Abstract This article presents a new estimate for the income of German university professors in the 20th century, using university archives as its main source. With these figures we reject the decline-perspective that has been predominant in the literature, influenced especially by Fritz K. Ringer's book. We compare the professors' salaries to those in leading occupations in private business, as well as state bureaucracy and find that relative income level developed in a similar fashion up to the 1970s. The 1970s were identified as a crucial turning point, as university professors started to fall behind their comparative social groups in alternative job markets. Making use of the literature on relative income, the article suggests the university professors changed their group of comparison in questions of remuneration during the course of the 20th century, so that the decreasing internal income-inequality affected their well-being more than the increasing gap to salaries outside universities.


This thesis examines the history and origins of Beethoven's E minor Piano Sonata and examines the possibility of the programmatic conception of the work. Dedicated to Beethoven's friend Count Moritz Lichnowsky, the sonata may have been inspired by the Count's illicit affair with his future wife, the singer and actress Josefa Stummer. Providing a thorough Schenkerian analysis of both movements, the inner harmonic structure of the composition is revealed and explained. The author also investigates and details the unpublished original analyses of the composition by Heinrich Schenker, Erika Elias, and Hans Weisse. Both English and German language sources are incorporated into a comprehensive examination of Beethoven's Piano Sonata, op. 90.


A super-hydrophobic coating was prepared on AZ31B Mg alloy in this paper. Electroless Ni-P coating as the inner layer was deposited on the AZ31 substrate via an electroless planting process, and Cu was electroplated as the intermediate layer. Then, the electroplating Ni method was employed to form the micro/nano structure, and the super-hydrophobic coating was prepared after the composite coating modified by stearic acid. The modified coating exhibited super-hydrophobic properties with a static water contact angle of 155°. Potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) tests were conducted in 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution at room temperature. The test results indicated that the corrosion resistance of AZ31 was improved significantly by this super-hydrophobic coating. The super-hydrophobic samples had much more corrosion resistance in comparison with freshly prepared samples.


The authors report a case of a patient who in the 24th week of a twin pregnancy became sero-positive for toxoplasmosis. This was diagnosed by cordocentesis as being infected, and the treatment was therefore started with pyrimethamine and sulfadiazine and folic acid at the 28th week of pregnancy. At 35 weeks, the patient had an acute medullary aplasia due to the absence of the folates. The mother's state was improved rapidly by giving her folinic acid and the twins were normal haematologically. In this case, the authors point out how important the folates are in a pregnancy, especially in twin pregnancies, and point out the precautions that have to be taken when treatment with pyrimethamine and sulfadiazine is started for congenital toxoplasmosis.


An electrical breakdown model for liquids in response to a submicrosecond (∼100ns) voltage pulse is presented, and quantitative evaluations carried out. It is proposed that breakdown is initiated by field emission at the interface of pre-existing microbubbles. Impact ionization within the microbubble gas then contributes to plasma development, with cathode injection having a delayed and secondary role. Continuous field emission at the streamer tip contributes to filament growth and propagation. This model can adequately explain almost all of the experimentally observed features, including dendritic structures and fluctuations in the prebreakdown current. Two-dimensional, time-dependent simulations have been carried out based on a continuum model for water, though the results are quite general. Monte Carlo simulations provide the relevant transport parameters for our model. Our quantitative predictions match the available data quite well, including the breakdown delay times and observed optical emission.


Author(s): Whitacre, Ryan | Advisor(s): Whitmarsh, Ian | Abstract: In July 2012, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the commercial use of an antiretroviral pharmaceutical to prevent HIV. This method of preventing HIV is known as HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). The single pharmaceutical product approved for commercial use as PrEP is manufactured by Gilead Sciences, Inc (Foster City, CA) and sold under the brand name Truvada. This dissertation traces the development, commercialization, and implementation of Truvada as PrEP from an anthropological perspective, including by exploring several elements of the political economy of health, such as processes of innovation in drug development. The dissertation also displays how this novel method to prevent HIV emerges from a long history of HIV prevention in which the intimacy of 'at risk' individuals has been managed through techniques of discipline, including those that encourage individuals to engage only in 'safe' sex and to speak to physicians and investigators about their 'risky' practices. At the same time, this historical and ethnographic research marks an important shift in the value systems of antiretroviral markets, which once stitched together public interests (of the state and its citizen) and private interests (of the pharmaceutical industry) through the moral imperative to save life and are now strengthening public-private partnerships in order to secure health and manage sexual pleasure. By following the product life of Truvada from early moments in the antiretroviral market when Gilead obtained licenses for its pharmaceutical components into present day clinical care, where providers are prescribing Truvada as PrEP to augment sexual pleasure, this account brings together intimacy and innovation to show how they have become intertwined and inseparable. Thus, the dissertation argues PrEP is an intimate innovation.


Adolescence, a period of psychic reorganization which allows for new adjustments in order to face future life and reorganize the experience of the past, is one of the critical phases of existence. It is described as a "new birth", a successful achievement of individuation and separation processes. For the adolescent with an infirmity or chronic illness, and for his family, there exist specific problems in addition to those encountered by a healthy adolescent. The painful realization of social, professional and relational barriers is reactivated. The feeling of failure and helplessness, the impairment of self-esteem, and anger at being the victim of the unfairness of destiny, represent a supplementary affective burden for the adolescent and his family. This results in a risk of deterioration, either towards affective and social withdrawal expressed by overadaptation and weakening of psychic functions, or towards autoaggressive acting-out or various forms of marginalization. Preventive and therapeutic action by the individual and the family are discussed in the light of the case history of an adolescent suffering from a facial malformation.


A survey has been made of methods for the synthesis of corroles and their complexes with various metals, and also methods for the synthesis of metal complexes of 1,19-disubstituted octadehydrocorrins from biladienes, bilenes, and bilatrienes and of nickel complexes of 1-substituted octadehydrocorrins by the oxidative and non-oxidative cyclisation of biladienes. Aspects of the structure of corroles and metal complexes of corroles and octadehydrocorrins are discussed. A list of 76 references is included.


SUMMARY
Statistical dependencies are present in a variety of sequence data, but are not discernible from traditional sequence logos. Here, we present the R package DepLogo for visualizing inter-position dependencies in aligned sequence data as dependency logos. Dependency logos make dependency structures, which correspond to regular co-occurrences of symbols at dependent positions, visually perceptible. To this end, sequences are partitioned based on their symbols at highly dependent positions as measured by mutual information, and each partition obtains its own visual representation. We illustrate the utility of the DepLogo package in several use cases generating dependency logos from DNA, RNA, and protein sequences.

AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION
The DepLogo R package is available from CRAN and its source code is available at https://github.com/Jstacs/DepLogo.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.


The authors compared 30 patients with at least one clinical sign of idiopathic dilatation of the pulmonary artery, with a group of 20 normal control subjects in order to establish diagnostic criteria for this condition. In the first group, 17 had characteristic radiological findings and 13 others had clinical signs of idiopathic dilatation of the pulmonary artery. Comparison with the control group showed significant differences (p < 0.05) in 4 parameters: 1) the diameter of the pulmonary artery at the bifurcation/m2 body surface area (2.8 +/- o.4 cm versus 2.4 +/- 0.4 cm), 2) the diameter of the aorta 2 cm beyond the aortic valve/m2 of body surface area (1.7 +/- 0.3 cm versus 2.1 +/- 0.7 cm), 3) the ratio of pulmonary artery/aortic diameters at the valve rings (1.4 +/- 0.2 versus 1.1 +/- 0.02); 4) the ratio of the aorta 2 cm beyond the valve/aortic ring (1.02 +/- 0.07 versus 1.09 +/- 0.09). The diagnostic criteria of idiopathic dilatation of the pulmonary artery in the absence of cardiac or pulmonary disease are: 1) ratio of pulmonary artery diameter at its bifurcation/aortic ring diameter or 2 cm beyond the aortic valve of > or = 1.4; 2) ratio of pulmonary/aortic ring diameters > or = 1.5.


The harmonic currents of PWM power converter will cause additional losses of high speed motor. The repression approaches of harmonic currents are investigated in this paper. Two effective methods of harmonic current repression for high speed motor power supply are introduced based on the comparison among several methods. The assembling compound filter can repress effectively the harmonic current components within a wide frequency band without weakening too much the fundamental current component. The harmonic voltage components can also be repressed by the filter. The validities of the proposed methods have been verified by the simulation results.


The Sec1/Munc18 (SM) family of proteins is thought to impart compartmental specificity to vesicle fusion reactions. Here we report characterization of Vps33p, an SM family member previously thought to act exclusively at the vacuolar membrane with the vacuolar syntaxin Vam3p. Vacuolar morphology of vps33Delta cells resembles that of cells lacking both Vam3p and the endosomal syntaxin Pep12p, suggesting that Vps33p may function with these syntaxins at the vacuole and the endosome. Consistent with this, vps33 mutants secrete the Golgi precursor form of the vacuolar hydrolase CPY into the medium. We also demonstrate that Vps33p acts at other steps, for vps33 mutants show severe defects in endocytosis at the late endosome. At the endosome, Vps33p and other class C members exist as a complex with Vps8p, a protein previously known to act in transport between the late Golgi and the endosome. Vps33p also interacts with Pep12p, a known interactor of the SM protein Vps45p. High copy PEP7/VAC1 suppresses vacuolar morphology defects of vps33 mutants. These findings demonstrate that Vps33p functions at multiple trafficking steps and is not limited to action at the vacuolar membrane. This is the first report demonstrating the involvement of a single syntaxin with two SM proteins at the same organelle.


Since the identification and molecular characterization of the non-A, non-B hepatitis virus (HCV) in 1989, a variety of diagnostic tests based on the detection of hepatitis virus antibodies or HCV RNA in the serum have been developed and refined. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) and the recombinant immunoblot assays (RIBAs) exhibit improved sensitivity and specificity for HCV antibodies compared with their predecessors, and the ELISA-3 is at the forefront of HCV screening. Furthermore, the advent of molecular assays that employ quantitative reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction to detect HCV RNA has allowed clinicians to track the natural history of HCV and to monitor the progress of therapy. A role for further refinement of an HCV diagnosis using tests to determine genotype, subtype, and quasispecies is explored. In addition, the role of liver biopsy and non-invasive markers of histologic status are placed into the context of patient prognosis. This article reviews the state-of-the-art tests and assays developed for the diagnosis and management of HCV infection.


Background Internet addiction is a global public health issue among college students that is associated with a range of negative outcomes. Especially the COVID-19 pandemic has forced them to shift most of their studies and life activities from offline to online, leading to a growing problem of Internet dependence and even Internet addiction. Although previous studies have indicated that the Behavioral Inhibition/Activation System (BIS/BAS) have important effects on college students' Internet addiction, the mechanisms underlying these associations and gender differences are still unclear. Aims The present study investigated the mediating roles of intolerance of uncertainty and self-control in the association between BIS/BAS and Internet addiction following the Interaction of Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution model. Gender differences in such associations between variables were also tested. Method A total of 747 Chinese college students were surveyed by using Young's Diagnostic Questionnaire for Internet Addiction, BIS/BAS Scales, the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale and the Brief Self-Control Scale. Results The results from the structural equation modeling analysis showed that BIS was positively related to Internet addiction and that BAS had a negative association with Internet addiction. Moreover, intolerance of uncertainty and self-control mediated the relationships between BIS/BAS and Internet addiction. Multi-group analysis further revealed that the associations between BAS and Internet addiction and between intolerance of uncertainty and Internet addiction were stronger among the male students than among female students. The relationship between self-control and Internet addiction was greater in the female sample than in the male sample. Conclusions These findings extend our understanding of how BIS/BAS influence Internet addiction among college students and suggest that not only should training approaches based on intolerance of uncertainty and self-control be fully considered, but different intervention programs should be focused on gender sensitivity to maximize the intervention effect.


The aim of this empirical article is identifying and showing the key challenges and core problems faced by private universities with international affiliation, located in west Cairo, when applying online educational learning in the context of COVID-19. As well, it aims to assist in assembling the lessons learned to maximize the learning impact. a mixed-methods approach was used and it included: (1) observations complemented with five in-depth interviews with experienced faculty members and decision-makers (2) followed by a survey to comprehend the drivers of students' satisfaction concerning online education throughout COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 200 replies were collected from two universities, located in west Cairo. A literature review was conducted to validate the research constructs and to support drafting the recommendations. The results show that faculty members have identified five challenges, which are: (1) course design, (2) instructor quality, (3) assessment techniques, (4) technology and e-learning platforms, and (5) students' attitude. The survey results have proved that the first four challenges are drivers of student satisfaction, especially the assessment techniques. A list of recommendations was proposed based on the previously mentioned challenges. This was the first survey that targeted students at private universities in Cairo post- COVID-19 pandemic. The findings will be useful for preparing short to long term strategic plan focusing on blended techniques.


A modification of Mohs' chemosurgery which eliminates the zinc chloride paste but follows the careful piece by piece excision, marking, and mapping has been developed for the treatment of cutaneous tumors. The technique is called Microscopic Controlled Excision (MCE). This 8‐year retrospective study reports a 97.2% cure rate for 532 determinant lesions. One hundred eighty‐five (35%) of these cases followed for 5 years or longer had a 96% cure rate. The modified technique eliminates the pain of zinc chloride fixative paste, shortens the time required to perform the surgery, removes less uninvolved, normal tissues, and the final defect is a fresh surgical wound which can be repaired immediately. These advantages become highly significant since a high 5‐year cure rate can be obtained. It is recommended that this technique be used for all tumors which recur after routine treatment by excision, radiation therapy, curettage and desiccation, or cryosurgery, for tumors with poorly defined clinical borders, for sclerosing basal cell epitheliomas, and for primary cutaneous carcinomas in areas which have a predilection for recurrence.


To determine the accuracy of skinfold thickness measurements in body composition assessment, skinfold thicknesses, bioelectrical impedance, body density by underwater weighing, and total body water by deuterium dilution were determined in 105 healthy adults who varied widely in body fatness. Body fat ranged from 2.9% to 61.2% of body weight and a substantial number of obese subjects was included. The correlation between body fat calculated from skinfold equations and body fat measured by underwater weighing was in the same range as that between body fat estimated from impedance and underwater weighing. However, body fat calculated both from skinfold equations and bioelectrical impedance tended to be underestimated compared with body fat calculated from underwater weighing and total body water in the most obese subjects. In obese subjects it was not possible to measure significant numbers of skinfold thicknesses because of the inadequate size of the calipers.


This contribution assesses the impact of market liberalisation on the sustainability of the transformation in ten Central and East European countries (CEE10). Although a significant body of literature assesses economic and social consequences of the transformation, there are limited numbers of investigations that examine the impact of liberalisation on the environment. For CEE countries, assessing environmental effects of structural change in the economy, rising personal consumption, rapid transition to market-oriented economies, and dramatically increased liberalisation is critical. Equally important is assessing the outcomes of environmental and other policy and institutional reforms. To assess these changes, a set of sustainability indicators is used to estimate an environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) and sustainability trends. The EKC concept assumes that environmental pressure rises initially with an increase in income but declines beyond some estimated level or 'turning point'. The question is how market liberalisation has affected this observed relationship. This study demonstrates the progress of the CEE10, relative to other CEE and new independent states (NIS), and how much progress is still needed to secure more sustainable development.


Received Jun 3, 2021 Revised Jul 6, 2022 Accepted Aug 13, 2022 The research aimed at studying the effects of the teacher preparation for local development project on students' self-conduct. It was also comparing the conduct of students who studied in different years. The sample group of 189 was selected through multi-stage random sampling technique. The research instruments comprised the questionnaire and interview regarding the effects of joining the teacher preparation for local development project on the conduct of students. The collected data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and testing the differences by Multivariate ANOVA (MANOVA). The findings of the research revealed that the students joining the teacher preparation for local development project had self-conduct in the areas of characteristics, relationship with community, and spatial identity at high level. The means were 3.88, 3.72, and 3.81, respectively. The fourthyear students performed self-conduct at higher level than the second years with a significance level of .01. The thirdand second-year students conducted differently in the areas of their attributes only. For the third and fourth years, there was no difference in their self-conduct.


The paper is concerned with multilayer and fine thermal control of an optical reference cavity for space applications, under development at National Metrology Institute, Turin, Italy. The cavity, made by ultra low expansion glass (Corning ULEreg), must be kept close to the zero-expansion temperature (close to 25degC) of the glass. The target can only be met by active control, while leaving the cavity free of sensor and actuators. This is obtained by two concepts: thermal bath and reference thermal sink, the latter allowing zero-expansion temperature to be reached by heaters in a wide environment range. Preliminary experiments of the two concepts leading to cavity design are detailed.


Introduction This study aims to describe the association between dietary habits and weight status and the interest in food and science. Methods We examined in a cross-sectional study 525 children aged between 8 and 18 years, who attended the Brussels Food Fair or the Belgian Science Day in 2013. They were divided into three groups: special interest in science, special interest in food, and a general control group. They completed a questionnaire, and body parameters were measured. The weight status of the children was identified using the growth charts and the calculated BMI. Results In total, 525 children were included: 290 children in the reference group, 194 in the food group, and 41 in the science group. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 28% in the general control group, 14% in the food group, and 15% in the science group. Breakfast and dinner were skipped more often by children with overweight or obesity. Children from the food and science groups had more sweets and meat, had less fruit, and skipped less meals. Conclusion In our study, 28% of the reference group had overweight or obesity. The children with special interest in food or science differed from the control group.


In this paper we report the results of an extensive experimental kinetic study carried out on the novel ethylene trimerization catalyst system, comprising the chromium source [CrCl(3)(thf)(3)] (thf=tetrahydrofuran), a Ph(2)P-N(iPr)-P(Ph)-N(iPr)H (PNPNH) ligand (Ph=phenyl, iPr=isopropyl), and triethylaluminum (AlEt(3)) as activator. It could be shown that the initial activity shows a first-order dependency on the ethylene concentration. Also, a first-order dependency was found for the catalyst concentration. The initial activity follows a typical Arrhenius behavior with an experimentally determined activation energy of 52.6 kJ mol(-1). At elevated temperatures (ca. 80 degrees C), a significant deactivation was observed, which can be tentatively traced back to a ligand rearrangement in the presence of AlEt(3). After a fast initial phase, a pronounced 'kink' in the ethylene-uptake curve is observed, followed by a slow, almost linear, further increase of the total ethylene consumption. The catalyst composition, in particular the ligand/chromium and the cocatalyst/chromium molar ratio, has a strong impact on the catalytic performance of the trimerization of ethylene.


We report the thermoresponsive behavior in aqueous solution of amphiphilic diblock co-oligomers of ethylene glycol (EG) and styrene (S) obtained by reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization (mPEG16-b-PS2, mPEG16-b-PS4 and mPEG16-b-PS6). The block co-oligomers were obtained from the polymerization of styrene mediated by a PEG macro-RAFT agent, mPEG-PBTC. The precise control offered by RAFT polymerization over the length of the short hydrophobic chain permits tuning of the thermoresponsive behavior for all the studied methoxy poly(ethylene glycol)-block-polystyrene copolymers. mPEG16-b-PS2 was shown to self-assemble into micelles at temperatures below the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of the block co-oligomer, whilst no such critical temperature was observed for solutions of self-assembled mPEG16-b-PS4 and mPEG16-b-PS6. mPEG16-b-PS4 self-assembles into relatively mobile spherical particles which evolve into prolate spheroids with increasing temperature, whilst mPEG16-b-PS6 forms particle clusters, which have lower mobility than the mPEG16-b-PS4 particles. This work is the first study on the aggregation behavior of such short chain lengths of mPEG-b-PS as a function of temperature, and shows how tuning the PS oligomer length permits control of the thermoresponsive behavior of mPEG-b-PS assemblies in water.


Pseudomonas putida strain E16 16S Ribosomal RNA is identified molecularly as bacterial symbiont spesies of macroalga Sargassum polycystum which produce L-Asparaginase (E.C.188.8.131.52), levels of optimum fermentation time and substrate concentration are 48 hours and 10g/L respectively, 60-80% Fraction is The Highest L-Asparaginase Activity (2,03 IU/ml). Gel filtration chromatography sefadeks G-100 has a purity level of 11.505 compared to the crude extract which continued to CM-Sephadex C50 ion-exchange chromatography, the pure L-Asparaginase of fraction 28 have purity level of 197.112 compared to crude extract.


Electronic absorption spectra are oftentimes used to identify reaction intermediates or substrates/products in enzymatic systems, as long as absorption bands can be unequivocally assigned to the species being studied. The latter task is far from trivial given the transient nature of some states and the complexity of the surrounding environment around the active site. To identify unique spectral fingerprints, controlled experiments with model compounds have been used in the past, but even these can sometimes be unreliable. Circular dichroism (CD) and ultraviolet-visible spectra have been tools of choice in the study of the rich chemistry of thiamin diphosphate-dependent enzymes. In this study, we focus on the Zymomonas mobilis pyruvate decarboxylase, and mutant analogues thereof, as a prototypical representative of the thiamin diphosphate (ThDP) enzyme superfamily. Through the use of electronic structure methods, we analyze the nature of electronic excitations in the cofactor. We find that all the determining CD bands around the 280-340 nm spectral range correspond to charge-transfer excitations between the pyrimidine and thiazolium rings of ThDP, which, most likely, is a general property of related ThDP-dependent enzymes. While we can confirm the assignments of previously proposed bands to chemical states, our calculations further suggest that a hitherto unassigned band of enzyme-bound ThDP reports on the ionization state of the canonical glutamate that is required for cofactor activation. This finding expands the spectroscopic "library" of chemical states of ThDP enzymes, permitting a simultaneous assignment of both the cofactor ThDP and the activating glutamate. We anticipate this finding to be helpful for mechanistic analyses of related ThDP enzymes.


BACKGROUND
Intravenous anesthetics have been used during the treatment of various malignant tumors, however, their effects on oral tissues is not well-understood. In the present study, the cytotoxicity of five intravenous anesthetics towards oral tumor and normal cells was compared.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Tumor specificity index was determined by the ratio of the mean 50% cytotoxic concentration for normal cells to that for tumor cells. Apoptosis induction was monitored by internucleosomal DNA fragmentation and caspase-3, -8, and -9 activation. Fine cell structure was observed under transmission electron microscopy.

RESULTS
Benzodiazepines (midazolam and diazepam) exhibited higher cytotoxicity than barbiturates (thiopental and thiamylal), whereas propofol had the intermediate range of cytotoxicity. Midazolam showed the highest cytotoxicity. HL-60 cells were the most sensitive to midazolam, followed by epidermal keratinocytes, oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), glioblastoma and then oral normal cells. Midazolam did not induce the production of apoptosis markers such as internucleosomal DNA fragmentation and activation of caspase-3, -8 and -9, but did induce the appearance of many vacuoles, mitochondrial swelling and cell membrane rupture in OSCC cell lines (HSC-2 and HSC-4) cells. The cytotoxicity of midazolam was not reduced by pre-treatment with autophagy inhibitors (3-methyladenine and bafilomycin A1).

CONCLUSION
These results suggest that midazolam may induce necrotic cell death, rather than apoptosis or autophagy, in OSCC cell lines.


The spatio-temporal distribution of nutrients and phytoplankton along the Iranian coast of the Southern Caspian Sea (CS) was investigated by comparing two different periods, namely Phase I (1996–1997), representing the period before the introduction of the ctenophore, Mnemiopsis leidyi, into the system, and Phase II (2005), the period after the introduction. The results showed that nutrient concentrations (with the exception of dissolved silicate) in the subsurface water were significantly higher during Phase II (p<0.001), which may be attributed to vertical mixing and the presence of the ctenophores. Long-term data collected from 1994 to 2005 also confirmed these results. As with most other marine ecosystems, the Bacillariophyta (diatoms) was found to be the most dominant phytoplankton group. However, during Phase II (i.e. after the introduction of the ctenophores), a significant increase in the abundance of the Cyanophyta was recorded, especially during summer and autumn. The average abundance of phytoplankton after the introduction of the ctenophores was significantly higher (4.2 fold, p<0.05). Similar trends have been observed in the Narragansett Bay and in the Black, Azov and North Caspian Seas, all of which were related to the predation on zooplankton (the primary consumer of the phytoplankton) by the ctenophores.


The author aims to provide a practical guide to clinical problems useful to senior students and doctors in their early postgraduate years. The text is divided into three sections. Clinical methods comprise 37 pages, pulmonary physiology in relation to disease 82 pages, and varieties of lung disease 148 pages. The book is attractive, easily managed with one hand, and easily read. In a specialty where roentgenography constitutes a major form of diagnosis, only eight pages are devoted to its review, while the pulmonary manifestations of connective tissue disorders are spread over the same space. In part 2, the section on pulmonary function testing, the practical assessment of lung function by test could have used more representative examples of testing such as classification of disease, screening of disease, assessing individual lung function, pulmonary exercise tolerance, xenon scanning, and assessment of respiratory failure or insufficiency. A discussion of limitations of tests, and


In the portrait matting, the goal is to predict an alpha matte that identifies the effect of each pixel on the foreground subject. Traditional approaches and most of the existing works utilized an additional input, e.g., trimap, background image, to predict alpha matte. However, (1) providing additional input is not always practical, and (2) models are too sensitive to these additional inputs. To address these points, in this paper, we introduce an additional input-free approach to perform portrait matting. We divide the task into two subtasks, segmentation and alpha matte prediction. We first generate a coarse segmentation map from the input image and then predict the alpha matte by utilizing the image and segmentation map. Besides, we present a segmentation encoding block to downsample the coarse segmentation map and provide useful feature representation to the residual block, since using a single encoder causes the vanishing of the segmentation information. We tested our model on four different benchmark datasets. The proposed method outperformed the MODNet and MGMatting methods that also take a single input. Besides, we obtained comparable results with BGM-V2 and FBA methods that require additional input.


The step-by-step synthesis by solution methods of the [Ser2,5,6,9, Leu-OMe11] analog of trichogin GA IV is described. The four Ser residues have been incorporated into the sequence as replacements of the naturally occurring Gly residues to increase the amphiphilicity of the 3D-structure of the lipopeptaibol. A detailed solution conformational analysis has been performed on this undecapeptide and its prototypical [Leu-OMe11] trichogin GA IV analog using FTIR absorption and CD spectroscopies, and two-dimensional NMR under a variety of experimental conditions, including a membrane-mimetic environment. Both peptides adopt a mixed 3(10)/alpha-helical structure, which in the micellar system was found to be less flexible for the Ser-containing analog. For both analogs permeability measurements revealed membrane-modifying properties comparable to those of the natural lipopeptaibol.


The flow behind two flat plates placed normal to the flow in side-by-side arrangement was experimentally investigated by varying the gap ratio G (the ratio of gap spacing to plate width) in the range of 0.0 ≤ G ≤ 2.5 to examine the effect of gap ratio on the wake. The flow patterns around the plates were observed using the hydrogen bubble flow visualization in the water tunnel. Velocity and pressure components were acquired by employing hot-wire anemometers and digital manometers in the wind tunnel. From the experiment, it has been found that, at gap ratios less than 1.6, the gap flow was biased either upward or downward and maintained a stable biased flow pattern. The width of the wake on the biased side was increased with the gap ratio, while that on the unbiased side was decreased. At 1.6 ≤ G < 2.0, the switching of the biased gap flow appeared due to the flow instability by mutual interference of the vortex shedding from the plates, while at G of 2.0 or more, the gap flow was no longer biased. The plates on the biased side showed relatively low base pressure and high velocity, and detected periodic vortex shedding, while those on the unbiased side showed the opposite phenomena. At gap ratios less than 2.0, two Strouhal numbers indicating the bi-stable situation exist, and the difference between the two Strouhal numbers decreased with the gap ratio.


ADDITIONAL INDEX WORDS. intergeneric hybrids, Lycopersicon esculentum, plant breeding, wide hybridization ABSTRACT. Solanum ochranthum Dunal is a nontuber bearing wild relative of the cultivated tomato ( Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.), and a potential source of new genes for disease and pest resistance. Because S. ochranthum is sexually isolated from tomato, somatic hybrids between tomato (PI 367942; L. esculentum Mill. var. cerasiforme (Dunal) A. Gray VFNT cherry x L. peruvianum (L.) Mill. backcrossed to VFNT cherry) and S. ochranthum (LA2117) were developed previously to overcome these crossing barriers. Attempts to backcross these hybrids to tomato have been unsuccessful. Pollen fertility and mitotic and meiotic studies in tomato + S. ochranthum somatic hybrids determined the cause of the sterility of the somatic hybrids and identified hybrids with moderate fertility. Chromosome counts of dividing root tip cells delineated tetraploid (2n = 4x = 48) and hexaploid (2n = 6x = 72) genotypes and aneuploidy in these hybrids. Meiotic analysis of developing microspores confirmed the presence of precocious division and laggard chromosomes at anaphase in both hexaploid and tetraploid hybrids. Bridges were observed in hexaploids at anaphase I and II and multivalent configurations were observed at diakinesis. Multivalents and univalents were evident in nearly all cells examined, proving that the two genomes are homoeologous. Aberrant microsporocytes with five to six developing microspores were noted in hexaploid hybrids. The occurrence of homoeologous pairing between chromosomes of both fusion parents is advantageous to effect recombination between these isolated species. However, the negative effects of multivalent formation and univalents likely contributed to observed sterility in these first generation fusion hybrids. Low to moderate levels of pollen fertility (0% to 52%) were found in tetraploid hybrids, while little or no viable pollen (0% to 4%) was observed in hexaploid somatic hybrids.


During the last decade, markets for covered warrants (bank-issued options) have flourished in Europe and Asia. In these markets, investors often face a choice between many instruments that differ only slightly from each other. Based on retail trades in call options on the German DAX index, this paper documents substantial price dispersion across securities that are close substitutes. Moreover, investors generally fail to identify attractively priced options. The results suggest that the observed product proliferation imposes a substantial search cost on investors even though the products are homogenous and their pricing is well understood. The search cost is estimated to average 1% of the amount invested, the same order of magnitude as the average spread. JEL Classification: G11, G13, D83


This paper investigates the structural and electronic properties of rhenium diboride by first-principles calculation based on density functional theory. The obtained results show that the calculated equilibrium structural parameters of ReB2 are in excellent agreement with experimental values. The calculated bulk modulus is 361 GPa in comparison with that of the experiment. The compressibility of ReB2 is lower than that of well-known OsB2. The anisotropy of the bulk modulus is confirmed by c/a ratio as a function of pressure curve and the bulk modulus along different axes along with the electron density distribution. The high bulk modulus is attributed to the strong covalent bond between Re-d and B-p orbitals and the wider pseudogap near the Fermi level, which could be deduced from both electron charge density distribution and density of states. The band structure and density of states of ReB2 exhibit that this material presents metallic behavior. The good metallicity and ultra-incompressibility of ReB2 might suggest its potential application as pressure-proof conductors.


Moore's well-known result on the feedback assignment of eigenstructure in linear state-space systems [5] was generalized to descriptor systems in [9]. In this note we make some useful extensions to fill out the theory. To begin with, we do not assume controllability of the plant. It is shown that the maximum number of finite closed-loop eigenvalues is equal to dim (EL*), where L*is the supremal (A, E, R(B))- invariant subspace, in order to relate the possible closed-loop structure to the open-loop plant structure, we define a set of indexes for descriptor systems which are in many respects similar to the controllability indexes of state-space systems. In terms of these "controllability" indexes, we give a systematic approach to selecting the closed-loop eigenvectors. A major contribution of this note is the fact that it is geometric in nature, and hence avoids any decomposition of the system matrices into a special form (e.g., Weierstrass form [1]). The geometric setting introduced here should constitute a basis for further research in generalizing the well-known results in geometric system theory (disturbance decoupling, input/output decoupling, etc.) to singular systems.


Phytophthora citrophthora, P. syringae, P. nicotianae, and P. hibernalis are important pathogens of citrus in California but few chemical treatments are currently available. In vitro toxicities of four new fungicides to isolates of Phytophthora spp. from California were determined. Mean effective concentration values to inhibit mycelial growth by 50% for ethaboxam, fluopicolide, mandipropamid, oxathiapiprolin, and mefenoxam were 0.068, 0.04, 0.004, 0.0003, and 0.039 µg/ml, respectively, for 62 isolates of P. citrophthora; 0.005, 0.045, 0.003, 0.0001, and 0.008 µg/ml, respectively, for 71 isolates of P. syringae; 0.016, 0.057, 0.005, 0.0005, and 0.183 µg/ml, respectively, for 31 isolates of P. nicotianae; and 0.030, 0.018, 0.005, <0.0003, and ≤0.001 µg/ml, respectively, for two isolates of P. hibernalis. Mean values for ≥90% inhibition of sporangia formation of four isolates of P. citrophthora were 0.1, 0.28, 0.026, 0.005, and 55 µg/ml for ethaboxam, fluopicolide, mandipropamid, oxathiapiprolin, and mefenoxam, respectively. Zoospore cyst germination of P. citrophthora was most inhibited by oxathiapiprolin and mandipropamid. Chlamydospore formation of P. nicotianae was most sensitive to oxathiapiprolin, with a mean ≥90% reduction (EC>90) of 0.002 µg/ml, moderately sensitive to mandipropamid (EC>90 = 0.2 µg/ml) and mefenoxam (EC>90 = 0.6 µg/ml), and least sensitive to ethaboxam and fluopicolide (EC>90 = 1 µg/ml). Oospore formation of P. nicotianae was inhibited by ≥90% using oxathiapiprolin at 0.0004 µg/ml, mandipropamid at 0.02 µg/ml, ethaboxam at 0.1 µg/ml, or fluopicolide at 0.4 µg/ml, whereas 62% inhibition was obtained by mefenoxam at 40 µg/ml.


Conflicts of interest arise naturally in all walks of life, particularly in business life. As general and indeed inevitable phenomena, conflicts of interest should not be prohibited but properly managed. This book presents indepth analysis of such management in three areas of corporate governance where the conflict-of-interest problems are particularly acute: executive compensation, financial analysis, and asset management. "Conflicts of Interest" presents the results of a two-year-long research project bringing together academics and practitioners in both law and finance from Europe and the US under the auspices of the Centre for Banking and Financial Law of the University of Geneva. This book discusses the following issues: the duty of loyalty; remedies, such as disclosure, incentives, organizational measures; regulation and enforcement; and market considerations. With its intense focus on the material effects of actual conflicts of interest at the core of modern corporate governance and financial markets, this incomparable book will inform not only business people, practitioners, and academics, but also legislators, regulators, and all concerned with the far-reaching ramifications of conflict-of-interest management.


Automatic contingency selection plays an important role in the security and stability of power system operation and control. This paper proposed a new algorithm of automatic contingency selection based on aggregation method. Given the influence of the network topology and flow distribution, this method used breaking betweenness indicators to identify the key transmission lines which took effect in contingency analysis. And it also combined with community structure partitioning algorithm in complex network theory to construct aggregated grids including nodes and transmission lines in the network. At last, contingency set was obtained according to the linking-up roads among aggregated grids. This method avoids load flow calculation and overcomes the contradiction between accuracy and rapidity of traditional selection methods. The analysis results of IEEE 30-bus system verify the validity and rapidity of the proposed algorithm.


Blockchain is a relatively new technology which needs to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) when processing personal data. In this study, the researchers focus on the issue of whether or not a blockchain that processes personal data can comply with the GDPR. Subsequently, it is important to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using a blockchain from a civilian's point of view, since it is their personal data that will be processed. Finally, the results of a literature research and multiple interviews, show that there is no unequivocal answer to the compliancy issue regarding blockchains. This study contributes by extending the ongoing discussion on the topic of GDPR compliance on blockchain by showing that two different tendencies exist: purists and fundamentalists. Purists believe that public blockchains are the only 'real' blockchains and because of the characteristics those possess, it can never comply with the GDPR. Furthermore, all technical measures that try to comply with the principles of the GDPR will compromise the very existence of that blockchain. On the other hand, fundamentalists argue that it is possible to take certain technical measures to meet the requirements of the GDPR and these will not jeopardize the blockchain.1


This study reveals the financial conditions and drivers of the energy transition in the world and in Russia. The purpose of the study is to characterize the essence, content and financial conditions of the energy transition for the national economy. The objectives of the article are to study the features of the energy transition models for developed and developing countries; to consider the impact of "sustainable financing" on the energy transition process; to identify the specific financial conditions and risks. It was found that two major concepts of the energy transition have been formed, reflecting the vision of the goals and timing of completion, conditions and financing formats. The analysis of global investments in the energy transition showed high investors' optimism: the renewable energy sector is the most attractive; the Asia-Pacific region has become the largest region in terms of investment volume; more energy transition financing programs are implemented in the European Union. The author reveals relationship between policies to achieve carbon neutrality and the phenomenon of "sustainable financing" subject to the principles of ESG, which was expressed in the refusal of the world's leading financial institutions to finance any fossil fuel projects, which could lead to higher demands and direct pressure on the energy and oil and gas sector in developing countries. The main financial risks and financial losses that the Russian economy may face in process of energy transition are outlined. Russia, as the largest exporter of hydrocarbons, will have to adapt to the new conditions despite the unprecedented sanctions pressure on the financial system and the withdrawal of major investors from the oil and gas and electric power sectors. First of all, this is cooperation in the BRICS format — both in the energy and in the financing of infrastructure projects, including within the framework of the BRICS New Development Bank activities. State loans, subsidies, grants, tax incentives, etc. may be used as financial measures of state support for the energy transition.


Background. Recurrent lobar intracerebral hemorrhage is more commonly associated with cerebral amyloid angiopathy and less likely associated with hypertension. Cerebral amyloid angiopathy-related inflammation is a subgroup of cerebral amyloid angiopathy that can present with lobar intracerebral hemorrhage, encephalopathy, and seizures; wherein corticosteroids may facilitate favorable outcome. Whether recurrence of lobar intracerebral hemorrhage in cerebral amyloid angiopathy is related to cerebral amyloid angiopathy-related inflammation is unknown. Case presentation. A 68-year-old woman presented with an acute onset of confusion. She was known to have a history of recurrent lobar intracerebral hemorrhage related to cerebral amyloid angiopathy. Brain imaging revealed previous sequelae of cerebral amyloid angiopathy and a new lobar intracerebral hemorrhage. An empirical diagnosis of cerebral amyloid angiopathy-related inflammation was made given the patent's clinical course of recurrence. Utilizing current evidence of criteria used to diagnose cerebral amyloid angiopathy-related inflammation, corticosteroid therapy was initiated with significant improvement in clinical and imaging characteristics. Discussion. Inflammatory pathways incited as a result of cerebrovascular amyloid deposition play a vital role in pathogenesis of cerebral amyloid angiopathy-related inflammation. We highlight the need to consider corticosteroid therapy in patients presenting with recurrent lobar intracerebral hemorrhage in the setting of cerebral amyloid angiopathy since inflammation may play a role in its pathophysiology. Evidence in the literature is sparse to suggest that cerebral amyloid angiopathy-related inflammation might be the root cause for the lobar intracerebral hemorrhage recurrence in cerebral amyloid angiopathy. Further studies are needed to identify mechanisms of recurrent hemorrhage, its correlations with cerebral amyloid angiopathy-related inflammation, and the potential role of corticosteroid therapy.


Explicit determinations of several classes of trigonometric sums are given. These sums can be viewed as analogues or generalizations of Gauss sums. In a previous paper, two of the present authors considered primarily sine sums associated with primitive odd characters. In this paper, we establish two general theorems involving both sines and cosines, with more attention given to cosine sums in the several examples that we provide.


The use of mass transit instead of cars is a pro-environmental behavior that could have a significant impact on the environment. By persuading people to reduce their car use and turn to public transport, considerable reductions on carbon dioxide emissions can be realized. However, social marketing efforts to encourage pro-environmental behavior have a mixed history of success. While factors such as attitudes, habits and environmental norms have been extensively studied in the travel behavior literature, the role of emotions has received less attention. A possible association between moral emotions and behavior can have substantial implications for policy makers. Shame and guilt are painful emotions that arise from evaluations of the self and so are likely to produce a state of dissonance (Festinger, 1957). When an individual experiences this dissonance, he will automatically try to alleviate it by changing either his attitudes or behavior. Because cognitive dissonance has at its centre the individual?s self-concept, dissonance related persuasion can be more effective than simple information persuasion (Aronson, 1980). Therefore, if there is a considerable link between moral emotions and behavior, campaigns designed to invoke dissonance arousal should provide a powerful tool for social marketing campaigns concerning pro-environmental behavior. Nevertheless, behavior is also a function of habits and the relationship and balance between intentions to act and habitual actions must be considered.The Triandis Theory of Interpersonal Behavior (TIB) stipulates that behavior is a function of both intentions and habit. In this study, the TIB is expanded by including three self-conscious moral emotions: shame, guilt and pride as antecedents of intentions. The results show that the TIB concepts of short-term consequences and role beliefs are significant predictors of intentions to use public transport. Personal norms have both a direct and an indirect (through guilt) effect on intentions. Although shame and guilt do not have a significant direct impact on intentions, they do act as mediators of personal norms and normative beliefs. Apart from intentions, habit is an important predictor of behavior. The findings suggest that travel mode choice is not solely a rational decision process but has emotional and habitual elements. From a theoretical point of view, the results confirm that the main premises of the Theory of Interpersonal Behavior (TIB) apply to pro-environmental behaviors but that moral emotions can help explain the impact and role of personal norms and normative beliefs. For practice, social marketing campaigns can also be enhanced by considering the effects of dissonance arousal on pro-environmental behavior choices.


Summary Numerical flood simulation has matured significantly over the last decades and has come to the point where a quite realistic picture of potential flood threats can be produced at reasonable cost. The quality of a flood simulation model fully depends on its descriptive capabilities of the physical system in terms of topographic and roughness data, the representativeness of the equations, and the numerical method applied. This contribution reviews and explains the current practice and state of the art of numerical flood simulation models. In particular, the most important and widely used depth averaged model is reviewed and discussed along with its numerical treatment. Proceeding with the two-dimensional flow description and its numerical discretization principles, numerical discretization of depth averaged twodimensional shallow water equations are presented with special attention given to the correct and robust modeling within the finite volume framework. Some popular finite volume models for solving the depth averaged twodimensional shallow water equations are described, with special attention to the modeling of shock (bore) waves, the treat of natural topographies, and the appearance of wet/dry fronts.


The research was conducted to determine the antioxidant activity of two Kalanchoespecies in Ghana which are used widely for the treatment of various ailments including stroke and ulcers. The leaves were subjected to methanol and aqueous extractions for each sample. Thin layer chromatography (TLC) was performed to determine the various components in the leaves extract. The concentration of phenol and flavonoid was determined using folin-ciocalteu Zishen et al. (2003) and Lee et al. (2005) method. The extract was also screened to determine the total flavonoid and phenolic content of the methanol and aqueous extracts of the leaves of Kalanchoe pinnata and Kalanchoe integraand also to assess the antioxidant activity. 1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydryzyl [DPPH] radical scavenging activity of both aqueous and methanol extracts of K. integra and K. pinnatawere determined by the Brand-William method (2003) with slight modification. The phytochemical analysis indicated that the leave extracts were rich in total flavonoid and phenolic compounds. However, the aqueous extract of both K. pinnata and K. integrashowed excellent antioxidant activity whereas that of the methanol was less effective compared to the butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) which was used as control. The reducing power increased with increasing concentration, and the scavenging effect of aqueous extract on the DPPH radical was excellent. In conclusion, n-butanol: chloroform: acetic acid: water (7:3:1:1) is most suitable solvent for TLC analysis of the aqueous and methanol extract of K. pinnata and K. integra. Kalanchoe species possess a strong antioxidant property that reacts with free radicals.

  Key words: Kalanchoe species, antioxidant, total flavonoids, total phenolic content.


The Arabidopsis endoribonuclease YbeY is required for chloroplast rRNA processing, and its deficiency reduces chloroplast activity and normal plant growth. Maturation of chloroplast ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs) comprises several endoribonucleolytic and exoribonucleolytic processing steps. However, little is known about the specific enzymes involved and the cleavage steps they catalyze. Here, we report the functional characterization of the single Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) gene encoding a putative YbeY endoribonuclease. AtYbeY null mutants are seedling lethal, indicating that AtYbeY function is essential for plant growth. Knockdown plants display slow growth and show pale-green leaves. Physiological and ultrastructural analyses of atybeY mutants revealed impaired photosynthesis and defective chloroplast development. Fluorescent microcopy analysis showed that, when fused with the green fluorescence protein, AtYbeY is localized in chloroplasts. Immunoblot and RNA gel-blot assays revealed that the levels of chloroplast-encoded subunits of photosynthetic complexes are reduced in atybeY mutants, but the corresponding transcripts accumulate normally. In addition, atybeY mutants display defective maturation of both the 5′ and 3′ ends of 16S, 23S, and 4.5S rRNAs as well as decreased accumulation of mature transcripts from the transfer RNA genes contained in the chloroplast rRNA operon. Consequently, mutant plants show a severe deficiency in ribosome biogenesis, which, in turn, results in impaired plastid translational activity. Furthermore, biochemical assays show that recombinant AtYbeY is able to cleave chloroplast rRNAs as well as messenger RNAs and transfer RNAs in vitro. Taken together, our findings indicate that AtYbeY is a chloroplast-localized endoribonuclease that is required for chloroplast rRNA processing and thus for normal growth and development.


Acute intussusception is a rare manifestation in adults, most often of malignant tumoral origin occurring on a small intestine loop. Its presence in a pregnant woman with a complication such as peritonitis by ileal perforation is an extremely rare case. We report a clinical case concerning a 32-year-old woman, amenorrhoeic for 24 weeks, referred to the general and visceral surgery department of the Ignace Deen National Hospital for acute intestinal obstruction in pregnancy in whom, after performing an X-ray of the abdomen without preparation which revealed mixed hydro-aeric levels and a biological assessment, she was taken to the block, at the celiotomy purulent liquid flowed out and the exploration revealed a pudding of ileo-coeco-colic intussusception whose disinvagination revealed three ileal perforations with respective diameters of 1.5cm, 2cm and 3cm located respectively 10cm, 30cm and 50cm from the ileocecal junction with pre-perforation zones. We performed a resection removing the perforations followed by an end-to-side ascending ileocecal anastomosis. The post-operative course was marred by complications such as evisceration, disembowelment and the birth of a full-term stillborn.


This study's objectives are as follows: (1) to identify the temporal trends in the prevalence and the odds of activities of daily living (ADL) limitations and functional limitations (FLs) among Americans aged 65 and older; (2) to explore if these trends vary by gender and age cohort; (3) to determine if generational differences in educational attainment play a role in the observed temporal trends. A secondary analysis of the American Community Survey (ACS) was conducted for ten consecutive waves of the annual cross-sectional survey (2008–2017). The respondents were community-dwelling and institutionalized adults aged 65 and older (n = 5.4 million). The question on ADLs was "Does this person have difficulty dressing or bathing?". The question on FLs was "Does this person have serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs?". There was a substantial decline over the decade in the prevalence of ADL limitations, from 12.1% to 9.6%, and FLs, from 27.3% to 23.5%. If the 2017 prevalence rates had remained at the same level as the 2008 prevalence rates, there would have been an additional 1.27 million older Americans with ADL limitations and 1.89 million with FLs. Adjusting for educational attainment substantially attenuated the odds of the decline for both ADL limitations and FLs.


This study presents calculation results of the stopping power and range of electrons of kinetic energy from 20 eV to 10 MeV for some human body tissues. The method is based on utilization of the modified Bethe-Bloch stopping power expression and analytical expression for effective atomic electron number and effective mean excitation energies of target atoms, and for effective charge of incoming electrons. For this aim, Sugiyama's semi-empirical formula from Petersen and Green is embedded in the formula. An analytical expression for the practical stopping power calculations using Bethe approximation and Thomas-Fermi Model of atom is taken from the previous study. The calculated results of the stopping power and range for electrons in some materials, such as adipose tissue, bone and water are compared with a number of other calculation such as the Penelope 14 code and ESTAR results. The present electron stopping power and range calculation method should be useful in nuclear medicine, radiation treatment, and biomedical dosimetry.


Diversity means understanding that each individual is unique, and recognizing our individual differences and it involves the following dimensions: race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, physical abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs, or other ideologies. It involves the means of being able to learn from people from all different walks of life, whether it's a difference in culture, religion, education background and you are being exposed to these different experiences and perspectives. Diversity should challenge people to not only be tolerant of others, but to try to learn from them. Each Individual brings diverse perspective, work experience, life style and culture and the strength of diversity is of course a source and driver of innovation, diversity is a "big idea" in University and in the community. Faculty, staff and students of the Catholic University Institute of Buea (CUIB) will be able to experience and learn from their peers in a way that they have never encountered before as a result of this diversity.


Purpose: The objective of current study is to construct validity and reliability of Vestibular Disorders Activities of Daily Life in Turkish language. And also it was aimed to determine effects of symptoms on activities of daily life in patients with vestibular disorders. Methods: Subjects with peripheral vestibular disorders and chronic vertigo complaints were included in the study. Subjects with neurologic, systemic and physical problems and also subjects with acute Meniere disease were excluded from the study. Turkish version of scale was applied to 233 subjects over 18 ages. However, statistical analyses were done with fully completed 175scales. Results: Internal consistency reliability was found to significant for total Cronbach' alpha=0.96; and for subscales of functional=0.92, ambulation=0.93 and instrumental=0.89. Test-retest correlation coefficient was 0.93 for total score (for functional, ambulation and instrumental was 0.85, 0.70 and 0.95). There were no significant difference between applications (p>0.05). Bartlett test (χ2=4640.05; df=300) p=0.00 results were significant and KMO result (0.90) was above the critic value. Factor analysis yielded one factor explaining 57.32 % of variance. The corrected item-total correlation coefficients ranged from 0.64 to 0.86. Significant correlation (r=0.518) was found between Turkish VADL and Turkish DHI (p<0.05). Discussion: Turkish VADL reliability scores were similar to original VADL scores. It was shown that Turkish VADL is a reliable scale in evaluation of adult patients with vertigo and dizziness.


Objectives. To assess participants' knowledge about HIV/AIDS and to identify the factors associated with HIV/AIDS in Sudan. Methods. Observational cross-sectional study carried out at Omdurman National Voluntary Counseling and Testing Centre, Sudan covered 870 participants. Sociodemographic data as well as information related to sexual behavior were collected. Results. Most of the respondents were knowledgeable about the true transmission modes for AIDS virus. Very few respondents knew someone infected with AIDS (4.5%), died of AIDS (8.1%), accepted to live with someone infected with AIDS (4.7%) or to work with someone infected with AIDS (2.1%). Regarding sexual behavior, 96.5% had reported their first sexual experience between 20 and 30 years, with 85.7% reporting one or two partners, and only 1.8% reported using condom. Multivariate logistic regression showed that circumcision, religion, marital status, age at first sex, number of sexual partners, education level, and misconception of knowledge are the main risk factors associated with HIV/AIDS. Conclusion. Our results showed that a number of diversity risk factors were associated with HIV/AIDS. It is unlikely that a holistic approach will be found to immediately change sexual-risk-relating behavior. Interventions including sustained educational programs, promotion of condom, and encouragement of voluntary testing and active involvement of the country's political and religious leaders will be needed to alleviate this problem.


Chloramphenicol succinate ester in doses equivalent to 25, 100 and 250 mg/kg of chloramphenicol were administered by rapid i.v. infusion in a randomized crossover fashion to five adolescent ((18-36 month) male Macaca nemestrina monkeys. Thirteen serum samples and all voided urine were collected over a 5- to 6-hr period. Urinary excretion of unhydrolyzed ester was independent of dose and averaged 26.3 +/- 6.2% of the administered dose. Dose dependency was observed for the elimination rate constant, total body clearance and metabolic clearance of chloramphenicol succinate. Dose dependency was also observed for the apparent volume of distribution, total body clearance, metabolic clearance and time to peak concentration of chloramphenicol. Although significant dose dependency of various pharmacokinetic parameters ws demonstrated, the peak chloramphenicol concentration and the elimination rate constant of chloramphenicol after administration of chloramphenicol succinate showed no significant dose-dependent changes. Therefore, peak chloramphenicol concentrations would be expected to reflect changes in dose in a linear or proportional manner.


Introduction: Neonatal tracheal intubation (TI) outcomes have been assessed by role, but training level may impact TI success and safety. Effect of physician training level (PTL) on the first-attempt success, adverse TI-associated events (TIAEs), and oxygen desaturation was assessed. Methods: Prospective cohort study in 11 international NEAR4NEOS sites between October 2014 and December 2017. Primary TIs performed by pediatric/neonatal physicians were included. Univariable analysis evaluated association between PTL, patient/practice characteristics, and outcomes. Multivariable analysis with generalized estimating equation assessed for independent association between PTL and outcomes (first-attempt success, TIAEs, and oxygen desaturation ≥20%; attending as reference). Results: Of 2,608 primary TIs, 1,298 were first attempted by pediatric/neonatal physicians. PTL was associated with patient age, weight, comorbidities, TI indication, difficult airway history, premedication, and device. First-attempt success rate differed across PTL (resident 23%, fellow 53%, and attending 60%; p < 0.001). There was no statistically significant difference in TIAEs (resident 22%, fellow 20%, and attending 25%; p = 0.34). Desaturation occurred more frequently with residents (60%), compared to fellows and attendings (46 and 53%; p < 0.001). In multivariable analysis, adjusted odds ratio of the first-attempt success was 0.18 (95% CI: 0.11–0.30) for residents and 0.80 (95% CI: 0.51–1.24) for fellows. PTL was not independently associated with adjusted odds of TIAEs or severe oxygen desaturation. Conclusion: Higher PTL was associated with increased first-attempt success but not TIAE/oxygen desaturation. Identifying strategies to decrease adverse events during neonatal TI remains critical.


One of the main goals of any (sustainability) indicator should be the communication of a clear, unambiguous, and simplified message about the status of the analyzed system. The selected indicator is expected to declare explicitly how its numerical value depicts a situation, for example, positive or negative, sustainable or unsustainable, especially when a comparison among similar or competitive systems is performed. This aspect should be a primary and discriminating issue when the selection of a set of opportune indicators is operated. The Ecological Footprint (EF) has become one of the most popular and widely used sustainability indicators. It is a resource accounting method with an area based metric in which the units of measure are global hectares or hectares with world average bio-productivity. Its main goal is to underline the link between the (un)sustainability level of a product, a system, an activity or a population life style, with the land demand for providing goods, energy, and ecological services needed to sustain that product, system, activity, or population. Therefore, the traditional rationale behind the message of EF is: the larger EF value, the larger environmental impact in terms of resources use, the lower position in the sustainability rank. The aim of this paper was to investigate if this rationale is everywhere opportune and unambiguous, or if sometimes its use requires paying a special attention. Then, a three-dimensional modification of the classical EF framework for the sustainability evaluation of a product has been proposed following a previous work by Niccolucci and co-authors (2009). Finally, the potentialities of the model have been tested by using a case study from the agricultural context.


In horses, the use of a positive reinforcement as a food reward has been shown to enhance learning performances and to promote a positive relation to the trainer. Here, we investigated whether grooming at the whither, known to induce a decrease in the groomee's heart rate, could be used as a primary reinforcement, by comparing it to a food reward. Twenty Konik horses (9 females, 11 males), aged 1-2 years, with no previous learning experience and no contact with humans, except for feeding, were trained to remain immobile in response to a vocal command. Training was performed 5 minutes per day for 6 days. Horses were allocated to one of two training groups: in the food-reward group (FR: n=10), the trainer hand-gave a piece of carrot to the horse after it responded correctly, while in the grooming-group (GR: n=10), the trainer scratched the horse's wither. Duration of immobility and trainer-directed behaviours were continuously recorded. The results indicate that: (1) using food rewards facilitated learning (duration of immobility: P<0.05), whereas grooming rewards led to lower performances; (2) the type of reward has a clear effect on the horse's attentional state during training. While no difference between both groups were scored in the first days of training, on the last day the FR group spent more time monitoring (i.e. head rotations towards the trainer), more time gazing at and expressed more investigative behaviours towards the trainer (e.g. sniffing) than the GR group (MW, P<0.05 in all cases). In conclusion, these results suggest that the use of a food reward is associated with an increase of motivation, leading to a better efficiency in promoting learning that may well have been mediated by attentional factors, while alternative such as scratching (usually use in training techniques) appears less efficient.


The kink instability is one of the major beam dynamics issues of the linac-ring based electron ion collider. This head-tail type instability arises from the oscillation of the electron beam inside the opposing ion beam. It must be suppressed to achieve the desired luminosity. There are various ways to suppress the instability, such as tuning the chromaticity in the ion ring or by a dedicated feedback system of the electron beam position at IP, etc. However, each method has its own limitation. In this paper, we will discuss an alternative opportunity of suppressing the kink instability of the proposed eRHIC at BNL using the existing pickup-kicker system of the stochastic cooling system in RHIC.


MicroRNAs, a class of small and non-encoding RNAs that transcriptionally or post-transcriptionally modulate the expression of their target genes, have been implicated as critical regulatory molecules in ischemia-/reperfusion-induced cardiac injury. In the present study, we report on the role of miR-208a in myocardial I/R injury and the underlying cardio-protective mechanism. The gain-of-function and loss-of-function were used to explore the effects of miR-208a on cardiac injury induced by H2O2 in cardiomyocytes. As predicted, knockdown of endogenous miR-208a significantly decreased the level of cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reduced cardiomyocyte apoptosis. In addition, miR-208a overexpression increased the ROS level and attenuated cell apoptosis in cardiomyocytes. Furthermore, protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor type G (PTPRG) and protein tyrosine phosphatase, non-receptor type 4 (PTPN4), which participate in regulating the level of cellular protein tyrosine phosphorylation balance, were predicted and verified as potential miR-208a targets using bioinformatics and luciferase assay. In summary, this study demonstrated that miR-208a plays a critical protective role in ROS-induced cardiac apoptosis.


A general model is presented for predicting entrainment conditions for nonuniform, noncohesive sediments. The model is based on an analysis of the moments of forces acting on a particle at the condition of incipient motion. Particle geometry and packing arrangement are accounted for as well as variations of near bed flow velocity and drag and lift coefficients for a wide range of flow conditions. Model predictions agree well with laboratory and field measurements for uniform sediments and for protrusion and relative size effects.


Background By aging, many changes occur in the different components of the locomotor system, leading to a pathological situation such as osteoarthritis or remaining totally asymptomatic. Objectives The aim of the current study was to compare,via ultrasound, the entheseal changes in two groups of people having different ages by calculating a modified Madrid sonography enthesitis index. Methods The study was conducted in the rheumatology department of Mongi Slim hospital in Tunisia, between June 2015 and December 2016, including 17 healthy subjects. We indentified two groups: (G1) 9 persons aged >50 years [51–68] and (G2) 8 persons aged ≤50 years-old [37–50]. All the included persons underwent an enthesis ultrasound exploration (EsaoteMyLab 60 machine and a 13–18 MHz linear array transducer) by a rheumatogist experimented in ultrasound. Five enthesis locations bilaterally (distal Achilles tendon, distal andproximal patellar ligaments, distal quadriceps, and brachial triceps tendons) in each person were explored.The following elemental lesions of enthesis were evaluated: thickness, presence of calcifications, erosions,enthesophyte, loss of fibrillar patternand power Doppler signal. The calculated index was compared by Mann-Whitney U test between cases and controls. The significance level was set at 5%. Results In our study population, the median age was 51.8±2.3 years and the median body mass index was 30±1 kg/m2. This last was similar between the two groups. All included subjects were female. The total enthesitis index was higher in G1 (6.67±0.91)than G2 (3.50±0.73) with a statistically significant difference (p=0.01). Considering each evaluated enthesis, the distal patellar ligament score was significantly higher in the G1 (1.67±0.55 vs 0.25±0.16 with p=0.03). For the other enthesis, there was no significantly difference between the 2 groups. Conclusions The distal patellar ligament enthesis changes shown in older persons may be the traduction of a silent-stage of knee osteoarthritis. Disclosure of Interest None declared


Inbred C3H/HEN mice were shown to develop a specific immunity to a spontaneously arising adenocarcinoma as well as to a methylcholanthrene-induced fibrosarcoma when the tumors were allowed to grow temporarily in their hind limb. The resistance in the spontaneous carcinoma system was less than in the fibrosarcoma system. In each case the immunity produced was specific for the immunizing tumor, and no cross-immunity was observed. Animals challenged shortly after removal of their immunizing tumor and animals in which the immunizing tumor was not removed did not exhibit any resistance toward a second tumor transplant.

Whether other spontaneous mammary carcinomas and methylcholanthrene-induced sarcomas will behave similarly requires further investigation. The results reported in this paper may apply only to the specific tumors studied.


The determination of luminescence quantum yields by means of relative methods requires setting identical experimental conditions for both sample and reference compounds. This requirement has a critical impact on the applicability of these protocols, as it does not allow for the precise determination of low quantum-yield values using well-characterized high-quantum-yield standards. We show that using the simultaneous absorption and fluorescence-emission measurement (SAFE) approach [ Nawara and Waluk. Anal. Chem. 2017 , 89 , 8650 ], the sample and reference compounds can be effectively measured with different excitation-slit spectral bandpass or integration times, separately optimized for each chromophore. This unique feature simplifies the determination of luminescence quantum yields, allowing measurements of low quantum-yield values using well-characterized high-quantum-yield standards.


AIMS
To determine individual and work environment characteristics associated with the occurrence of errors in Korean public hospitals.

BACKGROUND
Medical errors are affected by individual and work environment characteristics. Few studies have examined the factors influencing medical errors, including perceptions of safety climate and individual and organisational characteristics.

DESIGN
A survey.

METHODS
A questionnaire was distributed to 2358 nurses in 33 public hospitals to collect information on the frequency of errors, perceptions of safety climate and general characteristics of the participants. Data on hospital characteristics were obtained from the Regional Public Hospital Profile. The response rate was 89·7%. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the factors influencing the occurrence of errors.

RESULTS
Of the participants, 19% reported having made at least one error in the previous year. Nurses with better perceptions of workgroup- (OR = 0·73) and organisation- (OR = 0·69) level safety climate were less likely to make errors. Nurses with less than 3 years of nursing experience (OR = 2·05) were more likely to make errors than those with ten years or more. Nurses working at Red Cross hospitals (OR = 1·63) and in rural areas (OR = 2·04) were more likely to make errors than those at Regional Medical Centres and in urban areas, respectively.

CONCLUSION
The factors associated with the occurrence of errors were perceived safety climate, years of nursing experience and hospitals' ownership and location.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE
Public hospital executives and nurse managers should be actively involved in creating a strong safety climate. Furthermore, training programmes and managerial support focussed on improving patient safety and directed at less experienced nurses, especially those working at Red Cross hospitals in rural areas, need to be emphasised to prevent errors.


Physical and chemical traits of grass tillers can be strongly correlated. Understanding such patterns would help define physiological development of tillers and changes in quality of forage in Sandhills grasses. Physical and chemical traits were quantified for sand bluestem (Andropogon hallii Hack.), prairie sandreed [Calamovilfa longifolia (Hook.) Scribn.], and little bluestem [Andropogon scoparius (Michx.)] on 3 sites at 4 times (mid-June, July, August, and October) during the 1990 and 1991 growing seasons. Thirty tillers were identified along two, 50-m transects (30 tillers/species/transect) within each site and tiller growth stage, length, and erectness determined. Tiller weight was defined from plants collected within 20 quadrats/site. Protein content, in vitro dry-matter digestibility (IVDMD), hemicellulose, total cell wall, acid detergent fiber (ADF), lignin, ash, total chlorophyll, and nonstructural carbohydrates (TNC) were determined on plant materials representing the dominant growth stages. Relationships among traits of the 3 species were determined by Spearman's rank correlation, and among linear combinations of sets of chemical and physical traits by canonical correlation analysis. Tiller length, weight, and growth stage were positively correlated (P < 0.05) and increased with length of growing season. Crude protein, digestibility, hemicellulose and chlorophyll were positively correlated and declined, but negatively correlated with lignin and ash. Significant (P < 0.05) correlations between the first canonical variates indicated a strong relationship between tiller maturity/architectural development (physical canonical variate) and forage quality (chemical canonical variate) was present, and large portions of variance in the original variables was defined. Results of this study defined large-scale multi-dimensional relationships between declining forage quality and increasing tiller maturity/architectural development, previously noted in many univariate analyses of limited sets of characteristics.


In order to control pest attack on the stored grainst entomologist throughout the world worked to find out effective device against these pests. Mostly synthetic drugs are used for control of these pests, which tough were effective, but at the same time they proved very dangerous, as they created extreme environmental hazards. These synthetic pesticides are mostly non-degradible and hence cause water and soil pollutions, as well as human health problems. Insecticidal activity of S. asper showed that the ethanolic extracts of leaf and root have significant effect as compared to aqueous extracts and the effect of leaf ethanolic extract is higher than the root extracts. At 1000 μg/ml leaf ethanolic extract showed 100% lethality of Tribolium cataneum. It is therefore, concluded that like other many plants, Sonchus asper has a great potential to be exploited as an effective insecticide.


Objectives: The major short comings of WPT are power loss, magnetic field interference and heat emission. The proposed methodology addresses the issues encountered in the traditional wireless power transmission systems. Methods/Statistical Analysis: An Automated Battery Backup Approach (ABBA) is proposed here to initiate and terminate wireless charging system in auto mode. In this automated power transfer technique the battery pack device is knowledgeable of its own to take its decision based on the battery status. Findings: The exploration of electronic devices that ranges from handheld mobiles to unmanned vehicles and moving industrial robots, demand for wireless charging system. These nodes require to be instantly charged with dynamic energy. WPT (Wireless Power Transfer) is an effective strategy of transferring the electrical power from the source to the destination load that needs to be connected without wires. Many recent works in this area have discussed methods for improving efficiency and to prevent loss of power. The resistive heat in WPT is more than that of in direct contact charging, as continuous charging of the device happen even the battery being fully charged. Sometimes it causes short circuit damages and the battery will get easily damaged. Due to these issues of WPT the battery lifetime is also reduced. Applications/Improvements: The proposed ABBA methodology ensures a complete, fast, and safe charging mechanism for the battery backup process. This significant strategy is very much suitable for industrial environment to automate the process of transferring electric energy to the industrial gadgets or devices like unmanned vehicles and robots, based on the consumption of power.


Rice is the main food for most people of Indonesia. Level of rice consumption in
Indonesia reached 139 kg/capita/year. This value is very high when compared to other
countries such as Japan 45 kg/capita/year, Malaysia 80 kg/capita/year and Thailand 90 kg/
capita/year. This data shows that Indonesia relies heavily on one of the foodstuffs. To meet the
needs of the rice Indonesia to import as much as 24 929 tons of rice (Anon, 2004a; Santosa,
2016).
Toreduce dependence of rice and imfort, so that food diversification program by using
local food, like cassava is one alternative that can be done. Diversification of staple food have
to do with the development and introduction of alternative materials substitute of rice that
resembles rice in both form and content of nutrients.
Cassava (Manihotesculenta) is a kind of tubers that contain high carbohydrates with low levels
of amylose and high amylopectin contents so it can be used as food source of carbohydrates
instead of rice (Rismayani, 2007).
Diversification of food made people more healty. In addition, diversification is able to
create new jobs with the growth of small-midlebusinesswhich process foodstuffs and
increasing of agricultural land planted non-rice crops. In an effort to support national food
security so diversification program of the utilization of local food as a source of carbohydrate
as one of cassava need to be developed. One of the products processed from cassava material
that was developed is "analog rice".
According to Yuwono, et al., (2013), rice analog is one form of diversification of staple
foods prepared from carbohydrate-based raw material with the addition of certain substances
to improve the quality of staple foods. Product diversification is expected to support national
food security program to reduce rice consumption level without making major changes in
people's eating traditions.
Keywords: rice, diversification, food security, analog rice


Two distinct systems, goal-directed and habitual, support decision making. It has recently been hypothesized that this distinction may arise from two computational mechanisms, model-based and model-free reinforcement learning, neuronally implemented in frontostriatal circuits involved in learning and behavioral control. Here, we test whether the relative strength of anatomical connectivity within frontostriatal circuits accounts for variation in human individuals' reliance on model-based and model-free control. This hypothesis was tested by combining diffusion tensor imaging with a multistep decision task known to distinguish model-based and model-free control in humans. We found large interindividual differences in the degree of model-based control, and those differences are predicted by the structural integrity of white-matter tracts from the ventromedial prefrontal cortex to the medial striatum. Furthermore, an analysis based on masking out of bottom-up tracts suggests that this effect is driven by top-down influences from ventromedial prefrontal cortex to medial striatum. Our findings indicate that individuals with stronger afferences from the ventromedial prefrontal cortex to the medial striatum are more likely to rely on a model-based strategy to control their instrumental actions. These findings suggest a mechanism for instrumental action control through which medial striatum determines, at least partly, the relative contribution of model-based and model-free systems during decision-making according to top-down model-based information from the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. These findings have important implications for understanding the neural circuitry that might be susceptible to pathological computational processes in impulsive/compulsive psychiatric disorders. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Scholars from several disciplines have long been interested in the neural mechanisms of decision-making. An influential suggestion has structured decision-making into a flexible but expensive model-based system, and a more rapid but also more rigid model-free system. Here, we show that anatomical properties of the connections between frontal and striatal regions predict the use of a model-based system when individuals make decisions. Individuals with stronger top-down connectivity from the ventromedial prefrontal cortex to the medial striatum were more likely to rely on a model-based strategy during decision-making, suggesting that the ventromedial prefrontal cortex biases a striatal balance between model-based and model-free control. These findings qualify the neural implementation of decision-making computations and open the way for understanding decision-making pathologies.


abstract:This article comparatively explores the reception of Sergiu Nicolaescu's film Zile fierbinți (Hot Days, 1975) in socialist and postsocialist Romania and China. Received as a propagandistic film in one postsocialist context, the film is understood as a gesture toward social change in another. While the film began to be considered a paragon of propagandistic indoctrination in Romania after the fall of communism, in China Nicolaescu's work was and continues to be interpreted as a celebration of the individual under socialism and, at the time of its screening, resonated with the restructuring of the communist system during the Deng Xiaoping reform era. Drawing on 1970s Romanian film criticism, the author shows that the postsocialist-era reading of the film's protagonist as an authoritarian symbol of Romania's political dictatorship misses that socialist realism and the film de actualitate genres played an important role in negotiating a working-class response to the one-party state, while also gesturing toward certain reforms of Romanian state socialism. The author also reinterprets the figure of the film's protagonist, the socialist leader, as an invitation for more active political engagement and as a symbol of the potential restructuring of the Romanian economy along the more progressive lines of Yugoslavia's "worker self-management" and Hungary's "Gulash Communism."


In our globalizing world, the geographical locations of food production and consumption are becoming increasingly disconnected, which increases reliance on external resources and their trade. We quantified to what extent water and land constraints limit countries' capacities, at present and by 2050, to produce on their own territory the crop products that they currently import from other countries. Scenarios of increased crop productivity and water use, cropland expansion (excluding areas prioritized for other uses) and population change are accounted for. We found that currently 16% of the world population use the opportunities of international trade to cover their demand for agricultural products. Population change may strongly increase the number of people depending on ex situ land and water resources up to about 5.2 billion (51% of world population) in the SRES A2r scenario. International trade will thus have to intensify if population growth is not accompanied by dietary change towards less resource-intensive products, by cropland expansion, or by productivity improvements, mainly in Africa and the Middle East. Up to 1.3 billion people may be at risk of food insecurity in 2050 in present low-income economies (mainly in Africa), if their economic development does not allow them to afford productivity increases, cropland expansion and/or imports from other countries.


In 2012, the U.S. FDA approved the first drug for use as HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), which is nearly 99% effective when taken as prescribed. Although the manifest function of PrEP is to prevent HIV infection in the event of exposure, the drug has also had a significant impact on various facets of sexuality. In this review, we focus on research that emerged in the near decade since PrEP's approval, with a specific focus on the ways in which different elements of sex and sexuality have been impacted by gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM), cisgender women, and transgender individuals. We highlight evidence showing how PrEP has enhanced sexual self-esteem, improved sexual pleasure, reduced sexual anxiety, and has increased sexual agency for those taking it. For many, PrEP also serves as a gateway to improve routine health and increase sexual health-care utilization. Additionally, we review the question of whether PrEP is associated with increased sexual risk taking (i.e. risk compensation), and note that, although some data are mixed, PrEP is not intended as an intervention to reduce condomless anal sex or STIs: it aims to prevent HIV. Finally, our review highlights that, although the volume of research on PrEP among GBMSM is robust, it is underdeveloped for cisgender women and transgender populations and insufficient for inclusion in such a review for cisgender heterosexual men was. PrEP research with these populations is an important direction for future research. Finally, from 2012 to 2019, a single PrEP formulation and delivery method was FDA approved (oral emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate). As additional drug formulations (ie.g., emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide) and delivery methods (e.g., microbiocides, vaginal ring, injectable) come to market, it will be important to examine how these, too, impact the spectrum of sexuality.


The purpose was to study the New York State Office of Mental Health's Core Curriculum training program. The 3-day program included recipient recovery principles, team training, cultural competence, clinical issues, and safety. Exit questionnaires were completed by 3,732 staff members. Additionally, samples of staff and recipients of inpatient care completed pre- and posttraining questionnaires and the Ward Atmosphere Scale. Staff sampled also completed the Work Environment Scale. The training was well attended and well received. There were statistically significant increases in communication and interaction, respect for recipients of inpatient care, and increases in cultural competence levels.


The cellular exudates in skin windows of 10 normal controls, 3 patients with myeloblastic leukemia, 3 patients with acute monocytic leukemia and 4 patients with symptomatic monocytosis were evaluated by cytochemical methods (naphthol-AS-esterase, acid phosphatase, naphthylamidase, sudan-black B) and by immunofluorescence using a specific antiserum against human lysozyme. Monocytes and derived cells were identified by their content of characteristic NaF (1.5 mg./ml.) -sensitive naphthol-AS-esterase, whose presence was demonstrated by a double incubation method. After an initial decrease, corresponding to degranulation, the acid hydrolases appeared again in the Golgi zone. Macrophages with NaF-sensitive esterase and strong lysosomal enzyme activities became apparent after 12-16 hours, and there was no indication of a development of these cells from lymphocytes. In myeloblastic leukemia and symptomatic monocytosis the cellular exudate was comparable to that of normal humans. In monocytic leukemia an early exudation, predominantly of monocytoid cells, (instead of granulocytes) was a consistent finding. The transformation of monocytoid cells to typical macrophages with an increase of the lysosomal enzymes occurred with enzyme activities remaining lower than in normals.


Commercial optical coherence tomography (OCT) instruments generally use light sources in the range of 800 to 860 nm. Although imaging with these light sources provides excellent visualization of the retinal architecture, details of structures and abnormalities below the retinal pigment epithelium are often limited. At the same time, the optimal light source wavelength for clinical OCT imaging is unknown. OCT imaging using longer wavelength light (1,050 nm) has several potential advantages, including less scattering with media opacity and deeper penetration. This article reviews the current state-of-the-art of long wavelength OCT imaging and explores potential clinical applications.


Fermented wine is a complex process including many chain reactions to convert sugar into alcohol, CO2, the byproduct and energy. Fermentation processes and product quality depend on the fermentation conditions. The objective of this study is to find the a good condition for effective fermentation to produce good quality distillation and less toxins and impurities. Currently, the production technology of wine or beer in the world and in Vietnam is diverse, there are many different techniques to optimize production in order to create optimal products. Each technology depends on the scale of production, climatic characteristics, materials, strains used in fermentation,.... On this topic we focus on some basic factors affect on fermentation alcohol use barley malt, yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae MS42 include: pH, temperature, concentration SO2 in the fluid of fermentation, the yeast cell count to the initial seed, sugar, kinetics of fermentation alcohol barley malt on the medium. The creteria for selection of optimal factors is based on the production of alcohol, toxic compounds, contaminants, cell biomass. The products produced sensory board for evaluation, combined analysis of chromatography on toxin components and impurities according to standard TCVN 7043: 2013. Carry out the fermentation experiments in 1000ml of fluid to determine optimal conditions, then perform experimental fermentation under the conditions of industrial production on a 500 liter scale. The optimal conditions for barley malt fermentaion by S. cerevisiae MS42 was: medium pH= 4.5-5.0; To= 25-30oC; K2S2O5: 0.2 - 0.3 (g/l); the starting seed: 7-10%; sugar content: 140 – 160 g/l; fermentation time for 132 to 138 hours.