The bi-axial stress test is a two-dimensional (2-D) field test in which horizontal and vertical stresses are applied to a circular "hole in the plate" problem. The diametric closures are measured at three uniformly spaced locations. Using the Kirsch solution, and assuming an isotropic elastic medium, the magnitude of the in-plane far-field principal stresses (𝜎1, 𝜎2) and their orientation (𝛼) can be uniquely determined. However, the Kirsch Solution has limitations, since the two-dimensionality is applicable only for conditions of plane strain or plane stress; and in reality, the out-of-plane stress condition is somewhat in between. The major outcome of this paper is the development of a methodology to determine the three-dimensional principal stresses (𝜎1, 𝜎2,𝜎3) and their orientations (𝛼,𝛽,𝛾) using the two-dimensional Kirsch Solution in three mutually perpendicular planes.

 The Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF, formerly known as DUSEL) is a dedicated underground scientific research facility located in Lead, South Dakota, at the former site of the Homestake gold mine. The SURF mission includes the construction of large underground cavern openings at depths of about 1500 meters to house large-scale physics experiments. A primary rock mechanics concern is the stability of these proposed large-diameter caverns (up to 165 meters) in a host rock which has been characterized to be orthotropic in the following conditions: (1) geometry, (2) in situ stress, (3) elasticity, and (4) strength. Of these four conditions of orthotropy, the second dimension (in situ stress) will be examined in this paper. The objective of this research is to present the theoretical development and implementation of the equations that define two- and three-dimensional orthotropic in situ stress. The equations are developed based on an interpretation of the biaxial stress test in two dimensions and extrapolation of multiple orthotropic field test results in three dimensions. The two-dimensional results are presented in the next section. These two-dimensional equations are used in the development of the three-dimensional equations for determination of the principal stress magnitudes and orientation, which are given in the subsequent section. The method is validated with a numerical example and will be applied to a data set of test results performed in situ to determine the orthotropic stress state (both magnitudes and orientations) in an underground mining location. The results of this mathematical development are applied to an orthotropic biaxial stress field test in Section 4, followed by a number of important conclusions in Section 5. The paper is concluded with a list of applicable references and several supporting figures and tables of results.


For over a decade, the Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal have published an annual Index of Economic Freedom, ranking countries around the world using a set of ten objective economic criteria. On a scale from 1 to 5, a country is considered "free" if its average score is less than 2, "mostly free" if between 2 and 2.99, "mostly unfree" if between 3 and 3.99, and "repressed" if its score is 4 or greater. (See Table 1.) One of the ten categories included in the Index of Economic Freedom is a measure of openness to trade. The rankings of countries for this particular variable are closely related to their rankings in the overall index. The trade measure is based on a country's weighted average tariff rate, with the weights based on imports from the country's trading partners. The best score (1) is given if a country's weighted average tariff rate is less than 2.5 percent. The worst score (5) is given to countries with a weighted average tariff rate greater than 20 percent. One point is also added to a country's trade score when there is evidence of significant non-tariff barriers. Of the 157 countries given a trade score in the 2006 index, only two—Singapore and Hong Kong—received the top grade. These two countries were also the top two countries in the overall index score. Of the 18 countries receiving the worst score on trade, 16 fell into the categories of "mostly unfree" or "repressed" in the overall results. The measure of trade-openness used in the index, based on tariff rates, contrasts with alternative measures of trade policy that are related to the volume of trade. For example, the Penn World Tables includes a measure called "openness," which is calculated as the sum of exports and imports divided by gross domestic product. These two measures—one based on policies and the other based on trade outcomes—yield similar rankings among countries. The 37 countries receiving a score of 2 or better in the index had an average openness score of 108 in the Penn World Tables. The 49 countries receiving a score of 4 or worse in the index had an openness score of only 75 in the Penn World Tables. Openness to trade and other measures of economic freedom are important not only for their direct benefits, but also because they indicate a more general propensity to follow economic policies that foster growth and development. For example, Table 2 shows that those countries that moved toward freer trade over time have grown faster than those who have moved toward more restrictive trade policies. The 79 countries that improved their trade policy score between 1997 and 2006 showed an average growth rate of 2.5 percent, while the 28 countries whose trade scores declined grew at an average rate of only 1.8 percent. Table 2 also subdivides each of these categories into categories related to the overall index. This breakdown shows the complementarity between open trade and economic freedom in general. In each category (trade policy rising or falling) those countries that are "free" or "mostly free" showed higher growth rates than those that are "mostly unfree" or "repressed." The more economic freedom displayed by the policies of a country, the better its residents can respond to more open trade. Freedom, Trade, and Growth


A comparative morphologic study of Wistar rat myocardium under contrast temperature influences (extreme and moderate general cooling and general overheating) was carried out. It is shown that different regimens of general cooling and general overheating cause dramatic structural changes in the myocardium both at the tissue and subcellular levels. Tissue changes manifested as hemodynamic disorders, contracture and lytic injuries to cardiomyocytes resultant in necrobiosis and atrophy of some cardiomyocytes. These changes were more pronounced under acute influences. Tissue spatial myocardium reorganization had a stereotype pattern. Quantitative changes of main parenchymatous and stromal structure did not differ significantly under various temperature regimens. At subcellular level more pronounced quantitative and qualitative changes of organelles were revealed under general cooling irrespectively of the duration of the experimental exposure.


The aim of this study was to analyze the causes, clinical characteristics, social factors, and current status of treatment of traumatic dental injury (TDI) in the primary dentition. A retrospective analysis was performed on 144 children (213 teeth) with TDI in the primary dentition from our hospital between December 2017 and June 2020. Data were analyzed using the chi-square test and the Mann–Withney–Wilcoxon test. Boys accounted for 68.1% (98/144) and girls for 31.9% (46/144) of all 144 children with TDI in the primary dentition, with a boy-girl ratio of 2.13:1. The primary age of TDI in deciduous teeth was 2 to 4 years old, accounting for 59% of all cases. Collision with others and fall were the 2 main causes of trauma to the deciduous teeth, making up 52.1% and 44.4% of all causes, respectively. Crown fracture injury was the most common type of TDI in the primary dentition, accounting for 37% of all cases (53/144). Of the 144 cases, 17.4% (25/144) was accompanied by soft tissue laceration, while 22.2% (32/144) by swelling or contusion of tissue. Maxillary teeth (92.4%) were more vulnerable to injury than mandibular teeth (7.5%), with maxillary incisor being the most vulnerable 1 (91.5%). The percentage of children arrived at the hospital for treatment 24 hours after the injury was the highest (57.0%, 82/144). After the hospital visit, 74.3% of children received treatment for the dental trauma. In terms of the treatment modalities, extraction of the traumatized teeth (27.1%) and pulpectomy + resin filling (or preformed crown) restoration were predominant. Approximately 28.5% (41/144) of cases were reviewed within 2 years, with the proportion of children with pulpitis or periapical infection being the highest (29.3%, 12/41). Age, gender, collision, and fall are the factors linked to a higher risk of TDI in the primary dentition in children under the age of 7. Resin filling (or preformed crown) restoration and pulpectomy are effective in preserving the affected tooth and controlling infection. However, the preservation of the affected tooth and the prevention of infection may be hampered by late visits and low follow-up rates.


Abstract Aims After implantation of a subcutaneous implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (S-ICD), a defibrillation test (DFT) is performed to ensure that the device can effectively detect and terminate the induced ventricular arrhythmia. Data on DFT efficacy at generator replacement are scarce with a limited number of patients and conflicting results. This study evaluates conversion efficacy during DFT at elective S-ICD generator replacement in a large cohort from our tertiary centre. Methods and results Retrospective data of patients who underwent an S-ICD generator replacement for battery depletion with subsequent DFT between February 2015 and June 2022 were collected. Defibrillation test data were collected from both implant and replacement procedures. PRAETORIAN scores at implant were calculated. Defibrillation test was defined unsuccessful when two conversions at 65 J failed. A total of 121 patients were included. The defibrillation test was successful in 95% after the first and 98% after two consecutive tests. This was comparable with success rates at implant, despite a significant rise in shock impedance (73 ± 23 vs. 83 ± 24 Ω, P < 0.001). Both patients with an unsuccessful DFT at 65 J successfully converted with 80 J. Conclusion This study shows a high DFT conversion rate at elective S-ICD generator replacement, which is comparable to conversion rates at implant, despite a rise in shock impedance. Evaluating device position before generator replacement may be recommended to optimize defibrillation success at generator replacement.


To the Editor.— I must express my disagreement with Dr Walter Whisler's opinion that "many cases of anaphylaxis that have been reported are really a reaction to anesthetic drugs." 1 Anaphylaxis is a rare phenomenon in general and even more rare in patients receiving general anesthesia. For example, the first reported case of anaphylaxis to penicillin in a patient receiving anesthesia was in 1970, 2 when the incidence of allergy to penicillin was being reported as approximately 4% in the general population. Among the anesthetic drugs in use in this country today, the incidence of anaphylaxis is even more rare. The entire world literature records slightly more than 40 documented cases of anaphylactic reaction to thiopental (Pentothal), which has been used in millions of patients. To my knowledge, true anaphylaxis to inhalation agents (eg, halothane, enflurane, isoflurane, and nitrous oxide) has not been reported. Anaphylaxis associated with local anesthetic agents


This article aimed to do a systematic review of instruments that assess functional independence of children with cerebral palsy. We used MEDLINE/Pubmed, Scopus, and Web of Science for the search. Observational studies of the past five years, with full text available and without language restriction, were included in this review. We found 222 articles, of which 63 were analyzed and 24 were included in the study. The main instruments found were: PEDI, WeeFIM, ASK, PODCI, VABS-II, LIFE-H, and CAPE/PAC.


Aid agencies, governments, and donors are expanding investment in digitisation of their beneficiary identification and registration systems, and remote and algorithmic control of humanitarian and social protection programmes. They are doing so in ways that may facilitate the move from humanitarian assistance to government provision, and facilitate the delivery of shock-responsive social protection. This paper looks at evidence on the role of digital technologies in the nexus between humanitarian and social assistance, assessing their benefits and risks. We conclude with an exploration of emergent research themes, recommendations for future research in this area, and links with the broader Better Assistance in Crises (BASIC) Research programme themes.


We discuss some stochastic spatial generalizations of the Lotka--Volterra model for competing species. The generalizations take the forms of spin systems on general discrete sets and interacting diffusions on integer lattices. Methods for proving coexistence in these generalizations and some related open questions are discussed. We use duality as the central point of view. It relates coexistence of the models to survival of their dual processes.


S remains the world's leading cause of death and disability for which no early diagnosis or effective therapies are available. The increasing prevalence of ischemic stroke and related health risks combined with the lack of early diagnosis and effective therapies, highlight the desperate need for continued preclinical research to understand the pathological mechanisms of this devastating disease which may enable the development of novel therapeutic targets. However, stroke induced early events and pathological mechanisms remain poorly understood. This is primarily due to lack of clinically relevant models that are highly reproducible as the pathophysiology of cerebral ischemia in animal models is modulated by numerous indirect or secondary factors including the species, type of blood vessels occluded, occlusion period and reperfusion time. We have now optimised murine models of stroke and examined neuronal degeneration and neurochemical changes in these models. These models show consistent pathological and neurochemical changes. In collaboration with the engineering team at the Leeds University, we have also developed bio photonic technologies using lasers with skin safe wavelengths for detection of biomarkers in stroke.


The fine structure of the longitudinal layer of the tunica muscularis of the mouse jejunum was studied in various stages of mechanically stimulated contraction. The relaxed cell is long and narrow with smooth cytoplasmic and nuclear contours. As contraction progresses, the cell becomes ellipsoid and its borders exhibit invaginations at the points of myofilamentous attachment to the plasma membrane and vesicle-containing projections of the intervening membrane. These changes are interpreted as representing the deforming forces applied by the myofilaments to the plasma membrane. The nucleus of the contracted cell is shortened and widened, with convolution of its limiting membranes. This alteration, as well as progressive changes in the alignment of cytoplasmic organelles, is thought to be due to forces exerted on the internal structure of the cell by the contractile elements. The myofilaments form a network of oriented bundles during contraction. Aggregates of filaments of two different diameters are noted. The two sizes of filaments intermingle only in small areas of increased density. These dense areas increase in length and number during contraction. A model of the functional organization of the cell is proposed.


The total antioxidant activity (expressed as mmol Trolox/kg of fresh onion) was determined in six cultivars of onions produced in Tenerife in order to find out differences between them. The decrease of absorbance, at 734 nm, of an ABTS (2.2´-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diamonium salt solution in presence of the onion sample was measured. The antioxidant activity of the onion decreases significantly from the external leaves to the internal leaves. The mean antioxidant activity of all the onion samples analyzed was 0.579 ± 0.304 mmol/kg, ranging between 0.349 ± 0.084 mmol/kg and 0.696 ± 0.371 mmol/kg. The Guayonje cultivar presented the highest mean value 0.696 ± 0.371 mmol/kg, with significant differences with respect to the San Juan de la Rambla (0.349 ± 0.084 mmol/kg) and Texas (0.398 ± 0.058 mmol/kg) cultivars, which presented the lowest antioxidant activities. Besides, it was observed that the red color of the onion was related with a higher antioxidant activity.


Climate change and urban heat island effects affect the energy consumption of buildings in urban heat islands. In order to meet the requirements of engineering applications for detailed daily design parameters for air conditioning, the 15-year summer meteorological data for Beijing and Shanghai and the corresponding average heat island intensity data were analyzed. Using the CRITIC objective weighting method and K-means clustering analysis, the hourly change coefficient, β, of dry bulb temperature was calculated, and the LSTM algorithm was used to predict the changing trends in β. Finally, the air conditioning load model for a hospital was established using DeST (version DeST3.0 1.0.2107.14 20220712) software, and the air conditioning cooling load in summer was calculated and predicted. The results show that, compared with the original design days, regional differences in the new design days are more obvious, the maximum temperature and time have changed, and the design days parameters are more consistent with the local meteorological conditions. Design day temperatures in Shanghai are expected to continue rising for some time to come, while those in Beijing are expected to gradually return to previous levels. Among hospital buildings, the cooling load of outpatient buildings in Beijing and Shanghai will decrease by 0.69% and increase by 12.61% and by 12.12% and 15.51%, respectively, under the influence of the heat island effect. It is predicted to decrease by 1.35% and increase by 29.75%, respectively, in future. The cooling load of inpatient buildings in Beijing and Shanghai increased by 0.27% and 6.71%, respectively, and increased by 7.13% and 8.09%, respectively, under the influence of the heat island effect, and is predicted to decrease by 0.93% and increase by 16.07%, respectively, in future.


This paper investigates the nature of scientific realism. I begin by considering the anomalous fact that Bas van Fraassen's account of scientific realism is strikingly similar to Arthur Fine's account of scientific non-realism. To resolve this puzzle, I demonstrate how the two theorists understand the nature of truth and its connection to ontology, and how that informs their conception of the realism debate. I then argue that the debate is much better captured by the theory of truthmaking, and not by any particular theory of truth. To be a scientific realist is to adopt a realism-relevant account of what makes true the scientific theories one accepts. The truthmaking approach restores realism's metaphysical core—distancing itself from linguistic conceptions of the debate—and thereby offers a better characterization of what is at stake in the question of scientific realism.


Background What happens when archaeology meets health and social care? The Continuing Bonds Study, a pilot project lead by Dr Karina Croucher, Professor Christina Faull and Laura Green, uses case studies of the dead from the recent and distant past to spark discussions about death and dying. Via a series of workshops, the study investigates what value and consequence such materials and discussions have for health and social care students and practitioners. Methods In this qualitative, exploratory study, 92 participants attended 21 workshops delivered in Bradford and Leicester. Themed case studies presented materials in picture, video and object formats accompanied by explanatory text. Responses to pre, post and follow-up (1–3 months) questionnaires have been analysed both descriptively and thematically. Recordings of the discussions generated in the workshops were also analysed thematically. Results Our results confirm the project hypothesis, with 93% of survey respondents believing that archaeological materials can be used to facilitate discussions/training about death, dying, bereavement and loss. For some individuals, the follow-up questionnaire identified considerable personal and professional impacts of the workshop. 81% of the respondents remembered at least one archaeological example, effected by how interesting and emotive they perceived the material. The project had a further result, with 72% saying the workshops helped to reflect on differences in cultural attitudes to death and dying. Some individuals feel more confident talking about bereavement post-workshop, and now give further consideration to patients' choices in the context of dying. Conclusions Archaeological materials facilitate discussions around death, dying and bereavement that are relevant to health and social care workers, personally and professionally. Participants welcomed the opportunity to discuss and explore the myriad aspects of death from different times and places.


General relations are derived that describe the rise time of the output power of parametric oscillators driven by a time-dependent pump. Both singly resonant and doubly resonant oscillators are discussed. Results of computer calculations using a Gaussian time envelope for the pump pulse are presented and, in the case of the doubly resonant oscillator, are compared to predictions of a steady-state analysis. Agreement between calculated rise times and published values is good.


Introduction: Methyl methacrylate copolymers (Eudragit®) have been exploited to develop transdermal patches, medicated plasters (hereinafter patches) and, more recently, film-forming sprays, microsponges and nanoparticles intended to be applied on the skin. Areas covered: The article reviews the information regarding the application of Eudragits in the design and development of these dosage forms focusing on the impact of formulative variables on the skin drug penetration and the patch adhesive properties. Expert opinion: Eudragits combined with a large amount of plasticizers are used to design the pressure-sensitive adhesives, specialized materials used in the patch development. They have to assure the drug skin penetration and the contact with the skin. Most of the studies mainly deal with the former aspect. The authors used a Eudragit type opportunely plasticized to merely investigate the in vitro or in vivo skin permeability of a loaded drug. However, the summa of these data evidenced that a strict connection between the matrix hydrophilicity and drug penetration probably exists. The criticisms of adhesion are addressed in a limited number of papers reporting data on technological properties, namely tack, shear adhesion and peel adhesion, while the structural data of the Eudragit adhesives, rheology and surface free energy are not described, excepting the case of Eudragit E. Among other applications, micro- and nanosystems exploiting the ionizable nature of some Eudragits can offer novel opportunities to develop pH-sensitive drug delivery systems suitable for triggering its release onto the skin.


This study develops a methodological tool for integration of research on party system fragmentation and party system nationalization. The method is built by decomposing a standard indicator of fragmentation, the effective number of parties, into individual-party components (effective size scores), and weighting them by nationalization scores, which allows for disaggregating the number of parties into two distinct components, the effective numbers of national and regional parties. As a result, it becomes possible to assess the influences of substantively important factors upon the components of the number of parties and the overall level of fragmentation in a methodologically consistent, quantifiable way. In addition, the proposed framework of analysis differentiates between direct and indirect effects upon party system fragmentation. A preliminary empirical test on a sample from 90 countries demonstrates that the proposed framework for analysis allows for achieving a rich and nuanced understanding of the factors of party system fragmentation.


Objectives: To determine frequency of esophageal malignancy in Balochistan and to evaluate its correlation with predisposing and dietary factors. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from Jan 2019 to Dec 2020, at two tertiary care hospital of Quetta which caters to the entire population of province. The total number of 207 cases of esophageal biopsies were received and morphological diagnosis done by H&E staining. Results: Out of 207 (N) esophageal biopsies cases, malignancy were observed in 65%, chronic esophagitis in 19%, benign esophageal lesion in 1% and other esophageal lesions were observed in less than 4% of samples. Association with aggravating factors included tea 80.5%, use of drugs 64%, spicy food 57%, salted food 53%, quid & tobacco taken orally and through nose 44% and cigarette smoking 21.5%. The protective factors include fresh fruit 90%, fish 64% and milk 55% which were never or occasionally taken, meat chicken and beef intake was 63% & 53% and vegetable intake was 52%, but 72.5% of cases never used alcohol and mutton meat was not used by 50%. Conclusion: Esophageal cancer was associated in those groups of people which may regard as having high risk factors. These include increased intake of spicy/salted food, hot beverages, drugs, quid and smoked tobacco, coupled with low intake of fruits and vegetables, lack of awareness and low socioeconomic status.


All skin diseases involve some element of stigmatization and psychosocial consequence for the individual patient, but few, if any, skin diseases can match the impact of hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) on the patient. The inflamed lesions progressing to noninflamed nodules and abscesses are not only perceived as unclean and stigmatizing by the patients, but also cause pain and scarring making this inflammatory skin disorder unique. It is obvious that the disease has a significant negative impact on the patients' quality of life (QOL). The impact is influenced not only by the pain which is a significant independent contributor to the patients' life quality, but by the clinically significant comorbidity associated with HS. In particular, the psychological comorbidities of depression and anxiety both further compound QOL impairment and pain. It is strongly recommended that these factors be taken into account when planning a treatment strategy for patients with HS, and that specific steps are taken to manage pain and comorbidities associated with the reduced QOL generally experienced by this group of patients. Basic pain management includes anti-inflammatory treatments as well as local- and central-acting analgesics. In more complex cases, access to consultations with a pain specialist may be necessary and may require the judicious use of antidepressants. In addition, it is recommended that patients' QOL be addressed specifically through psychological education and patient support groups.


Educational researchers and practitioners assert that supportive school and classroom climates can positively influence the academic outcomes of students, thus potentially reducing academic achievement gaps between students and schools of different socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds. Nonetheless, scientific evidence establishing directional links and mechanisms between SES, school climate, and academic performance is inconclusive. This comprehensive review of studies dating back to the year 2000 examined whether a positive climate can successfully disrupt the associations between low SES and poor academic achievement. Positive climate was found to mitigate the negative contribution of weak SES background on academic achievement; however, most studies do not provide a basis for deducing a directional influence and causal relations. Additional research is encouraged to establish the nature of impact positive climate has on academic achievement and a multifaceted body of knowledge regarding the multilevel climate dimensions related to academic achievement.


Abstract B093 : Breast cancer is the most common malignancy among women worldwide, with mortality often associated with distant metastasis. In recent years, microRNAs (miRs) have emerged as a new class of regulatory molecules that act as tumor suppressors or oncogenes and are capable of affecting metastatic processes such as epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition (MET). Our study aimed to identify miRs associated with breast cancer EMT through miR profiling of EMT in PMC42 (ET vs LA, -/+ EGF) and MDA-MB-468 (control vs EGF, hypoxia) human breast cancer cells using microarray and Next Generation Sequencing (miR-Seq). Several miRs were reproducibly different between the untreated cells, as well as up- or down-regulated in response to epidermal growth factor (EGF). Expression levels of 36 miRs were validated in six breast cancer cell lines comprising a range of epithelial to mesenchymal cell lines. Nine miRs were then selected and the effects of manipulating these miRs were investigated in vitro and in vivo. MDA-MB-468 cells stably overexpressing (OE) the miRs of interest were produced, validated and tested for changes in in vitro migratory potential using a monolayer wound healing assay on the Cellomics platform. We found that the rate of wound closure was significantly faster (p<0.05) in MDA-MB-468 breast cancer cells OE miR-34b/c upon EGF induction even though there were no significant differences in migrative potential using Transwell migration assay. Although these cells showed no proliferative differences, MDA-MB-468 miR-34b/c OE cells showed decreased clonogenicity (p<0.01) compared to control cells. We extended this by looking at these manipulated cells in the MDA-MB-468 xenograft model of in vivo EMT. Our data suggests that there might be a slightly slower rate of primary tumor growth and an inhibition of lymph node metastasis in vivo. Other groups have also identified miR-34 family as a p53 target gene regulating Snail1-driven EMT (Kim et al., 2011) and have shown miR-34 to suppress breast cancer metastasis by targeting Fra-1 (Yang et al., 2012). Fra-1 and several other MEK pathway components were upregulated in the PMC42 and MDA-MB-468 EMT as determined by corresponding RNA-Seq analysis, and integrative analysis of the miR-Seq and RNA-Seq data is ongoing. Our work on EMT-associated miRs is targeted to provide a better understanding of miRs for their potential uses in diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to breast cancer.


A new approach to regionalization of conceptual rainfall‐runoff models is presented on the basis of ensemble modeling and model averaging. It is argued that in principle, this approach represents an improvement on the established procedure of regressing parameter values against numeric catchment descriptors. Using daily data from 127 catchments in the United Kingdom, alternative schemes for defining prior and posterior likelihoods of candidate models are tested in terms of accuracy of ungauged catchment predictions. A probability distributed model structure is used, and alternative parameter sets are identified using data from each of a number of gauged catchments. Using the models of the 10 gauged catchments most similar to the ungauged catchment provides generally the best results and performs significantly better than the regression method, especially for predicting low flows. The ensemble of candidate models provides an indication of uncertainty in ungauged catchment predictions, although this is not a robust estimate of possible flow ranges, and frequently fails to encompass flow peaks. Options for developing the new method to resolve these problems are discussed.


This Master's thesis deals with the issue of the participation of pupils with different skills and abilities in solving problem-based tasks. The above-mentioned learning process was supported by tablets.

In reviewing the literature, we found that authors state general guidelines on how to simultaneously address the needs of both pupils enrolled in the primary school programme and pupils enrolled in primary schools with a lower educational standard in joint activities. Nevertheless, they underline that the functional integration of all pupils in the learning process is seen as beneficial for all involved. Modern approaches compared with traditional ones contain ways in which we try to take into account the needs of the widest circle of pupils. A constructivist teaching approach which involves cooperative work and problem-based tasks creates conditions for the learning of all pupils. Such a learning process can be personalized with mobile technologies for pupils with different needs; we used tablets in our study.

The work presents the design and implementation of cooperative learning in solving problem-based tasks, and the impact of the use of tablets on the learning process. We focused on the impact of planned activities on the pupils' holistic development, the opinions of the participants on such a learning design and support options with mobile technologies. The survey was designed in two versions; in addition to pupils of two primary schools in Skofja Loka, it also included students of special and rehabilitation pedagogy. We were interested to know how pupils in heterogeneous groups cooperated and what was their opinion of it. We were interested to know how tasks were planned, how pupils were supported by tablets in problem solving, and to what extent the tasks were prepared to be solved on a tablet. The recordings were analysed using pre-prepared criteria.

We found that it was at first necessary to define the modalities of cooperation, learner interaction with the environment, design attractive problem-based tasks, and consider at what stage a tablet could support mental, social or emotional processes. We found that pupils had a positive attitude towards this form of work, but it was important to recognize that with every implementation, questions opened up that required further analysis and reflection.


ABSTRACT This article recovers the discussion of the relationship between religion, human nature and happiness in the Scottish Enlightenment physician John Gregory's (1724–1773) A Comparative View of Human Nature (1765). Through examining Gregory's best-selling but understudied text, this article explores how the Aberdeen Enlightenment's own branch of the wider Scottish 'science of human nature', centred at the famous Aberdeen Philosophical Society, was as deeply concerned with the study of religion as it was the philosophy of mind. Gregory examined how the purported cultural spread of dogmatic scepticism, associated by the Aberdonians with David Hume, threatened individual happiness and social tranquillity by removing the crutch of religious belief upon which the multitude (though not the philosopher) depended. In doing so, it suggests that the contribution made by physicians to the Scottish Enlightenment's engagement with religion has been unjustly ignored.


: Spatial modes of light can be used as carriers of information in classical optical communication or as an alphabet in quantum optical communication. In order to exploit the spatial domain, it is required to (de)multiplex di ff erent modes from a shared input channel into di ff erent output ports. Mode sorters have been employed in free-space and fi ber systems but to date have not been realized for planar guided waves. Here we present a general method for compact on-chip sorting of di ff erent planar beams with a micrometric footprint and nanometric thickness. The designs were generated using a linkage-tree-based genetic algorithm and were experimentally demonstrated on a surface plasmon polariton platform by sorting of Hermite − Gaussian beams. The method used here can be readily applied to optimize complex, large-scale optical devices involving beam propagation methods.


Much existing literature in metal studies contains an implicit theory of scene formation; the following article aims to articulate an explicit one. This theory is based primarily on ethnographic research on metal scenes in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Toledo, USA. These two field sites are quite dissimilar culturally, demographically, and geographically, yet their respective metal scenes share similar sets of concerns and values and even have contact with one another. Through the positing of four core functions of and six generalizations about metal scenes, the following essay considers artifactual circulation, institutional support, musical amateurism, boundary maintenance, generational succession, and specific stages of maturation as their essential features, whether they emerge in bustling, rapidly-industrializing Asian megalopolises; deindustrialized, depopulated cities in the Midwestern United States; or anywhere else on the planet. We end with a few provocative claims concerning metal's uniqueness and an exhortation to a new generation of ethnographers to discover if these claims have empirical foundation.


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An evolutionary game model is developed to study the interplay between consumers and producers when trade takes place on an e-commerce marketplace. The type of delivery service available and consumers' taste are particularly important regarding both game payoffs and players' strategies. The game payoff matrix is then adapted to analyse the different trading patterns that were developed during the COVID-19 pandemic in both the traditional retail and e-commerce sectors. In contrast to the former, investment in logistics and warehouses in the e-commerce sector allowed for the emergence of a trend in which fast delivery and eager consumers are becoming the norm.


More than two hundred years after his birth, and 150 years after the publication of his most famous essay On Liberty, John Stuart Mill remains one of the towering intellectual figures of the Western tradition. This book combines an up-to-date assessment of the philosophical legacy of Mill's arguments, his complex version of liberalism and his account of the relationship between character and ethical and political commitment. Bringing together key international and interdisciplinary scholars, including Martha Nussbaum and Peter Singer, this book combines the latest insights of Mill scholarship with a long-term appraisal of the ways in which Mill's work has been received and interpreted from the time of his death in 1873 to today. The book offers compelling insights into Mill's posthumous fate and reputation; his youthful political and intellectual activism; his views on the formation of character; the development of his thought on logic; his differences from his father and Bentham; his astonishingly prescient, environmentally sensitive and 'green' thought; his relation to virtue ethics; his conception of higher pleasures and its relation to his understanding of justice; his feminist thought and its place in contemporary debates and feminist discourses; his defence of free speech and its fundamental significance for his liberalism; and his continued contemporary relevance on a number of major issues.


The effect of asynchrony between RF and gradient modulated (GM) waveforms on the performance of 3 ms gradient modulated GOIA-WURST RF pulses (BW = 15 kHz) was evaluated in simulation and experimentally. Results demonstrate that a 20+ μs asynchrony between RF and GM functions substantially degrades inversion performance when using large RF offsets to achieve translation. A projection-based method is presented that was used to calibrate RF and GM asynchrony on a 4T human MR system, where a ~40 µs asynchrony was present. The projection method allows a quick calibration of RF and GM asynchrony on pre-clinical/clinical MR systems.


We analyse the role of personality traits along with individuals' cooperative behaviour, level of trust in the UK government and the European Council (EC, the body that defines the European Union's overall political direction and priorities) and socio-demographics on UK citizens' voting choices on the 2016 Brexit referendum. We use data from a survey conducted in April 2019 on 530 UK citizens who voted in the 2016 Brexit referendum. We use a Probit model to investigate what role voters' personality traits, their trust in government institutions, their level of cooperative behaviour and socio-demographics played in the way they voted. We find voters' choice was associated voters' personality traits. In particular, voters associated with being extraverted, acting with self-confidence and outspokenness (i.e., agency), and voters' closeness to experience, to forming part of a diverse community and the exchange of ideas and experiences were found to be associated with voting for Brexit in the 2016 referendum. We found that voters' willingness to cooperate with others was associated with being less likely to vote for Brexit. In addition, voters who trusted the UK government were more likely to vote for Brexit, whereas voters trusting the EC were more likely to vote for the UK to stay in the EU. We also found that voters with relatively high level of education were less likely to vote for Brexit and voters not seeking jobs were more likely to vote for Brexit than students, unemployed and retired. We conclude that incorporating personality profiles of voters, their pro-social behaviour as well as their views on trust in politicians/government institutions, along with socio-demographic variables, into individuals' vote choice analysis can account for voter heterogeneity and provide a more complete picture of an individual's vote choice decisions, helping to gain a better understanding of individual vote choices (e.g., better predictions of future individual vote intentions).


Afterpulsing of a photon-counting detector is a common problem in fluorescence correlation spectroscopy. We have developed a numerical procedure which eliminates the afterpulsing effect by analyzing the time reversal asymmetry of photon data that are recorded with a time-correlated single photon counting device. This method was applied to experimental data and was compared with a previous method [Rev. Sci. Instrum. 76, 033102 (2005).]. It is demonstrated that the present method can completely eliminate the afterpulsing effect even in the case of a sample solution that contains multiple fluorophores having different fluorescence lifetimes, for which the previous method underestimates the correlation amplitude. We also show a modification of the previous method incorporating the time symmetry analysis.


Previous studies of Post-War Sweden's agricultural development have e.g. focused on the effects of structural change, agricultural price policies, or the peculiarities of the regulative environment. While these studies have been most valuable here, this study cannot provide any such in-dept account. This paper will instead explain how the Swedish agricultural policy — in the light of the Cold War's specific environment up to the mid 1970s — can be related to the concepts of warfare and welfare. Even though Sweden was not a belligerent country, the adaptation and reconstruction policies necessitated profound state actions. Both the objectives of maintaining a high level of national preparedness in case of a war or crisis and the focus on scientific and technological renewal relate to warfare. With regards to the post-war welfare development in most parts of the Western world, welfare was also to a high degree linked with experiences from the depression and World War II. In Swedish agriculture the ambition was to achieve income parity between farmers and industry workers. Thus, in the context of the Post-War period's scientific and expert technological development, the regulations and planning ambitions can be seen as means for applying rationality and efficiency in a time when state intervention was regarded as social engineering.


Mean residual life (MRL) is important in reliability studies; it provides the engineer with an idea of how long a device of any particular age can be expected to survive. Components and systems are frequently characterized as having increasing or decreasing MRL. Over the past 10-15 years, several authors have discussed MRL for components or systems whose lifetimes are measured in discrete units (number of trials until failure). This paper establishes some simple bounds for residual life when the device has a monotonic hazard rate sequence (either increasing or decreasing) and provides examples. MRL is obtained in closed form for a particular family of decreasing failure-rate models.


Legionnaires disease can be acquired through exposure to Legionella pneumophila, a gram-negative bacteria ubiquitous in both natural and engineered water systems. Over the years, a number of disinfection techniques notably, chlorination, ozonation, thermal, UV and copper-silver ionization have been employed across different kinds of engineered water systems with diverse measures of success. Available evidence portends, most of the aforementioned techniques often have to be combined to achieve long-term efficacy. Remarkably, albeit the extensive research and reportage on Legionnaires outbreak in the developed world, very few studies have been carried out with regards to Africa. We reviewed existing literature on the application of the aforementioned techniques in buildings. Our study concurs with earlier studies; most of the disinfection techniques will have to be combined to achieve the desired efficacy. We found very scanty studies on Legionella or reportage of its outbreak within Africa.  Our study also found very little in terms of any of the techniques been applied with the specific aim of reducing Legionella proliferation in engineered water systems within Africa. This is alarming, especially, on a continent where several communities have little or no access to quality water and healthcare. In light of the above, stronger measures such as sensitization, properly managed water distribution systems, as well as policies aimed at enforcing national and international guidelines on Legionella control is recommended.

 Key words: Legionnaires disease, water disinfection, engineered water system, Africa.


C68 Two genetic alterations do not always result in positive augmentative effect in tumorgenesis. A negative consequence such as a clonal disappearance by apoptosis or senescence occurs occasionally. Investigation of such positive and negative combinations in a certain tumor identifies an essential mechanistic basis for the tumorgenesis. In the screening of additional genetic changes in t(8;21) leukemia, one of the most frequent types of human leukemia and generating RUNX1-ETO chimeric gene, we and others found that FLT3 is rarely mutated, while c-Kit is frequently mutated, despite the fact that FLT3 is functionally equal to c-Kit since both belong to type III receptor type tyrosine kinase (RTK). To examine these cooperations between RUNX1-ETO and RTK mutation, we carried out experiments using murine immature hematopoietic cell line, 32Dcl3 cell. Transfection of FLT3 mutant alone inhibited differentiation and accelerated proliferation, whereas transfection of the FLT3 mutant along with RUNX1-ETO led to rapid apoptosis in 32D cells. In clear contrast, c-Kit mutant showed a cooperative role with RUNX1-ETO for continued growth, in agreement with human leukemia cases. This synergism was further confirmed in vivo. The mice transplanted with 32D cells carrying RUNX1-ETO and c-Kit mutation developed leukemia, while those carrying RUNX1-ETO and FLT3 mutation did not. Interestingly, this positive cooperation between RUNX1-ETO and c-Kit coincided with phosphorylation of Stat3, whereas the negative combination between RUNX1-ETO and FLT3 mutant resulted in a complete loss of Stat3 activation, although the FLT3 mutant alone retained phosphorylation of Stat3. Therefore, Stat3 activation appears to be essential for RUNX1-ETO leukemogenesis.


In this paper, we treat a problem for locating facilities within a train network. Concretely, given the number of facilities, a train network, and a distribution of facility users in an area, the problem objective is to minimize the sum of journey times to the nearest facilities for all users, where each facility is located on a station. The problem is referred to as a discrete median problem including a train network. We first introduce three models for accessing a facility. We then formulate the problem under each model, the first of which reduces to a p-median problem, whilst the remaining two are formulated as two geographical optimization problems. For each problem, we also implement a simple solution method using a standard local search, and show some computational results.


The optimal conditions for the supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) extraction of flaxseed oil from flaxseed were determined using response surface methodology (RSM). A second-order regression for rotation-orthogonal composite design was used to study the effects of three independent variables: extraction pressure (MPa), extraction temperature (oC) and CO2 flow rate (L/h) on the yield of flaxseed oil. The independent variables were coded at five levels and their actual values selected on the basis of preliminary experiments. The results indicated that the yield of flaxseed oil was beyond 29% at a probability of 95% in the range of extraction pressure: 38.6-42.3 MPa, extraction temperature: 52.3-57.0 oC, and CO2 flow rate: 27.8-31.2 L/h. The optimal extraction conditions were extraction pressure of 41 MPa, extraction temperature of 56 oC and CO2 flow rate of 31 L/h according to the analysis of response surface. In this condition, the experimental yield of flaxseed oil was 29.96%, which was close to the predicted value of 30.52%.


The idea that creativity resides in the right cerebral hemisphere is persistent in popular science, but has been widely frowned upon by the scientific community due to little empirical support. Yet, creativity is believed to rely on the ability to combine remote concepts into novel and useful ideas, an ability which would depend on associative processing in the right hemisphere. Moreover, associative processing is modulated by dopamine, and asymmetries in dopamine functionality between hemispheres may imbalance the expression of their implemented cognitive functions. Here, by uniting these largely disconnected concepts, we hypothesize that relatively less dopamine function in the right hemisphere boosts creativity by releasing constraining effects of dopamine on remote associations. Indeed, participants with reduced neural responses in the dopaminergic system of the right hemisphere (estimated by functional MRI in a reward task with positive and negative feedback), displayed higher creativity (estimated by convergent and divergent tasks), and increased associative processing in the right hemisphere (estimated by a lateralized lexical decision task). Our findings offer unprecedented empirical support for a crucial and specific contribution of the right hemisphere to creativity. More importantly our study provides a comprehensive view on potential determinants of human creativity, namely dopamine-related activity and associative processing.


This article examines the ways in which taxi driving and China's quest for global ascendency are interlinked and enmeshed. Inspired by de Certeau's The Practice of Everyday Life and his conceptual formulation of "strategy" and "tactic", this article explores how taxi drivers, through their everyday practice of driving, found ways and moments to tactically challenge and appropriate so-called "civility campaigns" and a rising China. By demonstrating the numerous instances of tactics taxi drivers used, I argue that their socio-economic marginality did not, in fact, reduce them to a "powerless" position. I bring in Foucault's analytics of power and governmentality to add to de Certeau's work by helping to explain the intertwined relationship between government and governed to shed light on the complexity implicated in the dynamics of power relations and resistance. I examine the period around the 2008 Beijing Olympics as it involved large-scale attempts to showcase China through (urban) transformation.


This paper proposes a hybrid multiband (MB) ultra wideband (UWB) system with direct sequence (DS) spreading. The theoretical error analysis for the DS-MB-UWB multiple access system with Rake receiver in the presence of multipath and narrowband interference is developed. The developed theoretical framework models the multiple access interference (MAI), multipath interference (MI) and narrowband interference for the designed UWB system. It is shown that the system error performance corresponding to the combining effects of these interference can be accurately modeled and calculated. Monte Carlo simulation results are provided to validate the accuracy of the model. Additionally, it is found that narrowband interference can be mitigated effectively in the multiband UWB system by suppressing the particular UWB sub-band co-existing with the interfering narrowband signal. A typical improvement of 5dB can be achieved with 75% sub-band power suppression. On the other hand, suppression of UWB sub-band is also found to decrease frequency diversity, thus facilitating the increase of MAI. In this paper, the developed model is utilized to determine the parameters that optimize the UWB system performance by minimizing the effective interference.


Review was carried out on the nutritional value of Ficus sycomorus (Sycamore Fig or Shola) leaf, different techniques employed to feed animals at different treatment to evaluate the nutritional and chemical composition of as alternative feed sources and its potential as animal feed particularly to sheep. Sycamore Fig can fix nitrogen from the atmosphere, fertilizing the soil for other plants, tolerant of infertile soils and capable of pioneering change in barren and poor quality soils. The leaf contains CP content of F. sycomorus leaf was 17.9% and The NDF, ADF, ADL, DM and ash content of F. sycomorus leaf on DM basis in this study was 64.6%, 52.5%, 17.4%, 93.2% and 11.9%, respectively. The CP content of the F. sycomorus leaf in the current in dry matter basis which depends on the species and Climatic conditions. The composition of the seed and especially the high protein content makes Sycamore Fig leaf highly suitable for livestock diets than pods. However, the presence of quinolizidine alkaloids and some ant nutritional factors results in characteristically bitter taste making the tree legume unacceptable for food/feed. Different strategies (processing methods) have been used to reduce/eliminate the alkaloid contents and enhance the feed value of the grain. Supplementation of ruminant diets with processed Sycamore Fig has been shown to have many positive effects in terms of growth and reproductive efficiency, comparable with supplements of other feeds and which is better than hay and more than the maintenance requirements of the animals.


The effects of exposure to non-English heritage languages versus exposure to foreign-accented English during early childhood on language performances later in life were investigated. Three groups of young adult participants who differed in their early home language environment were examined on a series of linguistic tasks. Results showed that people who were mostly exposed to accented English in the early home environment are more native-like in various aspects of English language performance than those who were mostly exposed to their non-English heritage language, including vocabulary, pronunciation, and processing of certain types of speech stimuli. Early and extended exposure to accented speech, however, does not appear to enhance the ability to perceive foreign accents in general, and may in fact produce a disadvantage when listening to unfamiliar accents. These findings provide some initial insight into the consequences of migrant parents choosing to speak one language over the other with their children.


In this study we investigate the fast image filtering algorithm based on Intro sort algorithm and fast noise reduction of infrared images. Main feature of the proposed approach is that no prior knowledge of noise required. It is developed based on Stefan- Boltzmann law and the Fourier law. We also investigate the fast noise reduction approach that has advantage of less computation load. In addition, it can retain edges, details, text information even if the size of the window increases. Intro sort algorithm begins with Quick sort and switches to heap sort when the recursion depth exceeds a level based on the number of elements being sorted. This approach has the advantage of fast noise reduction by reducing the comparison time. It also significantly speed up the noise reduction process and can apply to real-time image processing. This approach will extend the Infrared images applications for medicine and video conferencing.


Abstract The analgesic effect of local infiltration analgesia (LIA) after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) has been reported to be less than 24 hours. The concept of continuous LIA (CLIA) has been developed to achieve prolonged analgesia by bolus injections or by pump infusion of analgesics. The purpose of this meta-analysis is to assess the effect of CLIA versus single-shot injection LIA (SLIA) and placebo on pain after TKA. A systematic search was performed in most relevant databases to identify all randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing intra-articular CLIA with SLIA or placebo for TKA. Primary outcome measures were visual analogue scale (VAS)-scores after 24, 48, and 72 hours at rest and during activity. Data were extracted for meta-analysis and pooled using Cochrane software. The results of comparable studies were pooled using the fixed effects model or random effects model. A total of 11 RCTs were included. Five articles were eligible for meta-analysis comparing CLIA versus placebo, involving 227 TKAs. VAS scores at rest 24 hours after surgery were in favor of CLIA with a decrease of pain scores of 46%. On the second and third postoperative day, the decrease in VAS scores was no longer significant. During activity VAS scores were also in favor of CLIA after 24 and 48 hours. Two studies were eligible for meta-analysis comparing CLIA versus SLIA. VAS scores at rest, 48 hours after surgery, were in favor of CLIA. CLIA can possibly provide a reduced pain perception for 24 hours postoperative at rest after performing a TKA. This effect may persist until 48 hours postoperative during activity. Due to the high level of heterogeneity no firm further conclusions can be drawn.


The variation of internal friction with strain amplitude of terbium at temperatures of 113, 155, 181 and 298°K has been measured using a torsional pendulum at a frequency of 1 Hz. The damping with magnetic origin has been separated from the total damping by a method due to Granato and Lucke, and the results have been explained in terms of the irreversible movement of domain boundaries.


Pulmonary aspiration of gastric contents during anesthesia is a complication that is fortunately rare, yet potentially catastrophic. Despite its infrequency, techniques geared toward preventing this serious outcome influence many of our routine practices and beliefs. Reports on large-scale clinical studies have opened new insights and questions about the effectiveness of long-standing anesthetic practices. These include conventional beliefs about preoperative fasting guidelines, acceptable gastric fluid volumes and pH, effective pharmacologic interventions, risk factors for pulmonary aspiration, and preventative anesthetic techniques such as rapid-sequence induction. This AANA Journal course outlines current knowledge as to the incidence, risk factors, and efficacy of practices geared toward preventing aspiration. It is anticipated that this review will stimulate discussions regarding possible changes in the anesthetic management of patients in individual practice settings.


The School Health Program performed through TRIAS-UKS, is concered with health education, health services and a healthy school environment. To run and improve those programs preparation and provision of equipment is necessary. The purpose of this study was to identify preparation and utilization of school health programs equipment. It was carried out in Sidoarjo district, East Java in 3 subdistrcts, as part of the "Health Centres and other sectors in School Health Program Study", which was carried out in 1988. The study covered 14 Elementary Schools in each  district (10 Schools with complete school health programs and 4 schools with incomplete school health programs). The sample selected was based on a purposive sample selection. Collection of data was conducted by interviewing, filling in questionnaires and observation. The study showed that equipment peparation for health education was mostly done by Health Centres and School Inspectors at subdistrict level. Equipment for School Health Services was prepared by Health Centres Schools and BP3. For healthy school environment the equipment was mostly prepared by Schools, BP3 and Local Goverment. Successful utilization of equipment was shown by changes in knowledge, attitude and practice of the school children. There was a significant difference (p=0,05) between Schools with complete school health programs and Schools with incomplete ones. It is hoped that in the future the schools themselves can solve their school health problems, especially by preparing  and maintaining their own equipment. This will give the opportunity to the Health Centre' s to concentrate on curative aspects for those problems.


Existing visual navigation approaches leverage classification neural networks to extract global features from visual data for navigation. However, these networks are not originally designed for navigation tasks. Thus, the neural architectures might not be suitable to capture scene con-tents. Fortunately, neural architecture search (NAS) brings a hope to solve this problem. In this paper, we propose an Auto-Navigator to customize a specialized network for visual navigation. However, as navigation tasks mainly rely on reinforcement learning (RL) rewards in training, such weak supervision is insufficiently indicative for NAS to optimize visual perception network. Thus, we introduce imitation learning (IL) with optimal paths to optimize navigation policies while selecting an optimal architecture. As Auto-Navigator can obtain a direct supervision in every step, such guidance greatly facilitates architecture search. In particular, we initialize our Auto-Navigator with a learnable distribution over the search space of visual perception architecture, and then optimize the distribution with IL supervision. Afterwards, we employ an RL reward function to fine-tune our Auto-Navigator to improve the generalization ability of our model. Extensive experiments demonstrate that our Auto-Navigator outperforms baseline methods on Gibson and Matterport3D without significantly increasing network parameters.


A single-entry system does not solve all the problems related to continuity of care, but it gives physicians the opportunity to refer those who may be at risk of losing their capacity to remain in the community to professionals who are qualified to assess the situation, to have their patients who need help access the most appropriate resources, and to have the cooperation of the continuing care workers in providing high-quality care to their patients.


Intrauterine adhesions (IUA) remain a major cause of infertility. Interceed, a regenerated cellulose adhesion barrier, is used to prevent adhesions in abdominal cavity. This study aimed to determine whether Interceed could reduce adhesions and tissue fibrosis and improve endometrial receptivity (ER) in rabbit. Rabbits were randomized into 6 groups: sham operation, Interceed control, IUA model, Interceed therapy, estrogen therapy, and combination therapy. Four rabbits per group were euthanized to evaluate adhesion severity on the day before intervention and day 7, 14, and 28 after intervention. Number of endometrial glands and degree of endometrial fibrosis acted as markers for adhesion severity. Pseudopregnancy was induced in the remainder, and 8 rabbits per group were killed for assessing ER on days 6, 7, and 8 of pseudopregnancy by ανβ3 integrin and pinopode. We found that Interceed or estrogen therapy led to significant improvement in the adhesion severity on day 28 after intervention, respectively, compared to IUA model group (all P < .05). However, after combination therapy, such improvement achieved comparable to sham operation group as early as day 14 after intervention (glands, P = .711, fibrosis, P = .154). Among the IUA models treated, ER was highest after combination therapy on day 7 of pseudopregnancy, similar to sham operation group (integrin, P = .352, pinopode, P = .154). In conclusion, Interceed and estrogen reduce adhesions and tissue fibrosis and improve ER in a rabbit model and may be novel therapeutic approaches for infertility resulting from IUA.


ABSTRACT Organic agriculture aims to produce food while establishing an ecological balance to augment ecosystem services (ES) and has been rapidly expanding in the world since the 1980s. Recently, however, in several European countries, including Denmark, organic farmers have converted back to conventional farming. Hence, understanding how agricultural ES are affected by the number of years since conversion to organic farming is imperative for policy makers to guide future agricultural policy. In order to investigate the long-term effects of conversion to organic farming on ES we performed i) a model simulation case study by applying the Daisy model to simulate 14 different conversion scenarios for a Danish farm during a 65 year period with increasing number of years under organic farming, and ii) an on-farm case study in Denmark with one conventional farm, one organic farm under conversion, and three organic farms converted 10, 15 and 58 years ago, respectively. Both the model simulation case study and the on-farm case study showed that non-marketable ES values increased with increasing number of years under organic farming. Trade-offs between marketable and non-marketable ES were not evident, since also marketable ES values generally showed an increasing trend, except when the price difference between organic and conventional products in the model simulation study was the smallest, and when an alfalfa pre-crop in the on-farm case study resulted in a significantly higher level of plant available nitrogen, which boosted the yield and the associated marketable ES of the subsequent winter rye crop. These results indicate a possible benefit of preserving long-term organic farms and could be used to argue for agricultural policy interventions to offset further reduction in the number of organic farms or the land area under organic farming.


[1] New research shows that the Amazon region became significantly less green due to a severe 2010 drought. Xu et al. analyzed satellite-based measurements to compare the greenness of Amazon vegetation due to the 2010 drought to that caused by a severe drought in 2005. They found that the decline in greenness due to the 2010 drought affected an area 4 times greater than the area affected in 2005. More than half of all drought-stricken forest showed greenness declines in 2010, compared to only 14% in 2005. Furthermore, the declines in greenness in 2010 persisted past the time when rainfall returned to normal levels. Vegetation that is not as green absorbs less carbon dioxide (CO2), leaving more CO2 in the atmosphere, possibly accelerating global warming. (Geophysical Research Letters, doi:10.1029/2011GL046824, 2011)


The crystal structure of the title compound, naphtho[2,3-b]cholestane, C35H50, is composed of independent molecules with normal molecular dimensions and no unusual contacts shorter than van der Waals distances.


The aim of this research is to determine the impact of specific motor knowledge of alpine skiing on success in giant slalom race of students. On a sample of 18 students of the Faculty of Physical Education and Sport there has been used set of four variables of specific motor knowledge of alpine skiing, as predictor variables, to determine the impact on the criterion variable modified giant slalom race. It was found that the variables dynamic long radius turns and skiing with the changes of rhythm and tempo together have a greatest predictor validity, at statistically significant level of p = 0.01, and that they are critical for success in modified giant slalom race of students. It can be concluded that the impact on the result in the modified giant slalom race for students have the level of mastering of advanced elements of ski technique, which at this level of knowledge is crucial in giant slalom competition. The results of this study may be of importance in creating programs for different levels of mastering of skiing techniques in both advanced ski school and some stages of competitive skiing, which is of great importance for the result in giant slalom and skiing in general.


The great geological problem of the "Northern Drift" has been attacked in various ways; and the diffusion of Scandinavian rocks and northern detritus over a vast area in the northern part of Europe has been ascribed to various kinds of natural machinery. Of late, a large part of this operation has been attributed to "Waves of Translation," produced by the sudden upheaval of the bottom or shore of the sea. This view is advocated in the 'Geology of Russia' by Sir Roderick Murchison. There are some very simple numerical calculations which belong to this subject, and which may throw some light on the probability of such a theory. These calculations must necessarily be hypothetical as to their quantities, but as to their quantities only; and even these will be capable of correction by a more careful survey of the facts. For the mathematical doctrine on which they proceed is rigorously true, and does not depend upon any hypothetical view of the structure of the masses which we have to deal with. Mr. Scott Russell. tells us that the wave of translation may be regarded as a mechanical agent for the transmission of power, as complete and perfect as the lever or the inclined plane. Assuming this property of the wave of translation as a basis, I shall point out some of the results of its operation in the case now to be considered. It has been stated to the Geological Society, that, by supposing the sudden elevation of a submarine


In this study, a subset of medical malpractice lawsuits that are preventable was evaluated using qualitative data. The objective of this study is to help reduce the number of avoidable medical malpractice lawsuits. This qualitative study could pave the way to future quantitative studies. The analysis of the qualitative data revealed that in the vast majority of medical malpractice lawsuits filed by patients and their families there were (1) an occurrence of unexpected bad outcomes, (2) inadequate explanation by the patient's physician, and (3) involvement of an instigator who encouraged the lawsuit. That is, the failure of a physician to provide an adequate explanation to a patient or the inappropriate conduct of a physician after unexpected bad results, with or without an instigator's involvement, is the main reason patients file medical malpractice lawsuits. The physician providing an adequate explanation to patients after unexpected bad results (adequate post-event explanation) is the pivotal determinative factor in preventing avoidable medical malpractice lawsuits.


This study was conducted in the poultry field of the Department of Animal Production at the University of Tikrit, Faculty of Agriculture, and the aim of this study was to know the effect of using rice bran at a rate of (0, 15, 20%) with and without adding a mixture of enzymes containing amylase, protease and cellulose by 0.5 g/kg in turkey rations for a period of 10 weeks, 120 unsexed Bronze turkeys were used. The birds were distributed into six treatments, each treatment included four replicates (cage) five birds. The results showed a significant superiority (P ≤ 0.05). For the second treatment (0 % rice bran + 0.5 g/kg mixture of enzymes) in live body weight, weight gain, feed conversion efficiency, while it was significantly (P ≤ 0.05) superior to the sixth treatment (20% rice bran + 0.5 g/kg mixture of enzymes) In feed consumption compared to the third treatment, and there were no deaths in any of the study treatments throughout the experiment period.


Abstract Introduction With an increase in the number of total joint arthroplasties, the count of prosthetic joint infections (PJIs) is also increasing and has become a nightmare for an orthopaedic surgeon. Microbiological diagnosis is important for administering definitive antimicrobial treatment. Negative culture reports hamper patient management and prolonged incubation periods have increased the culture yield but at the risk of culture contamination in conventional microbiology settings. Thus, we aimed to optimize the best incubation time for culture and the aerobic bacterial profile of PJIs. Material and Methods Over a year, samples from clinically suspected PJI patients were collected and processed for culture using standard techniques. The samples were incubated for up to 10 days with daily subculturing on to solid media. The bacterial isolates were identified and antibiotic susceptibility was performed. Results Out of 200 patients, 105 were included in the study and samples were collected in triplicate. In 70 cases culture was positive and 35 were culture negative PJIs. Mean incubation days to culture positivity was 3.6 days with 97.14% culture positivity seen by the seventh day of incubation. Twenty-four percent methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and more than 50% extended spectrum β lactamase producing Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli were isolated. Discussion Culture positivity in PJIs provides definitive evidence of infection and guides the treatment. Increasing the incubation times can help in maximizing the culture yield, and we found that 97.14% pathogens grew within 7 days of incubation. Prolonging it further would not provide an added advantage especially in a resource-constraint setting.


Introduction: Teeth with pathological mobility that are used as abutments due to their movement will not have the same insertion axis as the preparations on the plaster models. Material and Method: for the specific case with abutment teeth with mobility we have designed a non rigid connector to diminish the paraaxial forces apply on the supporting teeth. Results and Conclusion: The described protocol offered a conservative and reliable approach to patients affected by the periodontal disease.


Background: Rabies is a very fatal zoonotic disease, caused by a virus that enters the body after the bite of an infected animal, and migrates to the brain. Management of rabies animal bite transmission (GHPR) with post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) is the most important strategy for preventing rabies-related mortality. GHPR victims need the right PEP. Effective post-exposure provision depends on good individual awareness about rabies and access to health services. Objective: To find out the efforts made by the community in raising public awareness to get PEP by doing initial handling after GHPR appropriately. Methods: This systematic review begins by identifying the literature on scientific articles that have been published in 2014-2019 in international databases namely Proquest, ScienceDirect, Springer and Ebsco. Selection is done by PRISMA flow diagram and selected using JBI checklist format tools. Result: 9 relevant articles were obtained to be analyzed into a systematic review, namely 4 articles from the Proquest database, 2 articles from the ScienceDirect database and 3 articles from the Ebsco database. Discussion: Community efforts in initial treatment of victims exposed to GHPR are immediately carried out by applying wound washing, providing antiseptics and immediately to health care facilities to get further treatment. Conclusion: PEP is carried out immediately in the community when the victim is exposed. However, there are still people who do not wash wounds or do improper washing, use traditional medicines on wounds and visit traditional healers.


This paper describes an experimental study on the use of Ritz vectors for damage detection of a grid-type bridge model. A new procedure to extract Ritz vectors from experimental modal analysis is proposed and demonstrated using the test structure. The extracted Ritz vectors are then used for the damage detection of the test structure using a Bayesian probabilistic approach. Using appropriate load patterns, Ritz vectors can be made more sensitive to damage than modal vectors. The results indicate that the use of load-dependent Ritz vectors produce better damage diagnoses than the modal vectors. The Bayesian probabilistic approach is shown to give better diagnostic results than commonly used deterministic methods.


In this work we focus on reduced order modelling for problems for which the resulting reduced basis spaces show a slow decay of the Kolmogorov $n$-width, or, in practical calculations, its computational surrogate given by the magnitude of the eigenvalues returned by a proper orthogonal decomposition on the solution manifold. In particular, we employ an additional preprocessing during the offline phase of the reduced basis method, in order to obtain smaller reduced basis spaces. Such preprocessing is based on the composition of the snapshots with a transport map, that is a family of smooth and invertible mappings that map the physical domain of the problem into itself. Two test cases are considered: a fluid moving in a domain with deforming walls, and a fluid past a rotating cylinder. Comparison between the results of the novel offline stage and the standard one is presented.


Herein, we report a unique D-π-A-π-D type fluorescent probe. The probe, with a large π system and two ICT processes, was sensitive to intracellular viscosity. Furthermore, the probe was successfully applied for the two-photon imaging of intracellular viscosity.


I n this paper, I g -*-closed sets and I g -*-open sets are used to define and investigate a new class of functions called contra I g -*-continuous functions in ideal topological spaces. We discuss the relationships with some other related functions.


This paper presents a proposal for estimating land surface temperature (LST) for the metropolitan area of Rio de Janeiro (MARJ), Brazil, based on Landsat 5 and 7 data from 1984 to 2010. The main objective is to emphasize the need for greater accuracy in urban heat island studies, overlooking a series of essential steps to retrieve LST as close as possible to the true, including cloud masking techniques, atmospheric correction and surface emissivity.


This paper presents an analysis of a predictive control and its digital implementation on a high voltage, ultrasonic resonant frequency (20 kHz) direct power converter (DPC). An extension of the input current prediction is proposed to enable the practical implementation of the control technique. Results from a simulation study and from a prototype converter are presented. Good correlation between simulation and experimental results measured on a prototype are shown, confirming the feasibility of the approach


Topical corticosteroids are the mainstay of treatment in inflammatory skin diseases. Corticosteroids penetrate human skin, especially when the penetration barrier is damaged. Whether long-term application of topical corticosteroids can lead to alteration of immune responses is not clear. We sought to examine the impact of topical corticosteroids on immune responses in patients using long-term topical corticosteroids. Peripheral blood mononuclear cell proliferation in response to tetanus toxoid and tuberculin stimulation was studied, and tetanus toxoid-specific antibodies were examined with ELISA. The results showed that, compared with the control group, the stimulation indices of patients' peripheral blood mononuclear cell to tetanus toxoid and tuberculin stimulations were lowered, which was especially significant in the tetanus toxoid group. No significant decrease was found in serum levels of tetanus toxoid-specific antibody. The results suggest that topical corticosteroids can suppress cell-mediated immune response in patients using long-term topical corticosteroids.


Perovskite photoconductor-type photodetector with metal–semiconductor–metal (MSM) structure is a basic device for photodetection applications. However, the role of electrode interlayer in MSM-type perovskite devices is less investigated compared to that of the pin diode structure. Here, a systematic investigation on the influence of phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) and indene-C60 bisadduct (ICBA) interfacial layers for MSM perovskite photodetectors is reported. It is found that the fullerene-based interlayer significantly enhances the photocurrent of the MSM photodetectors. On one hand, the PCBM interlayer is more suitable for CH3NH3PbI3 photodetector, with the responsivity two times higher than that of the device with ICBA interlayer. The ICBA layer, on the other hand, becomes more effective when the band gap of perovskite is enlarged with bromine composition, denoted as CH3NH3Pb(I1−xBrx)3 ( 0 ⩽ x ⩽ 1). It is further found that the specific detectivity of photodetectors with ICBA interlayer becomes even higher than those with PCBM when the bromine compositional percentage reaches 0.6 ( x > 0.6 ).


The Middle Palaeolithic site Betovo was discovered in the early 1970s by L.M. Tarasov, who summarized data on paleoecology and habitat conditions on this site in a number of publications. However, the stratigraphic position of the deposits containing the cultural layer remained rather uncertain due to the fact that in the sections of the site it was not possible to identify the reference loess-soil horizons and data on the age of the cultural layer were not obtained. A comprehensive study of the site, renewed since 2007 under the direction of archaeologist A. K. Ocherednoi in the frame of the Verkhnyaya Desna expedition of the Institute for the History of Material culture RAS, permit to detail the deposition rhythmic during the Late Pleistocene and the stratigraphic position of the cultural layers in different parts of the site. By received 14 C data, the site was inhabited in the range of 28.5-36.0 cal kyr BP (calibrated dates), i.e., belongs to the end of the Valdai megainterstadial (the end of MIS 3). The small mammal fauna found in the 2 cultural layer of the Betovo site includes only the tundra and steppe species. The forest species are absent. The species richness of the Betovo fauna is very low, what also indicates the very severe climate during the end of MIS 3 in the Desna River basin. The received mammalian data clearly indicate the extremely harsh natural-climatic conditions of the time of habitation of the ancient man in the site - the conditions of tundra-steppe ("mammoth steppe").


In acute mental health inpatient units, it is not surprising that culture, peers, immediate management, and sources of support and acknowledgment all contribute to positive nursing outcomes. In this qualitative study, four questions targeting leadership, culture, support, and acknowledgement of work well done were asked of 40 registered nurses (RN) working in acute mental health units. Findings convey a mixed picture indicating variation across units. Three-quarters believe that senior nursing staff actively contribute to a positive working environment. Almost half of the RN nominated peers as the providers of counsel and support when required, and a similar percentage believed that senior nursing staff fulfil these roles. Of interviewees, 33% said their nursing achievements are never, or rarely, acknowledged. For these RN, management, peers, and nurse unit managers are the preferred personnel to provide appropriate positive feedback. Thus, there is a gap between the expectations and hopes that nurses have for senior management approaches and behaviours and the reality of their daily experience. Overall, the responses portray a culture that underpins and enables both subtle interpersonal interactions that might arise out of necessity given the perceived lack of support from non-hands-on RN and administrators.


Bisoprolol is a new cardioselective beta-blocker with a long half-life. The efficacy of once daily bisoprolol (10 mg) and atenolol (100 mg) was assessed in 20 patients with stable angina using a placebo controlled double-blind randomized crossover protocol. Efficacy was assessed by computer assisted treadmill exercise testing with monitoring of leads CM5 and CC5, carried out 22-24 h after the last dose. The mean +/- SEM exercise time on placebo was 6.5 +/- 0.4 min increasing to 7.8 +/- 0.5 min on bisoprolol (P less than 0.001) and 8.6 +/- 0.6 mins on atenolol (P less than 0.001). The time to 1 mm ST depression in CM5 and CC5 was also prolonged significantly with both drugs. The mean basal resting heart rate of 84 +/- 4 bpm decreased to 63 +/- 2 bpm on bisoprolol (P less than 0.001) and 64 +/- 3 bpm on atenolol (P less than 0.001), with a significant decrease in the peak exercise heart rate seen with both drugs (P less than 0.001). The peak rate-pressure product was 175 +/- 8 after placebo, 146 +/- 7 (P less than 0.001) with bisoprolol and 149 +/- 5 (P less than 0.001) after atenolol. One patient was withdrawn because he suffered a myocardial infarction. Eighteen patients were prescribed bisoprolol 10 mg once a day for 6 weeks and an exercise test was performed at the end of this period. Bisoprolol retained its efficacy at the end of this period and was well tolerated.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Introduction: Now Budesonide (Bu) is considered to be a unique medication of B safety group by FDA criteria, to be used in pregnants with persistent asthma as it was marked at GINA-2007. Same time the amount of pregnants with asthma controlled by Fluticasone/Salmeterol (Fl/S) or Budesonide/Formoterol (Bu/F) before pregnancy increases. Also it is considered that treatment, administered before pregnancy may be continued during pregnancy if the patients asthma was well controlled with the medication before pregnancy. The goal of the study was the comparison pregnancy duration, delivery and weight ratio of newborns in females with different severity of Asthma duration and various basic therapies. Materials and methods: Study group contributed 1010 Asthmatic females aged 17 - 43 years, followed up by our staff together with gynecologists since early terms of their pregnancy. Results: The frequency of gestational hypertension in patients, treated with Fl/S was significantly lower in comparison with Bu treated patients (p=0,028). Frequency of Caesarian section was significantly higher in Bu treated females in comparison with females, treated with Bu/F (p=0,02). Average weight ratio of kids born by females with severe Asthma was lowest in patients with severe Asthma, who were administered Bu (2895,6±189,9). Average weight value of kids, born by Fl/S administered females (3516,7±94,1), was above median value of Asthmatic females in total (3346,1±99,4). Conclusions: the combination of a LABA and an ICS is the preferred therapy in the cases of moderate and severe asthma in pregnants.


CONTEXT
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has been shown to be associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). Studies on healthy individuals found that OSA is associated with lower insulin sensitivity. We hypothesized that nocturnal hypoxemia from OSA is associated with poorer glycemia in severely obese DM individuals.

DESIGN AND SETTING
This was a retrospective observational study of 122 non-DM, 126 non-insulin-treated DM, and 35 insulin-treated DM patients. Data were collected on demographic characteristics, body mass index, and comorbidities. An overnight sleep study was performed in all patients, and OSA was defined as an apnea-hypopnea index of ≥5 events/h.

RESULTS
There were more males (P = .003) and a lower proportion of white Europeans (P = .010) among DM patients. The prevalence of OSA was 80.1% in DM and 63.1% in non-DM individuals (P = .001). DM individuals also had lower oxygen saturation (O2) (P = .0106), greater percentage of time spent under 90% oxygen saturation (%TST<90%) (P = .0067), and higher apnea-hypopnea index (P = .0085). Regression analysis showed that %TST<90% and minimum O2 saturations were associated with worse hemoglobin A1c results among DM individuals. Every 10% reduction in minimum O2 was associated with a 0.3% increase in HbA1c, whereas a 10% increase in %TST<90% was associated with a 0.2% increase in hemoglobin A1c after adjusting for a range of potential confounders.

CONCLUSION
The high OSA prevalence in DM individuals and a positive relationship between nocturnal hypoxemia and glycemia supports the need to assess correction of hypoxemia as a management strategy for glycemic control.


Cherry cultivation in the Carpathian basin area began more than 100.000 years ago. Adapting to the basin
specific ecological conditions resulted in high degree of genetic variability among the cherry cultivars. The SSR
(Simple Sequence Repeat) markers allow the discrimination of the cultivars and determination their specific DNA
fingerprints. Due to the high degree of polymorphism of microsatellite markers, generally only six SSR loci are
enough to differentiate the varieties. Microsatellite markers are used not only for cultivar identification but also for
the verification of synonyms and homonyms. Owing to their locus specificity and Mendelian codominant inheritance,
parentage can be clearly identified, primary and secondary relationships between the cultivars can be discovered.
The aim of this research was to characterize 29 sour cherry (
Prunus cerasus
L.), and 38 sweet cherry
(Prunus avium
L.
)
genotypes cultivated in Hungary to establish their DNA fingerprints in 6 SSR loci by allele numbers and sizes.


The increasing market penetration of plug-in electric vehicles also brings along a rising number of mobility service providers. This results in various business models competing against each other for the customer's favor. As a result various smart charging approaches will be pursued. This might lead to major interoperability issues for V2G communications, if standardization bodies do not wisely address them. Hence, this work derives a generic V2G information model allowing for mutual charge schedule negotiations between EVs and grid operators. Major requirements are derived from a holistic system model and respected by the proposed design. The proposed information model allows for efficient handling of multiple tariffs for charging EVs.


The objective of this study was to investigate, through the speeches of crack cocaine users, the reasons that lead them to combine crack cocaine with alcohol and the consequences of this combination, in Brazil. The lack of public policies and effective treatments has led crack cocaine users in Brazil to seek alternatives to cope with problems related to drug addiction. One adopted alternative is the consumption of crack cocaine together with other psychotropic drug. This study used the principles and instruments of qualitative research. A purposeful sample was constructed using key informants and gatekeepers whose sample size (N = 30) was defined by the theoretical saturation point. The study participants were subjected to in-depth interviews, and the responses were subjected to content analysis for the identification of thematic units. Alcohol use played many roles, including increasing the courage of drug users to go to the point of sale for psychotropic drugs, reducing thirst, and prolonging the positive effects of crack cocaine. The combination of alcohol and crack cocaine is commonly used to modulate the effects of the latter. A vicious cycle is established in which the consumption of alcohol stimulates the consumption of cocaine and vice versa. The participants also reported cost savings but admitted an increase in aggressiveness. The combined use of crack cocaine and alcohol can become a strong conditioned stimulus for the consumption of the former. The formation of the active metabolite cocaethylene in this drug combination may explain the prolongation of the effects of crack cocaine. Moreover, both drugs act in the mesolimbic dopaminergic system and consequently produce a synergistic effect. Severe outcomes such as cardiotoxicity, which can lead to death, in addition to aggression and the possibility of relapse to crack cocaine use, make this drug combination a public health problem that is greater than the individual consumption of these psychotropic drugs.


We seek to understand fundamental tradeoffs between the accuracy of prior information that a learner has on a given problem and its learning performance. We introduce the notion of prioritized risk, which differs from traditional notions of minimax and Bayes risk by allowing us to study such fundamental tradeoffs in settings where reality does not necessarily conform to the learner's prior. We present a general reduction-based approach for extending classical minimax lower-bound techniques in order to lower bound the prioritized risk for statistical estimation problems. We also introduce a novel generalization of Fano's inequality (which may be of independent interest) for lower bounding the prioritized risk in more general settings involving unbounded losses. We illustrate the ability of our framework to provide insights into tradeoffs between prior information and learning performance for problems in estimation, regression, and reinforcement learning.


Improved sensory and motor prostheses for the central nervous system will require large numbers of electrodes with low electrical thresholds for neural excitation. With the eventual goal of reducing stimulation thresholds, we have investigated the use of biodegradable, neurotrophin-eluting hydrogels (i.e., poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(lactic acid), PEGPLA) as a means of attracting neurites to the surface of stimulating electrodes. PEGPLA hydrogels with release rates ranging from 1.5 to 3 weeks were synthesized. These hydrogels were applied to multielectrode arrays with sputtered iridium oxide charge-injection sites. The coatings had little impact on the iridium oxide electrochemical properties, including charge storage capacity, impedance, and voltage transients during current pulsing. Additionally, we quantitatively examined the ability of neurotrophin-eluting, PEGPLA hydrogels to promote neurite extension in vitro using a PC12 cell culture model. Hydrogels released neurotrophin (nerve growth factor, NGF) for at least 1 week, with neurite extension near that of an NGF positive control and much higher than extension seen from sham, bovine serum albumin-releasing boluses, and a negative control. These results show that neurotrophin-eluting hydrogels can be applied to multielectrode arrays, and suggest a method to improve neuron-electrode proximity, which could result in lowered electrical stimulation thresholds. Reduced thresholds support the creation of smaller electrode structures and high density electrode prostheses, greatly enhancing prosthesis control and function.


Application of terahertz (THz) radiation in novel non-invasive biomedical technologies has recently received considerable attention. However, experimental data about the safety of exposure to THz radiation for biological objects (including eye structures in vivo) are limited. To our knowledge, the safety of THz reflectometry (frequency range of 0.30-0.40 THz) has not been closely examined in an animal model with subsequent morphological assessment of corneal tissues.

PURPOSE
To assess the safety of pulsed THz radiation with various parameters (time, power, and frequency) for the cornea in a rabbit model.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
The sample for the current study consisted of 18 Chinchilla rabbits (18 eyes). Corneal imaging and epithelial cell density before and after the exposure were evaluated using confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). The histological study for objective assessment of the cornea state (day 1 and day 14) was performed after experiment termination.

RESULTS
Single and multiple exposures of laser radiation at a frequency below 0.1 THz and power density below 30 nW/cm2 do not cause visible structural changes in any layers of the rabbit cornea. The results obtained in the long-term period showed insignificant reversible morphological changes only within the epithelium.

CONCLUSION
The described parameters of terahertz and subterahertz radiation can be considered safe for assessing changes in corneal epithelium hydration level using non-invasive methods based on THz reflectometry.


The importance of the finding of specific antibodies in urotuberculosis and its importance for surgical indications are emphasized. The various antibodies and their evaluation in the followup of urotuberculosis are described. Case reports are given to show the value of the immunology in tuberculosis for the surgical selection of patients.