Software-Defined Networking (SDN) recently emerged to overcome the difficulty of network control by decoupling the control plane from the data plane. In terms of the wireless medium and mobile devices, although new challenges are introduced into SDN research, SDN promises to address many inherited problems in wireless communication networks. However, centralised SDN control brings concerns of scalability, reliability, and robustness especially for wireless networks. Considering these concerns, the use of physically distributed SDN controllers has been recognized as an effective solution. Nevertheless, it remains a challenge in regard to how the physically distributed controllers effectively communicate to form a logically centralised network control plane. Dissemination is a type of one-to-many communication service which plays an important role in control information exchange. This research focuses on the strategic packet forwarding for more efficient multi-hop communications in software-defined wireless networks. The research aim is to improve the delivery efficiency by exploiting the delay budget and node mobility. To achieve this objective, existing multi-hop forwarding methods and dissemination schemes in wireless networks are investigated and analysed. In the literature, information from the navigation system of mobile nodes has been utilised to identify candidate relay nodes. However, further studies are required to utilise partially predictable mobility based on more generalised navigational information such as the movement direction. In this research, the feasible exploitation of directional movement in path-unconstrained mobility is investigated for efficient multi-hop communications. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme outperforms the state-of-the-art because directional correlation of node movement is considered to dynamically exploit the delay budget for better selection of the relay node(s).


With the development of glare-free high beam systems, it is possible to continuously drive with high beam, without inflicting glare on other road users. However, this means that traffic signs are illuminated with high beam as well. Due to their retroreflective properties, the light is reflected back to the driver and may result in glare. This kind of glare is designated as self-glare, since the driver is dazzled by light from his own headlamps. First static laboratory studies have shown, that traffic sign glare-illumination is angular size dependent. While approaching a traffic sign, it appears to get larger, whereby illumination has to decrease in order to avoid glare – especially when driving with glare-free high beam. For this reason, first OEM's already cut traffic signs out of the light distribution to avoid this effect. Traffic sign luminance is also adapted, since the transition between light environment and dark signs leads to poor legibility. But the question: "What is the optimal illumination to avoid glare and simultaneously allow a high identification?" remains unanswered.
To answer this question, the Laboratory of Lighting Technology at the Technische Universitat Darmstadt conducted a field study with subjects, in which two main aspects are considered – identification and glare of traffic signs. This results in a test setup in which a vehicle with glare-free high beam passes with constant speed, traffic signs located to the left and right side of the driver. After passing with low beam (lower limit) and high beam (upper limit), high beam is dimmed stepwise to simulate different levels of masking out traffic signs as explained above. To find the optimal masking level, identification tests are performed for each high beam step. By combining the identification distances with the identification luminance and the deBoer rating, the optimal traffic sign illumination can be found.
Furthermore, illuminance is measured during each passing process, both at the traffic sign and at driver's eye position. To receive a correlation between measured illuminance and distance, a GPS system is placed on both vehicle and traffic sign. After passing the traffic sign, each driver is asked to rate the glare intensity using the deBoer scale.


The hypothesis that relative to cars, light trucks and vans (including sports utility vehicles) are more likely to result in fatal paediatric pedestrian injury was investigated. It was further hypothesized that this increased risk is a result of head injuries. The study sample consisted of 18 117 police records of motor vehicles involved in crashes in which one or more pedestrians aged 5 to 19 years old was injured or killed. Frequencies and case fatality ratios for each vehicle body type were calculated. A logistic regression analysis was conducted, with light truck or van vs. car as the exposure variable and fatal/non-fatal pedestrian injury as the outcome variable. After controlling for driver age, driver gender, vehicle weight, road surface condition and presence of head injury, 5 to 19 year-olds struck by light trucks or vans were more than twice as likely to die than those struck by cars (odds ratio (OR) 2.3; 95% CI 1.4, 3.9). For the 5 to 9 year-old age group, light trucks and vans were four times as likely to be associated with fatal injury (OR 4.2; 95% CI 1.9, 9.5). There was an association between head injury and light trucks and vans (OR 1.2; 95% CI 1.1, 1.3). It was concluded that vehicle body type characteristics play an important role in paediatric pedestrian injury severity and may offer engineering-based opportunities for injury control.


Novel series of pyridazine containing compounds were synthesized through the reaction of N-carbamimidoyl-4-[(6 chloropyridazin-3-yl) amino]benzenesulphonamide 1 with either 2-aminophenol, acetophenone phenylhydrazone derivatives, anthranilic acid derivatives, thiosemicarbazide or substituted benzoyl hydrazide to afford the corresponding derivatives 2, 3a-c, 4a-d, 5 and 6a-c respectively. The structure of the newly synthesized compounds was characterized by spectroscopic means and elemental analysis. All the synthesized compounds were screened for their anticancer activity in vitro on colon cancer cell line (HCT-116) and breast cancer cell line (MCF-7). Compound 4a showed potent anticancer activity against colon cancer cell line (HCT-116) with IC50 11.90 μM in comparison to imatinib (Gleevec ®).


Seismic imaging generally depends on data quality, velocity reliability, and migrator performance. Complex near-surface geological conditions in Kuqa depression cause extremely low signal-to-noise (S/N) ratios of seismic data. Salts penetrated into overthrust structures are widely distributed, vary in thickness and shape of complex geometries, and distort the imaging of subsalt faults, leading to complicated imaging problems. This article studies three key aspects. In the preprocessing of prestack data, some innovative techniques combined with commercial techniques are employed by three levels to improve data quality and reconstruct the reflections from depths. Three-stage migration velocity analyses, subtle DMO velocity analysis, prestack time-migration, and prestack depth-migration velocity analyses are implemented to build a topology-preservation prestack-migration velocity model. The time-depth conversion of the prestack time-migration velocity model is performed based on the Kuqa-depression modeling theory of salt-related overthrust complex structures combined with the velocity-varying mapping technique. The well-constrained seismic inversion for low-frequency velocities is conducted to handle the syncretization of the well-building and migration-building velocity fields. Finally, prestack time and depth migrations are performed by a semi-analytic degenerate Fourier migrator that improves the imaging of high-wavenumber components. Applications to the Dabei, Bozi, Quele, Xiqiu10, and Xiqiu4 structures result in well-positioned images for salt-related overthrust complex structures.


We test the hypothesis that the information content of dividend change announcements, as reflected in stock prices, is directly related to the degree of pre-announcement information asymmetry in the stock. The dividend change announcements include initiations, large increases, large decreases, and omissions. Information asymmetry is proxied by the proportion of stock held by institutions. Consistent with the hypothesis, we document a significantly positive relation between the absolute values of the announcement-period excess returns and the degree of pre-announcement information asymmetry in the stock. This finding appears to hold for all types of dividend changes except dividend omissions.


Localized electrografting of vinylic monomers in aqueous solution with micrometer resolution has been accomplished using scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM). The SECM device was used in the direct mode, where the substrate acted as the cathodic working electrode and the ultramicroelectrode (UME) served as the anodic counter electrode in a classical three-electrode cell arrangement. The localized effect appeared when the protons reduction regime was obtained at the conducting substrate and in the same time when the oxidation of water was achieved at the UME. The different factors that determine the size and pattern of the electrografted coating were examined. The localization of the coatings, which were characterized by infrared spectroscopy in the reflection−absorption mode (IRAS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and optical microscopy, was interpreted in terms of transportation modes of the reactive species, mainly supported by the migration effect rather tha...


The Sermon von Ablass und Gnade (Sermon on Indulgences and Grace) is a seminal text for the Reformation: it is the first vernacular statement of Luther's views on the question which led to his break with Rome; the first printed work of his to reach a mass audience; and the first example of the direct, arresting style which became the hallmark of his German writings. The work hit the market 500 years ago, in the second half of March 1518, five months after the posting of the 95 Theses, and within three years at least 24 editions had been printed in various parts of Germany and Switzerland. Our volume is based on two of these editions, copies of which are held in the Taylor Institution Library, and presents a guide to the theological, historical, material, linguistic, and stylistic importance of this work.


Project rehabilitation is one of the solutions for the problem of abandoned
housing project. Area of study for this research was only focused on the
rehabilitation of abandoned housing project by SPNB which more emphasized on the
data collection at preliminary stage. This is because; failure of this works will effect
the preliminary study process and cause the project to be out from SPNB action.
Therefore, this research is aim to study what kind of data collection problem faced by
SPNB and how to solve the problems. Method of face to face interview was used to
collect primary sources from SPNB executive who placed in project division. Beside
that, method of interview by phone was used to collect other primary sources not
only from SPNB executive who placed in project division, but also from developers
who involve in case study. The rehabilitation project in Selangor which in
preliminary stage was choose as case study in this research. However, method of
qualitative analysis was used to analyze the primary sources in this study. In short,
the analysis result indicate that, SPNB was facing four problems when collecting
data in preliminary stage which include problem of developer cooperation,
incomplete data from agency involve, unsuitable information form method and legal
power problem. These problems not only removed the project out of SPNB
rehabilitation action, it also can effect the time which needed to complete the project.
Therefore, some of the solution such as campaign realization was suggested to help
SPNB overcome these problems. These suggestions not only will help SPNB to
smooth the rehabilitation process, but also will help to prevent the project removed
from SPNB rehabilitation action


Xenorhabdus and Photorhabdus, symbiotically associated with entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs), produce a range of antimicrobial compounds. The objective of this study is to identify Xenorhabdus and Photorhabdus and their EPNs hosts, which were isolated from soil samples from Saraburi province, and study their antibacterial activity against 15 strains of drug-resistant bacteria. Fourteen isolates (6.1%), consisting of six Xenorhabdus isolates and eight Photorhabdus isolates, were obtained from 230 soil samples. Based on the BLASTN search incorporating the phylogenetic analysis of a partial recA gene, all six isolates of Xenorhabdus were found to be identical and closely related to X. stockiae. Five isolates of Photorhabdus were found to be identical and closely related to P. luminescens subsp. akhurstii. Two isolates of Photorhabdus were found to be identical and closely related to P. luminescens subsp. hainanensis. The remaining isolate of Photorhabdus was found to be identical to P. asymbiotica subsp. australis. The bacterial extracts from P. luminescens subsp. akhurstii showed strong inhibition the growth of S. aureus strain PB36 (MSRA) by disk diffusion, minimal inhibitory concentration, and minimal bactericidal concentration assay. The combination between each extract from Xenorhabdus/Photorhabdus and oxacillin or vancomycin against S. aureus strain PB36 (MRSA) exhibited no interaction on checkerboard assay. Moreover, killing curve assay of P. luminescens subsp. akhurstii extracts against S. aureus strain PB36 exhibited a steady reduction of 105 CFU/ml to 103 CFU/ml within 30 min. This study demonstrates that Xenorhabdus and Photorhabdus, showed antibacterial activity. This finding may be useful for further research on antibiotic production.


The aims of this research was showed the effect of oxytocin injection after parturition on rate of retained placenta in dairy cows.    The research done in the biggest dairy cow station south - West of Baghdad which have cow with Friesian and Holsteincross breed.    Divided these research cows in two group , first group had 120 unipara cows and second group 150 multipara cows, the resultes was show before used the oxytocin hormone 54% and 63.3% normal partertion for first and second groups of cows with dystocia 46% and 36.7% , retained  placenta rate was 26% and 20.7% of both group.    After used the hormon 50 I.U /i.m  within 3 hours after parturition .  the first group ( 111 ) unipara cows and 140 multipara cows, the normal parturition showed 56% and 64.5% with dystcoia 44% and 35.5% with retained planet rates 18% and 16.5% or both group.The result A now No significant (P<0.05)  different in the value between groups.


Open repair of thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm (TAAA) in a patient with severe aorto-iliac occlusive disease is considered to cause an extremely high risk for spinal cord injury. A 71-year-old man who had previously undergone axillo-bifemoral bypass for aorto-iliac occlusive disease presented with persistent dilation of a TAAA. Using distal perfusion via partial extracorporeal circulation at mild hypothermia, we performed segmental sequential repair of Crawford type II TAAA. Various efforts were made to avoid spinal cord injury and ischemic visceral organ damage. Consequently, the patient completely recovered without any serious complications.


Anticoagulation is the mainstay for stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). Many patients with AF also have a concomitant indication for either single or dual antiplatelet (aspirin plus a P2Y12 inhibitor) therapy. For instance, about 1 in 3 patients with AF have coexistent coronary artery disease, and about 1 in 5 undergo percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) (1). Although anticoagulant therapy is more effective than either single or dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) for stroke prevention in AF, guidelines recommend DAPT over vitamin K antagonist (VKA) for the prevention of coronary stent thrombosis. Such quandary prompted the addition of DAPT to an anticoagulant, also known as triple therapy, with the intent of preventing both coronary ischemic and cardioembolic events (2).


Nylon (PA) netting is widely used in purse seines and other fishing gears due to its high strength and good sinking performance. However, hydrodynamic properties of nylon netting of different characteristics are poorly understood. This study investigated hydrodynamic characteristics of nylon netting of different knot types and solidity ratios under different attack angles and flow velocities. It was found that the hydrodynamic coefficient of netting panels was related to Reynolds number, solidity ratio, attack angle, knot type and twine construction. The solidity ratio was found to positively correlate with drag coefficient when the netting was normal to the flow (CD90), but not the case when the netting was parallel to the flow (CD0). For netting panels inclined to the flow, the inclined drag coefficient had a negative relationship with the solidity ratio for attack angles between 0° and 50°, but a positive relationship for attack angles between 50° and 90°. The lift coefficient increased with the attack angle, reaching the culminating point at an attack angle of 50°, before subsequent decline. We found that the drag generated by knot accounted for 15–25% of total drag, and the knotted netting with higher solidity ratio exhibited a greater CD0, but it was not the case for the knotless netting. Compared to knotless polyethylene (PE) netting, the drag coefficients of knotless PA netting were dominant at higher Reynolds number (Re>2200).


Fourteen patients with various portosystemic collaterals (seven esophageal varices, three paraumbilical veins, two splenorenal shunts, and two mesenteric varices) were imaged with magnetic resonance (MR) imaging using a superconducting imager. Collateral pathways were demonstrated as tortuous structures of no or low signal intensity on spin-echo image, and flow related enhancement did not cause any difficulty in evaluation. Direct sagittal images are especially useful for paraumbilical vein and coronal images for esophageal and mesenteric varix. The clinical role of MR in the assessment of portosystemic collaterals is discussed also in comparison with CT and ultrasound.


Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is a common sleep-related respiratory disorder that is associated with cognitive, cardiovascular, and metabolic morbidities. The major cause of OSA is the sleep-related reduction of upper airway muscle tone that leads to airway obstructions in individuals with anatomically narrow upper airway. This reduction is mainly due to the suppressant effect of sleep on hypoglossal motoneurons that innervate upper airway muscles. The hypoglossal motoneurons have state-dependent activity, which is decreased during the transition from wakefulness to non-rapid eye movement sleep and is further suppressed during rapid eye movement sleep. Multiple neurotransmitters and their receptors have been implicated in the control of hypoglossal motoneuron activity across the sleep-wake states. However, to date, the results of the rigorous testing show that withdrawal of noradrenergic excitation and cholinergic inhibition essentially contribute to the depression of hypoglossal motoneuron activity during sleep. The present review will focus on origins of noradrenergic and cholinergic innervation of hypoglossal motoneurons and the functional role of these neurons in the state-dependent activity of hypoglossal motoneurons.


Thrombocytopenic purpura hemorrhagica is characterized clinically by pathologic hemorrhage, ranging from a massive loss in the acute form, usually with a rapid termination, to the milder form, lasting for years. The blood platelets or thrombocytes show marked reduction. Until recently, splenectomy in the fulminating form was considered contraindicated and futile. Killins, 1 Reuben and Claman 2 and others, however, have reported recoveries from the acute form following splenectomy. The success of splenectomy in the majority of cases of the chronic form is conceded. A certain number of failures are reported, and these are difficult to explain. Giffin and Holloway 3 found no clinical or hematologic improvement in 4 of their 28 cases. Spence, 4 out of 101 cases abstracted, found 15 per cent with a return of symptoms. The commonly accepted theory for the successful results after splenectomy regards the spleen as abnormally destructive to platelets, producing thrombocytopenia and its


SUMMARY Habitat loss is widely recognized as the major cause of global biodiversity decline, but remaining habitat is increasingly threatened by chronic human disturbances. Using a multi-model averaging approach we examined the association between five chronic disturbance surrogates and the richness and taxonomic and functional composition of ants in Brazilian Caatinga. Using pitfall traps in 47 plots near Parnamirim city (Pernambuco) across two soil types (sand and clay), we recorded 53 species from 27 genera. Ant species richness on sand was slightly higher than on clay, and was negatively related to most surrogates of anthropogenic disturbance. Soil type and human population size were the main predictors of ant species richness. Soil type was the most important predictor of functional group abundance. Taxonomic and functional composition were influenced by soil type and disturbance, but this relationship varied between clay and sandy soils. Ant functional composition showed a weak relationship with disturbance on sandy soils, but on clay soils it showed predictable winner–loser replacement. We attribute the greater effect of disturbance on clay soils to higher intensity of land use, and our study highlights the importance of considering context dependence when evaluating biodiversity responses to disturbance.


Objective The sudden closure of 30 out of 54 acute psychiatric beds in Cornwall presented a stressful challenge to staff but also a natural experiment on how a service dealt with this situation. We aimed to evaluate the outcomes of patients needing to leave the closed ward, how bed occupancy rates were affected and the impact on admission rates. Design A service evaluation of the impact of the ward closure. Setting A comprehensive secondary NHS mental health service in Cornwall serving 550,000 population. Main outcome measures The destination of the patients needing to leave the acute unit, the effect of the closure on bed occupancy, admission rates and serious untoward incidents. Results Of 26 patients needing to be moved from the acute ward, only 10 needed an acute psychiatric bed. None of the seven patients who had been on the ward longer than nine weeks needed an acute unit. Admission rates fell over the subsequent three months. There was no increase in serious incidents due to the closure. Conclusions This naturalistic event suggests that many patients on acute units could be cared for elsewhere, especially recovery/rehabilitation care environments, if political and financial urgency is present. Admission rates are responsive to the pressure on beds.


Abstract All except one of the important groups of West African vectors of Onchocerca volvulus that lie within the Simulium damnosum complex can be distinguished from each other using morphological characteristics. The exception is S. squamosum, which overlaps with other species, and this results in significant levels of misidentification. Variation in the untranscribed H3-H4 histone intergenic spacer region of flies of the S. damnosum complex has now been investigated. Although a CAA/CAG microsatellite was found to be hyper-variable and unsuitable for species diagnosis, a 10-bp indel seemed to vary in a species-specific manner. This indel was apparently absent from S. squamosum but present in all of the other species tested (S. damnosum s.s., S. sirbanum, S yahense, S. sanctipauli and S. leonense/konkourense). It should now be possible to identify individual, adult, female S. squamosum from the absence of the indel, using a PCR-based amplification and agarose- or polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis, thus removing the major barrier to the routine identification of unknown samples.


Approximately 10-24% of invasive breast cancers (BCs) are characterized as 'triple-negative' breast cancer (TNBC), a specific BC subtype that lacks expression of the estrogen and progesterone receptors, as well as that of Her2 over expression. TNBC is one of the most clinically aggressive forms of BC, exhibiting elevated rates of metastasis, disease recurrence, and poor overall survival. Metastatic TNBCs rapidly progress through multiple lines of chemotherapy and currently there are no targeted therapies approved for the treatment of TNBC highlighting the importance of investigating novel druggable targets for this highly aggressive disease. Previously, we demonstrated that the heterologous expression of a constitutively active (CST) c-Abl, a non-receptor tyrosine kinase, mutant morphologically and phenotypically reverted late-stage murine BC cells both in vitro and in vivo. We further showed that CST-Abl enhanced cytostatic activity in part by elevating p21 expression levels thereby preventing TNBC tumorigenesis when implanted into the mammary fat pads of mice. Additionally, we found c-Abl expression to associate with invasive BC patient9s response to docetaxel treatment through Oncomine in silico data. Recently the natural product, Securinine, has been shown to mediate an anti-cancer response through modulating p53 family member expression in leukemic and colorectal carcinoma cells. We have shown a strong induction of c-Abl expression in response to Securinine administration in highly aggressive late stage murine BC cells suggestive of its involvement in the mechanism of Securinine-mediated cell death. Our studies tested the hypothesis that c-Abl is a biomarker for a TNBC response to docetaxel and furthermore targeted activation of c-Abl utilizing DPH, a novel pharmacological allosteric c-Abl activator, will inhibit the tumorigenicity of TNBCs in vitro. We additionally hypothesized that Securinine would be an effective novel therapy for the treatment of TNBCs. We found DPH to inhibit the proliferation of highly aggressive 4T1 murine metastatic TNBC cells in a 3D-organotypic culture model. In addition, DPH suppressed the up-regulation of β3-integrin, a robust marker of epithelial to mesenchymal transitions (EMT), in response to TGF-β, in normal murine mammary gland (NMuMG) cells. Through phalloidin staining, DPH was shown to partially blunt a morphological EMT, induced by TGF-β, in NMuMGs and enhanced a basal epithelial morphology that was reminiscent of CST-Abl activity. Furthermore, we have recapitulated that DPH is specific to the kinase activity of c-Abl. Utilizing cell lines expressing a lentiviral shRNA construct targeting c-Abl in dormant and metastatic D2 hyperaveolar nodule (D2.HAN) cells, we have shown through clonogenic assays and 3D-organotypic culturing models, that the loss of c-Abl expression directly correlates with a blunted response to docetaxel. Finally, Securinine was found to strongly induce p73 expression in both dormant and metastatic TNBCs and suppressed their proliferation in 3D-culture, but did not have an effect on their normal counterparts. These innovative findings suggest that c-Abl expression associates with a TNBC response to docetaxel and Securinine and that its targeted activation could lead to an effective treatment for TNBCs. Citation Format: Chevaun Danielle Morrison, William Schiemann. Investigation of novel therapeutic and diagnostic strategies for the management of triple-negative breast cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Tumor Invasion and Metastasis; Jan 20-23, 2013; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(3 Suppl):Abstract nr A103.


With the ability to detect volumetric changes of contracting muscles, ultrasound (US) was a potential technique in the field of human–machine interface. Compared to the US imaging (B-mode US), the signal from a static single-element US transducer, A-mode US, was a more cost-effective and convenient way toward the real-world application, particularly the wearables. This study compared the performance of the single-channel A-mode US with single-channel surface electromyogram (sEMG) signals, one of the most popular signal modalities for wrist and finger gesture recognition. We demonstrated that A-mode US outperformed sEMG in six out of nine gestures recognition, while sEMG was superior to A-mode US on the detection of the rest state. We also demonstrated that, through feature space analysis, the advantage of A-mode US over sEMG for gesture recognition was due to its superior ability in detecting information from deep musculature. This study presented the clear complementary advantages between A-mode US and sEMG, indicating the possibility of fusing two signal modalities for the gesture recognition applications.


We introduce mixing with piecewise isometries (PWIs) on a hemispherical shell, which mimics features of mixing by cutting and shuffling in spherical shells half-filled with granular media. For each PWI, there is an inherent structure on the hemispherical shell known as the exceptional set E, and a particular subset of E, E+, provides insight into how the structure affects mixing. Computer simulations of PWIs are used to visualize mixing and approximations of E+ to demonstrate their connection. While initial conditions of unmixed materials add a layer of complexity, the inherent structure of E+ defines fundamental aspects of mixing by cutting and shuffling.


In a deregulated electricity market environment, a natural gas-fired generation company must manage its natural gas supply and construct energy portfolios by engaging in contracts to buy natural gas and generate electricity. The contracts protect the company from fluctuations in prices and demands, but provide minimal profits. The company may gain larger profits — and possible loses— by accessing natural gas spot and electricity pool markets. To capture such hedging decisions and the interactions between the natural gas and electricity markets, we formulate a Stochastic Programming model and study its benefits over an expected value problem. The stochastic model enables the company to optimize the electricity generation schedule and the natural gas consumption as well as to develop managerial insights.


An analysis is presented of energy savings realised for a fixed speed induction motor by using a dual-mode design. This uses a nonstandard divided stator winding allowing two alternative modes of connection of the winding sections, to be selected according to loading. Control is automatic using microprocessor and thyristor switches but alternatively manual control may be used. Power losses are reduced and soft starting is achieved. The paper presents measured power loss against load characteristics for both a conventional and a dual-mode motor that are identical except for the stator winding. Possible duty cycles are assumed and the resulting energy savings from adopting the dual-mode design in place of a conventional motor are calculated. A present value is attributed to the losses, allowing the cost effectiveness of the dual-mode motor, based on power savings alone, to be determined.


AIM
The aim of this study was to asses the role of laparoscopy based on experiences with 1000 miniinvasive colorectal procedures.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
The prospective study of 1000 patients after elective laparoscopic procedures for colorectal diseases at Municipal Hospital Ostrava Fifejdy and the Surgical Clinic of University Hospital Ostrava between February 1993 and December 2010 was undertaken. Patients with both benign and malignant colorectal pathologies were included in the study. Except of baseline demographic data, the types of surgical procedure, conversion rates, peroperative complications, blood loss, operating time, number and reasons for reoperations, postoperative morbitidy and mortality, number of blood transfusions and length of hospital stay were analysed. For the analysis descriptive statistics methods were used.

RESULTS
There were 609 men (60.9%) and 391 women (39.1%). The mean age was 64 years (range 15-97 years), mean BMI was 26.7 (range 14.6-48.0). The most frequent operations were on the right colon (22.2%), sigmoid colon (21.7%) and low anterior resections of the rectum (20.4%). Peroperative complications were in 44 patients (4.4%). Reoperations were necessary in 105 patients (10.5%), postoperative morbidity was 22.6% and 30-day mortality was 4.1%.

CONCLUSION
Laparoscopy is safe and effective method in the treatment of both malignant and benign diseases of colon and rectum.


A chamber ELISpot assay was used to measure the frequency with which in vivo activated B cells secreted cross-reactive antibodies during a chronic graft-versus-host reaction in mice. Both normal (C57BL/10 x DBA/2)F1 mice and F1 recipients of syngeneic spleen cells (SynF1) expressed repertoires in which 13-17% of IgM and 3-5% of IgG-secreting cells were cross-reactive. By comparison, 43-55% of IgM and 9-40% of IgG-secreting cells from F1 recipients of parental DBA/2 spleen cells (GVHF1) were cross-reactive (P < 0.01, GVHF1 versus F1 or SynF1). The cross-reactivity of the GVHF1 IgM secreting cells remained elevated for > 2 months following cell transfer. In contrast, the cross-reactivity of IgG-secreting cells, which was significantly high at Week 3 post-transfer, declined to nearly normal levels by Week 9. These findings demonstrate that cross-reactive B cells constitute an abnormally large fraction of the repertoire expressed by mice with chronic GVHR in a period when B cell hyperstimulation was occurring.


This paper reports the activities underway by the US Department of Energy (DOE) for returning Training, Research, Isotope, General Atomics (TRIGA) spent nuclear fuel (SNF) from foreign research reactors (FRR) in four European countries to the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL). Those countries are Germany, Italy, Romania, and Slovenia. This is part of the ``Nuclear Weapons Nonproliferation Policy`` of returning research reactor SNF containing uranium enriched in the US. This paper describes the results of a pre-assessment trip in September, 1997, to these countries, including: history of the reactors and research being performed; inventory of TRIGA SNF; fuel types (stainless steel, aluminum, or Incoloy) and enrichments; and each country`s plans for returning their TRIGA SNF to the INEEL.


Regulated exocytosis is a crucial event for intercellular communication between neurons and astrocytes within the CNS. The soluble N‐ethylmaleimide‐sensitive fusion protein attachment protein receptor (SNARE) complex, composed of synaptobrevin 2, syntaxin and synaptosome‐associated protein of 25 kDa or 23 kDa (SNAP25 or SNAP23), is essential in this process. It was reported that SNAP25 and SNAP23 have distinct roles in exocytotic release, where SNAP25, but not SNAP23, supports an exocytotic burst. It is not clear, however, whether this is due to the intrinsic properties of the ternary SNARE complex, containing either SNAP25 or SNAP23, or perhaps due to the differential association of these proteins with ancillary proteins to the complex. Here, using force spectroscopy, we show from single molecule investigations of the SNARE complex, that SNAP23A created a local interaction at the ionic layer by cuffing syntaxin 1A and synaptobrevin 2, similar to the action of SNAP25B; thus either of the ternary complexes would allow positioning of vesicles at a maximal distance of ∼13 nm from the plasma membrane. However, the stability of the ternary SNARE complex containing SNAP23A is less than half of that for the complex containing SNAP25B. Thus, differences in the stability of the two different ternary complexes could underlie some of the SNAP25/23 differential ability to control the exocytotic burst.


The monometallic and bimetallic complexes of ruthenium(II) ammines bound to 2,2'-bipyrimidine, (NH/sub 3/)/sub 4/Ru(bpym)/sup 2 +/ and ((NH/sub 3/)/sub 4/Ru)/sub 2/(bpym)/sup 4 +/, have been prepared and characterized. Electronic spectroscopy of the monometallic complex shows an intense metal-to-ligand charge-transfer (MLCT) band in the visible region centered at 402 nm while the bimetallic complex has intense absorption bands (MLCT in nature) at 424 and 697 nm. Cyclic voltammetry of the monometallic complex in aqueous solution shows a reversible one-electron oxidation with E/sup 0/ = +0.756 V vs. NHE. The bimetallic complex shows a reversible one-electron oxidation with E/sup 0/' = +0.830 V. A second one-electron oxidation of the bimetallic complex is quasireversible (E/sup 0/' approx. = +1.02 V) and results in the breakdown of the fully oxidized species to (NH/sub 3/)/sub 4/Ru(bpym)/sup 3 +/ and (NH/sub 3/)/sub 4/Ru(H/sub 2/O)/sub 2//sup 3 +/. Photolysis of the bimetallic complex at 436 or 691 nm leads to only slight degradation of the complex with an upper limit phi < 5 x 10/sup -4/ mol/einstein.


The paper reviews and analyzes properties of amorphous alloys for the purpose of their application in magnetic systems of electrical apparatus instead of high-permeability electric steels. The studies have shown a possibility of utilizing these alloys in the magnetic structure of a current transformer in the pulsed voltage stabilizer of an automated circuit-breaker semiconductor release.


Heterogeneous surface reactions exhibiting complex spatiotemporal dynamics and patterns can be studied as processes involving reaction-diffusion mechanisms. In many realistic situations, the surface has fractal characteristics. This situation is studied by isometric graphing and multidimensional scaling (IGMDS) of fractal surfaces for extracting geodesic distances (i.e., shortest scaled distances that obtain edges of neighboring surface nodes and their interconnections) and the results obtained used to model effects of surface diffusion with nonlinear reactions. Further analysis of evolved spatiotemporal patterns may be carried out by IGMDS because high-dimensional snapshot data can be efficiently projected to a transformed subspace with reduced dimensions. Validation of the IGMDS methodology is carried out by comparing results with reduction capabilities of conventional principal component analysis for simple situations of reaction and diffusion on surfaces. The usefulness of the IGMDS methodology is shown for analysis of complex patterns formed on both regular and fractal surfaces, and using generic nonlinear reaction-diffusion systems following FitzHugh Nagumo and cubic reaction kinetics. The studies of these systems with nonlinear kinetics and noise show that effects of surface disorder due to fractality can become very relevant. The relevance is shown by studying properties of dynamical invariants in IGMDS component space, viz., the Lyapunov exponents and the KS entropy for interesting situations of spiral formation and turbulent patterns.


Deoxyribonucleic acid aggregates in the presence of a component of Neopeptone at low ionic strength and thereby loses its ability to bind to competent bacteria. The reversible and concentration-dependent nature of this aggregation is the basis of the helping effect in transformation.


Path planning of mobile robots is one of the important issues in the field of robotics. Also, optimizing the path length and crossing the local minima traps are the basic and up-to-date challenges in this field. One of the important methods in path planning of these robots is the artificial potential field method. Because it is based on simple mathematical calculations. One of the most important disadvantages of this method is getting trapped in local minima situations. One approach for solving the problem of local minima is to use optimization methods to find suitable coefficients (attractive and repulsive) and step length that can solve local minima and optimize the path length. The Harris Hawks algorithm is a powerful and new meta-heuristic algorithm in the field of optimization that is based on population and inspired by the life of Harris Hawks in nature. This algorithm has been able to prove its superiority over similar optimization methods in finding the optimal solution, faster convergence, lower computational time and not trapping in local minima. This method has not been used in the path planning of mobile robots. In order to eliminate the disadvantages of the artificial potential field method and to optimize the path length, the Harris Hawks algorithm has been used in this paper. The simulation results showed that the combination of the artificial potential field method and the Harris Hawks algorithm can solve the local minima problem and optimize the path length, increase the path efficiency and reduce the convergence time.


To understand and analyze human behavior, we need to capture humans moving in, and interacting with, the world. Most existing methods perform 3D human pose estimation without explicitly considering the scene. We observe however that the world constrains the body and vice-versa. To motivate this, we show that current 3D human pose estimation methods produce results that are not consistent with the 3D scene. Our key contribution is to exploit static 3D scene structure to better estimate human pose from monocular images. The method enforces Proximal Relationships with Object eXclusion and is called PROX. To test this, we collect a new dataset composed of 12 different 3D scenes and RGB sequences of 20 subjects moving in and interacting with the scenes. We represent human pose using the 3D human body model SMPL-X and extend SMPLify-X to estimate body pose using scene constraints. We make use of the 3D scene information by formulating two main constraints. The inter-penetration constraint penalizes intersection between the body model and the surrounding 3D scene. The contact constraint encourages specific parts of the body to be in contact with scene surfaces if they are close enough in distance and orientation. For quantitative evaluation we capture a separate dataset with 180 RGB frames in which the ground-truth body pose is estimated using a motion capture system. We show quantitatively that introducing scene constraints significantly reduces 3D joint error and vertex error. Our code and data are available for research at https://prox.is.tue.mpg.de.


The dynamical interaction between columnar interface microstructure and self-stress, resulting in unforeseen mechanical deformation phenomena, is brought to light by means of in situ and real-time synchrotron x-ray topography during directional solidification of dilute aluminum alloys. Beyond long-known local mechanical stresses, global mechanical constraints are found to be active. In particular, column rotation results from deformation caused by the mechanical moments associated with the very growth shape, namely, the cumulative torque acting together with the cumulative bending moment under gravity. A basic model allowing for a qualitative explanation of the observed distinctive features of the self-stress effects on microstructure dynamics is proposed.


The financial crisis of East Asia in 1997 was largely unanticipated and was characterized by the fact that drastic currency depreciation worsens the corporate capital structure and brought widespread financial turmoil. This paper attempts to examine the vicious cycle mechanism of East Asia crisis. A dynamic panel model is proposed to estimate the foreign exchange exposure of capital structure. Using precrisis data, it is shown that the Asian crisis is in fact a problem of structural vulnerability underlying most Asian economies. First, Hong Kong and Singapore have less risky capital structure before the crisis, which also have smaller exposure magnitude. Secondly, Thailand and Korea have more risky capital structure before the crisis and significant vicious cycles are found. These appropriately explain the vicious cycle between currency crisis and domestic financial turmoil: drastic depreciation worsens the debt ratio.


As a developing city, Medan City becomes an alternative destination for immigrants who come from various places outside the city of Medan, either for a place to live or earn a living. As a result of this activity, the city of Medan is overgrowing, thus demanding new housing in the form of planned and unplanned settlements. Unplanned settlements arose when the need for housing for newcomers who had a low economy was encouraged. Most of the unplanned settlements became residential spaces built in areas that were not officially planned as residential spaces, such as on railroads' outskirts. The research method used is qualitative because the problem to be studied is social and dynamic. The conclusion obtained from the analysis is that the settlement pattern on the Medan City railroad banks is linear, and settlements grow due to economic, topographic, and infrastructure factors. Keyword: Medan City, patterns of settlements, railroad Received date month year. | Revised 1 October 2020 | Accepted 15 November 2020


True lavender (Lavandula angustifolia Mill.) is a widely used flavoring and medicinal plant, which strong aroma is mainly composed of linalool and linalyl acetate. The most valuable parts of the plant are the flowers, however leaves are also abundant in volatile constituents. One of the main factors responsible for its quality is the preservation procedure, which usually comes down to a drying process. For this reason an attempt to verify the influence of various drying methods (convective drying, vacuum-microwave drying and combined convection pre-drying with vacuum-microwave finishing drying) on the quality of true lavender leaves was carried out by determination of the volatile constituents profile by solid-phase microextraction (SPME) coupled with GC-MS technique. Total essential oil (EO) content was also verified. The study has revealed that the optimal drying method is strongly dependent on the purpose of the product. For flavoring properties convective drying at 60 °C is the most optimal method, while the best for preserving the highest amount of EO is vacuum-microwave drying at 480 W. Furthermore, SPME analysis had shown that drying may increase the value of true lavender leaves by significantly affecting the linalool to linalyl acetate to camphor ratio in the volatile profile.


The paper presents a new controller for a two-driving-wheel mobile robot tracking a planned trajectory. The system consists of two control loops, the outer loop is the kinematic control law calculating the required right and left wheel angular velocities to follow the planned trajectory, and the inner loop is the dynamic control law calculating the torques to drive the wheels to obtain the demanded angular velocity. To deal with the uncertain mobile robot parameters, the dynamic controller is designed using a MIMO direct adaptive control scheme. Radial basis function (RBF) networks are used to approximate the dynamic feedback linearization control law. A sliding control term is used to ensure the stability in the presence of approximation error. The stability of control system is proven thank to Lyapunov theory. Simulation results highlight the performances of the designed controllers in trajectory tracking under test scenarios with time-varying robot parameters and external disturbances.


Tin whiskering is a concern with high tin finishes on electronic part terminations. Solder-dipping is being used as a method for replacing the original finish with eutectic tin-lead solder, as a tin whisker risk mitigation method. The solder-dipping process however, may expose the electronic parts to additional risks due to the the finish quality and thermal shock produced by the dipping process. This paper presents the effects of solder-dipping as a refinishing technique on quality and reliability on three, 0.5 mm pitch, plastic quad flatpack (PQFP) parts. The paper discusses issues concerning quality of the new dipped finish and thermo-mechanical damage at critical package interfaces


Saint Gertrude the Great (1256-1302) was a Saxon Christian saint. She died in the monastery of Helfta. As a young girl, she joined the Benedictine monastery at Helfta, under the direction of its abbess, Gertrude of Hackeborn. She is sometimes confused with her abbess, which is why she is often incorrectly depicted in art holding a crosier. She later experienced a conversion to God and began to strive for perfection in her religious life, turning her scholarly talents to scripture and theology. Many of the writings of St. Gertrude have unfortunately perished. Those now extant are: The Legatus Divinae Pietatis, the Exercises of St. Gertrude and the Liber Specialis Gratiae of St. Mechtilde.  The Exercises, which are seven in number, embrace the work of the reception of baptismal grace to the preparation for death. Her glowing language deeply impregnated with the liturgy and scriptures exalts the soul imperceptibly to the heights of contemplation. St. Gertrude the Great had a very special devotion for the Sacred Heart. St. Gertrude taught that Jesus has given us the gift of His Sacred Heart so that, when suffering, we can seek our refuge and our consolation there.  The characteristic trait of St. Gertrude's piety is her devotion to the Sacred Heart, the symbol of that immense charity which urged the Word to take flesh, to institute the Holy Eucharist, to take on Himself our sins, and, dying on the Cross, to offer Himself as a victim and a sacrifice to the Eternal Father.


This paper examines the relaxation dynamics of a two-dimensional Coulomb glass lattice model with high disorders. The study aims to investigate the effects of disorder and Coulomb interactions on glassy dynamics by computing the eigenvalue distribution of the linear dynamical matrix using mean-field approximations. The findings highlight the significance of the single-particle density of states (DOS) as the main controlling parameter affecting the relaxation at intermediate and long times. For the model with unscreened Coulomb interactions, our results indicate that the depletion of the DOS near the Fermi level leads to logarithmic decay at intermediate times. As the relaxation progresses to longer times, a power-law decay emerges, with the exponent approaching zero as the disorder strength increases, suggesting the manifestation of logarithmic decay at high disorders. The effects of screening of interactions on the dynamics are also studied at various screening and disorder strengths. The findings reveal that screening leads to the filling of the gap in the density of states, causing deviation from logarithmic decay at intermediate disorders. Moreover, in the strong disorder regime, the relaxation dynamics are dominated by disorder, and even with screened Coulomb interactions, the electronic relaxation remains similar to the unscreened case. The time at which crossover to exponential decay occurs increases with increasing disorder and interaction strength.


An experiment was performed at the AES-UPR Gurabo Substation to evaluate atrazine, simazine, diuron, and tebuthiuron for preemergence control of weeds in a stargrass pasture. Tebuthiuron at 3.36 kg a.i./ha was the most effective, and tebuthiuron at 1.68 kg a.i./ha was the second most effective. The remaining herbicides also provided satisfactory weed control. At 3.36 kg a.i./ha, tebuthiuron was somewhat phytotoxic to stargrass, but less so at 1.68 kg a.i./ha. None of the other herbicides produced severe stargrass injury. Stargrass yield was not affected by any of the herbicides. Crude protein content of stargrass was not affected by any herbicide tested.


Hedging is one of the most important topics in finance. When a financial market is complete, every contingent claim can be hedged perfectly to eliminate any potential future obligations. When the financial market is incomplete, the investor may eliminate his risk exposure by superhedging. In practice, both hedging strategies are not satisfactory due to their high implementation costs which erode the chance of making any profit. A more practical and desirable strategy is to resort to the partial hedging which hedges the future obligation only partially. The quantile hedging of Föllmer and Leukert (1999), which maximizes the probability of a successful hedge for a given budget constraint, is an example of the partial hedging. Inspired by the principle underlying the partial hedging, this paper proposes a general partial hedging model by minimizing any desirable risk measure of the total risk exposure of an investor. By confining to the Value-at-Risk (VaR) measure, analytic optimal partial hedging strategies are derived. The optimal partial hedging strategy is either a knock-out call strategy or a bull call spread strategy, depending on the admissible classes of hedging strategies. Our proposed VaR-based partial hedging model has the advantage of its simplicity and robustness. The optimal hedging strategy is easy to determine. Furthermore, the structure of the optimal hedging strategy is independent of the assumed market model. This is in contrast to the quantile hedging which is sensitive to the assumed model as well as the parameter values. Extensive numerical examples are provided to compare and contrast our proposed partial hedging to the quantile hedging.


The 2-alkylcyclobutanone method was adopted as a European Standard (EN1785) and MAFF Validated Method (MAFF V37) in 1996 for the detection of irradiated food containing fat. As the method requires a relatively long period (ca 2 days) of time for extraction of the 2-alkylcyclobutanones from a foodstuff, a means was sought to increase the speed at which these irradiation markers could be isolated while at the same time decreasing the amount of organic solvents required. Thus, the technique of supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) was investigated. Results showed that SFE can be used for the rapid extraction (60 min) of lipid from irradiated foods such as chicken, pork, liquid whole egg, ground beef, and from the seeds of irradiated mango and papaya with only 10 mL n-hexane being necessary for collection of the extracted sample. A method was also developed whereby the 2-alkylcyclobutanones can be selectively extracted from irradiated foods without prior extraction of the lipid. The sample extract, in 10 mL n-hexane, is purified through a Florisil SPE cartridge which is washed with 10 mL n-hexane and the 2-alkylcyclobutanones eluted with 10 mL 2% diethyl ether in n-hexane before analysis by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. 2-Dodecylcyclobutanone and 2-tetradecylcyclobutanone were selectively extracted from irradiated chicken meat, liquid whole egg, ground beef, and mango as well as from beef burgers and baked products containing irradiated ground beef and liquid whole egg, respectively. Using this method, samples can be analyzed for irradiation treatment within 6 h as opposed to the 2-day period required for the EN1785/MAFF V37 validated method.


In July 2002, an online scientific journal published a report describing how to make the virus that causes polio from mail-ordered pieces of DNA. This sparked widespread concern that the same process could be used by terrorists to make this or other biological agents. Most bioterrorism experts agree that it would be much easier, cheaper, and quicker to obtain most such agents from naturally occurring sources. Smallpox and Ebola are frequently cited as exceptions; however, these agents would be significantly more difficult to synthesize than poliovirus. To limit the threat posed by this type of research, policymakers have discussed approaches that include: increasing oversight of the DNA suppliers, limiting access to the genetic information of select pathogens, and regulating the publishing of information deemed possibly helpful to terrorists. This report will be updated as events warrant.


Background: Despite the high prevalence and serious implications of delirium, identification, tracking, and documentation of the condition remain a challenge for the health care team, impeding management of patients. This survey is the first phase of a qualitative study to build a conversational agent-based tool for screening and managing delirium-prone patients. Objectives: To assess healthcare providers' perceptions of delirium management, focusing on patient assessment, therapeutic interventions, and subsequent communication and documentation. Design: An electronic web-based survey was distributed to healthcare providers identified as caring for inpatient acutely ill older adults admitted for medical and orthopedic surgery needs. Respondent contact information was removed to preserve anonymity. Setting: A 1,000 bed university-affiliated teaching hospital in an urban setting. Participants: 23 residents in family practice, 36 residents in internal medicine, and a total of 492 advanced care nurses, nurses, and clinical staff. Approach: The analysis of survey responses provided insight into providers' current experiences with delirium assessment tools including computerized documentation, as well as their perceptions and attitudes toward delirium prevention. Key results: Most respondents (89%) thought delirium could be prevented, and 85% thought targeting delirium risk factors was helpful. Fifty one percent reported patients' loneliness and need for companionship, and 65% believed delirium was linked to higher mortality. Only 14% of respondents thought existing Electronic Health Record (EHR) alerts to identify high-risk delirium patients were useful, and 38% thought current delirium assessment protocols were helpful. In addition, 33% of nurses never received formal delirium prevention training, and 48% indicated that they needed improved systems to assess and manage patients at risk for delirium. Conclusion: A majority of providers affirmed that current delirium protocols are helpful; however, existing screening instruments and methods for documentation are cumbersome, resulting in incomplete or limited documentation of episodes. These barriers lead to an understatement of evidence available for continuous improvement of the patient management process.


When searched for by standard virological methods, murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) becomes undetectable by four months after inoculation of mice. However, a two-week regimen of immunosuppression with antilymphocyte serum and corticosteroid results in reactivation and dissemination of the virus in virtually all animals. This system should be useful in defining the pathogenesis of generalized cytomegalic disease resulting from reactivation of latent virus in immunocompromized individuals.


This study aims to analyze the policy of teaching and learning activities carried out at pesantren Persatuan Islam 1-2 Bandung. This research uses qualitative method, in collecting information and data on the use of observation techniques and interviews online. The results of the research found that the implementation of the policy of teaching and learning activities during the pandemic is enforced two stages, the learning stage turns and the online stage as a whole. In line with the increasing development of covid 19, the Head of Pesantren which is often referred to as Mudir Am determines the policy of teaching and learning activities using online systems, this system becomes the main choice that is seen as more effective in anticipating the spread of the outbreak.The learning used in this online system uses media such as zoom, google classroom, google meet and whatsapp group. Muhadharah activities and other constructions are diverted based online. This policy is established in order to create security and protection for all stakeholders in pesantrenn environment.


Biomedicine
One to 2% of women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer in their lifetimes. As a result, there is great interest in better understanding the molecular and cellular events that drive the development of this cancer. In fact, whether the ovary or fallopian tube gives rise to serous ovarian cancer, the subtype that causes 70% of ovarian cancer deaths, is still unknown. To investigate this question, Kim et al. generated mice with reproductive tract–specific deletions in Dicer, the enzyme that converts pre-microRNAs to mature microRNAs, and Pten, a tumor suppressor. They found that serous ovarian carcinomas developed from the fallopian tube and then metastasized elsewhere, killing all double knockout mice by 6 to 12 months of age. Mice singly deficient in these proteins, however, did not show tumor development in the reproductive system. Histological analysis revealed that abnormal cell proliferation started in the stromal compartment of the fallopian tube rather than the epithelial layer, with the cells undergoing a stromal-to-epithelial transition. The phenotypic, histological, and molecular characteristics of the cancers that developed in the double knockout mice were similar to those seen in humans. These mice may therefore provide a useful model system for studying serous ovarian cancer.

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 109 , 3921 (2012).


We study derivative nonlinear Schrodinger equations related to symmetric spaces of the type A.III. We discuss the spectral properties of the corresponding Lax operator and develop the direct scattering problem connected to it. By applying an appropriately chosen dressing factor we derive soliton solutions to the nonlinear equation. We find the integrals of motion by using the method of diagonalization of Lax pair.


Background and Purpose: Personal service establishments are abundant such as piercing shops, tattoo parlours, spas and now float spas. Sensory deprivation tanks were popular in the 1980s and have come back as a new way to relax, reduce pain and relieve stress and to provide a complete deprivation of the senses. The sanitation of these tanks have caused concern in the public health field as bacteria and parasites can easily live and proliferate in the tank water. Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) have to keep up to date with new or returning technology in order to provide information to the public and to ensure their safety. This research project investigated EHOs with differing years of employment in the field, geographic working location and age and their knowledge of sensory deprivation tanks. Methods: A survey created in Google Forms and Survey Monkey was disseminated through e-mail who then forwarded an e-mail to all EHOs in BC. The survey asked demographic questions, health and safety, sanitation and disinfection and general knowledge of floatation tanks. A t-test and ANOVA was used to analyze the data. Results: Three comparisons were tested: first was the number of years an EHO has worked in the field and their test score; second was their age and test score; and last was their geographic location and test score. The null hypotheses were not rejected as the pvalue was found to be greater than 0.05 for all of the variables analyzed. Discussion: Overall, there was weak knowledge in EHOs and due to the small sample size there was weak statistical significance between the associations found regarding the number of years an EHO has worked in the field, their age and geographic location where they work compared to their test scores. Conclusion: More information needs to be provided to all EHOs to keep them updated on new personal service establishments.


Abstract The diversity and pluralism of Southeast Asia make it an ideal subject for law and society researchers, but by and large they have not given the region the attention it deserves. In this article, we argue for a more intense and systematic linking of research about Southeast Asia and the field of law and society. We focus on the theme of state and personhood to suggest how some of the central concerns of law and society may be relevant to Southeast Asian peoples and cultures. We illustrate our argument by selecting nine excellent articles by Southeast Asian scholars who do not currently identify their work with the law and society field, and we demonstrate that their research is rich with implications for the field. We welcome in particular the ways in which they have portrayed personhood as an ongoing construction and have highlighted its contingent relationship with the state. Building on these themes, we conclude the article with a plea for a more far-reaching engagement between Southeast Asian studies and law and society research.


Mitochondria can supply adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to the tissue, which can regulate metabolism during the pathologic process and is also involved in the pathophysiology of neuronal injury after stroke. Recent studies have suggested that selective autophagy could play important roles in the pathophysiological process of stroke, especially mitophagy. It is usually mediated by the PINK1/Parkin-independent pathway or PINK1/Parkin-dependent pathway. Moreover, mitophagy may be a potential target in the therapy of stroke because the control of mitophagy is neuroprotective in stroke in vitro and in vivo. In this review, we briefly summarize recent researches in mitophagy, introduce the role of mitophagy in the pathogenesis of stroke, then highlight the strategies targeting mitophagy in the treatment of stroke, and finally propose several issues in the treatment of stroke by targeting mitophagy.


dukeethics.org This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/. You may reproduce this work for non-commercial use if you use the entire document and attribute the source: The Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University. Teaching Notes Institutions in Crisis


This research investigated two modes of selection into the University. The intention was to find out which of them is more effective in ensuring that the best students are admitted. The two modes studied were the Joint admissions and Matriculation Board mode (JAMB) and the entrance examination by individual university mode, generally regarded as Continuing Education (C.E). The purpose was to predict the effects of the modes in terms of selection of the best students according to intellectual ability. It was an inferential study which adopted the two group comparison design; and was guided by six research hypotheses. Data was collected using first year first semester examination in five subject areas English Language, Modern Mathematics, Additional Mathematics, Physics and Accounts. The data collected was analysed using the t-test statistic. The results showed that the JAMB mode of selection was more effective compared to the C.E. mode. This result agrees with previous findings. The researcher recommended that the JAMB mode of admission be used exclusively for future admission exercise into Nigerian universities.


CCR5-tropic strains of HIV-1 infect and deplete memory CD4+ T cells, and therefore are considered critical in development of AIDS. In contrast, the impact of CXCR4-tropic HIV-1 strains on the disease is not well understood. CXCR4 is known for its role in the hematopoiesis in the bone marrow and T cell differentiation in the thymus, and therefore its expression on hematopoietic progenitors/precursors is considered essential. Here the authors utilized the OP9-DL1 coculture system that supports in vitro differentiation of human CD34+ hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells to T-lineage cells. Using the system, the present study established an in vitro model to analyze the differentiation process of human CD34+ cells in the presence of HIV-1. HIV-infected cocultures showed sustained HIV replication for five weeks and impaired cell growth. Moreover, HIV-infected samples showed a partial loss of CD34+CD7hiCXCR4hi cells compared to uninfected samples during the coculture. These results highlight the possible role of CXCR4-tropic HIV-1 strains in the AIDS pathogenesis by disrupting the CXCR4+ cell pools in hematopoiesis and T cell differentiation.


Volcanic and non-volcanic partings are exposed in coal beds of the Tertiary Beluga and Sterling Formations along the shores of the Kenai lowland, Alaska. About two-thirds of the partings originated as air-fall tephra which fell in coal-forming swamps. The tephra partings in the Pliocene strata are unaltered or slightly altered and have a characteristic mineral assemblage of volcanic glass ± montmoriUonite ± kaolinite ± opal-CT. Miocene strata are slightly altered to totally altered, and a typical mineral assemblage consists of feldspar ± kaolinite ± montmorillonite ± quartz ± crandallite ± altered volcanic glass. Crandallite appears to have formed early in diagenesis by the replacement of volcanic glass prior to the formation of montmorillonite and kaolinite.About one-third of the partings originated primarily as detrital sediments derived from surrounding metamorphic and sedimentary terranes and were deposited by periodic floods. Mixtures of tephra and detrital sediments were also noted and were difficult to distinguish from tephra partings in the field. Detrital partings are characterized by detrital chlorite + illite + smectite + quartz ± feldspar ± siderite ± kaolinite. The chlorite in these strata is allogenic. Smectite is less common in the detrital partings.


ABSTRACT Information provided from a single spectral band of a satellite image, may not be sufficient in most cases for classification, recognition and change detection applications. Therefore, bands with different spectral and spatial characteristics are combined to obtain a single fused image that contains complementary information. This study introduces a novel hybrid fusion method for remotely sensed infrared and visible images based on backtracking search algorithm (BSA) and Shearlet transform. Shearlet is an efficient processing method to transform spatial information and BSA is a powerful metaheuristic optimization method. Combining these techniques offers an efficient way to fuse low-resolution infrared and high-resolution panchromatic bands of satellite images. Extensive experiments proved that proposed method outperforms well-known multi-scale transforms based fusion methods in terms of both numerical and visual evaluations.


Variability of above-ground net primary production (ANPP) of arid to sub-humid ecosystems displays a closer association with precipitation when considered across space (based on multiyear averages for different locations) than through time (based on year-to-year change at single locations). Here, we propose a theory of controls of ANPP based on four hypotheses about legacies of wet and dry years that explains space versus time differences in ANPP–precipitation relationships. We tested the hypotheses using 16 long-term series of ANPP. We found that legacies revealed by the association of current- versus previous-year conditions through the temporal series occur across all ecosystem types from deserts to mesic grasslands. Therefore, previous-year precipitation and ANPP control a significant fraction of current-year production. We developed unified models for the controls of ANPP through space and time. The relative importance of current-versus previous-year precipitation changes along a gradient of mean annual precipitation with the importance of current-year PPT decreasing, whereas the importance of previous-year PPT remains constant as mean annual precipitation increases. Finally, our results suggest that ANPP will respond to climate-change-driven alterations in water availability and, more importantly, that the magnitude of the response will increase with time.


Employing bipolar dc distribution systems introduces the possibility of imbalance in the system. To analyze these systems it is important to create novel modelling techniques. Therefore, this paper presents a method to decompose dc distribution systems into symmetrical components. The presented method simplifies the analysis of balanced, unbalanced, and fault conditions of bipolar dc distribution systems. Furthermore, equivalent circuits for several network components in the symmetrical domain are derived and are shown to be independent under symmetrical conditions. Additionally, a dynamic analysis is performed in the symmetrical domain showing that the method simplifies the analysis of dc distribution systems. Finally, the symmetrical domain equivalent circuits of several fault conditions are derived.


Summary The problematical fossil Chondrites, well known from the Flysch of the Alps, Carpathians and Apennines, and from the Lias of Germany, is shown to be common in various Palaeozoic formations of the British Isles and also in the English Lias. The varying forms taken by the fossil are described and explained and shown to be primarily the result of different modes of preservation and not of taxonomic significance. A consideration of the different modes of preservation, as well as of the morphology of the fossil, permits its interpretation as a trace-fossil resulting from the driving of a system of branching tunnels in the sea-bed sediment. A new reconstruction of the fossil has been made. It is tentatively explained as the product of a sipunculoid worm feeding on sediment by means of its extensible proboscis. Various implications of the mode of occurrence of the fossil in particular circumstances are considered.


RAPDs were generated from plants of six populations of Isotoma petraea F. Muell. The species occurs on rock outcrops in southern and western Australia, with populations exhibiting different breeding systems, including complete autogamy, varying levels of outbreeding and complex hybridity. Non‐metric multidimensional scaling (nMDS) analysis of the random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) data set clearly resolved all populations. The Pigeon Rock population, which is home to both complex hybrid and structural homozygote plants, was divided into those two groups by the nMDS analysis. There was little diversity in highly autogamous populations, but levels were higher in the outbred Yackeyackine population. All complex hybrid populations and plants possessed numerous genetic system‐specific RAPDs, some of which were shown to be held in fixed heterozygosity. Estimating GST using RAPDs has been problematical due to their dominance, and analytical methods usually rely on knowledge of the selfing rate or assume Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium. This assumption does not hold when populations exhibit fixed heterozygosity, and an alternative method, Shannon's Index, was used to partition genetic diversity. The distribution of genetic diversity fit expectations for an inbreeding species, with most of the variation (87.5%) occurring between populations. This compares to an average RAPD‐based GST of 59.6% for inbreeding species generally and 15.5% for outbreeding species.


Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant Peoples, and local communities produce up to 70 percent of the world's food with lower climate change and environmental impact than agribusinesses, but many remain under the poverty threshold. They are the de facto owners and managers of massive carbon stocks in forested and non–forested ecosystems, but markets fail to fairly reward this. This is all achieved with these communities having legal rights over only 20 percent of their land and receiving only 1.7 percent of global climate finance for self–determined investment and nature conservation. Clarifying their rights and establishing solid tenure security and capital to invest in exercising those rights are a must. The need for Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant Peoples, and local communities to acquire secure tenure over land and resources to achieve conservation and production goals is twofold. First, these groups need to establish a tenure safety network over their claimed lands and resources to prevent unintended consequences, like spillovers and leakages from other global responses to climate change, environmental rehabilitation, and food systems transformation. Second, they want secure tenure as part of a more enabling environment to fully unlock the potential of delivering their own solutions to current systems, threats, and opportunities.


We examined racial/ethnic disparities for COVID-19 seroconversion and hospitalization within a prospective cohort (n = 6,740) in the United States enrolled in March 2020 and followed-up through October 2021. Potential SARS-CoV-2 exposure, susceptibility to COVID-19 complications, and access to healthcare varied by race/ethnicity. Hispanic and Black non-Hispanic participants had more exposure risk and difficulty with healthcare access than white participants. Participants with more exposure had greater odds of seroconversion. Participants with more susceptibility and more barriers to healthcare had greater odds of hospitalization. Race/ethnicity positively modified the association between susceptibility and hospitalization. Findings might help to explain the disproportionate burden of SARS-CoV-2 infections and complications among Hispanic/Latino/a and Black non-Hispanic persons. Primary and secondary prevention efforts should address disparities in exposure, vaccination, and treatment for COVID-19.


Three biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP) bone substitute materials with hydroxyapatite (HA)/tricalcium phosphate (TCP) ratios of 20/80, 60/40, and 80/20 were compared to coagulum, particulated autogenous bone, and deproteinized bovine bone mineral (DBBM) in membrane-protected bone defects. The defects were prepared in the mandibles of 24 minipigs that were divided into four groups of six with healing times of 4, 13, 26, and 52 weeks, respectively. The histologic and histomorphometric evaluation focused on differences in amount and pattern of bone formation, filler degradation, and the interface between bone and filler. Collapse of the expanded polytetrafluoroethylene barrier membrane into the coagulum defects underlined the necessity of a filler material to maintain the augmented volume. Quantitatively, BCP 20/80 showed bone formation and degradation of the filler material similar to autografts, whereas BCP 60/40 and BCP 80/20 rather equaled DBBM. Among the three BCP's, the amount of bone formation and degradation of filler material seemed to be inversely proportional to the HA/TCP ratio. The fraction of filler surface covered with bone was highest for autografts at all time points and was higher for DBBM than BCP 80/20 and 60/40 at the early healing phase. TRAP-positive multinucleated cells were identified on BCP and DBBM surfaces without showing typical signs of resorption lacunae.


An increased QT dispersion (QTd) is associated with a variety of cardiac diseases and predicts sudden death. Although chronic renal failure patients and patients on hemodialysis are shown to have an increased QTd, evidence of increased QTd in renal transplant patients is scarce. In this study, renal transplant patients were evaluated to find out if they had an increased QTd. Thirty-four renal transplant recipients aged 35 ± 8 years and 34 healthy control subjects aged 34 ± 8 years were included in the study. The mean time after transplantation was 51.8 ± 40.4 (range 5–154) months. The QT interval was measured by 12-lead electrocardiogram, and the QTd was defined as the difference between the maximum and minimum QT interval. Bazett's formula was used to correct for the heart rate (QTc). Both QTd and QTc dispersion (QTcd) in renal transplant patients were compared with those of control subjects. All patients underwent transthoracic echocardiographic assessment and 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. Renal transplant recipients had similar QTd (37 ± 15 vs. 39 ± 17 ms) and QTcd (50 ± 18 vs. 55 ± 20 ms) compared to control subjects. QTd and QTcd were similar in patients with and without left ventricular hypertrophy (QTd 37 ± 14 vs. 36 ± 17 ms and QTcd 50 ± 14 vs. 49 ± 21 ms, respectively). No association was found between QTd and left ventricular mass index or blood pressure measurements. The QTd was not found to be increased in renal transplant recipients as compared with that of healthy controls in this study. Normalization of the QTd after renal transplantation may be through the correction of several factors responsible for increased QTd in uremic patients.


A direct (i.e. noniterative) method for desmearing the beam-height effect in small-angle X-ray scattering is discussed. The method is applicable to rectangular collimation systems with arbitrary beam-height intensity profiles. The process involves the construction of an upper-triangular matrix of terms containing the resolution information. A straightforward back-substitution process can then be used to determine the ideal pinhole-collimated curve for any experimental curve obtained with the given resolution. The principal advantage of the method lies in its simplicity, which facilitates an examination of the propagation of random errors through the desmearing process. A comparison between the direct method and the iterative approach of Glatter [J. Appl. Cryst. (1974), 7, 147-153] is made to illustrate the efficiency of the technique.


A novel on‐chip RF choke at 5 GHz is designed and measured for a class A operating Wireless LAN RF power amplifier (PA). The coplanar waveguide (CPW)‐based on‐chip RF choke is implemented as an alternative component to inductors provided by the 0.35‐μm SiGe BiCMOS technology. The CPW RF choke is designed at 5 GHz, and has a length of 1600 μm and loaded with a capacitance of 0.95 pF. The measured impedance of the RF choke at 5 GHz is around 104 Ω. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 49: 2530–2534, 2007; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com) DOI 10.1002/mop.22725


Gynecologic malignancies often affect young women who are at the peak of their reproductive potential. The treatment for gynecologic malignancies often consists of removal of the ovaries or uterus, affecting the future fertility of these patients. Advances in surgical management have allowed patients to undergo more conservative treatment with preservation of their fertility. This review summarizes fertility-sparing surgical procedures for patients with gynecologic malignancies evaluating the role of radical trachelectomy and ovarian transposition in cervical cancer, hormonal therapy and hysteroscopic resection in endometrial cancer, and conservative surgery in ovarian cancer.


Background: Uterine lipoleiomyoma is a rare lipomatous variant of uterine leiomyoma composed of a variable mixture of mature smooth muscle cells and adipocytes, typically found in peri or postmenopausal women. Malignancies arising from the tumor have rarely been reported though it is considered benign. Cases : We present three cases of uterine lipoleiomyoma and review literature to explore its etiology, characteristics, diagnosis and malignant transformation potential. Conclusion : Imaging examinations especially magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) play an important role in preoperative diagnosis. For large size and rapid growth of lipoleiomyoma, malignant transformation potential should be considered and surgery is required. Follow-up is still necessary.


This article examines educators' and policymakers' efforts at addressing barriers and supporting adult students' access to, and success in, small communities in western Canada. Research indicates that, despite the provision of financial support and flexible and varied delivery modes, and a focus on meeting learner needs, adult learner participation rates in Canada are currently lower than those in other countries. Government policies and programmes are aimed at employability: they currently focus on trade and vocational training programmes that meet the needs of the job market. This single-minded approach of funding programmes that meet economic needs promotes the ideal that the primary purpose of education is the financial gain that comes from securing employment, or better employment, as a result of one's studies – this as opposed to recognising the role adult education can play in fostering social justice. What is argued here is that, in order to increase participation in adult education, one does not necessarily need greater resources but rather a shift in cultural values – a shift from valuing education solely as a means to employment towards valuing it as a means of individual and community development. Greater numbers of people must see the value of adult learning and recognise the ways that it can contribute to equity and social justice in their lives and communities. This article calls for research that will delve deeply into the barriers to participation in adult education in the wider context of our society. I hope that Canadian students, educators and policymakers will create room for social justice and equity alongside their employment-focused approach to adult learning, and that nations with an emerging discourse will revisit the implications of considering adult education as being solely aimed at employability.


Inhibitors are now considered to be the most important complication of clotting factor replacement therapy in hemophilia. In January 2005, the Universal Data Collection (UDC) project, which includes data on over 14,000 patients with hemophilia A or B, was amended to include prospective data collection on inhibitors. We report interim results of a pilot project involving 9 selected Hemophilia Treatment Centers in the U.S. Dedicated data managers collected risk factor and product exposure data from enrolled patients on a monthly basis. Tracked infusion log submissions were used to estimate patient adherence to infusion log completion. A blood specimen is collected at baseline, annually, at product switch, or for clinical indication and is tested centrally for inhibitor using the Nijmegen modification method. Results are reported and any above a threshold value are followed up with repeat testing and clinical correlation. As of August 2007, 514 male patients with hemophilia, ages 2–84 years (mean 23 yrs SD 17) had been enrolled. Of these, 415 (81%) had FVIII deficiency (64% severe, 20% moderate, 16% mild) and 99 (19%) had FIX deficiency (35%, 43%, and 22%, respectively). 85% of the patients were caucasian, 8% black, and 4% Hispanic. A previous history of inhibitor was present at enrollment in 71 (14%). Prophylactic treatment was used by 37% and 80% received product by home infusion. Historical exposure to product collected at enrollment was as follows: 14% had 0–20 exposure days (ED), 12% had 21–100 ED, 7% had 101–150 ED, and 64% > 150 ED. During follow-up, 6 patients have had inhibitor titer measurements over 0.4 BU. One of these was known to have an active inhibitor at enrollment. Confirmatory testing of remaining cases is underway. Mean adherence rate for patient infusion log completion in the 9 HTC's was 45% (range 7% to 74%). Overall adherence increased with time on study from about 40% at one month to nearly 60% for those enrolled at least 10 months. In summary, enrolled participants represent a wide range of characteristics including age, race, disease severity and number of factor exposures. Interim findings indicate that prospective collection of factor infusion data from hemophilia patients necessary to appropriately monitor inhibitor formation, is feasible but labor intensive and requires patient adherence to completion and submission of accurate infusion logs. Because inhibitor formation is rare and the potential risk factors are many, large scale studies with long-term follow-up will be needed to fully assess risk factors for inhibitors.


In times of a growing need for highly qualified manpower, Germany is faced with the
problem of attracting foreign academics and scientists. Especially the sub-group of engineers
is essential for its export-led economy. Against this background, the question must be asked
what kind of factors influence the immigration of academics, scientists and engineers from
third countries to Germany. According to the theory of talent mobility by Solimano (2008), it
is assumed that factors like international differences in earnings and development gaps,
agglomeration and concentrations effects, linguistic compatibility, networks and sociocultural
affinity as well as policy regimes and immigration policies might be essential
determinants that can either attract or push back foreign academics and scientists. First, this
bachelor thesis tries to give an overview about the current situation in Germany, its necessity
to attract more foreign academics, scientists and especially engineers and presents already
existing reforms the German government has implemented in order to achieve this goal.
Second, by using the theory of Solimano, hypotheses about the possible influence of the
specific factors are formulated and tested by conducting expert interviews with
governmental officials, lobby groups and research organizations and foundations. With
regard to the factor of policy regimes and immigration policies, special emphasis was put on
the German Immigration Act in 2005. Further, due to the special role of engineers in the
German economy, this bachelor thesis tries to identify possible differences in the influence of
the distinct factors for academics and scientists in general and the specific sub-group of
engineers. According to the interviews, it can be concluded that international differences in
earnings have a greater impact on the immigration of engineers than on academics and
scientists in general. Regarding academics and scientists, the influence of networks and
immigration policies are essential, whereas socio-cultural affinity plays only a minor role.
Moreover, the experts refer to additional factors that are important for the immigration of
academics derived from the interviews. Finally, possible solutions are presented to improve
the conditions for the immigration of academics and researchers from third countries to
Germany.


This chapter draws on an analysis of three queer Hong Kong films: Island tales, Maps of Sex and Love and Ho-Yuk: Let's Love Hong Kong. They all represent an ambiguous yet strong love for the postcolonial city that cannot be reduced to Chinese patriotism, given their focus on cosmopolitan queer subjects and the underlying yet pervasive trope of the everyday and the mundane. In the context of dramatic and unstable political, economic and social upheavals that continue to haunt Hong Kong, the love for Hong Kong cannot be reduced to patriotism. At the same time, the cosmopolitan aspirations of the city produce rather than reduce social insecurity. The films studied in this chapter respond to the crisis, not by attempting to harmonize contradictions, but, instead, they explore more radical, creative and queer ways of living with each other. The terrain of erotic desire, as explored in the films, offers space for expressions of "rooted cosmopolitanism."


Demographic parameters of the ladybeetle, Serangium montazerii Fursch feeding on citrus whitefly, Dialeurodes citri Ashmead were determined on two host plants, Page tangerine and Thompson navel orange. This study was carried out under laboratory conditions (25 ± 1 °C and RH of 60 ± 5% and a photoperiod of 16: 8 h (L: D). Total pre-adult periods of the lady beetle were 20.84 ± 0.302, 19.27 ± 0.251days on Page tangerine and Thompson navel orange, respectively. The survivorship from egg to adult were very close to each other on the two host plants. The oviposition periods were 29.64 ± 0.905 and 33.36 ± 0.599 days and the total number of eggs per female (fecundity) were 457.14 ± 11.099 and 528.57 ± 12.369 on Page tangerine and Thompson orange, respectively. Peaks of reproductive value occurred at ages of 31 and 33 days when reared on Thompson navel orange and Page tangerine, respectively. The intrinsic rates of increase (r) on Thompson orange and on Page tangerine were 0.134 ± 0.063 and 0.126 ± 0.006d -1 with no significant differences. The mean generation time (T) on these host plants were 39.03 ± 0.5 and 40.57 ± 0.46 days, respectively. It can be concluded that S. montazerii feeding on D. citri in general showed a slightly better reproductive performance on Thompson navel orange than on Page tangerine.


The present research is a tentative contribution to paving the way for an interdisciplinary study of the history of governance practices in ancient religious orders. What do these real-life practices, proven over the course of centuries, teach us about the principal challenges facing organizational governance and the way in which this governance actually influenced the actions of the individuals at the head of these organizations (abbots, priors, etc.), and, consequently, the organizational coalition? Can we use a contemporary corporate governance research approach to analyze the challenges and functioning of these practices? If yes, under what conditions? Conversely, will observing centuries-old orders help to develop contemporary thinking on governance in the financial economics and management science fields? The principal challenges of and proposed directions for such research on the comparative governance of old religious orders is illustrated through selected historic examples from Benedictine abbeys...


Objective: Addition of fructose to the diet of normal weight and overweight subjects can increase postprandial plasma triglyceride and uric acid concentration. We, therefore, assessed whether replacing sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) with artificially-sweetened beverages (ASB) in the diet of overweight and obese subjects would decrease these parameters. Methods: Twenty-six participants of the REDUCS study, which assessed the effects of replacing SSB by ASB over 12 weeks on intra-hepatocellular lipid concentration, were included in this sub-analysis. All were studied after a four-week run-in period during which they consumed their usual diet and SSBs, and after a 12-week intervention in which they were randomly assigned to replace their SSBs with ASBs (ASB arm) or to continue their usual diet and SSBs (control arm, CTRL). At the end of run-in (week 4) and again at the end of intervention (week 16), they took part in an 8.5 h metabolic investigation during which their plasma glucose, insulin, glucagon, lactate, triglyceride (TG), non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA), and uric acid concentrations were measured over a 30 min fasting period (−30–0 min), then every 2 h over 480 min. with ingestion of standard breakfast at time 0 min and a standard lunch at time 240 min. Breakfast and lunch were consumed together with a 3.3 dL SSB at week 4 and with either an ASB (ASB arm) or a SSB (CTRL arm) at week 16. After analyzing the whole group, a secondary analysis was performed on 14 subjects with hepatic steatosis (seven randomized to ASB, seven to CTRL) and 12 subjects without hepatic steatosis (six randomized to ASB and six to CTRL). Results: Ingestion of meals increased plasma glucose, insulin, glucagon, lactate, and TG concentrations and decreased NEFA concentrations, but with no significant difference of integrated postprandial responses between week 4 and week 16 in both ASB and CTRL, except for a slightly decreased glucagon response in ASB. There was, however, no significant postprandial increase in uric acid concentration in both arms. In the secondary analysis, replacing SSBs with ASBs did not significantly change postprandial TG and uric acid concentrations irrespective of the presence or not of hepatic steatosis, Conclusions: In overweight, high SSB consumers, replacing SSBs with ASBs during 12 weeks did not significantly alter post-prandial TG and uric acid concentration, in spite of the lower energy and fructose content of the meals. These effects were globally the same in subjects without and with hepatic steatosis.


Background In the context of recent emphasis on developing trauma care systems globally, a Pan-India trauma care system is getting ready. Given the well known regional disparities in health systems in India, evaluation of its parts (states) becomes important if the sum of the parts (the Nation) needs to develop a system in an equitable way. Trauma System Maturity Index (TSMI) and other guidelines by WHO, along with Geographical Information System (GIS) provides an opportunity for such evaluation and evidence based policy making. Methods A cross sectional analytical study was done to grade trauma care system maturity of 10 representative states in India. Four major components of trauma system were assessed, including pre-hospital care, education and training, facility based trauma care and quality assurance; using a structured schedule prepared in line with WHO TSMI and 7 major guidelines for trauma care by WHO. In addition to this, GIS based analyses were done to assess the geographical distribution of trauma care facilities. The GIS data was analysed using ArcGIS version 9.1 and data for TSMI analysed using SPSS version 17.0. Results While most of the state trauma care systems were graded level 2 for prehospital care and quality assurance, almost all systems graded 1 for facility based trauma care. Host of variables within the components were analysed and critical areas were identified where in small initiatives would evolve the trauma system to next level of maturity grading. GIS based analyses showed that even with in the states the access to trauma care services is alarmingly inequitable. Better grade in TSMI translated as better outcome in terms of trauma related mortality. Conclusions The trauma care systems in different states are in diverse phases of evolution and their TSMI grade reflects their system performance. Study also projects successful examples which can be adapted by other states and countries with similar policy environment.