral and somatic pain, we studied 36 patients undergoing total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. A standard general anesthetic was administered. On completion of the operation, a multiorifice 20-gauge epidural catheter was placed above the superficial abdominal fascia such that the tip was at the midpoint of the surgical wound. After surgery, either bupivacaine 0.25% (Bupivacaine group) or sterile water (Control group) was administered via a patient-controlled analgesia device programmed to deliver 9.0 mL with a 60-min lockout interval. During the first 6 h after surgery, rescue IV morphine (2 mg) was administered every 10 min until a visual analog scale score of <30 mm was achieved. Thereafter, on patient request, rescue meperidine 1 mg/kg IM was administered. When compared with the Control group, significantly (P < 0.001) less rescue analgesia was administered to patients in the Bupivacaine group. Rescue morphine administered during the first 6 h after surgery was 6 ± 4 mg versus 12 ± 6 mg (P < 0.001) for the Bupivacaine and Control groups, respectively. Rescue meperidine administered was 29 ± 37 mg versus 95 ± 36 mg (P < 0.001) for the Bupivacaine and Control groups, respectively. Nausea and antiemetic drug administration was significantly (P = 0.003) less in the Bupivacaine group. Pain scores were similar between the groups. Patient satisfaction was significantly (P = 0.04) more in the Bupivacaine group. We conclude that bupivacaine wound instillation decreases opioid requirements and nausea in the first 24 h after total abdominal hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy.


With 218 postinfarction patients under 40 years of age who all underwent coronary angiography, the question in priority is: Can myocardial infarction in young age be characterized by special constellation of risk factors and by specific coronary morphology? Compared with results from literature the risk factors hypertension and diabetes seem to be of less importance than in older patients, smoking on the other hand seems to be more significant: 90.5% of postinfarction patients under 40 years of age were smoking regularly. Coronary angiography proved a pre-domination of 1-vessel disease: 72% showed 1-vessel, 17.9% 2-vessel and 10.1% 3-vessel disease. These findings and those from literature show that the majority of patients with myocardial infarction in young age have the following characteristics: In connection with the risk factor smoking the sclerotic coronary vessel process is developing rapidly, very often at a single spot. Since no longterm gradual occlusion process occurs, no prolonged period of angina pectoris precedes the infarction. There is no time for the development of an adequate collateral circulation; it follows that the infarction is a large one. After the acute infarction there is no angina pectoris.


This research is starting from tendency of negative attitude and negative student's habits. The purpose of this research producing group mentoring programme to develop student's learning attitude and habits, and to compile the program researcher require a profil of student's attitude and student's learning habit. Method used is qualitative and quantitative with action research strategy. Data collection is carried out with attitude inventory, habits inventory, interview and observation.The result obtained are negative attitude in learning, specifically for attitude to task, attitude to teacher, attitude in class and attitude of facing examination. In addition, students habits in learning are still negative in particular habit of using his/her free time.This research recommended the group mentoring programme as reference and guidelines to enchance student's learning attitude and habits. Key words: The guidance group, attitude, Learning habits.


Rational pharmacotherapy is dependent upon an understanding of the clinical pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of the drugs employed. Although the available data on drug biodisposition and action in the neonate have increased considerably in the last few years, pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic interactions for many drugs remain poorly understood. The ontogeny of drug absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination are addressed in this review. Drug absorption from any site depends upon both the physicochemical properties of the drug and a variety of patient factors. Absorption of orally administered drugs may be affected by changes in gastric acidity and emptying time as well as by bile salt pool size, bacterial colonisation, and extraintestinal disease states such as congestive heart failure. Factors affecting drug absorption following intramuscular, percutaneous, and rectal administration are also discussed. Drug distribution in the neonate is influenced by a variety of important and predictable age-dependent factors. The developmental aspects of protein binding and body water compartments are described. Additionally, hepatic drug metabolism assumes an important role in understanding the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of many compounds. Certain biotransformation pathways, including hydroxylation by the P450 mono-oxygenase system and glucuronidation, demonstrate only limited activity at birth, while other pathways, such as sulphate or glycine conjugation, appear very efficient at birth. Elimination of drugs excreted unchanged in the urine is dramatically reduced in the newborn, compared with older infants and children, due to immaturity of both glomerular filtration and tubular secretory processes. The glomerular filtration rate remains markedly reduced prior to 34 weeks gestational age, increasing as a function of post-conceptual age until adult values are achieved by approximately 2.5 to 5 months of age. Tubular secretory capacity is also limited at birth, approaching adult values by approximately 7 months of age. Published reports describing the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of commonly used drugs in the neonatal period, as well as differences in drug biodisposition among premature infants, full term neonates, and older infants and children, are reviewed. Our recommendations for neonatal drug therapy are based upon a critical interpretation of these data, an understanding of fetal development and maturational processes, and an understanding of how disease states may affect drug biodisposition in the neonate.


Augmented Reality (AR) is an increasingly important application domain for computer graphics and user interface design. In this paper, the authors propose an AR interface for assembly design and evaluation. The methodologies to establish an AR assembly environment and the architecture of the proposed system are presented. A key novelty of this research is the use of bare hands for human-computer interaction in the AR assembly environment. An effective hand segmentation method based on a Restricted Coulomb Energy (RCE) neural network is developed. Experimental results show that the proposed hand segmentation method is effective and robust and the finger tracking algorithm runs in real time under a wide range of lighting conditions. An experiment using two fingertips to control virtual objects to simulate assembly in a 2D space is conducted.


Hyperbolic spaces have been quite popular in the recent past for representing hierarchically organized data. Further, several classification algorithms for data in these spaces have been proposed in the literature. These algorithms mainly use either hyperplanes or geodesics for decision boundaries in a large margin classifiers setting leading to a non-convex optimization problem. In this paper, we propose a novel large margin classifier based on horospherical decision boundaries that leads to a geodesically convex optimization problem that can be optimized using any Riemannian gradient descent technique guaranteeing a globally optimal solution. We present several experiments depicting the competitive performance of our classifier in comparison to SOTA.