This thesis is a study of the musical genre nanyin, one of the oldest and most prestigious living folk traditions preserved in southern Fujian (Minnan), China. As an emblem of Minnan ethnic identity, nanyin is still actively practised in the Southeast Asian Fujianese diaspora as well. Based on ethnographic investigations in Jinjiang County, this research explores multifaceted nanyin activities in the society at large. The importance of the genre is manifested in its active role in political, socio-economic and cultural spheres, its adaptations to state cultural ideologies in the ebb and flow of different political periods, and its continuity despite changing transmission modes. This thesis consists of eight chapters. Chapter 1 offers an introduction to the genre and centres on an examination of published literature relevant to my approach and my fieldwork objectives. Chapter 2 gives an overview of nanyin and its pivotal role as musical source to other folk performing arts in southern Fujian. Chapter 3 focuses on the historical roots of nanyin, its musical identity, and prestige and gender shifts. Chapter 4 traces the processes of social and cultural transformation and illustrates their effects on shaping musical changes in nanyin in the 20 and 21 centuries. Chapter 5 investigates contemporary nanyin performance contexts in Jinjiang, including examination of how ritual practices are situated in the present state ideology. In Chapter 6, I draw on my field observations to discuss the methods of nanyin transmission in formal and informal contexts. With Westernization and urbanization since the late 19 century, institutionalization of folk music has become common, and nanyin is no exception. Chapter 7 looks at music as cultural capital and discusses diasporic support and government involvement as factors in the preservation of nanyin. Chapter 8 summarizes and reflects on my findings with reference to my research queries, and suggest how these findings supplement existing nanyin studies.


The effects of a gasoline spray impinging on a heated surface were investigated under simulated engine conditions in an earlier study. The data from the experimental investigation have now been compared to results obtained from Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) simulations generated using several different numerical models for spray-wall impingement found in the literature. It was found that the models based on single-drop experiments do not predict the outcome of spray impingement well in some respects. Their major drawback was that the predicted diameter distributions of the reflected drops in the secondary spray were shifted downwards from the measured drop size distributions. The tested models predicted the normal velocity component relative to the wall well. However, they were less good at capturing the tangential velocity component relative to the wall. Since the models did not capture the velocities in the tangential direction correctly, the spread of the secondary spray above the wall was under-predicted.


Hyperactive Wnt signaling is the seminal event in colorectal cancer (CRC) pathogenesis, where β-catenin serves as a key Wnt mediator enhancing CRC cell proliferation and survival. c-Cbl is a unique E3 ligase, which degrades both mutant and active (tumorigenic) β-catenin. c-Cbl phosphorylation at tyrosine 731 (Y731) regulates its binding and down regulation of β-catenin specifically in the presence of Wnt ligand (Wnt-on state). Since aberrant Wnt signaling activation is found in almost all cases of human CRC, it would be critical to understand the influence of c-Cbl phosphorylation on CRC cell survival. We hypothesized that c-Cbl phosphorylation regulates CRC cell survival in a Wnt dependent manner, a state that is mediated through mutations in βcatenin or adenomatosis polyposis coli (APC). Cbl phosphorylation was examined in a panel of Wnt-off cells with wild-type βcatenin and APC CRC cell line (RKO cell line) and Wnt-on cell lines with mutant APC (Wnt-onDLD1, HCT15 cell line) or mutant β-catenin (HCT116) using phospho-specific antibodies to c-Cbl tyrosine residues at 700 (Y700), 731 and 774 (Y774) positions. Biological significance of specific phosphorylation sites was evaluated with phosphoinactive mutants of c-Cbl (Y700F, Y731F and Y774F) using both the MTT cell


Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus are predatory bacteria, which prey on other Gramnegative bacterial species. Bdellovibrio modifies the cell wall peptidoglycan of its prey at several stages of its predatory life cycle: during invasion and entry into the prey periplasm, during the rounding of the prey into a stabilised bdelloplast (in which Bdellovibrio grow, replicate and divide) and at the end of the cycle, at which point the resulting progeny lyse the bdelloplast before repeating the predation process.

Bdellovibrio also modify another source of cell wall peptidoglycan during these processes: their own. During the invasion of prey cells, Bdellovibrio adjust their shape to enter prey cells through the size-limited pore in the prey cell envelope. Following this, Bdellovibrio peptidoglycan must be modified during its filamentous growth, division and possibly during the construction and insertion of flagella prior to progeny release. The modification of two "sets" of peptidoglycan was significant in the considerations behind this project.

Pioneering work in the 1970s deduced that the combined actions of Bdellovibrio peptidoglycan-modifying enzymes, including an N-deacetylase, were involved in the prey invasion process. Further work by these researchers also proposed mechanisms of bdelloplast stabilisation following predatory invasion. Since then the Bdellovibrio genome has been sequenced, and transcriptomic data alongside bioinformatic investigation, has provided several potential gene targets which may encode such "invasion-enabling" enzymes. I aimed to investigate the roles of these candidate gene products and determine their role in these predatory processes. Other predicted peptidoglycan-active enzymes have been researched for their roles in either the predatory or non-predatory lifestyles of Bdellovibrio in order to begin to separate prey-active proteins from self-active enzymes.

Previous work observed that the prey bdelloplast peptidoglycan is Ndeacetylated at the N-acetyl-muramic acid (MurNAc) and N-acetyl-gluco samine (GlcNAc) residues within the glycan strands. It was initially hypothesised that these modifications would inhibit early acting peptidoglycanactive enzymes, however recent work from our laboratory, to which I contributed, showed that the combined deletion of two GlcNAc N-deacetylases inhibited degradation of the bdelloplast during the final lytic event, leaving prey bdelloplast "ghost" structures behind following predation [110]. A third Bdellovibrio-encoded N-deacetylase enzyme (Bd0993) was found to contribute to prey cell modification (a gene deletion mutant showed a significant reduction in invasion efficiency). Further analysis has implicated this gene product in the stabilisation of the rounded bdelloplast, beginning to shed light on the internal modifications employed by Bdellovibrio when inside the intraperiplasmic niche.

Also identified within transcriptomic analyses of early predation by Bdellovibrio were three lysozyme-encoding genes. RT-PCR analyses and fluorescent labelling of these gene products identified that these proteins act during different stages of the predatory cycle. Bd1411 was shown to modify selfpeptidoglycan during the invasion process, facilitating the predator entry into prey (∆bd1411 showed significantly reduced invasion efficiency), while its close homologue Bd1413 was shown to act later in the life cycle, associated with elongation of the growing Bdellovibrio filament. Bd0314 was shown to cleave the peptidoglycan wall of the bdelloplast at the end of the predatory cycle as the ∆bd0314 mutant left exhibited intact peptidoglycan structures behind at the end of the predatory process. Combinatorial deletions did not prevent predatory activity, therefore it has been concluded that other enzyme classes are also likely involved in these crucial life cycle stages to produce the Bdellovibrio predatory niche.

The lysozyme genes were implicated in the host-independent (HI) lifestyle as the fluorescently-labelled gene products were observed within rounded, axenically-grown cells. Further analysis has led to the development of a model of HI survival and the role of peptidoglycan-active enzymes in this lifestyle, a novel area of research. One other such protein was investigated for its role in this alternate growth mode. Bd1285 is a putative lytic transglycosylase that when deleted left the predatory life cycle unaffected, but prevented the growth of HI cells in liquid media, implicating this protein in successful growth.

Although there are more peptidoglycan-active enzymes likely to be involved in these varied processes, and control at the post-transcriptional level is still to be uncovered, this work has identified and characterised several interesting mechanisms that contribute to successful predation by Bdellovibrio in its unique niche.


Public criticism of professional media is omnipresent in many democratic societies. This debate has often been examined concerning what the audience demands from the media (expectations) or how they evaluate media performance (evaluations). Based on a representative, quota-based online survey of the German population in 2019, this study examines citizens' expectations, evaluations, and the discrepancies between both, as well as their relationship with media trust, socio-political predispositions—particularly populist attitudes—and individual media use in high-choice media environments. Results show that citizens have high expectations of the media which they mainly do not see fulfilled and that expectation-evaluation discrepancies are related to lower media trust in the case of particularly important and/or most noticeably underperformed media functions. Both expectations and evaluations were associated with populist attitudes, but only in the case of anti-elite attitudes in such a way that increased expectations collide with negative media evaluations. For anti-outgroup attitudes, instead, the analyses show a generally negative assessment of journalistic media, both in terms of expectations and evaluations. Media use does only play a minor role.


The influence of heredity on the induction of tar tumors in mice has been studied, according to Woglom (1), by Parodi (2), who concluded as a result of his experiments on a small number of animals, that heredity has no influence. Miss Lynch (3) extended this work, using two strains of mice in which the incidence of spontaneous mammary cancer was 65 per cent and 28 per cent respectively. These animals, 20 in each group, were painted with coal tar. No variation was detected between the two strains. Murray (4), working with mice having spontaneous tumors, endeavored to determine the influence these tumors would have on the artificial induction of tumors with tar. He makes the statement: "If there is a difference, it is in the direction of a more rapid induction of tumors in cancer mice." For our purposes we have selected two strains of mice in which the incidence of spontaneous cancer is markedly different: a strain of albino mice (strain 3) in which the incidence of mammary cancer is 93 per cent of the bred females, and a hybrid strain resulting from crossing an albino with the common house mouse, having a low or delayed tumor incidence. Ninety-two animals of strain 3 and 32 of the hybrid strain were chosen for the experiment. They were kept in individual cages, and painted twice weekly with tar obtained from the Barrett Company, over an area approximately 1 cm. in diameter, in the interscapular region, from which the hair had previously been removed by sodium sulphide. After two weeks of tarring it was no longer necessary to remove the hair.


One of the most frequent concerns at emergency departments and clinics across the nation is muscle soreness and fatigue. Oftentimes, severe pain and fatigue subside on their own or seem to do so in response to several medications and therapeutic methods. Excitation-contraction coupling in the muscle, and actin-myosin filament interactions, decreased function can lead to failure of voluntary muscle contraction. The two most powerful Phyto-cannabinoids found in the Cannabis sativa plant are CBD (cannabidiol) and delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). CBD was effectively delivered trans dermally for anti-inflammatory activity in various animals. Cannabis sativa or Vijaya has Shulahara property as per Ayurveda. Muscle pain and Swelling are caused by a rise in the Ruksha and Sheeta qualities of the Vata dosha and accumulation of Kleda. Cannabis sativa, also known as Vijaya, has Ushna properties that have the power to reduce Vata dosha. It has Pachak property which helps to mitigate Kleda. Oil tends to decrease Rukshata due to Vata dosha. As a result, reducing pain and inflammation which also lessens discomfort and irritation. Methods: A preliminary survey on 30 patients was conducted and data was collected. Results: More than 90% of patients had reduced symptoms of pain and inflammation in muscles, post-application twice a day with a lasting effect of more than 3 hours. It helps in reducing Kleda present in muscles. Conclusions: Ease oil was having a better result in patients having myalgia. It was safe on use for long term.


The solvent effects on the isotropic NMR shifts in conformationally rigid ligands such as quinuclidine, pyridine, and 4-aminopyridine coordinated to the paramagnetic polyoxometalate, [SiW11CoⅡO39]6- (SiW11Co), are reported. For these complexes the ligand exchange is slow on the NMR time scale and pure 1H NMR signals have been observed at room temperature. The signals for the SiW11Co complexes are shifted upfield whe dimethyl sulfoxide-d6 (DMSO) is added to a D2O solution. The isotropic shifts are separated into contact and pseudocontact contributions by assuming that the contact shifts are proportional to the isotropic shifts of the same ligands coordinated to [SiW11NiⅡO39]6-. It is shown that both the contact and pseudocontact shifts decrease (the absolute values of the pseudocontact shifts increase), when D2O is replaced by DMSO. It is suggested that D2O, a strong hydrogen bond donor, withdraws electron density from [SiW11CoⅡO39]6-, increasing the acidity of the cobalt ion toward the axial ligand. When D2O is replaced by DMSO, the acidity of the cobalt ion in SiW11Co decreases, weakening the Co-N bond. Then both the contact and pseudocontact shifts are expected to decrease in agreement with the observed solvent effects.


This paper describes the development of a special servo computer for wind tunnel applications to provide analog computations and indications of Mach number and dynamic pressure. Division of up to six aerodynamic variables by the dynamic pressure can also be performed. The computer uses simplified techniques as compared to usual analog computer practices which are allowable because of the special application. Multiple ranges of Mach number and dynamic pressure are used to obtain improved accuracy. The system can be used, with minor modifications, by most wind tunnel facilities. The basic techniques could also be used for an accurate air data computer for aircraft applications.


Based on dynamic renormalization group techniques, this letter analyzes the effects of external stochastic perturbations on the dynamical properties of cholesteric liquid crystals, studied in the presence of a random magnetic field. Our analysis quantifies the nature of the temperature dependence of the dynamics; the results also highlight a hitherto unexplored regime in cholesteric liquid-crystal dynamics. We show that stochastic fluctuations drive the system to a second-ordered Kosterlitz-Thouless phase transition point, eventually leading to a Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) universality class. The results go beyond quasi–first-order mean-field theories, and provide the first theoretical understanding of a KPZ phase in distorted nematic liquid-crystal dynamics.


The objective of this work was to determine the genetic variability and the expression of traits of interest for forage production in species of Paspalum. The experiments were carried out in different locations and crop years in randomized block design with three replicates. Five accessions of P. nicorae and two of P. guenoarum were evaluated, besides the cultivar Pensacola (P. notatum), used as a control. The following traits were determined: leaf/stalk ratio; harvest index; and total, leaf, and stalk dray matter. Both main effects (genotype, years, and locations) and the interactions among factors had significant influence on the evaluated traits. The evaluated accessions showed genetic variability in traits of interest for forage production, and their performance varied according to the location and year of cultivation. Total and leaf dry matter production are the traits that most contribute to the detection of the observed genetic variability, regardless of the year of evaluation.


The interface chemistry of selenium evaporated onto brass in technical vacuum (10-6 Torr) has been studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and argon ion profiling. The interface of thermally deposited layers is characterised by a chemical shift of 4 eV in the Se 3d spectra and the appearance of peak shifts and satellites in Cu 2p spectra. The latter arises due to the oxidation of a copper-rich surface layer and shifts in Se 3d spectra are attributed to the bonding of selenium to cupric oxide. Ion-plated interfaces are characterised by a slight reduction in Se 3d binding energy and the absence of Cu 2p shifts or satellites. High adhesion strength is attributed to the formation of Cu-Se interface bonds arising from oxygen displacement in the process of ion-plating.


Placing the perceptions of ten contemporary professional pianists at its centre, this study explores how 'intangibles' in contemporary piano performance can be approached, understood, communicated and operationalised. Through a methodological approach of in-depth interviews recorded on video, coded and placed in the context of relevant literature and the experiences of other musicians, this study aims to locate the spaces in which intangibles play a role in classical piano performance, and determine the factors that influence how performers access and engage with intangible aspects of their music-making. In this way, it seeks to complement a vast body of literature on more tangible aspects of the instrument and its music, and contribute to a broader, more inclusive and balanced understanding of the constructs underlying piano performance as a process rather than product. It brings to the fore the actual voices of those who perform, yet have been downplayed or forgotten in much academic literature to date.
Organised in three parts, Part One outlines the research questions and methodological approach, considers multiple perspectives on the intangible from a range of (sub) disciplines, and introduces the ten pianists interviewed for this study (Chapters One-Three). Part Two presents views on locating and understanding the intangibles, organised by emerging topics and themes, and prominently presenting the voices of the pianists themselves on each issue (Chapters Four-Six). This is also the key feature of Part Three, with the next two chapters on accessing and communicating intangibles respectively, gradually bringing each pianist to life through their values and attitudes (Chapters Seven-Eight). The final Chapter (Nine) brings together the main strands of the discourse, the overall perceptions to emerge, and discusses their implications for intangibles in music-making.


Whilst there is significant knowledge of how intensive, episodic physical forcing governs spatial patterns in large lakes, less is known about how more typical forcing in small lakes affects spatial heterogeneity. This study used repeated field sampling and spatial data analysis to examine the horizontal structuring of physical, chemical and biological variables at a range of spatial scales during typical summertime weather conditions. Sampling took place in the surface mixed layer of Esthwaite Water (UK), a typical, small temperate lake. Physical forcing was low over the morning sampling period, as is usually the case at this site: average wind speed was approximate to 2 m s(-1) and the average morning heat flux was 110 W m(-2). Spatial patchiness at small scales was found for all measured variables, at larger scales, where lake morphometry played a role, temperature variation was significantly dependent upon water depth, and chlorophyll-a was significantly dependent upon fetch. We infer that while shallower waters were, as expected, warmer, the associated differential heating in this temperate lake was not sufficient to impact upon other variables. These results also imply that the fetch-related organisation of chlorophyll was due to downwind advection of buoyant plankton in surface waters, and not due to vertical entrainment. Calculated Wedderburn numbers were indicative of a stable system, suggesting that the lack of a significant fetch related temperature structure was due to near-surface motions only and not to thermocline-tilting phenomena. Whilst previous studies have focused on intense and episodic physical events or large systems, we show that physical mechanisms still have an identifiable effect upon horizontal spatial heterogeneity in a small lake during typical, relatively weak, forcing conditions.


The aim of this work was to follow the kinetics of parasitic eggs elimination after two anthelmintic treatments in dromedary camels. This study was performed on three groups of four female camels bred in semi-extensive system. The first group was the untreated control, while the second one received sub-cutaneous injection of Ivermectine (Ivermectyl 1% ® medivet) and the third received Albendazole (Dalben 1.9 ® ceva) by oral route. Microscopic examinations of 180 fecal samples showed predominance of Trichostrongylus (94%), then Trichuris (9%), Nematodirus (4%) and finally fasciola (0.5%). The statistical results of the fecal egg count showed a slow decrease of eggs elimination in the group treated by injection reaching the mean reducing rate of 55% at the end of the experimental period, whereas in the group drenched with Albendazole, the parasitic eggs elimination decreased rapidly with a mean reducing rate exceeding 95% beyond the third day of experimental period. It can be concluded that oral treatment by Albendazole has a very potent effect for deworming camels and reducing the fecal elimination of helminth eggs on pastures and consequently for improving camel productivity.


In the Netherlands the leaching of heavy metals from metal building and constructing materials results in serious contamination problems in the water system. The most common sources of these heavy metals in construction materials are copper waterworks and roofs, zinc roofs, gutters and rain pipes, zinced steel, stainless steel, and lead sealing material. In urban waters the surface water and sediment standards are often exceeded. Although building and construction materials are certainly not the only source of heavy metals, they are an important part of the problem. This article focuses on six instruments that are in use in the Netherlands to try to reduce impact on the surface waters. In addition to this, national as well as international, a reconsideration of the risks and surface water standards for several heavy metals is considered. A balanced use of instruments can be considered as the application of a best practice.


Retaining teachers is an important priority for school leaders, especially in special education, a field with chronic shortages. We analyzed a nationally representative survey using conservation of resources theory to examine how job demands and resources interacted with one another and with teachers' assignments (i.e., as special and general educators) to predict intentions to continue teaching. We found that teachers were more inclined to stay in their schools when they experienced stronger school administrative and collegial support, had more access to instructional materials, and were more experienced. Teachers indicated weaker intent to stay when they experienced more problems with students, spent more time working, were less experienced, and served in higher-poverty schools. School administrative support moderated relationships between intent and (a) school poverty and (b) experience. We found no differences between special and general educators' intent to stay, though we did find differences in the conditions predicting special versus general educators' intent.


For the ultra-precision single point diamond turning, the spidle system is a core component and plays a decisive role in precise machining. The unbalancing state in spinle can degrade the quality of machining surface. Therefore, the spindle system must be exceptionally well balanced before processing. A precise the spindle unbalancing measurement method, adopting the real-time data in CNC System of SPDT and combining with disturbance observer (DOB), is proposed. According to the experiment result, the accuracy of this method is up to G0.00648. Since this method does not require addition sensors to install, it is easily popularized and applied in the field of ultra-precision machine tools.


Support vector machines (SVMs) are one of the most representative shallow network models and have good generalisation abilities in small data sets. In this Letter, a new classification method based on the deep structure and least squares SVM (LSSVM) is proposed. For large-scale data sets, the method builds the structures of a multi-layer SVM. Using edge detection and the K-means algorithm, the sample set is compressed into a smaller sample set, which is used to train the LSSVM model of each layer and the discriminant classification function is obtained. Finally, this method is applied to UCI data sets and compared with several density-dependent quantised LSSVM methods and other methods. The experimental results show that the method has good performance in solving the large-scale data set classification problem.


Hypertensive pregnant women were examined by continuous Doppler-ultrasound to measure resistance to blood flow in the uterine arcuate arteries. 20/26 had increased resistance. Those with bilateral increased resistance delivered after a mean of 33.2 weeks of pregnancy, 46.1% of them by cesarean section, and the mean birthweight was 1743 g. Those with unilateral increased resistance delivered after a mean of 38.0 weeks, 28.5% by cesarean section, and the mean birthweight was 2813 g. Measurement of blood flow by the Doppler method seems to be useful in the management of hypertensive disorders in pregnancy, as it helps to assess deficiency of the uterine circulation.


While intrinsic motivation has received broad attention in recent entertainment research, the effects of extrinsic motivation, such as social pressure to use media, on media enjoyment remain unknown. Based on an online-survey (N = 230), this study tested the effects of intrinsic need satisfaction and perceived social pressure on the enjoyment of Facebook use with structural equation modeling. The results reveal complex effects of extrinsic motivation: While social pressure negatively affected autonomy need satisfaction, it was positively related to competence and relatedness need satisfaction. This study is the first to develop and test a theoretical model of entertainment experience in the context of social media use and to theoretically integrate the role of extrinsic need satisfaction in media enjoyment.


Tryptophan is the precursor for several neurotransmitters and metabolic regulators, which, although quantitatively of little importance in determining the dietary requirement, have major importance for interpreting symptoms of dietary tryptophan deficiency and excess. The quantitative dietary tryptophan requirement appears to vary widely across species, so intakes relative to requirements are more appropriate expressions for comparison of adverse effects across species than daily intake or diet concentration. Symptoms of tryptophan deficiency may occur at intakes as little as 25% below the requirement. Symptoms include reduced feed intake and reduced growth rate but also impaired skeletal development and aberrant behavior. Older animals appear less susceptible than younger animals to tryptophan deficiency and females less than males. Symptoms of excess tryptophan intake include reduced food intake and growth rate. In growing animals, it appears that tryptophan intakes of >10 times the requirement are necessary before there are detrimental effects on growth performance. At still greater intakes, fatty liver and fibrotic changes in muscles, lung, and pancreas and the serotonin syndromemay develop. In pigs, tryptophan intake of 60 times the daily requirement did not cause mortality. The maximal tryptophan oxidation rate, measured in vivo using C universally labeled tryptophan, may be a possible marker of the intake above which increasing intake increases the risk of adverse effects. The advantage of the oxidation technique is that it does not necessarily rely on but still allows the identification andmeasurement of amino acid metabolites and is therefore simpler and more universally applicable. J. Nutr. 142: 2231S–2235S, 2012.


Hydrology time series prediction is significant. It is not only helpful to set the planning in daily configuration works of water resources, but also provides guidance for leaders to make decision, especially in some special case such as flood and seriously lack water. In order to solve the imbalance complexity of prediction model and complexity of samples and raise forecasting accuracy, combined prediction model based on support vector machine and grey theory was proposed. The grey time series prediction method was used to reduce complexity of samples and the support vector machine regression was used to reduce complexity of prediction model. The incoming water time series of MinJiang River in 1937-2002 were taken as the sample to be analyzed. The results show that the combined algorithm of e-support vector regression and grey theory has better effects in simulate of trend data and the random data in medium and long-term forecasting.


We report on the ultrafast vibrational response of single Ge-Si core-shell nanowires obtained by epitaxial growth and investigated by femtosecond transient reflectivity and coherent x-ray diffraction measurements. The oscillations of the sample reflectivity are correlated with the fundamental breathing mode for wires with a diameter ranging from 150 to 350 nm and compared with solutions of the Navier equation. Taking advantage of a free standing geometry, we are able to get a mechanical quality factor of higher than 80. Coupling electron microscopy and pump and probe investigations with a very high spectral resolution performed on the same wire, we demonstrate that both shell and core diameter fluctuations are revealed and quantified. X-ray coherent diffraction measurements on individual nanowires evidence changes in the Ge-core diameter and different strain states along a single structure.


Introduction: Oxidative stress plays a central role in the pathogenesis of morbidities in β-thalassemia. Peroxiredoxin-2 (PRDX2) is the third most abundant cytoplasmic protein in red cells and is able to reduce and detoxify a vast range of organic peroxides, H2O2, and peroxynitrite. PRDX2 has been demonstrated to be induced by oxidative stress and that cells overexpressing PRDX2 are more resistant to the oxidative stress. Vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin and an anti-oxidant which is often depleted in thalassemia patients as a result of iron overload. Aim: This randomized prospective trial aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of vitamin E as an adjuvant therapy to the three used iron chelators in moderately iron overloaded young vitamin E-deficient β-thalassemia major (β-TM) patients in relation to tissue iron overload and examine its potential corrective value to markers of oxidative stress and to the level of PRDX2 as a novel protective marker of oxidative stress. Methods: Inclusion criteria were β-TM patients aged 6-18 years, vitamin E deficient, serum ferritin (SF) >1000-2500 μg/L and cardiac T2* > 10 ms and ejection fraction > 56 %. A total of 245 β-TM patients were screened for eligibility, 180 were enrolled while 35 did not meet inclusion criteria and 30 were excluded. The 180 β-TM vitamin E-deficient patients were equally enrolled into 3 groups (each; n=60) and received desferrioxamine (DFO), deferiprone (DFP) and deferasirox (DFX). Patients in each group were further randomized either to receive vitamin E supplementation (400 IU daily) or not (n=30). All patients received vitamin E (group A) or no vitamin E (group B) were followed-up for one year with assessment of transfusion index, hemoglobin, serum ferritin (SF), liver iron content (LIC) and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) T2*. Malondialdehyde (MDA), as an index for lipid peroxidation, and antioxidants including reduced glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), catalase and PRXD2 were assessed. Results: Baseline vitamin E was negatively correlated to SF, LIC and MDA while it was positively correlated to GSH, GPX, catalase and PRXD2. No significant difference was found as regards the studied variables at baseline and study end in patients who did not receive vitamin E (group B). After vitamin E therapy, transfusion index, SF, and LIC were significantly decreased in group A patients while hemoglobin and cardiac MRI T2* were elevated compared with baseline levels or those in group B without vitamin E. MDA levels were decreased while all the studied antioxidants were increased post-vitamin E supplementation compared with baseline levels or those in group B without vitamin E. The same improvement was found among DFP-treated patients post-vitamin E compared with baseline data. DFP-treated patients had the highest hemoglobin and antioxidant levels with the lowest SF and LIC compared with DFO or DFX subgroups. Conclusions: Vitamin E as an adjuvant therapy possibly potentiates the efficacy of DFP more than DFO and DFX in reducing iron burden and reduces oxidative stress in the moderately iron overloaded vitamin E-deficient β-TM patients, with no adverse events.

 No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


The research study focuses on the impact of demerger on the financial performance of Crompton Greaves Limited , now named as C G Power and Industrial Solutions Ltd. Various business environmental factors such as technological, political, social and competition which are internal and external to the corporate entities affect the business organization. These create threats as well as opportunities. In order to overcome various threats and to capitalize opportunities, the corporate entities resort to corporate restructuring. Demerger is one such form of corporate restructuring with the help of which, the company can separate its loss making division and can improve its overall performance. In this study, various statistical and financial tools such as, paired t- test , and financial ratios like, return on net worth/ equity, return on assets and asset turnover ratio are employed. The study concluded that, the demerger had no significant impact on return on net worth/ equity and return on assets but in case of asset turnover ratio, reverse was the situation.


Polygraphic recordings was used to assess laughing and smiling, and results were compared for 34 normal controls, 24 schizophrenic patients, and 15 depressive patients. The schizophrenic and the depressive patients showed reduced "laughs of pleasure," i.e., laughing in reaction to a comic video assessed by laughing score; however, the depressive patients in remission showed the same laughing reaction as the controls. "Smiles as social signals" during interviews were reduced for the schizophrenic patients but remained for the depressive patients. There was a tendency for greater reduction of both laughing and smiling in disorganized-versus paranoid-type schizophrenia, suggesting that the disturbance of affect might be more severe in the former. These results show the possibility that polygraphic recording of laughing and smiling might be a useful method for investigating the disturbance of affect in schizophrenic and depressive patients.


The reaction of rat tissues to intraperitoneal placement of implants made out of biodegradable polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), was studied at different time points after the operation by the methods of light microscopy. It was found that after intraperitoneal PHA implant placement, the active adhesive process started leading to formation of fibrous adhesions between PHA implants and intestinal loops. When PHA implants were used in the form of films, they became surrounded by a thick fibrous capsule. As a result of PHA implant placement in the form of ultrathin fibers, the extensive foreign body granulomas with perifocal inflammation and sclerosis of surrounding tissues were formed. In these granulomas the polymer fragmentation and phagocytosis by macrophages with formation of giant cells of foreign body occured. It is concluded that PHA implants are not biodegradable and induce tissue reactions similar to those caused by other foreign bodies.


Serum apoprotein A-I (Apo A-I) and B (Apo-B) concentrations were determined in 40 subjects undergoing coronary angiography for past myocardial infarction and angina pectoris, and the authors studied the relationship between the apoprotein concentrations and the severity of coronary artery disease (CAD). During this study, serum total cholesterol, triglyceride, and high-density lipoprotein, low-density lipoprotein, and very low density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations were determined to control analysis. The results showed that the decrease in serum Apo A-I levels was the best indicator distinguishing CAD from non-coronary artery disease; the Apo B/Apo A-I ratio had the most consistent association with the severity of CAD as assessed by angiography; Apo B/Apo A-I values ranging from 0.98 to 1.00 might be considered critical values for early CAD.


Paramagnetic NMR data contain extremely accurate long-range information on metalloprotein structures and, when used in the frame of integrative structural biology approaches, they allow for the retrieval of structural details to a resolution that is not achievable using other techniques. Paramagnetic data thus represent an extremely powerful tool to refine protein models in solution, especially when coupled to X-ray or cryoelectron microscopy data, to monitor the formation of complexes and determine the relative arrangements of their components, and to highlight the presence of conformational heterogeneity. More recently, theoretical and computational advancements in quantum chemical calculations of paramagnetic NMR observables are progressively opening new routes in structural biology, because they allow for the determination of the structure within the coordination sphere of the metal center, thus acting as a loupe on sites that are difficult to observe but very important for protein function.


OBJECTIVE
To study the clinical effect of three dimensional diaplasis fixation in fracture of tibia and fibula.

METHODS
Twenty-one cases of fracture of tibia and fibula were treated with three dimensions fixation (12 males, 9 females, with an average age of 46 years). There were 5 cases in open fracture, 16 cases in closed fracture, and 4 cases in up-segment fracture, 8 cases in mid-segment fracture, 9 cases in below-segment fracture. Oblique fracture were in 10 cases, thrypsis were in 8 cases, multisegmental fracture were in 3 cases.

RESULTS
(1) Conditions of diaplasis fracture: dissected diaplasis were in 11 cases, closely dissected diaplasis in 9 cases, functional diaplasis in 1 case. (2) Clinical healing time: the minimum time was 43 days and maximum time was 85 days with an average of 62 days. (3) Conditions of functional recovery: all the patients were followed up from 4 to 12 months, 13 cases were excellent, 8 cases were good. (4) Time of backouting three dimensional diaplasis fixation: the minimum time was 6 weeks and the maximum 12 weeks with an average time of 8.5 weeks.

CONCLUSION
The three dimensional diaplasis fixation and the fracture extremity from such a three dimensional solid that it can satisfy crus biomechanics for treating fracture of tibia and fibula with unstressed barrier and uncentric stress. Moreover, the three dimensional diaplasis fixation is elastic, it's structure is so fixed that it can be favorable for bone union.


Organic soymilk has been one of the fastest growing products in the organic food sector in recent years. Due to the shortage of domestically grown organic soybeans, outsourcing became a practice in the industry. It was estimated by some industry insiders that about 50% of organic soybeans consumed in the United States were imported from China (Cornucopia Institute, 2009). In 2009, the Organic Consumers Association called for a boycott of Silk products because it was reported that Silk, the dominant national brand in organic soymilk market, sourced organic soybeans from China and Brazil based on disputable standards. Under public pressure, Silk brand soymilk started to substitute U.S. grown non-genetically modified (GM) soybeans for imported organic soybeans. Correspondingly, the organic label on the product packaging was changed to ―all natural. The same behavior is also observed for soymilk by other brands. Another notable trend in the soymilk industry is that the dominance of national brands is challenged by a boom of private labeled soymilk products offered by stores across these marketing channels. The impacts of these changes in the organic soymilk industry could be significant for the distribution of economic benefits among the supply chain players. Our primary focus is to find whether US consumers distinguish organic processed foods by the origin of ingredients and brand types. We expect our findings to have wider implications to other processed foods. Preliminary results show consumers are willing to pay premiums for processed food like soymilk with organic and non-GM ingredients. The premium for organic soybeans is significantly higher than that for non-GM beans. The results also indicate that US consumers perceive the product with ingredients sourced from different origins distinctively, with a strong preference for organic soymilk produced with domestically produced soybeans. In terms of brand preferences, respondents are willing to pay more for national brands relative to store brands. Responses suggest that taste is a major factor in differentiating brands of soymilk. The willingness to pay for attributes varied with income and demographic characteristics of the households. Female and higher income groups appear more willing to pay for soymilk with organic ingredients. Older people are less likely to purchase organic soymilk. Moreover, older and female consumers perceive domestically produced ingredients better than imported ones. Yet, the more educated consumers are less willing to pay a premium for domestically produced organic ingredients.


We propose a framework for fitting multivariable fractional polynomial models as special cases of Bayesian generalized nonlinear models, applying an adapted version of the genetically modified mode jumping Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm. The universality of the Bayesian generalized nonlinear models allows us to employ a Bayesian version of fractional polynomials in any supervised learning task, including regression, classification, and time-to-event data analysis. We show through a simulation study that our novel approach performs similarly to the classical frequentist multivariable fractional polynomials approach in terms of variable selection, identification of the true functional forms, and prediction ability, while naturally providing, in contrast to its frequentist version, a coherent inference framework. Real-data examples provide further evidence in favor of our approach and show its flexibility.


Seizure in children are generally indicating a potentially serious underlying systemic or CNS disorders that require thorough clinical examination, investigation and management. It is therefore important to establish accurate diagnosis of seizure and its etiology to manage such patients appropriately. We carried out this study to evaluate different etiology of seizures and its correlation with abnormal EEG & abnormal neuroimaging in the age group of 2mo to 14 years. 200 children presented with seizure to our department from January 2019 to November 2020 were enrolled in this prospective hospital-based study. Detailed history, clinical examination, investigation with special emphasis to EEG & neuroimaging was done and different correlation was drawn by using SSPS 18.0 statistical analysis. Among 200 cases, 6 to 10yr. age group constituted maximum (49%) number of cases. Male to female ratio is 1.5:1. GTCS is the predominant pattern of seizure (60%) in all age groups. EEG abnormality is found in 45%, mostly in focal seizure type. Neuroimaging abnormality found in 29%. Maximum cases (30%) had infectious etiology. Childhood seizure needs detailed history taking and careful examination. Vedio recording shown by parents / caregivers really help towards differentiating seizure from seizure mimics. EEG has a role in specific seizure type; Neuroimaging at times helps in diagnosis. There are few studies that describe neuroimaging [Computed Tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)] and Electroencephalogram (EEG) data in children who present with new-onset seizures. The EEG is recommended as a part of the neurodiagnostic evaluation of the child with an apparent first unprovoked seizure.


Abstract Successful regulation of common-pool resources calls for a better understanding of resource exploitation behavior. This paper introduces an approach that can measure fishermen's responsiveness to stock changes more accurately. In order to deal with the challenge of the latent fish stock, I adopt the method proposed by Zhang and Smith (2011) that derives a stock index from a heterogeneous production function. I use the imputed stock proxy in a count data model that describes fishing trip frequency. By these two steps, I can estimate the stock elasticity of fishing mortality. In the empirical study of the reef-fish fishery in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico, I find that the popular method that uses catch rate as a stock proxy significantly underestimates fishermen's responses to stock changes. This result suggests that policy predictions based on the traditional method are overly optimistic.


The authors proposed the method of calculation, which allows to determine the local formation of nitrogen oxides in the combustion chamber of automotive gasoline engine with internal mixture formation for the modes with laminar organization of the charge. Heterogeneity of sharply stratified mixture the workspace of the combustion chamber is divided on the path of the flame propagation into areas with different (localized) air-fuel ratio. For Volkswagen AUX-type engine test calculations conducted, which results revealed that outcome of nitrogen oxides from the combustion of a stratified mixture is 2,2 times reduced in comparison with the traditional version of uniform homogeneous mixture. Discrepancy between calculated and experimental results does not exceed 8%, thus confirming the adequacy of a satisfactory calculation method.


Normal activation of platelets and their aggregation are crucial for proper hemostasis. It appears that excessive or abnormal aggregation of platelets may bring about cardiovascular diseases such as stroke, atherosclerosis, and thrombosis. For this reason, finding a substance that can regulate platelet aggregation or suppress aggregation will aid in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Artesunate is a compound extracted from the plant roots of Artemisia or Scopolia, and its effects have shown to be promising in areas of anticancer and Alzheimer's disease. However, the role and mechanisms by which artesunate affects the aggregation of platelets and the formation of a thrombus are currently not understood. This study examines the ways artesunate affects the aggregation of platelets and the formation of a thrombus on platelets induced by U46619. As a result, cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) and cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) production were increased significantly by artesunate relative to the doses, as well as phosphorylated vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein (VASP) and inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor (IP3R), substrates to cAMP-dependent kinase and cGMP-dependent kinase, in a significant manner. The Ca2+, normally mobilized from the dense tubular system, was inhibited due to IP3R phosphorylation from artesunate, and phosphorylated VASP aided in inhibiting platelet activity via αIIb/β3 platelet membrane inactivation and inhibiting fibrinogen binding. In addition, MAPK and PI3K/Akt phosphorylation was inhibited via artesunate in a significant manner, causing the production of TXA2 and intracellular granular secretion (serotonin and ATP release) to be reduced. Therefore, we suggest that artesunate has value as a substance that inhibits platelet aggregation and thrombus formation through an antiplatelet mechanism.


Hypokalemia is a frequent problem in patients on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) and is affected by multiple factors. To evaluate factors associated with hypokalemia, we studied 68 patients on maintenance CAPD treatment for at least six months. In univariate analysis, patients with hypokalemia were associated with older age and the presence of diabetes mellitus. Serum albumin, calcium-phosphate product, triglyceride, body mass index, protein nitrogen appearance, and lean body mass assessed by creatinine kinetics were significantly lower as compared to those without hypokalemia. Serum C-reactive protein was significantly higher in the patients with hypokalemia. Multivariate stepwise linear regression analysis revealed that the serum albumin level and the ultrafiltration volume at the peritoneal equilibration test were independent factors associated with hypokalemia. This suggests that the serum potassium level may be an important nutritional marker in CAPD patients. Further longitudinal investigation is needed to clarify this relationship.


We consider sequences of large sparse random graphs whose degree distribution approaches a limit with finite mean. This model includes both the random regular graphs and the Erd\"os-Renyi graphs of constant average degree. We prove that the maximum bisection ratio of such a graph sequence converges almost surely to a deterministic limit. We extend this result to so-called 2-spin spin glasses in the paramagnetic to ferromagnetic regime. Our work generalizes the graph interpolation method to some non-additive graph parameters.


We construct a general framework that generates classes of multilinear operators between Banach spaces which encompasses, as particular cases, the several classes of summing type multilinear operators that have been studied individually in the literature. Summing operators by blocks in the isotropic and anisotropic cases are taken into account. The classes we create are shown to be Banach ideals of multilinear operators and applications to coherent ideals and coincidence theorems are provided.


We propose a real-time, parameter-free edge/edge segment detection algorithm based on our novel edge/edge segment detector, the edge drawing (ED) algorithm; hence the name edge drawing parameter free (EDPF). EDPF works by running ED with ED's parameters set at their extremes. This produces all edge segments in a given image with numerous false detections. The detected edge segments are then validated by an "a contrario" validation step due to the Helmholtz principle, which eliminates invalid detections leaving only "meaningful" edge segments.


People use recommender systems to improve their decisions; for example, item recommender systems help them find films to watch or books to buy. Despite the ubiquity of item recommender systems, they can be improved by giving users greater transparency and control. This article develops and assesses interactive strategies for transparency and control, as applied to event sequence recommender systems, which provide guidance in critical life choices such as medical treatments, careers decisions, and educational course selections. This article's main contribution is the use of both record attributes and temporal event information as features to identify similar records and provide appropriate recommendations. While traditional item recommendations are based on choices by people with similar attributes, such as those who looked at this product or watched this movie, our event sequence recommendation approach allows users to select records that share similar attribute values and start with a similar event sequence. Then users see how different choices of actions and the orders and times between them might lead to users' desired outcomes. This paper applies a visual analytics approach to present and explain recommendations of event sequences. It presents a workflow for event sequence recommendation that is implemented in EventAction and reports on three case studies in two domains to illustrate the use of generating event sequence recommendations based on personal histories. It also offers design guidelines for the construction of user interfaces for event sequence recommendation and discusses ethical issues in dealing with personal histories. A demo video of EventAction is available at https://hcil.umd.edu/eventaction.


Common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) is a complex disease with various influences on perceived health, which correlate with different outcomes, including new morbidity and mortality. Our hypothesis was that CVID patients fall into distinct clusters of perceived health which can inform care. Ward hierarchical cluster analysis and K‐means cluster analysis were performed on data of 209 CVID patients to identify subgroups regarding their self‐reported physical and mental health status, assessed by the physical (PCS) and mental component scores (MCS) of the Short Form‐12 (SF‐12). Four clusters of CVID‐patients were identified. Cluster 1 was the largest cluster, characterized by a relatively high physical and mental health status (44·0%). In contrast, cluster 2 (21·1%) included patients with low physical and mental health status. Clusters 3 and 4 were mixed groups with high mental and low physical health (15·8%) and vice versa (19·1%). Significant differences between the clusters were found for patient‐reported outcomes such as work ability and health literacy, but not for CVID‐associated complications such as enteropathy, interstitial lung disease, granulomatosis, lymphadenopathy and autoimmune cytopenia or laboratory parameters such as immunoglobulin levels or B cell‐based classification. The results suggest different subgroups of CVID patients with contrasting individual needs which, surprisingly, did not differ in clinical or laboratory characteristics. The main finding of this study is that patients with CVID fall into four distinct clusters according to perceived health, which are largely independent of CVID complications.


Synopsis : This study was undertaken to investigate the effect of the melting rate on the solidification rate of ingot in the electroslag remelting process. Structural steel, SS41, was remelted in a copper mold of 85 mm in diameter. The average melting rate was varied from 310 g/min to 480 g/min. Iron sulfide powders were added into the molten metal at predetermined time intervals to determine positions of solidification fronts. Rising rate of solidification fronts VI were calculated from the volume increase in the solidification front region. The rising rates VI were almost the same as the melting rates. The local solidification rate increases linearly with the melting rate in the range of low melting rate. As the melting rate enters the range of high melting rate, the local solidification rate approaches to a constant value.


It is not controversial to say that automation will increase the efficiency of any process, compared with the current performance. In many automation projects, however, one important issue has been overlooked: resistance. This resistance is not electrical resistance governed by Ohm's law. It is resistance to change by personnel when automation or technology changes are suggested. This is a common sociotechnical barrier during the course of phasing in new technology. This article is about an unsuccessful attempt to automate calibration processes for electronic measuring devices in a well-established instrumentation laboratory and suggestions on how to address the sociotechnical problem that was encountered. After reading this article, the author will recognize that the introduction of new, very helpful technology may not be successful because of human (sociotechnical) factors.


Glacial-age Lake Tight was first mapped by John F. Wolfe in 1942. Wolfe compiled his map from photographs of 50 USGS topographic maps, and used the 900-foot contour to delineate its shoreline. An estimate, as reported by Hansen in 1987, suggested an area of approximately 18,130 km2 (7,000 mi2) for the lake. Using a geographic information system (GIS) environment, an updated map of Lake Tight was developed employing the 275-meter (902-foot) elevation contour. Calculations now suggest the area of Lake Tight was 43 percent larger or approximately 26,000 km2 (10,040 mi2) and the volume approximately 1,120 km3 (268 mi3). The reconstruction of Lake Tight in a GIS creates a spatial analysis platform that can support research on the origin and development of the lake, the geologic processes that occurred as a consequence of the advance of the pre-Illinoian ice, and the origin of the Ohio River. The development of the upper Ohio Valley during the Quaternary Period remains one of the outstanding problems in North American geology. The details of the transition from the Teays River to Lake Tight, and from Lake Tight to the Ohio River, are poorly understood despite more than 100-years passing since the first significant study of those changes. A refined understanding of the area and depth of Lake Tight is essential but is complicated by fundamental unknowns—such as the location of the pre-Illinoian ice margin and the extent and consequence of isostatic flexure of the lithosphere due to ice-loading and lake-loading. Given the assumptions required for the model, the accuracy of both the raster data and the 1942 topographic maps, and the paucity of essential field data, mapping the lake shoreline at the widely cited 274.32-meter (900-foot) contour would not provide increased verifiable accuracy.


Understanding how events are semantically related to each other is the essence of reading comprehension. Recent event-centric reading comprehension datasets focus mostly on event arguments or temporal relations. While these tasks partially evaluate machines' ability of narrative understanding, human-like reading comprehension requires the capability to process event-based information beyond arguments and temporal reasoning. For example, to understand causality between events, we need to infer motivation or purpose; to establish event hierarchy, we need to understand the composition of events. To facilitate these tasks, we introduce **ESTER**, a comprehensive machine reading comprehension (MRC) dataset for Event Semantic Relation Reasoning. The dataset leverages natural language queries to reason about the five most common event semantic relations, provides more than 6K questions, and captures 10.1K event relation pairs. Experimental results show that the current SOTA systems achieve 22.1%, 63.3% and 83.5% for token-based exact-match (**EM**), **F1** and event-based **HIT@1** scores, which are all significantly below human performances (36.0%, 79.6%, 100% respectively), highlighting our dataset as a challenging benchmark.


Part of an eight-volume series providing short biographies of men and women from Roman to Victorian times, Who's Who in Late Medieval England spans the period 1272-1485. Covering the reigns of Edward I to Richard III, it was a turbulent period: the conquest of Wales, the Hundred Years War and the Wars of the Roses, but it was also a time of piety, learning and economic development, marked by the endowment of monasteries and of colleges, many of which have survived to the present day as evidence of the remarkable achievements of this period. Men and women from all walks of life feature among the 200 biographies in the volume. Each entry places the subject in the context of their age and evokes what was distinctive and interesting about their personality and achievement. The biographies are arranged in a broadly chronological rather than alphabetical sequence so that the reader may easily browse from one contemporary to the next. The index, with its many cross-references, reveals further linkages between contemporaries. Each volume is a portrait of an age, presenting history in a biographical form which complements the conventional approach.


ABSTRACT While the prominence of the commercial security sector in the international, national and local provision of security and policing continues to expand, research knowledge on its core characteristics, organisation and effectiveness remains piecemeal. One aspect of security effectiveness that has, until now, been neglected is the process of buying security services. Our research, conducted in the UK, but including a small number of overseas participants, comprised group discussions and semi‐structured interviews with commercial security managers, contract security managers and others in the retail and/ or security sector, and self‐completion questionnaires designed respectively for uniformed security officers and retail branch managers. The research findings show how the realities of deploying security personnel can differ markedly from the initial rationale for using them, with an adverse effect on performance. The research reveals many common inadequacies in the local management of security personnel, and their integration with other security measures. Our findings thus illuminate how limitations in security practice can occur and how they begin with the ways in which security is procured in the first place. The research should be of interest as well as concern to those using or evaluating commercial security services, but also of value to all those with a stake in today's 'pluralised' policing environment.


The history of description and state of knowledge of 17 species and 40 not identified to species forms of Leishmania, described from reptiles of the world, are traced. It is suggested to retain 10 species and 3 forms of Leishmania in the list of the subgenus Sauroleishmania as follows: L. (S) tarentolae, L.(S.) hemidactyli, L.(S.) ceramodactyli, L.(S.) nicollei, L.(S.) gymnodactyli, L.(S.) adleri, L.(S.) hoogstraali, L.(S.) senegalensis, L.(S.) gulikae, L.(S.) sp., L.(S.) sp. I, L.(S.) sp. II. 7 species and one form, L(S.) henrici, L.(S.) davidi, L.(S.) zmeevi, L.(S.) sofieffi, L.(S.) chameleonis, L.(S.) phrynocephali, L.(S.) helioscopi, L.(S.) sp. Markov e.a., 1964 must be excluded from the above subgenus since their description does not correspond to the development of the life cycle of Leishmania from reptiles. Flagellata Protozoa from the peripheral blood and intestine of reptiles, which were regarded by some authors as a "leptomonad stage of Leishmania", appear to belong to the genera Proteromonas, Monocercomonas and other Protozoa.


Introduction: Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) is one of the symptoms commonly experienced and it is a subjective feeling felt by cancer patients. The aim of this systematic review was to summarize how fatigue has been described from the perspective of adult cancer patients, the impact of fatigue on their quality of life, what the patient reported as contributing factors and potential coping strategies to reduce fatigue. Methods: A systematic review is in line with PRISMA guidelines. Five databases were systematically searched (Scopus, PubMed, Springerlink, ProQuest and Science Direct) from January 2009 to February 2019 for qualitative studies describing the experience of adult cancer patients using a predefined search strategy and any relevant keywords. Results: In total, 13 out of 4692 studies were included. The ages of the included patient cancer ranged from 26 to 84 years. The majority of studies used in-depth interviews and semi-structured interviews to elicit the participant's experiences of fatigue. Four themes were identified: the perception of cancer-related fatigue, the etiology of cancer fatigue, impact and coping strategies. Conclusion: Fatigue is impactful on quality of life from the perspective of cancer patients. Future research should focus on the prospective exploration of the impact of fatigue on woman's and men's health and identifying approaches to reduce fatigue.


The Bose-Hubbard model subjected to an effective magnetic field hosts a plethora of phases with different topological orders when tuning the chemical potential. Using the density matrix renormalization group method, we identify several gapped phases near the first Mott lobe at strong interactions. They are connected by a particle-hole symmetry to a variety of quantum Hall states stabilized at low fillings. We characterize phases of both particle and hole type and identify signatures compatible with Laughlin, Moore-Read, and Bosonic Integer Quantum Hall states by calculating the quantized Hall conductance and by extracting the topological entanglement entropy. Furthermore, we analyze the entanglement spectrum of Laughlin states of bosonic particles and holes for a range of interaction strengths, as well as the entanglement spectrum of a Moore-Read state. These results further corroborate the existence of topological states at high fillings, close to the first Mott lobe, as hole analogues of the respective low-filling states.


In robotics, the task of pouring liquids into vessels in non-structured or domestic spaces is an open field of study. A real time, fluid dynamic simulation, based on smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH), together with solid motion kinematics, allow for a closed loop control of pouring. In the first place, a control criterion related with the behavior of the liquid free surface is established to handle sloshing, especially in the initial phase of pouring to prevent liquid adhesion over the vessel rim. A 2-D, free surface SPH simulation is implemented on a graphic processing unit (GPU) to predict the liquid motion with real-time capability. The pouring vessel has a single degree of freedom of rotation, while the catching vessel has a single degree of freedom of translation, and the control loop handles the tilting angle of the pouring vessel. In this work, a two-stage pouring method is proposed, differentiating an initial phase where sloshing is particularly relevant, and a nearly constant outflow phase. For control purposes, the free outflow trajectory was simplified and modelled as a free falling solid with an initial velocity at the vessel crest, as calculated by the SPH simulation. As the first stage of pouring is more delicate, a novel slosh induction method (SIM) is proposed to overcome spilling issues during initial tilting in full filled vessels. Both robotic control and fluid modelling showed good results at multiples initial vessel filling heights.


Summary 1. Most animal studies of ecological immunology have focused on parasite resistance: defence mechanisms through which animals prevent infection or reduce parasite growth. Resistance mechanisms have obvious fitness benefits by reducing the fitness losses attributed to infection. 2. Intriguingly, animal researchers have largely ignored the role of tolerance mechanisms, through which hosts do not reduce parasite infection or growth, but alleviate the negative fitness consequences of parasite infection or growth instead. This omission stands in sharp contrast with the plant literature, where tolerance has been studied for decades and led to many important insights. 3. Here, we show that the plant literature has a lot to offer for understanding defence against parasites in animals. We argue that the prevailing views on tolerance in the plant literature should direct research on animals, and that theoretical ecological and evolutionary studies should be built on tolerance measures that are feasible and relevant in empirical studies. 4. Studying tolerance will enhance our understanding of how animals deal with parasites in their natural environments and may provide novel ways to combat disease.


Due to the development of reliable H - ion sources, charge-exchange injection into circular accelerators has become routine. This paper reviews recent developments in negative hydrogen ion sources. The underlying physics, operating parameters and beam characteristics of selected sources will be described and compared. The matching to the RFQ is done with a low energy beam transport line (LEBT). Different kinds of transport lines with magnetic and electrical focussing are presented. and compared.


Permanent venous catheters are part of the treatment of haematology patients. 191 tunnelled catheters inserted in 146 patients in a 51-month period at Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark, were analysed prospectively. The median catheter life span was 400 days, according to the Kaplan-Meier plot. The rate of premature removal was 1.94 per 1,000 catheter days, and the infection rate was 1.04 per 1,000 catheter days. There was no significant relationship between complications noted during operation, length of operation, age and gender and rate of premature removal. The rate of premature removal did not change during the study. Further investigations are needed to determine which episodes during operation have an impact on catheter life span.


A formal definition of the semantics of a domain-specific language (DSL) is a key prerequisite for the verification of the correctness of models specified using such a DSL and of transformations applied to these models. For this reason, we implemented a prototype of the semantics of a DSL for the specification of systems consisting of concurrent, communicating objects. Using this prototype, models specified in the DSL can be transformed to labeled transition systems (LTS). This approach of transforming models to LTSs allows us to apply existing tools for visualization and verification to models with little or no further effort. The prototype is implemented using the ASF+SDF Meta-Environment, an IDE for the algebraic specification language ASF+SDF, which offers efficient execution of the transformation as well as the ability to read models and produce LTSs without any additional pre or post processing.


The study aims to identify the fatty acid composition in Prinsepia utilis seeds collected from diverse populations of Western Himalaya, India. The seeds contained higher saturated fatty acid (SFA-43.09%; Average of all populations) followed by polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA - 29.57%) and monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA - 25.53%), however variations among growing populations was measured. The correlation analysis reveals a significant (p < 0.05) negative connection between 10-Octadecenoic acid methyl ester (FA1), and altitude. Edaphic factors like available nitrogen showed significantly (p < 0.05) but the negative correlation with cis-11-Eicosenoic acid, methyl ester (FA10; p < 0.001), Docosanoic acid, methyl ester (FA11; p < 0.05), Heptadecanoic acid, methyl ester (FA14; p < 0.05), and Tricosanoic acid, methyl ester (FA29; p < 0.05). Antioxidant activity did not show any variation in the seed oil of different populations but varied among the concentrations (5-50 µL) used. IC50 values of DPPH activity was significantly (p < 0.05) varied connect ranged from 11.31-24.21 µL/mL among the different populations. These variations in fatty acid composition and IC50 values of the DPPH activity can be one of the indicators for selecting a promising population that would be harnessed for its potential in nutraceuticals and cosmeceuticals industries.


On October 31, 1951, we sent a simple questionary to all members of the medical profession in the United Kingdom. In addition to giving their name, address, and age, they were asked to classify themselves into one of three groups-namely, (a) whether they were, at that time, smokers of tobacco; (b) whether they had smoked but had given up; or (c) whether they had never smoked regularly (which we defined as having never smoked as much as one cigarette a day, or its equivalent in pipe tobacco or cigars, for as long as one year). All smokers and ex-smokers were asked additional questions. The smokers were asked the ages at which they had started smoking and the amount of tobacco that they were smoking, and the method of smoking it, at the time of replying to the questionary. The ex-smokers were asked similar questions but relating to the time at which they had last given up smoking. On the basis of their replies to the questionary, we classified the doctors in a few broad groups according to their sex and age, the amount of tobacco they smoked, their method of smoking, and whether smoking had been continued or abandoned. Subsequently we have recorded the deaths occurring in each of these groups. To ensure a high proportion of replies we intentionally made the questionary extremely short and simple. In particular, we did not ask for a life-history of smoking habits, though in studying the incidence of lung cancer, with a long induction period, we realized that the habits of early adult life might be more relevant than the most recent habits. In addition, we have made no further inquiry into any change of habits that may have taken place since October, 1951. In short, we have related the deaths of doctors that have occurred since October, 1951, to the non-smoking, present smoking, and exsmoking groups as constituted at that date. It follows that, while we can make an accurate comparison between life-long non-smokers and all smokers past or present, any gradient of mortality that we may observe in relation to the amount of smoking will be an understatement of the true relationship. We shall, for instance, have included in the group of " light" smokers persons who had previously smoked " heavily " but at November 1, 1951, had reduced their consumption. Similarly, a " heavy " smoker at November 1, 1951, may previously have been a light smoker or may since then have given up smoking altogether; we shall have continued to count him, or her, as a heavy smoker. If there is a differential death rate with smoking, we must by such errors tend to inflate the mortality among the light smokers and to reduce the mortality among the heavy smokers. In other words, the gradients we present in this paper may be understatements but (apart from sampling errors due to the play of chance) cannot be overstatements. In 1954 we published a preliminary report on the results of this inquiry (Doll and Hill, 1954a). The number of deaths from lung cancer was then small (36) and standing alone they would not have justified a firm conclusion. In showing a steadily rising mortality from lung cancer as the amount of smoking increased, they were, however, in close conformity with the figures we had previously found in our extensive retrospective inquiries into the smoking histories of patients with cancer of the lung and other diseases. With the passage of another two years we are now able to present from this prospective inquiry a considerably increased body of data, and, in consequence, a more exhaustive analysis. The four main questions to which we have sought answers are: (1) What are the relative risks of lung cancer associated with the smoking of different amounts of tobacco by different methods ? (2) Is there a reduction in the risk if smoking is given up ? (3) What is the most likely explanation of the observed association ? (4) Is there a relationship between smoking and any other cause of death ?


Marine environments experience seasonal variation in physical and biological parame- ters, with consequent changes in predator distributions. During the breeding period, proximity to suitable feeding sites is essential for central place foragers, whereas during the non-breeding period their distribution is relatively unconstrained. We combined light-based geolocation and satellite tracking to investigate seasonal variation in foraging grounds and behaviour of white-chinned petrels from Kerguelen Island. Birds were associated with highly productive areas throughout the year. During breeding (summer), they performed long commuting trips from the colony to distant, productive Antarctic waters. Thereafter, birds migrated 5200 km westwards to the Benguela upwelling system off Namibia and South Africa to spend the winter. This seasonal shift of foraging grounds coincides with a change in activity patterns; much less time was spent in flight in winter than in summer. Individual variability in the locations of foraging zones and seasonal/daily activity pat- terns was low. Trip durations were shorter during chick-rearing than incubation, although birds often travelled as far or farther, tracking the gradual break up of pack ice. Habitat use models revealed an association with distance to sea-ice edge and chlorophyll a gradient during incubation, whereas sea surface temperature and chlorophyll a gradient best explained habitat use during chick rearing. White-chinned petrels are likely to overlap with other marine predators and fisheries throughout the year. Fishery bycatch constitutes the most significant direct threat to petrels at sea. Moreover, future climate-induced reductions in productivity could affect birds year-round.


One of various main jobs in the design of a new tactical vehicle is to develop the lightest chassis parts satisfying the required durability target. In this study, the analytic methods to reduce the size and weight of a lower control arm and chassis frame of a Korean light tactical vehicle are presented. Topology optimization by ATOM (Abaqus Topology Optimization Module) is applied to find the optimal design of the suspension arm with volume and displacement constraints satisfied. In case of chassis frame, the light-weight optimization process associated with design sensitivity method is developed using Isight and ABAQUS. By these analytic methods we can provide design engineers with guides to where and how much the design changes should be made.


Incidental by-catch and associated discarding are difficult to estimate on the basis of logbook information because they are poorly reported by fishing masters and their importance varies with several interrelated factors. The purpose of this paper is to inform the commonly discarded fishes on the Indonesian tuna longline fishery in the Indian Ocean. The study was conducted during 2010 – 2011 following six commercial tuna longline vessels based in Port of Benoa. The results showed that discards composition reach almost 20% from total catch. Those discards composition was dominated by longnose lancetfish (32.73%) and pelagic stingrays (11.62%) which both species contribute almost half of total discards. Later followed by crocodile shark (6.07%), snake mackerel (0.41%), ocean sunfish (0.14%), olive ridley turtle (0.07%), with hammerhead shark, tappertail ribbonfish, false killer whale and leatherback sea turtle 0.02% each. Almost half of total catch are discards and half of discards are disposed dead or dying. These findings indicate the need for special management to reduce the discards for tuna longline in Indonesia.


There has recently been growing interest in the role of metaphors in environmentalism and nature conservation. Metaphors not only structure how we perceive and think but also how we should act. The metaphor of nature as a book provokes a different attitude and kind of nature management than the metaphor of nature as a machine, an organism, or a network. This article explores four clusters of metaphors that are frequently used in framing ecological restoration: metaphors from the domains of engineering and cybernetics; art and aesthetics; medicine and health care; and geography. The article argues that these metaphors, like all metaphors, are restricted in range and relevance, and that we should adopt a multiple vision on metaphor. The adoption and development of such a multiple vision will facilitate communication and cooperation across the boundaries that separate different kinds of nature management and groups of experts and other stakeholders.


Recently there is growing interest for the production of cheap and nontoxic colloidal nanomaterials or thin films for photovoltaic applications. Iron chalcogenides are cheapest materials available for solar cell applications. The work presented here involve the synthesis of iron chalcogenide nanocrystals by colloidal methods and the deposition of thin films by aerosol assisted chemical vapour deposition (AACVD) method from single source precursors. In addition, a comprehensive literature review of iron chlacogenide nanocrystals and thin films is presented.Several new iron complexes belonging to thiocarbamato, xanthato, selenoureato and imidodiphosphinato, have been synthesised. Tris(dialkyldithiocarbamato)-iron(III) complexes of general formula [Fe(S2CNRR?)3] where R = Et, R? = iPr; R, R? = Hex; R = Me, R? = Et and R, R? = Et and tris(O-alkylxanthato)iron(III) complexes of general formula [Fe(S2COR)3] where R = Me, Et, ipr and iBu have been synthesised. The X-ray single crystal structure of [Fe(S2CNEtiPr)3], Fe(S2CNEtMe)3 and [iPrOC(S)S-S(S)COiPr] were determined. Iron complexes were used as a single source precursors for the deposition of iron sulfide nanocrystals by thermolysis in oleylamine, hexadecylamine and octadecene and thin films on silicon substrate at different temperatures. The complexes show typical paramagnetic behaviours whereas the iron sulfide nanocrystals produced show ferromagnetic behaviour. The greigite and pyrrhotite phases with hexagonal and cubic morphology were obtained by thermolysis. Pyrite and pyrrhotite phases were dominant in thin films. The complex tris(N,N-diethyl-N?-naphthoylselenoureato)iron(III) and its X-ray single crystal structure is also reported. Long rod like nanocrystals of orthorhombic ferroselite (FeSe2) obtained by thermolysis in oleylamine, dodecanthiol and in the mixture of oleylamine and dodecanthiol at 190, 240, and 290 �C. Paramagnetic behaviour was found under magnetic measurement of iron selenide nanocrystals. A very thin film of iron selenide (FeSe) phase was deposited on silicon substrate at 625 �C by AACVD method. The complexes [Fe{(SePiPr2)2N}2] and [Fe{(SePPh2)2N}2] were synthesised. The X-ray single crystal structure of [Fe{(SePPh2)2N}2] and [(SePPh2)2N)-O-(SePPh2)2N)] were also reported. A mixture of orthorhombic ferroselite (FeSe2) with rod and plate-like crystallites was obtained from the thermolysis of these complexes in oleylamine and hexadecylamine at 190, 240 and 290 �C temperatures. Also the mixed phases of iron selenide (Fe7Se8 and FeSe2) thin films having rod and sheet-like morphology were deposited at different deposition temperature (500, 550 and 600 �C) onto silicon substrates from these complexes.


Abstract. In this study, we reviewed imported malaria cases observed at the National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Tokyo, between 2005 and 2016, to comprehend their demographic and clinical characteristics. Data on 169 cases were used to analyze demographic information; data on 146 cases were used for the analysis of clinical information. The median patients' age was 34 years, and 79.3% of them were male. The proportion of non-Japanese patients increased and surpassed that of Japanese patients after 2015. In 82.2% of the cases, the region of acquisition was Africa, and Plasmodium falciparum was the dominant species (74.0%) followed by Plasmodium vivax (15.4%). We observed 19 (18.4%, 19/103) severe falciparum malaria cases. Mefloquine was the most commonly used drug for treatment until the early 2010s; atovaquone/proguanil was the most commonly used after its licensure in 2013. Although none of the patients died, four recrudescence episodes after artemether/lumefantrine (A/L) treatment and one relapse episode were observed. Overall, malaria was diagnosed on median day 4 of illness, and, thereon, treatment was initiated without delay. Diagnosis on day 5 or later was significantly associated with severe disease in Japanese cases (odds ratio = 4.1; 95% CI = 1.2–14.3). We observed a dominance of falciparum malaria, an increase in the number of non-Japanese cases, late treatment failure after A/L treatment, a low relapse rate, and an association between delayed malaria diagnosis and higher disease severity. Pretravel care and early diagnosis are necessary to reduce malaria-related mortality and morbidity in settings such as ours.


Objective: Determine the impact and healthcare-seeking behaviour of women with dysmenorrhoea. Design: Cross-sectional survey. Setting: Medical college, nursing college, hospital (staff and patient attendants), schools and suburbs of Islamabad. Population: 1236 women aged 16–50. Exclusion criteria: pregnancy; gynaecological or medical condition. Methods: Structured-questionnaire interviews. Main outcome measures: Impact, healthcare-seeking behaviour, and response to treatment. Results: Prevalence of premenstrual symptoms was: low back pain 879 (72%), depressed mood 484 (40%), headache 268 (22%), premenstrual fluid retention (body swelling) 218 (18%), and nausea 218 (18%). Predictors of pain score (linear regression coefficients) were: low back pain (0.39), headache (0.25), depressed mood (0.17) and nausea (0.17). Premenstrual symptoms affected household chores in 441 women (37%), household income 129 (11%) and social obligations 395 (33%). Students and self-employed women, 282 (63%) and 38 (63%) respectively, reported one or more days missed from school/work. Treatments sought were: conventional medicine by 496 women (56%); household remedies, 285 (32%); herbal 90 (10%); and homeopathic 125 (14%). Self-reported effectiveness of treatments was: conventional medicine (OR 13, 95% CI 8.7–21); household remedies (OR 6.5, 95% CI 4.1–11); herbal (OR 4.1, 95% CI 2.2–7.7). Homeopathic treatment was not felt to be effective (OR 1.5, 95% CI 0.89–2.6). Conclusions: Low back pain and headache contributed the most to severity of dysmenorrhoea. Headache and body swelling (fluid retention) were predictive of days unable to work. Conventional medicine was used by more educated women and was perceived to be effective more often than other modalities.


Summary.  We consider statistical inference of trends in mean non‐stationary models. A test statistic is proposed for the existence of structural breaks in trends. On the basis of a strong invariance principle of stationary processes, we construct simultaneous confidence bands with asymptotically correct nominal coverage probabilities. The results are applied to global warming temperature data and Nile river flow data. Our confidence band of the trend of the global warming temperature series supports the claim that the trend is increasing over the last 150 years.


In order to study the relationship between life-style and serum lipids level in young adults, the author measured the concentration of serum total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG) and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and investigated age, relative weight, weekly alcohol intake and daily cigarette smoking through questionnaire in 310 male workers aged 20 to 39, in Ulsan area. The results obtained were as follows: 1. In the factors being able to influence serum lipids level there was negative correlation between age and alcohol intake, and the positive correlation between age and relative weight, alcohol intake and relative weight, alcohol intake and smoking with the strongest correlation between alcohol intake and smoking. 2. In univariate analysis, mean total cholesterol concentration were significantly different according to age, smoking and relative weight: mean triglyceride concentration were significantly different according to relative weight only; mean HCL-C concentration were significantly different according to alcohol intake alone. 3. In non-drinkers, HDL-C concentration of smokers were significantly lower than that of non-smokers but triglyceride concentration of smokers were significant higher. And in drinkers, total cholesterol concentration of smokers was significantly higher than that of non-smokers. 4. In multiple regression analysis, significant independent variables were relative weight, age and smoking in the total cholesterol concentration, and relative weight, age and alcohol intake in the triglyceride concentration, and alcohol intake, relative weight and smoking in the HDL-C concentration. By these independent variables, total variation in each dependent variable was explained 7.9%, 17.6% and 7.4% respectively.


The study aimed to determine costs to the state government of implementing different interventions for controlling rabies among the entire human and animal populations of Tamil Nadu. This built upon an earlier assessment of Tamil Nadu's efforts to control rabies. Anti-rabies vaccines were made available at all health facilities. Costs were estimated for five different combinations of animal and human interventions using an activity-based costing approach from the provider perspective. Disease and population data were sourced from the state surveillance data, human census and livestock census. Program costs were extrapolated from official documents. All capital costs were depreciated to estimate annualized costs. All costs were inflated to 2012 Rupees. Sensitivity analysis was conducted across all major cost centres to assess their relative impact on program costs. It was found that the annual costs of providing Anti-rabies vaccine alone and in combination with Immunoglobulins was $0.7 million (Rs 36 million) and $2.2 million (Rs 119 million), respectively. For animal sector interventions, the annualised costs of rolling out surgical sterilisation-immunization, injectable immunization and oral immunizations were estimated to be $ 44 million (Rs 2,350 million), $23 million (Rs 1,230 million) and $ 11 million (Rs 590 million), respectively. Dog bite incidence, health systems coverage and cost of rabies biologicals were found to be important drivers of costs for human interventions. For the animal sector interventions, the size of dog catching team, dog population and vaccine costs were found to be driving the costs. Rabies control in Tamil Nadu seems a costly proposition the way it is currently structured. Policy makers in Tamil Nadu and other similar settings should consider the long-term financial sustainability before embarking upon a state or nation-wide rabies control programme.


We combine well-known techniques from the areas of error-correcting codes and cryptography to achieve a new type of cryptographic primitive that we refer to as a fuzzy commitment scheme. Like a conventional cryptographic commitment scheme, our fuzzy commitment scheme is both concealing and binding: it is infeasible for an attacker to learn the committed value, and also for the committer to decommit a value in more than one way. In a conventional scheme, a commitment must be opened using a unique witness, which acts, essentially, as a decryption key. By contrast, our scheme is fuzzy in the sense that it accepts a witness that is close to the original encrypting witness in a suitable metric, but not necessarily identical.
This characteristic of our fuzzy commitment scheme makes it useful for applications such as biometric authentication systems, in which data is subject to random noise. Because the scheme is tolerant of error, it is capable of protecting biometric data just as conventional cryptographic techniques, like hash functions, are used to protect alphanumeric passwords. This addresses a major outstanding problem in the theory of biometric authentication. We prove the security characteristics of our fuzzy commitment scheme relative to the properties of an underlying cryptographic hash function.


ABSTRACT: The use of glucocorticoids in the management of neonatal respiratory distress syndrome may be associated with abnormalities of growth and neurologic development. In our study, pregnant rats received either 2 or 0.2 mg/kg of dexamethasone on gestational days 17, 18, and 19 and tissues of the offspring were examined for ornithine decarboxylase activity, a marker enzyme for perturbations of cellular maturation. Acutely, the higher dose of dexamethasone suppressed ornithine decarboxylase activity in all tissues except lung, where a short-term stimulation was obtained. Repeated administration of 2 mg/kg resulted in an ornithine decarboxylase pattern consistent with delayed cellular development in all tissues (suppressed activity followed by prolonged postnatal elevations), accompanied by impaired viability and general growth. Lowering the dose of dexamethasone to 0.2 mg/kg eliminated all the adverse effects on viability but still produced perturbations of tissue ornithine decarboxylase, most notably a prolonged suppression of activity across all brain regions. These data suggest that administration of glucocorticoids even at the threshold for effects on respiratory function, may compromise neural development.


A 54-year-old woman with advanced cirrhosis secondary to hepatitis C, end-stage kidney failure on hemodialysis, and nonischemic cardiomyopathy was admitted to the medical intensive care unit for treatment of a superior vena cava (SVC) thrombus involving a recently implanted cardioverter–defibrillator (ICD). During her hospitalization, the patient abruptly developed frequent ventricular ectopy with up to 20 beat runs of hemodynamically significant nonsustained ventricular tachycardia. Because ventricular ectopy was not previously seen in the patient, the sudden onset prompted a thorough evaluation. After other causes were excluded, a recently placed scopolamine patch was removed; the ventricular ectopy completely resolved within 24 hours and did not recur for the remainder of the patient's extended hospitalization. While anticholinergic syndrome is associated with a vagally mediated sinus tachycardia, ventricular arrhythmias have not previously been reported with scopolamine, to the best of the authors' knowledge. The observed cardiac side effects of scopolamine rarely occur at therapeutic doses. Scopolamine is metabolized primarily in the liver and excreted by the kidneys, so renal and hepatic impairment should be considered when initiating and dosing this medication. Because anticholinergic medications including scopolamine are commonly used in various clinical settings, we believe that clinicians should be aware of this significant but completely reversible adverse effect.


Mammographies are X-ray images of the breast under external compressions called Craniocaudal (CC) and Mediolateral Oblique (MLO). Together they increase the chances of detecting cancer but the breast is shown in strongly deformed shapes. Cancer location is highly uncertain for the surgery and so the breast is commonly taken out entirely, a serious trauma for the patient. In this paper we present a fully virtual mammography procedure that faithfully reproduces all shapes of the breast and in its inside tracks the cancer at any step. The cancer is then precisely located for the surgery and can be removed through a small incision. So the whole structure is preserved and cured as an integral benefit to the patient.


The switching dead time avoiding a bridge leg short circuit in a PWM voltage source inverter produces distortions of the controlling inverter output performance such as current waveform, voltage vector, and torque. In this paper, the influence of dead time is investigated. The on-line space voltage vector modulation method is used for a current controller. It is possible to compensate dead time by space voltage vector modulation which generates additional pulse compensating voltage distortion caused by dead time. In addition, a narrow pulse which is generally neglected can be compensated. All the algorithms, including field-oriented control are performed by one chip microprocessor 80C196MC and DSP TMS320C31. Experimental results prove that the proposed scheme provides a good inverter output performance.<<ETX>>