OBJECTIVE
We evaluated the life-style activities of outpatients with SLE and factors that reduce their social activities.

METHODS

SUBJECTS
SLE group = 60 patients, Control 1 = 30 healthy subjects and Control 2 = 30 patients with other autoimmune diseases. The Frenchay Activity Index (FAI), Zung's self-rating depression scale (SDS), and the Japanese version of the Philadelphia Geriatric Center morale scale-revised (MS) were compared between groups. Relation between FAI and age, disease duration, steroid dose, SDS, and MS were examined in the SLE group, Control 1, and Control 2.

RESULTS
Total scores by FAI was 28.1 +/-8.0 points in Control 1, whereas it was 26.5 +/- 5.8 points in Control 2 and 24.5 +/- 7.7 points in the SLE group. While there was no statistical difference between the SLE group and Control 2, the scores were significantly lower in the SLE group than in Control 1 (P < 0.05). In SLE patients, age, the duration of the disease, and the steroid dose had no correlation, but MS had a positive correlation (P < 0.05) and SDS had a negative correlation (P < 0.05). In Control 2, age, the duration of the disease, the steroid dose, MS and SDS had no correlation whereas there was significant negative relation between FAI and SDS in Control 1 (r= -0.516, P<0.005).

CONCLUSION
The significant relation between life-style activities and subjective well-being, and depression in SLE suggests that detection and treatment of mental status is important in improving the life-style activities of SLE patients.


This chapter covers interactions between higher plants and soil-dwelling organisms, with sections on ecologically important biota in the rhizosphere, the soil community as cause and consequence of plant and community composition, specificity and selectivity, feedback mechanisms, soil communities and invasive plants, mutualistic root symbioses and nutrient partitioning in plant communities, mycorrhizal networks counteracting plant competition, and pathogenic soil organisms and nutrient dynamics.


Exploration geologists have made extensive use of aerial photography and orbital Landsat imagery, primarily for purposes of structural mapping. The Landsat 4 spacecraft launched in July 1982 is carrying a new imaging instrument called the Thematic Mapper which represents a significant advance over earlier Landsat sensors. The Thematic Mapper possesses improved End_Page 546------------------------------ spectral resolution (seven spectral channels distributed throughout the visible and infrared portions of the electromagnetic spectrum), improved spatial resolution (30 × 30 m [98 × 98 ft] ground resolution), and improved sensitivity (256 gray levels in each spectral channel). Experimental studies with airborne Thematic Mapper simulators tentatively indicate that these measurement capabilities will have a major payoff in terms of our ability to detect variations in clay mineralogy and abundance, to map bleaching effects in surficial rocks and soils that may be produced by hydrocarbon seepage, and to detect variations in the distribution and vigor of natural vegetation that are also related to seepage phenomena. The improved spatial resolution of the Thematic Mapper will enabl photogeologists to identify smaller scale landforms and drainage features which will also contribute to improved structural mapping capabilities. Research is currently underway to determine the utility of Thematic Mapper measurements for geologic mapping in complex areas characterized by large relief and extensive vegetation. Recent experimental results have underscored the need for improved spectral resolution in the next generation of visible and infrared sensors. Radar imaging techniques also represent an important source of information concerning geological conditions at the earth's surface. Imaging radars artificially illuminate the earth at an angle of incidence and azimuthal direction that can be controlled by the radar operator. Variations in radar backscatter intensity observed at different angles of incidence are largely governed by areal variations in surface relief and roughness. Exploration geologists have made extensive use of airborne radar surveys for terrain analysis and structural mapping, particularly in tropical environments. However, it is difficult to obtain quantitative information on surface roughness conditions from airborne surveys because of the large variation in incidence angle that occurs across the radar's ground sw th. Spaceborne radar systems offer the unique advantage of being able to illuminate large areas at a nearly constant angle of incidence due to their much greater elevation above the earth's surface. A Shuttle Imaging Radar Experiment (SIR-B), which will be conducted in August 1984, is designed to acquire multiple images of selected regions at different radar incidence angles. In principle, the coregistration of these images will enable researchers to differentiate surficial materials on the basis of their roughness characteristics in much the same way that multispectral measurements at visible wave-lengths are used to detect variations in surface pigmentation. Experimental studies tentatively indicate that variations in surface roughness detected in orbital radar surveys can be related t subtle differences in the lithology of sedimentary rock units. Orbital radar techniques may provide an important new tool for mapping facies variations within sedimentary basins. Additional orbital experiments are being planned during the latter 1980s to evaluate the geological utility of radar imagery obtained at multiple frequencies and multiple polarizations. End_of_Article - Last_Page 547------------


Water Hyacinth (WH) has become a growing problem across Asia, specifically in Nepal. Infestations of this weed have reached critical proportions in freshwater bodies, causing environmental, economic, agricultural and social problems. These problems have corresponding monetary values. This study elicits the willingness of visitors and local people to control WH in the Phewa Lake in Nepal. Considering three scenarios encircling different socio-economic variables, we estimated the people's willingness to pay for cleaning WH from the lake. Willingness to Pay (WTP), befitting contingent valuation method, was employed using 13 sample points to capture heterogeneity. We estimated Logit regression coefficients to achieve the elasticity of the demand curve. The findings reveal that the mean WTP for the first scenario, to remove the WH for one year, was NPR 920.51. Similarly, the mean WTP for the second scenario, representing the minimum annual impact, was NPR 717.38 only. Finally, mean WTP for the third scenario that keeps the impact at a low level in the lake for ten years was NPR 1848.17. Based on the preference of beneficiaries and the level of WTP for different scenarios, Nepal government should first prioritize on keeping very low impact of the weed in the lake rather than removing WH from the lake at once to yields highest possible benefit from the lake. Number of visit, assistance and expenditure are the pertinent factors to offset the WTP of beneficiaries which were significant at 5% level of significance. Moreover, the estimated demand curve is relatively inelastic meaning that small increase in beneficiary's utility lead to big marginal increase in WTP of visitors and local people.


Side-channel attacks are among the most powerful and cost-effective attacks on cryptographic systems. Simulators that are developed for side-channel analysis are very useful for preliminary analysis of new schemes, in depth analysis of existing schemes as well as for analysis of products onearly stages of development. The contribution of this paper is three-fold. We present a first survey of existing simulators that were build for side-channel analysis. We present a new open-source simulator SAVRASCA that can generate simulated power traces based on compiled binary files for many popular AVR microcontrollers. We show how to use our simulator onthe example of DPA Contest 4 and we find a new vulnerability that allows an attacker to mount a differential power analysis (or even simple electromagnetic analysis) attack on the scheme. Our simulator can be used during development of new products in order to test their resistance against side-channel analysis. We also focus the attention of readers on questions ofwhy and how simulators are useful in this domain and try to highlight main issues related to simulators that were developed by the community.


Paragangliomas are rare extra-adrenal neoplasms of neural crest origin. Although most of these lesions are of retroperitoneal origin, paragangliomas have been reported at a host of remote sites, including the urinary bladder, larynx, orbit and lung. In our review of the literature, we discovered only solitary case reports of such neoplasms involving the gallbladder and hepatic duct. We report a case of paraganglioma simultaneously involving the liver, gallbladder and common bile duct, as well as celiac and portal lymph nodes. Our findings add paraganglioma to the list of differential diagnoses for hypervascular portacaval space lesions. Furthermore, the radiographic appearance of this unusual tumor may be sufficiently distinctive to suggest the correct histologic diagnosis preoperatively.


Chronic inflammation has been implicated in the pathogenesis of many severe autoimmune disorders, as well as in diabetes, pulmonary diseases, and cancer. Inflammation accompanies most solid cancers including pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), one of the most fatal cancers with surgery being the only curative therapeutic approach currently available. In the present work, we investigated the role of the major proinflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) in the malignancy of PDAC cells in vitro and in vivo. In vitro, TNFalpha strongly increased invasiveness of Colo357, BxPc3, and PancTuI cells and showed only moderate antiproliferative effect. TNFalpha treatment of mice bearing orthotopically growing PDAC tumors led to dramatically enhanced tumor growth and metastasis. Notably, we found that PDAC cells themselves secrete TNFalpha. Although inhibition of TNFalpha with infliximab or etanercept only marginally affected proliferation and invasiveness of PDAC cells in vitro, both reagents exerted strong antitumoral effects in vivo. In severe combined immunodeficient mice with orthotopically growing Colo357, BxPc3, or PancTuI tumors, human-specific anti-TNF antibody infliximab reduced tumor growth and metastasis by about 30% and 50%, respectively. Importantly, in a PDAC resection model performed with PancTuI cells, we found an even stronger therapeutic effect for both anti-TNF compounds. Infliximab and etanercept reduced the number of liver metastases by 69% and 42%, respectively, as well as volumes of recurrent tumors by 73% and 51%. Thus, tumor cell-derived TNFalpha plays a profound role in malignancy of PDAC, and inhibition of TNFalpha represents a promising therapeutic option particularly in adjuvant therapy after subtotal pancreatectomy.


Design of antisense oligonucleotides targeting any mRNA can be much more efficient when several activity-enhancing motifs are included and activity-decreasing motifs are avoided. This conclusion was made after statistical analysis of data collected from >1000 experiments with phosphorothioate-modified oligonucleotides. Highly significant positive correlation between the presence of motifs CCAC, TCCC, ACTC, GCCA and CTCT in the oligonucleotide and its antisense efficiency was demonstrated. In addition, negative correlation was revealed for the motifs GGGG, ACTG, AAA and TAA. It was found that the likelihood of activity of an oligonucleotide against a desired mRNA target is sequence motif content dependent.


This study was intended to isolate and characterize the pesticide property of secondary metabolite compounds in tombili (Caesalpinia bonduc (L.) Roxb) seed and tubile (Derris elliptica (Roxb) Benth) root. The pure compound isolated from 1.5 kgs tombili seeds and 500 grams tubile roots were macerated using methanol to get methanol extracts of 85.79 and 30 grams, respectively. Phytochemical testing showed positive results for flavonoid, terpenoid, alkaloids, tannin and saponin test. An insecticide bioactivity testing for both plants showed that the most effective result was achieved for ethyl acetate fraction in concentration of 0.05%. IR spectrophotometer for tombili seeds showed functional groups O-H, aliphatic stretching C-H, stretching C=O, aromatic stretching C=C, bending C-H, and stretching C-OH that marked the presence of terpenoid compounds. This result was supported by a UV-Vis spectrophotometer data with 236.00 nm wavelength absorption, possibly correlated with the transition of electrons that not bound to the anti-bonding orbital (n→π*) caused by the presence of the chromophore group C=O. Purity test for tubile roots only resulted in a single spot, therefore the phytochemical test was conducted and showed positive result for flavonoid. This result was supported by two bands resulted from UV-Vis spectrophotometer data with wavelength 280 nm and 235.50 nm for tape-1 and tape-2, respectively. The IR spectrophotometer also showed the functional groups O-H, stretching C-H, stretching C=O, aromatic stretching C=C, bending O-H, bending C-H, and alcoholic stretching C-O, indicating that the isolate was a flavonoid compound.


: As the limited availability of petroleum-based fuel has been a major concern, biodiesel is one of the most attractive alternative fuels because it is renewable and it also has advantages over the conventional petroleum-base diesel. At Present, productions of biodiesel generally perform by transesterification of vegetable oils with low molecular weight alcohol, mainly methanol, using chemical catalysts. Methanol is petrochemical product that makes biodiesel producing from methanol to be not pure renewable energy source. Therefore, ethanol as a product produced by fermentation processes. It appears as a potential feed stock that makes biodiesel to be pure renewable alternative fuel. The research is conducted based on two biodiesel production processes by reacting soybean oils with methanol and ethanol. Life cycle assessment was carried out in order to evaluate the environmental impacts and to identify the process alternative. Nine mid-point impact categories are investigated. The results indicate that better performance on Abiotic Depletion Potential (ADP) and Acidification Potential (AP) are observed in biodiesel production from methanol when compared with biodiesel production from ethanol due to less energy consumption during the production processes. Except for ADP and AP, using methanol as feed stock does not show any advantages over biodiesel from ethanol. The single score method is also included in this study in order to identify the best option between two processes of biodiesel production. The global normalization and weighting factor based on eco-taxes are used and it shows that producing biodiesel form ethanol has less environmental load compare to biodiesel from methanol.


We design and investigate plasmon waveguides based on linear arrays of Au nanorings in an SiO2 host for use in an optical communication band (lambda ~ 1550 nm). Nanoring particles have better tunability and can achieve more laterally compact waveguides, compared to their solid counterparts, such as nanospheres and nanodisks. Three-dimensional simulations employing the finite-difference time-domain algorithm are used to determine the set of geometrical parameters attaining localized surface plasmon resonance at 1550 nm. It is found out that, in the SiO2 host, Au nanorings attain LSPR at 1550 nm with a 175-nm inner diameter, a 35-nm height, and a 30-nm thickness. It is shown that linear chains of Au nanorings can transport the electromagnetic energy at 1550 nm, with transmission losses gammaT = 3 dB/655 nm and gammaL = 3 dB/443 nm and group velocities nugT = 0.177c0 and nugL = 0.327c0 for transverse and longitudinal polarizations, respectively, where c0 is the speed of light in a vacuum.


Abstract The pressing problems of managing construction processes reveal themselves in discrepancies between plan and execution which seems to result in considerable measure from dependence on the changing environment. High variability, dynamics and uncertainty of execution conditions generate disturbances which could be avoided by applying flexibility ‐ creating a range of executive options enabling adjustment to changing environmental conditions. The principal advantages of implementing the proposed FLEMANCO (FLExibility MANagement in the COnstruction industry) method include better consistency between planning and an actual course of execution, lower changes in costs and execution time by considering various scenarios of execution conditions, the possibility of loss prevention and taking advantage of opportunities connected with the changing environment etc. The presented example concerns concreting a runway, although similar problems occur in concreting roads, yards, bridges as well as erecting high b...


Meet Tam and Richie: two dour Scots labourers. Clad in denim, work-shy, permanently discontented, intent on getting to the pub every night come hell or high water - in short, akin to your average British workers. But Tam and Richie, with their new supervisor, begin to display hidden depths.


The new soliton solutions for the variable-coefficient Boussinesq system, whose applications are seen in fluid dynamics, are studied in this paper with symbolic computation. First, the Painlevé analysis is used to investigate its integrability properties. For the identified case we give, the Lax pair of the system is found, and then the Darboux transformation is constructed. At last, some new soliton solutions are presented via the Darboux method. Those solutions might be of some value in fluid dynamics.


The dialectic of 'self' and 'other' contains within it the rhetoric of expression. 'Self' is given ascendency over the 'other' because 'self' is able to speak while the 'other' is either considered unfit for speaking or forcefully muted or silenced. In the attempt to reclaim these lost voices of the 'other', a handful of intelligentsia 'represents' them before the world. But is it the true 'representation' of the lost voice or merely an artificial 're-presentation'? The discourse upon the 'representation' of unrecorded voices can be taken outside the realm of postcolonial critique and applied on the cosmopolitan narrative of Vikram Seth's Two Lives, a biography on the life of his great uncle Shanti Behari Seth and his German wife Henny. For a spirited reader the interest of the book lies not only in the awe-inspiring tale of cross-cultural relationship of Shanti and Henny, but also in the epistolatory narrative technique conscientiously chosen by the writer. Vikram Seth, as the self-reflexive narrator of the story, explains the gestation of the book in the summers of 1994, when Aunty Henny was already dead and Shanti Uncle was a frail old man of eighty five. In the course of writing his book Seth interviewed Shanti many times to capture his side of story, but for recording Henny's voice there was no other way except her secret correspondence found by chance in a 'cob-web covered trunk' kept hidden at the attic of her room. Henny's letters, thus, form the basis of her side of story in Two Lives. But then, can these letters truly represent her actual persona? Are they worthy enough of being explored for the purposes of biography? Is it ethical to make personal letters of a private person publicly visible in the form of a biography? And lastly, but most importantly, can Henny really speak through them?

 Key words: Vikram Seth, two lives, representation, epistolary narrative.


The results are presented of elaboration and analysis of protective aerial complexes (PAC) with various functions. Distinctions are displayed of PAC working in different conditions. The questions are analyzed of PAC reliability on different stages of their life cycle.


Density functional theory calculations are employed to systematically investigate the trend of hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance of oxygen-terminated MXenes. By studying 30 transition-metal carbides and 30 transition-metal nitrides, Mn+1CnO2 and Mn+1NnO2 (M = Sc, Cr, Hf, Mo, Nb, Ta, Ti, V, W, Zr; n = 1, 2, 3), the tendency of oxygen desorption after hydrogen adsorption is elucidated to play a key role in HER performance of oxygen-terminated MXenes. On the basis of these observations, we propose a suitable HER descriptor, oxygen vacancy formation energy (Ef), which scales linearly with the adsorption free energy of hydrogen, ΔGH. In addition, this new descriptor is linearly correlated with the lithium binding strength on oxygen-terminated MXenes. Therefore, Ef is a universal descriptor for identifying the trend of adsorption processes where adsorbed species donate electrons to oxygen-terminated MXenes. This work provides a general guideline for large-scale screening of promising MXene-based mat...


There has been increasing progress toward detailed characterization of exoplanetary atmospheres, in both observations and theoretical methods. Improvements in observational facilities and data reduction and analysis techniques are enabling increasingly higher quality spectra, especially from ground-based facilities. The high data quality also necessitates concomitant improvements in models required to interpret such data. In particular, the detection of trace species such as metal oxides has been challenging. Extremely irradiated exoplanets (~3000 K) are expected to show oxides with strong absorption signals in the optical. However, there are only a few hot Jupiters where such signatures have been reported. Here we aim to characterize the atmosphere of the ultra-hot Jupiter WASP-33 b using two primary transits taken 18 orbits apart. Our atmospheric retrieval, performed on the combined data sets, provides initial constraints on the atmospheric composition of WASP-33 b. We report a possible indication of aluminum oxide (AlO) at 3.3-σ significance. The data were obtained with the long slit OSIRIS spectrograph mounted at the 10-m Gran Telescopio Canarias. We cleaned the brightness variations from the light curves produced by stellar pulsations, and we determined the wavelength-dependent variability of the planetary radius caused by the atmospheric absorption of stellar light. A simultaneous fit to the two transit light curves allowed us to refine the transit parameters, and the common wavelength coverage between the two transits served to contrast our results. Future observations with HST as well as other large ground-based facilities will be able to further constrain the atmospheric chemical composition of the planet.


Abstract:This article examines the issue of statelessness in the context of postconflict Sierra Leone. Internationally, the concept of statelessness was constructed at a time when the primary view of what constituted a citizen or a national was understood from a top-down, Weberian perspective, which has limited the utility of the concept in the context of African politics. This article re-assesses this important issue, moving away from a top-down point of view to an intersubjective perspective where statelessness, citizenship, and nationality are shaped not only by formal state institutions but also by informal social norms that better reflect local realities. We conducted empirical research in Sierra Leone in five districts and Freetown. Our findings problematize our understanding of statelessness and have implications for policy and practice in addressing issues of citizenship and notions of belonging. They also challenge orthodox policies geared to addressing these populations that are largely designed and implemented by international organizations. The implications of our findings call into question the value of the concept of statelessness in the larger context of postcolonial Africa despite its recognized importance in other geographic settings.


A case of preaxial polydactyly and its surgical correction has been presented. The surgical management and postoperative complications were reviewed from the literature. The genetic basis for this type of polydactyly and its rate of occurrence were discussed. This patient's family exhibited an autosomal dominant gene with incomplete penetrance carried by the female members. The patient's family should be consulted regarding the possible genetic continuation of these anomalies in the female members of the family. The patient has had an unremarkable postoperative course with no reported adverse sequelae. The patient and surgeons were very satisfied with the final result. Figure 8 illustrates the surgical results 1 year postoperatively.


The purpose of this study is to characterize synovial fluid- (SF-) derived exosomes of patients with gonarthrosis comparing two methods of isolation and to investigate their immune regulatory properties. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have been isolated from inflamed SF by polymer precipitation method and quantified by Exocet kit and by nanoparticle tracking analysis. Vesicles expressed all the specific exosomal markers by immunoblot and FACS. After isolation with Exoquick, a relevant contamination by immune complexes was detected, which required further magnetic bead-based purification to remove. SF-derived exosomes significantly stimulated the release of several inflammatory cytokines and chemokines and metalloproteinases by M1 macrophages but did not influence the expression of CD80 and CD86 costimulatory molecules. In conclusion, we characterized purified exosomes isolated from inflamed SF and demonstrate that purified exosomes are functionally active in their ability to stimulate the release of proinflammatory factors from M1 macrophages. Our data indicate that SF-derived exosomes from gonarthrosis patients play a role in disease progression.


In 2003, the British Thoracic Society developed an algorithm for investigating PE, based on risk stratification (low, intermediate and high), selected D-Dimer use and Computed Tomography Pulmonary Angiography (CTPA). For low and intermediate patients a negative D-Dimer is reliable in excluding PE, avoiding unnecessary irradiation. Despite this, the positive diagnostic yield within our organisation remains below 25%. To understand this low yield, we carried out a retrospective analysis of medical patients who underwent CTPA during November 2010.

Method: The medical records of all patients admitted with suspected PE who underwent CTPA were analysed. Each patient's risk was retrospectively scored according to BTS guidance and adherence to the BTS diagnostic pathway was noted.

Results: 37 patients underwent CTPA; 15 low, 14 intermediate and 8 high probability. 7 had PE (total 19%): 1 low (7%), 3 intermediate (21%) and 3 high probability (38%). A total of 5 low and intermediate patients did not have a D-Dimer before CTPA despite this being indicated. Of these, 4 did not have PE. Additionally, 3 intermediate patients underwent CTPA despite a negative D-dimer; none had PEs. 10 had no documented clinical features of PE (e.g. tachypnoea, tachycardia, hypoxaemia, shock, signs of right ventricular strain or unilateral leg swelling). 4 low and 5 intermediate probability patients had abnormal chest x-rays which retrospectively accounted for their symptoms (36%). In total, 18 patients (49%) followed a diagnostic route deviating from the BTS pathway.

Discussion: Our study suggests that adherence to BTS guidance may improve diagnostic rates for PE and reduce the number of inappropriate CTPAs.


Histopathological investigations of skin lesions induced by subcutaneous implantation of glass coverslips were carried out in rats between birth and adulthood. Differences were found between the cellular reactions of newborn and adult rats to this irritant. An increased number of cells was found in the skin lesions of newborn rats, compared with adults. Uptake of a 30-min. pulse of tritiated thymidine by mononuclear cells was found to be higher in newborn skin lesions than in those of adult rats. The reverse was observed for the mononuclear cells adherent to implanted glass coverslips. Giant cells were less evident on coverslips removed from the skin of newborn rats.


BACKGROUND
Overweight and obesity are major health risk factors in people with intellectual disabilities. The aim of this study was to test the effectiveness of a multicomponent programme (physical activity, diet and motivation) for overweight and obesity in adults with intellectual disabilities.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
A quasi-experimental design with repeated-measures and non-equivalent control group (n = 33, n = 31) was used. The programme was conducted over 17 weeks, with follow-up at 6 months in a sample of Spanish adults with a mild and moderate intellectual disability from a community occupational day centre, aged from 23 to 50, 40.6% of which were women.

RESULTS
A significant reduction in weight and diastolic blood pressure was obtained over time, and this reduction was maintained in the follow-up for weight. Reduction in heart rate was only marginally significant.

CONCLUSIONS
The treatment was effective in reducing overweight and obesity, improving cardiovascular capacity and therefore the physical health of the participants.


Medicine and literature have always been connected over the ages. William Shakespeare (1564-1616) is no exception. There are plenty of references to medicine and diseases in the works of Shakespeare. The knowledge which Shakespeare has of medical conditions is much more than is expected of a common man. This is attributed to his association with practitioners of his time and reading of contemporary texts in medicine. Also his son in law Dr. John Hall who married Susanna, Shakespeare's eldest daughter would have contributed in substantially to the knowledge of medicine in Shakespeare's compositions. Surgery at the Elizabethan times was well known and is reflected to a large extent in his plays.


Solute atoms greatly influence irradiation damage structures. For example, voids are formed in pure Ni at 573 K, but they are not formed in Ni-Sn alloys irradiated by fission neutrons at 573 K to 0.2 dpa. In this study, the interaction between solute atoms and vacancies and correlation between void growth and solute atoms in neutron-irradiated Ni-Sn alloys were investigated by positron annihilation spectroscopy. Positron annihilation lifetime measurements showed that void density was lower in Ni-0.05 at%Sn than pure Ni. In Ni-0.3 at%Sn, single vacancies, di-vacancies and small stacking fault tetrahedra (SFTs) were formed and the size did not change below 0.1 dpa. In Ni-2 at%Sn, single vacancies and SFTs were formed and the size also did not change below 0.1 dpa. In Ni-Sn alloys, the total intensities of lifetime related to vacancy type defects were more than 60%. Vacancy concentration was higher than in pure Ni and a large number of positrons annihilated at them. From positron annihilation coincidence Doppler broadening (CDB) measurements, the ratio of annihilation of positrons and low-momentum electrons increased in Ni-Sn alloys compared with pure Ni. The ratio increased with increasing the solute atom concentration. As positron affinity of Sn is lower than that of Ni, positrons are attracted to Sn atoms more strongly than Ni. Complexes of vacancy clusters and Sn atoms are formed and the number of Sn atoms adjacent to vacancy clusters increases with the solute atom concentration. It is expected that Sn atoms change the electron state of vacancy clusters, which leads to the increase of annihilation ratio between positrons and low-momentum electrons.


ABSTRACT The impact of and response to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic varied among sports organizations around the world. At the top tier of the American soccer pyramid, Major League Soccer (MLS) played two fixtures before the league office suspended the season and announced an action plan that included teams continuing play later in the year. The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) delayed the start of its season and later released plans to become the first professional team sports league in the United States to resume play. The pandemic impacted lower-tier soccer leagues and teams differently. Initially, leagues such as the fourth-tier men's United Soccer League Two (USL 2) and the fourth-tier Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) publicized plans to delay the start of the 2020 season. However, some teams in these leagues immediately withdrew from competition due to unique structural conditions. This article examines the case of one of these organizations.


We present a deep generative model that learns disentangled static and dynamic representations of data from unordered input. Our approach exploits regularities in sequential data that exist regardless of the order in which the data is viewed. The result of our factorized graphical model is a well-organized and coherent latent space for data dynamics. We demonstrate our method on several synthetic dynamic datasets and real video data featuring various facial expressions and head poses.


In this paper, important scientific achievements of S.P. Fedorov as a surgeon and organizer of health care were noted. Little-known facts from the life of the Professor S.P. Fedorov were covered. S.P. Fedorov is the author of over 120 scientific works. He is rightly called the father of russian bile duct surgery. The main directions of scientific research S.P. Fedorov was urinary and biliary tract surgery. He summarized extensive experience in widely known monographs and guides. An important merit of S.P. Fedorov was the organization of the surgical journal "New Surgical Archive". He was the editor of the first edition of "Big medical encyclopedia", edited the multivolume "Manual of Practical Surgery". He created a large domestic surgical school, from which dozens of specialists, heads of surgical departments of medical universities in various cities of the USSR, graduated.


This study aims at evaluating the key parameters affecting the success of parent-reliant knowledge-based companies in Iran, considering apparent decline in the rate of knowledge transfer success among the organizations, especially parent-reliant ones. A questionnaire-based investigation was conducted along with social network analysis and financial evidence cross-checking. This research conducts a survey to more than 140 respondents from two dependent and four independent organizations as well as five client companies. After a comprehensive literature review and based on a theoretical framework, we define nine variables for measuring the organizations' success. We have found that an organization's success significantly depends on the quantitative and qualitative strength of connections created between a knowledge-based organization and others. Detailed examinations shows that some of the measured variables were affected by the type of the organization. Within this context, success in achieving client satisfaction is considerably different between autonomous and subsidiary companies. We suggest that the way subsidiaries foster a pattern of profitability in business is not the same as that of autonomous organizations. We also discuss key parameters affecting successful management especially regarding connection with others, considering the dissimilarities between self-reliant and dependent knowledge-based organizations.


Abstract The improvement of acquisition and processing techniques has made it possible to study Seismic wavetrains in boreholes. With careful acquisition procedures and quantitative data processing, one can extract useful information on the propagation of Seismic events through the earth, on multiple generation and on the different reflections coming from horizons, some of which may not be accessible by surface Seismic. An extensive Borehole Seismic Survey was conducted in a well in Conoco's contract area "Block B" in the South China Sea. Shots at 96 levels were recorded, and the resulting Vertical Seismic Profile (VSP) was carefully processed and analyzed together with the Synthetic Seismogram (Geogram •) and the Synthetic Vertical Seismic Profile (Synthetic VSP). In addition to the general interpretation of the VSP data, i.e. time calibration of surface seismic, fault identification, VSP trace inversion and VSP Direct Signal Analysis, the practical inclusion of VSP data in the reprocessing of surface seismic data was studied. Conclusions that can be drawn are that deconvolution of surface seismic data using VSP data must be carefully approached and that VSP can be successfully used to examine phase relationships in seismic data.


The transient force exerted by a low-speed liquid droplet impinging onto a flat rigid surface is investigated experimentally. The measurements employ a high-sensitivity piezo-electric sensor, along with a high-speed camera, and cover four decades in droplet Reynolds number and greater than two decades in Weber number. Across these ranges, the peak of individual force profiles span from 3 mN to over 1300 mN. Once normalised, the force–time profiles support the existence of an inertially dominated self-similar regime. Within this regime, previous numerical and theoretical studies predict a $\sqrt{t}$ dependence of impact normal force during the initial pre-peak rise. While our measurements confirm this finding, they also indicate that, after the peak force the profiles exhibit an exponential decay. This long-time decay law suggests treatment of the momentum transport from the droplet using a lumped model. An observed linear dependence between the force and force decay rate supports this approach. The reason for the efficacy of treating this system via a lumped model apparently connects to the physics right at the surface that limit the rate of momentum transport from the droplet to the surface. This is explored by estimating the momentum transfer by solely using the deforming droplet shape, but under the condition of negligible momentum gradients within the droplet. The short- and long-time solutions are combined and the resulting model equation is shown to accurately cover the entire force–time profile.


Arthritis is a chronic disease which has a very high incidence in India. The prevalence of RA in India is quite similar to that reported from the developed countries. It is higher than that reported from China, Indonesia, Philippines and rural Africa (Malaviya, Kapoor, Singh, Kumar&Pande,1993).The chronic disease involves a variety of acute pain that has been shown to cripple everyday activities. The consequent perceived loss of control affects the routine psychological and social adjustment. The pain and daily hassles lead to a variety of emotional reactions e.g. anxiety and depression etc. Therefore, it is all the more important to learn about how to cope with this disease. Keeping this in mind it was planned to study the coping strategies amongst the patients of arthritis and compare these with control group. A convenient sample of 120 subjects, 60 suffering from arthritis and 60 healthy controls (30 males and 30 females in each category), in age range of 35-50 years (mean age 42.04 years) was selected from rural/ urban area of Haryana. A two group design was employed with n = 60. Coping Responses Inventory (Adult Form) by Moos (1993) was administered. The analysis was done by employing t-test. The results indicated that the patients of arthritis were significantly high on avoidance coping. In two types of avoidance coping i.e., cognitive avoidance and acceptance or resignation were being more significantly used by arthritis patients in their daily living conditions. However, they did not differ in their approach coping strategies from the control group. Regarding approach coping strategies there was a significant difference in logical analysis whereas no significant difference was observed in other three types of approach coping i.e., positive reappraisal, seeking guidance and support and problem solving between the two groups. The findings have been discussed in terms of implications in preparing the psycho-educative programs for arthritis patients.


We address a vital topic about labour markets in developing countries: The flexibility of the formal and informal labour sectors. For the Mexican economy, we use a panel from the National Survey of Urban Employment (ENEU) from 1995 to 2001. We control for workers´ observable characteristics, sample selection and non observable regional heterogeneity. We also take into account the possible endogeneity of the unemployment rate. The results show evidence that in the formal sector, unemployment does not affect wages. On the contrary, we found a clear negative effect of unemployment on wages in the informal sector. We also found evidence of a positive relation between formal informal wage differential and unemployment. These results suggest that the informal sector is more flexible than the formal sector.


A more robust mechanistic understanding of imine-linked two-dimensional covalent organic frameworks (2D COFs) is needed to improve their crystalline domain sizes and to control their morphology, both of which are necessary to fully realize their application potential. Here, we present evidence that 2D imine-linked COFs rapidly polymerize as crystalline sheets that subsequently reorganize to form stacked structures. Primarily, this study focuses on the first few minutes of 1,3,5-tris(4-aminophenyl)benzene and terephthaldehyde polymerization, which yields an imine-linked 2D COF. In situ X-ray diffraction and thorough characterization of solids obtained using gentler isolation and activation methods than have typically been used in the literature indicate that periodic imine-linked 2D structures form within 60 s, which then form more ordered stacked structures over the course of several hours. This stacking process imparts improved stability toward the isolation process relative to that of the early stage materials, which likely obfuscated previous mechanistic conclusions regarding 2D polymerization that were based on products isolated using harsh activation methods. This revised mechanistic picture has useful implications; the 2D COF layers isolated at very short reaction times are easily exfoliated, as observed in this work using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. These results suggest improved control of imine-linked 2D COF formation can be obtained through manipulation of the polymerization conditions and interlayer interactions. Qualitatively similar results were obtained for analogous materials obtained from 2,5-di(alkoxy)terephthaldehyde derivatives, except for the COF with the longest alkoxy chains examined (OC12H25), which, although shown by in situ X-ray diffraction to be highly crystalline in the reaction mixture, is much less crystalline when isolated than the other COFs examined, likely due to the more severe steric impact of the dodecyloxy functionality on the stacking process.


Proceedings: AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011‐‐ Apr 2‐6, 2011; Orlando, FL

Introduction: Inflammation plays a major role in colorectal cancer. COX-1 and COX-2 convert n-3 and n-6 fatty acids into prostaglandins which have anti- and pro-inflammatory effects, respectively. We examined potential interactions between polymorphisms in PTGS1 (COX-1) and PTGS2 (COX-2) and fat and fatty acid (FA) intake in relation to colon and rectal cancer risk.

Methods: A linkage-disequilibrium-based tagSNP-selection algorithm (r2=0.90, MAF=4%) identified tagSNPs in PTGS1 and PTGS2. We genotyped 16 SNPs in PTGS1 and 17 SNPs in PTGS2 on the same Illumina platform in two independent study populations (colon cancer: 1502 cases, 1862 controls; rectal cancer 713 cases, 914 controls). We investigated potential interactions with intake of total fat, saturated FA (SFA), monounsaturated FA (MUFA), polyunsaturated FA (PUFA), arachidonic acid (AA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) on risk of colon or rectal cancer.

Results: We observed several statistically significant interactions between PTGS1 and PTGS2 genotypes and fat and FA intake ([Table][1]). However, few interactions were consistent across fat variables and fell into three general categories of associations: a) individuals with the variant allele and low intake of total fat, SFA, or MUFA were at increased risk for rectal cancer (PTGS1 rs10306122-G, p int=0.01-0.01; PTGS2 rs4648268-A; p int=0.01-0.02); b) individuals with the variant allele and high EPA and DHA intake were less likely to develop colon cancer (PTGS1 rs10306110-G, p int=0.003-0.006); and c) individuals with the wildtype genotype and high EPA and DHA intake had stronger protection from colon cancer (PTGS2 rs4648310-A, p int=0.01-0.05). No interactions were observed for AA.

Conclusion: Our study provides some evidence that genetic variability in PTGS1 and PTGS2 and intake of total fat, SFA, or MUFA and EPA or DHA may interact in causing rectal and colon cancer, respectively.

![Figure][2]

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3757. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-3757

 [1]: #F1
 [2]: pending:yes


Although two-stage testing is not the most efficient form of adaptive testing, it has some advantages. In this paper linear programming models are given for the construction of two-stage tests. In these models practical constraints with respect to, e g., test composition, administration time, inter-item dependencies, play an important role. Two-stage tests can be constructed both sequentially and simultaneously. Models are formulated for the sequential case with constraints specified at test and subtest level. Simultaneous test construction has the disacvantage that a large number of variables and constraints have to be considered.


When I was a boy I always assumed that I would grow up to be both a scientist and a Red. Rather than face a problem of combining activism and scholarship, I would have had a very difficult time trying to separate them.… Before I could read, my grandfather read to me from Bad Bishop Brown's Science and History for Girls and Boys. My grandfather believed that at a minimum every socialist worker should be familiar with cosmology, evolution, and history. I never separated history, in which we are active participants, from science, the finding out how things are. My family had broken with organized religion five generations back, but my father sat me down for Bible study every Friday evening because it was an important part of the surrounding culture and important to many people, a fascinating account of how ideas develop in changing conditions, and because every atheist should know it as well as believers do.… On my first day of primary school, my grandmother urged me to learn everything they could teach me—but not to believe it all. She was all too aware of the "racial science" of 1930s Germany and the justifications for eugenics and male supremacy that were popular in our own country. Her attitude came from her knowledge of the uses of science for power and profit and from a worker's generic distrust of the rulers. Her advice formed my stance in academic life: consciously in, but not of, the university.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.


Abstract Femtosecond coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy (CARS) of dipicolinic acid (DPA), a marker molecule for bacterial spores of anthrax, has been investigated. The temporal evolution of the CARS response of DPA was examined using two ultrafast pulses to 'pump' the DPA and a third pulse to probe the response. In one set of experiments, a single detector recorded the temporal behaviour of the signal as a function of different pump conditions. In another set of experiments, the full anti-Stokes spectrum was recorded as a function of probe delay. The data from both experiments displayed a strong, instantaneous response and a structured transient response. The implications of these data for molecular detection are discussed.


Reviews the evidence available on the socio-economic effects of the economic reforms which Tanzania has been undertaking over at least a decade. Insists on the government's increasing capacity to mitigate the negative effects of economic reform. Welcomes in particular the creation of a ministry for poverty and environmental issues.


The challenging issue in multiuser MIMO-OFDM system is to cancel multi-access interference (MAI) when different users share the same subcarrier. Also, the presence of MAI makes the resource allocation problem very complicated. Hence it is essential to find the optimal transmit and receive weight vectors, to reduce MAI and to adaptively assign resources to meet the QoS requirements. In this paper, Block Diagonalization (BD) with Waterfilling power allocation is considered. This BD with Waterfilling power allocation algorithm increases the system capacity with zero MAI. In order to increase the system capacity further, BD with power and subcarrier allocation is proposed and analyzed their performance. The simulation results show that there is significant improvement in system capacity also guaranteeing zero MAI.


Thanks to their self-sharpening, ever-growing incisors, rodents are an outstanding success story, making up nearly half of the world's mammal species. They have thrived in Australia, as Bill Breed explains.


Navajo residence patterns exhibit great variability throughout the reservation which has proven difficult to explain. Data are presented which indicate an increase in rates of neolocal residence in the community of Navajo Mountain, and this increase is discussed in terms of local economic change. It is suggested that change and variability in Navajo residence patterns may be related to the increased availability and use of the pickup truck on the Navajo reservation.


This report reviews three cases of biliary tract injury following blunt abdominal trauma. During diagnostic evaluation, computerized tomography failed to delineate the injuries, but endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) aided in the diagnosis in two patients and pre-operative biliary stent placement facilitated operative intervention. Surgical exploration was required to fully characterize the injury in all three patients.


Physical dependence on ethanol can result in seizure susceptibility during ethanol withdrawal. In rats, generalized tonic-clonic seizures are precipitated by auditory stimulation during the ethanol withdrawal syndrome. Excitant amino acids (EAAs) are implicated as neurotransmitters in the inferior colliculus and the brain stem reticular formation, which play important roles in the neuronal network for genetic models of audiogenic seizures (AGSs). Ethanol blocks the actions of EAAs in various brain regions, including the inferior colliculus. In this study, dependence was produced by intragastric administration of ethanol for 4 days. During ethanol withdrawal, AGSs were blocked by systemic administration of competitive or noncompetitive NMDA antagonists 3-((+/-)-2-carboxypiperazin-4-yl)-propyl-1-phosphonic acid (CPP) or dizocilpine (MK-801). Focal microinjections of NMDA or non-NMDA antagonists into the inferior colliculus or the pontine reticular formation also inhibited AGSs. MK-801 was the most potent anticonvulsant systemically. When injected into the inferior colliculus, CPP had a more potent anticonvulsant effect than either MK-801 or the non-NMDA antagonist 6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione. The inferior colliculus was more sensitive than the pontine reticular formation to the anticonvulsant effects of both competitive NMDA and non-NMDA antagonists. The results of the present support the idea that continued ethanol administration may lead to development of supersensitivity to the action of EAAs in inferior colliculus and pontine reticular formation neurons. This may be a critical mechanism subserving AGS susceptibility during ethanol withdrawal.


This study was undertaken with the idea of ascertaining whether or not there was any experimental evidence in support of the claim made frequently by clinicians that diuretics are contra-indicated in many cases of acute nephritis because they act to increase the work of the kidney and are irritants which may augment the pathological process already existent in the kidney. Clinicians holding this view regard diuretic drugs as harmful in cases of acute nephritis. If diuretics are harmful in acute nephritis animals with experimental renal lesions similar to those in acute nephritis in man should be unfavorably influenced by diuretic drugs. This series of experiments was planned to determine whether or not this was the case with one diuretic (theobromin sodium salicylate or diuretin). Experiments were conducted chiefly along a comparative therapeutic line. An acute nephritis was produced in rabbits, and then a diuretic drug 1 (diuretin) was given to


What happens to a school when education is an international commodity and teachers are recruited globally? Bringing in their own luggage and agendas and asking, "Why not do something else?" The school does not fall apart. Modern management keeps it running smoothly. In terms of educational institutions, a good reputation seems to sustain. Elaborated strategies define potential new roles for the school in the world. Does culture beat strategy, is there a ghost in the machine that cannot be removed? Or is the school transforming into something found anywhere in the world, and mostly mediocre? A few years ago, a known figure in the EAAE system stated that: "There is no such thing as a global curriculum in architecture", believing that schools gave priority to and took care of their own identities. Was this a false statement? Discussing the relationship between school and society, is the concept of belonging still valid and possible to pursue? If so, what measures are relevant?


Introduction Although several studies have explored the associations between single essential metals and serum uric acid (SUA), the study about the essential metal mixture and the interactions of metals for hyperuricemia remains unclear. Methods We performed a cross-sectional study to explore the association of the SUA levels with the blood essential metal mixture, including magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), iron (Fe), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), manganese (Mn) in Chinese community-dwelling adults (n=1039). The multivariable linear regression, the weighted quantile sum (WQS) regression and Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) were conducted to estimate the associations of blood essential metals with SUA levels and the BKMR model was also conducted to estimate the interactions of the essential metals on SUA. Results In the multivariable linear regression, the association of blood Mg, Mn, and Cu with SUA was statistically significant, both in considering multiple metals and a single metal. In WQS regression [β=13.59 (95%CI: 5.57, 21.60)] and BKMR models, a positive association was found between the mixture of essential metals in blood and SUA. Specifically, blood Mg and Cu showed a positive association with SUA, while blood Mn showed a negative association. Additionally, no interactions between individual metals on SUA were observed. Discussion In conclusion, further attention should be paid to the relationship between the mixture of essential metals in blood and SUA. However, more studies are needed to confirm these findings.


Acoustic backscatter measurements at different frequencies were made in the eastern Bering Sea in August 2006 from the NOAA Ship Fairweather. The measurements consisted of approximately 2,250 nm of trackline acoustic backscatter data from a 100 kHz RESON model 8111; 2,250 nm of trackline acoustic backscatter data from a 40 kHz Reson model 8160; 750 nm of trackline acoustic backscatter data from a 455 kHz Klein model 5410; and 750 nm of trackline acoustic backscatter data from a 180 kHz pre-production Klein model 7180. The two Klein systems were each towed SW-NE once along the same specified 750 nm of tracklines. The two RESON systems were each operated twice SW-NE and once NE-SW along the same tracklines as the Klein systems. The acoustic backscatter was typically what might be expected from a flat, featureless expanse of fine grained sediments. However, there was a chance encounter with an embedded community of gastropods that was documented both with bottom grab samples and video footage of the seabed. The presence of the embedded community of gastropods drastically changed the level and angle dependence of the backscatter. This paper presents a comparative analysis of the backscatter properties of the gastropod community that were observed at 40 kHz, 100 kHz, 180 kHz and 455 kHz.


Flow cytometry has evolved over the past 30 y from a niche laboratory technique to a routine tool used by clinical pathologists and immunologists for diagnosis and monitoring of patients with cancer and immune deficiencies. Identification of novel patterns of expressed Ags has led to the recognition of cancers with unique pathophysiologies and treatment strategies. FACS had permitted the isolation of tumor-free populations of hematopoietic stem cells for cancer patients undergoing stem cell transplantation. Adaptation of flow cytometry to the analysis of multiplex arrays of fluorescent beads that selectively capture proteins and specific DNA sequences has produced highly sensitive and rapid methods for high through-put analysis of cytokines, Abs, and HLA genotypes. Automated data analysis has contributed to the development of a "cytomics" field that integrates cellular physiology, genomics, and proteomics. In this article, we review the impact of the flow cytometer in these areas of medical practice.


Starting from a sinter reactive powder prepared by a gel precipitation technique, dense, ultra-fine grained (100-200 nm) yttria stabilized tetragonal zirconia ceramics were obtained by sinter forging at a temperature of 1100 °C or by pressureless sintering at 1150 °C. The pressureless sintered compacts were subjected to further heat treatments at temperatures of 1250-1450 °C or compressive deformation at 1250 °C under uniaxial stresses of 20-100 MPa. The obtained samples were characterized mainly by impedance spectroscopy. After compressive deformation a decrease-in grain boundary resistivity was found which increased with applied stress. This can be interpreted in terms of a decrease in impurity segregation and a partial removal by compressive deformation of a poorly conducting amorphous film around the grains. It was also found that the grain boundary resistivity of samples sintered at 1150 °C could be considerably reduced by further pressureless heat treatments at temperatures above 1250 °C. This effect is probably owing to dewetting of the grain boundary and dissolution of grain boundary impurities into the bulk of the grains.


Abstract Planning the extent of transport services within a selected territory is a topical issue especially in the context of developing integrated transport systems. The objective of this research study is to design a sustainable system of public passenger transport that would be an alternative to expanding individual transport. The implementation of a quality and efficient transport service is a relatively complex process, since, currently, there are no generally applicable principles for its design. This manuscript presents general results of research aimed at solving the problem of transport service within a selected territory issue with a focus on rail transport as an efficient transport system representing a backbone of a transport system. The subject of the investigation is to compile a set of factors affecting the design of the transport concept. The output of the manuscript consists in a proposal of a generally applicable procedure including a calculation of transport potential and characteristics of the inputs. Subsequently, based on the resulting values, it will be possible to determine the extent of the transport services provided by rail transport in any territory, which will contribute to a more efficient and high quality theoretical graph of train running.


Two Garvey-Kelson mass relations are found to be directly related to the n-p interaction. In the case of the same nuclear core, the neutron-proton interaction energy between two neutrons and one proton epsilon (2n-1p) is experimentally found to be close to that between one neutron and two Protons epsilon (1n-2p), which is equivalent to the first Garvey-Kelson mass relation. The sum of epsilon (2n-1p) and epsilon (1n-2p) is close to the n-p interaction energy between two neutrons and two protons epsilon (2n-2p), which leads to the second Garvey Kelson mass relation. An explanation of these two n-p interaction relations is presented. It is shown that both of these mass relations hold more accurately when the core is an even-even core.


Introduction Aberrant responses to bacterial flora are implicated in post-operative recurrence of Crohn's disease (CD) after ileo-ceacal resection. Response to gut flora is conducted by dendritic cells (DC) which can induce a tolerogenic or active immune response. DC express Toll like receptors (TLR) which recognise bacterial products and are important in immune tolerance in health and highly expressed in IBD colonic tissue. Two subsets of DC are plasmacytoid (PDC) and myeloid cells (MDC). These DC show functional differences in their response to bacteria and are able to cross-talk. Expression of TLR on DC in the small intestine of post-operative CD patients is still largely unknown. We aimed to assess expression of TLR on DC from lamina propria mononuclear cells (LPMC) in post-operative CD patients as compared with normal controls. Methods Small intestine biopsies were obtained from 18 post-operative CD patients and 5 controls by colonoscopy. LPMC were collected using collagenase digestion, labelled with monoclonal antibodies to TLR2 and 4 and assessed by multicolour flow cytometry. Result A high percentage of DC from normal ileum expressed TLR2 and 4 with no significant differences in expression between PDC and MDC. However, expression of TLR 2 and 4 was significantly lower in PDC from post op CD patients compared with PDC in normal controls (mean 22.30% vs 60%, p=0.0003 and 38.55% vs 65.16%, p=0.02), respectively. Furthermore, PDC and MDC differed in expression of TLR2 and 4 in tissues from post-op CD patients; PDC expressed significantly less TLR2 and 4 compared with MDC (22.30% vs 38.11%, p=0.002 and 38.55% vs 50.89%, p=0.01), respectively. Conclusion Reduction of TLR2 and 4 expression in PDC compared with their counterparts in normal controls is likely to be the reason for the reduced expression of both TLRs on PDC compared with MDC in CD tissues. The lack of TLR2 and 4 expression on PDC maybe related to the disease activity as the normal controls did not show any statistical differences in expression of either TLR between the DC subsets. Other groups have suggested that functional differences exist between PDC and MDC in their activation by bacterial products and ability to produce innate and acquired inflammatory responses. In particular, blood PDC require the presence of MDC to respond to bacterial products to activate T cells rather than driving innate immunity. Our results indicate that PDC response to intestinal microflora may differ from that in MDC and provide initial background to the DC function and diversity in post-operative CD recurrence.


The majority of Pasifika students at the University of Otago come from other parts of New Zealand and have to adapt to studying and living in an environment that does not have a strong Pacific culture. These changes potentially affect their education experience and academic performance. Students may form social networks through religious institutions or student associations. Using a brief (10–15 minute) survey, we investigated how religiosity, social provision, and social anxiety as ethnic minorities are associated with perceived academic stress among Pasifika students in our department. We recruited 54 Pasifika students from a cohort of 101 students: 20 male, 33 female, and 1 akava'ine. Male students had higher academic stresses related to academic expectation than female students. Religiosity, social provision, and avoiding interaction with New Zealand European people were all associated with perceived academic stress in our cohort. Students preferred seeking social support from Pasifika friends and family members, and academic support from academic staff, tutorials organised by the University's Pacific Islands Centre, and friends. In conclusion, social factors are associated with academic stress of Pasifika students in the University of Otago. Institutions need to establish strong support infrastructure for ethnic minority students as they may have additional stressors which may affect their study.


Strong social relationships have been reported between adult male and female prosimian primates in the genera Eulemur and Varecia and have been referred to as "pair-bonding." It has been hypothesized that females benefit from these affiliative relationships with an adult male by having protection against infanticidal males, implying that the male member of the dyad also is the father of her offspring. I evaluated this hypothesis and whether or not the term pair-bond was appropriate by using field data collected on two groups of Eulemur fulvus rufus in southeastern Madagascar. Four predictions were tested: 1) male-female dyads will be stable throughout the year, 2) male-female dyads will be more prevalent during the mating season, and/or the birth season when infants would be most vulnerable to infanticide, 3) females should copulate either exclusively or most often with their male dyad partner than with other males during the mating and/or birth season, and 4) rates of aggression will be higher between males or between females and males who are not their dyad partner. Predictions 1, 2, and 3 were not supported and Prediction 4 was only partially supported. Adult male-female dyads however, were more prominent in feeding contexts during the mating season and food scarcity periods. Most aggression occurred during feeding between males and nondyad group members. Since female feeding rates were often higher when feeding near male dyad partners, adult male-female dyads may serve as a way of increasing foraging efficiency for the female, which in turn may influence reproductive success. All males who were dyad partners also copulated first and more frequently with all females. It is suggested that "dyad" is a better descriptive term than pair-bonding for the social patterns observed since dyads were comprised of same-sex individuals, were temporary, and did not exclusively serve a reproductive function.


The term "accountability" is increasingly heard at the United Nations. More than six decades after the organization's founding, people continue to ask exactly how the UN is accountable for what it does, and many agree that enhanced UN accountability is a prerequisite to effective global governance. Nevertheless, the concept is elusive and rarely defined, and views have diverged on its proper meaning and various implications. The contributors to this volume identify key issues, raise pertinent questions, and suggest useful reforms regarding accountability in the context of the United Nations system. Contributors include Edith Brown Weiss (Georgetown University Law Center), Michael Fowler (University of Louisville), Koji Fukuda (Waseda University, Tokyo), Ikuyo Hasuo (Osaka University), Anna Herken (office of the Secretary General of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development), Tadanori Inomata (United Nations), Kyoji Kawasaki (Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo), Tatsuro Kunugi (United Nations University and International Cooperation Research Association), Sumihiro Kuyama (United Nations University), Peter Lallas (World Bank), Edward Luck (International Peace Institute and office of the UN Secretary-General), Suresh Nanwani (Asian Development Bank), Jochen Prantl (Centre for International Studies and Nuffield College, University of Oxford), Michael Reiterer (University of Innsbruck), Tetsuo Sato (Hitotsubashi University), Hideaki Shiroyama (University of Tokyo), Mariko Shoji (Keiai University, Chiba), Kazuo Takahashi (United Nations University and National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, Tokyo), Hirohide Takikawa (Osaka City University), and Mikoto Usui (Tsukuba University).


Introduction Silica gel packets are commonly used desiccants for medication products; these packets generally only pose a choking risk in young children. However, new cylindrical desiccant canisters have been developed, which may increase the risk for obstruction in adults. Case Report An elderly male presented to the emergency department complaining of difficulty swallowing after taking his morning medications. Through a diligent work-up a desiccant canister was found lodged in the lower esophageal sphincter. The patient was endotracheally intubated and a Roth Net retriever was used to remove the canister. Conclusion Cylindrical desiccant canisters pose an increased risk of esophageal obstruction.


Autosomal recessive non-syndromic hearing loss (ARNSHL) is the most common cause of genetic profound pre-lingual hearing impairment. In recent years, a breakthrough in genetic research has lead to advances in mapping genes causing this condition and in elucidating their function. This progress brought about improvements in rehabilitation, counselling and development of preventative medical options, but to take advantage of these developments, early diagnosis is essential. This study was undertaken with the view to establishing whether, as an adjunct to genetic research, distinct auditory and vestibular phenotypic characteristics, breeding true within a sibship, might be identified, that would contribute to the resolution of genetic heterogeneity of the condition. Twelve families, in whom ARNSHL was ascertained, were studied. In the affected children (n=23) a pre-lingual severe or profound (> 80 dB) non-progressive hearing loss was the most common form. In a third of subjects, balance and/or vestibular deficits were identified, however, these were predominantly mild and lacked the specificity required for sub- classifying ARNSHL cases in whom the audiometric profile is uniform. A detailed audiometric protocol was also constructed with the aim of exploring the possibility of detecting asymptomatic carriers of mutant genes causing deafness from their audiometric profiles. Auditory aberrations were found in more than half of the carriers (14/24). Pure-tone audiometry and otoacoustic emissions emerged as the most sensitive tests, and, pending further studies, may be implemented in screening clinically normal hearing individuals at risk of carrying mutations that cause deafness. Furthermore, it is envisaged that the detailed appraisal of each test would contribute significantly to the emergence of a standardised investigation protocol in genetic hearing impairment. A phenotypic-genotypic correlation in three families with mutations in the GJB2 gene revealed a highly variable audio-vestibular phenotype in the affected children, although in 4/6 obligate carriers, no auditory aberrations were detected.


The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of in vivo estrogen manipulations on mechanisms of endothelium-dependent vasodilation. Ovary-intact, ovariectomized (OVX), or OVX with estrogen replacement (OVX + E(2)) female Sprague-Dawley rats were studied (n = 8). Mesenteric arteries (approximately 300 microm) were isolated, cannulated, and pressurized to 60 mm Hg in an arteriograph containing bicarbonate buffer and vessel diameter was monitored. Concentration-response curves to the endothelium-dependent histamine H(1) agonist 2-thiazolylethylamine (2-TEA; 1 nM-100 microM) and to acetylcholine (1 nM-10 microM) were performed in preconstricted arteries. The effect of Nomega-nitro-L-arginine (LNA; 100 microM) or LNA + indomethacin (INDO) (10 microM) on agonist-induced vasodilation was determined. There was no difference between treatment groups in the sensitivity of mesenteric arteries to 2-TEA or acetylcholine. LNA produced a significant decrease in sensitivity to 2-TEA in arteries from ovary-intact and OVX + E(2) rats but not in those from OVX rats. The addition of INDO produced a small additional decrease in sensitivity to 2-TEA in arteries from ovary-intact rats, a significant decrease in OVX, and no shift in OVX + E(2). LNA + INDO produced a similar degree of inhibition of the 2-TEA response in the three treatment groups. In contrast, when acetylcholine was used, the decrease in sensitivity produced by LNA or LNA + INDO was similar in the three rat groups. We conclude that estrogen increases the nitric oxide component of endothelium-dependent dilation and decreases the cyclooxygenase component. These effects of estrogen appear to be agonist-specific. Our findings suggest that estrogen modulates cross talk between the nitric oxide synthase and cyclooxygenase pathways of vasodilation.


RoboCup Rescue Simulation System is a particularly challenging domain for studying multi agent system and multi agent learning. Machine learning has become a key solution to complicated multi agent tasks. In this paper, using machine learning as a tool for arriving at intelligent and efficient behaviors for Rescue robots involves layering increasingly complex learning behaviors. We describe multiple levels of learned behaviors. First the robots try to lean basic knowledge about their environment's characteristics like the spreading speed of tire in the city after earthquake, or their ability to extinguish fires in different situations. ANN has been used to achieve these goals. Afterwards, using these learned components, they learn low level skills for lire extinguishment. Finally, in the next level they exploit fuzzy logic for planning their high level strategy toward their goal.


A continuous version of optimal LQG design under presence of Wiener disturbances is solved for MIMO controlled plant. Traditional design tools fail to solve this problem due to unstability of the augmented plant. A class of all optimality criteria, which guarantee existence of an asymptotical solution, is defined using a plant deviation model. This class is utilized in design of an optimal state and an error feedback regulator which is presented here. The resultant optimal error regulator is interpreted as an optimal multivariable matrix PID regulator.


Jarzynski's identity (non-equilibrium work theorem) relates the equilibrium free energy difference ∆F to the work W carried out on a system during a non-equilibrium transformation. In physics literature, the identity is usually written in the form: 〈e−βW 〉 = e−β∆F , where the average is said to be taken over all trajectories in the phase space. The identity in this form has been derived in different ways and published by many authors ([1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7]). Since the identity contains the "average over trajectories", it is natural to interpret this average as the expectation relative to a probability measure on trajectories, while assuming that the system evolves stochastically. In the present work, Jarzynski's identity is formulated and proved mathematically rigorous. It is written in the form E[e−βW ] = e−β∆F , where E is the expectation relative to a probability measure on phase space paths. For this probability measure, some analytical assumptions under which Jarzynki's identity holds, are found.


In amplifying media steady-state waves can travel faster than the speed of light in vacuum without violating the principles of special relativity. The possibility of generating superluminal waves in induced elementary particle production processes is discussed.


During 1990-1997 we investigated 201 children with gastrointestinal bleeding. Average age was 3.9 +/- 6 years; 57.2% were males. There were 129 (64.2%) cases of lower and 72 (35.8%) of upper GI bleeding. Complications of upper GI bleeding were more severe than those of the lower: 6 of 8 (75%) patients who deteriorated into hypovolemic shock had upper GI bleeding; 40 of 50 (80%) who required i.v. fluids (crystaloids and/or blood) had also bled from the upper GI tract; but anemia was more frequent (27.7% vs 17%) in lower GI bleeding. The main etiology for upper GI bleeding was peptic ulcer, and for lower GI bleeding anal fissure. Mean hospital stay for upper GI bleeding was 3.87 +/- 2.61 days vs 3.40 +/- 3.51 for lower (not significant). In 34% the etiology of bleeding was undetermined. Although current literature refers to intussusception as a common cause of GI bleeding in infancy, we had no such cases. This difference might have resulted from our diagnoses being made earlier, before mucosal damage could have caused bleeding. We found polyps the second most frequent cause for lower GI bleeding in children. Endoscopy was of more benefit than any other diagnostic method, while barium enema and ultrasound had no diagnostic value. Stool culture did not contribute to diagnosis: only 3 of 36 were positive, so it is only necessary when there is bloody diarrhea.


A number of works demonstrate that fear triggers political information seeking and learning, but what triggers fear? Building on Allport's classic work, two experiments examine the links between emotions and appraisals of responsibility and legitimacy to determine whether some of this fear-driven behavior should actually be characterized as scapegoating. In Experiment 1, participants experienced a combination of fear and anger in reaction to a threatening article about outsourcing. Those who felt fearful reported believing that the situation was unfair, that someone was responsible for the threat, and that they planned to take action, even when they were told the threat was unintended and merely a natural consequence of global economics. In Experiment 2, participants reported feeling angry and ready to act when told that someone was responsible for causing a potential epidemic. When told that the threat had arisen naturally, participants felt fearful and not angry, yet they still reported sensing something unfair about the situation and planned to take action.


Maize is one such crop, the production of which is highly challenged due to water shortage and soil water losses. The present study was undertaken on artificially induced water stress of maize in vitro, where stress was applied with PEG-6000 on one week old seedlings of four varieties BN 10, Dhanya. Kaveri-Super 244, and Swarna for 3, 5 and 7 days. The activity of antioxidative enzyme like peroxidase, catalase, ascorbate peroxidase, glutathione reductase and superoxide dismutase was assayed in the stressed and control plants. Peroxidase activity decreased on the 7th day in Dhanya and Swarna but in BN 101 and Super 244 the activity decreased slightly on the 5th day and increased again on the 7th day. Ascorbate peroxidase and superoxide dismutase showed a similar trend where the activity decreased after a certain period of stress. Similar trend was seen for GR activity too in case of Dhanya and Swarna. But in BN 101 and Super 244 there was an increase in the activity with the increase in the period of stress. Catalase activity declined during stress in Dhanya and Swarna while the other two varieties showed an increase during stress. Other than enzymatic activities, various biochemical analyses like proline, ascorbate, chlorophyll was also carried out. With the increase in intensity of drought there was an increase in both proline and ascorbate content in all. A significant increase in the ascorbate content was observed in BN 101 and super 244, H202, accumulation and lipid peroxidation showed an increase during stress in Dhanya and Swarna but no increase was seen in the other two varieties. Chlorophyll content showed a decline during the period of drought when compared to the control plants of all varieties. Enzymatic activity and biochemical tests show that Dhanya and Swarna are susceptible to drought stress than super 244 and BN 101 which are the tolerant varieties.


This article attempts to explain why and how the Indian state has been successful in managing the militant form of Islamic fundamentalism in India, despite favourable internal and external conditions for such militancy. Internally, it includes such factors as the relative material and cultural deprivation of Indian Muslims, the context of Hindutava and the communal riots, and externally, the Islamic radical movements abroad. Varied literatures have emphasized these factors for the growth of Islamic fundamentalism and Islamic militancy across the Muslim world. However, India has not witnessed large-scale Islamic militancy, despite the growth in Islamic fundamentalist organizations. The article offers a theoretical perspective that takes into consideration the interplay of the nation-building process, the constitutional framework of minority rights, the doctrine of Indian secularism, and the democratic political process. This interplay explains the absence of large-scale militancy and violence, either on the part of Islamic fundamentalist groups/institutions or the Muslim population in India.


Unsupervised image segmentation aims at clustering the set of pixels of an image into spatially homogeneous regions. We introduce here a class of Bayesian nonparametric models to address this problem. These models are based on a combination of a Potts-like spatial smoothness component and a prior on partitions which is used to control both the number and size of clusters. This class of models is flexible enough to include the standard Potts model and the more recent Potts-Dirichlet Process model \cite{Orbanz2008}. More importantly, any prior on partitions can be introduced to control the global clustering structure so that it is possible to penalize small or large clusters if necessary. Bayesian computation is carried out using an original generalized Swendsen-Wang algorithm. Experiments demonstrate that our method is competitive in terms of RAND\ index compared to popular image segmentation methods, such as mean-shift, and recent alternative Bayesian nonparametric models.


Fat redistribution (lipodystrophy) and metabolic anomalies are reported increasingly in HIV-infected patients being treated with protease inhibitors. The incidence of these side effects ranges from 5% to 75% in such patients, who often complain of spontaneous fat wasting in the face, arms, or legs, with or without central obesity. Hyperlipidemia and insulin resistance are almost always associated with lipodystrophy. We review the metabolic complications of antiretroviral therapies and discuss possible therapeutic interventions.


As explained in the methods-section, we chose to analyze the 2-year data in regard to inflammatory activity based on MRI and synovial biomarkers (and not earlier time points) as our aim was to capture patients that experienced "prolonged" or chronic inflammation, which may be regarded as a potential risk factor for osteoarthritis (OA) development. Virtually all patients of an acute injury cohort (like the KANON patients) will exhibit acute post-traumatic inflammation in their injured knee to a various extent as manifested by marked changes on imaging (i.e. effusion, traumatic synovitis and haemarthrosis) or in biochemical parameters. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


Many rural households across the globe are known to survive through self- provisioning food production systems. Majority of these households produce agricultural products such as crops and rear Livestock. Over the years, rural household dwellers, particularly those in developing countries have consistently produced enough subsistence food to survive even through tougher economic periods. However, in recent times it is evident that climate change has emerged as one of the most challenging aspects rural household food producers have to deal with. For instance, many food products produced by rural households have been affected and destroyed by different indicators of climate change such as floods; drought and heat waves. The vulnerability context of these households has left them unable to cope, recover and/or produce own crops after a natural hazard occurred. The purpose of this paper is to assess the effects of climate change on crop production with regard to household food self-provisioning in pre and post 1990 period. 30 villages found in Makhado Local Municipality are used for household's questionnaire survey, key informants were interviewed and different patterns of production process, geo-spatial features and settlements patterns were observed. The data analysis results reflect that different households within the municipality experience a variety of effects of climate change in terms of crop production processes in pre and post 1990 period. There is a huge decline in household food production activities and harvest outputs in the post-1990 period. The paper concludes that there are visible negative impacts of climate change within villages in Makhado Local Municipality in the post 1990 period compared to pre 1990, which are undermining the efforts of households to produce crops for subsistence use.


As commercial fishing activity shifts to target different grounds over time, spatial gaps can be created in catch rate data, leading to biases in derived indices of fish abundance. Imputation has been shown to reduce such biases. In this study, the relative performance of several imputation methods was assessed using simulated catch rate data sets. Simulations were carried out for three fish stocks targeted by a commercial hook-and-line fishery off the southwestern coast of Australia: snapper (Chrysophrys auratus), West Australian dhufish (Glaucosoma hebraicum), and baldchin groper (Choerodon rubescens). For high-growth scenarios, the mean squared errors (MSEs) of geometric and linear imputations were lower, indicating higher accuracy and precision than that for base method (constant value) imputations. For low-growth scenarios, the lowest MSEs were achieved for base method imputations. However, for the final standardized and imputed abundance indices, the base method index consistently demonstrated the l...


Objectives Since 1987, the Harstad community in Norway has run an injury prevention program according to the Safe Community approach. The effectiveness of this approach in reducing injury rates is poorly documented. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of the Harstad program on the incidence of injuries. Methods We used data from the National Injury register of Norway and compared age-adjusted incidence rates and standardized rate ratios of injuries in Harstad and three control communities for the period 1992-1997. Results Harstad had the second highest rates for both all injuries and fractures. No reduction in the incidence of injuries in Harstad was observed from 1992-1997. The injury rates in 1992-1997 were similar to the rates recorded in 1985/86. Conclusions The injury prevention program in Harstad has not reduced overall injury rates. The Safe Community concept is an organizational strategy, but implementation of proven and targeted risk reduction measures will be needed if community-based programs are to result in risk reductions.


Cloud-based enterprise search services (e.g., AWS Kendra) have been entrancing big data owners by offering convenient and real-time search solutions to them. However, the problem is that individuals and organizations possessing confidential big data are hesitant to embrace such services due to valid data privacy concerns. In addition, to offer an intelligent search, these services access the user's search history that further jeopardizes his/her privacy. To overcome the privacy problem, the main idea of this research is to separate the intelligence aspect of the search from its pattern matching aspect. According to this idea, the search intelligence is provided by an on-premises edge tier and the shared cloud tier only serves as an exhaustive pattern matching search utility. We propose Smartness at Edge (SAED mechanism that offers intelligence in the form of semantic and personalized search at the edge tier while maintaining privacy of the search on the cloud tier. At the edge tier, SAED uses a knowledge-based lexical database to expand the query and cover its semantics. SAED personalizes the search via an RNN model that can learn the user's interest. A word embedding model is used to retrieve documents based on their semantic relevance to the search query. SAED is generic and can be plugged into existing enterprise search systems and enable them to offer intelligent and privacy-preserving search without enforcing any change on them. Evaluation results on two enterprise search systems under real settings and verified by human users demonstrate that SAED can improve the relevancy of the retrieved results by on average ≈24% for plain-text and ≈75% for encrypted generic datasets.


Densities and viscosities of ternary liquid mixtures of isopropanol +1,2-propanediol + cyclohexanone, were measured at 308.15 K and 318.15 K over entire range of composition. From the density () and viscosity () data, the excess thermodynamic properties, viz., the excess volume (V), molar volume (V), deviation in viscosity (), interaction parameter (d) and excess Gibbs free energy of activation of viscous flow (G) were calculated. The values of excess parameters namely V,  and G were fitted to Redlich Kister type polynomial equation. Further heat of mixing and IR spectra were studied at equimolar concentration. From these results, the nature of interaction have been discussed interms of intermolecular interaction between the mixing components.


Background and objective A multidimensional assessment of COPD was recommended by the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) in 2013 and revised in 2017. We examined the ability of the GOLD 2017 and the new 16 subgroup (1A–4D) classifications to predict clinical outcomes, including exacerbation and mortality, and compared them with the GOLD 2013 classifications. Methods Patients with COPD were recruited from January 2006 to December 2017. The predictive abilities of grades 1–4 and groups A–D were examined through a logistic regression analysis with receiver operating curve estimations and area under the curve (AUC). Results A total of 553 subjects with COPD were analyzed. The mortality rate was 48.6% during a median follow-up period of 5.2 years. Both the GOLD 2017 and the 2013 group A–D classifications had good predictive ability for total and severe exacerbations, for which the AUCs were 0.79 vs 0.77 and 0.79 vs 0.78, respectively. The AUCs for the GOLD 2017 groups A–D, grades 1–4, and the GOLD 2013 group A–D classifications were 0.70, 0.66, and 0.70 for all-cause mortality and 0.73, 0.71, and 0.74 for respiratory cause mortality, respectively. Combining the spirometric staging with the grouping for the GOLD 2017 subgroups (1A–4D), the all-cause mortality rate for group B and D patients was significantly increased from subgroups 1B–4B (27.7%, 50.6%, 53.3%, and 69.2%, respectively) and groups 1D–4D (55.0%, 68.8%, 82.1%, and 90.5%, respectively). The AUCs of subgroups (1A–4D) were 0.73 and 0.77 for all-cause and respiratory mortality, respectively; the new classification was determined more accurate than the GOLD 2017 for predicting mortality (P<0.0001). Conclusion The GOLD 2017 classification performed well by identifying individuals at risk of exacerbation, but its predictive ability for mortality was poor among COPD patients. Combining the spirometric staging with the grouping increased the predictive ability for all-cause and respiratory mortality. Summary at a glance We validate the ability of the GOLD 2017 and 16 subgroup (1A–4D) classifications to predict clinical outcome for COPD patients. The GOLD 2017 classification performed well by identifying individuals at risk of exacerbation, but its predictive ability for mortality was poor. The new 16 subgroup (1A–4D) classification combining the spirometric 1–4 staging and the A–D grouping increased the predictive ability for mortality and was better than the GOLD 2017 for predicting all-cause and respiratory mortality among COPD patients.


A neutral channel at a 20-TeV fixed-target proton accelerator could be used to provide a tagged neutrino beam using K/sub OL/ decays. Muon and electron neutrinos and antineutrinos are identified and energy tagged up to above 2 TeV, allowing excellent systematics and good statistics in studying their interactions. The precise measurement of cross sections for charged-current and neutral-current interactions provides an excellent check for deviations from the standard model of electroweak interactions. Without the benefit of detailed Monte-Carlo studies needed for a specific proposal, we show a conceptual design demonstrating the feasibility of such a program.


Objective Incontrovertible disease markers are absent in delirium. This study investigated the usefulness of quantitative electroencephalography (qEEG) in diagnosing delirium. Methods This retrospective case-control study reviewed medical records and qEEG data of 69 age/sex-matched patients (delirium group, n=30; control group, n=39). The first minute of artifact-free EEG data with eyes closed was selected. Nineteen electrodes' sensitivity, specificity, and correlation with delirium rating scale-revised-98 were analyzed. Results On comparing the means of absolute power by frontal, central, and posterior regions, the delta and theta powers showed significant differences (p<0.001) in all regions, and the magnitude of the absolute power was higher in the delirium group than in the control group; only the posterior region showed a significant (p<0.001) difference in beta power. The spectral power of theta at the frontal region (area under the curve [AUC]=0.84) and theta at the central and posterior regions (AUC=0.83) showed 90% sensitivity and 79% specificity, respectively, in differentiating delirious patients and controls. The beta power of the central region showed a significant negative correlation with delirium severity (R=-0.457, p=0.011). Conclusion Power spectrum analysis of qEEG showed high accuracy in screening delirium among patients. The study suggests qEEG as a potential aid in diagnosing delirium.


MC-Si is the most widely used material for making solar PV cells. In spite of the considerable research on improving the conversion efficiency of MC-Si solar PV cells still it remains well within the range of 15-20%. Optical reflectance being the major loss of incident solar energy, efforts are being made to reduce the optical reflectance of solar cell surfaces. Among the several methods proposed, creation of well-defined surface topography on the cell surface remains a promising option. Micro/nano level features with various dimensions and distributions have been created on MC-Si crystal surfaces using a femto-second pulsed laser and the influence of surface topography on optical reflectance in the incident light wave length of 350 – 1000 nm have been studied and compared with the simulation results obtained using OPAL2 software. Experimental results indicate that surface textures on the wafer surface lead to the reduction of optical reflectance in the range of 20-35% in comparison with plain surface. Width of micro grooves have less significant effect on the optical reflectance in comparison with pitch between the micro grooves. Best reduction in reflectance is exhibited by the texture having a groove width of 30 mm and a pitch of 100 mm. A post texturing etching operation is found to have detrimental effect on the ability of micro/nano level features in decreasing the optical reflectance in the preferred wavelength of solar spectrum due to the flattening of nano level features created within the micro grooves due to laser texturing.


We flew aerial line-transect surveys to estimate the range-wide population size of lesser prairie-chickens (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) in the Great Plains, United States in 2012 and 2013. We also estimated the number of lesser prairie-chicken leks, the number of mixed-species leks that contained both lesser and greater prairie-chickens (T. cupido) and the number of hybrid lesser–greater prairie-chickens where these species' ranges overlap. The study area included the 2011 estimated occupied lesser prairie-chicken range in 5 states and was divided into 4 ecoregions. We created a sampling frame over the study area, consisting of 536 15- × 15-km grid cells. We flew 512 transects within a probabilistic sample of 256 cells totaling 7,680 km in 2012 and 566 transects within a probabilistic sample of 283 cells totaling 8,490 km in 2013. We estimated a total of 34,440 individual lesser prairie-chickens in 2012 (17,615 in 2013) and 350 hybrid lesser–greater prairie-chickens in 2012 (342 in 2013) in the study area. We estimated a total of 2,930 lesser prairie-chicken leks in 2012 (2,037 in 2013) and 453 lesser and greater prairie-chicken mixed leks in 2012 (356 in 2013) in the study area. We discuss the implications of alternative sampling designs with regard to conservation questions to be addressed. © 2014 The Wildlife Society.


The unpolymerized material extracted from cured orthodontic bonding resin was analyzed by UV spectrophotometry. Under certain conditions, substantial amounts of the material (approximately 14%) were leached from bracketed teeth. The possible carcinogenicity of these unpolymerized materials is discussed.


There are two main techniques, static and dynamic, to broadcast algorithms in wireless ad hoc networks. In the static technique, local algorithms determine the status of each node proactively based on local topology information. we show that a constant approximation factor is achievable if position information is available. In the dynamic technique, local algorithms determine the status of each node ―on-the-fly‖ based on local topology information. Constant approximation factor compute minimum spanning tree of H and add the disks corresponding to its edges to D. The status of each node is determined ―on-the-fly‖ during broadcast progress. ―on-the-fly‖ improve the status of wireless links. The proposed algorithm based on dynamic approach can be extended to the case where nodes have different transmission ranges. Then by varying the number of nodes, speed and traffics patterns the performance comparison is done.