OBJECTIVES
To evaluate the effects of 19-nortestosterone (NT) on the growth and development of the ventral prostate (VP), epididymis, and seminal vesicles (SV) in hypogonadal (hpg) mice.

METHODS
The silastic tube filled with NT was implanted subdermally into mature hpg mice (n = 7) for five weeks. Similar silastic tubes without NT were implanted into both of hpg mouse control group (n = 7) and normal mouse group (n = 10) instead. The weights of sex accessory glands and the branch tip number of VP from all mice were evaluated.

RESULTS
The weights of VP, SV, and epididymis in NT treated hpg group were significantly higher than those of hpg control group (P < 0.005); and the branching morphology of the VP showed a tendency to be normal and the development of prostate ductal tip was improved significantly. Especially, the weight of SV in NT treated hpg mice was equal to that of normal mice, while the weights of VP, epididymis and branching tip number in NT treated hpg group was still significantly lower than that of normal mice (P < 0.005).

CONCLUSIONS
The NT treatment significantly stimulates the growth and development of the sex accessory gland in mature hpg mouse.


The pairing of Mark Twain and Nathaniel Hawthorne may seem unlikely: the former, a Western humorist, onetime bohemian and perennial extrovert with a taste for cigars and a "call to literature of a low order"; the latter, a Romantic by disposition and by choice, who preferred the shadows to the spotlight. Yet in many respects, these oppositions point toward a deeper connection between the two. Both Hawthorne and Twain are inextricably linked to their childhood homes, Salem and Hannibal, places that formed their imaginative lives, while also inspiring their occasional contempt. This ambivalent response to the myth of American origins is the theme of "The Custom House." As the redheaded stepchild of Hawthorne's imagination, Mark Twain takes up the satire of "The Custom House." Like a post-Romantic Surveyor Pue, Twain inherits Hawthorne's memoir and in The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson adapts its critique to the failures of Reconstruction.


Purified Fab fragments of digoxin-specific antibodies obtained from sheep were used to treat 26 patients with advanced, life-threatening digoxin (23 cases) or digitoxin (3 cases) toxicity. These patients had advanced cardiac arrhythmias, and in some cases hyperkalemia, which were resistant to conventional treatment. All patients had an initial favorable response to doses of Fab fragments calculated (in most cases) to be equivalent, on a molar basis, to the amount of cardiac glycoside in the patient's body. In four patients treated after prolonged hypotension and low cardiac output, death ensued from cerebral or myocardial hypoperfusion. In one case the available Fab fragment supply was inadequate to reverse a massive suicidal ingestion of digoxin, and the patient died after recurrent ventricular arrhythmias. In the remaining 21 patients, cardiac rhythm disturbances and hyperkalemia were rapidly reversed, and full recovery ensued. There were no adverse reactions to the treatment. We conclude that the use of purified digoxin-specific Fab fragments is a safe and effective means to reverse advanced, life-threatening digitalis intoxication.


The proteins synthesized during thymineless death in Escherichia coli B and B/r were analyzed by polyacrylamide gel elctrophoresis. It was found that the amount of a protein of molecular weight 80,000 to 88,000 is greatly increased during thymineless death compared to the amounts of other cell proteins. A technique for the isolation of cell membrane-deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)-nascent ribonucleic acid (RNA) complex on detergent crystals was used to determine whether DNA might be detached from the cell membrane as a result of thymineless death. It was found that under no conditions of thymineless death or immunity to thymineless death was there any change in the attachment of DNA or pulse-labeled RNA to cell membrane.


Gravitational interactions between planets and small bodies in the solar system can theoretically send asteroids and comets onto a collision course with Earth. This happens persistently in the fall of meteorites to Earth, though with masses that only rarely do any damage. The finding of craters on almost all solid bodies in the solar system when spacecraft image their surfaces brings home the fact that no planet is spared collisions. Asteroids larger than 50 m across collide with Earth, on average, once every 600 years.


(ProQuest: ... denotes formula omitted.)IntroductionThe field of strategic management focuses on understanding sources of sustainable competitive advantages (SCA) in organizations (Barney, 2001; Priem & Butler, 2001). Based on Resource-Based Theory (Penrose, 1959; Wernerfelt, 1984; Barney, 1991; and Peteraf, 1993), generating and sustaining competitive advantages (CAs) resides in the set of strategic resources and capabilities available to the firm. Knowledge and knowledge management (KM) resources are particularly significant and arguably the most important among these (Drucker, 1993; Spender, 1996; Grant, 1996b; Nahapiet and Ghoshal, 1998; and Liao, 2009) and considered a main source of CA (Connor and Prahalad, 1996; Grant, 1996a; Alavi and Leidner, 2001; Zhao et al., 2003; Halawi et al., 2005; Wong and Aspinwall (2006); and Ho, 2009). Although KM has been frequently cited as a prime source of organization competitiveness, analyses to date have been mostly conceptual (Choi and Lee, 2003; and Chuang, 2004), and only a limited number of studies have explored empirically the resource based view (RBV) of KM. Moreover, the mechanism through which this is achieved remains an area for investigation.As we are living under a hyper competition environment; firms need to resort to continual innovation if they would like to obtain a CA (Liu et al., 2001; Lemon and Sahota, 2004; and Cooper et al., 2008), and an increasing attention should be given to innovation as a key success factor in a firm's SCA (Damnpour (1989); Damnpour (1991); Doyle (1998); Quinn (2000); Lee et al. (2005); Darroch (2005); Kleef, and Roome (2007); Plessis et al. (2007); Alegre and Chiva (2008); Liao (2008); and Rhee et al. (2009)). Effective KM was found to be an antecedent of innovation in some studies (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995; Dove, 1999; Carneiro, 2000; Darroch, 2005; and Liao and Wu, 2009). The KM competency is critical to successful innovation as innovation process is knowledge intensive (Gloet and Terziovski, 2004; and Gordon et al., 2007; Maqsood and Finegan, 2009).However, it is difficult to draw conclusions from the extant literature about the relationship between effective KM and innovation because there is a dearth of empirical research that investigated relationships between the two constructs (Gloet and Terziovski, 2004; Darroch, 2005; and Hall et al., 2006). Besides; some of this literature takes a unidimentsional view of innovation which is ''technical innovation'' (e.g. Gerwin and Barrowman 2002; Gonzalez, 2007; and Liao et al., 2008) with relatively fewer studies conducted on organizational innovation based on the viewpoint of the organization as a whole (Weerawardena, 2003; and Dobni, 2008). Therefore, inconsistency in findings were found (Dobni, 2008). His study aims to (1) provide an empirical investigation for RBV of KM in Egyptian software companies, and (2) provide an explanation of how would this occur through organizational innovativeness (OI).Previous studiesThere is a general agreement that KM represents an important CA factor for organizations (Quinn, 1992 Drucker, 1993; Hall, 1993; Alavi and Leidner, 2001; Connor and Prahalad, 1996; Grant, 1996b; Zhao et al., 2003; Angelo et al., 2003; Halawi et al., 2005;and Ho, 2009), and that SCA in the 21st century will be accomplished through KM (Johannessen et al., 1999; Grant 1996b; Nahapiet and Ghoshal, 1998; Johannessen and Olsen, 2003; and Halawi et al., 2005). However, Halawi et al. (2005); and Chuang (2004) note that while the notion that KM might be able to create SCA for firms is provocative, working in this area is relatively underdeveloped, both empirically and theoretically. Chuang (2004) contended the research on KM and CA has emphasized 'description rather than empirical study' but that KM can lead to such an advantage. Choi and Lee (2003) in their attempt to provide an integrated view of KM that links KM enablers, process and organization performance, asserted that in spite of considerable discussion of KM processes and organizational performance, there is no clear link between them. …


Nitric oxide (NO) is involved in adipose tissue biology by influencing adipogenesis, insulin-stimulated glucose uptake, and lipolysis. The enzymes responsible for NO formation in adipose cells are endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) and inducible NO synthase (iNOS), whereas neuronal NO synthase (bNOS) is not expressed in adipocytes. We characterized the expression pattern and the influence of adipogenesis, obesity, and weight loss on genes belonging to the NO system in human subcutaneous adipose cells by combining in vivo and in vitro studies. Expression of most of the genes known to belong to the NO system (eNOS, iNOS, subunits of the soluble guanylate cyclase, and both genes encoding cGMP-dependent protein kinases) in human adipose tissue and isolated human adipocytes was detected. In vitro adipogenic differentiation increased the expression level of iNOS significantly, whereas eNOS expression levels were not influenced. The genes encoding eNOS, iNOS, and cGMP-dependent protein kinase 1 were expressed at higher levels in obese women. Expression of these genes, however, was not influenced by 5% weight loss. Insulin and angiotensin II (Ang II) increased NO production by human preadipocytes in vitro. Increased eNOS and iNOS expression in adipocytes and local effects of insulin and Ang II may increase adipose tissue production of NO in obesity.


In this study automatic speech recognition (ASR) techniques were used to substantiate the findings of phonological research on postvocalic /r/-deletion in Standard Dutch. A database containing spontaneous speech utterances stemming from man-machine interactions in an automatic train-table inquiry system was used for this purpose. Pronunciation variants with and without /r/ were automatically generated on the basis of our specification of the phonological rule of /r/-deletion and were then included in the lexicon of a continuous speech recognizer (CSR) which was used in forced recognition mode. The results show that in a corpus containing 214,102 words, in which /r/-deletion could be applied 16,865 times, it was actually applied in 47.6% of the cases. This is a high percentage of occurrence for a phenomenon that has so sporadically been described. Furthermore, the results substantiate our rule specification: /r/-deletion occurs more often after schwa than after any other vowel.


Abstract In this paper, the development is presented of a splitting method that can efficiently solve coarse-mesh discretized low-order quasi-diffusion (LOQD) equations. The LOQD problem can reproduce exactly the transport scalar flux and current. To solve the LOQD equations efficiently, a splitting method is proposed. The presented method splits the LOQD problem into two parts: (a) the D problem that captures a significant part of the transport solution in the central parts of assemblies and can be reduced to a diffusion-type equation and (b) the Q problem that accounts for the complicated behavior of the transport solution near assembly boundaries. Independent coarse-mesh discretizations are applied: the D problem equations are approximated by means of a finite element method, whereas the Q problem equations are discretized using a finite volume method. Numerical results demonstrate the efficiency of the methodology presented. This methodology can be used to modify existing diffusion codes for full-core calculations (which already solve a version of the D problem) to account for transport effects.


A new method for Ag determination in water samples using solid phase extraction (SPE) coupled to a flow injection system and flame atomic absorption spectrometry was developed. The sorbent used for Ag preconcentration and extraction was the termite digestion product. Flow and chemical variables of the system were optimized through a multivariate procedure. The factors selected were adsorbent mass, buffer type and concentration, sample pH, and sample flow rate. The detection limit and precision were 3.4 μg L−1 and 3.8% (n = 6, 15 μg L−1), respectively. The enrichment factor and the linear working range were, respectively, 21 and 10–50 μg L−1. Results for recovery tests using different water samples were between 96 and 107%. The proposed methodology was applied with success for the determination of Ag in water used to wash clothes impregnated with silver nanoparticles, supplied by a factory located in Santa Catarina, Brazil.


The effect of hot working (forging) on stucture and mechanical properties of electroslag remelted (ESR) Fe3Al based intermetallic alloys containing approximately 16 wt% (28at%) aluminium and 0.013 to 0.50 wt% carbon are reported. The ESR alloys having low (0.013 to 0.06 wt%) carbon content were severely cracked during forging probably due to the presence of pre-existing microcracks. ESR ingots with high (0.14 to 0.50 wt%) carbon content were successfully forged at 1000°C. At high (60% or more) forging reductions the cast columnar structute of ESR alloys was transformed into recrystallized grain structure. The room temperature mechanical properties did not improve significantly after forging. During creep and stress-rupture tests carried out at 600°C and 140 MPa, the cast ESR ingot with columnar structure exhibited lower minimum creep rate and higher creep life than those exhibited by the corresponding forged ingots with recrystallized grain structure. There is only a marginal improvement in creep life with increase in carbon content from 0.14 to 0.50 wt%. The stress-ruptured specimens exhibited predominantly ductile dimple failure with elongations in excess of 50%. The creep and stress-rupture properties of the alloys with high (0.14 to 0.50 wt%) carbon contents are better than those reported for wrought Fe-16 wt%Al alloys with low (<0.01 wt%) carbon contents. This may be attributed to the presence of uniformaly distributed Fe3AlC precipitates as well as the interstitial carbon present in the alloys.


The practice of the visual arts in post-independence Nigeria has been variedly characterized. This has been more so since 1977 when the 2nd World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture was held in Nigeria. This epochal event is, today, said to have engendered mercantilism, a decline in standard of art products, and a laisser-faire attitude towards art practice in Nigeria. These, it is said, have singly and collectively affected the status and working conditions of the Nigerian artist. It is also said that the practice of the arts, as well as the artist, are in jeopardy, at the moment. To remedy this situation, it is suggested by some, that the practice of the arts be regulated and that a code of conduct should be instituted. These suggestions are interrogated in this paper with the aim of finding out the suitability of these prescriptions for solving the identified problems in a 21st century art environment. The interrogation identifies that resorting to regulation would amount to imprisoning creativity and lead to retrogression.


We report a case of the Mazzotti reaction in a 13-year-old Liberian refugee after presumptive treatment of schistosomiasis and strongyloidiasis with ivermectin, praziquantel and albendazole. The patient was hospitalized with fever, urticaria, abdominal pain and angioedema. Twelve hours after treatment with intravenous methylprednisolone he had complete resolution of his symptoms.


Designing highly active supported ethylene polymerization catalysts that do not require a co-catalyst to generate electrophilic metal alkyl species is still a challenge despite its industrial relevance. Described herein is the synthesis and characterization of well-defined silica-supported cyclopentadienyl LnII sites (Ln=Yb and Sm) of general formula [(≡SiO)LnCp*]. These well-defined surface species are highly activite towards ethylene polymerization in the absence of added co-catalyst. Initiation is proposed to occur by single electron transfer.


A special set of computer‐generated complex tones is shown to lead to a complete breakdown of transitivity in judgments of relative pitch. Indeed, the tones can be represented as equally spaced points around a circle in such a way that the clockwise neighbor of each tone is judged higher in pitch while the counterclockwise neighbor is judged lower in pitch. Diametrically opposed tones—though clearly different in pitch—are quite ambiguous as to the direction of the difference. The results demonstrate the operation of a "proximity principle" for the continuum of frequency and suggest that perceived pitch cannot be adequately represented by a purely rectilinear scale.


Background: The aim of this study was to analyze the knowledge and practices of dentists regarding breastfeeding as a strategy for promoting children's oral health. It also aimed to investigate how nursing mothers perceive the participation of dentists in actions to promote and support breastfeeding. Methods: this study employed a mixed methodological approach. During the quantitative phase, 91 dentists of the Family Health Strategy answered an electronic questionnaire, and the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. For the qualitative investigation, were interviewed 21 nursing mothers. These interviews were examined through content analysis, and the results were interpreted from the perspective of the Theory of Planned Behavior. Results: Among dentists, 81.3% agreed that they are aware of the implications of breastfeeding for the child's oral health and reported 72.8% advising mothers and pregnant women about its benefits. Ambivalent social norms and weaknesses related to actions promoting and supporting breastfeeding emerged in the speeches of nursing mothers, and unfamiliarity about the benefits of this practice for children's oral health. Conclusions: Dentists recognize the benefits of breastfeeding for children's oral health. On the other hand, the nursing mothers pointed out barriers, exposed weaknesses, and signaled necessary conjunction of efforts to improve maternal and child care quality.


There is mounting evidence for a role of mitochondrial dysfunction in the pathogenesis of α-synucleinopathies such as Parkinson's disease (PD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). In particular, recent studies have demonstrated that failure of mitochondrial quality control caused by loss of function of the PTEN-induced kinase 1 (PINK1, PARK6) Parkin (PARK2) pathway may be causative in some familial PD. In sporadic PD, α-synuclein aggregation may interfere with mitochondrial function, and this might be further exacerbated by leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2). The majority of these findings have been obtained in Drosophila and cell cultures, whereas the objective of this paper is to discuss our recent results on the axonal pathology of brains derived from transgenic mice expressing α-synuclein or DLB-linked P123H β-synuclein. In line with the current view of the pathogenesis of sporadic PD, mitochondria abnormally accumulated in α-synuclein/LRRK2-immunopositive axonal swellings in mice expressing α-synuclein. Curiously, neither mitochondria nor LRRK2 was present in the swellings of mice expressing P123H β-synuclein, suggesting that α- and β-synuclein might play differential roles in the mitochondrial pathology of α-synucleinopathies.


Absolute pitch (AP) is the ability to identify a tone's pitch or to produce a tone at a particular pitch without the use of an external reference pitch. AP exists in varying degrees among people generally described as AP possessors. AP possessors vary not only in the accuracy with which they can identify pitches but also in their ability to produce pitches absolutely and in their ability to identify tones of various timbers and in various pitch registers. AP possessors' memory for pitches is mediated by verbal pitch names; they do not have superior memory for pitches per se. Although the etiology of AP is not yet completely understood, evidence points toward the early-learning theory. This theory states that AP can be learned by anyone during a limited period early in development, up to about age 6, after which a general developmental shift from perceiving individual features to perceiving relations among features makes AP difficult or impossible to acquire.


The aim of this study was to evaluate different concentrations of olive oil for cryopreservation of boar semen. A total of 21 eyaculates of 18 males with motility ≥70% were used. For freezing, the semen was diluted in treatments: control (Cont–egg yolk), "Koroneiki" oil in egg yolk at 0.25% (A025), 0.50% (A050), 0.75% (A075) and 1.0% (A10). Straws with 5.10 7 sperm/ml were frozen and stored in liquid nitrogen. Thawing was done at 37oC for 30 seconds and motility, mitochondrial functionality, DNA integrity, oocite penetration rate and the number of sperm per oocite (in the in vitro penetration trial) were evaluated. The variables were compared using the Kruskal-Wallis test. Even though no statistical difference was found between control and treatments containingolive oil (p>0.05), the treatment with 0.25% oil concentration showed tendences towards sperm protection, outperforming the controls in mitochondrial functionality and preservation of the fertilizing capabilities in the in vitro penetration trial. This is why, olive oil could represent an alternative to help cryopreservation of boar semen. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.21615/cesmvz.11.1.1


: Introduction : LMA Prosomal™ remains measured leading supraglottic route expedient in offspring. I-gel evades manacle connected difficulties of subsequent age group strategies as this cover remains completed of thermoplastic elastomer. The current possible compensations comprise informal supplement, negligible matter solidity also decent steadiness. Researchers intended the current research to measure medical presentation of i-gel, LMA Prosomal™ in addition LMA classic in offspring breathing impulsively. Methodology: Our current research was conducted at Lahore General Hospital Lahore from March 2017 to May 2018. 99 respondents of ASA ranking 1 also 2, assessing amongst 11-26 kg, dispatched for elective operation through the period of a smaller amount than 3 hours, remained arbitrarily alienated into 3 sets (33 each). Typical over-all anesthesia remained managed to altogether offspring. Comfort of supplement of expedient also nasogastric tube, oropharyngeal seal weight, hemodynamic limitations also intra- also post-operatively difficulties stood distinguished. Results: The particular respondents remained analogous through deference to demographic information. Supplement remained measured by way of actual relaxed in entirely 3 sets. Achievement degree of addition in primary attempt remained >92% in apiece set. 1-gel exposed direct average period for supplement (17 ± 5 sec). 1-gel got the maximum seal heaviness (26.3 ± 3.9). trailed through LMA Prosomal™ (23.7 ± 3.9) also Classic LMA (17.9 ± 3.7). Conclusion: I-gel remains similar to LMA Prosomal™ also Classic LMA in medical presentation. 1-gel got the maximum oropharyngeal closure pressure in addition it needed smallest period for supplement. Consequently, this might remain dependably experienced in pediatric anesthesia.


Giant metate-like stone sculptures, found in all regions of Costa Rica, though in various forms, continue to fascinate researchers. Archaeologists contrast these sculptures with other, more utilitarian metates in order to determine their purpose and meaning. They create two groups—metates used by women for grinding subsistence foods and elaborate metates used by men for ritual purposes. This chapter challenges the binaries of tool/art, utilitarian/elaborate, and female/male that essentialize gender and homogenize historical variability. Figurine and burial data demonstrate women's connection to elaborate metates and ritual. In addition, ceramic figurines depict flexibility in gender roles at least within the stratum of ancient Costa Rican society that they depicted. This instance of stereotyped gender attribution and the absence of attention to the possible dynamism of women's lives shows the importance of a feminist approach to archaeology and the need to draw on multiple lines of evidence to answer archaeological questions.


The gene for myotonic dystrophy (DM) was found to be an expansion of an unstable CTG repeat located in the 3'-UTR of the putative protein kinase gene. In the general population 5 approximately 37 copies of the repeat are present, but in DM patients the repeat number varies from 50 up to thousands of copies. We have determined the copy number of the CTG repeat and made a haplotype using the closely linked markers to the CTG repeat in 93 Japanese DM families. The absolute linkage disequilibrium was observed in patients from both populations, between the DM gene and the linked markers. These data strongly suggest a common origin of Caucasian and Japanese DM alleles. The genetic analysis of apparently sporadic occurrence of DM in a family in which two asymptomatic members have been shown to have a number of repeats corresponding to premutation alleles, 44 and 46 CTG alleles. These data strongly suggest that (CTG) 19 approximately 37 may act as a predisposing allele for successive DM generations and that there is a premutation allele for DM, as predicted in a multistep model for etiology of this disorder.


We propose a step-by-step Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) process for the creation and simulation of an executable Unified Architecture Framework (UAF) model for evaluation purposes. The roll-up of Technical Performance Measures (TPMs) to Measures of Effectiveness (MOEs) is necessary for such a process, and has not been documented for the UAF. This paper is the first attempt to address this gap by demonstrating how interdependencies between these technical measures can be traced across the domains of a UAF architecture according to the ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288:2015 standard, the guidelines from the INCOSE Systems Engineering Handbook, and the UAF Enterprise Architecture Guide. The proposed process employs traceability and parametric diagrams within the UAF to produce an executable model that aids in evaluating the effectiveness of a system's architecture. Additionally, we describe how to build a simulation within the UAF to assess a parametric diagram containing random values of TPMs. The process identifies UAF views, their constituent model elements, and the relationships that are required to build this model. We also present an illustrative example of a forest firefighting system to demonstrate the implementation and effectiveness of the proposed process. This paper is intended as a resource for systems engineering practitioners.


In today's global environment one of the major challenges is having engaged workforce in an organization. The workforce is one of the organization's greatest assets. Employee engagement is the process of keeping employees engaged in the organization. It is one of the key fundamentals of making an organization competitive. The main objective of this study was to investigate the effect of employee engagement on performance of small and medium organizations in Mombasa County, Kenya. A positivist paradigm using descriptive research design was used. Stratified random sampling technique was used to interview respondents. The study sampled a total of 105 small and medium enterprises operators. A questionnaire with Likert-type interval scale anchored on a 5-point scale was used to collect data. Hypotheses were tested using Pearson's product moment and multiple regression. Findings of the study indicated that most of the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have not embraced the concept of employee engagement. Nonetheless they have awareness of the practices that employees desired which would give them competitive edge. It is of necessity that the SMEs operators be trained on best practices and also benchmark within their industry subsectors so as to be able to initiate and embrace employee engagement. At start-ups and early stages of business growth, there is minimal investment in human resources which results in haphazard recruitment of family members who are sometimes are neither qualified nor trained and not engaged.  Consequently, the staff underperforms, a lot of infighting and conflicts in families and relatives, leading to strained family relationships and high labour turnover which in turn affects performance. The study recommended a deliberate action be taken by the management to embrace employee engagement concept for their organizations to be competitive. Implications of the study are that adopting employee engagement empowers employees which results in increased performance in organizations. The study also contributes to the literature that seeks to develop theory emphasizing the importance of embracing employee engagement notion as an important human resource concept.


Modeling and simulation is essential in polymer processing for predicting process characteristics and designing processing machines. Traditional models are based on analytical approaches. Over the last decades numerical simulation techniques have grown significantly with the rising computational power. With the ongoing digitalization the available data increased significantly and data-based modeling techniques have become popular also for production systems. Utilizing the available data powerful models, for instance, decision trees and artificial neural networks, can be trained. The prediction accuracy is strongly governed by the quality of the underlying training data. In this work, a hybrid approach is presented combining analytical, numerical and data-based approaches efficiently to overcome the limitations of the individual techniques. As a result, explicit symbolic regression models are obtained, which are optimized on the basis of a numerically derived dataset. The power of this approach is demonstrated by a selected use-case. These highly accurate models may be implemented into any further application.


Submitted for the DFD07 Meeting of The American Physical Society Imaging across the interface of small-scale breaking waves ALEXANDRA H. TECHET, JESSE L. BELDEN, MIT — Flow characteristics on both the air and water side of small scale spilling and plunging waves are investigated using fully time-resolved particle image velocimetry (PIV). PIV at 1000 frames per second (fps) is used to capture the flow field in both the air and water for waves generated by shoaling. Reynolds number of the waves is on the order of Re = 9x104 to 2x106, where Re = ρ √ gλ3 μ , ρ is fluid density, μ is fluid dynamic viscosity, g is gravity, and λ is the characteristic wavelength of the breaking wave before breaking. Isopropyl alcohol is mixed with the distilled water in the tank to reduce surface tension and thus achieve plunging breakers on this scale. Flow in the water is seeded using conventional silver-coated hollow glass spheres, whereas the quiescent air side (i.e. no wind) is seeded using micro-air balloons with high stokes drag and thus long settling times. Imaging of both the air and water are performed simultaneously and advanced image processing is performed to determine the water surface location and to avoid surface tracking during PIV processing. Repeatable, coherent vortical structures are revealed on the air-side of the waves and are considered mechanisms for energy transfer across the interface. Alexandra Techet MIT Date submitted: 02 Aug 2007 Electronic form version 1.4


This paper describes a large set of electricity data for the IEEE 24 bus system generated on a test bed that copies the cyber layer of the electricity infrastructure in some detail. This data has been filtered and corrupted with natural noise and a realistic set of failure-induced and attack-induced corruptions. One of the main applications of this data is the development of novel anomaly-detecting techniques, which could play a vital role in the identification and repair of problems in the cyber layer of the electricity infrastructure. To encourage work in this area, this data is made freely available online.


We describe a face reconstruction framework based on a statistical model that combines shape (2D and height maps), appearance (albedo), and spherical harmonics projection (SHP) information. The framework takes a 2D frontal face image under arbitrary illumination as input and outputs the estimated 3D shape and appearance. Face identification is performed using the shape and albedo coefficients of the fitting process, as well as the actual shape/texture reconstructions. Results indicate decent face reconstructions and a perfect recognition rate for the frontal images of the Extended Yale Database B.


Microbial contamination of ground water results in numerous disease outbreaks each year. Tracing their movement in ground water is therefore essential. Bacteria, viruses, yeasts and spores have been used for this purpose and to trace underground movement of water in much the same manner as chemical tracers are used. Chemical tracers do not always reflect the movement of microorganisms in ground water. The use of certain bacteria and animal viruses is undesirable due to their pathogenic potential and difficulties in their differentiation from background, naturally-occurring organisms. Bacterial viruses appear to be the microorganisms most suited as a microbial tracer because of their size, ease of assay and lack of pathogenicity. Bacteriophages have been used to trace ground-water movement over distances of 1,600 meters and can be used under a variety of conditions.


We present a theoretical study on the dielectric function of a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) driven by linearly polarised intense laser fields. A tractable method in dealing with time-dependent many-body problem has been developed. We derive the electron density-density correlation function in t-space using Green's function approach. With this result, the inverse dielectric function matrix for a 2DEG in t- and Ω-representation is obtained under the random-phase approximation. Furthermore, the influence of the laser radiation on plasmon spectrum in a 2DEG is investigated. Using these nonperturbative approaches, the effect of the laser field can be included exactly. These results can be used to the case where the laser radiation is provided by recently developed free-electron laser sources.


Globally, PEM continues to be a major health burden in developing countries and the most important risk factor for illnesses and death especially among young children. The WHO estimates that about 60% of all deaths, occurring among children aged less than five years in developing countries, could be attributed to malnutrition. The Sub-Saharan African countries and the Indian sub-continent bear the main brunt of PEM in the world. On an average, the PEM associated mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa is between 25 to 35%. In Indian sub continent, almost half of the children under five years of age (48%) are chronically malnourished, 43% under five are underweight for their age and one out of five is wasted PEM is also associated with a number of co-morbidities such as lower respiratory tract infections including tuberculosis, diarrhea, malaria and anemia. These co-morbidities may prolong the duration of hospital stay and death among affected children. Thus the improvement of nutrition therefore is the main pre requisite for the reduction of high infant and under five mortality rates, the assurance of physical, social and mental development of children as well as academic achievements.


Osteoprotegerin (OPG) gene polymorphisms (T245G, T950C and G1181C) have been associated with osteoporosis and early predictors of cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether these polymorphisms contribute to cardiovascular disease (CVD) in type 2 diabetic patients. We performed a case-control study with 178 CVD subjects with diabetes and 312 diabetic patients without CVD to assess the impact of variants of the OPG gene on the risk of CVD. The OPG gene polymorphisms were analyzed by using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). There was no significant association between the T245G and G1181C polymorphisms and CVD in the additive genetic model (OR = 0.96, 95% CI 0.64–1.45, p = 0.79; OR = 1.06, 95% CI 0.81–1.39, p = 0.65, respectively). However, the C allele of the T950C polymorphism was independently associated with a risk of CVD in type 2 diabetic patients in this genetic model (OR = 1.38, 95% CI 1.07–1.80, p = 0.01). This study provides evidence that the C allele of the T950C polymorphism is associated with increased risk of CVD in diabetic patients. However, well-designed prospective studies with a larger sample size are needed to validate these results.


Abstract. We develop an extension of the statistical approach by  Ribes et al. ( 2020 ) , which was designed for Gaussian variables, for generalized extreme value (GEV) distributions. We fit nonstationary GEV distributions to extremely hot temperatures from an ensemble of Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP) models. In order to select a common statistical model, we discuss which GEV parameters have to be nonstationary and which do not. Our tests suggest that the location and scale parameters of GEV distributions should be considered nonstationary. Then, a multimodel distribution is constructed and constrained by observations using a Bayesian method. The new method is applied to the July 2019 French heat wave. Our results show that both the probability and the intensity of that event have increased significantly in response to human influence. Remarkably, we find that the heat wave considered might not have been possible without climate change. Our results also suggest that combining model data with observations can improve the description of hot temperature distribution.


Open geospatial datasources like OpenStreetMap are created by a community of mappers of different experience and with different equipment available. It is therefore important to assess the quality of OpenStreetMap-like maps to give recommendations for users in which situations a map is suitable for their needs. In this work we want to use already defined ways to assess the quality of geospatial data and apply them to a Machine Learning algorithm to classify which areas are likely to change in future revisions of the map. In a next step we intend to qualify the changes detected by the algorithm and try to find causes of the changes being tracked.


The narrow-line Seyfert 1 Galaxy 1H 0707−495 went into a low state from 2010 December to 2011 February, discovered by a monitoring campaign using the X-Ray Telescope on the Swift satellite. We triggered a 100 ks XMM-Newton observation of the source in 2011 January, revealing the source to have dropped by a factor of 10 in the soft band, below 1 keV, and a factor of 2 at 5 keV, compared with a long observation in 2008. The sharp spectral drop in the source usually seen around 7 keV now extends to lower energies, below 6 keV in our frame. The 2011 spectrum is well fitted by a relativistically blurred reflection spectrum similar to that which fits the 2008 data, except that the emission is now concentrated solely to the central part of the accretion disc. The irradiating source must lie within 1 gravitational radius of the event horizon of the black hole, which spins rapidly. Alternative models are briefly considered, but none has any simple physical interpretation.


Building smarter synthetic biological circuits Synthetic genetic and biological regulatory circuits can enable logic functions to form the basis of biological computing; synthetic biology can also be used to control cell behaviors (see the Perspective by Glass and Alon). Andrews et al. used mathematical models and computer algorithms to combine standardized components and build programmable genetic sequential logic circuits. Such circuits can perform regulatory functions much like the biological checkpoint circuits of living cells. Circuits composed of interacting proteins could be used to bypass gene regulation, interfacing directly with cellular pathways without genome modification. Gao et al. engineered proteases that regulate one another, respond to diverse inputs that include oncogene activation, process signals, and conditionally activate responses such as those leading to cell death. This platform should facilitate development of "smart" therapeutic circuits for future biomedical applications. Science, this issue p. eaap8987, p. 1252; see also p. 1199 Engineered proteases enable programmable protein-level circuits that function in mammalian cells. Synthetic protein-level circuits could enable engineering of powerful new cellular behaviors. Rational protein circuit design would be facilitated by a composable protein-protein regulation system in which individual protein components can regulate one another to create a variety of different circuit architectures. In this study, we show that engineered viral proteases can function as composable protein components, which can together implement a broad variety of circuit-level functions in mammalian cells. In this system, termed CHOMP (circuits of hacked orthogonal modular proteases), input proteases dock with and cleave target proteases to inhibit their function. These components can be connected to generate regulatory cascades, binary logic gates, and dynamic analog signal-processing functions. To demonstrate the utility of this system, we rationally designed a circuit that induces cell death in response to upstream activators of the Ras oncogene. Because CHOMP circuits can perform complex functions yet be encoded as single transcripts and delivered without genomic integration, they offer a scalable platform to facilitate protein circuit engineering for biotechnological applications.


The AN/APS-6 radar was to scan a 1200 coneshaped volume ahead of the aircraft flight path in selected ranges of five, 25 and 65 miles for radar search, with the maximum range extended to 100 miles for radar beacon. When within one-half mile of a selected target, the set could be switched to the gun aim mode for accurate aim-and-fire of the six 50-caliber aircraft guns. The design, installation and protection of this radar are described. >


Author(s): Sohn, Peter Dongmin | Advisor(s): Gan, Li | Abstract: Neurons are highly polarized cells in which asymmetric axonal-dendritic distribution of proteins is crucial for neuronal function. Somatodendritic mislocalization of the axonal protein tau is an early sign of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other neurodegenerative disorders. However, the pathogenic molecular mechanisms are incompletely understood. Here we report that tau acetylation and consequent destabilization of the axon initial segment (AIS) cytoskeleton are important in the somatodendritic mislocalization of tau. AD-relevant acetylation at K274 and K281 in the microtubule (MT)-binding domain of tau reduced tau binding to MTs. In primary neuronal cultures, acetylation at these sites led to hyperdynamic MTs in the AIS, shown by live-imaging of MT mobility and fluorescence recovery after photobleaching. AIS cytoskeletal proteins, including ankyrin G and βIV-spectrin, were downregulated in AD brains and in the brains of transgenic mice expressing tauK274/281Q, which mimics acetylation. Using photoconvertible tau constructs, we found that acetylated axonal tau is mislocalized to the somatodendritic compartment. Stabilizing MTs with epothilone D to restore the cytoskeletal barrier in the AIS prevented tau mislocalization in primary neuronal cultures. These findings suggest that tau acetylation contributes to neurodegenerative disease by compromising the cytoskeletal sorting machinery in the AIS. Finally, characterization of the AIS in human iPSC-derived neurons reveals aberrant AIS location and impaired AIS plasticity in neurons with pathogenic tau mutation.


BACKGROUND
Humoral sensitization, defined as a panel-reactive antibody (PRA) screen of >10%, places heart transplant recipients at a greater risk of acute rejection and mortality. Previous studies have suggested an increased sensitization in left ventricular assist device (LVAD) recipients, although neither the impact of device selection nor the clinical importance of elevated PRA in these patients has been completely described.

METHODS
Using the registry of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT), we compared PRA levels in 7,686 heart transplant recipients to determine the impact of LVAD therapy on humoral sensitization, acute rejection and mortality. To determine the impact of device selection on sensitization, we compared data from the ISHLT registry as well as from our own institution.

RESULTS
Elevated PRA levels were found in 16.6% of LVAD recipients, compared with 7.6% of non-LVAD controls (p < 0.0001). Sensitization differed by device type, being present in 21.9% of Thoratec recipients, 14.4% of HeartMate recipients, and 15.5% of Novacor recipients (p = 0.01). Despite these findings, LVAD use had no impact on rejection rates. LVAD use was associated with a small increase (4.4% and 4.3%, respectively) in 1- and 2-year mortality.

CONCLUSIONS
These findings support the concept that mechanical circulatory support increases the rate of humoral sensitization. However, these differences in sensitization do not translate to substantial differences in the clinical outcomes of rejection and mortality.


Introduction Toddlers' eating behaviors are influenced by the way parents interact with their children. The objective of this study was to explore how five major constructs of general parenting behavior cluster in parents of toddlers. These parenting clusters were further explored to see how they differed in the use of feeding strategies (i.e. feeding styles and food parenting practices) and by reported child eating styles. Methods An online survey with 1005 mothers/caregivers (legal guardians) with at least one child between 12 and 36 months old was conducted in the United States in 2012, assessing general parenting behavior, feeding style, food parenting practices and the child eating styles. Results A three cluster solution of parenting style was found and clusters were labelled as overprotective/supervising, authoritarian, and authoritative. The clusters differed in terms of general parenting behaviors. Both overprotective and authoritative clusters showed high scores on structure, behavioral control, and nurturance. The overprotective cluster scored high on overprotection. The 'authoritarian' cluster showed lowest levels of nurturance, structure and behavioral control. Overprotective and authoritative parents showed very similar patterns in the use of food parenting practices, e.g. monitoring food intake, modeling, and promoting healthy food intake and availability at home. Overprotective parents also reported higher use of pressure to eat and involvement. Authoritarian parents reported high use of giving the child control over their food behaviors, emotion regulation, using food as a reward, and controlling food intake for weight control. Children's eating styles did not largely vary by parenting cluster. Conclusion This study showed that a relatively new parenting style of overprotection is relevant for children's eating behaviors. Overprotective parents reported food parenting practices that are known to be beneficial for children's food intake, such as modelling healthy food intake, as well as more unfavorable practices such as pressure. Longitudinal data on parenting practices and their relation to healthy eating in children is needed to inform communication and interventions for parents, reinforcing key feeding strategies which have positive effects on child eating behaviors and addressing parenting styles that have unintended negative effects.


Introduction: One of the important factors of correct management is to identify the reasons for patient tendency toward private hospitals. This study measures these factors based on service marketing mixes. Patients and methods: This study used a cross sectional descriptive methodology. The study was conducted during 6 months in 2015. The studied population included patients of private hospitals in Tehran. Random sampling was used (n = 200). Data was collected by an author-made questionnaire for service marketing factors. Reliability and validity of the questionnaire were confirmed. Data analysis was done using factor analysis test in SPSS 20. Results: The results showed that constant attendance of physicians and nurses has the highest effect (0.707%) on patient tendency toward private hospitals.


Integration of global markets has highlighted the issue of economic competitiveness, the base line to attract the foreign direct investment. In this increasingly globalized and interdependent world economy, knowledge and skills of workforce will be the key competitive weapons of nations and thus should be focused for enhancement of the economic competitiveness (Thurow, 1994). The current study focuses on the role of human resource management as a tool to improve the economic competitiveness of South Asian region in general and Pakistan in particular and hence attracting the foreign capital inflow to boost the economic growth.


In the contemporary history of the Far Eastern policy there is certain  repetitiveness, we are referring to several periods when  Moscow tried to ensure the development of the region by the means  of special large-scale development programs. The program goals  remained unreached and the approach itself appeared to be  discredited and shortly after this took place a radical change of the  Far Eastern policy - from the state patronage to the reliance on  private capital. Program approach is based on the good the premise  that the state is capable of fixing the weaknesses and to lift  restrictions for the economic growth of the Far East by concentrating  administrative and financial efforts on priority areas.  Activation of the Far Eastern policy in response to the deteriorating geopolitical and economical conditions in the region  was the most obvious reaction of the state seeking to increase its  capacity at the expenses of an access to new resources and markets. Moreover, such a policy is usually based on the grand  strategy (from Mikhail Gorbachev's «new thinking» and «return to  civilization» to the contemporary «turn to the East» and Vladimir  Putin's «big Eurasia») and is supported by all the power of the Far  Eastern geopolitical mythology. However, as our analysis shows - this  is the wrong answer Realistic development way of this territory  as confirmed by experience is a slow process of individual projects  with clear prospects of accessing the export markets. The key  problem on this way is the state's ability to choose priorities and to  keep the planned line avoiding endless expansion objectives, preferential regimes and financing scopes. The  geopolitical argument used by supporters of the active  Far Eastern  policy rather hinders than promotes the development of the region,  pushing the country to the cost savings path.


The ultrasound has become an increasingly popular tool in the clinical assessment of patients, not least in the field of general medicine. The technical evolution as well as the recent changes of the application of ultrasounds allows for rapid and targeted exams that has the potential to improve the care of patients. With the help of recent articles regarding ultrasound (US) in general medical practice, this article presents several useful indications for the primary care physician as well as shows today's training in Switzerland and demonstrates the need of an adapted training to better respond to today's need.


Photoelectron spectroscopy, optical characterization, and density functional calculations of ZnO1-xSx reveal that the valence-band (VB) offset E(v)(x) increases strongly for small S content, whereas the conduction-band edge E(c)(x) increases only weakly. This is explained as the formation of local ZnS-like bonds in the ZnO host, which mainly affects the VB edge and thereby narrows the energy gap: E(g)(x=0.28) approximately E(g)(ZnO)-0.6 eV. The low-energy absorption tail is a direct Gamma(v)-->Gamma(c) transition from ZnS-like VB. The VB bowing can be utilized to enhance p-type N(O) doping with lower formation energy DeltaH(f) and shallower acceptor state in the ZnO-like alloys.


This article provides a new measure of state-level attitudes towards gender roles. Our series, gender equality mood, spans from 1972 to 2010 and is the first measure to capture variation in gender role attitudes across states and over time. The series is created using two leading techniques for opinion estimation: multi-level regression and poststratification and survey aggregation. We conclude by discussing several research areas in which our measure of gender equality mood may be especially useful.


In this study, the load transfer characteristics of a broken fiber are investigated. The problem consists of a cylindrical fiber that is embedded into a matrix material. The fiber axis is assumed to coincide with the z-axis and a crack is assumed to be present on the plane z = 0 and for r < a. Far away from the crack, the fiber is subjected to a uniform external load σo.
 Moreover, adjacent to the crack and along the interface, the matrix and fiber surfaces are assumed to slide along the interface length −c < z < c, in the presence of a variable frictional force. On the other hand, perfect bonding is assumed to prevail all along the remaining interface, i.e., for |z| > c.
 For the solution of the problem, we utilize a Fourier Integral Transform whereby we reduce the problem to that of the solution of a singular integral equation along the interface path −c < z < c. The solution of the integral equation then allows the determination of the displacement and stress fields. Two areas of special interest immediately come to mind, (I) the neighborhood adjacent to the point |z| = c and r = a, and (ii) the neighborhood adjacent to the point z = 0 and r = a.
 The analysis reveals that the usual stress singularity which is characteristic to problems of dissimilar materials with friction prevails and that the interface shear stress is non-uniform. Moreover, the ratio of fiber jump over fiber diameter is found to be related to the applied load as well as the material properties.


The objective of this study was to evaluate the reproductive toxicity of gossypol and the possible counteracting effect of selenium supplementation in rams. Twenty-five mature crossbred (Barki × Rahamni) rams were randomly divided into 5 equal groups. The first group served as a control (no gossypol in diet). The second and third groups received diets containing free gossypol of 9 and 14 mg·kg(-1) BW·d(-1)(low level and high level of gossypol), respectively. The fourth and fifth groups received the same diets given to the second and third groups, respectively, with an oral administration of 1 mg selenium (as sodium selenite) daily for each animal. Results showed reductions in ejaculate volume (P = 0.028), percentage of dead sperm (P = 0.003), total functional sperm fraction (P < 0.001), and blood serum concentration of testosterone (P < 0.001) in the presence of both levels of gossypol inclusion. Furthermore, high level of gossypol reduced forward motility (P < 0.001) and semen initial fructose concentration (P = 0.002) and increased abnormal-head sperm (P = 0.003) and blood serum concentration of triiodothyronine (P = 0.006). Regardless of selenium supplementation, increasing level of free gossypol in diet resulted in a significant decrease in the percentage of forward motility (P = 0.037) and significant increases in the mean values of sperm concentration (P < 0.001), total sperm output (P = 0.002), percentage of total abnormal sperm (P = 0.058), and abnormal-head sperm (P = 0.016). On the other hand, regardless of levels of gossypol inclusion, selenium supplementation resulted in significant increases in libido (P < 0.001), mean values of ejaculate volume (P < 0.001), percentage of forward motility (P = 0.019), total sperm output (P < 0.001), total functional sperm fraction (P < 0.001), semen initial fructose concentration (P = 0.031), and blood serum concentrations of both testosterone and triiodothyronine (P < 0.001). In conclusion, free gossypol in diet induced adverse effects on semen quality in rams, but selenium supplementation successfully counteracts most of the hazardous effects of gossypol on semen characteristics.


An outdoor airborne mold survey was recently carried out in the Edmonton area revealing some previously unrecognized molds, especially Rhodotorula. Hormodendrum was by far the commonest mold identified and was present all year round. It was also revealing that outdoor molds were quite prevalent in the Edmonton area throughout all seasons of the year but certainly more prevalent in the spring and early summer months. It would seem wise to have outdoor mold surveys done periodically in one's own area of practice when one is using immunotherapy with them.


Kitchen is the focal point of a woman's family life and is the area in which the most needed task of homemaking related to feeding the family is performed. The traditional kitchen has undergone many changes. Kitchen is an asset to any house and a truly worthwhile investment, as it makes cooking and related tasks a pleasure. A well planned, well equipped and good kitchen design must cater to a family's lifestyle, their eating habits and entertainment patterns and should make cooking and related tasks a pleasure. A Kitchen which is comfortable to work in, easy to maintain, beautiful to see and time and energy saving is the dream of every homemaker.A kitchen designed with ergonomic concepts can offer comfortable and efficient work areas. A kitchen is the symbol of the culture of the family. It is the center of multi various activities and the heart of any house. Every kitchen is unique in itself. But there is scope for enhancing the work environment of the homemaker by incorporating ergonomic concepts to make kitchen more functional, efficient,comfortable and pleasant offering an instant welcome and cheer.


Dried powder of corn silk was exhaustively extracted with methanol and the residue weighed. The chemical classes of constituents present in the extract were confirmed to be saponins, triterpenes, flavonoids, tannins, pseudo-tannins, alkaloids, volatile oils and glycosides. The LD50 of the extract was determined intraperitoneally in mice to be 3464.10 mg/kg. The blood sugar lowering effect of the extract was investigated in normal and alloxan induced diabetic rats. Glibenclamide treated animals were used as a positive control. The extract reduced the blood sugar levels of normal and alloxan induced diabetic rats. The reduction was more in alloxan induced diabetic rats than in normal rats. The reduction of the blood sugar level by the extract was comparable to that of glibenclamide. Reduction of the blood sugar levels by the extract in the alloxan induced diabetic rats lasted for 9 hours, the extract can be dosed twice a day. The extract is safe and even exhibited a comparable activity with that of glibenclamide; there is need for further work on corn silk for proper standardizations. Keywords : Corn silk, Acute toxicity, Phytocompounds, Antidiabetic, Methanolic extract Plant Product Research Journal Vol. 11 2007: pp. 16-18


In an earlier study, the authors found that severely motion sick individuals could be greatly relieved of their symptoms by intramuscular injections of promethazine (50 mg) or scopolamine (.5 mg). Comparable 50‐mg injections of promethazine also have been found effective in alleviating symptoms of space motion sickness. The concern has risen, however, that such drugs may delay or retard the acquisition of adaptation to stressful environments. In the current study, we controlled arousal using a mental arithmetic task and precisely equated the exposure history (number of head movements during rotation) of a placebo, control group and an experimental group who had received promethazine. No differences in total adaptation or in rates of adaptation were present between the two groups. Another experimental group also received promethazine and was allowed to make as many head movements as they could, before reaching nausea, up to 800. This group showed a greater level of adaptation than the placebo group. These results suggest a strategy for dealing with space motion sickness that is described.


An ionospheric propagation prediction method is proposed that is more responsive than current methods to the actual propagation channel of a radio wave. These other methods typically use an "average" propagation channel. The range of conditions that comprise this "average," when considered separately, can potentially lead to quite different predictions of the propagation channel relative to the "average" alone. Thus, to the extent that a real-time trend in the propagation channel can be established, better predictions can be obtained. The proposed method obtains a real-time trend by employing a nonlinear regression analysis technique coupled together with an appropriately parameterized (empircal) ionosphere model and a ray-tracing algorithm. To test the effectiveness of this approach, we utilize measurements of group path length and elevation to several orbiting satellites from a dual-frequency (UHF/VHF) pulsed radar located near the magnetic equator. These data provide the needed statistics for the regression analysis. We then obtain satellite altitude estimations employing our method and compare these estimates to predictions obtained with a standard method. The result is an improved altitude prediction. The proposed method may also be used to obtain a better understanding of ionosphere-magnetosphere coupling, and in particular, to investigate the influence of geomagnetic activity on the low- and mid-latitude ionosphere. This is accomplished by generating parameter indices from our method and comparing these indices to solar and geomagnetic indices to see if correlations exist. To the extent that such a correlation does exist, a more accurate wave propagation prediction will result, which in turn will provide a more reliable radar tracking performance. We present comparisons between geomagnetic activity (as measured by the Kp three-hourly range index) and the parameter indices that show a weak correlation.


. Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) is a non-invasive imaging modality that extends the functionality of OCT by extracting moving red blood cell signals from surrounding static biological tissues. OCTA has emerged as a valuable tool for analyzing skin microvasculature, enabling more accurate diagnosis and treatment monitoring. Most existing OCTA extraction algorithms, such as speckle variance (SV)-and eigen-decomposition (ED)-OCTA, implement a larger number of repeated (NR) OCT scans at the same position to produce high-quality angiography images. However, a higher NR requires a longer data acquisition time, leading to more unpredictable motion artifacts. In this study, we propose a vasculature extraction pipeline that uses only one-repeated OCT scan to generate OCTA images. The pipeline is based on the proposed Vasculature Extraction Transformer (VET), which leverages convolutional projection to better learn the spatial relationships between image patches. In comparison to OCTA images obtained via the SV-OCTA (PSNR: 17.809) and ED-OCTA (PSNR: 18.049) using four-repeated OCT scans, OCTA images extracted by VET exhibit moderate quality (PSNR: 17.515) and higher image contrast while reducing the required data acquisition time from ~8 s to ~2 s. Based on visual observations, the proposed VET outperforms SV and ED algorithms when using neck and face OCTA data in areas that are challenging to scan. This study represents that the VET has the capacity to extract vascularture images from a fast one-repeated OCT scan, facilitating accurate diagnosis for patients.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
The growth of ambulatory surgical procedures is limited by severe postoperative pain. After particularly painful operative procedures, moderate-to-severe pain is estimated to occur in approximately 30% of patients. Inadequate analgesia may delay or prevent discharge, or result in readmission. Severe postoperative pain also causes extreme discomfort and can prevent sleep, thus contributing to postoperative fatigue. Moreover, postoperative pain limits mobility at home and delays the return to normal activities. The development of effective analgesia for postoperative pain is therefore a priority of modern medicine.

RESULTS
The pain experienced during the first days spent at home is related to the magnitude of pain experienced at the hospital. Aggressive analgesic treatment at the hospital is therefore of key importance. This includes pre- and intraoperative administration of analgesics to reduce the pain in the immediate postoperative period, and the use of multimodal, balanced analgesia throughout recovery. Clinical studies have shown that patients who receive both pre- and postoperative analgesia experience greater pain relief than those who receive postoperative analgesia alone. Multimodal analgesia, including the use of anaesthetics, is increasingly important in attempts to avoid the prescription of single strong opioids postoperatively. The use of a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) plus an anaesthetic perioperatively has also been shown to be more effective than anaesthetic alone.

CONCLUSIONS
Postoperative pain is the most commonly reported complication of ambulatory surgery. Although the number of analgesic techniques seems more limited in outpatient than in inpatient surgery, the combination of analgesic regimens in a multimodal approach may improve postoperative analgesia and functional outcome after ambulatory surgery. The combination of acetaminophen plus tramadol is a useful formulation to prescribe if acetaminophen or NSAIDs alone are ineffective.


Grain‐size measurements of fine‐grained sediments based on laser diffraction may contain spurious information due to the over‐estimation of the size and proportion of platy particles. Consequently, some regard the use of laser diffraction particle sizing in palaeoceanography inappropriate. Here, it is shown experimentally that such concerns are not warranted. Laser diffraction particle sizing is known to be fast, precise and allows for detailed particle sizing over a broad size range; it is therefore potentially a very powerful technique if the complications associated with it can be overcome. As most sediments are mixtures of different components transported by different mechanisms, inferences of past environmental parameters require decomposition of the grain‐size record in question. Useful decomposition can only be performed if changes in the contribution of the components are registered predictably by the measuring device. This study reports on mixing experiments which show that the Fritsch A22 laser diffraction particle sizer does indeed register small changes in the contribution of the mixing components in a predictable way. Mixing proportions estimated from the measurements do, however, differ from the initial mixing proportions, but these can be converted with only small errors. Application of the conversion equations to a North Atlantic grain‐size record that showed consistent slowdown of deep‐ocean circulation in response to millennial scale ice‐rafting events during the last glacial does not quantitatively affect the original inferences. Laser diffraction particle sizing of fine‐grained sediments therefore yields reproducible and useful data for palaeoceanographic reconstructions.


Improvement in therapies for childhood acute lymphocytic leukemia has resulted in cure for the majority of young people with this disease. Recent therapeutic advances have focused on testing more extensive treatments for cases with adverse clinical/biologic features, or pharmocologic studies to maximize dose intensity. The latter includes a trial of alternating high-dose intravenous methotrexate with high-dose intravenous 6-mercaptopurine given for the first year postremission in an attempt to circumvent the patient's natural variability of absorption and metabolism of these drugs. Patients with acute myeloid leukemia continue to fare much worse and only one in three are long-term survivors. Acute myeloid leukemia therapies emphasize the use of intensive toxic courses of cytarabine, etoposide, and an anthracycline to cytoreduce the leukemic clone. Acute progranulocytic leukemia, however, now appears to be responsive in vitro to the differentiation agent all-trans retinoic acid. For this disease, complex responses are now obtained without the use of conventional antineoplastics.


Using attenuated total reflection (ATR) in the terahertz domain, we demonstrate non-invasive, non-staining real time measurements of cytoplasm leakage during permeabilization of live epithelial cells by saponin, and after electropermeabilization. The origin of the contrast observed between cells and culture medium is addressed by both experimental and theoretical approaches, and gives access to permeabilization dynamics of live cells in real time. We show that terahertz modalities are more sensitive than fluorescence microscopy which is the reference optical technique for electropermeabilization. We propose analytical models for the influx and efflux of non-permeant molecules through permeabilized cell membranes.


We describe a measurement of the W boson mass mw using 200 pb-1 of √s = 1.96 TeV ppbar collision data from the Fermilab Tevatron collected with the CDF II detector. Using 63,964 W → ev candidates and 51,128 W→ μv candidates, we measure mw = 80413±34(stat)34(syst)MeV/c2. With a total uncertainty of 48 MeV/c2, this represents the single most precise mw measurement to date.


Article history: Received on: 25/05/2017 Accepted on: 19/07/2017 Available online: 30/09/2017 Diabetes Mellitus (DM) has many complications, in which Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) is the major one. Blindness among working age people was due to DR. Retinal angiogenesis and retinal vascular permeability is the pathogenesis behind vision loss. Polyol pathway, protein kinase C (PKC) activation, renin angiotensinaldosterone system (RAAS), oxidative stress etc are the pathophysiological pathways which are discussed in this review for better understanding. PKC inhibitors, anti-inflammatory agents, RAAS blockers, anti-vascular Endothelial growth factor (VEGF) agents, antioxidants and fibrates which are the used for the better treatment for DR is also elaborated in this review.


The theory of sound propagation in macroscopically isotropic and homogeneous porous media saturated with superfluid 4 He has been developed neglecting all damping processes. The case when the normal fluid component is locked inside a porous medium by viscous forces is investigated in detail. It is shown that in this case one shear wave and two longitudinal, fast and slow, waves exist. Fast wave as well as slow wave is accompanied with temperature oscillations. The velocities of these waves are obtained.


3296 Although Herpes simplex virus type-1 (HSV-1) can be used as an oncolytic virus, it can infect a wide range of cells, which opens the possibility of undesirable side-effects. To increase the specificity of the virus for oral squamous cell carcinomas we replaced the promoter of the essential gene ICP-4 with the promoter/enhancer region of the highly tissue-specific Human papillomavirus type-16 (HPV-16). The novel virus was termed HSPV-1. The specificity of the HPV-16 promoter was confirmed by using a luciferase reporter gene construct, and expression was found in 2/3 oral cancer cell lines, but not in 3/3 brain cancer cell lines. When each of these cells was infected with HSPV-1 the cells expressed ICP-4, at levels that varied from 40% to 160% of that from the wild-type virus. However, these levels did not correlate with the activity of the promoter. HSPV-1 replicated in each cell type to titers that varied from 1% to 34.4% of the wild type virus, but the level of replication did not show a correlation with either the activity of the promoter in uninfected cells, the expression level of ICP-4 in infected cells, nor the type of tumor cell. To test the possibility that the promoter of HPV-16 was responding to some function of HSV, each of the three oral cancer cell types was transfected with the luciferase reporter construct and then infected with either HSV-1 or HSPV-1. A significant increase in expression was induced in each case, but was not seen when the wild-type virus had been exposed to UV light before the infection. Expression was induced by a strain of HSV-1, d120, from which the ICP-4 gene had been deleted. Thus, induction of expression from the HPV-16 promoter was dependent on the expression of immediate-early genes of HSV-1. The specificity of an oncolytic strain of HSV-1 can therefore be regulated by use of a fragment of HPV, but the design of new mutants must take into account the effects of other functions of HSV. Supported by PHS grant DE 13214


Designing clustered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) communication networks based on cognitive radio (CR) and reinforcement learning can significantly improve the intelligence level of clustered UAV communication networks and the robustness of the system in a time-varying environment. Among them, designing smarter systems for spectrum sensing and access is a key research issue in CR. Therefore, we focus on the dynamic cooperative spectrum sensing and channel access in clustered cognitive UAV (CUAV) communication networks. Due to the lack of prior statistical information on the primary user (PU) channel occupancy state, we propose to use multiagent reinforcement learning (MARL) to model CUAV spectrum competition and cooperative decision-making problem in this dynamic scenario, and a return function based on the weighted compound of sensing-transmission cost and utility is introduced to characterize the real-time rewards of multi-agent game. On this basis, a time slot multi-round revisit exhaustive search algorithm based on virtual controller (VC-EXH), a Q-learning algorithm based on independent learner (IL-Q) and a deep Q-learning algorithm based on independent learner (IL-DQN) are respectively proposed. Further, the information exchange overhead, execution complexity and convergence of the three algorithms are briefly analyzed. Through the numerical simulation analysis, all three algorithms can converge quickly, significantly improve system performance and increase the utilization of idle spectrum resources.


The Rgyalrongic languages (Qiangic branch, Sino-Tibetan family) are prime examples of a split verb agreement system grounded in the pragmatic salience of speech act participants. However, the Horpa language in this group presents a hybrid system involving a more intricate interplay of functional and syntactic factors, despite having less elaborate morphological material than some related languages. Many fundamental issues of Horpa verb agreement remain to be adequately explored, despite preliminary descriptions in the literature. This paper provides a new study of verb agreement in the Gexi variety of Horpa based on first-hand fieldwork data. Compared with Shangzhai Horpa of Rangtang County, Gexi displays many points of difference in its agreement system, including reduplication as a number-marking device, and functionally differentiated special and general sets of person-marking suffixes, the former restricted to transitive singular actants. Gexi verb agreement is undergoing typological transition from pragmatics-driven split agreement to syntax-driven subject agreement, as part of a global morpho-syntactic shift from a head-marking to a dependent-marking grammatical type. The conversion, possibly catalyzed by contact influences from Tibetan, is still ongoing with traces of the original system preserved in the form of alternating patterns. The phenomena under analysis constitute an intermediate stage in the evolution of Qiangic verbal agreement typology between the conservative Rgyalrong, Lavrung, and Shangzhai Horpa split-agreement type and the innovative subject-agreement type observed in Qiang and Prinmi.


The biosynthesis of distinct prostatic and lysosomal acid phosphatases is demonstrated using a human prostatic carcinoma cell line, PC-3SF12. The biosynthesis and maturation of the acid phosphatases was studied by metabolic labeling with radioactive leucine, specific immunoprecipitation, sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and fluorography. Of the tartrate-inhibitable acid phosphatase activity in PC-3SF12 cells, 60% is lysosomal and 10% is prostatic. The lysosomal-type acid phosphatase is synthesized as precursor with a molecular weight of 68,000, some of which is converted to higher-molecular-weight precursor polypeptides (Mr 71,000 and 77,000). The multiple forms of the precursors are due to differences in the carbohydrate chains on the enzyme because biosynthesis in the presence of tunicamycin eliminates the precursor multiplicity. The initial precursor (Mr 68,000) is processed to a mature polypeptide (Mr 49,000), via intermediates with molecular weights of 62,000 and 59,000. The mature polypeptide is degraded to smaller polypeptides with molecular weights of 30,000, 28,000, and 25,000. Precursor polypeptides of the lysosomal-type enzyme are secreted in the medium. Prostatic acid phosphatase is synthesized as a precursor with a molecular weight of 110,000, which is processed via several intermediates (Mr 99,000-93,000, 77,000, and 55,000) to a mature polypeptide with a molecular weight of 49,000. Particularly during cell homogenization, or lysis, the mature polypeptide is rapidly degraded to an immunoprecipitable polypeptide with a molecular weight of 20,000. None of these polypeptides is secreted in detectable amounts into the medium. Precursors and mature and smaller polypeptides are present in human prostate extract and seminal fluid. Proteolytic degradation of prostatic acid phosphatases in cells and tissues is probably catalyzed by a plasmin-like or related trypsin-like enzyme because degradation of the mature prostatic phosphatase polypeptide is completely prevented by addition of the plasmin inhibitor bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor. Prostatic- and lysosomal-type acid phosphatases are eventually stored at least in part in two different types of cell organelles. Testosterone does not influence the biosynthesis and secretion of either acid phosphatase in this cell line.


Hylodesmum H. Ohashi & R.R. Mill (Leguminosae or Fabaceae, tribe Desmodieae), based on Desmodium sect. Podocarpium Benth. (=D. subgen. Podocarpium (Benth.) H. Ohashi), is a replacement name proposed here for Podocarpium (Benth.) Y.C. Yang & P.H. Huang published in 1979 for Chinese species belonging to the genus. The name it replaces, Podocarpium (Benth.) Y.C. Yang & P.H. Huang, is a later homonym of two earlier names, Podocarpium A. Braun ex Stizenb. (fossil Leguminosae or Fabaceae) and Podocarpium Unger (fossil Podocarpaceae) and it is also inadmissible under Art. 20.2. New combinations in Hylodesmum are proposed for 14 species and nine infraspecific taxa. A description of the genus is given as well as brief notes on the distribution of each taxon. Shuteria longipes Franch. and Desmodium duclouxii Pamp. are newly regarded as conspecific; the correct name for these in Hylodesmum is H. longipes. Notes on typification are given for several names.


According to the authors' data, the distribution of two subspecies of Atrachelus cinereus (Fabricius) fall in the accepted subdivision of Mexico into a Neartic, mostly northern area, and a Neotropical, mostly southern portion. A. c. crassicornis is recorded from the Neotropical area and A. c. wygodzinskyi from the Neartic. These findings corroborate Elkins' observation when he described the three subspecies of A. cinereus and studied their geographic distribution.


Phoradendron is the largest genus of New World mistletoes, with about 250 species in two subgenera, Boreales and Aequatoriales, corresponding, respectively, to northern acataphyllous and southern cataphyllous groups. The typically acataphyllous P. californicum of western North America is controversial because recent phylogenetic work has nested it in the southern cataphyllous clade. Seedling establishment, stem anatomy, and endophytic system structure of this species were studied. Seedling haustorial holdfasts have gland cavities, structures considered absent in the Viscaceae clade of Santalales. The stem epidermis has a thick cuticle, deeply sunken stomata, and branched multicellular trichomes. The stem has an outer cortex of palisade chlorenchyma and an inner cortex of large isodiametric parenchyma cells. The boundary area between the outer and inner cortex contains druses and an unusual ring of small xylic bundles lacking protoxylem fibers and phloem. Sinkers are of two types: uniseriate, with only parenchyma that often has thick-walled transfer cells at its interface with vessels of the host; and multiseriate, with parenchyma and vessel elements that often are in direct contact and share simple perforation plates with vessels of the host. Sinker morphology is also dimorphic in the cataphyllous P. fragile but only unimorphic (multiseriate) in the acataphyllous P. juniperinum and P. serotinum. The dimorphic sinker system of P. californicum may be functionally partitioned, whereas these functions are combined in the unimorphic sinkers of other acataphyllous species. Differences in sinker morphology may reflect evolutionary trends in Phoradendron. This study also supports the hypothesis that P. californicum is more closely aligned with the mainly tropical cataphyllous species of the genus.


Timely and accurate detection of events affecting the stability and reliability of power transmission systems is crucial for safe grid operation. This paper presents an efficient unsupervised machine-learning algorithm for event detection using a combination of discrete wavelet transform (DWT) and convolutional autoencoders (CAE) with synchrophasor phasor measurements. These measurements are collected from a hardware-in-the-loop testbed setup equipped with a digital real-time simulator. Using DWT, the detail coefficients of measurements are obtained. Next, the decomposed data is then fed into the CAE that captures the underlying structure of the transformed data. Anomalies are identified when significant errors are detected between input samples and their reconstructed outputs. We demonstrate our approach on the IEEE-14 bus system considering different events such as generator faults, line-to-line faults, line-to-ground faults, load shedding, and line outages simulated on a real-time digital simulator (RTDS). The proposed implementation achieves a classification accuracy of 97.7%, precision of 98.0%, recall of 99.5%, F1 Score of 98.7%, and proves to be efficient in both time and space requirements compared to baseline approaches.


Photorefractive effects, such as the image amplification and the beam fanning, can be described by a set of multivariable Langevin equations with inclusion of the random-phased volume scattering due to the inhomogeneities and/or defects in the crystal. The image amplification by two-wave-coupling configuration was studied analytically in the undepleted-pump approximation and numerically. It was found that the volume scattering can generate the beam fanning, as the surface scattering does.


OF THESIS Sketch-Plan Book: A Teacher's Planning Resource for the Secondary Classroom Teacher planning is a necessary process by which educators establish, facilitate, monitor, and evaluate lessons and learning within their classroom. For art educators, sketchbooks have been a foundational pillar in art curricula. The sketchbook has a lengthy legacy of yielding common, structured assignments. However, recent considerations have reframed sketchbook practices. Contemporary analysis has produced a pedagogical shift in approaches to sketchbooks and planning for sketchbook inclusion in the classroom. The sketch-plan book offers art teachers a streamlined resource to collect and maintain lesson ideas and inclusions, track on-going lessons, and plan for future teaching and learning. The purpose of this work is to explore an art teacher's sketch-plan book usage as a resource and tool in the secondary art room.


ABSTRACT Jury, M.R., 2017. Multiple drivers of intense coastal upwelling at Cape Town. Cape Town, South Africa is well known for its intense coastal upwelling during austral summer. This study provides new insights using daily 4–9 km resolution satellite and ocean reanalysis datasets in the period 2009–2015. A key purpose of this work is to highlight the value of these finely detailed products in coastal research. The most intense case of 23–24 January 2011 revealed a cold plume <10°C extending offshore into a filament. SE winds accelerated cyclonically around Cape Town, and the enhanced wind vorticity lifted <10°C water over the shelf. Yet a statistical analysis found that sea surface temperature and equatorward winds are correlated at <−0.10. A significant outcome could only be achieved in summer (December–February) due to opposing thermal and kinematic influences. The intense upwelling of 23–24 January 2011 was supported by the approach of a midlatitude upper anticyclone and coupled shelf wave. Regression analysis over 2009–2015 showed that a warmer tropical SE Atlantic contributes to a trough over Namibia that spawns coastal lows. They advance southward toward Cape Town at 6–12 day intervals, pulsing the upwelling and turning the equatorward winds offshore and cyclonic. The strong pressure gradient, shallow marine layer, and steep mountains induce a Venturi effect and low level wind jet over the shelf edge. Leeward of Cape Town, a wind shadow and poleward currents contribute to phytoplankton blooms that support a rich ecosystem. In summary, the multiple factors of intense coastal upwelling at Cape Town include: (1) cyclonic wind shear over the shelf due to shallow equatorward flow obstructed by coastal mountains, (2) passing atmospheric coastal low and oceanic shelf wave from the large scale weather, and (3) passing oceanic anticyclonic eddy offshore shed by the Agulhas Current.


This work contributes to empirical studies on decentralization and corruption by trying to resolve the uncertainty that the literature so far has shown. It also gives reasons supporting the 'best' decentralization structure which a country can adopt to discourage corrupt behaviour, and suggests an intermediate degree of decentralization. The trade-off between the moral hazard and the adverse selection aspect of the principal-agent framework, that emerges in this literature, can be better captured by a non-linear specification (e.g. cubic, as the more general non-linear model); neither very small nor very high degrees of decentralization are appropriate against corruption, but an intermediate one. Being monitored by the voters, local politicians, in a intermediate decentralized setting, have an incentive to perform in the voters interest and, being local resources they manage not very much, they have little incentive to appropriate part of such resources for personal use.


The aim of this research is to know how much Outdoor Learning method through outbond acticity miniature influence to optimalize the early chilhood's physical motoric. The method uses quasi experimental with nonequivalent control group design. It conducted in Sekaran District, Lamongan Regency with total sample as many as 85 children from Muslimat NU Nurul Huda Kindergarten Sekaran, Muslimat NU Rahayu Miru Kindergarten, and Musimat NU Bunga Harapan Kindergarten Latek. The sample is divided into two group, that are control group and experimental group. The data acquired from observation and documentary. The result shows 1) outdoor learning through outbond activity miniature significantly influences through chilhood's physical motoric, this proven from ANOVA test result which shows Fcount score as 247.182 bigger than Ftable as 3.11.  Based on data analysis, it can be concluded tha early childhood's physical motoric can be optimalized with Outdoor Learning method through Outdoor miniature.


In a previous study we found two agents, the α2‐agonist medetomidine ((±)‐4‐[1‐(2,3‐dimethylphenyl)ethyl]‐1H‐imidazole) and the α2‐agonist clonidine (2‐(2,6‐dichloroanilino)‐2‐imidazoline), that specifically and efficiently impede settlement of the barnacle Balanus improvisus, one of the most serious biofouling organisms in Swedish waters. Medetomidine, but not clonidine, is known to adsorb to solid polystyrene (PS) surfaces in the presence of salt, a feature that is of particular interest in attempts to develop an efficient antifouling surface. We show that medetomidine, but not clonidine, has a significant ability to adsorb to untreated (hydrophobic) PS in two different incubation media: filtered seawater (FSW) and deionized water (mQ). At negatively charged (hydrophilic) PS, medetomidine displays a strong interaction with the surface in both incubation media. At the hydrophilic PS, clonidine also displays a significant interaction with the surface when incubated in mQ and a weaker, but not significant, interaction when incubated in FSW. By studying the effects of time, incubation media, and pH on the adsorption of medetomidine and clonidine, we suggest that medetomidine is associated to hydrophobic PS by means of hydrophobic interactions, while the adsorption of medetomidine and clonidine to hydrophilic PS contains elements of electrostatic interaction. Using time‐of‐flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy (TOF‐SIMS) we detected only weak signals from medetomidine on the hydrophobic PS surfaces, while strong medetomidine signals were observed on hydrophilic PS. This suggests that the adsorbed medetomidine, to a greater extent, desorbed from the hydrophobic rather than from the hydrophilic PS surfaces during exposure to vacuum. The strong surface affinity of medetomidine on both types of surfaces and the preserved antifouling activity are valuable features in designing a marine coating. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


Abstract : Chemically functional magnetic nanoparticles, comprised of an Fe core encased in a thin Au shell, have been prepared by sequential high temperature decomposition of organometallic compounds in a coordinating solvent. A novel approach to encapsulate the Fe core in Au has been developed. TEM analysis confirms that the nanoparticles are monodisperse (approximately 20%) with average diameters of 8nm. The nanoparticles were subsequently functionalized with alkanethiolate ligands, which prevent aggregation, enable solubility in a range of solvents (both hydrophobic and hydrophilic), and permit subsequent derivatization (e.g., via ligand exchange reactions). The functionalized particles are characterized using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) absorption spectroscopy. We have utilized place-exchange to impart chemical functionality to the nanoparticles by attaching either (1) thiol-derivatized redox moieties (e.g., ferrocene) or (2) alkanethiols with terminal reactive groups such as alcohols. amines and carboxylic acids. This paper presents our preliminary investigations of the voltammetry of the former class of these magnetic core/shell nanoparticles.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate involvement in and satisfaction with health care among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and persons with chronic noninflammatory musculoskeletal pain, to identify target areas for improvement.

METHODS
Data were collected from postal surveys carried out in 1994 in Oslo, Norway, with 1,542 patients with RA and 10,000 randomly selected adults. Patients with RA and persons with noninflammatory musculoskeletal pain were asked 3 questions about their involvement with treatment and 1 question about their satisfaction with health care. Levels of involvement and of satisfaction were related to demographic measures, health status measures, use of health services, and, for patients with RA, self-efficacy.

RESULTS
Of the respondents with RA (n = 1,024), 40% scored low on at least 1 question on involvement and 11% reported global dissatisfaction. Being young, well educated, physically disabled, in good mental health, and self-efficient and having visited a rheumatologist in the last 12 months were associated with a high level of involvement; being female and having a low pain level, good mental health, and high self-efficacy were associated with satisfaction with health care. Of persons with noninflammatory musculoskeletal pain of more than 5 years duration (n = 1,509), 57% scored low on at least 1 question on involvement and 27% reported global dissatisfaction. Being well educated, having visited a general practitioner in the last 12 months, and having ever visited a rheumatologist were associated with a high level of involvement. Being older and having a low pain level and good mental health were associated with satisfaction. A low score on involvement was a strong independent predictor of global dissatisfaction in both groups.

CONCLUSION
High education level and health service provided by rheumatologists were consistently associated with a high level of involvement. Good mental health and high involvement were associated with satisfaction with the care received. Efforts to achieve a higher level of patient involvement should especially be directed toward patients with low education, emotional distress, and a chronic physical disorder.


Radially polarized radiation 1.8 kW was first obtained in an industrial high-power CO2 laser. Special reflective elements with axial polarization selectivity 22% were used as rear mirror in the laser. The output radiation consisted mainly of an unpolarized mode TEM00 and a radially polarized mode R-TEM01. The maximum degree of polarization of the beam measured in the far and near field was about 80% and 90% correspondingly.


Background: Many publications estimate short-term air pollution-mortality risks, but few estimate the associated changes in life-expectancies. Objective and methods: We present a new methodology for analyzing time series of health effects, in which prior frailty is assumed to precede short-term elderly nontraumatic mortality. The model is based on a subpopulation of frail individuals whose entries and exits (deaths) are functions of daily and lagged environmental conditions: ambient temperature/season, airborne particles, and ozone. This frail susceptible population is unknown; its fluctuations cannot be observed but are estimated using maximum-likelihood methods with the Kalman filter. We used an existing 14-y set of daily data to illustrate the model and then tested the assumption of prior frailty with a new generalized model that estimates the portion of the daily death count allocated to nonfrail individuals. Results: In this demonstration dataset, new entries into the high-risk pool are associated with lower ambient temperatures and higher concentrations of particulate matter and ozone. Accounting for these effects on antecedent frailty reduces this at-risk population, yielding frail life expectancies of 5–7 days. Associations between environmental factors and entries to the at-risk pool are about twice as strong as for mortality. Nonfrail elderly deaths are seen to make only small contributions. Conclusions: This new model predicts a small short-lived frail population-at-risk that is stable over a wide range of environmental conditions. The predicted effects of pollution on new entries and deaths are robust and consistent with conventional morbidity/mortality times-series studies. We recommend model verification using other suitable datasets.


From the Publisher:
Learning Adobe FrameMaker is the official Adobe FrameMaker training program from Adobe Systems. The courseware that has undergone thousands of hours of student testing in the training labs of Frame Technologies is now available in this self-paced workbook format. Almost six hundred pages of techniques, processes, and step by step instructions make the powerful FrameMaker program easy to understand. The thoroughness of Learning Adobe FrameMaker allows the reader to approach the material as a self-paced training guide, yet immediately apply the tutorial to work at hand. Learning Adobe FrameMaker is ideal for the scientist, engineer, publishing professional, or advanced technician. Even those who think they know FrameMaker will learn techniques they never discovered on their own.


A 41-year-old woman presented with progressive hemianopsia caused by compression of the lateral geniculate body by the dilated basal vein draining a contralateral frontal arteriovenous malformation (AVM). Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging revealed left frontal AVM and right lateral geniculate body compression due to the dilated basal vein. Emergent presurgical transarterial embolization and surgical removal were performed. Left hemianopsia completely recovered 3 months after surgery and MR imaging indicated improvement of the compression of the lateral geniculate body. Direct mechanical compression of the enlarged drainage vein is one of the causes of homonymous hemianopsia. Early surgical treatment is recommended to obtain a rapid recovery.


This work presents a high performance and low memory bandwidth hardware architecture based on the Full Search block matching algorithm for the motion estimation on high definition digital videos. The motion estimation is the most computational intensive module of the video encoder and it requires besides the high processing throughput, a very high bandwidth with the external memory. The presented architecture explores the parallelism to achieve high processing rates and it uses a memory hierarchy to reuse data, reducing the required bandwidth with external memory. The architecture was described in VHDL and synthesized in a Xilinx Virtex 4 FPGA, achieving an operation frequency of 292 MHz and processing more than 38 high definition 1080 frames (1920×1080 pixels) per second, surpassing the requirements for real time processing.