Prior research has established a relationship between coordination of software development activities and software architecture both in collocated and distributed projects. Despite the recognized importance of the software architecture in the coordination of development activities, it is still unclear how software architects design the architecture of software systems in distributed projects. To better understand this scenario, this paper reports from a qualitative empirical study where we interviewed software architects to collect information about the software architecture of distributed projects. Information collected has exposed the wide adoption of Service Oriented Architectures (SOA), indicating a trend towards the usage of this low coupling architectural style by companies developing projects with distributed teams. More detailed data collected by follow-up interviews suggested a set of best practices for designing SOA architectures to facilitate the work of the project members.


AIM
To determine microbial prevalence in the mucous membrane and prosthesis of denture wearers with and without denture stomatitis and to study its relationship with potential clinical cofactors.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Saliva was collected from 200 patients (100 female and 100 male) wearing dental prosthesis for measurement of pH. Oral samples of the mucous membrane and of dentures were taken with sterile swab for microbiological analysis. Medical and dietary history of the subjects was recorded. Chi-square test and analysis of varience were used for statistical analysis.

RESULTS
Diabetes, hypertension and high carbohydrate ingestion was observed in majority of patients. The pH average in saliva was of 5.1. The presence of C. albicans, S. aureus and S. mutans in the mucous membrane was of 55.4, 56.4 and 63.6% respectively. C. albicans was isolated in 69.7% from the prosthesis, whereas S. aureus and S. mutans were isolated in 45.3%. The isolation of C.albicans was more frequent in patients with denture stomatitis.

CONCLUSION
C. albicans, S. aureus and S. mutans frequently colonize the oral mucous of denture wearers. This is more frequently observed in patients with denture stomatitis.

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Denture stomatitis is associated to Candida albicans, different bacteria and other cofactors, such as salivary pH, carbohydrate ingestion, systemic illnesses and medication.


Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease its etiology is  unknown . The classical autoimmune diseases, have adaptive immune genetic associations with autoantibodies and major histocompatibility complex(MHC) class II such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), diabetes mellitus type two (DM II). Serum of99 males suffering from RA without DMII as group (G1), 45 males suffering from RA with DM II as group (G2) and 40 healthy males as group (G3) were enrolled in this study to estimation of alkaline phosphates (ALP),C-reactive protein(CRP) and Pentraxin-3(PTX). Results showed a highly significant increase in PTX3 levels in G1 and G2 compared to G3 and a significant decrease in G1comparing to G2. Results also revealed a significant increase in CRP levels in G1 and G2 when compared to G3 , as well as a significant increase in G2 comparing to G1. Results showed a significant decrease in ALP levels in G1 and G2 while this phrase must no differences was observed betweenG1 and G2and there was no significant positive correlation  between PTX3 and ALP in sera of RA males patients with and without DM II it be showed in our study.


In the industrialised countries, the sedentary life and the ageing process of the population, as well as the more frequent chronic diseases and heavy treatments, increase the incidence of protein-energy malnutrition (PEM). The insidious nature and harmful outcome of the PEM on the recovery process requires careful attention of the practitioner to the clinical signs of PEM. Their detection includes an anamnesis, anthropometric examinations, and assessments of the nutritional intakes and the impact of disease and medico-surgical treatments. However, the loss of muscle mass, which is the main indicator of the PEM, is often only assessed by the measurement of the body composition using bioelectrical impedance analysis. The advantage of this method is to distinguish fat-free mass, including muscle mass, from fat mass, when the loss of muscle is hidden by an increase of fat mass and/or body water. Using these different tools allows the practitioner to early detect PEM, to identify its causes, and to establish an appropriate nutritional schedule, in order to prevent from PEM or correct it.


This paper presents and evaluates XML Store, a distributed and highly scalable storage system for XML documents that builds on the Chord peer-to-peer protocol developed at MIT. The interface (API) to the storage system is simple and value-oriented, permitting no destructive updates, which permits simple solutions to replication, caching, and transaction management. Our experimental implementation of XML Store and the Chord protocol in Java performs satisfactorily and demonstrates the advantages of value-oriented programming.


OBJECTIVES
Experimental models of lymph node metastasis were developed for Doppler sonography.

METHODS
Cervical lymph node (LN) metastasis was induced by the implantation of a VX-2 tumor on the oral floor of 10 rabbits. Twenty metastatic LNs were observed weekly by power Doppler sonography, and the presence of an avascular area and the peripheral vessels were evaluated. The time-averaged maximum velocity (TAMx) at the hilum was also measured.

RESULTS
The percentage of the metastatic LNs presenting with an avascular area increased over time. The peripheral vessels were detected in 14 of 20 LNs. The peak time of the TAMx significantly correlated to that of the initial detection of the avascular area.

CONCLUSIONS
In the beginning, metastatic LNs were depicted as hypervascular structures while the TAMx at the hilum increased. Later, an avascular area was detected and the TAMx at the hilum decreased, which resulted in a blood supply to the node from the peripheral vessels.


Herein, we report results of calculations based on density functional theory (BP86/TZVP) of a set of isatin-Schiff base copper(II) and related complexes, 1-12, that have shown significant pro-apoptotic activity toward diverse tumor cells. The interaction of the copper(II) cation with different ligands has been investigated at the same level of theory. The strength and character of the Cu(II)-L bonding was characterized by metal-ligand bond lengths, vibrational frequencies, binding energies, ligand deformation energies, and natural population analysis. The metal-ligand bonding situation was also characterized by using two complementary topological approaches, the quantum theory of atoms-in-molecules (QTAIM) and the electron localization function (ELF). The calculated electronic g-tensor and hyperfine coupling constants present significant agreement with the EPR experimental data. The calculated parameters pointed to complex 10 as the most stable among the isatin-Schiff base copper(II) species, in good agreement with experimental data that indicate this complex as the most reactive in the series. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2012


Abstract

of

This Evidence Based Project had two aims. The first aim was to investigate the current nursing practices that are based in evidence with regard to subcutaneous insulin administration for adults that are in an inpatient setting with a diagnosis of diabetes. The second aim was to provide an evidence-based educational intervention on injection technique and site selection for subcutaneous insulin administration to nurses that care for patients with diabetes at one hospital in southern California.
The research literature has shown that insulin injection technique and site selection affect glycemic control. Insulin, "a high-alert medication" is vital to the care of patient with diabetes, thus proper insulin administration is crucial, and safe strategies must be adopted. Nurses play a significant role in the improvement of the glycemic control in diabetic patients.
A 30-item survey questionnaire was developed as part of a needs assessment to evaluate nurses??? knowledge of subcutaneous insulin site selection and technique; this instrument was developed using research evidence in the literature, and consensus and subject matter expert opinion. This survey was sent to 254 nurses working in adult inpatient areas with a diagnosis of diabetes in a 424-bed hospital. The results of the survey demonstrated nurses??? lack of knowledge and of and variability of practice in subcutaneous insulin administration. Evaluation of an educational intervention designed to increase nurses??? of site selection and technique for subcutaneous insulin administration was performed using a 10-item questionnaire, a shortened version of the system-wide 30-item instrument. Small sample (n=10) t-test analysis of the pretest-posttest responses revealed a statistically significant (p<.05) increase in nurses??? knowledge after participating in the educational intervention. Evaluation of the validity and reliability of the 10-item instrument revealed a Cronbach???s alpha of .83 and a test-retest reliability of .80.
Insulin injection technique and site selection affect glycemic control in diabetic patients and nurses play a significant role in the improvement of that glycemic control. The results of this pilot project provided evidence in support of the use of an evidence- based practice educational intervention for nurses intended to increase knowledge of site selection and insulin injection technique. The questionnaire developed to measure increase in knowledge was found to have face and content validity and internal consistency and stability.
As with all EBP, projects there were implantation challenge, not the least of which was the move to a new hospital location. The final sample for this pilot project was small and ideally, this project will be repeated with larger samples. Plans are currently underway to present the findings of this project to the hospital administration and to repeat the intervention on additional units and even perhaps system-wide.


The radiobiological properties of a cyclotron-produced 43-MeV (p----Be) fast-neutron beam relative to gamma rays have been investigated using Chinese hamster V79 cells in culture. As expected, the relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of this neutron beam for cell killing was shown to increase as dose decreased, and the effectiveness per unit dose was slightly less compared to a 25-MeV (d----Be) neutron beam. By tracing single cells that formed microcolonies after irradiation, we found cell proliferation kinetics to be retarded to a greater extent by fast neutrons than by gamma irradiation. Following either neutron or gamma irradiation, a fraction of the irradiated cells failed to divide in the first postirradiation division and another fraction could produce as many as four generations of progeny before proliferation stopped. The properties of these cells presumed to be destined for death suggest that more than one mechanism and/or multistep process underlies the radiation-induced proliferative death. The fast-neutron beam was also found to be more effective quantitatively than gamma rays in producing DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs, measured by nondenaturing filter elution), and G1-phase chromosome fragments (measured by the premature chromosome condensation technique). However, the reverse was observed for DNA single-strand breaks (SSBs, measured by alkaline filter elution or hydroxylapatite uncoiling). Interestingly, both fast neutrons and gamma rays produced a large component of SSBs and DSBs with a fast-rejoining time constant of about 2-5 min, which appears to be independent of dose. The latter results could not resolve the possibility of lengthening the repair-time constant by increasing radiation dose within the range that is reflected by the shoulder of the survival curve, and consequently did not support the idea of repair saturation as a mechanism for the presence of the shoulder. The RBE for the hypoxanthine phosphoribosyl transferase mutation frequency per survivor at the 10% survival level was estimated to be 2.5, a value that is comparable to the RBE (2.1) for cell killing at the same survival level. Although most of the above-mentioned findings are compatible qualitatively with the relatively high-LET (linear energy transfer) nature associated with the fast-neutron beam, the significance of the action attributable to the mixture of LET could not be delineated in these experiments. Further, the biological significance of DSBs and chromosome aberration and the molecular mechanisms responsible for the repair and expression of these damaging processes remain to be elucidated.


This paper presents octave-tunable resonators and filters with surface mounted lumped tuning elements. Detailed theoretical analysis and modeling in terms of tuning range and unloaded quality factor (Qu) are presented in agreement with simulated and measured results. Based on the models, a systematic design method to maximize tuning ratio and optimize Qu of the resonator is suggested. A resonator tuning from 0.5 to 1.1 GHz with Qu ranging from 90 to 214 is demonstrated using solid-state varactors. A two-pole filter with a tuning range of 0.5-1.1 GHz with a constant 3-dB fractional bandwidth (FBW) of 4±0.1% and insertion loss of 1.67 dB at 1.1 GHz is demonstrated along with a three-pole filter with a tuning range of 0.58-1.22 GHz with a constant 3-dB FBW of 4±0.2% and insertion loss of 2.05 dB at 1.22 GHz. The measured input third-order intermodulation is better than 17 dBm over the frequency range for the two-pole filter.


We report a rare case ofophthalmoplegic migraine associated with isolated, recurrent unilateral eyelid ptosis in a 10-year-old girl. Labrotory test, pediatric and pediatric neurological examinations and imaging were normal. Recurrent isolated ptosis is a very rare manifestation of ophthalmoplegic migraine. Its recognition saves patient from unnecessary tests and interventions.


Fetal weight prediction with ultrasonic measurements of biparietal diameter (BPD) and abdominal circumference (AC) using the equation by Shepard et al. [1982] was tested prospectively in 310 fetuses. Fetuses of all weight categories were included. The error of weight prediction was in the range of +684 to -880 g. One SD of prediction error was 242 g or 8.5% of birth weight. An overestimation was seen in a fetus with a birth weight of less than 2,500 g (1 SD = 183 g or 10% of birth weight). An underestimation could be observed in a fetus with a birth weight of more than 4,000 g (1 SD = 259 g or 5.7% of birth weight). The use of a combination of BPD and AC is more accurate than the use of each of these parameters. In a fetus with a birth weight of less than 2,500 g, the equations by Thurnau et al. [1983] and Weinberger et al. [1984] are of equal clinical value. The method of Shepard et al. should be complemented with measurements of the 'cephalic index' to exclude fetuses with brachycephaly or dolichocephaly, but one should be aware that the variability of weight prediction is high (2 SD = 11.4-19.8% of birth weight).


Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is a condition that predisposes women to increased susceptibility to sexually transmitted diseases, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections and obstetric complications. The etiology of BV is diverse and the diagnostic methods currently adopted include Amsel criteria, and Nugent score (improved Gram stain) that requires microscopy and expert interpretation. We evaluated vaginal swabs from 56 premenopausal women with clinical signs suggestive of BV, using the Nugent criteria and a new BV Blue test for the detection of elevated vaginal fluid sialidase enzyme. For the Nugent criteria, slides were Gram stained and a score of 0-10 was assigned, considering the relative proportions of large Gram positive rods (lactobacilli), small Gram-negative or Gram variable rods and curved Gram-variable rods. The BVBlue test detected the presence of elevated vaginal sialidase enzyme in samples from 49(87.5%)women, compared with Nugent score of 7-10 interpreted as BV occurrence in 36 (64.2%) subjects. The BVBlue test is yet to be introduced in Nigeria as a routine screening BV test, and it is simple, rapid, and objective for the diagnosis of BV. It has the potential to facilitate prompt diagnosis and appropriate treatment of BV in the absence of microscopy. Keywords : Bacterial Vaginosis, Sialidase, Nugent Score Journal of Medical Laboratory Sciences Vol. 14 (1) 2005: pp. 37-42


Although the A/CPA has established the Professional Code of Conduct to deal with the behavior of CPAs, research has also shown that an individual's behavior is af fected by his or her personal values. While there has been considerable research of the ethical behavior of business professionals and business students, there has been limited research of the personal values of public accountants. This study was de signed to examine the values and value types underlie the ethics of Big Six public ac countants. A survey instrument, consisting of 56 values, developed and validated by Schwartz was administered to audit and tax professionals at each of the Big Six public account ing firms in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Value types were derived from the 56 values. The results of the study show there are differences in values and value types by gen der, area of practice (audit, tax) professional level (staff, senior, manager, partner) and firm. Although the rankings of the values and value types differed within each category (i. e. , gender, area of practice), there was considerable uniformity in the rankings of the most important and least important values, and value types. The most important values are Family Security, Healthy, Self-respect, Honest and True Friend ship, while the least important values are Accept My Portion in Life, Daring, Unit With Nature, Detachment and Social Power. Benevolence and Achievement are the most important value types, while Tradition and Power are the least important.


BACKGROUND
We hypothesized that greater volatility of creatinine (SCr) relative to tacrolimus levels [Tac] (VCT) is associated with an increased risk of rejection.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
Retrospective chart review was performed of all single-kidney-only transplants in our Renal Transplant Program from March 2004 to March 2010 (n=117) whose immunosuppressive regimen included tacrolimus (n=81). We collected all available SCr and [Tac] over the first 2 years post-transplant and calculated the VCT for each patient. SCr and [Tac] values were excluded from the first month and from the rise that occurred immediately preceding a rejection episode.

RESULTS
Univariate analysis revealed that VCT was associated with increased odds of biopsy-proven rejection. A logistic regression model including donor type and HLA matches revealed that VCT (OR=1.16 [1.07, 1.26], p=0.0004) was strongly associated with rejection. ROC curve analysis yielded an AUC=0.823 (p<0.0001).

CONCLUSIONS
Increased volatility of SCr relative to [Tac] is associated with an increased risk of rejection. Whereas increased variation in [Tac] levels has been shown to indicate reduced adherence, increased VCT may signal 'immunologic unrest' in the graft. Further studies are warranted to determine if intervention at the time when volatility increases can lower the risk of an acute rejection episode.


The present study was carried out to investigate how resveratrol administration affects retinal SIRT-1 levels and retinal tissue damage in diabetic elderly female rats.A total of 24 elder female rats were divided equally into 4 groups: 1, Control; 2, Control + Resveratrol; 3, Diabetes; 4, Diabetes + Resveratrol. Experimental diabetes was induced by a single intraperitoneal injection of Streptozotocin (STZ) in Group 3 and 4. The group 2 and 4 given intraperitoneal (ip) RSV (5 mg/kg/day) for 4 weeks in addition to the normal diet. After 4-weeks resveratrol treatment, SIRT1 gene expression and MDA ve GSH levels were determined by PCR and ELISA, respectively, in retinal tissue samples of the animals.The highest retinal MDA values were in the diabetes group (G3), the highest retinal GSH levels were in the Diabetes + Resveratrol group (G4). The retinal MDA and GSH levels of the other groups were not different from each other. The highest retinal SIRT1 expression values were in the Diabetes + resveratrol (G4) group. The retinal SIRT1 expression values of the diabetes group (G3) were lower than group 4, and higher than the groups 1 and 2. Retinal SIRT1 expression values of the groups 1 and 2 were not different from each other.Resveratrol supplementation prevented retinal tissue damage that occurs in diabetic aged female rats. This antidiabetic effect of resveratrol supplementation occurs by increasing both antioxidant activity and SIRT1 expression in diabetic aged rats.


Background: Macrotyloma uniflorum Linn. (Fabaceae) seeds are widely used for their diuretic and urolithiatic effects in India. The present study investigated the effect of n-butanol fraction of M. uniflorum (nBFMU) on kidney stone using in vitro and in vivo method. Materials and Methods: Nucleation, crystal growth, crystal aggregation and crystal dissolution assays were performed for nBFMU. Two doses of nBFMU (400 and 800 mg/kg) were studied for their diuretic activity and sodium oxalate (NaOx) (70 mg/kg, i.p) induced urolithasis in male Wistar albino rats. Determination of body and kidney weight, measurement of various biochemical parameters in biological samples and examination of histology of kidney at the end of experiment were also done. Results: nBFMU exhibited a concentration dependent inhibitory activity on nucleation and aggregation along with decreased number of crystals of calcium oxalate (CaOX) produced in metastable solutions of CaOX in the in vitro experiments. Co-administration of nBFMU with NaOX has significantly (p<0.001) increased the urine volume and the level of calculus inhibitors like magnesium, citrate and decreased the level of calculus promoters like oxalate, calcium, urea and uric acid. nBFMU supplement also prevented the pathological changes in kidney and increased the glomerulus activity of the kidney. Conclusion: These results indicate that nBFMU showed significant activity in urolithiasis which might be due to its diuretic, CaOX crystal formation inhibitory effects and its ability to increase the levels of inhibitors and decrease the level of promoters of urolithiasis.


Utilization of Boundary Element Method (BEM) based on linear potential flow for modelling Oscillating Water Column (OWC) devices has gained popularity in the last two decades. The commercial BEM solver WAMIT has been used widely for modelling OWCs and validated using experimental modelling (Delauré et. al. 2003, Bingham et. al. 2015, Faÿ 2020). The open-source BEM solver NEMOH has however been mostly ineffective in modelling OWCs since the main approach adopted previously modelled the imaginary piston as a thin disk. In this research, the multi-body interaction problem has been adopted in modelling a box-type and bottom-detached OWC device in NEMOH, where the imaginary piston has been modelled to the length of the internal water column (Penalba et.al. 2017) and compared with experimental data. A further comparison is drawn with the numerical method of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) , which has shown to be accurate for modelling OWC devices (Simonetti et. al. 2015), yet requires significantly higher computational resources than BEM. A two-dimensional CFD numerical wave tank, developed generating and absorbing waves with the waves2Foam toolbox (Jacobsen et al., 2012) of the open-source package OpenFOAM, is used for comparative purposes.
REFERENCES:
Delauré, Y. & Lewis, A. (2003). "3D hydrodynamic modelling of fixed oscillating water column wave power plant by a boundary element methods." Ocean Engineering. 30. 309-330. 10.1016/S0029-8018(02)00032-X.
Bingham, H.B.; Ducasse, D.; Nielsen, K. et al (2015). "Hydrodynamic analysis of oscillating water column wave energy devices." J. Ocean Eng. Mar. Energy 1, 405–419 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40722-015-0032-4
Faÿ F.-X. (2020). "Modelling and Control for the Oscillating Water Column in Wave Energy Conversion." PhD Thesis, Universidad del País Vasco.
Jacobsen, N.G., Fuhrman, D.R. & Fredsøe, J., (2012). "A wave generation toolbox for the open-source CFD library : OpenFoam". International Journal for numerical methods in fluids, 70, pp.1073–1088.
Simonetti, Irene & Cappietti, Lorenzo & Elsafti, Hisham & Oumeraci, Hocine. (2015). "Numerical Modelling of Fixed Oscillating Water Column Wave Energy Conversion Devices: Toward Geometry Hydraulic Optimization." 10.1115/OMAE2015-42056.
Penalba, M., Kelly, T., Ringwood, J. 2017, NEMOH for Modelling Wave Energy Converters: A Comparative Study with WAMIT. 12th European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference , Cork, Ireland. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319160625.


A novel styryl-containing pyrrole was developed by the reaction of E-4-phenylbut-3-en-2-one with 3-phenyl-2H-azirine in the presence of LDA. Utilizing this pyrrole, asymmetric styryl-containing aza-BODIPYs have been prepared in the NIR region as a result of the combined extension of conjugation. This styryl-containing aza-BODIPY was bright enough to be suited to label living cells for imaging assays in the NIR region.


Studies of pre-transitional disks, with a gap region between the inner infrared-emitting region and the outer disk, are important to improving our understanding of disk evolution and planet formation. Previous infrared interferometric observations have shown hints of a gap region in the protoplanetary disk around the Herbig Ae star HD~144432. We study the dust distribution around this star with two-dimensional radiative transfer modeling. We compare the model predictions obtained via the Monte-Carlo radiative transfer code RADMC-3D with infrared interferometric observations and the {\SED} of HD~144432. The best-fit model that we found consists of an inner optically thin component at $0.21\enDash0.32~\AU$ and an optically thick outer disk at $1.4\enDash10~\AU$. We also found an alternative model in which the inner sub-AU region consists of an optically thin and an optically thick component. Our modeling suggests an optically thin component exists in the inner sub-AU region, although an optically thick component may coexist in the same region. Our modeling also suggests a gap-like discontinuity in the disk of HD~144432.


The sorption of amino-phenol (dye) from aqueous solution using groundnut (Arachis hypogea) shells via kinetic and thermodynamic approaches has been investigated. From the various experimental parameters analyzed, the amount of dye adsorbed increased from 0.202mg/g-0.218mg/g as the adsorbent dosage was increased from 2-6g.In a similar manner, the amount of dye adsorbed was increased from 0.l9lmg/g-0.2l0mg/g with increases in contact time from 20- 100mins. Also, when the operating temperature was increased from 30°C to 70°C,the the amount of dye adsorbed increased from 0.207mg/g-0.2l0mg/g. The adsorption capacity increased from 0.186mg/g to 1.028mg/g with an increase in concentration of dye from l0mg/g-50mg/g. While examining the bio-sorption efficiency, Langmuir and Freundlich models were used. The coefficient of determination (R2) for both isotherms were 0.996 and 0.994 respectively. Pseudo-first order kinetics and Pseudo-second order kinetics were used to analyze the experimental data in which the rate constants k1 and k2 were observed to be 0.053 and 1.465 respectively. Thermodynamic parameters like free energy (ΔG), enthalpy (ΔH) and entropy (ΔS) of the system were also determined and it was found that the adsorption process was endothermic in nature, non- spontaneous and a reversible isothermal process.


PURPOSE
To assess forced expiratory tracheal collapsibility in healthy volunteers by using multidetector computed tomography and to compare the results with the current diagnostic criterion for tracheomalacia.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
An institutional review board approved this HIPAA-compliant study. After informed consent was obtained, 51 healthy volunteers (age range, 25-75 years) with normal spirometry results and no history of smoking or risk factors for tracheomalacia were prospectively studied. Volunteers were imaged with a 64-detector row scanner, with spirometric monitoring at total lung capacity and during forced exhalation, with 40 mAs, 120 kVp, and 0.625-mm detector collimation. Cross-sectional area and sagittal and coronal diameters of the trachea were measured 1 cm above the aortic arch and 1 cm above the carina. The percentage of expiratory collapse, the reduction in sagittal and coronal diameters, and the number of participants exceeding the current diagnostic criterion (>50% expiratory reduction in cross-sectional area) for tracheomalacia were calculated.

RESULTS
The final study population included 25 men and 26 women (mean age, 50 years). The mean percentage of expiratory reduction in tracheal lumen cross-sectional area was 54.34% +/- 18.6 (standard deviation) in the upper trachea and 56.14% +/- 19.3 in the lower trachea. Forty (78%) participants exceeded the current diagnostic criterion for tracheomalacia in the upper and/or lower trachea. Decreases in cross-sectional area of the upper and lower trachea correlated well with decreases in sagittal (r = 0.807 and 0.688, respectively) and coronal (r = 0.779 and 0.751, respectively) diameters (P < .001 for each correlation).

CONCLUSION
Healthy volunteers demonstrate a wide range of forced expiratory tracheal collapse, frequently exceeding the current diagnostic criterion for tracheomalacia.


Using graphics hardware to enhance CPU-based standard desktop applications is a question not only of programming models but also of critical optimizations that are required to achieve true performance improvements. Two major hardware trends make parallel programming a crucial issue for all software engineers today: the rise of many-core CPU architectures and the inclusion of powerful graphics processing units (CPUs) in every desktop computer. Modern CPUs use the ever-increasing transistor count predicted by Moore's law not only for larger caches and improved prediction logic but also for adding more parallel execution units ("cores") per chip. Projections show that future processor generations will offer hundreds or even thousands of cores per socket. However, an application can only benefit from this development if it's prepared for parallel execution.


A method has been developed and implemented that assigns syntactic roles to commas. Text that has been tagged using a part-of-speech tagger serves as the input to the system. A set of Finite State Automata first assigns temporary syntactic roles to each comma in the sentence. A greedy learning algorithm is then used to determine the final syntactic roles of the commas. The system requires no training and is not domain specific. The performance of the system on numerous corpora is given and compared against a rule-based approach.


Gold catalysis is an extremely enthusiastic field of investigation in the catalysis area. The development of alternative, highly inventive, precompetitive techniques based on gold catalysis has paved the way for executing a broad spectrum of chemical transformations from uncomplicated starting materials. The total synthesis of natural products is a complex and more complicated task. An amalgamation of natural product synthesis through gold-catalysis has been a thought-provoking job. The protocol has solved several problems related to the synthesis of numerous complicated natural products. Thus, this review has outlined some of the most notable benchmarks from the last seven years (2015-2021) on gold catalysis and their application in the total synthesis of numerous natural products. The strategy acquired by the authors to accomplish the total synthesis will be elaborately discussed by emphasizing the role of the gold-catalyzed reactions.


In ferns, the temperate-tropical sister clades Athyrium and Diplazium present an opportunity to study a latitudinal contrast in diversification dynamics. We generated a taxonomically expanded molecular chronogram and used macroevolutionary models to analyze how diversification rates have changed through time, across lineages, and in concert with changes in elevation and ploidy. We tested a novel model of cladogenetic state-change in which polyploidy can arise as an infraspecific polymorphism, with diversification parameters distinct from those of pure diploids and polyploids. Both Athyrium and Diplazium accelerated their diversification near the Oligocene-Miocene transition. In Diplazium, the rate shift is older, with subsequent net diversification somewhat slower and suggestive of diversity-dependence. In Athyrium, diversification is faster and associated with higher elevations. In both clades, polyploids have the highest rate of net accumulation but lowest (negative) net diversification, while the converse is true for polymorphic species; diploids have low rates of both net accumulation and diversification. Diversification in Athyrium may have responded to ecological opportunities in expanding temperate habitats during the Neogene, especially in mountains, while the pattern in Diplazium suggests saturation in the tropics. Neopolyploids are generated rapidly, primarily through accelerated cladogenesis in polymorphic species, but are evolutionary dead ends.


This study aimed to determine the level of knowledge and awareness among students from the Faculty of Medicine at Hospital Chancellor Tuanku Mukhriz (HCTM). A cross sectional study was conducted from May 2017 to September 2017 among medical, nursing and paramedic students of HCTM. A validated self-administered questionnaire was delivered via convenience sampling. Data was analyzed using SPSS 23 software and one sample T test was used to analyze the data against the standard setting value. A total of 327 students participated.  The mean age of respondents was 23.32 ± 2.37. The prevalence of NSI was 8.3% with majority having at least once (85.2%) and mostly not reported (74.1%). Paramedic students had significantly higher knowledge (10.71 ± 1.64, p<0.001) and awareness (5.50 ± 0.86, p<0.001) compared to standard setting. Nursing students also had significantly higher knowledge (9.94 ± 1.38, p<0.001) and awareness (5.35 ± 1.07, p<0.001) compared to standard setting. Meanwhile, medical students did not have a significant difference in knowledge (9.95 ± 1.39, p=0.589) but a significant difference in awareness (5.87 ± 1.03, p<0.001) compared to standard setting. The main exposure for NSI was at medical posting (77.8%) during procedure needle recapping (70.4%) using hollow needle (63%). The results showed that the knowledge and awareness of NSI among future healthcare providers is sufficient. However, the incidence of NSI cannot be ignored and further intervention is warranted.


Executive Summary: Four Southeast Asian and five European institutions made up the consortium that ran the project SEATIDE (2012-2016), funded under the European Commission's FP7 programme to do research on Integration in Southeast Asia: Trajectories of Inclusion, Dynamics of Exclusion. National, transnational and regional integration were studied from the perspectives of diversity (political and cultural identities in national and regional frameworks), prosperity (frameworks and practices of mobility and work), knowledge (localisation of imported technology and models of development) and security (the impact of interdependence of political communities on human security). Qualitative and


Background: The aim of this study was to assess the perception of the students of the Faculty of Health Sciences of the University of Lomé on the teaching of Pathological Anatomy. Methods: This is an opinion survey carried out in 4 months at the University of Lomé among students of the faculty of health sciences (3rd in 8th year) on the perception of the teaching of Anatomy Pathological. The questionnaire was structured into 5 sections (socio-demographic, course organization, learning process, hospital internships, and general assessment) Results: A total, 395 students responded to the questionnaire. Their mean age was 24.04 ± 2.85 years and the sex ratio (M/F) was 2.4. They were mostly in 7th year of medicine (155). Regarding the course organization, 58.5% of the participants felt that the course objectives were often achieved and 51.6% said the course was well structured. For 49.9%, the important notions of the course were often sufficiently developed, and 55.2% affirm that the hourly volume was sufficient for the comprehension of the course. A statistically significant link was observed between the years of study and certain parameters of the learning process, namely: the adequacy between the theoretical course and the internships (p˂0.0001), the understanding of the course by the learning process (p˂0.0001), the essential documentation for the understanding of the course (p10.0001), the understanding of histological lesions through practical work (p˂0.0001). Concerning the general satisfaction of the course, they were 50.4% to be satisfied and 57.8% to wish a better organization of the courses and practical work. There is a statistically significant relationship between the degree of satisfaction with teaching and grade (p˂0.037). Conclusion: The teaching of pathological anatomy in its current form does not seem to provide the sufficient foundations and prerequisites desired by the students. It makes sense to strengthen their training through better organization of hospital internships and practical work, within the framework of the quality of teaching at the University of Lomé.


OBJECTIVE
To analyze parental attitudes and socio-emotional development of children conceived by ICSI.

DESIGN
Open cross-sectional study.

SETTING
Department of Clinical Psychology, Thomayer University Hospital, Prague and Department of Paediatrics, Charles University, 2nd Medical School, University Hospital-Motol, Prague.

METHODS
133 children (75 boys, 58 girls) conceived by ICSI, age ranged from 11 months to 8.5 years were psychologically assessed between the years 2004-2006. Children's behavior was evaluated by 4 rating scales during the assessment. Parents answered questionnaires concerning children's temperament, behavioral problems (TBC) and the parental attitudes questionnaire (PARQ).

RESULTS
Children's behavior during the psychological assessment was rated mostly as very good or good, although the children were often less communicative. Most of the children have mixed or easy temperament, a difficult type of temperament didn't report any of the parents. Most of the parents didn't describe significant behavioral problems in their children, in particular there were very few externalizing difficulties (opposition, aggression), but in 29.5% of the sample, there were found some social or emotional difficulties. We found surprisingly high frequency of milder forms of autism spectrum disorders and another social problems (social and other anxiety disorders) in the sample, other psychopathology was rare. Parental attitudes had a tendency to grater involvement with the child and high affection in relation with him.

CONCLUSION
Socio-emotional development of ICSI children is good, although some have specific social difficulties, externalising problems were present only exceptionally. Parental attitudes toward ICSI children are positive, there is slight tendency to higher emotional involvement with the child.


Authentication and authorisation architectures based on certificates have not been widely accepted due to their cost, inflexibility and difficult management.The complexity of the Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) is increased by the certification path validation process that involves: discovering the path, retrieving the certificates, verifying their digital signature and checking that none of the certificates have expired or have been revoked. This process demands certain processing and storage capacity from the verifier that can exceed the features of some devices, such as mobile phones and smart cards. In this thesis, we evaluate the computational cost and the storage capacity required by a verifier to carry out the path validation process and determine that they are critical factors for constrained devices. In addition, we introduce two proposals that contribute to simplify the path validation process from the verifier's point of view: TRUTHC and PROSEARCH.TRUTHC uses two hash chains to establish an alternative trust relationship among the different entities of a hierarchical PKI. Thus, the signature verification operations are replaced by hash operations, what contributes to decrease the computational cost of the verifier. The path verification is carried out by a Verification Authority (VA). TRUTHC is compatible with the X.509 certificates and its security depends on a large extent of the seeds' confidentiality. TRUTHC can be used in environments where devices have limited processing capacity and it is necessary to delegate the validation process in other entity, such as mobile networks with validation servers.On the other hand, PROSEARCH establishes a virtual hierarchy in a mesh PKI, based on the trustworthiness level of the participant entities. This protocol facilitates the certification path discovery since in a hierarchical model the trust relationships are unidirectional and there is a single path between each pair of entities. PROSEARCH does not establish new trust relationships among the entities but it takes the existing relationships to establish the hierarchy. Thus, it is not necessary to issue new certificates or adjust the trust points. In addition, PROSEARCH is adaptable to entities with limited processing and storage capacities, since hierarchy is established considering a maximum certification path length. The fast execution of PROSEARCH makes possible its use in different environments such as critical scenarios and ad-hoc networks. Although the hierarchy found by our protocol is not always the best solution, in our opinion this is not an important drawback since simulation results show that in most cases an acceptable hierarchy is found, especially considering that the simplicity of the protocol makes it easy-to-implement even for constrained devices.


A 12 week trial was conducted to investigate the effect of incorporating eggshell meal (ESM) at graded levels into the diets of West African Dwarf (WAD) bucks as a calcium source. Bone strength as well as other bone measurements, organ and by-products weights were evaluated. Twenty (20) WAD bucks weighing 5.7kg on the average were caged individually inside a conventional open-sided house. The bucks were randomly divided into four (4) groups, each group consisting of five (5) animals. The animals in groups 1, 2, 3 and 4 were provided with diets containing 0.0%, 0.5%, 1.0% and 1.5% ESM respectively with group 1 serving as the control. The animals were given known quantity of supplementary feed, forage ( Andropogon gayanus corn) and water between 8 and 9am every morning. Two animals were randomly selected from each group and slaughtered for carcass analysis after which a pair of their femur bones was removed for bone measurements and strength test using the Universal testing machine. Results showed that increase in the level of ESM inclusion across treatments yielded significant variability (P 0.05) across treatments. The horns weight varied significantly (P 0.05) across the treatments. It was therefore concluded that growing WAD bucks can tolerate the inclusion of 1.5% properly sterilized ESM in their diet as source of Ca with no detrimental effect on bone parameters, organ and By-products weights.


This study investigates the spatial signatures of seasonal snow in Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) observations at different spatial scales and for different physiographic regions. Sentinel-1 C-band (SAR) backscattering coefficients (BSC) were analyzed in the Swiss Alps (SA), in high elevation forest and grasslands in Grand Mesa (GM), Colorado, and in North Dakota (ND) croplands. GM BSC exhibit 10 dB sensitivity to wetness at small scales (~100 m) over homogeneous grassland. Sensitivity decreases to 5 dB in the presence of trees, and it is demonstrated that VH BSC sensitivity enables wet snow mapping below the tree-line. Area-variance scaling relationships show minima at ~100 m and 150–250 m, respectively, in barren and grasslands in SA and GM, increasing up to 1 km and longer in GM forests and ND agricultural fields. The spatial organization of BSC (as described by 1D-directional BSC wavelength spectra) exhibits multi-scaling behavior in the 100–1000 m range with a break at (180–360 m) that is also present in UAVSAR L-band measurements in GM. Spectral slopes in GM forested areas steepen during accumulation and flatten in the melting season with mirror behavior for grasslands reflecting changes in scattering mechanisms with snow depth and wetness, and vegetation mass and structure. Overall, this study reveals persistent patterns of SAR scattering variability spatially organized by land-cover, topography and regional winds with large inter-annual variability tied to precipitation. This dynamic scaling behavior emerges as an integral physical expression of snowpack variability that can be used to model sub-km scales and for downscaling applications.


Rationale Long-acting injectable (LAI) paliperidone palmitate 1-month formulation (PP1M) has demonstrated acceptable tolerability and favorable clinical outcomes in Western and Asian patients with schizophrenia. Hence, analysis of the outcomes of long-term PP1M treatment specifically in Chinese patients is of interest. Objective The aim of this study is to evaluate the long-term safety and efficacy of PP1M treatment in Chinese patients with schizophrenia. Methods In this 25-week, open-label, Phase IV study, patients (18–65 years) diagnosed with schizophrenia and having a baseline Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) total score of 60–120 (inclusive) were enrolled. All patients received injections of PP1M 150 mg eq. (day 1) and 100 mg eq. (day 8), followed by a flexible once-monthly maintenance dosing (75, 100, or 150 mg eq.). Results Of the 353 patients, 234 (66.3%) completed the study treatment (mean age, 31.1 years; 52.7% men). The PANSS total score (primary end point) improved significantly over the 6-month treatment period (mean [standard deviation] change from baseline to end of treatment, −27.2 [18.30]; P<0.0001). The Clinical Global Impressions-Severity and Personal and Social Performance scores (secondary end points) also improved significantly (P<0.0001). At 6 months, PP1M had a positive impact on medication satisfaction, adherence, and increased preference for LAIs. Treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) were reported by 181 (51.3%) patients (TEAEs ≥5%: extrapyramidal disorder [15.3%], akathisia [10.5%], blood prolactin increase [8.8%], insomnia [5.4%]). A total of 8 deaths were reported, including 4 completed suicides. Conclusion Long-term treatment with PP1M was efficacious, and no new safety concerns were identified in Chinese patients with schizophrenia. Overall, the results were comparable with observations from previous studies.


Background: Our preclinical data show that entinostat enhances the efficacy of lapatinib in HER2 positive (HER2+) breast cancer cell lines via FOX-03-mediated Bim1 expression. In-vitro and in- vivo, the combination of entinostat and lapatinib enhanced apoptosis in lapatinib-resistant cells. We conducted a phase I study with the primary objective to determine the RP2D of entinostat plus lapatinib in patients with HER2+ metastatic breast cancer with progressive disease (PD) after trastuzumab treatment. Methods: This was a single-center, open-label study to evaluate the dose limiting toxicity (DLT) and determine the MTD of every-other-week entinostat plus daily lapatinib in 28-day cycles. Patients with locally recurrent or metastatic breast cancer in whom trastuzumab had failed were enrolled. DLT was defined as: any toxicity resulting in 14 or more days of treatment delay, febrile neutropenia (NTP), grade 4 NTP for over 7 days, any grade 3 or higher non-hematologic toxicity, grade 3 nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or electrolyte imbalance lasting over 48 hours despite adequate supportive care, or a platelet count less than 10,000. Grading was assigned according to common toxicity criteria (CTC 4). A standard 3+3 dose escalation design was used. Entinostat was given at 10 mg (level 0), 12 mg (level 1), or 15 mg (level 2) by mouth every 14 days. Lapatinib was given at 1250 mg by mouth daily. Toxicity was evaluated on day 15 and day 28 for C1 and C2, and at the end of each cycle thereafter. Results: Fifteen patients with HER2+ metastatic breast cancer were enrolled. Median age was 52 years (range 26-69), median of all prior systemic treatment was 4 (range 1- 12), and median prior trastuzumab-based regimens was 2 (range 1-6). Eight patients had prior lapatinib exposure. Seven patients had ER+/HER2+ tumors. Median number of cycles completed was 2 (range 1-13). DLT was observed in 0 of 3 patients at level 0, 1 of 6 at level 1, and 1 of 6 at level 2. 3 patients at level 1 had lapatinib dose reductions because of grade 3 rash (n=2) or grade 3 dyspnea (n=1) or grade 3 abdominal pain (n=1). 2 patients at level 2 had entinostat dose reductions because of grade 4 NTP in cycle 1 (n=1) or grade 3 NTP in cycle 5 and grade 4 neutropenia in cycle 6 (n=1). Five patients had SD (defined per 2009 RECIST guidelines): two at dose level 1 for 6 months and 13 months, three at level 2 for 3, 4, and 8 months. Median time to progression was 2 months (range 1-13). The most common treatment related adverse events were fatigue (n=15), myalgia (n=14), nausea (n=14), diarrhea (n=13), anemia (n=11), and rash (n=11). Conclusion: MTD was not reached. Cumulative toxicity of entinostat plus lapatinib was fairly well tolerated. The combination therapy suggests there was clinical activity in at-least 5 patients who had SD in this cohort of heavily pretreated trastuzumab-resistant MBC. Data from the EG104900 clinical trial showed that lapatinib plus trastuzumab significantly improved median overall survival compared with lapatinib alone. Therefore, this study was modified after 15 patients to add trastuzumab to the combination. We are currently conducting a phase 1b trial to determine the MTD of entinostat, trastuzumab and lapatinib. Citation Format: Jie Willey, Ricardo H Alvarez, Daniel J Booser, Sharon H Giordano, Ana M Gonzalez-Angulo, James L Murray, Vincente Valero, Jangsoon Lee, Naoto T Ueno, Summer A Jackson, Fahad A Faruqi. A phase I clinical trial of entinostat and lapatinib in patients with trastuzumab refractory HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Thirty-Seventh Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: 2014 Dec 9-13; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(9 Suppl):Abstract nr P5-19-22.


Despite the recent advancement in driver assistance systems, most existing solutions and partial automation systems such as SAE Level 2 driving automation systems assume that the driver is in the loop; the human driver must continuously monitor the driving environment. Frequent transition of maneuver control is expected between the driver and the car while using such automation in difficult traffic conditions. In this work, we aim to predict driver takeover timing in order for the system to prepare transition from automation to driver control. While previous studies indicated that eye gaze is an important cue to predict driver takeover, we hypothesize that traffic condition as well as the reliability of the driving automation also have a strong impact. Therefore, we propose an algorithm that jointly consider the driver's gaze information and contextual driving environment, which is complemented with the vehicle operational and driver physiological signals. Specifically, we consider joint embedding of traffic scene information and gaze behavior using 3DConvolutional Neural Network (3D-CNN). We demonstrate that our algorithm is successfully able to predict driver takeover intent, using user study data from 28 participants collected in simulated driving environments.


The paper extends the classical problem of nonlinear panel flutter to the analysis of the effects of external forcing on aerodynamically self-excited thin plates structures of high speed vehicles. This phenomenon can be induced by the aeroeacoustic excitation of noise, boundary layer, or oscillating shock waves. The problem is formulated within nonlinear elastic and linear aerodynamic theories by using a complex finite element model consisting of fifth order plate and second order membrane triangular elements. The excitation is applied harmonically as uniformly distributed pressures. In most cases the pattern of the dynamic response includes a transient period in which the fluttering motion is disturbed into a forced vibration (the steady-state motion) having the same frequency as the excitation. There are also conditions for complex motions having larger amplitudes (than those of the free auto-oscillating system) of both frequencies of flutter and excitation, respectively.


Identification of bird species from audio records is one of the challenging tasks due to the existence of multiple species in the same recording, noise in the background, and long-term recording. Besides, choosing a proper acoustic feature from audio recording for bird species classification is another problem. In this paper, a hybrid method is represented comprising both traditional signal processing and a deep learning-based approach to classify bird species from audio recordings of diverse sources and types. Besides, a detailed study with 34 different features helps to select the proper feature set for classification and analysis in real-time applications. Moreover, the proposed deep neural network uses both acoustic and temporal feature learning. The proposed method starts with detecting voice activity from the raw signal, followed by extracting short-term features from the processed recording using 50 ms (with 25ms overlapping) time windows. Later, the short-term features are reshaped using second stage (non-overlapping) windowing to be trained through a distributed 2D Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) that forwards the output features to a Long and Short Term Memory (LSTM) Network. Then a final dense layer classifies the bird species. For the 10 class classifier, the highest accuracy achieved was 90.45\% for a feature set consisting of 13 Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCCs) and 12 Chroma Vectors. The corresponding specificity and AUC scores are 98.94\% and 94.09\%, respectively.


Mixed follicles are structures composed of squamous-like and follicular epithelia. Little attention has been generally paid to these peculiar follicles of the human thyroid; thus the aim of the present study was to investigate their prevalence and biological properties by means of systematic autopsy, histochemical and immunohistochemical surveys. Mixed follicles were found to be present in 54% and 81% of the patients with solid cell nests, as well as in 50% and 77% of the total number of the ultimobranchial nests, when one or two histological samples from each solid cell nest were examined, respectively. The follicular lumen of mixed follicles usually contained an eosinophilic and PAS-positive colloid-like material, although in 22% of the cases acid mucins sometimes intermixed with PAS-positive granular material and cell debris were also present within lumina. Follicular cells lining mixed follicles basically did not stain positively for calcitonin. The results indicate that mixed follicles are not rarely found in the human thyroid. The presence of intraluminal mucins and cell debris and the absence of calcitonin-containing cells in the follicular epithelium lining these peculiar follicles suggest that at least some thyroid follicular cells could originate from ultimobranchial tissue.


In this paper, we described the Queuing delay in our own MLFFA architecture based on data fusion and analyzed different data fusion filter architectures available in the literature with our new Multi-level Federated Architecture (MLFFA) to improve the filtration of each signaling sensor for a reference sensor (RS) within its fusion domain. It is done by sending the individual sensor data through multiple levels of local filters (LF). This process reduces both Rate of Data Loss and eases the load on Master Fusion Filter (MFF). This article presents a comparison of other existing data fusion architectures - Centralised, Cascaded, Federated, and Distributed with our MLFFA which shows improvement with respect to the existing architectures in term of queuing delay.


Music streaming services often aim to recommend songs for users to extend the playlists they have created on these services. However, extending playlists while preserving their musical characteristics and matching user preferences remains a challenging task, commonly referred to as Automatic Playlist Continuation (APC). Besides, while these services often need to select the best songs to recommend in real-time and among large catalogs with millions of candidates, recent research on APC mainly focused on models with few scalability guarantees and evaluated on relatively small datasets. In this paper, we introduce a general framework to build scalable yet effective APC models for large-scale applications. Based on a represent-then-aggregate strategy, it ensures scalability by design while remaining flexible enough to incorporate a wide range of representation learning and sequence modeling techniques, e.g., based on Transformers. We demonstrate the relevance of this framework through in-depth experimental validation on Spotify's Million Playlist Dataset (MPD), the largest public dataset for APC. We also describe how, in 2022, we successfully leveraged this framework to improve APC in production on Deezer. We report results from a large-scale online A/B test on this service, emphasizing the practical impact of our approach in such a real-world application.


The hypoglossal nerve is the motor nerve of the tongue and the ansa cervicalis is a motor nerve for the sub-hyoid muscles. The hypoglossal nerve seems to give the innervation of the thyrohyoid although it is a sub-hyoid muscle. Most of axons in the ansa cervicalis arise from the three first cervical nerves. These nerves are in close contact because of the cervical ontogeny of the tongue and the hypoglossal nerve. Nerve impulse in the superior root of the ansa cervicalis runs caudally to rostrally. This is why neurotization techniques using the superior root of the ansa cervicalis produce poor results in the treatment of facial palsy sequelae.


A familial syndrome of congenital short small bowel, malrotation, and functional bowel obstruction is presented and illustrated in three male siblings with one long-term survivor. Including the present three cases there have been 18 similar cases found in the literature. This disorder appears to be a sex-linked recessive inheritance. Early barium meal and follow through in siblings of patients with this condition will detect malrotation that should be surgically corrected in order to prevent mid-gut volvulus. Intravenous alimentation and early introduction of enteral feeding is important, not only to maintain nutrition but to encourage adaptation of the associated short and dysmotile bowel. These measures aim to improve the outcome of this frequently, but not invariably, fatal disorder.


In the nineteenth century, the Mormons were a minority religious group living on the fringes of the United States in both a geographic and social sense. Yet, in the twenty-first century, historians are increasingly realizing that the history of this marginal religious "other" sheds a great deal of light on the American past broadly conceived. This essay briefly describes an important moment in early Mormon history that illuminates our developing understanding of religious liberty in the early American republic, and the political obstacles Americans outside mainstream protestant Christianity faced in their efforts to obtain equal treatment under the law as American citizens.


It has become customary for me to provide a survey article on digital aerial cameras in the April issue of GIM International every three years. The previous survey (April 2011; vol. 25:4) addressed small, medium and large-format cameras, while in April 2008 (vol. 22:4) the focus was on sensor architecture. This article and a follow-up one will centre on oblique aerial camera systems, the use of which is steadily growing for (3D) capture of urban areas and roads, railways and other corridors.


Every human being is given its own uniqueness by an almighty god, one of which is a part of the body organs such as the fingerprint pattern of the hand, the fingerprint pattern of each human being determines personality, this can be known from many previous studies, which use fingerprints or someone's detection by the police to capture the perpetrators with the biometry approach in the form of footprint fingerprint records attached to other objects. Determination of a person's personality can be known through fingerprints, and also can adjust prospective students in choosing the study program correctly. Fingerprint student personality identification application provides convenience in determining the choice of prospective students of the study program. The minutie method and the Support Vector Machine algorithm are used in clustering personalities according to training data in the application. The minutie test on the fingerprint pattern shows 100% compatibility, with a precision input image source. SVM algorithm in testing reached 80,9% in grouping personality types accordingly.


Maintaining a native-like structure of protein pharmaceuticals during lyophilization is an important aspect of formulation. Infrared spectroscopy can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of formulations in protecting the secondary structural integrity of proteins in the dried solid. This necessitates making quantitative comparisons of the overall similarity of infrared spectra in the conformationally sensitive amide I region. We initially used the correlation coefficient r, as defined by Prestrelski et al. (Biophys. J. 1993, 65, 661-671), for this quantitation. Occasionally, we noticed that the r value did not agree with a visual assessment of the spectral similarity. In some cases this was due to an offset in baselines, which led artifactually to an unreasonably low r value. Conversely, if the spectra were baseline corrected and there existed a large similarity between peak positions, but differences in relative peak heights, the r value would be unreasonably high. Our approach to avoiding these problems is to use area-normalized second-derivative spectra. We have found that quantitating the area of overlap between area-normalized spectra provides a reliable, objective method to compare overall spectral similarity. In the current report, we demonstrate this method with selected protein spectra, which were taken from experiments where unfolding was induced by lyophilization or guanidine hydrochloride, and artificial data sets. With this analysis, we document how problems associated with calculation of the correlation coefficient, r, are avoided.


A focused He+ beam with a beam diameter less than 1 nm is heating up the targeted surface for a He+ dose larger than 1 × 1020 ions cm−2. The temperature can reach 1000 °C locally, resulting in surface decomposition or chemical reactions. This temperature was measured by fabricating gold nanodisks down to 20 nm in diameter and 10 nm in thickness on mica and sapphire surfaces. The melting and vaporization of these nanodisks were used to determine this temperature according to the known gold nanocluster melting temperature variations as a function of their volume. This local heat production is very negative for precise He+ nanolithography resist processes but advantageous without a resist when used to directly nano-sculpture a nanomaterial when a very thermally conductive support like sapphire is selected.


In this paper the mechanical failure of porcelain is discussed with special reference to 3 seldom recognized characteristics: the effect of the porcelain surface on the strength, the apparent anomalous distribution of individual mechanical test values, and the effect of time on mechanical strength. A method of evaluating the result of these factors on electrical insulator performance is suggested.


We propose a generalization of simple coalition games in the context of games with fuzzy coalitions. Mimicking the correspondence of simple games with non-constant monotone formulas of classical logic, we introduce simple Łukasiewicz games using monotone formulas of Łukasiewicz logic, one of the most prominent fuzzy logics. We study the core solution on the class of simple Łukasiewicz games and show that cores of such games are determined by finitely-many linear constraints only. The non-emptiness of core is completely characterized in terms of balanced systems and by the presence of strong veto players.


HPV is the most prevalent sexually transmitted diseases causing a variety of clinical manifestations ranging from warts to cancer. This study aimed to examine the challenges and needs of HPV-positive women. In this qualitative study, we analyzed data extracted from semi-structured face-to-face interviews with 31 Iranian HPV-positive women using a conventional content analysis approach using MAXQDA.10 software. Data were collected from her at the women's clinic from 21 January 2022 to her 19 February 2022. The sampling process was purposeful, and the accuracy of this study was ensured according to her 4 criteria suggested by Guba and Lincoln. Four themes were identified from the interviewing of HPV-positive women that include: Needing support and counseling to adapt to the disease, needing counseling and training to improve the disease, needing a qualified health care provider, needing proper health care services. HPV-positive women had many adverse such as reproductive health challenges (Menstruation cycle, delivery type, fertility, pregnancy, and breastfeeding), low control, confusion, cancer-related concerns, relationship problems, sexual concerns, uncertainty, stigma, low trust, social impact, non-disclosure of results, idiosyncratic prevention, indirect clinical interaction, changes in sexual behavior. HPV-positive women face many challenges and seek information to address them. Therefore, at the primary level, providers need to be aware of the needs of these patients needs in order to make the necessary consultations.


The compositions, morphologies and sizes of nonmetallic inclusions in rare earth (RE) weathering steels with different oxygen and sulfur contents were analyzed by using electron probe micro-analyzer (EPMA), quantitative image analyzer and scanning electron microscope (SEM-EDS). The formation of inclusions was studied by the thermodynamics theory. The RE solid-soluble content in steel was analyzed by non-aqua electroanalysis and inductively coupled plasma (ICP). To RE weathering steels with different contents of oxygen and sulfur, the optimal RE content was obtained from the perspective of RE modifying inclusions. The results showed the cleanliness of steel was an important factor which influenced the modifying effect of RE on the inclusions. RE changed the character and shape of inclusions in the clean Cu-P weathering steels. The elongated MnS inclusions and brittle oxide inclusions were modified as the small globular RE oxysulfide and RE compound inclusions in the RE weathering steels. The RE inclusions distributed uniformly in matrix and the sizes of more than 90% of the inclusions were less than 2 μm. It was obtained the optimum content of RE was 0.0065 wt% ∼ 0.016 wt% to the Cu-P-RE weathering steels with 0.002 wt% oxygen and 0.004 wt% sulfur, and the optimum content of RE was 0.0092 wt% ∼ 0.023 wt% to the RE weathering steels ( O: ∼ 0.007 wt%, S: ∼ 0.008 wt%). The RE content was the most favorable to modify the harmful inclusions and improve the properties of Cu-P weathering steels.


BACKGROUND
The main aim of the study was to assess the association between joint hypermobility (JH) and gastrointestinal (GI) disorders in children.

METHODS
All children aged 4-17 years attending the clinics of the participating Pediatric Gastroenterology Centres for functional GI disorders (FGIDs) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) were screened for joint laxity. JH diagnosis was inferred using the Beighton Score. JHS diagnosis was inferred based on the Brighton Criteria. Rome III Diagnostic Criteria were used to diagnose possible FGIDs. Ulcerative colitis and Crohn`s disease diagnoses were made according to the Porto Criteria. Age and sex- matched healthy children were enrolled as controls.

RESULTS
One-hundred-seventy children with GI disorders (70 with FGIDs, 50 with Crohn`s disease, and 50 with ulcerative colitis) and 100 healthy controls were enrolled in the study. JH was reported in 7/70 (10%) children with FGIDs (p=0.26 compared to controls), 4/50 (8%) children with Crohn`s disease (p=0.21 compared to controls) and 15/50 (30%) children with ulcerative colitis (p=0.09 compared to controls; p=0.01 compared to FGIDs; p=0.01 compared to Crohn`s).

CONCLUSIONS
JH is more prevalent in patients suffering from ulcerative colitis compared to the healthy general population, yet the difference did not reach statistical significance. Likely, a proportion of children with ulcerative colitis and JH may show connective tissue abnormalities. However, whether JH can be considered a possible feature of pediatric GI disorders deserves further investigation.


Background The postacute COVID-19 syndrome (PACS) can be addressed with multidisciplinary approaches, including professional support and digital interventions. Objective This research aimed to test whether patients who received a health care facilitation program including medical internet support from human personal pilots and digital interventions (intervention group [IG] and active control group [ACG]) would experience fewer symptoms and have higher work ability and social participation than an untreated comparison group (CompG). The second objective was to compare the impact of a diagnostic assessment and digital interventions tailored to patients' personal capacity (IG) with that of only personal support and digital interventions targeting the main symptoms (ACG). Methods In total, 1020 patients with PACS were recruited. Using a randomized controlled trial design between the IG and the ACG, as well as propensity score matching to include the CompG, analyses were run with logistic regression and hierarchical-linear models. Results Symptoms decreased significantly in all groups over time (βT1-T2=0.13, t549=5.67, P<.001; βT2-T4=0.06, t549=2.83, P=.01), with a main effect of the group (β=–.15, t549=–2.65, P=.01) and a more pronounced effect in the IG and ACG compared to the CompG (between groups: βT1-T2=0.14, t549=4.31, P<.001; βT2-T4=0.14, t549=4.57, P<.001). Work ability and social participation were lower in the CompG, but there was no significant interaction effect. There were no group differences between the IG and the ACG. Conclusions Empowerment through personal pilots and digital interventions reduces symptoms but does not increase work ability and social participation. More longitudinal research is needed to evaluate the effects of a diagnostic assessment. Social support and digital interventions should be incorporated to facilitate health care interventions for PACS. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05238415; https://classic.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05238415. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) RR2-10.1186/s12879-022-07584-z


The present study aimed to investigate the extent to which audio description contributes to the visually impaired individuals' comprehension of a film by examining the visually impaired and sighted participants' comprehension of two versions of the same film, one with and the other without supplementary audio description. The results of the study showed that the visually impaired participants were able to comprehend and narrate the events to the same extent as the sighted participants did when the film was supplemented with audio description. The qualitative analysis validated this finding and demonstrated that the visually impaired participants were able to comprehend the film to a great extent with the assistance of audio description. These findings emphasized the role of audio description assistance and its effects as an important resource in converting visual information to vocal information, which greatly aids the visually impaired individuals' film comprehension. Also, the use of "Causal Network Model" showed that understanding the plot better could enable the audio description creators to provide better assistance for the visually impaired if they applied this model.


Ants, being ubiquitous, aggressive, and top predators, play a predominant role in terrestrial ecosystems. Jumping spiders are another prominent invertebrate predator that are present in similar habitats as that of ants. Most jumping spiders are thought to avoid ants, yet little is known if they discriminate among them. In this study we examined the response of jumping spider genus Plexippus towards three different ant species (Oecophylla smaragdina, the weaver ants; Camponotus sericeus the golden-back carpenter ants, and Leptogenys processionalis, the procession ants). In a behavioral assay that excluded tactile and chemical cues, we tested if spiders distinguish the three ants by visual cues alone. We recorded and analysed behaviors such as 'look', 'approach', 'stalk', 'attack', and 'avoidance' by spiders towards ants. Our results show that the three ants differ in their color, movement and aggressive behavior. Spiders gave 'short looks' to live ants, suggesting movement is important in detecting ants. Furthermore, spiders gave significantly more 'long looks' to procession and golden-back ants compared to weaver ants. Spiders approached, stalked and attacked procession ants more compared to weaver ants. Numerous jumping spiders and ants overlap in their habitat, and it is advantageous to selectively avoid some ants over others. Our results suggests that jumping spiders can indeed distinguish ants that co-occur in their habitat by visual cues alone, however, the precise nature of visual cues warrants further studies.


Background and Purpose— Atrial cardiomyopathy is associated with an increased risk of ischemic stroke. P-wave terminal force in lead V1, P-wave duration, and maximum P-wave area are electrocardiographic parameters that have been used to assess left atrial abnormalities related to developing atrial fibrillation. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to examine their values for predicting ischemic stroke risk. Methods— PubMed and EMBASE databases were searched until December 2016 for studies that evaluated the association between P-wave indices and stroke risk. Both fixed- and random-effects models were used to calculate the overall effect estimates. Results— Ten studies examining P-wave terminal force in lead V1, P-wave duration, and maximum P-wave area were included. P-wave terminal force in lead V1 was found to be an independent predictor of stroke as both a continuous variable (odds ratio [OR] per 1 SD change, 1.18; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.12–1.25; P<0.0001) and categorical variable (OR, 1.59; 95% CI, 1.10–2.28; P=0.01). P-wave duration was a significant predictor of incident ischemic stroke when analyzed as a categorical variable (OR, 1.86; 95% CI, 1.37–2.52; P<0.0001) but not when analyzed as a continuous variable (OR, 1.05; 95% CI, 0.98–1.13; P=0.15). Maximum P-wave area also predicted the risk of incident ischemic stroke (OR per 1 SD change, 1.10; 95% CI, 1.04–1.17). Conclusions— P-wave terminal force in lead V1, P-wave duration, and maximum P-wave area are useful electrocardiographic markers that can be used to stratify the risk of incident ischemic stroke.


Multifunctional materials, in the context of this research, integrate other functions into materials that foremost have outstanding structural integrity. Details of the integration of electromagnetic, heating, and healing functionalities into fiber-reinforced polymer composites are presented. As a result of fiber/wire integration through textile braiding and weaving, the dielectric constant of a composite may be tuned from negative to positive values. These wires are further leveraged to uniformly heat the composite through resistive heating. A healing functionality is introduced by utilizing a polymer matrix with the ability to heal internal cracking through thermally- reversible covalent bonds based on Diels-Alder cycloaddition. The Double Cleavage Drilled Compression (DCDC) specimen is applied to study the fracture and healing characteristics of the neat polymer. This method allows for quantitative evaluation of incremental crack growth, and ensures that the cracked sample remains in one piece after the test, improving the ability to re-align the fracture surfaces prior to healing. Initially, the fracture strength of PMMA is studied with various DCDC geometries to develop a model of the propagation of a crack within this type of specimen. Applied to the healable polymer (2MEP4F), repeated fracture-healing cycles demonstrate that treatment at temperatures between 85 to 95⁰C results in full fracture toughness recovery and no dimensional changes due to creep. The fracture toughness after each fracturing and healing cycle has been calculated, using the model, to yield a fracture toughness of about 0.71 MPa·m1/2 for this material at room temperature. Glass and carbon fiber-reinforced composites have been fabricated with the 2MEP4F polymer, and the ability of this polymer to heal microcracks in fiber- reinforced composites is demonstrated. Microcracks have been introduced into the composites by cryogenic cycling in liquid nitrogen, causing a reduction in the storage modulus of the composites as measured by Dynamic Mechanical Thermal Analysis (DMTA). Heating the laminate with pressure applied normal to transverse microcracks appeared to repair the cracks and partially recover of the composite's stiffness. Multifunctional composites with such unique capabilities have tremendous potential to impact future structural applications


— Many wireless sensor network (WSN) transport protocols proposed in recent studies focus on providing end-to-end reliability as in TCP. However, traditional end-to-end reliability is energy and time consuming for common loss tolerant applications in WSNs. In this paper, we propose a Loss Tolerant Reliable (LTR) data transport mechanism for dynamic Event Sensing (LTRES) in WSNs. In LTRES, a reliable event sensing requirement at the transport layer is dynamically determined by the sink. A distributed source rate adaptation mechanism is designed, incorporating a loss rate based lightweight congestion control mechanism, to regulate the data traffic injected into the network so that the reliability requirement can be satisfied. An equation based fair rate control algorithm is used to improve the fairness among the LTRES flows sharing the congestion path. The performance evaluations show that LTRES can provide LTR data transport service for multiple events with short convergence time, low lost rate and high overall bandwidth utilization.


Purpose: This study examined the clinical significance of N-terminal pro brain natriuretic peptide level as a cardiac marker in Japanese hemodialysis patients. Methods: This was a multicenter cross-sectional study involving 1428 Japanese hemodialysis patients. Ultrasonic cardiography data at post-hemodialysis were obtained from 395 patients. We examined whether serum N-terminal pro brain natriuretic peptide levels were associated with cardiac parameters and assessed cut-off values and investigated factors associated with a reduced ratio of N-terminal pro brain natriuretic peptide levels pre- and post-hemodialysis. Results: Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that pre- and post-hemodialysis N-terminal pro brain natriuretic peptide levels were associated with left ventricular hypertrophy on electrocardiogram (odds ratio: 3.10; p < 0.001 at pre-hemodialysis and odds ratio: 2.70; p < 0.001 at post-hemodialysis) and left ventricular hypertrophy on ultrasonic cardiography (odds ratio: 3.06; p < 0.001 at pre-hemodialysis and odds ratio: 3.15; p < 0.001 at post-hemodialysis). Post-N-terminal pro brain natriuretic peptide levels were also significantly associated with ejection fraction on urine chorionic gonadotrophin (ultrasonic cardiography; odds ratio: 35.83; p < 0.001). Receiver operating characteristic curves for predicting the presence of left ventricular hypertrophy on electrocardiogram and ultrasonic cardiography showed similar sensitivity (57.7%, 57.3% at pre-hemodialysis and 63.9%, 48.2% at post-hemodialysis) and specificity (66.5%, 72.9% at pre-hemodialysis and 59.2%, 81.9% at post-hemodialysis). Decreased ejection fraction on ultrasonic cardiography showed better sensitivity (78.6%) and specificity (88.7%). The N-terminal pro brain natriuretic peptide reduction ratio during a hemodialysis session correlated with Kt/V, membrane area, membrane type, modality, body weight gain ratio, treatment time, and ultrafiltration rate with multiple linear regression (R: 0.53; p < 0.001 except for ultrafiltration rate (p = 0.003)). Conclusion: Both pre- and post-hemodialysis N-terminal pro brain natriuretic peptide are associated with the presence of left ventricular hypertrophy in this population. The post-hemodialysis N-terminal pro brain natriuretic peptide level is a useful marker for systolic dysfunction.


A neural-network (NN) based fault-tolerant control for unknown nonlinear systems is proposed. The faultless system is controlled by an NN-based one-step-ahead controller, which is designed using a modified-gradient approach. Using the residual signal generated from the fault-detection path, an extra NN-based fault-compensation loop is introduced. This neural network consists of two-layer perceptrons and the weights are again updated by the modified-gradient approach. In this context, a fault-tolerant control scheme is obtained. The stability of the closed loop is discussed. It has been shown that the closed-loop system so formed is locally asymptotically stable for the nonlinear case, and is globally asymptotically stable when the system is linear. The simulated results have shown that the faulty system can be well compensated.


Default conditionals are statements that express a condition of normality, in the form 'ifφ then normally ψ' and are of primary importance in Knowledge Representation. There exist modal approaches to the construction of conditional logics of normality. Most of them are built on notions of preference among possible worlds, corresponding to the semantic intuition that (φ ⇒ &psi) is true in a situation if in the most preferred (most 'normal') situations in which φ is true, &psi is also true. It has been noticed that there exist natural epistemic readings of a default conditional, but this direction has not been thoroughly explored. A statement of the form 'something known to be a bird, that can be consistently believed to fly, does fly' involves well-known epistemic attitudes and allows the possibility of defining defaults within the rich framework of Epistemic Logic. We pursue this direction here within KBE, a recently introduced S4.2-based modal logic of knowledge, belief and estimation. In this logic, knowledge is a normal S4 operator, belief is a normal KD45 operator and estimation is a non-normal operator interpreted as a 'majority' quantifier over the set of epistemically alternative situations. We define and explore various conditionals using the epistemic operators of KBE, capturing (φ ⇒ &psi) in various ways, including 'it is known that assuming φ allows us to assume φ ∧ &psi' or 'if φ is known and there is no reason to believe ¬ψ then ψ can be plausibly inferred'. Overall, we define here two weak nonmonotonic default conditionals, one monotonic conditional and two stronger nonmonotonic conditionals without axiom ID. Our results provide concrete evidence that the machinery of epistemic logic can be exploited for the study of default conditionals.


Vehicular Ad-Hoc Network (VANET) relies on momentary and stable infrastructure units for seamless connectivity. A stabilized connection in the network is required to aid uninterrupted service support regardless of the frequent displacement in the vehicle position. The implication of drones or flying ad-hoc networks in VANETs is common in smart cities to provide transitory solutions for connectivity and data transfer. Considering the current and future applications of drones in diverse smart city applications, this article introduces the Decisive Data Dissemination Model (D3M). This proposed model is used for providing latency-less data transfer in drone-assisted VANET communications. The uncertainties in neighbor discovery due to handoff failure and access unavailability are addressed using non-recurrent classification learning. By using this learning, the splitting instance for handoff and neighbor requiring vehicles are identified to restore the fading connectivity. The re-connecting instances in the active and dissemination time are instantaneous using available drones and neighbors, preventing handoff failure. The performance of the proposed model is verified using simulations and it is seen that it achieves high data transfer rate, with less dissemination delay and backlogs. The proposed model for drones leverages data rate by 14.51% and reduces latency, backlogs, and failure by 16.99%, 10.49%, and 9.96%, respectively. The proposed D3M for vehicles achieves 14.85% high data rate, 20.57% less latency, 11.72% fewer backlogs, and 10.29% less failure, respectively.


The analysis of workflows in terms of structural correctness is important for ensuring the quality of workflow models. Typically, this analysis is only one step in a larger development process, followed by further transformation steps that lead from high-level models to more refined models until the workflow can finally be deployed on the underlying workflow engine of the production system. For practical and scalable applications, both analysis and transformation of workflows must be integrated to allow incremental changes of larger workflows. In this paper, we introduce the concept of a region tree (RT) for workflow models that can be used as the central data structure for both workflow analysis and workflow transformation. An RT is similar to a program structure tree and imposes a hierarchy of regions as an overlay structure onto the workflow model. It allows an incremental approach to the analysis and transformation of workflows, and thereby, significantly reduces the overhead because individual regions can be dealt with separately. The RT is built using a set of region-growing rules. The set of rules presented here is shown to be correct and complete in the sense that a workflow is region-reducible as defined through these rules if and only if it is semantically sound.


A diselenide/disulfide unit was introduced into camptothecin (CPT), and two selenoprodrugs (e.g., CPT-Se3 and CPT-Se4) were identified to show improved potency in killing cancer cells and inhibiting tumor growth in vivo. Interestingly, the intrinsic fluorescence of CPT was severely quenched by the diselenide bond. Both the selenoprodrugs were activated by glutathione with a nearly complete recovery of CPT's fluorescence. The activation of prodrugs was accompanied by the production of selenol intermediates, which catalyzed the constant conversion of glutathione and oxygen to oxidized glutathione and superoxides. The diselenide unit is widely employed in constructing thiol-responsive materials. However, the selenol intermediates were largely ignored in the activation process prior to this study. Our work verified that integration of the diselenide unit may further enhance the parent drug's efficacy. Also, the discovery of the fluorescence quenching property of the diselenide/disulfide bond further shed light on constructing novel theranostic agents.


The preferred sites for the benzylation of adenine under basic conditions were proven to be the N9 and N3 positions. Formation of the N9-benzyladenine product is favored in polar aprotic solvents, such as DMSO, whereas the proportion of N3-benzyladenine formed increases as the proportion of polar protic solvents, such as water, increases. X-ray crystal structures were obtained for both N9-benzyladenine and N3-benzyladenine. 1H-13C HMBC NMR spectroscopy revealed diagnostic correlations used to assign the 1H and 13C NMR chemical shifts confirming that the solution structures in three different solvents were the same as the isolated crystals. 13C NMR assignment for N9-benzyladenine, N3-benzyladenine, and N7-benzyladenine was confirmed by computation using ADF.


The purpose of the article is to substantiate the ethno-cultural approach to the formation of the musical and pedagogical repertoire of students of the Chuvash State Institute of Culture and Arts. The implementation of the ethno-cultural approach ensures the orientation of their professional training to the development of culture as a historically determined type of human activity with certain ethnic characteristics. The author examines the potential of Chuvash vocal lyrics in the aspect of an ethnocultural approach, for which he analyzes romance in detail as a genre of Chuvash composer music. Based on the method of stylistic analysis, conclusions are drawn about the derivative character of the Chuvash romance, which goes back through the Russian medium to the medieval European musical tradition. The first Chuvash romances were vocal works based on the words of the classics of Russian literature A. Pushkin and M. Lermontov translated into the Chuvash language. Subsequently, independent Chuvash works with an ethnic sound appeared in the Chuvash musical art (works by O. Agakova, Y. Grigoriev). Romances have enriched Chuvash chamber music with vivid artistic images, they are characterized by a deep insight into the drama of verse, sincerity, lyricism and nobility of utterance, a variety of forms. The musical and pedagogical repertoire of vocal students should be supplemented with works of both the early stage (romances to the words of Pushkin and Lermontov translated into Chuvash) and modern (romances with ethnic sounding accompaniment with a characteristic Chuvash folk music mode and metrorhythmics, with Russian and Chuvash texts).


Evaluations of replacement heifers in intensively managed grazing systems in tropical conditions are warranted. Thus, we aimed to evaluate performance, muscle and mammary gland development, oocyte quality, and in vitro production of embryos of crossbred heifers grazing an intensively managed pasture and supplemented with high or low protein concentrates. Eighteen pubertal crossbred heifers (Holstein x Gyr) with an initial weight of 350 ± 8.0 kg were used in a 60-day trial. Two supplement types, 12% crude protein (CP) (S12CP) or 24% CP (S24CP), and a control treatment (mineral mixture, CON) were randomly distributed to the heifers. Throughout the experiment, four digestibility trials were performed over four consecutive days. Four ovarium pick-ups were performed to evaluate oocyte quality and in vitro embryo production. Lastly, ultrasounds of carcasses and mammary glands were performed. The intakes of dry matter (DM), digestible energy (DE), and CP were greater for supplemented (SUP) compared with CON heifers. The SUP heifers had a greater average daily gain (ADG) (645 versus 390 g/d) and rib eye area (58.78 versus 53.32 cm2) than the CON heifers. Oocyte recovery, quality, and follicle features were not affected by supplementation strategy. However, the cleavage rate (47.17% versus 30.31%) and blastocyst rate (27.91% versus 10.12%) were negatively affected by supplementation. The S12CP presented a blastocyst rate much lower than the S24CP (3.02% versus 17.23%). Carcass ultrasonography indicated a trend for greater rib eye area for S24CP and mammary ultrasonography indicated no effects of supplementation on mammary gland development. In summary, supplementation seems to be an appropriate strategy for satisfactory performance, with greater muscle deposition and no negative impacts on mammary gland development. However, in vitro embryo production was impaired when the animals received the supplementation with 12% CP.


Study Design. A new surgical strategy for treatment of patients with spinal metastases was designed, and 61 patients were treated based on this strategy. Objectives. To propose a new surgical strategy for the treatment of patients with spinal metastases. Summary of Background Data. A preoperative score composed of six parameters has been proposed by Tokuhashi et al for the prognostic assessment of patients with metastases to the spine. Their scoring system was designed for deciding between excisional or palliative procedures. Recently, aggressive surgery, such as total en bloc spondylectomy for spinal metastases, has been advocated for selected patients. Surgical strategies should include various treatments ranging from wide or marginal excision to palliative treatment with hospice care. Methods. Sixty-seven patients with spinal metastases who had been treated from 1987–1991 were reviewed, and prognostic factors were evaluated retrospectively (phase 1). A new scoring system for spinal metastases that was designed based on these data consists of three prognostic factors: 1) grade of malignancy (slow growth, 1 point; moderate growth, 2 points; rapid growth, 4 points), 2) visceral metastases (no metastasis, 0 points; treatable, 2 points: untreatable, 4 points), and 3) bone metastases (solitary or isolated, 1 point; multiple, 2 points). These three factors were added together to give a prognostic score between 2–10. The treatment goal for each patient was set according to this prognostic score. The strategy for each patient was decided along with the treatment goal: a prognostic score of 2–3 points suggested a wide or marginal excision for long-term local control; 4–5 points indicated marginal or intralesional excision for middle-term local control; 6–7 points justified palliative surgery for short-term palliation; and 8–10 points indicated nonoperative supportive care. Sixty-one patients were treated prospectively according to this surgical strategy between 1993–1996 (phase 2). The extent of the spinal metastases was stratified using the surgical classification of spinal tumors, and technically appropriate and feasible surgery was performed, such as en bloc spondylectomy, piecemeal thorough excision, curettage, or palliative surgery. Results. The mean survival time of the 28 patients treated with wide or marginal excision was 38.2 months (26 had successful local control). The mean survival time of the 13 patients treated with intralesional excision was 21.5 months (nine had successful local control). The mean survival time of the 11 patients treated with palliative surgery and stabilization was 10.1 months (eight had successful local control). The mean survival time of the patients with terminal care was 5.3 months. Conclusions. A new surgical strategy for spinal metastases based on the prognostic scoring system is proposed. This strategy provides appropriate guidelines for treatment in all patients with spinal metastases. [


Fashion is the most fundamental thing for a society because by the fashion it is easy to get the idea of modernization of any area. Bangladesh is still developing in terms of fashion. This Subcontinent got liberation from the British colonialism almost 71 years ago. With the partition of British India in 1947 two modern states, India & Pakistan was born. That time Fashion was considered as extravagant so somewhat was intimidated but styling look was not separated from its own way. Bangladesh was born in 1971 after the liberation war with Pakistan. Within this period many styles came and went. Throughout the years the people of Bengal had the interest to look beautiful. By the year fashion has been changed with the development of the country. Some people followed western and some followed traditional & cultural attire. The study was done to find out the changes in fashion trends throughout 1950-2018 in Bangladesh and to understand whether Bangladeshi people were influenced by worlds' fashion or not.


study of Riccobaldo's extant works, however, strongly suggests that he made no additions to the Compilatio Chronologica after 1313. He probably added all the material on 1302-13 together when he was updating his earlier short chronicles, none of which had carried the narrative beyond 1302, and placed the Giotto passage in 1306 because this tallied with his recollections of his pre-1308 stay in Padua. Preparing an edition of the Compilatio chronologica enables me to state that Florence, Laur. P1.83.2 fol. 71r and Berlin, Staatsbibl. F.118 fol. 139v contain the uncorrupt text.2 They read: 'opera facta per eum in ecclesiis Minorum Assisii, Arimini, Padue ac per ea que pinxit palatio Comunis Padue et in ecclesia Arene Padue'. The branch


In acoustics, knowledge of the impulse response of a system is often important. While impulse responses may be measured, they may also be predicted using numerical methods. This work considers the generation of impulse responses from frequency-domain finite element solutions. It is shown that these impulse responses, obtained by inverse Fourier transformation, are noncausal. Through error analysis, it is demonstrated that the noncausality can be reduced by increasing the duration of a source signal used to excite a simulated system. It is found that increasing the source signal duration increases the dispersion-related phase error present in the simulated impulse responses. The findings of this study are used to simulate an impulse response for a system with a nonuniform, frequency-dependent, complex impedance boundary condition.