Understanding the functions of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) has important implications for the development and refinement of theoretical models and treatments of NSSI. Emotional and social vulnerabilities associated with five common functions of NSSI-emotion relief (ER), feeling generation (FG), self-punishment (SP), interpersonal influence (II), and interpersonal communication (IC)-were investigated to clarify why individuals use this behavior in the service of different purposes. Female participants (n = 162) with a history of NSSI completed online measures of self-injury, emotion regulation strategies and abilities, trait affectivity, social problem-solving styles, and interpersonal problems. ER functions were associated with more intense affectivity, expressive suppression, and limited access to emotion regulation strategies. FG functions were associated with a lack of emotional clarity. Similar to ER functions, SP functions were associated with greater affective intensity and expressive suppression. II functions were negatively associated with expressive suppression and positively associated with domineering/controlling and intrusive/needy interpersonal styles. IC functions were negatively associated with expressive suppression and positively associated with a vindictive or self-centered interpersonal style. These findings highlight the specific affective traits, emotional and social skill deficits, and interpersonal styles that may render a person more likely to engage in NSSI to achieve specific goals.


In order to solve the heat transfer mechanism in radiofrequency treatment of atherosclerosis, we design two experimental structures to simulate the plaque, and use three frequencies and a variety of electrode arrangement, to study the heat transfer mechanism and heating capacity under the special structure. The results show that the temperature increment and heating area increase with increasing frequency. Under the structure in which the lipid particles are embedded in the fiber cap, using three electrodes with opposite polar arrangement between middle electrode and others, achieves effective heating to lipid pool in the plaque.


In matched case-crossover studies, any stratum effect is removed by conditioning on the fixed number of case–control sets in the stratum, and hence, the conditional logistic regression model is not able to detect any effects associated with matching covariates. However, some matching covariates such as time and location often modify the effect of covariates, making the estimations obtained by conditional logistic regression incorrect. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a flexible derivative time-varying coefficient model to evaluate effect modification by time and location, in order to make correct statistical inference, when the number of locations is small. Our proposed model is developed under the Bayesian hierarchical model framework and allows us to simultaneously detect relationships between the predictor and binary outcome and between the predictor and time. Inference is proposed based on the derivative function of the estimated function to determine whether there is an effect modification due to time and/or location, for a small number of locations among the participants. We demonstrate the accuracy of the estimation using a simulation study and an epidemiological example of a 1–4 bidirectional case-crossover study of childhood aseptic meningitis with drinking water turbidity.


The present invention provides an electric connector used for a circuit substrate, capable of downsizing a connector in an opposite direction of sidewalls of a casing without shortening a connecting part. The electric connector used for the circuit substrate comprises a casing having two sidewalls and a plurality of terminals arranged and maintained at the sidewalls; wherein, a containing recess is formed between the sidewalls of the casing; the terminal comprises an inner side foot part which is maintained at the sidewall and extended along a vertical direction at a position of the containing recess side, an outer side foot part which is extended along the vertical direction at a position nearer to an outer side than the inner side foot part, a joint part which joints with an upper end of the inner side foot part and an upper end of the outer side foot part, and a connecting part which is extended towards the outer side from a lower end of the outer side foot part, wherein, the outer side foot part is configured in the way that the lower end of the outer side foot part is arranged at a position nearer to an inner side than an upper end thereof, a part of the connecting part is arranged within a range repeated with the outer side foot part in the opposite direction.


The hippocampal and striatal memory systems are thought to operate independently and in parallel in supporting cognitive memory and habits, respectively. Much of the evidence for this principle comes from double dissociation data, in which damage to brain structure A causes deficits in Task 1 but not Task 2, whereas damage to structure B produces the reverse pattern of effects. Typically, animals are explicitly trained in one task. Here, we investigated whether this principle continues to hold when animals concurrently learn two types of tasks. Rats were trained on a plus maze in either a spatial navigation or a cue–response task (sequential training), whereas a third set of rats acquired both (concurrent training). Subsequently, the rats underwent either sham surgery or neurotoxic lesions of the hippocampus (HPC), medial dorsal striatum (DSM), or lateral dorsal striatum (DSL), followed by retention testing. Finally, rats in the sequential training condition also acquired the novel "other" task. When rats learned one task, HPC and DSL selectively supported spatial navigation and cue response, respectively. However, when rats learned both tasks, HPC and DSL additionally supported the behavior incongruent with the processing style of the corresponding memory system. Thus, in certain conditions, the hippocampal and striatal memory systems can operate cooperatively and in synergism. DSM significantly contributed to performance regardless of task or training procedure. Experience with the cue–response task facilitated subsequent spatial learning, whereas experience with spatial navigation delayed both concurrent and subsequent response learning. These findings suggest that there are multiple operational principles that govern memory networks. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Currently, we distinguish among several types of memories, each supported by a distinct neural circuit. The memory systems are thought to operate independently and in parallel. Here, we demonstrate that the hippocampus and the dorsal striatum memory systems operate independently and in parallel when rats learn one type of task at a time, but interact cooperatively and in synergism when rats concurrently learn two types of tasks. Furthermore, new learning is modulated by past experiences. These results can be explained by a model in which independent and parallel information processing that occurs in the separate memory-related neural circuits is supplemented by information transfer between the memory systems at the level of the cortex.


Hydatid cyst of heart is a rare but potentially fatal site of pathology, especially left ventricular free wall. We managed a successful surgical treatment on a case of a 24 year old man who had a giant cardiac hydatid cyst (71 x 64 mm) that ruptured left ventricular free wall. The cyst was excised gently and all the cystic materials were removed, the cyst cavity was closed with GORE-TEX soft tissue patch. The patient was discharged on the 9th postoperative day without symptoms. This case is different from other cardiac hydatid cysts that have been reported in literature previously; because this patient was young and had advanced phase of the disease that presented to our clinic lately. Additionally, the cyst had limited both ventricular volumes significantly.


The aim is to evaluate sexual function levels of the women living in Malatya province and determine the factors affecting them. This study was a cross-sectional study. Stratified cluster sampling method was used by the number of admission to the hospital. The study includes 430 women between 20-50 years of age. In the analysis; Chi-square and logistic regression were used. The average age of those entering the study is 38.5±0.5 years. Of the women entering the study, 10.5% are illiterate. Female Sexual Function Index average value of the individuals entering the study (Index of Female Sexual Function =IFSF) has been detected as 26.9±7.8. IFSF score of 69.1% of the patients is under 30, and that of 30% is 30.9. In our study, statistically significant differences (p


Two bibliographic summaries are dedicated, respectively, to the Dionysian corpus and the classical tradition and Dionysius the Areopagite in the context of Byzantine–Slavonic literary relations. The former outline is in Russian and it will be continued in the next issue (this time focused in the Christian sources of Pseudo-Dionysius), while the latter is prepared in English, since no detailed outline of this subject is available in English so far.


This paper addresses the problem of 3D sound representation without sound source localization and proposes a theory based on the ray-space representation of light rays, which is independent of object's specifications. An array of beam-formed microphone-arrays (MAs), are set and each MA generates a sound-image (SImage) by scanning the viewing range of a camera in the same location. SImage has the same size of an image and contains of blocks of sound wave with duration of one image-frame. Captured SImages with the array of MAs generate the sound wave ray-space. To make a dense SImage ray-space, we propose to use the geometry compensation of corresponding images in the location of each MA. By a dense sound ray-space, any virtual SImage, which corresponds to an arbitrary listening-point, can be generated. The listening-point sound is generated by averaging the sound wave in each pixel or group of pixel of the virtual SImage.


In patients with low degree stenoses of the iliofemoral arteries, a discrepancy can occur between the clinical complaints and the severity of the angiographic lesions. Intra-arterial injection of 20 mg of papaverine by mimicking the need for augmented blood supply during exercise will help to objectify the clinical importance of a stenosis. Therefore, it will be of help in the decision of balloon dilatation of low-degree lesions.


: Introduction: Congenital heart disease (CHD) is a heart defect with an abnormality in structure or functioning of heart that is present at birth. This condition is very common in the population of Pakistan. Objectives of the study: The basic aim of the study is to analyze the prevalence of congenital heart defect among local population of Pakistan. Materials and methods: This cross sectional study was conducted in Lahore general hospital, Lahore during November 2018 to March 2019. The data was collected from 100 patients who visited the OPD of the hospital. The data was collected through non probability sampling technique. All infants visiting to the OPD due to any complaint would be examined for any abnormal murmur. Any abnormal heart sound case was referred for echocardiography for confirmation. Results: The data was collected 100 patients. Among the confirmed cases, 62.5 percent were males. 78 percent of the cases were between ages 1 to 3 months. The patients came with different presenting complaints as listed below. The presenting complaint was mostly respiratory infection 48 %, underweight 31 %, cyanosis (4%). It was found that the majority (98%) of cases were that of acyanotic congenital heart disease. Conclusion: It is concluded that early diagnosis and effective management has drastic improvement on prognosis of congenital heart disease. There is a considerably higher incidence of congenital heart disease in population of Lahore.


The MACON (Mobilising Academic Content Online) project aimed to address the challenges involved in delivering quality academic content to mobile devices in a seamless and user-friendly manner. The project worked with EBSCO, a major content and systems provider, in order to prototype a mobile-friendly resource-discovery interface that will discover and expose quality academic content from both third-party and local collections. The project also addressed a strategic priority to present a flexible and integrated view of quality content, independent of ownership and format, to help to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Open University Library's systems. The MACON project was part of the JISC Mobile Infrastructure for Libraries programme.


Despite academic climate being a key aspect of teaching quality in academic institutions, few studies conducted in the university context have analyzed this construct systematically. Method. Given the absence of specific tools to apply to university, we propose the construction of a tool for assessing college students' perceptions of their class climate based on an adapted questionnaire regarding social climate in the classroom designed for secondary schools. Results. The exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses conducted on a sample of 330 college students from different disciplines and years resulted in a 22-item questionnaire with one second-order factor on academic climate separable into three first-order factors (the professor's performance and relationship with the students, affective atmosphere -sense of belonging- and normative behavior, and relationships between students). Discussion and Conclusion. The Classroom Social Climate Scale for Universities (CSCS-U) has adequate psychometric properties and is a good starting point from which to evaluate classroom climate in the university context


4074 Pten is a tumor suppressor gene located on chromosome 10q23 and is often altered in prostate cancers (PCa). Pten has a dual phosphatase activity in the phosphatidylinositol 39-kinase signal pathway and inhibits Akt activation, a serine-threonine kinase which was involved in proliferative and anti-apoptotic pathways. Indeed, we have demonstrated that the conditional gene targeting of Pten, aiming to cause mouse prostate specific deletion of Pten, develops sequentially prostate carcinoma through atypia and prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN). In this model, we also observed the transition from hormone dependent to independent PCa after castration. Thus, Pten plays an important role in prostate carcinogenesis and hormone independent mechanism. In this study, we have designed and synthesized Pten functional peptides and test whether treatment with these functional peptides can be a potential for cancer therapy. Pten protein forms 403 amino acids (AA) and encodes a phosphatidylinositol-3,4,5-trisphosphate 3-phosphatase and contains a tensin like domain as well as a catalytic domain similar to that of the dual specificity protein tyrosine phosphatases, which negatively regulates intracellular levels of phosphatidylinositol-3,4,5-trisphosphate in cells and functions as a tumor suppressor by negatively regulating AKT/PKB signaling pathway. We designed 2 kinds of minimum functional peptides from Pten phosphatase domain, which represent Pten-84 (19 AA) and Pten-121 (15 AA). To test the efficacy of these peptides in PCa cells, Pten peptides were conjugated with Wr-T transporter peptide (Pten/Wr-T) to augment intracellular delivery of treatment peptides. Treatment with Pten/Wr-T showed a significant growth inhibition in PC-3 (Pten deletion), DU-145 (Pten wild-type), and LNCaP (Pten deletion) prostate cancer cell lines, represented by 16.7%, 40%, and 72.4% 3 days after treatment, respectively. We also confirmed precise and successful incorporation of Pten/Wr-T conjugate labeled with FITC into cancer cells, even after 24 hrs, by fluorescent microscopy. In cell cycle analysis, Pten/Wr-T potentiated G1 cell cycle accumulation or arrest in all of PCa cell lines. Furthermore, treatment with Pten/Wr-T resulted in down-regulation of phosphorylated Akt expression in PC-3 and LNCaP cells by western blot analysis. Based on our in vitro data, we applied direct injection of Pten/Wr-T conjugate into the nude mouse subcutaneous PC-3 tumor model. In vivo treatment with Pten/Wr-T significantly suppressed tumor growth compared to those treated with Wr-T peptide alone over 30 days. In the tumor tissues treated with Pten/Wr-T, enhanced apoptosis (TUNEL), inhibited cellular proliferation (PCNA), and down-regulated phosphorylated Akt expression were observed. These findings demonstrate that peptide-related molecular targeting therapy using Pten/Wr-T can be a promising clinical application for the treatment of PCa.


This article considers how the development of for-profit artificial intelligence (AI) technologies fosters the privatization of public education and erodes the values and practices of democratic education. The introduction situates the advent of digital technologies in the context of the structural economic and ideological shifts of the past 40 years. Such changes include neo-liberal restructuring, the repressive school and social turn, changes in the use of positivist ideology in schooling, the role of new technologies in social and cultural reproduction and changing imperatives for capital accumulation. The article illustrates different uses of AI as part of the technological turn of public education privatization. Examples include: (1) adaptive learning technology, and transformations to teacher work and conceptions of knowledge and learning; (2) biometric pedagogy and the cultural politics of locating learning in the body; and (3) the convergence of impact investing and digital surveillance technologies. The article considers how changes in the ownership and control over different aspects of public education relate to the cultural politics of knowledge and learning. It also examines how, under the guise of disinterested objectivity and neutrality, particular class and cultural ideologies and interests are promoted through new technologies, with significant pedagogical, cultural, economic and political implications. The article concludes by arguing that AI education is a site of cultural and political contestation and must be comprehended as a form of representational politics. By showing a critical pedagogical AI project, the article suggests that the anti-democratic tendencies of most AI education is hardly inevitable or determined, but rather represents a replication of long-standing ideologies.


Epidermodysplasia verruciformis of Lewandowsky and Lutz (EV) occurred as an autosomal recessive, sex-limited trait in six girls of one Chinese family. Except for one patient, all developed EV lesions at the age of 7 or 8 years. This patient with delayed onset and milder cutaneous lesions was given away for adoption at the age of 1 month to avoid contact with the affected sisters. Clinical and histological pictures were classical of EV but in addition, the cases showed marked pigmentary changes simulating arsenical dermatosis, xeroderma pigmentosum, and Bowen's disease. Histologically, there was extensive vacuolation of the epidermal cells, involving even the midmalpighian layer. Intranuclear viral particles previously found in this condition were also demonstrated. The relationship between this genodermatosis, presence of intranuclear viral infection in skin lesions, and increased frequency of malignant changes in this disease is discussed.


An article was published recently that got my attention immediately. Like the writer, who is not a religious man, I have fallen into a category of people described by the mainstream media and proponents of death with dignity, abusive palliative care and other forms of euthanasia as a religious zealot. So when I read the column, I was provoked to write about it.


spo0H encodes a sigma factor, sigma-H, of RNA polymerase that is required for sporulation in Bacillus subtilis. Null mutations in spo0H block the initiation of sporulation but have no obvious effect on vegetative growth. We have characterized an insertion mutation, csh203::Tn917lac, that makes spo0H essential for normal growth. In otherwise wild-type cells, the csh203::Tn917lac insertion mutation has no obvious effect on cell growth, viability, or sporulation. However, in combination with a mutation in spo0H, the csh203 mutation causes a defect in vegetative growth. The csh203::Tn917lac insertion mutation was found to be located within orf23, the first gene of the rpoD (sigma-A) operon. The transposon insertion separates the major vegetative promoters P1 and P2 from the coding regions of two essential genes, dnaG (encoding DNA primase) and rpoD (encoding the major sigma factor, sigma-A) and leaves these genes under the control of minor promoters, including P4, a promoter controlled by sigma-H. The chs203 insertion mutation caused a 2- to 10-fold increase in expression of promoters recognized by RNA polymerase containing sigma-H. The increased expression of genes controlled by sigma-H in the csh203 single mutant, as well as the growth defect of the csh203 spo0H double mutant, was due to effects on rpoD and not to a defect in orf23 or dnaG.


Internetware is endowed with more flexibility in the dynamic, open network. However, it is facing a big challenge in trust evaluation on interaction between two components. This paper proposes an effective way of trust evaluation based on the punishment mechanism and proved its function to resist malicious attack. As trust relationships can be obtained by the recommendations of other Internetwares, thus a virtual trust information network naturally formed. In this way, the trust relationship of an Internetware can be derived without direct interaction. However, the problem lies in we might get malicious information and be led to misjudgment in such a complex and changeable network. Therefore, we put forward an algorithm based on the idea of RIP routing algorithm. The algorithm is proved to be efficient and reliable through experiment.


Background A diagnosis of cancer leaves most patients with cancer and their relatives with an increased psychological burden. Throughout the course of the illness, social, occupational or legal changes may lead to psychological distress. Psychosocial cancer support services offer psychological, social and legal support. However, little is known about the effectiveness of psychosocial support services implemented in health care. Therefore, this scoping review aims to provide an overview of current literature evaluating out-patient psychosocial support services. Methods Databases searched were PubMed, PsycINFO, PSYNDEX, PsycArticle, Medline, Web of Science, Google Scholar, Cochrane, and Embase. Two independent researchers conducted the systematic search. We included studies that were published in English and assessed at least one patient reported outcome measure. Studies that assessed psychotherapy, online support or telephone counselling were excluded. The review was reported according to PRISMA-ScR guidelines. A search of the databases identified 2104 articles. After excluding duplicates, screening titles, abstracts and full-texts, 12 studies matching the criteria were identified. Results One study was an RCT, six were prospective with no control group and five studies were cross-sectional with one measurement point. The most common outcome measures across studies were well-being, concerns and satisfaction with the support services. Conclusion While the included studies indicate some improvements to well-being for patients with cancer, the low number and lack of high quality of studies indicate these findings should be interpreted with caution. However, high-quality research on the effectiveness of psychosocial support services is needed to determine that the interventions are effective.


An analyst observes the frequency with which an agent takes actions, but not the frequency with which she takes actions conditional on a payoff relevant state. In this setting, we ask when the analyst can rationalize the agent's choices as the outcome of the agent learning something about the state before taking action. Our characterization marries the obedience approach in information design (Bergemann and Morris, 2016) and the belief approach in Bayesian persuasion (Kamenica and Gentzkow, 2011) relying on a theorem by Strassen (1965) and Hall's marriage theorem. We apply our results to ring-network games and to identify conditions under which a data set is consistent with a public information structure in first-order Bayesian persuasion games.


To generate a good carrier for gene transfection, O-carboxymethyl chitosan-graft-branched polyethylenimine (OCMPEI) copolymers were synthesized by increasing the weight percentage of branched polyethylenimine conjugated to the carboxyl groups of O-carboxymethyl chitosan. These spherical polyplexes with plasmid deoxyribonucleic acid (pDNA) or small interfering ribonucleic acid (siRNA) had diameters of ∼200–300 nm or ∼10–25 nm, respectively, and displayed significant transfection efficiency in normal and tumor cells. In particular, expression of green fluorescent protein (GFP) following pDNA transfection was effectively suppressed by delivery of GFP-specific siRNA with the same copolymer. The optimized copolymer and polyplexes were nontoxic in vitro and in vivo. The use of endocytosis inhibitors to investigate the mechanisms of transfection of the polyplexes suggested the involvement of macropinocytosis. An in vivo study in mice showed excellent GFP expression in the lung, kidney, and liver. The results demonstrated that the OCMPEI copolymer prepared in this study is a promising carrier for in vitro and in vivo gene delivery applications.


The term sustainable development is directly associated with environmental protection and conservation of natural resources, thus with changes of consumption and production patterns. The principles of sustainable development were determined in the Rio de Janerio Declaration and in AGENDA 21. The principles are meeting human aspiration for the further improvement of living conditions by development without environmental destruction and degradation of natural resources. Implementation of BAT (Best Available Technologies) allows saving of raw materials by using the waste as a source of the energy, including very toxic wastes as pesticides, PCBs, dioxin and furans. It reduces emissions to the environment, decreases risk to the human's health and protects the natural resources for future generations. Two technologies were presented; both available already on the market. Plasma technology uses the intense heat (3500-17000 degrees C) of an electric arc to treat the most troublesome waste streams, including highly toxic chemical and medical waste. The intense heat of the plasma arc destroys all the organic constituents of the waste stream and immobilizes all inorganic constituents into an extremely stable glassy slag. The STARTECH plasma system operates in a reducing environment for the processing of organic waste and is designed to produce syn-gas, which can contain up to 60% of hydrogen. The Hydromex Process is capable of converting municipal solid waste, commercial, and industrial waste into new man-made resources. The Hydromex Process is a completely enclosed; zero emission system that requires minimal energy input and guarantees no hazardous compounds are released into the environment. There are no side stream by-products, unless preplanned, so there is no disposal.


Objective To investigate the relation of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP)45T/G the adiponectin gene with type 2 diabetes of Han nationality in Ningxia.Methods PCR-RFLP method was used to identify the distribution of alleles and genotypes frequencies of SNP45T/G polymorphisms in adiponectin gene in 100 type 2 diabetic patients and 101 normal subjects.Results The distribution of genotypes and alleles frequencies of the SNP45 polymorphisms were significantly different (GG genotype:13% vs 3%,P0.05;G allele;76% vs 24%, P0.05).Conclusion SNP45 in adiponectin gene was related to type 2 diabetes of Han nationality in Ningxia. Individuals with SNP45 GG genotype of adiponectin gene have high susceptibility to type 2 diabetes.


The asymptotic (small distortion) behavior of the rate-distortion function of an n-dimensional source vector with mixed distribution is derived. The source distribution is a finite mixture of components such that under each component distribution a certain subset of the coordinates have a discrete distribution while the remaining coordinates have a joint density. The expected number of coordinates with a joint density is shown to equal the rate-distortion dimension of the source vector. Also, the exact small distortion asymptotic behavior of the rate-distortion function of a special but interesting class of stationary information sources is determined.


PurposeThis paper attempts to provide significant information on the increased growth of literature of chatbots and virtual assistants. Technological changes are dynamic and keep changing at regular intervals. Therefore, it becomes highly crucial to review the performance of chatbots and virtual assistants. This paper aims to review the literature by eminent researchers in the form of authors, keywords and major contributing organizations.Design/methodology/approachSystematic literature review and bibliometric analysis is used to analyze the growth of literature on chatbots. A sum of articles has been extracted from Scopus database with selected keywords and with certain filters. VOSviewer software is used for analysis of data. A total of 130 documents are extracted from Scopus database from 2017 to 2021 (31st August).FindingsThis study provides a significant contribution to an existing literature and provides the understanding of research in the area of chatbots and virtual assistants. The authors with maximum number of citations are Yan, Zaho, Bengio, Weizenbaum, Song, Zhou and Maedche with jointly 180 citations. Research is been contributed by different countries where the United States is the country with highest number of documents published. The United States contributes 17% of the total production in the area of chatbots and virtual assistants. The analysis shows that the area is gaining momentum as contribution in this area is been increasing in last few years.Research limitations/implicationsThe study shows that several branches of chatbots are also in mainstream like natural language processing, e-learning, behavioural research, conversational agents, virtual assistants, human–computer interaction, natural language and so on. It provides a wider scope to authors and researchers to gain useful insights. The bibliometric study will provide a broader spectrum in this area.Social implicationsThe developments in technology and also the effect of COVID-19 pandemic is boosting the adoption of technology in different sectors. Deployment of technology will uplift the economy and social infrastructure. Society can avail different services from their comfort area and also in real time. This will help in reducing wastage of resources like people visiting offices for routine jobs which can be easily availed from their workplace. Society may access better services without much human interaction.Originality/valueThis paper adds significant contribution to the existing literature by analysing the published papers from Scopus database. The study contains new and significant information as this study covers all industries where chatbots and virtual assistants are being applied whereas in previous literature only specific industry has been taken into consideration.


Post-classical narratologies are beginning to appreciate the ways in which identity and alterity are central to narrative. The Gospel of John has long been considered an artistically crafted narrative, yet little scholarly attention has been given to the dialectical interplay of identity and alterity in the Gospel narrative, except as this dialectic forms part of a larger examination of postcolonial discourse in John. Using insights from Monika Fludernik's "natural" narratology and Lacanian psychoanalytic theory, this article argues that issues of identity and alterity are pivotal to the Gospel of John, particularly in the Gospel's rhetoric of belief and its anti-Jewish tenor and substance.


Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 61 individuals using drugs and driving cars who attending night clubs at various locations across Scotland. A further 88 people attending night clubs or dance venues filled in questionnaires about drugs use and driving. 10 focus groups were also conducted. Night club users were at very high risk of drug driving and self-reported an increased risk of road accidents. The incidence of drug use among night club and dance venue users was high at 76% of respondents in the last month. Driving after illict drug use was high. Most drug-driving incidents involved the use of cannabis and were not associated with travelling to and from clubs and dance events. Cannabis driving was considered much less dangerous than driving after ecstasy, cocaine, amphetamine or LSD. Many night club users felt they could compensate for drug effects on driving. Passengers were prepared to accept lifts from drivers who had taken drugs and considered that use of cannabis had little effect or improved driving ability. They considered that the importance of other drugs depended on the driver's tolerance to them. Being a passenger in a car where drugs other than cannabis had been taken was reported more often as frightening. Drug driving was considered socially acceptable and normal among friendship groups of those who drove under the influence of drugs. Hardly any night club users had organised designated drivers who did not use drugs. Most considered that charges should only be brought against noticeably impaired drivers. Improved public transport appeared to be a fundamental requirement of any serious attempt to reduce the incidence of drug driving.


According Human Relational Approach the objective of high organizational productivity, effectiveness and efficiency can be achieved through Employee's Development and effectiveness. Employee's Development and effectiveness can be enhanced by improving the employee's skills. Requisite employee's skills development is dependent on Skill Mapping. The aim of this paper is to know the impact of Skill Mapping is effective on Managerial Effectiveness and Employee Development. On the basis of the results and findings received from the data analysis, it was concluded that the Skill Mapping has positive and significant relationship with Managerial Effectiveness as well as the relationship between Skill Mapping and Employee Development was positive and significant. Study further established that there was positive and significant relationship between Managerial Effectiveness and Employee Development and also there was significant relationship between Managerial Effectiveness and Employee Development.


A large body of literature addresses the ethical and legal issues surrounding withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment. This national survey of 879 U.S. physicians practicing in adult ICU settings examined what physicians actually do.

Almost all physicians (96%) had stopped …


Experiments were performed to test the hypothesis that Na retention and Na in the diet are not required to initiate central aldosterone induced hypertension. Rats were fed either standard rat chow or Na-deficient diet and infused intracerebroventricularly (i.c.v.) with aldosterone (28 ng/h) dissolved in artificial cerebrospinal fluid (vehicle) or vehicle alone. In Na-replete rats the central infusion of aldosterone did not promote Na or water retention, prior to increases in systolic blood pressure (SBP). Infusion of aldosterone in Na-deficient rats also initiated a rise in SBP, although the response was delayed. In neither group of rats did aldosterone infusion significantly change plasma Na, K, renin, norepinephrine (NE) or vasopressin (AVP) concentrations. There was no significant increase in plasma aldosterone concentration in Na replete rats centrally infused with aldosterone. Infusion of vehicle had no effect on SBP. We conclude that central aldosterone infusion initiates an increase in blood pressure by a mechanism independent of Na retention. Furthermore, increased concentrations of systemic renin, vasopressin, and activation of the sympathetic nervous system do not appear to be involved in maintaining hypertension.


A thermal-induced dielectric switching has been realized in two ion-pair crystal [C2H6N5]+·[H2PO4]- (1, C2H6N5 = 3,5-diamino-1,2,4-triazolinium) through single-crystal-to-single-crystal phase transition (SCSC-PT). Upon cooling from room temperature, the 1D cation stripes that are composed of [C2H5N5]+ cations have undergone a 90° sharp rotation around the c axis, accompanied by the transition of crystal stacking from loose unparallel (dynamic state) to compression parallel (static state) and reorientation of dipoles on the [C2H5N5]+ cation, which thus resulted in high dielectric state to low dielectric state transformation. While on the warming run, the reverse process was rather sluggish, resulting in a reversible dielectric switching with ultralarge (about 40K wide) hysteresis loop near room temperature. It is thought that the large-sized polar cation stripes have a predominant influence on the switching properties of 1.


Maternal floor infarction (MFI) is an unusual, idiopathic placental disorder characterized by deposition of amorphous fibrinoid material along the maternal aspect of the intervillous space. This condition is associated with poor perinatal outcome—in particular, spontaneous abortion—fetal growth restriction, and stillbirth, with a high recurrence rate in subsequent pregnancies. It is unknown whether MFI is a single entity or the common end point of different insults. Most studies have linked MFI to underlying maternal disorders including gestational hypertension, autoimmune disease, and thrombophilia. In contrast, there have been only a few case reports regarding the possibility of a fetal basis for MFI. We report 2 cases of MFI in fetuses who suffered from oligohydramnios as a result of bilateral cystic renal dysplasia. These 2 cases suggest the concept that fetoplacental factors may also play a role in MFI. It is speculated that the mechanism might involve changes in intrauterine hydrostatic pressure gradients.


Retinal vein occlusions (RVO) are common retinal diseases. They are caused by an obstruction of retinal veins. RVO often result in visual deterioration and, in rare cases, can lead to blindness, but also be asymptomatic. The prognosis is various and depends on the extent, the localization of the occlusion and the retinal perfusion, especially in the macular area. The etiology often is a thrombosis caused by vascular sclerosis, rarely a vasculitis. Because often an underlying disease is present the medical clarification is necessary. The ophthalmological treatment of the macular edema includes intravitreal injection of VEGF inhibitors and steroids. Laser photocoagulation is being proposed as second line treatment. Neovascular complications like preretinal neovascularizations with and without vitreous hemorrhage are treated with laser or vitrectomy. Iris neovascularization can also occur and is treated with laser photocoagulation or cyclophotocoagulation.


One of the main limitations of current plant supervisory control systems is the reliability and the correct management of simultaneous faults, which is crucial for supporting the plant operators' decision making. In this work, a MultiLabel approach that makes use of support vector machines as the learning algorithm is employed to arrange a novel fault diagnosis system (FDS). The FDS is trained to address a difficult control case study from industry widely studied in the literature, the Tennessee Eastman process. Successful results have been obtained when diagnosing up to four simultaneous faults. These results are very promising since they have been obtained by just using simple training sets consisting of single faults, thus proving a very high learning capacity. © 2007 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2007


A Civil elementary school of Haurpancuh Bandung is a civil elementary school located in Bandung which implement curriculum 2013. During the implementation, students experience learning achievement derivation, homeworks are done in the classroom, are not paying attention to teacher's explanation. Randomly answer the questions from their teacher. The objective of this study is to describe the correlation between academic adaptation and learning achievement to improve students learning process by time management, learning strategies, preparation to face examinations, students career preparation of SDN haurpancuh Bandung. The objective of this study is to obtain empirical data about the correlation between academic adaptation and students learning achievement of 4th and 5th grade students  in SDN Haurpancuh Bandung. The method used is correlation with 64 students as the sample of research population. The instrument used to data collection is a questionnaire and students score in their report books in 2 semesters. The data obtained are ordinal data and spearman correlation computation test. The results show that there is a score of r = 0.531 correlation between academic adaptation and students learning achievement. It means that there is a tight correlation between academic adaptation and students learning achievement of 4th and 5th grade students in Haurpancuh Bandung.


Campaigns against environmental issues are now being voiced more and more, one of which is the problem of waste due to packaging. The packaging process uses organic materials, mainly producing waste that can pollute the environment. Packaging has been done by the community through the system of storing dish ingredients. Consumerist societies appear as a result of consuming signs, and any signs that appear visually greatly affect the target motivational audience both intrinsically and extrinsically. The representation of visual language in the form of processed natural materials into packaging products gives rise to the perception of traditional imagery. The fact that the packaging design at the company Jajanan Rakyat Khas Indonesia ( jarkasi) still maintains natural ingredients for traditional food products in Blitar is a concern in this study. This study uses qualitative research with intrinsic case studies that will discuss the packaging design of regional culinary dishes that use noodle-style ingredients as product wrappers. Research was conducted using interpretation analysis methods with a semiotic approach through sign science to observe symptoms that appear.This technique depicts traditional images that appear in packaging designs that use natural materials as research objects and inherent attributes as visual signs that can build persuasive messages of traditional images. The use of natural ingredients in the choice of packaging is intentional due to the value proposition in snack products offered to consumers, where the value proposition is a special offer allocated to consumers and potential consumers. Overall, the memory of the manifestation of past cultural products has special values that are built through the process of in-memory transmission until it is meaningful. This meaning will be passed on to other potential consumers through a symbolic stimulus as a collective of memory.
Keywords: memory, visual, rhetoric, packaging, design


Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) have diverse optical and photo-thermal properties.
It is used for diagnostic imaging because of their ability to absorb near infrared (NIR) and
X-rays, and their surface enhanced Raman scattering properties. Recently they are used for drug
delivery and more particularly photothermal treatment. Their ability to absorb NIR energy and
convert it to heat by a Surface Plasmon Resonance mechanism has made these materials promising
for the treatment of tumors. GNPs having diameter higher than 1.4-1.5 nm is found nontoxic to the
environment.

In the present work, polymer anchored GNPs are synthesized by reducing AuIII to Au0
in presence of either chitosan or polyvinyl alcohol, which act as in situ reducers cum stabilizers.
Microscopic techniques (TEM, SEM and DLS) are used to analyse the size, surface morphology
and size distribution respectively. The unique mucoadhesive properties of chitosan particularly
make the system promising with respect to antimicrobial (anti-bacteria as well as anti-fungus) activities.
An attempt has been made to understand the mechanistic path involved in antimicrobial
activities. Antimicrobial potential of chitosan anchored gold nanoparticles (GNPc) are noticed
even at very low dose.

The results of bio-chemical analysis (MDA, NBT, DNA fragmentation and overexpression
of heat shock protein) clearly explain antimicrobial activities. Additionally, gold chitosan
systems interact with microbial DNA and inhibit the action of DNA repair enzyme. Interestingly,
in vitro (rat peritoneal MФ) or in vivo (Wistar rat) analysis exhibits negligible cytotoxicy.

Thus the synthesized material (particularly GNPc) is promising as an effective nano
therapeutic agent.


A theoretical framework for designing interfaces for complex human-machine systems is proposed. The framework, called ecological interface design (EID), is based on the skills, rules, and knowledge taxonomy of cognitive control. The basic goals of EID are not to force processing to a higher level than the demands of the task require, and to support each of the three levels of cognitive control. Thus, an EID interface should not contribute to the difficulty of the task, and at the same time, it should support the entire range of activities that operators will be faced with. Three prescriptive design principles are suggested to achieve this objective, each directed at supporting a particular level of cognitive control. Particular attention is paid to presenting a coherent deductive argument justifying the principles of EID. Support for the EID framework is discussed. Some issues for future research are outlined. >


Airborne microorganisms, which are currently termed bioaerosols, have received attention owing to the harmful effects they have on human health. As the concern over airborne microorganisms grows, there also grows an urgent need to study and develop efficient methods for controlling them. In this study, thermal energy using a thermal tube was tested as a control method, mainly against airborne E. coli. For a comparison, B. subtilis var. niger spores were utilized in the experimentation. It was found that the widely known inactivation conditions for microorganisms were not adequate against airborne microorganisms. The experimental results demonstrated the need for extensive studies that should investigate adequate and economic conditions to control against airborne bacteria. In this study, thermal energy exposed by the thermal tube demonstrated an inactivation performance for controlling E. coli bioaerosols.


The trusting and cooperative relation between government principal and Construction Agency (CA) which based on the reputation effect from repeated game of principal and agent is a long-term incentive mechanism in government investment project. The importance of reputation effect is increasing in the construction agency competition, and the selection of CA based on reputation need an effective measurement of the reputation for CA. The paper analyzed components and driving factors of CA reputation, establishing CA reputation measurement indexes system and model from the view of stakeholders. However the measurement indexes should need further empirical study. Only by this the reputation evaluations can be introduced into CA Market Access management in order to establish a kind of cooperative relation in CA market and make it more perfect.


Resections of intracranial aneurysms were performed in 10 cases. There were 4 PCAAS, 1 ACOAA, 1 callosmarginal, 1MCA, 1 PCAA, 1 PCHAA, and 1 ICAA aneurysms. The diagnostic methods and operative indications are discussed. The histological changes of these removal aneurysms were discussed also. There were no mortality and severe complications. The surgical results were satisfied.


Explainability for Deep Learning Models is especially important for clinical applications, where decisions of automated systems have far-reaching consequences. While various post-hoc explainable methods, such as attention visualization and saliency maps, already exist for common data modalities, including natural language and images, little work has been done to adapt them to the modality of Flow CytoMetry (FCM) data. In this work, we evaluate the usage of a transformer architecture called ReluFormer that ease attention visualization as well as we propose a gradient- and an attention-based visualization technique tailored for FCM. We qualitatively evaluate the visualization techniques for cell classification and polygon regression on pediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) FCM samples. The results outline the model's decision process and demonstrate how to utilize the proposed techniques to inspect the trained model. The gradient-based visualization not only identifies cells that are most significant for a particular prediction but also indicates the directions in the FCM feature space in which changes have the most impact on the prediction. The attention visualization provides insights on the transformer's decision process when handling FCM data. We show that different attention heads specialize by attending to different biologically meaningful sub-populations in the data, even though the model retrieved solely supervised binary classification signals during training.


As adolescents become increasingly immersed in electronic technologies, popular adolescents may act in similar ways online as they do offline. This longitudinal study employed peer nominations and self-reports to examine perceived popularity and social preference in relation to cyber social behaviors among 256 adolescents during the fall (T1) and spring (T2). Linear associations were found between T1 popularity types (i.e., perceived popularity, social preference) and T2 cyber prosocial behavior. On the other hand, both linear and curvilinear associations were found between T1 popularity types and T2 cyber aggression. In particular, T2 cyber aggression was elevated at higher levels of T1 perceived popularity and lower levels of T1 social preference. Taken together, these findings suggest that the relations between both popularity types and cyber social behaviors follow similar patterns as face-to-face social behaviors.


The authors report a case of pineoblastoma with a 9-year follow-up period after stereotaxic biopsy, a shunting procedure, and radiotherapy. Light and electron microscopic studies of biopsy and autopsy specimens revealed no cell differentiation of the pineoblastoma. The possible factors predisposing to long survival are discussed in comparison with the course in patients with medulloblastoma.


BACKGROUND, AIMS
The aim of this double-blind, parallel study was to evaluate the adjunctive effects of systemically administered amoxicillin and metronidazole in a group of adult periodontitis patients who also received supra- and subgingival debridement.

METHODS
49 patients with a diagnosis of generalised severe periodontitis participated in the study. Random assignment resulted in 26 patients in the placebo (P) group with a mean age of 40 years and 23 patients in the test (T) group which had a mean age of 45 years. Clinical measurements and microbiological assessments were taken at baseline and 3 months after completion of initial periodontal therapy with additional placebo or antibiotic treatment. Patients received coded study medication of either 375 mg amoxicillin in combination with 250 mg metronidazole or identical placebo tablets, every 8 hours for the following 7 days.

RESULTS
At baseline, no statistically significant differences between groups were found for any of the clinical parameters. Except for the plaque, there was a significantly larger change in the bleeding, probing pocket depth (PPD) and clinical attachment level (CAL) in the T-group as compared to the P-group after therapy. The greatest reduction in PPD was found at sites with initial PPD of > or = 7 mm, 2.5 mm in the P-group and 3.2 mm in the T-group. The improvement in CAL was most pronounced in the PPD category > or = 7 mm and amounted to 1.5 mm and 2.0 mm in the P- and T-groups, respectively. No significant decrease was found in the number of patients positive for any of the test species in the P-group. The number of patients positive for Porphyromonas gingivalis, Bacteroides forsythus and Prevotella intermedia in the T-group showed a significant decrease. After therapy there was a significant difference between the P- and the T- group in the remaining number of patients positive for P. gingivalis, B. forsythus and Peptostreptococcus micros. 4 subgroups were created on the basis of the initial microbiological status for P. gingivalis positive (Pg-pos) and negative patients (Pg-neg) in the P- and the T-groups. The difference in reduction of PPD between Pg-pos and Pg-neg patients was particularly evident with respect to the changes in % of sites with a probing pocket depth > or = 5 mm. This % decreased from 45% at baseline to 23% after treatment in the Pg-pos placebo subgroup and decreased from 46% to 11% in the Pg-pos test subgroup (p < or = 0.005). In contrast, the changes in the proportions of sites with a probing pocket depth > or = 5 mm in the Pg-neg placebo and Pg-neg test subgroup were similar, from 43% at baseline to 18% after treatment versus 40% to 12% respectively.

CONCLUSIONS
This study has shown that systemic usage of metronidazole and amoxicillin, when used in conjunction with initial periodontal treatment in adult periodontitis patients, achieves significantly better clinical and microbiological results than initial periodontal treatment alone. Moreover, this research suggests that especially patients diagnosed with P. gingivalis benefit from antibiotic treatment.


The Middle East has been profoundly shaped by the international system, or more precisely, the great powers, which dominate its developed 'core'. The nineteenth-century expansion of capitalism and imperialism into the region reflected a combination of superior Western technological, market, and military power which penetrated and eventually reduced the Middle East to an economic periphery of the core and imposed a very flawed Western state system on it. Even after independence, Western capitalism continued to penetrate the Middle East: the region's strategic transit routes, oil resources, the creation of Israel, a Western bridgehead, and the relative power vacuum issuing from regional fragmentation – all continued to draw in external powers. Leon Carl Brown (1984: 3–5, 16–18) has argued that the Middle East became a penetrated system, one subject to exceptional influence and intervention from the outside but which could not be fully subordinated or absorbed. Fred Halliday (1988) observes that, from the time of the Eastern question, great power competition over the Middle East has been more enduring than in any other Third World region. As Brown stresses, local players have always tried to manipulate such rivalry for their own agendas. But equally, imperialism's fragmentation of the region into rival states often harbouring irredentist grievances against each other, its implantation of client elites and new class structures against local resistance and the creation and military enforcement of the state of Israel, have kept the region divided and dependent on external powers. Moreover, when there has been a hegemon on the world scene, it has tended to dominate the region on behalf of a relatively united 'core'. The first of these hegemons, Great Britain, came near to imposing an imperial order


The present day cryogenic gas turbines are in high use as they meet the growing needs for low pressure cycles. This calls for improved methods of blade profile design. The present study is aimed at the design of the blade profile of mixed flow impellers with radial entry and axial discharge. In this paper, details of a computer code have been developed for designing such blade profile. The computational procedure developed describes the three-dimensional contours of the blades for the turbine wheel. The flow of fluid in a turbine blade passage depends on the length of the flow path and the curvature of such path. This has been given due weightage. Effect of some of the turbine operating and design parameters on the flow path and its curvature have been analyzed and presented. Optimum solution for some of the free parameters and angles between velocity components was found. On that basis, co-ordinates of this blade profile were computed. Although manufacturers design the blade profiles for their production, till date no academic literature is available for this purpose. The work may help researchers for further developmental work on this topic as well as the manufacturers of cryogenic expanders. Keywords: Radial turbine, Blade profile parameter, Meridional streamlength, Axial coordinate, Radial coordinate, Angular coordinate


Middle Eocene lignite and lignitk shale in the central Arkansas Coastal Plain contain fossiliferous amber in association with commercially exploited refractory clay. A rich, excellently preserved spore and pollen assemblage occurs with the amber and establishes the age of the strata as lower Claiborne (lower middle Eocene). Similarity of infrared absorption spectra of the Claiborne amber to infrared spectra of Holocene Shorea sp. resin suggests the tropical, resinous hardwood family Dipterocarpaceae as a possible botanical source. Preliminary examination of approximately 300 insect inclusions sufficiently well prepared for examination indicates that the insect orders Hemiptera (Homoptera), Diptera, and Hymenoptera dominate the fauna. Five additional insect orders are sparsely represented; there are also rare Araneae and plant remains. The Claiborne amber fauna seems characterized by relatively small individual size and low taxonomic diversity, with many individuals but relatively few species.


Background and importance Occupational exposure to hazardous drugs (HD) can cause damage to health in exposed healthcare professionals, so protective measures must be taken. Aim and objectives To identify HD included in the pharmacotherapeutic guide (GFT) of our hospital and dangerous situations to subsequently develop a safe work procedure for workers. Material and methods We conducted a systematic review of publications in the past 10 years in humans in the database PubMed using as MESH terms: hazardous drugs, safe handling and occupational exposure, and combining related descriptors. Inclusion criteria were a list of medications from the GFT of our hospital. The comparator was a list established by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), year 2014. Results The main variable studied was identification of HD: 274 drugs with active ingredients classified as HD were detected in our GFT. In addition, despite not being in the NIOSH listings, acenocoumarol was considered a HD due to its similarity to warfarin (list 3 NIOSH). Therefore, 275 medications were included. Of these 275 drugs, corresponding to 151 active substances, 92 were included in list 1 (antineoplastic medicine), 26 in list 2 (non-antineoplastic drugs that meet at least one hazard criteria), 26 in list 3 (drugs that pose a risk to the reproductive process that may affect men/women who are actively trying to conceive, and pregnant women/breastfeeding period, but that do not pose a risk to the rest of the staff) and 7 according to the medication's datasheet. The second variable studied was identification of processes that cause a risk to the safety of workers in contact with HD. Four processes were found: reception, transport and distribution, preparation and treatment of waste, which in the absence of specific preventive measures cause a risk to the safety and health of workers. Conclusion and relevance The identification of MP is a key aspect to avoid occupational risks and ensure the safety of the healthcare professional. Recent research identified dangerous situations and established an association between occupational contamination and levels of exposure to antineoplastic drugs, with the training and information of the health worker in MP matters being a crucial aspect. References and/or acknowledgements No conflict of interest.


According to statistical studies of tuberculosis the number of patient has decreased dramatically since a new chemotherapy for this disease was introduced about 30 years ago. Tuberculosis can be found mostly in aged people nowadays. This is also true for a mortality due to tuberculosis. In recent years the occurrence of tuberculosis varied in districts; it is more frequent in the western part of Japan. Twelve cases of laryngeal tuberculosis were reported in this paper. As with tuberculosis of other organs, patient's age was high compared with the previous studies. Laryngoscopic examination showed that a type of granulomatous proliferations was more frequent, hence it was difficult to differentiate them from laryngeal carcinoma. Asymptomatic tuberculosis of the lung was found in most of the patients. In order to discover laryngeal tuberculosis at an early stage and to protect spreading of the infection, it is necessary to carry out a taking of detailed anamnesis, a precise inspection, a chest X-ray and an examination of sputum, and then to make the final diagnosis with a biopsy.


The year 2000 marked the fortieth anniversary of the oral contraceptive known as the "pill." Despite the availability of the pill, and other contraceptives, many unresolved issues remain. Concerns with contraceptive side effects, high use-failure rates, and high rates of both unintended pregnancies and abortions indicate a need for improved contraceptive choices. Experts have called for a second contraceptive revolution that would bring radically new contraceptive products to the market. Unfortunately, this second revolution has not occurred, and contraceptive research has been virtually abandoned by most major pharmaceutical firms. We suggest that inclusion of contraceptives within the 1983 Orphan Drug Act and U.S. federal legislation known as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) defense could provide the economic incentives needed to spark the second contraceptive revolution.


This paper describes work in progress to integrate real and virtual endoscopy and to apply virtual endoscopy to the intra-operative guidance of endoscopic procedures. We propose a method for real-time tracking of the endoscope's shape and position. Our approach makes use of a simple and small external device, a computer model of a flexible endoscope and an image-based registration technique.


In this work the low density regions of nuclear and neutron star matter are studied. The search for the existence of pasta phases in this region is performed within the context of the quark-meson coupling (QMC) model, which incorporates quark degrees of freedom. Fixed proton fractions are considered, as well as nuclear matter in beta equilibrium at zero temperature. We discuss the recent attempts to better understand the surface energy in the coexistence phases regime and we present results that show the existence of the pasta phases subject to some choices of the surface energy coefficient. We also analyze the influence of the nuclear pasta on some neutron star properties. The equation of state containing the pasta phase will be part of a complete grid for future use in supernova simulations.


Recent years have witnessed the significant advance in dense retrieval (DR) based on powerful pre-trained language models (PLM). DR models have achieved excellent performance in several benchmark datasets, while they are shown to be not as competitive as traditional sparse retrieval models (e.g., BM25) in a zero-shot retrieval setting. However, in the related literature, there still lacks a detailed and comprehensive study on zero-shot retrieval. In this paper, we present the first thorough examination of the zero-shot capability of DR models. We aim to identify the key factors and analyze how they affect zero-shot retrieval performance. In particular, we discuss the effect of several key factors related to source training set, analyze the potential bias from the target dataset, and review and compare existing zero-shot DR models. Our findings provide important evidence to better understand and develop zero-shot DR models.


The solid-aqueous boundary formed upon biomaterial implantation provides a playground for most biochemical reactions and physiological processes involved in implant-host interactions. Therefore, for biomaterial development, optimization, and application, it is essential to understand the biomaterial-water interface in depth. In this study, oxygen plasma-functionalized polyurethane surfaces that can be successfully utilized in contact with the tissue of the respiratory system were prepared and investigated. Through experiments, the influence of plasma treatment on the physicochemical properties of polyurethane was investigated by atomic force microscopy, attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy, differential thermal analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, secondary ion mass spectrometry, and contact angle measurements, supplemented with biological tests using the A549 cell line and two bacteria strains (Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa). The molecular interpretation of the experimental findings was achieved by molecular dynamics simulations employing newly developed, fully atomistic models of unmodified and plasma-functionalized polyurethane materials to characterize the polyurethane-water interfaces at the nanoscale in detail. The experimentally obtained polar and dispersive surface free energies were consistent with the calculated free energies, verifying the adequacy of the developed models. A 20% substitution of the polymeric chain termini by their oxidized variants was observed in the experimentally obtained plasma-modified polyurethane surface, indicating the surface saturation with oxygen-containing functional groups.


Modification of gas chromatographic technique for separation methylethoxysilane compounds which were synthesized by the reaction the absolute ethanol with methylchlorosilane compounds. The addition of dry absolute ethanol to methylchlorosilane compounds in the presence of a dry stream of nitrogen gas to eliminate the liberated HCl gas. This method was found to be the suitable method for preparation methylethoxysilane compounds. The optimum parameter selected after careful and precise studies were between 20 - 30 ml \ min to carriers gas flow rate, while applied temperature of detector and injection part are 250 °C and 225 °C respectively. The results showed that suitable chromatographic column for the separation of methylchlorosilane compounds is 50% (5% dioctyl phthalate ) + 50% (10% OV- 101 ) .While 10 % OV - 101 column was found to be the best for the separation of methylethoxysilane compounds . Accordingly , a linear relationship for the calibration curve between concentration and peak area was achieved for methylchlorosilane and methyl ethoxysilane with correlation coefficients were ranged between 0.9991- 1. The results of percentage RSD for the methylchlorosilane and methylethoxysila were 0.51-2.08 and 0.053-1.37 respectively.


UAVs are a key element of the U. S. Army's vision for Force Transformation, and are expected to be employed in large numbers per FCS Unit of Action (UoA). This necessitates a multi-UAV level of autonomous collaboration behavior capability that meets RSTA and other mission needs of FCS UoAs. Autonomous Collaborative Mission Systems (ACMS) is an extensible architecture and behavior planning / collaborative approach to achieve this level of capability. The architecture is modular and the modules may be run in different locations/platforms to accommodate the constraints of available hardware, processing resources and mission needs. The modules and uniform interfaces provide a consistent and platform-independent baseline mission collaboration mechanism and signaling protocol across different platforms. Further, the modular design allows flexible and convenient extension to new autonomous collaborative behaviors to the ACMS through: adding new behavioral templates in the Mission Planner component; adding new components in appropriate ACMS modules to provide new mission specific functionality; adding or modifying constraints or parameters to the existing components, or any combination of these. We describe the ACMS architecture, its main features on extensibility, and updates on current spiral development status and future plans for simulations in this report.


In our work we are studying how genetic algorithms (GAs) can evolve cellular automata (CAs) to perform computations that require global coordination. The "evolving cellular automata" framework is an idealized means for studying how evolution (natural or computational) can create systems that perform emergent computation, in which the actions of simple computation, in which the actions of simple components with local information and communication give rise to coordinated global information processing.


Abstract The female of Argas (Persicargas) keiransi Estrada-Peña, Venzal & González-Acuña (Acari: Argasidae) is described from specimens collected in the type locality in Chile. The female has a unique combination of characters in the dorsal cuticle and in the number and pattern of ventrolateral setae in the basis capituli. Additional features on tarsus I chaetotaxy and dorsal plate are provided for the larva of the species, as observed on flat specimens derived from engorged females collected in the type locality. Keys for the larvae of the New World Persicargas are provided as well as illustrations for prominent characters in hypostome and posterolateral setae. The mitochondrial 16S rDNA sequence of A. keiransi has been obtained, and an analysis of the phylogenetic relationships with other ticks is included. Phylogenetic analysis provides support for a Persicargas grouping of species, separated from species in Argas.


T3 is required for normal skeletal development, but its cellular targets in bone are unknown. T3 regulates target gene transcription via a specific nuclear receptor (T3R), which can heterodimerize with 9-cis-retinoic acid, 1 alpha, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, or retinoic acid receptors to modify T3 responsiveness. Serum-free cultures were developed to investigate hormone interactions in three osteosarcoma cell lines, ROS25/1, UMR106, and ROS17/2.8, that express fibroblast-like, preosteoblast, and mature osteoblast phenotypes. ROS25/1 expressed T3R alpha 1, but only low levels of T3R beta 1, whereas UMR106 and ROS17/2.8 cells expressed both receptor proteins. All cells expressed c-erb-A alpha 2 protein and equal levels of 1 alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 receptor, 9-cis-retinoic acid receptor, and retinoic acid receptor messenger RNAs. Endogenous T3R activity and the effects of D3 and 9-cis-RA on T3 responsiveness were determined in transfections using reporter genes containing T3 response elements from rat malic enzyme or alpha-myosin heavy chain genes. Cell-specific T3 responses were associated with differing patterns of T3R gene expression and stages of osteoblast phenotype expression. A change in T3R beta 1 gene expression during osteoblast phenotype differentiation may modify T3 action in developing bone.


Microbial flora especially anaerobes were studied in 67 patients with genital ulcers due to chancroid (diagnosed clinically) and 53 controls with genital ulcers due to other causes. The aerobic flora was similar in patients of chancroid with or without associated bubo and in controls. Anaerobes were however, isolated with higher frequency from chancroid ulcers associated with fluctuant bubo compared to those without bubo (P less than 0.01) and with non-fluctuant bubo (P less than 0.05). Anaerobic bacteria like Bacteroides melaninogenicus, B. fragilis and anaerobic cocci may play a role in the perpetuation of genital ulcers and development of bubo in chancroid.


Traditionally, Type II heterogeneous photo-oxidations produce singlet oxygen via external irradiation of a sensitizer and external supply of ground-state oxygen. A potential improvement is reported here. A hollow-core fiber-optic device was developed with an ''internal'' supply of light and flowing oxygen, and a porous photosensitizer-end capped configuration. Singlet oxygen was delivered through the fiber tip. The singlet oxygen steady-state concentration in the immediate vicinity of the probe tip was ca 20 fM by N-benzoyl-DL-methionine trapping. The device is portable and the singlet oxygen-generating tip is maneuverable, which opened the door to simple disinfectant studies. Complete Escherichia coli inactivation was observed in 2 h when the singlet oxygen sensitizing probe tip was immersed in 0.1 mL aqueous samples of 0.1–4.4 · 10 cells. Photobleaching of the probe tip occurred after ca 12 h of use, requiring baking and sensitizer reloading steps for reuse.


Medical education in the twenty first century is a complex undertaking and is occurring in a setting of rapidly increasing change. Training students and residents to the point of clinical proficiency requires educational skills and knowledge that are rarely taught to most physicians. Academic health centers are increasingly part of a 'healthindustrial complex' which often places their educational missions in conflict with the revenue-generating requirements of patient care and research. The increasing role of commercial forces in medicine poses threats to the societal obligations of physicians such as patient and healthcare advocacy. Neither has medical education escaped the forces of globalization that have radically transformed much of the planet. Medical educational leaders are therefore going to require skills and knowledge to respond to these challenges. These are capacities that go beyond the scope of most faculty development programs, which usually provide minimal instruction in educational theory and research. Graduate programs in medical education can however satisfy many of these leaders' educational needs. The capacities that these programs will require to address these needs were conceptualized in a framework having outcomes at four levels: 1) individual 2) institutional 3) societal and 4) global. Three focus groups of North American medical educators were asked to discuss these capacities in the context of this framework. Data were also obtained from the mission statements of 21 English-language masters programs in medical education. The focus groups confirmed the importance of graduate educational training for physician-educators, emphasizing topics with individual and institutional implications such as curriculum planning, student assessment, program evaluation and educational research. There was minimal discussion about the societal and global ramifications of medical education. The only significant references to these notions emanated from the mission statements of the minority of medical educational programs located in faculties of education. When characterizing what capacities were important for graduate programs in medical education to develop, medical educators adopted an approach best understood via a framework derived from the adult educational program planning literature. They were reluctant to embrace the broader societal and global notions that have informed adult education over the past few decades.


Specification of neural crest progenitors begins during gastrulation at the neural plate border, long before migration or differentiation. Neural crest cell fate is acquired by progressive activation of discrete groups of transcription factors that appear to be highly conserved in vertebrates; however, comprehensive analysis of their expression has been lacking in chick, an important model system for neural crest development. To address this, we analyzed expression of 10 transcription factors that are known specifiers of neural plate border and neural crest fate and compared them across developmental stages from gastrulation to neural crest migration. Surprisingly, we find that most neural crest specifiers are expressed during gastrulation in chick, concomitant with and in similar domains as neural plate border specifiers. This finding suggests that interactions between these molecules may occur much earlier than previously thought, an important consideration for interpretation of functional studies. Developmental Dynamics 238:716–723, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


In this paper a new dynamic system with integer and fractional order is investigated. It is shown that determining the effect of quadratic coefficients to the systematic structure can be converted to determining that of coefficients of the linear part. Under some parametric conditions, the system can produce chaotic attractors similar as Lorenz attractor. A constructive theorem is proposed for generalized synchronization related to the fractional-order chaotic system and an application of this new system is demonstrated.


Policy supported modernization of groundwater abstraction through tube wells have raised serious concerns about the sustainability of groundwater resources in Balochistan. Many experts believe that traditional technologies such as Karez were best suited to arid climate of the region and prescribe their revival. While there is generally good gesture about local interest in the revival of Karez, it is yet to establish the farmer's serious motivation in this regard. This is particularly important since the socioeconomic and livelihood sources and technological scenario of the region has been rapidly changing since the last few decades. This research investigated the local enthusiasm towards the revival of Karez among the household using Karez. Four Karez from the Loralai District were purposively selected, comprising of two functional and two nonfunctional Karezes. Furthermore, randomly selected sample of 105 household were investigated through structured questionnaire and eight interviews were also conducted to have in depth knowledge of the issue. The result shows that tubewell didn't help I the expansion of the agricultural land as it was perceived due to high electricity and maintenance cost. The expansion in the cultivated land was witnessed in the region where Karez is revived. People from the functional Karez region showed high enthusiasm towards Karez revival rehabilitation by contributing enormously financially led by strong leadership. On the other hand, people from the non functional region lacked finance, leadership and were comparatively less motivated. Even though the reliance on the tube well is at peak in all the household chores but respondents still claimed their struggle for Karez rehabilitation as their crop production was declining. The results, however, identifies the necessitates for the commencement of the Karez rehabilitation and also clears the curiosities for policy makers whether reviving Karez will be viable in the present state of the district, eventually improving the ground water resources, with the design and implementation of appropriate policies.


We report the salient metal complexation properties of the SCS pincer ligand 1,3-bis(dimethylthiocarbamoyloxy)benzene (1), and its Pd(II) extraction properties in liquid–liquid extraction. Rapid and selective extraction by 1 of >99% Pd(II) ions from an automotive catalyst leach liquor containing Rh, Pd, Pt, Zr, Ce, Ba, Al, La, and Y in Cl− media was observed. The extractability (E%) of 1 toward Pd was higher than that of the analogous compounds 1,4-bis(dimethylthiocarbamoyloxy)benzene (2), 1,4-bis(dimethylthiocarbamoyloxy)2,5-di-tert-butylbenzene (3), and 1,2-bis(dimethylthiocarbamoyloxy)benzene (4), and the commercial Pd(II) extractant di-n-hexyl sulfide (DHS). In o-dichlorobenzene diluent, 1 showed a high E%Pd (99.9–97.0%) in Cl− media (0.1–8.0 M) in 30 min, and excellent Pd(II) extraction and good phase separation were obtained with the various diluents studied. Pd(II) ions were stripped from the extractants using 0.1 M thiourea in 1.0 M HCl, enabling the reuse of 1. Loading capacity measurements revealed a Pd/extractant 1 ratio of 1. Palladation is promoted at the benzene ring and dimethylthiocarbamoyl moieties via formation of stable fused six-membered chelate rings. The extractant 1–Pd(II) complex was characterized using FT-IR spectroscopy, NMR spectroscopy, elemental analysis, single-crystal XRD study, and MALDI-TOF MS analysis. Extractant 1 displayed a high E%Pd (99%) even after five extraction cycles, indicating that it is very stable in acidic media and may be useful for the rapid and selective recovery of Pd(II) from catalyst solutions in platinum group metal refineries.


Usul fiqh is a sharia research method used to analyze various fiqh laws relating to contemporary Sharia Economic activities. This paper explains the position of Usul Fiqh as a sharia learning method. This paper also outlines the relationship between ushul fiqh and Sharia Economics research methods. The results of the study showed that usul fiqh was an important aspect of analyzing contemporary legal fiqh, especially in Sharia economic activities. This mechanism is referred as the Qur'an and Sunnah texts, the argumentation of Ijma and Qiyas, and the use of the Mashlahah and 'Urf methods in an effort to achieve the results of in-depth analysis related to economic cases that arise at the present time.


Hysteroscopy is an extensively popular option in evaluating and treating women with infertility. The procedure utilises an endoscope, inserted through the vagina and cervix to examine the intra-uterine cavity via a monitor. The difficulty of hysteroscopy from the surgeon's perspective is the visual spatial perception of interpreting 3D images on a 2D monitor, and the associated psychomotor skills in overcoming the fulcrum-effect. Despite the widespread use of this procedure, current qualified hysteroscopy surgeons have not been trained the fundamentals through an organised curriculum. The emergence of virtual reality as an educational tool for this procedure, and for other endoscopic procedures, has undoubtedly raised interests. The ultimate objective is for the inclusion of virtual reality training as a mandatory component for gynaecologic endoscopy training. Part of this process involves the design of a simulator, encompassing the technical difficulties and complications associated with the procedure. The proposed research examines fundamental hysteroscopy factors, current training and accreditation, and proposes a hysteroscopic simulator design that is suitable for educating and training.


The P2X purinergic receptor 7 (P2RX7) is a poorly selective ATP‐gated ion channel. Although P2RX7 binds ATP with relatively low affinity, prolonged activation can lead to nonselective membrane pore formation. Indeed, brief exposure to ATP triggers a rapid Ca2+ influx, whereas prolonged exposure to high ATP concentrations results in the passage of larger organic molecules. P2RX7 is involved in the physiopathology of a number of diseases and has notably emerged as a potential therapeutic target in inflammation, neuropathic pain, Alzheimer's disease, and cancer—prompting growing interest in the synthesis of novel P2RX7 modulators and the development of reliable, stringent screening methods. In the present study, we developed methods based on conventional flow cytometry, imaging flow cytometry and spectral flow cytometry and used them to measure P2RX7's activity upon activation by 3'‐O‐(4‐benzoyl)benzoyl ATP. We also demonstrated the use of the highly sensitive DNA‐intercalating dye TO‐PRO‐3 to determine P2RX7's large pore activity. The simultaneous quantification of calcium influx (Fluo‐3 AM), large pore opening (TO‐PRO‐3), and viability (propidium iodide) is a very efficient method for low‐ to medium‐throughput screening of P2RX7 modulators. Agonist and antagonist potencies can be accurately evaluated. Spectral cytometry notably enabled us to assay several biological activities while correcting for the intrinsic fluorescence of the screened compounds—otherwise a well‐known limitation of fluorescence‐based screening. Hence, spectral cytometry appears to be a useful, novel tool for drug candidate screening.


Little has been written on the construction and projection of indigenous social identity in public ('non-restricted') ritual among Aboriginal Australians. Elsewhere, I have analysed nearly half a century of such public rituals (1946–1990) among the Warlpiri of Yuendumu in Central Australia, concentrating on the shifting forces of gender and kinship. This paper focuses on the key moments motivating senior Warlpiri women, since the 1990s, to reconfigure their ritual participation and roles in inter-indigenous ceremonial events. I analyse how these women participate in inter-Aboriginal performances, exhibiting the iconic and sensory virtues of the Dreaming and weaving new forms of political identity, shaped by the pressures of neo-colonialism, with female ambassadors of other Aboriginal groups. I argue that in this performative process women are reconfiguring the meanings of Aboriginalities and rearticulating their connectedness to one another, a connectedness rooted in their beliefs and responsibilities towards the Dreaming.


By using spectroradiameter, canopy spectral characteristics such as reflection rate (alpha), absorption rate (tau), transmission rate (beta), and extinction coefficient(K) of different rice varieties were analyzed and compared. The results showed the canopy spectral characteristics were significantly different among different rice varieties, especially under blue radiation (400-510 nm). In addition, these dissimilarities were more obvious in the late stage of growth period.


An unconditionally stable frequency-dependent FDTD formulation for non-magnetized materials is developed using Associated Hermite (AH) expansion in this letter. By intro- ducing orthogonal AH transform, the complex dielectric constant is transformed into AH domain and represented as a matrix form, and then incorporated into a set of implicit equations to calculate the expansion coefficients of electromagnetic fields. Numerical example shows that the result of the new algorithm is in consistent with the theoretical results.


Chromate conversion coatings have been in service for decades providing robust corrosion protection to a wide variety of aluminum alloys. However, it is also known that anti-corrosive coatings containing Cr6+ contributes to DNA damage, cause cancer and are not environmentally friendly. Consequently, regulatory restrictions over the use Cr6+ were established to mitigate the environmental damage and health problems. To answer to this hurdle and to meet the emergent need for environmentally friendly anti-corrosive coatings, we have successfully developed an innovative coating that combines anti-corrosive, low electrical resistance, and self-healing properties. First, we present two different coatings, that aim to display low electrical resistance properties: one containing only graphene and the other containing Zn nanoparticles and graphene. Confocal laser imaging and SEM microscopy was used to observe the morphology of the coatings. The electrical resistance was measured using the 4-wire connection Kelvin method. We compare the anticorrosive response for both coatings under neutral salt spray test (NSSt). Raman spectroscopy was performed before and after to understand the effect of NSSt corrosive species on the coatings. Then, we select the coating with lower electrical resistance, and we program on it a self-healing mechanism to boost its life service. Finally cyclic voltammetry is performed to confirm the excellent blocking properties of the tested coatings. All the coatings presented in this work are applied on aluminum AA 2024T351 and the optimal spray parameters for nanofillers dispersion are obtained. Our findings show great potential for preventing corrosion and compatibility with fully automated large-scale applications in different fields such as aerospace, automotive, construction, submarines and many more.


Abstract The present considerations are based on two earlier publications concerning oxidation. Both of these added to the usual derivation of the linear-parabolic kinetics modifications based on variations in the chemical activity of the material being oxidized, as a result of the very process of oxidation itself. In this previous work, it was assumed that the equilibrium oxygen concentration, below which oxidation becomes impossible, was a constant. This is conceptually wrong when the activity of the material being oxidized is not constant. The correct solutions for the kinetics of oxidation have been derived now and are shown not to deviate significantly from the previous solutions under most usual circumstances. In one of the two cases being examined, the formation of SiO2 over silicide films, the previous work assumed steady-state conditions. The process of establishing steady state has now been analysed as well. For a silicide such as WSi2 it is shown that steady-state conditions are reached within ...


Summary
A second case of visceral leishmaniasis in a dog imported into the United States from Greece is presented. Diagnosis was substantiated by demonstrating the presence of the organism in cultures of tissue removed from this animal and by histologic examination. The leptomonad forms were cultured from sternal bone marrow on NNN medium. The introduction of active visceral leishmaniasis into the United States in an animal host poses a problem which should properly concern public health and animal disease control officials.
This case has been contributed to the Registry of Veterinary Pathology and has received AFIP Accession No. 750721.


A biochemical and histological study of hepatic lipid in children dying from the sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and children of a similar age dying explicably are reported. Contrary to a previous report based on histological assessment of hepatic lipid, no significant increase of total lipid content in livers of children dying from SIDS was found. Analysis of hepatic phospholipid fatty acid esters, however, revealed a significant difference between SIDS and children of similar age dying acutely and explicably. The phospholipid abnormality found in SIDS was similar to that found in children dying subacutely with hypoxia and would be consistent with increased cell membrane fluidity. The implications of these findings in the pathogenesis of SIDS are discussed.


【This study examined the moderated effects of self-control on the relationship between elementary school children's excessive use of the Internet and their stress levels. The participants were 403 elementary school children from Chungnam-do. The instruments used were the 'Internet Addiction Autodiagnosis Scale (K-Scale)', the 'Stress Scale' and the 'Self-control Rating Scale'. The collected data were analyzed by t test, F test and the Scheffe test for a post hoc test, Pearson's partial correlation and stepwise multiple regression, and Cronbach's ${\alpha}$ for reliability by SPSS program (17.0 version). The results were as follows : First, it was found that there were significant differences in terms of excessive use of the Internet, stress levels, and self-control by gender, grade, academic achievement, the beginning year of first Internet access and the number of hours of Internet usage hours per day. Second, there were significant positive correlations between excessive use of the Internet (r = .40, p】


CASE
We report 2 patients who developed chronic expanding hematomas (CEHs) more than 20 years after ceramic-on-polyethylene total hip arthroplasty (THA). One CEH occurred after a minor fall, and the other appeared with no obvious injury. Neither of the 2 was on anticoagulation. Each caused extensive osteolysis.

CONCLUSION
The only 2 previously reported post-THA cases of CEH involved metal-on-metal THAs and occurred several years after the index THA. Our patients show that CEH also can occur after ceramic-on-polyethylene THA, even after an uneventful clinical course of more than 20 years. Complete removal of both hematoma stopped osteolytic progression, with no recurrence to date.


Shoulder arthroscopy has become a popular diagnostic and therapeutic procedure during the past two decades. In many centers shoulder arthroscopy has become a standard procedure. Complications associated with shoulder arthroscopy are relatively rare. Most of the complications can be minimized through proper surgical technique, good instrumentation, clinical experience and familiarity with anatomy. We evaluated cases from own clinical experience and reviewed the literature on complication of arthroscopic shoulder surgery and their management. Complications can be divided into general, generic to all shoulder procedures, and the type of procedure performed. Complications specific to shoulder arthroscopic procedures may affect articular capsule, brachial plexus nerves and wound healing. Serious and rare complications, like upper limb DVT, pneumothorax or rotator cuff jatrogenic injury require immediate recognition and treatment. Proper patient selection, attention to operative procedure (patient positioning, proper traction, anatomic portal placement), and careful post-operative care can minimize the morbidity associated with complications if they occur.


In this paper,the urban transit routing problem is addressed by using a real-world urban transit network. Given the road network infrastructure and the demand, the problem consists in designing routes such that the service level as well as the operator cost are optimized. The optimality of the service level is measured in terms of average journey time and the route set length. A differential evolution approach is proposed to solve the problem. An improved sub-route reversal repair mechanism is introduced to deal with the in feasibility of route sets. Computational results on a real network produce solutions that are close to the lower bound values of the passenger and the operator costs. In addition, the proposed algorithm produces approximate Pareto fronts that enable the transit operator to evaluate the trade-off between the passenger and passenger costs


Objectives: To investigate whether adaptation of accommodative responses occurred in non-presbyopic myopes fitted with four multifocal contact lens (MFCL) designs. Methods: Prospective, subject-masked clinical investigation comprising 40 experienced myopic lens wearers (18–25 years) fitted bilaterally with single-vision (SV) control lens (Air Optix Aqua [Alcon, Fort Worth, TX]) and randomized to two of four test MFCL (Proclear MFCL [Distance and Near] [CooperVision, Pleasanton, CA], Air Optix Aqua MFCL, Purevision MFCL [Bausch & Lomb, Rochester, NY]). Lenses were dispensed on a daily wear basis and worn for a minimum of 8 (maximum 14) days over three assessment visits, with a 1-week wash out between stages. Paraxial curvature matched spherical equivalent (M) was measured with lenses on eye using the BHVI-EyeMapper with an internal movable fixation target positioned at target vergences of +1.00 diopter (D) (fogging) and −2.00 to −5.00 in 1.00 D steps (accommodative stimuli). Accommodative facility was assessed by several flips of ±2.00 D/min (cycles/min) at 33 cm and horizontal phoria with a Howell phoria card at distance (3 m) and near (33 cm). Results: For center-distance MFCL (Proclear D), the spherical equivalent (M) at all near vergences became significantly more negative at the follow-up visits compared with the dispensing visit (P<0.029). For all center-near MFCLs and SV lens, M remained invariant during the adaptation period, however (P≥0.267). At distance, M became significantly less minus with Air Optix Aqua MFCL over time (P=0.049). Accommodative facility increased over the three assessment visits for participants wearing Air Optix Aqua SV, Air Optix Aqua MFCL, and PureVision MFCL (P=0.003). Distance and near horizontal phoria remained stable over the three assessment visits for all lens types (P≥0.181). Conclusions: Adaptation differences were not consistently found for static accommodative measures gauged by M, as measured with lenses on eye, and phoria but were found in dynamic measures (facility), perhaps indicating some learning effects. Accommodative adaptation seems unlikely to occur with long-term MFCL in non-presbyopes.


Facing global competition in the chemical industry particular companies from high-wage countries have to cut development costs and time to market to be still profitable. Therefore, methods like concurrent and collaborative engineering are increasingly applied. However, these complex workflows require adequate software support to be efficient in face of heterogeneous software environments as typically encountered in most companies. Such software support does virtually not exist in industrial practice to date. In this paper, we propose a novel software prototype built on semantic technologies which is capable of providing such software support and thus helping to improve efficiency in process and plant engineering.