The method of calculating the wave and friction resistance of different ship hull forms by using analytical hull grid surface have been described in this paper. The analytical grid is a set of frames and waterlines of the ship hull, which are described by the equation of ship versiera. The comparisons of calculated wave resistance with experimental data have been made for Todd's series 60 model and for the river vessels «Sevan» and «Rodina». The calculated friction resistance has been compared with the calculated friction resistance obtained by using a friction extrapolator for all these vessels and also for the analytical Weinblum – 1100 model. The comparisons of the calculations with experimental data has confi rmed the possibility of using these worked out methods in the practice of designing displacement vessels.


In this paper, we propose a data based neural network leader-follower control for multi-agent networks where each agent is described by a class of high-order uncertain nonlinear systems with input perturbation. The control laws are developed using multiple-surface sliding control technique. In particular, novel set of sliding variables are proposed to guarantee leader-follower consensus on the sliding surfaces. Novel switching is proposed to overcome the unavailability of instantaneous control output from the neighbor. By utilizing RBF neural network and Fourier series to approximate the unknown functions, leader-follower consensus can be reached, under the condition that the dynamic equations of all agents are unknown. An O(n) data based algorithm is developed, using only the network's measurable input/output data to generate the distributed virtual control laws. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach.


The Halstead-Reitan Battery (HRB), including the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, was administered to 15 young chronic schizophrenic patients in an attempt to identify blindly those patients with evidence of morphological brain abnormalities on prior computed tomography (CT). The CT scan status of 12 of 15 (80 per cent) patients was correctly identified solely on the basis of neuropsychological testing. These results supported our hypothesis that impairment on the HRB in chronic schizophrenic patients was associated with morphological abnormalities on the CT scan, and that the positive and negative CT scans of these patients could be predicted accurately.


Abstract Dermanura Gervais, 1856 is represented by small frugivorous bats of the Stenodermatinae subfamily. The taxonomy of this group presents controversies and has been subject to changes, especially since the morphological characters evaluated have left gaps that are difficult to fill regarding good species characterization. Previous studies performed in Dermanura cinerea Gervais, 1856 found that the karyotype of this species has a diploid number of chromosomes equal to 30 and 56 autosomal arms. The objective of the present study was to describe, for the first time, the karyotypes of the species Dermanura anderseni (Osgood, 1916) and Dermanura gnoma (Handley, 1987) based on classical cytogenetic markers. For both species, the diploid number found was 2n = 30 and NFa = 56. Two pairs of chromosomes showed markings of the nucleolus organizing regions (AgNORs) in the species D. anderseni and only one pair in D. gnoma, differing from what has already been described for D. cinerea. The two species analyzed here also showed differences in the sex chromosome system, with D. gnoma showing a neo-XY type system while in D. anderseni the classic XY sexual system was observed. In both species, visualization of the constitutive heterochromatin occurred in the pericentromeric region of all chromosomes, as well as in the short arms of the subtelocentric chromosomes. The present work represents an important expansion of karyotypic information for the subfamily Stenodermatinae, bringing chromosomal features that are possible to use in the taxonomic implications of the group.


This paper reports the measured effects of suffusion, a type of internal erosion, on the physical and geo-mechanical properties of soils including permeability, volume change, compressive strength, and soil grains gradation. A poorly graded river sand with the addition of 10 % kaolinite clay was used to create three gap-graded soils and an unaltered poorly graded "original soil." Testing was performed using a modified triaxial apparatus that permits seepage through compacted specimens and allows collection of effluent and eroded soils. The specimens, 5.1 cm in diameter and 10.2 cm in length, were monitored for changes in volume and permeability during the suffusion tests. After erosion, the specimens were compressed using the consolidated-undrained (CU) test. The collected effluent samples were dried to determine the erosion rate and eroded soil particle gradations with respect to effluent volume. Companion control specimens were tested without erosion. The results revealed that suffusion may affect some physical and geo-mechanical properties of soils. Permeability reduction was generally observed in all soils, indicating fine grains migration and clogging within the specimens. The three gap-graded soils each exhibited a greater degree of internal erosion (suffusion), permeability reduction, and volume change than the original soil. The experimental setup and testing protocol also provided a feasible methodology for further research on the effects of suffusion on the physical and geo-mechanical properties of soils. Limitations of this research and future research recommendations on this topic are provided at the end of this paper.


Coordinate‐transformation‐inspired optical devices have been mostly examined in the continuous‐wave regime: the performance of an invisibility cloak, which has been demonstrated for monochromatic excitation, is likely to deteriorate for short pulses. Here, pulse dynamics of flexural waves propagating in transformed plates is investigated. A practical realization of a waveshifter and a rotator for flexural waves based on the coordinate transformation method is proposed. Time‐resolved measurements reveal how the waveshifter deviates a short pulse from its initial trajectory, with no reflection at the bend and no spatial and temporal distortion of the pulse. Extending the strategy to cylindrical coordinates, a wave rotator is designed. It is demonstrated experimentally how a pulsed plane wave is twisted inside the rotator, while its wavefront is recovered behind the rotator and the pulse shape is preserved, with no extra time delay. The realization of the dynamical mirage effect is proposed, where an obstacle appears oriented in a deceptive direction.


It has recently been argued that certain areas of discourse, such as discourse about matters of taste, involve a phenomenon of ''faultless disagreement'' that rules out giving a standard realist or contextualist semantics for them. Thus, it is argued, we are left with no choice but to consider more adventurous semantic alternatives for these areas, such as a semantic account that involves relativizing truth to perspectives or contexts of assessment. I argue that the sort of faultless disagreement present in these cases is in fact compatible with a realist treatment of their semantics. Then I briefly consider other considerations that might be thought to speak against realism about these areas of discourse. I conclude with the tentative suggestion that realism about matters of taste is far more plausible (at least in some cases) than most philosophers believe today.


The word 'hierarchy' goes back to the Greek word ' ierarw ia' (hierarchia): ''rule of a high priest'', and at first it described the ranking of the sanctifications in churches. Thus, historically, the word hierarchy was not created with respect to materials or porous systems in particular. However, hierarchy or hierarchical systems are everywhere around us, with or even without our specific knowledge. Hierarchy is an organisational principle of nature. Indeed, one can find this principle everywhere, in natural, ecological, and even in social and technical systems. Thus, many materials derive their function through a hierarchical organisation of their structural elements. Self-organisation processes typically lead to these specific structures. Hierarchy is always related to properties such as strength, chemical composition, or transport related properties like flux, flow profiles etc. Thus, also the porosity of natural structures such as bones as well as the circulatory system and the anatomy of the a Erlangen Catalysis Resource Center, FriedrichAlexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Egerlandstr. 3, 91058 Erlangen, Germany. E-mail: email@example.com; Fax: +49-9131-8567401; Tel: +49-9131-8528792 b Institute of Chemical Reaction Engineering, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Egerlandstr. 3, 91058 Erlangen, Germany. E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com; Fax: +49-9131-8527421; Tel: +49-9131-8528910


A novel 3-arm spiral antenna structure is presented in this paper. This antenna similar to traditional two-arm or four-arm spiral antennas exhibits wideband radiation characteristic and circular polarization. Advantages offered by the new design are two fold. Unlike the traditional spiral antennas the three-arm spiral can be fed by an unbalanced transmission line, such as a coaxial line or coplanar waveguide, and therefore an external balun is not needed at the feed point. Also by proper choice of arms' dimensions the antenna can be directly matched to any practical transmission line characteristic impedance and therefore external matching networks are not required. This is accomplished by feeding the antenna at the outer radius by a coplanar waveguide (CPW) transmission line and tapering it towards the center. The antenna can also be fed from the center using a coaxial or CPW line perpendicular to the plane of the spiral antenna. A full-wave numerical simulation tool is used to optimize the geometry of the proposed 3-arm spiral to achieve a compact size, wide bandwidth operation, and low axial ratio. The antenna is also designed over a ground plane to achieve a unidirectional radiation and center loading is examined that improves the axial ratio. Simulated results like return loss, radiation pattern, gain, and axial ratio are compared with those obtained from measurements and good agreements are shown. Because of its unique feed structure and compact size, application of the proposed 3-arm spiral antenna for wideband array applications is demonstrated


Efficient nitrogen (N) fertilizer management in crop production is based on supplying adequate amounts of the nutrient for optimum economic yield, while minimizing losses to the environment. Exploiting genotypic differences in N use is an additional consideration in achieving nutrient-use efficiency. Thus, in order to identify N-efficient corn genotypes, we established N-response field trials at 2 locations (University Research Farm, and Cutaem) for 2 years (1999, 2000) in the Cukurova region of Turkey. Ten corn genotypes, commonly grown in the region, were fertilized with N at application rates of 160, 240, 320 and 400kg N ha –1 . The optimum N fertilizer rate was probably in the 160-240kg N ha -1 rate based on response data. There were no significant or consistent differences between genotypes and N application for grain yield and N uptake. The average agronomic efficiency ranged between 20 to 65% across the genotypes and decreased with increasing N application rates. The pattern was similar for other efficiency indices with decreases with applied N, but little or no genotype differences. It is apparent that the genotypes used were bred for N as well as yield. There was little evidence of differences between genotypes or their response to N. Thus, while genotypic selection of corn can be one of the suitable potential N management practices in the Mediterranean region where genetic diversity exists, it is not appropriate considering genotypes are homogenous with respect to N use.


Background: Dyslipidemia and pancreatitis have been associated with many malignant diseases. Patients with Acute lymphoblastic leukemia on asparaginase therapy may develop pancreatitis and lipid abnormalities. This study done to investigate clinical significance of altered lipid profile in patient with ALL on L- asparaginase therapy. Methodology : A prospective study involving 80 patients with different age and gender (25% female, 75% male) patient with ALL (88% T. cell, 12% B. cell) patient divided to two group; 40 (50%) child with age range (1-14 years) and 40 (50%) were adult with age (> 14 years). Fasting serum cholesterol (CH), triglyceride(TG), low density lipoprotein(LDL), high density lipoprotein(HDL) and serum pancreatic lipase, were obtained. Results: Eighty patient with acute lymphoblastic leukemia were studied an altered in lipid profile was observed during therapy with L-asparaginase especially(CH,TG,LDL,HDL, Lipase) the means(183.7 mg/dl ,159.8mg/dl), adult (87.5mg/dl, 173.7), (85.9mg/dl, 49.3mg/dl), (24.5mg/dl, 23.8), (43.2 U/L ,49.2 U/L) respectively .After therapy(CH ,TG,LDL,HDL, Lipase) the means were(131.2mg/dl , 137mg/dl), (147.5 mg/dl ,173.7mg/dl), (75.2 mg/dl ,108.4), (40.13mg/dl, 38.9mg/dl), (89.8 U/L,73.0 U/L). Cholesterol level was higher before the initiation of therapy and decreased after therapy. Triglyceride level increases after chemotherapy and these were statistically significant (p-value = 0.000). Conclusion: dyslipidemia and pancreatitis associated with L-asparaginase therapy in acute lymphoblastic leukemia.


Objective:This study was designed to investigate whether there was influence on behavior and memory senility caused by D-galactose in rats which were injected with resveratrol in a certain dose. Methods:One hundred mice were randomly divided into 5 groups according to injection condition(normal saline,D-galactose,low,middle and high dose of resveratrol). The D-galactose group and resveratrol group were continually injected with D-galactose for 72 days. And the resveratrol group was continually injected with resveratrol from the 23th day to the 72th day. After these animal models were finished,they were undergone these tests including Y type maze step through test. Morris maze test and lipofuscin guantitative analysis. Results:There was no statistical difference between low dose of resveratrol and models. Such differences of swimming length and the mumbers through the flat roof in Morris maze and the right numbers in Y type maze through test and the brain lipofuscin content were statistically valid by spss analysis between the D-galactose group and the middle and high dose of resveratrol group(P0.05),but there was no statistical difference between middle and high dose of resveratrol groups. Conclusion:The middle and high dose of resveratrol can improve the behavior and memory senility caused by D-galactose,and can inhibit the development of the brain lipofuscin.


The implementation of Knowledge Management in Organization is a must for any organizations in Globalizationera. The Knowledege Management combined with InformationTechnology is a key success factor for sustainable organization. The Information in Knowledge Management should be readyand easy to access from anywhere and anytime. The problem ininformation is the data is too much, and spread out anywhere inmany formats. In this condition, the user may not find theinformation or wasting time to search the correct informationaccording to their needs. The Knowledge Management System isdeveloped to answer the needs to find the data with efficient, reliable, and trust. The Knowledge management keeps the datasystematically, and easy to find based on several indicatordetermined by user. The saved information is available to alllevel in organization, from operational, tactical to strategic levelaccording to their position. The success of Knowledgemanagement is depend on the information technology. Thetechnology should be suitable with the system and support interms of scalability, security and mobility. The technology willcreate the Knowledge Repository, to enable data and informationis kept secure. The Knowledge Repository operation andmaintainance is designed with the concept of Data Warehouse. The knowledge will grow each time and the structure will growalong the grow of data. In this research, the model is PTAutochem Industry, the retail organization of HealthCare. Theorganization has 24 branches in Major Cities in Indonesia. Theproblem arise when 150 marketers need to handle more than 100products. The marketing has some difficulties in understood 100products with their uniqueness, and the strategy of marketing inhealthcare product. By using Knowledge Management, marketing can more efficient and productive in handling marketfor healthcare produ


Extracellular single unit recordings were made from 318 neurons within the midbrain central gray in urethane-anesthetized rats. Following electrical stimulation of the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVH), 10% of the units in central gray (CG) were antidromically activated, while 7.5% were orthodromically excited, and 0.7% were orthodromically inhibited. Among these antidromically activated neurons, 28 units were further examined for their responsiveness to peripheral somatic sensory stimulation. Strong electrical stimulation of contralateral sciatic and tibial nerve, and tail pinching produced excitation in 12 and inhibition in 2 units. No significant responses to non-noxious stimulation were observed in these units. Of the 26 orthodromically activated units, 14 were excited and 4 inhibited by the sciatic nerve stimulation or tail pinching. These results support the hypothesis that CG is one of the relay stations in the afferent pathway of somatic sensory especially, noxious, information transmitting to the PVH, and that the PVH may play a role in central pain control or modulation via their descending influence on CG unit.


The review analyses the language of the Manual for Building Designers and Constructors (2009). It identifies and scrutinizes mistakes of lexis, syntax, and style, since such mistakes are the most common in the publication analysed. A closer look to this manual was encouraged by the survey carried out in 2010 that interviewed students of the VGTU  Faculty of Construction and employees in the construction sector. The said survey results showed that the Manual for Building Designers and Constructors is one of the most popular publications both among the students of the Construction faculty and construction sector employees. The current review attempts to draw the attention of editors and scien- tific authors to the necessity to comply with codification, since scientific literature written in the correct language, firstly, encourages pedagogues to abandon the practice of learning from one's mistakes, and, secondly, it contributes to the formation of the skills of fluent and normative usage of language.


When ringing derivatives are used in seismic modeling, migration, and other wave propagation problems in heterogeneous media, they interact with boundaries of blocks or layers of different physical properties, generating noncausal and nonphysical waves. These spurious waves can be as strong as reflected or converted waves and other legitimate physical events, leading to errors and misinterpretations. Therefore, compact (i.e., short and nonringing) derivatives should be used.


Tapping into the wisdom of the crowd, social tagging is becoming an increasingly important mechanism for organizing and discovering information on the Web. Effective tag-based recommendation of information items is one of the key technologies contributing to the success of this social information discovery mechanism. A precise understanding of the information structure of social tagging systems lies at the core of an effective tag-based item recommendation method. While most existing methods either implicitly or explicitly assume a simple tripartite graph structure, in this paper, we propose a comprehensive data model to capture all types of co-occurrence information in the social tagging context. Based on this data model, we further propose a unified user profiling scheme to make full use of all available information. Finally, supported by this user profile, we propose a framework for collaborative filtering in social tagging systems. In this framework, we first generate joint item-tag recommendations, with tags indicating topical interests of users in target items. These joint recommendations are then refined by the wisdom from the crowd and projected to the item (or tag) space for final item (or tag) recommendations. Empirical evaluation using real-world data demonstrates the utility of our proposed approach.


Summary
The in vitro translation of beet necrotic yellow vein virus RNA-1 was investigated in rabbit reticulocyte lysate and in wheatgerm extract using as messenger either RNA extracted from virions or a synthetic RNA-1 produced by in vitro transcription of full-length cDNA. In wheatgerm extract, RNA-1 directed the synthesis of approximately equivalent amounts of two long polypeptides of approximate M
r 220000 (220K) and 240K. The size of the translation products of 3′-truncated RNA-1 transcripts suggested that synthesis of the 240K translation product was initiated at an AUG near the 5′ terminus, probably AUG(154), the first initiation codon in the RNA-1 sequence. The 220K polypeptide is initiated internally, at AUG(496). In rabbit reticulocyte lysate only the internal initiation codon, AUG(496), was used for initiation on full-length RNA-1 although AUG(154) was accessible on short 3′-truncated transcripts.


Description: "How large are the differences between the two samples to be matched?" "Can I use the measurement technique to help reproduce the color of a sample?" These two questions can be critical to the successful completion of a sale or the budgeting of a product, run, but they are not always easily answered. Some color measurement software systems give the appearance of greater accuracy than they can actually deliver. Practical Color Measurement tells you everything you need to know about the principles and limitations of computerized color measuring systems. Mathematics and optical theory are kept to a minimum, replaced by numerous real–life examples based on normal production samples, detailed tables, and the practical knowledge gained by Anni Berger–Schunn through many years of professional experience and research. You will learn how to: Apply critical analysis to the numbers supplied by color measurement systems Determine just how large the difference between two samples is Use the measuring technique to help reproduce the color of a sample And more


Abstract. Heterogeneous ice nucleation impacts the hydrological cycle and climate through affecting cloud microphysical state and radiative properties. Despite decades of research, a quantitative description and understanding of heterogeneous ice nucleation remains elusive. Parameterizations are either fully empirical or heavily rely on classical nucleation theory (CNT), which does not consider molecular-level properties of the ice-nucleating particles – which can alter ice nucleation rates by orders of magnitude through impacting pre-critical stages of ice nucleation. The adsorption nucleation theory (ANT) of heterogeneous droplet nucleation has the potential to remedy this fundamental limitation and provide quantitative expressions in particular for heterogeneous freezing in the deposition mode (the existence of which has even been questioned recently). In this paper we use molecular simulations to understand the mechanism of deposition freezing and compare it with pore condensation freezing and adsorption. Based on the results of our case study, we put forward the plausibility of extending the ANT framework to ice nucleation (using black carbon as a case study) based on the following findings: (i) the quasi-liquid layer at the free surface of the adsorbed droplet remains practically intact throughout the entire adsorption and freezing process; therefore, the attachment of further water vapor to the growing ice particles occurs through a disordered phase, similar to liquid water adsorption. (ii) The interaction energies that determine the input parameters of ANT (the parameters of the adsorption isotherm) are not strongly impacted by the phase state of the adsorbed phase. Thus, not only is the extension of ANT to the treatment of ice nucleation possible, but the input parameters are also potentially transferable across phase states of the nucleating phase at least for the case of the graphite/water model system.


It has been largely assumed that the mendicant friars, particularly Franciscans, had a tradition of the study of natural philosophy, since a good number of medieval scholars interested in this discipline were Franciscan friars. However, some historical facts render such an assumption invalid. Concentrating on the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, this paper investigates whether the interest of some of the Franciscans in natural philosophy can be accounted to the whole Order, and whether there was a deliberate policy of the Order imposed through the constitutions. The examination of the evidence points to the conclusion that the Franciscan attraction to natural philosophy was limited to the masters in Paris and Oxford who, in the main, were trained in arts prior to their entry into the order, and that their involvement in natural philosophy was an extension of the general interest present in these two main university towns.


Imam Muhammad al-Jawad played , like his purified fathers , a great role in explaining the situation of imamate as an important ideological origin and the elements which it stand on . He emphasized his right in it through a scientific and brave protest . According to all these scientific justification .I wrote this research about him and his attitudes . The research divided into four topics and a conclusion .


We report five cases of choledochocele and propose five anatomic variants (types A-E) on the basis of endoscopic retrograde cholangiography findings. To clarify pathophysiology of the disease manometric studies were performed in the three cases. As a result, the orifice of the cele was proved to act like a sphincter. Two of them with normal motility of the orifice showed normal pressures in the cele. However, one case with spastic motility of the orifice showed high pressure in the cele. All five cases had chronic pancreatitis. In a case (type E) without communication between the cele and the pancreatic duct, the cause of pancreatitis seemed to be increased pancreatic ductal pressure due to disturbed motility of an inflamed pancreatic sphincter. In the other four cases with communication between the cele and the pancreatic duct, the cause of pancreatitis may be a reflux of bile juice into the pancreatic duct. Manometric study seems to be useful in clarifying the pathophysiology of choledochocele.


Introduction Blood velocity and quantitative parameters such as wall shear stress (WSS) can be investigated non-invasively with 4D Flow MRI, and a comparison of these parameters between patients with ruptured and un-ruptured intracranial aneurysms (IAs) has been suggested to be useful in the differentiation between aneurysms at risk for rupture and stable aneurysms. In this context, although ruptured IAs cannot be easily scanned with 4 D flow MRI in-vivo, these, like un-ruptured IAs, can be modeled and 3D printed. The upscaled 3 D printed flow phantoms can then be scanned with 4D Flow MR at unsurpassed conspicuity. Herein, we investigate the feasibility of measuring detailed blood flow information in small IAs in-vivo (less than 7 mm in size) and comparing the data with data obtained from scanning in-vitro scaled-up and 3D printed models of the same IAs. Methods Four patients presenting with one, and one patient presenting two incidentally discovered small aneurysm(s) were scanned with 4D flow sequences at 7Twith a resolution of 0.76 × 0.76 × 0.8 mm3. Based on non-invasive imaging studies, the same aneurysms were numerically modelled, upscaled, 3D printed and assembled in an MR-compatible, dynamic flow circuit filled with a fluid chosen for its Reynolds and Womersley numbers. 4D Flow MR data were then acquired at 3T with this setting. Results In the patient with two IAs, one was missed (positioning error) while the other proved to be too small (<2 mm) to be captured at 0.76 × 0.76 × 0.8 mm3 resolution, suggesting that 2 mm may be the lower limit of our current protocol. When successful, however, 4D Flow at 7 Tesla revealed sharply defined velocity vectors and derived parameters. 3T measures of 4D Flow in the upscaled 3D printed replica of the same aneurysms (figure 1) demonstrated fairly similar velocity patterns when compared to in-vivo data.Abstract P-010 Figure 1 (Top) a flow-chart illustration of combined 4D flow MRI in-vivo + in-vitro approach for hemodynamic analysis of IAs; (Bottom) comparison of measured velocity fields between in-vivo & in-vitro trials using 3D streamline and velocity ISO-surface representations Conclusion We successfully obtained sub-millimetric in-vivo 4D Flow scans in small IAs at 7T. 4D Flow at 3T of aneurysm-specific 3D printed replicas yielded flow patterns comparable to those obtained in-vivo. These findings suggest that a larger comparative study of upscaled 3D printed of ruptured and unruptured small IAs could provide useful insight into the role of hemodynamics in rupture of small IAs. Disclosures B. Jagadeesan: 1; C; Microvention, Medtronic. 2; C; Microvention, CvRx. M. Toloui: None. O. Amili: None. S. Schmitter: None. S. Moen: None. K. Ugurbil: None. A. Grande: None. F. Coletti: None. P. Van de Moortele: None.


The resilience of a healthcare system hinges on the adaptability of its teams. Thus far, healthcare teams have relied on well-defined scopes of practice to fulfill their safety mandate. While this feature has proven effective when dealing with stable situations, when it comes to disruptive events, healthcare teams find themselves navigating a fine balance between safety and resilience. Therefore, a better understanding of how the safety vs resilience trade-off varies under different circumstances is necessary if we are to promote and better train for resilience in modern healthcare teams. In this paper, we aim to bring awareness to the sociobiology analogy that healthcare teams might find useful during moments when safety and adaptability have the potential to conflict. Three principles underpin the sociobiology analogy: communication, decentralization, and plasticity. Of particular interest in this paper is plasticity whereby swapping roles or tasks becomes an adaptive, rather than a maladaptive, response teams could embrace when facing disruptive situations. While plasticity has naturally evolved in social insects, infusing plasticity in healthcare teams requires intentional training. Inspired by the sociobiology analogy, such training must value the ability: a) to read each other's cues and miscues, b) to step aside when others had the necessary skills, even if outside their scope, c) to deviate from protocols, and d) to foster cross-training. If the goal is to increase a team's behavioural flexibility and boost their resilience, this training mindset should become second nature.


Methods Sixteen male mice were randomly divided into 4 groups: control (ordinary feeding), D-gal (D-galactose) group, D-gal + MSC (human umbilical cord Wharton jelly cells), and D-gal + MSC-TNFα groups. Except for the control group (fed with same amount of saline solution), other mice received gastric feeding of 250 mg/kg D-galactose every day for 8 weeks. TNFα (10 ng/mL for 24 h) cocultured or noncocultured HUCWJCs (5 × 105) were suspended in 0.1 ml of sterile PBS and injected into tail veins every other week in D-gal + MSC-TNFα and D-gal + MSC groups, respectively, and only 0.1 ml of sterile PBS for control and D-gal groups. The bone mass was detected by qPCR, ELISA, microcomputed tomography (μCT), and hematoxylin-eosin staining. Proliferation, apoptosis, and differentiation of periosteal-derived osteoblasts (POB) were assessed. Transwell assay and scratch healing were performed to detect POB migration and invasion ability. The effect of HUCWJCs on POB signaling pathway expression was evaluated by immunoblotting. Results The malondialdehyde (MDA) in serum was higher and superoxide dismutase (SOD) was lower in the D-gal group compared to the other groups (p < 0.05). Mice in D-gal group showed significantly decreased bone mass when compared to the control group, while HUCWJCs treatment partially rescued the phenotype, as demonstrated by μCT and histology (p < 0.05). Mechanically, HUCWJCs treatment partially promoted proliferation and migration and decreased apoptosis of POB induced by oxidative stress via activating the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway. Conclusion HUCWJCs can prevent the progression of osteoporosis by inhibiting oxidative stress, which may act by regulating osteoblasts fate through the MAPK signaling pathway.


The following study provides new insight into how surface topography dictates directed collective epithelial cell sheet growth through the guidance of individual cell movement. Collective cell behavior of migrating human corneal limbal-epithelial cell sheets were studied on highly biocompatible flat and micro-patterned silk film surfaces. The silk film edge topography guided the migratory direction of individual cells making up the collective epithelial sheet, which resulted in a 75% increase in total culture elongation. This was due to a 3-fold decrease in cell sheet migration rate efficiency for movement perpendicular to the topography edge. Individual cell migration direction is preferred in the parallel approach to the edge topography where localization of cytoskeletal proteins to the topography's edge region is reduced, which results in the directed growth of the collective epithelial sheet. Findings indicate customized biomaterial surfaces may be created to direct both the migration rate and direction of tissue epithelialization.


The synthesis of a new endo-calix[4]naphthalene is described. The reaction sequence involves the cyclocondensation of a key bisnaphthylmethane intermediate (8) with formaldehyde. This key intermediate (8) is formed using a modified Suzuki-Miyaura Pd-catalyzed cross-coupling reaction between bromomethylnaphthyl (6) and naphthylboronic acid (7), both of which can be derived from 2-hydroxynaphthoic acid.


The issue of the decoupling of extreme type-II superconducting thin films with weakly Josephson-coupled layers in magnetic field parallel to the layers is considered via the corresponding frustrated XY model used to describe the mixed phase in the critical regime. For the general case of arbitrary field orientations such that the perpendicular magnetic field component is larger than the decoupling crossover scale characteristic of layered superconductors, we obtain independent parallel and perpendicular vortex lattices. Specializing to the double-layer case, we compute the parallel lower-critical field with entropic effects included, and find that it vanishes exponentially as the temperature approaches the layer decoupling transition in zero field. The parallel reversible magnetization is also calculated in this case, where we find that it shows a crossover phenomenon as a function of parallel field in the intermediate regime of the mixed phase in lieu of a true layer-decoupling transition. It is argued that such is the case for any finite number of layers, since the isolated double layer represents the weakest link.


Streptomycetes are filamentous soil bacteria that are used in industry for the production of enzymes and antibiotics. When grown in bioreactors, these organisms form networks of interconnected hyphae, known as pellets, which are heterogeneous in size. Here we describe a method to analyze and sort mycelial pellets using a Complex Object Parametric Analyzer and Sorter (COPAS). Detailed instructions are given for the use of the instrument and the basic statistical analysis of the data. We furthermore describe how pellets can be sorted according to user-defined settings, which enables downstream processing such as the analysis of the RNA or protein content. Using this methodology the mechanism underlying heterogeneous growth can be tackled. This will be instrumental for improving streptomycetes as a cell factory, considering the fact that productivity correlates with pellet size.


This paper presents relationships between organizational innovation and organizational work performance mediated by work resources of the Korean public-sector organizations. Previous studies have addressed innovation performance. This study aimed to find the causal-effect relationships among those constructs through work resources that empowered the impact on the organizational work performance as the outcome. The issue of public-sector organizations in terms of organizational innovation, work resources and organizational work performance are discussed, and the variables are briefly explained in the study. Through the survey data from Korean Institute of Public Administration (KIPA), we applied structural equation modeling to analyze the data. The results found that organizational innovation positively influenced organizational work performance, which was triggered by the mediation effect of organizational work resources in Korean public-sector organizations. Finally, the implications and contributions are discussed.


BACKGROUND
Treatment burden represents the work patients undertake because of their healthcare, and the impact of that effort on the patient. Most research has focused on older adults (65+) with multiple long-term conditions (MLTC-M) but there are more younger adults (18-65) living with MLTC-M and they may experience treatment burden differently. Understanding experiences of treatment burden, and identifying those most at risk of high treatment burden, are important for designing primary care services to meet their needs.

AIM
To understand the treatment burden associated with MLTC-M, for people aged 18-65 years, and how primary care services affect this burden.

DESIGN & SETTING
Mixed-methods study in 20-33 primary care practices in two UK regions.

METHOD
i. In-depth qualitative interviews with adults living with MLTC-M (approximately 40 participants) to understand their experiences of treatment burden and the impact of primary care; with a think-aloud aspect to explore face validity of a novel short treatment burden questionnaire for routine clinical use (STBQ) in the initial 15 interviews. ii. Cross-sectional patient survey (approximately 1,000 participants) with linked routine medical record data to examine the factors associated with treatment burden for people living with MLTC-M, and to test the validity of STBQ.

CONCLUSION
This study will generate in-depth understanding of the treatment burden experienced by people aged 18-65 years living with MLTC-M, and how primary care services affect this burden. This will inform further development and testing of interventions to reduce treatment burden, and potentially influence MLTC-M trajectories and improve health outcomes.


This study has investigated the perception by New Zealand (NZ) managers of the relative importance of the skills and competencies they have and how they might go about acquiring those they perceive they need. Although there are a considerable number of studies on managerial skills and competencies, the literature is still inconclusive and much of it does not refer specifically to NZ. Therefore, the study undertook an online survey using a pre-structured questionnaire to collect primary data from managers of NZ firms. The results show that NZ managers rate interpersonal skills and communication skills higher than coaching and technical skills, and that they view 'on the job experience' as their primary source for up-skilling. Those who use training providers to up-skill prefer private to government-owned providers. The key attributes most favoured by managers are honesty, integrity and trustworthiness, with creativity the least favoured. It is a cause for concern to the future development of NZ firms that managers appear to place so little value on creativity. Therefore, study suggests that owners and directors should encourage their managers to consider creativity as a necessary attribute for enhancing innovation and competitiveness. The findings of this study may be of interest to managers, firms, training providers, researchers, and policy makers.


Increased longevity is associated with an increase in multiple chronic conditions. Given the importance of regular physical activity in the prevention of control of these conditions in old age, the aim of this study was to compare the cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and plasma lipids (i.e., total cholesterol [TC], low density lipoprotein cholesterol [LDLC], high density lipoprotein cholesterol [HDLC], and triglycerides [TG]) in age-matched, physical active Japanese older men (i.e., runners [R, n = 21] and walkers [W, n =21]) and sedentary (controls [C, n = 23]. Oxygen uptake corresponding to lactate threshold (R 23.2 ± 4.0 ml/kg/min, W 17.0 ± 2.3 ml/kg/min, C 15.0 ±  2.9 ml/kg/min) and maximal oxygen uptake (R 41.3 ±  6.4 ml/kg/min, W 31.6  ±  2.7 ml/kg/min, C 25.4  ±  4.9 ml/kg/min) were both significantly higher in R and W than C (R >W). LDLC (R 109  ±  20 mg/dl, W 139  ± 38 mg/dl, C 173  ±  36 md/dl) was significantly higher in C than W and R (W> R). TF ( R 88  ±  52 mg/dl, W 122  ± 63 mg/dl, C 138  ±  66 mg/dl) was significantly lower in R than C, and tended ( p = 0.07) to be lower than W. HDLC (R 70  ± 17 mg/dl, W 52 ± 12 mg/dl, C 54  ±  10 mg/dl) was significantly higher in R than C or W. These findings confirm that better CRF and blood lipid levels are associated with physical activity in old age, and provide further evidence that greater benefits are associated with higher exercise intensities in Japanese older men.


The objective of this paper was to assess the occurrence of thyroid cancer in Poland between 1980 and 2000 concerning incidence, hospitalisation and mortality. The frequency of thyroid cancer is relatively low - 0.5% in men and above 2% in women among all malignant. Mortality of thyroid cancer is on the low, stable level - 0.45 death per 100 000 in men and 1.05 in women. Hospital morbidity caused by thyroid cancer is almost three-fold higher then incidence. In the framework of 1980-2000 the substantial increase of incidence was observed especially since 1991 in women and in 1992-1993 and 1999-2000 in men. It could be associated with the pause in iodine prophylactic in 1980. Factors such radiation from medical treatment, ionising radiation as well as environmental, nutrition and genetic conditions may play role as a risk factors. In the last years slightly increase of incidence of thyroid cancer was observed in the population of 0-15. It could be possible caused by radiation after accident of the Chernobyl.


The purpose of this study is to design a Balanced Scorecard performance measurement that is integrated with Six Sigma methods in PT Jasuindo Tiga Perkasa, Tbk. Balanced Scorecard is a performance measurement method that includes the measurement of four perspectives; financial perspective and the other three non-financial perspectives (customer perspective, internal business processes perspective, and learning and growth perspective). This measurement method is integrated with DMAIC process (definition, measurement, analysis, improvement, control). Analysis technique is to identify the vision, mission, objectives, SWOT analysis and company strategy. Based on the measurement using key performance indicators of each perspective, the analysis is done in case of the decrease in performance, and focuses on finding control and solution to improve the performance. This study also measures the level of Six Sigma, where the company managed to achieve sigma level of 6.20, or 99.999869%. The re-sults obtained from the measurement are in accordance with the key performance indi-cators in which 1) there is an increase in financial perspective 2) there is a decrease in customer perspective, 3) there is an increase in internal business process perspective, and 4) there is a decrease in learning and growth perspective.


This paper analyses the position of the full age and mentally competent patient in exercising his or her right of autonomy to refuse treatment by giving an advance will or directive to the doctors in the lights of the United States and Canada laws. Even though there is a presumption that Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation; a treatment for cardiac arrest has to be given to the patient. The decision as to whether to withhold or withdraw such a treatment lies with health practitioners, and the court will only intervene on certain situations in the United States. However, in Canada, neither consent nor a court order in lieu is required for a medical doctor to issue a non-resuscitation direction where, in his or her judgment, the patient is in an irreversible vegetative state.


The article reveals the essence of the concepts of «professional activity» and «training for professional activity» and approaches to their interpretation in modern scientific research. The general definition of «professional activity» is given; we define this notion in our study as a systematic human activity of a specialist in a particular field, who has special training, definite responsibilities and professional tasks should be performed to meet its own needs and to develop a socially significant product, or to provide high quality services. The purpose of the article is to substantiate the importance of students-pharmacists training for future professional activity during the study of the block of chemical disciplines at all stages of degree education in the system of college and medical academy. The authors` understanding of approaches in training for professional activity in the system of college and medical academy is shown; the professional activity is developed by the formation of chemical competence due to organization of chemical disciplines trainings which as much as possible model real industrial situations for a worker of pharmaceutical branch. The article presents some results of an anonymous questionnaire about organization of the chemical disciplines block distance learning in the educational platform «Moodle», they confirm the key role of a teacher in the educational process and recognize the prerogative of live communication over the virtual one. A number of measures have been identified to help to train future pharmacists for their professional activities, they include: adjusting the curriculum, adding Підготовка до професійної діяльності майбутніх фармацевтів у процесі вивчення блоку ... © Людмила Романишина © Микола Лукащук 272 professional topics to the curricula of chemical disciplines, adding a lot of laboratory and practical work lessons that simulate the professional activity of a pharmaceutical worker, expanding the base of tasks and situational tasks, coordination of the system of interdisciplinary relations, creation of information support didactic complex for the block of chemical disciplines training. There is emphasized the special role of information and communication technologies in the chemical disciplines block teaching while the pharmacists training for a professional activity. The directions of further researches are defined; they are directed on studying approaches to the organization and functioning of the home chemical laboratory which could be in use of talented students and its influence on a level of educational achievements in the chemical disciplines block learning, the formation of the future pharmaceutical branch workers professional identity and approaches to their choice of individual educational trajectories. The study used data from psychological and pedagogical sources and from scientific research. The comparative method of analysis is applied.


This paper reviews some recent developments concerning the role of genetic factors in alcoholism. The accumulated evidence suggests that genetic factors do play an important role in determining the alcoholism risk. However, the search for the specific genetic influences operating in this disorder is complicated by the existence of genetic heterogeneity, the absence of simple Mendelian models, and the impact of environmental factors in producing the final level of risk. After reviewing the complexities existing in this area, the author describes the efforts of his own research group to investigate the biological and genetically controlled risk factors at work in alcoholism. Through an ongoing longitudinal evaluation of sons of alcoholics and controls, the author's group has identified the potentially genetically influenced attribute of relatively low levels of sensitivity to an alcohol challenge as an important risk factor for the subsequent development of alcoholism.


This study explored the association between childhood sexual abuse, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and adult functioning in a risky sample of Men who have sex with men (MSM). Four hundred eighty-five men participated in The Men's Health Survey, an online survey assessing MSM Health, stressful life events, sex, and coping. MSM were recruited from social media venues and internet message boards marketed toward men looking for sexual encounters in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Chicago, Washington D. C., and Atlanta. Twenty nine percent of the sample (n = 140) reported non-consensual sexual activity before the age of 16. Twenty-eight percent (n = 148) of the total sample screened positive for symptoms of PTSD. PTSD scores varied significantly by participants' HIV status: 61% (n = 50) of HIV positive men screened positive for PTSD, versus 17% (n = 54) of HIV negative men and 38% (n = 34) of men with an unknown status. Ninety percent of HIV positive MSM with a history of Childhood sexual abuse screened positive for PTSD. Having a history of both childhood sexual abuse and PTSD predicted a fear of intimacy, poorer health outcomes, and drug abuse. Neither PTSD nor childhood sexual abuse were associated with sexual risk. Empirical models organizing these relationships were tested via structural equation modeling. PTSD mediated the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and fear of intimacy and poorer health outcome.


Ozone concentrations tend to be substantially lower indoors than outdoors, largely because of ozone reactions with indoor surfaces. When there are no indoor sources of ozone, a common condition, the net concentration of gaseous products derived from indoor ozone chemistry scales linearly with the difference between outdoor and indoor ozone concentrations, termed "ozone loss." As such, ozone loss is a metric that might be used by epidemiologists to disentangle the adverse health effects of ozone's oxidation products from those of exposure to ozone itself. The present paper examines the characteristics, potential utility, and limitations of the ozone loss concept. We show that for commonly occurring indoor conditions, the ozone loss concentration is directly proportional to the total rate constant for ozone removal on surfaces (ksum) and inversely proportional to the net removal of ozone by air exchange (λ) plus surface reactions (ksum). It follows that the ratio of indoor ozone to ozone loss is equal to the ratio of λ to ksum. Ozone loss is a promising metric for probing potential adverse health effects resulting from exposures to products of indoor ozone chemistry. Notwithstanding its virtues, practitioners using it should be mindful of the limitations discussed in this paper.


Abstract A study was conducted to determine the abundance of potential foods and the feeding substrates and behaviors of the western cherry fruit fly, Rhagoletis indifferens Curran (Diptera: Tephritidae), in 2005, 2006, and 2007 in central Washington state. Aphid colonies with honeydew, a presumed food source for flies, were not seen on randomly selected branches of sweet cherry trees, Prunus avium L., but leaves with cherry juice, fruit that were damaged, and leaves with bird feces were commonly seen, especially later in the season. Grazing, a behavior in which the mouthparts rapidly move up and down and touch plant surfaces without discrete substances visible to the human eye, was seen more frequently in flies on leaves than on fruit. Grazing occurred more frequently than feeding on extrafloral nectaries (EFNs) on leaf petioles, cherry juice on leaves, and bird feces on leaves. The percentages of females and males that grazed on leaves were not different in 2 of 3 yr, but the percentage of females that grazed was higher in a third year. Percentages of female and male flies that fed on EFNs, cherry juice, and bird feces did not differ. More flies grazed the tops than bottoms of leaves. Flies also grazed on leaves of apple, pear, and grape. The results support the hypotheses that R. indifferens feeds mostly on leaves rather than fruit and that leaf surfaces may be the main feeding substrates for R. indifferens throughout the season.


Unemployment is at a low and stable level in Denmark. This achievement is often attributed to the so-called flexicurity model combining flexible hiring and firing rules for employers with income security for employees. Whatever virtues this model may have, a low and stable unemployment rate is not automatically among them since the basic flexicurity properties were also in place during the 1970s and 1980s where high and persistent unemployment was prevalent. Labour market performance has changed due to a series of reforms during the 1990s, the main thrust of which were a shift from a passive focus of labour market policies to a more active focus on job search and employment. The policy tightened eligibility for unemployment benefits and their duration as well as introduced workfare elements into unemployment insurance and social policies in general. Thereby policy makers attempted to strengthen the incentive structure without taking resort to general benefit reductions. We argue that the workfare policies have played an important role running primarily via motivation/threat and wage effects. However, active labour market policies are resource demanding, and although the workfare reforms have improved cost effectiveness, there is still an issue as to whether the resources going into active labour market policies are used efficiently. JEL Code: J30, J40, J60, H53. Torben M. Andersen School of Economics and Management University of Aarhus 8000 Aarhus Denmark email@example.com Michael Svarer School of Economics and Management University of Aarhus 8000 Aarhus Denmark August 2007 This paper is based on presentations on the Danish flexicurity model in various places, including the Danish Ministry of Finance, Danmarks Nationalbank, the Swedish Ministry of Labour, the EU commission, and an IMF-workshop. We thank for comments and suggestions which have significantly influenced this paper. We thank Birgitte Højklint for reading the manuscript.


Indiscriminate use of organophosphorus compounds (OPC) increases the potential threat of self-poisoning and death. To make a conclusive diagnosis on academic interest a retrospective record-based study was undertaken. Postautopsy studies were carried out on 100 victims of OPC poisoning by collecting data from following 3 sources: Medicolegal autopsy reports, inquest reports, and inpatient case sheets. Mode of ingestion of OPC was to commit suicide. Incidence was more in 20 to 30 years age group, in females and in urban area. Diagnosis was confirmed by history of poison exposure, clinically well-defined cholinergic effects, and characteristic autopsy findings. Early and correct identification of the cause of poisoning enables specific treatment. Restrictions on access of very toxic pesticides through national policies and enforcement, public education on storage and safe use, early recognition of poisoning, and appropriate medical management may reduce the incidence of poisoning and death.


Sarcoma is a relatively rare malignant disease with high mortality, bad prognosis and response to conventional therapy. Two possible models of this disease were tested: the K2 rat sarcoma cell line, which was described previously, and the new rat R5-28 cell line derived from a spontaneously growing rat neoplasm with sarcoma morphology. While all rats inoculated with K2 cells developed tumours at 22th-25th day after inoculation (D = 22-25), only 60%-75% of R5-28-inoculated rats were affected by tumours. The frequency and progress of the disease depended on the number of inoculated cells. No metastases were detected in both cases. All affected animals showed large splenomegaly. A possible response of some immune system components to tumours was tested. No tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes were revealed in the tumour tissue. Anti-tumour antibodies were not found in tumour-bearing animal sera. Appropriate changes in peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets were explored. While the relative numbers of both NK cells and Tc were impaired, no changes were noted in numbers of CD4+CD8- T helper cells. Leukocytosis with highly increased numbers of CD11b+ myeloid cells displaying variable expression of CD4 was detected in terminal stages of the disease.


Purpose To identify gene variants associated with anisometropia development in children. Methods This is a population-based, cross-sectional, and longitudinal genetic association study involving 1057 children aged 6 to 10 years with both baseline and 3-year follow-up data. Six single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), ZC3H11B rs4373767, ZFHX1B rs13382811, KCNQ5 rs7744813, SNTB1 rs7839488, PAX6 rs644242, and GJD2 rs524952 were analyzed in all children. Anisometropia was defined by an interocular difference in SE of ≥1 diopter (D) (Aniso-SE) and an interocular difference in axial length (AL) of ≥0.3 mm (Aniso-AL), respectively. Genetic associations of individual SNPs and joint SNP effects were analyzed. Results ZFHX1B rs13382811 was associated nominally with Aniso-AL (odds ratio [OR], 1.66; P = 0.003) at baseline. At 3 years, rs13382811 was significantly associated with Aniso-AL (OR, 1.49; P = 0.001) and became nominally associated with Aniso-SE (OR, 1.40; P = 0.01). In addition, PAX6 rs644242 was significantly associated with Aniso-AL at 3 years (OR, 1.45; P = 0.002). At the 3-year follow-up, PAX6 rs644242 was associated significantly with Aniso-AL development (OR, 1.61; P = 0.0003) and nominally with Aniso-SE development (P = 0.03) in children who were not anisometropic at baseline, whereas ZFHX1B rs13382811 was associated nominally with Aniso-AL development (P = 0.02). An additive SNP analysis indicated children carrying the risk allele T of ZFHX1B rs13382811 and allele A of PAX6 rs644242 might have a 4.33- and 6.90-fold of increased risk of Aniso-SE and Aniso-AL development by 3 years, respectively. Conclusions This study identified two susceptible gene variants, ZFHX1B rs13382811 and PAX6 rs644242, for anisometropia development in Hong Kong Chinese children, implicating their role in imbalanced refractive change and axial elongation between both eyes.


Background Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) are a common cause of emergency department (ED) visits and hospital admissions in Kampala, Uganda. The objective of this study was to assess determinants of ED discharge disposition based on patient demographic and injury characteristics. Four ED outcomes were considered: discharge home, hospital admission, death, and others. Methods This prospective study was conducted at Mulago National Referral Hospital, Kampala, Uganda, from May 2016 to July 2017. Patients of all age groups presenting with TBI were included. Patient demographics, external causes of injury, TBI characteristics, and disposition from EDs were noted. Injury severity was estimated using the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), Kampala Trauma Score (KTS), and the Revised Trauma Score (RTS). A multinomial logistic regression model was used to estimate conditional ORs of hospital admission, death, and other dispositions compared with the reference category "discharged home". Results A total of 3944 patients were included in the study with a male versus female ratio of 5.5:1 and a mean age of 28.5 years (SD=14.2). Patients had closed head injuries in 62.9% of cases. The leading causes of TBIs were road traffic crashes (58.8%) and intentional injuries (28.7%). There was no significant difference between the four discharge categories with respect to age, sex, mode of arrival, cause of TBI, place of injury, type of head injury, transport time, and RTS (p>0.05). There were statistically significant differences between the four discharge categories for a number of serious injuries, GCS on arrival, change in GCS, and KTS. In a multinomial logistic regression model, change in GCS, area of residence, number of serious injuries, and KTS were significant predictors of ED disposition. Discussion This study provides evidence that ED disposition of patients with TBI is differentially affected by injury characteristics and is largely dependent on injury severity and change in GCS during ED stay. Level of evidence Level II.


BACKGROUND
Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), is an emerging topic in Europe as a consequence of the increasing proportion of women migrating from Africa. The prevalence of FGM/C is however unknown in Europe, as there are no country-representative surveys on this topic. The aim of this study is to provide an estimate for Italy for the year 2010.

METHODS
This study relies on the results of the First Survey on Women at Risk of FGM/C held in Italy in 2010. This cross-sectional survey involved 1000 migrants from the main FGM/C practicing countries aged 15-49 living in the Italian region of Lombardy. The estimate presented is based on a method combining direct estimates for the communities involved in the survey and indirect estimates for other communities. Indirect estimations were obtained using a refinement of the most general extrapolation-of-country-prevalence-data method.

RESULTS
It is estimated that some 57 000 foreign girls and women aged 15-49 with FGM/C were living in Italy in 2010. The Nigerian community is the most affected, with around 20 000 women with FGM/C (35.5% of the total number women affected in Italy), followed by the Egyptian community (around 18 600 women with FGM/C; 32.5%). Another 15% of the women affected are from the Horn of Africa, notably from Ethiopia (3200 women; 5.5%), Eritrea (2800 women; 4.9%) and Somalia (2300 women; 4%).

CONCLUSIONS
This study offers an additional methodological advancement by proposing a combination of direct and indirect estimation of FGM/C. The results are crucial information to plan interventions and targeted policies.


The group isomorphism problem consists in deciding whether two input groups G/sup 1/ and G/sup 2/ given by their multiplication tables are isomorphic. We first give a 2-round Arthur-Merlin protocol for the group non-isomorphism problem such that on input groups (G/sup 1/, G/sup 2/) of size n, Arthur uses O(log/sup 6/ n) random bits and Merlin uses O(log/sup 2/ n) nondeterministic bits. We derandomize this protocol for the case of solvable groups showing the following two results: (a) We give a uniform NP machine for solvable group non-isomorphism, that works correctly on all but 2/sup polylog(n)/ inputs of any length n. Furthermore, this NP machine is always correct when the input groups are nonisomorphic. The NP machine is obtained by an unconditional derandomization of the AM protocol. (b) Under the assumption that EXP /spl nsube/ i.o.PSPACE we get a complete derandomization of the above AM protocol. Thus, EXP /spl nsube/ i.o.PSPACE implies that group isomorphism for solvable groups is in NP /spl cap/ coNP.


1. 19 strains of non-hemolytic hemophilic bacilli were studied. 17 required the addition of V and X growth accessory factors to their media, 2 required the addition of only V. 2. Of 15 strains of hemolytic hemophilic bacilli examined, 10 were found to require the addition of only V to their media, 3 the addition of V and X in the form of yeast extract and hematin, and 2 the addition of accessory growth factors in the form of blood. 3. In media to which neither V nor X had been added true symbiosis was found to occur on growing B. hemoglobinophilus canis, requiring the addition of X, with B. parainfluenzæ, requiring the addition of V, or with hemolytic strains of bacilli, requiring the addition of only V.


While substantial effort has been invested in modelling changes in species distribution with climate change, less attention has been given to how climate warming will affect interactions among co-occurring species, and the cascading functional consequences. In this study, realistic dung beetle communities were subjected to an experimental warming treatment and the net effect on the functions of dung decomposition (in terms of dung mass) and plant productivity (in terms of biomass production of ryegrass grown on soil from underneath the dung pats) were examined. A priori, we hypothesized that the largest tunneling species would be functionally dominant, and be differently affected by experimental warming compared to pat-dwelling, smaller species. In terms of dung decomposition, the largest beetles did prove to be the functionally most important, with the qualitative pattern unaffected by experimental warming. In contrast, for plant productivity all species appeared equally important under ambient conditions. However, the effects of single species on plant productivity were reduced as temperature increased: In a warmed climate, a combination of both tunneling and pat-dwelling species came the closest to returning ecosystem functioning to levels found in the ambient treatment. These results suggest different roles for different species, and highlight the importance of maintaining multiple species within an ecosystem – particularly when systems are perturbed.


This study aims at identifying interpretable factors underlying Japanese language learners' attitudes toward kanji and their self-reported kanji learning strategies. It also examines the relationship between the two sets of belief factors. A questionnaire survey was conducted among Japanese language students at nine universities in the United States; 311 responses were subjected to exploratory factor analyses that identified six attitudinal factors and six strategy belief factors. Descriptive statistics indicated that students considered rote memorization most effective and metacognitive strategies least effective. Correlational analyses revealed that appreciation of the cultural value of kanji and positive emotions toward kanji were associated with stronger belief in varied strategies. Perception of difficulty and belief in special abilities required for kanji learning, in contrast, were associated with reliance on rote memorization.


Earthquakes represent a major natural hazard, potentially resulting in loss of life and economic loss. For people who live in regions affected by major earthquakes, hazard-mitigation and risk-management decisions need to be made. These decisions must be based on forecasts of future earthquake rates. Existing technology does not allow direct prediction of future earthquakes, however. Instead, prior catalogs must be used to forecast future rates. The key basis of earthquake hazard analysis is thus, in a broad sense, the analysis of seismicity (Bolt, 1978). Seismotectonics is also often a substantial component of seismic hazard analysis and requires knowledge of the regional and local seismicity, geology, and tectonics.

In Egypt the population as well as archaeological sites and sensitive construction are concentrated within a narrow belt around the Nile Valley, and buildings are not designed to resist earthquakes. Therefore relatively moderate earthquakes can be the source of huge socio-economic disasters. Recent damaging earthquakes (1969, 1974, 1981, 1992, 1995, 1999, and 2002) have called attention to the need for a better understanding of the seismicity and seismotectonics of Egypt, especially in and near populated areas and other strategic locations. The present study represents an attempt to re-evaluate earthquake activity in Egypt during the last century, synthesizing information from newly available comprehensive catalogs. Focal mechanism solutions of recent earthquakes and recalculations of old mechanisms, in addition to published CMT solutions, are used for better understanding of the seismotectonics of Egypt.

Egypt has a very long historical record of earthquakes going back four millennia. Moreover, detailed and reliable information is available for several destructive earthquakes in both historical and recent times. Based on various published catalogs, we have constructed a new comprehensive catalog of earthquakes recorded in the vicinity of Egypt from 2200 B.C. to 2004. The new catalog is available upon request to …


Amphiphilic polypeptide-containing hybrid dual brush block copolymers with controlled molecular weights and narrow molecular weight distributions were synthesized in one pot via ring-opening metathesis polymerization of sequentially added norbornyl-PEG and N-(2-((trimethylsilyl)amino)ethyl)-5-norbornene-endo-2,3-dicarboximide (M1) followed by ring-opening polymerization of amino acid N-carboxyanhydrides. Polylactide nanoparticles coated with these am phiphilic dual brush block copolymers showed significantly improved stability in PBS solution compared to those coated with amphiphilic linear block copolymers such as PEG-polylactide and PEG-polypeptides.


Netherton syndrome (NS) is a rare congenital ichthyosis that is characterized by impaired skin barrier function. Topical medications are cautiously used in NS since toxicity from systemic absorption is a major concern. Narrowband ultraviolet B phototherapy is an alternative therapeutic option that demonstrated its beneficial and practical use in a patient with NS.


ObjectiveTo investigate the effect of recombinant human erythropoietin (r-HuEPO) administration on perioperative hemoglobin concentrations and on the number of blood transfusions in patients undergoing surgery for gastrointestinal tract malignancies. Summary Background DataErythropoietin has been shown to improve the yield of autologously predonated blood and to reduce the subsequent requirements for homologous blood transfusions in cancer patients. MethodsIn this double-blind placebo-controlled study, 31 cancer patients received subcutaneous r-HuEPO in a dose of 300 IU/kg body weight plus 100 mg iron intravenously (study group) and 32 patients received placebo medication and iron (control group). All patients received the medications daily for at least 7 days before and 7 days after the operation. ResultsPatients who received erythropoietin received significantly fewer transfusions intraoperatively and postoperatively. Postoperatively, the study group had significantly higher hematocrit, hemoglobin, and reticulocyte count values compared to the control group. The use of erythropoietin was also associated with a reduced number of postoperative complications and improved 1-year survival. ConclusionsPatients with gastrointestinal tract cancer and mild anemia benefit from perioperative erythropoietin administration in terms of stimulated erythropoiesis, reduction in the number of blood transfusions, and a favorable outcome.


This paper presents a study on estimation of heat transfer coefficient and thermal diffusivity parameters by use of analytical solutions and experimental data for regular geometries (infinite slab, infinite cylinder and sphere). Analytical solutions have a broad use in experimentally determining these parameters. These solutions, with use of experimental data, might give a greater advantage over use of other methods, e.g., the lumped system approach or empirical equations. In the present work, the method of finite integral transform (FIT) was used for solutions of governing differential equations. The temperature change at centerline location of cylindrical objects (Aluminum and Brass) were recorded to determine both the thermal diffusivity in a highly agitated water medium and heat transfer coefficient in air and water mediums . Then, with the known slop of the temperature ratio vs. time curve and radius of the cylindrical material, thermal diffusivity value or heat transfer coefficient may be determined. For all experiments, excellent agreement was obtained between the experimental results and the actual data. This method may also be used to find out the precise geometric location of the thermocouples placed in the samples to measure the temperature change. In this research, thermocouple location for a spherical object was determined. This technique would be much faster and easier compared to the other methods used for this objective.


PROF. W. MCDOUGALL'S recent book, An Outline of Psychology, may be regarded as the latest of a series of expositions of the structure and functioning of the mind, but despite its manifest excellences there can be little doubt that in the future systematic psychologists will have to take very much more account of so-called ' deep analysis ' than they have hitherto been able to do. In his Outline we have the most complete analysis of the mind up to date along the lines of ordinary normal psychology, using material and data obtainable by anvone who restricts his attention to the study of his own consciousness and of the behaviour of other normal human beings and animals. Deep analysis, however, is not content to observe the surface of the mind, but pushes enquiry further and further back; and, in pushing that enquiry back, obtains by its own methods a greater and greater wealth of material, and draws conclusions from that material according to certain laws, comparing it also with material obtained by close and prolonged studies of pathological cases. Such a method of deep analysis throws a somewhat different light on the whole matter. It is not that we wish to explain the normal in terms of the abnormal, but these great experiments made by nature upon the human mind do magnify certain lines of functioning, and so make them observable, w-hereas in the past they have been overlooked. It will be remembered that McDougall's general conception of the structure of the mind is that it is built upon a foundation of instinctive dispositions. These dispositions are conative in nature, they show characteristics of purpose. and reveal themselves in consciousness as different forms of emotional activity so that we have, corresponding to various fundamental instincts, various fundamental forms of emotion. After these fundamental instincts have been discovered and enumerated, McDougall proceeds to describe what he calls secondary emotions, which are due to the simultaneous activity of two or more instinctive dispositions. As an example of such an emotional compound we may take the anger and disgust felt towards anyone who has been guilty of a mean action. That feeling carries with it two corresponding impulses: anger to destroy or injuire the person; and disgust to keep clear of, and have nothing to do with, him. And then McDougall proceeds in his latest book to improve upon the system of emotions he gives in his Social Psychology by bringing in derived emotions; and this is a very important class, because it shows that he is not unaware of modes of production of emotion which psychopathology has forced upon our notice for some years past.


the human mind, including language and theories as well as works of art, science, and technology. The crux of the matter lies in the interaction between these worlds, and I do not see that the argument is altered by making the unit an extended system of modules rather than "centres" or single cells. The analysis of fully conscious intelligence as an interaction between worlds 2 and 3, with the use of artefacts and speech to amplify memory and permit model building at mental as well as physical levels, is illuminating and the reconstruction theory of learning is thought-provoking. The relationship between evolution of speech and selfawareness is important. The body image concept and the results of callosal section are discussed in an interesting way; are the parietal lobes more important than the frontal for self-consciousness? Mountcastle seems to be moving in that direction. A goal-directed brain which learns from experience by action and selection is certainly a better bet for further evolution than one depending on conditioned reflexes and associations (pace the behaviourists), and it can create its own evolutionary pressures. Both authors agree that the organisms only learn from experience if they are active. They are particularly impressed by Held and Hein's cats. It is also agreed that organisms actively try to impose guessed regularities (and, with them, similarities) upon the external world as it is seen by the sense organs and the self-conscious mind scanning whatever cerebral modules happen to be "open" (Eccles calls it the liaison brain), coupled with memory stores and affective drive from the limbic system. The argument leads them to conclude that the "self" can actively modify the activity of "its" brain. For this reason they reject parallelism in favour of a ghost in the machine. It is not the Ego, and the Soul is an embarrassing term: the emperor is wearing new clothes! So Eccles follows Sherrington and Granit into the dualist camp but cannot suggest a mechanism for a wind without a functioning brain unless it has a supernatural origin. Back to the Golden Bough. As to the question of what is the self-conscious mind, Popper does not think that the question is important. You must make up your own mind (actively of course).


RF cold test of a novel C-band cavity beam position monitor (PBM) to be used in the SDUVFEL Test Facility is described. The test results are presented and some characteristics discussed. The main parameters obtained are in reasonable agreement with the analytical estimations. Effective suppression of the common mode has been demonstrated. The position sensitivity over the test region of ±0.5 mm is about −21.58 dB/10 μm for the TM110 mode and is linear in the central region of the BPM cavity.


Time changes the methodology of investigating global social processes. It is useless to attempt to make them fit rigid patterns, to establish "obligatory" models for the course of history. Relatively reliable prognoses require a certain fullness of political facts, a knowledge of their nature, and an understanding of the real needs of ethnic groups and states.


The article focuses on issue of differentiation in the classroom. Differentiation is a powerful education tool for teachers who understand diverse student academic needs, interests, readiness level and respond them positively. The implementation of differentiation strategy is aimed at maintenance of students' potentials and educational achievements. The present paper outlines the benefits of differentiation in the classroom, methods for differentiating instructions and assessment. One of the differentiating strategies is tiered assignments. It is based on main stages: preassessment, flexible grouping formation, tired instructions and final assessment. Each tier carries the same workload and learning objective but the nature of the task varies. Tiered instructions are tasks at varied levels of complexity and with various degrees of scaffolding. Six ways to tier a lesson are described in the article: by challenge level, by complexity, by resources, by outcome, by process, by product. This strategy helps teachers to achieve learning objectives and encourage studying for all students without exception. The tiered strategy proves that students are more successful when they are taught based on their own readiness levels, interests, and learning profiles.


A new method is proposed to calculate the Gruneisen parameter directly from the experimental Hugoniot data, without any assumption on the lattice vibrational mode of the material being studied. Compared with the results calculated by the methods proposed previously, the values of the Gruneisen parameter calculated have three distinguishable features that support the rationality of the method. A new phenomenon that the lattice vibrational mode changes with the thermodynamic state of the solid has been first observed from the calculated results, which implies that the material parameter g, characterizing the lattice vibrational mode, is material dependent rather than a material constant.


: Techniques for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) surgery have evolved from the traditional open procedures to arthroscopically assisted procedures. The rationale for arthroscopically assisted ACL reconstruction includes small incisions, no disruption of the extensor mechanism, shorter hospitalizations, reduced postoperative pain, and faster rehabilitation. A stepwise approach for ACL reconstructions is presented.


Present-day scenarios demand high computational power, compact, fast, and less power-hungry components. To resolve these critical issues one attempt is to integrate emerging magnetic devices with existing conventional technologies. The applications in which accuracy can be compromised to some extent in a trade-off for other attributes like energy, area, and delay is approximate computing. An efficient full adder circuit is crucial for arithmetic operations. This paper proposes a novel spintronic approximate full adder circuit based on an emerging magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) which offers partial non-volatility, low energy consumption, area efficiency, and speed over an exact adder. By performing the simulations, the effect of STT, SHE, and VCMA switching schemes are demonstrated on the performance of the adders. The superiority of the proposed adder circuit at the fixed optimum value of VCMA and Hext over the existing adder is also shown. The proposed design has an exact carry output and approximate sum output with an accuracy of 62.5%.


Physicochemical characteristics of chicken-thigh emulsion manufactured with different concentrations of NaCl (0, 0.3, 0.6, 0.9, 1.2, and 1.5%) were examined. Moisture and ash contents of samples containing 1.2% and 1.5% NaCl were significantly higher than those of the other samples (p<0.05). Protein contents decreased with increasing NaCl concentration. The pH values of batters significantly decreased with increasing NaCl concentration (p<0.05). The lightness values of uncooked and cooked samples showed an upward trend with increasing concentration of NaCl. Redness and yellowness values of uncooked batters containing 1.2% and 1.5% NaCl were significantly lower than other samples (p<0.05). The cooking yield and viscosity of the samples increased with increasing NaCl concentration. Samples containing 1.2% and 1.5% NaCl showed higher viscosities than the controls and samples containing 0.3-0.9% NaCl. Therefore, it can be concluded that addition 1.2% NaCl in chicken thigh products is beneficial.


Forty years ago, in a dormant Commerce Clause dispute over dairy regulation, Justice Robert Jackson wrote what many regard as the strongest post-Lochner ode to laissez faire economics in the Court's modern jurisprudence. Yet this standard reading of the majority opinion in H.P. Hood & Sons v. DuMond presents certain puzzles: Why would an icon of Roosevelt's New Deal write an anti-regulation manifesto, as some of his New Deal contemporaries on the Court alleged? And why would recent conservative justices echo these liberals' attacks on this supposed laissez faire streak in dormant Commerce Clause anti-discrimination doctrine? Inspired by these puzzles and recent developments under the Roberts court, and relying on historical materials including Jackson's own papers, Professor Konar-Steenberg argues that Hood has been misunderstood and misinterpreted for four decades. Jackson's liberal contemporaries misunderstood Hood to revive Lochner-era economic substantive due process under a new constitutional guise. More recently, conservative jurists have misinterpreted Hood as a laissez faire precedent in order to discredit the opinion because it hinders their project of revitalized state power.


Small object detection (SOD) is significant for many real-world applications, including criminal investigation, autonomous driving and remote sensing images. SOD has been one of the most challenging tasks in computer vision due to its low resolution and noise representation. With the development of deep learning, it has been introduced to boost the performance of SOD. In this paper, focusing on the difficulties of SOD, we analyze the deep learning-based SOD research papers from four perspectives, including boosting the resolution of input features, scale-aware training, incorporating contextual information and data augmentation. We also review the literature on crucial SOD tasks, including small face detection, small pedestrian detection and aerial image object detection. In addition, we conduct a thorough performance evaluation of generic SOD algorithms and methods for crucial SOD tasks on four well-known small object datasets. Our experimental results show that network configuring to boost the resolution of input features can enable significant performance gains on WIDER FACE and Tiny Person. Finally, several potential directions for future research in the area of SOD are provided.


The aim of this study was to provide a description and evaluation of birth outcomes for women who started care at Føderiket Midwifery Unit (FMU), a freestanding midwifery unit in Oslo. FMU opened in 2007 as a five-year project. It was closed in 2011 for economic reasons, and the planned evaluations were never performed. Data from 495 women who started care at FMU were prospectively collected. Socio-demographic characteristics, transfers to hospital, maternal and neonatal outcomes were described. The findings showed that 115 (23%) of the women were primiparous and 380 (77%) multiparous. A total of 408 women (82%) had no complications and no need for additional medical treatment during labour and birth. There were 73 (15%) transfers before birth, and 14 (3%) after birth. Nine women (2%) were delivered by caesarean section and 19 (4%) by vacuum extraction. Thirty women (6%) had postpartum haemorrhage >500 ml and five (1%) received blood transfusions. Five babies (1%) were transferred to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, all were discharged to their homes within a week. There were no cases of deaths, or serious morbidity. Our conclusions are that the results after four years management were comparable to other freestanding midwifery-led units in Western countries.


We use computational codes for simulating laser-produced plasmas conditions and the excited level populations of the Li-like aluminium ions. The optimal gain region for 3d - 4f transition is obtained and an approach for getting high gain length is suggested.


Microcombs-optical frequency combs generated in coherently driven nonlinear microresonators-have attracted significant attention over the last decade. The ability to generate two such combs in a single resonator device has, in particular, enabled a host of applications from spectroscopy to imaging. Concurrently, novel comb generation techniques such as synchronous pulsed driving have been developed to enhance the efficiency and flexibility of microcomb generation. Here, we report on the first, to the best of our knowledge, experimental demonstration of dual-microcomb generation via synchronous pulsed pumping of a single microresonator. Specifically, we use two electro-optically generated pulse trains derived from a common continuous wave laser to simultaneously drive two orthogonal polarization modes of an integrated silica ring resonator, observing the generation of coherent dissipative Kerr cavity soliton combs on both polarization axes. Thanks to the resonator birefringence, the two soliton combs are associated with different repetition rates, thus realizing a dual-microcomb source. To illustrate the source's application potential, we demonstrate proof-of-concept spectroscopic measurements.


The famous and vast body of Arab dream literature offers a very rich historical and systematic source for the study of indices, symbols and other visual indicators. While this oneiric literature has always attracted much attention to this world of dreams, their visual dimension has remained rather neglected. This article looks at one of the fundamental elements of the dream, namely its transposition from the visual to the oral and/or written, the only way, as J.C. Schmitt has underlined, by which we can know of dreams. Thus at the centre of this article stands the relationship between the visual aspect of the dream and the forms of its non-visual representation.


Our patient received 104 days of nutritional support via a combination of the enteral and parenteral routes. Although this was not successful in preventing protein loss, it undoubtedly helped to reduce the rate of protein depletion. More important, however, had this intervention not been provided, the patient could not have survived his prolonged and complicated clinical course, which required him to be kept nil by mouth for 120 days.


The Article gives a general overview of the Hungarian constitutional and legal framework for the participation of national minorities in the decision-making. The relatively low number of people belonging to national minorities in Hungary as well as the scattered patterns of their settlement and some aspects of the Hungarian legal traditions underlie the choice of the so called personal autonomy approach. The minorities can establish via a special electing mechanism local and national self-governments enjoying consultative and truly public law type rule-making and administrative competences. Having given the proper interpretation of the relevant article of the Constitution, the Constitutional Court also contributed to the birth of the Act on the Rights of Minorities. The basic reason behind the creation of a very complicated, multilevel institutional complex is that in this way, educational and cultural needs of minorities of different scale can be represented in a relatively coherent manner. This does not...


In the September 2003 issue of Pediatrics, Stege et al1 discuss the effect of new therapies for congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) on survival. They point out that studies reporting improved survival using high-frequency ventilation, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, inhaled nitric oxide, and delayed surgery are flawed by selection bias and conclude, after assessing 185 cases of CDH from a regional database, that survival is determined principally by the rate of antenatal termination and incidence of associated anomalies. Literature supporting a very promising approach to CDH, gentle ventilation, spearheaded by Wung et al,2 was not presented. In a study reporting 89 consecutive patients with CDH at a single institution, patients treated with gentle ventilation had a 78% overall survival (89% of treated infants survived), compared with 15% and 44% survival during earlier eras in which paralysis, hyperventilation, alkalinization, and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation were used in the absence of gentle ventilation.3 This study minimizes the selection bias reported by Stege et al, with all CDH patients born during the time of data collection included for analysis. Because prenatal diagnosis did not effect survival in this cohort, it is unlikely that the improved survival was due to prenatal termination rate. Most recently, an 85% survival is reported with gentle ventilation in CDH.4,5 Given the low cost, low potential morbidity, and ease of initiating this promising therapy, gentle ventilation should be assessed aggressively and critically for efficacy in improving survival in CDH.


There is a good deal of confusion in the international literature concerning the use of the term contracture. A pathophysiological approach would help in defining a more precise terminology. Antalgic contracture principally concerns a compensating phenomenon related to a polysynaptic reflex Painful contracture includes different varieties of cramps and metabolic-induced contractures. Painless contracture groups together myostatic and myostatic contractures. We suggest a simplified nomenclature.


The sections in this article are

1
Energy Band Structure

2
Semiconductor/Solution Interface

3
Modulation Techniques

4
Summary

Keywords:

space charge layer capacitance;
interface states;
recombination;
modulation techniques;
electrochemical impedance spectroscopy;
intensity modulated photocurrent spectroscopy;
potential modulated microwave reflectivity spectroscopy;
silicon electrochemistry;
current-potential characteristics;
photocurrent-potential characteristics


Fly ash (FA), a multicompound mineral, is an industrial waste produced during coal burning in thermal power stations. It has been regarded as the most environmentally hazardous material. Furthermore, handling FA has been a significant challenge for many developing countries. Therefore, researchers have been exhorted to enhance its usage to counter its handling issues. FA is enriched with mullite, silica, and alumina. Having such mineralogy, FA can be envisaged as a promising candidate for combating erosion and corrosion in marine environments. With this motivation, the research aims to deposit as-received FA using the plasma-spraying technique onto a marine-grade steel substrate without additives and assess the performance of such coatings for erosion and corrosion properties. The coating has exhibited more than 100% improvement in microhardness. The erosion resistance was improved by ∼11% compared to that of the uncoated sample, which is attributed to the hardness to elastic modulus ratio (H/E) and its unique mineralogy. The minor improvement in erosion resistance was attributed to the coating's poor fracture toughness. The erosion study shows that slurry concentration and rotational speeds were the most influential parameters. The scar depth was significantly shallower for FA-coated samples. The corrosion resistance has improved only by ∼13.49%, owing to the porous nature of the coating. Therefore, such coatings with appropriate improvements in their properties are expected to assuage both environmental and industrial challenges.


The determination of antibodies against native DNA is of great importance in the solution of the diagnostic and therapeutic problems of dissiminated lupus erythematodes. The practical results are in a direct dependence on the laboratory methods for their determination. The diagnostic significance of two methods was studied with the present investigation: indirect immunofluorescent test and flocculation test with DNA-sensibilized bentonite particles. Under the conditions of the investigation, with the aid of the first method, antibodies against native DNA were found in 86.1 per cent of the sera of lupus nephropathy patients as well as in 13.3 per cent of the sera of patients with renal diseases not associated with LED. High serum titres including up to 1/128, were observed only in LED cases. The continuous persistence of antibodies against LED is also characteristic for the latter. The flocculation test was positive in 60.7 per cent of the sera investigated only with LED cases. The conclusion is that both methods could more wisely be used in LED immunodiagnostic because they combine high sensitivity with specificity of reaction, are easy to perform and no expensive material and apparatuses are required.


In his Histories 8:118, Herodotus tells the dramatic story of Xerxes' return to Asia from Greece by sea. The overcrowded ship was caught in a storm, and the captain advised the king to get rid of most of the passengers. Xerxes called on the Persians to prove their loyalty to the king, and they showed their obeisance by leaping into the sea. After his return, Xerxes awarded the captain of the ship with a golden crown for saving the king's life-and cut off his head for causing the deaths of so many Persians. In the play Adam and Eve, Bulgakov depicts the outbreak of war between the Soviet Union and the Western world. Nearly everyone in Leningrad dies from a gas attack. But Efrosimov, a chemistry professor and a man of genius, has managed to save the lives of the other characters in the play, the Soviet fighter pilot Daragan included. Nevertheless, Daragan hates Efrosimov for his efforts to prevent the war and then to stop it. The fighter pilot imagines for the professor both an award for his merits and subsequent capital punishment for his alleged crime. In this article, I suggest that Bulgakov has borrowed the motif of award and execution from Herodotus.


A 39 year old schizophrenic woman with a 20 year history of neuroleptic treatment suffered bilateral cerebral infarcts and coagulation studies revealed a lupus anticoagulant (LA). She highlights the poorly recognized risk of thrombosis in patients on neuroleptics who develop LA. In this case the LA may have been induced by long-term therapy with haloperidol, a novel and potentially important association.