Acinetobacter baumannii, a Gram-negative opportunistic pathogen that widely exists in the environment, causes numerous nosocomial infection cases in the ICU. As the agent of pneumonia, septicemia, and meningitis, A. baumannii is usually multidrug-resistant and has a high mortality rate. In this study, we aimed to develop a vaccine for Acinetobacter baumannii through in silico prediction. With the help of immunoinformatic methods, which have proven to be effective and convenient, our team managed to develop multiepitope subunit vaccines for A. baumannii. Three proteins closely associated with the immunologic process were selected and computed. Finally, 9 cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) epitopes, 10 helper T-lymphocyte (HTL) epitopes, and 11 linear B cell (LBL) epitopes were selected to construct 2 vaccines. LT-IIb was selected as an adjuvant and attached to the vaccine N-terminus. All subunits are linked by suitable linkers. According to examinations, both MEV is antigenic and stable without poisonousness or allergenicity. Molecular docking revealed steady and solid binding ability between MEV and Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). Finally, MEV codons were optimized into a plasmid for in silico cloning, which is pet-28a+ from E. coli K-12 in this research. Although this vaccine performed well in immune stimulation, further experiments are expected to guarantee its safety and immunogenic profile.


Despite advances in surgical technique and implant materials, cataract surgery in patients with uveitis is still a challenging procedure. We retrospectively evaluated postoperative outcomes of cataract surgery in 35 eyes of 29 patients with uveitis. Phacoemulsification with posterior chamber intraocular lens implantation was performed in all eyes. Postoperative evaluations were performed at day 2, and then at 7 days, 1, 3, and 6 months respectively. There were 16 males, and 13 females, aged 31 to 68 years. Follow-up ranged from 4 to 35 months. At final follow-up 33 eyes (94%) had an improvement in visual acuity compared with preoperative levels (p < 0,05). Giant cells were observed in the intraocular lens optic in 7 eyes (20%). Posterior capsule opacification occurred in 10 eyes (29%). Clinical cystoid macular edema was observed in 4 eyes, and 2 eyes required trabeculectomy with mitomycin C due to secondary glaucoma. Cataract surgery in patients with uveitis leads to successful visual results after correct surgical timing, and adequate anti-inflammatory therapy. There were no significant differences in the degree of inflammation after implantation of various types of intraocular lenses.


ABSTRACT Being a highly significant and complex function of management, decision making requires methods and techniques that simplify the process of selecting one choice among all available options. Decision making is therefore selection of that particular choice over any of several alternatives. Because of the process complexity, a continuous research and improvement of the methods and techniques modern decision making involves is required. One of many modern business challenges is to discover any possible improvement in the decision-making process managers shall use in making the right decision. Any decision made by managers directly impacts the realized profit, business, and company's position on the market. The fact is that mankind faces the decision-making problem in each phase of its social development, which has resulted in increased need for learning more about it. In this work, both the significance and application of association rules will be analyzed on an example of car sales business. The research was conducted on a sample of 1728 transactions in order to recognize and establish the association rules and then determine their impact on the sales and profit. For the purpose of this research, a large car sales database was used as a source of information, which is also described in this work. Once these association rules were established, they were then used to create a better and more complete market supply. The main contribution of the paper is providing business intelligence model for performing association rules in real-term business settings.


Equestrian vaulting has been described as a combination of gymnastics and dance on a horse. This paper describes the outcomes of a formative evaluation of an inclusive vaulting camp for beginners. Framed by the Context, Input, Process, and Product model for program evaluation, the aims and objectives, resources required, and the components of the camp were described. The System for Observing Fitness Instruction Time was used to systematically code the context, physical activity levels, and social engagement of eight female campers with a mean age of 9.3 years ( SD = 3.2 years). The findings revealed that the campers were clearly meeting the objectives of interacting with peers and staff as well as actively engaging in all components of the camp. Subscribe to PALAESTRA


The rediscovered Pieta, which was once in the Artaria Collection in Vienna at the end of the 19th century and later disappeared, was attributed to Bartolomeo Suardi called Bramantino by Wilhelm Suida (1902, 1905, 1910, 1953), Roberto Longhi (1955, 1973) and Bernard Berenson (1968). Many copies and later versions of it are known. The Artaria panel and these copies were discussed again recently by the author in a monograph published in Paris in 2005. According to the more recent chronology of the works by Bramantino, the Artaria panel was then dated around the end of the 15th century. Now, another unpublished copy of it has been discovered in a private collection in Legnano, once considered to be the original by Pico Cellini (the famous Italian restorer and connoisseur) and coming from the Savoy Royal Collection in Rome (there until 1944 circa). In that painting, tempera on canvas, the detail of a face, in full view (not entirely visible in the Artaria panel and in the other versions), has been considered by Cellini the self-portrait of the artist. On the basis of that "portrait", Pico Cellini assigned the painting once in the Savoy Collection to a period following the Crucifixion now in the Brera Gallery in Milan, then considering it late in the artist's career. Discussing this proposal and presenting a new examination of the St. John in Patmos by Bramantino in the Borromeo Collection, the author dismissed that hypothesis and suggested for the Artaria panel and for the Borromeo St. John a new date around the very first years of the 16th century.


Twenty-seven parents with young children were randomly assigned to an experimental group which underwent an affective skill-building program, or one of two control groups. Pre and postassessments measured levels of communication, discrimination, and child vocalization for each parent. Multilinear regression analysis indicated that final communication skills among the three groups were significantly different. Final communication skills of the experimental group were significantly greater than those of the Hawthorne control group. Final discrimination skills for the three groups showed a trend toward being significantly different. Levels of child vocalization did not show significant changes. The experimental program was successful in improving accurate parent-child communication in the affective realm.


Corrugated AlGaAs waveguide devices have been fabricated which emit low-divergence ( \sim1\deg by 15°) laser beams nearly normal to the waveguide plane when pulsed electrically at room temperature. The devices are fabricated from material which is essentially the same as that used to fabricate CW room-temperature lasers, differing only in that the two top layers of AlGaAs and GaAs are very thin ( \sim0.4 \mu m and 0.1 μm, respectively). Threshold current densities of 3000-4000 A/cm2are typical in these devices even though ∼20 percent of the resonator length is unpumped. The far-field pattern produced by the TE polarized leaky-wave laser beams emanating from the unpumped region is usually composed of two mode lines. A theory is outlined which describes how these mode lines are generated. The possibility of obtaining distributed-feedback (DFB) oscillation in devices of this type is also discussed.


ABSTRACT Multiple knowledges are available for utilisation in policy choice. The rank ordering of knowledges for use in decisionmaking is thus a fundamental predecision. This article shows how this predecision necessarily constrains the processes associated with a politics of ideas, using cases from American international commodity policy. Even when the supposed preconditions of this sort of politics are present, policy change did not occur when the proposed ideas arose from a knowledge accorded secondary status in policymaking circles. Several implications are discussed for the influence and the study of ideational politics. Ultimately, the politics of ideas, so often portrayed through cases of innovation, may be quite conservative, contained by knowledge hierarchies which reflect prior political circumstances.


This cross - sectional descriptive study was conducted to explore the relationship of medical students' self-concept with their academic achievement. The study population was preclinical second year medical students. Study was carried out at one government and one non-government medical colleges in Dhaka. Sample size was 254 and sampling technique was purposive. The three dimensions of self concept: personal, family and social self-concept of medical students were assessed through 45- items questionnaire, which was answered on a five-point Likert scale. Data was collected by self administered structured questionnaire with Bengali version. Academic achievement data were measured by two term examinations marks of three subjects (Anatomy, Physiology & Biochemistry) based on written and oral examinations. Simple statistical tests were used to analyze the dominant dimension of student's self-concept. Inferential statistic such as ttest was used to analyze the difference between the self-concept and gender. Pearson correlations were used analyze the relationship between self-concept of students with their academic achievement. The participant's age ranged from 17 - 23 years with a mean of 19.8 and a standard deviation of 0.93. Among the respondents 47% were male and 53% were females. In term-I and term-II exams majority (66.9% and 66.1%) student were high achievers. The research finding showed that the dominant dimension of self concept was family self-concept (mean value was 53.73). Beside that, t-test analysis showed that there was significant difference between dimension of self-concept of students according to gender (p= 0.03, p= 0.02). Pearson correlations analysis showed that there was positive correlation between dimensions of self-concept with student's academic achievement. Study recommended to increase the student's self-concept in order to enhance their academic achievement. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjme.v2i1.18131 Bangladesh Journal of Medical Education Vol.2(1) 2011: 10-13


This study evaluated the quality of the cause-of-death information on death certificates for injury deaths, by determining the percentage of deaths for which the underlying cause was a nonspecific injury mechanism.


J.W.K.C., aged sixteen years, a factor:Y hand, was admitted to the Melbourne Hospital on November 24, 1921, at 1(}.45 p.m., complaining of pain in the lower part of the abdomen and vomiting. The pain commenced suddenly in the left lower part of the abdomen four days before admission and was severe and continuous in character and spread over the whole lower abdomen. He vomited several times soon after the onset of the pain, the vomitus consisting of food taken previously. After it had lasted for two days, the pain subsided and returned two days later, again accompanied by vomiting. This time he had occasional twinges .ot pain in both shoulders. He also noticed a swelling of the scrotum and in the right inguinal region. He had had no shivers nor sweats, no jaundice, no hesmatemesis nor meleena. The bowels had been regularly opened. There was no scalding or frequency of micturition. He had had a similar attack three months previously, which had lasted for two days. No history of injury was obtained. On examination his temperature was found to be 37.4° C. (99.4° F.), his pulse-rate 86 and respiration-rate 22. The pupils were equal, round and reacted normally. There was a left-sided internal strabismus and an old paresis of the left side of the face. His teeth were in a moderately good condition. The tongue was rather dry, with a yellow fur. His breath was foul. The abdomen moved well with respiration. There was slight distension of the lower part of the abdomen and some bulging over the right inguinal region. Tenderness was present over the whole of the lower abdomen, with maximum intensity over the left iliac fossa, but no rigidity. The scrotum on the right side was slightly full; on pressure it emptied almost completely, giving rise to a swelling along the right inguinal canal, terminating at the inguinal ring; it was dull on percussion. The right inguinal ring was larger than the left and there was a slight impulse on coughing. The right testis was palpable and it appeared to be much smaller and softer than normal and to be atrophic. The left testis had never descended and could not be felt in the. scrotum or inguinal canal. The left inguinal ring was small and there was no impulse on coughing. By rectal examination no tenderness was elicited and no mass was palpable. The apex beat of the heart was situated in the fifth left inter-space, nine centimetres from the mid-line. The cardiac dulness did not extend to the right of the sternum and the sounds were clear. The breath sounds were normal. The urine was acid; its specific gravity 1,020; it contained no albumin, sugar, acetone nor diacetic acid. Microscopic examination revealed only an occasional pus cell. The patient was seen by Mr. T. H. Boyd and the diagnosis was thought to lie between torsion of an undescended testicle or an inflamed, unusually placed appendix. Laparotomy was performed, a mid-line, sub-umbilical incision being made. When the peritoneum was opened a good deal of blood escaped. The abdomen was mopped out and an undescended testicle was then seen on the left side, hanging from the peritoneum into the abdomen, just inside the internal inguinal ring. It was normal in size and appearance. The appendix was long and thickened and it was reo moved. On searching for the site of the hssmorrhage an elongated sigmoid colon was found lying up towards the left kidney and it was seen to be coated about the middle of its outer aspect with a large mass of blood clot. This was wiped away and it was found that the peritoneal and muscular coats were torn for 6.5 centimetres along the convexity of the bowel, with further stripping up by the clot of these layers to the mucous layer of the bowel, which seemed to be intact but thickened. About 2.5 centimetres proximal to this was a small, rounded nodule, the size cf a pea, on the mesenteric edge of the bowel, which, when incised, appeared dark brown and semi-solid in consistency, resembling old blood clot or new growth. It was difficult to decide whether the condition was new growth with hremorrhage or a simple hremorrhage with thickening of the sub-mucous walls of the bowel, so about 12.5 centimetres of the sigmoid colon, including the affected portion, was resected and an end-to-end anastomosis performed. Numerous vessels in the meso-sigmoid had to be ligated and the mesenteric borders of the two pieces of bowel were firmly united with fine chromic gut. The two ends' were then united with similar material and the line of union covered over by suturing the serous coats also with fine chromic gut. The abdomen was then closed in the usual manner and an anchor dressing applied. On returning from the theatre his pulse-rate was 108 his respirations were 26 and his temperature was 36.6° C: (98° F.) and he was rather blanched and shocked. His condition remained unaltered for three days, the temperature not rising above 37.2° C. and pulse-rate not more than 114. He then commenced to have considerable pain in the lower part of the abdomen and the abdomen became slightly distended. His bowels were not opened, in spite of the fact that he was having magnesium sulphate and cascara and pituitrin regularly. A short rectal tube was passed with but slight effect. Although he was feeling quite comfortable and the abdomen was not distended and quite soft, his bowels were not opened until the eighth day after operation. From this stage onwards the diet was gradually increased and the patient made an uninterrupted recovery and was discharged on the twentieth day after operation. The piece of sigmoid colon resected at operation was examined microscopically by Dr. C. H. Mollison, whose report was as follows: "Section of bowel wall shows ha-morrhage in the sub mucous tissue; the mucous membrane is normal." I am indebted to Mr. T. H. Boyd for permission to pub-, lish the notes of ..this case. •


Introduction: We recently developed a scoring system for diagnosis of acute appendicitis. This study prospectively evaluates the Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Saleha Appendicitis (RIPASA) score for the diagnosis of acute appendicitis in patients presenting to the Accident and Emergency department or the Surgical wards with right iliac fossa pain. Materials and Methods: From November 2008 to April 2009, consecutive patients presenting to the Accident and Emergency department or the surgical wards with right iliac fossa pain were recruited for the study. The RIPASA score was applied but the decision for radiological investigations or emergency appendicectomy was made based on clinical judgement. Receiver operating curve (ROC), sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of the new scoring system were derived. Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the Medical and Health Review Ethics Committee. Results: Within six months, 144 consecutive patients with a mean age of 29.5 ± 13.3 yrs were recruited to the study. Ninety-eight patients underwent emergency appendicectomy of which 79 were confirmed histologically for acute appendicitis. The observed negative appendicectomy rate was 19.4%. The optimal cut-off threshold score from the ROC was 7.5, with a sensitivity of 97.5%, specificity of 81.8%, PPV of 86.5%, NPV of 96.4% and a diagnostic accuracy of 91.8%. The predicted negative appendicectomy rate was 13.5%, which is a 5.9% reduction from the observed rate of 19.4% (p=0.3). Conclusion: The RIPASA score is a more suitable appendicitis scoring system developed for our local settings with a population that is reflective of our region in South-east Asia and has high sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic accuracy.


Objectives. Vascular remodelling and hypertrophy represent early therapeutic targets of antihypertensive treatment. The present study was aimed at assessing the effects of 1‐year administration of the highly vasoselective calcium‐channel blocker lercanidipine (10 mg/day) or the diuretic compound hydrochlorothiazide (25 mg/day) on hypertension‐related vascular alterations. The study was also aimed at assessing whether and to what extent: (i) pharmacological regression of vascular hypertrophy is related only to the blood pressure (BP) reduction "per se" or also to the specific ancillary properties of a given drug and (ii) treatment provides restoration of vascular function indicative of normal vascular structure. Design and Methods. In 26 untreated patients with mild‐to‐moderate essential hypertension sphygmomanometric and finger BP, heart rate, forearm and calf blood flow (venous occlusion plethysmography) and corresponding vascular resistance (forearm and calf vascular resistance: FVR and CVR) were assessed before and following 6 and 12 months of either lercanidipine or hydrochlorothiazide administration. Vascular resistance was also evaluated following a local ischaemic stimulus (FVRmin and CVRmin) in order to assess the effects of treatment on arteriolar structural alterations. Results. For superimposable BP reductions, lercanidipine caused FVR and CVR to decrease significantly more than hydrochlorothiazide. Similarly, the FVRmin and CVRmin reductions induced by lercanidipine were markedly and significantly greater than those caused by hydrochlorothiazide (−46.1% and −40.9% vs −22.5% and −19.9%, p<0.01 for both). FVRmin and CVRmin, however, remained higher than those found in 10 age‐matched normotensive individuals. Conclusions. These data provide evidence that, compared to hydrochlorothiazide, lercanidipine favours a greater regression of the vascular structural changes associated with hypertension, probably through its "ancillary" properties. Lercanidipine, however, does not allow restoration of a "normal" vascular structure, thereby suggesting that vascular hypertrophy is only in part a reversible phenomenon.


The intent of this study was to determine whether right of reply could be used to restore an injured reputation without the lengthy and costly process of litigation. Right of reply was defined as an opportunity to respond to a defamatory report or remarks carried in a newspaper. The reply opportunity would be printed by the newspaper and accorded a comparable amount of space, placement, and size of type as the original material. Telephone interviews of 50 subjects nationwide comprised the methodology. The subjects were drawn from newspaper and media-related industries, including small weekly newspapers, major metropolitan newspapers, and media law. While no single consensus dominated the results, right of reply was endorsed by a majority of the respondents as a voluntary concept. Most of the subjects felt a reply opportunity would redress reputation without litigation. Several said it probably would prevent some libel actions, particularly since most people, according to one study, sue to restore their names. Fairness and responsibility were also cited as reasons for offering a right of reply. In addition, a majority of the respondents agreed that a defendant who offered the plaintiff a reply opportunity would appear more responsible and sincere in the eyes of the jury than one who had not. A "reply block" was suggested in the study as one possible method of administering right of reply. Similar to correction boxes in design, a reply block would be anchored in one location and appear with regularity. It would be open to all readers with legitimate complaints, and it would be used at the discretion of the editor. An analysis of the study concluded that right of reply, however administered, promotes robust public debate and the tenets of free expression. Unlike the libel process, which tends to stifle expression, right of reply allows all sides to be heard and truth to be given fair play.


Using six kinds of zinc solution in water and 4% acetic acid as samples, an interlaboratory study was performed to evaluate a zinc (Zn) test method for food-contact rubber products, based on the Japanese Food Sanitation Law. Eighteen laboratories participated, and quantified Zn in six test solutions as blind duplicates using flame atomic absorption spectrometry, induced coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry or induced coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Statistical analysis revealed that the trueness, repeatability (RSDr) and reproducibility (RSDr) were 97-103%, 0.7-4.9% and 1.7-8.9% by all measuring methods. The values of the performance parameter fulfilled the target value (trueness: 80-110%, RSDr: 10%, RSDr: 25%). The performance of these methods is sufficient for testing the adherence of samples to the specifications.


Sensor networks are distributed networks made up of small sensing devices equipped with processors, memory, and short-range wireless communication. They differ from the conventional computer networks in that they have severe energy constraints, redundant low-rate data, and a plethora of information flows. Many aspects of sensor networks, such as routing, preservation of battery power, adaptive self-configuration, etc., have already been studied in previous papers, e.g., [(W. Heinzelman, J. Kulik, and H Balakrishnan, 1999), (N. Bulusu, D. Estrin, L. Girod, and J. Heidelann, 20001), (D. Estrin, 2001)]. However, to the best knowledge of the authors, the area of sensor network quality of service (QoS) remains largely open. This is a rich area because sensor deaths and sensor replenishments make it difficult to specify the optimum number of sensors (this being the service quality that we address in this paper) that should be sending information at any given time. In this paper we present an amalgamation of QoS feedback and sensor networks. We use the idea of following the base station to communicate QoS information to each of the sensors using a broadcast channel and we use the mathematical paradigm of the Gur Game to dynamically adjust to the optimum number of sensors. The result is a robust sensor network that allows the base station to dynamically adjust the resolution of the QoS it receives from the sensors, depending on varying circumstances.


Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation Russian Foundation for Basic Research Department of Physical Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences Russian Corporation of Nanotechnologies Committee on Science and Higher Education of St. Petersburg Government Frontier Carbon Corporation, Japan Molecular Device and Tools for NanoTechnology (NT-MDT Co.), Russia Taylor & Francis Group European Office of Aerospace Research&Development


Serum drug level monitoring facilitates dosage optimization of agents with a narrow therapeutic index. Concentration-dependent antiarrhythmic and toxic effects have been demonstrated for several class I drugs, whereas the concentration-effect relationships of class III antiarrhythmics are less well established. The efficacy and toxicity of amiodarone, in particular, may be determined more by extensive tissue deposition than by its serum concentration. Furthermore, accumulation of the active metabolite desethylamiodarone seems to play an additional role. The antiarrhythmic serum concentration range of sotalol is wide; monitoring is not required. The clinical utility of serum concentration measurements with the newly developed class III antiarrhythmic agents remains to be evaluated in properly planned therapeutic trials in patients with supraventricular and ventricular arrhythmias.


Many shapes resulting from important geometric operations in industrial applications such as Minkowski sums or volume swept by a moving object can be seen as the projection of higher dimensional objects. When such a higher dimensional object is a smooth manifold, the boundary of the projected shape can be computed from the critical points of the projection. In this paper, using the notion of polyhedral chains introduced by Whitney, we introduce a new general framework to define an analogous of the set of critical points of piecewise linear maps defined over discrete objects that can be easily computed. We illustrate our results by showing how they can be used to compute Minkowski sums of polyhedra and volumes swept by moving polyhedra.


Objective: To study the usefulness of 18F-AV-1451 PET in patients with corticobasal syndrome (CBS). Methods: We recruited 8 patients with CBS, 17 controls, 31 patients with Alzheimer disease (AD), and 11 patients with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) from the Swedish BioFINDER study. All patients underwent clinical assessment, 18F-AV-1451 PET, MRI, and quantification of β-amyloid pathology. A subset of participants also underwent 18F-FDG-PET. Results: In the 8 patients with CBS, 6 had imaging findings compatible with the corticobasal degeneration pathology and 2 with typical AD pathology. In the 6 patients with CBS without typical AD pathology, there were substantial retentions of 18F-AV-1451 in the motor cortex, corticospinal tract, and basal ganglia contralateral to the most affected body side. These patients could be clearly distinguished from patients with AD dementia or PSP using 18F-AV-1451. However, cortical atrophy was more widespread than the cortical retention of 18F-AV1451 in these CBS cases, and cortical AV-1451 uptake did not correlate with cortical thickness or glucose hypometabolism. These results are in sharp contrast to AD dementia, where 18F-AV-1451 retention was more widespread than cortical atrophy, and correlated well with cortical thickness and hypometabolism. Conclusions: Patients with CBS without typical AD pathology exhibited AV-1451 retention in the motor cortex, corticospinal tract, and basal ganglia contralateral to the affected body side, clearly different from controls and patients with AD dementia or PSP. However, cortical atrophy measured with MRI and decreased 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose uptake were more widespread than 18F-AV-1451 uptake and probably represent earlier, yet less specific, markers of CBS. Classification of evidence: This study provides Class III evidence that 18F-AV-1451 PET distinguishes between CBS and AD or PSP.


Article abstractEpilepsy is a chronic condition with complex effects on a person's social, vocational, and psychological function. Recent advances in methods and instruments to assess subjective health status and patient preferences have provided important data on health outcomes in epilepsy. For many patients that do not respond to initial trials of antiepileptic medications, epilepsy surgery is a treatment alternative that offers the possibility of complete control of seizures and improved quality of life. Adverse medication effects and depression are readily identified by systematic use of reliable and valid instruments, and may be the most important negative influences on a person's perception of their current health status. Adequate education regarding relative risks of recurrent seizures compared to surgery, systematic screening for adverse medication effects and subsequent selection of appropriate antiepileptic drugs, and identification and treatment of depression should offer substantial improvement in overall health of persons with epilepsy.


In this review, we demonstrate the device-oriented synthesis of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), by taking an energy storage device and a field electron emitter as examples. As one of the most desirable approaches to fabricating nanostructured hybrids between carbon nanotubes and inorganic materials, we present a method of coating carbon nanotubes with inorganic materials in multishell form, and its application to nanoprobe fabrication. [DOI: 10.1380/ejssnt.2004.244]


We designed and fabricated a 4-channel silicon micro-ring modulator (MRM) assembly chip with arrayed grating couplers for space-division-multiplexed optical interconnection. Only 4 channels out of 7 have been utilized with the consideration of popular multi-source-agreements (MSA) compatibility with respect to a 7-core multi-core-fiber (MCF). Experimental modulations at 10, 15, 20 and 25 Gbps have been carried out for all the four channels with clearly opened eye-diagrams which indicates a single-fiber aggregate capacity of 100 Gbps with only one laser input for SDM optical interconnection. The silicon MRM assembly demonstrated in this work is advantageous for practical applications due to its simplified modulation solution (NRZ-OOK) with high capacity (100-Gbps), small footprint (0.45 mm2) and long reach (1 km).


A prospective cross sectional study was carried out, in which 5oo consecutively booked antenatal patients at term were recruited. Their haemoglobin concentrations were estimated at the onset of labour and the babies were weighed immediately after delivery. The values obtained were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The mean haemoglobin concentration was 104.5g/L while the mean birth weight was 3186gm.The incidence of low birth weight was 5.2%.There was no statistically significant haemoglobin concentration/foetal birth weight difference among the various haemoglobin concentration groups. (X2 = 4.969 and p > 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in mean birth weight among the various haemoglobin groups suggesting that other parameters may play important roles in influencing foetal birth weight than maternal haemoglobin concentration. Nigerian Medical Practitioner Vol. 54 (3-4) 2008: pp. 50-52


The production of 14CO2 from uniformly labeled glucose was shown to account for the entire increase in histamine-stimulated O2 consumption in rabbit gastric glands when no other substrate was added to the medium. The increased production of CO2 was correlated to the increase in O2 consumption and the accumulation of [14C]-aminopyrine (AP) after stimulation with several secretagogues. Inhibitors of H(+)-K(+)-ATPase reduced the secretagogue-induced increase in CO2 production by greater than 90%, showing that the activity of this enzyme was responsible for the greater part of gastric gland metabolism under stimulated conditions. In contrast to AP accumulation, inhibition of CO2 production by omeprazole, an acid-activated inhibitor of the H(+)-K(+)-ATPase, was not reversed by washing. The reversal of AP accumulation after omeprazole treatment and washing was most likely due to a recruitment of residual pumps bordering a nonacidic space, which had not previously been inhibited by omeprazole. These residual pumps slowly generate a pH gradient and hence AP uptake. Adding NH4+ to gastric glands resulted in a concentration-dependent increase of CO2 production up to the maximal stimulated level but without formation of the pH gradient as measured by AP uptake and loss of the omeprazole inhibition of glucose oxidation. As NH4+ can act as a K+ surrogate for H(+)-K(+)-ATPase, and as NH3 is membrane permeant, full stimulation of CO2 production is evidence that the major mechanism of H(+)-K(+)-ATPase activation in situ is an increase in the KCl permeability of the pump membrane.


Craniobasal tumors affecting the middle cranial fossa are rarely treated radically; the main problem to solve is the presence of important nervous and vascular structures in this region. The Authors report a case of complete removal of a malignant tumor involving the temporal bone and the middle cranial fossa. Surgery was performed by the cooperation of the neurosurgical and the ENT teams.


The emergence of oil in the political economy of Nigeria brought structural changes which proved difficulty for policy makers to manage. Consequently, the economy became quite susceptible to external shocks due to over-reliance on Oil. Therefore, the development of the non-oil sector had been a major national objective of succeeding governments in Nigeria. This paper examines restructuring efforts of the Nigerian economy, the existing promising opportunities in the non-oil sector to indicate lessons for less developed countries. The paper concludes with policy options recommendation for viable private and public sector investments to catalyze the development of the non-oil sector.


The profile hidden Markov model (HMM) is a powerful method for remote homolog database search. However, evaluating the score of each database sequence against a profile HMM is computationally demanding. The computation time required for score evaluation is proportional to the number of states in the profile HMM. This paper examines whether the number of states can be truncated without reducing the ability of the HMM to find proteins containing members of a protein domain family. A genetic algorithm (GA) is presented which finds a good truncation of the HMM states. The results of using truncation on searches of the yeast, E. coli, and pig genomes for several different protein domain families is shown.


Programmed cooling experiments using a synthetic diopside glass and constant cooling rates of from l0o to 300oC,/hr first crystallize forsterite and then with decreasing temperature clinopyroxene + wollastonite. The forsterite grows as hopper-shaped crystals which then develop dendrites from external corners. The morphological development can be qualitatively explained by a model involving di-ffusion in the melt and interface attachment kinetics. Microprobe traverses across forsterite-glass interfaces show that the magnitude of the MgO depletion in the melt near flat interface segments varies from 1.72 to 4.28 percent and increases with increasing run time for a given cooling rate and with increasing value of the product of the cooling rate times the run time for all cooling rates. The results are in qualitative agreement with theoretical predictions. Near a particular crystal MgO depletion is least at corners and greatest in reentrants. The clinopyroxene is more magnesian than diopside (solid solution towards enstatite) and grows as dendrites. The wollastonite occurs between the clinopyroxene dendrite arms. The clinopyroxene first appears at nominal undercoolings (1391 Iou",.n) of from l82o to 240"C, depending on the cooling rate. Unlike other sets of programmed cooling experiments which show a continual increase in nominal undercooling with increasing cooling rate, these experiments show a maximum in clinopyroxene undercooling at 50"C,/hr. The undercooling is actually least for the 300oC,/hr runs. Introduction When crystals grow from a melt with a different composition at least two processes must be involved in the growth process: the molecular attachment process occurring at the crystal-melt interface, and redistribution of chemical components in the melt in response to the selective removal of some of them by the crystal. Removal of the latent heat of crystallization from the crystal-melt interface may be important if the growth rate is high. Traditional descriptions of the interaction of diffusion and crystal growth assume that the liquid and crystal compositions at the interface are the equilibrium compositions for the temperature at which growth is occuring (e.9., Elbaum, 1959). Such descriptions may not be satisfactory for silicates and other materials which grow by a layer-spreading mechanism, because these 0003-004x/8 l /0304-0223$02.00 materials require a finite supersaturation or undercooling (really the same thing) at the interface for growth to occur (O'Hara et al., 1968; Hopper and Uhlmann, 1974; Kirkpatrick, 1975). This layerspreading growth mechanism also greatly affects the development of skeletal and dendritic crystal morphologies, allowing fully-faceted crystals to grow to a larger size than would be possible if interface kinetics were not important. Recent theoretical developments have shown how the effect of interface kinetics can be taken into account for both interface stability and the overall growth process. This paper briefly reviews the recent theory, presents the results of programmsd sssling experiments in which forsterite, clinopyroxene, and wollastonite grow from a synthetic stoichiometric diopside melt, and uses the theory to interpret these results. 223 KIRKPATRICK ET AL.: GROWTH IN INCONGRUENTLY.MELTING COMPOSITIONS Theory Recent advances in crystal growth theory can help in the understanding of three major aspects of the experiments to be discussed here: (l) the origin of the skeletal morphologies of the forsterite and clinopyroxene crystals, (2) the time (temperature), position, and cooling rate dependences of the liquid composition at the forsterite-melt interface, and (3) the variation in liquid composition away from the forsteriteliquid interface. This section will briefly review these theoretical developments.


The paper is dealt with the changes introduced into the code of regulations «Bridges and pipes» developed as alternative to SNiP 2.05.03-84* related to the bridge floor of bridge structures: the possibility of refusing sidewalks, the change in road and sidewalk cross falls, the building of road pavement structures with the placement of asphalt concrete coating over waterproofing, and the drainage system construction.


The correctness of an adjoint operator entirely depends on the correctness of the corresponding forward modeling operator. In migration, the input-oriented algorithm implies more correct forward modeling than the output-oriented algorithm does. One big difference between the two algorithms is the domain of interpolation, and this is one of the major sources of migration artifacts. Whereas the input-oriented algorithm requires interpolation in the model space, the output-oriented algorithm requires interpolation in the data space. For Kirchhoff migration, the method of semicircle superposition and the method of hyperbola summation correspond to the input-oriented and output-oriented algorithms, respectively. The same analogy can be applied to Stolt migration. Levin (1994) suggested the input-oriented algorithm that is the counterpart to the output-oriented algorithm suggested by the SEP "in-time" group (Popovici et al., 1993; Lin et al.,1993; Blondel and Muir, 1993)


The study was carried out for planning purposes and the Bafa Lake Natural Park located in the Büyük Menderes River Basin and the ancient harbour city near it are considered for protection purposes. Kapıkırı village is located on the ancient city of "HerakleiaLatmos" located on the lake shore. The village is at the edge of the Latmos mountains, which feeds the underground waters of the lake and is in need of protection as an archaeological site. In the study, firstly, the problems of rural heritage in this region are mentioned. In the fields of the mountains there are rock paintings and antique remains. These areas are also active in terms of tourism over rural settlements in the surrounding villages and must be protected first. In addition, the Büyük Menderes River Basin is a region that requires measures to be taken without further delay within an integrated basin planning. The Bafa Lake Nature Park and its surrounding area is a very important archaeological site that is urgently needed for the Urban Conservation Plan associated with the ancient port city of Herakleia-Latmos located on the lake shore and the mountainous surroundings with wide valleys. So the chosen place carries educational and interesting potentials that concern the management of such archaeological and geological sites. The study includes long-term (6-years) periodic observations and surveys based on various findings. The conservation problems in the archaeological and natural areas required by the location and the importance of the zone have been discussed in detail with the recommendation of the precaution.


Abstract A first breeding record for Sarcophaga (Bulbostyla) cadyi Giroux & Wheeler on the American giant millipede Narceus americanus (de Beauvois) (Spirobolida, Spirobolidae) is reported. Digital photographs of the terminalia of S. (B.) cadyi and of Sarcophaga (Bulbostyla) yorkii Parker are also provided.


BACKGROUND
Recurrent pressures sores are a serious problem that often cause chronically ill patients to be hospitalized. We hypothesized that home air-fluidized bed therapy may be a safe and effective way to treat these patients, thus avoiding the costs of hospitalization.

METHODS
One hundred twelve patients with 3rd or 4th stage pressure sores were randomly assigned to 36 weeks of either (1) home air-fluidized bed therapy that included the services of a visiting nurse specialist as long as the patient had 3rd or 4th stage sores, or (2) conventional therapy.

RESULTS
Compared with patients in the control group, patients receiving air-fluidized bed therapy spent fewer days in the hospital (11.4 days vs 25.5 days, P less than .01) and used fewer total inpatient resources, as reflected both in charges ($13,263 vs $25,736, P less than .05) and in Medicare DRG and physician payments ($6,646 vs $12,131, P less than .05). Total resources used (inpatient and outpatient) were lower for patients treated with air-fluidized bed therapy, but the difference was not statistically significant. Clinical outcomes were similar.

CONCLUSIONS
Home air-fluidized bed therapy is safe, reduces hospitalizations, is no more costly than alternative therapy, and allows the patients to receive their needed care in a more desirable, nonhospital setting.


In the catchments of the Rocky Mountains, peak snowpack is declining in response to warmer spring temperatures. To understand how this will influence terrestrial gross primary production (GPP), we compared precipitation data across the intermountain west with satellite retrievals of solar‐induced fluorescence (SIF), a proxy for GPP. Annual precipitation patterns explained most of the spatial and temporal variability of SIF, but the slope of the response was dependent on site to site differences in the proportion of snowpack to summer rain. We separated the response of SIF to different seasonal precipitation amounts and found that SIF was approximately twice as sensitive to variations in summer rain than snowpack. The response of peak GPP to a secular decline in snowpack will likely be subtle, whereas a change in summer rain amount will have precipitous effects on GPP. The study suggests that the rain use efficiency of Rocky Mountain ecosystems is strongly dependent on precipitation form and timing.


Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) are in use to build high performance image processing systems. This paper presents the design and implementation of such an open FPGA-based Digital Camera System for image capturing and real-time image processing. Images captured with a CMOS sensor are initially stored in the system's memory and then they are displayed on an LCD Touch Panel. The main goal of this proposed architecture is to be used as a platform to implement and test advance image processing algorithms. Apart of this, the system supports the control of the image sensor, through the LCD Touch Panel. In addition, has the ability to communicate with a PC through a JTAG interface for storing the images on it. The structural element for this proposed architecture was chosen to be the low cost and widely used at universities, Altera's DE2 development board.


About 60 % of all patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and about 50 % of PD patients with deep brain stimulation (DBS) in possession of a driving license are active car-drivers. Parkinson patients, however, often display physical and/or psychological weaknesses that can lead to loss of or reduced driving ability. Driving capability can also be affected by Parkinson medication. The attending physician is therefore obliged to advise his patients regarding their ability to be in command of a vehicle. This however can prove difficult in practice. On the one hand, there is no standardised predictive test battery to evaluate driving capability and on the other, levels of motor impairment do not correlate sufficiently with driving skills. This article will provide an overview of motor and non-motor symptoms that affect general and/or Parkinson's disease-related driving capability and which criteria demonstrate a temporary or permanent inability to drive. Furthermore, we will highlight which neuropsychological investigations are beneficial and how PD patients with DBS should be evaluated and subsequently advised regarding their driving fitness.


Background Recent studies have suggested that chest computed tomography (CT) scans could be used as a primary screening or diagnostic tool for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in epidemic areas. Purpose To perform a meta-analysis to evaluate diagnostic performance measures, including predictive values, of chest CT and initial reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Materials and Methods MEDLINE and Embase were searched from January 1, 2020 to April 3, 2020 for studies on COVID-19 that reported the sensitivity and/or specificity of CT scans and/or RT-PCR assays. The pooled sensitivity and specificity were estimated by using random-effects models. The actual prevalence (i.e., the proportion of confirmed patients among those tested) in eight countries was obtained from web sources, and the predictive values were calculated. Meta-regression was performed to reveal the effect of potential explanatory factors on the diagnostic performance measures. Results The pooled sensitivity was 94% (95% CI: 91%, 96%; I2=95%) for chest CT and 89% (95% CI: 81%, 94%; I2=90%) for RT-PCR. The pooled specificity was 37% (95% CI: 26%, 50%; I2=83%) for chest CT. The prevalence of COVID-19 outside China ranged from 1.0% to 22.9%. For chest CT scans, the positive predictive value (PPV) ranged from 1.5% to 30.7%, and the negative predictive value (NPV) ranged from 95.4% to 99.8%. For RT-PCR,the PPV ranged from 47.3% to 96.4%, while the NPV ranged from 96.8% to 99.9%. The sensitivity of CT was affected by the distribution of disease severity, the proportion of patients with comorbidities, and the proportion of asymptomatic patients (all p < 0.05). The sensitivity of RT-PCR was negatively associated with the proportion of elderly patients (p = 0.01). Conclusion Outside of China where there is a low-prevalence of COVID-19 (1-22.9%), chest CT screening of patients with suspected disease had low positive predictive value (1.5-30.7%).


Background: Cirrhosis of liver is a devastating and disabling chronic disease.
Aim: an explorative survey was conducted among the patients with cirrhosis of liver in Udupi taluk hospitals, with the objective to assess the Quality Of Life, emotional wellbeing, functional status, socioeconomic status, family supports of the patients with cirrhosis of liver and also to find the relationship between these variables. Data was collected using purposive sampling technique from 126 patients who was conscious, alert, admitted and diagnosed with cirrhosis of liver in the selected hospitals of Udupi taluk which had more than 50 bed strength.
Results: Findings of the study revealed that majority of the samples were male 97.6% (123). Majority of them 42.1% (53) belong to the group of 51–60 years. Most of the of patients (42.1%) rated their QOL as neither poor nor good. Majority of the 52.4% (66) of the patients with cirrhosis were emotionally stable, Most of the patients 35.7% (45) were in the category of moderate dependence status. Seventeen percentages (13) of them were totally dependent. High positive correlation was shown between emotional wellbeing and quality of life. (? = 0.920 p <0.001), weak positivecorrelation was found between QOL and socio economic status (? = 0.275 (p<0.002), and also there was a weak positive correlation between QOL and family support (? = 0.44 p<0.001).
Conclusion: Samples had neither good nor poor quality of life. Emotional wellbeing and family support considerably contributed to the quality of life.


Background: Although European American (EA) women have higher incidence of breast cancer than African American (AA) women, AA women are more often diagnosed with aggressive estrogen receptor negative (ER-) tumors, the risk of which increases with parity, lack of breastfeeding, and an early age at menarche. DNA methylation could be affected by reproductive factors and may be a potential molecular mechanism driving differences in tumor etiology. In a small study using fresh frozen breast tissue (n=58 AA, 80 EA), we previously found more differentially methylated loci (DMLs) in ER- tumors from AA and EA women than in ER+ tumors. Methods: To follow up on these preliminary findings, we used the Illumina 450K platform to determine genome-wide DNA methylation profiles in formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) breast tumors from 383 AA and 350 EA women who participated in the Women9s Circle of Health Study, a case control study conducted in NY and NJ. We identified DMLs by race and ER status, as well as differentially methylated regions (DMRs). DMLs in eight genes were validated using the Sequenom EpiTYPER platform. Recursively partitioned mixture modeling (RPMM) package in R was used to examine relationships between methylation clusters and reproductive factors, information available from in-person interviews. In addition, using fresh frozen tumor tissue from 50 patients treated at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, we performed RNA sequencing on samples with methylation data available from a prior study, and used Spearmen9s correlation to compare methylation and gene expression of DMLs and DMRs. Results: In assessing average methylation by location relative to CpG-islands (CGIs), we found that CGIs and shores in ER- tumors were significantly hypomethylated compared to CGI and shores in ER+ tumors from AA women, but not in tumors from EA women. We also identified 410 DMLs (Δβ>0.10 & FDR Summary: ER- tumors from AA women, but not from EA women, exhibited global hypomethylation at CGI and shores compared to ER+ tumors and contained the majority of raDMLs, many of which were associated with genes involved in immune and inflammatory response. The FOXA1 gene, which encodes a pioneer factor previously implicated in suppressing the molecular phenotype of basal breast cancer cells, was found to be methylated and silenced in the majority of ER- tumors analyzed for expression, consistent with aggressiveness of these tumors. These results, and the novel finding of associations between parity and DNA methylation signature, bring us a step forward in understanding the heterogeneous population of ER- tumors and provide insight into mechanisms of racial disparities in breast cancer. Citation Format: Allyson C. Espinal, Dan Wang, Lara Sucheston-Campbell, Song Liu, Qiang Hu, Li Tang, Gary Zirpoli, Thaer Khoury, Song Yao, Kitaw Demissie, Elisa V. Bandera, Christine B. Ambrosone, Michael J. Higgins. Methylation differences in breast tumor DNA from African American and European women are predominant in estrogen receptor (ER) negative breast cancer and are associated with childbearing. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Eighth AACR Conference on The Science of Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; Nov 13-16, 2015; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2016;25(3 Suppl):Abstract nr B47.


CONSIDERABLE attention has been paid to the selection of diagnostic procedures for differentiation of antibodies resulting from vaccination of cattle with Brucella abortus, strain 19, from those resulting from natural infection (Yuskovets, 1956; Anderson et al., 1964; Rose and Amerault, 1964; Schimmel and Erler, 1967). Relatively less attention has been given to the problems in diagnosis arising from the use of Br. abortus strain-45/20 adjuvant vaccine. This vaccine is weakly agglutinogenic but gives rise to significant titres of antibodies active in the complement fixation (CF) and antiglobulin tests. Although, in most cases, the antibody titres in all of these tests decline to insignificant levels within 1 yr of vaccination, some animals show persistent titres sufficiently high to cause difficulties in the interpretation of diagnostic tests. Usually in these cases the CF test shows inconclusive or weakly positive reactions and the titres in the antiglobulin test are also raised. These problems are accentuated in herds in which strain 19 and strain 45/20 vaccines have been used. In such cases, agglutinins active in the serum agglutination (SA) and Rose Bengal plate (RBP) tests may also persist at significant levels for prolonged periods. Clearly, to resolve this situation, a supplementary test is needed that would enable features characteristic of either the vaccinated or the naturally infected state to be identified. A procedure of potential value in this situation is the immunodiffusion test. This has the advantage of enabling the reaction of specific antigenic components with their respective antibodies to be identified. Thus, antibodies to components specific either to the infected or the vaccinated state could, hypothetically, be identified. In the present study, a comparison of an immunodiffusion test with standard diagnostic tests was made on serum samples from unvaccinated cattle, from cattle vaccinated with strain 19 or strain 45/20, and from cattle known to be infected with virulent Br. abortus strains.


Introduction How the human brain coordinates bimanual movements is not well-established. Methods Here, we recorded neural signals from a paralyzed individual's left motor cortex during both unimanual and bimanual motor imagery tasks and quantified the representational interaction between arms by analyzing the tuning parameters of each neuron. Results We found a similar proportion of neurons preferring each arm during unimanual movements, however, when switching to bimanual movements, the proportion of contralateral preference increased to 71.8%, indicating contralateral lateralization. We also observed a decorrelation process for each arm's representation across the unimanual and bimanual tasks. We further confined that these changes in bilateral relationships are mainly caused by the alteration of tuning parameters, such as the increased bilateral preferred direction (PD) shifts and the significant suppression in bilateral modulation depths (MDs), especially the ipsilateral side. Discussion These results contribute to the knowledge of bimanual coordination and thus the design of cutting-edge bimanual brain-computer interfaces.


Benign prostatic hyperplasia is the most common prostatic problem for men older than age 50. It is a condition in men in which the prostate is enlarged but it is not cancerous. The prostate goes through 2 (two) main growth periods as a person ages. The first happens early in pubescence, when the prostate doubles in size. The second stage of growth begins around age twenty five and continues throughout most of a man's life. Benign prostatic hyperplasia often occurs with second growth phase. In the treatment of prostatic disorders, estimation of the length of prostate has been used to select the surgical approach. Transurethral resection of prostate (TURP) is preferred for small glands and open prostatectomy for larger ones. As the prostate gland is dependent on androgen for its growth, the prostatic length reflects the hormonal status of the subjects. This cross sectional descriptive study was conducted in Department of Anatomy, Mymensingh Medical College, Mymensingh, Bangladesh from April 2015 to September 2015 to find out the difference in length of the prostate of Bangladeshi people in relation to age. The present study was performed on 67 postmortem human prostate glands collected from the morgue in the Department of Forensic Medicine, Mymensingh Medical College, by non random purposive sampling technique. The specimens were collected from Bangladeshi dead body, age starting from 10-80 years. All the specimens were classified into 3(three) classes - Group A (upto 18 years), Group B (19-45 years) and Group C (>45 years) according to age. Dissection was performed according to standard autopsy techniques. The length of the prostate was measured and recorded. The mean±SD length of the prostate was 1.76±0.60cm, 2.65±0.56cm and 2.88±0.70cm in Group A, B and C respectively. The maximum mean length of the prostate was in Group C (2.88cm) and minimum was in Group A (1.76cm). It was observed that the length of the prostate was increased with age. Variance analysis shows that mean differences of length of the prostate were highly significant among all age groups. The length of prostate gland was found to be increase with age. For statistical analysis, variations between age groups were analyzed by students unpaired 't' test. The present study will help to increase the information pool on the length of prostate gland of Bangladeshi people.


A plastic tubes used as absorber of active flat plate solar collector (FPSC) for heating water were studied numerically and experimentally. The set-up is located in Babylon (republic of Iraq) 43.80 East longitude and 32.30 North latitude with titled of 450 toward the south direction.  The study involved three dimensions mathematical model for flat coil plastic absorber which solved by FLUENT-ANSYS-R.18 program. Experiments were conducted at outdoor conditions for clear days on January and February 2018 with various water volume flow rates namely (500, 750, 1000, 1250, and 1500 Liter per hour LPH) on each month for Reynolds number range of (1 x 104 to 5 x 104) through the receiver. The experimental results showed improvement in absorber input - output temperature difference, collector efficiency, and water storage temperature; the maximum input - output temperature difference is 3.1 °C, the maximum collector efficiency is 79%, and the maximum water storage temperature is 67 °C. The comparison validates a good agreement between the numerical and experimental results at variable operation conditions with maximum deviation of 4.2%. Also the experimental results were compared with previous study for similar condition and gave a good improvement.


Aerospace dry-bearing materials commonly consist of a plastics-composite coating, typically 200 to 400 μm in thickness, adhesively bonded to a metal substrate. These materials are intended for use at high loads and low speeds, and assessments of their performance in full-scale bearing tests are expensive and time-consuming. This paper describes an accelerated test procedure for determining the wear behavior of such coatings, in which a small coated strip is loaded in nominal line contact against a rotating metal ring. The advantages and limitations of the method are discussed and examples given relating to (I) comparative screening of commercially available bearing liners, (2) effects of coating structure and composition on wear, (3) importance of the adhesive bond between the coating and its substrate, and (4) assessment of which particular parameters, amongst the many known to influence sliding behavior, are most important to the wear of these coatings. One problem identified by the work is the need for more information on the mechanical properties of thin composite coatings.


On the occasion of the "VII International Conference on cultural Policy Research ICCPR 2012: Cultural Politics and Cultural Policies" held in Barcelona, the conference organization made contact with Angel J. Gordo Lopez to invite him to participate in the public debate "Digital Culture: The Challenge of Regulation" together with professors Ramon Zallo and Antonio Arino. The debate took place in the Auditorium of Ramon Llull University on July 9, 2012. As a member of the research group Cibersomosaguas, Angel Gordo shared with the rest of the members, the conference guidelines on the issues that were to be discussed, in order to turn his intervention into an occasion to highlight the research group and its multiple voices during the debate. This process of previous discussion of the conference issues, wich began as a casual opinion exchange, led to an interesting debate, as well as to the generation of suggestive notes and proposals that we will seek to reflex in this text.


The binding of cations to purified GPIIb-IIIa (alpha IIb beta 3) and synthetic peptides corresponding to the potential cation-binding sites within this integrin has been assessed by terbium luminescence spectroscopy. Tb3+ supported fibrinogen binding to purified GPIIb-IIIa, at lower concentrations than Ca2+, consistent with its higher affinity for cation-binding motifs. Titration analyses indicated the presence of five Tb(3+)-binding sites of relatively high affinity in the receptor. These sites also could be filled by divalent cations. Six sequences within GPIIb-IIIa have the appropriate spacing of five of the usual six coordination sites for cations in functional Ca(2+)-binding EF-hand motifs. Peptides containing Tyr and/or Trp at selected positions as fluorescence energy donors were synthesized, and their Tb(3+)-binding capacity was assessed. The four potential Ca(2+)-binding sequences in the GPIIb subunit, GPIIb 242-255, 296-309, 364-377, and 425-438, were functional, despite lacking the usual Glu residue at the terminal coordination position. These peptides bound Tb3+ with the same affinity as typical Ca(2+)-binding loop peptides and also bound Ca2+ and other divalent cations without preference. Of the two candidate GPIIIa sequences, 118-131 and 208-221, the former bound Tb3+ and divalent cations with an affinity similar to that of the GPIIb peptides, whereas the latter peptide was not functional. This functional difference, as well as data obtained with substituted peptides, emphasizes the importance of the first coordination position for interaction of synthetic peptide loops with cations. Together, these data identify the five cation-binding sites within intact GPIIb-IIIa.


Tilapia (Oreochromis spp.) were collected seasonally from four contaminated rivers in southwestern Taiwan for studies of morphological deformities that could be used as biomarkers of contamination. Morphological deformities found in tilapia were separated into 15 categories. Overall, the prevalence of deformities such as split fins, lower lip extension and gill deformities were significantly related to various water quality parameters, including low DO and high ammonium, lead and zinc concentrations. The persistence of tilapia in polluted waters and the development of a suite of morphological deformities suggest that tilapia can be used as sentinels of non-point source pollution in rivers.


Background: Milk is one of the most nutritious foods providing a variety of proteins, fats, minerals, and vitamins needed to maintain, grow, and develop the body. The aim of this study was to assess microbial and chemical adulterants of raw cow milk collected from dairy farms of Hlabisa villages, KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. Methods: A total of 68 raw cow milk samples were obtained from teats sampling points, milking buckets, and communal pooling buckets. The bacteriological analysis was conducted for the detection of various bacteria in milk samples. Biochemical tests were also done to detect some chemical adulterants in milk samples. Results: Total bacterial count of teats, milking buckets, and communal milk pooling buckets were 6.91, 6.06, and 6.06 log Colony Forming Unit (CFU)/ml, respectively. The most found chemical adulterant was urea detected in 23 out of 68 (33.8%) samples, followed by hydrogen peroxide showed in 22 out of 68 (32.3%) samples. However, none of the samples were contaminated with formalin, starch, and neutralizer. Conclusion: The present study revealed high microbial contamination of raw cow milk produced by rural small-scale dairy farmers of Hlabisa villages, KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa, indicating the lack of standard operating sanitation. It was also stated that raw milk samples contained various types of chemical adulterants that may lead to severe health problems. Good hygiene practices must be adopted by small-scale dairy farmers at every stage of their milk handling and processing.


Background: Mycosis fungoides (MF) represents the most common form of primary cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) often with an indolent course. Purpose: The objective is to determine epidemiological and clinical features of MF among Libyan patients. Methods: Clinical and histopathological evaluation was carried out in 24 patients with MF in the Department of Dermatology at El-Jumhoria Hospital in Benghazi city between 2010 and 2019. Results: Twenty-four patients with a diagnosis of MF, 11 were female and 13 were male. Age of the patients ranged between 30 and 60 year with a mean of age ± standard deviation of 47.4 ± 8 years. Clinical presentation with patches and plaques was most common, seen in 58.3% of the patients. Poikilodermatous MF was seen in 37.5% patients, hypopigmented MF seen in 12.5% of patients, follicular MF seen in 8.3% of patients, and 8.3% patients had lymphomatoid papulosis. Pruritis was the complaint of 75% of the patients. About 25% of the patients had blood eosinophilia, 33.3% had raised lactic dehydrogenase enzyme. Tumor-node-metastasis-blood (TNMB) classification of the patients revealed that 66.7% had stage IB, 20.8% of patients had stage IIA, 8.3% of patients had stage IIB, and 4.2% patients had stage IVa. About 70.8% of patients received systemic Psoralen and ultraviolet A (PUVA) therapy, 20.8% patients received narrow band ultraviolet B, 4.2% patients treated with radiotherapy, and 4.2% patients received both chemotherapy and radiotherapy. About 45.8% of patients show remission of their disease, 12.5% patients show no response, 8.3% of patients still under treatment, 25% of patients lost follow-up, and 8.3% patients died. Conclusion: MF is a low-grade primary CTCL with different clinical presentations with variable response to therapy.


Background. Obesity is associated with impaired fasting blood glucose, insulin resistance (IR) and low-grade in- flammation, all of which are risk factors for chronic diseases including type 2 diabetes (T2D). Glucose metabolism and inflammation can be modified with lifestyle changes, although few studies have examined the impact of behav - ioral lifestyle interventions conducted in a "real world" community-based setting on these parameters in overweight and obese older African American (AA) adults with osteoarthritis (OA). The aim of this study was to examine the impact of an 8-week exercise only and 8- week exercise plus dietary weight management intervention on glucose me - tabolism and systemic inflammation in older overweight and obese AA adults with pre-existing lower extremity OA. Methods. Participants were randomized to an 8-week exercise-only (n=59) or exercise plus dietary weight manage - ment (n=48) intervention. Baseline and post-intervention body measures (weight, BMI, and percent body fat) and fasting serum glucose, serum insulin, high sensitivity C-reactive protein and interleukin-6 were assessed. The homeo - static model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) was also calculated. Demographic and health-related data were obtained via questionnaire at baseline. Generalized estimating equations to compare changes from baseline ad - justed for BMI and Spearman's correlation examining the relationship between change in body measures and change in inflammation and glucose metabolism were also examined. Results. The participants were predominately female (86%) with mean age of 67.1 (± 5.6) years and mean BMI of 34 kg/m 2 (95% Confidence Interval: 31.9 – 36.1 kg/m 2 ). Participants in the exercise plus dietary weight management group lost significantly more weight on average than those in the exercise-only group (-2.0 vs. -0.1 kg; p < 0.001). There was no significant between-groups change in markers of inflammation or glucose metabolism, although a clin - ically meaningful 5% (-5.1 mg/dl) decline in glucose from baseline was observed in the exercise plus dietary weight management group. Conclusions. An 8-week exercise plus dietary weight management intervention has potential clinical relevance in regard to improving both body weight and glucose metabolism in a population at elevated risk for T2D and its related complications. Acknowledgements. This work was supported by the National Institute on Aging at NIH (grant number: R01AG039374) and the American Cancer Society Illinois Division (grant number: 261775).


Honey is rich with complex natural components which could be useful as antibacterial agents or as preservative. Honey contains high concentration of sugars, low amount of water, high osmolality and often dark colour which influence its antibacterial activity. Disc diffusion, well method, micro dilution assay are methods commonly used to determine the antibacterial activity of honey. In this study, microtiter and microbial plate count were included to ascertain the potency of honey as antibacterial agent against multiple antibiotic resistant pathogenic bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella Typhimurium, Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) with concentration of 0.2 g mL-1. Results found that well diffusion method tends to give higher inhibitory zone than disc diffusion method but there was no correlation among the bacteria was observed except for S. Typhimurium, E. coli (R = 0.310, 0.505 and 0.316, respectively). Nan photometer assay and microtiter plates assay showed comparable results with moderately strong correlation (R2 = 0.681 and 0.767, respectively) for S. aureus and S. typhimurium, but poor correlation was found for E. coli, B. subtilis and P. aeruginosa (R2 = 0.441, 0.308 and 0.383, respectively). Determining the number of survivors by plating on agar after nanophotometer assay or microtiter plate assay had confirmed the effectiveness of honey as antimicrobial agent against target bacteria; which confirmed that honey has the potency to inhibit pathogens even at low concentration.


In cases of damaged oral tissues, traditional therapies, such as a root canal, replace the injured tissue with a synthetic material. However, while the materials currently used can offer structural replacement of the lost tissue, they are incapable of completely replacing the function of the original tissue, and often fail over time. This report describes a tissue engineering approach to dental pulp tissue replacement utilizing cultured cells seeded upon synthetic extracellular matrices. Human pulp fibroblasts were obtained and multiplied in culture. These cells were then seeded onto three different synthetic matrices: scaffolds fabricated from polyglycolic acid (PGA) fibers, a type I collagen hydrogel, and alginate in an effort to examine which matrix is most suitable for dental pulp tissue formation. In addition, methods previously developed for seeding and culturing pulp cells on PGA were optimized. Culturing cells on PGA resulted in a very high cell density tissue with significant collagen deposition. No cell proliferation was observed on alginate, and the growth of cells in collagen gels after 45 days was only moderate. These studies indicate dental pulp-like tissues can be engineered, and this may provide the first step to engineering a complete tooth.


Big data is an evolving term that describes any voluminous amount of structured, semi-structured and unstructured data. The term is often used when speaking about peta-bytes and exa-bytes of data. The security and privacy is the static and huge challenging issue in big data storage. There are many ways to compromise data because of insufficient authentication, authorization, and audit (AAA) controls, such as deletion or alteration of records without a backup of the original content. The existing research work showed that it can fully support authorized auditing and fine-grained update requests. However, such schemes in existence suffer from several common drawbacks. First maintaining the storages can be a difficult task and second it requires high resource costs for the implementation. This paper, Propose a formal analysis technique called full grained updates. It includes the efficient searching for downloading the uploaded file and also focuses on designing the auditing protocol to improve the server-side protection for the efficient data confidentiality and data availability.


Despite the necessity of Global Climate Models (GCMs) sub‐selection in downscaling studies, an objective approach for their selection is currently lacking. Building on the previously established concepts in GCMs evaluation frameworks, we develop a weighted averaging technique to remove the redundancy in the evaluation criteria and rank 37 GCMs from the sixth phase of the Coupled Models Intercomparison Project over the contiguous United States. GCMs are rated based on their average performance across 66 evaluation measures in the historical period (1981–2014) after each metric is weighted between zero and one, depending on its uniqueness. The robustness of the outcome is tested by repeating the process with the empirical orthogonal function analysis in which each GCM is ranked based on its sum of distances from the reference in the principal component space. The two methodologies work in contrasting ways to remove the metrics redundancy but eventually develop similar GCMs rankings. A disparity in GCMs' behavior related to their sensitivity to the size of the evaluation suite is observed, highlighting the need for comprehensive multi‐variable GCMs evaluation at varying timescales for determining their skillfulness over a region. The sub‐selection goal is to use a representative set of skillful models over the region of interest without substantial overlap in their future climate responses and modeling errors in representing historical climate. Additional analyses of GCMs' independence and spread in their future projections provide the necessary information to objectively select GCMs while keeping all aspects of necessity in view.


Low Back Pain is quite common in them. Changes in posture or poor body mechanics may cause the above spine-related problems, causing other muscles to be misused and become painful. However, mechanical Low Back Pain usually does not cause weakness or numbness in the lower extremities because the problem is not due to compression of the spinal nerves. The study aims to compare the effectiveness of the Alexander and progressive relaxation techniques in inducing relaxation and improving the functional activity of individuals with mechanical low back pain. It is a simple experimental study. For the study, 40 subjects were divided randomly into groups, namely group A and group B, each consisting of 20 subjects. Group A was given the Alexander technique, and Group B was given the progressive relaxation technique. The Visual Analogue Scale and the Oswestry Disability Index were used.: The collected data were recorded and tabulated. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS 20 version – USA ) to present the study's findings. Comparison of pre-and post-visual analog scale (VAS) using the Alexander technique shows pre-VAS 6.75 and post-VAS reduced to 2.55, given t-value 20.03, thus providing significant results with p< 0.001 s.s. Comparison of pre and post-VAS using progressive relaxation technique shows pre-VAS at 6.9 and post-VAS reduced to 3.6. Given a t-value of 14.91 gives a significant result with a p< 0.001. This study concluded that the Alexander technique is more effective in mechanical low back pain subjects. This study will help select interventions in mechanical low back pain subjects.


Purpose: Implementation of PTA as standard treatment for patients with myocardial infarction (MI) reduced the mortality in the early phase. However, morbidity due to adverse cardiac remodelling has increased. In MI-patients, serum concentrations of free sialic acids are significantly elevated. Those are released from glycoconjugates by neuraminidases (Neu). Neu play important roles in various biological processes, i.e. inflammation, differentiation and metabolism. Here, we investigate the role and regulation of Neu1 in monocytes/macrophages (Mo/Mϕ) after cardiac ischemia/reperfusion (I/R).

Methods & results: Wild type mice undergoing cardiac I/R operation (50 min occlusion of the LAD followed by reperfusion) showed a significant up-regulation of Neu1 mRNA and protein expression in the ischemic area 3 d after I/R compared to sham operated mice (191±40%, p<0.001), whereas there was no difference between the two groups 14 d after I/R. Neu1 enzyme activity was also significantly increased on day 3 (403±90 mU/mg protein vs. 280±70 mU/mg protein, p<0.01). In the ischemic left ventricle, immunhistochemistry revealed a strong Neu1 expression in Mϕ and CD11b+ Mo/Mϕ isolated by MACS from infarcted murine hearts 3 d after I/R showed up-regulated Neu1 mRNA expression compared to CD11b+ Mo from the spleen (+79±55%). In vitro differentiation of the human monocytic cell line THP-1 into Mϕ by PMA increased the expression and activity of Neu1 (333±61 vs. mock, p<0.01). SiRNA-mediated down-regulation of Neu1 in THP-1 Mϕ resulted in a significant reduction of the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6: 47±11%, TNF-α: 68±7%, IL-1β: 78±8% vs. ctrl-siRNA, p<0.05), but had no effect on expression of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10. The stimulation of THP-1 Mϕ with IL-6 had no effect on Neu1 expression. Furthermore, differentiation of primary human CD14+ Mo into pro-inflammatory M1 Mϕ by GM-CSF was associated with an up-regulation of Neu1 mRNA on day 4 (438±360%), whereas anti-inflammatory M2 (M-CSF) displayed no changes in Neu1 expression compared to CD14+ Mo. A possible regulatory mechanism of Neu1 expression in Mo/Mϕ could be the microRNA-125, as overexpression of miR-125a in primary human M1 resulted in down-regulation of Neu1 protein expression.

Conclusion: Neu1 expression increases in the early phase after I/R and is mainly found in invading Mo/Mϕ, so that it seems to participate in the pro-inflammatory reactions via regulating cytokine expression. Therefore Neu1 may display a new therapeutic target after reperfusion of the infarcted heart to attenuate adverse effects of inflammation.


The results of clinical studies on 16 reconstruction procedure after total layer chest wall resection in 14 cases of malignant tumor of the chest wall were reported. The 14 cases consisted of two cases with recurrent primary chest wall tumor, two cases of primary breast cancer, seven cases of recurrent breast cancer, and others. The reconstruction procedure after total layer chest wall resection was conducted using only various myocutaneous flaps (eight cases using latissimus dorsi of the resected side, three cases using the abdominitis of the resected side, three cases using latissimus dorsi of the non-resected side, and two cases using a pectoralis major myocutaneous flap of the non-resected side). reconstruction only using a myocutaneous flap proved to be satisfactory for preventing early stage postoperative respiratory distress and maintaining the stability of the chest wall and respiratory function during prolonged observation. Namely, use of myocutaneous flap is the best approach of reconstruction the chest wall after total layer chest wall resection. We confirmed that reconstruction with latissimus dorsi myocutaneous free flap of the non-resected side with microvascular anastomosis of thoracodorsal vessels was useful for posterior chest wall tumors invading the latissimus dorsi muscle. Also, our results demonstrated the insertion of an omental flap under the myocutaneous flap was useful for cases with secondary chest wall infection or vascular damage caused by preoperative high dose irradiation.


A comparison of the rapidity of shortening in isotonic contraction and the development of tension in isometric contraction of glycerol-extracted muscle fibers was made. Increasing the concentration of magnesium causes shortening and tension to increase in a similar manner. These increases occur over a range of concentration of magnesium which has no effect on the adenosinetriphosphatase activity of the fiber-bundles. Increasing the concentration of calcium causes both isotonic and isometric contraction to decrease while the rate of splitting adenosinetriphosphate is increased. Increasing the concentration of potassium has no definite effect on contraction except above 0.2 m. Between 0.2 m and 0.3 m shortening increases while tension-development decreases. This dissimilarity is probably related to dissolution of the fibers.


This paper proposes to further design the sub-optimal two-dimensional (2D) interleavers while taking the best interleaver from the previous work into consideration. The newly proposed interleavers are 2D Golden interleavers (Gold), uniformly distributed interleavers (Uniform) and Block and bit wise interleavers (Block & bit). The performances of these interleavers were compared and evaluated by comparing the average (Mean) and standard deviation (SD) of the bit error rate (BER) under the environments with different amounts of burst errors. Moreover, the average computation time (Time) of the interleaver and average distance between adjacent bits after deinterleaving (Dist) were also utilized as the criteria for performance evaluation. Time could also be used to analyze the computational complexity of the interleavers where Time of the proposed 2D interleaver was compared with Time of original 1D block interleaver to test the suitability for hardware accomplishment. The transmission scheme for 2D system is based on previously proposed 2D linear block code and 2D syndrome decoder. The performances of these 2D interleavers were compared with traditional one-dimensional (1D) interleavers with comparably the same complexity. The buffer sizes for 2D channel that were considered in this paper are 256*256, 128*128, 64*64, 32*32 and 16*16 which is equivalent to 65536, 16384, 4096, 1024 and 256 buffer sizes for 1D respectively as they have the same number of elements. Simulation results suggest that 2D interleavers have relatively lower computation time than their 1D equivalent interleavers and reducing the buffer size can dramatically increase the BER. The optimal buffer sizes for 2D interleavers are 256*256 and 128*128. For low error rate error, the best interleaver would be Uniform and Gold for 256*256 and 128*128 buffer size respectively. For the other environment, the finest ones are Block&bit and Uniform for 256*256 and 128*128 buffer size respectively. Comparison results between the computation time of the proposed 2D interleavers and 1D block interleaver also indicate that 2D interleavers are suitable for hardware implementation since they have less computational complexity.


Volume 1 The Aston study and its developments: a conceptual scheme for organizational analysis the first Aston study an approach to the study of bureaucracy dimensions of organization structure the context of organization structures an empirical taxonomy of structures of work organizations operations technology and organization structure - an empirical reappraisal organization structure and strategies of control - a replication of the Aston study organization structure, environment and performance - the role of strategic choice technology size and organization structure predicting and understanding organization structure Parkinson's progress - accounting for the number of specialists in organizations managerial and organizational factors associated with company performance - 1 managerial and organizational factors associated with company performance - 2 organization context and structure - an abbreviated replication dimensions of organizational structure and their context - a replication on the dimensions of bureaucratic structure - an empirical reappraisal dimensions of organization technology and structure - an exploratory study a longitudinal analysis of context and structure of a large British financial institution organization structure and technology in manufacturing firms - system versus work flow level perspectives structural implications of organizational dependencies dimensions of organizational structure - a critical replication research note -organization size and specialization towards an organizational study of trade unions bureaucratic and electoral control in occupational interest associations structure of organization in occupational interest associations the organization structure of churches - a preliminary model size and the administrative component of churches churches as organizations - structure and context dimensions of organizations in complex societies - the educational sector contingency theories and public bureaucracies. Volume 2 International comparisons: the culture-free context of organization structure is there a universal model of organization structure a comparison of organization structure and managerial roles - Ohio, USA and the Midlands, England the structure of work organizations across societies the cultural context of organizational control - an international comparison grounds for comparative organization theory - quicksand or hardcore organization and managerial roles in British and West German companies - an examination of the culture-free thesis centrally planned development - a comparison of Polish factories with equivalents in Britain, Japan and Sweden technology, size and organization structure in a developing country - Jordan organization structure and context - a replication of the Aston study in India strategies of administrative control and contextual constraints in a less developed country - the case of Egyptian public enterprise. (Part contents).


Using a recently developed Green's function formalism, we have calculated the spin-wave spectra and dispersions in Ni and Fe. For Ni(100), the dispersion exhibits two branches as observed experimentally. The calculated higher optical branch is found to be too high in energy when the standard local density approximation band-structure is used but a very good agreement with the measured dispersion is obtained when the exchange splitting is reduced, to correspond to the experimental value of the exchange splitting. We also found a double branch along Ni(111) which is not observed experimentally. For Fe, the calculated dispersion surprisingly exposes a gap midway along Γ-N in disagreement with experimental data. However, an analysis of the temperature-dependent magnetization has predicted a similar gap at the same wave vector, supporting the present calculations.


Visibilities of 100 to 200 miles over large areas are reported by pilots flying in the Arctic winter of interior Alaska. However, when the airport is reached, they find ice fog and visibility near zero. This condition is described and reasons are presented for ice fog formation and persistence in the vicinity of towns while other areas equally cold remain fog free.


This study evaluated a coaxial CO2/Nd:YAG laser used during periodontal surgery in mongrel dogs for the purpose of ablating the osseous portions of root surfaces to increase reattachment of soft tissue. Periodontal defects were produced with ligatures of orthodontic wire and elastics. The left mandibular osseous root surfaces were irradiated with a defocused, CW laser beam [power density (PD) = 42.46 W/cm2, energy density (ED) = 424.63 J/cm2]. The left maxillary osseous root surfaces were treated with a beam at twice the energy density [PD = 84.93 W/cm2, ED = 849.3 J/cm2]. The mandibular right quadrant received conventional surgery and the maxillary right quadrant served as the untreated control. Fourteen days after treatment, facial/lingual attached gingivae were scored for soft tissue adherence to bone. Laser irradiation at low ED did not improve soft tissue attachment when compared to conventional treatment. Higher ED irradiation produced significantly less attachment and increased tissue necrosis. © 1992 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


2015 Pain is the dominant symptom of osteoarthritis (OA) and available analgesic treatments offer inadequate pain relief. The capsaicin receptor, TRPV1 is considered to be a promising analgesic target. TRPV1 is expressed in multiple cell types of the joint. A variant of the TRPV1 gene is associated with the risk of developing symptomatic OA and synovial TRPV1 expression is increased in OA patients undergoing total joint replacement. Potent and selective small molecule TRPV1 antagonists have analgesic effects in preclinical models of OA highlighting the potential utility of TRPV1 antagonists in OA pain management. However, use of these compounds is associated with serious on-target mediated side effects and analgesic efficacy in OA patients in clinical trials remains to be proven. This review article will discuss recent findings in this area and explore the potential utility of TRPV1 antagonists in the treatment of OA pain.


The main purpose of the essay is to claim that Badiou has developed a distinctive understanding of "communism" which is very different from the Marxist one. Several scholars have noticed the differences between Badiou and Marx, sometimes striking ones, but have generally failed to go beyond describing them. Here an attempt is made to trace these differences back to the—largely—Nietzschean footing of Badiou's philosophy. I claim that we are dealing in fact not with different tactics, but with two different projects, envisioning distinct strategic goals. Marxist communism is about a dialectical overcoming of the capitalist present, in a way which transcends capitalism but which is predicated on the social, political and cultural transformation brought about by capitalism. Badiou's project, by contrast, aims at achieving a clean break with history. Nietzsche is useful for Badiou inasmuch as he provides a critique of mass society and aims to create a new man, the Overman. The essay discusses the differences between these two projects, focusing on a number of topics, among them the nature of capitalism, the meaning of revolutionary subjectivity, and the attitude to history and to historical possibilities. Marx's political project is vindicated vis-à-vis the elitism and anti-humanism, which vitiate Badiou's alternative approach. A dialogue with Badiou's position, however, is not foreclosed.


Treatment of carbapenemase-producing carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (CP-CRPA) infections is challenging because of antibiotic resistance. CP-CRPA infections are highly transmissible in health care settings because they can spread from person to person and from environmental sources such as sink drains and toilets. During September 2021-January 2022, an Idaho hospital (hospital A) isolated CP-CRPA from sputum of two patients who stayed in the same intensive care unit (ICU) room (room X), 4 months apart. Both isolates had active-on-imipenem metallo-beta-lactamase (IMP) carbapenemase gene type 84 (blaIMP-84) and were characterized as multilocus sequence type 235 (ST235). A health care-associated infections team from the Idaho Division of Public Health visited hospital A during March 21-22, 2022, to discuss the cluster investigation with hospital A staff members and to collect environmental samples. CP-CRPA ST235 with blaIMP-84 was isolated from swab samples of one sink in room X, suggesting it was the likely environmental source of transmission. Recommended prevention and control measures included application of drain biofilm disinfectant, screening of future patients who stay in room X (e.g., the next 10 occupants) upon reopening, and continuing submission of carbapenem-resistant P. aeruginosa (CRPA) isolates to public health laboratories. Repeat environmental sampling did not detect any CRPA. As of December 2022, no additional CP-CRPA isolates had been reported by hospital A. Collaboration between health care facilities and public health agencies, including testing of CRPA isolates for carbapenemase genes and implementation of sink hygiene interventions, was critical in the identification of and response to this CP-CRPA cluster in a health care setting.


Background. The Weekly Mortality Cycle among CoViD-19 patients has been studied.Methods. Mortality data obtained from the 'Worldometer' website were analyzed with a comparison of absolute values, percentages, and p-value. Results. For patients suffering from CoViD-19, the most favorable or the safest days of the week were Sundays and Mondays. Conclusion. The weekly cycle with decreased mortality on Sundays and Mondays is a unique phenomenon observed among victims of CoViD-19. Presumably the decreased mortality on certain days of the week related to the optimized therapeutic protocols used on the "safest days".


Objective This is a parallel, three group, randomized, controlled clinical trial, with outcomes evaluated up to three months after randomization for children and adolescents with chronic nail biting. The current study investigates the efficacy of habit reversal training (HRT) and compares its effect with object manipulation training (OMT) considering the limitations of the current literature. Method Ninety one children and adolescents with nail biting were randomly allocated to one of the three groups. The three groups were HRT (n = 30), OMT (n = 30), and wait-list or control group (n = 31). The mean length of nail was considered as the main outcome. Results The mean length of the nails after one month in HRT and OMT groups increased compared to the waiting list group (P < 0.001, P < 0.001, respectively). In long term, both OMT and HRT increased the mean length of nails (P < 0.01), but HRT was more effective than OMT (P < 0.021). The parent-reported frequency of nail biting did show similar results as to the mean length of nails assessment in long term. The number of children who completely stopped nail biting in HRT and OMT groups during three months was 8 and 7, respectively. This number was zero during one month for the wait-list group. Conclusion This trial showed that HRT is more effective than wait-list and OMT in increasing the mean length of nails of children and adolescents in long terms.


This paper introduces a new fibrous system for synergistic cancer therapy, which consists of gold nanocage (AuNC)-loaded poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) fibers with encapsulation of a chemotherapeutic anticancer drug in their core and loading of a phase-changeable fatty acid in their sheath. Under on–off switching of near-infrared (NIR) light irradiation, the excellent photothermal ability and photostability of AuNCs allows repeated, significant heating of the fibers to a temperature available to hyperthermia. Simultaneously, the NIR light-induced heat generation enables the melting out of the loaded fatty acid, leading to a rapid release of the drug molecules from the fibers. The combination of this NIR light-triggered drug release with the repeated hyperthermia treatment exhibits excellent anticancer efficacy.


The authors have elected to use various therapeutical means at the disposal in succession, giving preference to therapeutical scaling over "all azimuth" therapy. The initial overall scheme adopted by them, however, could by no means represent a rational issue in all cases, as long as curative treatment of advanced and metastatic carcinoma of the breast is lacking. Anyway, it is difficult to apply whenever the patient has already been submitted to one or more therapeutics, whether sequential or combined, administered in a sequence that differs from the one proposed. Finally, emphasis was laid on the problem of who is going to take charge of these chronic patients who require sustained surveillance and close moral support. As they go increasing in number, specialized teams are being formed all over the world that have at their disposal consultations and sometimes even care units entirely devoted to the treatment of patients with advanced breast carcinoma. The experience of such units and the shrewdness of cooperative groups will probably enable the own parameters of the disease to be defined with accuracy, and the results of various treatments under well-defined circumstances to be estimated; here lies the only hope of clarifying one of the most important and most painful problems in cancerology.