Background Systemic AL amyloidosis is a rare complication of immunoglobulin light chain secreting B cell clonal disorders. Much progress has been made in the recent years in the management of AL amyloidosis. Yet, certain patient groups continue to fare badly, posing a challenge to the treating physicians. Aims To describe the clinical features and outcomes of the challenging subgroups of patients with AL amyloidosis such as elderly patients and those with rare subtypes – IgD and IgM related amyloidosis. To explore the role of 99mTc-DPD scintigraphy in imaging soft tissue AL amyloid deposits and look at possible risk stratifying methods based on plasma cell phenotype and serum clonal markers at presentation. To evaluate the effectiveness of the novel agent, bortezomib as front line therapy in AL amyloidosis. Results and Conclusion Treatment of systemic AL amyloidosis in the elderly is challenging, yet, treatment of carefully selected older patients with novel therapies with low toxicity profile, results in improved survival. The clinical profile of IgD amyloidosis is similar to that of AL in general but the long term outcome appears poor. In contrast, IgM related amyloidosis has some distinct features and the underlying B cell clone needs to be accurately characterised to direct the choice of therapy. The adverse outcome in this latter group appears to be associated with cardiac, liver and nerve involvement. The role of 99mTc-DPD scintigraphy in imaging soft tissue AL amyloidosis is promising and requires further studies. Multicolour flow cytometry and heavy light chain measurement seem valuable in assessing the impact of plasma cell clones and degree of immunosuppression on prognosis respectively. Bortezomib based treatment is effective in achieving deep clonal response in patients without cardiac amyloidosis and those with early disease. Those with advanced cardiac involvement continue to pose a challenge and are in need of more effective therapies.


With increases in access to powerful computing and high-speed networks, 3D virtual learning environments are being envisioned and developed as places for collaborative learning. These new environments for collaborative learning have promise for great authenticity in experience, great presence with others, and the monitoring/sensing of broad ranges of human cognition and behavior inferred from the actions of avatars. In the process of designing and building such an environment, iSocial, to develop social competency for youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder the authors have explored the potential for developing a smart system. The paper provides a framework for conceptualizing and implementing a smart 3D collaborative virtual learning environments based on 3 key constructs: environmental scaffolds, social affordances and coaching. The framework and constructs are illustrated using experiences and functionality developed for the iSocial system.


BACKGROUND
The putative humoral mediator thought to be involved in the pathogenesis of idiopathic nephrotic syndrome has not yet been identified. However, components exist in normal serum that block the permeability activity of FSGS serum in vitro. The potential of FSGS serum to increase glomerular albumin permeability may result from an imbalance between permeability factors and naturally occurring inhibitors. We hypothesized that this imbalance may be favoured by loss of inhibitory factors in nephrotic urine.

METHODS
The study population consisted of seven patients with biopsy-proven FSGS, one with IgM nephropathy, and three with idiopathic nephrotic syndrome without biopsy, from whom frozen serum and dialysed and lyophilized urine samples were available. Glomerular albumin permeability (P(alb)) was determined from the change in glomerular volume induced by applying oncotic gradients across the basement membrane of normal isolated rat glomeruli pre-incubated with patient serum, normal control serum, patient serum mixed with an equal volume of urine from the same patient, or patient serum mixed with normal urine. Serum and urine apolipoproteins J and E were measured by dot-blot, utilizing peroxidase-labelled antibodies. The urinary capacity to scavenge oxygen radicals was determined after exposure of isolated glomeruli to superoxide generated by xanthine and xanthine oxidase.

RESULTS
The mean P(alb) of the patients was markedly elevated at 0.74+/-0.08. The addition of urine from the same patient significantly reduced P(alb) (mean 0.15+/-0.23) in all but one of the patients with FSGS. Normal urine had no inhibitory effect in the 10 patients in which it was tested (mean 0.71+/-0.09). Serum apo J was slightly decreased and serum apo E was slightly increased compared with controls. Urine levels of both lipoproteins were significantly decreased compared with controls. Urine from FSGS patients effectively neutralized superoxide, whereas normal urine did not.

CONCLUSIONS
Nephrotic urine but not normal urine contains components that block increased albumin permeability in isolated rat glomeruli induced by serum from patients with the idiopathic nephrotic syndrome. The inhibitory function of these components, which appear not to include apolipoproteins J and E, may involve scavenging of superoxide as a final common pathway. Loss in the urine from the serum of naturally occurring inhibitors in the initial stages of the disease may propagate proteinuria and glomerular injury.


Abstract Internationalisation of education and student mobility (incoming and outgoing) has become a significant factor in the sphere of higher education. These processes lead to interaction between local students and exchange students, as well as between exchange students and host universities. Being in the foreign country for a certain period (one or two semesters) requires some cultural and social adaptation that could or could not be problematic for various reasons. In order to maximise benefits for the exchange students and host universities, it is important to identify existing problems and to offer possible solutions. The aim of the current paper is to research the critical aspects of cultural adaptation process of ERASMUS students in Latvia. The international group that consists of a professor of the University College of Economics and Culture and three exchange students from Italy and Spain carried out the research. The empirical methods used were the following: a survey of ERASMUS students (non-probability purposive sampling) and semi-structured interviews with the host university ERASMUS coordinators. The data processing methods were the descriptive statistics as well as the thematic content analysis. On the basis of critical issues identified during the research process, the authors worked a set of practical solutions aimed at the host institutions.


In this paper a numerical study is provided to solve the aircraft conflict avoidance problem through velocity regulation maneuvers. Starting from optimal controlbased model and approaches in which aircraft accelerations are the controls, and by applying the direct shooting technique, we propose to study two different largescale nonlinear optimization problems. In order to compare different possibilities of implementation, two environments (AMPL and MATLAB) and deterministic local optimization solvers are used. Numerical results are discussed. They show that the considered problem is really difficult to solve to global optimality, as different local minima are found using different methods.


Background

Surgery remains the mainstay of colorectal cancer (CRC) and substantially reduces cancer-related morbidity and mortality. Preoperative assessment for frailty in geriatric patients is critically important in risk stratification and clinical decision-making. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we aimed to quantitatively summarise the effect of frailty on postoperative outcomes in geriatric patients receiving surgery for CRC.

Methods

A systematic literature search was conducted in MEDLINE, Cochrane and EMBASE from inception to 30 April 2020. Fully published articles reporting risk estimate(s) of frailty on postoperative complication(s), readmission and/ or mortality in patients aged ≥65 years who received surgery for CRC were eligible for qualitative and quantitative analyses.

Results

Across 10 articles of 9 unique studies (n = 69332) that were eventually included in the systematic review and meta-analysis, overall prevalence of frailty was 23.0% (95% CI: 11–43%, I 2 = 100%). Odds ratios (ORs) on overall and severe postoperative complications were respectively increased by 2.36- (95% CI: 1.66–3.35, P <0.01; I 2 = 12%) and 2.35-fold (95% CI: 1.30–4.27, P <0.01; I 2 = 72%) in frail patients compared to non-frail counterparts. On pooled analysis, frailty was significantly associated with an increased risk of postoperative readmission (OR:1.91; 95% CI: 1.35–2.70, P <0.01; I 2 = 6%). Whilst a significantly higher risk of frailty on mortality during 12 months after CRC surgery was observed (OR: 5.52; 95% CI:4.40–6.92, P <0.01; I 2 = 89%), the summary OR on 30-day/ inpatient mortality crossed the null line (OR: 1.65; 95% CI: 0.56–4.93, P = 0.37; I 2 = 55%). Funnel plot and Duval-Tweedie's trim and fill test did not reveal significant publication bias.

Conclusions

In the studies reviewed, frailty appeared to be associated with increased risks for postoperative complications, readmission and mortality during 12 months in patients aged ≥65 years who received surgery for CRC. Nevertheless, no significant association between frailty and 30-day/ inpatient postoperative mortality was observed.


The article deals with educational supervision and the main epistemological foundations that support the proposal of a theoretical model of its management. Based on the insufficiencies that were found, related to the present conception of educational supervision and its management, and departing also from the higher hierarchical structures which interact with the educational institutions; the essential epistemological foundations are presented. From such foundations, a theoretical model of the educational supervision management is elaborated. These are based on Pedagogy as an educational science, on the methodological tools offered by Scientific Educational Management, and the conceptions related to permanent


Work carried out in the development of commercial radio links at millimeter (MM) wave frequencies is presented. System aspects are discussed, and results are presented for the MM-wave components which have been developed. A modular common system approach has been used, thus enabling the economical reuse of most of the lower-frequency system functions. The modulation options which have been considered and their effect on the MM-wave components are discussed. From this analysis a low-cost system approach is presented based on the use of MMICs (monolithic microwave integrated circuits) and broadband RF components. Offset 4 QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation) was used in order to provide a good compromise between amplifier linearity and spectral efficiency. This system design has been implemented at 38 GHz, and various system results are presented.<<ETX>>


TEACHING BAPTIST HISTORY AND DOCTRINAL DISTINCTIVES TO THE CONGREGATION OF MOUNT ZION BAPTIST CHURCH, WEST PADUCAH, KENTUCKY Clarence Wesley Conner, D.Ed.Min. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2017 Faculty Supervisor: Dr. T. Vaughn Walker This ministry project was designed to conceptualize, develop, and teach a discipleship training curriculum that instructed members of Mount Zion Baptist Church of West Paducah, Kentucky, to understand and appreciate their Baptist heritage. Chapter 1 establishes the goals of the project and the ministry context. The first chapter also explains the rationale for the project, outlines its definitions, limitations, and delimitations, describes the research methodology employed, and defines a successful outcome. Chapter 2 lays out the biblical and theological basis for teaching the history and doctrinal distinctives of Baptists. An exegesis of two Old Testament texts and three New Testament texts provides scriptural support for teaching Baptists to appreciate the doctrines, people, places, and events that shaped their spiritual heritage. Chapter 3 advances the historical, theoretical, and practical issues related to teaching Baptist history and doctrinal distinctives. This chapter includes a historical survey of past Baptist leaders on the subject, and emphasizes the practicality and relevance of the topic. Chapter 4 explains how the discipleship curriculum of the project was developed and implemented at the Mount Zion Baptist Church. This chapter also gives a detailed review of the study sessions and the project's successful outcome. Finally, chapter 5 concludes with a forthright appraisal of the project's purpose and goals. Chapter 5 also provides a candid evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the project, and offers ideas on what could have made it better.


The state saving mechanism constitutes an essential part of any system in which erroneous or undesired executions can be undone by rolling back the system state. One such application is optimistically synchronized parallel discrete event simulation (PDES) systems based on the time warp synchronization mechanism. In this type of system the state saving and restoration mechanism is essential to the performance. Consequently, several mechanisms which could reduce the state saving overhead in time warp based PDES have been proposed. In this study we investigate the performance of several such mechanisms, including both transparent sparse and incremental state saving methods, in the simulation of large, realistic cellular communication simulation models. We also investigate the applicability of two analytical methods proposed to guide the choice of state saving mechanisms. Our empirical results indicate that the best choice of method depends on the characteristics of the simulation model. Furthermore, the cost of transparent state saving methods is found to be low. We also show the need to further investigate analytical methods to better understand how to make the selection of state saving mechanisms.


REPORT OF A CASE Following an attack of influenza in January, R. M., a single woman, 45 years old, with a history of previous good health, suffered from lassitude to an extreme degree. She was usually energetic and held a position that necessitated considerable mental and physical activity. Her history up to this time included the usual contagious diseases of childhood, pneumonia, bronchitis and influenza in the epidemic of 1918. The last attack of influenza had been a mild one, with only slight rise of temperature and moderate bronchial and gastro-intestinal symptoms. She remained away from work only two days, and then gradually resumed her usual routine though hampered by great fatigability. About two weeks after this partial recovery, the lassitude still persisting, she applied for treatment. Miss M. was a stout, well-nourished woman with excellent color and a general appearance of good health. There was no anemia, no sinus


How to tackle the order production priority in production scheduling is a key issue for make-to-order enterprises. Some approaches of determining the order production priority have been proposed from different perspectives such as linear programming, entropy weight, analytic hierarchy process. Nevertheless, under the supply chain environment, the determination of order production priority becomes a complex problem, traditional theories and approaches have their limitations. Hence, in this paper, a new evaluation index system for the order production priority is given under supply chain environment, and an effective approach based on ensemble meta-model is presented to determine the order production priority. To demonstrate the performance of proposed method, three other techniques, radial basis function (RBF), Kriging and support vector regression (SVR) are considered. Their results are compared by using an available dataset in make-to-order mechanical and electrical products. The computational results show the validation and reliability of our proposed model and indicate that our presented approach can extend the methods for order production priority.


This study was undertaken to evaluate the ocular pharmacokinetic of sulfisoxazole. Male, 2-3 years old 10 mix breed dogs weighing 12-15 kg were used. A 2 mg dose/eye of sulfisoxazole was administrated to the animals by either subconjunctivally or by topically. Samples of aqueous humor were collected after 0.083, 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 6, 24 and 72 h and level of sulfisoxazole was determined. Pharmacokinetic parameters including absorption rate constant (k(a)), slope factor (beta), absorption half-life (t1/2a), half-life of elimination in aqueous humor (t1/2beta), maximal concentration in aqueous humor (C(max)), time to reach C(max) (t(max)), mean residence time in aqueous humor (MRT) and area under the concentration time curve from zero up to infinity (AUC(0-infinity)) were calculated. Compared to topical application, value of k(a) in subconjunctival application increased while values of t1/2a and t(max) decreased and the value of t1/2beta prolonged (p < 0.05). There was no significant difference between groups regarding other parameters (p > 0.05). These results indicate that sulfisoxazole may not be potent enough to treat intraocular infections caused by bacteria when applied either subconjunctivally or topically at a dose of 2 mg/eye. Furthermore, subconjunctival application of sulfisoxazole could be more efficient for treatment of intraocular infections due to higher absorption of drug and longer remaining time in the eye compared to topical application.


In the southern part of the Superior Province of the Canadian Shield the Quetico belt of metasedimentary rocks extends northeasterly from Minnesota, across the Kapuskasing zone of crustal rifting, to southeast of James Bay. The belt forms part of a broader northeasterly-trending orogenic zone, and truncates the more westerly fold trends in the lavas and sedimentary rocks of eastern Ontario and western Quebec. It is suggested that the Quetico trend is the younger, and that the Quetico belt demarcates the geographic limits of the Kenoran orogen.In western Quebec and eastern Ontario three granite-cored massifs are bounded on their northern flanks by curved, regional faults and synclinal belts of metasedimentary rocks. The most important of these, the Pontiac Massif, is associated with a corresponding sediment-filled depression on the west.A broad region extending easterly and northeasterly from Lake Superior can be distinguished from contiguous areas on the basis of the abundance and extent of belts of iron-...


This chapter reviews and discusses Library and Information Science (LIS) undergraduate education in New Zealand over the past 30 years, and identifies issues and research needs. It examines contemporary issues facing LIS education in a rapidly changing information environment, affected by a particular historical and social context and changes to the higher education sector nationally and internationally. Issues include professionalization, the tension between education and continuing professional development, the difficulty of keeping programmes up to date and reflective of industry needs in times of fiscal restraint, and the complexities of the particular student body, as well as changes in the LIS sector more generally. It highlights research needs and shows how professional associations and LIS educators are addressing these issues through a range of solutions designed to strengthen the library, records, and archives professions.


In this study, analytical micromechanical models are developed for nanocomposites with both interface stretching and bending effects. First, the interior and exterior Eshelby tensors for a spherical nano-inclusion, with an interface defined by the Steigmann–Ogden (S–O) model, subjected to an arbitrary uniform eigenstrain are derived. Correspondingly, the stress/strain concentration tensors for a spherical nano-inhomogeneity subjected to arbitrary uniform far-field stress/strain loadings are also derived. Using the obtained concentration tensors, the effective bulk and shear moduli are derived by employing the dilute approximation and the Mori–Tanaka method, respectively, which can be used for both nano-composites and nano-porous materials. An equivalent interface curvature parameter reflecting the influence of the interface bending resistance is found, which can significantly simplify the complex expressions of the effective properties. In addition to size-dependency, the closed form expressions show that the effective bulk modulus is invariant to interface bending resistance parameters, in contrast to the effective shear modulus. We also put forward a characteristic interface curvature parameter, near which the effective shear modulus is affected significantly. Numerical results show that the effective shear moduli of nano-composites and nano-porous materials can be greatly improved by an appropriate surface modification. Finally, the derived effective modulus with the S–O interface model is provided in the supplemental MATLAB code, which can be easily executed, and used as a benchmark for semi-analytical solutions and numerical solutions in future studies.


Though I might occupy the time at our disposal with an account of the objects of geological interest in the immediate neighbourhood of Barnsley, and by no means exhaust the subject, I think I shall make this paper more interesting and instructive if I take rather a wider range, and show first of all the relation of the rocks we now stand upon to the general geology of England.

If we draw a line from Nottingham, through Derby and Ashbourne, to near Trentham, then wind it up to Manchester, and thence to the estuary of the Mersey, this line will be the northern boundary of the New Red Sandstone plain of Central England. Another line running nearly due north from Nottingham to Tynemouth will mark the escarpment of the Magnesian Limestone. The country north of the first line and west of the second is, with the exception of the Lake district and the Vale of Eden, wholly occupied by rocks belonging to the great Carboniferous formation. We will first shortly describe its general structure, and then give some details respecting the district immediately around us.

The Carboniferous rocks may be grouped for our purpose under three heads, namely :—

3. Coal-measures.

2. Millstone-grit and Yoredale Rocks.

1. Carboniferous or Mountain Limestone.

The lowest, and, therefore, oldest of these, the Mountain Limestone, is a mass of pure limestone, of great but unknown thickness, with a few, but very few, thin layers of interbedded shale, and two or three beds of lava ...


Education is an interaction activity between teachers and students in a classroom learning. Harmonious interaction between teachers and students greatly affect the success of learning. But in reality, the issue of today's educational interaction is less attention of the education stakeholder. The evidence is that some educators develop bad relationship with the students as being arrogant and violent means in resolving problems in the classroom. These conditions depreciate the relation between the teacher and the students in or outside the class that it is not surprising some students attack the teachers. In fact, the problem of educational interaction is not a new problem in educational world. Al-Ghazali is an Islamic education leaders who concentrated on the issue since the 5th century H. This article aims at examining a depth theory of al-Ghazali on educational interaction in a number of work related to education. This research is library research through ccontent analysis to find its relevance to the world of Islamic education at the moment. The results show that Al-Ghazali has a major contribution in developing the concept of educational interaction in Islamic education. The concept of Al-Ghazali can be reference in overcoming the problems of educational interaction nowadays through an approach which is in line with the the latest developments.


Many buildings throughout the world have experienced severe damage due to blast during past several decades. Local failure of a primary structural component induced by direct air-blast loading may be itself a critical damage and lead to the partial or full collapse of the building. This paper presents behavior of H-section steel columns under a blast loading, such as bomb attack, using a computational fluid dynamic nonlinear finite element analytical approach. Parametric studies have been conducted to observe the effect of column section shape on blast pressure, local damage of weak or strong-axis section column against blast wave, and the effect of blast wave reflected by ground on pressure on a column. This study shows that the analytical approach is reasonable and effective to understand the nature of blast wave and complex interaction between blast loading and steel column behavior.


For health-care providers who wish to learn Spanish in order to communicate effectively with patients, this text offers a first course in the language. It is a classroom text that uses readings, exercises and interactive activities to integrate the Spanish medical vocabulary, grammar and colloquial terms that nurses, doctors, dentists and medical technicians most need. Cultural notes explain Hispanic customs and communication styles. This second edition provides an expanded lexicon, a more concise, graphic presentation of structure, added communicative activities, and a workbook section to consolidate learning and promote writing skills. Also included with the book is a 72-minute CD audio programme integrated with each of the lessons, which develops listening skills and guides pronunciation.


EN contains little glutamine that inadequate to normalize the plasma level and PN doesn't contain glutamine because, it is unstable in aqueous solutions that is why IV Glutamine supplementation stayed for decades, a standard of care whenever TPN is prescribed. Recent practices focus on pharmaco-nutrition especially when feeding critically ill patients, that why many meta-analysis tried to figure out whether glutamine works or not? Although glutamine is generally well tolerated and adverse events are very rare, better identification of the ideal characteristics of effective glutamine coupled with improved understanding of mechanisms of action will help to delineate the true beneficial effects of glutamine in various disorders. This review highlights current practice and areas of concern and establishes our current knowledge in this field.


In this study, nanocube-TiO2 and covalently bonded nanocube-TiO2/poly(3-octylthiophene), (P3OT) core/shell structured hybrid nano materials were dispersed in silicone oil (SO) and antisedimentation stabilities of these suspended particles were determined to be 31% and 65%, respectively. Polarizabilities (Δenanocube-TiO2 = 0.1925 and Δenanocube-TiO2/P3OT = 0.0920) and relaxation times (λnanocube-TiO2 = 3.4 × 10−4 s and λnanocube-TiO2/P3OT = 2.7 × 10−4 s) of dispersions were determined by dielectric measurements. Optical microscopy studies showed that these suspensions were highly polarizable under externally applied electric field strengths and classified as electrorheological (ER) active materials. The effects of volume fraction of dispersed phase, shear rate, shear stress, external electrical field strength, frequency, and temperature onto ER activities of these suspensions were studied. Yield stresses of nanocube-TiO2 and nanocube-TiO2/P3OT were determined to be 128 and 310 Pa, respectively. Viscoelastic studies revealed that the elastic characters of the particles were dominant to their viscous ones and elasticity moduli were determined to be 31.5 and 142 kPa, for nanocube-TiO2 and nanocube-TiO2/P3OT, respectively. Finally, the creep-recovery behaviors of these suspensions were identified and %recoveries of nanocube-TiO2/SO and nanocube-TiO2/P3OT/SO systems were determined to be 39 and 73%, respectively under τ = 5 Pa external shear stress. Because of the high polarizabilitiy, ER activity, vibration damping, and creep-recovery properties, the nanocube-TiO2/P3OT/SO suspension system was classified as smart material and suitable for potential vibration damping applications. POLYM. COMPOS., 2016. © 2016 Society of Plastics Engineers


In 1962, following President Soekarno's adoption of the "Guided Democracy" principle three years earlier, the noted Indonesianist Herbert Feith published a book titled The Decline of Constitutional Democracy in Indonesia. In it, Feith asked the question "why has parliamentary democracy failed in Indonesia?". His fellow Indonesianist, Harry Benda, however, criticized Feith for asking the "wrong" question, as he felt a more appropriate question was "why should democracy have survived?" in Indonesia. In a 1964 review of Feith's book, Benda argued that democracy would never survive in Indonesia because Javanese feudalistic culture was still very much alive. Ken Setiawan and Dirk Tomsa's book, Politics in Contemporary Indonesia: Institutional Change, Policy Challenges and Democratic Decline, addresses the perennial question about the fate and future of Indonesian democracy, particularly after Reformasi in 1998. In thirteen chapters, the authors provide readers with an encyclopedic overview of the many facets of contemporary Indonesian politics and society, including the electoral system, local government, the role of Islam, civil society and the media, public health, gender inequality, human rights, environmental politics and foreign policy. The book echoes a worrying opinion common among many Indonesianists, that the country is experiencing a democratic regression characterized by increasingly "illiberal" trends. To support this observation, some scholars have cited the rise of conservative Islamic politics, the restrictions imposed on opposition groups and the reduced protections for minority groups. What Setiawan and Tomsa have done differently in their book is to examine Indonesia's democratic backsliding over a range of issues. The authors do so while standing firmly on their institutionalist perspective. Throughout the book, they illustrate how the institutional framework and design of Indonesia's electoral and governance systems have contributed to the decline of democratic values and practices. In Chapter Three, on Indonesia's political institutions, for instance, the authors explore the decision to elevate the threshold for political parties to field presidential candidates. In 2004, parties were able to nominate presidential candidates if they had secured


Aminals, the N,N analogues of acetals, have been thoroughly explored in organic chemistry, with a particular focus on heteroaromatic aldehyde lithiation. Nevertheless, the existing methodologies for their formation typically employ harsh conditions limiting their usefulness. In this work, we present an efficient and mild methodology for the preparation of aminals from aromatic aldehydes, including furanic platforms. These mild conditions allowed ease of access to a plethora of aminals and as such we set out to explore previously unaccessible potential applications. By studying the stability of various aminals, we were able to develop a simple aldehyde protecting group based on a commercial diamine which is deprotected under mind conditions. We developed a protocol for the scavenging of genotoxic aldehydes by taking advantage of our methodology and a diamine resin, as well as early studies on the development of a stimuli-responsive release system using a salycil aldehyde derived aminal.


Background: HLA-DRB1*15:01, absence of HLA-A*02:01, and smoking interact to increase multiple sclerosis (MS) risk. Objective: To analyze whether MS-associated human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles, apart from DRB1*15:01 and absence of A*02:01, interact with smoking in MS development, and to explore whether the established HLA-smoking interaction is affected by the DQA1*01:01 allele, which confers a protective effect only in the presence of DRB1*15:01. Methods: In two Swedish population-based case–control studies (5838 cases, 5412 controls), subjects with different genotypes and smoking habits were compared regarding MS risk, by calculating odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals employing logistic regression. Interaction on the additive scale between different genotypes and smoking was evaluated. Results: The DRB1*08:01 allele interacted with smoking to increase MS risk. The interaction between DRB1*15:01 and both the absence of A*02:01 and smoking was confined to DQA1*01:01 negative subjects, whereas no interactions occurred among DQA1*01:01 positive subjects. Conclusion: Multifaceted interactions take place between different class II alleles and smoking in MS development. The influence of DRB1*15:01 and its interaction with the absence of A*02:01 and smoking is dependent on DQA1*01:01 status which may be due to differences in the responding T-cell repertoires.


Research on title the effect of  Pb-Polluted azolla biomass on polluted on lead heavy metal status at polluted and unpolluted soil with Pb aimed to evaluate the potency of Pb-polluted azolla biomass on the availability of Pb in soil. The experiment design was factorial randomized block design with 2 factors and 3 replications. First factor was Pb-polluted azolla biomass with 3 treatments 0 g/kg, 15 g/kg and 30g/kg, second factor was Pb application with 3 treatments 0 ppm/kg, 150 ppm/kg, and 300 ppm/kg. The parameters was soil pH, organic matter. Pb total and available Pb from 1 week and 2 weeks after applying Pb-polluted azolla. The result showed that application of Pb-polluted azolla biomass increased 20% and 30% the availability of Pb after 1 week  compare to control for Pb-polluted azolla treatment 15 g/kg and 30 g/kg respectively. Application of Pb-polluted azolla biomass did not significantly affected the soil pH and increasing soil organic matter. Meanwhile application of Pb polluted azolla biomass on unpolluted soil increased Pb-available about 60% and 85% compare to control for azolla biomass applying 15 g/kg and 30 g/kg, and also increasing soil organic matter content. In the second week, Pb-polluted azolla biomass increased Pb availability in unpolluted soil around 75% and 82% for azolla treatment 15 g/kg and 30 g/kg respectively. Meanwhile in the treatment applying 300 ppm Pb, application of Pb-polluted azolla decreased 8% Pb of available. In general, the effect of application Pb-polluted of azolla biomass increased the amount of Pb available and soil organic matter in the soil and pH decreased with time.


Introduction: Taxus species are used as medicinal plants all over the world. The leaves of Taxus species are sustainable medicinal resources that are rich in taxoids and flavonoids. However, traditional identification methods cannot effectively identify Taxus species on the basis of leaces used as raw medicinal materials, because their appearance and morphological characteristics are almost the same, and the probability of error identification increases in accordance with the subjective consciousness of the experimenter. Moreover, although the leaves of different Taxus species have been widely used, their chemical components are similar and lack systematic comparative research. Such a situation is challenging for quality assessment. Materials and methods: In this study, ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry combined with chemometrics was applied for the simultaneous determination of eight taxoids, four flavanols, five flavonols, two dihydroflavones, and five biflavones in the leaves of six Taxus species, namely, T. mairei, T. chinensis, T. yunnanensis, T. wallichiana, T. cuspidata, and T. media. Chemometric methods, including hierarchical cluster analysis, principal component analysis, orthogonal partial least squares-discriminate analysis, random forest iterative modeling, and fisher linear discriminant analysis, were utilized to differentiate and evaluate the six Taxus species. Results: This proposed method exhibited good linearity (R 2 = 0.9999–0.9972) with a lower quantification limits of 0.94–3.05 ng/mL for all analytes. The intra- and inter-day precisions were within 6.83%. Six compounds, namely, 7-xylosyl-10-deacetyltaxol, ginkgetin, rutin, aromadendrin, 10-deacetyl baccatin III, and epigallocatechin, were identified through chemometrics for the first time. These compounds can be used as important chemical markers to distinguish the above six Taxus species rapidly. Conclusion: This study established a method for determination of the leaves of six Taxus species, and revealing the differences in the chemical components of these six Taxus species.


OBJECTIVE: It is known that problematic internet use (PIU) increasing especially among the youth and has become an important public health problem. The aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of PIU among the medical students and the relationship between PIU and selected socio-demographic characteristics (e.g. gender), loneliness, alexithymia and probability of suicide. METHOD: A total of 328 subjects (44.2% males, 55.8% females) completed four instruments: Young Internet Addiction Test (YIAT), UCLA loneliness scale (UCLA-LS), The 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and Suicide Probability Scale (SPS). RESULTS: PIU was detected in 6.4% (n=21) of the participants. Its prevalence was significantly higher in males than in females (p=0.009). We found significant positive correlation between loneliness, alexithymia, suicide probability and PIU. A significant positive relationship was also found between PIU and Hopelessness, Suicide Ideation and Hostility. CONCLUSION: PIU was found at a higher rate in male gender and was found to be associated with loneliness, alexithymia and probability of suicide. Prospective studies need to be based on different sampling groups to understand the underlying mechanisms that affect PIU and to explore effective preventative treatment strategies. Keywords: Alexithymia; Internet; Medical students; Loneliness; Suicide Language: en


We present an overview of the most common techniques used in automatic speech recognition to adapt a general system to a different environment (known as cross-task adaptation) such as in an air traffic control system (ATC). The conditions present in ATC are very specific: very spontaneous, the presence of noise, and high speed speech. So, with a typical speech recognizer the recognition results are unsatisfactory. We have to decide on the best option for the modeling: to develop acoustic models specific to those conditions from scratch using the data available for the new environment, or to carry out cross-task adaptation starting from reliable HMM models (usually requiring less data in the target domain). We begin with a description of the main techniques considered for cross-task adaptation, namely maximum a posteriori (MAP), maximum likelihood linear regression (MLLR), and the two together. We have applied each in two speech recognizers for air traffic control tasks, one for spontaneous speech and the other for a command interface. We show the performance of these techniques and compare them with the development of a new system from scratch. We also show the results obtained for speaker adaptation using a variable amount of adaptation data. The main conclusion is that MLLR can outperform MAP when a large number of transforms is used, and MLLR followed by MAP is the best option. All of these techniques are better than developing a new system from scratch, showing the effectiveness of mean and variance adaptation


New Acrylic'Silicone hybrid resins for corrosion protect ive coatings were developed by emulsion co'polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MM A), butyl acrylate (BA), styrene with methacryloxypropyl trymethoxysilane (MATS) and octamethylcyclotetra siloxane at 80'850C in the presence of Ammonium per sulphate (APS) as the initiator. Resulting polymers were characterized by using Fourier transformed infra red spectroscopy (FTIR) and particle size analyzer. The obtained polymers had high solid content and were used in emulsion paints as binder. The coatings were prepared and there anticorrosion behaviour was discussed with varying silicone content. The experimental results show that these polymers supply very useful properties such as high anticorrossivity UV light stability, washing and coating with highest silicone content exhibited the maximum corrosion resistance property. Remarkable improvements in film properties were seen.


Assigning a state price to each land parcel is a frequent and yet important task in the state management of land parcels. Land price is issued for each street. For each street, land price is divided according to level of location 1, 2, 3 and 4. Parcel is assigned to which location level depending on its walking distance to nearest street, and passed minimum alley's width, etc. The task of valuing land parcels is cumbersome because the number of land parcels to be priced is huge. To alleviate this burden for government staff, a step by step processing model is developed to automatically determine the location level of a particular parcel. Using ArcGIS Engine library and VB.NET programming language, the steps in the proposed model are built into functions in a specialized module for land valuation. Experiment in assigning location level and land prices of Tam Hiep ward, Bien Hoa city, Dong Nai province shows that 91,73% of parcels are assigned the same location level as the location on the issued land location map. The experiment demonstrates the effectiveness and correctness of the proposed model in automatically determining location levels and corresponding prices of land parcels.


Early‐onset neonatal infection (infection arising within 72 hours of birth) is an important cause of morbidity and mortality and is often caused by Streptococcus agalactiae (group B streptococcus [GBS]). Identifying and assessing risk factors for early‐onset neonatal infection before and during labour and birth is integral to clinical management. Intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis (IAP) to prevent early‐onset neonatal infection is effective when given to women with particular risk factors, including maternal GBS colonisation. When IAP is given specifically to prevent early‐onset neonatal infection with GBS the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends using benzylpenicillin. Alternative antibiotic regimens are appropriate for women who are allergic to penicillin or where local microbiological surveillance data indicate antibiotic resistance.


Integrating a color raster data layer, such as elevation tints, with a grayscale raster layer, such as a hillshade, is an important visualization function in cartography, remote sensing, and geographic information systems (GIS). A number of methods have traditionally been used to integrate these types of rasters. In one approach, the input rasters are combined into a new output raster by transforming the original data using, for example, an intensity, hue, saturation (IHS) transformation. Another approach involves the use of layer transparency, in which one raster is transparently draped over the other. However, both these approaches distort the original colors, and layer transparency has the added problem that gradient detail in the hillshaded raster is suppressed. The optimal solution would be to integrate the color and grayscale rasters while retaining the fidelity of the original data. In this paper, we introduce a new technique, called the NAGI (No Alteration of Gradient or Intensity) fusion method, to integrate color and grayscale rasters in a manner that preserves the original colors from the color raster while retaining the apparent gradient from the grayscale raster. The NAGI fusion method does not require any code or programming, and no software extensions are required. It can be modified easily to suit the characteristics of the input rasters or the requirements for the output raster. It can be implemented using raster processing techniques introduced in ArcGIS10.0; however, the concepts described can be adapted for use with most cartography, GIS, or remote-sensing software. The method was tested with a variety of datasets, with rasters of varying resolutions, at a range of spatial extents, with diverse types of thematic content, and with different ArcGIS rendering methods, thus demonstrating the versatility and applicability of the NAGI fusion method


This paper presents the analytical characterisation of a series of paintings authored by Giorgio Marini (1836-1905) from the Museum of Évora. Marini was an Italian painter who lived in Portugal in the 19 century. He was a very prolific painter and his works, most of them portraits commissioned by urban and rural bourgeois and noble elites, are dispersed all over the country. The general good conservation state of most paintings prevented the collection of micro-samples for detailed study. Hence, material identification of the painting materials was performed primarily by XRF, given its non-destructive and non-invasive nature, and it was complemented when possible by auxiliary techniques optical microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and SEM-EDX. Pigments and fillers such as yellow and red ochre, lead white, zinc white, barium white, chrome yellow and green chrome are among the identified pigments. This is the first time the palette used by Giorgio Marini was identified, helping to characterise the pigments used by foreign painters during the 19 century in Portugal.


The thermal folding of hydrated lysozyme has been investigated by means of the high resolution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technique. The proton NMR signal belonging to the biomolecule hydration water (hydration level h = 0.3) was analyzed with the aim to explore the protein structural changes as well as to verify if water plays a role in this biological basic phenomenon. In such a way, we studied the proton chemical shift and the "apparent spin-spin relaxation time" for which water molecules assume the role of system probes in a situation in which the limited hydration of a solid-globular lyophilized protein sample (covering on average the first hydration shell) enables data interpretation devoid of complications arising from bulk water. The study was performed by means of proper temperature changes, different warming and cooling cycles, that starting from the protein in the native state explore the reversible and the irreversible phases of the denaturation. The obtained results confirm that water as a "local probe" follows accurately all the protein behaviors, detailing properly its structural and dynamical changes in this transition, from native to denatured. Since the water chemical shift, as proposed by commonly accepted theoretical and MD simulations findings, is linked to the hydrogen bond (HB) interactions, the obtained data suggest that the denaturation process is related to the average number of bonds in which the water molecules are involved.


High-protein, low carbohydrate diets are popular and efficient weight loss regimes, but we have previously shown that meat based high-protein diets had a negative effect on faecal metabolites and gut microbiota . We therefore conducted a study to investigate whether vegetarian high-protein diets would have the same effect. After 3 days on a balanced weight maintenance diet, 20 obese men received two high-protein weight loss diets with either beef or soya as the main protein source for 2 weeks each . Faecal samples were collected at the end of each dietary period and faecal microbial DNA was extracted for qPCR bacterial profiling. Faecal water was extracted by high-speed centrifugation for short chain fatty acid (SCFA) analysis by GC and metabolite analysis by LC-MS/MS. Data were analysed by ANOVA with volunteer as a random effect and diet as a fixed effect and where diet effect was significant (P < 0.05), means were compared with post hoc t-test. The soya diet resulted in significant (p < 0.05) shifts in gut microbiota composition increasing the proportions of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and Lactobacillus spp. while decreasing the proportions of bacteria related to some Ruminococcus spp., Oscillibacter, Desulfovibrio spp. and Methanogens compared to the meat diet. Total faecal SCFA and the proportions of individual SCFA did not differ between individuals consuming meat or soya diets (p > 0.05). Protein-derived metabolites (phenylacetic acid, phenylpyruvic acid and the proportion of branched-chain fatty acids iso-butyrate and iso-valerate) tended to be higher on both high-protein diets with no significant differences between soya and meat diets (p > 0.05). Several toxic and proliferative polyamines were significantly lower (p < 0.05) on the soya diet compared to meat (cadaverine 69.4% decrease, piperidine 66.0% decrease, spermidine 49.4% decrease, spermine 81.5% decrease). Heterocyclic amines were also significantly (p < 0.05) lower on the soya diet compared to meat (IQ 26.7% decrease, MeIQ 36.7% decrease, MeIQx 44.8% decrease, 4,8DiMeIQx 69.6% decrease, DMIP 30.9% decrease). N-nitrosocompounds were also significantly lower on soya diet compared to meat (41.1% decrease) whereas genotoxicity of faecal waters remained unaltered by diet changes (p = 0.56). These results suggest that high-protein diets based on plant protein are less problematic in terms of intestinal health when compared to meat-based diets and might offer a safe option to support weight loss regimes.


In two recent papers, one by Friedland and Schneider, the other by Forster and Nagy, the authors used polynomial matrices to study the effect of graph expansions on the spectral radius of the adjacency matrix. Here it is shown that the notion of the elasticity of the entries of a nonnegative matrix coupled with the Variational Principle for Pressure from symbolic dynamics can be used to derive sharper bounds than existing estimates. This is achieved for weighted and unweighted graphs, and the case of equality is characterized. The work is within the framework of studying measured graphs where each edge is assigned a positive length as well as a weight.


Federated Learning (FL) has been widely concerned for it enables decentralized learning while ensuring data privacy. However, most existing methods unrealistically assume that the classes encountered by local clients are fixed over time. After learning new classes, this impractical assumption will make the model's catastrophic forgetting of old classes significantly severe. Moreover, due to the limitation of communication cost, it is challenging to use large-scale models in FL, which will affect the prediction accuracy. To address these challenges, we propose a novel framework, Federated Enhanced Transformer (FedET), which simultaneously achieves high accuracy and low communication cost. Specifically, FedET uses Enhancer, a tiny module, to absorb and communicate new knowledge, and applies pre-trained Transformers combined with different Enhancers to ensure high precision on various tasks. To address local forgetting caused by new classes of new tasks and global forgetting brought by non-i.i.d class imbalance across different local clients, we proposed an Enhancer distillation method to modify the imbalance between old and new knowledge and repair the non-i.i.d. problem. Experimental results demonstrate that FedET's average accuracy on a representative benchmark dataset is 14.1% higher than the state-of-the-art method, while FedET saves 90% of the communication cost compared to the previous method.


Objective To explore the natural history of severe dysplasia/carcinoma in situ (SD/CIS) patients and to evaluate the efficacy of endoscopic treatment to SD/CIS patients. Methods Between January 2005 and December 2009, a population-based prospective screening program on esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) was performed in Linzhou, China, with endoscopic screening plus iodine staining. All the eligible histologically confirmed SD/CIS patients were followed up through the door-to-door follow-up and local cancer registry. The endpoint was diagnosed as ESCC or the December 31st, 2016. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Log-rank test were used to compare the survival rates among treated and untreated patients. Results A total of 175 SD/CIS patients were enrolled and grouped by whether they received endoscopic treatment. Eleven-year cumulative incidence rates for untreated and treated SD/CIS patients were 10.7% [95% confidence interval (95% CI): 6.9−16.1] and 3.2% (95% CI: 1.4−7.0), respectively. The ESCC incidence free survival rate, and all-cause incidence and mortality free survival rates were all significantly higher in the treated patientsvs. untreated patients (P=0.043, P=0.008 and P=0.015, respectively). The ESCC mortality free survival rate showed no significant differences between the two groups (P=0.847). Conclusions The cumulative incidence rate of SD/CIS patients to ESCC was much lower than previously reported. The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that endoscopic treatment could increase the ESCC and all-cause disease-free survival rates of SD/CIS patients significantly.


Individuals with diabetes mellitus have a 1.39 times increased risk of Alzheimer's disease, a 2.38 times increased risk of vascular dementia, and a faster rate of cognitive decline compared to individuals without diabetes (Lu et al., 2009). In a study, over a 9-year follow-up diabetes was associated with accelerated progression from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to dementia, but was not associated with progression from no impairment to MCI (Xu et al., 2010). Many previous studies on cognitive impairment and diabetes are limited by the use of cognitive screens to diagnose and assess cognitive impairment. A few studies diagnosing cognitive impairment with comprehensive neuropsychological batteries provide mixed results. For instance, Luchinger et al. (2007) found that diabetes was correlated with the presence of MCI, whereas diabetes was not associated with the presence of dementia versus no dementia in the Aging, Demographics, and Memory Study ADAMS; (Llewellyn et al., 2010).


Background: Primary nocturnal enuresis is a common disorder that often leads to considerable distress in affected children and their family. In many countries pharmacologic therapy is preferred to non-pharmacol ogic behavioral and conditional alarm therapy. Imipramine, oxybutynin, and desmopressin have been used for enuresis with various efficacies. The aim of the present study was to compare the efficacy of imipramine, oxybutynin, and combined imipramine and oxybutynin in enuretic children aged 6-14 years old. Methods: In a randomized controlled study 89 primary enuretic children who were otherwise normal were allocated to three groups: group A (imipramine users, n=29), group B (oxybutynin users, n=26), and group C (combined imipramine and oxybutynin users, n=34). The number of wet nights per week during control period (2 weeks prior treatment), and treatment period (1 month) were compared in each group and inter groups. Also the cure rate in the treatment period and the relapse rate in the follow up period (1 month) were compared between the three groups. Results: The mean ages in groups A, B, and C were 7.9±1.1 years, 8.2±1.6 years, and 8.2±1.4 years respectively. There was no significant difference in the mean ages in the three groups (P=0.53). In each group the mean number of wet nights per week decreased during treatment period compared with pretreatment period. This reduction was statistically significant (P<0.001 in each group). Efficacy of treatment between the three groups was compared. There was significant difference between them (P<0.001), but there was no significant difference between group A, and group B (P=0.56). The cure rate during treatment period was 13.7%, 23%, and 41% in groups A, B, and C respectively. This difference was statistically significant (P=0.04). The relapse rate during follow up period in groups A, B, and C was 58.6%, 42.3% and 20.5% respectively, revealing statistical significance (P=0.008) No significant adverse effects for the medications were observed. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that combined imipramine and oxybutynin for primary enuresis is more effective than either drug used alone. The combined therapy is recommended in enuretic children who are non-responsive to imipramine or oxybutynin alone.


The present checklist of polychaetes from the Odisha and West Bengal coasts was reviewed based on the recent surveys and published literature. Total 179 species belonging to 119 genera were found to be mixed with valid names and hence a revised checklist is prepared. The revised and updated checklist holds 179 species of eight orders of polychaete fauna comprising of Polyllodocida (47 %), Eunicida (14 %), Spionida (11 %), Sabellida (9 %), Terebellida (8 %), Captillida (7 %), Amphinomida (3 %) and Scoleisida (1 %) placed under 36 families. The current literature includes checklists and distributional records of phylum Annelida from Odisha and West Bengal, subsequent validation of species names arranged alphabetically, providing a valid scientific name, synonyms, and authorities of the species, and also the date of published records with the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) and World Polychaeta database.


The U.S. Air Force is facing a number of challenges as it moves into the future, one of the biggest being how to provide safe and secure energy to support base operations. A team of scientists and engineers met at Mountain Home Air Force Base near Boise, Idaho, to discuss the possibility of exploring for geothermal resources under the base. The team identified that there was a reasonable potential for geothermal resources based on data from an existing well. In addition, a regional gravity map helped identify several possible locations for drilling a new well. The team identified several possible sources of funding for this well—the most logical being to use U.S. Department of Energy funds to drill the upper half of the well and U.S. Air Force funds to drill the bottom half of the well. The well was designed as a slimhole well in accordance with State of Idaho Department of Water Resources rules and regulations. Drilling operations commenced at the Mountain Home site in July of 2011 and were completed in January of 2012. Temperatures increased gradually, especially below a depth of 2000 ft. Temperatures increased more rapidly below a depth of 5500 ft. The bottom ofmore » the well is at 5976 ft, where a temperature of about 140°C was recorded. The well flowed artesian from a depth below 5600 ft, until it was plugged off with drilling mud. Core samples were collected from the well and are being analyzed to help understand permeability at depth. Additional tests using a televiewer system will be run to evaluate orientation and directions at fractures, especially in the production zone. A final report on the well exploitation will be forthcoming later this year. The Air Force will use it to evaluate the geothermal resource potential for future private development options at Mountain Home AFB.« less


We describe an important trend: increasing use by the US judicial system of CoCs to resolve disputes. Specifically, CoCs are being used to judge, literally, the performance of non-code subscribers and unaffiliated organizations. We illustrate successful use of an IEEE CoC at arbitration, resulting in a multi-million dollar judgment against an organization having no IEEE members. Our fictionalized 'case' is a compilation of real cases – an ERP system implementation failure. Plaintiffs faced a common dilemma: an inability to determine applicable 'standards of care.' These disputes were won as a direct result of using the IEEE CoC to compare and contrast human and organizational behaviors. Although the implications of this factual trend are unclear, use of such a technique has reached a 'tipping point.' We hope to spark discussion leading to more beneficial outcomes for the IEEE Computer Society, the IEEE, our professional community, and for the information technology (IT), business and consulting communities.


The invention provides a power supply apparatus for supplying electric power to a capacitive load. The apparatus has a transformer, a positive half-period driver and a negative half-period driver supplying positive and negative half-periods of voltage to the first coil. The second coil forms an electric resonance circuit and supplies electric voltage to the load. Zero crossings of the voltage supplied to the first coil are determined from a third coil on the transformer, and alternation between positive and negative half-periods of voltage supplied to the first coil is done at the zero crossings of the voltage supplied to the first coil.


Resonance Raman excitation spectroscopy combined with ultra low temperature absorption spectral analysis of the major xanthophylls of higher plants in isolated antenna and intact thylakoid membranes was used to identify carotenoid absorption regions and study their molecular configuration. The major electronic transitions of the light-harvesting complex of photosystem II (LHCIIb) xanthophylls have been identified for both the monomeric and trimeric states of the complex. One long wavelength state of lutein with a 0-0 transition at 510 nm was detected in LHCIIb trimers. The short wavelength 0-0 transitions of lutein and neoxanthin were located at 495 and 486 nm, respectively. In monomeric LHCIIb, both luteins absorb around 495 nm, but slight differences in their protein environments give rise to a broadening of this band. The resonance Raman spectra of violaxanthin and zeaxanthin in intact thylakoid membranes was determined. The broad 0-0 absorption transition for zeaxanthin was found to be located in the 503–511 nm region. Violaxanthin exhibited heterogeneity, having two populations with one absorbing at 497 nm (0-0), 460 nm (0-1), and 429 nm (0-2), and the other major pool absorbing at 488 nm (0-0), 452 nm (0-1), and 423 nm (0-2). The origin of this heterogeneity is discussed. The configuration of zeaxanthin and violaxanthin in thylakoid membranes was different from that of free pigments, and both xanthophylls (notably, zeaxanthin) were found to be well coordinated within the antenna proteins in vivo, arguing against the possibility of their free diffusion in the membrane and supporting our recent biochemical evidence of their association with intact oligomeric light-harvesting complexes (Ruban, A. V., Lee, P. J., Wentworth, M., Young, A. J., and Horton, P. (1999) J. Biol. Chem. 274, 10458–10465).


Background Nasal flow-synchronized intermittent mandatory ventilation (NSIMV) is a new non-invasive ventilatory mode that delivers synchronized mechanical breaths through the nasal tube. This study was conducted to compare the efficacy of NSIMV and NCPAP (nasal continuous positive airway pressure) in reducing reintubation of extubated preterm infants. Methods This randomized clinical trial was conducted in Ghaem NICU of mass had medical university from September 2009 through June 2010. Preterm infants who had respiratory distress syndrome and required endotracheal intubation within 48h of birth and met specific predetermined criteria for extubation by day 30 of life were recruited. Each infant was randomized to receive either NSIMV or NCPAP soon after extubation. Extubation was deemed successful if re-intubation was not needed for at least 48h. Brain sonography was done befor extubation and after 48h.sample size was determined with 95% confidence and 90% power. Data was analyzed with spss 11.5 and Chi-square test. Results There were no significant differences in clinical characteristics between the two groups at randomization. Fifty-four percent (14/25) infants were successfully extubated to NSIMV compared with 52% (13/25) to NCPAP (p =0.78). Infants assigned to NCPAP had higher arterial CO2 pressure level than those assigned to NSIMV (p=0.002). Neither procedure induced major adverse effects despite more elevation in IVH grade during SIMV. Conclusions NSIMV in the post-extubation period is safe, however it's not more effective than NCPAP in preventing re-ventilation.


Background: The prognostic role of the platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) is controversial in patients with melanoma. Therefore, we performed a meta-analysis to assess the prognostic value of the PLR in patients with melanoma. Methods: PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane library, WanFang, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure were searched for eligible studies. Pooled hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to evaluate the association between the PLR and overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). Results: Nine studies with 2,396 patients were included in this meta-analysis. A high PLR was a predictor of shorter OS (HR = 1.67, 95% CI = 1.18–2.38, p = 0.004), but not PFS (HR = 1.53, 95% CI = 0.96–2.44, p = 0.075) in patients with melanoma. Subgroup analysis revealed that the PLR remained a significant prognostic indicator of both OS and PFS in patients with non-metastatic disease; the PLR cutoff value of <120 had a consistent prognostic value. Conclusions: An increased PLR was associated with poor OS of patients with melanoma. Hence, we suggest that the preoperative PLR could be used to identify high-risk patients and provide information regarding the prognosis of patients with melanoma.


We present a model of flight to quality episodes that emphasizes financial system risk and the Knightian uncertainty surrounding these episodes. In the model, agents are uncertain about the probability distribution of shocks in markets different from theirs, treating such uncertainty as Knightian. Aversion to this uncertainty generates demand for safe financial claims. It also leads agents to require financial intermediaries to lock-up capital to cover their own markets' shocks in a manner that is robust to uncertainty over other markets. These actions are wasteful in the aggregate and can trigger a financial accelerator. A lender of last resort can unlock private capital markets to stabilize the economy during these episodes by committing to intervene should conditions worsen.


Output feature of the switched-capacitor (SC) DC-DC converter is limited by the capacitance of the capacitor network and the switch frequency. It is a main difficulty for the monolithically integrated SC DC-DC converter to manufacture the integrated capacitor network with large capacitance. In order to improve output feature of the SC DC-DC converter, we propose here a improved converter circuit in which a gyrator is employed to enlarge the capacitance of the capacitor network and make the converter output higher current and higher power without integration of a large capacitor network.


generations of sun but still likely to last longer than their photographed image. Despite the book's obvious awareness of explorer clichés and consciousness of the scenario's unlikelihood (the villagers all speak English, a fact that even Flash's rescuer scoffs at), there's an air of generic exoticism to the villagers and their ways, but the setup depends on the isolation of the village, and their customs are credibly envisioned. The art limits its depiction to the photographs described in the story, so its cartoonishly literal style is thematically suitable as well as inviting to timid readers. With its streamlined, easy-chapter text and thought-provoking subject, this would make an intriguing readaloud for older audiences as well as a chapter book to take readers off the literal and literary beaten path. DS


This paper presents the results of a physiological study in which four methods used to measure cyclophoria were compared. A total of 50 persons without strabismus participated in a series of experiments. Monocular and binocular measurements were made in primary position. It was found that different methods have different means and ranges. Thus, when conducting clinical follow-up examinations, the same method should be used as before. The double-scale Maddox cylinder was found to be a simple and reliable screening method. The mean is close to 0 degrees and the physiologic range varies from 2 degrees incyclophoria to 2 degrees excyclophoria.


What can be learned about assessment from what educators in the creative practices focus their studio publications on? What should form the focus of assessment in architecture, art and design studios? In this article we draw on 118 journal articles on studio published over the last decade in three disciplines; architecture, art and design to inform the focus of studio assessment. We believe that what is published by educators themselves in these disciplines reveals what matters most to them. In addition, we argue that regardless of the primary emphasis placed in each discipline, assessment in studio should encompass a broad set of indicators. Within the wider literature including in architecture, art and design, a view of assessment is emerging that recognises the process and the person, beyond a view that positions the product or art/design arte-fact above all else. Therefore, drawing on what educators in architecture, art and design mentioned most in the journal publications analysed, as well as the literature on good assessment, we offer a holistic model to guide and take studio assessment in the creative disciplines further.


The article deals with the problem of finding the manifestations of intertextual reminisces in the English drama of the Renaissance in the context of contemporary drama parabole consideration. On the basis of the play "Akademy of Laugh" by the famous modern Japanese playwright Koki Mitani  the categories of "intertextuality" and "intermediality"are investigated, namely, the features of the manifestations of these aspects in the light  of modern parabolic drama.  In the process of analyzing the play, the author draws attention to the context of intermedial connections of literature with theatrical art, considers the implementation of the principle of "game in play", traces the manifistations of intercultural interaction between Eastern and Western culture. The events in the drama take place against a backdrop of complicated historical events – The Japan – China War, when the ideological beliefs of the ruling elite of the monarchy took the vector of the Nazi-fascist trend, and the times of general mobilization didn't encourage the development of a light entertainment genre. The work contains references to the intertextual elements of the dramatic works of the English playwright William Shakespeare (the tragedies "Romeo and Juliet", "Hamlet" and "Macbeth"). The article raises the issue of communicative model of the work, considers the sphere of characters of drama. The comic interpretation of the play is a juxtaposition of cultures and literary genres. The genre features of the work are investigated. The specifity and minimalism of the structure are noted. The attention is focused on the chronotopic specificity of the parabolic work. The article deals with animal symbols, which are considered in the context of ambivalence and ambiguity. The study postulates the idea that through the visualization of intertextual manifestations the intermediality of the work becomes present, as a result of which there is communication of epochs, authors and thoughts. The context of intermedial connections between literature and theatrical art is demonstrated.  The author applies the concept "the theater in the theather", structures the work minimally through dialogue between the author and the censor. Intermediality acts as  a system of interaction of one kind of art in the works of another and reveals mechanisms of mutual influence of kinds of art in the artistic culture of this or that historical period.


Assessment is an important aspect of teaching/learning process in secondary schools. The Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) biology practical assessment approach introduced in the year 2005 by the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) is one in which out of the three questions tested in the paper, only one question, mostly food tests involve handling apparatus and specimens by the candidates. In the other two questions, the candidates observe photographs and photomicrographs presented in the paper and then answer questions. The approach was adopted with an aim of reducing the problems of cheating in biology practical examinations. However, its effectiveness in the assessment of Science Process Skills has not been ascertained. The purpose of this study was to establish the perceptions of teachers' on the effectiveness of the assessment approach in testing science process skills. Descriptive survey research design was used in this study. The target population comprised all trained secondary school biology teachers in Kenya. Accessible population were a total of 108 secondary school biology teachers in Siaya County. Proportional stratified sampling and simple random sampling was used to select the subjects of study. Proportional stratified sampling was used to ensure the study sample was derived from all the six sub-counties that constitute Siaya County, while simple random sampling was used to obtain study sample from each sub-county. A total of 90 teachers formed the study sample. Biology Practical Teachers' Questionnaire (BPTQ) was used to generate data from the respondents. Five research experts from the Faculty of Education and Community Studies, Egerton University, validated the instruments. The reliability of the instruments was estimated using Cronbach's Alpha coefficient. Pilot-testing was conducted in the neighbouring Kisumu sub-county, Kisumu County. Reliability coefficient for the questionnaire was 0.85. Data analysis was carried out using descriptive statistics which were frequencies, means and percentages. The findings of this study indicated that, in teachers' perception, the assessment of science process skills is not effective in the KCSE Biology Practical Assessment Approach. It was therefore recommended that a lot of hands-on activities, manipulation of specimens and handling of apparatus be reinforced in the testing of biology practical skills. The findings of this study are important in improving the testing of Biology practical paper by KNEC and teaching laboratory lessons by Biology teachers through recommendations.


Race, as Downing and Husband (2005) remind us, is a 'social category' without a 'scientific basis' (p. 2). And yet, for better or worse, race is a fundamental dimension of contemporary life, one of the few master tropes that define identities, elicit solidarities and operate as an instrument of othering. Though 'more inclusive and less objectifying' (Spencer, p. 45), ethnicity is a 'transient concept' (p. 47) that, perhaps more so than 'race', reflects public and scholarly understandings of difference. They can also be burning issues in the life of nations and regions. As I am writing these words, public discourse in the United States has for several weeks been agitated by radio talk-show Don Imus's racist comments about the Rutgers University women's basketball team, the French intelligentsia is enjoying a collective sigh of relief at the weaker-than expected performance in the 2007 presidential election of the far-right and xenophobic French politician Jean-Marie Le Pen, and sectarian polarization between Sunnis and Shi'as is gripping the Arab world, fuelled by the botched US–British occupation of Iraq, rhetorical war between the US and Iran and the consequences of the Israel–Hizbullah war in Lebanon in the summer of 2006. Disciplines Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication This journal article is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/asc_papers/320 Race, ethnicity and global communication studies


Acinetobacter baumannii is known to be an opportunistic pathogen frequently responsible for outbreaks in health‐care facilities, particularly in Intensive Care Units (ICU). It can easily survive in the hospital setting for long periods and can be transmitted throughout the hospital in a variety of ways, explored in this review. It can also easily acquire antibiotic resistance determinants rendering several antibiotic drugs useless. In 2019, the US Centre for Disease Control (CDC) considered the organism as an urgent threat. The aim of this review was to raise the awareness of the medical community about the relevance of this pathogen and discuss how it may impact seriously the healthcare institutions particularly in the aftermath of the recent COVID‐19 pandemic. PubMed was searched, and articles that met inclusion criteria were reviewed. We conclude by the need to raise awareness to this pathogen's relevance and to encourage the implementation of preventive measures in order to mitigate its consequences namely the triage of specific high‐risk patients.


Background: In response to the pandemic caused by COVID-19, World Health Organization (WHO), together with International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infection Consortium (ISARIC), developed research protocols facilitating global collaboration and accelerating the understanding of the disease, to identify the potential symptoms and persistent sequelae in infected individuals, which can be used in different areas of health, that is, in primary care, at a hospital or outpatient level, both public and private. Objective: To describe the International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infection Consortium (ISARIC) protocol as a new global collaborative platform for global clinical trials targeting post-COVID-19 patients. Methods: The standardized forms were developed from the COVID-19 Clinical Characterization Protocol (PCC) by the ISARIC/WHO working group composed of specialist researchers with experience in clinical research in different areas of medicine and public health, especially outbreaks and infectious diseases. Conclusion: It is expected that the creation of a database composed of different populations from all over the world will help in the characterization of risk factors, in the best form of clinical intervention and in the best prevention strategies for physical, neurological and psychosocial sequelae in the medium and long term in post-COVID-19 patients.


Diarylethene-derived molecules alter their electronic structure upon transformation between the open and closed forms of the diarylethene core, when exposed to ultraviolet (UV) or visible light. This transformation results in a significant variation of electrical conductance and vibrational properties of corresponding molecular junctions. We report here a combined experimental and theoretical analysis of charge transport through diarylethene-derived single-molecule devices, which are created using the mechanically controlled break-junction technique. Inelastic electron tunneling (IET) spectroscopy measurements performed at 4.2 K are compared with first-principles calculations in the two distinct forms of diarylethenes connected to gold electrodes. The combined approach clearly demonstrates that the IET spectra of single-molecule junctions show specific vibrational features that can be used to identify different isomeric molecular states by transport experiments.


The conformation properties of a single polyacetylene chain in solution has been studied as a function of the degree of doping and temperature. We have performed Monte Carlo simulations, using the Huckel Hamiltonian and accounting for excluded-volume effects. The extra electrons added to the chain by doping are shown to influence the stiffness of the chain mainly by introducing long-range intra-polymer repulsion. The conjugation length and the persistence length are both strongly temperature dependent, but the persistence length also depends heavily on the degree of doping.


Color coherence effects in [ital p[bar p]] collisions are observed and studied with CDF, the Collider Detector at the Fermilab Tevatron collider. We demonstrate these effects by measuring spatial correlations between soft and leading jets in multijet events. Variables sensitive to interference are identified by comparing the data to the predictions of various shower Monte Carlo programs that are substantially different with respect to the implementation of coherence.


In this paper we propose an approach for transforming UML Statechart and collaboration diagrams to Colored Petri nets models. This transformation aims to bridge the gap between informal notation (UML diagrams) and more formal notation (colored Petri nets models) for analysis purpose. It produces highly-structured, graphical, and rigorously-analyzable models that facilitates early detection of errors like deadlock, livelock, etc ... The approach is based on graph transformation since the input and output of the transformation process are graphs. The meta-modeling tool ATOM3 is used. An example illustrates our approach.


In her paper 'Why Not Common Morality?', Rosamond Rhodes argues (1) that medical ethics cannot and should not be derived from common morality and (2) that medical ethics should instead be conceptualised as professional ethics and the content left to the medical profession to develop and decide.1

I have considerable sympathy with the first claim and have myself argued along somewhat similar lines.2 I am, however, very sceptical about elements of the second claim and will briefly explain why (see my 2011 paper in a somewhat obscure journal for a more in-depth argument3).

The first part of Rhodes's constructive argument is to show that practising medicine is not only a role, it is something more. Medicine is a profession and as such its members have to internalise and personally endorse a specific ethics. Rhodes is careful to state that more work is needed to complete the justification for this claim, but the arguments she does provide are strangely ahistorical. First, it is not that long ago that what we now conceive of as one profession was actually two very strictly separated professions, that is, university educated physicians and apprenticed surgeons. Can we really be certain that medicine is now one, unified profession1? Second the way butchers, bakers and candlestick makers are traduced is also oddly ahistorical. It is only fairly recently in many countries that anyone can butcher meat, bake bread or make candlesticks and legally sell the product to the public. Historically these trades have in Europe not been mere roles, but …


Previous studies from this lab have determined that dedifferentiation of Müller glia occurs after eye drop application of an α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) agonist, PNU-282987, to the adult rodent eye. PNU-282987 acts on α7 nAChRs on retinal pigment epithelial cells to stimulate production of Müller-derived progenitor cells (MDPCs) and ultimately lead to neurogenesis. This current study was designed to test the hypothesis that the activation of genes involved in the HB-EGF/Ascl1/Lin28a signaling pathway in Müller glia leads to the genesis of MDPCs. RNA-seq was performed on a Müller glial cell line (rMC-1) following contact with supernatant collected from a retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cell line treated with PNU-282987. Differentially regulated genes were compared with published literature of Müller glia dedifferentiation that occurs in lower vertebrate regeneration and early mammalian development. HB-EGF was significantly up-regulated by 8 h and expression increased through 12 h. By 48 h, up-regulation of Ascl1 and Lin28a was observed, two genes known to be rapidly induced in dedifferentiating zebrafish Müller glia. Up-regulation of other genes known to be involved in mammalian development and zebrafish regeneration were also observed, as well as down-regulation of some factors necessary for Müller glia cell identity. RNA-seq results were verified using qRT-PCR. Using immunocytochemistry, the presence of markers associated with MDCP identity, Otx2, Nestin, and Vsx2, were found to be expressed in the 48 h treatment group cultures. This study is novel in its demonstration that Müller glia in adult rodents can be induced into regenerative activity by stimulating genes involved in the HB-EGF/Ascl1/Lin28a pathway that leads to MDPCs after introducing conditioned media from PNU-282987 treated RPE. This study furthers our understanding of the mechanism by which Müller glia dedifferentiate in response to PNU-282987 in the adult mammalian retina.


Supply of water into leaves depends on the existence of water in xylem. Root system of plants will be affected first if the plants exposed to stress of water shortage. The structure of xylem vessels is an important factor in determining the presence of embolism induced by drought and varies from one type to another. Research on cocoa agroforestry tree Gliricidia sepium is used as cover crops. The purpose of this study was to analyze changes in the structure of xylem vessels including area ratio, diameter and hole diameter of cacao root xylem vessels and G. Sepium in drought conditions. Drought stress on the cacao tree and G.sepium performed using EFT systems (throughfall displacement experiment), which runs from February 2007 - February 2008. Cacao tree used in this study was 5 years old, while 6-year-old G.sepium tree. Location of the experiment were divided into six plots comprising three control plots and three plots roofing. Each plot was taken six and three cacao trees G.sepium tree, where each tree root system was taken three pieces with diameters of 3-5 mm at 20 cm soil depth. Research results showed that drought stress during 13 months did not affect xylem area ratio, diameter of xylem cells and xylem vessels, root diameter hole and G.sepium cocoa. However, structural information can be obtained from the root xylem of cocoa have a cell - more xylem cells and pore holes smaller than the root G.sepium. This is shown by the average ratio of the area with an overall area of the root xylem (k) on cocoa roots are ± 0.70 while in the root G.sepium ± 0.49. Average diameter of the root xylem cells cocoa ± 1 μ in diameter, length 50-10 μm ± vessels and vessel diameter hole ± 0.25 μ. Meanwhile root xylem cells G.sepium shows average diameter of the root xylem cells is 1-3 μ, ± 15-25 μ long vessels and vessels holes ± 0.5 μ rang


This research is motivated by the need to gain a better understanding of individual behaviour change processes and in particular assess the efficacy of travel behaviour change strategies. This work aims to provide major insights into how to reduce private car use and addresses sustainable mobility objectives associated with CO2 reduction. This is particularly important at a time when the car still dominates individual lifestyles. In this regard, it has been demonstrated that, though many people are willing to reduce personal car use, in practice, they are unable to do so on their own (Ampt, 2003). Thus, strategies and measures have emerged to encourage and inform people to consciously and deliberately rethink their travel choices. These are called soft measures (Bamberg et al., 2011), and are also labelled Voluntary Behavioural Change Programmes (VTBC) (Ampt, 2003).
The Voluntary Travel Behaviour Change (VTBC) programmes are policy interventions that provide appropriate information, assistance, and motivation (or incentives) for promoting more sustainable travel behaviour, inducing people to voluntarily choose to travel in ways that benefit themselves, the community, and the environment. Through the provision of information and motivation to switch to more sustainable modes of travel, VTBC programmes aim to reduce the motorized vehicle-kilometres travelled (VKT) thereby reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy consumption. In a context characterized by the reduced availability of financial resources for new investments in infrastructure (supply side), VTBC programmes can offer a useful tool for managing (and reduce) travel demand. Results from several VTBC implementations have shown the effectiveness of these policies in reducing private car use. However, there is a dearth of research on identifying and quantifying the influence of individual factors on the propensity to change travel behaviour. The effectiveness of a programme should be assessed in relation to the target population and the type of information provided. Indeed, identifying relatively micro-level factors underlying behavioural change could enhance the effectiveness of the programme, in terms of the selection of specific individual segments (who may be more sensitive to certain aspects of the programme), and in terms of the type of information provided and emphasis placed on the personalized travel plan (monetary benefits, reduction in travel time, decrease in CO2 emissions, etc.).
The objective of this thesis work is to contribute to the development of a programme for voluntary travel behaviour change, adopting an innovative approach consisting in: (1) the analysis of models of behaviour and theories of change (Chapter 1); the two bodies of theory are considered indeed complementary; understanding both is necessary for developing effective approaches to behaviour change. (2) a review of existing VTBC programmes implemented in different parts of the world, in order to identify the main steps to be followed for changing travel behaviour (Chapter 2), (3) the development and application of a method (Chapter 3) aimed at testing and validating innovative tools applied in the first Italian VTBC programme; (4) verifying the efficacy of the method through an in-depth analysis of activity travel data
collected before and after the implementation of the policy measure (Chapter 4); (5) the formulation of models aimed at gaining a deeper knowledge of behaviour change and in particular that are able to simulate the effects of implementing these measures and their efficacy in changing travel behaviour (Chapter 5).
For this purpose, an experimental VTBC programme was conducted in Cagliari (Italy) between 2011 and 2012 to promote the use of a underutilized light rail service among car users travelling daily along the same congested corridor. The programme was funded by the Autonomous Region of Sardinia.
The methodological approach relies on the personalized travel planning technique (PTP), integrating traditional and innovative tools, aimed at enhancing the efficacy of a VTBC programme. In particular, compared to the existing programmes, in this work the method developed relies on innovative tools for (1) selection of participants, (2) promoting and, (3) monitoring behaviour change. The data collected during the implementation are examined by means of exploratory and discrete choice analyses.
The results obtained revealed that the selection process undeniably enabled to intercept individuals interested in the alternative mode promoted. An efficient selection and the PTP itself, certainly complement each other, in the sense that selecting the target audience was a necessary condition for promoting a convenient alternative, whereas providing car users with detailed feedback about their current behaviour and existing alternatives seems to have positive effects on behaviour change. It appears that information about the major benefits to be gained from changing travel behaviour are more likely to encourage the switch to alternative modes. People will choose to change of their own free will if the benefits are very substantial. Another finding that emerged from the short term monitoring phase (three months after programme implementation) is that once car users, selected among those with an available sustainable alternative, experience the benefits of switching to an alternative mode (of their own free will or following a suggestion), they rarely revert to using their cars.
The model simulation revealed that the effectiveness of VTBC programmes in producing a shift toward sustainable modes is a function of the demographic, attitudinal, and activity-travel context of individuals. Disregarding these moderating effects can lead to incorrect predictions of the aggregate shift toward the sustainable mode as well as of the distribution of the shift across population segments. Further, accommodating the contextual variations can also help in targeting and positioning VTBC programmes, and in tailoring different aspects of the programme to individuals'needs so as to enhance its effectiveness.


Certain CT and/or MRI abnormalities have been used medicolegally to time intracranial injuries from the infant shaken impact syndrome (ISIS). For example, parenchymal hypodensities on CT scans are said to arise only after 6–48 h have elapsed postinjury, and the presence of chronic or mixed subdural hematomas suggests injury that occured 1–4 weeks prior. However, these statements are based largely upon inference from data obtained in other conditions such as ischemic anoxic injury and chronic subdural hemorrhage in adults. Direct evidence about the evolution of intracranial injuries in infants with ISIS is sparse, and the radiographic changes following ISIS have never been systematically studied on serial imaging studies. One hundred-seventeen serial CT and MRI scans obtained from 33 infants with ISIS were reviewed retrospectively. The exact scan dates and times were obtained directly from the scans. Acute subdural hemorrhage was the most common intracranial abnormality and was present in 27 (81%) of the 33 infants. Other intracranial abnormalities included chronic subdural collections, subarachnoid hemorrhage, epidural hematomas, parenchymal hypodensities, edema and contusions, and atrophy and encephalomalacia. In 15 of the 33 infants, the injury could be timed with reasonable certainty, and the evolution of the radiographic changes followed over time. Six of the 15 infants had evidence of prior cranial trauma such as chronic subdural collections (5 infants) or mild atrophy (1 infant). Of the remaining 9 infants, parenchymal abnormalities such as hypodensities, edema and contusion appeared in virtually all of the initial scans performed approximately 3 h following the report of injury. One 'chronic' subdural collection was absent on the first scan performed 2.75 h postinjury, but appeared on a second scan performed 17 h later, suggesting that some 'chronic' subdural fluid collections may arise much sooner than previously thought. These findings challenge some of the current dogma about the timing of radiographic changes following abuse and are important in timing the alleged abuse for legal purposes.


Chickpea in India have long been considered as good source of protein thus play a crucial role in healthy diets, sustainable food production. Study on constraints analysis of chickpea was conducted during agriculture year 2017-18. Keeping in the view their food and nutritional security and also income and employment generation in Auraiya District of Uttar Pradesh assumes special significance. The study based on Constraints analysis of chickpea production in Auraiya District of Uttar Pradesh. District Auraiya was purposively selected and the block Auraiya having highest acreage under gram was selected purposively for the study. List of the villages from selected block were prepared along with acreage under Chickpea cultivation and 5 villages were selected randomly for study. In all 100 number of farmers were selected proportionally from each category of farmers and classified into three categories i.e. marginal (below 1 ha), small (1-2 ha) and medium (2-4 ha). The data were collected by personal interview technique with the help of pre-tested structured schedule. The period of enquiry pertain to the agricultural year 2017-18.The study revealed that four types of constraints faced and raised by the chickpea growers i.e. related to Technical problems, Financial problems, Managerial problems and Miscellaneous problems. Technical problems were ranked first followed by financial problems, Managerial problems and miscellaneous problems. All the problems were commonly faced by Marginal farmers followed by small and medium farmers. Except problem related to miscellaneous commonly faced by small farmers and followed by medium and marginal farmers. Thus, it concluded that problems and size group of farms have indirect relationship except miscellaneous problems it means the size of farm increases problems faced are decreases but in case of miscellaneous problems, miscellaneous problems not show any definite problems. Good quality seed, adequate farmer's training, crop loan and fencing of farms facilitated to the farmers. Chickpea is a lucrative crop and it can help the farmers in doubling their income in the study area.


Research on political accountability emphasizes elections and popular control, but often neglects how ordinary people hold their leaders to account in the context of daily life. Dominant scholarly approaches emphasize the logic of electoral sanctioning and removal, missing the importance
 of mutual respect between representatives and citizens. This article introduces a new logic of democratic accountability based on the social practices, daily political behaviors, and public deliberation between representatives and citizens. Using urban Ghana as a study site, this article uncovers
 the mechanisms through which a theory based on respect works in practice. By reconciling theories of political representation with deliberative democracy, the article places the voices of urban Ghanaians in conversation with Western political thought to broaden understandings of accountability
 in African democracies.