In the mid 90's, the U.S. government released images acquired by the first generation of photo reconnaissance satellite missions between 1960 and 1972. The Declassified Intelligent Satellite Photographs (DISP) from the Corona mission are of high quality with an astounding ground resolution of about 2 m. The KH-4A panoramic camera system employed a scan angle of 70 that produces film strips with a dimension of 55 mm x 757 mm. Since GPS/INS did not exist at the time of data acquisition, the exterior orientation must be established in the traditional way by using control information and the interior orientation of the camera. Detailed information about the camera is not available, however. For reconstructing points in object space from DISP imagery to an accuracy that is comparable to high resolution (a few meters), a precise camera model is essential. This paper is concerned with the derivation of a rigorous mathematical model for the KH-4A/B panoramic camera. The proposed model is compared with generic sensor models, such as affine, direct linear transformation, and rational functions. The paper concludes with experimental results concerning the precision of reconstructed points in object space. The rigorous mathematical panoramic camera model for the KH-4A camera system is based on extended collinearity equations assuming that the satellite trajectory during one scan is smooth and the attitude remains unchanged. As a result, the collinearity equations express the perspective center as a function of the scan time. With the known satellite velocity this will translate into a shift along-track. Therefore, the exterior orientation contains seven parameters to be estimated. The reconstruction of object points can now be performed with the exterior orientation parameters, either by intersecting bundle rays with a known surface or by using the stereoscopic KH-4A arrangement with fore and aft cameras mounted an angle of 30o.


A new technique is described that is capable of sensing surface roughness of moving materials. The method is based on analysis of the intensity fluctuations of laser light backscattered at an angle from the surface. The optical correlation length supplied by this method is related to the surface topography through the derivative surface profile. Laboratory and paper plant experiments confirmed the applicability of the optical correlation length technique in the characterization of random surfaces.


A simple potential model for the neutron-proton system which describes accurately both the experimental 3D2 phase-shifts and the Reid 3S1-3D1 phase parameters is presented. The nonlocal component of the total interaction is repulsive. The problem of describing both the present experimental 3S1-3D1 and the 3D2 phase parameters together with the quadrupole moment of the deuteron is discussed.


Mammalian mitochondrial inner membrane fusion is mediated by OPA1(optic atrophy 1). Under physiological condition, OPA1 undergoes proteolytic processing to form a membrane-anchored long isoform (LOPA1) and a soluble short isoform (SOPA1). A combination of LOPA1 and SOPA1 are required for membrane fusion, however, the relevant mechanism is not well understood. In this study, we investigate the cryo-EM structures of SOPA1 coated liposome tube at nucleotide-free and GTPγS bound states. SOPA1 exhibits a general structure of dynamin family and can assemble onto membrane in a helical array with a building block of dimer and thus induce membrane tubulation. A predicted amphipathic helix is discovered to mediate the tubulation activity of SOPA1. The binding of GTPγS causes a conformational rotation between GTPase domain and stalk region, and then induces a rearrangement of the helical array and an expansion of the tube, which is opposite to the behavior of other dynamin proteins, suggesting a unique role of SOPA1 in the fusion of mitochondrial inner membrane.


Radiographic and immunohistochemical analyses were performed in two Holstein heifers with leukocyte adhesion deficiency (BLAD). Severe bone resorption, osteolysis and severe progressive periodontitis in submandibula due to dysfunction of leukocytes in heifers affected with BLAD were demonstrated by radiographic examination. Immunohistochemical analysis of lymph nodes using anti-CD18 monoclonal antibody demonstrated that CD18-positive cells were not found on those from a heifer affected with BLAD, whereas CD18-positive cells were clearly present in lymph nodes from a clinically normal heifer. These characteristic findings support the importance of adherence-dependent leukocyte functions in host defense.


Background: Although some women experience anger as a mood problem after childbirth, postpartum anger has been neglected by researchers. Poor maternal and infant sleep quality during the postpartum period has been associated with depressive symptoms; however, links between sleep quality and postpartum anger are unclear. This study aimed to determine the proportions of women with significant anger, depressive symptoms, and comorbid anger and depressive symptoms, and to examine maternal and infant sleep quality as correlates of postpartum anger. Methods: This cross-sectional survey study was advertised as an examination of mothers' and babies' sleep. Women, with healthy infants between 6 and 12 months of age, were recruited using social media. The survey contained validated measures of maternal and infant sleep quality, and maternal fatigue, social support, anger, depressive symptoms, and cognitions about infant sleep. Results: 278 women participated in the study. Thirty-one percent of women (n = 85) reported high anger levels (≥ 90th percentile on State Anger Scale) while 26% (n = 73) of mothers indicated probable depression (>12 on Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale). Women reported a mean of 6.2 hours of sleep (SD = 1.2 hours, range = 4 – 9 hours); over half of the participants rated their sleep as poor (n = 144, 51.8 %). Using robust regression analysis, income (b = -0.74, p < 0.05), parity (b = 2.05, p < 0.01), depressive symptoms (b = 0.59, p < 0.01), maternal sleep quality (b = 0.98, p < 0.05), and maternal anger about infant sleep (b = 0.50, p < 0.01) were significant predictors of maternal anger. Conclusions: Maternal sleep quality and anger about infant sleep are associated with maternal state anger. Clinicians should educate families about sleep pattern changes during the perinatal time frame and assess women's mood and perceptions of maternal and infant sleep quality in the first postpartum year. They can also offer evidence-based strategies for improving parent-infant sleep. Such health promotion initiatives could reduce maternal anger and support healthy maternal-infant sleep.


The effects of Pratylenchus neglectus, Bacillus megaterium and oil radish or rapeseed green manure crops on Meloidogyne chitwoodi reproduction on potato were investigated in greenhouse and field microplot experiments. B. megaterium reduced the population densities of M. chitwoodi and P. neglectus by up to 50% on potato plants. There was a three-way interaction (P 0.05) of B. megaterium x P. neglectus x green manure on M. chitwoodi population control on potato. The Population density of M. chitwoodi was suppressed by B. megaterium more in pots with green manure of oil radish or rapeseed than in pots with no green manure. M. chitwoodi generally suppressed P. neglectus numbers, but not in the presence of B. megaterium in pots amended with oil radish green manure. In field microplots, the main effects of green manure and nematode species on potato yield and nematode population density were significant (P 0.05). Oil radish or rapeseed green manure treatments increased tuber yield compar


The ultimate performance objective of chemical protective clothing is protection of the wearer in his workplace environment. The chemical barrier properties of the materials used in the clothing are of prime importance; however, in fully encapsulated suits, it is mandatory that the total ensemble afford effective protection to the wearer as he performs his normal work routine. A quantitative fit-test booth for respirators was used to determine the protection factors (PF) of total ensembles. The PFs are measured for three exercises simulating typical work activities. A number of suit designs and concepts including limited-use disposable clothing have been tested, and modifications in design have been incorporated to improve performance. Based on the test results, we have been able to proceed to actual on-the-job testing to confirm acceptability with minimum risk to the wearers.


This paper reports on a numerical study of forced two-dimensional turbulence in a periodic channel with flat no-slip walls. Since corners or curved domain boundaries, which are met in the standard rectangular, square, or circular geometries, are absent in this geometry, the (statistical) analysis of the flow is substantially simplified. Moreover, the use of a standard Fourier–Chebyshev pseudospectral algorithm enables high integral-scale Reynolds number simulations. The paper focuses on (i) the influence of the aspect ratio of the channel and (ii) the integral-scale Reynolds number on the large-scale self-organization of the flow. It is shown that for small aspect ratios, a unidirectional flow spontaneously emerges, notably in the absence of a pressure gradient in the longitudinal direction. For larger aspect ratios, the flow tends to organize into an array of counter-rotating vortical structures. The computed energy and enstrophy spectra provide further evidence that the injection of small-scale vorticity at the no-slip walls modify the inertial-range scaling. Additionally, the quasistationary final state of decaying turbulence is interpreted in terms of the Stokes modes of a viscous channel flow. Finally, the transport of a passive tracer material is studied with emphasis on the role of the large-scale flow on the dispersion and the spectral properties of the tracer variance in the presence of no-slip boundaries.


Purpose To assess the association between birth weight and the development of functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) in the first year of life. Methods This is a secondary analysis of a prospective cohort multicenter study including neonates, consecutively enrolled at birth, and followed up for one year. At birth all infants were classified by birth weight as extremely low (ELBW), very low, or low when <1,000, <1,500, and <2,500 g, respectively, and by birth weight for gestational age as appropriate (AGA, weight in the 10–90th percentile), small (SGA, weight <10th percentile), and large (LGA, weight >90th percentile) for gestational age. FGIDs were classified according to the Rome III criteria and assessed at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months of life. Results Among 1,152 newborns enrolled, 934 (81.1%) completed the study: 302 (32.3%) were preterm, 35 (3.7%) were ELBW, 104 (11.1%) were SGA, 782 (83.7%) were AGA, and 48 (5.1%) were LGA infants. Overall, throughout the first year of life, 718 (76.9%) reported at least one FGID. The proportion of infants presenting with at least one FGID was significantly higher in ELBW (97%) compared to LBW (74%) (p=0.01) and in LGA (85.4%) and SGA (85.6%) compared to AGA (75.2%) (p=0.0001). On multivariate analysis, SGA was significantly associated with infantile colic. Conclusion We observed an increased risk of FGIDs in ELBW, SGA, and LGA neonates. Our results suggest that prenatal factors determining birth weight may influence the development of FGIDs in infants. Understanding the role of all potential risk factors may provide new insights and targeted approaches for FGIDs.


Many organic granular materials are susceptible to self‐heating when stored in silos. Under the right environmental conditions self‐heating can lead to spontaneous ignition and smoldering combustion. This is a case study of an explosion that occurred in a grain storage silo with a smoldering fire. Although the hazards of combustible dust are relatively well recognized, the explosion hazard presented by a smoldering fire is less well known. There were two explosions in this incident: a primary explosion involving carbon monoxide and smoke generated by the smoldering fire, and a secondary explosion fueled by combustible dust. The explosion caused both injuries to personnel and significant property damage. This article discusses the causal factors for the explosion and the lessons learned for effectively monitoring and responding to a smoldering fire in a silo. The potential explosion hazard of the carbon monoxide and smoke generated by a smoldering fire is emphasized. © 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Process Saf Prog 33: 94–103, 2014


The German Federal Constitutional Court (GFCC) in late 2015 delivered a decision on the European Arrest Warrant (EAW). With it, the GFCC further elaborated its trademark doctrine on the constitutional-identity review of EU law's application in Germany, introducing human dignity as another yardstick. In this article, I critically reassess the merits and implications of this doctrinal development, in particular for the relationship between the GFCC and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and for the EU law-national law dynamic in general.
Human dignity; German Federal Constitutional Court; European Arrest Warrant; constitutional-identity review; Court of Justice


Transaction database is a collection of transactions along with the related time stamps. These transactions are defined using some prototypes. They are called as the Transitional patterns that denote the vibrant nature of the frequent patterns in the database. The considerable high points for the transaction database are the timestamps also called as time durations. They are the points that have the alteration in the recurrence of the prototypes. There is majorly couple of stages in existing TP-Mine algorithm. The initial stage is to find out the frequent patterns and the second stage is to discover Transitional patterns or the styles and the significant milestones. These patterns consist of the two kinds of the styles likely the positive one and the negative one. In the previous time cases the effort that was made on the research was to build up the algorithms by planning the total series of the transitional patterns. In our paper we consider that the alterations made in the consequent period regarding the total concept of database is not noteworthy. So for this reason we have put forward an entirely latest transitional patterns methodology called periodical transitional pattern mining. The experimental outputs are appealing and apparent those were produced by this periodical transitional pattern mining and has high importance that when evaluated utilizing the present patterns.


The Digital world is growing very fast and become more complex in terms of volume (terabyte to petabyte), variety (structured and un-structured and hybrid), velocity (high speed in growth) in nature which to the data collection that has grown so large it can't be effectively managed or manipulated using conventional data management tools: e.g., classic relational database management systems (RDBMS).in recent time many applications work based upon Big Data Analytics, Business Intelligence and social networking which has Petabyte datasets and have pushed SQL-like centralized databases to their limits. To handle these problems, traditional RDBMS are provided with an alternative. This led to the development of horizontally scalable, distributed non-relational data stores, called No-SQL databases [7]. The paper shall conclude with suitable NOSQL technology to be used based on the requirement of the organization


This Study provides a conceptual framework to study the impact of rural infrastructure investment in market development and in the enhancement of income generating opportunities for the poor in rural Peru. The study uses descriptive methods and regression analysis together with relatively new impact evaluation techniques, like propensity score matching, to understand the causal paths through which the access to new or improved infrastructure services affect the livelihood strategies and livelihood outcomes of rural households. The data sources included in this study include regional time series data, several cross-section household level data sets coming from rural representative Living Standard Measurement Surveys; a household panel data set coming from the same source, together with specialized surveys developed by the author. The analysis shows that there are important complementarities in rural infrastructure investment. That is, even if any particular infrastructure investment (related to roads, electricity, telecommunication, water, or sanitation services) may be subject to diminishing returns, if done in isolation, this effect can be overcome if it is done in combination with other investments. In this way it is possible to get a sustained growth effect on rural incomes from infrastructure investment. The study shows that infrastructure investments reduce transaction costs and enhances the opportunities for spatial arbitrage, paving the way for improving market efficiency. However, the study warns that efficiency and equity gains may not occur simultaneously, because those that are better off in rural areas may obtain higher returns to infrastructure investments because of a larger private asset base or because of a better access to other public infrastructure.


Fractional erbium: YSGG laser compared to the combination of fractional erbium: YSGG laser and topical autologous platelet-rich plasma for treatment of atrophic acne scars: a case report Prasetyadi Mawardi1*, Adniana Nareswari1 Background: Acne scar is the most common complication in acne that occurs in about 49% of acne individuals. Fractional resurfacing lasers such as CO2 laser and erbium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Er: YAG) have been widely used for acne scar treatment and give satisfying results have complications such as pain, hyperpigmentation, infection, prolonged erythema, and scarring. Fractional erbium: yttrium scandium gallium garnet (Er: YSGG) laser solves previous laser techniques' disadvantages. It has an ideal wavelength of 2790 nm, which balances the epidermis layer's vaporization and thermal damage in the dermis's superficial layer. Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) is an autologous concentration of human platelets in a small plasma volume that secreted various growth factors that can speed up the scar healing process. Case report: A-24 years old male student came with a chief complaint of acne scars on his face four years before the examination. The patient's condition is classified as moderate-severe acne scarring based on Goodman and Baron's criteria (qualitative global acne scarring system). Acne scars treatment plan was single fractional erbium: YSGG laser for the left side of the face and combined fractional Er: YSGG laser with topical autologous PRP on the right side. This procedure was performed in 2 sessions with an interval of 4 weeks, the final evaluation at 12 weeks after the first procedure. Clinical improvement of acne scars was assessed using qualitative and quantitative scales based on Goodman and Baron's, patient and observer scar assessment scale (POSAS), quartile grading scale, and patient satisfaction level. Conclusion: In the final evaluation, there was an improvement on the entire grading scale on the right side of the face (Er: YSGG laser + PRP) and the face's left side (Er: YSGG laser only). Post-treatment erythema was found on both sides of the patient's face but disappeared within three days on the face's right side and five days on the face's left side.


Using an isospin-dependent quantum molecular dynamics, nuclear stopping in intermediate heavy ion collisions has been studied. The calculation has been done for colliding systems with different neutron-proton ratios in beam energy ranging from 15 MeV/ u to 150 MeV/ u. It is found that, in the energy region from above Fermi energy to 150 MeV/ u, nuclear stopping is very sensitive to the isospin dependence of in-medium nucleon-nucleon cross section, but insensitive to symmetry potential. From this investigation, we propose that nuclear stopping can be used as a new probe to extract the information on the isospin dependence of in-medium nucleon-nucleon cross section in intermediate energy heavy ion collisions.


This paper describes an observational study of the mean and larger-scale turbulent structure of the wind in the lowest 1500 m of the North-East Trades. The observed motions are used both alone and in conjunction with the horizontal pressure field to deduce values of the vertical transport of momentum; the pattern of cumulus cloud convection is borne in mind throughout. Sections 1 and 2 provide a brief survey of the background to the expedition and of the simplified equations by which the observations are interpreted. Section 3 describes the site and observations in detail. 466 double-theodolite pilot-balloon soundings were made in the spring of 1953 from the small flat island of Anegada (18°N, 64° W). Soundings were made on 15 days over a 27-day period, balloons being released at intervals of 5 to 15 min. The balloons, rising at about 150 m/min, were observed every 20s for 9 min, to obtain the three components of the motion in 50 m layers over the lowest 1350 m. Special observations of pressure were made in a network of neighbouring islands. The derivation of component air velocities and of the horizontal pressure gradient as a function of height is described in §4. Difficulty was experienced in obtaining the pressure field with requisite accuracy. Surface observations of the weather in relation to the main aim of the study are discussed in §5. The mean angle between surface wind and isobar over the 15-day period was 13°, notably less than the climatological value of about 33°. Section 6 discusses the properties of the mean horizontal motion for the whole period of observation. The easterly component of wind velocity was greatest at 350 m, and the wind veered with height through 24° in the first 1350 m. There was also a veer of geostrophic wind in this layer of about 13° so that some down-gradient motion remained at the top of the layer. It is shown that the mean values of the local and advective components of acceleration were negligible compared with others terms in the momentum balance. Section 7 uses the wind profiles of §6 together with the mean horizontal pressure field to find the distribution of shearing stress with height, assuming that ageostrophic flow is balanced by internal friction. The mean stress in the direction of the surface wind varied from 0-41 dyn/cm2 at the surface to —0.37 dyn/cm2 at 1300 m. The former provides a coefficient of surface stress, based on the anemometer windspeed, c = 1.5 x 10-3. The mean stress in the direction normal to the surface wind varied from zero (assumed) at the surface to 0.17 dyn/cm2 at 200 m, and was small above 800 m, but internal consistency is only obtained by assuming the horizontal gradient of temperature near the surface to be appreciably greater than the climatological value for the general area. The stresses and related gradients of mean motion imply eddy viscosities of order 105 cm2/s throughout the layer. Section 8 discusses the vertical profiles of daily mean wind, which are variable from day to day. It was not possible to analyze the profiles to find shearing forces because of uncertainty in the acceleration terms, and in the pressure field. Section 9 is concerned with the analysis of fluctuations of wind at heights up to 1350 m, using averaging periods increasing from about 3 h up to the whole 27-day period. For none of these averaging periods was there equipartition of eddying energy in the three velocity components; w2 the vertical intensity, was one to two orders of magnitude lower than u2, the horizontal intensities, the difference being greater the longer the averaging periods. The covariances uv,uw were also evaluated for various heights and averaging periods, uw increased with averaging period and from their variation crude estimates are made of lag covariances which are equivalent to spectra. Values of uv for the larger components of the motion sampled were in fair agreement with those of early workers, uw and vw were in general less than uv and did not vary systematically with averaging period. The values for the smaller scale components of the motion sampled were in fair agreement with shearing stresses computed by the method of geostrophic departure (§7). The direction of the resultant of uw and vw agreed surprisingly well with the direction of the vertical shear vector of the mean wind velocity, the implied coefficient of eddy viscosity for the spectral range sampled again being about I05 cm 2/s over the whole range of height. An appendix considers the effect of the island, about 30 km2 in area, on the oceanic Trades; the land was strongly heated by the sun and a particular pattern of convective cloud was usually set up. The associated field of mean vertical motion, of the order of 10 cm/s, and the disturbance of the field of horizontal mean motion have been partly evaluated. It is found that the velocities measured on the upwind shore were fairly representative of those over the open ocean, even though slow steady rising and sinking motions were detected.


The analysis of the application of cricoid pressure in order to prevent regurgitation and aspiration (Anuestheszu 1983; 3 8 457-65) must cast some doubt on the efficacy of the 'Sellick manoeuvre', as variably used by anaesthetists. There are many circumstances in which the anaesthetist may worry about aspiration until the airway is protected by the inflated cuff of a tracheal tube. They include the various conditions where regurgitation and vomiting are more likely, and situations where blood or clot o r other material is already present in the pharynx. Any of these circumstances may be complicated by factors which make intubation difficult. The following technique has been employed by the writer over many years in the circumstances outlined above. It must be meticulously carried out and will therefore be described in detail. The patient is anaesthetised in a moderate head-down tilt. This may marginally increase the possibility of regurgitation but this danger is balanced by a reduction in the possibility of aspiration. A reliable assistant, who may be another anaesthetist, and doctor, an operating department assistant, or a nurse, is fully briefed on their simple but essential role. A secure intravenous route is established. The assistant is warned of the danger of dislodging this when succeeding injections are given as instructed. The intravenous induction agent, and a rapidlyacting muscle relaxant such as suxamethonium, are drawn up ready for use. The anacsthetist stands at the head of the patient giving reassurance. A tested laryngoscope is by his left hand. A mouthgag is by his right hand and over his right shoulder is a length of wide-bore suction tubing connected to a suction apparatus which is switched on. The assistant gives the induction agent as instructed. The patient is encouraged to breathe through his mouth. The mouth-gag is quietly inserted towards the right-hand corner of the mouth, between the teeth or gums. Just as the patient becomes unconscious the mouth-gag is opened and locked. The laryngoscope is swiftly inserted into the open mouth, the pharnyx inspected, and any material present in the pharynx is removed via the wide-bore suction tubing. If vomiting or regurgitation occurs the material can be immediately removed as it presents. The assistant attaches the syringe containing the relaxant to the venous access. The anaesthetist, having satisfied himself that tracheal intubation will be possible, instructs that the relaxant drug be injected. The anaesthetist maintains the view of the pharynx and paraglottic area and intubates as soon as cord relaxation occurs. The assistant immediately inflates the cuff. No attempt is made to ventilate the patient's lungs between induction and cord relaxation. Reliance is placed on pre-oxygenation to avoid hypoxia and priority given to the protection of the airway. The above technique has proved satisfactory. No component is exceptionable in routine uncomplicated anaesthesia so practice in its meticulous performance is possible. Its application in a wide range of circumstances is commended. LEO MULROONEY Mansjield and District Generul Hospital, West Hill Drive. Mansfield, Notts NGIR 1 PH


"Zero-drift" characteristics of an optical intraocular pressure sensor is investigated as a function of membrane dissolution and hygroscopic swelling of the epoxy layer. Both effects were studied using an analytical model based on the deflection of a circular membrane. Results from the analytical model were verified with experimental results from "bulge" testing. The analytical model was used to study the "zero drift" of the sensor as a function of changes in membrane thickness and geometry of the sensor. The results show that dissolution of the membrane and swelling of the spacer layer can contribute to zero-drift over time. The results are useful in guiding design and fabrication optimization to minimize drift in intraocular pressure sensors used for long term implantation.


PURPOSE
To assess whether therapeutic and toxic effects of intravesical lidocaine are determined by coincident serum levels.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
Published clinical trials and case studies on instilled lidocaine 1-2% that reported serum lidocaine levels were analyzed using model independent pharmacokinetic equations to compute the absorbed dose fraction (F) for linear regression with the respective dwell times.

RESULTS
Rapid absorption of intravesical lidocaine is evinced by the serum levels of 0.16±0.3 mg/L at 5 min in bladder cancer patients coinciding with the rapid onset of pain relief (<5 min) and blood pressure drop (≥10 mm Hg) in spinal cord injured patients. Serum levels at 5 min are raised five-fold by alkalinization for a tertiary amine with pKa of 7.8 and a linear rise in F with longer dwell time (r2 = 0.80; P<0.005) conforms to passive, paracellular diffusion of amphiphilic lidocaine (log P of 1.68) around umbrella cell borders with absorption rate at least five times faster than the terminal elimination rate, and therefore the delay in blood sampling after instillation is unwarranted. A rapid resolution of therapeutic and toxic effects is predicated on the extensive dilution of absorbed lidocaine with a rapid distribution half-life of 3.6 min in body weight dependent Vd - 15 times larger than blood volume, 0.13-4.5 L/kg which necessitates dose adjustment in children.

CONCLUSION
Whether rapid absorption of instilled lidocaine is complicated by an equally rapid and extensive dilution in body weight dependent Vd can be resolved by early blood sampling (<30 min) for: evidence-based medicine, avoidance of lidocaine toxicity in children and to educate the evolution of lidocaine solution to gel and devices.


Population-representative data for dioxin and PCB congener concentrations are available for the Australian population based on measurements in age- and gender-specific serum pools.1 Such data provide a basis for characterizing the mean concentrations of these compounds in the population, but do not provide information on the inter-individual variation in serum concentrations that may exist in the population within an age- and gender-specific group. Such variation may occur due to inter-individual differences in long-term exposure levels or elimination rates. Reference values are estimates of upper percentiles (often the 95th percentile) of measured values in a defined population that can be used to evaluate data from individuals in the population in order to identify concentrations that are elevated, for example, from occupational exposures.2 The objective of this analysis is to estimate reference values corresponding to the 95th percentile (RV95s) for Australia on an age-specific basis for individual dioxin-like congeners based on measurements in serum pools from Toms and Mueller (2010).


UNLABELLED
The feeding of ruminant proteins to ruminants is prohibited in most countries because the practice is thought to be responsible for the spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy. However, currently available methods to detect ruminant blood products in rendered feedstuffs are inadequate because they lack species specificity, tissue specificity, and are not based on a thermostable analyte. A sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed for this study that provides reliable and sensitive (0.05-0.5% v/v) detection of bovine blood materials in animal feed. The new sandwich ELISA employs two previously developed monoclonal antibodies (MAbs), Bb6G12 as the capture antibody and biotinylated MAb Bb3D6 as the detecting antibody, and is bovine-specific and blood-specific. The assay is based on the detection of a 60 kDa thermostable protein in bovine blood and provides a useful regulatory tool for monitoring fraudulent labeling or contamination of bovine blood in both heat-processed feedstuffs and unprocessed raw materials.

KEYWORDS
Bovine; blood; monoclonal antibody; sandwich ELISA.


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This paper presents a consistent derivation of a new nonlocal finite element procedure in the framework of continuum mechanics and nonlocal thermodynamics for the analysis of bending of nanobeams under transverse loads. This approach is able to provide the overall performance and the influence of specific parameters in the behavior of nanobeams and it is also able to deal with nanomechanical systems by solving a reduced number of algebraic equations. An example shows that the proposed nonlocal finite element procedure, using a mesh composed by only four elements of equal size, provides the exact values in terms of transversal displacement and bending of the nanobeam.


Introduction:
 Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) is initiated due to t (22;9) giving rise to Philadelphia chromosome and fusion oncogene BCR-ABL1. Discovery of BCR-ABL led to development of molecularly-targeted drugs called tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI), that have revolutionized CML treatment in first quarter of 21st century, by transforming a once fatal disease into a almost-cured cancer. Due to TKIs, survival of CML has become equal to general population, with possibility of a number of CML patients to undergo treatment-free remission. Nevertheless, TKIs are minimally effective in blast crisis CML patients (BC-CML), making this group of CML patients one of the biggest therapeutic challenge in modern cancer medicine. Unfortunately, a common biomarker for BC-CML is not available and mechanism of CML progression to advanced phases poorly understood3. Therefore, objective of our study was to find a common molecular biomarker of disease progression and specifically BC in CML.
 Materials and Methods:
 Patient selection: CML patients in accelerated and blast crisis phase CML (Experimental group) were subjected to whole exome sequencing (WES) along with appropriate controls (Chronic phase treatment-naïve CML patients as Control 1, Chronic phase CML long-term TKI responders (at least 2 continuous years of MMR)2 as Control group 2, CML patients with resistant to TKIs as Control group 3 and healthy controls).
 Sample collection: DNA extraction and Clinical follow-up: 10 ml peripheral blood was collected from all study subjects. DNA was extracted and patient follow-up was carried out during course of this study. All criteria per ENL guidelines were adopted.
 Whole Exome Sequencing (WES): WES was carried out using Illumina NGS instrument (HiSeq). bcl files were converted to fastq files by using bcl2fastqtool4. Raw reads were aligned to genome using BWA tools while whole exome variants were annotated using Illumina Variant Studio4. R package was employed to align specific gene mutants to disease phenotypes5. Variants were confirmed using Sanger sequencing. Genes mutated in all AP/BC-CML patients but not mutated in any of control groups were selected.
 Results and Discussion:
 We found some novel as well as known genes associated with diverse biological functions mutated in all AP/BC-CML6. We found some previously uncharacterized genes like ANKRD36; genes associated with vital life processes, for example, POTE-G (member of cancer-testis antigen family), SARM1 (apoptosis and immunity), OR9G1 (member of G-protein-coupled receptors), RNF212 (Meiotic crossing-over) etc.; genes reported in other cancers (PRSS3, MUC6, ESRR-A, RASA4, PDE5-A, DACH-1, TRAK1 etc.); DNA repair genes (FANCD2 and ATXN3) and genes involved in transcriptional regulation (unique ZNF family genes). As ANKRD36 (ENSG00000135976) has previously uncharacterized in human and its protein structure was unknown, its protein sequence was retrieved (https://www.uniprot.org/uniprot/A6QL64), computational prediction of the protein structure was performed using I-Tasser7, the mutations manually evaluated, and the wild and mutated structures superimposed using PyMOL8. ANKRD36 has maximum expression in bone marrow, specifically myeloid cells (figure 1a-c)9. Thus, it is may serve as a potential biomarker and drug target in CML. We recommend carrying out further studies to explore the role of ANKRD36 in biology and progression of CML.
 References:
 1: Valent P, Herndlhofer S, Schneeweiß M, Boidol B, Ringler B, Kubicek S, et al. Oncotarget. 2017 Apr 4; 8(14): 23061-23072.
 2: Annunziata M, Bonifacio M, Breccia M, Castagnetti F, Gozzini A, Iurlo A, et al. Front Oncol. 2020 ;10:883.
 3: Feng XQ, Nie SM, Huang JX, Li TL, Zhou JJ, Wang W, et al. Neoplasma, 2020 ;67(1):171-177.
 4: Hashmi JA, Albarry MA, Almatrafi AM, Albalawi AM, Mahmood A, Basit S. Congenit Anom (Kyoto). 2017 Apr 16. doi: 10.1111/cga.12225. [Epub ahead of print].
 5: R Core Team (2012). R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. ISBN 3-900051-07-0, URL http://www.R-project.org/
 6: GeneCards: The Human Gene Database, https://www.genecards.org, accessed 11th Aug 2020.
 7: Zhang Y. I-TASSER server for protein 3D structure prediction. BMC Bioinformatics. 2008 Jan 23;9:40.
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 Jamil: Novartis: Honoraria, Other: Travel Support; Roche: Honoraria, Other: Travel Support.


This paper looks into the structure of four-word lexical bundles in scientific articles in English in economics journals, written by Macedonian scholars. It adopts the lexical bundle method, which requires multi-word sequences to be identified in an electronic corpus, based on their frequency and fixedness. For the purpose of the research, a corpus of economics research articles was compiled, based on which lexical bundles were identified, and compared with bundles found in four other disciplines. The results suggest that academic writers in the discipline of economics rely on the use of lexical bundles, and share bundles found among the twenty most frequent in the academic prose. The bundles identified in published economic writing show similarity with the bundles found in applied linguistics and business studies, and differences with the ones used in biology and electrical engineering. The grammatical structure of the bundles was found to be clausal, with the majority of bundles containing noun phrases and prepositional phrases. The findings from this research have some implications for EAP curricula developers.


The recent studies on fluorapatite and hydroxyapatite, in the context of their medical applications, have shown that the former has relatively higher thermal stability and better mechanical properties than the latter. Moreover, the presence of fluoride ions is relevant for protection of teeth from dental caries since they stimulate processes of mineralization and crystallization. In this report, a silver modified fluorapatite (FAP/Ag), considered as a novel biomedical compound, was tested for its bactericidal, fungicidal and cytotoxicity activity. All these features were compared to the impact of pure FAP and were evaluated against the bacteria and fungi strains, which constitute main pathogenic species among orthopedic clinical isolates of implant-associated infections. Generally, considerable increase in the antimicrobial activity was observed when silver modified fluorapatite was compared to the pure material. This was manifested among others by disturbance of cell growth pattern and various deformations in the final cell shape as revealed using atomic force microscopy (AFM). Regarding toxicity nowadays as a major issue in implantation, we additionally examined whether the Ag+ ions have an impact on human keratinocytes and mouse fibroblasts using a cytotoxicity assay. To conclude, owing to a great bactericidal potential without collateral cytotoxicity effect the fluorapatite doped with silver ions may be considered a promising biocomponent useful in medical and healthcare applications.


Abstract:The most basic question concerning social mobility—whether it has decreased, increased or remained in a constant flux over time—was formulated a century ago by Sorokin. Despite the enormous progress made by historians and sociologists, and the innumerable studies and the steady increase in the available data and methods of analysis, this question has still not been answered conclusively, because, we argue, of a lack of robust data covering a window of sufficient time span. In this article, we create and look through such a window, analysing intergenerational social mobility in France from the beginning of the eighteenth to the end of the twentieth century. We consider very long trends in total and relative mobility, and their association with the process of economic change, as well as perturbations of a shorter nature due to wars and revolutions. The results indicate that overall both absolute and relative mobility increased between 1720 and 1986, however not continuously, and not in synchronicity with the historical process of industrialization.


A new design of TEA N2 laser for producing high-density excitation by combined use of a modified Marx generator and a pair of high-speed capacitors is described. Laser output of 1.5 MW (1.2 mJ, 0.8 ns) is obtained from a 12 cm long uniform discharge at a charging voltage of 25 kV.


ABSTRACT Introduction The treatment landscape of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has significantly changed over the last 5 years with multiple options in the frontline, second line, and beyond. Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) were the first approved systemic treatments for the advanced stage of HCC; however, thanks to the increasing knowledge and characterization of the immunological features of the tumor microenvironment, the systemic treatment of HCC has been further expanded with the immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) approach and the following evidence of the higher efficacy obtained with combined treatment with atezolizumab plus bevacizumab over sorafenib. Areas covered In this review, we look at rationale, efficacy, and safety profiles of current and emerging ICI/TKI combination treatments and discuss the available results from other clinical trials using similar combinatorial therapeutic approaches. Expert opinion Angiogenesis and immune evasion are the two key pathogenic hallmarks of HCC. While the pioneering regimen of atezolizumab/bevacizumab is consolidating as the first-line treatment of advanced HCC, it will be essential, in the near future, to determine the best second-line treatment options and how to optimize the selection of the most effective therapies. These points still need to be addressed by future studies that are largely warranted to enhance the treatment's effectiveness and ultimately to tackle down HCC lethality.


In this letter, we report that by using a thin dysprosium oxide (Dy2O3)cap layer (~1-nm thick) on top of SiON host dielectrics, the threshold voltage (Vt) of poly-Si/TaN gated n-FETs can be modulated to match that of the reference poly-Si/SiON devices, with a significantly scaled equivalent oxide thickness, a much reduced gate leakage, improved time-zero-break-down characteristics, and a minor degradation of the long channel devices mobility. These effects are attributed to the formation of a DySiON layer formation after full device fabrication due to the intermixing between the Dy2O3 cap and the SiON layer, as evidenced by a cross-sectional transmission-electron-microscopy measurement.


Seagrasses are marine angiosperms located in intertidal and sub-tidal waters. They are important ecosystem engineers that play a crucial role in the structure of habitats, allowing them to support a comprehensive diversity of life. Through fundamental ecological processes and the generation of niches, each seagrass species has aggregated an associated microbiome that lives among the various seagrass components and exhibit symbiotic relations. There have been studies investigating the diversity of the associated bacteria and elements of the resulting microbial activity, however these have primarily focused on tropical seagrass species and have failed to examine the extent of this bioactivity. This study explored the relative colony diversity and bioactivity associated with the root matrix, bare sediment, and leaf components of Zostera marina beds in the Salcombe Estuary, UK. Basic morphological characterisation and antimicrobial screening of seagrass isolates against E. coli and S. aureus showed how the location of the seagrass bed itself has no significant effect on the colony diversity and bioactivity present. The individual seagrass components were found to significantly influence these communities, with the root matrix being found to harbour the highest diversity and antimicrobial activity of all the components. Amplicon sequencing of 16S rRNA genes demonstrated how three bacterial genera ( Thalassomonas, Tenacibaculum and Vibrio sp.) are the greatest contributors to this activity. These results suggest that there is a degree of habitat dependence influencing the aggregations of microbes in the proximal seagrass beds. There is also a potential interaction between microbial diversity and bioactivity levels in the different seagrass components. The antimicrobial activity displayed against human pathogenic organisms expresses a potential for the exploitation of these bacteria, following further research into the extent of their possible medical value.


Introductory Theory Aquatic Optics The Nature of Electromagnetic Radiation and Light Radiance and Irradiance Attenuation of Light in an Aquatic Medium Spectral Albedo Environmental Remote Sensing and Space Science Remote Measurements Above Water The Boundary Conditions of the Considered Problem Incident Radiation The Sun and Extraterrestrial Solar Radiation Atmospheric Attenuation and Global Radiation Stratospheric Ozone and Ultraviolet Solar Radiation Clouds Diffuse Sky Radiation Water Surface Albedo The Propagation of Atmospheric Photon Fluxes into Natural Waters Optical Classification of Natural Waters Photon Interactions with the Air-Water Interface The Impact of Wave Slope on Reflection from the Air-Water Interface Satellite Sensor, Sunglint, and Curvature of the Earth Apparent and Inherent Optical Properties of Natural Waters Monte Carlo Simulations of Photon Propagation Bulk and Specific Inherent Optical Properties Dependence of the Underwater Light Field on Solar Zenith Angle and Sky Irradiance Composition of Natural Waters The Aquatic Food Chain (Trophic Levels) Pure Water Dissolved Salts and Gases Dissolved Organic Matter Suspended Matter Air Bubbles Cumulative Optical Impact of the Aquatic Components The Impact of Chlorophyll, Suspended Minerals, and Dissolved Organic Carbon on Volume Reflectance Optical Cross Sections Multi-Component Optical Model for Natural Waters Impact of Chlorophyll on Volume Reflectance Spectra Impact of Suspended Minerals on Volume Reflectance Spectra Impact of Dissolved Organic Matter on Volume Reflectance Spectra Volume Reflectance in Non-Case I Water Bodies Containing Moderate to High Concentrations of Dissolved Organic Matter Volume Reflectance at a Single Wavelength Deconvolving the Aquatic Organic and Inorganic Components from the Volume Reflectance Spectra Multivariate Optimization as a Means of Deconvolving the Aquatic Organic and Inorganic Concentrations From the Volume Reflectance Spectra Chromaticity and the Colour of Natural Waters Colour and Volume Reflectance Photometric Units Colorimetric System: Chromaticity Chromaticity as a Means of Estimating Aquatic Component Concentrations Chromaticity and Remote Sensing Observations of Optical Properties of Natural Waters (The Laurentian Great Lakes) Introductory Remarks The Secchi Disk and Attenuation of Subsurface Irradiance Beam Transmission, T(l,z) The Nepheloid Layer Irradiance Attenuation Coefficient for PAR Photosynthetic Usable Radiation, PUR Photic Depth Spectral Band Values of Irradiance Attenuation Coefficients Subsurface Sighting Range The Trophic Status of Natural Water Optics and the Status of the Great Lakes Remote Sensing Over Natural Water Upwelling Radiation Through the Air-Water Interface Accounting for Atmospheric Intervention Radiative Transfer Models Existing Atmospheric Correction Models A Thematic Mapper Illustration Remote Sensing of Water Quality Parameters A Very Brief Inventory of Environmental Satellites Primary Production in Natural Water Photosynthesis Phytoplankton Photosynthesis (Primary Production) Remotely Estimating Phytoplankton Photosynthesis Phytoplankton Primary Production from Estimates of Aquatic Chlorophyll Chlorophyll and Biomass of Ocean Waters Chlorophyll and Biomass of Inland and Coastal Waters Protocol for Remotely Estimating Primary Production in Non-Case I Waters Available Light for Photochemical and Photobiological Activity An Example of Primary Production in Ladoga Lake Aquatic Remote Sensing in Regional and Global Environmental Monitoring Ecosystems at Risk Satellites and Global Change Satellites and Hydrology Climate Change Effects of Enhanced UV-B on Phytoplankton Photosynthesis Global Water Bodies and the Gaia Hypothesis Remote Sensing and Water Quality


Codelivery of diagnostic probes and therapeutic molecules often suffers from intrinsic complexity and premature leakage from or degradation of the nanocarrier. Inspired by the "Y" shape of indocyanine green (ICG), the dye is integrated in an amphiphilic lipopeptide (RNF). The hydrophilic segment is composed of arginine-rich dendritic peptides, while cyanine dyes are modified with two long carbon chains and employed as the hydrophobic moiety. They are linked through a disulfide linkage to improve the responsivity in the tumor microenvironment. After formulation with other lipopeptides at an optimized ratio, the theranostic system (RNS-2) forms lipid-based nanoparticles with slight positive zeta potential enabling efficient condensation of DNA. The RNS-2 displays glutathione responded gene release, activatable fluorescence recovery, and up to sevenfold higher in vitro transfection than Lipofectamine 2000. Compared with a Cy3 and Cy5 labeled fluorescence resonance energy transfer indicator for gene release, the "turn-on" indocyanine green analogs exhibit longer emission wavelength and better positive correlation with the dynamic processes of gene delivery. More importantly, the RNS-2 system enables efficient near infrared imaging guided gene transfer in tumor-bearing mice and thus provides more precise and accurate information on location of the cargo gene and synthesized carriers.


The characteristics of different corpora influence the success of Information Retrieval and NLP methods. How to best characterise a corpus is still an unexplored research area. In this paper, we use a model that has so far been applied for user profiling in Information Filtering, to profile the corpora of the TIPSTER collection. Each corpus profile is a network of terms that allows the extraction of a series of statistical features. These features can be used to calculate the similarity between the corpora in TIPSTER. This is part of ongoing work that aims at providing a corpus profiling service that will map corpora to their features and to the corresponding experimental results of various models and techniques.


A new design of a non-volatile magnetic flip-flop is presented. The use of a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) to store the information brings non-volatility to logic circuits and promises zero standby power. It is based on the thermally assisted switching (TAS) approach and the pre-charge sense amplifier. By using STMicroelectronics' CMOS 0.13um design kit and a precise TAS-MTJ compact model, transient functional simulations and Monte Carlo statistical analysis have been carried out to show, respectively, its low power and high reliability performances.


The past decade has witnessed significant effort towards establishing reliable and information theoretically secure rates in communication networks, taking advantage of the properties of the communication medium. Such efforts include those in the wireless medium where simultaneous transmissions and the ensuing interference can prove advantageous from an information theoretic secrecy point of view. With the goal of obtaining a secrecy rate that scales with transmit power, structured signaling with simultaneous favorable signal alignment at the legitimate receiver(s) and unfavorable signal alignment at the eavesdropper(s) has proven particularly useful in multi-terminal Gaussian channels. Many challenges remain however in realizing the vision of absolute security provided by the wireless physical layer including handling more realistic models. In this paper, we provide a brief overview of the state of the art, the forward look and argue for an additional asset that could be utilized for secrecy, i.e., bidirectional signaling. Taking the bidirectional wiretap channel as an example, Gaussian signaling is demonstrated to be as good as structured signaling from the degrees of freedom point of view, while observed to be performing better with finite transmit power. Moreover, taking bidirectional signals explicitly into account for encoding performs even better and provides a way forward to synergistically combine physical layer based secrecy and encryption.


Aim. The paper analyzes the state of the voluntary medical insurance in Ukraine and identifies the tendencies of its development. Material and Methods. The research was conducted on the basis of consolidated reporting data of the National Commission for State Regulation of Financial Services Markets using statistical methods, structural-logical analysis and systematic approach. Results and Discussion. According to the results of the study, the permanent health insurance is a dominant segment in the market of voluntary medical insurance in Ukraine; however the medical expenses insurance shows a steady upward trend. During the study period, the number of concluded contracts by type of medical insurance increased by 3.1 times. The increase in contracts on health insurance against disease turned out to be the most significant: in 2019, 4.7 times more contracts were concluded than in 2015. The dominance of corporate medical insurance in the segment of the market of permanent health insurance was established, while the insurance premiums made by individuals prevailed in the segment of health insurance against disease and medical expenses insurance. When studying the level of payments under voluntary medical insurance contracts, it was found that the highest level of payments had been recorded for permanent health insurance (56.95% - 62.12%). In the result of analyzing the level of reinsurance in the voluntary medical insurance market, a reduction in the ratio of insurance premiums transferred to non-resident reinsurers was established. On the basis of which it can be affirmed that the inwards reinsurance in Ukraine is being formed. The formation of the inwards reinsurance market in Ukraine has significant prospects, as it will ensure the attraction of funds into the national economy and promote integration into the international reinsurance space. Conclusions. The development tendencies study of the voluntary medical insurance is of practical importance for assessing and increasing the competitiveness of the medical insurance market in Ukraine


This article contextualizes the rise of cryptocurrency within the historical relationship between money and the state. It begins by asking two simple yet critical questions: What is money and where did it come from? Armed with the answers, the article proceeds by taking a fresh look at cryptocurrency through the lens of the credit theory of money. It finds that cryptocurrency, by using new technologies and incentive-based design, attempts to overcome the previous geographic limitations that hindered broad adoption of private currencies. Even with these innovations, cryptocurrency appeared unlikely to challenge the supremacy of sovereign money until Facebook announced the Libra project. Policymakers around the world instantly recognized the threat and opportunity Libra posed given Facebook's scale. Facebook may not be a sovereign entity, but its power rivals that of most countries. Libra compelled a flurry of new proposals in the U.S. to address the fragmented nature of cryptocurrency regulation. In choosing next steps, Congress and regulators must be careful to ensure that regulatory clarity does not come at the expense of sovereign authority.


This paper studies the asymptotic sum-rate of the primary network within the relay-assisted multi-antenna cognitive radio system performing amplify-and-forward relaying. The achievable sum-rates are derived in the large-system limit by means of the replica method. A closed-form expression for the sum-rate of the primary network is obtained for large antenna arrays as a function of parameters obtained by solving a set of fixed-point equations. Numerical simulations confirm the validity of the results even for systems with only a few antennas at each terminal.


The first familial observation of the Marshall-Smith syndrome is showed. The propositi are a male and female relatives with a double consanguinity and whose family comes from a small area with a high rate of inbreeding. According to this hypothesis autosomal recessive inheritance for this syndrome is proposed as very suggestive. These two new cases seem to prove that the mental retardation may not be a typical clinic features and that survival of the cases longer that expected may be considered. One of our patients is a three years old female and the other one is nearly eleven years old male. The syndrome delineation is given by very closely homogeneous patterns. Said patterns also single it out from the Weaver syndrome.


Hydrogenated black TiO2 has been proven to tune the bandgap and utilize solar energy effectively. Herein, we report a facile strategy for controllably synthesizing stable mesoporous black TiO2 hollow spheres (MBTHSs) with a narrow bandgap via a template-free solvothermal approach combined with a small amine molecule reflux-encircling process and subsequent high-temperature hydrogenation, which are composed of highly crystalline pore-walls, Ti3+ in frameworks and surface disorders. The encircled protectors especially ethylenediamine result in high thermostability of the TiO2 hollow structures, which not only facilitate hydrogenation (600 °C), but also inhibit grain growth and anatase-to-rutile phase transformation as well as retain a high structural integrity. The MBTHSs with a diameter of ∼700 nm possess a relatively high surface area of ∼80 m2 g−1, large pore size and pore volume of ∼12 nm and ∼0.20 cm3 g−1, respectively. The diameters and wall thicknesses are controllable from ∼500 nm to 1 μm and ∼35 to 115 nm, respectively. The high crystallinity, integrated hollow structure, Ti3+ in frameworks and surface disorders of the MBTHSs give rise to an extending photoresponse from the ultraviolet to the visible light region and significant improvement in the solar-driven photocatalytic hydrogen evolution rate (241 μmol h−1 0.1 g−1), which is two times as high as that of black TiO2 nanoparticles (118 μmol h−1 0.1 g−1) and almost three times that of pristine mesoporous TiO2 hollow spheres (81 μmol h−1 0.1 g−1), respectively.


The present study examined the relationship between observer scores on three unique classroom observational assessments: the Danielson Framework for Teaching, the Classroom Strategies Assessment System, and the Instructional Learning Opportunities Guidance System. Each observational assessment measures teaching practices from a different theoretical perspective and methodological framework. Nine observers were trained to criterion for each measure and independently coded a series of ten classroom videos from teachers in Grades K to 12 using the FFT, CSAS, and MyiLOGS. Viewing order of the videos and measure completion for each observer was randomized to prevent presentation order bias. Pearson correlations were computed between measures. Findings indicated that the measures offer conceptually similar and dissimilar constructs, and yield complementary information for educator evaluation practices. Implications for research, practice, and policy are presented.


It can get the user's privacy and home energy use information by analyzing the user's electrical load information in smart grid, and this is an area of concern. A rechargeable battery may be used in the home network to protect user's privacy. In this paper, the battery can neither charge nor discharge, and the power of battery is adjustable, at the same time, we model the real user's electrical load information and the battery power information and the recorded electrical power of smart meters which are processed with discrete way. Then we put forward a heuristic algorithm which can make the rate of information leakage less than existing solutions. We use statistical methods to protect user's privacy, the theoretical analysis and the examples show that our solution makes the scene design more reasonable and is more effective than existing solutions to avoid the leakage of the privacy.


The paper explains critically principles, methodological approaches and strategic project actions for a greater resilience of the built environment. In particular, the concept of resilience is explored in relation to sustainability and Regenerative Design applied to the built environment. The theme of Regenerative Design is studied and promoted as an adaptive strategy in the planning phase, it requires, compared to Resilience's theme, that nature strengthens its capacity for self-healing and its integrity, trying to give us back what the industrial development has taken away from the natural system, through the use of integrated regenerative methodologies. We examine in depth the case study of Palma di Montechiaro, that is the creation of Guidelines for the resilient regeneration of the Marina di Palma's waterfront. The contribution is aimed at academics of architecture and technological design interested in examining in depth the principles and systems of resilient design and sustainable regeneration. These systems are absolutely innovative from a technological and morphological point of view also in the use of vertical gardens with particular local plant species.


Apnoea is compatible with life only so long as artificial respiration can be maintained. By modern methods, artificial respiration can be continued for an unlimited time, but its prolonged application may result in serious biochemical and circulatory disturbances if its form and volume are incorrect. Apnoea may result from many causes. It may be due to obstruction in the airway, to changes in the brain produced by injury, disease or drugs, or to impairment of the bellows action of the chest. In some conditions-such as combined bulbar and spinal poliomyelitis-all three types may co-exist. Apnoea in the patient undergoing abdominal surgery is a common condition. It does not normally outlast the operation, and its management is simple, for it requires no more than the correct application of the apparatus already available to the anaesthetist. This apparatus, however, has a defect which has long been recognized, and which is shared by most types of mechanical respirator. It brings about an inversion of the normal pressure relationships within the thorax, so that introthoracic pressure increases during inspiration and decreases during expiration; and it raises the mean intrathoracic pressure. This impedes venous return and puts the cardiovascular system at a disadvantage. In fit patients subjected to this form of artificial respiration for only a few hours the harmful effect cannot easily be demonstrated; but Maloney and others (1953) have shown that in patients whose cardiovascular systems are already impaired, elevation of the mean intrathoracic pressure may result in serious falls in blood presure and in cardiac output. There is no doubt that a system of imposed respiration which alternates positive with negative pressure is to be preferred to one which alternates positive with zero pressure; and machines which will produce the preferred form of respiration are being designed. B.Ch., D.A., F.F.A., R.C.S.


427 Published By: Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering & Sciences Publication Retrieval Number: E10900275S419/19©BEIESP ABSTRACT--Deep Learning is-one of the machine learning areas, applied in recent areas. Various techniques have been proposed depends on varieties of learning, including unsupervised, semi-supervised, and supervised-learning. Some of the experimental results proved that the deep learning systems are performed well compared to conventional machine learning systems in image processing, computer vision and pattern recognition. This paper provides a brief survey, beginning with Deep Neural Network (DNN) in Deep Learning area. The survey moves on-the Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and its architectures, such as LeNet, AlexNet, GoogleNet, VGG16, VGG19, Resnet50 etc. We have included transfer learning by using the CNN's pre-trained architectures. These architectures are tested with large ImageNet data sets. The deep learning techniques are analyzed with the help of most popular data sets, which are freely available in web. Based on this survey, conclude the performance of the system depends on the GPU system, more number of images per class, epochs, mini batch size.


Wireless powered mobile edge computing (WP-MEC) has been recognized as a promising technique to provide both enhanced computational capability and sustainable energy supply to massive low-power wireless devices. However, its energy consumption becomes substantial, when the transmission link used for wireless energy transfer (WET) and for computation offloading is hostile. To mitigate this hindrance, we propose to employ the emerging technique of intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) in WP-MEC systems, which is capable of providing an additional link both for WET and for computation offloading. Specifically, we consider a multi-user scenario where both the WET and the computation offloading are based on orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) systems. Built on this model, an innovative framework is developed to minimize the energy consumption of the IRS-aided WP-MEC network, by optimizing the power allocation of the WET signals, the local computing frequencies of wireless devices, both the sub-band-device association and the power allocation used for computation offloading, as well as the IRS reflection coefficients. The major challenges of this optimization lie in the strong coupling between the settings of WET and of computing as well as the unit-modules constraint on IRS reflection coefficients. To tackle these issues, the technique of alternating optimization is invoked for decoupling the WET and computing designs, while two sets of locally optimal IRS reflection coefficients are provided for WET and for computation offloading separately relying on the successive convex approximation method. The numerical results demonstrate that our proposed scheme is capable of monumentally outperforming the conventional WP-MEC network without IRSs. Quantitatively, about 80% energy consumption reduction is attained over the conventional MEC system in a single cell, where 3 wireless devices are served via 16 sub-bands, with the aid of an IRS comprising of 50 elements.


New Order Government is perceived by many as a unique socio-political sphere. At the time, nobody acknowledged that New Order was democratic and provided a sufficient public sphere to grow and develop a culture of different ideas. However, it was in that epoch  that Islamic thought in Indonesia suffered a significant development, that was in the past a quarter century before the reformation era. How to describe the Islamic thought in Indonesia in transition era to come to democracy? This article will describe the phenomena.               Kata Kunci : Pemikiran Islam, era transisi, Orde Baru


Rachel Moan MSc MRICS is a Chartered Management Consultancy Surveyor specialising in financial reporting matters. Having trained in the private sector with Strutt & Parker, Rachel now uses her technical experience to create partnerships between the public and private sectors to drive improvement and create best value in the areas of valuation for financial reporting and reduction of NNDR liabilities for an £850m gross portfolio.


Twenty-seven patients with pain from non-curable cancer, who did not respond to systemic pain treatment with opioids and coanalgesics without the occurrence of unacceptable side effects, were treated with intrathecal infusions. Two patients were treated satisfactorily with morphine alone, while the remainder were given a mixture of morphine and bupivacaine. Complete or good pain relief was reported by 23 patients and some relief by three patients. The poorest results were obtained in the patients who died within the first week of intrathecal treatment. Post-spinal headache occurred in five patients and temporary paraesthesia or motor deficits in five. No serious complications were recorded. The treatment of severe cancer pain by intrathecal infusion of morphine and bupivacaine seems to be a promising method. As the adjustment of doses takes some days, and as the main complication, post-spinal headache, occurs early in the course, the method is most suitable for use in patients expected to survive for at least a couple of weeks.


This paper proposes an efficient approach to planning an ALT under scheduled inspections. We aim to simultaneously optimize stress levels, sample allocation, and inspection times for lifetimes that follow log-location-scale life distributions, including Weibull and Lognormal distributions. Such a high-dimension optimization problem is solved by a computationally efficient approach leveraging on the asymptotic equivalence between the selection of sample quantiles for parameter estimation of a location-scale distribution and the selection of the optimal inspection times during an ALT for the same purpose. A numerical example is presented to illustrate the application of the proposed approach, and a sensitivity analysis is performed to investigate the robustness of the optimal ALT plans against misspecification of planning inputs. A computer program coded in the MATLAB Graphical User Interface Design Environment is provided to make our method readily applicable in practice.


This paper studies Fenchel-Young losses, a generic way to construct convex loss functions from a regularization function. We analyze their properties in depth, showing that they unify many well-known loss functions and allow to create useful new ones easily. Fenchel-Young losses constructed from a generalized entropy, including the Shannon and Tsallis entropies, induce predictive probability distributions. We formulate conditions for a generalized entropy to yield losses with a separation margin, and probability distributions with sparse support. Finally, we derive efficient algorithms, making Fenchel-Young losses appealing both in theory and practice.


The possibility to distribute the traction power in Hybrid Electric Vehicles powertrain over different prime movers and energy recoverability via recuperative braking as well as buffering the energy on rechargeable batteries, lead to the question of how electrical, mechanical or chemical energy should flow among various hybrid components of the powertrain. This optimization problem, mostly called energy management of hybrid electric vehicles aims to find the minimum consumed fuel energy flow, in other words fuel consumption over the entire trip. This study describes the application of theoretical global optimization method called Dynamic Programming (DP) and a practical approach substitute, namely Equivalent Consumption Minimization Strategy (ECMS) to a parallel hybrid powertrain energy management problem and their virtual tests in various drive-cycles. The computational burden of DP has been relaxed by ECMS approach and sub-optimal behaviour is rather comparable to global optimal behaviour. Finally, ECMS is enhanced by novel method based on predictive information to anticipate upcoming road topology in order to fully benefit either the free recuperation energy over long downhill road sections or via pre-charging strategy against uphill road sections.


An experimental study of the phase composition for nine samples of the Cu–Ni–Ce–La alloys with different content of components was carried out. The nickel concentration in the experimental samples varies from 3 to 40 wt. %, the sum of cerium and lanthanum concentrations was not exceed 7 wt. %. Alloys samples of the system Cu–Ni–Ce–La were studied using scanning electron microscopy and microprobe analysis, as well as X-ray analysis. Also, Vickers micro hardness was measured on the cross sections of the experimental samples. In this work, the conditions of intermetallic compounds formation in the as-cast samples were studied. The results of the work can be used for the technological processes analysis of copper and copper-based alloys production.


OBJECTIVE: The English literature describes no pediatric cases of reduction of high-grade spondylolisthesis using the transvertebral surgical approach. We report a case of a high-grade spondylolisthesis in a child and provide a review. The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of a specific reduction with the transvertebral surgical approach to treat patients with high-grade spondylolisthesis where there is loss of sagittal balance, intractable pain, and/or a neurological deficit. METHODS: The patient was a 11-year-old girl who presented with recurrent back pain, urinary incontinence, and bilateral leg pain due to L5-S1 high-grade spondylolisthesis. The pre-and postoperative neurological status was evaluated and radiographic films were reviewed. RESULTS: She was treated by total L-5 laminectomy with foraminotomy and posterior fusion through the transvertebral approach. The lumbosacral dislocation was partially reducted. The percent slip and slip angle were measured preand postoperatively. The patient was doing well 16 months postoperatively with no further deterioration in neurological function and excellent fusion. CONCLUSIONS: This procedure is technically easy and does not have the known risks of the surgical treatment of high-grade spondylolisthesis. The technique is a safe and effective single-stage procedure, and employs posterior instrumentation fundamentals as used by spinal surgeons. It is simpler to perform in high-grade slips than the other methods of lumbosacral stabilization.


Kinematic gait data is commonly used in clinical research study. Doctors or physicians usually utilize it for diagnosis of movement disordered diseases. This paper presents an automated diagnosis system using gait data to classify patients into three groups: Normal, Sick/Knee Osteoarthritis (OA), and Sick/Parkinson's disease. The proposed system is based on a decision tree induction. The experimental results show that it does not only give a promising classification performance, but also provides a good reason along the prediction.


Doping of Si nanocrystals (Si NCs) has been the subject of a strong experimental and theoretical debate for more than a decade. A major difficulty in the understanding of dopants incorporation at the nanoscale is related to the fact that theoretical calculations usually refer to thermodynamic equilibrium conditions, whereas, from the experimental point of view, impurity incorporation is commonly performed during NC formation. The research group I've worked with have recently developed an experimental methodology in order to decouple the diffusion equilibrium properties to NCs formation phenomena. They managed to introduce the P dopant atoms into the Si NCs embedded in a SiO2 matrix from a spatially separated dopant source. A subsequent thermal annealing induces a P diffusion flux to interact with the already-formed and stable Si NCs, maintaining the system very close to the thermodynamic equilibrium. In this way it is possible to demonstrate that the process of P incorporation into the NCs is thermodynamically favoured and they have deduced the energy barriers regulating the P diffusion process into SiO2 and the trapping and de-trapping of P within the Si NCs.
In this thesis it is studied how the size of the NCs influences the doping of nanostructures. Samples similar to those of the previous work have been realized, changing the size of NCs (2nm, 4nm, 6nm and 8nm of diameter) and the modality of formation of the P source using the technique of Monolayer Doping. The samples have been annealed for 4, 9 , 16 hours in order to promote the P diffusion into the NCs. The characterization have been performed by mean of ToF-SIMS measurements in order to obtain P depth profiles which have been quantified using RBS analysis following a specific calibration procedure.
Once obtained the P concentration profile in depth, diffusion simulations have been performed using a code employed ad-hoc for this experimental situation. By mean of the simulations one could get the values of diffusivity of P atoms in SiO2 matrix, and the release coefficient of the P within the NCs for every NCs size. The results obtained suggest that the release phenomena is independent by the dimension of the NCs and the bonding energy calculated for each size of NCs is in excellent agreement with the values found previously and with recent theoretical findings.
However the P concentration profiles found in this work show a very complex behaviour of the P source that is different from the one of the previous work. Therefore before planning new investigations about Si NCs it is necessary to investigate in deep the role of the source performed by Monolayer Doping. After the understand of the P emission mechanism it will be possible to focus on the doping of Si NCs.
Finally a preliminary XANES analysis has been performed in order to determine the reticular position and the electronic properties of P incorporated into NCs. The results obtained show that the signal of the samples can be detected but it is largely covered by an instrumental background. Useful measurement will be obtained only reducing the background through modifying the experimental setup.


Orange-red-pigmented (OR) colonies were isolated from cream-yellow-pigmented Mycobacterium smegmatis after exposure to either mycobacteriophage MC4 or ultraviolet light; these variant strains were designated OR4 and ORuv, respectively. Early subculture of OR-colonies did not show any segregation of parental-type cells. However, colonies resembling the parental strains, possibly representing a back mutant (REV-OR4), were occasionally found during subculture of established OR-colonies or upon treatment with N-nitrose-N'-nitro-N-methylguanidine. The OR-variants were characterized by their lytic response to nocardiophage, but not to mycobacteriophages, presence of alpha-branched, beta-hydroxylated fatty acids of the Nocardia-type, and a guanine plus cytosine value of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) between 62 and 64 mol%. They were more resistant to the lethal action of both ultraviolet light and mitomycin C treatment than the parental and back mutant strains. Although the OR-variants in this study possess characteristics common to the genus Nocardia or some of the 'rhodochrous' mycobacteria, evidence is presented that they form a new class of mycobacterial variants.


A lens for three-dimensional closeups, especially suitable for medical visualization, has been introduced as an attachment to the Exakta Model V or VX 35 mm. camera, having the outside bayonet type of flange onto which the attachment may be fitted. On older models the flange may be replaced at any qualified service shop to accommodate the attachment. Other adjustments can be made as required, according to accompanying instructions. The device is called the Kin-Dar hypostereo attachment,* "hypo" because the lenses are set at less than normal interocular separation. It is designed for taking stereo pictures at distances of approximately 9 in. and closer. Photographs down to 3 in. from the subject are possible, with a surprising amount of depth even with small aperture shots, although it is best to have backgrounds and foregrounds fairly close to the main subject. The attachment has been planned for precision at fixed distances, so


Abstract. Barrier islands in tropical regions are prone to coastal flooding and erosion during hurricane events. The Yucatán coast, characterized by
karstic geology and the presence of barrier islands, was impacted by Hurricane Gamma and Hurricane Delta in October 2020. Inner shelf, coastal, and inland observations were acquired simultaneously near a coastal community (Sisal, Yucatán) located within 150 km of the hurricanes' tracks. In the study area, Gamma moved slowly and induced heavy rain, mixing in the shelf sea, and strong winds (>20 m s−1). Similar wind and wave conditions were observed during the passage of Hurricane Delta; however, a higher storm surge was measured due to wind setup and the drop (<1000 mbar) in atmospheric pressure. Beach morphology changes, based on GPS measurements conducted before and after the passage of the storms, show alongshore gradients ascribed to the presence of coastal structures and macrophyte wracks on the beach face. Urban flooding occurred mainly on the back barrier associated with heavy inland rain and the coastal aquifer's confinement, preventing rapid infiltration. Two different modeling systems, aimed at providing coastal flooding early warning and coastal hazard assessment, presented difficulties in forecasting the coastal hydrodynamic response during these seaward-traveling events, regardless of the grid resolution, which might be ascribed to a lack of terrestrial processes and uncertainties in the bathymetry and boundary conditions. Compound flooding plays an important role in this region and must be incorporated in future modeling efforts.


Endowing artificial systems with explanatory capacities about the reasons guiding their decisions, represents a crucial challenge and research objective in the current fields of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Computational Cognitive Science [Langley et al., 2017]. Current mainstream AI systems, in fact, despite the enormous progresses reached in specific tasks, mostly fail to provide a transparent account of the reasons determining their behavior (both in cases of a successful or unsuccessful output). This is due to the fact that the classical problem of opacity in artificial neural networks (ANNs) explodes with the adoption of current Deep Learning techniques [LeCun, Bengio, Hinton, 2015]. In this paper we argue that the explanatory deficit of such techniques represents an important problem, that limits their adoption in the cognitive modelling and computational cognitive science arena. In particular we will show how the current attempts of providing explanations of the deep nets behaviour (see e.g. [Ritter et al. 2017] are not satisfactory. As a possibile way out to this problem, we present two different research strategies. The first strategy aims at dealing with the opacity problem by providing a more abstract interpretation of neural mechanisms and representations. This approach is adopted, for example, by the biologically inspired SPAUN architecture [Eliasmith et al., 2012] and by other proposals suggesting, for example, the interpretation of neural networks in terms of the Conceptual Spaces framework [Gärdenfors 2000, Lieto, Chella and Frixione, 2017]. All such proposals presuppose that the neural level of representation can be considered somehow irrelevant for attacking the problem of explanation [Lieto, Lebiere and Oltramari, 2017]. In our opinion, pursuing this research direction can still preserve the use of deep learning techniques in artificial cognitive models provided that novel and additional results in terms of "transparency" are obtained. The second strategy is somehow at odds with respect to the previous one and tries to address the explanatory issue by avoiding to directly solve the "opacity" problem. In this case, the idea is that one of resorting to pre-compiled plausible explanatory models of the word used in combination with deep-nets (see e.g. [Augello et al. 2017]). We argue that this research agenda, even if does not directly fits the explanatory needs of Computational Cognitive Science, can still be useful to provide results in the area of applied AI aiming at shedding light on the models of interaction between low level and high level tasks (e.g. between perceptual categorization and explanantion) in artificial systems.


Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) infection is common in Africa. We examined the distribution of HHV-8 within families in rural Tanzania to determine routes of spread. HHV-8 infection was assessed by measuring antibody reactivity with a K8.1 (lytic-phase antigen) immunoassay. The prevalence increased from 3.7% (1/27) among infants to 58.1% (36/62) among children aged 3-4 years and 89.0% (65/73) among adults aged > or =45 years. Women with HHV-8-seropositive husbands had a 7-fold risk for infection (odds ratio [OR], 6.9; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.9-25.3). HHV-8 seropositivity in children was associated with having at least 1 seropositive first-degree relative (OR, 14.7; 95% CI, 5.9-43.1), a seropositive mother (OR, 7.4; 95% CI, 3.2-16.8), a seropositive father (OR, 4.8; 95% CI, 2.3-10.1), or a seropositive next-older sibling (OR, 4.2; 95% CI, 1.9-9.4). Our data are consistent with the occurrence of HHV-8 transmission within families, from mothers and other relatives to children via nonsexual routes and between spouses via sexual routes.


Localized proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) was conducted in two patients with herpes simplex virus type I encephalitis (HSE). MR spectra of bilateral temporal lobes were acquired by the single voxel method using 1.5T unit. Peaks indicating N-acetyl aspartate (NAA), choline (Cho) and creatine including phosphocreatine (Cr) were identified and ratios of NAA/Cr and Cho/Cr were calculated. These ratios were compared with those of the contralateral side showing normal MRI findings and also with the control spectra obtained from normal volunteers. Three abnormal findings were observed in the spectra of the patients suffering from HSE; 1. significant reduction of the NAA/Cr ratio at the involved temporal lobe, 2. mild reduction of the NAA/Cr ratio at the normal temporal lobe, and 3. elevation of the Cho/Cr ratio at the bilateral lobes, but more significant on the involved sides. These results indicated that neural loss and gliosis occurred in the contralateral area with normal MR images as well as the involved hemisphere. We concluded that 1H-MRS is able to show the specific histological findings of herpes simplex encephalitis. This is the first report assessing 1H-MRS for patients with HSE in Japan.


This study aims to determine the development of research trends on environmental accounting published by national and international journals. The data analyzed consists of 500 indexed research publications during the period 1981-2020. The data is then processed and analyzed using the R Bibliometric application to determine the bibliometric map of environmental accounting developments. The results showed that the number of publications on the development of the role of research related to environmental accounting has increased significantly. Then, the most common type of document that analyzes environmental accounting is journal articles. The most popular writer was Wood R, who during the research period he consistently conducted research on this theme, and the most popular keywords were energy, environmental and assessment.


Tracking objects involves the modeling of non-linear non-Gaussian systems. On one hand, variants of Kalman filters are limited by their Gaussian assumptions. On the other hand, conventional particle filter, e.g., CONDENSATION, uses transition prior as the proposal distribution. The transition prior does not take into account current observation data, and many particles can therefore be wasted in low likelihood area. To overcome these difficulties, unscented particle filter (UPF) has recently been proposed in the field of filtering theory. In this paper, we introduce the UPF framework into audio and visual tracking. The UPF uses the unscented Kalman filter to generate sophisticated proposal distributions that seamlessly integrate the current observation, thus greatly improving the tracking performance. To evaluate the efficacy of the UPF framework, we apply it in two real-world tracking applications. One is the audio-based speaker localization, and the other is the vision-based human tracking. The experimental results are compared against those of the widely used CONDENSATION approach and have demonstrated superior tracking performance.


In this paper, a modeling method of XY micropositioning stage with piezoelectric actuators is proposed. In the modeling scheme, a sandwich model consists of both input and output linear submodels, and an embedded neural-network-based hysteresis submodel is used to describe the motion behavior of each axis of the stage. Moreover, a neural-network-based submodel is constructed to describe the nonlinear interactive dynamics caused by the movement of another axis. Then, a tracking control scheme combined with a nonlinear decoupling control is proposed to compensate for the effect of the interactions between axes and track the reference trajectory. Then, the robust design method for the tracking and decoupling control is discussed. Finally, the experimental results on an XY micropositioning stage are presented.


We provide convergent and multiple evidence for a CD26/CXCR4 interaction. Thus, CD26 codistributes with CXCR4, and both coimmunoprecipitate from membranes of T (CD4+) and B (CD4−) cell lines. Upon induction with stromal cell-derived factor 1α (SDF-1α), CD26 is cointernalized with CXCR4. CXCR4-mediated down-regulation of CD26 is not induced by antagonists or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 gp120. SDF-1α−mediated down-regulation of CD26 is not blocked by pertussis toxin but does not occur in cells expressing mutant CXCR4 receptors unable to internalize. Codistribution and cointernalization also occurs in peripheral blood lymphocytes. Since CD26 is a cell surface endopeptidase that has the capacity to cleave SDF-1α, the CXCR4·CD26 complex is likely a functional unit in which CD26 may directly modulate SDF-1α-induced chemotaxis and antiviral capacity. CD26 anchors adenosine deaminase (ADA) to the lymphocyte cell surface, and this interaction is blocked by HIV-1 gp120. Here we demonstrate that gp120 interacts with CD26 and that gp120-mediated disruption of ADA/CD26 interaction is a consequence of a first interaction of gp120 with a domain different from the ADA binding site. SDF-1α and gp120 induce the appearance of pseudopodia in which CD26 and CXCR4 colocalize and in which ADA is not present. The physical association of CXCR4 and CD26, direct or part of a supramolecular structure, suggests a role on the function of the immune system and the pathophysiology of HIV infection.


Our 69-year-old female patient was investigated for a 20 kg weight gain over 2 years. The patient's medical history included hypertension, hyperuricemia, bilateral cataract surgery and musculosceletal complaints. Diabetes mellitus was not found. Physical examination revealed abdominal obesity, proximal myopathy and atrophic, vulnerable skin. The "overnight", low-dose and long, low-dose dexamethasone suppression tests indicated autonomous cortisol overproduction (plasma cortisol level: 172.6 and 153.2 nmol/L, cut-off: 50 nmol/L). The suppressed ACTH (<1.11 pmol/L, normal value: 1.12-10.75 pmol/L) suggested ACTH-independent hypercortisolism. Abdominal CT described macronodular enlargement of both adrenals. The size of the largest nodule was 23 × 20 mm in the right, and 24 × 30 mm on the left side (with -33 ± 37 HU density values on native scans). The 131I-cholesterol adrenal scintigraphy and SPECT/CT showed almost equally intensive radiopharmacon uptake on both sides. Based on the clinical results, bilateral macronodular adrenal hyperplasia associated with ACTH-independent hypercortisolism was diagnosed. Genomic DNA was obtained from the peripheral blood leukocytes. Targeted sequencing of 25 genes potentially involved in adrenal tumorigenesis revealed a new disease-causing armadillo repeat-containing 5 (ARMC5) gene mutation (c.1724del28 bp, g.31,476,067-31,476,094). Because of the autosomal dominant inheritance of this genetic alteration, the patient's two children underwent genetic screening for the ARMC5 mutation. The same mutation was found in the younger child of our patient. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first published Hungarian case of ARMC5 mutation with bilateral macronodular adrenal hyperplasia and ACTH-independent Cushing's syndrome. The genetic alteration is present in two generations of the family of the index patient. Orv Hetil. 2023; 164(32): 1271-1277.


Chaurs are shallow water logged areas and have limited scope for agriculture, but can be better utilised for agriculture cum fish production. About 70% (28.34 ha) area of Sonmar chaur in Bihar has been converted into small ponds for aquaculture purposes. Income and employment generated from the chaur from both agriculture and fisheries and fish disposal pattern were studied. The study revealed aquaculture as most profitable enterprise `3,28,000 ha-1) with BC ratio 1.46 followed by agriculture (`37,900 ha-1) and culture based fisheries (`34,400 ha-1) with B-C ratio 2.1 and 2.6, respectively. Maximum employment was generated from aquaculture (1411 man days ha-1) followed by culture based fisheries (70 man days ha-1) and agriculture (35 man days ha-1). The higher employment generation in culture fisheries was mainly due to requirement for watch and ward. The fish was sold either directly to the ultimate consumers or through the vendors. Among the two marketing channels operatings Channel-I in which producer sells directly to consumers was found more efficient (69.7). Though, aquaculture was more profitable and generated higher employment, it requires much higher resources for its practice which may hinder small holders to adopt such practice and also it may impact certain indirect uses of these water bodies. Environmental impact assessment and support to small farmers are needed to utilise such water bodies through aquaculture.


Motivated by curiosities of disease progression seen in the coronavirus pandemic, we analyze a minimalist predator–prey model for the immune system (predator), competing against a pathogen (prey). We find that the mathematical model alone accounts for numerous paradoxical behaviors observed in this and other infections. These include why an exponentially growing pathogen requires an exposure threshold to take hold, how chronic and recurrent infections can arise, and what can allow very sick patients to recover, while healthier patients succumb. We also examine the distinct dynamical roles that nonspecific, "innate," and specific, "adaptive," immunity play, and we describe mathematical effects of infection history on prognosis. Finally, we briefly discuss predictions for some of the effects of timing and strengths of antibiotics or immunomodulatory agents.


KMT-17, a fibrosarcoma induced by 3-methylcholanthrene in a WKA rat, is a sensitive tumor to various kinds of immunological assays and is a suitable model tumor for the study of the immune status in tumor bearing hosts. The antitumor immune response of KMT-17 bearing rats was studied by a radioisotopic footpad assay (FPA) in comparison with other in vivo and in vitro assays. Delayed hypersensitivity to tumor antigens measured by the FPA was observed from the 8th day after transplantation of KMT-17 cells, reached a peak on the 12-15th day, and then declined in the late stage on the 17th day. The kinetics of the FPA correlated well with those of an in vivo Winn assay and of an in vitro lymphocyte cytotoxicity assay (51Cr-release assay). The appearance of an antitumor antibody detected by a complement dependent cytotoxicity test also correlated well with the kinetics of the FPA. A growth inhibition assay (GIA) for non-specific cell-mediated immunity also showed similar kinetics to that of the FPA. The delayed hypersensitivity footpad reaction to tumor cell extracts measured by this FPA was tumor-specific. These results suggest that the FPA is a simple and reliable in vivo assay for evaluating antitumor immunity in tumor bearing host.


The purpose of this study was to identify the energy use in Taiwan. Logit regression analyses on a large micro-dataset reveal how energy use characteristics can help explain the energy. Using CR5.0 regression models, this paper explored the factors affecting energy demand conditional on energy forms, sectors and sources. Results suggest that explained models could be used as a well foundation for energy policy decision making.