Background & aim: Child marriage, which defined as a formal marriage or informal union before the age of 18 years, occurs widely throughout the world. Child marriage directly impacts girls' education, reproductive and sexual health, as well as psychological well-being. In this regard, the current review was conducted to examine the reproductive and sexual health consequences of child marriage. Methods: This review was conducted by searching the scientific databases including PubMed and Google Scholar as well as websites of various international organizations active in reproductive health issues between 1946 and 2018. Key words for searching included "Child marriage ", "early marriage ","sexual health", "reproductive health", and "maternal mortality ". Published articles and also publications of International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), World Health Organization (WHO) and Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) were reviewed. Results: Child marriage as a result of poverty has many adverse consequences on reproductive and sexual health of girls. These include death during childbirth, physical and sexual violence, isolation, depression, cervical cancer and risk of sexually transmitted diseases (STD). Teen pregnant women are at high risk of preterm birth as well as neonatal death more than other women. Conclusion: Girls' marriage at an early age can increase the risk of sexual and reproductive complications. Therefore, training programs should be implemented to increase the awareness of society, parents, and religious leaders, to empower girls in this regard.


BACKGROUND
While the Lachman and pivot shift tests have been used clinically for decades to assess the anterior cruciate ligament, the relationship between the two has undergone limited experimental study. The goal of this study was to evaluate biomechanical relationships between the Lachman and pivot shift tests in anterior cruciate ligament-deficient and reconstructed knees.

METHODS
Knee kinematics during simulated pivot-shift testing and anteroposterior knee laxities were measured in seventeen knees in the intact condition, in the anterior cruciate ligament-deficient condition, and after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. Pivot shift magnitude was plotted against laxity for all knees with the grafts unfixed (the cruciate ligament-deficient condition). The grafts were then tensioned to match the laxities of the intact knees, and the change in pivot shift magnitude was plotted versus the change in laxity for all knees. In a separate series of tests for individual specimens, pivot shift magnitude was plotted versus laxity for each knee by incrementally loosening the anterior cruciate ligament graft.

RESULTS
Linear correlations between pivot shift magnitude and absolute laxity for anterior cruciate ligament-deficient knees were weak. When the unfixed grafts were tensioned to match anteroposterior laxities of the intact knees, changes in pivot shift were better correlated with corresponding changes in anteroposterior laxity (r(2) = 0.53 for tibial rotation and 0.73 for lateral tibial plateau displacement). When graft fixation was progressively loosened for each reconstructed knee, pivot shift magnitude increased linearly from the laxity of the intact knee up to an end point of the linear range, at which point the slope decreased abruptly. Between this end point and the anterior cruciate ligament-deficient condition, further increases in pivot shift were relatively small.

CONCLUSIONS
Our findings suggest that the magnitude of laxity of an injured knee, when considered alone, may not accurately predict the magnitude of the pivot shift, but the difference in laxity between the injured knee and the normal knee (the injured-normal difference) could be a good clinical predictor of the injured-normal difference in the pivot shift. We demonstrated that an insufficiently tensioned anterior cruciate ligament graft could substantially reduce anterior laxity, while leaving the pivot shift evaluation virtually unchanged.


TSU in partnership with the USGS has conducted extensive research regarding biodegradation of contaminants in karst aquifers. This research resulted in the development of a numerical approach to modeling biodegradation of contaminants in karst aquifers that is taught to environmental engineering students in several steps. First, environmental engineering students are taught chemical-reaction engineering principles relating to a wide variety of environmental fate and transport issues. Second, as part of TSU's engineering course curriculum, students use a non-ideal flow laboratory reactor system and run a tracer study to establish residence time distribution (RTD). Next, the students couple that formula to a first-order biodegradation rate and predict the removal of a biodegradable contaminant as a function of residence time. Following this, students are shown data collected from karst bedrock wells that suggest that karst aquifers are analogous to non-ideal flow reactors. The students are challenged to develop rates of biodegradation through lab studies and use their results to predict biodegradaton at an actual contaminated karst site. Field studies are also conducted to determine the accuracy of the students' predictions. This academic approach teaches biodegradation processes, rate-kinetic processes, hydraulic processes and numerical principles. The students are able to experience how chemical engineering principles can be applied to other situations, such as, modeling biodegradation of contaminants in karst aquifers. This paper provides background on the chemical engineering principles and karst issues used in the research-enhanced curriculum.


In the past decade, Multiphoton Excited Fluorescence (MPEF) has firmly established itself as a major imaging technique for biological sciences. MPEF enables fast (video rate and beyond) 3D in vivo imaging of tissue and in some cases entire organisms. The technique relies on high peak power femtosecond pulses generated in the red and near infrared (NIR), thus allowing deep penetration (>1 mm) and sustained continuous imaging over long periods of time by limiting issues such as sample photo-toxicity, heating and damage.


It is widely argued that increased community participation in government decision making produces many important benefits. Dissent is rare: It is difficult to envision anything but positive outcomes from citizens joining the policy process, collaborating with others and reaching consensus to bring about positive social and environmental change. This article, motivated by contextual problems encountered in a participatory watershed management initiative, reviews the citizen-participation literature and analyzes key considerations in determining whether community participation is an effective policy-making tool. We list conditions under which community participation may be costly and ineffective and when it can thrive and produce the greatest gains in effective citizen governance. From the detritus of an unsuccessful citizen-participation effort, we arrive at a more informed approach to guide policy makers in choosing a decision-making process that is appropriate for a community's particular needs.


Leaf senescence is the last stage of leaf development, manifested by leaf yellowing due to the loss of chlorophyll, along with the degradation of macromolecules and facilitates nutrient translocation from the sink to the source tissues, which is essential for the plants' fitness. Leaf senescence is controlled by a sophisticated genetic network that has been revealed through the study of the molecular mechanisms of hundreds of senescence-associated genes (SAGs), which are involved in multiple layers of regulation. Leaf senescence is primarily regulated by plant age, but also influenced by a variety of factors, including phytohormones and environmental stimuli. Phytohormones, as important signaling molecules in plant, contribute to the onset and progression of leaf senescence. Recently, peptide hormones have been reported to be involved in the regulation of leaf senescence, enriching the significance of signaling molecules in controlling leaf senescence. This review summarizes recent advances in the regulation of leaf senescence by classical and peptide hormones, aiming to better understand the coordinated network of different pathways during leaf senescence.


Oakland County, one of the largest counties in the State of Michigan, has been experiencing congestion for the past two decades. During the 1990"s, Oakland County experienced a surge of population growth and economic development. At the current level of funding, it would take 70 years to meet the capacity needs of the Oakland County roadways (2). Looking for innovative and cost effective ways to improve road user mobility and safety, the Road Commission for Oakland County (RCOC) began investigating innovative traffic control strategies associated with Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). Subsequently, the County Board of Commissioners approved $2 million for the development of an advanced traffic management system in southeast Oakland County. This commitment by Oakland County toward congestion mitigation, prompted the United States Congress to financially support this effort as a Federal demonstration project with $10 million in funding. The innovative traffic control system created in Oakland County with the Federal and County funds is called "FAST-TRAC", an acronym which stands for Faster and Safer Travel through Traffic Routing and Advanced Controls. Through a field demonstration project, traffic signals at 28 intersections in the city of Troy within Oakland County were converted from a pre-timed coordinated traffic signal system to SCATS (Sydney Coordinated Adaptive Traffic System) control in 1992. SCAT is a computer controlled traffic signal system, developed in Australia and used widely in the Pacific Rim. SCATS uses anticipatory and adaptive techniques to increase the efficiency of the road network by minimizing the overall number of vehicular stops and delay experienced by motorists. The primary purpose of the SCATS system is to maximize the throughput of a roadway by controlling queue formation. In order to evaluate the performance of SCATS control system a research was conducted to determine the effectiveness of the SCATS signal system as compared to a pre-timed signal system in terms of traffic flow, delay, fuel consumption, emission and other selected measures of effectiveness. The research was conducted through a field experiment along a four-mile segment of M-59 between Pontiac Lake Road West to Pontiac Lake Road East consisting of seven signalized intersections. The M-59 corridor is located in Oakland County, Michigan. The data for the corridor was collected for the two signal system scenarios on a typical weekday and Friday for the noon (12 PM to 1 PM) and PM (4 PM to 6 PM) peak period, as well for a Saturday peak (9 AM to 11 AM). For the purpose of this study, M-59 corridor was converted from SCAT control system to Pre-Timed control system for eight weeks. When comparing the mean values for the various measures of effectiveness, the SCATS signal system, generally, had better performance indicators than the pre-timed signal system based upon the percent differences between the two systems. However, based upon the statistical analysis, the majority of the statistical tests indicated that there was no statistical difference between the two signal systems for any of the measures of effectiveness or peak periods analyzed.


In this paper, a robust control design strategy is introduced to synchronize two different chaotic systems. The controller is based on particle swarm optimization (PSO). Particle swarm optimization is a well-known evolutionary optimization algorithm inspired by organism behavior of birds flocking and fish schooling. Our control approach is based on defining a suitable cost function in such a way that minimizing it guarantees the control of system. Due to the nature of PSO algorithm, the designed controller is strongly robust. It is shown that the proposed controller can overcome the parameter uncertainty without any extra information about the system. Comparison of proposed method with previous works is performed during simulations


GaN with intentionally incorporated carbon to create semi-insulating buffer layers shows improved performance in AlGaN/GaN heterojunction field effect transistors. Moreover, various impurities and crystal imperfections of GaN epi-layers determine a rather rich spectrum of deep levels. Thus, spectroscopy of defects is of paramount importance in optimizing GaN-based devices. In this work, pulsed photo-ionization spectroscopy (PPIS) has been applied to trace the prevailing defects and simultaneously monitor variations of carrier lifetime in metal−organic chemical vapor deposition grown GaN epi-layers on Si substrates of various carbon content concentration. A contactless technique for microwave probed photoconductivity has been employed to measure changes in excess carrier density, in order to evaluate variations in carrier lifetime and reveal the type of photo-activation processes. Six PPI spectral steps have been resolved in samples containing either superlattices (SLs) or AlN/AlGaN stress management layers. Three of these centres, namely, C N − , C N 0 and (CNON)0, have been associated with carbon dopants. Other PPIS peaks have been ascribed to Ga vacancies and metal impurities. It has been deduced from analysis of the PPIS peak broadening factor that rather strong electron−phonon coupling is inherent in photo-ionization of carbon related complexes at room temperature. The concentration of separated defects and cross-sections for photon−electron coupling have been determined using calibration measurements of optical transmittance spectra and correlations between microwave probed photoconductivity peak signals and absorption coefficient.


Start-up companies during their business development process could face a decision dilemma that makes them wonder if their resources should be applied to support the present operation or to promote the required business improvements. An approach using the theory of inventive problem solving (TRIZ) is presented to overcome this impasse and one of the possible identified solutions is described, where the requirements of a national quality award e.g. the Baldrige National Quality Program (BNQP) are used to reduce the effects of the identified dilemma. Finally, a case study is exposed where the quality function deployment (QFD) is proposed to assist the early planning phases of a business development process.


PURPOSE
To describe the patterns of follow-up care provided to a population-based cohort of breast cancer survivors, and to assess factors associated with adherence to guidelines on follow-up care.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
We conducted a retrospective longitudinal study of all women with surgically treated breast cancer who were without evidence of recurrence, advanced breast cancer, or new primary cancer and were diagnosed in Ontario, Canada, within a 2-year period (n = 11,219). They were followed for 5 years. The cohort was identified through the Ontario Cancer Registry, and individuals were linked across population-based administrative health databases. Frequency of and adherence to guideline recommendations for oncologist and primary care physician (PCP) visits; surveillance imaging for metastatic disease; and surveillance mammograms by year from diagnosis, age group, and income quintile were analyzed. Factors associated with adherence to guideline recommendations were analyzed.

RESULTS
Most women saw both oncologists and PCPs in each follow-up year. Approximately two thirds had surveillance mammograms in each follow-up year. Overall, two thirds had either fewer or greater than recommended oncology visits, one quarter had fewer than recommended surveillance mammograms, and half had greater than recommended surveillance imaging for metastatic disease.

CONCLUSION
This population-based study shows substantial variation in adherence to guideline recommendations, with both overuse and underuse of surveillance visits and tests. Most importantly, a substantial proportion are receiving more than recommended imaging for metastatic disease but fewer than recommended mammograms for detection of local recurrence or new primary cancer, for which effective intervention is possible.


Multiple realizability seems to be empirically justified and provides the conceptual basis for the autonomy of the special sciences. But it is mysterious. In this talk I propose a new reductionist approach to the special sciences that removes the mystery: I explain why the special sciences kinds appear to be multiply realized although they are identical with physical kinds and in what sense the special sciences kinds and laws are autonomous although they are physical laws. This approach is based on the approach by Hemmo & Shenker (2012) to the reduction of thermodynamics to statistical mechanics.


The purpose of this study is to investigate the most significant determinants of financial development in OPEC countries during 2014-2016. To this end, this paper considered 34 explanatory variables including several economic and policy variables determining four different aspects of financial development as the degree of depth, efficiency, stability and quality of financial services. In order to obtain more reliable results and overcome the uncertainty problem in this study, we applied Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA) technique. The results indicated that better institutional indicators such as rule of law, government effectiveness, and corruption avoidance are associated with greater financial depth, efficiency, and stability. More importantly, the results revealed that the development in the oil sector could support financial development, and in particular contribute to greater depth and efficiency of the stock market. There are some important implications in this research for policymakers to promote financial development in OPEC countries.


OBJECTIVE
To explore the expression of nm23-H1 mRNA and its protein in breast cancer and its correlation to the biologic behavior.

METHODS
RT-PCR and immunohistochemical method were employed to detect the expression of nm23-H1 mRNA and its protein in 58 breast cancer tissues.

RESULTS
Low level expression of nm23-H1 mRNA and protein was shown in 44.8% and 48.2% of examined cases respectively. The low expression of nm23-H1 mRNA was correlated, but not always parallel to the protein expression. The low level expression of nm23-H1 mRNA or the protein was significantly associated with lymphatic metastasis of the cancer.

CONCLUSION
Examination of nm23-H1 expression may be of significance in evaluating metastatic potentiality and prognosis of breast cancer.


Dispersing single palladium atoms on a support is promising to minimize the usage of palladium and improve the selectivity for alkyne semihydrogenation, but its activity is often very low as a result of unfavorable H2 activation. Here, we load palladium onto α-Fe2O3(012) to construct highly active and stable single-site Pd-Fe pairs with luxuriant d-electron domination near the Fermi level driven by strong electronic coupling and prove that Pd-Fe pairs cooperatively adsorb H2 and dissociate an H─H bond, whereas solo Pd sites enable preferential desorption of C═C intermediate, thus achieving both high activity and high selectivity for alkyne hydrogenation. This catalyst exhibits state-of-the-art performance in purifying acetylene of ethylene stream, with 99.6% and 100% conversion and 96.7% and 94.7% selectivity at 353 and 393 K, respectively, and excellent stability with negligible activity decay after a 200 h test. This single-site pair inherits the advantage but overcomes the weakness of both Pd ensemble and single Pd atoms, enabling ultralow-Pd-loading catalysts for selective hydrogenation.


Due to the resource-constrained nature of embedded systems, it is crucial to support the estimation of their power consumption as early in the development process as possible. Non-functional requirements based on power consumption directly impact the software design, e.g., watt-hour thresholds and expected lifetimes based on battery capacities. Even if software affects hardware behavior directly, these types of requirements are often overlooked by software developers because they are commonly associated with the hardware layer. Modern trends in software engineering such as Model-Driven Development (MDD) can be used in embedded software development to evaluate power consumption-based requirements in early design phases. However, power consumption aspects are currently not sufficiently considered in MDD approaches. In this paper, we present a model-driven approach using Unified Modeling Language profile extensions to model hardware components and their power characteristics. Software models are combined with hardware models to achieve a system-wide estimation, including peripheral devices, and to make the power-related impact in early design stages visible. By deriving energy profiles, we provide software developers with valuable feedback, which may be used to identify energy bugs and evaluate power consumption-related requirements. To demonstrate the potential of our approach, we use a sensor node example to evaluate our concept and to identify its energy bugs.


This project aimed to relate the control efficiency of ACCase inhibiting herbicides applied post-emergence to Digitaria horizontalis plants under different soil water contents. The experiments were conducted in a greenhouse, with the application of three different herbicides (fluazifop-p-butyl, haloxyfop-methyl, and sethoxydim + mineral oil Assist). The experimental design used for each herbicide was completely randomized, with four replications, consisting of a 3 x 4 factorial, with the combination of water management strategies (-0.03, -0.07 and -1.5 MPa) and four doses of these products (100%, 50%, 25%, and 0% of the recommended dose). Herbicide application was made at two vegetative stages, 4-6 leaves and 2-3 tillers. The visual phytotoxicity evaluations were performed at 14 days after application and the plant dry weight at the end of the study was evaluated. The control efficiency was not affected by water management strategies when applied to the recommended dose of the herbicides in early stages of plant development (4-6 leaf stage). In late applications (2-3 tiller stage) the plants held under drought stress showed less phytotoxicity.


The carbohydrate-protein linkage of the allergen Ag-54 in the mould Cladosporium herbarum was studied after alkaline-borohydride treatment of the glycoprotein. By incorporating tritium into the peptide-linked monosaccharide through the alkaline scission of the linkage, it was demonstrated that the highly branched galactomannan moiety of Ag-54 was linked to the protein through mannose. Threonine was identified as the carbohydrate-linked amino acid. In addition, a few glucose units were peptide-linked, but the corresponding amino acids were not identified. When deglycosylated with trifluoromethanesulfonic acid, Ag-54 retained only 5% of its allergenic activity as compared to the native Ag-54 when tested by rocket immunoelectrophoresis and autoradiography. Immunological identity between native and deglycosylated Ag-54 was observed. Deglycosylation also resulted in reduced stability towards denaturation by heat or urea.


Previous studies have shown that the RAS (renin-angiotensin system) might participate in airway remodelling in asthma. As a main component of the RAS, Ang-(1-7) [angiotensin-(1-7)] has been reported in few studies regarding its protective effect on asthma. However, the functional roles and relevant signalling pathways of Ang-(1-7) have not been well illustrated. In the present study, we analysed the effect of Ang-(1-7) on AngII (angiotensin II)-induced HLF (human lung fibroblast)-MF (myofibroblast) transition by detecting Col-I (collagen type I), TGF-β1 (transforming growth factor-β1) and α-SMA (α-smooth muscle actin) expression. We explored further the possible signalling pathways involved in HLF-MF transition. Our results showed that Ang-(1-7) could down-regulate the expression of Col-I, α-SMA and TGF-β1/Smad2/3 (all P<0.05). A significant decrease was found in phosphorylation of PI3K (phosphoinositide 3-kinase), Akt, p38-MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase) and JNK (c-Jun N-terminal kinase) signalling pathways during HLF-MF transition (all P<0.05). Our data suggests that Ang-(1-7) decreases the expression of Col-I via TGF-β1/Smad2/3 and subsequently inhibits HLF-MF transition.


Three separate variables--volume of contrast material, site of contrast material injection, and arterial inflow occlusion--were tested in a prospective, randomized fashion in 52 patients to determine the best technique for lower-limb angiography. Twelve patients received 30 and 60 mL of contrast material injected at the level of the external iliac artery (EIA), 20 patients received 60 mL injected at the level of the EIA with and without inflow occlusion, and 20 patients received 120 mL injected at the level of the aortic bifurcation and 60 mL injected at the level of the EIA. A total of 104 angiograms were obtained, two in each patient. Two examiners reviewed all angiograms in a blinded fashion, initially as 104 separate studies for diagnostic adequacy (ie, the need for additional angiography) and then as 52 paired studies for direct comparison of the quality of arterial filling (ie, the best-appearing angiogram). The 60-mL studies were significantly better (P less than .001) in both categories when compared with both the 30- and the 120-mL studies. There was, however, no significant difference between the 60-mL studies with and without inflow occlusion. The authors conclude that the best screen-film lower-limb angiograms are obtained with large volumes (60 mL) of contrast material injected below the pelvic vessels (EIA).


Efficient compression of multi-view images and video is crucial for 3DV application. The major task of three-dimensional video (3DV) coding is to provide high quality depth data. For experimental coding purposes, the compression method used is H.264/AVC video coding standard. In this paper, Structural similarity (SSIM) based Rate distortion (RD) optimization is expressed for distortion metric. In multi-view video, the left view and the right view have their pixels with strong dependencies of structural information that are spatially close. The full reference quality metric SSIM is used to exploit the structural information from different views in multi-view video coding. With the proposed system, significant gains can be achieved in terms of SSIM index.


The technical evolution of the correlators of the Plateau de Bure interferometer since the first fringes, 14 years ago, is shortly presented. The progressive addition of antennas over this period has allowed the Grenoble correlator group to undertake several 'start-from-scratch' designs, which have replaced on-site equipment as it came obsolete. The tradeoff between design cycle time and lifetime of such equipment is discussed. The latest design is described in detail. The new correlator can be set to analyze up to eight simultaneous windows, adjustable in size and center frequency, thanks to a 2 X 220 MHz image rejection mixer. Advantages of analog IF processing are presented. The frequency plan of the IF processor has been designed to be fully compatible with MarkIV VLBI recording. The correlator is then used to sum up the signals of the 6 antennas over 256 MHz. The digital section mainly uses an IRAM-designed low-power, low-cost ASIC. Delay lines use FPGA's and phase rotators use DDS's. Surface-mount technology is used everywhere. A commercial CPU module runs the real-time software under Linux. A 21-slot VME chassis hosts the hardware. Test results and measurements of performance on the full-size machine are presented. The difficulties encountered in achieving this kind of machine within schedule in today's industrial environment are retrospectively analyzed.


Cotton fibers were tested as a substitute for agar in tissue culture. The cost of agar has prompted us to search for an alternative more economical medium support. Effective- ness as a medium support was evaluated in terms of callus maintenance and shoot organogenesis using Artemisia, Agrostis, and Taxus. Taxus and Agrostis calli cultivated on liquid media with cotton fiber as medium support (25 ml of medium per gram of cotton) grew better than calli on agar (0.8% w/v). There were no significant differences in shoot organogenesis of Artemisia and Agrostis grown in 25 ml of medium per gram of cotton from those grown in agar medium.


We present the main features and functionality of the three most widely used message transfer protocols. We study actual implementations and base our analysis on benchmarking. The performance of the protocols is compared in terms of end to end delay, volume of traffic and number of frames generated at the physical layer and frame length distribution. An analytical model is proposed for the approximation of the upper and lower bounds of volume generated by SMTP which can easily be extended for POP3. The model considers both explicit and piggyback acknowledgements at the TCP layer.


Abstract The trans-Atlantic slave trade with its forced migrations of millions overwhelms the subjects of African and African-diaspora histories. In contrast to closely studied Atlantic migrations, far less attention has been given to Africans' eastward movements and their tasks, enterprises, achievements, and contributions to societies east of Africa. Empowered through elite military slavery, some Africans reached prominent positions in India. The fate of the African elite followed the political dynamics of postcolonial India as the states of Janjira and Sachin were incorporated into the Indian Union after independence. Multiple waves of migrations have created several Afro-Indian communities with diverse histories and shifting borders. As these communities emerge from the forests, villages, and cosmopolitan cities, India's diversity is beginning to be fully appreciated. This article explores the rise of Africans to prominent positions in India's past and highlights the emergence of disenfranchised Africans as mendicants and entertainers.


Abstract Objective To examine the associations between financial, physical and transport conditions that may restrict food access (which we define as food security indicators) and the purchase of fast foods and nutritious staples such as bread and milk. Design Multilevel logistic and multinomial regression analysis of cross-sectional survey data to assess associations between the three indicators of food insecurity and household food shopping adjusted for sociodemographic and socio-economic variables. Setting Random selection of households (n 3995) from fifty Census Collector Districts in Melbourne, Australia, in 2003. Subjects The main food shoppers in each household (n 2564). Results After adjustment for confounders, analysis showed that a greater likelihood of purchasing chain-brand fast food on a weekly basis compared with never was associated with running out of money to buy food (OR = 1·59; 95 % CI 1·08, 2·34) and reporting difficulties lifting groceries (OR = 1·77; 95 % CI 1·23, 2·54). Respondents without regular access to a car to do food shopping were less likely to purchase bread types considered more nutritious than white bread (OR = 0·75; 95 % CI 0·59, 0·95) and milk types considered more nutritious than full-cream milk (OR = 0·62; 95 % CI 0·47, 0·81). The food insecurity indicators were not associated with the purchasing of fruits, vegetables or non-chain fast food. Conclusions Householders experiencing financial and physical barriers were more likely to frequently purchase chain fast foods while limited access to a car resulted in a lower likelihood that the nutritious options were purchased for two core food items (bread and milk). Policies and interventions that improve financial access to food and lessen the effect of physical limitations to carrying groceries may reduce the purchasing of fast foods. Further research is required on food sourcing and dietary quality among those with food access restrictions.


The process of deciding over (choosing) a brand may be influenced by situation and content. "Brand attitude" and "corporate attitude" affect consumer's brand choice and re-buying rate. The findings of the study can provide companies and active players in production, marketing, and sale of cell phones with practical suggestions as well as guidelines on how to meet consumer's needs. In this descriptive survey, a questionnaire with 57 questions was used to gather required data. The statistical population consisted of buyers and users of cell phones in cell phone shopping centers in Tehran. A combination of multi-stage cluster sampling and judgment sampling was employed. In total, 385 questionnaires were analyzed. SPSS and LISREL were used for descriptive and inferential analysis of data and hypothesis test based on confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. The findings suggest a significant relationship between the variables "brand attitude", "corporate attitude", and "product (cell phone) choice". In addition, no significant relationship was found between individual decision making processes (independent or mediated) and product choice.


We have developed a computer aided diagnosis method for differentiating malignant from benign masses. The computerized method outputs an estimated likelihood of malignancy for eventual use as an aid to radiologists in diagnosing breast cancer. The method incorporates various computer extracted image features and merges them using artificial neural networks and rules. The authors summarize recent progress.


AIMS AND OBJECTIVE
To examine whether nurses' assessment of their relationships and communication with lesbian women seeking perinatal care is associated with their personal and professional characteristics and knowledge of homosexuality.

BACKGROUND
Recently, there has been a growing incidence of same-sex parenthood. Nurses administer health care to lesbian women from pregnancy planning through birth, providing consultation. Although there has been a shift in attitudes towards homosexuality, discrimination is still quite common.

DESIGN
This research is part of a larger cross-sectional study carried out at women's healthcare centres, concerning nurses' perceived quality of perinatal care provided to lesbian women.

METHODS
The study was conducted from December 2015-April 2016 at women's health centres in Israel encompassing 184 registered nurses who completed self-report questionnaires. They were assessed as to their knowledge of homosexuality and nurse-patient relationships and communication. The Squire checklist was used.

RESULTS
Most (73.4%) had prior acquaintance with lesbian women; only 17.9% had been educated as to lesbian women's unique health needs; of these, 66.7% thought that they had been given professional tools for working with lesbian women; 60.4% were unaware of the importance of knowing the patient's sexual orientation. The average score on a homosexuality knowledge questionnaire was 10.4 on a scale of 0-17, indicating moderate levels of factual knowledge about homosexuality. A significant positive correlation was found between nurses' knowledge of homosexuality and assessment of their relationships and communication with lesbian women seeking perinatal care. In addition, nurses' personal and professional characteristics, such as place of birth, religiosity and familiarity with lesbian women, were related to their assessment of their relationships and communication.

CONCLUSION
Nurses' knowledge of homosexuality and personal and professional characteristics were associated with their perceptions regarding relationships and communication with lesbian women seeking perinatal care.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE
Further training might broaden, refine rigid perceptions and contribute to advancing equal perinatal nursing care of lesbian women.


A new solid-state, high-resolution acoustic imaging technology has been applied in hydraulically fractured wells to image and quantify perforation erosion. The downhole device captures detailed full-lateral logs of horizontal wells, without the need for clear fluids to facilitate measurements. This paper discusses how the imaging technology functions, lab testing that validated the measurements, and field testing completed with several operators in a variety of reservoirs and basins.
 This high-resolution, acoustic-based downhole imaging technology provided a 360-degree view inside a variety of wells. Instead of optics, the imaging technology used high-frequency sound waves to image a full lateral through opaque fluids at sub-millimetric levels. The imaging tool was conveyed on either tractor or e-coil to continuously log the wellbore between 15 and 30ft/min, completing a full azimuthal scan that imaged individual perforations regardless of orientation. A range of imaging techniques quantified and measured each perforation to determine the extent of erosion in each perforation, cluster, and stage sustained during the hydraulic fracturing process.
 The acoustic imaging technology was initially tested in the lab with calibration jigs and perforated pipe samples to validate its accuracy. The technology was then field deployed by several operators and used to assess perforation erosion in extended horizontal wells by scanning the entire well from toe to heel and measuring thousands of perforations in a single log. The data gathered quantified the perforation diameter, perforation erosion range, perforation orientation dependency, cluster efficiency, perforation erosion bias, and discovered the presence of significant casing damage around areas where plugs were set. The image results showed the distribution, size, and measured diameter for each perforation in each cluster. The results noted toe or heel biases and how these changed in different well types and designs in different basins. The data allowed operators to reach conclusions regarding erosion and cluster efficiency across the entire lateral in various wells in the Montney, Permian, and Anadarko basins. Wells across North America were scanned in several other basins for comparison purposes using various completion designs from different operators.
 The high-resolution acoustic imaging technology offers a robust 360-degree view of long horizontal wells and perforation measurements post-fracture. Over 35,000 perforations have been measured using the technology in the field across various well types with different designs. The technology has proven to be a valuable tool in improving and optimizing completion designs by providing detailed feedback on where designs are working effectively and where they can be improved.


A cold-adapted (ca) influenza B reassortant vaccine consisting of two genes encoding the hemagglutinin and neuraminidase from wild-type influenza B/Ann Arbor/1/86 virus and the six internal RNA segments from influenza B/Ann Arbor/1/66 ca virus was evaluated in 18 seropositive and 57 seronegative infants and children. The ca reassortant was infectious in seronegative vaccinees, with an estimated 50% human infectious dose of 10(2.5) TCID50. Nasal wash specimens from vaccinees retained the temperature-sensitive phenotype, indicating that the virus was phenotypically stable after replication in fully susceptible children. The vaccine was highly immunogenic in the seronegative vaccinees; 54% of the seropositive vaccinees also developed an increase in serum antibody. The ca vaccine was well tolerated, with only a mild increase in upper respiratory tract symptoms seen in the seronegative vaccinees. These studies indicate that the B/Ann Arbor/1/86 ca reassortant is safe, immunogenic, and phenotypically stable in infants and children.


Until recently, California 4-H programs did not represent the ethnic diversity found in California's population of young people. To close the gap in representation particularly with Latino youth UC ANR began the 4-H Latino Initiative, an effort to pilot adapted programs that would target the engagement of Latino youth and families. In this paper, we explore and compare young people's program experience and youth development outcomes between 4-H community clubs and 4-H Latino Initiative programs. We employed comparative post-test survey methodology with two treatment groups (community clubs versus 4-H Latino Initiative programs). The findings provide encouraging evidence that young people experienced positive outcomes from participating in 4-H programs, inclusive of both 4-H community clubs and 4-H Latino Initiative programs. Additionally, we found that the program experience including relationship building and youth engagement were similar across community clubs and 4-H Latino Initiative programs.


Background: Epstein Barr virus DNA (EBV DNA) load has been identified as a prognostic factor in nasopharyngeal carcinoma, while the dynamic changes in the long period have not been explored. In this study, we evaluated EBV DNA kinetics and its role in the survival.Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of 900 NPC patients. Plasma EBV DNA levels were measured at various time points after treatment. The correlations of EBV kinetics with recurrence and metastasis were analyzed. After stratifying patients according to the EBV results, survival was compared using Kaplan–Meier estimates. 12 and 24-month landmark analyses for OS data were performed according to the EBV groups.Results: Patients with post-EBV < 2,500 copies/mL achieved better survival than the higher ones. Furthermore, patients with continuously elevated EBV DNA had significantly poorer OS (HR: 2.542, 95%CI: 2.077–3.111, P < 0.001), DMFS (HR: 2.970, 95%CI: 2.392–3.687, P < 0.001), LRFS (HR: 1.699, 95%CI: 1.072–2.692, P = 0.013), and PFS (HR:2.535, 95%CI: 1.987–3.233, P < 0.001) than patients with continuously normal EBV or those with elevated levels at any time-point. The 5-year OS with elevated EBV was lower than the remission group by the 12 and 24-month landmark analysis.Conclusions: Elevated EBV DNA after treatment was a better predictive indicator of survival than the baseline concentrations. Furthermore, continuously elevated EBV DNA after treatment indicated recurrence, metastasis and unfavorable prognosis for NPC. In addition, EBV DNA was predictable in the long follow-up time.


BACKGROUND
The objective of this study was to determine the effect of acute intravenous (IV) alcohol infusion on skin blood flow (SBF) response, measured at fingertip and earlobe, and subjective responses associated with SBF in social drinkers.

METHODS
Twenty-four social drinkers underwent a computer-assisted alcohol self-infusion study. SBF was measured continuously using laser Doppler flow meter, with the probe placed on the fingertip or earlobe. Perfusion recordings were collected at baseline, and at 0-minute (0 to 5 minutes), 10-minute (10 to 15 minutes), and 20-minute (20 to 25 minutes) time points during the priming phase of IV alcohol self-administration paradigm at low breath alcohol levels of approximately 30 mg%. Subjective response was measured using the Drug Effects Questionnaire (DEQ) and Biphasic Alcohol Effects Scale.

RESULTS
Overall SBF (collective data from both fingertip and earlobe) and SBF by each site showed significant drop at 0 minutes and then subsequent significant elevation with alcohol self-administration. Males showed higher overall SBF at baseline and 0 minutes than the females. At fingertip site, lowering in 0-minute SBF compared to baseline, and subsequent significant increase at the 10- and 20-minute SBF recordings were observed. DEQ measures of "like" and "want more" alcohol were significantly associated with 10- and 20-minute SBF recordings collected at fingertip site.

CONCLUSIONS
The changes in SBF following acute IV alcohol exposure are consistent with the sympathetic response of alcohol on the cardiovascular system. This acute hemodynamic effect characterizes differences in blood flow that are sensitive to relatively low levels of acute alcohol exposure. The association of subjective perceptions with the SBF response provides evidence of the psychophysiological effects of alcohol at low levels of exposure.


Abstract. Transport of pollutants into the stratosphere via the Asian summer monsoon (ASM) or North American summer monsoon (NASM) may affect the atmospheric composition and climate both locally and globally. We identify and study the robust characteristics of transport from the ASM and NASM regions to the stratosphere using the Lagrangian chemistry transport model CLaMS as driven by the ERA-Interim and MERRA-2 reanalyses. In particular, we investigate the relative influences of the ASM and NASM on stratospheric composition, the transport pathways by which these influences are effected, and the quantitative contributions and efficiencies of transport from different altitudes in these two monsoon regions to the stratosphere. We release artificial tracers in several vertical layers from the middle troposphere to the lower stratosphere in both ASM and NASM source regions during July and August 2010–2013 and track their evolution until the following summer. We find that the magnitude of transport from the ASM and NASM regions to the tropical stratosphere, and even to the Southern Hemispheric stratosphere, is higher when the tracers are released at the 350–360 K level. For tracers released close to the tropopause (370–380 K), transport is primarily into the Northern Hemispheric stratosphere. Results for different vertical layers or air origin reveal two transport pathways from the upper troposphere over the ASM and NASM regions to the tropical pipe: (i) quasi-horizontal transport to the tropics below the tropopause followed by ascent to the stratosphere via tropical upwelling, and (ii) ascent into the stratosphere inside the ASM/NASM followed by quasi-horizontal transport to the tropical lower stratosphere and tropical pipe. The tropical pathway (i) is faster than the monsoon pathway (ii), particularly in the ascending branch. Ultimately, the abundance of air in the tropical pipe that originates in the ASM upper troposphere (350–360 K, ~ 5 %) is comparable to that of air ascending directly from the tropics ten months after the release of the source tracers. By contrast, the air mass contributions from the ASM to the tropical pipe are about three times larger than the corresponding contribution from the NASM (~ 1.5 %). The transport efficiency into the tropical pipe, normalized by the mass of the domain, is greatest from the ASM region at 370–380 K. Transport from the ASM to the tropical pipe is almost twice as efficient as transport from the NASM or tropics to the tropical pipe. Although the contribution from the NASM to the stratosphere is less than that from either the ASM or the tropics, the transport efficiency from the NASM is comparable to that from the tropics.


Castleman's disease is a rare disorder with a poor prognosis that may occur in the lymph nodes fine tissues throughout the body. The most common places are the chest, abdomen and the neck. The least common sites include the axilla, pelvis and the pancreas. Usually there is an abnormal enlargement of the lymph nodes found in those sites. There are two main types of Castleman's disease: the hyaline vascular type and the plasma cells type. The hyaline vascular type explains around 90 per cent of the causes. Most of the individuals do not show symptoms of this type of asymptomatic disorder and may develop non cancer type ingrowths in the lymph nodes. The plasma cells type can be associated to fever, weight loss, skin rush, early erythrocytes destruction rarely leading to hemolytic anemia and/or hypergammaglobulinemia.


In this paper, a new method for line segments matching for indoor reconstruction will be presented. The problem of line segment tracker is addressed, which does not require any knowledge about the motion of the camera nor the structure of the observed scene. The slopes of lines segment as feature to track are used in order to deal with the instability of the endpoint extraction. The proposed method relies solely on the geometry layout of the slope of the segment and not on photometric or color profiles and does not need any knowledge about the parameters of the camera or its rotation. The obtained results showed the feasibility of the method.


The present paper describes an experimental study on the effect of environment on creep-fatigue strength of a single crystal Ni-base superalloy, CMSX-2. The creep-fatigue tests were carried out in vacuum, air and melted-salt. The creep-fatigue life of CMSX-2 decreased as corrosion environment became severer. This resulted from the difference in surface damage condition among the specimens tested in each environment. The creep-fatigue lives under PP and CC strain waveform conditions seemed to be more sensitive to environment than those under PC and CP conditions, similar to those of polycrystalline austenitic stainless steel.


Three new triterpene glycosides, named nobilisides A ( 1), B ( 2) and C ( 3), were isolated from the sea cucumber Holothuria nobilis Selenka. Their structures were deduced by extensive spectral analysis and chemical evidence. Compounds 1 and 3 are non-sulfated monoglycosides while 2 is a sulfated diglycoside. The presence of two conjugated double bonds [22 E,24-diene and 7,9(11)-diene] in the aglycone of 1 is a rare structural feature among sea cucumber glycosides, while 2 and 3 possess the same 22,25-epoxy moiety as their side chains. All three glycosides exhibited significant cytotoxicity against human tumor cell lines.


The thermal conductivity, DC magnetization and penetration depth of large-grain niobium hollow cylindrical rods fabricated from ingots, manufactured by CBMM subjected to chemical and heat treatment were measured. The results confirm the influence of chemical and heat-treatment processes on the superconducting properties, with no significant dependence on the impurity concentrations in the original ingots. Furthermore, RF properties, such as the surface resistance and quench field of the niobium rods were measured using a TE{sub 011} cavity. The hollow niobium rod is the center conductor of this cavity, converting it to a coaxial cavity. The quench field is limited by the critical heat flux through the rods' cooling channel.


The aim of this work was to test 101 strains of E. coli for virulence factors associated with enterotoxigenic and enterohemorrhagic pathotypes of E. coli isolated from diarrheic and non-diarrheic calves. The virulence factors of E. coli Stx1 (Shiga toxin), Stx2, Ehly (Enterohemolysin), the eae gene, LT-II (heat-labile enterotoxin), STa (heat-stable toxin), and adhesins K99 and F41 were detected by PCR. Serogroups were determined by serological methods and Stx production was observed by biological assays in Vero cells. The frequency of the eae gene was higher in isolates from diarrheic calves (35/58, 60.3%) than in non-diarrheic calves (8/43, 18.6%; P < 0.001). The gene for Stx1 occurred at high frequencies in the diarrheic strains (24/58, 41.3%) as well as in non-diarrheic (19/43, 44.2%) ones and all strains that were Stx positive by PCR showed cytotoxicity in Vero cells. Stx2 was found in ten strains, Ehly in eight strains, and LT-II in only two strains. Twenty-eight strains were negative for all of the PCR assays, including for F41 and K99 adhesins. The serogroups O7, O23, O4, O8, O153 and O156 were observed most frequently. Our results show that strains of E. coli isolated from cattle have similar virulence factors genes to strains isolated from cases of diseases in humans and may be a source of potentially pathogenic STEC for humans.


We solve the flexible job shop scheduling problems (F-JSSPs) to minimize makespan. First, we compare the constraint programming (CP) model with the mixed-integer programming (MIP) model for F-JSSPs. Second, we exploit the decomposable structure within the models and develop an efficient CP–logic-based Benders decomposition (CP-LBBD) technique that combines the complementary strengths of MIP and CP models. Using 193 instances from the literature, we demonstrate that MIP, CP, and CP-LBBD achieve average optimality gaps of 25.50%, 13.46%, and 0.37% and find optima in 49, 112, and 156 instances of the problem, respectively. We also compare the performance of the CP-LBBD with an efficient Greedy Randomized Adaptive Search Procedure (GRASP) algorithm, which has been appraised for finding 125 optima on 178 instances. CP-LBBD finds 143 optima on the same set of instances. We further examine the performance of the algorithms on 96 newly (and much larger) generated instances and demonstrate that the average optimality gap of the CP increases to 47.26%, whereas the average optimality of CP-LBBD remains around 1.44%. Finally, we conduct analytics on the performance of our models and algorithms and counterintuitively find out that as flexibility increases in data sets the performance CP-LBBD ameliorates, whereas that of the CP and MIP significantly deteriorates.


We have been developing a novel process to synthesize C60 polymers as superior functional materials. Polymerization reactions of C60 precipitated from organic solution were investigated under Free Electron Laser (FEL) irradiation. The two processes: a liquid-liquid interfacial precipitation (LLIP) method and an evaporation technique from supersaturated solution, were studied with a respect of crystal structure and/or Raman spectrum for the precipitates before and after FEL irradiation. It was found that the photopolymerization reaction took place effectively in the LLIP precipitate because of its highly packed molecular crystal structure.


In February 2002, The National Secondary Education Curriculum was adopted by the
Estonian Government, which declares media education as one of the disciplines
implemented in the cross-curricular principle, starting from this year. The aim of the
present Master Thesis is to find out the readiness of Estonian teachers to implement
media education across the curriculum.
The theoretical view-point, implemented in the Thesis, is the critical-constructivist
approach to media education. The aim of the mentioned approach is to teach media,
promoting methods of active learning in order to develop critical media literacy of the
students.
Critical media literacy contains raising motivated and competent members of citizen
society, besides developing criticism and awareness towards information presented by
media, as well as finding information in the media channels and using data to achieve
one's aims.
In order to find out the readiness of media teachers, the criteria of media teaching by
Sirkku Kotilainen were taken as the basis; the questions of the Master Thesis
developed from them.

The readiness of media teachers was researched in the Thesis by the formal
questionnaire, 252 teachers from different regions of Estonia took part of it. The other
method used was semistructured qualitative in-depth interviews with 20 teachers of
general education schools.
As the result, it is concluded in the Thesis that teachers in Estonian general education
schools are not ready to teach media. The preconditions for teaching media, media usage of the teachers and notion of media usage and media literacy of the pupils, are
fulfilled. Approximately half of the teachers are well enough aware of the need and
opportunities of teaching media in order to do so, they are ready to use active
constructivist teaching methods and assess their readiness to teach media adequatly.
The biggest obstacle is the insufficient media literacy of the teachers.
Taking into account poor preparation of the teachers, it is clear that the media
education cannot be implemented as an across-curriculum discipline without
developing co-operation of teachers, pupils, parents and media experts. Advanced
training courses must be developed for the teachers, support persons and educational
materials must be available.


Map (CM) is a visual knowledge representation (KR) tool that represents concepts and the relationships among them. A concept is referred to the perceived regularity of objects or events. The concepts are used to form the nodes of the map and the relationships among these concepts form the edges. This tool provides a visual representation of a knowledge which will be very much useful for humans to understand better. This paper proposes a novel approach that analyzes the role of CM in knowledge assessment. The participants have been introduced with concept mapping technique and asked to map their understanding of the topics covered during the session. The results obtained after analysis are found to be encouraging to proceed for further studies.


It is almost impossible to obtain and understand all software requirements at early stages of Software Development Life Cycle without changes. Technical requirement evolves after software specification phase by client organization or project team members frequently. This paper classified the software changes problems and list all related software artifacts to perform the requested software change. The relationships of various change software artifacts during applying change process are discussed in detail.


The National Institute of Environmental Research(NIER) launched a research about Framework of Environmental Health Information System for Industrial Complex in 2001, with the goal of finding out measures to establish an integrated management system(IMS) for environmental health information. Based on the research results, NIER started to build integrated information system. The process will continue from 2006 to 2008. As the first step, in 2006, NIER outsourced the job of setting up the specific plan. In 2007, based on the plan created in the previous year, computerization work began. During 2008, the 3 rd year of the process, the integrated system will be compatible to conventional GIS system and statistics analysis system to deliver further efficient and useful services. In this vein, the objective of the study is to identify data collection procedure, data utilization, and overall goal of the system. In addition, it will illustrate digitalization process and recommendation about how to utilize the system.


Objectives Although shared decision making (SDM) is advocated in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treatment, it is largely unclear when, how and to what extent SDM is applied in routine clinical care of patients with RA. This study aimed to investigate the level of SDM in RA treatment from an observer perspective and to assess associations between the level of SDM and characteristics of the clinician, patient and consultation. Methods The level of SDM was investigated by scoring audio-recordings of 168 routine consultations with unique patients with the observer patient involvement (OPTION) scale (scale 0–100, higher OPTION scores indicating higher levels of SDM). Associations between the level of SDM and characteristics of the clinician, patient and consultation were assessed using multilevel modelling. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Results The mean OPTION score was 28.3 (SD=15.1). The multilevel model included four characteristics: clinician age, patient age, consultation duration and type of treatment decision. There were significant, positive associations between the level of SDM and the consultation duration (b=0.63, 95% CI 0.16 to 1.11), decision for stopping and/or starting medication (b=14.30, 95% CI 5.62 to 22.98), decision for adjusting medication doses (b=8.36, 95% CI 3.92 to 12.81) and decision for administering single dose glucocorticoids (b=15.03, 95% CI 9.12 to 20.93). Thus, a higher level of SDM was significantly associated with a longer consultation duration and the type of treatment decision. No other significant associations were found. Conclusions Overall, the level of SDM in RA treatment leaves room for improvement. To foster SDM in routine clinical care, training programmes on patient-centred communication skills may be helpful.


Background: Exoskeleton technology has potential benefits for wheelchair users' health and mobility. However, there are practical barriers to their everyday use as a mobility device. In particular, challenges related to travelling longer distances and transitioning between using a wheelchair and exoskeleton walking may present significant deterrents to regular exoskeleton use. In an effort to remove these barriers, a combined exoskeleton-wheelchair concept ('COMBO') has been proposed, which aims to achieve the benefits of both these mobility technologies. Given the inherent importance of including user-stakeholder opinions when designing an assistive technology solution, a study was undertaken to explore the perspectives of wheelchair users and healthcare professionals on the proposed conceptual design of the COMBO. Methods: An online survey with quantitative and qualitative components was conducted with wheelchair users and healthcare professionals working directly with individuals with mobility impairments. Respondents rated whether they would use or recommend a COMBO for four potential reasons. Nine design features were rated and compared in terms of their importance. Content analysis was used to analyze data from an open-ended question regarding additional perceptions about using or recommending a COMBO. Results: A total of 481 survey responses were analyzed, 354 from wheelchair users and 127 from healthcare professionals. Potential health benefits was the most highly rated reason for potential use or recommendation of a COMBO. Of the 9 design features, 2 had a median rating of very important: inclusion of a fall-protection mechanism, and the ability for the operator to use their hands while standing. Qualitative findings indicated that health and physical benefits, use for daily life activities, and psychosocial benefits were important considerations in whether to use or recommend the COMBO. Conclusions: This study captures the opinions and perspectives of two stakeholder groups for an exoskeleton-wheelchair hybrid device. It also emphasizes the importance of fall-protection, hand-use capabilities and enabling functional activities. Findings from this study can be utilized to provide insight for the refinement of the COMBO concept, as well as to guide more general mobility device research and development.


The recent advances in technology, the increased dependence on electrical energy and the emergence of the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) were all factors in the increased need for smart, efficient and reliable energy systems. This introduced the concept of the Smart Grid (SG). A SG is a potential replacement for older power grids, capable of adapting and distributing energy based on demand. SG systems are complex. They combine various components and have high requirements for real time reliable operation. This paper attempts to provide an overview of SG systems, by outlining SG architecture and various components. It also introduces communication technologies, integration and network management tools that are involved in SG systems. In addition, the paper highlights challenges and issues that need to be addressed for a successful implementation of SG. Finally, we provide suggestions for future research directions.


Analysis of cereal production allows one to make decisions about the importance of certain products and the water resources. Improving cereal production is crucial in developing the standard of living in Algeria. Actually, it should be part of any future strategy for the country. Most of the arable land in Algeria is in a Mediterranean climate, where droughts are common and rainfall is distributed unevenly throughout the year. Research on the impact of climate variability and irrigation on cereal production is necessary due to the effects on the uneven performance of crops in Algeria. The study considered here is based on statistical methods to model the production of durum wheat, bread wheat, barley and oats. The first method used is principal component analysis. It was applied to classify the data in order to determine the relative importance of the various regions for the evaluation of cereal production. The results exhibit an increasing trend in the cereal production on the period from 2009 to 2012. The 2012 cereal harvest in Algeria proved to be the second highest ever recorded, after that of 2009, despite an unusual period of snow in February. It appears that durum wheat production was explained jointly by precipitation and irrigation. However, the variations in the production of the common wheat, oat and barley can only be explained by precipitation. Agriculture currently depends mainly on precipitation rather than irrigation. Modern irrigation systems could increase production. Therefore, if agricultural production is to be improved, important agricultural irrigation methods are needed to mitigate the impact of climate variability in each agricultural area, mainly in the southern regions of the country. Key words: cereal, irrigation, rainfall, regression, production, wheat, oat, barley


Experienced drug-handling problems and inadequately considered expectations for drug therapy have an unfavorable influence on therapy. We performed a questionnaire survey in (i) parents of 0–5-year-old children and (ii) 6–17-year-olds and their parents. We assessed (A) experienced drug-handling problems and (B) expectations for drug therapy. (i) 46 parents and (ii) 103 children and their parents participated in the study. Experienced drug-handling problems were described by (i) 100% of parents and (ii) 62% of children and 70% of parents. Problems concerned the preparation of the drug, dosing, compliance with the time interval, and acceptance. (i) 65% of parents preferred a peroral route of drug administration, while (ii) 74% of children and 86% of parents did so. Preferred characteristics of peroral drug formulations, e.g. liquid versus solid drug formulations or flavor, were highly heterogeneous. Preferences of 6–17-year-old children and their parents matched in 43% to 66%. Conclusion: Most children and their parents had already experienced drug-handling problems. Preferences concerning the ideal pediatric drug were highly heterogeneous and in about half of cases, preferences of children and their parents differed. Thus, the children should be approached directly. If information is solely gained from parents, the children's needs might remain unmet.


An adequate evaluation of stress developments in concrete is essential to ensure well-performing and long-lasting portland cement concrete (PCC) pavement designs and construction. In this study, the effects of creep and built-in curling (BIC) on the stress history of PCC pavements under environmental loadings were investigated primarily through a series of field tests and numerical data interpretations. To identify the stress-dependent strain component within the in situ measured total strain, a nonstress cylinder (NC) was employed in the field tests. The identified stress-dependent strains from the field tests were converted to stresses using a step-by-step numerical method. To investigate the effect of creep on stress developments, stress histories were computed in two different ways—one with elastic analysis and the other with viscoelastic analysis—and then their difference (stress relaxation) over time was evaluated. The finding indicated that creep may be a key element in the evaluation of long-term stresses and, in turn, the design and analysis of PCC pavements. Furthermore, this study examined the impacts of BIC on the residual stresses of PCC pavements. The result showed that BIC may affect the early-age stress development, but it has little influence on the long-term environmental stress state.


Innovation in SMEs exhibits some peculiar features that most traditional indicators of innovation activity do not capture. Therefore, in this paper, we develop a structural model of innovation which incorporates information on innovation success from firm surveys along with the usual R&D expenditures and productivity measures. We then apply the model to data on Italian SMEs from the "Survey on Manufacturing Firms" conducted by Mediocredito-Capitalia covering the period 19952003. The model is estimated in steps, following the logic of firms' decisions and outcomes: in the first, R&D intensity is linked to a set of firm and market characteristics. We find that international competition fosters R&D intensity, especially for high-tech firms. Firm size, R&D intensity, along with investment in equipment enhances the likelihood of having both process and product innovation. Both these kinds of innovation have a positive impact on firm's productivity, especially process innovation. Among SMEs, larger and older firms seem to be less productive.


A 36-year-old man presented to his general dental practitioner with pain in the right jaw and neck. This was initially treated as a dento-alveolar abscess. Three days later, he presented to the oral and maxillofacial unit with neck swelling to the right side. An ultrasound confirmed the swelling was due to thrombosis associated with remnants of a ventriculo-atrial (VA) shunt in the right internal jugular vein. This had been placed during the patient's infancy and apparently removed at the age of 8 years. The patient was treated conservatively with warfarin and Coamoxyclav. The patient made a full recovery and was placed on long-term anticoagulant therapy. The introduction of cerebral spinal fluid shunt procedures for the treatment of hydrocephalus has resulted in a reduction in the mortality rate from 80% to 15-20%. Various thrombo-embolic complications have been described with VA shunts. A thorough medical history is absolutely essential in order to identify uncommon causes of common presentations.


Abstract The purpose of this paper is to review recent research on the applications of existing non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques, especially radio frequency (RF) NDT, for carbon-fibre reinforced plastics (CFRP) composites. Electromagnetic properties of CFRP composites that are associated with RF NDT are discussed first. The anisotropic characteristic of the conductivity and the relationship between the penetration depth and conductivity should be paid much attention. Then, the well-established RF NDT including eddy current technique, microwave technique and RF-based thermography are well categorised into four types (i.e. electromagnetic induction, resonance, RF-based thermography and RF wave propagation) and demonstrated in detail. The example of impact damage detection using the induction and resonance methods is given. Some discussions on the development (like industrial-scale automated scanning, three-dimensional imaging, short-range ultra-wideband (UWB) imaging and the radio frequency identification technology (RFID)-based NDT) are presented.


OBJECTIVE
The calcium channel blocker nicardipine (NC) is effective for acute control of hypertension. However, efficacy and safety in neurosurgical patients have not been evaluated. We sought to compare NC with the most commonly used agent, sodium nitroprusside (SNP), in patients with subarachnoid or intracerebral hemorrhage.

METHODS
We performed a prospective randomized comparison of the safety and efficacy of NC and SNP in patients with subarachnoid or intracerebral hemorrhage. We assessed the number of dose adjustments per patient day, proportion of time within set blood pressure parameters, use of additional medications for blood pressure control, clinical outcome, and drug-related complications.

RESULTS
Two hundred patients were screened and 163 patients were randomized, including 89 in the SNP group and 74 in the NC group. In 107 patients, intravenous blood pressure control was started; 60 of these patients received SNP and 47 received NC. When analyzed by intent to treat, patients randomized to NC had fewer dose adjustments per day: 5.7 versus 8.8 in the nitroprusside group (P = 0.0012, Wilcoxon rank-sum test). There were fewer additional medications per day to maintain blood pressure control in the NC group: 1.4 versus 1.9 for SNP (P = 0.043, Wilcoxon rank-sum test). Blood pressure control was similar (NC, 66% of the time within parameters; SNP, 69%). "As-treated" analysis maintained the apparent advantage of NC.

CONCLUSION
When used for control of hypertension in patients with subarachnoid or intracerebral hemorrhage, NC and SNP were both safe and effective, but patients on an NC drip required fewer dose adjustments and fewer additional medications.


For the shortcoming of Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm in Wavelet Neural Network (WNN) training, a modeling approach of WNN based on improved PSO algorithm is proposed. The approach applied a PSO algorithm based on the strategies of multi-particle information sharing and self-adaptive inertia weight to optimize the parameters of WNN for modeling quality of WNN. The experiment result indicates that, compared with BP and Simple PSO (SPSO) algorithm in optimizing WNN, the approach had a better ability with features of convergence, precision, overcoming prematurity and local optimization, and was also a good method for nonlinear modeling.


In this work, we report a component-minimal spherical nucleic acid (SNA) from monodisperse DNA-polymer conjugates that can load and release nucleic acid therapeutics in a stimuli-responsive manner. We show that this vehicle assembles from only four strands, and conditional release of its antisense therapeutic cargo can be induced upon recognition of specific oligonucleotide triggers via strand displacement. The latter (triggers) may be a microRNA that offers additional synergistic therapy, in addition to the previously shown ability of the SNA to load hydrophobic drugs. The SNA is easy to prepare, has dynamic character, releases its cargo only upon the presence of both triggers, and can survive biological conditions while protecting its cargo. The gene silencing potency of the cargo was tested in live cells and shown to be suppressed when loaded in the SNA, and its activity was restored only upon release with the two triggers. This vehicle has the essential characteristics of versatility, ease of synthesis, low cost, highly responsive behavior, and ability to support combination therapies, making it a promising candidate for cell-selective drug delivery and clinical transition.


Pioneering riparian vegetation, like cottonwood trees and willows, are highly productive and important species for riparian and aquatic ecosystems. Large riparian vegetation provides benefits for aquatic and riparian species that include shading and maintaining favorable water temperature for fish, introducing seasonal sources of carbon and nutrients, providing nesting and foraging habitat, and introducing physical complexity from large woody debris in the channel. To investigate long-term sustainability of riparian forests below water management infrastructure like dams and diversion, we developed a coupled two-dimensional (2D) hydraulic and riparian vegetation recruitment model to predict favorable areas for cottonwood and willow seedling recruitment in the South Fork Boise River, Idaho, USA. We analyzed the influence of reservoir flow releases for average (WY 2016) and wet climatic conditions (WY 2017) on successful riparian vegetation seedling recruitment. The validated model simulated favorable areas with field surveyed vegetation seedling recruitment patches. Our results suggest high reservoir releases during a wet climatic year (WY 2017) can be used to create natural recruitment that may not be possible during an average year (WY 2016). This study highlights the importance of adaptive management and of leveraging inter-annual climatic variability to develop flow releases that benefit downstream riparian ecosystems and minimize impacts of dam regulation.


Many climate models struggle with a poor simulation of the Madden‐Julian Oscillation (MJO), especially its propagation across the Maritime Continent (MC). This study quantitatively evaluates the robustness of MJO propagation over the MC in climate models that participated in Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) and Phase 6 (CMIP6) with a newly developed MC propagation metric. The results show that the CMIP6 models simulate MJO propagation over the MC more realistically than the CMIP5 models. Lower free‐tropospheric moisture budget analysis highlights that the greater horizontal moisture advection is responsible for the enhanced MJO propagation over the MC. The increase in horizontal moisture advection in the CMIP6 models is mainly attributed to the steeper horizontal mean state moisture gradient around the MC, which is associated with the reduction of the equatorial dry bias.


Changes in the electrical parameters of fibers of fast and slow muscles of rats during development of local botulism were studied. At the early stage of intoxication a decrease of the membrane potential of the fast and slow muscle fibers was found. At the stage of intoxication, alongside with an expressed membrane depolarization, there was a change of the input resistance, of the membrane electrical time constant, the threshold currents and the amplitude of action potentials, caused by direct intra-cell stimulation. Changes in the electrical parameters are more expressed in the fibers of the fast muscle.


Erector spinae plane block (ESP) is a recently described regional anesthesia technique that leads to the blockage of both visceral and somatic nerve fibers. While there are anecdotal reports of ESP used in children, none are for laparoscopic procedures. Herein we report a child undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy in which ESP was used as part of multimodal anesthesia. Ultrasound-guided ESP block is an easily performed peripheral nerve block that leads to long-lasting postoperative analgesia. It can be successfully used in pediatric laparoscopic procedures such as cholecystectomy and should be kept in mind as an option for multimodal analgesia in children.


Background Cardiac conductance disturbances are known to be one of the many extra-articular manifestations of Ankylosing Spondilitis but not as well related to axial spondyloarthropathies. Objectives Description of conduction disturbances found in a group of patients with Axial Spondyloarthropathy (AxSpa) that met ASAS criteria. Methods Clinical and demographic variables of 78 patients with AxSpa were registered. It included cardiovascular risk factors as well as cardiacvascular adverse events. All of them had a routine electrocardiogram done which were analized by a cardiologist. Results 48 of the 78 patients were men, with a mean age of 61 with standard deviation (SD) of 14. The mean time of evolution of the disease was 23 years (SD ±16). HLA-B27 was prevalent in 54 (69.2%). The sacroileitis was found in radiologic examination of 72 (92.2%), and 6 (7.7%) of them presented edema in magnetic resonance imaging. Other clinical traits were: 43 (55.1%) peripheric arthritis 43, 8 (10.3%) dactilitis, 33 (42.3%) enthesitis, 16 uveitis (20.5%), 2 (2.6%) inflammatory bowel disease and psoriasis 34 (43.3%). The following cardiovascular risk factors were registered: 25 (32%) smokers, 42 (53%) hypertension, 32 (41%) dislipemia, 9 (12%) diabetes, 9 (12%) hyperuricemia and 20 (20%) obesity. 14 patients had structural cardiopathy (11 ischemic cardiopathy and 3 aortic valvulopathy). The electrocardiographic register showed conductance disorders in 20 patients (25.6%). The details of these findings are specified in table 1. First grade auriculoventricular block 5 Second and third grade auriculoventricular block 2 Left anterior fascicular block 1 Right bundle branch block 2 Unspecific intraventricular conduction disorder 4 Bachmann interatrial conduction disorder 1 Conclusions A quarter of our series of presented conduction disturbances in electrocardiography. The relation with disease evolution, as in Ankylosing Spondilitis remains yet to be analized. Disclosure of Interest None declared


Abstract Each year, over 15 million infants globally are born prematurely; 38,000 of these preterm infants are born in the United States (WHO, 2003). Each of these infants, along with full-term infants who are affected by specific health issues, receives care from Neonatal Intensive Care Units. While in the NICU many of these infants are confined to incubators that create a safe, controlled environment that helps them regulate their temperature and oxygen levels. These environments are helpful in the healing process, but the most productive healing zone for the majority of infants is while being held for skin-to-skin contact with a caretaker. This type of care is called kangaroo care and it is proven to help infants heal faster, bond more effectively with their parents, and lead to healthier lives after leaving the NICU (Gardner et al., 2011).


A robust and porous Ni-based metal-organic framework (MOF), NiL1, was assembled from Ni(II) ions and a dipyrazolate linker (L12-). A Ni(II)-anchored MOF catalyst Ni@NiL1-Sal has been successfully prepared by post-synthetic modification (PSM) condensation between NiL1 with salicylaldehyde, followed by chelation of Ni(II) ions by salicylaldimine as a secondary active site. Ni@NiL1-Sal with carbon black was found to exhibit enhanced electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance (the smallest overpotential, 384 mV, and Tafel slope, 87 mV dec-1) when compared with primitive NiL1 and NiL1-Sal. Such improvement in HER highlights the creation of unambiguous secondary active sites as an avenue to the rational design of a functional MOF-based electrocatalyst.


Utilization of pencil shavings waste as raw material cement board is one of the alternatives to reduce timber production. The research objective was to evaluate the physical and mechanical properties of the cement board with a pencil shavings waste catalyst addition of calcium chloride on the variation ratio of materials (cement: particle: water). Cement board in this study is made of pencil shavings waste particles with various compositions of raw materials (cement: particle) 75:25; 80:20; 85:15; 90:10 with the addition of a catalyst and Calcium Chloride (CaCl2) as much as 5%. With a target density of 1.2 kg / cm2. Testing of physical and mechanical properties based on JIS 5417-1992 about cement particle board. Value of  physical and mechanical properties testing of cement particle board not all fulfill with the standards of JIS A 5417-1992. The physical properties of cement particle board that fulfill with JIS A 5417-1992 standard is the density with ratio 75:25, the water content and 2 hours and 24 hours of thickness swelling . the mechanical properties of the cement particle board not fulfill with standard of JIS  A 5417-1992. The best treatment is the cement board with a ratio of 90:10. The ratio of cement composition and particle pencil shavings waste no significant effect on the quality of the cement particle board produced. Keywords: cement board, CaCl2 catalyst, pencil shavings, physical and mechanical properties.


A child is an asset of any country and wealth of future. In the Globalised era, rapid industrialization is taking place there by creating more employment in India. Child labour being cheap and accessible in nature becomes the ultimate influenced platform in this concomitant scenario. In this present situation, a critical analysis of root causes of child labour is the need of the hour. In India the school dropouts are very high and it is deduction for the prevalence of the child labor in the community. There exist many social and economical discriminations in the community overlaying the way for the extensive of poverty, illiteracy, backwardness, social prejudice and unemployment these variables acts as the key causes for the prevalence of the child labor in India. This research paper examines the concept of child labour on many latitudes subjecting it to both qualitative and quantitative analysis. In this study intend to provide the scenario in which child labor gets raised and various challenges that have emerged due to this particular issue is also elaborated. The essential attempts to overcome these child labour issues are proposed. Finally this paper conclude that the proposed solutions might be found worthy in overcoming the challenges that have emerged due to the child labour.
KEYWORDS: Child, Child Labour, Poverty, Education,


Calcineurin (CaN) is a Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein phosphatase found in brain and other tissues. It is a heterodimer consisting of a catalytic subunit (CaN-A) and a Ca(2+)-binding regulatory subunit (CaN-B). The primary structure of CaN-B indicates that it, like calmodulin, is an EF-hand protein and binds four Ca2+ ions. Eu3+, due to its favorable spectroscopic and chemical properties, has been substituted for Ca2+ in CaN-B to determine the metal ion-binding properties of this "calmodulin-like" protein. Excitation of the 7F0-->5D0 transition of Eu3+ results in a spectrum similar to that of calmodulin, consisting of three peaks. Analysis of the spectral titration curves reveals four Eu(3+)-binding sites in CaN-B. The affinities vary: sites I and II have dissociation constants of 1.0 +/- 0.2 and 1.6 +/- 0.4 microM, respectively; the values for sites III and IV are Kd = 140 +/- 20 and Kd = 20 +/- 10 nM, respectively. Binding of Tb3+ is slightly weaker. Tb3+ luminescence, sensitized by tyrosine, reveals that for lanthanides the highest affinity sites lie in the C-terminal domain. Energy transfer distance measurements between Eu3+ and Nd3+ in sites III and IV reveal a separation of 10.5 +/- 0.5 A, which suggests that these sites are arranged in a typical EF-hand pair. This information indicates that the overall structure of CaN-B is similar to the dumbbell-shaped proteins troponin-C and calmodulin, but is more like TnC in its metal-binding properties.


Autoimmunity is thought to cause most varieties of glomerulonephritis including membranous nephropathy, minimal-change nephropathy, Goodpasture's disease and possibly IgA nephropathy. Much effort has been and is directed at understanding the mechanisms of immune system driven inflammation and of the consequent renal injury and repair or scarring. The purpose of this article is to focus attention on the way the immune system recognizes kidney autoantigens, a process that must be a pivotal in the initiation of autoimmune kidney disease.


The vibronic structure of the photoelectron spectra of the X (2)Pi state of XCN(+) (X=F, Cl, and Br) has been calculated, assuming that the X (2)Pi state can be considered as an isolated electronic state. The Renner-Teller coupling of the two components of the (2)Pi state via the degenerate bending mode as well as spin-orbit coupling effects are taken into account. The two stretching modes are treated within the so-called linear vibronic-coupling model. The vibronic and spin-orbit parameters have been determined by accurate ab initio electronic-structure calculations. While spin-orbit effects are small in FCN(+), the large spin-orbit splitting of the X (2)Pi state of the BrCN(+) leads to a complete quenching of the Renner-Teller effect. The X (2)Pi state of the ClCN(+) is shown to be of particular interest: here the resonance condition for linear-relativistic Renner-Teller coupling is approximately fulfilled. This coupling mechanism leads to a significant intensity transfer to vibronic levels with odd quanta of the bending mode. The calculated spectrum indicates that this novel relativistic vibronic-coupling effect should be observable in high-resolution (electron energy resolution of the order of a few meV) photoelectron spectra of ClCN.


Sustainable use of fishery resources requires the effective monitoring and managing of fish stocks and fish habitats. Chub mackerel (Scomber japonicus), distributed in the East China Sea and Yellow Sea, are mainly caught by purse seine fishing fleets from China, Japan, and South Korea. This study used fishery data from Chinese large lighting–purse seine fleets and environmental data including sea surface height (SSH), sea surface temperature (SST) from remote sensing, and temperature gradient derived from SST (GSST) during 1998–2010 to develop habitat suitability index (HSI) models. The HSI models were then used to identify hotspots for chub mackerel for each month. HSI models were developed separately for each of the three distribution areas defined for chub mackerel. According to the frequency distribution of the fishing effort with respect to three environmental variables, suitability index (SI) values were calculated and SI models for each environmental variable were established. The three SI models were combined into two different empirical HSI models: the arithmetic mean model (AMM) and the geometric mean model (GMM). The results showed that the AMM was more suitable than the GMM to estimate the HSI for chub mackerel. The monthly latitudinal variation trend of hotspots was consistent with that of the gravity centres of fishing effort in almost all months. Hotspot maps based on the predicted HSI values were validated by fishery data in 2011. This result indicates that the HSI model based on the AMM can reliably predict hotspots for chub mackerel in the coastal waters of China.


Members of a discourse community must have recourse to a shared system of communication in order to share information and knowledge effectively. Science has developed in such a way that scientific knowledge is shared in a manner that relies heavily on written communication and a highly structured format for presenting arguments in different science domains, sports sciences not being an exception. Thus, Montgomery claims that science would not exist if scientists were not writers" and science "in great measure is a matter of language". He further reflects that although it cannot be denied that science is much more than a construct of speech, it must be acknowledged that linguistic form and content cannot be separated. Recently, there have been a number of studies that seek to demonstrate that the scientific style of writing is much more than a mere objective channel through which to communicate scientific "facts" and incontrovertible "truths". Bhatia notes that the nature and construction of a specific register and genre, especially sports sciences genre, are characterized by the communicative purpose that it is intended to fulfill; that the language used in scientific writing reflects the position it holds in a particular context and thus needs to be rhetorically analyzed.


In this article we consider the phenomenon of evaluative readiness, whereby the activation in memory of a goal leads to an unintentional increase in positivity toward stimuli that can facilitate the goal. We review four lines of work that together address the question of when goals lead to this kind of automatic shift in people's attitudes. We then consider how contemporary models of cognition might explain this effect. We review whether dual systems models and single interacting system models can explain the phenomenon of evaluative readiness. Based on recent work in cognitive psychology and computational neuroscience, we then argue for the potential explanatory value of turning to a multiple interacting systems framework for explaining the phenomenon of evaluative readiness.


We introduce an interactive method suitable for retargeting both 3D objects and scenes under a general framework. Initially, an input object or scene is decomposed into a collection of constituent components embraced by corresponding control bounding volumes which capture the intra-structures of the object or the semantic groupings of the objects in the scene. The overall retargeting is accomplished through a constrained optimization by manipulating the control bounding volumes. Without inferring the intricate dependencies between the components, we define a minimal set of constraints that maintain the spatial arrangement and connectivity between the components to regularize valid retargeting results. The default retargeting behavior can then be easily altered by additional semantic constraints imposed by users.


A new testbed was developed with an LSNA to perform multi-harmonic broadband measurements for periodically modulated signals with bandwidth exceeding the IF receiver bandwidth of the LSNA. This testbed is intended for characterizing PAs using periodically modulated (multitone) signals often referred as multisines. Multisine signals can be synthesized to approximate the CCDF and PAPR of digitally modulated signals such as WiMAX and LTE (Long Term Evolution). In the experiment conducted a multisine with 13 tones distributed over 15 MHz was used which provided a PAPR of 6 dB. Using this excitation, the nonlinear response of a 80 W Doherty GaN PA at 2.16 GHz was characterized over a 80 MHz bandwidth. Inband signal distortion and spectral regrowth were recorded in the 63 tones measurement over the 80 MHz measurement bandwidth targeted at both the fundamental and second harmonic. This increased measurement bandwidth enables one to characterize the nonlinear vector response of the PA in its 3rd and 5th order inter-modulation bands at the fundamental frequency. The broadband vector results at the second harmonic obtained in the same measurements provides additional invaluable information for the multi-harmonic optimization of the efficiency of the Doherty PA under test. It is believed that the multi-harmonic broadband vector characterization capabilities provided by the reported testbed should assist with the development and verification of multi-harmonic behavioral models for wideband modulated signals.


The available bit rate (ABR) service is being designed as a low-cost transport service over ATM networks, which will be using the bandwidth remaining available after servicing connections of another, high-priority class. The penalty paid is the lack of QoS guarantees in terms of transport delays figures. Thus, an adaptive shaping mechanism is necessary for the ABR connections at each multiplexing or switching stage for effective bandwidth enforcement and adjusting their traffic profiles according to the prevailing congestion conditions. An adaptive shaping mechanism related with the ABR service is analyzed and modeled on the basis of effective rates defined for the multiplexed connections. The traffic shaper is used to enforce the contracted effective rate for the ABR class and to allocate peak rates to the high priority class (burst spacer). The traffic shaper system is presented as an implementation perspective and specific ideas concerning its hardware realization are given.


A porous-coated, cementless, congruent-contact, meniscal-bearing total ankle replacement with a centrally placed trochlear groove and a cylindrical articulating axis representing the lateral talar curvature was developed and used clinically over a 10-year period. An initial clinical series of 40 ankle replacements involved the use of cobalt-chromium-molybdenum tibial and talar components with sintered-bead porous coating of 275-mum pore size and a shallow-sulcus trochlear groove with a central fixation fin for the talar onlay component. The congruent meniscal bearing, made of ultrahigh molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPe), was flat superiorly and matched the shallow-sulcus and cylindrical geometry inferiorly. Two bearings in two patients subluxed laterally and required revision within 2 years. The overall cumulative survival at the 10-year interval for this group using revision as an end point was 94.75%. The clinical results, using a strict ankle evaluation scoring scale, demonstrated 85% overall good to excellent results. Three patients required further treatment for intermalleolar exostoses, one patient required a debridement for infection, two ankles had medially subluxed bearings, eight ankles developed talar component subsidence, and two patients suffered from chronic reflex-sympathetic dystrophy. A second clinical series of 14 ankle replacements involved the use of polished titanium-nitride-coated titanium-6 aluminum-4 vanadium tibial and talar components with sintered-bead porous coating of 350-mum pore size and a deep-sulcus trochlear groove with two lateral fixation fins for the talar onlay component. The bearing element was similar to the initial series except that it had a deeper engagement in the trochlear groove to prevent subluxation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


On December 11, 2019, the VIth Russian Scientific and Practical Conference "Regulatory Impact Assessment: How to Change Law, Experience and Practices" was held in St. Petersburg. The conference, organized by the North-West Institute of Management of RANEPA and the Committee for Economic Development and Investment Activity of the Leningrad Region Administration, was devoted to the Institute of Regulatory Impact Assessment, an important and potentially effective procedure for improving the quality of public policy


Our previous studies demonstrate enhanced neural protective effects of cord blood (CB) cells in comparison to stem cells from adult marrow. To determine further whether mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from human umbilical cord blood (hUCB) possess optimal characteristics for neural therapy, we isolated populations of plastic-adherent CB MSCs. These cells generated CD34-, CD45-, CD11b-, CD3-, CD19- cells in culture and failed to produce CFU-M, CFU-GEMM, or CFU-GM hematopoietic colonies in methylcellulose. However, cultured CB MSCs possessed a remarkable ability to support proliferation as well as differentiation of hematopoietic cells in vitro. In addition, supernatants from cultured CB MSCs promoted survival of NT2 N neural cells and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (MNCs) cultured under conditions designed to induce cell stress and limit protein synthesis. After incubation in neural differentiation medium, CB MSCs expressed the neural cell-surface antigen A2B5, the neurofilament polypeptide NF200, the oligodendrocyte precursor marker 04, intermediate filament proteins characteristic of neural differentiation (nestin and vimentin), as well as the astrocyte marker glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and the neural progenitor marker TUJ-1. We examined the immunomodulatory effects of the CB MSCs after co-culture with murine splenocytes. Whereas spleen cells from normal C57Bl/6 mice exhibited a prominent immunoglobulin M (IgM) response after immunization with the T cell-dependent antigen sheep red blood cells, this response was significantly decreased after incubation with CB MSCs. These data indicate that CB MSCs possess multiple utilities that may contribute to their therapeutic potency in the treatment of neurological disorders.