This study proposes a combination of nondestructive testing methods for detecting soil cavities behind retaining walls, which adversely affect the stability of the sloping ground or retaining structures. An experimental study is conducted using a soil chamber filled with dry sands retained by a concrete wall plate. A hemispherical soil cavity is simulated just behind the wall plate, and elastic wave reflections of impacts on the wall are measured using accelerometers. The measured elastic waves are analyzed using the signal energy in time domain and predominant frequency and mobility spectrum in frequency domain. In addition, spatiotemporal changes in the surface of the wall during heating and cooling sequences are monitored using infrared thermography. The captured thermal image is then used for identifying the cavity. Experimental results show that the cavity leads to increases in the signal energy, predominant frequency, and flexibility in the mobility spectrum. The contrasts in the thermal images effectively reveal the shapes and locations of the soil cavity. This study demonstrates that the hybrid testing method that conducts a careful inspection by elastic waves on areas suspected in the preliminary scanning by the infrared thermography can be competitive and effective for detecting soil cavities.


The elderberry (Sambucus nigra L.) is cultivated worldwide for the production of fruits and flowers. The elderberry fruits are not consumed fresh but are mainly processed into longer shelf-life food products, such as juice, concentrates, syrups, jams, jellies, colorants, and wines. In this paper are presented the results of the research performed to achieve a functional ingredient (powder) from elderberry (Sambucus nigra L.) pomace resulting in the fruit juice industry. For this purpose, Aronia pomace (from the conventional and organic culture of our country) was subjected to a convective drying process at 50 °C or lyophilisation at -55 °C to protect the bioactive compounds to moisture content to allow their milling and turning them into powder and their stability in terms of quality. Powder achieved from elderberry pomace is characterized by total dietary fiber content (46.28-50.50%), minerals (3.133.50%), total sugar (9.7312.37%), pectic substances (6.88-8.32%), vitamin C (5.21-16.14 mg/100 g), vitamin E (1.503.05 mg/100 g), and total polyphenols (97.84-146.76 mg GAE/g). At the same time, powder achieved from elderberry pomace has antioxidant capacity. Due to its complex biochemical composition and antioxidant potential, the functional ingredient achieved from elderberry pomace can be used to fortify bakery and pastry products.


Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a currently incurable neurodegenerative disorder being the major form of dementia worldwide. AD pathology is initiated by cerebral aggregation of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides in the form of amyloid plaques; however, the mechanism how Aβ peptide aggregates participate in the disease progression and neurodegeneration is still under debate. Human neuroblastoma cell line SH-SY5Y is a convenient cellular model, which is widely used in biochemical and toxicological studies of neurodegenerative diseases. This model can be further improved by differentiation of the cells toward more neuron-like culture using different protocols. In the current study, dbcAMP, retinoic acid with TPA, or BDNF were used for differentiation of SH-SY5Y cells, and the resulting cultures were tested for the toxicity toward the Aβ42 peptide. The toxicity of Aβ42 peptide depended on the type of differentiated cells: RA and TPA- differentiated cells were most resistant, whereas dbcAMP and RA/BDNF- differentiated cells were more sensitive to Aβ toxicity as compared with non-differentiated cells. The differentiated cultures provide more appropriate cellular models of human origin that can be used for studies of the mechanism of Aβ pathogenesis and for a screening of compounds antagonistic to the toxicity of Aβ peptides.


The number of robberies and robbery-related injuries to employees in convenience stores (C-stores) during 1992 or 1993 were estimated for selected metropolitan areas around Miami and Tampa, Florida; Atlanta, Georgia; Chicago, Illinois; Baltimore, Maryland; Boston, Massachusetts; Detroit, Michigan; Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Charleston, Columbia, Greenville, and Spartanburg, South Carolina; and Arlington, Chesterfield, and Henrico counties, Virginia. Of the 1835 C-store robberies that occurred during 1992 or 1993 in all selected areas (excluding Atlanta and Chicago), there were 12 homicides of C-store employees; 219 nonfatal injuries of C-store employees; 1071 robberies in which there were no injuries but a weapon was used, displayed, or implied toward a C-store employee; and 132 robberies in which there was no injury and no weapon used, but an employee was struck, pushed, or shoved. Corresponding figures for the 238 robberies that occurred in Chicago during January to June 1993, and for which victim employment status was unknown (customer or employee) were three homicides, 53 nonfatal injuries, 120 attacks in which a weapon was used but there was no injury, and 57 attacks in which a person was struck, pushed, or shoved but there was no injury. The proportion of robberies that resulted in a homicide or injury to an employee varied among selected areas from .03 to .25. The proportion of homicides and injuries to an employee was. 14 or higher for target areas in Baltimore (.24), Detroit (.25), and Virginia (.14); the proportion to an employee or customer was .24 in Chicago. The conclusions from these data are that the risk of employee injury in C-store robberies was high in selected metropolitan areas. This underscores the need for effective robbery prevention programs to reduce injury. In addition, further research is needed to determine the effectiveness of prevention programs in the C-store industry and the application of these programs to other retail industries.


Correction for 'Nanoparticle size and chemical modification play a crucial role in the interaction of nano gold with the brain: extent of accumulation and toxicity' by Nouf N. Mahmoud et al., Biomater. Sci., 2020, DOI: 10.1039/c9bm02072a.


In 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) reaffirmed that anthropogenic climate change is under way, that future climate change is unavoidable, and that observed impacts can be attributed, at least in part, to anthropogenic warming. In addition, a growing number of climate change adaptation strategies are being developed around the world, indicating that policy makers are waking up to the reality of climate change. While mitigation efforts remain vital for avoiding the most dangerous impacts, adapting to unavoidable climate change is also essential. The climate change impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability (IAV) research community is now being called upon to demonstrate the likely impacts and vulnerabilities associated with future climate changes and to provide scientific advice on the most effective adaptation strategies.


A commercial cellulase was entrapped in liposomes composed of phosphatidylcholine (65 mol%), 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine (5 mol%) and cholesterol (30 mol%) to prepare the cellulase-containing liposomes (CL) with the enzyme incorporated as much as possible into the membrane. The CL was then immobilized with chitosan gel beads to develop an efficient biocatalyst for enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose. The activity of the CL prepared was determined with the membrane impermeable substrates such as insoluble filter paper (FP) and soluble carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC). The activity for FP was only several percents of that for CMC. The activity efficiency of the CL for either substrate was found to be about 5%, which suggests that around 5% of the whole cellulase contained in the CL were incorporated in the outer membrane of the liposomes. The CL was coupled with the glutaraldehyde-activated chitosan gel beads to obtain the immobilized cellulase-containing liposomes (ICL). The ICL was repeatedly used in the hydrolysis of both CMC and FP to examine its operational stability. The stability of the ICL was also compared to that of a conventionally immobilized cellulase (IC). As a result, although the activity of the ICL for FP or CMC decreased to 30% or 85%, respectively of the initial activity in its first use, the ICL almost maintained the respective activity for its subsequent uses. The activity of the IC for either substrate decreased steadily from around 70% to 50% of the initial one with the repeated use.


Comments on an article by Marc Hassenzahl (see record 2005-00463-002). The main merit of the article is that offers a guiding research model for empirical studies on beauty in the field of human computer interaction (HCI) and he presents it eloquently. From a product design point of view a few remarks can be made though. First, product designers are interested in tangible, and not virtual, on-screen products. We wonder therefore if and how the results of his studies would hold for products that the user can manipulate, actually touch, take in her hand, and so forth. Second, we think it is essential when dealing with difficult notions such as beauty, goodness and usability to use dynamic measures of users' behavior. This makes the researcher's life extremely complicated. To conclude, we admire the first steps taken on the path of scientific research into beauty, goodness, and usability in interactive products. As always, though, we are impatient. Product designers have to make things now. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2005 APA, all rights reserved)


This thesis describes a method for mapping unknown large scale static environments using a hybrid of topological and metric representations. A global map is formed from a set of local maps for sub-regions of the environments. Each local map contains quantitative environment information used to define a local reference frame. These maps are referred to as islands of reliability because they are associated with the sub-regions whose local structure is best matched to the sensors we are using. The connectivity of these islands is represented topologically. The key mapping problem we consider is where to place the islands of reliability and to what extent they should cover the environment. This is accomplished by defining the placement criteria in terms of the task to be satisfied and the uncertainties of the mapping agent. Islands are distributed about the environment at areas suitable for extracting metric information relevant to a localization task.


The biggest challenge in the contemporaneous world: maintain the supply of electric energy with reliability and quality. A lot of technological solutions, involving telecommunications, energy storage, dispersed generation (DG) with alternative sources and another usual electric generation, are in large scale implementation. Moreover, Microgrids (MG) concept is in large discussion in order to obtain better results in operation and management of this new distribution system. Local black start strategies are one of the most important implementation for that new kind of grid. In the first phase of the R&D project developed with CPFL, one Brazilian electric utility, inside of the environment of ANEEL, the Brazilian Regulatory Agency to the electric system, it was made a study concerning the technologies of distributed micro generators and connection requirements. Models and control strategies simulations have been done in order to reproduce the performance of this energy sources when connected in the grid during the practice tests. It was evaluated topologies with resistive loads, capacitive loads, and inductive/non-linear loads. These topologies are in parallel with the distribution utility grid using a special test bench able to synchronize the energy and power quality measurements of all devices.


The interest rate forecast plays a key role in the communication of monetary policy in Norges Bank. We give a comprehensive overview of the Bank's communication with focus on the interest rate forecast. The main arguments for publishing the interest rate forecast are discussed. The arguments are validated against two years of experience with interest rate forecasting. The paper describes the implementation of monetary policy in the Bank's models, in particular the use of optimal policy under commitment. It is argued that using optimal policy in a 'timeless perspective' is a useful normative benchmark to support a consistent reaction pattern that utilises the expectations channel appropriately. Comparing the interest rate forecasts with the market forward interest rates indicates that the bank's reaction pattern has been reasonably well anchored in the financial markets. 1 The views expressed are the views of the authors, and not necessarily the views of Norges Bank.


The LMS algorithm is one of the most successful adaptive filtering algorithms. It uses the instantaneous value of the square of the error signal as an estimate of the mean-square error (MSE). The LMS algorithm changes (adapts) the filter tap weights so that the error signal is minimized in the mean square sense. In Trigonometric LMS (TLMS) and Hyperbolic LMS (HLMS), two new versions of LMS algorithms, same formulations are performed as in the LMS algorithm with the exception that filter tap weights are now expressed using trigonometric and hyperbolic formulations, in cases for TLMS and HLMS respectively. Hence appears the CORDIC algorithm as it can efficiently perform trigonometric, hyperbolic, linear and logarithmic functions. While hardware-efficient algorithms often exist, the dominance of the software systems has kept those algorithms out of the spotlight. Among these hardware- efficient algorithms, CORDIC is an iterative solution for trigonometric and other transcendental functions. Former researches worked on CORDIC algorithm to observe the convergence behavior of Trigonometric LMS (TLMS) algorithm and obtained a satisfactory result in the context of convergence performance of TLMS algorithm. But revious researches directly used the CORDIC block output in their simulation ignoring the internal step-by-step rotations of the CORDIC processor. This gives rise to a need for verification of the convergence performance of the TLMS algorithm to investigate if it actually performs satisfactorily if implemented with step-by-step CORDIC rotation. This research work has done this job. It focuses on the internal operations of the CORDIC hardware, implements the Trigonometric LMS (TLMS) and Hyperbolic LMS (HLMS) algorithms using actual CORDIC rotations. The obtained simulation results are highly satisfactory and also it shows that convergence behavior of HLMS is much better than TLMS.


In this research, the evolutionary algorithm is applied to behavior learning of an individual agent in the multi-agent robot system. Each agent robot is given two behavior duties both collision avoidance from the other agent and target (food point) reaching for recovering self-energy. In this paper, we carried out the evolutionary simulation of the cooperative behavior creating an environmental map for the above-mentioned multiagent robots. Each agent robot has two conflicted task, that is, local individual behaviors for selfpreservation or self-protection and global group behaviors for the cooperative task, and has the additional algorithm of the group evolution which the parameters of the best agent are copied to a dead agent, that is, an agent lost its energy. We also report simulation results performed with the evolutionary behavior learning simulator which we developed for multi-agent robots with the map creation task.


Invasive diagnostics and minor surgical procedures with deep sedation on pediatric patients, such as fibroscopic examination, have increased over the past decade. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness and safety of an anesthesiological technique, based on the use of midazolam and ketamine, conducted in spontaneous breathing on a population of pediatric patients with suspected tracheobronchial pathologies. Pediatric patients from birth to 18 years old who underwent sedation diagnostic fibroscopy between April 2018 and March 2019, were enrolled. The anesthesiological technique provided was the intravenous administration of midazolam 0.2 mg/kg and ketamine 2 mg/kg in spontaneous breathing using a face mask with support of O2 and air. Vital signs such as Heart rate (HR), Systolic and Diastolic blood pressure (PAS and PAD) and Arterial oxygen saturation were recorded at the beginning of the procedure, 10 minutes and 30 minutes from the start. Other parameter evaluated were patient's level of consciousness, quality of the procedure, major and minor complications, adequate recovery of the waking state. Sixteen patients were enrolled, 12 males and 4 females aged between 2 days of life and 7 years. Laryngomalacia tracheomalacia, tracheoesophageal fistula, and congenital airway malformations were the most frequent diseases. As for vital signs: the HR has gone from an average value of 133.4 ± 16.26 bpm at T0 to an average value of 129.3 ± 16.55 bpm at T10 and 133.7 ± 17.35 bpm at T30; PAS and PAD had not significant variations. Among drugs available for the fibroscopic examinations, the combined use of intravenous midazolam 0.2 mg/kg and ketamine 2 mg/kg is safe and well tolerated, reducing the anxiety associated with the examination, without major complications. The current literature is lacking in studies that have included such small and low weight patients. It would be interesting to make a comparison between various sedation techniques in order to identify the safest for the pediatric population.


Author(s): Lindsey, Michael | Advisor(s): Lin, Lin | Abstract: This dissertation concerns the quantum many-body problem, which is the problem of predicting the properties of systems of several quantum particles from the first principles of quantum mechanics. Included under this umbrella are various problems of fundamental importance in quantum chemistry, condensed matter physics, and materials science. Of particular interest is the electronic structure problem, the problem of determining the state of the electrons in a system with fixed atomic nuclei. Since direct numerical solution of the many-body Schrodinger equation is intractable even for systems of moderate size, a diverse array of approximate methods has been developed. The broad goals of this dissertation are to improve the mathematical understanding of certain widely-used approximations, as well as to propose new methods. Roughly speaking, we consider three (overlapping) categories of methods: Green's function methods, embedding methods, and variational methods.One can understand Green's function methods in terms of many-body perturbation theory, which computes series expansions of physical quantities about a non-interacting reference system. These expansions can be expressed graphically in terms of Feynman diagrams, which can in turn be reorganized, in some cases, into an expansion in terms of so-called bold diagrams. Green's function methods can be specified by choosing a subset of bold diagrams to approximate the sum. At the same time, such methods can be understood in terms of an object known as the Luttinger-Ward (LW) functional, which admits a representation in terms of the bold diagrams. Many aspects of these constructions are purely formal, and indeed the existence of the fermionic LW functional as a single-valued functional has recently been called into question. To contribute to the understanding of these issues, we provide rigorous proofs of the combinatorial construction and analytic interpretation of the bold diagrams in the simplified setting of a classical field theory. In this setting we also provide a rigorous non-perturbative construction of the LW functional via convex duality and prove several key properties, including continuity up to the boundary of its domain and asymptotics in the limit of large interaction.Quantum embedding methods, meanwhile, view a large system as being composed of smaller fragments that are treated with high accuracy and embedded in the larger system in a mutually consistent way. Inspired by a connection between the boundary analysis of the LW functional and embedding, we perform similar analysis for the 1-RDM theory for fermionic systems, which is also developed via convex duality, illustrating a relation to fermionic embedding methods such as the density matrix embedding theory (DMET).Another embedding method of note is the dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT), which is at the same time a Green's function method that can be understood in terms of the LW functional. DMFT relies on the solution of impurity problems, which specify the embedding of an interacting system into a non-interacting bath. Underlying DMFT is a result about the sparsity pattern of the self-energy matrix for impurity problems, which to our knowledge has not been proved in the literature. We provide a rigorous proof of this result in various classical and quantum settings. We go on to investigate the fermionic DMFT in depth, identifying the key mathematical structures that appear in the algorithmic loop for solving it and using these to prove the well-posedness of this loop, in a certain sense.Finally, we introduce a suite of new approaches to the quantum many-body problem that provide variational lower bounds to the ground-state energy. These methods, which combine the themes of convexity and embedding, are based on novel convex relaxations of the variational principles for the ground-state energies of many-body systems. To begin, we recover a second-quantized version of the formalism of strictly correlated electrons (SCE), which yields an exact expression for the exchange-correlation functional in Kohn-Sham density functional theory in the limit of infinite Coulomb repulsion in terms of the solution of a multi-marginal optimal transport problem. We introduce a semidefinite relaxation method for approximately solving this problem and obtaining a lower bound for the ground-state energy. The ideas underlying this relaxation are generalized considerably, outside the context of SCE, to yield much tighter lower bounds, which we validate numerically for both quantum spin systems and fermionic systems. We also describe how these relaxation methods can be interpreted as embedding methods via convex duality.


Hepatitis B x-interacting protein (HBXIP), a co-factor of survivin, was originally identified by its binding with the C-terminus of the hepatitis B virus x protein (HBx). We have recently shown that HBXIP promotes the growth of both normal liver cells and hepatoma cells in vitro, but the molecular mechanisms of this have not been documented. In this study, we investigated the potential effects of HBXIP on the proliferation of HepG2 cells and the intracellular signaling pathway mediating these changes. Over-expression of the HBXIP gene promoted the proliferation of HepG2 cells, as shown by the MTT assay. We also showed that HBXIP induced cellular accumulation in the S phase concomitantly with up-regulation of cyclinD1 and down-regulation of p21 and p53 levels. Moreover, HBXIP over-expression cells showed activation of the PI3K/Akt pathway; this activation was accompanied by an increase in phosphorylation of glycogen synthase kinase 3β. LY294002, a specific inhibitor of PI3K, blocked HBXIP-stimulated Akt phosphorylation and suppressed the cell cycle promotion induced by HBXIP in HepG2 cells. The increase in cyclinD1 protein levels induced by HBXIP was inhibited when cells were incubated with LY294002. In conclusion, our data suggest that the proliferation of HepG2 cells promoted by HBXIP is associated with activation of the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.


An Asian option is a security whose payoff depends on the price average of the underlying asset. It remains a challenge to be able to price an Asian option quickly and accurately, since no explicit pricing formula exists even for most European-style Asian options. In this paper, we demonstrate the method of recursive numerical integration for pricing European-style Asian options, for which early exercise is not allowed. The price average is written in such a way as to allow the evaluation of its density through a recursive sequence of one-dimensional integrals involving the univariate normal distribution. We highlight features of this implementation that are superior to competing methods. However, as recursive numerical integration can prove to be computationally intensive with a large number of fixings, we suggest two alternatives to circumvent this difficulty. The first is based on the relationship between the number of fixings and the option price; the other uses a parametric approximation of the price average density. As a by-product of the first alternative, we are able to deduce the price of a continuously monitored Asian option from similar discretely monitored ones.


Language analysis is used by a number of governments around the world as part of the process of determining whether asylum seekers' cases are genuine. Such analysis usually involves consideration of a recording of the asylum seeker's speech in order to judge their country of origin. Use of language analysis has been criticized on a number of grounds, and some uncertainty has arisen as to its validity. This paper responds to calls for qualified linguists to provide guidelines for use by governments and others in deciding whether and to what degree language analysis is reliable in particular cases.

We, the undersigned linguists, recognize that there is often a connection between the way that people speak and their national origin. We also recognize the difficulties faced by governments in deciding eligibility for refugee status of increasing numbers of asylum seekers who arrive without documents. The following guidelines are therefore intended to assist governments in assessing the general validity of language analysis in the determination of national origin, nationality or citizenship. We have attempted to avoid linguistic terminology. Where technical terms are required, they are explained (e.g. 'socialization' in Guideline 2, and 'codewitching' in Guideline 9c). The term 'language variety' which is used in several guidelines, refers generally to a language or a dialect.


An experimental research of three types of orifices was carried out in a hydraulic circuit. One-hole orifice and two fractal-shaped orifices (von Koch snowflake, Apollonian gasket) were tested. Fractalshaped orifices had lower pressure loss in non-cavitating regime. For cavitating conditions, von Koch snowflake orifice maintained the reduced pressure loss, while pressure loss curve within Apollonian gasket orifice gradually aligned with that of one-hole orifice. Dynamics of the cavitating flow behind the orifices featured distinct peak for one-hole orifice connected with shedding of one strong coherent vortical structure, while pressure amplitudes for fractal-shaped orifices (especially von Koch snowflake orifice) were significantly lower. This conclusion is attributed to multiscale behavior of the flow behind the fractal-shaped orifices.


A Bayesian source tracking approach is developed to track a moving acoustic source in an uncertain ocean environment. This approach treats the environmental parameters (e.g., water depth, sediment and bottom parameters) at the source location and the source parameters (e.g., source depth, range and speed) as unknown random variables that evolve as the source moves. To track a target with low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), acoustic signals from a series of observations are treated in a simultaneous inversion. This allows real-time updating of the environment and accurate tracking of the moving source. The noise signals radiated from a surface ship target are processed and analyzed. It is found that the Bayesian source tracking method could enhance the localization accuracy in an uncertain water environment and low SNR.


Plant diseases caused by invading plant viruses pose serious threats to agricultural production in the world, and the antiviral engineering initiated by molecular biotechnology has been an effective strategy to prevent and control plant viruses. Recent advances in clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated (Cas) system-mediated DNA or RNA editing/interference in plants make them very attractive tools applicable to the plant protection field. Here, we review the development of CRISPR/Cas systems and summarize their applications in controlling different plant viruses by targeting viral sequences or host susceptibility genes. We list some potential recessive resistance genes that can be utilized in antiviral breeding and emphasize the importance and promise of recessive resistance gene-based antiviral breeding to generate transgene-free plants without developmental defects. Finally, we discuss the challenges and opportunities for the application of CRISPR/Cas techniques in the prevention and control of plant viruses in the field.


OBJECTIVES
To compare the motor development of preterm infants whose gestational age had been corrected to 38-40 weeks with full term newborns using the Test of Infant Motor Performance (TIMP).

METHODS
The cross-sectional study compared preterm infants (PT group), with a gestational age at birth of 28-33 weeks, at an equivalent age to full term newborns (FT group), who were assessed up to 48 hours after birth. The assessments were performed between December 2008 and April 2009 in a hospital nationally recognized for premature infant care in the city of Recife, PE, Brazil. The sample consisted of 92 infants, 46 in each group. The test was administered at age 38-40 weeks (or equivalent age in the PT group).

RESULTS
In the 46 preterm infants studied, 26.1% were classified as atypical, while in the FT group 100% were classified as typical (p<0.001). Moreover, there was a significant difference in average raw TIMP score between the two groups, with the PT group being lower (p<0.001).

CONCLUSION
According to TIMP performance, prematurity seems to be associated with impaired motor development.


The benefits of a single course of antenatal corticosteroids on neonatal outcomes are well established. There is, however, much controversy about how long this treatment should continue, and whether repeated courses should be administered if the women remain at risk for preterm delivery 7 days after the initial therapy. This review aims to discuss current evidence on the effectiveness and safety of repeated courses of antenatal corticosteroids.


CT image plays a very important role in early Lung Cancer detection thereby resulting in effective reduction of the mortality rate. But due to advancement in imaging technology and reduction in cost the data sets of CT images produced every day is very large and it is a challenging task for the radiologist for accurate assessment. Currently, many techniques are available for accurate detection nodules. Specifically, CNN (Convolution Neural Network) based on Deep learning increased the success rate of identification and classification of Lung Nodules. This paper presents a review on techniques for detection of Lung nodules using Convolution Neural network with its performance. In the beginning, the introduction to basic knowledge of CNN and its importance in medical imaging is discussed. In the later section, the available datasets and requirement for essential setup targeting Lung Nodule investigation using CNN is briefed out. Finally, what are the various challenges in CNN for further improving the accurate detection of lung Nodules is targeted. This paper will provide a brief idea of various techniques used with CNN for detection of Lung Nodules.


The estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) algorithm has some advantages over serum creatinine concentration for estimating GFR. There are a number of caveats around the use of eGFR, predominantly because it assumes subjects are of average body size and similar lean body weight. eGFR has not been validated as a safe method of adjusting drug dosing, nor as a screening test for impaired renal function in the general population. eGFR has not been validated as a robust measure of kidney function in many groups (eg, older people, inpatients, differing racial groups, obese people). eGFR is inaccurate in many settings, such as in high, low or rapidly changing GFRs. Until evidence of safety and efficacy is provided, eGFR should not be used for calculating drug doses, and use of the Cockcroft–Gault formula or other validated methods should continue.


The classic Dickey-Fuller unit-root test can be applied using three different equations, depending upon the inclusion of a constant and/or a time trend in the regression equation. This paper investigates the size and power properties of a unit-root testing strategy outlined in Enders (2004), which allows for repeated testing of the unit root with the three equations depending on the significance of various parameters in the equations. This strategy is similar to strategies suggested by others for unit root testing. Our Monte Carlo simulation experiments show that serious mass significance problems prevail when using the strategy suggested by Enders. Excluding the possibility of unrealistic outcomes and using a priori information on whether there is a trend in the underlying time series, as suggested by Elder and Kennedy (2001), reduces the mass significance problem for the unit root test and improves power for that test. Subsequent testing for whether a trend exists is seriously affected by testing for the unit root first, however.


Dissection onto the facial aspect of the zygoma is common in procedures of the midface for traumatic injury, craniofacial deformity and cosmesis. These procedures carry risk of injury to the neurovascular structures exiting the zygomaticofacial foramen (ZFF). The purpose of the current study was to map the ZFF, and to determine reliable reference points from which to identify the ZFF pre- and peri-operatively. Secondarily, we aimed to compare ZFF anatomy between sexes and geographical populations. 429 adult skulls from 9 geographic locations were used in the study. A cross-line laser was superimposed onto each zygoma to generate consistent landmarks (lines 1 and 2) from which to measure the ZFF, and the number of ZFF on each zygoma was documented. The location and frequency of ZFF differed significantly between geographic populations, but not between sexes. Of all 858 sides, 0 foramina were found in 16.3%, 1 foramen in 49.8%, 2 foramina in 29%, 3 foramina in 3.4% and 4 foramina in 1.4%. 93% of foramina were found within a 25mm diameter zone (ZFF zone) centred at 5mm anterior to the intersection of lines 1 and 2 on the right zygoma, and 94% were found within equivalent measurements on the left. Using these landmarks, we propose a novel method of identifying a ZFF zone irrespective of sex or geographic population. This technique may be of use in preventing iatrogenic damage to the ZFF neurovascular bundle during procedures of the midface and in local nerve block procedures.


Wireless cellular networks have seen dramatic growth in number of mobile users. As a result, data requirements, and hence the base-station power consumption has increased significantly. It in turn adds to the operational expenditures and also causes global warming. The base station power consumption in long-term evolution (LTE) has, therefore, become a major challenge for vendors to stay green and profitable in competitive cellular industry. It necessitates novel methods to devise energy efficient communication in LTE. Importance of the topic has attracted huge research interests worldwide. Energy saving (ES) approaches proposed in the literature can be broadly classified in categories of energy efficient resource allocation, load balancing, carrier aggregation, and bandwidth expansion. Each of these methods has its own pros and cons leading to a tradeoff between ES and other performance metrics resulting into open research questions. This paper discusses various ES techniques for the LTE systems and critically analyses their usability through a comprehensive comparative study.


One innovative approach for producing functionally graded tungsten/copper composites involves infiltrating a porous tungsten structure with molten copper. The porous structure is created by sintering tungsten powder to create an initial porous preform and then connecting the preform to the anode of an electrochemical cell. The porosity increases with time as the tungsten oxidizes in the alkaline electrolyte. The rate of porosity increase depends on the local value of electric-potential difference between the electrode and electrolyte, while the local electrical properties are a function of the porosity. Therefore, the porosity distribution, which determines the material-property gradient of the resulting material, can be modeled by a system of coupled equations describing porosity and electric potential. The present work develops a numerical tool capable of predicting the evolution of porosity in the rectangular-slab geometry (the extension to cylindrical-shell and elliptical-shell geometries is straightforward). Analysis of the results suggests that the shape of the gradient can be varied by adjusting parameters such as initial porosity and current density.


Abstract The last decades have witnessed constant changes and reforms in education in many countries. The paradox of these changes is that they require further changes and transformations and further reforms. Education systems do not correlate with the needs of humanity in the 21st century, nor with the emerging new world view. This article aims to examine education from the global perspective of the world of digitization in which we live and to find an answer to the question what is the purpose of education in the 21st century. From the analyses of different pedagogical trends and philosophical assumptions underlying them, a conclusion will be drawn about the need for a philosophy open to new challenges in today's educational reality in order to achieve this goal. This article will address key issues of the VUCA world concerning education such as digitization, educate to the unknown, the phenomenon of global teenagers and the development of robotics.


UNLABELLED
Long-term results after carotid reconstruction in patients with completed stroke caused by cerebrovascular occlusive disease.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
In patients with completed stroke caused by cerebrovascular occlusive disease the reconstruction of high grade carotid artery stenosis is discussed as prophylaxis for prevention of recurrent stroke. The operative complications of all patients who underwent surgery for carotid occlusive disease in the Heinrich Heine University between 1990 and 1999 were evaluated in this study.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
We present the results of 596 reconstructions in 537 patients (404 men, 133 women; mean age 64,5 plus minus 9,4 years). The operative technique of choice was thromboendarterectomy of the carotid bifurcation with vein-patch closure.

RESULTS
A postoperative ipsilateral neurological deficit was observed in 41 patients (6,9 %): 4,7 % permanent, 2,2 % transitory. Thirtyeight percent of the permanent deficits appeared after reconstructions performed within six weeks after stroke and only 9 % after surgery between six and twelve weeks. The in-hospital mortality was 0,7 % for neurological and 1,0 % for cardiopulmonary complications. During long-term follow-up (mean follow-up time 50 plus minus 34 months) only 17 (3,7 %) of 462 patients, which could be evaluated, presented with a new neurological event for the reconstructed side. Fifty-eight percent had none or minimal neurological deficits. 115 Patients (24,0 %) died during follow-up.

CONCLUSION
Even after completed stroke carotid reconstruction can be carried out successfully in selected patients with an acceptable complication rate in prophylaxis of recurrent stroke. In our retrospective study the optimal time for surgery seems to be between six and twelve weeks after stroke, but new imaging techniques may alter in the future the time window for operation in patients with an unstable neurological situation early after stroke. The reduction of social mobility and the high mortality in follow-up in correlation to patients without stroke are mostly related to accompanying severe cardiopulmonal risk factors.


A proportion of S. saprophyticus in other coagulase-negative staphylococcal isolates from the urine of patients with urinary infections and healthy individuals has been investigated. Certain diagnostic aspect of the urinary infections with S. saprophyticus have also been considered. Hundred four coagulase-negative staphylococcal strains isolated from patients in Słupsk and Gdańsk area and 72 strains of the coagulase-negative staphylococci isolated from the urine of healthy women have been divided into 9 species, according to Kloos and Schleifers' classification. Bacteriologic tests have shown that S. saprophyticus produced 20.4% of the urinary tract infections in Słupsk area holding the second place after S. haemolyticus (27.3%). This species was the most infrequent in the urine of patients in Gdańsk area (3.3%). Its sensitivity to antibiotics did not differ from that of other coagulase-negative staphylococci. In contrast to the majority of other strains, S. saprophyticus has not been isolated from the urinary tract of healthy women and has been encountered most frequently in low bacteriuria. Test of resistance to novobiocin which is considered as a simplified identification method of this species proved to be not very precise as other species have also been resistant to this antibiotic.


In his Report Lord Justice Leveson recommended statutory underpinning for a replacement to the PCC. Although the Prime Minister adamantly opposed that idea at the time of the report's release, based on the rather frank discussions at the Oxford Media Convention on 23 January it seems that all the proposals on the table involve some kind of statute. The sticking point appears to be in the quest to define the "recogniser".


The performance of the enhanced minimum variance (EMV) spatial spectrum estimator is studied. Expressions are presented fur the variance and bias of direction of arrival estimators based on general functions of the covariance matrix, and these expressions are then used to study the EMV estimator. Finite data effects and random perturbations on the ideal modeling assumptions are studied separately.


Introduction:Granulosa cell tumors (GCTs) are extremely rare tumors and are divided into 2 types: adult (AGCT) and juvenile (JGCT). The JGCTs represent only 5% of all cases. The incidence of ovarian carcinoma diagnosed during pregnancy varies about 0.0179 to 0.11 per 1000 pregnancies. Case:A 24-year-old woman at 12 weeks and 3 days of pregnancy was admitted to the authors' hospital due to a pelvic mass. Surgical exploration revealed a smooth, solid, mobile and well-encapsulated left ovarian mass. Histological and immunohistochemical findings led to the diagnosis of a well-differentiated JGCT. Pregnancy continued uncomplicated and she delivered a healthy baby girl at 37 weeks gestation. About 9 months after the original diagnosis, the patient showed no evidence of disease. Conclusion:Treatment options and a review of the literature related to JGCTs are discussed.


Large class size is one of the problems in the educational sector that developing nations have been grappling with. Ghana as a developing nation is no exception and has its own fair share of this problem at the pre-tertiary and tertiary levels of education. The sight of large class at the tertiary level is appalling and a headache to teachers at that level. The purpose of this study was to provide views of both lecturers and students on large class size and how it affects teaching and learning of the Winneba Campus of UEW (University of Education, Winneba). A cross-sectional sample survey was adopted in this study. Respondents of the study were made up of 42 lecturers and 342 students. The stratified random sampling method was used to select students while the purposive and random sampling techniques were used to select heads of departments and lecturers respectively. The research instruments used in data collection were questionnaire and direct observation. Some of the key findings of the study are that lecturers disagreed with the view that large class size affects the quality of their teaching. They also disagreed with the assertion that large class size makes assessment of students difficult. The students, on the other hand, agreed that large class size does not afford lecturers an opportunity to pay attention to weaker students and do remedial teachings. In line with the findings, the authors recommend that the university should appoint more lecturers to the general courses. Also, the university must make an extra effort to provide more resources and facilities, such as lecture halls and teaching and learning equipment to promote effective teaching and learning.


BACKGROUND
The importance of cardiogenic embolism as a cause of cerebral ischaemic events may be underestimated if potential cardiac sources of embolism remain undetected. Transoesophageal echocardiography (TOE) is more sensitive in detecting such abnormalities than earlier methods and may result in more frequent recognition of cardiogenic embolism.

AIMS
To establish in an unselected stroke population the prevalence of potential cardiac sources of embolism detectable on TOE and their relationship to atrial fibrillation and carotid stenosis.

METHODS
One hundred and thirty-five consecutive patients with cerebral ischaemic events were studied using transthoracic and monoplane transoesophageal contrast echocardiography and carotid Duplex imaging or cerebral angiography.

RESULTS
Thirty patients (22%) had atrial fibrillation. In 43 patients (32%), no cardiac source of embolism was identified; in eight echocardiography was normal. At least one potential cardiac source of embolism was identified in 92 patients (68%) with multiple findings in 41; these patients were older (70 +/- 9 years vs 61 +/- 14 years; p = 0.0001), more frequently in atrial fibrillation (28/92 vs 2/43; p = 0.0017) and more frequently had cortical or large subcortical stroke (71/92 vs 23/43; p = 0.005). Carotid stenoses were detected in 55% of patients, not significantly different in those with and without cardiac abnormalities.

CONCLUSION
When bias in selection of patients is avoided, TOE detects a potential cardiac source of embolism in most patients with cerebral ischaemia, particularly those older and in atrial fibrillation. Multiple cardiac abnormalities and coexistent carotid disease are common. The implication of these findings for prevention of stroke awaits age-matched controlled studies.


Background Service provider costs for vaccine delivery have been well documented; however, vaccine recipients' costs have drawn less attention. This research explores the private household out-of-pocket and opportunity costs incurred to receive free oral cholera vaccine during a mass vaccination campaign in rural Odisha, India. Methods Following a government-driven oral cholera mass vaccination campaign targeting population over one year of age, a questionnaire-based cross-sectional survey was conducted to estimate private household costs among vaccine recipients. The questionnaire captured travel costs as well as time and wage loss for self and accompanying persons. The productivity loss was estimated using three methods: self-reported, government defined minimum daily wages and gross domestic product per capita in Odisha. Findings On average, families were located 282.7 (SD = 254.5) meters from the nearest vaccination booths. Most family members either walked or bicycled to the vaccination sites and spent on average 26.5 minutes on travel and 15.7 minutes on waiting. Depending upon the methodology, the estimated productivity loss due to potential foregone income ranged from $0.15 to $0.29 per dose of cholera vaccine received. The private household cost of receiving oral cholera vaccine constituted 24.6% to 38.0% of overall vaccine delivery costs. Interpretation The private household costs resulting from productivity loss for receiving a free oral cholera vaccine is a substantial proportion of overall vaccine delivery cost and may influence vaccine uptake. Policy makers and program managers need to recognize the importance of private costs and consider how to balance programmatic delivery costs with private household costs to receive vaccines.


In 2016, a French independent review proposed that the Organized Breast Cancer Screening program should be stopped or stopped as existing today and re–organized after a complete revision. The first proposition was immediately dismissed by the French authorities. At first sight, the second recommendation seems to be fulfilled by the MyPeBS randomized clinical trial, to be launched in 7 European countries in 2019. Its promoters presented it as seeking to know whether screening tests based on 'individual risks of cancer are as efficient or better than standard screening tests'. They already announced that its results will serve as a basis to organize a new screening in France (and possibly in other countries). MyPeBS will compare two groups. Women from the 'standard group' will be screened according to the usual screening program in their geographical area: mammography screening every 1 to 3 years, from the age of 45 or 50. Following a complex process, women from the 'individual risk group' will be divided into four risk subgroups. Low-risk will lead to no screening; moderate risk to mammography screening every two years; high-risk to annual mammography and very high-risk to an additional MRI scan every year. After four years, every woman will undergo mammography screening. This design is quite complex. In the 'individual risk group', mammography screening will begin at the age of 40, instead of 45 or 50 in the standard screening group. Screening programs organized in different countries will be, inaccurately, considered as identical. Paradoxically, in the individual risk group, young women with a low or moderate risk factors should undergo more mammography screenings than in the standard screening group. Conversely, some women over 50 will undergo fewer mammography screenings, and others, more. MyPeBS poses several problems: absence of non-screened group; risk evaluation methods not validated; heterogeneous groups; insufficient information given to participants. The primary outcome is the incidence of advanced cancers. This doesn't seem a bad choice: advanced cancer incidence is linearly linked to breast cancer mortality. But the comparison methods are flawed. MyPeBS uses a non-inferiority design, with a 25% threshold. This means that if advanced cancer incidence (and breast cancer mortality) rises by less than 25%, the 'individual risk screening' will be considered 'non-inferior' to the standard screening. Now, for the Cochrane meta-analysis (and others), mammography screening seems to lower breast cancer mortality by 20%. So, even if the 'individual risk screening' does not perform better than no screening at all, it will be considered as non-inferior to the standard screening. Whatever the results, 'individual risk screening' will be considered a success. When the results of a trial are known in advance, you cannot call it scientific trial: you have to call it marketing. And what does MyPeBS market? Screening from the age 40 (whatever the results of the AgeX trial) and extensive use of MRI scan for 'high risk women'. In other words: overdiagnosis and overtreatment. Beware of rigged trials!


This study titled Senior Lecturer in Strategic Management Career Development (Study of Career Development Management Senior Lecturer in the Environment Ministry of the Interior Regional Bandung)

 The background of the problem in the first) career development based on the results of performance evaluation that is attached to the performance of Senior Lecturer, 2) performance analysis of the delivery profile of abilities that sets each in accordance with the rank of Senior Lecturer, ideal positions and competencies that must be owned and 3) developing methods selected according to individual needs so that acceleration and accuracy of the achievement levels of functional position as Senior Lecturer keterhambatan not experience those problems and capabilities. Which became the focus of this research are: a. What about career program development Senior Lecturer in Environmental Education and Training Center Ministry of the Interior Regional Bandung today? b. Are the strengths and weaknesses in career development environment Senior Lecturer in the Interior Ministry, the Regional Training Center in Bandung today? c. How is Senior Lecturer career management about planning, implementaion, and evaluation? And d. How Career Development Models trainers?

 Qualitative approach used in this study, with interviews and observations used to extract data on Kemendagri Regional Training Center in Bandung.

 The result obtained are; program development of career widyaiswara cover the interest, profession and construction of profession. The weakness still felt is side recruitment which still place forward the bureaucracy side, and the strengtheen which have emerged that is governance autonomy give the opportunity to widyaiswara to manage the career of of level shall highest. Here in after improvement of profession integration with renumerasi the idealness. Interest by paying attention the required criteria, and in implementation of of the life cycle model still be altered so that can lessen the distortion power of bureaucracy.
strategic Step recommendation which gone through; in the plan career have to pay attention the composition accomplishment of especial criterion and supporter criterion, career management adopt the models understudy, job giration and, coaching-counseling and develop the model by following the step; compilation of curriculum diklat functional, management diklat, stipulating of interest standard, compilation of guidance of formation, compilation of information system, and fasilitasi stipulating of profession ethics.


Aims: In this research, application of fishery wastes as locally available, cheap, eco-friendly, non-toxicity, reusable, abundant biodegradable resources and highly efficient adsorbent was studied for Direct Blue-86 (DB-86) removal from aqueous solution. Materials and Methods: Comparison of the adsorption of DB-86 by chitosan produced from three different fishery wastes (shrimp, crab and squid collected from Persian Gulf) has been investigated. Effects of adsorbent dosage, pH, flow rate, ionic strength, interfering ions and dyes were evaluated. Results: The results indicated that maximum removal of dye (~ 100%) was obtained by passing 100 mL of DB-86 (50 mg L-1, pH=2) through a column containing 0.5 g chitosan by using continuous method (fixed-bed) at room temperature (25 ± 2 °C). Maximum desorption of 72% was achieved at alkaline medium (pH=13.5). It was shown that equilibrium isotherm could be fitted by the Langmuir equation. The maximum adsorption of chitosan (qm) and the energy of adsorption were calculated as nearly 60 mg/g and 3.6 mg-1, respectively. Conclusion: Chitosan was successfully used for removal of DB-86 from spiked Karoon River sample and the effluent of Pars Paper Factory, a local pulp and paper factory in Ahvaz. Results represent of three replicated experiments.


Adansonia digitata is a tree plant used in west African local pharmacopoeia. This work aimed to evaluate the wound healing properties of its trunk bark's hydroethanolic extract in wistar rats. The model of excision wound was used. Wistar rats were treated post-excision topically with neutral carbopol gel (Control), carbopol gels containing 2.5 and 5% of A. digitata hydroethanolic trunk bark extract (ADHE) and L-Mesitran. Pictures were taken post excision for analysis. Biopsies were realized for histological examination of the skin excised and for hydroxyproline determination. In vitro membrane stabilization anti-inflammatory test, DPPH and FRAP antioxidant tests, and phytochemical tests were performed. The results show a better rate of contraction in ADHE 2.5 and 5% animals (+56 ± 0.52% and +68 ± 0.24% respectively) as earlier as on day three post-excision. The hydroxyproline assay confirmed a better collagen production in ADHE 2.5% and 5% animals (+102.5 ± 2.9%, and +107 ± 3.0% respectively). Histological analysis showed a rapid re-epithelialization in ADHE animals. The anti-inflammatory test indicated an IC50 of 16.521 ± 0.525 µg/mL, very close to Aspirin (16.826 ± 0.341 µg/mL), showing a possible anti-inflammatory activity of ADHE. The extract reduced DPPH radical (IC50 of 344.985 ± 17.139 µg/mL) and ferric ions (EC50 = 178.689 ± 0.250 µg/mL). Phytochemical investigations revealed the presence of alkaloids, terpenoids, and polyphenolic compounds. Flavonoids in particular, with an amount of 51.694 ± 0.174 mgER/g, should explain the wound healing activity observed, making the hydroethanolic extract of A. digitata a potential remedy for excision wounds.


The effect of D002, a defined mixture of higher primary alcohols purified from bee wax, on in vivo and in vitro lipid peroxidation was studied. The extent of lipid peroxidation was measured on the basis of the levels of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS). When D002 (5-100 mg/kg body weight) was administered orally to rats for two weeks, a partial inhibition of the in vitro enzymatic and non-enzymatic lipid peroxidation was observed in liver and brain microsomes. Maximal protection (46%) occurred at a dose of 25 mg/kg. D002 behaved differently depending on both the presence of NADPH and the integrity of liver microsomes, which suggests that under conditions where microsomal metabolism was favored the protective effect of D002 was increased. D002 (25 mg/kg) also completely inhibited carbon tetrachloride- and toluene-induced in vivo lipid peroxidation in liver and brain. Also, D002 significantly lowered in a dose-dependent manner the basal level of TBARS in liver (19-40%) and brain (28-44%) microsomes. We conclude that the oral administration of D002 (5, 25 and 100 mg/kg) for two weeks protected rat liver and brain microsomes against microsomal lipid peroxidation in vitro and in vivo. Thus, D002 could be useful as a dietary natural antioxidant supplement. More studies are required before these data can be extrapolated to the recommendation for the use of D002 as a dietary antioxidant supplement for humans.


Chronic (18 h) exposure of cultured hippocampal slices to the type‐A GABA receptor blocker, bicuculline methiodide (BMI) 10 μm increased the levels of connexin 43 (Cx43) and connexin 32 (Cx32) mRNAs, but not connexin 26 and connexin 36, as demonstrated by RNase protection assays. The levels of Cx43 and Cx32 proteins in membrane fractions detected by western blotting were also significantly increased. Immunoblotting indicated that BMI also promoted a significant expression of the transcription protein c‐fos. The rate of fluorescence recovery after photobleaching, an index of gap junctional coupling, was also significantly increased, whereas it was blocked by the gap junctional blocker, carbenoxolone (100 μm). Extracellular recordings in CA1 stratum pyramidale, performed in BMI‐free solution, demonstrated that BMI‐exposed cultures possessed synaptic responses characteristic of epileptiform discharges: (i) significantly greater frequency of spontaneous epileptiform discharges, (ii) post‐synaptic potentials with multiple population spikes, and (iii) significantly longer duration of primary afterdischarges. Carbenoxolone (100 μm), but not its inactive analog, oleanolic acid (100 μm), reversibly inhibited spontaneous and evoked epileptiform discharges. The findings of BMI‐induced parallel increases in levels of gap junction expression and function, and the increase in epileptiform discharges, which were sensitive to gap junctional blockers, are consistent with the hypothesis that increased gap junctional communication plays an intrinsic role in the epileptogenic process.


Owing to increasing connected medical devices and rapid development of deep learning technologies, the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) has attracted great attention for healthcare monitoring with intelligent sensors. Radar serves as a non-contact healthcare device, continuously measuring human's vital signs and behavior to provide daily and comprehensive long-term record on health status. However, radar sensor data collected from various users and families usually involve sensitive personal information, while traditional deep learning technologies using IoMT radar data may present high privacy leakage risks. This paper proposes FedRadar, a novel federated multi-task transfer learning framework for radar-based heartbeat rate and activity monitoring in IoMT to solve these challenges. It deals with the decentralized structure, training personalized multi-task models collaboratively, combining the shared relevance knowledge of human's physiological information while keeping personal radar data locally for privacy protection. First, the multi-task neural network is built on the spatial-temporal radar data to capture the potential relationship and shared representations between human's vital sign and activity. Furthermore, the federated learning with knowledge transfer scheme is designed to achieve personalized local models by transferring coarse relevant features and keeping fine-grained individual information. Extensive experiments demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of FedRadar with 2.8% and 2.5% superior than local training model respectively on the accuracy of heartbeat rate estimation and activity classification in realistic constructed radar datasets. In addition, FedRadar is extensible and suitable to continuously monitor multiple health indicators with privacy protection in IoMT. The FedRadar codes and constructed radar datasets are available on https://github.com/bupt-uwb/FedRadar.


Healthcare is one of the most stressful sectors in the world. Being the backbone of every hospital no matter how small or big, nurses face various stressful situations on a daily basis. This stress takes toll on their health predisposing them to various problems. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of stress and psychosomatic symptoms among nurses as well as relationship between the two. Self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the background data and standardised scales were used to measure the stress levels (Expanded Nursing Stress Scale) as well as to collect information regarding the prevalence of psychosomatic symptoms (The Somatic Symptom Scale-8). 100 nurses working in emergency and ICU areas of tertiary care hospital were included in the study. The subjects were grouped among three stress levels – mild, moderate and severe according to their score on the ENSS and the psychosomatic symptoms were scored according to the severity with which they bothered the subjects. Maximum subjects reported having severe stress due to high workload. The average level of stress in the assessed population was 1.57 which falls under the category of moderate level of stress. Average population was bothered highly from the somatic symptoms with feeling of low energy, tiredness and back pain. A positive relationship was found between the stress and psychosomatic symptoms. Senior nurses had more stress than their junior counterparts. In general, nurses are moderately stressed. Stress factors are work load, inadequate preparation and conflicts with other healthcare workers including fellow nurses. Incidence of psychosomatic symptoms was found to increase with level of stress.


A random sample of patients (n = 43) had been investigated to detect any difference in response of bright light therapy in lithium-treated inpatients (n = 18) suffering from depression. Only 27% of the lithium-based inpatients respond to bright light therapy, but 73% of patients respond who were not treated with lithium. We conclude that lithium therapy reduces the chance of achieving t remission of depression by bright light therapy.


A dynamic systems approach to nonlinear charge transport and electrical instabilities in semiconductors is presented, and illustrated by specific examples of physical transport mechanisms which yield oscillatory instabilities: Impact ionization of shallow impurities at liquid helium temperature as a mechanism for selfgenerated chaotic dielectric relaxation oscillations; Poole-Frenkel emission from deep levels at room-temperature as a mechanism for low-frequency oscillations in semiinsulating GaAs; Impact ionization and optical phonon emission as a mechanism for global bifurcations and hysteresis of oscillations in p-Ge; Breathing current filaments.


Over the past years haptic interfaces have been successfully integrated into a wide range of fields such as engineering (Borro et al., 2004) or surgery (Basdogan et al., 2004). Haptic devices allow users to interact with a certain environment, either remote or virtual, by the sense of touch. In these applications—unlike in conventional robotic systems—the user shares workspace with the device. Therefore, an unstable behaviour can damage the device, or even worse, harm the operator. Thus, stability must be guaranteed to ensure user safety and achieve high haptic performance. Unfortunately, preserving haptic stability usually implies reducing the range of dynamic impedances achievable by the system. Hence, rigid virtual objects cannot be perceived as stiff as real ones, and the overall haptic performance and transparency perception are considerably degraded. Developing stable controllers able to exhibit a wide dynamic range of impedances is a persistent challenge in the field of haptics. This chapter describes main research carried out by the authors on stability issues for haptic rendering, as well as on the development of transparent haptic controllers. In a haptic system, the stability boundary for haptic rendering depends on many factors, such as inherent interface dynamics, motor saturation, sensor resolution or time delay. Section 2 introduces the state-of-the-art on stability studies showing the influence of many of these phenomena. Beyond related work, Section 3 analyses the influence of viscous damping and delay on the stability boundary for haptic rendering. Although the shape of the stability boundaries found is quite complex, a linear condition which summarises the relation between virtual stiffness, viscous damping and delay is proposed. Section 4 analyses the influence of the first vibration mode of the system on the stability boundary. The majority of haptic models used to analyse stability do not consider the existence of internal vibration modes. However, it will be shown that for certain interfaces vibration modes must be taken into account to correctly obtain the range of impedances achievable by the system. 5


Multi-access interference (MAI) limits the transmission performance of the DS-CDMA uplink. In this paper, we propose 2-dimensional (2D)-OVSF spreading for chip-interleaved DS-CDMA uplink transmission. By adopting 2D-OVSF spreading, the multiuser channel is transformed into orthogonal single-user channels irrespective of users' data rates. Thus, single-user frequency-domain MMSE equalization can be used to take advantage of frequency-selective fading channel for signal detection. For a large Doppler spread, however, the orthogonality among the OVSF spreading codes may be lost, thereby producing the MAI. The decision feedback frequency-domain MAI cancellation is applied to improve the BER performance. The transmission performance in a multiuser and frequencyand time-selective fading environment is evaluated by computer simulation.


Passage through the cell cycle in eukaryotes requires the successive activation of different cyclin‐dependent protein kinases. Here, we describe the identification and characterization of a novel class of cyclin‐dependent protein kinase, termed Cdk2, in the ciliate Paramecium tetraurelia. It is 301 amino acids long, 7 amino acids shorter than Cdk1, the CDK that is associated with macronuclear DNA synthesis. All the catalytic domains typical of protein kinases can be located within the sequence and putative regulatory phosphorylation sites equivalent to Thr14, Tyr15, and Thr161 in human CDK1 are also conserved. The'PSTAIRE'region characteristic of most CDKs is perfectly conserved. Cdk2 shares only 48% homology to Cdk1 at the amino acid level, suggesting that the evolutionary separation of Cdk1 and Cdk2 is ancient, and implying that they have different roles in cell cycle regulation. Like Cdk1, Cdk2 does not bind to yeast pl3suc1, even though it has better conservation of pl3suc1 binding sites than Cdk1 does. The Cdk2 protein level is relatively constant throughout the vegetative cell cycle. Cdk2 exhibits kinase activity towards bovine histone H1 in vitro with the maximal level late in the cell cycle, suggesting it may be involved in the regulation of cytokinesis. Our results further support the view that an analogue of the cyclin‐dependent kinase cell cycle regulatory system like that of yeast and higher eukaryotic cells operates in Paramecium and that a family of cyclin‐dependent kinases may control different aspects of the Paramecium cell cycle.


Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection increases all-cause mortality, rates of cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, liver transplantation and overall health care utilization. Morbidity and mortality disproportionately affect individuals born between 1945 and 1975. The recent development of well-tolerated and highly effective therapies for chronic HCV infection represents a unique opportunity to dramatically reduce rates of HCV-related complications and their costs. Critical to the introduction of such therapies will be well-designed provincial programming to ensure immediate treatment access to individuals at highest risk for complication, and well-defined strategies to address the global treatment needs of traditionally high-risk and marginalized populations. HCV practitioners in New Brunswick created a provincial strategy that stratifies treatment according to those at highest need, measures clinical impact, and creates evaluation strategies to demonstrate the significant direct and indirect cost savings anticipated with curative treatments.


Reports acoustic-resonance measurements of the component s11 of the elastic compliance in SrTiO3 near its 105K phase transition. The observed critical singularity is stronger than that suggested by earlier measurements using pulse-echo techniques, and stronger than that predicted by the theory of ideal crystal critical behaviour. These results are indicative of a dynamic defect-controlled central-peak phenomenon.


Objective: To investigate new aspects of the relationship between sustained reduction of blood pressure and alteration of cardiovascular structure and function after cessation of early captopril treatment. Methods: Spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) were given captopril 20mg/kg per day (n=13) or 100mg/kg per day (n=12) from the intra-uterine period to age 16 weeks and then the treatment was stopped. Age-matched untreated SHR (n=16) and Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats (n=17) served as controls. The experiments were carried out at 40 weeks. Results: Withdrawal of captopril treatment resulted in a rapid rebound of SBP to a level close to that of untreated SHR in the low-dose group, whereas a persistently lower SBP was maintained in the high-dose group. Both doses of captopril treatment completely prevented wall hypertrophy either of arteriolar resistance vessels or of muscular vessels. Captopril decreased left ventricular mass:body weight ratio dose-dependently. High-dose captopril improved the resting and stress systolic and diastolic function. Thoracic angiotensin converting enzyme levels were dose-dependently reduced by captopril treatment. The curves of perfusion pressure response to incremental doses of phenylephrine shifted to the right in both captopril treatment groups compared with those of the control SHR. Addition of L-NAME and L-arginine to the perfusate augmented or attenuated the vasoconstrictor activity in all of the rats, whereas high-dose captopril totally restored the abnormal hypersensitivity to L-NAME and caused less attenuation in response to L-arginine in the control SHR. Conclusions: The persistent lower blood pressure caused by early captopril treatment was ascribed mainly to its sustained normalization of structure and function of resistance vessels, which may be partly mediated by the improvement of endothelial cell function. The persistent reduction of angiotensin converting enzyme activity in blood vessel wall attenuated left ventricular hypertrophy, and the improvement of cardiac systolic and diastolic function may also contribute to the sustained hypotensive effect.


The article aims to characterise the variety of processes andmechanisms of nature commodification from a sociological perspective. Its general theoretical framework is based on Karl Polanyi's The Great Transformation and the economic-sociological theory of ownership, on the basis of which the social, economic and political determinants, actual modalities, and especially the intended and unintended social and ecological consequences and paradoxes of the processes of nature commodification and decommodification are analysed. This analysis (running across unilateral typologies and approaches), tries to go beyond the narrow and one-sided characteristics of complex practices of human impact on nature, taking into account both their positive and negative consequences where the robbery policy of conquering nature is mixed with attempts of protecting it. The general theoretical argument is illustrated by concrete examples and in particular by Poland's experiences, both from the period of real socialism and the post-socialist transformation.


Transcript of a letter from Charles Moore to Josephus Moore and family, discussing local and family news. There has been a rash of horse thieving in the area. A Union deserter, Captain Mortimer Scott, is among the twelve men captured.


OBJECTIVE
We assessed the effects of humanized nursing on perioperative glaucoma patients under local anesthesia and their sleep quality.

METHODS
Fifty glaucoma patients who underwent surgery under local anesthesia from January 2018 to January 2020 were enrolled and randomly divided into 2 groups (N=25). The control group received routine nursing care whereas the observation group underwent humanized nursing care. We compared negative emotion scores, treatment compliance, incidence of postoperative complications, comfort score, sleep quality score, and nursing satisfaction.

RESULTS
After nursing, the observation group had lower SAS and SDS scores than the control group (p < .05). The total treatment compliance rate was higher in the observation group than that in the control group (96.0% vs 72.0%, p < .05). The observation group had a lower incidence rate of postoperative complications than the control group (4.0% vs 24.0%, p < .05). After nursing, the observation group exhibited an increased GCQ score and a decreased PSQI score compared to the control group (p < .05). The total satisfaction rate of nursing was higher in the observation group than that in the control group (96.0% vs 76.0%, p < .05).

CONCLUSION
Humanized nursing for glaucoma patients during the perioperative period under local anesthesia is able to relieve the negative emotion of patients and enhance their treatment compliance, which is conducive to reducing postoperative complications, increasing physical comfort level, and ameliorating sleep quality, thereby improving nursing satisfaction by patients.


The Chevrel phase superconductor materials are of the type M2Mo6X8, where M is a transition metal and X a chalcogen, and thus contain volatile components (S, Se, Te, . . .). To be able to grow single crystals of these compounds by the melt methods, a satisfactory method ensuring contained and prolonged melting is necessary. The two main difficulties are the high melting point ( approximately 1700 degrees C) and the increased loss of volatile components as the melting is approached. Sealed crucible methods are described in the literature. The authors have developed a simpler, 'liquid encapsulation' method for the successful melting of the Chevrel phase compounds. The process is described in detail and results obtained on Cu2Mo6Se8 are presented.


Innovation studies have experienced a social shift in this first decade of the century, which begins to move to innovation policy. We are facing a new paradigm in such studies, not only to a further expansion of the types and models of innovation. To this end, we analyze some of the first conceptual frameworks of social inno- vation (Goldenberg and Crises group in Canada, Young Foundation and NESTA in the United Kingdom) and discussed the progress of the new paradigm in the European Union. We conclude that social innovation technosciences seem to have reached a broad consensus: social innovations emerge in the first instance of civil society, but can also be generated or implemented by the public sector and the private sector. In addition, both the means and the purposes to promote them should be predominantly social.


Many watermarking schemes are robust against common image processing attacks like Rotation Scaling Translation (RST) attack. In this paper, presents a blind watermarking scheme against local attacks. First, proposes a new globally and locally feature transform called Local Daisy feature transform (LDFT). Then, partition this invariant geometric space using Binary Space Partition Tree (BSP). The location of every single pixel is in variable to geometrical distortions like rotation, scaling, translation and resistant against cropping. Lastly, Logarithmic quantization index modulation (LQIM) watermarking embedding method is used to embed watermarking sequence bit by bit into leaf nodes of binary space partition tree. This method overcomes the drawbacks of feature based watermarking method. The watermark Extraction is similar to Watermark Embedding. In Extraction process also LDFT space is created and partitioned using BSP tree.


Background/Objectives: Nuclear power generator has supplied a large capacity power and operated to low CO2emission.
Methods/Statistical analysis: Nuclear power generation supplies a constant power for safety reasons in the power system. However, it could be operated an acceptable performance range for the control of generator considering nuclear safety. This study has been evaluated power frequency fluctuation limits by applying N-2 generator contingency, in consideration of the safety of the power plant.The load variation pattern was analyzed of nuclear power by using power system prediction data of 2024.
Findings: The frequency recovery of the power system reference for stable system operation reduces the frequency fluctuation by securing reserve power of the generation.This paper has been used the power control by using governor control of the generator.Simulation results has showed that using the governor load follow-up function of a nuclear power generator can reduce the frequency drop width by providing an immediate response reserve for the expected maximum emergencies. It was also more economical than hydro-dynamic operation for instantaneous response reserve.In this paper, analysis has been performed using commercial power system analysis program.
Improvements/Applications: It was possible to obtain cost-effective results than the hydro-generator operation of the momentary reactive reserve for conventional governor droop control. Nuclear power could be controlled by various operating methods, and could be used as friendly environment energy through reduction of CO2 in the environment side.It is proposed as a viable alternative to prepare for climate change and promote energy independence.
Keywords: Nuclear Power, Load Fluctuation, Power Frequency, Reserve Power, N-2 Contingency


This paper proposes linear precoder designs exploiting statistical channel knowledge at the transmitter in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless system. The paper focuses on channel statistics, since obtaining real-time channel state information at the transmitter can be difficult due to channel dynamics. The considered channel statistics consist of the channel mean and transmit antenna correlation. The receiver is assumed to know the instantaneous channel precisely. The precoder operates along with a space-time block code (STBC) and aims to minimize the Chernoff bound on the pairwise error probability (PEP) between a pair of block codewords, averaged over channel fading statistics. Two PEP design criteria are studied-minimum distance and average distance. The optimal precoder with an orthogonal STBC is established, using a convex optimization framework. Different relaxations then extend the solution to systems with nonorthogonal STBCs. In both cases, the precoder is a function of both the channel mean and the transmit correlation. A linear precoder acts as a combination of a multimode beamformer and an input shaping matrix, matching each side to the channel and to the input signal structure, respectively. Both the optimal beam direction and the power of each mode, obtained via a dynamic water-filling process, depend on the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Asymptotic analyses of the results reveal that, for all STBCs, the precoder approaches a single-mode beamformer on the dominant right singular vector of the channel mean as the channel K factor increases. On the other hand, as the SNR increases, it approaches an equipower multiple-mode beamformer, matched to the eigenvectors of the transmit correlation. Design examples and numerical simulation results for both orthogonal and nonorthogonal STBC precoding solutions are provided, illustrating the precoding array gain.


A technocratic model of curriculum design that has been highly influential since the middle of last century assumes that the aims of education can be, and should be: 1. Causally brought about by administering educational experiences; 2. Specified as objectives that can be attained, reached or completed; 3. Changes in students that are described in advance.

Richard S. Peters argued against the first of these three tenets by making a distinction between aims that are causally brought about by the means and aims that are constituted by the means. I argue that further distinctions between ways in which ends and means can be related throw doubt on the remaining two tenets. My argument against the second one rests on a distinction between open aims that cannot be completed and closed aims that can be reached. I use a third distinction, between aims as principles of design and aims as principles of reform, to show that the third tenet of the technocratic model is also suspect.

I conclude that a realistic view of educational aims must take into account that they are more multifarious than envisaged by the technocratic model of curriculum design.


Cover crops (CC) in corn ( Zea mays L.) and soybean [ Glycine max (L.) Merr.] rotations may prevent N loss and provide other ecosystem services but CC productivity in the western Corn Belt is limited by the short growing season. Our objective was to assess CC treatment and planting practice effects on CC biomass, spring soil nitrate concentrations, and soybean yield at two rainfed sites in eastern and one irrigated site in south-central Nebraska over 4 yr. Cover crop treatments (cereal rye [ Secale cereale L.] [RYE] and a mix of rye, legume, and brassica species [MIX]) were planted by broadcast interseeding into corn stands in September (pre-harvest broadcast) or drilling after corn harvest (post-harvest drilled) and terminated 2 wk before planting soybean. Cover crop biomass and N uptake varied between years, but generally at the eastern sites, pre-harvest broadcasting produced more biomass than post-harvest drilling (1.64 and 0.79 Mg ha −1 , respectively) and had greater N uptake (37 and 24 kg ha −1 , respectively). At the south-central site, post-harvest drilling produced more than pre-harvest broadcasting (1.44 and 1.20 Mg ha −1 , respectively). RYE had more biomass than MIX (1.41 and 1.09 Mg ha −1 , respectively), but the same N uptake. Soil nitrate reductions after CC were small. In 3 of 12 site-years, soybean yielded less after pre-harvest CC. Yield reductions were not correlated to CC biomass, but were likely due to greater weed pressure. High CC productivity is necessary for high N uptake, and requires site-specific selection of planting practice and CC treatments.


A generic approach is proposed for the estimation of advanced biocrudes properties from liquefied biomass and the enthalpy of formation of biomass feedstocks applicable to the modeling of biomass conversion processes where the exact stoichiometry and kinetics are unknown,such as pyrolysis, solvolysis and hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) . The enthalpy of formation of the biomass is estimated through a direct correlation based on ultimate and proximate analysis, whose parameters can easily be fitted with experimental data available from sources such as the Phillys database for different biomass types and implemented in process simulators such as Aspen Plus. For the biocrude modeling, a multi-objective optimization model is proposed that refines the selection of model compounds to match measured bulk thermochemical and physical properties. Parameter fitting and multi-objective optimization were both performed in Matlab and the codes are available in the supplementary material. As a case study, the optimization model was applied to two different oils obtained via HTL and pyrolysis of woody biomass. The first case was further studied in order to estimate the impact of the proposed models in the energy requirements. The process was implemented in Aspen Plus but the methodology is applicable to other simulation tools. The results show that the methods for estimating enthalpies of formation have a high impact on the energy balance and consequently the models developed allow a more accurate estimation of the energy requirement in the reactor. This is a key element in making accurate heat integration and techno-economic analyses of thermochemical conversion processes.


We investigate the performance of binary codes T constructed from turbo coding with interblock memory. The encoding of T is implemented by serially concatenating a multiplexer, a multilevel delay processor, and a signal mapper to the encoder of a conventional binary turbo code C. With such a construction, in T, there is some irregularity for the code bits in C. To provide more variety of irregularity, we can construct TC which is obtained by passing only a fraction of C through a multilevel delay processor and a signal mapper. We propose iterative decoding between adjacent codewords (IDAC), which provides error performance much better than the iterative decoding within a single codeword (IDSC). Simulation shows that T can have a lower error floor than C for either short or long code length. In some cases, TC can provide better error floors and waterfall regions than C.


: The occurrence of keloids in the foot is rare but should always be a surgical consideration for those individuals who may be predisposed to this pathology. Failure to recognize the potential for keloids or hypertrophic scar development may result in a severe deformity that is functionally, cosmetically, and emotionally undesirable.


OBJECTIVE
To identify payments and changes in payments for glaucoma surgical procedures among Medicare beneficiaries in the United States and to evaluate trends in costs based on the types of procedures being performed.

DESIGN
Retrospective analysis using 1997 through 2006 Part B Medicare Beneficiary Encrypted Files. The annual number of claims and payments for glaucoma surgical procedures were calculated, as were the rates per 100 000 beneficiaries.

RESULTS
Overall, there were decreases in both the number of glaucoma surgical procedures and the amount of annual payments from 1997 to 2001 but an increase in the number of procedures in the following years. Trends in claims and payments vary according to procedure. Average payments for trabeculectomies decreased over time, while annual payments for cyclophotocoagulation and shunt-related procedures have increased. After an initial decline, there was a substantial increase in the number of trabeculoplasties in conjunction with advancements in technology and a change in the global period for reimbursement. Patterns of surgery rates were similar to volume of surgical procedures.

CONCLUSIONS
Findings suggest that while the overall number of glaucoma surgical procedures is increasing, payments have been decreasing. Clinical and technological advancements and reimbursement decisions may influence surgeons' preferences and, therefore, costs to Medicare.


There is a need for a diagnostic method and an instrument appropriate for adolescent drug abuse clients, that permits the assignment of clients to the most appropriate treatment setting, provides the basis for individualized treatment planning, and facilitates comparability across research studies. The development of the Adolescent Drug Abuse Diagnosis (ADAD), a 150-item instrument with a structured interview format, modeled after the Addiction Severity Index (ASI) (which is for adults), is described. The ADAD produces a broad-spectrum comprehensive evaluation of the client, the interviewer's ten-point severity ratings, and composite scores for each of nine life problem areas that are often relevant to the treatment needs of adolescent drug abuse clients. A series of validity and reliability tests are described. The characteristics of the standardization sample (N = 1,042), and the comparison of the characteristics of the three subsamples (outpatient, residential or non-hospital, and inpatient) are also presented.


Introduction One of the top ten major public health problems in developing countries including Ethiopia is the intestinal parasitic infection. Most of the time, intestinal parasitic infections do not show clinical signs and symptoms and also have a number of potential carriers, such as food handlers, which makes it too difficult to eradicate and control. Objective The aim of this study is to assess the prevalence and associated factors of intestinal parasitic infection among food handlers at prison, East and West Gojjam, Ethiopia, 2017. Methods An institution-based cross-sectional study design was conducted at East and West Gojjam prison. A total of 416 study participants, with a response rate of 82.7%, were included in the study for both stool exam and questioner. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire, and the sample was collected and examined based on the standard parasitological procedure. Epi data Version 3.1 was used to enter data, and SPSS version 20 was used to analyze the data. Results The overall prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections in the present study was 61.9%. The most prevalent parasite was A. lumbricoides (157 (45.6%)). Protozoan infection was higher than helminth infection. Multiple intestinal infections were identified; among study participants, 34.6% had double infection. The most significant associated factors of intestinal parasitic infections were fingernail status, residence, information about food contamination related to intestinal parasitic infection, income, and handwashing before having contact with food and after toilet with water only. Conclusions A high proportion of intestinal parasitic infection was detected among food handlers working at East and West Gojjam prison. Training must be given to the food handlers on personal hygienic conditions (finger trimming, handwashing after toilet and before having contact with food with water and soap, etc.).


Oxygenation of the blood, elimination of carbon dioxide, and maintenance of circulation by means of a pump that has the effect of ventricular contractions constitute the objectives in mechanical substitution for the lungs and heart. A review of the physiological details involved in the development of substitutes for the lungs and the heart is beyond the scope of this report and will therefore not be attempted. Furthermore, the contributions of Kolff, Jongbloed, Bjork, Gibbon, and Dennis have already furnished answers to many of the basic problems involved in extracorporeal oxygenation and circulation. Recent reports of work done in this field seem to have led many practitioners to believe that the use of a mechanical heart-lung machine for total by-pass during intracardiac surgery is an imminent possibility. However, the logical steps in the evolution of such physiological-mechanical systems must still include experiments designed to measure the machine's effects when used on


An ecological and humane urbanism is required to combat resource degradation and socio-economic polarisation. UN-Habitat's New Urban Agenda calls for a paradigm shift to 'leave no one, no place and no ecology behind' through sustainable development. However, this article argues that a 'sustainability fix', while necessary, is insufficient to counter the hegemonic growth-orientated culture and it is important to re-embed economic activities in ethical socio-ecological relationships for people and place well-being. These require critical scholarship to reproblematise issues and present prescriptive approaches for resolving them. Reproblematisation of Hong Kong's alleged land scarcity problem reveals a property-dominant urban-biased political economy that sustains a high land price policy through suppressing development of massive rural land resources, resulting in ecological and socio-spatial disparities. Reimagining the development of rural Hong Kong based on the principles of nature conservation and place-making for conviviality and human flourishing could be a potential pathway towards a transformative urbanism.


Etodolac (ETO) is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug with anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and antipyretic activities. A capillary electrophoretic method for the determination of etodolac in a pharmaceutical preparation is described. ETO and diflunisal as an internal standard (IS) were well migrated in the background electrolyte of 10 mM borate at pH 9.3, using a fused silica capillary. The separation was achieved by applying 25 kV, detecting at 226 nm, and injecting the sample for 0.5 s. The average migration times tm (relative standard deviation percentage) of ETO and IS were 7.1 (0.4) and 8.3 (0.5) min, respectively. Highly repeatable results were also obtained for areas of the peaks and peak normalization ratio (PNETO/PNIS). Well-correlated linearity was found in a concentration range of 1 × 10− −2 × 10−4. Intraday and interday calibration studies were performed, and reliable results were obtained. Limit of detection and limit of quantitation were 3.2× 10−6 and 9.7 × 10−6, respectively. The proposed method was successfully applied for the analysis of etodolac in the pharmaceutical tablet formulation. The method proved to be simple, reproducible, precise, and fast, since analysis can be performed in less than 10 min.


A hybrid energy harvesting system that simultaneously generates electrical energy and chemical energy with an increased overall energy conversion efficiency is designed. A photovoltaic system together with photosynthesis-executing plants forms the system. The photosynthesis-executing plants are placed directly behind or under the solar cells, but the presence of the solar cells does not affect the photosynthesis process of the plant. The spectral characteristics of the solar cells are tuned to allow for optimal plant growth. To achieve the required spectral absorption, the solar cells are tailored by using a high-band-gap (1.95 eV) mixed-halide perovskite. A guide on how to achieve an efficient hybrid energy-harvesting system is introduced. Furthermore, the suggested solar module enables a simple manufacturing process, which is consistent with the fabrication of most thin-film solar modules.


Picosecond electrical pulse excitation of the ballistic three-branch junctions (TBJs) was performed to investigate the electrical response at terahertz frequencies. The generation of picosecond electrical pulses and the signal detection with sub-picosecond temporal resolution were achieved by a photoconductive switch and the time-resolved electro-optical sampling technique, respectively, with the help of the femtosecond Ti:Sapphire laser system. The electrical response of a TBJ rectifier to the 1.75-ps-wide incident pulse was successfully measured and its frequency spectrum was not degraded in the tested frequency range, as compared to the incident excitation.