BACKGROUND
It has been suggested that the frictional resistance of ceramic brackets can be reduced by either lining the slots with stainless steel or by contouring the base of the slot.

OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this investigation were to compare in vitro the static and kinetic frictional resistances of ceramic brackets with metal lined slots ("Clarity", CL), stainless steel brackets ("Miniature Twin", MT), and two ceramic brackets with different slot designs ("Contour", CO; "Transcend", TR).

METHOD
Two sizes (0.018 x 0.025 inch; 0.021 x 0.025 inch) of stainless steel (SS), nickel titanium (NiTi) and beta titanium (beta-Ti) wires were drawn through the brackets. All brackets had 0.022 inch slots, and the brackets and wires were used once. The brackets were of different widths: CL, 0.180 inch; CO, 0.114 inch; MT, 0.118 inch; TR, 0.138 inch. An Instron Universal Testing Machine was used in this study.

RESULTS
There were no significant static or kinetic frictional differences when the smaller 0.018 x 0.025 inch wires were drawn through the brackets. There were no statistically significant static or kinetic frictional differences between the CL-CO, CL-MT and CO-MT bracket pairs when the 0.021 x 0.025 inch wires (SS, NiTi, beta-Ti) were used. There were no significant kinetic frictional resistance differences between the CL-TR and MT-TR when the SS wires were used. In general the static and kinetic resistances of the 0.021 x 0.025 inch wires of NiTi wire < SS wire < beta-Ti wire. Regardless of wire type some of the lowest kinetic resistances were found with the narrow CO brackets with the rounded slot bases. The highest static and kinetic frictional resistances were found with the wide TR bracket, and with stainless steel and beta-Ti wires.

CONCLUSION
The high static and kinetic frictional resistances of ceramic brackets can be reduced either by lining the slots with stainless steel or by reducing the bracket width and rounding the slot base.


Mycobacterium xenopiis an environmental pathogen responsible for pulmonary infections and tuberculosis-like disease typically found in patients with previous pulmonary disease. A sequence typing (ST) scheme was developed to classify and analyze sixteen isolates obtained from a prospective clinical study and subsequently extended to include five additional clinical isolates. Twenty housekeeping genes were sequenced and inspected for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Seven targets including atpD, fusA1, glnA1, pheT, secA1, topA, and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region were selected for continuing ST analysis, using the type strain ATCC 19250T as reference. Three isolates contained SNPs in glnA1 and pheT while the remaining 13 isolates displayed SNPs in topA. Consistency was observed with topA SNPs exclusively present in ITS subgroups B, C, and BC whereas glnA1and pheT SNPs were only evident in ITS A. Among the sixteen clinical isolates obtained from the prospective study, strain types (ST) ST4 and ST7 were most prevalent. Two patients with pulmonary symptoms, each with two isolates collected three months apart, displayed identical sequences in all target genes suggesting persistence of the strain causing infection rather than reinfection. We have described seven SNPs in six targets (atpD, secA1, fusA1, glnA1, pheT and topA) and ITS, which provide a typing tool to analyze relatedness between strains and a foundation for a genotypic phylogenetic comparison. This typing scheme represents a basic tool that facilitates the comparison of
M. xenopi strains to investigate the source and transmission dynamics between patients and their environment.


The variation of crystal system and conduction behavior of perovskite superconductor, BaPb 0.75 Bi 0.25 O 3-δ , with oxygen deficiency was studied. The crystal system of BaPb 0.75 Bi 0.25 O 3-δ changed from orthorhombic through tetragonal to pseudo-cubic as δ increases. The superconducting transition was observed in the specimens with the orthorhombic phase. Oxygen-deficient specimens with tetragonal or pseudo-cubic symmetry did not show a superconducting transition. The increase in electrical resistivity was also observed with an increase in δ, which suggested decrease of electron carrier mobility with the increase in δ. This effect of oxygen deficiency on conduction behavior of BaPb 0.75 Bi 0.25 O 3-δ showed contrast with those of the superconducting cuprates, in which carrier concentration is affected instead of carrier mobility. The difference in the effects of oxygen deficiency on conduction behavior could be attributed to the difference of crystal structure between BaPb 0.75 Bi 0.25 O 3-δ and superconducting cuprates.


Based on our experience in the design and construction of interactive resource reallocation systems, we argue about the advisability of interactive visualization as a means to increase the effectiveness of an intelligent system and we present a generic framework for solving rescheduling problems. A presentation of a flight rescheduling systems we have built, serves as the main implementation example of our proposed paradigm. We explain the specific visualization methods employed in the system and how visualization, coupled with artificial intelligence techniques, can aid in the difficult task of resource allocation.


The coal combustion by‐product, dry bottom ash, originates from the burning of pulverized coal to produce electricity. Currently, almost all of the pulverized coal combustion (PCC) dry bottom ash is being dumped into ash ponds and landfills. Some of the ash ponds are reaching their maximum capacity and there is an immediate need for alternative measures to either dispose of or utilize the coal combustion by‐products for construction purposes. Within the past five years, several studies have investigated the use of PCC dry bottom ash in concrete and concrete products. However, its use in geotechnical applications is very limited. The physical properties of Illinois PCC dry bottom ash are similar to that of natural sand with particle sizes ranging from fine gravel to fine sand. Shear strength characteristics of soils, or materials similar to soils, are the most important parameters needed for the design of any geotechnical engineering project. Therefore, this study was initiated to develop understanding of the shear behavior of Illinois PCC dry bottom ash so that its potential use in geotechnical engineering applications could be accessed. This paper presents the results of an experimental study conducted to develop the technical data on shear strength characteristics of Illinois PCC dry bottom ash amended with bentonite.


Citric acid is one of the most versatile industrial organic acids that are used in food industries, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals products. This work aimed to produce citric acid by Candida lipolytica under submerged fermentation conditions using a Plackett-Burman design. Twelve factors including pH, concentration of sodium acetate, magnesium sulfate, Ammonium chloride, potassium phosphate, ferric sulfate, manganese sulfate, zinc sulfate, yeast extract, glucose, aeration ratio and incubation time at a temperature of 30°C were tested as main variables affecting citric acid production using Plackett-Burman design. The results indicated that pH (7), concentration of sodium acetate (10g/L), magnesium sulfate (1.5g/L), potassium phosphate (5g/L), ammonium chloride (3g/L), ferric sulfate(140mg/L), manganese sulfate (50 mg/L), zinc sulfate (80 mg/L), yeast extract (5g/L), glucose (150g/L), aeration ratio(75ml medium/ flask250ml) and incubation period of 7 days were the most effective factors for the highest yield of citric acid production. The highest citric acid concentration was 22.8 g/L of the medium under the previously mentioned conditions.


Sweden is one of the countries where residential prices have been growing since late 1990s. On average, residential prices were growing by 6.5% p.a. between 1995 and 2017 with a few exceptions after the financial crisis of 2008 and during debt crisis in Europe in 2011. In the late 2017 and following 2018 residential prices were stagnating. Can these fluctuations in prices be explained by fundamental factors of supply and demand?The aim of this paper is to investigate the effects of macroeconomic factors such as population, disposable income, dwelling stock and interest rate on residential price dynamics. Estimation is done by applying panel data methodology on regional data for major Swedish cities for the period of 1995-2018. Results suggest that the long run dynamics of residential prices in Sweden has autoregressive character, and to certain extent might be explained by changes in fundamental factors such as population, disposable income per capita, dwelling stock and mortgage interest rate. Even though non-fundamental factors like, for example, rental regulations, valuation and banking policies have received attention in the research literature, the impact of these factors is not well described. Therefore, this paper also provides a deeper insight into different institutional factors that might create fluctuations in prices on residential markets.


A meticulous post-mortem review was undertaken in the department of forensic medicine at the Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC) to find out trends in homicides during the period 1992-1996. Standard procedures for autopsies and a review of the inquest papers were carried out. Out of 3,886 medico-legal autopsies performed in the department during the said period, only 232 cases (5.9%) were homicidal deaths. The commonest age group of the victims was 21-30 years (38%). Males were victimized three times more often than females. The incidence of crime was slightly more at night than in the daytime, though evenly distributed during the winter and summer seasons. In our series, sharp weapon injuries were the most common type (34.9%) followed by blunt force injuries (15.9%). Defence wounds were present in 35 cases (15%). Violent rage/quarrel was the motive in 61 cases (29%).


In order to investigate the electronic and magnetic structures of each atomic layer at subsurface, we have proposed a new method, Auger electron diffraction spectroscopy, which is the combination of x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and Auger electron diffraction (AED) techniques. We have measured a series of Ni LMM AED patterns of the Ni film grown on Cu(001) surface for various thicknesses. Then we deduced a set of atomic-layer-specific AED patterns in a numerical way. Furthermore, we developed an algorithm to disentangle XANES spectra from different atomic layers using these atomic-layer-specific AED patterns. Surface and subsurface core level shift were determined for each atomic layer.


Peat is used as rooting medium in greenhouse horticulture. Biochar is a sustainable alternative for the use of peat, which will reduce peat derived carbon dioxide emissions. Biochar in potting soil mixtures allegedly increases water storage, nutrient supply, microbial life and disease suppression but this depends on feedstock and the production process. The aim of this paper is to find combinations of feedstock and production circumstances which will deliver biochars with value for the horticultural end user. Low-temperature (600 °C–750 °C) gasification was used for combined energy and biochar generation. Biochars produced were screened in laboratory tests and selected biochars were used in plant experiments. Tests included dry bulk density, total pore space, specific surface area, phytotoxicity, pH, EC, moisture characteristics and microbial stability. We conclude that biochars from nutrient-rich feedstocks are too saline and too alkaline to be applied in horticultural rooting media. Biochars from less nutrient-rich feedstocks can be conveniently neutralized by mixing with acid peat. The influence of production parameters on specific surface area, pH, total pore space and toxicity is discussed. Biochar mildly improved the survival of beneficial micro-organisms in a mix with peat. Overall, wood biochar can replace at least 20% v/v of peat in potting soils without affecting plant growth.


There is need of exploring the knowledge about energy management system which is used in HEV to enhance its performance and meet the demand of driver and vehicle also reduces pollution, fuel depletion and carbon emission. Also in order to provide better efficiency, power management system plays a important role in HEV operation. Several power management techniques are available for real time application and can provide better efficiency for different driving condition. Rule based methods and Optimization based methods focused here. In rule-based methods, methods are easily implemented and are very simple in real time but cannot provide best of optimality whereas in optimized based methods, it can provide better results but at high cost of high computational requirements and price. Thus, in this reviewbased paper we will brief about the latest trend of EMS and power system requirement that are based upon rule based and optimization based and will highlight on pros and cons.. Another method is Pontryagin's Minimum Principle (PMP) which research the intent of the driver and the operation state identification of HEV based on Markov theory, in full consideration of the people-vehicle-road influence on power management system and problem of optimum solution in power management in case of variation of real operating problem is eliminated.


OBJECTIVE
To determine whether micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) could be used to reconstruct ancient dental anatomy accurately and differentiate the enamel from the dentin, as well as to verify whether micro-CT could detect tooth disorders such as attrition or caries accurately.

METHODS
Micro-CT imaging was performed, using a cone-beam micro-CT specimen scanner, on a 500-year-old human tooth found in a burial jar in the Cardomom Mountains in southwestern Cambodia.

RESULTS
The occlusal surface of the tooth showed marked attrition, with the dentin extending close to the enamel layer on the crown. In addition to this, micro-CT images depicted calculus on the buccal surface and a cervical root caries lesion present on the distal surface. The sclerotic zone of the carious lesion (located deep in the destroyed dentin) and the dentin were effectively differentiated through excellent resolution and superior tissue contrast of the volume data set. Axial slices from apical to coronal show the carious lesion extending vertically along the dentin-enamel junction with an intact outer enamel surface.

CONCLUSION
Micro-CT is a reproducible, nondestructive and highly accurate technique that can be successfully applied to the study of ancient teeth.


Instruction-level simulation is the basis for much research in computer architecture. Typically, the simulators used for this type of research are verified by comparing the outputs of a simulated benchmark program and the outputs of the same program when run on a real machine - the simulator is "verified" if the outputs are the same. In the case of some benchmark programs, however it is possible that significant fractions of the benchmark would not be executed due to minor differences or errors in the simulator, which would limit the usefulness of the results of the simulations. This paper presents a novel method for verifying instruction-level simulators via step-by-step register state comparison to a hardware implementation. A description of a sample implementation of this verification method is presented, along with a discussion of specific implementation issues. The verification speed of 1000-5000 instructions per second on a 300 MHz MIPS R12000 is a concern, but possible ways to address this limitation are described.


In the second half of the eighteenth century a lot of occasional poems were published in Vilnius. Their authors were often representatives of various orders: the Piarists, the Jesuits, the Basilians, the Dominicans. Name day poems enjoyed great popularity, which was influenced by the intensive development of various forms of social life. Name day poems were part of "home muse" or family poetry. The authors often addressed their works to representatives of the political and official elite of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, who played an important role in the public and political life of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The poems were more often devoted to the representatives of the male lineage due to their social status and functions, although it happened that women, especially representatives of influential families in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, were also the recipients of these poems. The article discusses an occasional work by a priest Dominik Zablocki, Dominican friar, devoted to Countess Teresa Barbara Pacowa of the Dukes of Radziwills – a lady of the Austrian Order of the Starry Cross. The poem describes her personal merits, the merits of her husband and family, referring to the rich symbolism of the coat of arms of the Pac, the Radziwill and the Zawisza families from which Teresa Pacowa's mother was descended. This piece of work undoubtedly belongs to the group of texts that were addressed to a wider audience and performed a political and propaganda function.


Proceedings: AACR 106th Annual Meeting 2015; April 18-22, 2015; Philadelphia, PA

Background: Molecular alterations in the fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) pathway occur in breast cancer. FGFR1 gene amplification is found in ∼10% of ER+ breast cancers, where it is associated with early recurrence on endocrine therapy. FGFR1 amplification has been reported in 30-40% of breast tumors with CCDN1 amplification; co-amplification of these genes is associated with shorter patient survival. We investigated the mechanisms by which FGFR1 amplification confers endocrine resistance.

Results: We used ER+ human breast cancer cell lines with (MDA-134, CAMA-1, HCC1500) or without (MCF7, ZR75-1) FGFR1 amplification. In these cells, we investigated the effect of FGFR1 silencing with siRNA or pharmacological inhibition using the small molecule lucitanib on cell growth, ER transcriptional activity and the interaction of FGFR1 and ERα.

Both FGFR1 siRNA and treatment with lucitanib reduced ER transcriptional reporter activity and proliferation of ER+/FGFR1 amplified cell lines. Conversely, addition of FGF3 and FGF19 ligands stimulated ER reporter activity in estrogen-free medium, suggesting FGFR activation regulates ER activity. FGFR1 signaling is mainly transduced to the PI3K/AKT and RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK pathways by the adaptor FRS2. Neither siRNA against FRS2 nor pharmacological inhibitors of PI3K (BKM120) and MEK (GSK1120212) reduced ER transcriptional activity in ER+/FGFR1 amplified cells, suggesting a FRS2 independent, FGFR1-ERα direct interaction explaining the inhibitory effect of FGFR1 siRNA and lucitanib on ER function. MDA-134, CAMA-1 and HCC1500 FGFR1 amplified cell lines also harbor CCND1 amplification. Further, nuclear FGFR1 has been shown to regulate target gene expression, including CCND1. Therefore, we next examined if nuclear FGFR1 and cyclin D1 interact with ER. In ER or cyclin D1 antibody pulldowns from whole cell lysates and nuclear extracts of MDA-134, CAMA-1 and HCC1500 cells, ER co-precipitated with FGFR1 and cyclin D1. The associations of ER with FGFR and of ER with cyclin D1 were not inhibited upon blockade of the FGFR1 tyrosine kinase with lucitanib. However, the association of FGFR1 with cyclin D1 was inhibited by lucitanib treatment. Chromatin immunoprecipitation of DNA protein crosslinks in CAMA-1 cells ± estradiol with a FGFR1 antibody showed that FGFR1 binds to different estrogen response elements (ERE) in DNA. This FGFR1-ERE association was abrogated by treatment with lucitanib, suggesting it depended on an active FGFR1 tyrosine kinase.

Conclusions: These data suggest FGFR1 binds ER and regulates ligand-independent ER transcriptional activity. This role depends on the FGFR1 kinase activity and may involve its association with cyclin D1. These interactions may explain the endocrine resistance reported in ER+/FGFR1 amplified breast cancers and suggest these tumors should be treated with a combination of antiestrogen and FGFR inhibitors.

Citation Format: Luigi Formisano, Christian D. Young, Neil Bhola, Jennifer M. Giltnane, Monica V. Estrada, Carlos L. Arteaga. FGFR1 is associated with resistance to interaction with estrogen receptor (ER) α endocrine therapy in ER+/FGFR1-amplified breast cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 2435. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-2435


While the imperative tone of the Constitutional Court (CC) in Steenkamp v Edcon Ltd (2016) 37 ILJ 564 (CC) (Steenkamp I) leaves no doubt that the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 (LRA) does not contemplate invalid dismissals or an order declaring a dismissal invalid, or of no force or effect, the extent of the Labour Court's (LC) jurisdiction to grant appropriate relief declaring dismissals unlawful and invalid because they constitute encroachment of the applicants' fundamental rights is a vexed question. In Steenkamp I it was decided that when an applicant alleges that a dismissal is unlawful (as opposed to unfair), there is no remedy under the LRA. What this means is that the LC lacks jurisdiction to make any determination of unlawfulness. A multi-layered and complex jurisdictional problem arose in Chubisi v SABC (SOC) Ltd (2021) 42 ILJ 395 (LC) (Chubisi) where the question was whether Ms Chubisi could obtain a declaratory order that the termination of her contract of employment was unconstitutional, unlawful, invalid and of no force and effect. At issue was the termination of employment pursuant to non-recognition of the employee's contract by the public broadcaster ostensibly to give effect to the Public Protector's remedial actions. There is no doubt that the remedial actions of the Public Protector have a binding effect, unless, of course, they are reviewed and set aside (EFF v Speaker of the National Assembly 2016 (3) SA 580 (CC); see also Mhango & Dyani-Mhango, 'The powers of the South African Public Protector: A note on Economic Freedom Fighters v Speaker of the National Assembly' 2020 African Journal of Legal Studies 1). The court held in Chubisi that the termination of the applicant's contract of employment by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) was unlawful, invalid and of no force and effect. The question that arises, therefore, is whether the LC in granting a declaratory order to the effect that the termination of employment was unlawful and invalid misinterpreted and misconstrued the ratio of Steenkamp I. To answer this question, the reasoning of Tlhotlhalemaje J in addressing jurisdictional difficulties requires close scrutiny and analysis. In effect, the resolution of the issues emerging from Chubisi allows for a detailed examination of the import of Steenkamp I. This also provides a platform for examining the fundamental but somewhat tenuous distinction between the jurisdiction and the powers of the LC. In legal parlance, the critical task for the court in any given case is to decide whether the statutory provision on which an applicant relies to found jurisdiction is indeed one that confers jurisdiction. At a more general level, Chubisi implicates corporate governance malaise at the SABC with the unfortunate reality of retrenchments. Therefore, a concise discussion of the corporate governance challenges is merited.


Fingerprint is a unique biometric feature of individual. It is also known that fingerprints have differences in male and female with respect to ridge line details. Some studies in machine learning investigate a relationship between fingerprint and gender. In these studies by analyzing the fingerprint we get important information such as age and gender of a person. Statistical studies have been made in different geographical areas to identify the relationship between fingerprint and gender. This paper illustrates gender classification based on fingerprints through various machine learning techniques like naïve Bayes method, Decision Tree and Support Vector Machine algorithms, KNN, PCA, Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney Test, Friedman Test. This study introduces the concept of epidermal ridge, minutiae, ridge areas, ridge density etc., and compare above stated machine learning techniques, their limitations and strengths based on experimental results for gender classification based on fingerprints. This study can be useful for legislative cases and for researchers to devise new machine learning techniques with improved results. Figure 1: Fingerprint image. Citation: Yadav JS, Saxena A (2018) A Review on Gender Identification Using Machine Learning Technologies based on Fingerprints. J Biom Biostat 9: 412. doi: 10.4172/2155-6180.1000412


think that for me writing books is like reporting on a journey, trying to conjure up the places one has travelled through. You can go there yet still not recognise the places from my description. Others may describe them too but that won't mean they are the same places. Anyone who finds the same places inside him or herself will render my description useless. My real ambition is to find the right kind of accomplices with which to people these places. If ever I were to feel for certain that these places exist in their own right, I would immediately stop writing. For that would mean my friends and I were the inhabitants of that region: we would practice its customs.1


This paper presents a basic analysis of syntactic annotation
errors and inconsistencies in the Prague Dependency Treebank,
the biggest corpus of Czech with manual syntactic annotation.
The corpus is used for developing and testing of many syntactic
analysers of Czech and the problems in the annotation have an
essential impact on the evaluation of the quality of these
parsers and the results of precision measurements. We identify
some of the basic annotation problems and in some cases, we
outline possible solutions.


The passage of the Draft Accountancy Profession Bill has not been a harmonious or happy one. The proposed legislation is developed to replace the current Public Accountants' and Auditors' Act (Act 80 of 1991). The memorandum to the Draft Accountancy Profession Bill claims that the process of developing a new Act started in 1991 when the Public Accountants' and Auditors' Board (PAAB) initiated the FAESA project (Future of Accounting Education in South Africa).


Abstract An initial survey of the advantages and disadvantages of Raman spectroscopic techniques for application to forensic crime scene analysis in a geoscience context is followed by some illustrative examples that demonstrate the potential information which can be forthcoming from Raman spectral data and molecular characterization. A range of specimens is reported, including Egyptian human mummies, ice-mummified bodies, resins and ivories; all of these can be related through a geoscience context and the potential for forensic application is indicated.


Utilising the battery life and the limited bandwidth available in mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) in the most efficient manner is an important issue, along with providing security at the network layer. The authors propose, design and describe E2-SCAN, an energy-efficient network layered security solution for MANETs, which protects both routing and packet forwarding functionalities in the context of the on demand distance vector protocol. E2-SCAN is an advanced approach that builds on and improves upon some of the state-of-the-art results available in the literature. The proposed E2-SCAN algorithm protects the routing and data forwarding operations through the same reactive approach, as is provided by the SCAN algorithm. It also enhances the security of the network by detecting and reacting to the malicious nodes. In E2-SCAN, the immediate one-hop neighbour nodes collaboratively monitor. E2-SCAN adopts a modified novel credit strategy to decrease its overhead as the time evolves. Through both analysis and simulation results, the authors demonstrate the effectiveness of E2-SCAN over SCAN in a hostile environment.


This paper describes a follow-up study conducted in 1991 to examine how the informal education and representational strategies of the Zinacantecos have been affected by modernization since the original study of their culture was conducted in 1969-70. The follow-up study tracked two generations of mothers and children as the Zinacantecos society moved from a subsistence to aa entrepreneurial, cash economy. The paper compares photographic slides of typical daily activities as they were conducted in 1969-70 and in 1991. It focuses on the weaving techniques and pattern designs of the Zinacantecos women, and how these techniques and designs were transmitted from one generation to the next. An analysis of slides and motion pictures taken in 1969-70 and in 1991 showed that while in the earlier period most of the weaving instruction was very structured and systematic, instruction in the latter period was more discovery-oriented, with independent trial-and-error replacing mother-dominated repetitive learning. The study also found that in the earlier period only set patterns and designs were used, whereas constant pattern innovation and new motifs are predominant today. These results suggest that the Zinacantecos' weaving process is following the general evolution of 7inacantecos society toward modernization, innovation, and entrepreneurial attitudes. (MDM) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best chat can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** For the Sylvia Scribner Memorial Symposium: Culture, Activity, and Development Society for Research in Child Development New Orleans, March, 1993 Patricia Greenfield Department of Psychology


The incudo-stapedial joint has mostly been accepted as a true diarthrotic joint. In the older literature, however, the histological structure of the incudo-malleal joint has been controversial. Its character as a true joint has been stressed only by the sporadic histologic studies in the recent decades. Although SEM, with its spatial image and high magnification, is especially suitable for the investigation of joint surfaces--as orthopaedic studies have shown--this modern method has so far not been used for studying the ossicular joints. Even in high magnification, the normal ossicular joints show smooth surfaces similar to the typical big joints of the body. To maintain this high degree of differentiation of the delicate hyaline cartilage, a balanced equilibrium of strain and relief must be kept. Nature seems to attach great importance to the postulated protective role of the human ossicular joints.


Laryngoscopy and tracheal intubation are considered the most invasive stimuli in anesthesia. They provoked cardiovascular responses that include hypertension, tachycardia and dysrhythmias. Various pharmacological approaches have been used to blunt or attenuate such pressor responses. The present study was designed to evaluate the effect of medazolom, lignocaine and propranolol as a valuable adjuvant to fentanyl in attenuating hemodynamic responses to endotracheal intubation in normotensive patients. Thirty two patient with physical status I or II according to the score of American Society of Anesthesiologist (ASA), scheduled for elective surgery under standard general anesthesia, were randomly allocated into four groups (8 patients in each group), assigned as F, M, L and P groups. Each patient in the four groups received 1 µg/kg i.v fentanyl. Patients in groups M, L and P are treated with 0.2 mg/kg i.v medazolam, 1.5mg/kg i.v lignocaine and 0.01mg/kg i.v propranolol respectively. Induction of anesthesia was then accomplished with 2mg/kg thiopental sodium followed by1.5mg/kg succinylcholine. Tracheal intubation was performed 2 minutes after induction of anesthesia. Heart rate, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, mean arterial pressure and rate pressure product were measured before induction, after induction and at 2, 4, 6 and 8 minutes after intubation. The results indicated no significant variation in the hemodynamic pressor response in all four groups with tracheal intubation. In conclusion, a minimum effective dose of i.v pre-medications (fentanyl, medazolom, lignocaine and propranolol) were found to be individually successful in attenuating and providing a reliable control of all hemodynamic response changes accompanied the process of laryngoscopy and intubation. Therefore, all are proved effective premedication and no one being superior.
Key words:  fentanyl, medazolom, lignocaine, propranolol, endotracheal intubation, hemodynamic response.


The process of spontaneous lateral composition modulation in
short-period InAs-AlAs superlattices has been investigated by
grazing-incidence x-ray diffraction. We have developed a
theoretical description of x-ray scattering from laterally
modulated structures that makes it possible to determine the
lateral composition modulation directly without assuming any
structure model. From experimental intensity distributions in
reciprocal space we have determined the amplitudes of the
modulation and its degree of periodicity and their dependence
on the number of superlattice periods. From the data it follows
that the modulation process cannot be explained by bunching of
monolayer steps and most likely, it is caused by stress-driven
morphological instabilities of the growing surface.


The objective of this work is to improve the HOt Blow-out Test procedure (HOBT) to determine the maximum operating temperature of Teflon-based gaskets. The study aims to analyze the relaxation of these gaskets due to creep at high temperature. The determination of their safe operating temperature limit requires a good knowledge of its capacity to resist creep-relaxation due to temperature exposure in the short and long term. This work investigates the effects cumulative gasket deformation due to thermal cycling, gasket stress level and holding time on the relaxation of these materials. In parallel, an experimental fixture has been developed to measure the thermal expansion coefficient and the short term creep resistance of such materials.Based on a previous work, the introduction of a fixed number of cycles of heating and cooling in the HOBT test procedure has shown that ratcheting damage may have some impact on reduction of the gasket stress and the temperature limit of PTFE. The effect of holding temperature for a short period of time will also be investigated. The modified HOBT rig allows measurement of the gasket deflection during the test in order to accurately quantify the cumulative permanent deformation. Several types of PTFE-based gaskets will be tested in order to cover a wide range of gaskets to justify the generalization of the modified procedure.Copyright © 2013 by ASME


One of the failure modes that got the attention of researchers in the 2011 February New Zealand earthquake was the collapse of a key supporting structural wall of Grand Chancellor Hotel in Christchurch which failed in a brittle manner. However, until now this failure mode has been still a bit of a mystery for the researchers in the field of structural engineering. Moreover, there is no method to identify, assess and design the walls prone to such failure mode. Following the recent break through regarding the mechanism of this failure mode based on experimental observations (out-of-plane shear failure), a numerical model that can capture this failure was developed using the FE software DIANA. A comprehensive numerical parametric study was conducted to identify the key parameters contributing to the development of out-of-plane shear failure in reinforced concrete (RC) walls. Based on the earthquake observations, experimental and numerical studies conducted by the authors of this paper, an analytical method to identify walls prone to out-of-plane shear failure that can be used in practice by engineers is proposed. The method is developed based on the key parameters affecting the seismic performance of RC walls prone to out-ofplane shear failure and can be used for both design and assessment purposes.


*Drug interactions may represent an iatrogenic risk that should be controlled in community pharmacies at the dispensing level. Aim: We analyzed the association between potential drug-drug interactions (DDIs) and negative clinical outcomes. Methods: We used dispensing data from two community pharmacies: instances where drug dispensing was associated with a potential DDI and a comparison group of randomized dispensing operations with no potential DDI. In cases where potential DDIs were detected, we analyzed the underlying negative clinical outcomes. Age and gender data were included in the analysis. Results: During the study period, we registered 417 potential DDIs. The proportion of women and age were higher in the study group than in the comparison group. The average potential DDIs per patient was 1.31 (SD=0.72). The Consejo General de Colegios Oficiales de Farmaceuticos (CGCOF) database did not produce an alert in 2.4% of the cases. Over-the-counter medication use was observed in 5% of the potential DDI cases. The drugs most frequently involved in potential DDIs were acenocoumarol, calcium salts, hydrochlorothiazide, and alendronic acid, whereas the most predominant potential DDIs were calcium salts and bisphosphonates, oral antidiabetics and thiazide diuretics, antidiabetics and glucose, and oral anticoagulant and paracetamol. The existence of a drug-related negative clinical outcome was observed only in 0.96% of the potential DDI cases (50% safety cases and 50% effectiveness cases). Conclusions: Only a small proportion of the detected potential DDIs lead to medication negative outcomes. Considering the drug-related negative clinical outcomes encountered, tighter control would be recommended in potential DDIs with NSAIDs or benzodiazepines.


Interaction between auditory and phonatory systems was explored in normal speakers by comparing laryngeal reaction time (LRT) with interpeak intervals from the auditory brainstem response (ABR) obtained using high and low stimulus presentation rates. Thirty-four subjects with no history of neurological or speech-language disorders and normal hearing sensitivity participated. Interpeak intervals were derived from ABR's recorded for each ear at rates of 21.1 and 91.1 clicks/s. LRT responses were obtained by instructing subjects to sustain an /s/ and then phonate an /a/ as fast as possible following visual cues. Two measures of reaction time performance were derived, Mean Laryngeal Reaction Time (MLRT) and Best Laryngeal Reaction Time (BLRT). Linear regression analyses were completed between each measure of reaction time performance and each ABR interpeak interval. Using either LRT measure, two significant (p less than .05) positive linear relationships were found. One involved the interpeak interval between Waves III and V and the other involved the interpeak interval between Waves I and V. Both were recorded at high stimulus presentation rates. These results support the small body of literature from normal speakers, stutterers, and spasmodic dysphonics suggesting interaction between the auditory and phonatory systems at the brainstem level.


Parasitology is the study of parasites and the relationship to their host. It encompasses several approaches to the study of parasitic organisms. The aim of this review is to provide a comprehensive overview on parasitology, various parasitic infection and discussion about probiotics for the control of parasites.


Abstract. Numerical subduction models often implement an entrained weak layer (WL) to facilitate decoupling of the slab and upper plate. This approach is attractive in its simplicity, and can provide stable, asymmetric subduction systems that persist for many tens of millions of years. In this study we undertake a methodological analysis of the WL approach, and use these insights to guide improvements to the implementation. The issue that primarily motivates the study is the emergence of significant spatial and temporal thickness variations within the WL. We show that these variations are mainly the response to volumetric flux gradients, caused by the change in boundary conditions as the WL material enters and exits the zone of decoupling. The time taken to reach a quasi-equilibrium thickness profile will depend on the total plate convergence, and is around 7 Myr for the models presented here. During the transient stage, width variations along the WL can exceed 4×, which may impact the effective strength of the interface, through physical effects if the rheology is linear, or simply if the interface becomes inadequately numerically resolved. The transient stage also induces strong sensitivity to model resolution. By prescribing a variable-thickness WL at the outset of the model, and by controlling the limits of the layer thickness during the model evolution, we find improved stability and resolution convergence of the models.


We experimentally investigate the Outcome Bias in financial decision making. In three treatments, we vary the cognitive challenge investors have to overcome to separate skill from luck. Investors show clear tendencies towards the Outcome Bias in all treatments. The Outcome Bias is stronger, by a third, in the two treatments in which high outcomes correspond to worse investment choices. This result is puzzling, since investment quality can be identified with certainty in the second treatment, while Bayesian probability updating is required in the third treatment. Results are not a product of chance, as randomly simulated data reveals.


Many environmental and health impacts from semiconductor processing are tied to the design of the manufacturing equipment. Evaluating solutions to properly treat effluents from semiconductor tools has become an increasingly important part of supply chain management and equipment procurement decisions. Accordingly, understanding the environmental footprint associated with equipment sets is essential for both equipment manufacturers and semiconductor manufacturers seeking to improve their products' environmental and financial performance. Equipment environmental performance must be evaluated within the context of the factory infrastructure and auxiliary equipment sets, with appropriate allocations of impacts from additional steps, both upstream and downstream of the wafer processing tools (chemical precursor delivery as well as byproduct treatment). Several challenges to environmental assessments arise from the nature of semiconductor manufacturing itself, due to short process life cycles, complexity of processes, and the need to track diverse inter-related impacts. Environmental value systems analysis (EnV-S) is an analytical tool to evaluate the environmental performance of semiconductor processing. EnV-S develops environmental assessments through a "bottom-up" analysis approach, assembling equipment environmental models to describe a system. This paper presents the use of EnV-S as a tool to quantify the environmental impact of a product or process by creating an operational signature along multiple dimensions of cost and environmental and health factors. The use of EnV-S is illustrated through a case study comparing systems that abate emissions from dielectric chemical vapor deposition processes.


Hemodialysis is a procedure for cleaning blood through an artificial kidney or dialyzer and assisted by a machine. Kidney failure patients undergoing therapy experience anxiety due to various stressors. One way to overcome anxiety is to use relaxation therapy, including Benson relaxation. Benson relaxation is a breathing relaxation technique with the addition of an element of belief in the form of words that express the anxiety that is being experienced by the patient. The purpose of this literature is to determine the effectiveness of Benson's relaxation on reducing anxiety in chronic kidney failure patients undergoing hemodialysis. A literature review that is comparing some literature through the journal databases used are Pubmed, Google Scholar, Sciencedirect, Garuda Portal and Jane Semantic. The keywords are "benson relaxation, anxiety, chronic renal failure and hemodialysis" or "benon relaxation technique on anxiety of patient hemodialysis" or "benson relaxation for anxiety disorders" or "benson relaxation for patients undergoing hemodialysis" or "non-pharmacological therapy for reduce anxiety from 2016-2021 full text. There are seven journals reviewed and used in this literature review. The results show that Benson relaxation is proven to be effective in reducing anxiety in chronic kidney failure patients undergoing hemodialysis in a quiet environment, patients can relax the muscles of the body, focus for 10-15 minutes and think positively.


Background: Knowledge transfer is very important in knowledge-intensive organisations in both developed and developing countries. A knowledge-intensive organisation is an organisation whose operations depend on specialised knowledge. Knowledge-intensive organisations lose intellectual property when experienced employees retire from their jobs. To avoid knowledge loss, skills and expertise should be transferred from experts to non-experts on time. Knowledge transfer tools allow sharing of tacit knowledge between and amongst staff members. The study provides an analysis and review of the most effective knowledge transfer tools in knowledge-intensive organisations because an organisation's success is based on its ability to transfer knowledge. Objectives: The study had two main objectives: to identify and review knowledge transfer tools used in knowledge-intensive organisations and to recommend the best knowledge transfer tool that can be used in organisations for the purpose of enhanced competitive advantage. Method: A well-structured questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data from the research participants in knowledge-intensive organisations in Namibia. Results: The results indicate that the most effective knowledge transfer tool in knowledge-intensive organisations is a community of practice; 40% of the participants considered the tool effective, and 27% considered it to be very effective. This was followed by the mentoring tool, which was ranked 54% effective and 11% very effective by the participants because it exposes mentees to new ideas and new ways of thinking. Storytelling was ranked 28% effective and 17% very effective because it is a natural learning process. Succession plans were ranked 21% effective and 12% very effective because having succession plans in place on time is essential for organisational success. Coaching and knowledge repositories were ranked below 20% on knowledge transfer effectiveness. From the findings, we conclude that the most effective tool for knowledge transfer in knowledge-intensive organisations is communities of practice (CoP) followed by mentoring, storytelling, succession plans, coaching and finally knowledge repositories. Conclusion: The most effective knowledge transfer tool in knowledge-intensive organisations is Communities of Practice, followed by mentoring, storytelling, succession plans and lastly coaching. Communities of Practice are important for knowledge transfer in that they encourage and promote teamwork through discussions and knowledge sharing amongst employees. The study therefore recommends the creation of such Communities of Practice in knowledge-intensive organisations for effective knowledge transfer and sharing.


Notwithstanding the availability of advanced neuroimaging, genetic investigations and electrophysiologic testing, the authors of Clinical Neurology champion the role of clinical skill and acumen in the diagnosis and management of neurologic illness. This focus is reflected in the first quarter of the book, which outlines the classic, where is the lesion, what is the lesion, approach of the experienced neurologist, stressing the iterative nature of neurologic diagnosis. It follows then, that the first several chapters serve up very standard fare in terms of anatomical localization of neurologic lesions, pattern recognition and introductory information about several neurodiagnostic tests. A helpful strategy is the division of the neurologic examination into a brief, screening exam and contrasting this with the more detailed examination required in specific circumstances. Figures, plates and tables are familiar, used generously and, for the most part, effectively. Some of the choices are curious, however. For LE JOURNAL CANADIEN DES SCIENCES NEUROLOGIQUES


The aim of this work was to study the fractional composition of super-viscous oil resins from the Ashalcha field, as well as the catalytic aquathermolysis product in the presence of a cobalt-containing catalyst precursor and a hydrogen donor. The study was conducted at various durations of thermal steam exposure. In this regard, the work enabled the identification of the distribution of resin fractions. These fractions, obtained by liquid adsorption chromatography, were extracted with individual solvents and their binary mixtures in various ratios. The results of MALDI spectroscopy revealed a decrease in the molecular mass of all resin fractions after catalytic treatment, mainly with a hydrogen donor. However, the elemental analysis data indicated a decrease in the H/C ratio for resin fractions as a result of removing alkyl substituents in resins and asphaltenes. Moreover, the data of 1H NMR spectroscopy of resin fractions indicated an increase in the aliphatic hydrogen index during catalytic aquathermolysis at the high molecular parts of the resins R3 and R4. Finally, a structural group analysis was carried out in this study, and hypothetical structures of the initial oil resin molecules and aquathermolysis products were constructed as well.


Micronucleus indication in Vicia faba roots has been evaluated after irradiation with 60Co gamma-rays. The dependence of the damage on dose, dose rate, fractionation, and oxygen has been studied. The best fit to the experimental data in the dose region between 7 and 190 cGy is represented, for single-dose exposures, by a linear + quadratic relationship. In the low-dose region, between 7 and 20 cGy, where the linear dose dependence is dominant, no dose-rate, fractionation, or oxygen effect could be observed. These effects were, however, present in the high-dose region, where the quadratic dependence is dominant.


AIM
To evaluate the course, nutrition and care of PEG tubes on the basis of data collected from 233 consecutive patients.

PATIENTS AND METHOD
Between 1.1.1990 and 31.3.1996, a total of 243 PEG tubes were implanted in 233 patients--56.5% male and 43.5% female--with an average age of 66.2 years. 57.3% had neurological, and 19.4% neurosurgical, diseases, 11.2% suffered polytraumatization or severe burns, and 8.2% had a malignancy. Patients stayed with the implanted tube on average 153 days, with neurological patients leading the field at 189 days.

RESULTS
The overall complication rate was 14.5%, with the most common complication being local infection, which occurred in 5.4% of the cases. Severe complications were seen in 1.2%. One patient developed a necrotizing fasciltis, and in two others, migration of the tube was observed. 52.2% of the patients died with the tube still in place. In 33.6%, the PEG tube was removed after a mean of 82.7 days, when adequate oral nutrition again became possible.

CONCLUSION
In this study, PEG proved an effective method for enteral nutrition over the middle-to-long-term in multimorbid and intensive care patients, as well as in those with malignant disease.


The spring 2023 issue of the Georgia Journal of Literacy, "Expanding Literacy Horizons: Inclusive, Diverse, and Innovative Approaches," aims to inspire and inform K–12 literacy educators, researchers, and stakeholders by offering valuable insights, research, and resources. The issue emphasizes collaboration, creativity, and critical reflection and is divided into sections by article type, including a literature review on inclusive literacy ideologies; practitioner articles exploring interdisciplinary approaches, reading aloud, and the use of cluster texts to celebrate diversity in education; and teaching tips offering guidance on organizing author visits, fostering classroom community, and transitioning to digital interactive journals. The issue encourages readers to reflect on how inclusive, diverse, and innovative approaches can be integrated into their practices to create more equitable, dynamic, and engaging learning environments.


Abstract: The RSOR algorithm is a recursive algorithm that has been proposed as an alternative to the RLS algorithm for updating adaptive filter parameters. As with other algorithms, the forgetting factor, filter length and relaxation parameter significantly affects the performance of the RSOR algorithm. In this study, using an adaptive FIR filter in system identification mode, the effect of forgetting factor, filter length and relaxation parameter on the leakage phenomenon of the RSOR algorithm was analyzed. For this purpose, firstly, the effect of measurement noise on the adaptive filter output, namely the leakage phenomenon, was explained analytically, and then the influence of the forgetting factor and other filter parameters on this leakage phenomenon was examined. The results obtained from the simulation studies are compared with similar algorithms.


A 23-year-old female developed progressive cerebellar ataxia as the only presentation of multiple sclerosis for 6 years. Abnormal evoked potentials, an increased oligoclonal band of IgG-K in the cerebrospinal fluid and disseminated white matter lesions in magnetic resonance images (MRI) were compatible with a diagnosis of clinically definite multiple sclerosis. After cyclosporine treatment, the ataxia became stable without further deterioration. A follow-up MRI six months later did not reveal any active lesions. The importance of MRI in the confirmation of the clinical diagnosis and the evaluation of therapeutic effects in patients with atypical multiple sclerosis is emphasized.


Airlines provide complex route networks that are to large extents complementary. Therefore, some passengers need to change aircraft and airlines to fly from their origin to their final destination. The present study captures pricing problems in terms of double marginalization but goes one step further by incorporating scheduling problems in the form of route developments and/or frequency choices. The model involves a two-stage game with two carriers who choose their complementary networks in the first stage and prices in the second stage. Each carrier's network involves one or two routes that are distributed geographically or distributed in time. If both carriers maintain two routes, then transfer passengers can choose between two alternative connections which they consider as imperfect substitutes. There are only transfer passengers, and maintaining a route is costly. The analysis reveals that carrier collaboration and antitrust immunity can eliminate double marginalization and create additional incentives to maintain two connections rather than one connection depending on the heterogeneity of connections. Our results indicate that the scope for the improvement of carrier networks via antritrust immunity can be rather limited relative to the social desirability of more complete carrier networks. A possible policy lesson is that airlines should be granted antitrust immunity conditional on network expansion.


The thesis deals with Shakespeare?s drama, Othello. In the thesis, the writer learns that Othello is a tragic hero who is trapped in a situation of struggle. It is the struggle of Othello as a Moor mercenary soldier who lives in the middle of racist white society in order to get self-esteem. Here, the thesis writer wants to know Othello?s struggle in getting his self-esteem, which leads to his downfall. The purpose of writing this thesis is to show Othello?s struggle in getting his self-esteem, which leads to his downfall. The writer uses the psychoanalysis in the interaction among the id, the ego, and the superego as the theory in analyzing it. Thus, the thesis writer concludes that all of the struggles, which are done by Othello, are the realization of the interaction among the id, the ego, and the superego of Othello?s personality in order to seek self-esteem. In the first struggle for self-esteem, Othello?s struggle to win the war in order to win the trust and the acknowledgment from his white society is successfully done and he can get his self-esteem by being promoted as the general in Venetian army. In the second struggle in order to win the acknowledgment on his marriage with white Desdemona, Othello can also get his self-esteem by marrying white Venetian lady, Desdemona. Unfortunately, in maintaining the marriage, Othello fails. He kills his wife to get his self-esteem but finally he ends up committing suicide because he finds out that the accusation of the betrayal toward his wife is not right at all.


Glycerol treated adult mouse marrow was brought to −70°C at the rate of 1°C per minute to −15° and then at 10° per minute to −70°C according to the technique of Barnes and Loutit. Storage at −70°C was maintained for 8 days in one experiment and for 7 days in another. The frozen marrow was thawed by incubation at 37°C and given intravenously to adult mice after 900 r total body x-irradiation. The preserved marrow was as effective in modifying the lethal effects of irradiation as marrow obtained from the freshly killed mouse. It would seem that adult mouse bone marrow preserved by this technique can induce survival of lethally irradiated mice.

Submitted on March 25, 1957


OBJECTIVE
To explore the growth patterns and simple mathematic models of height and weight of Chinese children.

METHODS
The original data had been obtained from two national representative cross-sectional surveys which were 2005 National Survey of Physical Development of Children (under 7 years of age) and 2005 Chinese National Survey on Students Constitution and Health (6 - 18 years). Reference curves of height and weight of children under 7 years of age was constructed by LMS method, and data of children from 6 to 18 years of age were smoothed by cubic spline function and transformed by modified LMS procedure. Growth velocity was calculated by smoothed values of height and weight. Simple linear model was fitted for children 1 to 10 years of age, for which smoothed height and weight values were used.

RESULTS
(1) Birth length of Chinese children was about 50 cm, average length 61 cm, 67 cm, 76 cm and 88 cm at the 3rd, 6th, 12th and 24th month. Height gain was stable from 2 to 10 years of age, average 6 - 7 cm each year. Birth length doubles by 3.5 years, and triples by 12 years. The formula estimating average height of normal children aged 2 - 10 years was, height (cm) = age (yr) x 6.5 + 76 (cm). (2) Birth weight was about 3.3 kg. Growth velocity was at peak about 1.0 - 1.1 kg/mon in the first 3 months, decreased by half and was about 0.5 - 0.6 kg/mon in the second 3 months, and was reduced by a quarter, which was about 0.25 - 0.30 kg/mon, in the last 6 months of the first year. Body mass was up to doubles, triples and quadruple of birth weight at about the 3rd, 12th and 24th month. Average annual gain was about 2 kg and 3 kg from 1 - 6 years and 7 - 10 years, respectively. The estimated formula for children 1 to 6 years of age was weight (kg) = age (yr) x 2 + 8 (kg), but for those 7 - 10 years old, weight (kg) = age (yr) x 3 + 2 (kg).

CONCLUSIONS
Growth patterns of height and weight at the different age stages were summarized for Chinese children, and simple reference data of height and weight velocity from 0 to 18 years and approximate estimation formula from 1 - 10 years was presented for clinical practice.


This work investigates the differences in mechanical and thermal properties of polylactic acid (PLA)/lignin biocomposites made of four different unmodified organosolv lignin materials, three of which were extracted from different woody biomass (maple, oak, and pine) in-house, and one sourced commercially. Filaments made from blends of 30wt% and 40wt% of the in-house lignin and the commercially sourced lignin as fillers in PLA were used to 3D-print experimental test samples using fused filament fabrication (FFF) process. Statistically significant differences were observed in the mechanical properties based on tension testing and Izod impact testing, while differences in thermal properties based on differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric (TGA) analysis were less significant. Test samples with 30wt% lignin had tensile strengths that were higher than those of 40wt% lignin. Among the three in-house extracted lignin from the woody biomass resources, maple-based composites consistently yielded the highest tensile strengths while oak-based materials yielded the highest stiffness in tension testing and the most stability in impact resistance. The pine-based materials showed the most decline in strengths between 30wt% and 40wt% lignin loadings. The commercially obtained lignin at 30wt% and pine-based lignin at 40wt% yielded much higher percent elongations at failure than all other materials. This study demonstrates the influence of lignin biomass resources and their concentrations on the properties and performances of 3D printed specimens.


This paper investigates how different macroeconomic shocks affect the term-structure of interest rates in Mexico. In particular, we develop a model that combines a no-arbitrage specification of the term structure with a macroeconomic model of a small open economy. We find that shocks that are perceived to have a persistent effect on inflation affect the level of the yield curve. The effect on medium and long-term yields results from the increase in expected future short rates and in risk premia. With respect to demand shocks, our results show that a positive shock leads to an upward flattening shift in the yield curve. The flattening of the curve is explained by both the monetary policy response and the time-varying term premia.


Background: Modern small bowel imaging techniques allow detailed depiction of small-intestinal abnormalities. The role of these techniques in the investigation of celiac disease is increasing, especially in patients with suspected complicated celiac disease. Key Messages: In general, there is no need for radiological small bowel imaging in uncomplicated celiac disease. It is however important that clinicians and radiologists are aware of certain specific radiological findings that may suggest celiac disease, especially since celiac disease is often not considered in adult patients, and small bowel radiology may be performed before specific tests for celiac disease. Radiological abnormalities can be observed with both conventional small bowel radiology studies, like small bowel follow-through or double-contrast small bowel enteroclysis, and newer modalities, like computed tomography or magnetic resonance enterography or enteroclysis. These signs include a decreased number of jejunal folds, an increased number of ileal folds, small bowel dilatation, wall thickening and intussusception. Extraintestinal abnormalities include mesenteric lymphadenopathy, vascular changes and splenic atrophy. Abnormalities congruent with refractory celiac disease type II include a severe decrease in jejunal folds, infiltration of the mesenteric fat and thickening of the small bowel wall. Additionally, a severely decreased splenic volume may indicate complicated celiac disease. Malignant complications of celiac disease, such as enteropathy-associated T-cell lymphoma and small-intestinal adenocarcinoma, can be reliably investigated with cross-sectional enteroclysis techniques. Conclusions: Small bowel imaging and especially cross-sectional enteroclysis techniques are important extensions to the diagnostic workup of clinicians involved in the care of patients with celiac disease, especially those with suspected complicated disease.


The aim of this study is to analyze the effect of problem posing materials on students self efficacy beliefs. The reason why we make a research on this study is really specially designed materials used during the lessons have positive effect on students' beliefs or not. One of the study to test the other two groups formed the control group used the method of experimental study. There are 20 questions in the self-efficacy test whose first category, second category, third category are respectively affirmative, cognitive and conative. First of all,  pilot study was conducted with 128 students from 9th grade students to measure the validity and reliabilty of the test. Data was obtained from experimental school students and reliability of the test was measureb by using SPSS statistical program as .85. The results of the research showed that there is positive correlation between used problem posing materials and self efficacy beliefs of the students'affective, cognitive and conative domains. Key Words: Self-efficacy, affirmative, cognitive, conative, problem posing .


ABSTRACT This paper assesses the Willingness to Pay (WTP) for a publicly provided bike sharing service whose costs are in large part covered by the municipality of Vienna, Austria. The following characteristics render it valuable for analyses: the possibility to free ride, a (perceived) positive externality of use, negligible income effects, perfect substitutability, and the credibility of valuation scenarios. We also address the disparity between Willingness to Accept (WTA) and WTP, and we find a mean WTP of EUR 1.2 for the bike sharing system and a disparity of 2:1 (WTA to WTP). Female participants as well as respondents who condition their valuation on those of others are willing to contribute more; and surprisingly those who actually use the bike sharing system as well as environmentally concerned respondents have a lower WTP. This Environmental Concern Paradox can be explained by an incorporation of positive externalities into individual valuation decisions.


Summary Geomorphological techniques, including morphological mapping and profiling have been used to investigate the distribution of old landslides on the southern slopes of the Char valley in West Dorset. It is shown that these field techniques provide data which can be usefully employed to precede and supplement geotechnical investigations. The spatial pattern of landslide morphology is described and a tentative chronology suggested. The survey reveals a similar, although more extensive and complete, pattern of landslide degradation to that reported for slides on London Clay and the Lias Clay of the East Midlands.


The text analyses the new curriculum proposal for High School, particularly referring to the professional education, focusing the differences between technical formation and technological, in the scopes of official speech and the proposal implantation. There's an approach to question the contradictions in the study of the relation between the proposal and the changes in the productive sector linked to the new demandings of the formation and professional qualification. Based on empirical research data, from the implantation of the reform in technical schools, the text discuss properties of the school practice in the technological teaching, showing the loss of identity from these schools, in the reform context, making it viable the formative process of techno logical education engaged with educational democratization.


Gattegno states that only awareness is educable. In his book "The awareness of mathematization" he describes awareness of mathematics as the dynamics of (mathematical) relationships and uses mental activities to work on this. He argues that equivalence allows thinking in terms of what one is allowed to do to transform a problem. In this session we will play with the notions of equivalence, imagery and substitution in the context of mathematical tasks to explore Gattegno's concept of mathematization: becoming aware of dynamics of mathematical relationships.


In order to solve the problem of end effect in empirical mode decomposition(EMD), A new method of data extending based on minimum similarity distance is proposed. Firstly, the formulas of matching distance and waveform similarity coefficient are given, and then according to some matching rules, the extending data series which has the optimality minimum similarity distance compared with the ends are derived from the inner signal. The paper considers two factors synthetically, waveform and amplitude, makes the matching waveform more accord with the nature tendency of the signal, realizes the smooth transition between extending data and original signal. This new method is applied to drill string vibration signal analysis, and simulation results show that this method is effective to restrain the end effect of EMD method.


African nationalist historiography tends to portray the Christian missionary activities in black Africa in the light of colonialism and exploitation for their selfish ends. Some have said that the missionary bodies were mere spiritual arms of various European
governments in their quest for territorial expansion and enlargement of economic frontiers in sub-Sahara Africa. Plausible as this argument may sound, the present researchers have however, tried to see how missionary activities contributed, wittingly or unwittingly to the development of a modern Igbo nation. The paper have demonstrated that whatever the missionaries had gained in Igboland could never measure up with what the Igbo people benefited from the missionary activities. These include freedom from slavery, freedom from fear and superstition, freedom from diseases and poverty; above all, freedom from ignorance through missionary education which has transformed Igboland from the nineteenth century. It is left to say that with the help of the missionaries the Igbo language was developed and alphabets formulated. The early missionaries committed Igbo language into writing through the publications of religious books. The importance of this in the awakening of tribal consciousness, the provision of vehicle for common expression and the unification of the third largest tribe in West Africa cannot be overestimated. It is for these reasons that the place of the missionaries in the making of a modern Igbo nation deserves not just a passing reference but a discussion of this nature.


A 24-year-old man admitted to our hospital because of hemoptysis and left precordial pain. Chest X-ray and chest CT scan showed a mass in the left anterosuperior mediastinum. Laboratory examination revealed elevated levels of AFP (550 ng/ml), which were highly indicative of malignant germ cell tumor. Imaging examination indicated that the mass was resectable, so surgery was performed prior to chemotherapy. Histological examination revealed an admixture of seminoma, immature teratoma, embryonal carcinoma and yolk sac tumor. Because the resection performed was incomplete, the patient received three courses of combination chemotherapy consisting of CDDP, VP-16 and BLM and 40 Gy irradiation. The serum level of AFP was normal after one course of combination chemotherapy. The patient has shown no sign of recurrence for 3 years since surgery.


Transferring surface properties such as color texture from one 3D mesh to another is a well-known problem, which has become increasingly important as the demand for textured models in games and films has grown. We propose a mesh-based analogy of the PatchMatch [Barnes et al. 2009] algorithm, which we call "MeshMatch," and a non-parametric multi-resolution approach to surface texture transfer based on this algorithm. Our system offers benefits of both parameterization and texture synthesis approaches, preserving both largeand fine-scale patterns of the source properties. We demonstrate this system in a variety of applications, including texture transfer, detail transfer, and texture painting assists.


This study examines the effects both of introducing and of removing copayment charges under a universal public medical care and hospital insurance program. For a period between 1968 and 1971, the Province of Saskatchewan imposed user charges of approximately 33 per cent and 6 per cent on medical and hospital services, respectively. The effects of these charges are analyzed using pooled cross-section samples of families and using both multivariate methods and experimental/control groups designs. Diagnostic- and procedure-specific analysis is also performed on the hospital data using the individual as the unit of observation. The findings of the study indicate a copayment effect of 5.6 per cent for physicians' services. No evidence could be adduced that would support the conclusion of a copayment effect for hospital services.


Sustainability of competitive advantage may be achieved by leveraging unique firm attributes with information technology to realize long-term performance gains. Information systems that cannot sustain competitive impact have only transient strategic value or may offer negative value if matched by a superior response by competitors. A research review of sustainability was conducted that resulted in the development of a framework depicting factors effecting sustainable competitive advantage. This study evaluate longitudinal changes in performance measures of 30 firms that have been cited as "classic" cases of strategic use of information technology. The results of this analysis indicate that not all of these classic cases can be touted as "sustained winners" Differences among strategic "sustainers" and "non-sustainers" were formally tested to determine those firm and/or industry factors that may be antecedents to sustained IT competitive advantage. Results indicate that managers must do more than simply assess the uniqueness or availability of emerging technological innovations in developing strategic IT plans. Specifically, the establishment of technological base along with substantial capital availability seem to be important prerequisites for "technologically derived" sustainability. Recognizing the need for a stronger prescriptive orientation to strategic IS, future research is outlined in an effort to develop a comprehensive framework that would link combinations of sustainability factors to actual performance.


Background: Panfacial fractures are defined as fractures of the craniomaxillofacial complex involving bones in the lower, middle, and upper thirds of the facial skeleton. The aim of the current study is to report the prevalence, sociodemographics, and pattern of panfacial fractures in Najran, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective study of panfacial fractures seen and managed in a major referral hospital in the southern province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia over a 10-year period from 2008 to 2018. Data collected include demographics such as age, gender, etiological factor, and pattern of bone fracture involved in the panfacial fracture. Data were stored and analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics for IOS Version 25 (Armonk, NY, USA: IBM Corp.). Results were presented as simple frequencies and descriptive statistics. Statistical significance was set at P ≤ 0.05. Results: A total of 1057 patients presented with maxillofacial injuries, of which 43 male patients suffered from panfacial fractures during the study period giving a prevalence rate of 4.1%. The age ranged from 16 to 45 years with mean ± standard deviation (26.6 ± 8.3) years. The age group of 21–30 years had the highest frequency of panfacial fracture, whereas the age group of 41–50 years had the least occurrence with a statistically significant difference. Most of the mandibular fractures involved the symphysis and parasymphysis (27.9% and 23.3%), respectively. In the midface, Le Fort I and II were the most common maxillary fractures. Conclusion: Inquiry into the prevalence, sociodemographics, and pattern of panfacial fractures is essential in decision-making by the attending clinicians for the patients' overall management. This study has reported a prevalence rate of 4.1% with only male preponderance.


Background: Optimal dietary intake in alcohol rehabilitation is a pathway that reflects self-care, commitment to staying sober and is a vital adjunct in effective alcohol rehabilitation.
Objective: This qualitative study sought to elicit facilitators and barriers that influence the practice of optimal dietary intake during the three months of alcohol rehabilitation.
Methods: A question guide was utilized to solicit information through in-depth interviews from 15 alcoholics and 5 health professionals until saturation point. Constant comparative approach was used to analyze verbatim transcripts obtained from in-depth interviews. This analysis entailed three stages including open, axial and selective coding.
Results: Recuperating alcoholics' appreciated the health benefits of practicing optimal dietary intake in restoring their health, with health professionals being significantly supportive which translated into increased self-efficacy to practice of optimal dietary intake during alcohol rehabilitation.
Conclusions: The rehabilitation centres should have nutritionists besides other health professionals who can offer individualized nutrition services needed by the recuperating alcoholics.


American Political Science Review, British Journal of Political Science. History and Theory: Studies in the Philosophy of History, Journal of the History of Ideas, Journal of Politics; Midwest Journal of Political Science; Mind: A Quarterly Review of Psychology and Philosophy, La Pensee; Revue du Rationalisme Moderne; Il Pensiero Politico, Philosophical Quarterly, The Philosophy Forum; Philosophy, Philosophy and Public Affairs; Political Quarterly; Political Science Quarterly, Political Studies; Il Politico, Politics and Society, Polity; Praxis : Revue Philosophique ; Review of Politics, The Western Political Quarterly.


A simple neural mechanism that recovers surface shape from image shading is derived from a simplified model of the physics of image formation. The mechanism's performance is surprisingly good even when applied to complex natural images, and is even able to extract significant shape information from some line drawings.


PURPOSE: To study the integration of the external layer of the calvaria's frontal bone to repair craniofacial skeleton injuries in primates. METHODS: Ten Rhesus monkeys underwent surgery in two stages. In the first stage, four bone fragments were harvested from the external layer of the calvaria's frontal bone and were transplanted two on the calvaria's frontal bone and the other two onto the maxillary bone, by onlay and inlay. Seven weeks thereafter, four fragments were extracted from the transplantated area. The animals were not sacrificed. RESULTS: Macroscopic examination reveals bone regeneration, the areas onto which the bone fragments were transplantated having consequently increased in volume. The results of optical and electron microscopy is being carried out.


Summary & Conclusions - There are several measures of the importance of a component within a system in determining system reliability; these measures include structural importance, marginal reliability-importance, joint reliability-importance, and link importance. These measures are reviewed and then related to each other. Extensions are proposed to each importance measure to cover reliability models in which the components have two failure-modes rather than the conventional one failure-mode; these extensions have properties similar to those in the one failure-mode model.


The high-speed rotation of impellers leads to strong rotor–stator interaction, which mainly causes the pressure pulsation of centrifugal pumps. An impeller with a bionic sinusoidal tubercle trailing edge (STTE) can reduce the intensity of the rotor–stator interaction and thus reduce the pressure pulsation of the centrifugal pump. In this study, three profiles of STTE were designed based on the pectoral fin structure of humpback whales of which the influence on the pressure pulsation of centrifugal pumps was studied via experiment and numerical simulation. Results show that a reasonable design of STTE can effectively eliminate the high-frequency pressure pulsation in the rotor–stator interaction region of the centrifugal pump. The use of STTE2 and STTE3 profiles affect the amplitude reduction of pressure pulsation at the blade passing frequency (fBPF). Compared with the impeller without the STTE profile, the amplitudes of pressure pulsation with STTE2 and STTE3 profiles are decreased by 47.10% and 44.20% at the pump discharge, while the decrease, at the volute throat is 30.36% and 25.97%, respectively. Detailed flow structures inside the pump show that the STTE profile can inhibit the vortex generation at the blade trailing edge, and the local high-intensity pressure pulsation can be reasonably avoided. This study helps improve the pressure pulsation characteristic of centrifugal pumps and their operation stability.


Building LEGO sculptures requires accounting for the target object's shape, colors, and stability. In particular, finding a good layout of LEGO bricks that prevents the sculpture from collapsing (due to its own weight) is usually challenging, and it becomes increasingly difficult as the target object becomes larger or more complex. We devise a force-based analysis for estimating physical stability of a given sculpture. Unlike previous techniques for Legolization, which typically use heuristic-based metrics for stability estimation, our force-based metric gives 1) an ordering in the strength so that we know which structure is more stable, and 2) a threshold for stability so that we know which one is stable enough. In addition, our stability analysis tells us the weak portion of the sculpture. Building atop our stability analysis, we present a layout refinement algorithm that iteratively improves the structure around the weak portion, allowing for automatic generation of a LEGO brick layout from a given 3D model, accounting for color information, required workload (in terms of the number of bricks) and physical stability. We demonstrate the success of our method with real LEGO sculptures built up from a wide variety of 3D models, and compare against previous methods.


Background: Fecal immunochemical test (FIT) diagnostic accuracy for colorectal adenoma detection in colorectal cancer screening is limited. Methods: We analyzed 474 asymptomatic subjects with adenomas detected on colonoscopy in two blinded diagnostic tests studies designed to assess FIT diagnostic accuracy. We determined the characteristics of adenomas (number, size, histology, morphology, and location) and the risk of metachronous lesions (according to European guidelines). Finally, we performed a logistic regression to identify those variables independently associated with a positive result. Results: Advanced adenomas were found in 145 patients (75.6% distal and 24.3% only proximal to splenic flexure). Patients were classified as low (59.5%), intermediate (30.2%), and high risk (10.3%) according to European guidelines. At a 100-ng/mL threshold, FIT was positive in 61 patients (12.8%). Patients with advanced adenomas [odds ratio (OR), 8.8; 95% confidence interval (CI), 4.76–16.25], distal advanced adenomas (OR, 6.7; 95% CI, 1.9–8.8), high risk (OR, 20.1; 95% CI, 8.8–45.8), or intermediate risk lesions (OR, 6; 95% CI, 2.9–12.4) had more probabilities to have a positive test. The characteristics of adenomas independently associated were number of adenomas (OR, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.04–1.42), distal flat adenomas (OR, 0.44; 95% CI, 0.21–0.96), pedunculated adenomas (OR, 2.28; 95% CI, 1.48–3.5), and maximum size of distal adenomas (mm; OR, 1.24; 95% CI, 1.16–1.32). Conclusions: European guidelines classification and adenoma location correlates with the likelihood of a positive FIT result. Impact: This information allows us to understand the FIT impact in colorectal cancer prevention. Likewise, it should be taken into account in the development of new colorectal adenomas biomarkers. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 23(9); 1884–92. ©2014 AACR.


Shape memory alloys are well recognized functional and smart materials, which have been
exploited to develop intelligent structures and devices in many fields. Of particular importance is its exciting application in the field of biomechanical engineering. In addition, further potential applications of shape memory alloys are being investigated, such as shape memory alloys-based functional composites. Recent experimental research indicates that shape memory alloy nickeltitanium alloy (NiTi) is superior to stainless steel against wear and could be applied in tribological engineering. It is believed that the super wear resistance of shape memory alloys is mainly due to the recovery of the superelastic deformation. Our recent wear study indicates that wear rate is very
sensitive to the maximum contact pressure. In the present study, which involves applying Hertz contact theory and the finite element method, the wear behavior of shape memory alloys is investigated through analyzing the contact pressure. In contrast to the existing explanation of the major contribution of superelasticity, our investigation indicates that the superior wear resistance of shape memory alloys is directly linked to the low Young's modulus of the alloy, the low transformation stress and large transformation strain, which result in low maximum contact pressure and therefore low wear rate. Additionally, high plastic yield strength of transformed martensite NiTi also enhances its wear resistance.


TripAdvisor has changed how the travel industry treats customers. Is the same likely to happen to health services? Review sites are growing fast across Europe, propelled by expansions in patient choice. What impact will they have on the medical profession and on providers, both public and private? How will they change the nature of health care? To address these questions, those at the forefront of developing review sites in Europe were interviewed.


Numerous surgical techniques now call for biomaterials. Included in this term is material foreign to the receiver, of natural or artificial origin, which is implanted in a living organism in order to repair the impaired function of the organ. By using a recent material, coral, the authors here by relate their experience within the scope of ear surgery. The analysis of the preliminary results encourages the further use of this material, bio-compatible, easily-used and giving excellent functional results.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the effect of acid stimulation on salivary flow rate and compositions of human parotid and submandibular glands, so as to provide basis for comprehensive evaluation of salivary gland function in both health and disease status.

METHODS
In the study, 210 healthy participants' whole saliva samples were collected under passive drooling, and their parotid gland and submandibular gland secretions were collected by negative pressure suction. 2% citric acid was dropped on the tip of tongue every 1 min for acid stimulation for a total of 5 times to collect stimulated whole saliva, parotid and submandibular gland saliva. The collected saliva was weighed and saliva flow rate was calculated. The K+, Na+, Cl-, Ca2+, total protein, total phosphorus and α-amylase in saliva samples were detected by biochemical analyzer, and the changing features of flow rate and compositions of different kinds of saliva were compared and analyzed.

RESULTS
After acid stimulation, saliva flow rate significantly increased. The increase proportion of parotid gland saliva (10.7 folds) was much higher than that of submandibular gland saliva (2.9 folds). The concentrations of Na+, Cl-, Ca2+, total protein and α-amylase in parotid gland saliva increased significantly (P < 0.05), but there was no significant difference in total phosphorus and K+ (P=0.89, P=0.34). The concentration of Na+ and Ca2+ in saliva of submandibular gland increased significantly(P < 0.05), the concentration of total phosphorus decreased significantly(P < 0.05), and the concentration of Cl- increased, but the difference was not significant(P=0.068). There was no significant difference in total protein, K+ and α-amylase (P=0.85, P=0.07, P=0.95). The compound secretion rate of total phosphorus in saliva of submandibular gland remained unchanged(P=0.066), while the secretion rate of K+, Na+, Cl-, Ca2+, total protein and α-amylase significantly increased(P < 0.01). The compound secretion rate of K+, Na+, Cl-, Ca2+, total protein and total phosphorus and α-amylase in parotid gland saliva increased(P < 0.01). The concentrations of Na+, Cl-, K+, total phosphorus, total protein and α-amylase in parotid were higher than those in submandibular gland (P < 0.01), and the concentration of Ca2+ in submandibular gland saliva was significantly higher than that in parotid (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION
The response of parotid to acid stimulation is stronger, and the secretion of submandibular gland is more stable. Acid stimulation significantly influences the concentrations of electrolytes in saliva, and the composited secretion rate is an evaluation index to reflect both flow rate and composition concentration of saliva. The parotid gland plays an important role in the secretion of total protein, total phosphorus and α-amylase in saliva, and the submandibular gland is the main source of Ca2+ in saliva.


RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES
Over- or underexposure often results in poor quality radiographs. Using receiver operating characteristic analysis, the authors investigated the potential utility of a system that corrects densities in such images to improve the accuracy of lung nodule detection.

METHODS
Chest radiographs were digitized by a laser film digitizer. Simulated nodules were superimposed on 36 improperly exposed chest radiographs. All images, with and without nodules, were then processed by a nonlinear density-correction technique. Hard-copy images were produced by a laser film printer. Eight radiologists evaluated the corrected and uncorrected images for the presence or absence of lung nodules using a continuous (0-100) confidence-rating scale.

RESULT
The detectability of lung nodules improved significantly in the retrocardiac/retrodiaphragmatic regions of underexposed images and in the peripheral lung region of overexposed images.

CONCLUSIONS
This system may increase diagnostic accuracy in detection of lung nodules in improperly exposed images.


For the first time the species composition of bifidobacteria and lactobacilli in clinically healthy young children has been studied. As revealed in this study, the dominating species of bifidobacteria are B. longum, B. adolescentis and B. infantis, while the dominating species of lactobacilli are Lactobacillus acidophilus and L. rhamnosus. In 83 isolated cultures of bifidobacteria and 34 isolated species of lactobacilli the activity of acid formation and the antagonistic activity with respect to Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, Clostridium perfringens have been tested. B. longum strain 58B, B. infantis strain 37B, L. rhamnosus strain 12L and L. acidophilus strain 27L, typical for children of this age group, having good antagonistic activity and pronounced acid-forming properties, have been selected. These strains hold good promise to be used as the basis for the development of a complex probiotic preparation for correcting intestinal microflora in young children.


Purpose of reviewThis review examines the progress in clinico-pathologic studies following the publication of the International Society of Nephrology (ISN)/Renal Pathology Society (RPS) 2003 classification of lupus nephritis. Major features in this classification system include non-ambiguous diagnostic criteria based on quantitative assessment of histological abnormalities and further classification of Class IV lesions with regard to the predominance of segmental or global lesions. Recent findingsThe new classification has been applied in two recent retrospective studies. Key findings included improved diagnostic concordance compared with the World Health Organization classification for lupus nephritis, but no observable difference in renal outcome between Classes IV-S and IV-G during short-term follow up. The data also suggested that fibrinoid necrosis and interstitial inflammation may be more prominent in the IV-S group. While the new classification stipulates the description of individual lesions indicating activity or chronicity, it has not devised new composite histological scores. In this regard, recent studies on novel histological indices of lupus renal biopsies based on digital imaging and computerized data analysis have demonstrated a better correlation with clinical parameters. SummaryThe ISN/RPS 2003 classification facilitates accurate communication between pathologists and clinicians. It also provides a clear framework for standardization, upon which the clinical and pathogenetic significance of individual lesions and histological subtypes require further elucidation.


Retentive-pin twist drills were subjected to four methods of sterilization and then examined to determine possible effects on resistance to fracture, cutting efficiency, and surface condition. Sterilization methods included steam autoclave, chemical vapor autoclave, dry heat, and immersion in glutaraldehyde. Although the steam and chemical vapor groups had lower mean fracture strengths after sterilization, there was no statistically significant difference among the groups. Only the steam autoclave group showed a statistically significant loss of cutting efficiency. Scanning electron microscopic evaluation revealed that only drills sterilized by steam autoclave showed changes in the surface condition or cutting edges.


If breast cancer can be detected early, while it is still localized and before it can be palpated, the prognosis for cure is excellent. Heretofore, conventional mammography has been the only means available to detect cancer at such an early stage. Two cases of minimal breast carcinoma measuring less than 5 mm in diameter have been detected and correctly diagnosed using computed tomographic mammography (CT/M). Both cases occurred in fatty breasts and were clinically and mammographically occult. These cases demonstrate the value of CT/M in the diagnosis of minimal breast carcinoma that would have been missed otherwise.


We examined the microstructural characters of L1 2 -type (Al, X, Y) 3 Ti (X, Y=Mn, Cr, Ag, Fe) phase alloys, with compositions selected from the regions connecting ternary L1 2 -type (Al, X) 3 Ti and (Al, Y) 3 Ti single-phase regions in the quaternary phase diagrams using laser microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and electron probe microanalysis. The residual strain, which was induced during milling of the alloys, was measured by examining the X-ray diffraction peak profile of the alloy powders. Most of the (Al, X, Y) 3 Ti alloys heat-treated at 1450 K for 24 h exhibited the L1 2 single-phase structure, while a few alloys containing Ag showed two-phase structures consisting of L1 2 and Ag-rich phases. The lattice parameters of (Al, Mn, Ag) 3 Ti and (Al, Cr, Ag) 3 Ti increased remarkably with increasing Ag content, while those of (Al, Mn, Cr) 3 Ti, (Al, Mn, Fe) 3 Ti and (Al, Cr, Fe) 3 Ti decreased gradually with increasing Cr or Fe content. The change of the lattice parameter with the contents of ternary and/or quaternary elements could be explained by the atomic size effect. The size and fraction of porosity, which were formed during heat treatment at 1450K for 24 h, depended on the composition of the alloys. The changes of the size and fraction can be explained by the Kirkendall effect, irrespective of alloy systems. The increase of the residual strain by variation of the composition in the Al-Ti-Mn-Ag and Al-Ti-Cr-Ag systems may be explained by the fact that the decrease of size and fraction of the porosity increased the residual strain. However, in the Al-Ti-Mn-Cr, Al-Ti-Mn-Fe and Al-Ti-Cr-Fe systems, the change could he explained by the fact that the residual strain increased as the sum of the contents of Al and Ti decreased.


Traditional evolutionary games assume uniform interaction rate, which means that the rate at which individuals meet and interact is independent of their strategies. But in some systems, especially biological systems, the players interact with each other discriminately. Taylor and Nowak (2006) were the first to establish the corresponding non-uniform interaction rate model by allowing the interaction rates to depend on strategies. Their model is based on replicator dynamics which assumes an infinite size population. But in reality, the number of individuals in the population is always finite, and there will be some random interference in the individuals' strategy selection process. Therefore, it is more practical to establish the corresponding stochastic evolutionary model in finite populations. In fact, the analysis of evolutionary games in a finite size population is more difficult. Just as Taylor and Nowak said in the outlook section of their paper, "The analysis of non-uniform interaction rates should be extended to stochastic game dynamics of finite populations." In this paper, we are exactly doing this work. We extend Taylor and Nowak's model from infinite to finite case, especially focusing on the infiuence of non-uniform connection characteristics on the evolutionary stable state of the system. We model the strategy evolutionary process of the population by a continuous ergodic Markov process. Based on the limit distribution of the process, we can give the evolutionary stable state of the system. We make a complete classification of the symmetric 2 × 2 games. For each case game, the corresponding limit distribution of the Markov-based process is given when noise intensity is small enough. In contrast with most literatures in evolutionary games using the simulation method, all our results obtained are analytical. Especially, in the dominant-case game, coexistence of the two strategies may become evolutionary stable states in our model. This result can be used to explain the emergence of cooperation in the Prisoner is Dilemma Games to some extent. Some specific examples are given to illustrate our results.