We aimed to demonstrate how a large collection of publicly accessible Australian Coroner's Court case files (n=4459) (2009-2019) can be automatically classified for determination of death by suicide, presence of mental health disorder and sex of deceased via Natural Language Processing (NLP) methods - supervised machine learning and unsupervised dictionary-based and string search based approaches. We achieved superior levels of accuracy in the machine learning classification (Gradient Boosting vs. Random Forest baseline) of deaths by suicide of 83.3% (sensitivity = 85.1%, Specificity = 79.1%) and an accuracy of 98.3% for the dictionary-based classification of mental health disorder, as defined by the OCD-10 (sensitivity = 99.0%, specificity = 97.9%). Our machine learning approach automatically classified 24.2% (1078/4459) of the case files as referring to deaths by suicide while 63.7% (2940/4459) where classified as exhibiting a mental health disorder1. We employed a two-stage machine learning approach involving feature engineering, followed by predictive modelling in the second. Feature engineering involved several steps including removal of low value text, parts of speech analysis, term document weighting and topic clustering. Predictive classification involved extensive hyperparameter tuning to yield the most accurate model. We validated our models against a manually pre-coded subsample of case files, and also via binary logistic regression to test the contribution of each classified mental health disorder against determinations of deaths by suicide according to extant literature. This validation step confirmed elevated odds of suicide attributed to diagnoses of Depression, Schizophrenia and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Finally, we offer a short case study to demonstrate the efficacy of our approach in investigating a subset of case findings referring to suicides resulting from family violence. We offer a proof of concept model that demonstrates an objective and scalable approach to the analysis of legal texts. The use of NLP methods in analysing Coroner's Court case findings has important implications for the ongoing development of a real-time surveillance of suicide system in Australia.


This study aimed to isolate and characterize an indigenous algicidal bacterium named LTH-1 and its algae-lysing compounds active against three Microcystis aeruginosa strains (toxic TH1, nontoxic TH2 and standard FACHB 905). The LTH-1 isolated from Lake Taihu, near Wuxi City in China, was identified as Aeromonas sp. based on its morphological characteristic features and phylogenetic analysis by sequencing of 16S rDNA. Extracellular compounds produced by LTH-1 showed strong algae-lysing activity, and they were water-soluble and heat-tolerant, with a molecular mass lower than 2 kDa. Two algae-lysing compounds were isolated and purified from extracellular filtrate using silica gel column chromatography. One of these was identified as phenylalanine (C9H11NO2, m/z 166.0862) and the other (C8H16N2O3, m/z 189.1232) was unidentified by hybrid ion trap/time-of-flight mass spectrometry coupled with a high-performance liquid chromatography (LC/MS–IT–TOF) system. The half maximal effective concentration (EC50) of phenylalanine produced by LTH-1 against FACHB 905 was 68.2±8.2 μg mL−1 in 48 h. These results suggest that the algicidal Aeromonas sp. LTH-1 could play a role in controlling Microcystis blooms, and its extracellular compounds are also potentially useful for regulating blooms of the harmful M. aeruginosa.


Since Niels Gregersen used the term "deep incarnation" in 2001, it has been taken up by numerous ecotheologians in an effort to re-think the depth of the incarnation. Deep incarnation suggests that the incarnation demonstrates a divine embrace of not only the suffering of human bodies, but also of the pain and suffering of all creatures on Earth. While the framework of deep incarnation provides a foundation for a solid eco-Christology and ecological ethics, I suggest that the doctrine as it now stands continues to harbor hints of human exceptionalism that ecotheologies seek to eschew. I offer a critique of the metaphysical anthropocentrism contained within theologies of deep incarnation, suggesting that the doctrine does not go "deep" enough. Following this, I offer a non-anthropocentric understanding of the incarnation that frees the doctrine of the pitfalls of human exceptionalism. I do this by using a deconstructionist framework that posits that the vulnerability of Jesus allows us to view the incarnation as the divine embrace of all material vulnerability apart from the trappings of any normative epistemological framework based on a human horizon of understanding.


Three years' experience with a unique combination of an indemnity benefit plus an in-house service program in a prepaid group practice plan's psychiatric department demonstrates enhanced accessibility and increased utilization among formerly unserved segments of the membership plus the flexibility of freedom of choice in choosing service provider and the ability to tailor treatment to patient needs. Overall costs were similar to those reported for other prepaid plans despite the addition of benefits for long-term therapy outside the plan. Flexible use of inpatient and day hospital services enabled the program to mitigate, to a large extent, major increases in hospital charges while providing greater continuity of care. This combination of benefits offers the advantages of both an indemnity benefit (Freedom of choice in treatment) and an in-house service program (greater continuity of care, more flexible use of resources, reduction of reliance on hospital care).


This study outlines the initial challenge presented by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, describes Djibouti's response, reviews the results achieved and the enabling factors in curbing the spread of the epidemic, and identifies remaining challenges. Between 2002 and 2008, HIV prevalence among young pregnant women aged 15-24 was reduced from 2.7 percent to 1.9 percent and among sentinel surveillance groups from 2.5 percent to 1.9 percent. HIV prevalence among tuberculosis patients was reduced from an estimated 22 percent to 12 percent. Condom use during last intercourse outside marriage increased from 27 percent to 55 percent and reached 95 percent among sex workers. Among the general population, awareness of HIV/AIDS increased to 95 percent and knowledge about transmission and prevention rose to 50 percent. Political commitment, engagement of community and religious leaders, rigorous communication, social marketing and the provision of an integrated package of medical and social services, and donor harmonization were among the key factors that contributed to the achievement of these results. Despite these impressive results in a relatively short period, Djibouti still has to address several challenges and consolidate program gains, but most importantly, funds are being mobilized from government resources to sustain the national AIDS control program.


State ballot initiatives represent a process of creating laws by citizen vote and are the only significant mechanisms for exercising direct democracy in the United States. They have a long history of advancing social agendas not otherwise able to survive the legislative process and most recently have addressed topics on which Congress cannot reach a national consensus, such as medical marijuana and physician-assisted suicide. Unfortunately, preexisting federal legislation in a topic area sometimes threatens to preempt these citizen-initiated solutions. This Article examines the need for greater deference in preemption analysis for the category of state measures for which the initiative process is especially suited so that social experimentation may continue at the state level. Specifically, it uses California's medical marijuana initiative as a case study to illustrate how a heightened presumption against preemption may be the best tool to reconcile federal and state law in the medical marijuana context.


While the consumption of a market-based diet is increasing, subsistence food still forms a part of caloric intake for Northwest Arctic Borough of Alaska residents. The purpose of this study was to assess the influence of consumption of a market-based diet compared to a subsistence diet on the body mass index (BMI) of the people living in this region.  For this, 82 adult participants were recruited, and their weight and height were measured to calculate the Body Mass Index (BMI). The participants were asked to complete a questionnaire that included questions about their family background, lifestyle, physical fitness and dietary patterns. Linear regression models were used to examine BMI's association with variables of diet and physical activity, followed by correlational analysis between BMI and these variables. No significant correlation was identified between BMI and how often people ate a subsistence-based diet. A strong positive correlation was found between BMI and how often people eat food prepared in a restaurant or ate fast food and junk food. A strong negative correlation was found between BMI and frequency of exercise by the participants. Physical activity and consumption of a western diet rather than a subsistence diet are more significant determinants of BMI among Northwest Arctic Borough of Alaska residents. These results can be used as a baseline for further studies linking diet and health outcomes among this region's residents.


We present a novel generative method for producing unseen and plausible counterfactual examples for reinforcement learning (RL) agents based upon outcome variables that characterize agent behavior. Our approach uses a variational autoencoder to train a latent space that jointly encodes information about the observations and outcome variables pertaining to an agent's behavior. Counterfactuals are generated using traversals in this latent space, via gradient-driven updates as well as latent interpolations against cases drawn from a pool of examples. These include updates to raise the likelihood of generated examples, which improves the plausibility of generated counterfactuals. From experiments in three RL environments, we show that these methods produce counterfactuals that are more plausible and proximal to their queries compared to purely outcome-driven or case-based baselines. Finally, we show that a latent jointly trained to reconstruct both the input observations and behavioral outcome variables produces higher-quality counterfactuals over latents trained solely to reconstruct the observation inputs.


The paper presents the design and performance analysis of an 800 lbf LOX/propylene rocket engine, designed to power the upper stage of a Nanosat Launch Vehicle (NLV). A precursor version of this engine with relaxed requirements was static fire tested twice and has undergone the first recorded flight test of a LOX/propylene engine by a team at California State University, Long Beach back in 2009. The revised engine has an expansion ratio of 70 with a targeted specific impulse of 342 s, and combustion and nozzle efficiencies of 95% or greater. The injector features a LOX-centered split triplet with a center-mounted TEA-TEB igniter. A single piece Cf/SiCm ceramic matrix composite is used for radiation cooling of the thrust chamber. Fuel film cooling (FFC) is added to lower the chamber wall temperature to the 2200-2400C range near the throat, maintaining the C/SiC structural integrity and minimizing throat erosion. Computational Fluid Dynamics analyses indicate that 10% FFC is sufficient to achieve this goal while almost meeting the targeted specific impulse. A proof-of-concept version of this engine with relaxed requirements designed for near sea-level testing is presented.


Objective We have used diffusion tensor tractography (DTT) for the evaluation of the somatotopic organization of corticospinal tracts (CSTs) in the posterior limb of the internal capsule (PLIC) and cerebral peduncle (CP). Materials and Methods We imaged the brains of nine healthy right-handed subjects. We used a spin-echo echo-planar imaging (EPI) sequence with 12 diffusion-sensitized directions. DTT was calculated with an angular threshold of 35 degrees and a fractional anistropy (FA) threshold of 0.25. We determined the location of the CSTs by using two regions of interest (ROI) at expected areas of the pons and expected areas of the lateral half of the PLIC, in the left hemisphere of the brain. Fiber tracts crossing these two ROIs and the precentral gyrus (PCG) were defined as CSTs. Four new ROIs were then defined for the PCG, from the medial to lateral direction, as ROI 1 (medial) to ROI 4 (lateral). Finally, we defined each fiber tract of the CSTs between the pons and each ROI in the PCG by using two ROIs methods. Results In all subjects, the CSTs were organized along the long axis of the PLIC, and the hand fibers were located anterior to the foot fibers. The CSTs showed transverse orientation in the CP, and the hand fibers were located usually medial to the foot fibers. Conclusion Corticospinal tracts are organized along the long axis of the PLIC and the horizontal direction of the CP.


Two new species of Onthophagus Latreille, 1802 are described from Indochina: O. (Sunenaga) streltsovi sp. n. and O. (Sinonthophagus) nampatensis sp. n. Some problems with the current systematics of Onthophagus, especially with respect to the subgenera Serrophorus, Sunenaga and Macronthophagus are discussed.


We discuss the special class of models where nearly maximal neutrino mixing is produced through the see-saw mechanism, starting from only nearly diagonal matrices for charged leptons, Dirac neutrinos and Majorana right-handed neutrinos. CERN-TH/99-147 DFPD 99/TH/30 July 1999


The optical wave breaking (OWB) characteristics in terms of the pulse shape, spectrum, and frequency chirp, in the normal dispersion regime of an optical fiber with both the third-order dispersion (TOD) and quintic nonlinearity (QN) are numerically calculated. The results show that the TOD causes the asymmetry of the temporal- and spectral-domain, and the chirp characteristics. The OWB generally appears near the pulse center and at the trailing edge of the pulse, instead of at the two edges of the pulse symmetrically in the case of no TOD. With the increase of distance, the relation of OWB to the TOD near the pulse center increases quickly, leading to the generation of ultra-short pulse trains, while the OWB resulting from the case of no TOD at the trailing edge of the pulse disappears gradually. In addition, the positive (negative) QN enhances (weakens) the chirp amount and the fine structures, thereby inducing the OWB phenomena to appear earlier (later). Thus, the TOD and the positive (negative) QN are beneficial (detrimental) to the OWB and the generation of ultra-short pulse trains.


We describe an intrinsic correlation peak of three-dimensional (3D) pattern recognition, which is higher than that of the two-dimensional (2D) pattern recognition and whose difference can reach up to five orders of magnitude in our numerical simulation. The relationship between the 3D objects and their recognition result is formalized and the comparison between the 3D and 2D pattern recognitions as well as the former's independency of the reconstruction distance is presented. Finally, the augmentation of the 3D pattern recognition sensitivity with the increasing surface complexity of the 3D object is also demonstrated.


The main aim of this study is to document important ethnomedicinal plants from the Maraog region, located in the district of Shimla in Himachal Pradesh, India. A total of 110 medicinal plant species belonging to 102 genera and 57 families were reported from the study site. All of the species were collected from wild habitats. The rural people of the Maraog region were surveyed through interview methods, group discussions, and participatory observations. In the current study, data were collected from 88 informants through the snowball method. A total of 110 plant species were collected from the study area, including 64 herbs, 24 shrubs, 9 trees, 5 climbers, 3 grasses, and 5 ferns. Most of the plant species, reported from the study area, belong to the Rosaceae and Asteraceae families, each contributing 12 plant species, followed by the Lamiaceae family with 6 plant species. The most used part of the plant in the preparation of herbal medications is the leaves, which have been reported in 62 plants, followed by roots in 14 plants, and flowers and other aerial parts in 9 plants. The ethnomedicinal data were analyzed using "Use Value," a statistical quantitative method, with Artemisia vestita having the highest use value (1.00), followed by Cannabis sativa (0.79), Rhododendron arboreum (0.79), and Datura stramonium (0.71). Older people were found to have a vast knowledge of wild medicinal plants, while the younger generation's knowledge was lacking. As a result, traditional knowledge about the use of plants as a source of medicine has decreased day-by-day. Therefore, there is a need to document traditional ethnobotanical knowledge. The data could serve as a basis for research by pharmacological and nutraceutical industries for the development of novel drugs.


Purpose: The UK government outlined its vision of the future in the "Digital Britain" report published in June 2009. The paper provides an evaluation of the report and offers professional comments with a particular focus on Universal Broadband Access and Next Generation Access (NGA) networks. The paper also provides an overview of the currently available fixed and wireless broadband access technologies in the UK and the main challenges associated with these technologies in terms of migration towards NGA networks. The UK government has often been criticized for its lack of leadership in the provision of adequate broadband access in rural areas. The paper further discusses the government stance with regard to this issue and proposes solutions that could be cost-effectively deployed to extend coverage of broadband access to rural areas. The paper also reviews some of the successful NGA deployments around the world and discusses some of the useful lessons that could be drawn from these examples. A brief summary of some of the social and economic benefits associated with universal broadband access is also provided. Methodology: The study is based on a critical evaluation of the Digital Britain report published in June 2009. Findings: The study evolves up with solutions that could be cost-effectively deployed to extend coverage of broadband access to rural areas of Britain. The paper concludes with a number of key recommendations to ensure that the UK is not left behind in the global digital race as a growing list of countries actively seek to adopt a universal service commitment for broadband. Keywords: Digital Britain (DB); Universal Broadband Access (UBA); Next Generation Access (NGA); Universal Service Commitment; Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX); 3G; Long Term Evolution (LTE); Mobile Broadband Paper Type: Review


The challenges posed by men with type 2 diabetes differ from those of women with the condition. Men are more prone to being overweight, leading to a higher incidence of diabetes, which in turn is associated with lower testosterone levels. Brian Karet discusses the implications for commissioners of primary care diabetes services. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons


We present the Android app TYDR (Track Your Daily Routine) which tracks smartphone sensor and usage data and utilizes standardized psychometric personality questionnaires. With the app, we aim at collecting data for researching correlations between the tracked smartphone data and the user's personality in order to predict personality from smartphone data. In this paper, we highlight our approaches in addressing the challenges in developing such an app. We optimize the tracking of sensor data by assessing the trade-off of size of data and battery consumption and granularity of the stored information. Our user interface is designed to incentivize users to install the app and fill out questionnaires. TYDR processes and visualizes the tracked sensor and usage data as well as the results of the personality questionnaires. When developing an app that will be used in psychological studies, requirements posed by ethics commissions / institutional review boards and data protection officials have to be met. We detail our approaches concerning those requirements regarding the anonymized storing of user data, informing the users about the data collection, and enabling an opt-out option. We present our process for anonymized data storing while still being able to identify individual users who successfully completed a psychological study with the app.


Automated test case generation for web APIs is a thriving research topic, where test cases are frequently derived from the API specification. However, this process is only partially automated since testers are usually obliged to manually set meaningful valid test inputs for each input parameter. In this article, we present ARTE, an approach for the automated extraction of realistic test data for web APIs from knowledge bases like DBpedia. Specifically, ARTE leverages the specification of the API parameters to automatically search for realistic test inputs using natural language processing, search-based, and knowledge extraction techniques. ARTE has been integrated into RESTest, an open-source testing framework for RESTful APIs, fully automating the test case generation process. Evaluation results on 140 operations from 48 real-world web APIs show that ARTE can efficiently generate realistic test inputs for 64.9% of the target parameters, outperforming the state-of-the-art approach SAIGEN (31.8%). More importantly, ARTE supported the generation of over twice as many valid API calls (57.3%) as random generation (20%) and SAIGEN (26%), leading to a higher failure detection capability and uncovering several real-world bugs. These results show the potential of ARTE for enhancing existing web API testing tools, achieving an unprecedented level of automation.


A recently developed testing method which takes a linear combination of axial stress and strain as control variable was applied to investigate the post-failure behavior of rock under various confining pressures up to 40MPa. Though the method was only applied to uniaxial compression test in the previous studies, this study showed that it is also applicable to triaxial compression test, and the following results were obtained:Firstly two out of the four rocks showed transition from class II to class I characteristics as the confining pressure is increased. And after the transition, a rapid decline in load bearing capacity was found to become gradually less remarkable as the confining pressure is further increased.For tested rocks except Akiyoshi marble, when the loading rate was raised by 10-fold, the compressive strength increased by nearly same quantity no matter how much the confining pressure was. The compressive strength of Akiyoshi marble did not always increase when the loading rate was increased. Such behavior may be related to the mechanical property of calcite crystal, which is remained to be further investigated.


Tourism in ethnic villages is an inevitable choice of national area construction and rural tourism development in China, which has important and profound historical and realistic significance. But the process of tourism development of ethnic village in China is also associated with various social problems and it is particularly important to solve these prominent social problems for tourism health development in minority areas.


To examine the effect of exercise on the long-term maintenance of weight loss, two types of literature were reviewed--correlational studies of predictors of long-term weight loss, and randomized trials comparing diet, exercise, and the combination of diet plus exercise. Both literatures were striking in the consistency with which activity emerged as a determinant of long-term maintenance of weight loss. The benefits of exercise for long-term weight maintenance were observed with different types of populations, diets, and exercise interventions. Several possible explanations for these positive effects of diet plus exercise are presented, and suggestions made for future research on ways to maximize the benefit of this approach to weight control. Since adherence to exercise may ultimately prove to be the cornerstone for long-term weight maintenance, studying ways to improve exercise adherence is recommended.


A novel tensile strain barrier reducing (TSBR) structure is grown between the window and cladding layers of multi-quantum-well (MQW)-AlGaInP light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The TSBR film (100/spl sim/200 /spl Aring/ of Ga/sub 0.65/In/sub 0.35/P) is of lattice size and valence band energy intermediate between those of window and cladding layers, thus reducing band offset and decreasing device forward bias from 2.55 V to 1.92 V at 20 mA, with concomitant improvements in dynamic resistance and junction heating. The TSBR layer increases power efficiency by 30% at 20 mA and up to 65% at high current conditions. The reduced junction heating of the with-TSBR design may be of significant advantage to device quality, reliability and lifetime, especially for high current applications.


I made this examination essay to investigate the possibilities and problems with machinery import. The rules intend to loaders and agriculture machines are still pretty flexible. It is today rather simple to make a registration or inspect those machines.
There are still some practical problems to be aware of.
It is very important to have the right contacts abroad, it is not always that you have time or moment to inspect the machines before purchase.
In that case you have to trust your contact or partner about condition, equipment or working hours of the machine. Another important thing is payment before delivery:
There is a huge risk that you do not get the machines that you paid for.
If problems come up, you need to know the laws, your rights and your duties.
A Swedish company does not pay any value-added taxes when it buys from another member of the European union. On the other hand must the machine be sold included value-added tax, if the buyer is a Swedish company. The seller shall then pay the taxes to the Swedish government. The price level abroad is normally lower compare to Sweden.
With right contacts it's possible to earn some money with import.
Another thing is that there are more machines abroad, and it's not always the machine
who the customer wants is in Sweden. Also in this case it could be interesting to import.


We performed computational studies on the change in enthalpy during incorporation of one nitrogen atom into bare silicon surfaces, and proposed six possible nitrided structures for the Si(100) surface and five for Si(111). The results indicated that the topmost silicon atoms on Si(111) surfaces were favorably nitrided as compared with the inner silicon atoms while both the topmost and the second layer of Si(100) were nitrided. To account for this tendency, the changes in enthalpy during nitridation were divided into the energy of deformation of the Si lattice (ΔEdef) and the energy of bond formation (ΔEbond) between N and Si atoms. The heat of bond formation during nitridation on Si(111) was almost independent of nitridation sites. Therefore, differences in the enthalpy of nitridation between the outer surface and inner atoms resulted from ΔEdef. No distinct relationship was observed between the two energies, ΔEdef and ΔEbond for Si(100).


The article describes the stages and main activities carried out in the framework of the new economic policy (19211927) are considered. The place and role of NEP in the economic history of Russia, despite the past 100 years, are still following discussion issues. In particular, the question of the impact of a new economic policy on the formation of a mixed economy in developed capitalist countries in the second half of the 20th century was relevant. In the 1920s, an economic system was built in Russia in Russia, which can be developed as a mixed economy, which has proven its flexibility and effectiveness in solving the most complicated economic tasks. The article analyzes the experience of NEP based on the use of the methodology of institutional theory. The activities of the authorities during this period were aimed at the adaptation of old institutes, skills, mentality of the population in the conditions of a tight deficit of all resources to new requirements, primarily in the economy. The importance of the tasks facing the tasks and the limited time released by history to their decision determined the choice of a rigid totalitarian style of economic management and society, which did not allow to reveal the potential capabilities of the ECAP economic mechanism.


Introduction: Delays in the diagnosis of lung cancer are under debate and may affect outcome. The objectives of this study were to compare delays in a rapid outpatient diagnostic program (RODP) for suspected lung cancer patients with those described in literature and guideline recommendations, to investigate the effects of referral route and symptoms on delays, and to establish whether delays were related to disease stage and outcome. Methods: We performed a retrospective chart study of all patients with suspected lung cancer, referred to the RODP of our tertiary care university clinic between 1999 and 2009. Patient characteristics, tumor stage and different delays were analyzed. Results: Of 565 patients with available data, 290 were diagnosed with lung cancer, 48 with another type of malignancy, and 111 patients with a non-malignant lesion. In 112 patients no immediate definite diagnosis was obtained, and in 82 of these the proposed follow-up strategy confirmed a benign outcome. The median first line, patient, referral, diagnostic, curative and palliative therapeutic delays were 54, 19, 7, 2, 18 and 21.5 days, respectively. The RODP care was generally far more timely compared to literature and published guidelines, except for both referral and palliative therapeutic delay. No specific delay was significantly related to disease stage or survival. Conclusion: An RODP results in a timely diagnosis well within guideline recommendations. Patient and first line delay account for most of total patient delay. Within the limitations of this retrospective study, we found no association with disease stage or survival.


In this study, we examine strategic alliances between large pharmaceutical companies (LPCs) and new biotechnology firms (NBFs) in the knowledge-intensive biopharmaceutical industry in the light of two explanations for the motives behind R&D alliances, namely, the transaction cost explanation and the learning with flexibility explanation. We develop a series of propositions based on an integrated view of the motives behind strategic alliances in knowledge-based industries.


Periprosthetic osteolysis can result in aseptic loosening of components and massive bone loss 1-4. To our knowledge, there have been few reported cases of spontaneous decreases in osteolysis 5. We report on a patient who had a spontaneous decrease in osteolysis in the unrevised femur after revision of a contralateral hip arthroplasty.

A thirty-five-year-old man who had undergone a bilateral bipolar hemiarthroplasty six years earlier at another institution presented to our hospital because of bilateral thigh pain. In 1990, the patient had undergone transplantation of a cadaveric kidney in response to chronic renal failure attributable to nephrotic syndrome. Following renal transplantation, oral administration of prednisolone, cyclosporine, azathioprine, and mizoribine had been initiated and had continued uninterrupted. In 1991, the patient experienced bilateral hip pain and was examined at another institution, where a diagnosis of steroid-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head was made. In 1992, he underwent bilateral bipolar hemiarthroplasty (Omniflex microstructured femoral component; Stryker, Allendale, New Jersey). In 1995, he began to experience left thigh pain and, subsequently, right thigh pain while walking. In August 1998, he was examined at our hospital.

At the initial examination, the patient was …


The article presents an analytically rapid evaluation technique for interior permanent magnet (IPM) traction machines considering magnetic nonlinearity. First, a simplified model employing equivalent magnetic circuit together with winding function to determine no-load airgap flux density and dq-axis armature-reaction airgap flux densities for parameter determination is proposed. Then, a process loop is utilized for nonlinear magnetic analysis under full range on-load dq-axis currents. Using the obtained parameter information, losses/efficiency determination for tested machine could be achieved. It is shown that in the field-weakening (FW) operation region, the high-order synchronous flux density harmonics highly contributing to machine iron loss may also significantly contribute to magnetic saturation and therefore should be considered together with fundamental component for nonlinear magnetic analysis. In comparison to computationally expensive finite element analysis (FEA), sufficiently accurate parameters and efficiency for tested machine could be obtained within minutes. Thus, the proposed technique is very essential to rapidly evaluate a given design specification at the preliminary design stage where repeated adjustment on design specification is necessary for a multi-physics optimization achievement and with that, repeated re-construction and re-evaluation of FEA model may be undesirable. The proposed method is validated by FEA for a high-speed high-power (15 krpm/120 kW) IPM traction machine.


The electron-beam experiments designed to generate high temperature vapor pressure data for UO/sub 2/ vapor is analyzed by three hydrodynamic codes SIMMER, FARA and VIOLET. The physical and numerical modeling in each code is different, thus providing a modeling error associated with the analysis. Agreement with the experiment is rather poor indicating that the rate dependent specific heat capacity model proposed by Benson may not be a physical reality.


INTRODUCTION
Studies have shown that a workplace safety culture (WSC) is lacking among the general workforce in Nigeria. Poor WSC can adversely impact workers' health and high remedial costs for employers. To improve WSC, workers need to improve related knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) towards WSC through effective health interventional programs at the workplace. The main objective of this study is to develop, implement and evaluate the effectiveness of the Work Safety Culture Health Education Module (WSCHEM). The specific goals are to improve KAP related to office ergonomics towards WSC among public sector administrative workers in Abeokuta, Nigeria MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was a two-armed, singleblinded cluster randomised controlled trial (CRCT) involving 247 public sector administrative workers from clusters of 20 ministries in Abeokuta, Southwestern Nigeria. The intervention group was given WSCHEM, whereas the waitlist group received a seminar on team building and leadership skills and received the WSCHEM after the intervention program ended. The evaluation was done three times using the first formal validated, self-administered Work Safety Culture Questionnaire (WSCQ) among the administrative workers: first at baseline, second at 1 month, and third at 3 months post-intervention.

RESULT
The results showed no statistically significant differences between groups regarding the respondents' characteristics (socio-demographic and occupational/officerelated ergonomic factors) and the outcome variables KAP towards WSC at baseline. For practices towards WSC, both intervention (β 6.8, 95%CI 4.85, 8.72) and time (β 6.2, 95%CI 4.49, 7.94) significantly improved the respondents' practices towards WSC in the per-protocol analysis. In the secondary outcomes, both knowledge of WSC, intervention (β 3.5, 95%CI 2.8, 4.2) and time (β 3.4, 95%CI 2.7, 5.9); and attitudes towards WSC, intervention (β1.7, 95%CI 1.25, 2.23) and time (β 2.3, 95%CI 1.92, 2.76) significantly improved the respondents' level of knowledge and attitudes respectively towards WSC.

CONCLUSION
The intervention, WSCHEM, was effective in improving the administrative workers' KAP towards WSC, as demonstrated by the significance between and within-group differences.


AIMS
To quantify blood Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) concentrations in chronic cannabis users over 7 days of continuous monitored abstinence.

PARTICIPANTS
Twenty-five frequent, long-term cannabis users resided on a secure clinical research unit at the US National Institute on Drug Abuse under continuous medical surveillance to prevent cannabis self-administration.

MEASUREMENTS
Whole blood cannabinoid concentrations were determined by two-dimensional gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

FINDINGS
Nine chronic users (36%) had no measurable THC during 7 days of cannabis abstinence; 16 had at least one positive THC > or =0.25 ng/ml, but not necessarily on the first day. On day 7, 6 full days after entering the unit, six participants still displayed detectable THC concentrations [mean +/- standard deviation (SD), 0.3 +/- 0.7 ng/ml] and all 25 had measurable carboxy-metabolite (6.2 +/- 8.8 ng/ml). The highest observed THC concentrations on admission (day 1) and day 7 were 7.0 and 3.0 ng/ml, respectively. Interestingly, five participants, all female, had THC-positive whole blood specimens over all 7 days. Body mass index did not correlate with time until the last THC-positive specimen (n = 16; r = -0.2; P = 0.445).

CONCLUSIONS
Substantial whole blood THC concentrations persist multiple days after drug discontinuation in heavy chronic cannabis users. It is currently unknown whether neurocognitive impairment occurs with low blood THC concentrations, and whether return to normal performance, as documented previously following extended cannabis abstinence, is accompanied by the removal of residual THC in brain. These findings also may impact on the implementation of per se limits in driving under the influence of drugs legislation.


The aim of this study was to investigate whether plasma anti-Muellerian hormone (AMH) levels of Holstein-Friesian heifers could be used to predict ovum pick-up (OPU) and embryo production outcomes. Plasma samples and data were collected from 64 heifers, which underwent repeated OPU with subsequent in vitro embryo production followed by embryo flushing after superovulation. AMH levels were significantly positively correlated with the number of follicles aspirated per OPU session (r = 0.45), recovered oocytes per OPU (r =0.43) and in vitro produced embryos per OPU (r = 0.28). No significant correlations between AMH and in vivo produced embryos were ascertained. Our results suggest that correlations between AMH and outcomes of an OPU-IVF program are too low to use AMH as a precise predictive parameter for the success of a particular OPU procedure in Holstein-Friesian heifers. However, AMH can help to identify groups of very good or very poor oocyte donors.


: This paper demonstrates how disasters create sites of degradation – potent spaces of upheaval and engagement – that are readily fi lled and exploited by evangelical Christian groups. In doing so, it explores how disasters provide opportunities for evangelical groups to gain a foothold in localities where Christian presence, and evangelical praxis, may otherwise be restricted. Drawing on qualitative data collected in Sri Lanka throughout 2010 – 2011, two comparative case studies are presented that reveal the strategies of evangelical Christian praxis in and through sites of environmental and political degradation. Speci fi cally, the case studies reveal how evangelical groups pursue ' outside-in ' and ' inside-out ' strategies of salvation, which, by blurring the boundaries of religion and relief, can lead to the formation of new hierarchies of power.


The classification task in dynamical environments is challenging. A reason for this is the change of their statistical properties over time. This characteristic is called concept drift and is one of the major topics in data mining. The objective of this thesis is to analyze, how accurate different systems are classifying in dynamical environments over a period of time. For this purpose, two different approaches are evaluated. One approach removes the features with the highest change in influence. The other is an ensemble based model which let experts vote between the outcomes. Although the models were not able to increase the accuracy after a long period of time, the results show that both models are able to achieve a higher accuracy than the baseline in particular cases. This outcome underlines that emotion detection in Twitter can be improved. New models or improvements to existing ones could be able to handle concept drift to achieve a higher accuracy.


Disk magazines are a special type of periodical that was published on floppy disk mainly in the 1980s and 1990s. Created by home computer enthusiasts for the community, disk magazines are potentially valuable as a historical resource to study the experiences of programmers, users and gamers in the early stage of microcomputing. The material preserved by fan communities could be a starting point to derive scientifically reliable resources. Creating a digital scholarly edition from the material needs not only to consider the original encoding and hardware standards, but also include the necessary role of emulation and hardware preservation.


Introduction: Dental caries is the most common chronic infectious disease involving children and toddlers. Carious invasion of anterior teeth causes infection, pain, compromised speech, mastication, and impacts the esthetics and appearance of the child. Dental caries' immediate and long-term effects affect the child's quality of life and his family, leading to significant social, economic, and psychological consequences. Aim: The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of anterior dental caries on Saudi pediatric patients' psychological behavior and quality of life. Materials and Methods: A self-administered, structured questionnaire was used to assess the demographic variables, the prevalence of dental caries (anterior teeth), and their psychological effects on children. The data obtained were subjected to statistical analysis using IBM SPSS version 20.0 software. Results and Discussion: Five hundred and twenty-two children were included in the study, out of which 67.62% were affected with anterior carious lesions, with a mean age of 4.90 ± 1.981 years. Most parents reported that their child has anterior carious lesions, with 50% of children having toothache and 49% difficulty in eating food, especially sweets. Affected children showed psychological issues as they avoided playing, hesitated to smile, were introverted, and covered their faces while smiling. Conclusion: A high anterior dental caries prevalence and the resultant effect on psychological behavior and quality of life were observed among young children in Saudi Arabia. Enhanced educational, counseling, and preventive programs among parents and children will reduce dental caries incidence and ensure young children have a good quality of life.


A query processor qp uses the rules in a rule base to reduce a given query to a series of attempted retrievals from a database of facts. The qp's expected cost is the average time it requires to nd an answer, averaged over its anticipated set of queries. This cost depends on the qp's strategy, which speciies the order in which it considers the possible rules and retrievals. This paper provides two related learning algorithms, pib and pao, for improving the qp's strategy, i.e., for producing new strategies with lower expected costs. Each algorithm rst monitors the qp's operations over a set of queries, observing how often each path of rules leads to a suucient set of successful retrievals, and then uses these statistics to suggest a new strategy. pib hill-climbs to strategies that are, with high probability, successively better; and pao produces a new strategy that probably is approximately optimal. We describe how to implement both learning systems unobtrusively, discuss their inherent time and space complexities, and use methods from mathematical statistics to prove their correctness. We also discuss additional applications of these approaches to several other database tasks.


Small-scale yielding around a stationary plane strain mode I crack is analyzed using discrete dislocation plasticity. The dislocations are all of edge character, and are modeled as line singularities in a linear elastic material. Superposition is used to represent the solution in terms of analytical 'elds for edge dislocations in a half-space and a numerical image solution that en-forces the boundary conditions. The description of the dislocation dynamics includes the lattice resistance to dislocation motion, dislocation nucleation, interaction with obstacles and annihilation. A model planar crystal with three slip systems is considered. Two slip system orientations are analyzed that di6er by a 90 ◦ rotation. The non-hardening, single crystal plasticity continuum slip solution of Rice (Mech. Mater. 6 (1987) 317) for this model crystal predicts that slip and kink bands emerge for both crystal geometries, while Drugan (J. Mech. Phys. Solids 49 (2001) 2155) has obtained kink band free solutions. For a reference set of parameter values, kink band free solutions are found in one orientation while the emergence of kink bands is seen in the other orientation. However, lowering the dislocation source density suppresses the formation of kink bands in this orientation as well. In all calculations, the opening stress in the immediate vicinity of the crack tip is much larger than predicted by continuum slip theory. ? 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.


Abstract The stability of currents generated in an oceanic eddy-resolving general circulation model EGCM (Holland, 1978) is investigated by solving the eigenvalue problem associated with the finite-difference quasi-geostrophic vorticity equations which govern the flow. In general, both barotropically and baroclinically unstable waves are shown to exist for instantaneous currents found in the EGCM. Although these simulated flows are not always quasi-steady in the sense required by the theory and are themselves modified by the presence of the finite-amplitude eddies, many characteristics of the eddy field and its interaction with the time-mean circulation can nevertheless be deduced by the linear stability analysis. In particular, these investigations show that linear stability considerations correctly identify regions of instability in the ocean circulation model and accurately predict the low-order statistical features of the eddy field such as wavelength, period and phase speed. The effects of weakly uns...


Patient: Male, 66-year-old Final Diagnosis: Guillain-Barré syndrome Symptoms: Paresthesia • weakness Medication: — Clinical Procedure: — Specialty: Immunology • Infectious Diseases • Neurology • Rehabilitation Objective: Unknown etiology Background: Since December 2020, multiple vaccines have mobilized mass immunization campaigns capable of mitigating the current SARS-COV-2 pandemic. Ad26.COV2.S (Johnson & Johnson/Janssen) is a recombinant, replication-incompetent vector vaccine encoding the SARS-CoV-2 spike (s) protein and is especially protective against severe-critical disease. It is a single-dose injection; adverse effects after vaccine administration are usually mild and self-limited, including pain at the injection site, headache, fatigue, muscle aches, and nausea. Severe adverse events involving hospitalization and death after Ad26.COV2.S rarely occur. However, not unlike previous viral vector vaccines, ongoing clinical trials may unveil rare complications of Ad26.COV2.S. Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is an autoimmune demyelinating polyneuropathy that can potentially manifest severe neurological symptoms after vaccination. Case Report: This report describes a case of classic GBS features that manifested 14 days after a single Ad26.COV2.S vaccine injection. The patient developed flaccid paralysis with treatment-related fluctuations. Our findings warrant further investigation into the potential relationship between SARS-CoV-2 vaccinations and the development of GBS. Conclusions: A temporal association between the Ad26.COV2.S (Johnson & Johnson/Janssen) vaccine and the onset of GBS was demonstrated in this case report. A feasible underlying pathogenic mechanism involves the cross-reactivity of antibodies stimulated by adenovirus vaccine components and peripheral nerve glycoproteins. However, there is currently insufficient evidence to support a causal relationship between Ad26.COV2.S and the development of GBS. Further evidence gathered from clinician surveillance and clinical trials are needed to draw these conclusions.


The aim of this study was to determine the effects of maternal traits on reproductive expenditure and energy delivery to the offspring in a capital breeder, the northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris). Changes in maternal and offspring energy reserves and milk-energy delivery were examined in relation to maternal parturition mass, body composition, and age in females and pups breeding at Ano Nuevo State Reserve, California. Maternal body mass and composition had significant effects on maternal energy expenditure over lactation. Path analysis suggested no significant effects of maternal age on reproductive effort of parous females. The efficiency of milk production increased significantly with maternal age. Offspring metabolism was a relatively small component of maternal energy expenditure, with pups storing 84% of the energy obtained from milk. These effects are an important consequence of the phocid strategy for enabling terrestrial parturition despite marine feeding. This strategy has resulted in an abbreviated and highly efficient lactation system that is strongly impacted by body reserves, linking foraging success at sea with reproductive success on land. Maternal size, body composition, and age were important features of reproduction in northern elephant seals. These characteristics are rarely considered concurrently in life history studies.


A sulfonated calix[4]resorcinarene containing L-pipecolinic acid groups is investigated as a water-soluble chiral NMR solvating agent. Aromatic substrates with phenyl, indole, indane, naphthyl, and pyridyl rings are analyzed. The substrates, which are water soluble because of ammonium, hydroxyl, or carboxylate functional groups, form host-guest complexes by insertion of the aromatic ring into the cavity of the calix[4]resorcinarene. Enantiomeric discrimination with the calix[4]resorcinarene derivative with L-pipecolinic acid is compared with similar reagents with proline, hydroxyproline, and α-methylproline moieties that have previously been reported. The derivative with L-pipecolinic acid often produces the best enantiomeric discrimination for one or more hydrogen atoms of the 24 substrates examined herein.


We have studied the UV radiation in the range 180 to 330 nm emitted by several stars with planetary systems, in order to determine the constraints on the habitable zones posed by the radiation levels. The observations were taken from the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) satellites database. The stellar sample was chosen to cover the range of what are usually called solartype stars, from late F to K stars. We found that the planets discovered around Epsilon Eridani and 16 Cyg B are within both the optical and UV habitable zones.


Human papillomavirus (HPV) is widely implicated as a primary etiologic factor in cervical carcinoma. Cytology plays an important role as the initial screening tool in the early detection of cervical lesions with koilocytotic features. The purpose of this study was to describe the various cytologic indicators of condylomatous lesions of the uterine cervix with histologic correlation. Cervical smears and biopsy specimens from 278 women seen in an outpatient clinical setting between January 1, 1985; and January 1, 1987, were reviewed. The histologic categories consisted of (1) flat condylomas with minimal cellular atypia; and (2) cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), I, II, or III with atypical koilocytosis. Cytologically in 57 cases, flat condylomas were composed predominately of koilocytes containing large perinuclear halos and dyskeratotic cells. In the 221 cases of CIN with atypical koilocytosis, the cervical smears were composed predominantly of atypical koilocytes with large hyperchromatic nuclei and small perinuclear halos; a variable number of koilocytes with large perinuclear halos; pleomorphic dyskeratotic cells; and abnormal multinucleated cells. Mild, moderate, or severely dysplastic/carcinoma‐in‐situ cells (CIS) were also present. An understanding of the cytologic features associated with condylomatous lesions of the cervix will enable the cytopathologist to alert the clinician of the need to perform colposcopy with the appropriate follow‐up treatment.


The shallow-water equations may be posed in the form dF/dt {F, H, Z}, where H is the energy, Z is the potential enstrophy, and the Nambu bracket {F, H, Z} is completely antisymmetric in its three arguments. This makes it very easy to construct numerical models that conserve analogs of the energy and potential enstrophy; one need only discretize the Nambu bracket in such a way that the antisymmetry property is maintained. Using this strategy, this paper derives explicit finite-difference approximations to the shallowwater equations that conserve mass, circulation, energy, and potential enstrophy on a regular square grid and on an unstructured triangular mesh. The latter includes the regular hexagonal grid as a special case.


4 Objective and importance: Gliosarcoma is a rare variant of glioblastoma multiforme that calls for the simultaneous presence of a gliomatous differentiation and a sarcomatous differentiation. A gliosarcoma with a sarcomatous differentiation that corresponds to a leiomyosarcoma has not previously been presented. This report presents an exceptional gliosarcoma with a prominent leiomyosarcomatous differentiation. Clinical presentation: A 56 year-old man presented with weakness on the right arm and right leg that had progressed over one week. His physical examination revealed marked right-sided hemiparesis. A left-sided mass lesion was observed on magnetic resonance imaging that involved the surface of the parasagittal aspect of the left frontal lobe of the brain and that was associated with intense edema. Intervention: The patient underwent a craniotomy with resection of the mass lesion and was diagnosed as having a gliosarcoma with a prominent leiomyosarcomatous differentiation. Based on the imminent risk of relapse, the decision was made to proceed with radiation therapy. He suffered a relapse at nine months following the diagnosis, declined salvage treatment and died within one month. Conclusion: Although an exceptional gliosarcoma with a prominent leiomyosarcomatous differentiation might be treated with surgery and radiation therapy, the outcome remains dismal.


Summary

1. Invasive plants destroy the structure and function of many ecosystems but removal is expensive, so the likelihood of success should be assessed before a major control programme commences. Trial clearings can clarify how best to design and perform broad-scale clearing programmes. Such trials need to consider the range of conditions that might affect the outcome of control operations, not least the duration of invasion before clearing commences, a parameter that has rarely been considered previously.

2. The recovery of plant communities was monitored over 6 years in a Portuguese coastal dune system after the removal of invasive Acacia longifolia plants, together with the underlying litter in half of the cleared areas but not in the remainder. Areas that had been invaded for >20 years (long-invaded) as opposed to <7 years (recently invaded) were compared.

3. After the removal of A. longifolia, recently invaded areas had more exotic plant species but also higher native species richness, plant cover, initial diversity and species turnover rates than long-invaded areas. Generalist native species were initially very abundant in cleared areas but progressively gave way to species more typical of dunes. Six years after clearing, many species that usually occur on dunes were still missing. Therophytes were the most abundant life form immediately after clearing, but nanophanerophytes, chamaephytes and A. longifolia increased with time. Seedlings of A. longifolia were most abundant in long-invaded areas, but litter removal along with plants promoted increased plant species richness and cover and decreased susceptibility to reinvasion.

4. Synthesis and applications. A number of variables can affect the outcome of clearing invasive plant species. For A. longifolia on Portuguese dunes, recently invaded areas should be prioritized and thick litter layers should be removed along with the invader. Even so, recovery of native flora was not complete in this study, and other management actions are needed to supplement clearing operations, for example propagation of native species or prescribed fires to deplete the invasive species seed bank. Although complete restoration of the ecosystem will almost always be impossible, it should be possible in the long term to create an ecosystem with a structure and function that resembles the original habitat.


Microalgae cultivation is currently considered to a sustainable candidate for the production of biomass for biofuel feedstock. Moreover, the use of wastewater may make it more environmentally friendly. Cultivation of microalgae needs certain range condition of environmental factors such as photoperiod, light intensity, temperature, and salinity for optimal growth conditions. Many researchers have investigated ways to increase the efficiency of biomass production by designing a favorable range of environmental factors to enhance the rate of productivity. However, these environmental factors are not always suitable, as conditions for growth at an optimal level vary according to microalgae species and strain. This article presents a brief overview of the effect of environmental factors on the growth of microalgae. Optimal conditions and environmental factors for massive biomass production via microalgae cultivation are discussed.


Analysis of the dynamic time response of a solar element or other photovoltaic devices after a pulse illumination gives more details of microphysical processes and inherent parameters. By means of different types of investigations one can separate diffusion and lifetime effects. Using different wavelength of irradiation, the influence of back side contact effects is to analyze with respect to the optical and recombination properties. Because the capacitance of the depletion layer and the concentration of acceptors is included into the registrated voltage decay, both parameters can also be determined. Measurements were made by using excimer laser radiation of 308 nm wavelength and 10 ns duration or dye laser radiation within a spectral range from 500 nm to 700 nm. The available radiation flux density was in a range from 10 mW/cm2 to 100 W/cm2. The irradiation was applied at front or rear side of commercial solar cells. Mono and poly crystalline material were investigated. The transient responses in short circuit current and open circuit voltage was registrated with a high speed DSO. For analyzing the physical processes, a numerical simulation of the cell has been developed. This modeling allows to study the fundamental effects and their time evolution step by step. Values for different parameters can be obtained by a mathematical fitting procedure. The results of various samples will be shown and discussed.


This paper provides an overview of a research-based daylight and thermal analysis tool as a product in the field of building technology. This research develops an online interface to allow designers to assess the energy performance of their atrium design in early project phases. With current emphasis on building performance modeling, there is a need for designers to assess their building strategies. Though, most of the building simulation process is considered after the design process because of the complexity of simulation tools. The present study applied a validated method using atrium's proportion (Well Index) to characterize daylight and thermal performance per square feet of atrium buildings to collect a database of energy metrics of atria. Previous study indicated Well Index as the sole indicator of daylight properties of an atrium under the same conditions (climate zone, atrium type, roof aperture type and material properties). This research employed computer simulation using DIVA for Rhino for daylighting and DesignBuilder to evaluate thermal performance of the building. The collected database is created using simulations for different atrium proportions in U.S. climate zone 3, where using atria could improve building performance based on the clear sky condition. The User Interface of the atrium performance requires inputs for climate zones, atrium types, proportion and its roof type. The performance metrics that this interface provides include dynamic daylight metrics, point-in-time metrics, as well as annual heating and cooling/ square feet of an atrium.


Optical detection of ultrasound provides a unique and appealing way of forming detector arrays (1D or 2D) using either raster beam scanning or simultaneous array detection exploiting wide area illumination. Etalon based optical techniques are of particular interest, due to their relatively high sensitivity resulting from multiple optical reflections within the resonance structure. Detector arrays formed by etalon based techniques are characterized by high element density and small element active area, which enables high resolution imaging at high ultrasonic frequencies (typically 10-50 MHz). In this paper we present an application of an optical etalon structure for very high frequency ultrasound detection (exceeding 100 MHz). A thin polymer Fabry-Perot etalon (10 μm thickness) has been fabricated using spin coating of polymer photoresist on a glass substrate and gold evaporation forming partially reflecting mirrors on both faces of the polymer layer. The optical resonator formed by the etalon structure has a measured Q-factor of 300. The characteristic broadband response of the optical signal was demonstrated by insonifying the etalon using two different ultrasound transducers and recording the resulting intensity modulation of optical reflection from the etalon. A focused 10 MHz transducer was used for the low MHz frequency region, and a 50 MHz focused transducer was used for the high frequency region. The optical reflection signal was compared to the pulse/echo signal detected by the same ultrasound transducer. The measured signal to noise ratio of the optically detected signal is comparable to that of the pulse/echo signal in both low and high frequency ranges. The etalon detector was integrated in a photoacoustic imaging system. High resolution images of phantom targets and biological tissue (nerve cord) were obtained. The additional information of optical absorption obtained by photoacoustic imaging, along with the high resolution detection of the etalon, offer unique advantages for intravascular and neurological imaging devices.


The purpose of this study was to describe a patient, 7-month-old child with ventriculoperitoneal shunts for hydrocephalus with ventriculitis caused by vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium. Two ventriculoperitoneal shunts were inserted just after birth and on the second month. On the sixth month, both shunts were removed because of dysfunction, and external drainage was inserted. The child developed fever, and lumbar puncture revealed a high leukocyte count and protein concentration after external drainage. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cultures yielded E. faecium, which was resistant to ampicillin, erythromycin, gentamicin, penicillin G, vancomycin, and teicoplanin and was susceptible to chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin, streptomycin, levofloxacin, and rifampin, as determined by the disk diffusion method. As a result of the antimicrobial susceptibility tests, multidrug antibiotic therapy was changed from vancomycin and ceftazidime to chloramphenicol, rifampin, and meropenem. In addition, a rifampin-clindamycin-impregnated shunt (The Codman Hakim Bactiseal, Raynham, MA) was inserted. The patient became afebrile, and CSF cultures were sterile after 15 days of yielding E. faecium. Implantation of the rifampin-clindamycin-impregnated shunt and timely use of appropriate antibiotics for 10 days according to antimicrobial susceptibility testing seem to be important in the resolution of vancomycin-resistant enterococci infections, especially in countries where linezolid and quinupristin-dalfopristin are not in use yet.


Abstract Background home advice and modification interventions aim to promote independent living for those living in the community, but quantitative evidence of their effectiveness is limited. Aim assess the risk of care home admissions for people with different frailty levels receiving home advice and modification interventions against a control group who do not. Study design and setting matched control evaluation using linked longitudinal data from the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) Databank, comprising people aged 60–95, registered with a SAIL contributing general practice. The intervention group received the Care & Repair Cymru (C & RC) service, a home advice and modification service available to residents in Wales. Methods frailty, age and gender were used in propensity score matching to assess the Hazard Ratio (HR) of care home admissions within a 1-, 3- and 5-year period for the intervention group (N = 93,863) compared to a matched control group (N = 93,863). Kaplan–Meier curves were used to investigate time to a care home admission. Results the intervention group had an increased risk of a care home admission at 1-, 3- and 5-years [HR (95%CI)] for those classified as fit [1-year: 2.02 (1.73, 2.36), 3-years: 1.87 (1.72, 2.04), 5-years: 1.99 (1.86, 2.13)] and mildly frail [1-year: 1.25 (1.09, 1.42), 3-years: 1.25 (1.17, 1.34), 5-years: 1.30 (1.23, 1.38)], but a reduced risk of care home admission for moderately [1-year: 0.66 (0.58, 0.75), 3-years: 0.75 (0.70, 0.80), 5-years: 0.83 (0.78, 0.88)] and severely frail individuals [1-year: 0.44 (0.37, 0.54), 3-years: 0.54 (0.49, 0.60), 5-years: 0.60(0.55, 0.66)]. Conclusions HRs indicated that the C & RC service helped to prevent care home admissions for moderately and severely frail individuals. The HRs generally increased with follow-up duration.


A total of 208 long-stay hospital patients in New South Wales, Australia, who were discharged to supported community accommodations were studied to determine their adjustment in the community. For 172 patients, measurements were obtained of the patients' satisfaction with their accommodations, the caretakers' perceptions of the patients' impairment and management difficulty, and the restrictiveness of practices in the various accommodations. Most patients were considered to be functioning well, although 22 of the more impaired and difficult patients were rehospitalized at the time of the study. Seventy-eight percent of the patients preferred living in the community, and only 7 percent preferred a hospital. The patients benefited from the supported, subsidized, permanent housing available in the community and required low levels of mental health care.


While the overall risk of mortality decreased 60 percent over this 75-year period, there were fluctuations in the rate of decline most likely associated with changes in the broader environment. For example, the 29 percent decline in age-adjusted mortality in the earlier period from 1935 to 1954 was probably influenced by the introduction of various drugs such as antibiotics (2). In contrast, in the period 1955 to 1968, age-adjusted death rates decreased by only 2 percent, influenced in part by increases in diseases linked to tobacco use such as cancer and chronic lower respiratory diseases (3,4). In the most recent period from 1969 to 2010, significant progress in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cardiovascular diseases (5) likely contributed to the 41 percent decline in age-adjusted mortality despite cancer continuing to increase from 1969 to 1990 and chronic lower respiratory diseases continuing to increase from 1969 to 1998. Because year-to-year changes in death rates are often small, one might not appreciate the full extent of progress in reducing mortality in the United States over the past ¾ of a century. For example, the 2010 age-adjusted death rate of 746.2 deaths per 100,000 population was just 0.5 percent lower than in 2009. However, the 2010 rate represented a 60 percent decrease from the 1935 age-adjusted death rate of 1,860.1 deaths per 100,000 population signaling significant progress in reducing the overall risk of death in the United States across all groups.


Minimally invasive oesophagectomy is a relatively new procedure that is performed by means of thoracoscopy and laparoscopy. One stage of the procedure involves creation of a peritoneo-pleural communication in the presence of a pneumoperitoneum. In the case presented, severe hypotension occurred at this point. We believe this was caused by the escape of carbon dioxide from the peritoneal cavity into the right hemithorax, resulting in tension pneumothorax and cardiac tamponade. We believe this to be a predictable complication of this procedure but one that if expected, recognised and correctly managed, should not result in adverse outcomes.


Deep learning has gained broad interest in remote sensing image scene classification thanks to the effectiveness of deep neural networks in extracting the semantics from complex data. However, deep networks require large amounts of training samples to obtain good generalization capabilities and are sensitive to errors in the training labels. This is a problem in remote sensing since highly reliable labels can be obtained at high costs and in limited amount. However, many sources of less reliable labeled data are available, e.g., obsolete digital maps. In order to train deep networks with larger datasets, we propose both the combination of single or multiple weak sources of labeled data with a small but reliable dataset to generate multisource labeled datasets and a novel training strategy where the reliability of each source is taken into consideration. This is done by exploiting the transition matrices describing the statistics of the errors of each source. The transition matrices are embedded into the labels and used during the training process to weigh each label according to the related source. The proposed method acts as a weighting scheme at gradient level, where each instance contributes with different weights to the optimization of different classes. The effectiveness of the proposed method is validated by experiments on different datasets. The results proved the robustness and capability of leveraging on unreliable source of labels of the proposed method.


This paper proposes a real coded hybrid local evolutionary strategy (μ + λ) (RCHLES) to predict 3D protein tertiary structure of HP model with Ab Initio method. This strategy codes each amino acid sequence by the proposed discrete real code instead of binary code. The strategy devises the genetic operators, selection strategy, the fitness function, control parameter and termination criteria. The method is implemented by C programming language on CPU 1G Htz, 512M memory. The tests' results demonstrate that the algorithm has the advantage of diversity of structure and strong computational ability. The strategy can relatively avoid prematurely converge.


Low intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS)can induce cellular and bulk tissue effects that can be exploited for therapeutic purposes. In contrast to HIFU ablation, these acoustic exposures are minimal, and at most generate low temperature elevation. In order to facilitate clinical studies of image-guided therapeutic ultrasound for intervertebral disc regeneration and treatment of back pain, we plan to: (i) implement studies in proven animal models in vivo to demonstrate potential of ultrasound to increase cellularity, reduce inflammation, and improve remodeling to acute or degenerative disc-related back injury; and (ii) to demonstrate through experiments that a MRg-HIFU system is one possible vehicle for therapeutic delivery.


The solution conformations of two synthetic quinoxaline antibiotics (TANDEM and ELSERTA) have been determined by proton n.m.r. The parameters utilised include chemical shifts, coupling constants, and the temperature variation of NH chemical shifts (all in the solvents [2H]chloroform, [2H5]pyridine, and [2H6]dimethyl sulphoxide). The conclusions have then been checked and amplified by the measurement of nuclear Overhauser effects in CDCl3 solution to indicate proximities of the various protons. The structures deduced are compared with other conformationally detailed structures of quinoxaline antibiotics, and their relevance to DNA-binding studies is discussed.


Introduction Obesity and asthma have been strongly linked. Body fat distribution varies by gender and disease state. Corticosteroids, the mainstay of asthma pharmacotherapy, may be a risk factor for obesity. The impact of corticosteroids on regional body composition in asthma is unknown. Aims and objectives To explore relationships between inhaled and oral corticosteroid use, body composition and clinical asthma outcomes in adults with asthma. Methods Cross-sectional study of adults with stable asthma (n=42, age 52yrs ±14(SD), BMI 29.8 ±5.9(SD)), at the John Hunter Hospital Newcastle, Australia. Demographic details and corticosteroid dose over 2 years were collected; spirometry and airway responsiveness to hypertonic saline and body composition using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (GE, Lunar) were measured. Results In regression analyses controlled for age, gender and BMI, current inhaled corticosteroid dose was positively associated with total body % fat, gynoid region % fat and thoracic region % fat (p=0.021, p=0.009, p=0.050), and negatively associated with total body % lean, gynoid region lean tissue and thoracic lean tissue (p=0.029, p=0.036, p=0.050). Oral corticosteroid dose over 2 years was positively associated with gynoid region % fat (p=0.009) and negatively associated with gynoid region lean tissue (p=0.032). Conclusions Use of corticosteroids in adults with asthma is associated with detrimental effects on body composition, including increased fat, decreased lean and regional tissue composition changes, which may contribute to adverse clinical outcomes. This suggests the need for targeted interventions to increase muscle and reduce fat mass in those on higher corticosteroid regimes.


In this theoretical work, we describe a mechanism for the coupling between a plane structure consisting of four quantum dots and a resonator. We systematically study the dependence of the quadruple coupling strength and the qubit decoherence rate and point out the optimized operating position of the hybrid system. According to the transmission given by input-output theory, the signatures in resonator spectrum are predicted. Furthermore, based on the parameters already achieved in previous works, we prove that the device described in this paper can achieve the strong coupling limit, i.e., this approach can be used for system extension under the existing technical conditions. Our results show an effective and promotable approach to couple quantum dot structures in plane with the resonator and propose a meaningful extension method.


This is a reference book which describes importance, use and basic information relevant to lead stress in mung bean for the estimation of effect of heavy metal stress at germination as well as growth phase. After germination it was observed that inhibition of root growth is more as compared to shoot growth. In this regard spectrophotometric readings also showed that lead accumulated more in root as compared to shoot. In presence of lead the plant show chlorosis and there was drastic decrease in the chlorophyll content. Moreover, protein synthesis was also largely inhibited. SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis profile of buffer soluble protein content in lead treated mung bean seedlings showed increase intensity of a few major polypeptides in comparison to control. Mung bean try to develop some machinery to tolerate lead induced stress condition but at lower concentration of lead. At higher concentration either it fails to germinate or show very reduced growth. Present book is basically written for botany scholar and person interested in lead stress research on mung bean.


Work on stacked cores assembled from amorphous POWERCORE strip is described. The effect of the stacking method and clamping on power loss is shown. A 100 kVA, 3-phase, 3-limb core was assembled using a 105-mm-wide, 0.14-mm-thick amorphous POWERCORE strip. The core had 45 degrees -90 degrees T joints and 45 degrees mitred corner joints with 10-mm overlap lengths. It was built up to various stack heights with laminations stacked in single, double, and quadruple layers. It was found that the power loss increases with stack height and layer number. The localized power loss was 10% higher in a stack of 500 laminations than that in a stack of 100 laminations at 1.3 T. Use of aluminium clamps reduced the losses of the full size core from 0.43 W/kg to 0.33 W/kg at 1.35 T due to a reduction in stray flux or improvement in internal flux uniformity. >


PURPOSE
A case study is presented to discuss the importance of accurate assessment of a patient in the emergency department (ED) who develops neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS).

CONCLUSIONS
There has been a significant increase in the number of patients with psychiatric emergencies seeking treatment in the ED. The most frequently used medication for treating these patients is a high-potency typical antipsychotic (neuroleptic). Although NMS is a rare condition, it is a potentially fatal complication of neuroleptic medications.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS
Early identification of this potentially life-threatening syndrome will lead to prompt treatment and improve the care of this vulnerable population.


Photocurrents in a metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) photodetector have been analyzed in a one-dimensional structure using both time-dependent and steady-state continuity equations. Analytical solutions are presented for the carrier concentrations as well as for the currents, which form a valuable tool for the investigation of the detector behavior under various bias conditions. Applying these expressions to a GaAs device, we have studied the influence of carrier diffusion, recombination, and drift on the photocurrents as a function of the applied bias voltage. We also show that the switching time at low bias voltage is dominated by a voltage-independent diffusion time constant which is of particular interest when using the device as an optoelectronic sampling gate. On the other hand, carrier recombination is found to have minimal influence on DC characteristics and pulse response.


Given an audio-visual pair, audio-visual segmentation (AVS) aims to locate sounding sources by predicting pixel-wise maps. Previous methods assume that each sound component in an audio signal always has a visual counterpart in the image. However, this assumption overlooks that off-screen sounds and background noise often contaminate the audio recordings in real-world scenarios. They impose significant challenges on building a consistent semantic mapping between audio and visual signals for AVS models and thus impede precise sound localization. In this work, we propose a two-stage bootstrapping audio-visual segmentation framework by incorporating multi-modal foundation knowledge. In a nutshell, our BAVS is designed to eliminate the interference of background noise or off-screen sounds in segmentation by establishing the audio-visual correspondences in an explicit manner. In the first stage, we employ a segmentation model to localize potential sounding objects from visual data without being affected by contaminated audio signals. Meanwhile, we also utilize a foundation audio classification model to discern audio semantics. Considering the audio tags provided by the audio foundation model are noisy, associating object masks with audio tags is not trivial. Thus, in the second stage, we develop an audio-visual semantic integration strategy (AVIS) to localize the authentic-sounding objects. Here, we construct an audio-visual tree based on the hierarchical correspondence between sounds and object categories. We then examine the label concurrency between the localized objects and classified audio tags by tracing the audio-visual tree. With AVIS, we can effectively segment real-sounding objects. Extensive experiments demonstrate the superiority of our method on AVS datasets, particularly in scenarios involving background noise. Our project website is https://yenanliu.github.io/AVSS.github.io/.


Real weighted least squares (WLS) approach is extended to complex cases for designing arbitrary complex FIR filters. The method is based on an iterative complex WLS approach to obtain a least squares approximation to the desired complex frequency responses, and the weighting function at each iteration is updated using the result of the previous iteration, which leads to the optimal approximation in the complex Chebyshev sense. Some numerical design examples such as single-passband filters and complex all-pass filters are presented, which demonstrate the usefulness of the present approach. >


We studied zooplankton community structure in defferent ecosystem type where different species of aquatic plants are presented. The different in zooplankton community structure can be attributed to different aquatic plant species. We used two different species of aquatic plants, Sargassum plagyophyllum and Gracilaria verrucosa in shrimp pond ecosystem. Every aquatic plant species were replicated three times, and three enclosures without aquatic plant were used as controls. The different in morphological complexity of aquatic plant may affect zooplankton community structure. Our results indicated that the presence of aquatic plant differ in affecting zooplankton community structure. In general, pond with aquatic plant indicate more abundant and diverse of zooplankton. In the presence of Sargassum zooplankton was more abundant compared to the presence of Gracilaria . Whereas with Gracilaria , zooplankton biodiversity index were higher than with Sargassum . Keywords: zooplankton, sargassum plagyophyllum, Gracilaria verrucosa.


A handheld pressure algometer is described for the measurement of pain-pressure thresholds. This instrument has a range of measurement of 0 to 16 N/cm2 and can be modified by changing contact points or springs. Technical specifications, a schematic diagram, application examples, and information concerning construction material availability are provided.


The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of different physical therapy programs on patients' musculoskeletal function after anterior cruciate ligament reconstructive operation. In a study participated 30 patients (aged 33,4 ± 8,07 years), 5 – 6 weeks after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction operation. The effectiveness of different physical therapy programs was evaluated with clinical measures on baseline and post – training period. Patients were divided into to groups: I group attended cycle ergometer training, II group attended isokinetic training. Data were analysed using Student's t test. Statistical significance was defined as p<0,05. Research showed that musculoskeletal function increased in both groups: increased knee flexor and extensor muscles strength, decreased pain and swelling in operated knee. Isokinetic training was more effective in increasing leg muscle volume and 10 m walking test parameters. Article in Lithuanian doi:10.5200/sm-hs.2012.045


A distributed fixed-step power control algorithm is presented. It is a simple feedback adjustment algorithm using only local information. In the ideal case where there is no power constraint, it is guaranteed that existing users will not be dropped due to admission of new users. If it is infeasible to accommodate all of them, the new user will be blocked. When the constraint on the maximum power is imposed, it is shown by simulation that blocking a new call is more probable than dropping any existing calls, if the capacity is exceeded. Besides, its convergence property is demonstrated. The convergence rate, which depends on the step size, is studied through simulation. In addition, the issue of power quantization is addressed.


Survival after cardiac rupture associated with blunt thoracic trauma is very uncommon. In these patients successful management demands a high index of suspicion of cardiac injury. A case of a 24-year-old woman who presented unconscious and shocked in the emergency room after motorcycle trauma strictly limited to her back is reported. Rib and sternal fractures were absent; the typical signs of cardiac tamponade were not found. Therefore the suspicion of cardiac chamber rupture was not immediate and the cardiologist was consulted after several diagnostic exams. Transthoracic echocardiography showed a pericardial effusion with clots and initial cardiac tamponade. The patient was transferred to the operating room and a large hemopericardium was disclosed. Two lacerations were noticed: the first pericardial, near the inferior vena cava, and the second one in the posterior wall of the left atrium. It is possible that the associated pericardial tear and pericardial clots could have contributed to survival. After surgical repair, carried out during cardiopulmonary bypass, the recovery was quick and complete. This case report confirms the possibility of heart chamber rupture after blunt chest trauma even in the absence of obvious thoracic lesion and it shows that the presentation could be very insidious without a "classic" clinical picture of cardiac tamponade. In front of an unexplained shock after nonpenetrating thoracic trauma, a rupture of the heart chambers should be suspected and echocardiography is mandatory. In the emergency room environment pericardiocentesis should be performed only with a quickly available cardiac surgery or in the presence of overwhelming hemodynamic failure.


Point splitting has been suggested as a way to deal with anomalous commutators in quantum field theory. It has been pointed out by D.G. Boulware[4] that in order to obtain a mathematically consistent theory the Hamiltonian operator must be point split also. We will examine the effect of point splitting the Hamiltonian for a free fermion field in 1-1D space-time. It will be shown that when the Hamiltonian operator is point split then quantum states will exist with less energy than the normal vacuum state. This requires the vacuum state to be redefined.


Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio vulnificus are the major pathogenic Vibrio species which contaminate ready-to-eat seafood. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the risk of human illness resulting from consumption of ready-to-eat seafood such as sashimi and raw oyster meat due to the presence of V. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus. We compared the growth kinetics of V. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus strains in broth and ready-to-eat seafood, including flounder and salmon sashimi, as a function of temperature. The growth kinetics of naturally occurring V. vulnificus in raw oyster meat was also evaluated. The minimum growth temperatures of V. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus in broth were 13 °C and 11 °C, respectively. Overall, significant differences in lag time (LT) and specific growth rate (SGR) values between flounder and salmon sashimi were observed at temperatures ranging from 13 °C to 30 °C (p < 0.05). The growth of naturally occurring V. vulnificus reached stationary phase at ~4 log CFU/g in oysters, regardless of the storage temperature. This data indicates that the population of V. vulnificus in oysters did not reach the maximum population density as observed in the broth, where growth of V. vulnificus and V. parahaemolyticus isolated from oysters grew up to >8 log CFU/mL.


ABSTRACT We investigated changes in vascular plant species richness in nine summit floras in the central part of the Fennoscandian mountain range compared to historical data from 1950. We revisited the summits (defined as the top 50 altitudinal meters of each mountain) in 2002, and recorded all species. The changes in species richness were tested against both species and mountain characteristics. Species richness had declined on eight of the nine summits. Five of the species were new since the 1950s, while 17 species were lost from the summits. However, species turnover was even higher: 57 of our recorded species occurrences had established on at least one mountain since the 1950s, while we could not find 132 of the recorded occurrences in 1950 on one or more mountains. Temperature had increased since 1950 by about 1 °C and precipitation by 12%. The reindeer population has more than doubled. No correlations between plant responses, plant characteristics, and mountain characteristics were found, suggesting individualistic and mountain-specific responses. We conclude that climate changes may be responsible for an increased establishment and reindeer trampling for increased mortality of established individuals. However, the net result is a decline in species richness.


Background: Patients with advanced metastatic cancer often have elevated levels of circulating transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) that is thought to stimulate receptor mediated signaling through phosphorylated SMAD transcription factors in peripheral blood mononuclear cells.
Methods: To identify this TGF-β-dependent gene expression profile in cancer patients, we first evaluated a multi-gene expression profile from ex-vivo treated PBMCs with TGF-β1 stimulation. Change in expression, when challenged with a specific TGF-β receptor type kinase inhibitor was then derived to be ligand and inhibitor specific. Once this profile was established, we examined its role in identifying the activation of a canonical TGF-β1 signaling pathway in patient samples.
Results: We discovered a 37 gene sub-set where the expression profile from ex-vivo treated PBMCs was significantly associated with SMAD phosphorylation in cancer patients. We found significant correlation between the ex-vivo derived expression signature and circulating levels of TGF-β1 in patient samples. Additionally, we report association between the expression profile and the presence of several plasma proteins in disease samples that are known to be concomitantly present with TGF-β- dependent pathway activation.
Conclusion: An expression profile for TGF-β1 cytokine mediated-signaling in cancer patients is identified, which may serve as a biomarker to measure the pharmacodynamic effect of TGF-β inhibitors during clinical drug development and as marker of disease diagnosis.


Brain metastases are frequently treated with radiation. It is critical to distinguish recurrent or progressive brain metastases (RPBM) from late or delayed radiation injury (LDRI). The purpose of this study was to examine the diagnostic accuracy as well as the prognostic power of 6-18F-fluoro-l-dopa (18F-FDOPA) PET for differentiating RPBM from LDRI. Methods: Thirty-two patients who had 83 previously irradiated brain metastases and who underwent 18F-FDOPA PET because of an MR imaging–based suggestion of RPBM were studied retrospectively. PET studies were analyzed semiquantitatively (lesion-to-striatum and lesion-to-normal brain tissue ratios based on both maximum and mean standardized uptake values) and visually (4-point scale). The diagnostic accuracy of PET was verified by histopathologic analysis (n = 9) or clinical follow-up (n = 74) on a lesion-by-lesion basis. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to identify the best diagnostic indices. The power of 18F-FDOPA PET to predict disease progression was evaluated with the Kaplan–Meier and Cox regression methods. Results: The best overall accuracy was achieved by visual scoring, with which a score of 2 or more (lesion uptake greater than or equal to striatum uptake) resulted in a sensitivity of 81.3% and a specificity of 84.3%. Semiquantitative 18F-FDOPA PET uptake indices based on lesion-to-normal brain tissue ratios were significantly higher for RPBM than for LDRI. Among the various predictors tested, 18F-FDOPA PET was the strongest predictor of tumor progression (hazard ratio, 6.26; P < 0.001), and the lesion-to-normal brain tissue ratio or visual score was the best discriminator. The mean time to progression was 4.6 times longer for lesions with negative 18F-FDOPA PET results than for lesions with positive 18F-FDOPA PET results (76.5 vs. 16.7 mo; P < 0.001). 18F-FDOPA PET findings tended to predict overall survival. Conclusion: Metabolic imaging with 18F-FDOPA PET was useful for differentiating RPBM from LDRI. Semiquantitative indices, particularly lesion-to-normal uptake ratios, could be used. A visual score comparing tumor 18F-FDOPA uptake and striatum 18F-FDOPA uptake provided the highest sensitivity and specificity and was predictive of disease progression.


Patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are repeatedly affected by oral diseases or complaints, including xerostomia, periodontitis and dental caries. The aim of this systematic review was the evaluation of caries prevalence and/or incidence in patients with RA. Within this review, there is a systematic search of the literature based on PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus. Two independent researchers performed the search in February 2023. The search terms were "dental caries" AND "rheumatoid arthritis". Additionally, a manual search completed the review process. Studies on adult patients (age ≥ 18 years) only suffering from RA were included. Studies had to explicitly report on the prevalence or incidence of dental caries. The respective studies were checked regarding suitability and, if they were eligible, analyzed qualitatively. A quality appraisal was performed for all of the analyzed studies. A total of 336 studies were detected, of which 16 studies met the in- and exclusion criteria. The sample sizes of the clinical investigations ranged between 13 and 1337 participants. Twelve studies evaluated a healthy control group. In 8/12 studies, a significant difference in the prevalence/incidence of caries was found between RA patients and controls. The majority of the studies applied the decayed (DT), missing and filled teeth index (DMFT) for the diagnosis of caries. On average (mean value), 0.8 to 5.79 carious teeth per patient were reported across the studies. There was no information on the stadium, activity or location of caries (e.g., root caries) in any study. Quality appraisal revealed a moderate quality for most studies. In conclusion, caries prevalence was heterogeneous across studies, while a higher caries prevalence was repeatedly reported in RA patients against controls. Further research regarding dental caries in RA appears recommendable; multidisciplinary, patient-centered dental care for patients with RA should be fostered to improve patients' dental health status.


Food (energy) consumption rates ofMeloidogyne incognita were calculated on Vitis vinifera cv. French Colombard (highly susceptible) and cv. Thompson Seedless (moderately resistant). One-month-old grape seedlings in styrofoam cups were inoculated with 2,000 or 8,000 M. incognita second-stage juveniles (J2) and maintained at 17.5 degree days (DD - base 10 C)/day until maximum adult female growth and (or) the end of oviposition. At 70 DD intervals, nematode fresh biomass was calculated on the basis of volumes of 15-20 nematodes per plant obtained with a digitizer and computer algorithm. Egg production was measured at 50-80 DD intervals by weighing 7-10 egg masses and counting the number of eggs. Nematode growth and food (energy) consumption rates were calculated up to 1,000 DD based on biomass increase, respiratory requirements, and an assumption of 60 % assimilation efficiency. The growth rate of a single root-knot nematode, excluding egg production, was similar in both cultivars and had a logistic form. The maximum fresh weight of a mature female nematode was ca. 29-32 mug. The total biomass increase, including egg production, also had a logistic form. Maximum biomass (mature adult female and egg mass) was 211 mug on French Colombard and 127 mug on Thompson Seedless. The calculated total cost to the host for the development of a single J2 from root penetration to the end of oviposition for body growth and total biomass was 0.535 and 0.486 calories with a total energy demand of 1.176 and 0.834 calories in French Colombard and Thompson Seedless, respectively.


The sleep-promoting effect of a hot bath on daytime sleep after night-shift work was assessed by polysomnography. Having an unlimited daytime sleep opportunity, healthy middle-aged male subjects (n = 9, mean age 38.8 years) undertook either a hot bath or no bath (control) treatment. The polysomnography revealed that a hot bath significantly (P < 0.05) increased rapid eye movement (REM) sleep parameters. Also, the number of REM cycles increased from 1.7 to 3.7 (P < 0.05) while REM density increased from 7.31 to 15.13 (P < 0.05). In addition to the sleep-promoting effects, a hot bath significantly improved the subjective emotional evaluation score assessed by a profile of mood states (POMS) questionnaire, especially decreasing confusion, anger and hostility (P < 0.05). The data suggests that a hot bath may be an effective and practical method of promoting sleep for night-shift workers and trans-meridian travelers attempting to sleep during the day.