This work describes the application of time domain passivity control to the stabilization of a one-degree-of-freedom teleoperation system in the presence of stochastic time delays. A non-linear Kalman filter based predictor provides recursive estimates of remote energy which, in conjunction with the master-side energy of a network 2-port, give real-time estimates of net energy across the given port. These estimates are used to design time-varying stabilizing passivity controllers. Beta distributed time delays are predicted using one-step ahead 1st-order predictor


Objective To observe serum levels of interleukin-17 (IL-17) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in dermatomyositis (DM) patients with different syndrome types of Chinese medicine (CM). Methods Totally 68 dermatomyositis patients were recruited and grouped by syndrome typing of CM, i.e., heat-toxin flourishing syndrome (20 cases) , damp-heat accumulation syndrome (14 cases) , cold-dampness obstruction syndrome (12 cases) , Pi-Shen deficiency syndrome (12 cases) , Gan-Shen yin deficiency syndrome (10 cases). Meanwhile, 64 healthy volunteers were recruited as healthy con- trols. The levels of IL-17 and TNF-α in serum were detected in patient groups and the healthy group. Results Compared with the healthy control group, the serum IL-17 level increased in patients with heat-toxin flourishing syndrome, damp-heat accumulation syndrome, and cold-dampness obstruction syndrome (P <0. 01) ; the serum TNF-α level increased in DM patients with each syndrome (P <0. 01 , P < 0. 05). Compared with the heat-toxin flourishing syndrome group, the serum IL-17 level decreased in patients with cold-dampness obstruction syndrome, Pi-Shen deficiency syndrome, and Gan-Shen yin deficiency syndrome (P <0. 01) ; and the serum TNF-α level decreased in patients with Pi-Shen deficiency syndrome and Gan-Shen yin deficiency syndrome (P <0. 01). Compared with the dampheat accumulation syndrome group, the serum IL-17 level decreased in patients with cold-dampness obstruction syn- drome, Pi-Shen deficiency syndrome, and Gan-Shen yin deficiency syndrome (P <0. 01) , and the serum TNF-α level decreased in patients with Pi-Shen deficiency syndrome and Gan-Shen yin deficiency syndrome (P <0. 01). Compared with the cold-dampness obstruction syndrome group, the serum levels of IL-17 and TNF-α decreased in patients with Pi-Shen deficiency syndrome and Gan-Shen yin deficiency syndrome (P <0. 01 , P <0. 05). Conclusion Serum levels of IL-17 and TNF-α are different in DM patients with different syndrome types of CM.


A single foliar spray of 25 or 28 ppm 5-chloro,2-thenyl, tri-n-butyl-phosphoniumchloride (CTBP) when the first flowers opened increased yields of 2 cultivars planted in late summer and 2 of 4 cultivars planted in late spring, 1970. Yield increases were due to more pods. In general, CTBP treatments that increased yields did not influence seed and fiber development, shear press values, and color of 4-sieve and 5-sieve pods that were canned. Also, Ca, Mg, P, and K levels of 4-sieve, deseeded 5-sieve, and seeds from 5-sieve pods were not influenced by CTBP treatments.


Abstract Rhombohedral (9R) and hexagonal (6H) perovskites in BaSiO3 were observed by using in-situ X-ray diffraction methods in high-pressure conditions. The 9R perovskite was found after successive laser heating at 27.9 GPa, and the 6H phase was identified at 48.5 GPa after laser annealing. No intermediate phase between the 9R and 6H phases was found in the pressure range between 27.9 and 48.5 GPa. These phases could not be recovered during decompression at room temperature and became amorphous at ambient pressure. The 9R and 6H structures are characterized by the periodicity of the stacking sequence of edge- and corner-sharing SiO6 octahedra. In terms of the length of the O-O distance, the face-sharing SiO6 octahedron in BaSiO3 perovskite is the most distorted among oxide hexagonal perovskites.


This paper addresses the avionics requirements definition process, at the conceptual level, in light of changing threats, technology, and business environments. The objective is to provide a perspective of total integrated system performance which illuminates broad requirements issues rather than specific subsystem specifications. The fundamental premise is that avionics requirements are driven by four factors; Information and Data Sources, Control Opportunities and Information Needs, Concepts and Algorithmic Techniques, and Realization Technologies. These four factors are set in a systems structure which shows their inter-relationships and provides the framework for conceptualizing avionics system solutions to meet particular mission needs. Three generic mission areas are considered and an examination is made of the issues of fielding and affording the solution with specific emphasis on architecture, fusion, production, and support.


The theory of alpha decay in first-order perturbation theory is presented. The theory is designed for a strongly deformed nucleus in an isomeric state which changes its deformation dynamically through decay from a very deformed to an almost spherical shape. It is shown that other channels are not coupled to the alpha channel in first-order perturbation theory. The collective degrees of freedom of the daughter nucleus are described by shape vibrational states, eigenstates of a Hamiltonian whose potential has two minima. The parent nucleus is described by dynamically coupling the vibrational degrees of freedom to the alpha -particle motion and also taking rotations into account. The alpha particle is taken to be a point-like particle. The theory is applied to the alpha decay of the isomeric state of 95242Am.


Asyl Arna is the most popular Islamic television channel in Kazakhstan and the dominant Islamic media company in Kazakhstan. This article examines how images on the social media pages of Asyl Arna create a way of understanding and engaging in contemporary Islamic life in Kazakhstan. I examine four kinds of images: lists, portraits of authority figures, illustrations or photos of the Qur'an, and images related to a middle-class life with a strongly gendered division of labor. The visual culture of Asyl Arna's social media promote Islam as an achievable part of a middle-class lifestyle that can provide simple rules for a pious, economically successful life and a connection to the numinous through the Qur'an.


Spoken language holds a big role in people everyday life. They use it as a communication. In order to convey their idea well to the addressee, they have to use the language in an appropriate way. The spoken language must be coherence, but it might be not cohesive. The writer is interested in analyzing the cohesiveness of a spoken text. Therefore, she choose radio commercials as her object of study considering that there is a notion that the language of radio commercials is improper. For that reason, she would like to find out the cohesiveness of language of radio commercial advertisements by analyzing them thoroughly. She would also like to find the frequency of the cohesive devices, which are used, in the commercial advertisement. To analyze the cohesiveness of the radio commercial advertisements, the writer used the theory of Halliday and Hassan in their book Cohesion in English.. She collected the data from a local radio 'Suara Surabaya FM'. Here, she picked fifteen advertisements in the form of dialogues and recorded them in a tape cassette. After getting the data transcription, the writer analyzed it and put the data of occurrences of cohesive devices into tables. Then, after she got the findings, she tabulated them into percentages. From the findings, the writer found that the language of commercial advertisement in 'Suara Surabaya FM' is considered cohesive. It can be seen that the percentage of the fulfilment is much greater than the violation. The type of cohesion, which mostly occurred, is reached by Reference and the second highest number is Reiteration. It means that the notion about the language of commercial advertisement is wrong. Although there are some violations in applying the cohesive devices, it does not mean that the advertisers are not concern about the language and the listener. This means that the listener could understand the commercial well.


Abstract Non-forest woody vegetation represents an important component of green infrastructure in the agricultural landscape, where natural and semi-natural forest cover has only a low land use proportion. This paper focuses on linear woody vegetation structures along roads in the agricultural landscape and analyses them in three study areas in the Nitra Region, Slovakia. We evaluate species composition and diversity, species occurrence frequency or spatial distribution, their structure according to relatively achievable age and origin. For the evaluation of occurrence frequency, a Frequency Factor was proposed and applied. This factor allows a better comparison of different study areas and results in more representative findings. The study areas were divided into sectors based on visual landscape features, which are easily identifiable in the field, such as intersections and curves in roads, and intersections of roads with other features, such as cadastral or land boundaries, watercourses, etc. Based on the species abundance, woody plants present within the sectors were categorised into 1) predominant, 2) complementary and 3) mixed-in species; and with regard to their origin into 1) autochthonous and 2) allochthonous. Further, trees were categorised into 1) long-lived, 2) medium-lived and 3) short-lived tree species. The main finding is that among trees, mainly allochthonous species dominated. Robinia pseudoacacia L. was the predominant tree species in all three study areas. It was up to 4 times more frequent than other predominant tree species. Introduced tree species prevailed also among complementary and mixed-in species. Among shrubs, mainly native species dominated, while non-native species had a significantly lower proportion and spatial distribution. Based on these findings, several measures have been proposed to improve the overall ecological stability, the proportion and spatial distribution of native woody plant species. The recommendations and measures aim at enhancement of native species biodiversity, landscape identity and character, in order to meet the main landscape and biodiversity challenges identified in key biodiversity and landscape policies of Europe.


Concerns about the negative intergenerational effects of excessive fructose intake are being raised, with evidence suggesting that prenatal fructose intake increases susceptibility to metabolic and cognitive dysfunction later in life. In the present study, we hypothesized that prenatal and postnatal fructose intake acts synergistically to impact on hippocampus of adult offspring. Female Sprague-Dawley rats received distilled water or 20% high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) solution in addition to standard chow throughout gestation and lactation. Male offspring were weaned at postnatal day 21 (PD21) and were randomized to receive distilled water or 20% HFCS solution until PD60. The following experimental groups were: CC: distilled water dams and post-weaning distilled water, CH: distilled water dams and post-weaning HFCS solution, HC: HFCS solution dams and post-weaning distilled water and HH: HFCS solution dams and post-weaning HFCS solution. The synergistic effect of maternal and post-weaning HFCS intake on the hippocampus was investigated by studying the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokine genes (Tnfa, Il1b, and Il6). At weaning, expression levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines between the offspring of the distilled water and HFCS solution fed dams were not significantly different. At PD60, Tnfa expression was significantly higher in the HH group than in the CC, HC and CH groups, whereas no significant differences were found between the CC, HC, and CH groups. These results suggest that postnatal fructose intake negatively impacts the hippocampus by acting synergistically with prenatal fructose intake.


GANs for time series data often use sliding windows or self-attention to capture underlying time dependencies. While these techniques have no clear theoretical justification, they are successful in significantly reducing the discriminator size, speeding up the training process, and improving the generation quality. In this paper, we provide both theoretical foundations and a practical framework of GANs for high-dimensional distributions with conditional independence structure captured by a Bayesian network, such as time series data. We prove that several probability divergences satisfy subadditivity properties with respect to the neighborhoods of the Bayes-net graph, providing an upper bound on the distance between two Bayes-nets by the sum of (local) distances between their marginals on every neighborhood of the graph. This leads to our proposed Subadditive GAN framework that uses a set of simple discriminators on the neighborhoods of the Bayes-net, rather than a giant discriminator on the entire network, providing significant statistical and computational benefits. We show that several probability distances including Jensen-Shannon, Total Variation, and Wasserstein, have subadditivity or generalized subadditivity. Moreover, we prove that Integral Probability Metrics (IPMs), which encompass commonly-used loss functions in GANs, also enjoy a notion of subadditivity under some mild conditions. Furthermore, we prove that nearly all f-divergences satisfy local subadditivity in which subadditivity holds when the distributions are relatively close. Our experiments on synthetic as well as real-world datasets verify the proposed theory and the benefits of subadditive GANs.


This report describes a case of cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis (CTX) accompanied by clinical manifestations of parkinsonism, including oily and masked face, marked akinesia, muscle rigidity and resting hand tremor. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain showed high intensity areas on T2 weighted imaging, and slightly low intensity areas on T1 weighted imaging in the right globus pallidus and the left putamen. Cerebral cortical atrophy with slight ventricular dilatation and cerebellar atrophy were present as well. This is a case report of CTX which manifested parkinsonism. Parkinsonism may not be a coincidental manifestation in CTX, but rather represent a symptom of the same underlying diathesis.


Childhood atopic eczema (AE) has a profound physical, emotional and social effect on the patient and the parent. This effect can be compounded by a delay in diagnosis and effective management. The primary healthcare (PHC) nurse in the public-health sector often lacks the knowledge to assess, diagnose and treat a child with AE. This article focuses on strategies that the PHC nurse can use to assess and diagnose children with AE.


The effects of three glucocorticoids (steroids; hydrocortisone, prednisolone and dexamethasone) on cell mediated hypersensitivity (type IV) reactions in rats and mice were studied. All the steroids inhibited both the induction and the effector phases of type IV reaction induced by sheep red blood cells (SRBC) in mouse footpads. The local graft vs host reaction induced by lymphocytes from Brown Norway rats into the footpads of (Lewis x Brown Norway) F1 rats was also clearly inhibited by steroids. The inhibitory action of steroids on footpad reactions induced by SRBC was clearly prevented by pretreatment with non-corticoidal steroids (17 alpha-methyltestosterone, androstenedione and progesterone). The release of lymphokines, macrophage chemotactic factor (MCF) and skin reactive factor (SRF) was inhibited by each steroid at a high concentration. Moreover, steroids inhibited the activity of MCF in vitro and SRF in vivo.


Eukaryotic cells contain small, highly abundant, nuclear-localized non-coding RNAs [snRNAs (small nuclear RNAs)] which play important roles in splicing of introns from primary genomic transcripts. Through a combination of RNA-RNA and RNA-protein interactions, two of the snRNPs, U1 and U2, recognize the splice sites and the branch site of introns. A complex remodelling of RNA-RNA and protein-based interactions follows, resulting in the assembly of catalytically competent spliceosomes, in which the snRNAs and their bound proteins play central roles. This process involves formation of extensive base-pairing interactions between U2 and U6, U6 and the 5' splice site, and U5 and the exonic sequences immediately adjacent to the 5' and 3' splice sites. Thus RNA-RNA interactions involving U2, U5 and U6 help position the reacting groups of the first and second steps of splicing. In addition, U6 is also thought to participate in formation of the spliceosomal active site. Furthermore, emerging evidence suggests additional roles for snRNAs in regulation of various aspects of RNA biogenesis, from transcription to polyadenylation and RNA stability. These snRNP-mediated regulatory roles probably serve to ensure the co-ordination of the different processes involved in biogenesis of RNAs and point to the central importance of snRNAs in eukaryotic gene expression.


With the stringent regulations from various academic bodies making it desirable for a post graduate resident to have submitted an original article prior to appearance for their exams or those working in teaching institutions to have published articles to claim credit for applying for promotions and private practitioners to increase their visibility on the academic front, paper, everyone is on a publishing spree. In this article, we attempt to elucidate the processes involved in publication; approaching it in a systematic and practical manner, incorporating some tips and tricks. This collection of pearls is aimed to serve as a beginner's guide to scientific writing and publications. The pearls cover assorted topics like- benefits of publications, collecting resources, various tools available and technical processes related to how a manuscript is processed.


This paper examines the problem of nonlinear digital control of a continuous nonlinear system. Due to the prevalence of digital controllers, the problem of controlling continuous systems through the use of digital controls is an important application area. This paper examines the use of two types of backstepping controller; one using a cancellation design to cancel out the nonlinearities and one using a feedback domination design to dominate, rather that cancel, the undesired nonlinearities. The feedback domination design is found to be faster in convergence. The nonlinear controller allows for negating the effects of nonlinear terms not previously accounted for due to the use of a linear digital control of continuous systems. The significance of this result is that little information about the nonlinear system is required to stabilize this system.


Osman Hamdi Bey and the Americans: Archaeology, Diplomacy, Art Pera Museum, Istanbul 15 October 2011–8 January 2012

 Scramble for the Past: A Story of Archaeology in the Ottoman Empire, 1753–1914 SALT Galata, Istanbul 22 November 2011–11 March 2012

 Artamonoff: Picturing Byzantine Istanbul, 1930–1947 Koc University Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations, Istanbul 25 June–10 November 2013

Three exhibitions that examine ways of looking at the ancient and Byzantine past from the eighteenth to the early twentieth century were recently on display in Istanbul. These exhibitions reevaluated the changing discourses and practices of archaeology as both a scholarly enterprise and a popular endeavor, particularly in relation to the late Ottoman and early Turkish contexts. They explored how contemporaries looked at, understood, and wrote about the culture, art, and architecture of the past from their various and varying perspectives.

The exhibition Scramble for the Past: A Story of Archaeology in the Ottoman Empire, 1753–1914 at SALT Galata was curated by Zainab Bahrani, Zeynep Celik, and Edhem Eldem (Figure 1). It revolved around a double narrative of an apparently conventional historical account of the birth and development of "modern archaeology" from the founding of the British Museum in 1753 to the establishment of the Ottoman Pious Foundations Museum in 1914 alongside a contested story about some historically renowned archaeological sites that once dotted the former Ottoman lands. As its provocative title Scramble for the Past suggests, rather than presenting a celebratory narrative of archaeological practice, the exhibition put forward a critical interpretation of the history of archaeology. The seemingly neutral time line, highlighting the major dates in the long march of archaeology alongside significant historical political events, constituted a backdrop on the walls and literally encircled the main body of display, which focused on certain archaeological sites within the framework of eight different themes. True to the exploratory and interdisciplinary cultural mission of SALT, the sites were presented through their various historical representations in different media from written texts to oil paintings, from drawings to photographs and films, together with some original artifacts, among which were also dispersed commissioned installations on the nature of archaeology by artists Mark Dion …


The sagittal deviation of a Laue-diffracted X-ray beam caused by the inclination of an exit crystal surface with respect to an entrance crystal surface has been studied both theoretically and experimentally. The use of this effect for sagittal focusing of X-ray synchrotron radiation diffracted by a Laue crystal is suggested. The focusing is based on the refraction effect due to the parabolic profile of an exit or/and entrance surface. The crystal is not bent. In order to achieve a reasonable focusing distance, the crystal should be cut asymmetrically. The experiment was performed at beamline BM5 at the ESRF.


A meso-scale analysis method using the natural element method is proposed for the analysis of material damage of brittle microcracking solids. The microcracking is assumed to occur along Voronoi edges in the Voronoi diagram generated using the nodal points as the generators. The mechanical effect of microcracks is considered by controlling the material constants in the neighborhood of the micorcracks. The macro elastic moduli of isotropic solids containing a number of randomly distributed microcracks are calculated considering the effect of microcrack closure to demonstrate the validity of the proposed method.


This study evaluated the crude oil degradation potentials of some indigenous soil microorganisms. The microbial isolates were among those obtained from crude oil contaminated and uncontaminated agricultural soils of Awoye, Orioke-Iwamimo, Igodan-Lisa and Oba-Ile all in Ondo State, Nigeria. The isolates were tested for crude oil degradation potentials by visual turbidity, extent of breakdown of overlaid oil and the optical density by spectrophotometry method at the wavelength of 540 nm. Brevundimonas diminuta, Bacillus subtilis, Flavobacterium species, Enterobacter species, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Alcaligenes faecalis, Bacillus megaterium, Klebsiella edwardsii, Bacillus aryabhattai, Aspergillus flavus, Kodamaea ohmeri, Cephalosporium species, Mucor mucedo, Paecilomyces variotii, Candida parapsilopsis and Trichoderma species were among the sixteen bacterial and seven fungal isolates tested. The findings in this study revealed varying optical densities of 0.324-0.647 for bacteria and 0.497 -0.812 for fungi at days 11 and 17 respectively thus suggesting different responses and potentials to breakdown crude oil. The highest degradative ability was shown by Klebsiella edwardsii (OD 0.647) followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (OD 0.575) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (OD 0.490). Paecilomyces variotii showed the highest degradative ability (OD 0.812) among the fungi. The results also suggest that these microorganisms with high degradative ability may be useful in seeding petroleum hydrocarbon polluted agricultural soils for bioremediation. Original Research Article Ikuesan; JSRR, 13(5): 1-9, 2017; Article no.JSRR.29151 2


Government institutions have sought to improve their processes in project management in an effort to elevate their maturity levels using models that clearly identify the weaknesses in the management of their projects. This article aims to show a case study by applying the Project Management Maturity Model (Prado - PMMM), developed by Darci Prado, in a Research and Development (R&D) Institution of the Brazilian Federal Government. The scores show that the maturity level in project management is weak (institutional level equal to 2.47). The main causes for this score are attributed to the lack of knowledge and the unpreparedness of some sectors and project managers. It was also observed that the dimension named Technical Competence presents the highest value (46%), considered a good score. On the other hand, the dimension involving Behavioral Competence presents the lowest value (9%), which, according to the used methodology, is considered weak, indicating that investments must be made to enhance this dimension.


The
 purpose of this study is unique in its use of Q methodology to examine
how students' personal epistemological views compared to how their
instructor perceived their views. The ability to determine the
differences and similarities in these epistemological views have
implications for further research associated with learning (Halloun
& Hestenes, 1998; May & Etkina, 2002; Schommer, 1993b) and
instructor attitudes towards students. A variety of research
methodologies have been employed to determine epistemology (Duell &
Schommer-Aikins, 2001) including a number in physics (diSessa, 1993;
Halloun & Hestenes, 1998; Hammer & Elby, 2003; Lising &
Elby, 2005; Roth & Roychoudhury, 2003), but none have used Q
methodology. This study demonstrated that Q is an effective way to
reveal the multiple epistemological views in a classroom.


Garcinia cambogia (Gaertn.) Desr. (known as Malabar tamarind) is a popular traditional herbal medicine and is one of the well-known folk medicines reported for the treatment of obesity and incorporated in several nutraceuticals worldwide. These effects are mediated by a myriad of bioactive compounds with most effects attributed to its hydroxy citric acid (HCA) content. This review aims to present a holistic overview on novel trends in the production of G. cambogia bioactive components and how extraction optimization is important to ensure best product quality with its reported nanoformulations with particular emphasis on HCA content. Further, an overview of the different analytical approaches used for quality control assessment of G. cambogia plant and its nutraceuticals is presented highlighting both advantages and limitations. Moreover, analytical approaches for detecting G. cambogia metabolites in biological fluids with emphasis on HCA level to determine its pharmacokinetics and proof of efficacy are presented for the first time.


Preface Part I: The Diagnosis of Depression. Introduction. The Birth and Growth of Major Depression. The Rise and Fall of Depression as a Reaction. Part II: Social Psychiatry. The Birth and Growth of Social Psychiatry. The Retreat of Social Psychiatry. Part III: The Frequency of Depression and a Lesson from War and Society. Interpreting the Burden. A Lesson From War Syndromes. Things Fall Apart: Society and Depression on the Threshold of the 21st Century. Part IV: The Revival of Social Psychiatry. A Call for Basic Social Science Research in Psychiatry. Emotion: A Link Between Body and Society. The Problem with Soma


The situation of primary education in Pakistan is poor. According to the 'Out of school children': South Asian regional study (UNICEF, 2014), in 2009, in Pakistan, there were 6.6 million school-age children1 out-of school. The School Management Committees (SMCs) were created at the district level by the government's initiatives of decentralization of education by introducing devolution plan in 2001 (The Sindh Local Government Ordinance, 2001). At the school level, the head teacher plays the role of general secretary of the SMC and facilitates the formation of the SMC by calling a general body meeting and arranging the election of the SMC. This research will address the ways and means through which the SMC policy implementations can be improved so that student enrolments are increased. The research question will explore the barriers that face the SMCs in increasing effectiveness of policy implementation, to enhance enrolments of students at the school level, and how this implementation can be improved in Sindh, Pakistan. The transformative worldview approach is selected. In the literature review, a significant search was carried out to explore hurdles with regards to the SMC implementation and effective strategies which worked successfully in developing countries. This paper outlines the findings regarding the SMCs' experience in Pakistan and parts of developing countries where the SMCs model worked effectively.


AIM
To investigate the presence of Helicobacter species by nested PCR of 16S rRNA genes followed by the presence of Helicobacter pylori (H pylori) 16S rRNA, ureA, cagA genes in bile obtained at endoscopic retrograde cholangio-pancreatography (ERCP) from 60 Indian subjects.

METHODS
Sixty bile samples were obtained from patients diagnosed with various hepato-biliary diseases and control subjects at ERCP. PCR analysis was carried out using primers for Helicobacter genus 16S rRNA gene and H pylori (16S rRNA, ureA and cagA) genes. Gastric H pylori status was also assessed from biopsies obtained at endoscopy from patients with various hepato-biliary diseases and controls. The control group mainly consisted of subjects with gastric disorders. Sequencing analysis was performed to confirm that PCR products with 16S rRNA and cagA primers were derived from H pylori. RESULTS No Helicobacters were grown in culture from the bile samples. Helicobacter DNA was detected in bile of 96.7% and 6.6% of groups I and II respectively. Ten from group I were positive for 16S rRNA and ureA and 9 were positive for cagA gene. In contrast of the 2 from the control, 1 amplified with 16S rRNA, ureA and cagA primers used. The sequences of the 16S rRNA genes and cagA were 99% similar to Helicobacter pylori.

CONCLUSION
Helicobacters are associated with the pathogenesis of various hepato-biliary disorders.


GRP94, the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) paralog of the chaperone Hsp90, plays an essential role in the structural maturation or secretion of a subset of proteins destined for transport to the cell surface, such as the Toll-like receptors 2 and 4, and IgG, respectively. GRP94 differs from cytoplasmic Hsp90 by exhibiting very weak ATP binding and hydrolysis activity. GRP94 also binds selectively to a series of substituted adenosine analogs. The high resolution crystal structures at 1.75–2.1 Å of the N-terminal and adjacent charged domains of GRP94 in complex with N-ethylcarboxamidoadenosine, radicicol, and 2-chlorodideoxyadenosine reveals a structural mechanism for ligand discrimination among hsp90 family members. The structures also identify a putative subdomain that may act as a ligand-responsive switch. The residues of the charged region fold into a disordered loop whose termini are ordered and continue the twisted beta sheet that forms the structural core of the N-domain. This continuation of the beta sheet past the charged domain suggests a structural basis for the association of the N-terminal and middle domains of the full-length chaperone.


A specific Mg2+-dependent bis(5'-adenosyl)-triphosphatase (EC 18.104.22.168) was purified 270-fold from Escherichia coli. The enzyme had a strict requirement for Mg2+. Other divalent cations, such as Mn2+, Ca2+, or Co2+, were not effective. The products of the reaction with bis(5'-adenosyl) triphosphate (Ap3A) as the substrate were ADP and AMP in stoichiometric amounts. The Km for Ap3A was 12 +/- 5 microM. Bis(5'-adenosyl) di-, tetra-, and pentaphosphates, NAD+, ATP, ADP, AMP, glucose 6-phosphate, p-nitrophenylphosphate, bis-p-nitrophenylphospate, and deoxyribosylthymine-5'-(4-nitrophenylphosphate) were not substrates of the reaction. The enzyme had a molecular mass of 36 kilodaltons (as determined both by gel filtration and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis), an isoelectric point of 4.84 +/- 0.05, and a pH optimum of 8.2 to 8.5. Zn2+, a known potent inhibitor of rat liver bis(5'-adenosyl)-triphosphatase and bis(5'-guanosyl)-tetraphosphatase (EC 3.6 1.17), was without effect. The enzyme differs from the E. coli diadenosine 5',5'''-P1, P4-tetraphosphate pyrophosphohydrolase which, in the presence of Mn2+, also hydrolyzes Ap3A.


The effect of oral mexiletine and intravenous lignocaine was examined in elderly patients with urinary incontinence associated with detrusor instability. Lignocaine had no demonstrable urodynamic effect in 13 patients, but 12 out of 20 patients who completed the study with mexiletine benefited, 10 becoming dry. The incidence of side-effects was high. Since there was no associated urodynamic improvement on the drug, the clinical improvement was probably secondary to the toileting regime instigated in every case. The results of the in vitro experiments on 11 rat bladders supported this contention, since mexiletine caused contractions of the preparation, and increased the rate and magnitude of spontaneous activity. Acetylcholine, histamine and 5-hydroxytryptamine receptors were not involved in these contractions.


CONTEXT
Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a group of conditions characterized by impaired social function and repetitive behaviors. Their etiology is largely unknown.

OBJECTIVE
To examine the associations of maternal 2 nd trimester and cord blood leptin and adiponectin levels with ASD in offspring.

DESIGN/SETTING
We used data from 1164 mother-child pairs enrolled in Project Viva, a prospective pre-birth cohort. We used logistic regression analysis to examine the associations of leptin and adiponectin levels in maternal 2 nd trimester blood and cord blood obtained at birth with ASD. Additionally, we examined the association of maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) as an exposure.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Doctor-diagnosed ASD reported by mothers using questionnaires in mid-childhood and early adolescence.

RESULTS
The cumulative incidence of ASD was 3.4%. Maternal pre-pregnancy BMI (per 5 kg/m 2) was positively associated with ASD in a logistic regression model adjusted for maternal race/ethnicity, education, smoking status and child sex (adjusted OR 1.38; 95% CI 1.06, 1.79). Higher 2 nd trimester adiponectin was associated with lower odds of ASD in offspring (unadjusted OR 0.49 [0.30, 0.78], and OR 0.54 [0.32, 0.91] after adjusting for maternal race/ethnicity, education, child sex, OR 0.55 [0.33, 0.93] after adjusting for BMI, gestational weight gain, gestational diabetes and smoking status). Maternal leptin and cord blood leptin and adiponectin levels were not associated with ASD.

CONCLUSIONS
Pre-pregnancy BMI and adiponectin during pregnancy may be useful as a tool to monitor the risk of autism. Increasing adiponectin levels prenatally may play a role in the prevention of ASD.


Background: Medication therapy is commonly accepted as the initial treatment of trigeminal neuralgia (TN). Microvascular decompression (MVD) is the surgical treatment with the highest efficacy, but is considered as last tier therapy for patients with medication refractory pain or for those with unbearable side effects. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of symptom duration on outcome. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted from 2001 through 2012. Patients were categorized according to Burchiel's "Classification scheme for facial pains commonly encountered in neurosurgical practice". Demographical, disease and treatment data as well as surgical data including complications and outcome were recorded and analyzed. Results: In total, 65 patients were included. Distribution of diagnoses was as follows: TN type 1 (>50% episodic pain) n=54, TN type 2 (>50% constant pain) n=4, neuropathic TN n=1, symptomatic TN due to multiple sclerosis n=3, post herpetic n=2. Onset of disease to surgery was on average 7 years (<1-21 years). Shorter time from disease onset to surgery had a statistically significant association with a pain-free outcome in only TN type 1 patients (6 vs. 13 years, p=0.01). Overall success rate in TN1 was 88.9%. Overall mortality and morbidity rate were 3%. Overall complication rate was 13.5%. Conclusion: Earlier MVD was significantly associated with better outcome. Patients should be informed about the option of MVD at an early stage of disease.


This paper proposes an autonomous fault determination. fault zone isolation and fault restoration strategy based on the ethernet communication as a new attempt to solve the problem the of the existing central control method. In proposed method, The FRTU(Feeder Remote Terminal Unit)s on the feeder determines autonomously where the faulted zone is by exchanging the voltage and current information with neighbor FRTUs based on the network communication, and then separates the faulted zone in an nil-voltage status to make the protective device to reclose successively. In particular, the minimization of outage time and relational load balancing is archived by each interconnection switch which determines autonomously the load zone to be allocated among those zones after the sound outage zones was separated individually. Finally, to show effectiveness of the proposed fault restoration strategy, the several fault cases are simulated for the test distribution system, and the load balancing index of the proposed solution is compared with all of feasible solutions.


Abstract : The ELF II program extended the Phase I codes to handle problems encountered in space pulsed power systems design, and applied the resulting next-generation ELF2 codes to numerically analyze electric stresses which could initiate potential breakdown mechanisms in critical subsystems in a specific real application of interest to SDI. The ELF codes are uniquely suited to electric field analysis in the presence of arbitrarily-shaped conductors and non-homogeneous, nonlinear and time-dependent plasmas because of their unique boundary-fitted grid generation approach and their efficient finite-difference methods. The chosen paradigm problem was the Space Power Experiments Aboard Rockets III (SPEAR III) payload. The challenges lead to a new grid generator which conserves boundary mode stretching and a new topological flexibility based on grid cut-outs. This report describes the approaches used and new capabilities developed, including user instructions. (Author)


Cellular nutrient consumption is influenced by both the nutrient uptake kinetics of an individual cell and the cells' spatial arrangement. Large cell clusters or colonies have inhibited growth at the cluster's center due to the shielding of nutrients by the cells closer to the surface. We develop an effective medium theory that predicts a thickness ℓ of the outer shell of cells in the cluster that receives enough nutrient to grow. The cells are treated as partially absorbing identical spherical nutrient sinks, and we identify a dimensionless parameter ν that characterizes the absorption strength of each cell. The parameter ν can vary over many orders of magnitude among different cell types, ranging from bacteria and yeast to human tissue. The thickness ℓ decreases with increasing ν, increasing cell volume fraction φ, and decreasing ambient nutrient concentration ψ(∞). The theoretical results are compared with numerical simulations and experiments. In the latter studies, colonies of budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, are grown on glucose media and imaged under a confocal microscope. We measure the growth inside the colonies via a fluorescent protein reporter and compare the experimental and theoretical results for the thickness ℓ.


Background: Breast cancer results from uncontrolled proliferation of malignant cells resulting appearance of a lump or a mass in the breast. Although many epidemiological risk factors have been identified, the cause of any individual breast cancer is most often unknowable. A women's reaction to any suspected disease of breast may include fear of disfigurement, loss of sexual attractiveness and death. Social and religious factors, unawareness of fatality of the disease, fear of infertility hinder early diagnosis & treatment. Early diagnosis is the key to increased survival. Objective: To find out clinical presentation for breast cancer. Study design: It is a prospective study of 50 carcinoma breast patients who palpable breast lump. It was conducted during the six months period. Data were collected pre-designed data collection sheet. Data were analysis statistical package for social science (SPSS) program. Result: Most of the malignant lesions are above the age of 40 years and peak incidence are between 41-50 years and most of patients under this study were in advanced stage-III (54%) and stage-IV (22%). Patients were presented as nipple discharge (20%), pain in the breast (26%), ulceration over the lump (14%), paeu'd orange (10%) skin fixation over the lump (18%), fixation to the chest wall (14%) nipple retraction (22%). Among the 50 patients there was only one male ca-breast patient (2%). Among the histopathological types infiltrating duct cell carcinoma (NST) were 41 (82%), ductal carcinoma in situ 6 (12%), lobular carcinoma invasive 2 (4%), lobular carcinoma in situ 1 (2%) and carcinoma involved in different quadrants were upper & outer 21 (42%), lower outer 5 (10%), upper and inner 12 (24%), lower and inner 4 (8%), central 7 (14%) and breast as a whole involvement was 1 (2%). About the involvement of carcinoma breast, left breast involvement were 52%, right breast 46% and bilateral involvement was 2%. Conclusion: This prospective study shows an alarming high incidence of carcinoma breast with palpable breast lump. The diversity of clinical presentation of breast lumps in different age group were observed is our hospital practice. This study gives an idea about the incidence of various types of lesions of breast in different age groups in our country. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/cmoshmcj.v13i2.21048


We give the defining structure of two-parameter quantum group of type G2 defined over a field Q(r, s) (with r 6 s), and prove the Drinfel'd double structure as its upper and lower triangular parts, extending an earlier result of (BW1) in type A and a recent result of (BGH1) in types B, C, D. We further discuss the Lusztig's Q-isomorphisms from Ur,s(G2) to its associated object Us−1,r−1(G2), which give rise to the usual Lusztig's symmetries defined not only on Uq(G2) but also on the centralized quantum group U c(G2) only when r = s 1 = q. (This also reflects the distinguishing difference between our newly defined two-parameter object and the standard Drinfel'd-Jimbo quan- tum groups). Some interesting (r, s)-identities holding in Ur,s(G2) are derived from this discussion.


Summary

1. We used a factorial experimental design to test whether habitat fragmentation (two different fragment sizes) and connectivity (presence and absence of corridors between small fragments) affected population growth rate and two conventional measures of the demographic structure (proportion of reproductive adults and sex ratio) in 12 enclosed populations of root voles.

2. Because the matriline has been suggested to be a functional entity affecting the demography of Microtus populations, we employed a study protocol (including laboratory-raised founder animals and intensive live trapping combined with fluorescent powder techniques), which enabled us to track the matrilineal genealogy in the populations. Thus, the effect of habitat structure on the matrilineal structure of the populations, quantified by the Shannon–Wiener diversity index, could be tested for the first time.

3. Population growth rate was density dependent, but neither this population parameter nor sex ratio and proportion of reproductive adults differed between the habitat treatments. This was unexpected since the presumed determinants of Microtus demography, such as individual space use, dispersal distances and spatio-social organization had earlier been found to differ between the treatments.

4. The matrilineal structure (diversity) of the populations changed in response to the experimental habitat manipulations. In corridor-connected systems, some matrilines became numerically dominant, which lead to reduced matrilineal diversity compared to systems with isolated habitat fragments. We hypothesize that some matrilines were able to colonize and exploit corridor-connected fragments better than other matrilines. Matrilineal diversity was not related to any other demographic attribute (growth rate, sex ratio and functional stage structure) at the population level.

5. Our results suggest that fragmentation-induced changes of individual and matrilineal level attributes do not necessarily propagate into population level differences in vital rates. The notion that matrilines may be a functional entity in Microtus populations could not be supported.

6. Our experimental results suggest that population genetics, more than population demography, may be sensitive to habitat fragmentation and connectivity, within the specific temporal and spatial extent explored. In particular, the effect of corridors on matrilineal diversity imply that population genetic studies based on mtDNA markers should consider habitat connectivity when analysing genetic diversity.


The cuttlefish ink extracts was good antibacterial activities. Sepia pharaonis was assayed against selected human pathogens using agar well diffusion technique. Crude ink extract in hexane and column purified ink extract in diethyl ether shows maximum inhibitory effect against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Klebsiella pneumoniae. The minimum inhibitory concentration was found to be lower in Escherichia coli and lesser degree of inhibition was observed in the column purified fractions when compared to crude ink extract.


In the photovoltaic (PV) system, the electrical characterization of series arc faults would be inevitably interfered by power electronic equipment. Existing methods are unable to effectively separate clear arc fault features from these influence factors, forming some unwanted detection barriers. In this paper, series arc fault experiments are conducted in PV systems with different kinds of power electronic equipment first. Having analyzed PV series arc faults through the existing linear transform, arc faults are hard to be identified in the undesired switching frequency band and harmonics because of noise interferences. Through establishment of effectiveness evaluation index, more performance limitations are discovered in low- and high-frequency bands for the bandpass filter effect of the linear transform. Then the arc fault identification in high and switching frequency bands become much easier after the investigation of the bilinear transform with higher time–frequency resolution. However, the performance is not obviously improved in the low-frequency band because of the cross term. Next, arc fault features in low and switching frequency bands would be more obvious through application of the adaptive transform. Besides, performances just have a slight decrease in the high-frequency band. These better time–frequency distributions are of great benefit to improve the detection accuracy and expand the application scope. Finally, the arc fault model is proposed to acquire the simulated data in the PV system with the power electronic equipment. It is found that the power electronic equipment would seriously interfere arc fault behaviors in the low and switching frequency bands.


In this paper the uniqueness problem of the Chaplygin's equation K(y) u_(xx)+u_(yy)=0 (K(0)=0; dk/dy 0 for k≠0) is considered. The domain D is bounded by three curves showing in the figure, where Γ_1 is a characteristic define by the equation dy = —(—K)~(-1/2) dx, Γ_2 and Γ_3 are continuous and piecewise continuously differentiable curves, and moreover, Γ_2 satisfying the condition 0 ≤ dy ≤ (—K)~(-1/2) dx.We consider solution u whose first derivatives are continuous on the boundary except at O and A. When P ∈D, P→O and P→A, the conditions imposed on u_x, u_y are u_x= O (OP~α),u_y = O (OP~α) (—1α≤0),u_x=O(AP~β),u_y=O(AP~β) (—1/2β≤0).The result of this paper is as follows.Let two continuous and piecewise continuously differentiable functions B, C define in the upper half-plane and satisfying the following conditions: B = x, C = 0 (when 0≤x≤1, y=0),(1) C ≥ 0 (when y 0),(2) B= O (OP), C = O (OP) (when P∈D,P→O),(3) B = O (1), C = O (AP) (when P ∈D, P→A),(4) (B_y,+K C_x)~2 ≤ (B_x—C_y) [(C K)_y—K B_x] .(5) be the polar coordinates of x,Y and It is easily seen from (2)and (5)that m≥0. otherwise let θ_o be the angle defined by the equation LetTheorem 1. The portion of Γ_3 lying in the region 0 θ θ_o, 0 r exp satisfying the condition B dy — C dx ≥ 0 and the solution u in D which vanishes on Γ_2 and Γ_3, then u = 0 in D.We consider two particular, cases of the theorem.Ⅰ. B=x, C=y satisfying (1)—(5).In this case m=0. Thus the uniqueness theorem holds if the portion of Γ_3 lying in the domain 0 θ θ_o, 0 r exp 1/n satisfying x dy — y dx ≥ 0 .This result is a little better than a theorem of Morawetz.Ⅱ. In the case of Tricomi's equation (K(y)=y), if l is a constant satisfying 1/2≤l≤1, then B=x, C=ly satisfying (1)—(5). In this case h(θ)=(cos~2 θ+9/4 l~2 sin~2 θ)~(-1/2),m=l/2-|3/2l-1|, θ_o is defined by the equation ln (1+m)~(1/m),n=min h(θ)≥min (1,2/3l).Thus the uniqueness theorem of Tricomi's equation holds if the portion of Γ_3 lying in the domain 0 0 θ_o, 0 r satisfying x dy—ly dx≥0.Theorem 2. If the portion of Γ_3 lying in the region y0, (x—1)~2+Y~21 satisfying the condition dy≥0 and the solution u in D which vanishes on Γ_2 and Γ_3, then u=0 in D.The method of proof is to consider the energy integral = 0 for suitable choice of a, b, c.


The factors in choosing a major for higher education for grade-11 students of Senior High School is the first step in preparing their future career. Before student continuing education to higher education students have to determine the right major for his/herself. The factors that influence student in choosing the major in higher education is personality factor, friend of the same age factor, and parent guidance factor. The purpose of this research is to determine the dominant factor that influence 11 th grade State Senior High School 5 of Banda Aceh students in election process for major in advanced education. This research used descriptive qualitative as research approach. The total sample of this research is 138 students. The simple random sampling techniques is used in obtaining the sample of this research. The data collection in this research is using scale questionnaire. Based on the results of data analysis using the percentage of descriptive analysis, this research results indicate that there are two dominant factors affecting students in election process for major in advanced education which is personality factor with percentage of 92% and parents factor with percentage of 76%, meanwhile friend of the same age factor gives students insignificant influence in the election process for major in advanced education with percentage of 33%. The conclusion in this research is the student of 11 th grade choose majors because the influence of personality factor and friend of the same age factor.


Cyclophilins are peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerases that are highly conserved throughout eukaryotes and are the cellular target of the immunosuppressive drug cyclosporin A (CsA). We cloned cyp1, a cyclophilin A-encoding gene in the phytopathogenic fungus Cryphonectria parasitica, and showed that this gene was downregulated following infection by a virulence-attenuating hypovirus. The function of cyp1 was further investigated by construction of a cyp1 deletion mutant. Although the wild-type C. parasitica strain EP155 was sensitive to CsA, the Δcyp1 strain was highly tolerant to CsA, indicating that CYP1 was the target of CsA. Deletion of cyp1 resulted in reduced virulence when inoculated to chestnut stems. Transcriptional analysis revealed that deletion of cyp1 also reduced transcript levels for genes encoding key components of the heterotrimeric guanosine triphosphate-binding protein signalling pathway that are essential for sensing environmental cues and are involved in C. parasitica development and virulence.


Abstract We analyze the trajectory of near-Earth asteroid 2009~BD, which is a candidate target of the NASA Asteroid Redirect Mission. The small size of 2009 BD and its Earth-like orbit pose challenges to understanding the dynamical properties of 2009 BD. In particular, nongravitational perturbations, such as solar radiation pressure and the Yarkovsky effect, are essential to match observational data and provide reliable predictions. By using Spitzer Space Telescope IRAC observations and our model for the thermophysical properties and the nongravitational forces acting on 2009 BD we obtain probabilistic derivations of the physical properties of this object. We find two physically possible solutions. The first solution shows 2009 BD as a 2.9 ± 0.3 m diameter rocky body with an extremely high albedo that is covered with regolith-like material, causing it to exhibit a low thermal inertia. The second solution suggests 2009 BD to be a 4 ± 1 m diameter asteroid with albedo 0.45 ± 0.35 that consists of a collection of individual bare rock slabs. We are unable to rule out either solution based on physical reasoning. 2009 BD is the smallest asteroid for which physical properties have been constrained, providing unique information on the physical properties of objects in the size range smaller than 10 m.


A general model relating relative hydrothermal activity to the rate of plate creation requires data from the full spectrum of mid-ocean ridge spreading rates. To obtain data from a superfast spreading environment, the Japanese/U.S. Ridge Flux Project used continuous hydrographic/optical tow-yos in 1993 to map the distribution of hydrothermal plumes along the southern East Pacific Rise from 13°30′ to 18°40′S. Plume incidence, the fraction of the spreading axis length overlain by a significant plume, was 0.6, including a virtually continuous vent field stretching 150 km from 17°20′ to 18°40′S. Hydrothermal venting was most concentrated along portions of the ridge crest with an inflated cross-sectional area and an observable axial magma chamber reflector. This pattern agrees with previous results from the northern East Pacific Rise. Such consistency implies that hydrothermal circulation on fast spreading ridges is vigorous where the relative volume of partial melt is high and meager where melt volume is low or undetectable; "hot rock" alone is generally insufficient to drive significant hydrothermal circulation. Using a mean temperature anomaly of 0.014 ± 0.010°C, we estimated the hydrothermal heat flux from the study area as (1.5 ± 1.1 × 107 MW)Ux, where Ux is the cross-axis flow at the ridge crest. No direct measurements of Ux are yet available. Combining the plume distribution found here with prior data from slow, intermediate, and fast spreading ridges yields a significant linear correlation between plume incidence and spreading rate that extends across the full range of plate motion. This correlation, which mirrors that for near-axis heat flux calculated by recent models, implies that magma supply rate is the principal control on the large-scale distribution of axial hydrothermal venting.


Background Not all companies choose or are able to grow, especially not in an unstable economic climate. However, fast growing organizations (gazelles) have managed to grow with a significant pace. As researchers claim control to be one factor in developing an organization, this lead the authors to question whether these gazelle organizations perceive control systems to contribute to their rapid growth. Purpose The authors wish to investigate whether strategic planning, enterprise resource planning and management system, as three different components of control, are present in gazelle organizations, and if they are perceived as contributors to growth. Method The authors use a quantitative research approach and used a survey in order to capture the wider perspective of control. The chosen population is Swedish medium sized gazelle organizations. In order to analyze the findings, modified 6-point Likert-scale statements are included in the survey, where the authors interpret whether the respondents agree or disagree to the chosen statements, which are incorporated through the literature review. In addition to this, ANOVA tests are included to establish if there are significant differences among users and nonusers of the different control systems. Conclusion The conclusions drawn from this study is that the usage of strategic planning and an enterprise resource planning system is common among the participating organizations. However, the majority do not use a management system. Despite the level of usage of the three different control systems, they are all perceived as beneficial for the organizations, and the respondents do believe that the systems contribute to their growth. In addition, there is no significant proof that there is a relationship between growth and using the control systems, when comparing the percentage increase in growth with using the different control systems.


During recent excavations in the Dendara necropolis, skeletal evidence for at least eight complete turtle doves (Columbidae) was discovered in the burial chamber of a Dynasty 4 tomb. A large number of disarticulated tiny bird bones was found scattered beneath and around a broken Meydum-bowl, buried deep within piles of rubble. Zooarchaeological analysis indicated that at least eight birds had originally been buried. The fact that they were complete and found in a burial chamber in association with a Meydum-bowl suggested they were part of a funerary offering. The depiction of multiple bird species used as funerary offerings in the Old Kingdom tombs at Saqqara and Giza is well documented, indicating that birds were a significant element of the list of funerary offerings. Often the different species of birds were named in the tomb scenes, and frequently pigeons and doves were included. However, very little skeletal evidence exists in the archaeological record to support the theory that pigeons and doves were regularly used as funerary offerings. Therefore, the skeletal remains of eight complete turtle doves in conjunction with a Meydum-bowl found deep within a burial chamber of a provincial tomb adds impetus to the argument that not only they were a very desired component of Old Kingdom funerary offerings in the tombs of the important Saqqara and Giza necropolises, but also in the tombs of provincial officials.


Curtain coating has been considered as the best coating technology because it is a coating technology that forms contour coating layer with better coverage. To increase the curtain stability surfactants are being used. In this study, the effect of a surfactant on the stability of curtain coating colors was examined by evaluating dynamic surface tension with a bubble surface tensiometer. Di-2-ethylhexyl sodium sulfosuccinate was used as a surfactant since it showed low dynamic surface tension at low surface age. And we evaluated the influence of surfactant on coating color properties including surface tension, viscosity and curtain stability. The surface tension of coating color was decreased when surfactant addition was increased up to 0.5 pph, but it was leveled off at 0.3 pph of surfactant addition. With the increase of surfactant addition rate, viscosity of coating color were increased. Micelles formed by surfactant contributed to the increase of the viscosity. Curtain stability was improved with the addition of surfactant until it reached up to 0.5 pph. Excessive addition of surfactant (> 0.5 pph) didn't improve curtain stability. This was attributed to Marangoni effect(self-healing) and decreasing of curtain thickness. Keyword: Curtain coating, Surfactant, Marangoni effect, Curtain stability, Surface tension, Viscosity


Laser-based green synthetic approaches for 2D atomic sheets of graphene, graphene nanoribbons and inorganic analogues of graphene are relatively new techniques. There are several significant laser-based approaches for graphene synthesis such as (a) laser exfoliation, (b) intercalation and exfoliation in liquid nitrogen, (c) pulsed laser deposition, (d) laser induced ultrafast chemical vapour deposition, (e) laser induced catalyst-free growth of graphene from solid carbon sources, (f) epitaxial graphene growth on a Si rich surface of SiC by laser sublimation of surface silicon atoms, (g) reduction of graphene oxide and (h) unzipping of carbon nanotubes. Apart from the deoxygenation of graphene, lasers have also been employed for the dehydrogenation and dehalogenation of graphene surfaces. Such laser induced bond dissociation paves the way for achieving the desired band gap in graphene by adequately controlling the extent of such surface bonds. Such photochemical transformations can be exploited for patterning and nanolithography of graphene and related materials. Laser exfoliation has successfully been extended to synthesize inorganic analogues of graphene such as 2D atomic sheets of hexagonal BN and metal dichalcogenides such as MoS2, MoSe2, WS2, WSe2etc. It is noteworthy that the emerging novel laser-based approaches have tremendously simplified the synthesis of 2D atomic sheets and are capable of yielding impurity-free device quality 2D materials in a scalable manner and consequently inspiring various commercial applications of such materials. An overview of the progress made into laser based approaches is presented.


This paper has been written as a position paper on the concepts of emergence, individual / collective paradox, from philosophical and experimental point of view. It presents successively : 1) some sociological and philosophical issues related to collective emergent behaviors ; 2) a non-conventional point of view of physical particle modeling as a cellular automata systems ; 3) a proposition of a generic physical particle model for emergent collective phenomena. It shows that this model is able to render the main expected figures of non-deliberative emergent collective phenomena as those that define crowd behaviors.


BACKGROUND
Although home-based telemental health options have the potential to greatly expand the range of services available to U.S. military service members, there remains a need to demonstrate that home-based care is technically feasible, safe, and effective and meets the military health system's standards of care before widespread implementation can be achieved. The purpose of this preliminary study was to evaluate the feasibility and safety of providing U.S. military service members with a behavioral health treatment delivered directly to the home using videoconferencing.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Ten previously deployed soldiers volunteered to complete eight sessions of a novel behavioral activation treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder. The primary clinical outcomes assessed included symptoms of posttraumatic stress and depression. Patient safety data and attitudes about seeking mental health services, treatment satisfaction, treatment adherence, and treatment compliance were also assessed.

RESULTS
Clinically significant reductions in posttraumatic stress symptom severity and depression symptoms were observed. Soldiers indicated high levels of satisfaction with the treatment, and there were no adverse events requiring activation of emergency safety procedures. Technical problems associated with the network were observed but successfully mitigated.

CONCLUSIONS
The results provide initial support for the feasibility and safety of telemental health treatments delivered by videoconferencing to the homes of soldiers. The optimal technical infrastructure needs to be determined to support expansion of synchronous videoconferencing capabilities to the home. The findings provide preliminary evidence of the feasibility, safety, and high user satisfaction with home-based telemental health in the military setting.


Vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) with GaAs/AlGaAs multiple quantum well (20 wells) graded-index separate-confinement-heterostructure (GRIN-SCH) active regions are discussed. The VCSEL structures, which also contained two Al/sub x/Ga/sub 1-x/As/Al/sub y/Ga/sub 1-y/As distributed Bragg reflectors, were grown by molecular beam epitaxy and had a threshold current and current density at room temperature pulsed excitation of 16 mA and 14 kA/cm/sup 2/, respectively, near 0.85- mu m wavelength. Both single-longitudinal and fundamental transverse mode emission characteristics were observed with a light output greater than 3 mW and a slope efficiency of 0.12 mW/mA.<<ETX>>


The ongoing SARS-CoV-2 epidemic was marked by the repeated emergence and replacement of "variants" with genetic and phenotypic distance from the ancestral strains, the most recent examples being viruses of the Omicron lineage. Here, we describe a hamster direct contact exposure challenge model to assess protection against reinfection conferred by either vaccination or prior infection. We found that two doses of self-amplifying RNA vaccine based on the ancestral Spike ameliorated weight loss following Delta infection and decreased viral loads but had minimal effect on Omicron BA.1 infection. Prior vaccination followed by Delta or BA.1 breakthrough infections led to a high degree of cross-reactivity to all tested variants, suggesting that repeated exposure to antigenically distinct Spikes, via infection and/or vaccination drives a cross-reactive immune response. Prior infection with ancestral or Alpha variant was partially protective against BA.1 infection, whereas all animals previously infected with Delta and exposed to BA.1 became reinfected, although they shed less virus than BA.1-infected naive hamsters. Hamsters reinfected with BA.1 after prior Delta infection emitted infectious virus into the air, indicating that they could be responsible for onwards airborne transmission. We further tested whether prior infection with BA.1 protected from reinfection with Delta or later Omicron sublineages BA.2, BA.4, or BA.5. BA.1 was protective against BA.2 but not against Delta, BA.4, or BA.5 reinfection. These findings suggest that cohorts whose only immune experience of COVID-19 is Omicron BA.1 infection may be vulnerable to future circulation of reemerged Delta-like derivatives, as well as emerging Omicron sublineages.


Trafficking of K+ inward (Kin+) rectifying channels was analyzed in guard cells of Vicia faba transfected with the Kin+ rectifier from Arabidopsis thaliana KAT1 fused to the green fluorescent protein (GFP). Confocal images and whole-cell patch-clamp measurements confirmed the incorporation of active KAT1 channels into the plasma membrane of transfected guard cell protoplasts. The Kin+ rectifier current density of the plasma membrane was much larger in transfected protoplasts than in wild-type (wt) protoplasts. This shows a coupling between K+ channel synthesis and incorporation of the channel into the plasma membrane. Pressure-driven increase and decrease in surface area led to the incorporation and removal of vesicular membrane carrying active Kin+ rectifier in wt and transfected protoplasts. These vesicular membranes revealed a higher channel density than the plasma membrane, suggesting that Kin+ rectifier remains in clusters during trafficking to and from the plasma membrane. The observed results can be explained by a model illustrating that vesicles of a pre-plasma membrane pool carry K+ channels preferentially in clusters during constitutive and pressure-driven exo- and endocytosis.


Traditionally, city commerce has always had a strong foothold in Swedish cities. However, in recent years the city commerce has experienced a weaker growth in comparison with external shopping and e-commerce. While the external shopping sector is experiencing competition from its own sector and e-commerce and struggles with an over-supply of malls it's still a tough competitor to city commerce. Despite its problems, the growth in the external shopping sector has led to an increased amount of malls and retail parks being built. E-commerce have seen a strong increase in its sales and is expected to affect all physical commerce in the near future. Durable goods which is the city commerce biggest branch according to revenue have in recent years had a declining trend. This while the branch commercial service has improved its revenue in most city centers. The demand for commercial services has increased which has resulted in a clear changeover from durable goods to commercial services in most Swedish cities. The purpose of this master thesis is to examine how city commerce is affected by external shopping, e-commerce and commercial service. Furthermore, we investigate what the success factors are for an attractive city commerce. Also, this essay examines if there's any economical initiative for real estate owners to invest in their own city to improve the city shopping. In order to answer how external shopping, e-commerce and commercial service affects durable goods a regression analysis is used with the revenue for durable goods as the explaining variable. Our hypothesis is that external shopping and e-commerce will have a negative impact on the revenue of durable goods but that the effect of commercial service could be both positive and negative. The effect could be positive due to spillover effects or it could be negative due to the fact that commercial service is growing at the expense of durable goods. Furthermore, the essay consists of an interview study with real estate owners whom own store premises and associations for retail. One real estate owner and one association for retail was interviewed per city, making it a total of four cities. The cities investigated is Helsingborg, Landskrona, Malmo and Angelholm. Malmo and Angelholm has had a positive development in its city commerce while Helsingborg and Landskrona has seen a reduction in city commerce. The aim of the interviews is to examine what the strategies and arrangements are that improves the city commerce and if real estate owners should invest in its cities. The conclusion of this report is that the external shopping has a negative effect on durable goods in city centers but that its effect varies depending on the size of the municipality and if the external shopping is additional or competing. E-commerce is believed to have a negative effect but as we lack data about e-commerce regional revenue we can't make any conclusion for sure. Therefore, it's not possible to reject the hypothesis that e-commerce has a positive effect on durable goods. Though the theory presented in this article suggest that there is a negative effect. Commercial service proved to have a positive effect on durable goods. One interesting observation is that commercial service have a strong correlation with the population of a city. Therefore, there is probably a spillover effect, when people travel to city centers to use different kinds of commercial services they see the opportunity to shop durable goods as well. The hypothesis that the growth in commercial services occur at the expense of durable goods was unable to answer. To answer that that hypothesis further studies are required, including studying change in the number of store units. The conclusion from the interview study is that in order for a city to have a successful city commerce the city needs to have a good mixture of stores, a good cooperation between real estate owners, centralization of the city commerce, accessibility for cars and parking spaces and retailers who are willing to provide extra service for their customers. The study also showed that it is profitable for a real estate owner to invest in the city. In the cities where investments have been made there was an increase in city commerce revenue. (Less)


The present paper describes general methodology and simulation results for risers coupled with a floating vessel. Equations of extensible riser and their finite element formulation are derived and presented in the form, which is suitable to accommodate the effects of contents flow and VIV. Nonlinear riser equations are solved by iterations in global variables. The analysis procedure of coupling between the several risers and the vessel dynamics is described in details. The low frequency coupled vessel motion and riser behavior are numerically simulated. The internal flow effects are investigated in uniform and pulsating cases. It is found that the internal content flow makes the riser stiffer and the riser curvature reduced. In the VIV analysis, the VIV exitation zone of the riser is obtained based on eigen frequencies and the maximum response is evaluated from the corresponding eigen-shapes in the VIV region.Copyright © 2006 by ASME


The springs used in the bogie suspension of railway coaches are compression springs. They are made of an elastic wire material formed into the shape of a helix. They are commonly referred to as a coil spring or a helical spring. They are used to store energy and subsequently release it to absorb shock or to maintain a force between contact surfaces. The spring returns to its natural length or position when unloaded. Springs used in railway coaches have been failing prematurely much before their intended service life. The springs are made with quality materials. Before being put to service, the springs are tested with extensive Non Destructive Testing Methods which are approved by ISO standards to make sure that quality parts are used. However the springs still fail before their service life ends.


The objective of this study is to assess the impact of credit provision of microfinance institution on small scale enterprises expansion in Hawassa city. In order to carry out this study the field survey was conducted on a sample size of 133 members randomly from 35 small scale enterprises of the package program. The credit provision was assessed using various indicators of economic and social aspects such as income, access to education service, and health care, nutrition condition and self- employment. The research work employed both primary and secondary data like questionnaires, interviews, focus- group discussions and on- site- observation to collect primary data. The secondary data has been collected from different review of literatures, unpublished and published materials. The questions to be addressed in this study required both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. This study discloses microfinance institution credit provision increase in: income and diversified sources, and reduce income inequalities. It has also contributed to increase personal consumption and improved living condition in terms of assets, access to education and medical services, and creation of employment opportunities. The findings of the study indicate that the beneficiaries of credit in the area perceived their lives have improved after the intervention of the credit. The outcomes of the study has established that microfinance intervention on small scale enterprises have achieved significant improvements. Therefore, it is recommended that such a strategy and micro finance institutions should be encouraged and diversity their activities and approaches to include the active poor.


Mid-Long term load forecasting(MTLF) plays an important role in power system. With more factors involved, single forecasting method becomes hard to satisfy requirement. This paper proposes a new combination model for MTLF based on least squares support vector machines (LS-SVM) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm. LS-SVM is a new kind of SVM which regresses faster than standard, and a mended particle swarm optimization (MPSO) algorithm is employed to optimize the parameters of LS-SVM. With a real case test, the result shows proposed model outperforms tradition combination model.


In 1957-1958 Moroccan family law was codified in the Mudawwana , a text known for its close adherence to the classical Maliki tradition. Since the early 1980s the debate about reform has become more intense and widespread. The relatively limited reform of the Mudawwana in 1993 was closely linked to the beginnings of a process of cautious democratization. Since then the discussions have become more vehement, especially since the coming to power of a new government in 1998 consisting of former opposition parties. A year later this government presented a plan for extensive family law reforms. The plan has provoked considerable public debate over key concepts such as democracy , development , human rights , civil society , and ijtihād . Upon closer inspection, larger issues are at stake: Who may speak out in public and participate in politics? This new turn in the discussions is related to the emergence of a public sphere.


The study's main objective was to come up with a model of employee satisfaction for the health-related professionals in South Africa. Among the reasons for this were high levels of health-related professional attrition and low levels of employee satisfaction within the health-related professions of South Africa. This original study derives its relevance on the basis of lack of a model for measuring employee satisfaction in the health-related profession in South Africa. Also, studies on employee satisfaction in South Africa focus hugely on medical doctors and nurses, without a commensurate interest in health-related professionals such as pharmacists, emergency medical services personnel, optometrists, and laboratory technologists. A descriptive survey design was utilised in this study warranting the use of a questionnaire which combines facets of job satisfaction with organisational climate dimensions. Making use of exploratory factor analysis, the study realised a rotated component matrix, which then helped in grouping together all the items with high correlation to each other. From the grouped items emerged new factors. Each factor was then labelled differently. The new factors are role clarification and job design; equitable performance management; and integrated leadership and knowledge sharing. The others include self-efficacy; family-friendly work environments (FFWE's), leader credibility and innovation and excellent customer relations and technology. These new factors represent a significant component of the model of employee satisfaction amongst the health-related professionals in South Africa.

 Key words: Model of employee satisfaction, health-related profession, allied health profession, exploratory factor analysis, South Africa.


Pultruded glass fibre reinforced polymers (GFRP) profile is a promising structural member for space latticed shell structures because of the advantageous properties such as high strength-to-weight ratio (in pultrusion direction), corrosion resistance and lower maintenance. In particular, when tubular profiles are used, a better resistance against local buckling, global buckling and lateral torsional buckling can be achieved compared with open sections. Despite the advantageous characteristics, the design and fabrication of tubular connections has been identified as a critical issue for the proposed applications due primarily to the geometric constraints of the closed shape, the distinct material properties of FRP, and the threedimensional nature of space latticed shell structures. Until recently, only a limited number of connection systems have been proposed for FRP space latticed shell structures and there is still a need to develop a simple, economic and versatile joining method. This thesis proposed a bolted sleeve joint (BSJ) for assembling GFRP tubular profiles into space latticed shell structures. In the proposed BSJ, the FRP profile and steel connector are telescoped and clamped using mechanical bolts. The end of the steel connector can be incorporated with compatible end fittings for connection to a nodal joint for space latticed shell structure. The proposed BSJ allows the flexibility in adjusting design parameters such as the bolt group configuration, memb9er size and type of fastener, depending on the design requirements. In addition, all connecting elements are commercially available and no advanced techniques are required for the fabrication. The joint performances were investigated at three level, namely joint level, component level and structural level. Stage one Goint level) focused on the joint design and performance under static axial loadings. Four batches of specimens were prepared and tested under static axial tension and compression. Design parameters, including the type of fastener (ordinary bolt or blind bolt), member size, and bolt group layout, were selected and examined. A simple analytical design model was proposed to estimate the joint capacity, showing good agreement with experiment. Design recommendations based on the current investigation were also made for the further improvement of joint performance. Stage two (component level) was an experimental and numerical study on the member capacity of pultruded GFRP square tubular profile with BSJ end conditions. Three batches of specimens assembled with FRP profiles in different lengths and BSJs at both ends were prepared and tested under static axial compression. A detailed 3D FE model considering bolt geometry, contact behaviour, bolt pretension, initial geometric imperfection and FRP failure criterion, was developed and validated with experimental results, showing good agreement. The relationship between effective length factor and member slenderness was derived based on FEA, and then used in conjunction with existing pultruded GFRP box tubular column design equations to predict the member capacity of structural members with BSJ end conditions. The final stage (structural level) investigated the performance of BSJ at a structural level. An experimental investigation was first conducted to obtain the M- () behaviour of BSJ. It was followed by a structural analysis and design of an FRP domed roof with BSJ modelled by spring elements using FEA. The inputs of the joint rotational stiffness and axial stiffness for the springs were determined from the linear portions of the orresponding experimental curves. The ULS and SLS performance of the FRP domed roof were evaluated on a LRFD basis under ASCE-07 design loads. Parametric studies were also performed to identify the effects of joint rotational stiffness, axial stiffness and the materials (steel or pultruded GFRP) used for structural members on the structural performance. Design recommendations were also developed based on the structural analysis and the parametric studies.


We developed a patch-type wireless multi-sensor system for physiological signals monitoring which is able to apply to tele-home-care or any related application. The module "Tag", without any constraint of the belt, is attached to the belly and is easy to measure the skin temperature, ECG signals, and respiration rate at the same time and show by "Computer Information Center". The Tag consists of three parts: a thermistor, an accelerometer, and electrocardiogram electrodes. In order to make the flexible module, the substrate adopts the soft PI with two conductive layers and the active and passive components are carefully selected.


The distribution of glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) mRNA was investigated throughout the rat brain by means of in situ hybridization. Hybridization was carried out with a 35S-radiolabeled cRNA probe transcribed from a cDNA from cat occipital cortex and cloned in a SP6-T7 promoter-containing vector. Fixed tissue sections were hybridized with 35S GAD probe (0.6 kb length). Signal was detected by means of film or emulsion autoradiography. The autoradiograms were semiquantitatively evaluated by means of computer-assisted image analysis. The results obtained with this evaluation were correlated with the results of the semiquantitative analysis of GAD immunoreactivity performed by Mugnaini and Oertel. Specific labeling was only observed in neuronal cell bodies, whereas no labeling was found over neuropil, glial and endothelial cells. The highest labeling was found in the bulbus olfactorius (internal plexiform and granular layers) and in the caudal magnocellular nucleus of the hypothalamus. Strong labeling was observed in the Purkinje layer of the cerebellar cortex, the interpeduncular nucleus, the interstitial nucleus of Cajal, the nucleus of Darkschewitsch and the suprachiasmatic nucleus. Intermediate or low levels of GAD mRNA were present in various brain nuclei, where gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-containing cell bodies had been observed with other techniques. Interestingly, a low level of GAD mRNA was found in the caudate-putamen and nucleus accumbens, where the vast majority of nerve cells is known to contain GAD immunoreactivity. Only a poor correlation was found between the present semiquantitative measurements of GAD mRNA content and previous analyses of the number of GAD-immunoreactive cell bodies. The present study demonstrates that there exists a differential regional expression of GAD mRNA. The comparison with cell counts performed by immunocytochemistry suggests that some brain areas, such as caudate-putamen and nucleus accumbens, contain a large number of GAD-immunoreactive cell bodies which express a low level of GAD mRNA. The opposite seems to be true for other nuclei, such as the globus pallidus, the zona reticulata of the substantia nigra and the inferior collicle, where few GAD-immunoreactive cell bodies contain high levels of GAD mRNA. In conclusion, the present study gives a low magnification map of GAD mRNA levels in the adult male rat brain. Marked biochemical heterogeneities may be present among GABA neuronal populations based on their expression of GAD mRNA. The comparison between the present in situ hybridization and previous immunocytochemical studies suggests that there may exist at least two populations of GABA neurons in the brain, having high and low levels respectively of both GAD mRNA and GAD enzyme.


From moored data, primarily temperature, of the Mid-Ocean Dynamics Experiment (Mode I) and its successor experiments we find a statistical description of the mesoscale variability. In the Mode I area itself the spectral characteristics of the thermocline and the deep water are different. The thermocline is conveniently described as being made up of three spectral bands: a 'low-frequency' band dominated by zonal velocity fluctuations, an 'eddy-containing' band in which the velocity field is nearly isotropic, and a 'high-frequency' band consistent with models of geostrophic turbulence. In the deep water the zonal dominance at low frequencies is not apparent, and there is enhanced energy at periods of 20–50 days. Vertical structure scales with WKBJ approximation in the high-frequency band but not in the lower frequencies, where low vertical modes dominate the motion. Linear models do not adequately describe the data in the Mode I region. Differences between rough and smooth topography regions are clearly seen only at 1500 m, where there is a loss of energy consistent with a reduced barotropic motion. Other differences, while apparently real, are small. It is found, consistent with the results of Schmitz (1976a), that the Mode I region is atypical of the midocean in that large changes of energy level are found elsewhere. A region due east of Mode I has slightly reduced kinetic energy levels in the main thermocline, but deep energy levels are much lower. Potential energy is less variable than kinetic; in the eastern region the frequency spectra change structure slightly. Linear models may be more adequate there. With more than 2 years of data, no statistically significant heat flux was found in the Mode I area, except for a weak zonal flux in the deep water. There is no direct evidence for baroclinic instability as a significant mechanism of eddy generation; the Gulf Stream is a possible, if unconfirmed, source.


A feature-based filtering algorithm is proposed to solve the difficult problem of indoor human body positioning. The algorithm is based on multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radar, including noise floor removal in the time domain, adaptive mean cancellation in the frequency domain, and non-coherent accumulation for all virtual array elements. As for different postures of the human body, such as standing posture, sitting posture, lying posture, movement, etc., the raw radar data is processed to remove noise and to obtain an enhanced human target signal. Then the 4D point clouds of the target is obtained through the TLS-ESPRIT method and digital beamforming (DBF). The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm has a strong enhancement effect on human targets, and the effective targets' signal to noise ratio has increased by more than 90dB.


Studies were made on the phosphorylation of α- and β-2′-deoxythioguanosine (α- and β-TGdR) in crude extracts of several mouse tumors, normal mouse tissues, calf thymus, a series of human leukemic cell samples, and some solid human tumors. In general the rate of phosphorylation was higher for β-TGdR than for α-TGdR. Deoxycytidine (CdR), 1-β-arabinofuranosylcytosine (ara-C), and deoxyguanosine (GdR) were inhibitory to the phosphorylation of α- and β-TGdR. Their effectiveness was greatest for, in decreasing order, CdR > ara-C > GdR.

Human bone marrows did not appreciably phosphorylate α-TGdR, although some tumors did show such activity. Optimum conditions for these phosphorylations required an adenosine triphosphate-generating system and Mg++, and the reaction was somewhat inhibited by dithioerythritol.

Purification of the kinase activity from calf thymus and from human tumor cells, by a method designed to isolate CdR kinase, yielded preparations with 220-fold higher purity as measured by ability to phosphorylate β-TGdR. The purified preparations lost all ability to phosphorylate α-TGdR. Kinetic studies showed that CdR was noncompetitive. ara-C and GdR were competitive inhibitors of β-TGdR phosphorylation. The Km value for β-TGdR was 1.8 × 10-4 m and the Ki's for GdR, CdR, and ara-C were 2.41 × 10-6, 3.60 × 10-8, and 1.69 × 10-6m, respectively.

Extracts of a cell line completely unable to phosphorylate ara-C (L1210/ara-C) were able to phosphorylate both α- and β-TGdR at relatively high rates, and these substrates were not inhibited by ara-C. β-TGdR apparently can be phosphorylated by the CdR-GdR kinase of tissues. However, another kinase is apparently present in some tissues and can phosphorylate both α- and β-TGdR.


Measured data are presented on glass transition temperature, thermal expansion coefficient, and refractive index for glasses in the Ge-As-Se system. The range of reciprocal dispersive power between 8 microm and 12 microm of 110-159 for these glasses is discussed in relation to their basic physical properties, and it is shown that useful compositions for bulk synthesis can be identified. A brief account is given of the preparation techniques, which enable glass to be made with an oxide content of the order of 1 ppm wt as measured by gamma photon activation analysis. The influence of oxide impurity on the transmission is shown for the three glasses Ge2O-Se80, As40-Se60, and Ge30-Asl5-Se55.


BACKGROUND
The French National Alzheimer Plan 2008-2012 created specialized Alzheimer teams, which provide up to 15 sessions of cognitive rehabilitation in the patient's home for 3 months. Sessions are conducted by an occupational therapist and a gerontological nursing assistant.

OBJECTIVES
As the patient's experience is one determinant of successful implementation, we explored the usefulness of these teams as viewed by the patient and his or her main caregiver.

METHODS
Thirteen patients and their caregiver, previously assisted by a specialized Alzheimer team, were individually given semi-structured interviews (n = 26, duration 20 to 180 minutes).

RESULTS
Our study showed that although patients and caregiver had no initial expectations, most of them appreciated the support provided by the specialized Alzheimer teams. Patients valued the "human" component, and favored interventions that improved quality of life over those intended to maintain functional capacities. Caregivers observed improved mood and behavior in patients. Those involved in sessions felt empowered by contact with a specialized Alzheimer team. We discuss how patients' and caregivers' feedback influenced the implementation process through comprehensive use of the five dimensions of the RE-AIM framework.

CONCLUSION
Whereas intervention by specialized Alzheimer teams was largely accepted by health care professionals, patients, and caregivers, its effectiveness is questioned in view of its deviation from the evidence-based model. Interviews with patients and caregivers shed light on some reasons for this deviation, as what they value in the intervention differs from the functional focus of the model.


Gentamicin sulfate ophthalmic solution, 0.3%, was used ototopically in the treatment of 300 patients with otorrhea associated with acute and chronic ear conditions and to obtain a preoperative "dry state" in 93 cases in which surgical operation was indicated. Bacterial cultures, antibiograms, and audiometric tests were conducted before, during, and after ototopical therapy. Gentamicin-susceptible pathogens were isolated in all cases. A totally "dry state", after three weeks of therapy, was considered evidence of clinical success. Administration of gentamicin was by means of a wick or at the rate of 0.3 to 0.4 ml twice daily. Clinical success was observed in 271 cases. There were no signs of ototoxicity and only one reported instance of skin reaction. This simple, inexpensive treatment is particularly adaptable to situations in which specialized bacteriological testing facilities are unavailable and a broad-spectrum antibiotic is indicated.


AIM
To evaluate the long-term results of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) compared to left lateral sectionectomy (LLS) in patients with Child-Pugh class A disease for the treatment of single and small hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in the left lateral segments.

METHODS
We retrospectively reviewed the data of 133 patients with single HCC (≤ 3 cm) in their left lateral segments who underwent curative LLS (n = 66) or RFA (n = 67) between 2006 and 2010.

RESULTS
The median follow-up period was 33.5 mo in the LLS group and 29 mo in the RFA group (P = 0.060). Most patients had hepatitis B virus-related HCC. The hospital stay was longer in the LLS group than in the RFA group (8 d vs 2 d, P < 0.001). The 1-, 2-, and 3-year disease-free survival and overall survival rates were 80.0%, 68.2%, and 60.0%, and 95.4%, 92.3%, and 92.3%, respectively, for the LLS group; and 80.8%, 59.9%, and 39.6%, and 98.2%, 92.0%, and 74.4%, respectively, for the RFA group. The disease-free survival curve and overall survival curve were higher in the LLS group than in the RFA group (P = 0.012 and P = 0.013, respectively). Increased PIVKA-II levels and small tumor size were associated with HCC recurrence in multivariate analysis.

CONCLUSION
Liver resection is suitable for single HCC ≤ 3 cm in the left lateral segments.


Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTCA) of coronary stenoses involving major bifurcations carries a small but significant risk of side branch occlusion which can be avoided by simultaneously using multiple dilatation systems. Among 1,275 PTCA procedures performed between 1984 and 1988 in 1,035 consecutive patients, 42 double wire procedures were applied (4%) to protect and/or dilate major coronary side branches. A total of 80 coronary stenoses were attempted of which 76 were located on a bifurcation and 4 on other segments. In the first 11 patients (group A), 2 guiding catheters were used and PTCA of each vessel was successfully performed by means of separate double lumen over-the-wire balloon catheters. In the next 31 patients (group B), 2 guidewires were advanced through a single guiding catheter and PTCA was attempted using "Monorail" balloon catheters sequentially advanced over the wires. In group B, a successful PTCA was obtained in 29 patients (93%) but twisting of the wires hampered balloon progression in 5 cases, such that dilatation could only be performed by stepping back to a single wire technique. The procedure time in group B was significantly shorter than in group A: 144 +/- 30 versus 230 +/- 52 minutes (p = .01). Repeat angiography was performed in 35 out of 40 patients (87%) after a mean of 180 +/- 46 days following successful PTCA. Angiographic restenosis was present in 37% (24/65) of bifurcation segments which, in our experience, is not significantly different from the angiographic restenosis rate in less complex lesions (248/740; 34%; NS).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a practical blood flow restriction (BFR) training program on lower-body strength of high school weightlifters. Twenty-five students were divided into three groups. For six weeks, each group completed the same resistance training program with the exception of the parallel back squat exercise (2 days/week), which was different for each group. One group (HI) completed a traditional high load (≥65% 1RM) back squat protocol with three sets of low repetitions (≤10). The LO group completed the squat exercise using a relatively light load (≤30% 1RM) for one set of 30 repetitions and three sets of 15 with 30 seconds of rest between sets. The LO+BFR group followed the same protocol as LO, but did so with blood flow restricted. 1RM back squat tests were conducted prior to the start of the program and again upon conclusion, the values of which were used as the dependent measure. A 3 x 2 (group x time) repeated measures ANOVA revealed a significant interaction (p=.043). Follow-up tests were conducted to explore the interaction. Paired-sample t-tests for each group indicated a significant increase in leg strength for the LO+BFR group (p=.005), but not for the HI (p=.142) or LO groups (p=1.00). This suggests that a practical BFR training program may be effective in increasing 1RM squat performance of high school students.