In the chain of steel production, the blast furnace converts iron ore into liquid iron. The hearth of the blast furnace, where the liquid metal is collected and tapped off, is filled with relatively large coke particles (D ~ 20 – 100 mm). The meandering flow of hot liquid metal in the coarse-grained porous medium in the hearth causes erosion of the refractory walls containing the hearth through the formation of hot spots. This has a severe impact on the lifetime of blast furnaces. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the liquid metal flow and heat transfer through the packed bed of relatively large coke particles. With the hot metal flowing in from the top and the refractory walls being cooled, the flow of the liquid metal in the hearth is a natural and mixed convection flow characterized by the dimensionless Rayleigh and Reynolds numbers, and their ratio, viz. the Richardson number. Since the pores between the large coke particles are not small compared to the flow and thermal length scales, there is a strong interaction between the flow and the pore geometry. Therefore, it is important to capture the details of fluid flow and temperature distribution at the pore level and to resolve the strong interaction between the flow and the solid grains.In order to gain a fundamental understanding of the above types of flow, this dissertation reports on experimental investigations of natural and mixed convection in cubical cavities filled with coarse-grained porous media consisting of packed beds of relatively large solid spheres. Bottom-heated natural convection, side-heat natural convection, and vented mixed convection configurations have been considered. Accurate global heat transfer measurements have been performed for various sphere packings, sphere sizes, and sphere conductivities in a wide range of Rayleigh numbers (and Reynolds numbers in the mixed convection case). Refractive index matching between water and hydrogel spheres enabled the use of optical measurement techniques, i.e. Particle Image Velocimetry and Liquid Crystal Thermography, to obtain highly-resolved pore-scale velocity and temperature fields.In bottom-heated natural convection, it was observed that at lower Rayleigh numbers, the Nusselt numbers for the porous medium-filled cavity are reduced compared to the pure-fluid cavity (Rayleigh-Benard convection) and the Nusselt number reduction strongly depends on packing type, size, and conductivity of spheres. However, at high Rayleigh numbers, when the flow and thermal length scales become sufficiently smaller than the pore length scale, the flow penetrates into the pores with much higher velocities and is not obstructed by the presence of coarse-grained porous media. This leads to an asymptotic regime in which the convective heat transfer for all sphere conductivities, sizes and packing types converge into a single curve which is very close to the pure Rayleigh-Benard convection curve. The results indicate that the ratio between the thermal length scale and the pore length scale is a determining factor in the effect of porous media on flow and heat transfer.In side-heated natural convection, the presence of the porous medium decreases the heat transfer compared to the corresponding pure-fluid cavity. This is due to the fact that the layers of the spheres touching the isothermal side walls hinder the boundary layers along these walls and divert a portion of the boundary layer fluid away from the walls. This subsequently alters the temperature distribution and reduces the mean temperature gradient at the walls. The heat transfer measurements demonstrate a transition from Darcy to non-Darcy regime by increasing the Rayleigh number and the size of spheres. A new Nusselt number correlation for coarse-grained porous is presented which takes into account the strong effect of the porous medium conductivity. In vented mixed convection, three flow and heat transfer regimes were observed depending on the Richardson number. For Ri 40, the strong upward directed natural convection flow dominates and the Nusselt number becomes less sensitive to the Reynolds number. For 10 < Ri < 40, the upward directed natural convection flow competes with the downward directed forced flow at the hot wall, leading to a minimum effective Nusselt number. A Nusselt number correlation is presented which covers all three regimes. This dissertation concludes by discussing the contribution of this work in improving the knowledge on the physics of natural and mixed convection in coarse-grained porous media and its relevance for understanding and modelling of the fluid flow and heat transfer processes in the blast furnace hearth, as well as in other application fields such as in air ventilation and in the food industry.


Sustainability assessment tools have been developed for building-scale sustainability since the 1990s. Several systems, such as BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology), LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and CASBEE (Comprehensive Assessment System for Built Environment Efficiency), are widely used and have been upgraded and adapted to large-scale development. BREEAM Communities, LEED Neighborhood Development and CASBEE for Urban Development have been implemented in the UK, the USA and Japan, respectively. As the notion of sustainable urban design has gained more significance, city governments have set their own guidelines for sustainable standards in urban design based on studies of sustainability assessment tools. This study focused on a comparative analysis of the material criteria embedded for sustainable urban design in BREEAM Communities, LEED-ND (Neighborhood Development) and CASBEE-UD (Urban Development), and the urban design guidelines recently issued in multiple cities, including London, New York, Tokyo, and Seoul. The top master plans and the supplementary guidelines were analyzed to investigate the detailed material criteria. The study examined the differences in the material assessment criteria, evaluation parameters, and descriptions of the neighborhood sustainability assessment tools and the urban design guidelines. The material criteria was investigated and discussed to summarize the current features and weaknesses as balanced material assessments for sustainable urban development.


Hybrid fiber-laser-pumped solid-state lasers exploit high-power cladding-pumped fiber lasers for direct (in-band) pumping of a crystal-based solid-state laser to reduce heating in the laser crystal, and hence allow scaling to higher power in both continuous-wave (CW) and pulsed modes of operation. In this paper, we briefly review the attractions of the hybrid laser approach for generation of output in the ~ 1.6 mum wavelength regime and consider the main design considerations for efficient operation of hybrid lasers based on Er:YAG in both CW and pulsed modes of operation. Examples of hybrid Er:YAG lasers, pumped by Er,Yb codoped fiber lasers at 1532 nm, with CW output powers up to 60 W at 1645 nm and 31 W at 1617 nm and slope efficiencies of 80% and 47% with respect to incident pump power, respectively, are described. In Q-switched mode of operation, pulse energies up to 30.5 mJ were obtained, limited by coating damage. Finally, the prospects for further increase in output power and improvement in overall performance in CW and Q-switched modes of operation will be discussed.


Theoretical aspects of an experimental determination method for residual and inductive magnetic moments of a technical object are considered. As input data, the technical object magnetic induction signatures obtained under its linear movement near a pair of three-component sensors are used. A magnetic signature integration technique based on spatial harmonic analysis of the magnetic field represented by twenty-four multipole coefficients is introduced.


SAE (Small Area Estimation) is often used by researchers, especially statisticians to estimate parameters of a subpopulation which has a small sample size. Empirical Best Linear Unbiased Prediction (EBLUP) is one of the indirect estimation methods in Small Area Estimation. The presence of outliers in the data can not guarantee that these methods yield precise predictions . Robust regression is one approach that is used in the model Small Area Estimation. Robust approach in estimating such a small area known as the Robust Small Area Estimation. Robust Small Area Estimation divided into several approaches. It calls Maximum Likelihood and MEstimation. From the result, Robust Small Area Estimation with M-Estimation has the smallest RMSE than others. The value is 1473.7 (with outliers) and 1279.6 (without outlier). In addition the research also indicated that REBLUP with M-Estimation more robust to outliers. It causes the RMSE value with EBLUP has five times to be large with only one outlier are included in the data analysis. As for the REBLUP method is relatively more stable RMSE results.


PURPOSE.To identify nursing diagnoses and interventions applicable for post-acute-phase battered women.

METHODS.Eight battered women were interviewed twice for 2 hours. Gordon's functional health patterns provided the framework for data collection.

FINDINGS.Fifty-three nursing diagnoses and 52 nursing interventions were indicated in the data; 24 nursing diagnoses and 26 nursing interventions were present in all participants' data.

CONCLUSIONS.With the use of comprehensive interventions, nurses can make a major contribution to society by enabling battered women to move to a more protected lifestyle.


Background The treatment guidelines of EULAR recommend treatment according to "tight control" (TC), clear treatment goals (Treat-to-Target, T2T) and patient involvement. Despite this, the care for patients with RA needs to be improved as demonstrated by the fact that as many as that 45% of patients with RA in Sweden (according to the Swedish Rheumatology Quality Register in 2015) do not reach the level of low disease activity. One way to overcome this could be nurse led clinics of RA patients, which for patients in remission have shown positive effects on patient's pain, knowledge and self-efficacy. We hypothesized that a nurse-led clinic based on the above principles of TC, T2T and Person-centered care would result in better outcome compared to care as usual. Objectives The aim of the study was to compare the effect of such nurse-led clinic with frequent visits and person-centered care with regular care of patients with established RA and a moderate to high disease activity. Methods This was a randomized, controlled, blinded assessor study that aimed to compare the effect of nurse-led clinic with regular care of patients with the established RA. Inclusion criteria were; duration of RA >2 yrs., DAS28>3.8, age <85 yrs. and not having experience with all available csDMARDs and bDMARDS. Patient with any severe current comorbidity were excluded. Intervention Group (IG): intervention included two elements; 1) disease activity control every 6th week, with clear treatment goals (DAS28 <2.6)and escalation of pharmacological therapy according to existing Swedish guidelines, 2) a written person-centered care health plan with shared goal setting and decision making between patient and nurse. Control Group (CG): Patients in the control group were followed by a physician once every 3 to 6 month. Evaluation was done at w 26 both per protocol (shown) and according to intention to treat (ITT) with LOCF. Primary outcome was change in DAS28 at week 26 and secondary outcome the proportions of good/moderate EULAR response. Pre study power calculations estimated group sizes to 60 patients in each group. Due to difficulties in the recruiting process the study was stopped preterm Results The study included 70 patients of which (IG: 36 and CG: 34) with similar baseline characteristics as a result of the randomization. Sixty-two patients completed the study at w 26 (IG: 29 and CG: 33). Both groups improved significantly in DAS 28 (Table 1). The change in DAS 28 was not significantly different between groups, although the numerical improvement was larger in the IG compared to CG (Table 1). Furthermore, significantly more patients in the IG improved according to EULAR Good or Moderate response (Table 1). Results were similar when analyzing according to ITT with LOCF.Table 1. Primary outcome (delta DAS 28) and secondary outcome (good/moderate EULAR response) IG CG Difference (95% CI) ΔDAS 28 (95% CI) 1.5 (-2.0,-1.0) 1.1 (-1.6,-0.6) - 0.43 (-1.13,0.27) EULAR Good/Moderate (%) 22/29 (76%) 16/33 (48%) 27% (3–51%) Conclusions This controlled trial suggest that a nurse-led clinic for RA patients with moderate/high disease activity may be effective. Although not shown, it likely to be cost-effective and possible to implement in clinical care. Disclosure of Interest None declared


A Gauss diagram is a simple, combinatorial way to present a link. It is known that any Vassiliev invariant may be obtained from a Gauss diagram formula that involves counting subdiagrams of certain combinatorial types. In this paper we present simple formulas for an infinite family of invariants in terms of counting surfaces of a certain genus and number of boundary components in a Gauss diagram associated with a closed braid. We then identify the resulting invariants with partial derivatives of the HOMFLY-PT polynomial.


The power production contribution to the power system from offshore wind energy is continuously increasing in the northern European countries. A better understanding of the influence of wind farms to those downstream and to the lower atmosphere will help optimising energy production from large wind farm clusters. Mesoscale models allow the simulation of large domains sufficiently to capture large wind farms and surroundings at reasonable computational costs, but processes below the horizontal resolution remain unresolved and have to be parametrised, such as the effects of the wind turbines to the flow. In the past, several approaches have been introduced, ranging from surface roughness change to drag approaches which usually also add turbulence. A new scheme is implemented in the Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model. Measurements from Horns Rev I are used to evaluate the new scheme together with that in the WRF model. Results show an improvement of robustness in vertical resolution dependency. Furthermore, the velocity and "turbulence kinetic energy" fields agree better to those of high resolution models. The two schemes are applied to various problems. A hypothetical offshore wind farm in northern California, shows a sensitivity of the velocity field around the wind farm to atmospheric conditions aloft. For a shallow boundary layer capped by a steep inversion, gravity waves were generated, with related anomalies of the atmospheric variables aloft. Dependencies of the wind farm efficiency and the wind farm's wake recovery to different atmospheric conditions aloft were found in an idealised case study. Moreover, the wind farm efficiency to different climates for wind farm sizes up to 375 km2 was examined. The modelled production varied with wind climate and were well above 1 W m−2, contrary to another study. Finally, wind farm shadowing was studied for the worst case scenario, in which two wind farms are perfectly aligned. For this scenario, considerable production losses of the downstream wind farm are expected, even with a separation of 5 wind farm lengths. DTU-PhD-35(EN) December 2013 ISBN 978-87-92896-78-0


This paper presents a satellite account in which investment in human capital is considered as a produced product/asset. It is not the education sector but the individual person taking education or training/courses that is the genuine producer of human capital. The former only provides education services that are used as one of the production inputs for the latter. Since another fundamental input is own labor services, human capital produced and embodied in the individual is regarded as being owned by the person in concern. It is demonstrated that the gross operating surplus generated from the production of human capital equals the differences between the estimates by the cost-based and the income-based approaches, which constitutes the first step towards making reconciliation between the estimates within one and the same framework. Finally, a numerical example based on supply and use tables shows the feasibility of implementing such a satellite account in practice.


In order to study the mechanism of bract peeling and crushing of a corn harvester, a bract stripping and crushing device was designed that mainly consists of a stripping device, a crushing device, and a frame. The kinematics and dynamics of the roller of bract stripping device were analyzed, and the conditions of bract stripping were obtained. Single factor tests of stripping roller speed and crushing roller speed were carried out. On the basis of single factor tests, orthogonal experiments were carried out to determine crushing roller speed, distance between crushing device axis and stripping device axis, stripping roller speed, and offset angle of stripping roller. The orthogonal experiments showed that the optimum parameters of the device were obtained: the speed of the crushing drum was 1,100 r/min, the axis distance between the stripping and crushing devices was 180 mm, the speed of the stripping roller was 400 r/min, and the offset angle of the stripping roller was 5 degrees. On the basis of orthogonal experiment, three, five, seven, nine and eleven corn feeding and high-speed photography experiments were carried out respectively. The results showed that when three ears of corn were fed at the same time, the effect of corn bract stripping and crushing was the best with the increase of corn number. The stripping roller only grasps most of the bracts of corn at 0.019 s, after stripping the bracts into the crushing device, the bracts were crushed after 0.077 s. The crushing time of bracts was approximately four times as long as that of the bracts.


The striatal dopaminergic system has been implicated in reinforcement learning (RL), motor performance, and incentive motivation. Various computational models have been proposed to account for each of these effects individually, but a formal analysis of their interactions is lacking. Here we present a novel algorithmic model expanding the classical actor-critic architecture to include fundamental interactive properties of neural circuit models, incorporating both incentive and learning effects into a single theoretical framework. The standard actor is replaced by a dual opponent actor system representing distinct striatal populations, which come to differentially specialize in discriminating positive and negative action values. Dopamine modulates the degree to which each actor component contributes to both learning and choice discriminations. In contrast to standard frameworks, this model simultaneously captures documented effects of dopamine on both learning and choice incentive-and their interactions-across a variety of studies, including probabilistic RL, effort-based choice, and motor skill learning.


We have developed an automated electronic anesthesia record system using a hospital LAN. As the number of monitors we can use in the operating room is increasing, it is impossible to record all physiologic parameters in a handwritten anesthesia record. Physiologic parameters are recorded every 10 seconds from the anesthesia monitor. An operation ordering system by a hospital LAN has been completed and the patient's data are stored in a host computer, and we can use its data for the automated electronic anesthesia record preoperatively. The advantages of the automated electronic anesthesia record are continuous high quality, more data collection than the handwritten anesthesia record, and the electronic database. During a critical period, the anesthesiologist is too busy to plot physiologic parameters but the automated electronic anesthesia record is reliable and accurate. Disadvantage of the automated electronic anesthesia record is some practice required to input clinical events such as drug administration. The handwritten anesthesia record is easy to use and economical. Ergonomic problems still remain to be solved for wider acceptance of the automated electronic anesthesia record in clinical practice. At the end of the operation, intraoperative data are sent to a host computer and the anesthesia record is printed. We can use this database for clinical research and retrospective case reviews. The implementation of the automated electronic anesthesia record in anesthesia practice will improve quality of patient care.


Unilateral chronic daily headache occurs in approximately 2% of adult patients, and often represents a trigeminal autonomic cephalalgia. We now describe the characteristics of 23 children who presented with a persistently unilateral chronic daily headache. The clinical features of our patients' headaches were primarily migrainous; however, the diagnosis of a trigeminal autonomic cephalalgia or a secondary headache disorder was frequently made.


The construction and operation of a cross-correlation phase and modulation fl.uorometer using the synchrotron radiation facility at the ADONE-Frascati electron storage ring is described. In the frequency domain the high repetition rate pulsed source gives a large series of equally spaced harmonic frequencies. Use of cross-correlation techniques in conjunction with such a light source permits one to isolate one harmonic frequency from the adjacent frequencies with high precision. The cross-correlation frequency required for the analysis of the phase delay and modulation ratio is obtained using two coupled frequency synthesizers, one of which drives the radio-frequency cavity of the storage ring and the other which modulates the response of the photomultipliers used for the signal detection. The accuracy, reproducibility, and sensitivity of the instrumentation have been determined on a number of systems and are reported.


Glucocorticoids (GCs) are used to treat pregnant women at risk for preterm delivery; however, prenatal exposure to GCs may trigger adverse neurological side effects due to reduced neural progenitor cell (NPC) proliferation. Whereas many established cell-cycle regulators impact NPC proliferation, other signaling molecules, such as the gap junction protein connexin-43 (Cx43), also influence proliferation. Gap junction intercellular communication (GJIC) is influenced by GCs in some cells, but such hormone effects have not been examined in coupled stem cells. We found that both continuous and transient exposure of embryonic day 14.5 mouse neurosphere cultures to dexamethasone (DEX) limits proliferation of coupled NPCs, which is manifested by both a reduction in S-phase progression and enhanced cell-cycle exit. A short (i.e., 1-h) DEX treatment also reduced GJIC as measured by live-cell fluorescence recovery after photobleaching, and altered the synchrony of spontaneous calcium transients in coupled NPCs. GC effects on GJIC in NPCs are transcription-independent and mediated through plasma membrane glucocorticoid receptors (GRs). This nongenomic pathway operates through lipid raft-associated GRs via a site-specific, MAPK-dependent phosphorylation of Cx43, which is linked to GR via caveolin-1 (Cav-1) and c-src. Cav-1 is essential for this nongenomic action of GR, as DEX effects on GJIC, Cx43 phosphorylation, and MAPK activation are not observed in Cav-1 knockout NPCs. As transient pharmacologic inhibition of GJIC triggers reduced S-phase progression but not enhanced cell-cycle exit, the nongenomic GR signaling pathway may operate via distinct downstream effectors to alter the proliferative capacity of NPCs.


Nigella sativa L. seeds are widely used in Sudan as a spice, food preservative, and medicine. Sudan does not grow the plant. The study aimed to compare the chemical profile and antibacterial activity of fixed and essential oils of N. sativa from Ethiopian and Indian seeds and the oil offered by Attarin in the local market. A Soxhlet device extracted fixed oils and hydrodistillation to obtain essential oils and analysed their oil profile using GC-MS. Disk diffusion was used to test antimicrobial activity. The fixed oil of Ethiopian (EFO) and Indian (IFO) seeds contained ten components, with linoleic acid (50.12% in EFO and 57.69% in IFO) being the most abundant. Ethiopian seeds were used to extract the essential oil. 51.96% of the oil was hydrogenated monoterpenes. The main chemicals were p-cymene (36.76%) and thymoquinone (18.70%). There were fixed and essential oils in the Attarin oil sample. The main component was linoleic acid (14.61%), followed by p-cymene (13.85%). The maximum antibacterial activity (MIC 6.25 µg/disc) was seen in both fixed and liquid oil samples against Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The best anti-P. aeruginosa action was attarin oil (MIC 12.5 µg/disc). Finally, the Sudanese market needs to standardise N. sativa seeds and oil.


Background : Recently, the proportion of elderly persons is rising worldwide leading to increase amount of surgical patients of this age group. The evidences about pain control clearly supported that elderly persons received under-treatment. Whatever, data from our institute is limited and needs to be determined. Objective : To survey postoperative pain management and its outcomes in elderly patients at Srinagarind Hospital. Study design : Cross-sectional descriptive study. Setting : Post anesthesia care unit (PACU) and surgical wards, Srinagarind Hospital. Materials and Methods : Pain management and its outcomes were evaluated in patients over 65 years old underwent elective general surgery for a two months period. Data were collected from medical records and from patient assessment including method of pain treatment, pain intensity (at rest), pain relief, patient's satisfaction and side effects of the treatment. Results : Ninety-one patients with the mean age of 72.0 + 5.7 years were evaluated. Most of them (72.5%) received general anesthesia and 56.1% underwent intra-abdominal surgery. Intravenous injection was the most common technique used for pain control (63.8%) while PCA pump was used about 20.9%. Pain assessment using NRS was achieved in between 62-96% (average 76%). The proportion of patients experienced moderate to severe pain during arrival at the PACU, at discharged from the PACU and at 24 hours after operation were 29.4%, 23.1% and 18.8%, respectively. The most common side effect was nausea and vomiting (12.2%). Only 8.9% of patients reported that pain was not relief and 1.1% of patients unsatisfied with the treatment received. Conclusion : About 29.4% of the elderly patients experienced moderate to severe pain after surgery. Most of them received pain treatment by intravenous injection while only 20.9% received acute pain service from the acute pain unit of Anesthesiology department. Keyword: older patients, postoperative pain management


This study attempts to evaluate job satisfaction of bank employees in Bangladesh. It focuses on the relative importance of job satisfaction factors and their impacts on the overall job satisfaction of employees. In this study the targeted population is employees of Bank. The Banks include private and public Bank. The data was collected and administered by means of a structured questionnaire. The study showed that organizational factors such as work conditions, pay, fairness, and promotion significantly influenced employee job satisfaction in Bank. However, individual factors such as age and gender did not significantly influence employee job satisfaction in Banks. The overall job satisfaction of the bank officers is at the positive level appeal to their customers. In such situation, job satisfaction of bank officers becomes an important issue that has to be taken care of in order to achieve ultimate goals of the banking sector in Bangladesh.


IN RECENT years, scientists and editors of scientific journals have often noted how few hard data exist on the workings of editorial peer review. Although pressures from inside and out increasingly encourage journals to be more explicit about their practices and more inclined to question their own habits, there is still a good deal of truth in the sardonic observation made 5 years ago that "the arbiters of rigor, quality, and innovativeness in publishing scientific work do not apply to their own work the standards they apply in judging the work of others." 1 This paradox inspired The First International Congress on Peer Review in Biomedical Publication, with its goal of encouraging the systematic and empirical study of journals. Of course, data and rigorous methods are not enough to make a science. The systematic study of peer review is even more deficient in theory than it is in data. Some


The cavernous sinus, para-sellar region, and orbit have intricately intertwined cranial nerves, blood vessels, and dura mater. In surgery, anatomical understanding is very important. Recognizing the location(depth)of the cranial nerves running on the lateral and upper wall of the cavernous sinus is vital and is directly linked to postoperative complications. In addition, understanding the dural ring in the clinoid segment of the internal carotid artery is important. The periosteum on the upper surface of the anterior clinoid is the distal dural ring of the internal carotid artery, and the periosteum on the lower surface is the proximal dural ring. The orbit is filled with adipose tissue and is completely different from other intracranial parts. However, understanding the anatomy from the orbital apex to the superior orbital fissure is important in the pterional approach.


Conditional on choosing a pegged exchange rate regime, what determines the currency to which countries peg or "anchor" their exchange rate? This paper aims to answer this question using a panel multinomial logit framework, covering more than 100 countries for the period 1980-1998. We find that trade network externalities are a key determinant of anchor currency choice, implying that there are multiple steady states for the distribution of anchor currencies in the international monetary system. Other factors found to be related to anchor currency choice include the symmetry of output co-movement, the currency denomination of debt, and legal or colonial origins.


INTRODUCTION
Pericardial tamponade (PT) is a life-threatening condition, with low cardiac output. The hemodynamic consequences of PT can severely affect the circulation of all tissues, including the microcirculation of the kidneys and the intestinal mucosa. Our aim was to develop a hemodynamically stable and controllable large animal model of PT to study the consequences of cardiogenic shock.

METHODS
Two groups of anesthetized vietnamese minipigs (n = 6, both groups) were used. Following laparotomy, a cannula was fixed into the pericardium through the diaphragm without thoracotomy. A sham-operated group served as control, in the second group 60-min PT was induced by intrapericardial injection of heparinised own blood. Throughout PT and 180-min reperfusion, macrohemodynamics, renal circulation and mesenteric macro- and microcirculation were monitored. Myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity was measured and in vivo histology was performed by confocal laser scanning endomicroscopy.

RESULTS
The PT increased central venous pressure, heart rate and decreased mean arterial pressure, mesenteric flow (from 355.5 ± 112.4 vs 182.0 ± 59.1 ml/min) and renal arterial flow (from 159.63 ± 50.7 vs 35.902 ± 27.9 ml/min) and the microcirculation of the ileum. Elevated MPO activity (3.66 ± 1.6 vs 7.01 ± 1.44 mU/mg protein) and injury of the ileal mucosa were present also.

SUMMARY
The reproducible large animal model is suitable for clinically relevant investigations of the hemodynamic and biochemical consequences of PT.


OBJECTIVE
to explore the feasibility of evaluating viable myocardium with two-dimensional strain imaging combined with adenosine stress echocardiography.

METHODS
acute myocardial infarction and reperfusion model was made by ligating anterior descending coronary artery for 90 minutes followed by 120-minute reperfusion in 15 healthy mongrel dogs. Images were acquired at baseline and after reperfusion. Adenosine was then infused and image acquisition repeated. Regional peak-systolic strain in radial, circumferential and longitudinal motion on anterior wall and anterior septum were measured. TTC staining served as a "gold standard" to define viable and nonviable myocardium. The ratio of infarct area (S(N)) to total area (S) was calculated and viable myocardium was defined with S(N)/S ≤ 50%.

RESULTS
at baseline, RS(peak sys), CS(peak sys) and LS(peak sys) were similar between viable (n = 37) and nonviable myocardial segments (n = 53) and significantly decreased after reperfusion in both viable and nonviable myocardial segments. Compared with values obtained after reperfusion, LS(peak sys) and RS(peak sys) remained unchanged in nonviable myocardial segments and significantly increased in viable myocardial segments after adenosine (P < 0.05). Post adenosine RS(peak sys) was negatively correlated with S(N)/S and CS(peak sys) and LS(peak sys) were positively correlated with S(N)/S. With ΔRS(peak-sys) (before and after adenosine) ≥ 13.5%, the sensitivity was 83.8% and specificity was 83.0% for distinguishing viable from nonviable myocardial segment. With ΔLS(peak sys) ≥ 11% as cutoff value, the sensitivity was 78.4% and specificity was 88.7% for distinguishing viable from nonviable myocardial segment. Combining ΔRS(peak sys) and ΔLS(peak sys), the sensitivity and specificity for distinguishing viable from nonviable myocardial segment were 91.9% and 79.2%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS
two-dimensional strain imaging combined with adenosine stress echocardiography could quantitatively identify viable and nonviable myocardium.


Different methods of virtual screening as a tool for lead structure discovery are described. They range from structure based docking procedures to ligand based methods such as the chemical features based pharmacophore hypothesis approach. A review on several successful applications of virtual screening is given. Different approaches have been described to derive pharmacophore models, which were subsequently used for 3D database searching. The studies so far published cover a wide range of pharmacological applications. The results hereby obtained clearly indicate that focused assessment of corporate databases by virtual screening using well validated pharmacophore models yield to a significant improvement in lead structure determination compared to high throughput screening.


In this paper, we consider semi-global L2 gain analysis for nonlinear systems described as linear systems with self-scheduling parameters. First we show a method to convert linear systems with self-scheduling parameters into linear systems with scheduling parameters based on evaluation of the domain of the self-scheduling parameters. Second, using the tools for linear systems with scheduling parameters, we discuss semi-global L2 gain analysis for the nonlinear systems and propose an approach together with feasible formulas of computation, which provides a solution to the so-called hidden loop problem in gain scheduling. Finally, we show numerical examples.


The global geothermal electricity market has significantly grown over the last decade and is expected to reach a total installed capacity of 18.4 GWe in 2021 (GEA, 2016). Currently, geothermal project developers customize the size of the power plant to fit the resource being developed. In particular, the turbine is designed and sized to optimize efficiency and resource utilization for electricity production; most often, other power plant components are then chosen to complement the turbine design. These custom turbine designs demand one-off manufacturing processes, which result in higher manufacturing setup costs, longer lead-times, and higher capital costs overall in comparison to larger-volume line manufacturing processes. In contrast, turbines produced in standard increments, manufactured in larger volumes, could result in lower costs per turbine. This study focuses on analysis of the global supply chain and manufacturing costs for Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) turboexpanders and steam turbines used in geothermal power plants. In this study, we developed a manufacturing cost model to identify requirements for equipment, facilities, raw materials, and labor. We analyzed three different cases 1) 1 MWe geothermal ORC turboexpander 2) 5 MWe ORC turboexpander and 3) 20 MWe geothermal steam turbine, and calculated the cost of manufacturing the major components, such as the impellers/blades, shaft/rotor, nozzles, inlet guide lanes, disks, and casings. Then we used discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis to calculate the minimum sustainable price (MSP). MSP is the minimum price that a company must sell its product for in order to pay back the capital and operating expenses during the plant lifetime (CEMAC, 2017). The results showed that MSP could highly vary between 893 $/kW and 30 $/kW based on turbine size, standardization and volume of manufacturing. The analysis also showed that the economy of scale applies both to the size of the turbine and the number manufactured in a single run. Sensitivity analysis indicated these reduced labor costs for design and engineering and manufacturing setup.


This paper investigates the gender dimension of income inequality in the Nordic countries. While income inequality is commonly studied at the household level, we examine individual-level inequality in order to measure differences between genders and within genders. We estimate Gini coefficients for men's and women's disposable and labour incomes separately, and study the trends in gender gaps at different percentile levels. Our results emphasize that important gender differences in inequality are not captured by the commonly used household inequality measures, but need to be assessed employing individual-level inequality measures.


To achieve the goals of the One Health agenda, multi- and interdisciplinary approaches are essential. It is now common to bring people from different backgrounds together to work on a single disease problem, with a large number of multi-partner consortia currently funded by the European Commission, the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and others. Within institutions, mechanisms to increase interactions across disciplines include common seminars, retreats, and the formation of themed virtual centres. Despite the willingness of most scientists to cooperate in research towards a common goal, the existence of different professional cultures has been identified as a barrier in achieving One Health objectives. Cooperation, complementarities and convergence are required to achieve our goals. More effective communication, better teaching to increase awareness of One Health issues and more meetings that bring both animal and human health experts together are needed in order to join the dots across the disciplines in One Health.


Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a widely used diagnostic tool with great benefits but has been considered contraindicated in people with cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIED). We investigated the occurrence of MRI in people with CIEDs and associated adverse events in a national cohort. Of 17,848 people included, 56 (0.3%) had at least oneMRI; 16 of 16,102 (0.1%) withMRI non-compatible CIEDs and 40 of 1746 (2%) with MRI compatible CIEDs. Following MRI exposure, hospitalisations for potential serious adverse events were rare.


The extensive cytoskeleton present in brain tissue is composed of microfilaments, neurofilaments, and neurotubules. A clear understanding of each of these structures is required to accurately define their participation in neuronal functions. Until more is known, therefore, we are restricted to speculate on their importance to the general activity of the cell. The presence of microfilamentous proteins in nerve endings -- the sites where nerve transmission is chemically sustained -- strongly suggests their participation in the release of putative neurotransmitters, a hypothesis that may be substantiated in the near future. It follows that alteration in assembly, disassembly, or interaction among the various cytoskeletal components may permit some insight into the causes and origins of a variety of neurological alterations affecting humankind.


"Fifteen years ago, many questioned the wisdom of sequencing the human genome. There were concerns not only about the technical feasibility of such an effort, but also that its scientific worth would prove too modest to warrant the investment of human and financial capital that the project would require. This collection of essays stands as eloquent testimony to those who overcame such doubts to create, nurture, and finish the sequencing of the human genome in April 2003, a date that will forever stand out in human history. The wide and public availability of the human genome sequence and the other tools spawned by the Human Genome Project have helped to create an unparalleled era of biomedical discovery. It has opened up new avenues for the understanding of the biology of human health and disease. Many of these avenues remain to be fully explored, but this volume already demonstrates that information about genetics and genomics is increasingly permeating our clinical approach to patients."-from the Foreword by Dr. Elias Zerhouni For more than a century, knowledge about the role of genes has been gradually reshaping perceptions of our health and of ourselves. From Mendel's work with plants and Watson and Crick's model of DNA's double-helix structure to the recent decoding of the human genome, the tremendous advances in our ability to analyze and interpret gene sequences are revolutionizing many aspects of medicine. Genomic Medicine collects and updates an acclaimed series of articles published in the pages of the New England Journal of Medicine since November 2002 that together provide an authoritative and comprehensive overview of the latest developments in the field of medical genetics and an exploration of where these advances might take medicine over the next decade. Beginning with a fundamental primer and a useful glossary of terms, the book offers the latest information on the use of genetics to screen, diagnose, and treat a wide variety of diseases, including breast and ovarian cancer and cardiovascular, Alzheimer, and Parkinson disease. Also included are discussions of population screening, pharmacogenetics, and the ethical, legal, and social dimensions of genomic medicine. Edited by leaders in the field, written by experts from around the globe, and brimming with full-color illustrations, Genomic Medicine is an indispensable guide to the full potential of the DNA-based transformation of medicine.


Diacetyl is a natural byproduct of fermentation and known to be an important flavor compound in many food products. Because of the potential undesirable effects of diacetyl on health safety and beer flavor, determination of its concentration in beer samples is essential and its analytical methods have attracted close attention recently. The aim of the present work is to develop and validate a novel high-performance liquid chromatography method for the quantification of diacetyl in beer based on the derivatization reaction of diacetyl with 4-nitro-o-phenylenediamine (NPDA). After the derivatization with NPDA in pH 3.0 at 45 °C for 20 min, diacetyl was separated on a kromasil C(18) column at room temperature in the form of the resulting 6-nitro-2,3-dimethylquinoxaline and detected by the ultraviolet detector at 257 nm. The results showed that the correlation coefficient for the method was 0.9992 in the range of 0.0050-10.0 mg L(-1) and the limit of detection was 0.0008 mg L(-1) at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3. The applicability of the proposed method was evaluated in the analysis of beer samples with the recovery range of 94.0-99.0% and relative standard deviation range of 1.20-3.10%. The concentration levels of diacetyl detected in beer samples from 12 brands ranged from 0.034 to 0.110 mg L(-1). The proposed method showed efficient chromatographic separation, excellent linearity, and good repeatability that can be applied to quantification of diacetyl in beer samples.


The purity and recovery of concentrates obtained in industrial free-fall electrostatic separators can be increased by preventing the impacts between the particles and the electrodes. The aim of this paper is to analyze the possibility to control particle trajectories in such separators by modifying the conditions of particle admission in the interelectrode space. The parametric equations of a charged particle trajectory in the electric field between the electrodes of a free-fall separator served for writing a numerical modeling program in MATLAB. The ten control factors of the free-fall electrostatic separation process were employed as input variables of this program: particle charge and dimension, trajectory start point coordinates, feed input angle and initial velocity, electrode length and inclination, interelectrode spacing, and applied high voltage. A custom-designed laboratory free-fall electrostatic separator (length of the electrodes: 1000 mm; standard interelectrode spacing: 300 mm; and nominal high voltage: 90 kV), provided with a fluidized-bed tribocharger, was employed for validating the conclusions of the numerical modeling. The geometrical data of this separator were taken into account for computing the initial velocity nu0 of the particles entering the electric field zone. Another important parameter of the numerical model, which is the granule charge q, was attributed the value measured at the exit of the fluidized-bed tribocharger. The numerical simulations were performed for the two values of the feed input angle: alpha = 4deg and alpha = 8deg, considering polyethylene therephtalate (PET) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) particles of different sizes. A good agreement was found between the theoretical predictions and the results of the experiments carried out with two binary mixtures: 50% PET/50% PVC and 10% PET/90% PVC. Both the numerical modeling and the experimental study demonstrated that the feed input angle a influences the outcome of the electrostatic separation to a great extent.


Background:  Bone mineral density (BMD) of the spine and the femoral neck are accurate indicators of the bone mass and thus useful predictors of fracture risk. Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) is the easiest, yet the most precise and non-invasive technique. The need for a population-specific normative BMD data is vital in preventing mislabelling or misdiagnosis of osteopenia or even osteoporosis.

Aim:  This study was performed to determine the lumbar vertebral and the proximal femur BMD measured by DEXA in 280 normal Iranian men and women.

Method:  Subjects were selected randomly from different social economic classes in Tehran. Normal subjects were selected for each decade and both sexes. BMD was measured with a Hologic QDR 1000+ densitometer, for the lumbar spine (L1, L2, L3, L4, L1–L4) and the femoral neck (neck, trochanter, intertrochanter, ward triangle, total). Data were treated by polynomial approximation (3rd degree).

Results:  In women, the highest BMD recorded was 1.020 g/cm2 for the lumbar spine (mean L1–L4) at the age of 31 years, and 0.832 for the femoral neck at the age of 34. In men, the highest BMD recorded was 0.987 g/cm2 for the lumbar spine (mean L1–L4) at the age of 36, and 0.907 for the femoral neck at the age of 30. The highest BMD in spine was lower in men than women.

Conclusion:  The BMD of both lumbar spine and femoral neck (in both sexes) was lower in this study than the Hologic standards.


Applications of cellulose-based materials that require high-purity cellulose as a feedstock are becoming increasingly common. However, reported methods for hemicellulose removal are comparatively complicated. In this study, a Lewis base-enhanced high-temperature liquid water (HTLW) treatment was used to purify cellulose. The variation of carbohydrate content, average degree of polymerization (DP), and the crystalline index of specimens of the purified cellulose were investigated. After primary HTLW treatment, the alpha-cellulose content of specimens increased distinctly; also, the alkali solubility decreased. The DP of the specimens decreased dramatically after HLTW treatment. The incorporation of a Lewis base was beneficial for maintaining DP and for removing hemicellulose selectively. Simultaneously, the results of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) showed that the chemical and crystal structure of the specimens were unchanged. Based on the experimental results, Lewis base-enhanced HTLW is a promising method to prepare high-purity cellulose.


Movies, as one of the most rapidly developing industries ́ outcomes, have gained much attention these years. Especially in China, the world ́ s second largest film market with a rapid growing speed, many film companies intend to foresee the future box office in advance to better arrange their income and expenditure. Unlike some traditional forecasting model based on several movie-related features, this paper comprehensively utilizes the real-time social media, microblog, to realize a more accurate weekly box office forecasting model. The features weekly extracted from microblogs can be divided into count based features and context based features, along with the existing box office and the screen arrangements, to predict the box office in next week. For count based features, not only the total volume of related microblogs and the diffusion effect considers the number of followers, several unnoticed features like authentication users, gender ratio and mobile-users ratio are also introduced into the original predicting model. For content based features, a duplicate semantic analysis method is proposed. The number of tweets which can indeed influence others ́ purchase decision, along with the number of tweets with positive and negative influence is the results of the analysis system. On this basis, guided effect for each influential tweets are identified by the praise, comment and retweet times. Some machine learning models are then adopted after using genetic algorithm (GA) for feature selection. The empirical study shows that our research can dynamic forecast box office with a sustainable good performance.


As part of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration COVID-19 vaccine review process, public commentary was solicited offering an opportunity to reflect on vaccine attitudes that may impact the uptake of coronavirus vaccines. We identified themes in the commentary that highlighted the safety, efficacy, ethics, and trustworthiness and transparency regarding the novel mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. A "Learning Immunization System" model is proposed to optimize public, private, and academic partnerships relating to vaccine development and implementation.


Urban cyclists are exposed to many traffic-related air pollutants including particulate matter (PM) that may increase vulnerability to health effects. This study investigates second-by-second personal exposure to PM2.5 (fine particulate matter that is 2.5 microns in diameter and less) along bicycle commuting paths, and assesses elements of the natural and built environment for the relative importance of these factors in understanding the variability in PM2.5 personal exposure. Urban cyclists were carrying high resolution PM2.5 monitors (placed in a backpack) in combination with portable GPS trackers to provide a spatial identity to each one-second pollutant measurement. The results of this study indicate that daily averages of PM2.5 concentrations from all bicycle routes were weakly correlated with meteorological variables, however, a strong influence of regional levels of PM2.5 was observed. Geospatial analysis of PM2.5 personal exposure concentrations showed a considerable variation within routes, correlated with land use (with lower concentrations in parks and higher in industrial areas) and clustered at four areas: busiest bridge, heavily trafficked road segments, the downtown urban core, and two construction sites. This study has found many incidences of personal exposure to PM2.5 exceeding the provincial guidelines for healthy activity (e.g., very poor (PM2.5 > 91 μg/m3) pollution concentrations are clustered in three regions: approaching the bridge in the west part of the city; the downtown urban core; and two under construction spots), which suggests behavioural and infrastructure modifications in balancing the health benefits of cycling with the environmental exposure to air pollutants.


Magnesium (Mg) is a key factor in bone health, but few studies have evaluated Mg intake or absorption and their relationship with bone mineral content (BMC) or bone mineral density (BMD) in children. We measured Mg intake, absorption, and urinary excretion in a group of children 4 to 8 years of age. Mg absorption was determined using a dual‐tracer stable isotope technique, with 25Mg given intravenously and 26Mg given orally. We found a small, but significantly greater Mg absorption efficiency (percentage absorption) in males than females (67% ± 12% versus 60% ± 8%, p = 0.02) but no difference in estimated net Mg retention (average of 37 mg/d in both males and females). Relating dietary Mg intake to estimated Mg retention showed that an intake of 133 mg/d, slightly above the current estimated average requirement (EAR) of 110 mg/d, led to a net average retention of 10 mg/d, the likely minimum growth‐related need for this age group. Covariate analysis showed that Mg intake and total Mg absorption, but not calcium intake or total absorption were significantly associated with both total body BMC and BMD. These results suggest that usual Mg intakes in small children in the United States meet dietary requirements in most but not all children. Within the usual range of children's diets in the United States, dietary Mg intake and absorption may be important, relatively unrecognized factors in bone health. © 2014 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.


In Hawthorne's Shyness, Clark Davis offers both a challenge to current trends in American literary studies and a striking new perspective on the writing of Nathaniel Hawthorne. He proposes an alternative to recent, ideologically driven criticism, including the range of approaches under the banner of New Historicism which continue to dominate the study of American literature. Drawing on ethical theorists including Heidegger, Levinas, Davidson, and Cavell, he finds new models for the relationship between critic and author in their philosophies of engagement with the Other. While these ideas have been increasingly influential in the criticism of European literature, they have so far made fewer inroads into American letters. Davis shows how a "hermeneutics of respect" can transform our relationship to American writers and provide a new, complex understanding of authorial intention. What makes Davis's work particularly effective, however, is the close integration of his methodological argument with its application. He directly and convincingly reexamines much of the most important current scholarship on Hawthorne, carefully developing and distinguishing his own positions. This important new reading of a central figure in American literary history, significant in its own right, also powerfully demonstrates the potential of Davis's critical approach.


In recent years, heavy metals-induced soil pollution has increased due to the widespread usage of chromium (Cr) in chemical industries. The release of Cr into the environment has reached its peak causing hazardous environmental pollution. Heavy metal-induced soil pollution is one of the most important abiotic stress affecting the dynamic stages of plant growth and development. In severe cases, it can kill the plants and their derivatives and thereby pose a potential threat to human food safety. The chromium ion effect on plants varies and depends upon its severity range. It mainly impacts the numerous regular activities of the plant's life cycle, by hindering the germination of plant seeds, inhibiting the growth of hypocotyl and epicotyl parts of the plants, as well as damaging the chloroplast cell structures. In this review article, we tried to summarize the possible effects of chromium-induced stress on plant growth, developmental physiology, biochemistry, and molecular regulation and provided the important theoretical basis for selecting remedial plants in chromium-induced contaminated soils, breeding of low toxicity tolerant varieties, and analyzing the mechanism of plant resistance mechanisms in response to heavy metal stress.


This paper presents a formal model to specification of adaptive educational hypermedia systems (AEHS) in biomedical engineering project. This approach use Categories Theory (CT) that offers a high generality degree and abstraction inside the resolution of problems in any domain of hypermedia applications. The AEHS categorization is realized in several levels, with formalism in different structures can be considered; therefore the categorical language simplifies the abstraction, assisting in uniform formulation definition at conception of these systems.


Patient satisfaction is of great importance and is a key factor in the quality of care. The most commonly used measure of this factor is satisfaction surveys. This study used the modified SERVQHOS healthcare quality survey model, which adapts the SERVQUAL survey. The main objective was to determine the degree of satisfaction of patients seen in the outpatient department of the Dermatology Service, as well as to describe and detect those aspects that could be improved to offer better quality care. A total of 250 patients responded to the survey. The mean Likert scale score for the 19 items on the perceived quality of care was 4.17 ± 0.796 points. Up to 92.8% were satisfied or very satisfied with the care received. All items were statistically correlated with overall satisfaction (p < 0.001). In the multivariate study, the variables with predictive capacity in relation to overall satisfaction (p < 0.05) were "the technology of the medical equipment"; "the directions to the consultation"; "the confidence that the staff transmits"; "the state of the consultation"; and "the interest of the staff in solving problems". Satisfaction was significantly higher in men (p < 0.05), with a level of education up to primary school (p < 0.05) and no work activity (p < 0.001). The final mean score in the degree of perceived satisfaction was very high, indicating that the expectations of the patients were exceeded, and showing that satisfaction is closely linked to the qualities and skills of the staff in their relationship with the patient.


The value of urban tree study to geography and to environmental education is established. The recording format, tree-habitat attributes and survey methodology are elaborated. General interpretations of spatial variations in tree characteristics associated with facets of urban geography, including pre-urbanisation relicts, management regime, town-plan configuration, urban redevelopment and expansion, are discussed. Finally some specific examples are enlisted to illustrate biogeographical concepts such as species composition and diversity, species range and migration, theory of island biogeography and plant-environment interactions.


Today's 802.11-based wireless network interface cards (WNICs) can leverage multiple transmission rates to exploit various and dynamic channel conditions. Some link adaptation schemes (LASs) in the literature have been shown to adapt well to dynamic channel conditions, thereby achieving high link throughput. However, routing protocols unaware of the underlying LAS may achieve low end-to-end throughput due to inappropriate path selection. In this paper, we propose a cross-layer routing framework called EAB which aims at discovering a high throughput path using statistics from MAC and LAS layer for a newly initiated flow. Our simulation results reveal that EAB operating on top of some efficient LASs significantly outperforms existing routing protocols in terms of the achieved throughput and the impact on existing flows.


We show that the simplest noncommutative renormalizable field theory, the o4 model on four dimensional Moyal space with harmonic potential is asymptotically safe to all orders in perturbation theory


Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with clinically active Behçet's disease or juvenile chronic arthritis (JCA) gave high responses to phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) in vitro prior to prednisolone therapy and low responses when taking prednisolone in comparison with cells from control individuals. Such effects were not significantly different at the six concentrations of cells or the four times in culture studied. Differences from controls were also seen with cells from clinically controlled, prednisolone treated Behçet's patients; the cells responded better than controls at low cell concentrations and early times in culture, the reverse occurring at higher concentrations and later times. This pattern of response suggests the presence of a higher than normal proportion of responsive cells in these patients. These studies suggest that not only is a still wider range of culture conditions required to assess fully the differences in lymphocyte function related to disease activity and prednisolone treatment in JCA or Behçet's, but also that the use of a narrow set of 'optimized' conditions may be misleading.


We report on the results of two projects our research group is presently conducting. We start out with sketching preliminary results of a long-term government project geared to reveal efficiency conditions for successful electronic commerce particularly in the financial services field. We address questions relating to the innovative use of new channels for distributing financial services focusing on Internet banking. Our government research funds are devoted to help German financial services firms on their way into the digital economy and particularly to advise German banks in applying Internet technology in novel ways to new and promising applications. Thus, along with the research sketched above, we are engaged in a joint project with an innovative German bank, the Munich-based Advance Bank. This direct banking firm is currently extending its telephone banking technology by simultaneously employing Internet communication for consultation-intensive customer processes such as mortgage loans (intelligently combined with other financial products). Based on our joint project, we present a brief case study of the bank s market and technology strategy and identify some problems encountered when employing Internet technology to open new markets successfully.


Abstract Background Feelings of imposter syndrome (inadequacy or incompetence) are common among physicians and are associated with diminished joy in practice. Identification of modifiable factors associated with feelings of imposter syndrome might inform strategies to ameliorate them. To this point, though, no such factors have been identified. Question/purpose Are intolerance of uncertainty and confidence in problem-solving skills independently associated with feelings of imposter syndrome after accounting for other factors? Methods This survey-based experiment measured the relationship between feelings of imposter syndrome, intolerance of uncertainty, and confidence in problem-solving skills among musculoskeletal specialist surgeons. Approximately 200 surgeons who actively participate in the Science of Variation Group, a collaboration of mainly orthopaedic surgeons specializing in upper extremity illnesses primarily across Europe and North America, were invited to this survey-based experiment. One hundred two surgeons completed questionnaires measuring feelings of imposter syndrome (an adaptation of the Clance Imposter Phenomenon Scale), tolerance of uncertainty (the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale-12), and confidence in problem-solving skills (the Personal Optimism and Self-Efficacy Optimism questionnaire), as well as basic demographics. The participants were characteristic of other Science of Variation Group experiments: the mean age was 52 ± 5 years, with 89% (91 of 102) being men, most self-reported White race (81% [83 of 102]), largely subspecializing in hand and/or wrist surgery (73% [74 of 102]), and with just over half of the group (54% [55 of 102]) having greater than 11 years of experience. We sought to identify factors associated with greater feelings of imposter syndrome in a multivariable statistical model. Results Accounting for potential confounding factors such as years of experience or supervision of trainees in the multivariable linear regression analysis, greater feelings of imposter syndrome were modestly associated with higher intolerance of uncertainty (regression coefficient [β] 0.34 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.16 to 0.51]; p < 0.01) and with lower confidence in problem-solving skills (β -0.70 [95% CI -1.0 to -0.35]; p < 0.01). Conclusion The finding that feelings of imposter syndrome may be modestly to notably associated with modifiable factors, such as difficulty managing uncertainty and lack of confidence in problem-solving, spark coaching opportunities to support and sustain a surgeon's mindset, which may lead to increased comfort and joy at work. Clinical Relevance Beginning with premedical coursework and throughout medical training and continuing medical education, future studies can address the impact of learning and practicing tactics that increase comfort with uncertainty and greater confidence in problem solving on limiting feelings of imposter syndrome.


Ro 22-3747 was orally active in two animal models of immediate hypersensitivity diseases mediated by immunoglobulin E: the rat passive cutaneous anaphylaxis test (ID50 of 0.65 mg/kg) and a model in which anaphylactic bronchospasm was studied in passively sensitized rats (ID50 of 0.022 mg/kg). In the latter model system Ro 22-3747 was also found efficacious by the aerosol route (Ro 22-3747 was 23-fold more potent than disodium cromoglycate by this route of administration). Like disodium cromoglycate (cromoglycate), Ro 22-3747 appears to act in these in vivo models by inhibition of allergic mediator release because it was a potent inhibitor of antigen-induced histamine release from passively sensitized rat peritoneal cells in vitro (IC50 values of 0.25 and 1.5 microM for Ro 22-3747 and cromoglycate, respectively) and did not exhibit end organ antagonism to histamine, serotonin or slow reacting substance of anaphylaxis. The mechanism by which Ro 22-3747 inhibits mediator release does not appear to involve inhibition of delta 5-lipoxygenase, phospholipase A2 or thromboxane synthase. Cromoglycate and Ro 22-3747 appear to have some similarities with regard to their mechanism of action, as they both exhibit a time-dependent loss of inhibitory activity when preincubated with peritoneal cells in vitro before antigen challenge. In addition, pretreatment with one prevented the subsequent inhibition of histamine release by the other. Unlike cromoglycate, however, Ro 22-3747 (10(-5) to 10(-3) M) also inhibited the release of histamine (3-59%), slow reacting substance of anaphylaxis (12-49%) and thromboxane (0-55%) from antigen-challenged (immunoglobulin G1-mediated) guinea-pig lung fragments.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


In incoherent Direct Sequence Optical Code Division Multiple Access system (DSOCDMA), the Multiple Access Interference (MAI) is one of the main limitations. To mitigate the MAI, many types of codes can be used to remove the contributions from users. In this paper, we study two types of unipolar codes used in DS-OCDMA system incoherent which are optical orthogonal codes (OOC) and the prime code (PC). We developed the characteristics of these codes i,e factors correlations, and the theoretical upper bound of the probability of error. The simulation results showed that PC codes have better performance than OOC codes.


Abstract Background Influenza surveillance provides national indicators of influenza season severity in the United States. Given the variability in influenza activity from season to season and geographically, real-time state-specific estimates of seasonal influenza severity may help states tailor their public health communications and resource allocation during influenza seasons. Nationally, the 2017–2018 season was categorized as high severity; we developed disease severity thresholds to characterize the severity of the influenza season in Utah. Methods We applied the Moving Epidemic Method for a rapid mid-season assessment of weekly influenza season severity to 3 priority Utah indicators with at least 5 seasons of data: percent of outpatient visits for influenza-like illness, state-wide rate of reported influenza-associated hospitalizations, and percent positive influenza tests from the National Respiratory and Enteric Virus Surveillance System. This method calculates intensity thresholds (ITs) by determining the geometric mean and standard deviation of the 30 highest weekly values, distributed evenly across included seasons, and calculating one-sided confidence intervals. We established 3 ITs that corresponded to a 50% (IT50), 10% (IT90), and 2% (IT98) chance of exceedance during a given influenza season. For each surveillance indicator, we graphed the weekly data against the calculated severity thresholds. Results We preliminarily categorized the 2017–2018 season as well as the 2014–2015 season, as high severity because ≥2 priority indicators peaked above their IT90 (Figures 1–3). All other seasons in Utah (beginning in 2012–2013) were categorized as moderate severity because ≥2 indicators peaked between IT50 and IT90. Conclusion The Utah seasonal severity assessment matched the national level assessment for all seasons. Understanding state-specific severity assessments during and after a season may help to inform states' influenza preparedness activities.Figure 1.Figure 2.Figure 3. Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.


Abstract : The objective of this work was the creation of a wearable human-computer interface system. This system is intended to provide the dismounted soldier with a hands-free lightweight display, camera, and audio interface to a wearable computer. The display consists of a miniature flat panel LCD and optical system which magnifies it to create a 16-20 degree-wide image at a comfortable viewing distance. The display is mounted on or in eyeglasses for hands-free operation, and provides clear lines of sight around the display to allow the user to perform his or her duties. The headset also incorporates a high-resolution camera for reconnaissance and capture of images for face recognition. The user can communicate with the computer using either audio, including voice corumand and control, or with a pointing device for more discrete operation. An industrial design effort was undertaken to ensure the ergonomics of the final headset as well as aesthetic acceptability. Fiaally, the user interface software running on the wearable computer was optimized for operation in a wearable application.


Observations give evidences of the presence of metals in the intergalactic medium (IGM). The stars responsible for transforming hydrogen and helium into more complex atoms do not form outside the galaxies in the standard scenario of galaxy formation. Supernovae–driven winds and their
 associated feedback was proposed as a possible
 solution to explain such enrichment of the IGM. It turned out that a proper modelling of supernovae
 explosions within a turbulent interstellar medium (ISM) is a difficult
 task. Recent advances have been obtained using a multiphase approach
 to solve for the thermal state of the ISM, plus some additional
 recipes to account for the kinetic effect of supernovae on the
 galactic gas. We briefly describe here our implementation of supernovae
 feedback within the RAMSES code, and apply it to the formation and
 evolution of isolated galaxies of various masses and angular
 momenta. We have explored under what conditions a galactic wind can
 develop, if one considers only a quiescent mode of star formation. We have also characterized the distribution and evolution of metallicity in the gas outflow spreading in the IGM.


We describe the qualitative test characteristics of the Abbott SARS-CoV-2 IgG II Quant assay against four other anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG assays commonly used in Canada. Although there is no gold standard for identifying anti-SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity, aggregate standards can be used to assess seropositivity. ABSTRACT Our group has previously used laboratory and commercially developed assays to understand the IgG responses to SARS-CoV-2 antigens, including nucleocapsid (N), spike (S), and receptor binding domain (RBD), in Canadian blood donors. In this current study, we analyzed 17,428 available and previously characterized retention samples collected from April 2020 to March 2021. The analysis compared the characteristics of the Abbott SARS-CoV-2 IgG II Quant assay (Abbott anti-spike [S], Abbott, Chicago, IL) against four other IgG assays. The Abbott anti-S assay has a qualitative threshold of 50 AU/mL. The four comparator assays were the Abbott anti-nucleocapsid (N) assay and three commonly used Canadian in-house IgG enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) recognizing distinct recombinant viral antigens, full-length spike glycoprotein, glycoprotein RBD, and nucleocapsid. The strongest qualitative relationship was between Sinai RBD and the Abbott anti-S assay (kappa, 0.707; standard error [SE] of kappa, 0.018; 95% confidence interval, 0.671 to 0.743). We then scored each previously characterized specimen as positive when two anti-SARS-COV-2 assays identified anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG in the specimen. Using this composite reference standard approach, the sensitivity of the Abbott anti-S assay was 95.96% (95% confidence interval [CI], 93.27 to 97.63%). The specificity of the Abbott anti-S assay was 99.35% (95% CI, 99.21 to 99.46%). Our study provides context on the use of commonly used SARS-CoV-2 serologies in Canada and identifies how these assays qualitatively compare to newer commercial assays. Our next steps are to assess how well the Abbott anti-S assays quantitatively detect wild-type and SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern. IMPORTANCE We describe the qualitative test characteristics of the Abbott SARS-CoV-2 IgG II Quant assay against four other anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG assays commonly used in Canada. Although there is no gold standard for identifying anti-SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity, aggregate standards can be used to assess seropositivity. In this study, we used a specimen bank of previously well-characterized specimens collected between April 2020 and March 2021. The Abbott anti-S assay showed the strongest qualitative relationship with a widely used laboratory-developed IgG assay for the SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain. Using the composite reference standard approach, we also showed that the Abbott anti-S assay was highly sensitive and specific. As new anti-SARS-CoV-2 assays are developed, it is important to compare their test characteristics against other assays that have been extensively used in prior research.


Coal tar is a brown or black liquid of high viscosity, smells like naphthalene and hydrocarbons. Coal tars are complex and variable mixtures of phenols, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and heterocyclic compounds.A unique stability- indicating HPLC method was developed for the quantitative determination of%coal tar by quantification ofmarker peaks viz PhenanthreneAnthracene and Pyrene in pharmaceutical dosage forms in the presence of degradation products and excipients. Phenomenex Hypersil BDS 150mmx 4.6mm, 3 µm column was used to achieve separation using gradient method. The mobile phase A contains deionised water and the mobile phase B contains acetonitrile. The flowrate was 0.8 mLmin-1 and the detection wavelength was 240 nm. The retention time of phenathrene, anthracene and pyrene are 21.7, 23.8 and 29.7minutes respectively. The total run time is 60 minuteswithinwhich three marker peaks and degradation productswere separated. Calibration showed that the response of phenathrene, anthracene and pyrene was a linear function of concentration over the range 0.25-0.75 µg mL-1 (r i'³ 0.999) and the method was validated over this range for precision, intermediate precision, accuracy, linearity and specificity. Themethod was developed and validated successfully and applied to the quantitative determination of coal tar marker peaks in coal tar foamproduct.


Australian government policy is to offer influenza vaccine every autumn to all Australians over the age of 65 and to those of any age who suffer from any chronic condition that predisposes to serious complications following influenza. Despite this clear advice from NHMRC and the financial incentives provided by Medicare and the PBS, less than one in three of this vulnerable cohort receives the vaccine. In this article the medical profession is exhorted to encourage and facilitate influenza vaccine delivery to the old and to the frail.


This article reports the results of a study inquiring about the role of education-related factors in the development of cultural intelligence. Five hundred fifty-seven students of a Colombian international business (IB) undergraduate program participated in the study. The psychometric properties of the measures were assessed by conducting exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, and by calculating the corresponding reliability coefficients. T-tests and ANOVA analyses were carried out to test the hypotheses of the study. The results of the study suggest that second language proficiency, multicultural team membership, and participation in curricular and extracurricular activities promote the development of the cultural intelligence of undergraduate IB students.


Abstract Petrology can be a very effective tool in reservoir evaluation, especially where recovered reserves are greater than had been initially calculated. Myrtle Springs Field in Van Zandt County, Texas, produces gas from Jurassic carbonate grainstone deposits of the upper Smackover formation. The field is a faulted structure which produces gas from both sides of the fault. The producing interval is composed of ooids, pisoids, pelecypod fragments, grapestones, and fecal pellets that have been deposited as warm-water shallow-marine shoals, constructed as an interbedded pelletal-grainstone atop a pelletal-packstone seated on top of a pelletal-mudstone. During the marine regression at the end of Smackover time, these deposits were subjected to subaerial leaching for a considerable time resulting in fracturing and minor brecciation within the deposit. The physical processes that have formed the shoals of this field are not unique: in fact, many such shoals were formed in a similar manner along the Mexia-Talco fault zone. In calculating recoverable-reserves, log responses alone cannot be used to account for the effects of fracturing, but, combined with insights from petrological studies, a more realistic value can be calculated. Petrology takes into consideration a) the presence of stylolites and fractures which have enhanced both the porosity and the permeability of the reservoir; b) the large dolomite crystal content which has increased permeability and pore-size in the partially dolomitized limestone; c) the presence of moldic porosity; d) residual oil can be seen in thin-section samples especially in the fractured limestone; e) anhydrite and sparry calcite have subsequently filled many of the pores, especially below the oil-water contact; f) the low water saturation values. If known productivity indices from the field are plotted against petrological porosity and permeability-thicknesses, a best-fit line can be drawn to predict values for fractured zones.


Background: The potential benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with Stage IA triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) has not been defined. In general, patients with T1a and T1b lesions have not been included in adjuvant chemotherapy trials and the inclusion of T1c tumors has been limited. In this study using National Cancer Data Base (NCDB) we investigated the actual use of adjuvant chemotherapy in Stage IA TNBC patients relative to tumor size (T1a, T1b, T1c) and report their survival outcomes. Patients and Methods: Using NCDB we evaluated a cohort of 13,065 women with TNBC diagnosed between 2010-2012 who had American Joint Committee on Cancer Stage IA (node-negative with pathological T1a, T1b or T1c) tumors. Overall survival (OS) was the primary outcome variable. Based on the tumor size, patients were stratified on receipt of adjuvant chemotherapy or not. Patients were also stratified according to receipt of adjuvant radiation, radiation with boost, or none. Other adjusted variables included: age, race, Charlson comorbidity index, payer status, income, education, distance traveled, treating facility, and treatment delays. Multivariate Cox regression was employed to analyze the effect of adjuvant chemotherapy on overall survival. Results: The mean patient age for the entire cohort was 59.2 years (range 22-90 years), 55.8 years for the chemotherapy group, and 67.8 years for the non-chemotherapy group. There were 1275 T1a, 3197 T1b, and 7729 T1c patients. Tumor size was a very strong predictor of survival. Compared to T1a tumors, HR for death was 1.43 (95% CI: 0.86 –2.37) for T1b tumors and 3.00 (95% CI: 1.86 – 4.83) for T1c tumors. Out of all T1a, T1b, and T1c tumors in this cohort, 48.1 %, 72.6%, and 89.3% of patients received adjuvant chemotherapy respectively. A hazard ratio (HR) of death was 0.42 (95% CI: 0.31 – 0.57) for all patients who received chemotherapy compared to non-chemotherapy group. 4-year OS by tumor size and chemotherapy usage is listed in the table indicating an absolute increase of OS with adjuvant chemotherapy employment. HR for death was 0.90 (CI: 0.62 – 1.31) with use of radiation only and 0.67 (95% CI: 0.53 – 0.85) with use of radiation with boost when compared to no radiation therapy. Conclusion: NCDB indicated that the majority of patients with Stage IA TNBC received adjuvant chemotherapy, including 48% of patients with T1a lesions. Our data analysis demonstrated a statistically significant 4-year OS benefit in patients with T1b and T1c tumors who received adjuvant chemotherapy compared to those who did not. The survival benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with T1a tumors, however, did not reach statistical significance. Prospective randomized trials could define the potential benefits of adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with Stage IA TNBC, particularly for those with T1a and T1b tumors. Citation Format: Patel AN, Shi R, Peddi P, Burton GV. Triple negative breast cancer - Adjuvant chemotherapy use and survival outcomes in Stage IA disease [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2016 Dec 6-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P5-14-02.


Strawberry mild yellow edge virus (SMYEV), Strawberry mottle virus (SMoV) and Strawberry vein banding virus (SVBV), three of strawberry viruses can cause a severe loss in commercial strawberry worldwide. In this paper, total nucleic acid from strawberry leaves was compared with total RNA as the template for detection of the above viruses both by single and multiplex reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Total nucleic acid extract with the modified CTAB method and total RNA extracts with both the modified RNeasy method and the modified CTAB method examined by electrophoresis resulted in a high quality ribosomal 28S and 18S RNA when loaded on an agarose gel. When total RNA and total nucleic acid were used as templates, detection results of SMYEV and SMoV were identical and the amplified band intensity was nearly the same whether by single or duplex RT-PCR. Using total nucleic acid as the template, the detection results of SMYEV and SMoV by multiplex RT-PCR were in a good concord with that amplified by single and duplex RT-PCR, and for SVBV this was similar to the result of detection that amplified by direct PCR using pure DNA as the template. This study demonstrates that total nucleic acid extracted from strawberry leaves by a modified CTAB method is suitable as a template for virus detection by RT-PCR. This makes investigation of the epidemiology of strawberry viruses much easier.


The problem of controlling a finite-state asynchronous sequential machine is examined. The considered machine is governed by input/output control, where access to the state of the machine is not available. In particular, disturbance inputs can infiltrate into the asynchronous machine and provoke unauthorized state transitions. The control objective is to use output feedback to compensate the machine so that the closed-loop system drive the faulty asynchronous machine from a failed state to the original one. Necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of appropriate controllers are presented in a theoretical framework. As a case study, the closed-loop system of an asynchronous machine with the proposed control scheme is implemented in VHDL code.


This is a quantitative study which aims at exploring the impact of occupational Health and safety management (OHSM) on the performance of organization. For conducting this study, survey method was administered that involved 40 pharmaceutical companies of Karachi. These companies were taken as SMEs as they constituted of medium and small sizes based on their level of operations. An appropriate sample was taken which was analyzed using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social sciences). The use of simple regression was employed to see the impact of OHSM on organizational performance (OP). A positive relation was found between OHSM and OP using Pearson correlation analysis and the Cronbach's alpha was found to be 0.95 which expresses an excellent internal consistency. The results in this study depict that OHSM strongly impacts the organizational performance (OP) and there was less emphasis all implementing occupational Health and Safety by entrepreneurs.


Abstract Background  Hyperacusis can be defined as an intolerance of certain everyday sounds, which are perceived as too loud or uncomfortable and which cause significant distress and impairment in the individual's day-to-day activities. It is important to assess symptoms of sound intolerance and their impact on the patient's life, so as to evaluate the need for treatment and to assess the effectiveness of treatments. Purpose  The aim was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Hyperacusis Impact Questionnaire (HIQ), and the Sound Sensitivity Symptoms Questionnaire (SSSQ). The 8-item HIQ focuses on assessing the impact of hyperacusis on the patient, while the 5-item SSSQ is designed to assess the type and severity of sound intolerance symptoms. Research Design  This was a retrospective cross-sectional study. Study Sample  In total, 266 consecutive patients who attended a Tinnitus and Hyperacusis Therapy Clinic in the United Kingdom within a 6-month period. Fifty-five percent were female. The average age was 54 years (standard deviation = 16 years). Data Collection and Analysis  Data were collected retrospectively from the records of patients held at the audiology department. Audiological measures were pure-tone audiometry and Uncomfortable Loudness Levels (ULLs). Questionnaires administered in addition to the HIQ and SSSQ were: Tinnitus Handicap Inventory, Hyperacusis Questionnaire (HQ), and Screening for Anxiety and Depression in Tinnitus. Results  Exploratory factor analysis suggested one-factor solutions for both the HIQ and SSSQ. Multiple-causes multiple-indicators (MIMIC) models showed some small influences of gender but negligible effects of age for both the HIQ and SSSQ. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis showed no significant effects of covariates on the ROC curves. Cronbach's α was 0.93 for the HIQ, and 0.87 for the SSSQ, indicating high internal consistency. Convergent validity was supported by moderate correlations between HQ and HIQ scores and between SSSQ scores and ULLs. Conclusion  The HIQ and SSSQ are internally consistent questionnaires that can be used in clinical and research settings.


Rice-wheat system provides food, income, and employment to over 83 % of the people and contributes to national food security in Nepal. Sustainability of the system is under threat because of increasing cultivation cost and declining soil fertility. On-farm experiments were carried out to determine the effects of tillage and crop establishment methods, crop residue management, and nitrogen levels that affect soil attributes and productivity of the rice-wheat system during 2010- 2011at Bara, Nepal. The treatment consisted of three tillage and crop establishment methods viz. Conventional tillage (CT), Permanent bed planting (PB), and Zero-tillage (ZT); two residue management levels viz. Residue retention and Residue removal; and three nitrogen levels viz. Zero nitrogen, farmer's dose (80 and 100 kgha -1 N for rice and wheat, respectively), and abundant nitrogen (120 kgha -1 N for both rice and wheat crop). The experiments were laid out in strip-split plot design with three replications. The research results revealed that rice grain yield was significantly higher in the plots receiving N level as applied by farmers that was similar to abundant nitrogen dose. Wheat grain yield was significantly higher with zero tillage compared to permanent bed planting and conventional tillage. Significantly higher wheat grain yield was also obtained due to abundant nitrogen dose than zero dose nitrogen which was similar to farmers' dose of N as well. There was no significant difference in grain yield of rice and wheat due to residue retention, although, it improved soil moisture. In wheat crop, zero-till planting and increased nitrogen application conserved soil moisture, enhanced soil electrical conductivity and lowered soil temperature. It can be concluded that rice and wheat can be grown successfully with zero tillage and farmer's nitrogen dose without any yield penalty. Agronomy Journal of Nepal (Agron JN) Vol. 3. 2013, Page 64-72 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ajn.v3i0.9007


Aim The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of irisin in a murine model of hind limb ischemia reperfusion (I/R). Methods The mice were divided into four groups (n = 6 in each group): control, irisin, ischemia reperfusion (I/R), and irisin-ischemia reperfusion (I–I/R). Irisin (0.5 µg.g−1, intraperitoneally [i.p.]) was administered 30 min before the I/R procedure. After 2 h of ischemia and 2.5 h of reperfusion, blood and tissue samples were taken for biochemical and histopathological analysis. The results were analyzed by Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney U-tests. Results There was a statistically significant difference in the total antioxidant status (TAS) and total oxidant status (TOS) levels in all the groups. The TAS level in the I/R group was significantly lower than that in the control, irisin, and I–I/R groups, whereas the TOS level was significantly higher in the I/R group as compared with that in the other groups. Caspase-3 activity and caspase-8 activity, indicators of inflammation, were significantly higher in the I/R and I–I/R groups as compared with those in the control and irisin groups. Conclusion Irisin may have protective effects in skeletal muscle ischemia reperfusion injury.


This investigation compared self-esteem of inmates who participated in a dog program with the self-esteem of inmates who did not participate in a dog program. A Midwestern state private medium Security correctional facility with a dog program was utilized. All subjects were males imprisoned for crimes ranging from drug abuse to murder. The dog program had been in place at the facility since the spring of 2002 and always utilized 10 dogs with 10 dog-handlers and 10 back-up handlers. A packet containing test materials was distributed to all of the inmates in the three general population units while they were all locked down for the night. A total of 730 packets was handed out with 108 useable packets returned (15% return. N= 108). Each packet was color-coded to a particular unit so that it would be possible to compare self-esteem scores based on the inmate's unit location. The dog-handler group return rate was 65% (n= 13 out of20 inmates in the dog program). Rosenberg's self-esteem scale was used to measure self-esteem due to its high reliability score for multiple population types. A one-way ANOVA was used 10 compare the self-esteem scores with no significant differences found. Therefore, being in the dog program did not significantly influence the self-esteem scores of inmates who participated in the program. The Lexington Interview Questions were completed only by those inmates who participated in the dog program. These questions had been used in another prison in the Midwest to determine if inmates felt they had been changed by being in the program. Many of these responses showed that the inmates felt mo re responsible, but some had even stronger feelings about the effect the dog had on feelings about themselves or even on how they handled feelings about violence. This investigation was limited due to the use of only one facility and a low rate of return from inmates who did not participate in a dog program. Although there was no significant difference found between the self-esteem scores of those who participated in the dog program and those who did not. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the dog program had a value in this correctional setting. Self-esteem tests alone may not be an effective measurement to determine the effect dogs in prison have on the handlers who care for them. Further research in this area is warranted and may show other ways that a dog program assists inmates to cope not only with their time in prison, but also with their new lives outside the prison walls.


The clinical, pathological and therapeutic aspects of Ewing's tumor, or endothelial myeloma of bone, have undergone progressive classification in the past decade. Its histogenesis and cytogenesis still remain somewhat controversial, although the majority of observers now reject an endothelial origin and tend to view it as arising from undifferentiated mesenchyme (1). From a clinical standpoint, the osteomyelitic syndrome which occasionally ushers in this neoplasm is well known. This onset is particularly common in children, dependent probably not on any intrinsic differences in the neoplasm in the different age groups but rather on varying capacities of the host. In adults the symptomatology is classically that of malignant bone tumors in general, with pain and disability as the outstanding complaints. Swelling or a palpable mass may also occur, but this again is more common in children (2).

Soft-tissue masses, as distinguished from osseous swelling, occur late in the course of the disease and are usually associated with advanced bone pathology and frank cortical destruction. The soft-tissue mass may become very large in some cases and temporarily dominate the clinical picture, but only rarely does the primary origin of the neoplasm remain undiscovered.


This work is concerned with the characterisation and reuse of fibres recovered from end of life thermoset composites by fluidised bed thermal processing. Emphasis is placed on the properties of recovered glass fibres and their reuse in a dough moulding compound and a tissue product.

The need for a recycling process is demonstrated by a survey of the market for thermoset composites with particular consideration given to the potential growth in automotive applications. A study of processes developed to recycle such materials and the effect on the structural properties of composites containing such recyclate shows that a process capable of generating recyclate of greater value is required, particularly for the case of contaminated materials. A review of investigations into the effect of prior heat treatment on the mechanical properties of glass fibres shows that their strength will be reduced by a deterioration of the fibre surface during fluidised bed thermal recovery but that their stiffness is likely to be unaffected. The implications of these effects on possible applications for the recovered fibres are described.

Tests are reported on the structural properties of laminates containing heat treated glass cloth which show that there is a strength reduction which is both time and temperature dependent but that modulus is not significantly affected. Strength loss increases with up to 20 minutes heating but then remains constant. In some cases the strength loss can be reduced by resizing the cloth.

Measurement of the properties of fibres recovered using the fluidised bed process shows that the recovered fibre strength decreases with increasing processing temperature. Glass and carbon fibres recovered at 450°C retain approximately 50% and 80% of their virgin strengths respectively. The Young's modulus of the recovered fibres is shown to be largely unaffected by the process for both glass and carbon fibres. Investigation of the lengths of the recovered glass fibres by image analysis techniques suggests that their distribution depends on the structure of the composite and the method of size reduction. A weighted mean fibre length of 3.5 mm to 5.5 mm is possible with the apparatus described in this thesis. The reduced reinforcement potential of the recovered fibres is confirmed by experiment.

Recovered glass fibres are used to displace virgin fibres in a dough moulding compound. At replacement levels of up to 50% there is no significant effect on the mechanical properties of a compression moulded plate. Above this level, tensile, flexural and impact strengths are reduced and with complete replacement the reduction is by approximately 40%, 50% and 70% respectively. These results are confirmed on a pilot plant scale.

Recovered glass fibres can be successfully incorporated with virgin fibres into a veil. Replacement of virgin fibres reduces both wet and dry strength because the recovered fibres are both shorter and weaker. The permeability of the veil is found to depend on its porosity and not its recovered fibre content. The experimental veils can be used to protect and improve the surfaces of mouldings.