The creation of geothermal reservoirs in high temperature ductile rock has recently been suggested. However, the fracturing characteristics by the hydraulic stimulation under ductile condition of rock are not yet clear. In this study, hydraulic stimulation experiments on granite at temperatures of 200-450°C have been conducted by injecting water into cylindrical granite having a borehole at a confining pressure of 40 MPa. Formation of fractures was observed at all temperatures, but fractures were formed in different manner depending on temperature, perhaps due to different water viscosities. At the lowest temperature fractures propagated linearly from the borehole, and the borehole pressure required for the fracturing was much larger than confining pressure, similarly to hydraulic stimulation at room temperature. However, these fracturing characteristics disappeared with increasing temperature. With increasing temperature, fracturing pattern shifted to formation of a larger number of shorter fractures, and the required borehole pressure became smaller with increasing temperature. Porosity and permeability increased significantly by hydraulic stimulation at all temperature, where permeability gain was high even at the highest temperature that exceeded the Brittle-Ductile Transition temperature.


Green Radio has emerged as one of the most important considerations in the present scenario of global warming. It is known that the power consumption of a Base Station is not only due to the radio power transmitted and the power consumed by the digital signal processing transceiver units but also due to the huge amount of power consumed by the cooling system and power backup units. It has been seen that although traffic load varies over a large range during a 24 hour cycle the power consumption does not vary proportionally. Traffic load dependent power saving is one of the foci of this work. An important aspect included in this work is the huge penetration loss that is added to the system Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio (SINR) during night time when most of the users are considered to be indoor. This work focuses on the performance evaluation cell sleep mode to save power (reduce carbon foot print). Results relating to three sector urban micro-cell scenario as per International Telecommunication Union (ITU) specification are presented. Traffic load threshold for activating the sleep mode is also identified.


The operating principle of a generator with a three-channel piezoresonator power supply and with automatic maintenance of high efficiency in the case of an unstable resonant frequency is outlined. An analytical expression for the amplitude of the electrical oscillations is obtained. Experimental data are presented.


The aim of this study is to identify the degree to which the teachers of UNRWA in Jordan practice human rights from the point of view of the students. The study sample consists of 2505 students from a population of 46636 students from UNRWA schools. This was performed in the four educational districts of the Agency in the second semester of the academic year 2016/2017. To achieve the objectives of the study, a questionnaire was constructed to determine the degree to which UNRWA teachers in Jordan have been practicing the principles of human rights from the students' point of view. After verifying the validity of the questionnaire, it was applied on the study personnel. To answer the questions of the study, statistical methods were carried out using the SPSS program to process the data. The mean, the standard deviations, the levels of the scales, the fields, and the instrument were used to answer the first question. To answer the second question, three-way MANOVA, and least significant difference (LSD) were used. The results of the study on the first question indicated that the degree of practice of the teachers of UNRWA schools in Jordan of the principles of human rights from the point of view of their students was divided into three major areas: classroom and extracurricular activities, Teacher behavior and assessment methods, learning objectives and learning content. There are statistically significant differences in the degree of practice of the principles of human rights and the three fields according to the gender variable in favor of females. Also, a statistical significance difference also exists in the fields based on the degree of exercise of the three principles of human rights. It also has to do with the total degree of the questionnaire according to the variable grade between seventh grade students and eighth, ninth, and tenth grade students in favor of seventh grade students. On the other hand, there were no differences between students in the eighth, ninth, and tenth grades. In addition, there were statistically significant differences in the overall degree of the UNRWA teachers' training according to the school site variable. Based on the results of the study, a number of recommendations were presented, including the exchange of experiences between male and female schools to develop the sharing of ideas, activating the role of community institutions that deal with human rights issues, and linking them to channels of communication with schools by intensifying visits. It also entails giving greater attention to the celebration of international, as well as national events related to human rights, and to give a greater share of the financial budget, moral, material, equipment, environmental, resources material, human, and symbolic.


Background: Sarcopenia is a geriatric syndrome characterized by progressive loss of muscle mass, function and quality and associated with a range of adverse health outcomes including disability. Despite a negative correlation between muscle mass and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) levels in postmenopausal women, it is unclear if FSH is associated with sarcopenia and its poor outcomes, especially in older men. Methods: We used cross-sectional data from 360 men aged over 80 who participated in health check-ups to investigate correlations between serum FSH and sarcopenia, individual sarcopenia components, low physical performance (gait speed ≤ 0.8 m/s) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) disability. Sarcopenia and severe sarcopenia were diagnosed according to the revised definition of the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Old People (EWGSOP2). Results: The prevalence of sarcopenia was 17.8% in this population. In binary logistic regression analysis, compared with higher FSH group, lower FSH group showed a significant reduction in the risk of low calf circumference (a surrogate for muscle mass; OR 0.308, 95% CI 0.109–0.868, P = 0.026) after adjusting potential confounders including age, waist circumference, education, exercise, associated biochemical parameters, other sex hormones and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein. The correlation between FSH and low handgrip strength was marginally significant (OR 0.390, 95% CI 0.151–1.005, P = 0.051). No associations were observed between FSH and sarcopenia, severe sarcopenia, and disability in adjusted models. Conclusion: In older men, circulating FSH was not associated with sarcopenia, sarcopenia severity, the majority of its components and adverse health outcome (IADL disability), with the exception of low calf circumference. Further work is needed to better elucidate the association of FSH and low muscle quantity by adopting more accurate measurement method of appendicular skeletal muscle mass such as DXA, CT or MRI.


In recent years, study on asphalt binder that provide strong rutting and cracking resistance is considered of great significance as it can help provide extended pavement life and significant cost savings in pavement construction in Vietnam. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the performance characteristics of Korean modified asphalt binder in hot mix asphalt (HMA) mixture under Vietnam condition. To accomplish this objective, the mechanical properties of Korean modified binder in AC mixtures were evaluated using tests such as the Marshall stability and flow, indirect tensile (IDT), moisture resistance, and Wheel Tracking. It was found that the Korean modified binder can improve significantly not only the rutting performance but also the moisture damaged resistance of asphalt pavement. Furthermore, the performance life of Korean modified binder for AC mixtures was evaluated through the mechanistic- empirical pavement design guide (MEPDG) program. Based on the results of the study, it can be concluded that the Korean modified asphalt binder can enhance the performance of asphalt mixtures significantly under Vietnam conditions.


Abstract. Most odor nuisance investigations rely on either human
olfactory examination or on-site sampling and analytical techniques, but
these methods are often subject to spatial and temporal limitations and thus
impractical for locating odor emission sources. This study developed an
alternative approach with a dual-optical sensing system, a meteorological
station, and the combination of factor and cluster analyses to identify and
characterize emission sources of multiple air contaminants. Factor and
cluster analyses were employed to establish the emission profile of multiple
odorous substances from each emission source. Both receptor and source
monitoring data were collected to characterize the emission sources of
various odorous substances. Open-path Fourier transform infrared (OP-FTIR)
as a receptor path detected concurrent trends of several organic solvents
with concentrations higher than the reference odor threshold values,
indicating that these compounds were potential causes of odor nuisance.
Qualitative source apportionment by factor and cluster analyses suggested
that these odorous substances were used as organic solvents in surface
coating or painting processes. Closed-cell Fourier transform infrared
(CC-FTIR) at two nearby surface-coating companies indicated that only one
company's stack exhibited the same odorous substance profile found by the
OP-FTIR receptor path. The major odor emission source was thus identified in
this study. This study demonstrated the feasibility of using the alternative
investigative framework to successfully identify emission sources from an
industrial odor nuisance site. The major emission sources were identified,
and future enforcement plans can be conducted to enhance odor investigation
efficiency and improve overall air quality.


We introduce an error mining technique for automatically detecting errors in resources that are used in parsing systems. We applied this technique on parsing results produced on several million words by two distinct parsing systems, which share the syntactic lexicon and the pre-parsing processing chain. We were thus able to identify missing and erroneous information in these resources.


The application of BIM Technology in civil engineering construction is one of the important trends of the innovation and development of the current construction market and the realization of efficient construction. Through the application of BIM Technology in civil engineering, the whole process of engineering construction can be monitored and managed, the whole civil engineering construction level can be improved, and the quality of engineering construction can be met. In this paper, through the application of BIM Technology in the construction management of construction engineering, the information technology means, visual characteristics and dynamic mode strengthening project management model based on itself are studied. In this paper, through the three-dimensional technical means to build the model, strengthen the systematic supervision of the construction project. The experimental results show that the model can better guarantee the construction completion on schedule, improve the construction quality and reduce the construction cost.


Peelle's Pertinent Puzzle (PPP) was described in 1987 in the context of estimating fundamental parameters that arise in nuclear interaction experiments. In PPP, generalized least squares (GLS) parameter estimates fell outside the range of the data, which has raised concerns that GLS is somehow flawed and has led to suggested alternatives to GLS estimators. However, there have been no corresponding performance comparisons among methods, and one suggested approach involving simulated data realizations is statistically incomplete. Here we provide performance comparisons among estimators, introduce approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) using density estimation applied to simulated data realizations to produce an alternative to the incomplete approach, complete the incompletely specified approach, and show that estimation error in the assumed covariance matrix cannot always be ignored.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the prevalence of risk of having obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and its determinants in patients with epilepsy (PE).

METHOD
98 adult PE were prospectively screened for risk of OSA by Berlin questionnaire. Data was also collected about excessive daytime sleepiness, depression, anxiety, clinical and socio-demographic characteristics.

RESULTS
The PE main characteristics: 59-men/39-women, mean age=39.97, SD=12.3, range 18-66. The prevalence of the risk of OSA was 55.1% (CI 95%, 0.45-0.65). The high risk for OSA was related with body mass index (BMI) (p=0.000), neck circumference (NC) (p=0.000), arterial hypertension (AH) (p=0.000), and anxiety (p=0.006), without relationship with number of seizures, number of antiepileptic drugs, age or depression. The NC was statistically significant regarding risk of OSA, mainly in men.

CONCLUSION
We found a high risk of OSA in this sample. The main implicated measures were the large NC, high BMI and anxiety. The anthropometric variables were more relevant than those related to epilepsy itself and similar to those of the general population.


The explosive growth of high-data-rate and multimedia real-time applications imposes new challenges on the design of future wireless communications systems. In this paper, a cross MAC-PHY layer link-adaptive largest-weighted-throughput packet scheduling algorithm is proposed to provide QoS guarantees to real-time traffics over wireless packet-switched networks. The proposed algorithm aims to satisfy the stringent packet delay constraints while obtaining a high system spectral efficiency. The objective is achieved by two interactive components: a MAC service discipline and a PHY rate-and-power adaptation scheme. It is demonstrated in the numerical results that the proposed algorithm significantly improves the system performance in terms of spectral efficiency and packet loss rate, thanks to the successful exploitation of the inherent system diversities in the time, frequency, and multiuser domains


Natural killer (NK) activity and interferon (IFN) production of spleen and bone-marrow lymphocytes were investigated in 8 to 10-wk-old C3HeB/FeJ/Cne mice, before and after in vitro exposure to the synthetic pentapeptide corresponding to positions 32-36 of the sequence of thymopoietin (TP-5). NK activity was studied against the 51Cr-radiolabelled Moloney virus-induced lymphoid cell line YAC 1, while IFN titres were determined by the inhibition of cytopathology of vesicular stomatitis virus on L929 cells, scored for CPE after 24 h from viral infection. A part of the lymphocytes from the spleen and bone marrow were incubated with different preselected doses (0.1, 1 and 10 micrograms/ml) of TP-5 for 1 h at 37 degrees C, and a part were left unincubated. At the end of the incubation time they were tested, without being washed, for NK activity and IFN production. TP-5 was able to significantly enhance (P less than 0.001 chi 2 test with Yate's correction) bone-marrow NK activity at a dose of 1 microgram/ml, while it was ineffective on spleen cells. A decrease of NK activity, seemingly due to a toxic effect, was observed both in bone-marrow and spleen lymphocytes, after incubation with a dose of 10 micrograms/ml. IFN production was not enhanced after exposure to TP-5. In all, our experiments suggest that TP-5 may enhance bone-marrow NK cells, perhaps by permitting the maturation of their precursors, as already known for T-cell-mediated cytotoxicity. Its effect is independent on IFN production and might be able to induce the rearrangement of certain surface specific receptors.


ABSTRACT The bacterial flora and biomass in mountain snow from the Tateyama Mountains, Toyama Prefecture, Japan, one of the heaviest snowfall regions in the world, were analyzed by amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis followed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing and DNA quantification by real-time PCR. Samples of surface snow collected in various months during the melting season contained a psychrophilic bacterium, Cryobacterium psychrophilum, and two psychrotrophic bacteria, Variovorax paradoxus and Janthinobacterium lividum. Bacterial colonies that developed in an in situ meltwater medium at 4°C were revealed to be V. paradoxus. The biomasses of C. psychrophilum, J. lividum, and V. paradoxus, as estimated by real-time PCR, showed large increases during the melting season from March to October (2.0 × 105-fold, 1.5 × 105-fold, and 1.0 × 104-fold increases, respectively), suggesting their rapid growth in the surface snow. The biomasses of C. psychrophilum and J. lividum increased significantly from March to April, reached a maximum in August, and dropped at the end of the melting season. In contrast, the biomass of V. paradoxus did not increase as rapidly during the early melting season but continued to increase from June until October. The differences in development observed among these bacterial species suggest that their growth was promoted by different nutrients and/or environmental conditions in the snow. Since these three types of bacteria have also been reported to be present in a glacier in Antarctica and a Greenland ice core, they seem to be specialized members of the snow biota that are distributed in snow and ice environments in various parts of the world.


Background: Dystrophic Epidermolysis bullosa (DEB) is a rare, severe subtype of epidermolysis bullosa (EB), characterized by blisters and miliary rashes of the skin. Dystrophic EB (DEB) includes variants inherited both in an autosomal-dominant or autosomal-recessive manner. Recessive dystrophic EB (RDEB) is divided into many subtypes and prevails as a result of biallelic genetic mutations in COL7A1 gene encoding type VII collagen, a major stabilizing molecule of the dermo-epidermal junction. The blister formation is mainly due to the variable structural and functional impairment of anchoring fibrils in VII collagen (COLVII), responsible for the adhesion of the epidermis to the dermis. Method: Three Pakistani families (A, B and C) affected with congenital dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa were recruited in the present study. The whole-exome sequencing (WES) approach was utilized for the detection of the pathogenic sequence variants in probands. The segregation of these variants in other participants was confirmed by Sanger sequencing. Results: This study identified a novel missense variant c.7034G>A, p. Gly2345Asp in exon 91, a novel Frameshift mutation c.385del (p. His129MetfsTer18) in a homozygous form in exon no 3, and a previously known nonsense variation (c.1573 C>T; p. Arg525Ter) in exon 12 of COL7A1 gene in families A, B, and C, respectively, as causative mutations responsible for dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa in these families. Conclusion: Our study validates the involvement of the COL7A1 gene in the etiology of dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa. It further expands the COL7A1 gene mutation database and provides an additional scientific basis for diagnosis, genetic counseling, and prognosis purposes for EB patients.


Red blood cell (RBC) transfusion is a critical, life-saving treatment for severe anaemia caused by disease or chemotherapy, or by blood loss due to trauma or major surgery. For several decades RBC components have been prepared as concentrates suspended in nutrient additive solution, which preserves and extends the shelf-life of the RBC component, allowing up to 6–7 weeks of refrigerated storage1. Nevertheless, during storage RBCs undergo a complex and progressive accumulation of physicochemical changes, collectively referred to as the RBC storage lesion2,3. Recent clinical studies have identified RBC transfusion as an independent risk factor for increased morbidities and mortalities in certain groups of patients, including trauma, cardiac surgery and the critically-ill (reviewed in4–6). Additionally, some of these studies have identified that older stored RBCs are more strongly implicated in poorer outcomes compared to fresher RBCs6. In order to address these concerns, there is renewed interest to better understand the RBC storage lesion and to find ways to ameliorate the deleterious effects of storage, thereby improving the quality, efficacy and safety of RBC components for all transfusion recipients.

While increased research effort is being directed to better understand the effects of storage on RBCs and the potential impact on transfusion outcomes7, slower progress is being made in finding ways to deter the detrimental effects of the RBC storage lesion. This perspectives paper will focus on this latter aspect and will provide a brief overview of the currently licensed RBC additive solutions, new experimental additive solutions, some of the challenges for progressing the development of RBC storage systems and where the application of "omics" analyses could benefit the advancement of RBC storage systems.


Secure encapsulation and publication for bioinformatics software products based on web service are presented, and the basic function of biological information is realized in the cloud computing environment. In the encapsulation phase, the workflow and function of bioinformatics software are conducted, the encapsulation interfaces are designed, and the runtime interaction between users and computers is simulated. In the publication phase, the execution and management mechanisms and principles of the GRAM components are analyzed. The functions such as remote user job submission and job status query are implemented by using the GRAM components. The services of bioinformatics software are published to remote users. Finally the basic prototype system of the biological cloud is achieved.


Papers p 390

Although infectious diseases are by no means defeated, the past 100 years have seen a dramatic decline in some previously common childhood infections. Many serious viral and bacterial infections can now be prevented or treated by vaccination or antibiotics. In contrast, the prevalence of asthma and atopic disease has increased, particularly during the past 30 years. This increase is certainly not accounted for by a change in genetic risk factors: genetically similar populations in East and West Germany had very different rates of asthma before unification (although former east Germany is now catching up with the west1). In a landmark study of hayfever, hygiene, and household size in 1989 Strachan proposed that improved hygiene was the factor that explained this rise.2

The immunological arguments that underlie this "hygiene" hypothesis can be …


This paper presents a specification language, implementation mechanism, and proof techniques for problems involving the arbitration of concurrent requests to shared protected resources whose integrity must be preserved. This mechanism is the serializer, which may be described as a kind of protection mechanism, in that it prevents improper orders of access to a protected resource. Serializers are a more structured form of the monitor mechanism of Brinch Hansen and Hoare.


OBJECTIVE
The effects of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibition on adipose tissue inflammation remain obscure. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of the addition of sitagliptin on the β-cell function and various inflammatory biomarkers in type 2 diabetic patients.

METHODS
After a run-in period of taking metformin, 178 diabetic patients with poor glycemic control were randomized to take sitagliptin at a dose of 100 mg once a day or a placebo in addition to metformin for 12 months. We evaluated the following parameters at three, six, nine and twelve months: body mass index (BMI), glycemic control, the homeostasis model assessment insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR), the homeostasis model assessment β-cell function index (HOMA-β), the proinsulin/fasting plasma insulin ratio (Pr/FPI ratio) and the levels of fasting plasma insulin (FPI), fasting plasma proinsulin (FPPr), C-peptide, glucagon, resistin, vaspin, omentin-1 and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). Before and twelve months after the addition of sitagliptin, the patients underwent combined euglycemic hyperinsulinemic and hyperglycemic clamping with subsequent arginine stimulation to assess insulin sensitivity and secretion.

RESULTS
Treatment with sitagliptin + metformin was more effective than placebo + metformin in improving glycemic control, the HOMA-IR and the glucagon level and increasing the HOMA-β and all β-cell measurements after combined euglycemic hyperinsulinemic and hyperglycemic clamping with subsequent arginine stimulation. Regarding inflammatory biomarkers, sitagliptin + metformin more effectively reduced the levels of resistin, vaspin and omentin-1 than placebo + metformin.

CONCLUSION
When treatment with metformin alone is not adequate for obtaining glycemic control, the addition of sitagliptin can be considered due to its actions in preserving the β-cell function and reducing the levels of biomarkers of inflammation.


Background: Liver abscesses, both amoebic and pyogenic, continue to be an important cause of morbidity and mortality in tropical country. Traditionally for many years they were treated with antimicrobial alone, blind percutaneous aspiration or surgical exploration. This conception gradually changes into guided percutaneous aspiration or drainage with development of advanced diagnostic imaging modality.
Objectives: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of management of liver abscess by Ultrasound (US) guided percutaneous needle aspiration.
Methods: From August 2009 to July 2018 a total 380 patients with liver abscess were referred to the department of radiology and imaging for US guided percutancous aspiration. All patients were evaluated clinically and by USG. Aspiration of the abscess was carried out under strict aseptic precaution.
Results: A total of 380 patients with liver abscess were successfully treated, consisting of 338 males and 42 females, male female ratio 8:1. The age ranges from 11 to 80 years. Majority (78%) had single abscess and 22% had two or more. Most of the abscess are located in the right lobe of liver (79%). Single needle aspiration were needed in 30% of patient, second aspiration were needed in 38% of patients and third aspiration in 32% of patients. Average aspiration per patient was 2.02. The amount of aspirated pus ranged from 250 to 2450 ml.
Conclusion: Ultrasound guided percutaneous needle aspiration of liver abscess is a safe and successful therapeutic approach in the treatment of liver abscess whether pyogenic or amoebic.
Bang Med J (Khulna) 2018; 51 : 3-6


Content adaptation is a process that makes information fits with the context of the user and his/her environment. Service composition is an effective solution to perform content adaptation in a dynamic pervasive computing environment such as a mobile ad-hoc network (MANET). In our previous work, a collaboration-based content adaptation middleware called ConAMi was presented. In the middleware, content adaptation is done by composing adaptation services which are available in the vicinity. In this paper, a fault detection and recovery mechanism is proposed to enhance the middleware ConAMi. The proposed mechanism has been validated through experimentations.


This study aims to analyze the changes in urban railway network centrality by introducing metropolitan express railways and analyzing the environmental benefits owing to the activation of public transportation. Interest in climate crises is emerging and interest in the environment and carbon emissions is increasing. Countries around the world, including Korea, are declaring a "Net Zero 2050" policy to make net greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere zero. This study analyzed the aspects of transportation plans and transportation demand management. The change in the centrality of the urban railway network with the introduction of the Great Train eXpress (GTX) was examined. Through urban network analysis (UNA), the urban railway network, before and after the introduction of GTX was compared. Owing to the Betweenness centrality analysis, the importance of Sindorim Station and Yeouido Station in the future networks has increased. The Straightness centrality analysis revealed that stations on the GTX-B route, among the GTX stops, had high path linearity. Based on the stations with high network centrality, the introduction of public transportation activation measures can lead to the conversion of means to public transportation and the resulting environmental benefits. The revitalization of public transportation and transformation of public transportation will


Many microvalves have already been designed and developed. Two types can be found: passive check valves and active valves. However, for some applications, it is needed to open a flow channel only once in order, for example, to trigger a mixing reaction on a micro-bioreactor or to deliver drug sample in smart micropills. In this paper, a new simple one-shot microvalve for single-use applications is described.


In this paper a method to identify the causal structure associated with a VAR model is proposed. The structure is described by means of a graph, which provides a rigorous language to analyze the statistical and logical properties of causal relations. Under some general assumptions, causal relations are associated with a set of vanishing partial correlations among the variables that constitute them. In order to infer the causal structure among the contemporaneous variable, tests on vanishing partial correlations among the estimated residuals of a VAR are used, jointly with background knowledge. This method is applied to an updated version of the King et al. (1991) dataset and it allows to obtain an orthogonalization of the residuals coherent with the causal structure among the contemporaneous variables and alternative to the standard one, which is based on the Choleski factorization of the covariance matrix of the residuals. The impulse response functions calculated, with the method proposed here, for the King et al. (1991) model confirm their results about the fact that US macroeconomic data do not support the hypothesis that real permanent shocks are the dominant source of business-cycle fluctuations.


ABSTRACT In the course of long-term infection with Porphyromonas gingivalis in adult periodontitis, a specific antibody response to this organism is generated. We describe a potential novel approach for identifying an immunodominant antigen in human periodontitis patients. First, various monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) were established from mice immunized with crude antigen preparations of P. gingivalis FDC 381. The antigen specificities of these MAbs were compared with those of serum antibodies of 10 periodontitis patients in a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The binding of one MAb (termed PF18) was readily inhibited by sera from all patients but not by sera from healthy volunteers. The antigen recognized by PF18 existed on the cell surface, presumably in the capsule layer, shown by immunoelectron microscopic analysis. Purification of the antigenic substance, termed PF18-Ag, was performed by immunoaffinity chromatography with the MAb. Characterization of PF18-Ag suggested that the epitope was composed of carbohydrates but not peptides and that the substance was different from lipopolysaccharide. Measurement of levels of serum antibody to PF18-Ag better discriminated periodontitis patients from healthy individuals than measurement of antibodies to crude antigen preparations of P. gingivalis. Immunoglobulin G2 was the predominant isotype among the antibodies to PF18-Ag in the patients' sera. These results suggest that PF18-Ag, which is possibly a novel substance, is an important antigenic substance and is potentially useful for the clinical diagnosis of adult periodontitis. The approach that was used would also be relevant to detecting immunodominant antigens of other infectious microorganisms.


In this paper we evaluated the performance of similar algorithms implemented in different geoinformation systems, in order to verify if there are differences among the results of the image classification processes, according to the platform used. We have selected two geoinformation systems commonly used for this purpose: SAGA GIS and ENVI. We have idealized a scenario where a user without formal education in Remote Sensing techniques carried the classification and interpreted the results. Therefore, we have evaluated the impacts of such analyses, which possibly would lead to mistakes. For this reason, we have given equivalent conditions for all algorithms and the systems selected, i.e., we have used the default parameters, for simulating an operator without formal education in Remote Sensing. In fact, the results showed that the same algorithm implemented in different software, generates different results, which impacts directly on the user's interpretation. Therefore, it was confirmed that there must be attention while selecting a geoinformation system and an algorithm in order to perform an image classification. Otherwise, there will be inequivalent results among the software, which impacts on the user's capacity of interpretation.


Humans excel at transferring manipulation skills across diverse object shapes, poses, and appearances due to their understanding of semantic correspondences between different instances. To endow robots with a similar high-level understanding, we develop a Distilled Feature Field (DFF) for 3D scenes, leveraging large 2D vision models to distill semantic features from multiview images. While current research demonstrates advanced performance in reconstructing DFFs from dense views, the development of learning a DFF from sparse views is relatively nascent, despite its prevalence in numerous manipulation tasks with fixed cameras. In this work, we introduce SparseDFF, a novel method for acquiring view-consistent 3D DFFs from sparse RGBD observations, enabling one-shot learning of dexterous manipulations that are transferable to novel scenes. Specifically, we map the image features to the 3D point cloud, allowing for propagation across the 3D space to establish a dense feature field. At the core of SparseDFF is a lightweight feature refinement network, optimized with a contrastive loss between pairwise views after back-projecting the image features onto the 3D point cloud. Additionally, we implement a point-pruning mechanism to augment feature continuity within each local neighborhood. By establishing coherent feature fields on both source and target scenes, we devise an energy function that facilitates the minimization of feature discrepancies w.r.t. the end-effector parameters between the demonstration and the target manipulation. We evaluate our approach using a dexterous hand, mastering real-world manipulations on both rigid and deformable objects, and showcase robust generalization in the face of object and scene-context variations.


As of January 1996, more than 4,000 marrow transplants have been performed using unrelated donors provided by the NMDP. With more than 1.9 million donors listed in the registry, over 70% of patients now find an HLA-A, -B, -DR phenotypic match at the initial search. The success rate is dramatically lower for patients in racial minorities. For instance, African-Americans find donors only 34% of the time on the initial search. Analysis of the first 462 transplants, showed disease-free survival rates at 2 years to be approximately 40% in low-risk patients, and 20% in high-risk patients. A more recent analysis in single centers shows an increase in the probabilities to 60-70%. This increase in success is likely related to a number of factors, including the ability to control complications, such as GVHD, plus an increase in accuracy of HLA typing primarily based on DNA-based methodology.


By using a Hamiltonian based on the coupling through flux lines, we have calculated the interaction energy between two fermions via massless bosons as well as via massive particles. In the case of interaction via massless bosons we obtain an equivalent expression for the Coulomb's energy on the form, where is the fine structure constant. In the case of the interaction via massive particles we obtain that the interaction energy contains a term building the potential well. Taking into account the spin-spin interaction of the nucleons, we show that this interaction modulates the interaction potential through a cosine factor. The obtained results are in good agreement with experimental data, for example, of deuteron.


Background and objectives Fibroblasts strongly participate in the initiation and modulation of immune responses. The development of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is linked to functional changes of synovial fibroblasts (SF) and a local infiltration of immune cells such as T lymphocytes. So far, little is known about the cross-talk between SF and T cells under normal and pathological conditions. Here, we analysed the influence of normal SF as well as of RASF on the activation, proliferation and cytokine production of T helper (Th) cell subsets in vitro. Materials and methods SF were isolated from synovectomy tissues of patients with osteoarthritis (OA) or RA. Th1, Th2 and Th17 cells were differentiated in vitro or directly isolated from peripheral blood. Complete Th cells or Th cell subsets were stimulated in the presence or absence of SF, in direct contact or separated by transwell chambers. T cell proliferation was measured by [3H] thymidine incorporation or by PKH-26 labelling. Secretion of cytokines and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) was quantified by ELISA. MRNA levels of matrix metalloproteases (MMPs) and indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1) were quantified by real-time PCR. Tryptophan and kynurenine amounts were detected by HPLC. IDO1 activity was blocked by 1-L-methyl-tryprophan (1-L-MT), cyclooxigenases 1 and 2 were inhibited by indomethacin. Results SF supported the activation of T cells at early time points of co-culture and in return the T cells induced the expression of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, MMP1 and 3, as well as of PGE2 and IDO1 by the SF. In the end, the stimulated SF strongly suppressed the secretion of interferon (IFN)-g and the proliferation of co-cultured Th cells in a cell contact-independent manner. Strikingly, Th1 cells, but not Th2 or Th17 cells, were affected. A decrease of tryptophan and an increase of kynurenines in the culture supernatants correlated with the T cell suppression. Blockade of IDO1 completely restored the Th cell proliferation, but not the IFNg secretion, indicating that the suppression of T cell proliferation by SF is mediated by tryptophan metabolism. Importantly, RASF had a weaker T cell suppressive capacity compared to OASF. Conclusions The suppression of activated T cells by SF through tryptophan metabolism may play an important role in preventing inappropriate T cell responses under normal conditions. Th17 cells that escape the suppression by SF and the inferior efficiency of RASF to restrict T cell proliferation may likely support the initiation and propagation of synovitis in RA.


The present Subvolume B(1) provides in Part I an overview of the quantum transport effects discovered during the past two decades, irrespective of the material. In Parts II and III, quantum point contacts and quantum wires, respectively, based only on semiconducting systems are considered. Each of the parts comes with its references and author index. The latter consists of an index of references and an index of authors. Using both, it is easy to trace within the text every author working in the field. The subject index is established via the very detailed Table of Contents.


Under tribological conditions in aqueous medium, the contact of materials does involve some degradations of materials. Especially friction under small reciprocal displacement, i.e., fretting corrosion, is occurring; this topic has been highlighted since the 80′s regarding hip implants. Hip prosthesis is assembled from three parts: femoral stem, neck and head. Fretting corrosion or friction corrosion between metallic parts first involves some degradation of the oxides layers. This step is governed by mechanics and it is related to some few minutes. Afterwards the corrosion occurrs enhanced by mechanical degradation. As well focused some oxides and some metallic ions are related to biocompatibility issues. Some strategies are available in order to avoid metal against metal friction and/or fretting. Some hard coatings and some smooth coatings were investigated. The first one is diamond-like carbon (DLC), and the second is a polyetheretherketone (PEEK), polymeric one. The investigations were focused on fretting corrosion solicitations of Ti-6Al-4V vs. Ti-6Al-4V + coating. DLC as a coating delays the corrosion degradation. The PEEK coating does not promote any corrosion degradation of the metallic counter part and more generally any wear.


Objective: To assess the efficacy of gel coating on various surfaces in the treatment of chronic generalized slight periodontitis. Methods: 27 patients with chronic slight periodontitis were examined. After the curettage of periodontal pockets, 14 patients (the 1 st group) were applied a poviargol-based gel coating on the gum and 13 patients (the 2 nd group) were applied a gel based on sodium hyaluronate with chlorhexidine. Periodontal status was assessed before treatment on the 3 rd and 7 th day after curettage: dental indices, the depth of periodontal pockets, and tooth mobility were determined. Results: The oral hygiene parameters significantly improved in all patients. On the 3 rd day after curettage, inflammation significantly decreased, and by the 7 th day they disappeared in both observation groups. Conclusions: Gel adhesive coatings can be a successful alternative to traditional treatment dressings in the treatment of periodontitis. They have antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and wound heal- ing effects, and are also characterized by the absence of toxic and locally irritating effects.


The paper demonstrates the lack of implementation of quality standards in hospitality industry in Ionian Region. Hospitality industry in our days is one of the important parts of the global economic revenue dominated by high competition. The tourist market demands for better quality services while European regulation promotes the conformance of enterprises to a standard series of facilities. The research is primarily concerned with the need for the hospitality enterprises in Ionian region of Greece to adjust in a continuous competitive tourist environment and examines the representation of knowledge, implementation and conclusion from practice, during the certification procedure of a quality system. The information on the advantages of quality standards is the new challenge as presented in this project. This research showed that the vice majority of hotels ignore the existence of quality standards while a small part implements them.


The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) drives circadian rhythms in locomotion through coupled, single-cell oscillations. Global genetic deletion of the neuropeptide Vip or its receptor Vipr2 results in profound deficits in daily synchrony among SCN cells and daily rhythms in locomotor behavior and glucocorticoid secretion. To test whether this phenotype depends on vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) neurons in the SCN, we ablated VIP SCN neurons in vivo in adult male mice through Caspase3-mediated induction of the apoptotic pathway in cre-expressing VIP neurons. We found that ablation of VIP SCN neurons in adult mice caused a phenotype distinct from Vip- and Vipr2-null mice. Mice lacking VIP neurons retained rhythmic locomotor activity with a shortened circadian period, more variable onsets, and decreased duration of daily activity. Circadian hormonal outputs, specifically corticosterone rhythms, were severely dampened. In contrast, deletion of neonatal SCN VIP neurons dramatically reduced circadian gene expression in the cultured SCN, mimicking the effects of global deletion of Vip or Vipr2. These results suggest that SCN VIP neurons play a role in lengthening circadian period and stimulating the daily surge in glucocorticoids in adults and in synchronizing and sustaining daily rhythms among cells in the developing SCN.


KNF-1002, a new fungicide candidate, is very effective for protecting crops against plant diseases, but its curative activity against barley powdery mildew is negligible due to its weak penetrability into plant leaf. To select the most efficient activator and, at the same time, spreader-sticker, foliar uptake and deposit of aqueous spray formulations containing non-ionic or anionic surfacrants and fatty acid alkyl esters as an adjuvant were assessed by using Congo Red method. In the absence of activator, only 0.1 % of the applied active ingredient was absorbed by barley leaves 24 h after spraying with an aqueous acetone containing KNF - 1002 100 ㎎/L. But, non-ionic surfactants (500 ㎎/L), such as heptaethylene glycol monooctadecenyl ether (OE-7), dodecaethylene glycol monohexadecyl ether (CE-12), so facilitated KNF-1002 uptake that the uptake was increased up to 48.5%. To wheat plant, the addition of surfactants in spray solution of KNF-1002 also increased the foliar uptake and deposition of active ingredient, but its efficiency varied according to the kind of fatty alcohol moiety of polyoxyethylene surfactant. KNF -1002 formulations containing nonaethylene glycol monododecyl ether (LE-9) as an activator and spreader-sticker showed remarkable increases of fungicidal activity against barley powdery mildew.


Imagine for a moment that you want to go out to a restaurant to eat after a long day. You are looking for something that you like and avoiding things that you don't while also attempting to avoid overcrowded restaurants. You are quite tired, and simply desire to be served a tasty meal. You select a restaurant you like, check if it can accommodate you and finally eat some food. If it was good, you will make sure to come back in the future. This scenario is an ordinary one for most people, but it's ordinary for your gut bacteria, too.


The key role of leukocytes (WBC) in pathologic alterations of microcirculation was repeatedly described in the literature. The aim of this study was to compare the mechanical characteristics of WBC of 4 healthy donors and 6 patients suffering from chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). The elastic properties of individual leukocytes in the passive state were studied by the micropipette technique (aspirating pressure delta P = 100 divided by 250 Pa; internal pipette radius Rp = 1.4 divided by 2.6 microns). The passive elastic rigidity of WBC (PER) from 30 cells/donor was characterized by the amplitude of their steady-state deformation (Dp) normalized for the pipette radius (Rp) against the stress parameter delta P * Rp. The effect of a CML-therapy with cytostatics was monitored by way of differential blood counts. A significantly higher rigidity of healthy lymphocytes (PER = 349.7 +/- 125.9 microN/m; n = 45) than that of polymorphonuclear granulocytes (PER = 226.5 +/- 86.7 microN/m; n = 62) was seen which appears to result from their large, solid nucleus. Control leukocytes have a significantly higher rigidity than leukemic WBC. Leukemic granulocytes (PER = 155.1 +/- 67.7 microN/m; n = 61) and lymphocytes (PER = 134.3 +/- 51.9 microN/m; n = 62) do not differ significantly in their values of rigidity.


We have an M × N real-valued arbitrary matrix A (e.g. a dictionary) with M < N and data d describing the sought-after object with the help of A. This work provides an in-depth analysis of the (local and global) minimizers of an objective function Fd combining a quadratic data-fidelity term and an l0 penalty applied to each entry of the sought-after solution, weighted by a regularization parameter β > 0. For several decades, this objective has attracted a ceaseless effort to conceive algorithms approaching a good minimizer. Our theoretical contributions, summarized below, shed new light on the existing algorithms and can help the conception of innovative numerical schemes. To solve the normal equation associated with any M-row submatrix of A is equivalent to compute a local minimizer û of Fd. (Local) minimizers û of Fd are strict if and only if the submatrix, composed of those columns of A whose indexes form the support of û, has full column rank. An outcome is that strict local minimizers of Fd are easily computed without knowing the value of β. Each strict local minimizer is linear in data. It is proved that Fd has global minimizers and that they are always strict. They are studied in more details under the (standard) assumption that rank(A) = M < N. The global minimizers with M-length support are seen to be impractical. Given d, critical values βK for any K 6 M− 1 are exhibited such that if β > βK, all global minimizers of Fd are K-sparse. An assumption on A is adopted and proved to fail only on a closed negligible subset. Then for all data d beyond a closed negligible subset, the objective Fd for β > βK, K 6 M − 1, has a unique global minimizer and this minimizer is K-sparse. Instructive small-size (5 × 10) numerical illustrations confirm the main theoretical results.


Abstract:The author, editor of Russell and Analytic Philosophy and Bertrand Russell: Critical Assessments, is also a long-time member of Russellians Anonymous, an international charitable organization founded to help combat the debilitating effects of Russellianism. For the record, it's true that while at the Munich conference a speaker did begin his comments with the first two sentences quoted below. No doubt historians ill continue to debate exactly what followed afterwards.


The primary goal of this thesis is to improve the precision and efficiency of radiation therapy treatment. This goal is achieved by developing and implementing a direct aperture optimization (DAO) platform where the multileaf collimator (MLC) is rotated between each aperture. The approach is referred to as rotating aperture optimization (RAO). A series of tests is performed to evaluate how a final optimized plan depends on MLC parameters. Imposing constraints on the leaf sequence results in increased efficiency and a simplification of the treatment plan without compromising the quality of the dose distribution. It is also shown that an arrangement of equispaced collimator angles takes full advantage of the flexibility associated with collimator rotation. A study including ten recurring nasopharynx cancer patients is used to evaluate the capabilities of RAO compared to other optimization techniques. It is shown that RAO plans require significantly less linac radiation output (monitor units or MU) while maintaining equivalent dose distribution quality compared to plans generated with the conventional fluence based approach. Furthermore with an improved collimator rotation speed, the RAO plans should be executable in the same or less time than plans generated with the fluence-based approach. For the second part of the study it is shown that plans generated with RAO are as good as or better than plans generated with standard fixed collimator DAO. Film and ion chamber measurements indicate that RAO plans can be delivered more accurately than DAO plans. Additional applications of DAO were investigated through collaboration with two PhD students. First, Monte Carlo was used to generate pencil beam dose distributions for DAO inverse treatment planning (MC-DAO). The MC-DAO technique correctly models traditionally difficult treatment geometries such as small fields and tissue inhomogeneities. The MC-DAO also takes advantage of the improved MU efficiency associated with the DAO technique. Secondly DAO is proposed for adaptive radiation therapy. The results show that plan re-adaptation can be performed more quickly


In real-life scenarios, Human Activity Recognition (HAR) from video data is prone to occlusion of one or more body parts of the human subjects involved. Although it is common sense that the recognition of the majority of activities strongly depends on the motion of some body parts, which when occluded compromise the performance of recognition approaches, this problem is often underestimated in contemporary research works. Currently, training and evaluation is based on datasets that have been shot under laboratory (ideal) conditions, i.e. without any kind of occlusion. In this work, we propose an approach for HAR in the presence of partial occlusion, in cases wherein up to two body parts are involved. We assume that human motion is modeled using a set of 3D skeletal joints and also that occluded body parts remain occluded during the whole duration of the activity. We solve this problem using regression, performed by a novel deep Convolutional Recurrent Neural Network (CRNN). Specifically, given a partially occluded skeleton, we attempt to reconstruct the missing information regarding the motion of its occluded part(s). We evaluate our approach using four publicly available human motion datasets. Our experimental results indicate a significant increase of performance, when compared to baseline approaches, wherein networks that have been trained using only nonoccluded or both occluded and nonoccluded samples are evaluated using occluded samples. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first research work that formulates and copes with the problem of HAR under occlusion as a regression task.


UNLABELLED
The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the "Combi-Effect" is specific for the transplanted lung tissue or not.

METHOD
In a Guinea-pig to rat model we compared the heterotopic heart-lung transplantation (HLTx, n = 5) with a second heart transplantation (DHTx, n = 5) and a combined heart-kidney transplantation (HKTx, n = 5). Apart from the heart transplant survival time we determined the concentrations of histamine, CH-50, IgG, IgM, leucocytes and thrombocytes in the blood. At time of rejection all tissues were examined histologically and immunohistologically (ED-11, IgG, IgM, OX-39, W3-13, ED-1, NKR-P1, OX-19).

RESULTS
We could achieve a significant prolongation of the heart transplant survival time by combined HLTx compared to HTx (25' to 12', p < 0.01). DHTx showed no effect (7' 53" to 11' 27"). But after HKTx the cardiac survival was even longer than after HTx and HLTx (62.8' to 12' and 25', p < 0.01). CH-50 showed significant lower concentrations after HLTx (180 U/l) and HKTx (178 U/l) than after HTx (260 U/l). Thrombocytes and leucocytes were lower, concentration of histamine higher than after HTx (p < 0.01). Immunohistologically C3 revealed a lower deposition in the rejected heart transplants after combined HLTx/HKTx than after isolated HTx.

CONCLUSION
The "Combi-Effect" is stronger after HKTx than after HLTx. He is not specific for the lung tissue.


Measurements of the intermodulation distortion (IMD) as a function of temperature from 1.7 K to Tc in Y Ba2Cu3O7−δ are presented. Films of the highest quality show an increase in IMD as the temperature decreases for temperatures below approximately 30 K. Films of lower quality do not show the increase in the temperature range measured. The increase is in qualitative agreement with that predicted by the nonlinear Meissner effect in d-wave superconductors. The temperature dependence of the measurements is compared with a new calculation of the nonlinear penetration depth.


Introduction: We examined the efficacy of the Females of African American Legacy Empowering Self (FemAALES) intervention in a cohort of 203 publicly insured Black women in Los Angeles. Materials and Methods: Women who reported recent sex with a male partner who was at increased risk for infection by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and sexually transmitted infections (STI) were randomized to the six-session FemAALES intervention or to a single client-centered family planning and STI/HIV counseling session. Participants were followed at 3 and 9 months post-intervention. To investigate between-group behavioral changes in condomless sex in the prior 90 days and other HIV/STI risks, we used generalized estimating equations that accounted for repeated observations in individuals. Results: Most participants (mean age 34 ± 11 standard deviation) were low-income and unemployed, despite three-quarters having completed high school or the equivalent. The most common HIV/STI risk factors among recent male partners were incarceration (58.8%) and concurrent sex with other women (72.2%). At 3 months, the FemAALEs group showed a larger increase in the odds of asking their partner to test (adjusted odds ratio = 2.14; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.02-4.47; p = 0.0431) and in sexual health self-efficacy scores (adjβ = 1.82; 95% CI, 0.02-3.62; p = 0.0471) compared to the control group, although these changes did not hold at 9 months. Both groups showed statistically significant declines in the frequency of several sexual risk factors between baseline and 9 months. Conclusion: Although we did not find evidence that the FemAALES intervention was more efficacious than the less-intensive control condition in reducing sexual risk behaviors, the overall declines in risk behaviors we observed warrant further research. ClinicalTrials.gov (Identifier: NCT02189876).


Public managers, in addition to implementing sound policies, are expected to manage public participation in the policy process. Civic meetings, in which citizens, elected officials, and public managers discuss proposed policies, can be an effective venue for citizen input, but only if participation is sufficiently high. This article shows that municipal government managers can improve attendance at civic meetings through invitation phone calls. Results from a field experiment in which stakeholders were randomly assigned to receive an invitation phone call for a civic meeting indicate that invitation phone calls can significantly increase meeting attendance. The attendance rate among the 108 stakeholders selected to receive the phone call was higher than among the 169 stakeholders in the control group (8.3 percent versus 4.7 percent). The $20 cost of increasing meeting attendance by one stakeholder is about equal to the cost of increasing turnout in an election by one voter.


Abstract—This study compared the expression of enzymes and transport and channel proteins involved in the regulation of sodium reabsorption in the kidney of Dahl salt-sensitive (DS) and salt-resistant Brown-Norway (BN) and consomic rats (SS.BN13), in which chromosome 13 from the BN rat has been introgressed into the DS genetic background. The expression of the Na+/K+/2Cl− (BSC-1) cotransporter, Na+/H+ exchanger (NHE3), and Na+-K+-ATPase proteins were similar in the renal cortex of DS, BN, and SS.BN13 rats fed either a low-salt (0.1% NaCl) or a high-salt (8% NaCl) diet. The expression of the BSC-1 and the renal outer medullary K+ channel (ROMK) were higher, whereas the expression of the cytochrome P4504A proteins responsible for the formation of 20-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic (20-HETE) was lower in the outer medulla of the kidney of DS than in BN or SS.BN13 rats fed either a low-salt or a high-salt diet. In addition, the renal formation and excretion of 20-HETE was lower in DS than in BN and SS.BN13 rats. These results suggest that overexpression of ROMK and BSC-1 in the thick ascending limb combined with a deficiency in renal formation of 20-HETE may predispose Dahl S rats fed a high-salt diet to Na+ retention and hypertension.


To meet ITRS requirements, highly scaled MOSFETs will have to operate close to the quasi-ballistic regime and to exhibit enhanced injection velocity. Good performances may be achieved thanks to high transport materials such as germanium or III-V semiconductors. However their integration is still very challenging. Following a different approach, this paper proposes to examine how to improve the injection in conventional (100) silicon ultrathin-body (UTB) MOSFETs. A systematic investigation of the impact of the different usual technological parameters highlights that SG and DG exhibit comparable performances and that no improvement in the injection velocity is expected with the silicon thickness thinning down to 4 nm. Moreover the degradation of the injection velocity with the integration of high- dielectrics is shown. Finally, a significant improvement of the injection velocity due to a higher confinement in asymmetrical double gate MOSFET has been found. Similarly, it is shown that, single gate UTB MOSFETs with thin buried oxide (BOX) exhibit an enhanced injection velocity. In conclusion, only the reduction of the BOX thickness and the integration of strained channel have been found to be realistic and significant boosters of the injection velocity in silicon (100) MOSFETs. Prediction of the evolution of the injection velocity along the roadmap, using a pragmatic strategy of scaling, confirms that these two parameters will play a significant role in improving highly scaled (100) silicon devices performances.


AIM
To explore patients' and families' experiences with video telehealth consultations as a method of health care delivery in rural/ remote communities in Northern Canada.

BACKGROUND
Accessing health services in isolated populations where human resources and infrastructure are constrained by vast geographical landmasses poses challenges and opportunities for nurses, health care providers, patients and families.

DESIGN
A qualitative approach was adopted with a purposeful sample of 10 patients and four family members representative of nine communities.

METHOD
Selection criteria included patients receiving telehealth visits for a minimum of a year and willing to share their experiences. Data were collected during the winter of 2006 using semi-structured video taped interviews and analysed using a qualitative thematic content analysis.

RESULTS
Patients and families experiences of their telehealth visits centered on three key themes: lessening the burden (costs of travel, accommodations, lost wages, lost time and physical limitations), maximising supports (access to family, friends, familiar home environment, nurses and other care providers), tailoring specific e-health systems to enhance patient and family needs.

CONCLUSION
The benefits of telehealth extend not only to patients and families but are linked to benefits for providers as well as the health care system.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE
This study indicates that video telehealth is an effective mechanism for delivering nursing and other health services to rural/remote communities and can impact positively on the quality of health care. The integration of telehealth practice can enhance the coordination, organisation and implementation of health care services.


Introduction and purpose: Elderly population growth rate has accelerated compared to other age groups in the present era. Forecasts suggest that the highest rates of population growth would happen in this age group in developing countries, including Iran. The World Health Organization has classified the elderlies into three categories including young-old, old-old, and Oldest-old. Physical weakness becomes apparent after passing from the initial elderly years to old-old period. Elderlies require spending longer periods of time in beds as a result of muscle weakness and physical disability in the elderly and the diseases caused by aging. Arthritis, osteoporosis, musculoskeletal disorders, and side effects of the some disease such as myocardial infarction and stroke are some of aging-associated diseases. This article aims to discover the care-related problems in old elderlies and study the at-rest-related problems. Materials and Methods :Direct observation, monitoring, and interviews with 20 geriatric physicians, and 5 specialized nurses for elderly were employed in this study. Unstructured interviews were conducted so that the objective was clear; however, the questions were not prearranged. They were more like a guided conservation' than a strict structured interview. The interviews were seeking factors in order to identify the old elderly-associated diseases and treatments. The length of interviews varied and they were conducted in the University of Welfare and Rehabilitation, Rofeide Rehabilitation Hospital, and Kahrizak Care, Treatment, and Education Center for the Disabled and Elderly. Findings and Conclusion: The results showed that paying attention to the elderly`s independence in the conduct of their personal affairs, the importance of easy use, meeting primary and secondary needs related to bed, and comfort and ease in elderly care in physical and psychological levels are the most important factors which need to be taken into account in bed design for elderlies. As a result, 13 items were extracted which led to an appropriate bed design to accommodate elderly`s needs.


Abstract : Two types of vacuum vibrator sources have been developed. Conventional magnetic types operated at several hundred cps and stepped horn resonator systems operated at frequencies of 15 to 60 Kcps. Both types performed satisfactorily under test. A study of characteristics of the sources was carried out. A comparison between the properties of the vacuum vibrator and the conventional radio-frequency spark showed that almost all of the advantages were in favor of the vacuum vibrator. These included higher and more stable ion currents, lower energy spread, smaller sample consumption, easier to operate and less equipment required. The main disadvantage is that the multiply charged ions are more abundant. This, of course, is sometimes an asset. Techniques were developed for the ionization of nonconductors with the vacuum vibrator source. (Author)


Methods. After full-thickness, central corneal injury in rabbit eyes, the anterior width of the wound (wound gape) was measured in the same animals using in vivo confocal microscopy. In addition, animals were sacrificed at various times after injury for the determination of aSM actin expression by immunofluorescent microscopy using a mouse monoclonal antibody specific for human a-actin. Antibody specificity was confirmed by Western blot analysis of normal and wound fibroblasts. Expression of a-SM actin also was related spatially to f-actin and the wound margin by co-localization with phalloidin and DTAF (5( [4,6-dichlorotriazin2yl]amino)fluorescein), a fluorescent marker bound to the wound margin.


The non-thermal acceleration of electrons and ions at an oblique, non-relativistic shock is studied using large scale particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations in one spatial dimension. Physical parameters are selected to highlight the role of electron pre-heating in injection and subsequent acceleration of particles at high Mach number shocks. Simulation results show evidence for the early onset of the diffusive shock acceleration process for both electrons and ions at a highly oblique subluminal shock. Ion acceleration efficiencies of . 5% are measured at late times, though this is not the saturated value.


Evaluation of geochronologic dates published by Metzger and Bickford (1972), coupled with unpublished information, suggests that there is too much disagreement between the various data to allow a reliable "minimum date" to be placed on the Bar Harbor Series. Further, the stratigraphic relations between the Cranberry Island Series and Bar Harbor Series cannot be resolved in the light of available data, especially as the two series are not in contact.

The published Somesville granite dates (which range from 389 m.y. to 429 ± 13 m.y.), coupled with absolute time scale uncertainties, do not allow one to state with certainty that the Bar Harbor Series are Middle Silurian. The Silurian fauna identified from Bar Harbor correlatives occur some 50 km from Mt. Desert Island and in a different sequence of rock types.


Considers the evoked EMG signal that is obtained using surface electrodes when the quadriceps muscles in paraplegic subjects are stimulated via percutaneous intramuscular electrodes. Changes in this signal occur over time, during sustained stimulation. In this paper, possible causes that are related to changes in the biochemical processes of the muscle fibers are investigated.<<ETX>>


Severe COVID-19 patients present a clinical and laboratory overlap with other hyperinflammatory conditions such as hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH). However, the underlying mechanisms of these conditions remain to be explored. Here, we investigated the transcriptome of 1596 individuals, including patients with COVID-19 in comparison to healthy controls, other acute inflammatory states (HLH, multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children [MIS-C], Kawasaky disease [KD]), and different respiratory infections (seasonal coronavirus, influenza, bacterial pneumonia). We observed that COVID-19 and HLH share immunological pathways (cytokine/chemokine signaling and neutrophil-mediated immune responses), including gene signatures that stratify COVID-19 patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) and COVID-19_nonICU patients. Of note, among the common differentially expressed genes (DEG), there is a cluster of neutrophil-associated genes that reflects a generalized hyperinflamatory state since it is also dysregulated in patients with KD and bacterial pneumonia. These genes are dysregulated at protein level across several COVID-19 studies and form an interconnected network with differentially expressed plasma proteins that point to neutrophil hyperactivation in COVID-19 patients admitted to the intensive care unit. scRNAseq analysis indicated that these genes are specifically upregulated across different leukocyte populations, including lymphocyte subsets and immature neutrophils. Artificial intelligence modeling confirmed the strong association of these genes with COVID-19 severity. Thus, our work indicates putative therapeutic pathways for intervention.


Abstract Throughout much of earth history globally warm intervals prevailed over ice age conditions. Without the constraints imposed by cold climates, forest vegetation populated high-latitude land masses. There are no modern analogs for these biomes, thus fossil remains provide information vital to understanding the structure and function of these forests. This paper reviews methods (some common in neoecology) by which forest structure, biomass and productivity can be quantified from analysis of fossil remains. Common metrics of forest structure, such as stand density, stem diameter, basal area and tree height, can be determined for most fossil forest localities using the methods described herein. When fossils are preserved as in situ forest layers (so-called fossil forests), additional analyses involving detailed stem measurement or the application of allometric regression models may yield estimates of aboveground biomass. Annual growth rates, when paired with estimates of stem wood volume production, provide an enhanced view of ecosystem energy flow. A review of published studies on polar fossil forests indicates that forest vegetation has occupied high-latitude landmasses since the Late Permian. Although these forests seem to be structurally similar to modern day forests, they differ in that they sequestered large amounts of biomass in warm polar climates. Middle Jurassic forests from New Zealand and early Cenozoic Metasequoia-dominated forests from the Canadian Arctic seem to have sequestered similar amounts of biomass despite differences in plant community taxonomic composition. The lack of dramatic differences between fossil and modern forest ecosystem structure and function may point to general constraints on forest biology that are supported by theoretical models.


Samples from a belt of gneiss in the Slave Craton have been analysed for lead isotope ratios. Lead was volatilized from whole rocks, and their constituent mineral phases, as well as from granites which intrude their upper amphibolite facies gneisses and which were responsible for their metamorphism. The most radiogenic lead (208Pb/204Pb > 50) was found in the biotite and garnet of the gneiss; the least radiogenic was found in the feldspars. The isotope ratios from the minerals of all samples, whether gneiss, granite, inclusions in the gneiss, or xenoliths in the granite, plot on a single straight line (secondary isochron) with a slope-age of 2540 ± 50 m.y. An assumed growth curve with μ = 8.4 implies that the lead developed in a three-stage system. Possible variations in a three-stage model applicable to the data and to lead systematics in general are discussed. The data support derivation of the rocks in an island arc environment from oceanic crust.


The influence of the source/body layout on the electrical safe operating area (SOA) of both vertical and lateral double-diffused metal-oxide-semiconductor transistors is experimentally investigated using a transmission line pulse system. Tradeoff between RDSon ·Area and SOA is discussed. Stripe geometries with and without (i.e., conventional design) body contact extension and cell designs with circular and oval geometries are considered. It is shown that a circular design of the source/body cell is superior with respect to SOA, compared with the conventional stripe design. The oval design is used to improve RDSon ·Area without compromising SOA performance, compared with the circular design.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate initial arterial blood gas, pulmonary pressures, pulmonary mechanics (compliance and resistance), pulmonary volumes, oxygenation indices and serum carotenoid levels as predictors of fatality in mechanically ventilated neonates.

DESIGN
Cross Sectional.

SETTING
Referral neonatal unit of a teaching hospital.

SUBJECTS
83 mechanically ventilated outborn neonates.

METHODS
83 neonates consecutively put on mechanical ventilator from March to December 2001 were enrolled in the study. The mechanical ventilator used was pressure limited time cycled ventilator with facility for online measurement of volumes and pulmonary mechanics. Arterial blood gas after half an hour of initiation of mechanical ventilation and initial pulmonary pressures, pulmonary compliance, resistance and duration of mechanical ventilation were recorded in a pre structured proforma. Initial serum carotenoid levels were also measured using spectrophotometric method. The neonates were regularly followed up for outcome. Multiple logistic regression analysis was done to find out the predictors of fatality for those variables that were significantly associated with outcome on univariate analysis.

RESULTS
On univariate analysis weight ( < 2000 g), gestational age <34 weeks, pH <7.3, duration of mechanical ventilation <72 hours, a/A <0.25, compliance <1 mL/cmH2O, fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO2) >60%, oxygenation index >10, AaDO2 >250 and serum carotenoid levels < 100 microg/dL were significantly associated with fatality in neonates requiring mechanical ventilation. However, on multiple regression analysis only FiO2, gestational age and serum carotenoids < 100 microg/dL were found to be independent predictors of fatality.

CONCLUSIONS
Initial FiO2 > 60%, gestational age <34 weeks and initial serum carotenoid levels < 100 microg/dL were independent predictors of fatality in neonatal mechanical ventilation. Even in a setting with high fatality rates, high risk of mortality in mechanically ventilated neonates can be identified.


We present results from three‐dimensional (3‐D) Cartesian geometry computations featuring vigorous (high Rayleigh number) mantle convection in a system incorporating stiff tectonic plates with dynamically determined, time‐dependent velocities. We track plume‐related hot spot motion while calculating associated synthetic hot spot tracks, allowing us to estimate plume migration rates relative to plate motion rates. Plate‐like surface motion is achieved explicitly by specifying both the plate geometry and rigidity; however, plate velocities evolve dynamically in response to the buoyancy distribution within the convecting system, including buoyancy within the plate itself. We find that convection is characterized by downwelling sheets and varying numbers of 3‐D upwelling structures when the lower mantle to upper mantle viscosity ratio is varied from 9 to 90. As the lower mantle viscosity is increased relative to the upper mantle viscosity, the upwellings in the calculations evolve into vigorous (active) plumes characterized by long, narrow, thermal conduits with broad, disk‐like heads. The total number, shape, and persistence of the plumes are affected by the specified viscosity stratification in the calculations. Our findings indicate that hot spots associated with mantle plumes drift by smaller distances in comparable amounts of time when the lower mantle viscosity is increased relative to the upper mantle viscosity. In cases with a high lower mantle to upper mantle viscosity ratio, the depth of the flow aligned with plate motion is diminished and the plate‐scale return flow is integrated into a deep, unorganized, sluggish layer. As a result, plume conduit morphology in the lower mantle of such calculations is less influenced by plate motion than in calculations with a small difference between upper mantle and lower mantle viscosity. For lower mantle viscosities 30 times and 90 times greater than the upper mantle viscosity, the lower mantle velocity field is dominated locally by active plumes anchored in the lower thermal boundary layer of the convecting system and plume migration rates are typically only about 10% of the overriding plate velocity. In such cases, we also find that plume‐related hot spots persist for periods that we estimate to be between 0.55 and 1.1 plume‐transit times.


Antimonene, a monolayer of β-antimony, is increasingly attracting considerable attention, more than that of other monoelemental two-dimensional materials, due to its intriguing physical and chemical properties. Under ambient conditions, antimonene exhibits a high thermodynamic stability and good structural integrity. Some theoretical calculations predicted that antimonene would have a high oxidation tendency. However, it remains poorly investigated from the experimental point of view. In this work, we study the oxidation behavior of antimonene nanosheets (ANS) prepared by ultrasonication-assisted liquid-phase exfoliation. Using a set of forefront analytical techniques, a clear effect of sonication time on the surface chemistry of prepared ANS is found. A dynamic oxidation behavior has been observed, which upon annealing at moderate temperature (210 °C) resulted in a semiconducting behavior with a bandgap of approximately 1 eV measured by ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy. This study yields valuable information for future applications of antimonene and paves the way towards novel modification approaches in order to tailor its properties and complement its limitations.


The local structure of iron in tektites from six strewn fields, and impactand non-impact-related glass were studied using the Fe K-edge X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) techniques, in order to obtain quantitative data on Fe-O bond length and Fe coordination number. X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectra and Fe-O bonds in standard minerals such as hematite, fayalite, and magnetite were compared. The degree of oxidation was measured based on the valencies of iron in the samples. Tektites contain a greater proportion of ferrous than ferric iron [0.04(1)-0.13(1) Fe/ ƩFe]. The ferric ratios of impact-related glass [0.18(1)-0.52(1) Fe/ƩFe], and volcanic glass [0.26(1)-0.30(1) Fe/ƩFe] are higher than that in tektites. Based on the measured Fe-O distance, it was inferred that 4and 5-coordinated Fe exist in tektites, whereas volcanic glass contains 5and 6-coordinated Fe. Impact-related glass possesses various local structures caused by the combination of 4-, 5-, and 6-coordinated Fe. During formation, tektites experience high temperatures and a reducing atmosphere when they were ejected into the outer space. In contrast, the impact-related glass, which was ejected into the atmosphere or which remained close to the crater, experienced a more complex environment, with air pressure, density, and temperature varying across the atmospheric layers. Thus, impact-related glass presents more complicated oxidation states and structure compared to tektites. Volcanic glass, on the other hand, has a relatively stable redox condition; and thus, it undergoes only a small change in the degree of oxidation. This study indicates that the local structure and oxidation state of Fe may change due to the environment that the glass experienced during its formation. These different kinds of natural glass can be distinguished from each other using the study of the local structure.


This study consists of assessments of the thermal environment and physio-logical strain in tasks associated with airport, construction, and metal jobs. The number of male and female participants was 108. Environmental heat stress was evaluated with the WBGT index. Physiological strain was evaluated by the relative cardiovascular load (%CVL) based on the measurements of heart rate. Also the increase of body temperature, weight loss, and perceived discomfort were determinated. At work sites the assessments lasted for 2 to 4 hrs for each participant. The mean physiological strain exceeded the level of 30%CVL. Severe peaks (over 60%CVL) were observed in specific tasks being in agreement with perceived discomfort ratings. The increase of body temperature and weight loss in most cases remained within acceptable limits. For the most strenuous tasks, various ergonomic improvements were developed in consultation with workers and managers.


Isocitrate lyase (EC 188.8.131.52) and malate synthase (EC 126.96.36.199), the two enzymes characteristic of the glyoxylate cycle, were demonstrated in promastigotes of five species of Leishmania (L. brasiliensis, L. donovani, L. mexicana, L. tarentolae, and L. tropica). Both enzymes were present in cells grown in a medium containing 10 mM glucose. Substitution of glucose with 20 mM acetate did not enhance enzyme levels. Acetate was readily taken up and metabolized by the cells. The distribution of label from acetate into various intermediary metabolites indicates a functional glyoxylate cycle and its role in gluconeogenesis/glyconeogenesis. The glyoxylate cycle in conjunction with alanine-glyoxylate aminotransferase and glyoxylate-aspartate aminotransferase could also be important in providing glyoxylate, the precursor for glycine biosynthesis.


By several crossing studies it has been demonstrated that the MHC class-II genes of the RT1u haplotype, Iddm1, and the lymphopenia, Iddm2, are essential, but not sufficient for diabetes development in the BB rat. Using diabetic BB/OK and diabetes-resistant DA rats it has been shown that a third non-MHC gene, Iddm3, on chromosome 18 cosegregates with diabetes in the BB/OK rat subline. Because mapping results need not be consistent among different crosses, we genetically analysed a new cross population using diabetic BB/OK and diabetes-resistant SHR/Mol rats analysing 73 microsatellite markers. The genetic analysis of Iddm1 and Iddm2 homozygous [(BB/OK x SHR)F1 x BB/OK] first backcross hybrids (BC1) confirmed the action of Iddm3 and one predisposing non-MHC locus, Iddm4, near Ighe/D6Mgh2 on chromosome 6 and one protective locus, Iddm5r(esistance), detected around Igf2/Tnt on chromosome 1. From these novel findings it is concluded that the diabetogenic phenotype of the BB/OK rat subline is the result of the interaction of predisposing and protecting diabetes genes.


The change in 3',5'-cyclic adenosine monophosphate (c-AMP) concentration was observed in various organs of rats in gonadal cycle in adult group and with aging (30, 70, 100, 120 weeks), and in human ovaries with aging. 1) The average c-AMP concentration of ovaries of rats showed a significant change with estrus cycle and was higher in the following sequence: proestrus, diestrus II, diestrus I and estrus phase. This tendency was also seen in hypothalamus and pituitary, but was not statistically significant, 2) The average c-AMP concentration in tissues began to decline significantly from 70 weeks in cerebral cortex and hypothalamus, and from 80 weeks in ovaries. However, on the other hand the concentrations in pituitary, liver and adrenal declined markedly from 100 weeks. 3) The c-AMP in ovaries of 80 weeks rats by pregnant mare serum (PMS) road increased by 0.5-fold in concentration, and by 0.6-fold in whole tissue relative to that of 30 weeks rats. 4) A significant difference in serum LH and FSH level between ovarian artery and vein was not found in cycling mature group, non-cycling climacteric group and post-menopausal group of women. 5) Both average concentrations and total values of c-AMP in ovaries of non-cycling climacteric and post-menopausal women were lower than those of mature cycling women. This fact may imply a different response by ovarian tissues such as corpus luteum, follicle and other tissues to gonadotropin. From these results of c-AMP in tissues, it is concluded that the decline of ovarian function with aging of rats was relatively earlier than pituitary, although being delayed compared with hypothalamus, and were the ovarian function in humans declined in the premenopausal period.


Applications such as employees sharing office spaces over a workweek
can be modeled as problems where agents are matched to resources
over multiple rounds. Agents' requirements limit the set of compatible
resources and the rounds in which they want to be matched. Viewing such an
application as a multi-round matching problem on a bipartite compatibility
graph between agents and resources, we show that a solution
(i.e., a set of matchings, with one matching per round) can be found
efficiently if one exists. To cope with situations where a solution does not exist, we consider two extensions. In
the first extension, a benefit function is defined for each agent and the
objective is to find a multi-round matching to maximize the total benefit. For a
general class of benefit functions satisfying certain properties (including
diminishing returns), we show that this multi-round matching problem is
efficiently solvable. This class includes utilitarian and Rawlsian welfare
functions.
For another benefit function, we show that the maximization
problem is NP-hard.
In the second extension, the objective is to generate advice to
each agent (i.e., a subset of requirements to be relaxed) subject to a
budget constraint so that the agent can be matched.
We show that this budget-constrained advice generation problem is NP-hard.
For this problem, we develop an integer linear programming formulation as well
as a heuristic based on local search.
 We experimentally evaluate our algorithms on
synthetic networks and apply them to two real-world situations: shared
office spaces and matching courses to classrooms.


In this paper, the transport of intense sheet electron beams in a uniform solenoidal magnetic field in high-power vacuum electronic devices is theoretically examined with the 3-D beam optics code MICHELLE. It is shown that a solenoidal magnetic field can be an effective transport mechanism for sheet electron beams, provided the beam tunnel is matched to the beam shape, and vice versa. The advantage of solenoidal magnetic field transport relative to periodic magnetic transport resides in the feasibility of transporting higher current density beams due to the higher average field strength achievable in practice and the lower susceptibility to field errors from mechanical misalignments. In addition, a solenoidally transported electron beam is not susceptible to voltage cutoff as in a periodic magnetic focusing system; hence, device efficiency is potentially higher.


In a multi-robot scenario, cooperative hunting is a key issue when a group of robots are hunting for evader/evaders and when the location of the evader is continuously changing. Cooperative hunting is addressed in this paper by proposing a novel bio inspired Corner Dragging Algorithm (CDA). Corner Dragging Algorithm operates by making an alliance of robots that drag the evader towards any one of the four corners; whichever is closest to the evader. Different shapes of obstacles are avoided during this pursuit. While developing the Corner Dragging Algorithm, we analyze the shortcomings and advantages of some of the existing algorithms including dynamic alliance and formation construction algorithm and incorporate these changes in our design to achieve improved results. Performance of the algorithm is evaluated on the basis of simulation in MATLAB.


Background/Aims Symptom reflux association analysis is especially helpful for evaluation and management of proton pump inhibitor (PPI) refractory patients. An accurate calculation requires manual editing of 24-hour multichannel intraluminal impedance-pH (MII-pH) tracings after automatic analysis. Intra- and inter-observer agreement as well as reliability of rapid editing confined to the time around symptomatic episodes are unknown. Aim of this study was to explore these topics in a prospective multicenter study. Methods Forty consecutive patients who were off PPI therapy underwent MII-pH recordings. After automatic analysis, their tracings were anonymized and randomized. Three experienced observers, each one trained in a different European center, independently performed manual editing of 24-hour tracings on 2 separate occasions. Values of symptom index and symptom association probability for acid and non acid reflux were transformed into binary response (i.e., positive or negative). Results Intra-observer agreement on symptom reflux association was 92.5% to 100.0% for acid and 85.0% to 97.5% for non-acid reflux. Inter-observer agreement was 100.0% for acid and 82.5% to 95.0% for non-acid reflux. Values for symptom index and symptom association probability were similar. Concordance between 24-hour and rapid (2 minutes-window before each symptomatic episode) editings for symptom reflux association occured in 39 to 40 patients (acid) and in 37 to 40 (non-acid), depending on the observer. Conclusions Intra- and inter-observer agreement in classifying patients with or without symptom reflux association at manual editing of 24-hour tracings was high, especially for acid reflux. Classifying patients according to a rapid editing showed excellent concordance with the 24-hour one and can be adopted in clinical practice.


The number of the patiens referring to pain clinics for pain or other reasons, is increasing day by day since their establishment. In this study, we aimed to investigate the files of the patients referred to our pain clinic between the years 2001-2007. The sending clinics , the cause of the cronic pain, the pharmacological and other invasive therapies were evaluated. Considering the sending clinics, 47.8% of the patients came directly by themselves, 42.3% were sent by The Department of Oncology, 34.1% were directed from the The Department of Orthopedics. Analyzing the type of therapies over the years , the number of medical therapy decreased while the invasive procedures such as epidural steroid injection, epidural catheter application, trigger point injection, were increased. We assume that the satisfaction of the patients due to our multidisciplinary approach and successful treatment, will increase the number of the patients applying to Our Pain Clinic.


OBJECTIVE
The relation between vitamin D and autoimmune disorders has long been investigated regarding the important roles of this hormone in immune regulation. We evaluated 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) status in subjects with Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) and healthy controls.

METHODS
Group-1 included 180 euthyroid patients (123 females/57 males) with HT who were on a stable dose of L-thyroxine (LT). A total of 180 sex-, age-, and body mass index (BMI)-matched euthyroid subjects with newly diagnosed HT were considered as Group-2, and 180 healthy volunteers were enrolled as controls (Group-3). All 540 subjects underwent thyroid ultrasound and were evaluated for serum 25OHD, anti-thyroid peroxidase (anti-TPO), and anti-thyroglobulin (anti-TG) levels.

RESULTS
Group-1 had the lowest 25OHD levels (11.4 ± 5.2 ng/mL) compared to newly diagnosed HT subjects (Group-2) (13.1 ± 5.9 ng/mL, P = .002) and to control subjects (15.4 ± 6.8 ng/mL, P<.001). Serum 25OHD levels directly correlated with thyroid volume (r = 0.145, P<.001) and inversely correlated with anti-TPO (r = -0.361, P<.001) and anti-TG levels (r = -0.335, P<.001). We determined that 48.3% of Group-1, 35% of Group-2, and 20.5% of controls had severe 25OHD deficiency (<10 ng/mL). Female chronic HT patients had the lowest serum 25OHD levels (10.3 ± 4.58 ng/mL), and male control subjects had the highest (19.3 ± 5.9 ng/mL, P<.001).

CONCLUSIONS
We demonstrated that serum 25OHD levels of HT patients were significantly lower than controls, and 25OHD deficiency severity correlated with duration of HT, thyroid volume, and antibody levels. These findings may suggest a potential role of 25OHD in development of HT and/or its progression to hypothyroidism.


Winery pomace (from red and white grapes) was extracted under various conditions using different solvents. The antioxidant activity of solvent extracts was investigated by DPPH radical scavenging method. Ethanol extract exhibited the highest antioxidant activity compared to the other solvent (BuOH, EtOAc, Me2Cl2 and pet.ether). There was a correlation between antioxidant activity and total phenol content. HPLC analysis of the extracts showed that gallic and cinnamic acid was the major phenolic compounds in winery pomace. Various phenolic compounds such as catechin, rutin, rosmarinic, chlorogenic, caffeic, vanillic, coumaric acids were also identified.


"Palestine is not completely free," a leader of Hamas' policy wing remarked, "until it is an Islamic state."(1) The Hamas activist made this statement in Gaza only a few months before the January 1996 elections, an event that not only brought Yasir Arafat triumphantly into power but also fulfilled the Palestinian dream of an independent nation. Yet it was not the kind of nation that the Islamic activist and his colleagues had yearned to create. For that reason, they refused to run candidates for public office and urged their followers to boycott the polls. They threatened that the movement would continue to carry out "political actions," by which they meant terrorist attacks, such as the series of suicide bombings conducted by a militant faction that rocked Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and elsewhere in Israel in February and March of 1996, jeopardizing the peace process and Arafat's fragile alliance. On the Israeli side of the border, Jewish activists have also attacked the secular leadership of their nation, and again a virulent mixture of religion and politics has led to bloodshed. Yigal Amir, who was convicted of assassinating Israel's prime minister Yitzhak Rabin in Tel Aviv on 4 November 1995, claimed that he had religious reasons for his actions, saying "everything I did, I did for the glory of God."(2) Amir has adamantly rejected attempts by his lawyers to assert that he was not guilty by reason of insanity. "I am at peace," he explained, insisting that he was "totally normal." His murder of Rabin, he argued, was deliberate and even praiseworthy under a certain reading of religious law that allows for a defense against those who would destroy the Jewish nation.(3) A few weeks before the assassination, Jewish activists near Hebron indicated that they shared many of Amir's views. They were still grieving over the killing of Dr. Baruch Goldstein by an angry Muslim crowd in February 1995, after he murdered 35 Muslims as they were saying their prayers in the mosque at the Cave of the Patriarchs, revered by both Jews and Muslims as the burial place of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Goldstein's grave has now been made into a shrine. The militant Jews at the site explained that acts such as Dr. Goldstein's were necessary not only to protect the land but also to defend the very notion of a Jewish nation -- one that for reasons of redemption and history had to be established on biblical terrain. Religious duty required them to become involved politically and even militarily. "Jews," one of them said, "have to learn to worship in a national way."(4) This potentially explosive mixture of nationalism and religion is an ingredient even in incidents that might appear initially to be isolated terrorist incidents: the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City on 19 April 1995, for instance, or the 20 March 1995 nerve gas attack on a Tokyo subway station. In the Oklahoma City case, the Christian militia movements with which accused bombers Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols have been associated have adopted a certain conspiratorial view of American politics: The nation is not free, they reason, because of a vast international conspiracy involving Jews and Freemasons. They believe that it needs to be liberated through an armed struggle that will establish America as an independent and Christian nation.(5) Strangely, the same conspiracy was articulated by members of Aum Shinrikyo (Om Supreme Truth), the eclectic Buddhist-Hindu religious movement in Japan that has been accused of unleashing cannisters of nerve gas in a Tokyo subway station, killing twelve people and injuring thousands. A young man who was a public affairs officer for the main Tokyo headquarters of the movement at the time said that the first thing that came to his mind when he heard about the attack was that the "weird time had come:" The Third World War was about to begin. He had been taught by his spiritual master, Shoko Asahara, that Armegeddon was imminent. …


Mobile devices are too small to operate freely using their input surfaces. To solve this problem, non-contact and natural gesture interfaces have been the focus of recent research. In this paper we propose a method of estimating multi-finger position and pose for operating such devices at high speed using a single camera. Our method achieves the finger tracking based on the appearance and shape deformation model by estimating the translational movements and the degree of bent finger. The experimental results show that our method can obtain the position of the hand and the pose of the each finger within 9.7 ms.