Main chain and segmental dynamics of polyisoprene (PI) and poly(methyl methacrylate)(PMMA) chains in semi IPNs were systematically studied over a wide range of temperatures (above and below T-g of both polymers) as a function of composition, crosslink density, and molecular weight. The immiscible polymers retained most of its characteristic molecular motion; however, the semi IPN synthesis resulted in dramatic changes in the motional behavior of both polymers due to the molecular level interpenetration between two polymer chains. ESR spin probe method was found to be sensitive to the concentration changes of PMMA in semi IPNs. Low temperature spectra showed the characteristics of rigid limit spectra, and in the range of 293-373 K.complex spectra were obtained with the slow component mostly arisingout of the PMMA rich regions and fast component from the PI phase. We found that the rigid PMMA chains closely interpenetrated into thehighly mobile PI network imparts motional restriction in nearby PI chains, and the highly mobile PI chains induce some degree of flexibility in highly rigid PMMA chains. Molecular level interchain mixing was found to be more efficient at a PMMA concentration of 35 wt.%. Moreover, the strong interphase formed in the above mentionedsemi IPN contributed to the large slow component in the ESR spectra at higher temperature. The shape of the spectra along with the data obtained from the simulations of spectra was correlated to the morphology of the semi IPNs. The correlation time measurement detected the motional region associated with the glass transition of PI and PMMA, and these regions were found to follow the same pattern of shifts in a-relaxation of PI and PMMA observed in DMA analysis. Activation energies associated with the T-g regions were also calculated. T-50G was found to correlate with the T-g of PMMA, and the volume of polymer segments undergoing glass transitional motion was calculated to be 1.7 nm(3).C-13 T-1 rho measurements of PMMA carbons indicate that the molecular level interactions were strong in semi IPN irrespective of the immiscible nature of polymers. The motional characteristics of H atoms attached to carbon atoms in both polymers were analyzed using 2D WISE NMR. Main relaxations of both components shifted inward, and both SEM and TEM analysis showed the development of a nanometer sized morphology in the case of highly crosslinked semi IPN. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.


The Ni-base superalloy IN738LC developed as a heat-resistant material has excellent high temperature strength, but at the same time it has a brittle property. As a result, any evidence of creep degradation such as deformation of components or initiation of creep voids has hardly made an appearance by the end of its available creep life. This paper investigates the possibility that creep damage can be evaluated by using the electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) method to analyze misorientation which is considered to be caused by creep strain. The use of an in-situ observational testing machine with a notched specimen allowed creep-EBSD round tests which consisted of creep tests in the in-situ obser- vational testing machine and EBSD observations using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) alternately against an identical specimen. The outcome of these experiments was that crystal orientation change tendencies corresponding to the creep strain were continuously observed. It has been found that there was a good correlation between the creep strains and the misorientations referenced to the average orientation in the grain, the parameter of Grain Reference Orientation Deviation (GROD) defined by TSL EBSD system. Consequently, this study shows that the creep damage could be estimated by analyzing misorientations using the EBSD system automatically. Also, it has been found that crystal orientation changes appeared around notches in the direction of maximum shearing stress, which implies that the misorientation development was caused by the crystallographic lattice rotation.


The growth in the number of Dentists, increased com- petition for patients and the drop on direct disburses bring about strategic responses from the professionals creating dental cooperatives or dental groups companies. Based on a literature review, this paper shows the role of the den- tal auditor as an indispensable agent to all kinds of assis- tance, defining their characteristics, their profiles, their are- as of work, and their conflicts, the main point of the analysis being the discussion of their operation within the health care system. We conclude that the Dentist Auditor plays an important role in the auditing process and that they need to be permanently trained to perform their duties.


RFID, Radio Frequency Identification, is an emerging technology in the world of automatic identification. It uses RF signal for gathering information of tags, which can be attached or embedded to goods such as consumer electronics, items in supermarkets, automobile's parts. It may make our life more comfortable and more ubiquitous, but it may make us, on the other hand, more nervous. This is because that there are some privacy problems in RFID system. More comfortable automatic identifications would lead to more disclosure of our private life. This reason rushed many researches results related to security and privacy in RFID system. However, we cannot choose anything among them for applying to the current RFID system. Most of them require either of high-cost hardware specification or giving up potential convenience of consumers. In this paper, we propose a simple privacy protection scheme that can be used for the current existing RFID system such as ISO 18000-6 type C. We modify this standard tag identification protocol slightly and introduce a light-weight proxy device for privacy enhancing.


Finite element analyses (FEA) are often used to test product properties virtually. The process of setting up FEA is many times manual and not strictly formalized; the assumptions made in those calculations highly depend on the analysts' former experiences and gut feeling. Sometimes there exist parametric FEA-models, but they are hard to interpret for others than the developers. These parametric FEA-models are also highly inflexible. It is beneficial to formalize and automate the process of developing such calculations in order to automate the product development process for mature and variant-rich products where predictions and validations using FEA are demanded in the whole or parts of the design space. Making the automated FEA-models more flexible and more transparent makes them live longer and be more available for engineers that are not FEA-specialists. The FEA-specialists will have more time to solve general problems rather than focusing on instances of the product. In this paper, a proposal is made on how to integrate Knowledge Based Engineering (KBE), CAD and FEM to make the automation of FEA flexible, transparent, and easy to use.
The method proposed includes the usage of an inference engine that handles knowledge objects that connect to auxiliary software applications.
In the paper, an implementation example is presented where toolsets for the rotary draw bending of aluminium tubing are analyzed for manufacturability.


Abstract Understanding the ecology of migratory birds during the non-breeding season is necessary for ensuring their conservation. Using satellite telemetry data we describe winter ranging behaviour and movements of pallid harriers Circus macrourus that bred in Kazakhstan. We developed an ecological niche model for the species in Africa, to identify the most suitable wintering areas for pallid harriers and the importance of habitat in determining the location of those areas. We also assessed how well represented suitable areas are in the network of protected areas. Individual harriers showed relatively high fidelity to wintering areas but with potential for interannual changes. The ecological niche model highlighted the importance of open habitats with natural vegetation. Most suitable areas for the species were located in eastern Africa. Suitable areas had a patchy distribution but were relatively well included in the network of protected areas. The preferential use of habitats with natural vegetation by wintering pallid harriers and the patchiness of the most suitable areas highlight the harrier's vulnerability to land-use changes and the associated loss of natural vegetation in Africa. Conservation of harriers could be enhanced by preserving natural grasslands within protected areas and improving habitat management in the human-influenced portions of the species' core wintering areas.


Background: Previous studies have shown that application of dexmedetomidine (Dex) combined anesthesia during surgery can significantly reduce cardiovascular system complications and mortality of patients with cardiac disease during the perioperative period. The aim of this study was to explore the therapeutic effect of Dex on perioperative supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) in adult patients with non-cardiac surgery.Methods: Forty-six patients with SVT undergoing elective non-cardiac surgery were randomly divided into two groups, intravenously infused Dex (Dex group, 1.0 µg/kg) or midazolam (midazolam group, 0.06 mg/kg) for 10 minutes, respectively. The observation indexes containing the treatment efficiency of SVT, heart rate (HR) and and heart rate variability (HRV) including normalized low frequency power (LFnorm), normalized high frequency power (HFnorm) and LFnorm/HFnorm were recorded.Results: Treatment rates of SVT were 21/23 (91.3%) in Dex group vs 2/23 (8.7%) in midazolam group (P<0.001). In Dex group, LFnorm and LFnorm/HFnorm were decreased, and HFnorm were elevated and HR were decreased after twenty-three patients infused Dex (P < 0.05). However, there was no difference for HFnorm, LFnorm and LFnorm/HFnorm in midazolam group (P > 0.05). Conclusion: Perioperative use of dexmedetomidine has a significant therapeutic effect for SVT, and its mechanism is related to adjust cardiac autonomic nervous system and has no obvious connection with sedation.Trial registration: This trial was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov. registry number: NCT04284150 on February 13, 2020.


Since 1988 Tony Redmond has been involved in international disaster medicine, attending, among others, earthquakes in Armenia and Iran, a volcanic eruption in Cape Verde, the Kurdish refugee crisis, and conflicts in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Sierra Leone. He is now a consultant to the Department for International Development, and a founder member of UNDAC.


In Text-to-SQL semantic parsing, selecting the correct entities (tables and columns) for the generated SQL query is both crucial and challenging; the parser is required to connect the natural language (NL) question and the SQL query to the structured knowledge in the database. We formulate two linking processes to address this challenge: schema linking which links explicit NL mentions to the database and structural linking which links the entities in the output SQL with their structural relationships in the database schema. Intuitively, the effectiveness of these two linking processes changes based on the entity being generated, thus we propose to dynamically choose between them using a gating mechanism. Integrating the proposed method with two graph neural network-based semantic parsers together with BERT representations demonstrates substantial gains in parsing accuracy on the challenging Spider dataset. Analyses show that our proposed method helps to enhance the structure of the model output when generating complicated SQL queries and offers more explainable predictions.


This paper uses a hierarchical decision process model, uses of information, and a theory of consumption values as a strategic framework for evaluating the general failure of intervention strategies for teenage smoking initiation. Extremely high smoking consideration-to-trial rates and rapid cessation by occasional smokers provide narrow but unused strategic opportunities for intervention. Use of information sources varies by stage of model with interpersonal sources dominating consideration, trial, and cessation stages and mass media showing only a slightly increasing use in cessation compared to the earlier stages. The decision process model and consumption values are necessary for planning strategic interventions. Existing intervention programs are not appropriately targeted in the decision process. Programs should be developed to reduce the smoking consideration to trial rates in younger children and to encourage rapid cessation in older teenagers. The use of either print or broadcast mass media interventi on programs is not supported. Continuing high levels of teenage tobacco use in the United States and elsewhere cast doubts on the success of public policy interventions and the efficacy of widely held teenage smoking beliefs. While levels of teenage smoking have recently shown a slight decrease, high-school smoking rates are more than one-fourth higher than in 1991, and the percentage of frequent high-school smokers has risen approximately 32% during the same time period (Brooks 2000). Surprisingly, little appears to have changed since 1988, when one group of researchers observed: In spite of the attention, smoking behavior among adolescents has not decreased appreciably over the past five years, and the most intensive intervention efforts have been judged to be only of modest success (Cleary et al. 1988, p. 137). In that time frame, teenage smoking prevention programs were described as "modest" and "fragile" and having unwarranted optimism about their potential impact (Cleary et al. 1988, p. 149). Other researchers then questioned government regulations and policies in terms of effectiveness in achieving desired objectives (McAuliffe 1988; Ringold and Calfee 1990; Calfee and Ringold 1992). Today there is evidence that even total advertising bans may have only a limited effect on teenage smoking behavior (Langreth 1997). and attempts to limit youth access to tobacco have had limited, though not statistically significant, results (Forster et al. 1998). Seigel and Beiner (1997) reviewed two "successful" statewide anti-tobacco campaigns and found neither program reduced smoking initiation among adolescents. Advertising and antismoking information were found to be less important in predicting adolescent smoking levels than peer pressure and prior beliefs. Others have questioned the value of health warning labels for adolescents (Cecil, Evans, and Stanley 1996) and exposure to antismoking messages and advertisements, (Murray, Prokhorov, and Hardy 1994; Pechmann and Tatneshwar 1994). Even the impact of tobacco advertising campaigns such as "Joe Camel" on youth smoking has been recently questioned (Calfee, 2000; Cohen 2000). The ongoing tobacco company legal settlements and recent smoking discouragemen t strategies proposed by the tobacco industry (Beck 1996; Hwang 1995; Freedman and Hwang 1997) seem to be ineffectual as the teenage smoking situation is not improving. Previous findings that adolescents were smoking at a higher rate led politicians to state that children were condemning themselves to a lifetime of pain and disease (Buckley 1995; Consumer Reports 1995; Hwang 1995), and were interpreted as a continuing and major public policy failure. Teenage tobacco use continues as a major source of preventable disease, a major social problem, and a major pediatric illness, as well as a major growth market for tobacco companies (Public Health Service 1990; Kessler 1995). …


The MITRA project (Monitoring and intervention for the transportation of dangerous goods, STREP funded by the European Commission under the 6th Framework Program, IST priority "Improving Risk Management", Information Society Technologies) has for goal to develop an innovative operational platform, based on regional responsibilities, for the monitoring of dangerous goods transportation in Europe. In alert and emergency situations, the Risk Knowledge Platform (RKP) dedicated will evaluate the situation, before and immediately after the accident, assess the risks and effects derived from the accident and adopt the adequate intervention measures. To reach this goal, specific algorithms have been developed to identify the possible phenomena in order to propose appropriate safety distances related to the specification of the hazardous goods transportation accident.


BACKGROUND
Chlorine-based cleaning products are often used in acute settings for high-level disinfection of the environment to help control C difficile. However, these products must be used at high concentrations, making them irritant, toxic and corrosive. This means they are inappropriate for the near-patient environment, and can lead to user resistance and non-compliance. More recently, products using peracetic acid and hydrogen peroxide have become available, which are highly effective even under conditions of heavy soiling.

AIM
To determine whether peracetic acid sporicidal wipes could help reduce rates of C difficile at an acute London trust.

METHOD
An observational study of C difficile rates was carried out at an acute London trust between 2006 and 2010. All inpatients aged two years and over were monitored. Chlorine-based cleaning regimens and products were changed to peracetic acid sporicidal wipes in April 2008 and monitored for 18 months. Inpatient bed days were also monitored to ensure findings were not affected by changing patient numbers.

RESULTS
The mean C difficile rate per 1000 patients fell from six to two following the 2008 introduction of the sporicidal wipes. In the first half of 2009, this rate dropped to below two. The overall rate of C difficile infection was reduced by 72% following the introduction of the wipes.

CONCLUSION
The introduction of sporicidal wipes resulted in a significant reduction in C difficile rates. This supports the need to review and enhance traditional environmental cleaning regimens for preventing and controlling C difficile in acute settings


Water temperature is one of the important parameters in the aquatic systems, and it remains an interesting subject of world-wide environmental research. The objective of this study is to identify the parameters of hydrological, meteorological and topological that influence water temperature and its change at pond Cibuntu based on data from April 2008 to April 2009. In addition, the analysis of changes in water temperature during rainfall events could lead to the identification of the mechanisms that generates the initial response as direct inputs of rainwater. In order to gain an insight on water temperature fluctuations, the results of water temperature measurement for one year were statistically analyzed using root mean square (Rms) and harmonic methods. From our analysis, the highest temperatures of air (Ta) and water (Tw) were of 30.6 and 30.9°C, respectively. On the contrary, the lowest of those were 21.1 and 23.0°C, respectively. In addition, the highest values of Rms 7-days for Ta and Tw in September were 1.51 and 1.57, respectively. Based on hourly Tw changes during rainfall events, it seemed that subsurface flow influenced water temperature changes. In addition, the management of pond influenced the flow paths differently through the changes of infiltration rate, surface runoff, interflow/subsurface flow and groundwater percentage.

 Key words: Water temperature, air temperature, root mean square, harmonic method, rainfall event


In this paper, we propose a frequency domain adaptive estimation of Doppler shifts for multiple Doppler subpaths in direct sequence code division multiple access (DS-CDMA) systems. By modeling the doubly selective channel using a basis expansion model (BEM), the proposed expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm-based estimation method can obtain accurate information of Doppler shifts. Based on the estimated information of Doppler shifts, a FDE-based receiver architecture is developed to exploit Doppler diversity in frequency domain. Simulation results demonstrate that this receiver structure features a low computational complexity while achieving good performance compared with traditional receiver structures in DS-CDMA systems.


Realistic visual and audio rendering still remains a technical challenge. Indeed, typical computers do not cope with the increasing complexity of today's virtual environments, both for audio and visuals, and the graphic design of such scenes require talented artists. In the first part of this thesis, we focus on audiovisual rendering algorithms for complex virtual environments which we improve using human perception of combined audio and visual cues. In particular, we developed a full perceptual audiovisual rendering engine integrating an efficient impact sounds rendering improved by using our perception of audiovisual simultaneity, a way to cluster sound sources using human's spatial tolerance between a sound and its visual representation, and a combined level of detail mechanism for both audio and visuals varying the impact sounds quality and the visually rendered material quality of the objects. All our crossmodal effects were supported by the prior work in neuroscience and demonstrated using our own experiments in virtual environments. In a second part, we use information present in photographs in order to guide a visual rendering. We thus provide two different tools to assist "casual artists" such as gamers, or engineers. The first extracts the visual hair appearance from a photograph thus allowing the rapid customization of avatars in virtual environments. The second allows for a fast previewing of 3D scenes reproducing the appearance of an input photograph following a user's 3D sketch. We thus propose a first step toward crossmodal audiovisual rendering algorithms and develop practical tools for non expert users to create virtual worlds using photograph's appearance.


Comprising seven different chapters, the collection Men in Color attempts to analyze, and revisit, the representation of ethnic masculinities, both white and non-white, in and through contemporary U.S. literature and cinema. If most of the existing studies on masculinity and race have centered on one specific model of racialized masculinities, Men in Color attempts to provide an introductory perspective on different racialized masculinities simultaneously, including African American, Asian American, Chicano, Arab American, and also white masculinity, which is analyzed as another ethnic and gendered construct, rather than as a paradigm of normalcy and "universality." By exploring several ethnic masculinities in relation to each other, the present volume aims to highlight both the differences and the similarities between different patterns of masculinity, showing how, even as gender is inflected by race, certain aspects or features of masculinity remain unchanged across the ethnic board. Ultimately, the volume as a whole illustrates both the changing nature of masculinities as well as the recurrence of certain stereotypes, such as the hypersexualization and/or the feminization of ethnic males, which recur in and across several ethnicities. The constant tension and intersection between gender and race is the subject of this book, which hopes to contribute some notes and reflections on ethnic masculinities to the much more complex and larger discussion about gender and racial identities in our increasingly multicultural and globalized 21st-century world.


Pyridin-2-amine 1-oxides react with acetic anhydride in dioxan and with p-nitrophenyl acetate in water by rate-determining O-acetylation followed by rapid intramolecular rearrangement to give the amide. The rearrangement is so favoured that no hydrolysis of the intermediate was detected in the aqueous solvent. This behaviour in aprotic solvents contrasts with that of pyridin-2-amine, previously shown to undergo acetylation directly at the amino group. Acetylation of pyridin-4-amine 1-oxide, with acetic anhydride in acetone, occurs by way of an analogous O-acetyl intermediate which reacts slowly with a second molecule of amine 1-oxide. Pyridin-Camine reacts in the same manner at a surprisingly similar rate. In water, both compounds catalyse the hydrolysis of p-nitro-phenyl acetate, with the amine 1-oxide being very much less efficient.


In recent years, the natural language processing community has moved away from task-specific feature engineering, i.e., researchers discovering ad-hoc feature representations for various tasks, in favor of general-purpose methods that learn the input representation by themselves. However, state-of-the-art approaches to disfluency detection in spontaneous speech transcripts currently still depend on an array of hand-crafted features, and other representations derived from the output of pre-existing systems such as language models or dependency parsers. As an alternative, this paper proposes a simple yet effective model for automatic disfluency detection, called an auto-correlational neural network (ACNN). The model uses a convolutional neural network (CNN) and augments it with a new auto-correlation operator at the lowest layer that can capture the kinds of "rough copy" dependencies that are characteristic of repair disfluencies in speech. In experiments, the ACNN model outperforms the baseline CNN on a disfluency detection task with a 5% increase in f-score, which is close to the previous best result on this task.


Introduction There is a noticeable increase in hazardous alcohol use during adolescence, which is significantly associated with adverse consequences. In Germany, up to 30% of adolescents report regular heavy episodic drinking. However, only a few German prevention programmes target adolescents of legal drinking age (16 years and above); thus, this trial aims to develop, implement and evaluate 'Klar bleiben' ('Stay clearheaded'), a school-based prevention programme for grade 10 students. Methods and analysis 'Klar bleiben' consists of a class commitment to drink responsibly and refrain from hazardous consumption patterns for 9 weeks. The commitment is accompanied by educational lessons on alcohol-related cognitions and consequences. It will be evaluated in a sample of approximately 3000 students (150 classes) from two German federal states (Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony) via a two-armed cluster randomised controlled trial with baseline and postassessment 6 months apart. The intervention group (75 classes) will participate in 'Klar bleiben', whereas the control group (75 classes) will receive education as usual. 'Klar bleiben' addresses classes, individuals, teachers and parents. It is based on a social norms approach and aims to reduce hazardous drinking and drinking-related consequences in adolescents. Secondary outcomes include general drinking behaviour, use of other substances, alcohol-related cognitions and social factors. Covariates include sociodemographic characteristics, environmental and individual (vulnerability) factors. Ethics and dissemination 'Klar bleiben' provides a multicomponent school-based programme that bridges a gap in alcohol prevention. Similar class-level and social norms-based prevention programmes have already been proven to be successful for other substances among adolescents. Thus, dissemination to other federal states as well as longer term follow-up testing of the robustness of effects is to be anticipated. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the German Psychological Society (RH_0620152), and study findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications and conference contributions. Trial registration number German Clinical Trials Register: DRKS00009424.


Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) is the most common leafy vegetable produced hydroponically in the United States. Although hydroponic systems are advantageous due to lower pest and disease pressure, and reduced water and nutrient requirements, the increasing prices of fertilizers, including phosphorus (P), still influences the profitability of hydroponic production of lettuce. Characterizing lettuce germplasm capable of producing high yield using less P inputs may help reduce fertilizer use, production costs, and P loads in wastewater. In this study, 12 lettuce accessions were grown in four experiments in a nutrient film technique system. In the first two experiments, the treatments consisted of two P concentrations (3.1 and 31 mg·L−1). Lettuce cultivated with 3.1 mg·L−1 of P had variable shoot and root biomass, root–shoot ratio, P uptake efficiency, and P utilization efficiency, indicating the existence of genetic variation. Five accessions ('Little Gem', 60183, 'Valmaine', BG19-0539, and 'Green Lightning') were considered efficient to P because produced similar shoot biomass with the low and high P treatments. In the third and fourth experiments, the treatments consisted of two P sources (monosodium phosphate (NaH2PO4) and tricalcium phosphate [TCP; Ca3(PO4)2]. Initially, extra 5 mM of calcium (Ca) was added to the TCP solution to reduce the TCP solubility and, hence, P bioavailability to plants. All accessions produced similar shoot and root weight with both treatments, indicating that the TCP treatment did not cause low-P stress to the plants. After, the extra Ca concentration added to TCP was increased to 10 mM, resulting in low-P stress and a significant reduction in shoot weight of all accessions. Despite the severe P stress, 'Little Gem' and 60183 were among the accessions with the least shoot weight reduction in the TCP treatment. Variability was observed in root biomass root–shoot ratio among accessions under the TCP treatment, suggesting that lettuce accessions responded differently to P stress conditions. The genetic variation for P use efficiency (PUE) and PUE-related traits in lettuce grown hydroponically suggests the feasibility of breeding new lettuce cultivars from elite lettuce germplasm adapted to low P availability in hydroponics.


BACKGROUND
Recent reports suggest that calcitriol might not be the sole active metabolite of vitamin D and that plasma concentrations of 25-(OH)vitamin D (25OHD) are often abnormally low in hemodialysis patients. We have therefore evaluated plasma 25OHD as a risk factor for parathyroid hormone (PTH) hypersecretion and radiological bone disease. We carried out a cross-sectional study during the month of September in an Algerian dialysis center of 113 patients who were not taking supplements of alphacalcidol or calcitriol.

METHODS
Plasma 25OHD, calcitriol, PTH, calcium, phosphate, bicarbonate, and aluminum were measured, and x-rays of the hands and pelvis were obtained for evaluation of subperiosteal resorption and Looser's zones.

RESULTS
The median plasma 25OHD was 47.5 nmol/liter (range 2.5 to 170.0). Univariate analysis showed that plasma PTH was correlated positively with months on maintenance dialysis and negatively with plasma 25OHD, calcitriol, calcium, bicarbonate and aluminum, but not with that of phosphate. plasma 25OHD was positively correlated with calcium and calcitriol. Using multiple regression analysis, only plasma 25OHD (negative) and the duration on maintenance dialysis (positive) were independently linked to plasma PTH. The prevalence of isolated subperiosteal resorption (ISR) was 34%, and that of the combination of resorption with Looser's zones (CRLZ) was 9%; thus, only 57% of the patients had a normal x-ray appearance. These groups were comparable with regards to age, gender, and duration on dialysis. When the biochemical measurements of the patients with CRLZ were compared with those from patients without radiological lesions, plasma 25OHD was the only parameter to show a statistically significant difference, being significantly lower in the CRLZ group (26 +/- 18 vs. 57 nmol/liter, ANOVA, P < 0.004). Plasma 25OHD was also significantly lower in the ISR group (44, P < 0.05) than in the normal x-ray group, and plasma Ca (P < 0.003) and bicarbonate (P < 0.02) were lower. Logistical analysis showed that the presence of resorption was independently linked only with plasma PTH. Looser's zones and subperiosteal resorption were not seen in patients with plasma 25OHD of more than 40 (Looser's zones) and more than 100 nmol/liter (subperiosteal resorption). The optimal range for intact PTH in hemodialysis patients with mild aluminum overload is 10 to 25 pmol/liter. We found that plasma PTH was inappropriately high only when plasma 25OHD was less than 100 nmol/liter. With a plasma 25OHD of between 100 and 170 nmol/liter, hypercalcemia was present with a plasma PTH of less than 10 pmol/liter in only one case.

CONCLUSIONS
This cross sectional study shows that low plasma 25OHD is a major risk factor for hyperparathyroidism and Looser's zones. In dialysis patients, we suggest that the plasma levels of 25OHD are maintained around the upper limit of the reference range of sunny countries.


A 82-year-old man with bipolar disorder had been successfully treated with lithium (Li).1 Renal failure is uncommon with long-term Li treatment (0.5%–1.2% on Li > 15 yr); however, during a 10-year period of stable mood, chronic renal disease (glomerular filtration rate [GFR] ~30 mL/min/1.73m2) developed, and the patient's physician recommended he discontinue Li.2,3 The dilemma was whether he should start an alternative, unproven treatment.

He first presented with a manic episode at age 23. Past treatment included antipsychotic medication during manic episodes. Multiple clusters of episodes were separated by periods of 10–15 years with relative clinical stability. The most recent relapse occurred 10 years earlier, and since then his mood had been euthymic. Given his deteriorating renal function, we discontinued Li (slowly to minimize the risk of manic relapse); however, within a month, the patient experienced a manic relapse.

In addition to Li, valproate and olanzapine can be used to treat bipolar disorder in adults,4 although Li as monotherapy or combined with valproate is more effective than valproate alone.5 After his relapse, we introduced valproate because of potential antipsychotic side-effects in this age group, particularly in those with cognitive changes (common in bipolar disorder).6 Next, we added olanzapine, but despite dual therapy, he did not improve. He experienced disorganized behaviour, pressure of speech and flight of ideas, and was admitted to our psychiatry intensive care unit (PICU). The PICU staff suspected organic confusion; however physical examination and assessment excluded organic confusion, and his aggression and suitability for PICU care was demonstrated when he broke a staff member's arm.

During admission, his renal function remained severely impaired so we persisted with alternative treatments, including other antipsychotics with which he experienced side-effects at low doses. There is little evidence to support the use of alternative mood-stabilizing or antipsychotic agents in older adults with bipolar disorder, although valproate, carbamazepine, newer antipsychotics and lamotrigine have some evidence for efficacy.7,8 Carbamazepine can be used as second-line treatment for manic episodes (requires caution for hematologic toxicity and drug interactions).8 In older adults, quetiapine can lead a sustained reduction in manic symptoms on the fourth day of treatment.9 Aripiprazole may also reduce bipolar symptoms in older adults.10 Lamotrigine may be most effective in prevention of bipolar depression rather than mania.8,11,12

The patient spent 1 year in the in-patient unit while medications were tried systematically, as described. His level of arousal and hyperactivity could be reduced, but his mental state remained distractible, euphoric and easily roused to anger. Electroconvulsive therapy had short-lasting effects, but we thought he would not tolerate maintenance treatment, as he never completely recovered, complained of poor memory and was too frail to tolerate multiple repeat general anesthetics. After 1 year off Li, mostly as an inpatient, his treatment plan was reviewed between his family, his renal physician physician and psychiatrist. His renal function had improved by 20 mL/min/1.73m2, so we risked reintroducing Li, knowing that his renal function would deteriorate again. Judging from his previous annual decline, this would have given him another 5 years of renal function above his previous lowest GFR level. Following the reintroduction of Li, he showed dramatic clinical improvement. Six months after discharge he had fully recovered.

This case represents the common dilemma of treating severe and enduring mental illness with medication that has side-effects affecting physical health. It illustrates the potential problems of changing medication, which can lead to relapse of serious mental illness. There is a risk that failing to review or change medication may leave patients with serious and sometimes life-threatening physical side-effects. Without a straightforward solution, changing medication is likely worth the risk when there is evidence that alternative treatments may be effective. In addition to illustrating the potential risks for individual patients and the need to discuss these openly, this case also highlights the relative lack of evidence on which to base complex decisions about psychiatric care for older adults.


In this article the selective encryption method of video frames based on a hidden baseline I-frame. The work of this method is based on the processing-frame, taking into account the algorithm MPEG, which is implemented on the basis of the formation of different types of video sequences. The article also presents algorithms and coding and decoding the video stream using this method. A method for estimating the amount of hidden I-frame and its compressed representation without hiding under a group of frames in percentage. The analysis of changes in the volume of the compressed representation of the frame with a hidden base frame relative to the original volume of the compressed-frame depending on the different values of the peak signal / noise ratio for different frame types. The methodological basis for determining the difference between the amount of compressed representations of frames using hide the underlying I-frame and no hidden as a percentage.


Generalizability (G-) theory is increasingly being used by assessment professionals in a variety of assessment contexts, especially those involving performance assessments. This study expands the use of G-theory and its possible application to highly competitive sporting events that involve judging panels. Specifically, using G-theory, this study examined both the scoring variability and reliability of all four events of the 2004 World Figure Skating Championships. For each event, it examined the independent sources of score variation contributing to the variability of scores assigned by the raters (judges), and the score reliability (or generalizability coefficient). For the Ice Dancing event, an additional examination of the impact of treating "rater" and "rating" as different facets of G-theory studies on the score reliability was conducted. The results show that rater/rating was identified as a component of concern in all events. For the Singles events, in particular, the percentages of the variance for rater (judge) reached approximately 10 percent of the total variance, indicating that there were serious concerns about the scoring reliability. The generalizability coefficients for the events of Men's Singles and Ladies' Singles were both 0.93. However, the generalizability coefficients for Pairs and Ice Dancing were 0.99 and 0.98, respectively, indicating that the scores for these two events were extremely reliable. Using rater vs. rating in the Ice Dancing scores appeared to result in very little difference.


Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is thought to play a significant role in acute renal failure induced by cyclosporin A (CsA). The cDNA sequence encoding endothelin-converting enzyme-1 (ECE-1), which produces the active form of ET-1 from big ET-1, was recently reported. To elicit the role of ECE-1 in the glomerular and tubular dysfunction induced by CsA, the effects of CsA on mRNA and protein expression of ECE-1 in rat kidney and on mRNA expression of prepro-ET-1 and ET A- and B-type receptors in glomeruli were studied. ECE-1 mRNA was detected in glomeruli and in whole nephron segments. ECE-1 mRNA expression was downregulated in all nephron segments at 24 h after CsA injection. Protein levels were also downregulated in glomeruli and in the outer and inner medulla. CsA rapidly increased prepro-ET-1 mRNA expression in glomeruli at 30 to 60 min after injection; this rapid increase was followed by an increase in plasma ET-1 levels. These increases were followed by decreased expression of ECE-1, ET A-type receptor, and ET B-type receptor mRNA at 6 h after injection, and serum creatinine levels were increased at 24 h after CsA injection. It is suggested that downregulation of glomerular and tubular ECE-1 expression may be caused by increased ET-1 synthesis in CsA-induced acute renal failure.


The treatment of agitation in the emergency room is a subject regularly treated in different studies and conferences because of the diagnosis difficulties and the psychological impact on medical teams. Differential diagnosis includes organic, toxic and psychiatric causes. Non-pharmacological means (emergency rooms' organisation, communication skills, first care teams' formation) allow resolution of some of these situations. When psychopharmacological intervention is required benzodiazepines (lorazepam) and neuroleptics (haloperidol, olanzapine) are indicated, first orally, then intramuscularly if requested by noncollaborative patient. Combination of drugs is not to be recommanded. Side effects of current medication are to be well known, that's why only a small number of molecules are to be used, after controlled studies.


This thesis explores the relationship between law and literature in the nineteenth-century debates for married women's legal rights from 1836 to 1885. Prior to the 1882 Married Women's Property Act, married women were barred from speaking in legal trials against their husbands due to their non-existence in the eyes of the law. From the 1839 Custody of Infants Act that first recognised the rights of married women to the 1882 Married Women's Property Act that ultimately gave them the right to testify in court, the development of the novel form can be seen as a reflection of ongoing political debates and the role that written testimonial and circumstantial evidence had during this period. The nineteenth century saw an explosion of legislation in support of married women, from the 1839 Custody Act and the 1857 Matrimonial Causes and Divorce Act to the 1870 and 1882 Married Women's Property Acts. Figurehead trials such as "Norton v. Melbourne" (1836), "Robinson v. Robinson & Lane" (1859), "Thelwall v. Yelverton" (1861), "Dalrymple v. Dalrymple" (1811), and "Rex v. Palmer" (1869) illustrate the role that married women's writing had in presenting the narrative of married women's legal oppression under unjust marriage laws.
 The novels examined in this thesis all present married women's agency and legal representation through the form of written evidence. From Anne Bronte's "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" (1848), Caroline Norton's "Stuart of Dunleath" (1851), Mary Elizabeth Braddon's "Lady Audley's Secret" (1862) and "Aurora Floyd" (1863), Wilkie Collins' "Man and Wife" (1870), and George Meredith's "Diana of the Crossways" (1885), this study explores nineteenth-century novels' representations of the growing debates for married women's legal rights and the role that written evidence had in allowing women to speak out against the injustices of marriage laws.


REASONS FOR PERFORMING STUDY
Fusion anomalies of the epididymis with the testis may be clinically relevant in horses. However, anatomical variations in epididymal-testicular fusion have not been classified, and their clinical significance is unknown.

OBJECTIVES
To describe anatomical variations and clinical significance of epididymal-testicular fusion in stallions.

STUDY DESIGN
Anatomical study of testes from castrations, and description of 2 clinical cases with atypical epididymal-testicular fusion.

METHODS
A total of 104 testes were obtained from equine castrations. Eight patterns of epididymal-testicular fusion were identified. Two clinical cases with epididymal dislocation were also described.

RESULTS
Close attachment of the entire epididymis to the testis was the most common pattern of fusion (40%). Ninety-five per cent of cryptorchid testes and 34% of scrotal testes in the studied sample had elongated proper ligaments of the testes. Dislocation of the epididymal tail was observed in 2 stallions that had atypically long proper ligaments inserted on the dorsal aspect of the testes.

CONCLUSIONS
Patterns of epididymal-testicular fusion can vary in stallions. Elongated proper ligaments of the testes occur mostly in cryptorchid testes but are also found in stallions with scrotal testes. Epididymal dislocation may develop in stallions with long proper ligaments that are inserted dorsally on the testes.


: Lysopholipids together with their diacyl derivatives were fractionated by means of thin-layer chromatography. High sensitivity and separation capacity of the method was due to the use of superthin layers of absorbent, obtained by prfcipitation and also owing to the use of horizontal flow chromatography in a special system of solvents.


OBJECTIVE. The HH signal transduction pathway plays crucial roles in organ morphogenesis and is active during embryonic development but quiescent in terminally differentiated cells. Binding of HH ligands to PTCH1 relieves its inhibitory activity on the pathway activator SMO leading to pathway activation and upregulation of target gene expression including the transcription factor Gli1 that serves as marker of pathway activation. It is reactivated in many solid cancers including NSCLC as we have previously demonstrated and proven to be the key oncogenic driver in tumors such as skin basal cell carcinoma. The aim of this study is to determine if HH pathway regulates cell growth and survival of MPM cells and to evaluate the efficacy of pathway blockade using SMO antagonists (SMO inhibitor GDC0449 - GDC or the antifungal drug itraconazole -ITRA) or Gli inhibitors (GANT61 or the anti-leukemia drug arsenic trioxide - ATO) in suppressing the viability of not only NSCLC but also MPM cells. METHODS. Expression of main components of HH pathway in 8 MPM cells was assessed by qRT-PCR. Suppression of HH/SMO-mediated signaling by these pathway antagonists was determined by LightII cells. Selective knockdown of SMO to inhibit HH signaling was achieved by siRNA in 3 MPM cells H2373, Gardner and H2452. Cell viability following treatments with GDC, ITRA, GANT61or ATO were evaluated in a panel of 8 MPM cells and 8 NSCLC cells using MTT assay. Apoptosis was determined by annexinV/PE staining and flow cytometry. RESULTS. All MPM cells, similar to previously demonstrated in NSCLC cells, express varying levels of HH ligands, PTCH1, SMO with readily detectable Gli1 observed in 7/8 of MPM cells by qRT-PCR. SMO siRNA mediate 2- to 3-fold reduction of SMO and also of Gli1 gene expression by qRT-PCR, indicating significant HH pathway blockade. This was associated with 40±6% to 70±8% reduction of cell viability (p CONCLUSIONS. HH signaling is active in MPM and regulates cell viability. ATO and ITRA are as effective as the prototypic SMO inhibitor GDC and the Gli inhibitor GANT61 in suppressing HH signaling in MPM and NSCLC cells. Pharmaceuticals that are FDA-approved for other indications but recently found to have anti-HH activity such as ATO or ITRA may be repurposed to treat HH-dependent MPM or NSCLC cells. Citation Format: Min You, Javier Varona Santos, David J. Robbins, Niramol Savaraj, Dao M. Nguyen. Pharmacologic targeting of the Hedgehog (HH) signal transduction pathway significantly suppresses growth of malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells in vitro. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3246. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-3246


Biological clocks, time‐keeping systems, enable the living organisms to synchronize their biochemical processes with their environment. Among these molecular oscillators, ultradian oscillators have been identified with volatility less than 24 h. Transcription factor Hes1, a member of the basic Helix‐loop‐Helix (bHLH) protein family, has an oscillation duration of 2 h in vertebrates. Due to the pivotal role of oxidative stress in many human diseases, we evaluated the effect(s) of oxidative stress on Hes1 oscillator, its upstream regulators, and its downstream cell cycle regulators. NIH/3T3 mouse fibroblast cells were treated with sublethal (250 μM) and lethal (1000 μM) doses of H2O2 for 30 min. H2O2 generated a delay in p‐Stat3 and Socs3 mRNAs followed by suppression of Hes1 protein. These events were accompanied by simultaneous upregulation of p21 and downregulation of cyclinD1, resulting in a temporary arrest of the cell cycle. In conclusion, the elimination of Hes1 protein oscillation by H2O2 may represent a defense mechanism against oxidative stress in fibroblast cells.


Today, thanks to the development of micro-scale low-cost accelerometers, gyroscopes, and magnetometers, it is possible to construct compact motion-sensor arrays with hundreds of sensing elements. These arrays, as well as providing a high performance-to-price ratio, can also provide new measurement capabilities and enable the development of smart sensors that adapt to the usage conditions. This paper gives an overview of the capabilities enabled by the stochastic, component, temporal, and spatial information diversity that an array of inertial or magnetic field sensors provide. The main challenges in the practical realization of these types of arrays are described.


Given a map and a function , a `Fredholm determinant' can be defined as a formal power series . The coefficients are related to the periodic points of . Assume that is a hyperbolic diffeomorphism of class , and belongs to . Then the Fredholm determinant is analytic in the disc of radius , where is a hyperbolicity index of (roughly speaking, is -contracting in one direction and -expanding in the other direction). In the case, the Fredholm determinant is an entire function.


This study was conducted to determine the best micro irrigation system for pepper cultivation during two years. The goal of this study was water saving and reduction the disease progress (Phytophthora capsici) in the field condition. Experimental design was split plot based on randomized complete blocks design with four replications. Three different drip irrigation methods; drip irrigation with in-line emitter tubes, drip irrigation (tape), and drip irrigation with porous pipes as main plot and three different amount of water (50, 75 & 100% water requirement) were as sub-plot. The result showed that the drip irrigation had the highest effect on disease control. The drip irrigation (tape) with 100% and 75% water requirement treatments had the lowest progress of Phytophthora capsici.In the first year the effect of irrigation method on yield and progress of Phytophthora capsici was significant. The effect of irrigation levels on the characteristics of plant except yield was no significant (α < 0.01), but the effect of irrigation methods on water use efficiency was significant (α < 0.05). The drip irrigation (tape) with 100% and 75% water requirement treatment had the highest water use efficiency. In the second year the effect of irrigation levels and irrigation methods on yield was significant (α < 0.05), but the effects of combination of irrigation levels and methods on yield was not significant. The drip irrigation (tape) with 100% water requirement treatment had the highest yield. The result in two years showed that the pepper is a sensitive plant to water deficit. The drip irrigation (tape) and 100% water requirement treatment had the highest yield (7214 Kg) and water use efficiency (1.311 Kg/m3). The result also showed that the porous pipes had no good efficiency. According to the results, the best option for pepper is drip irrigation (tape) with using 100% water requirement.


BACKGROUND
This study reports the long-term follow-up of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) participating in a randomised phase II study that compared the efficacy and toxicity of the combination of irinotecan (IRI), fluorouracil (FU) with leucovorin (LV) (arm A) versus sequential chemotherapy with IRI plus FU/LV followed by oxaliplatin (OXA) plus FU/LV (arm B) as first line therapy.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Intent-to-treat analysis was performed on 417 patients (211 in arm A and 206 in arm B). Treatment schedules of weekly IRI 80 mg/m(2) or OXA 45 mg/m(2) plus LV 200 mg/m(2) immediately followed by intravenous bolus FU 450 mg/m(2) for 6 weeks were followed by a 2-week rest period. Treatment continued for 4 cycles. Patients in arm A were treated with IRI/FU/LV for 4 cycles, while patients in arm B were initially treated with IRI/FU/LV for 2 cycles followed by sequential administration of 2 cycles of OXA/FU/LV.

RESULTS
No significant difference emerged in overall response rate or overall survival. There was a difference in progression-free survival (median, 7.3 versus 8.2 months, p=0.040) in favour of arm B. Toxicity profiles were similar in both arms.

CONCLUSION
IRI/FU/LV and IRI/FU/LV followed by OXA/FU/LV showed comparable activity with a manageable toxicity profile.


Objectives: Natural and man-made disasters can result in power outages that can affect certain vulnerable populations dependent on electrically powered durable medical equipment. This study estimated the size and prevalence of that electricity-dependent population residing at home in the United States. Methods: We used the Truven Health MarketScan* 2012 database to estimate the number of employer-sponsored privately insured enrollees by geography, age group, and sex who resided at home and were dependent upon electrically powered durable medical equipment to sustain life. We estimated nationally representative prevalence and used US Census population estimates to extrapolate the national population and produce maps visualizing prevalence and distribution of electricity-dependent populations residing at home. Results: As of 2012, among the 175 million persons covered by employer-sponsored private insurance, the estimated number of electricity-dependent persons residing at home was 366 619 (95% confidence interval: 365 700-367 537), with a national prevalence of 218.2 per 100 000 covered lives (95% confidence interval: 217.7-218.8). Prevalence varied significantly by age group (&khgr;2 = 264 289 95, P < .0001) and region (&khgr;2 = 12 286 30, P < .0001), with highest prevalence in those 65 years of age or older and in the South and the West. Across all insurance types in the United States, approximately 685 000 electricity-dependent persons resided at home. Conclusions: These results may assist public health jurisdictions addressing unique needs and necessary resources for this particularly vulnerable population. Results can verify and enhance the development of functional needs registries, which are needed to help first responders target efforts to those most vulnerable during disasters affecting the power supply.


To improve the care of patients who show signs of deterioration, hospitals need systems that trigger swift action from their response teams. This paper describes the effectiveness of a Patient at Risk Team (PART) that comprised mainly of experienced ward nurses. The study involved a comparison of the numbers of cardiac arrest and medical emergency team (MET) calls made at a single site before and after a PART was established. The study also involved a comparison of the number of people admitted to hospital. Results show that the introduction of a PART led to reductions in the number of ward cardiac arrests and in length of stay in hospital, as well as a decline in direct admissions to an intensive care unit. However, there was no change in the number of MET calls per 1,000 admissions. The study concludes that a dedicated response team comprising experienced ward nurses may be effective in providing care to deteriorating patients. Pirret AM, Takerei SF, Kazula LM (2015) The effectiveness of a patient at risk team comprised of predominantly ward experienced nurses: a before and after study. Intensive and Critical Care Nursing. doi.org.10.1016/j.iccn.2014.10.005


This study assesses impact of Islamic microfinance and look for possible factors that may strengthen impact of this Shari'ah compliant microfinancing service. For this purpose, it explores possible impact that can be delivered by spiritual and religious capacity building that Islamic microfinance can provide to their clients. To achieve this objective, this study distributed survey to 400 Muslim microentrepreneurs who mostly received Islamic microfinancing. The findings of this study found Islamic microfinance initially able to provide positive impact on their clients with some limitations. In addition, this study also found that higher spirituality level in general able to bring more wealth, while having higher religiosity may enhance clients' economic performance. These findings implicate that both spiritual and religious enhancement programmes need to be adopted in capacity building provided by Islamic microfinance institutions to their clients. This study argues that the spiritual and religious enhancement programmes in short run is able to enhance positive impact of the Islamic microfinance on their clients. Keywords: Islamic Microfinance, Impact, Poverty, Spirituality, Religiosity.


Advanced experimental techniques for measuring oscillator strengths of atomic and ionic transitions in the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) are described. A VUV time-resolved laser-induced-fluorescence experiment for radiative lifetime measurements on atoms and ions in a beam is operational. Recent work on VUV transitions of Si I and B I is described. These lifetimes provide the essential absolute normalization for converting relative oscillator strengths to absolute transition probabilities. Emission measurements of branching fractions at VUV and longer wavelengths are proposed. A large echelle spectrograph equipped with a CCD detector array will be used. This experiment will provide the sensitivity, resolving power, and data handling capability required for extensive high quality emission branching fraction measurements. We further propose to use absorption measurements on hollow cathode discharges to determine relative absorption oscillator strengths. A demonstration of a new technique for absorption spectroscopy on glow discharges is reported. The new technique provides the sensitivity, dynamic range, and data handling capability required for extensive high quality absorption measurements. Relative absorption and emission oscillator strengths will be least-square adjusted using the bowtie method and normalized with accurate radiative lifetimes.


The U.S. paper industry has become increasingly concentrated and therefore been suspected of imperfect competition. In this study, the new empirical industrial organization approach is employed to measure the degree of oligopoly and oligopsony power in the U.S. paper industry simultaneously. The model is estimated by iterative three-stage least squares using annual data from 1955 to 2003. The results reveal that there has been significant oligopoly and oligopsony power in the U.S. paper industry, and the oligopoly power has been consistently lower than the oligopsony power.


Abstract Separate and combined releases of P. persimilis and N. californicus were tested for the control of T. urticae on greenhouse cut roses under integrated pest management conditions. Release strategies were carried out in separate greenhouses and were not replicated. Mite densities were controlled at regular intervals on 50 single, randomly collected leaves per greenhouse. Natural infestations of 23.9 T. urticae per leaf at the start of the trial were controlled throughout the growing season by the simultaneous, combined release of 26 P. persimilis/m2 and 24 N. californicus/ m2. Separate releases of each phytoseiid species - 32 P. persimilis/m2 at an initial infestation of 0.16 T. urticae per leaf, or 51 N. californicus/m2 in total at an initial infestation of 10.2 T. urticae per leaf - failed to adequately suppress spider mite populations. Additional treatments with selective acaricides were required. Reasons for the different control success of the three release strategies and their implications for practical use are discussed.


this article substantiates the need to develop the energy potential of cadets and students in classes on the discipline "Socio-psychological training of professional communication" in educational organizations of the Ministry of internal Affairs of Russia. The relevance of this problem is considered by the authors in two planes. On the one hand, there is a growing need to include "energy" concepts in the paradigm of modern social and psychological Sciences, and to build the structural elements of this system. On the other hand, the reality of modern social life and its increasing complexity make all people in General, as well as employees of the internal Affairs bodies of the Russian Federation, in particular, increasingly think about preserving their physical, mental and psychological health, which is impossible without understanding the energy potential of a person, without the necessary elements that make up it.
Since the European and Russian scientific traditions do not operate properly today with definitions related to human energy, the paper presents several points of view regarding this phenomenon from ancient Chinese, ancient Indian philosophy and medicine. Also, to understand the development of energy potential, the article presents as an example some practices of ancient Yaqui shamans who lived in the South of North America.
In the second part of the work, some examples of ancient Eastern practices are given that can be used in classes on social and psychological training of professional communication. In particular, breathing practices, meditative techniques, and exercises for the development of perception and attention are considered separately. Furthermore, it describes in detail one of the practices of acromegaly.


Diabetes and cancer are common conditions, and their co-diagnosis in the same individual is not infrequent. A link between the two conditions has been postulated for almost 80 years, but only in the past decade has significant epidemiological evidence been amassed to suggest that diabetes and cancer are associated, and the link appears causal. Hyperinsulinaemia, adipocytokines, growth factors and epigenetic changes may be implicated in the pathogenesis of cancer amongst patients with diabetes, and recently, diabetes therapies have also been implicated. There is reasonable circumstantial evidence that metformin may decrease the risk of cancer amongst diabetic patients. Much more research is required to elucidate the link between diabetes and cancer, particularly the potential link with diabetes treatments.


Multi-Modal Self-Supervised Learning from videos has been shown to improve model's performance on various downstream tasks. However, such Self-Supervised pre-training requires large batch sizes and a large amount of computation resources due to the noise present in the uncurated data. This is partly due to the fact that the prevalent training scheme is trained on coarse-grained setting, in which vectors representing the whole video clips or natural language sentences are used for computing similarity. Such scheme makes training noisy as part of the video clips can be totally not correlated with the other-modality input such as text description. In this paper, we propose a fine-grained multi-modal self-supervised training scheme that computes the similarity between embeddings at finer-scale (such as individual feature map embeddings and embeddings of phrases), and uses attention mechanisms to reduce noisy pairs' weighting in the loss function. We show that with the proposed pre-training scheme, we can train smaller models, with smaller batch-size and much less computational resources to achieve downstream tasks performances comparable to State-Of-The-Art, for tasks including action recognition and text-image retrievals.


The asymptotic expression of the current in a thin impedance vibrator disposed in an homogeneous isotropic medium with sufficiently arbitrary parameters was obtained. Expressions of vibrator near fields as functions of electrical and physical characteristics of the medium were found. Calculations were carried out and their results represented as graphs of the dependence of near field distribution on medium parameters and surface impedance of the vibrators.


believe that b. The theoretical terms specified by quasi-semantical probability implications are said to represent "open concepts" and to be "intensionally vague," i.e., to connote different observable characteristics with different degrees p. In conclusion, the author points to the need for new semantical tools to deal with open concepts and the statements involving them. In the reviewer's judgment, the author's central argument does not fully substantiate the conclusion drawn from it. For example, the reductionist thesis that all theoretical terms are explicitly definable by means of the observational vocabulary is quite compatible with the recognition that, in the interest of greater theoretical fertility, some definitions may well be abandoned in favor of others — so as to replace the original theory by another involving certain new concepts referred to by certain old terms. (The authors of the quite brief discussion note make a similar point.) To be sure, Pap's argument — like those recently advanced by Quine, White, Goodman, and others — do seem to make it pointless to preserve the division of theoretical statements into empirical hypotheses and sentences true by convention, since either kind is subject to change in the face of suitable evidence. But that division might be abandoned by simply treating all the non-derivative sentences of the theory as postulates of equal status: it is not necessary for this purpose to introduce Pap's quasi-semantical probability implications. The desirability of this latter device would have to be established by independent further arguments, and its feasibility needs to be substantiated by the actual development of a theory for those implications. As tentatively conceived by the author in the present essay, they seem clearly inadequate; for they have the character of empirical generalizations concerning linguistic behavior, so that their use in lieu of non-probabilistic definitions or reduction sentences would turn physical science into a branch of social psychology and descriptive linguistics.


Background Neisseria gonorrhoeae cases are increasing in Europe, with decreasing susceptibility to first line antibiotics. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) provides detailed information about gonococcal molecular epidemiology and prediction of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), especially if linked to epidemiological data. The aim of this study was to examine molecular, clinical and social epidemiological aspects of gonorrhoea infections in Switzerland. Methods In 2015–2016, we cultured urethral, cervical, vaginal, rectal, and pharyngeal specimens from patients in three clinics predominantly attended by men who have sex with men (MSM) and female sex workers (FSW). MSM also completed a sexual behaviour questionnaire. Minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) were assessed by Etest, interpreted using EUCAST breakpoints except azithromycin (≥2 mg/L); WGS used an Illumina Miseq. Results We sequenced 140 isolates from 116 participants, MSM (107, 92%, mean age 35.8 years) and FSW (6, 5%, mean age 25.3 years). Amongst MSM, 48/105 respondents (45.7%) reported recent sex abroad. Three patients (two MSM and one FSW) carried different strains at different body sites. The isolates show large genomic diversity, with 69 NG-MAST types and 37 MLST sequence types, largely embedded within characterised European Union clusters. NG-MAST 1407 was identified in n=4 isolates from two patients (FSW, not travel-associated and MSM, sex elsewhere in Europe). Mosaic penAXXXIV was seen in these isolates, and also in an NG-MAST 13488 from an MSM, which was also not travel associated. One isolate (heterosexual male, not travel-associated) with elevated cefixime MIC (0.19 μg/ml) carried a mosaic penAX in an NG-MAST 10557 background. Ciprofloxacin resistance was seen in these six isolates, and overall in 59/140 (42%), all containing GyrA mutations S91F and D95A/G/N. Conclusion Switzerland has a high diversity of circulating gonorrhoea, generally related to European clusters. Multidrug resistant isolates were not identified in this study, but NG-MAST 1407 and penA mosaics, associated with elevated cephalosporin MICs, are circulating. Disclosure No significant relationships.


While preceptors are a vital link in student nurse practice education, ongoing support beyond an initial orientation is often lacking. It has been reported in the literature that preceptors experience stress related to difficulties in handling preceptee situations. They are frustrated by negative experiences centered on preceptor-identified hallmarks of unsafe practice including the inability to demonstrate knowledge and skills; attitude problems; unprofessional behavior; and poor communication skills. Their unrealized expectations for novices threaten their commitment to their preceptor role. As part of a larger study testing the effectiveness of podcasts as an ongoing method of preceptor support, this paper addresses the developmental stage of the podcasts. A team of academic and acute care nurse educators developed scripts for eventual filming of four podcasts focusing on unsafe practice issues, designed to provide continual support through web-based availability. The use of podcast technology is consistent with the learning styles of digital natives and is a demonstrated and valuable educational resource to review, reinforce, and clarify difficult concepts. These podcasts were informed through preceptor focus groups to address situational and environmental realism for student behaviors and preceptor responses.


Background To study the effect of estrogen-related receptor α (ERRα) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator-1α (PGC-1α) on mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) apoptosis, and further investigated its detailed molecular mechanisms in the absence of serum, hypoxia, and high glucose conditions. Material/Methods In our study, we first evaluated the expression rates of CD14, CD34, CD45, CD44, CD29, and Sca-1 surface markers on MSCs by flow cytometry. Then, the ability of osteogenic and fatty differentiation of MSCs was determined by osteogenic differentiation and adipogenesis reagent kit. Next, Annexin V-APC/7-AAD apoptosis kit was used for detecting the apoptosis rate of MSCs. RT-PCR and Western blotting were used for detection of mRNA expression and proteins expression, respectively. Results Our data showed that the MSCs used in our study were capable of self-renewal and differentiating into many cell lineages, such as osteogenic differentiation and adipogenesis. Our results further showed that over-expression of PGC-1α could protect MSCs from apoptosis induced by rotenone. We also found that PGC-1α over-expression could enhance the expression of anti-apoptotic gene Bcl-2, and inhibit the expression of pro-apoptotic gene Bax in MSCs. In addition, our data demonstrated that PGC-1α could induce upregulation of Bcl-2 and further promote the survival of MSCs by interacting with ERRα. Conclusions In the absence of serum, hypoxia and high glucose conditions, PGC-1α can regulate the expression of Bcl-2 and promote the survival of MSCs via PGC-1α/ERRα interaction.


Understanding the return aspect of international migration is vital because re-turnees replete with new ideas, perceptions on life, and monies affect every dimension of social life in migrants' places of origin. Yet, return migration re-mains uneven and an understudied aspect of migratory flows because migra-tion scholars have privileged why individuals migrate, the underlying motiva-tions for their moves abroad, and how migrants assimilate and succeed in their destinations abroad. Drawing on ethnographic research, this article ad-dresses the migratory flows of Ladino and Mayan Guatemalans: those who go North, but in particular, those who come South. And in doing so, it high-lights their similar and divergent responses towards migration processes.


In this book, James Manicom contests the orthodox view that the strategic rivalry between China and Japan will escalate into a fullblown military conflict. The book concedes that the East China Sea will be the likely medium for Sino–Japanese military rivalry and cyclical tensions will persist; however, it makes the compelling case that cooperation will endure.


Invasive meningococcal disease caused by N. meningitidis is a global public health problem due to its high morbidity and mortality. Most cases are caused by serotypes A, B, C, W-135 and Y. Currently, prevention through vaccination is the best tool to decrease the global burden caused by this disease. Non-conjugated vaccines that utilize as its basis only the polysaccharide capsule are helpful in epidemic scenarios, but fail to produce adequate long-term immunogenicity in the population at greater risk, those under 2 years of age. New generation vaccines, in which the polysaccharide is conjugated to protein carriers, induce a better immune response in the population under 2 years of age. Such an improved immune response could eventually have a significant impact on the population at higher risk. Recent findings in diagnostic techniques are contributing to improve the prognosis of this disease by allowing for an earlier and more specific diagnosis that leads to an earlier onset of treatment. The development of vaccines that provide wider serotype coverage, especially against serotype B, and induce protection to the population at greatest risk remains a challenge.


Urban sprawl is a natural process of the cities' growth as consequence population growth. The population need a food, water and housing for survival and for its species to continue populating the land. The literature existing about urban sprawl considers a population growth causes impacts on people's quality of life because they consume more food, water, electricity, transport for their locomotion, and other products and services. The fact is the urban sprawl and population growth are directly linked and can not be separated in any study on the subject. Sprawl is the process in which the spread of development across the landscape far outpaces population growth. This is article show the process Urban sprawl and consequences of poorly managed expansion the city São Paulo – Brazil. The phenomenon of sprawl there are several common characteristics pervading time in history from development the city of São Paulo. The phenomenon of sprawl the city of São Paulo is a common the any big city, the result of a complex set of interrelated socioeconomic and cultural forces. For example, land value is often considered the main driver of socioeconomic development patterns. However, at any time in the current or ancient history, land value is lower on the periphery and very expensive in urban centers. Other factors contribute to the occupation of land on the outskirts of large cities: existence of water and the quality of land for agriculture, the cost of keeping the dwelling lower when compared to the cost of the city center, the size of the land is larger at the beginning of the occupation.


To understand the traffic emissions with high temporal and spatial resolutions on road, a mobile laboratory was developed. The objective of this study is to characterize on-road air pollution on Naebu express way surrounding the northern area of Seoul, Korea. We measured the number concentration of ultrafine particles larger than 5 nm and particle size distribution using a condensation particle counter and a fast mobility particle sizer, respectively on 3, 7, and 8 December 2009. The average ultrafine particle number concentration on the Naebu express way excluding tunnels was 126,000 particles/ and 4.2 times higher than that on internal road at Korea Institute of Science and Technology in Seoul, and more than twice higher than that measured on and at the arterial roads of Seoul in previous studies. The maximum ultrafine particle number concentration was observed at the tunnel sections. It was 232,000 particles/ and 1.8 times higher than average ultrafine particle number concentration for the other sections on Naebu express way. The ultrafine particle number concentration on the wider roads with higher traffic volume along the Han River was similar to that in the residential section, probably because of enhanced dilution effect in widely open environment. The size distribution of particles on the Naebu express way was highly fluctuated for a short duration. Ultrafine particles measured at the tunnel showed a bimodal size distribution with mode diameters of ~10 nm and ~50 nm. At the Han riverside section, ~10 nm particles appeared significantly compared with size distribution at the tunnel. This on-road measurement approach can be utilized to manage vehicle-related air pollution in urban area.


Surely the most lamented and, possibly, the most unexpected feature of the 'new' South Africa is the exploding rate of crime and non-political violence. This phenomenon is over-coded by issues of race and class, with the majority of 'offenders' and victims coming from groups previously excluded. For some this has lead to a strengthening of stereotypical views of Blacks as being prone to crime. I don't think I will be faulted for neglecting to address the 'merits' of arguments such as these. Others have focused primarily on the economic causes of crime, pointing out that in a country with huge income inequalities, high unemployment and where delivery to the poor is, to put it mildly, very slow, crime and violence can be expected.


Inherent to the objective evaluation of a system is the use of evaluative measures. These are metrics or formulas designed to represent one or more aspects of system performance. As the system becomes more complex, it stands to reason that the measures needed to correctly reveal its performance may have to become correspondingly more complex as well. This is particularly evident when the HCl system evaluation of interest must encompass each of: (1) the system, (2) its human user and (3) the dynamic interaction between them. The paper portrays the types of measures that have been and continue to be used. Then, it characterizes the design, testing, and validation of more complex measures for use in evaluation methodology applicable to complex systems. A combination of three major evaluative aspects-synergism, efficiency, and effectiveness (SEE)-is shown to be useful in guiding the design of such measures.


We review and revise phenomenology of the GeV-scale heavy neutral leptons (HNLs). We extend the previous analyses by including more channels of HNLs production and decay and provide with more refined treatment, including QCD corrections for the HNLs of masses O(1) GeV. We summarize the relevance of individual production and decay channels for different masses, resolving a few discrepancies in the literature. Our final results are directly suitable for sensitivity studies of particle physics experiments (ranging from proton beam-dump to the LHC) aiming at searches for heavy neutral leptons. ar X iv :1 80 5. 08 56 7v 1 [ he pph ] 2 2 M ay 2 01 8


Contrastive Language-Image Pre-training (CLIP) has shown promising open-world performance on 2D image tasks, while its transferred capacity on 3D point clouds, i.e., PointCLIP, is still far from satisfactory. In this work, we propose PointCLIP V2, a powerful 3D open-world learner, to fully unleash the potential of CLIP on 3D point cloud data. First, we introduce a realistic shape projection module to generate more realistic depth maps for CLIP's visual encoder, which is quite efficient and narrows the domain gap between projected point clouds with natural images. Second, we leverage large-scale language models to automatically design a more descriptive 3D-semantic prompt for CLIP's textual encoder, instead of the previous hand-crafted one. Without introducing any training in 3D domains, our approach significantly surpasses Point-CLIP by +42.90% , +40.44% , and +28.75% accuracy on three datasets for zero-shot 3D classification. Furthermore, PointCLIP V2 can be extended to few-shot classifi-cation, zero-shot part segmentation, and zero-shot 3D object detection in a simple manner, demonstrating our superior generalization ability for 3D open-world learning. Code will be available at https://github.com/


We determine the scattering rate from microwave measurements for an optimally doped Bi-2212 single crystal, using a simple two fluid model with a d-wave symmetry order parameter. In the superconducting state, the calculated scattering rate is three orders of magnitude smaller than that determined from ARPES experiments. A similar anomalously large decrease in the scattering rate is also required to explain the data within a gap-quasiparticle scenario for other HTS, such as $YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{7-\delta}$. The results suggest that the assumption of normal excitations vanishing at low $T$ is invalid and an additional charge mode is responsible for the microwave absorption.


The Hebrew negation adverbial bilti 'not' seems to function very differently in Biblical Hebrew
 than it does in Contemporary Hebrew. This paper addresses this difference and discusses its evolution. The main question addressed
 in this paper is: How has Hebrew bilti, originally an exceptive marker (with sentential scoping), ended up
 functioning solely as a privative in contemporary Hebrew? First, this paper argues that the biblical usage of
 bilti was expanded and turned into a polyfunctional (or 'polysemous') item. This happened via a
 constructionalization process which led to grammatical changes ('grammaticalization'): The initially implicated negation (via a
 generalized implicature) turned explicit (semantic). In addition, in Hebrew's later periods, the usage of bilti
 was narrowed and it became a privative. Thus, firstly, a pragmatically motivated path of constructionalization of
 bilti in Biblical Hebrew is suggested. That is, the "pragmatic negation" that arose via a generalized
 implicature shifted to the semantic level (performing semantic negation, explicit negation). Secondly, bilti's
 functions in post-biblical Hebrew periods are outlined, tracing its narrowing functions until its fixation in Contemporary Hebrew
 as a privative.


Thin films of YBa2Cu3O7-x (YBCO) were deposited by laser ablation on substrates of sapphire and MgO coated with buffer layers of YSZ(Y2O3 stabilized ZrO2) and SrTiO3 deposited by both OMCVD, organometallic chemical vapor deposition, and laser ablation. The Tc(R=O) of YBCO on YSZ was 91 K and on SrTiO3 was 93 K. The Jc at 77 K were 5*103 and 5*106 A/cm2 for YSZ and SrTiO3 buffer layers respectively.


The detection of single bacterial cells and novel absorbing labels has been demonstrated through optical resonances in microdroplets. The setup enables high throughput detection of single Escherichia coli (E. Coli) cells without any direct labeling although Rhodamine 6G (R6G) was used as the signal transduction mechanism. A micro droplet acts as an optical cavity that supports Morphology Dependent Resonances (MDRs) at wavelengths where the droplet circumference is an integer multiple of the emission wavelength. The cells inside the droplet have a direct effect on the fluorescence lasing spectrum of R6G fluorescence by means of scattering and local refractive index change. The change in the lasing spectrum can be observed at the concentrations where each droplet has as little as one cell. C60 fluorescence quenching has also been demonstrated in microdroplets. R6G in ethanol (10μM) was used for the fluorescence spectrum measurements. Quenching of the optical resonances was observed when C60 dissolved in ethanol was mixed with the R6G-Ethanol solution. Quenching can be observed at C60 concentrations of 1μM in the final solution. The background signal was also checked by repeating the experiment with only R6G and only C60 in the solvent, assuring that the signal reduction was due to the addition of C60 in to the solution. This quenching mechanism may have many applications in multiplexing in bioassays.


Abstract Memories are fragile and easily forgotten at first, but after a consolidation period of hours to weeks, are inscribed in our brains as stable traces, no longer vulnerable to conventional amnesic treatments. Retrieval of a memory renders it labile, akin to the early stages of consolidation. This phenomenon has been explored as memory reactivation, in the sense that the memory is temporarily 'deconsolidated', allowing a short time window for amnesic intervention. This window closes again after reconsolidation, which restores the stability of the memory. In contrast to this 'transient deconsolidation' and the short-spanned amnesic effects of consolidation blockers, some specific treatments can disrupt even consolidated memory, leading to apparent amnesia. We propose the term 'amnesic deconsolidation' to describe such processes that lead to disruption of consolidated memory and/or consolidated memory traces. We review studies of these 'amnesic deconsolidation' treatments that enhance memory extinction, alleviate relapse, and reverse learning-induced plasticity. The transient deconsolidation that memory retrieval induces and the amnesic deconsolidation that these regimes induce both seem to dislodge a component that stabilizes consolidated memory. Characterizing this component, at both molecular and network levels, will provide a key to developing clinical treatments for memory-related disorders and to defining the consolidated memory trace.


Storage of sperm inside the female genital tract is an integral phase of reproduction in many animal species. The sperm storage site constitutes the arena for sperm activation, sperm competition and female sperm choice. Consequently, to understand animal mating systems information on the processes that occur from sperm transfer to fertilization is required. Here, we focus on sperm activation in spiders. Male spiders produce sperm whose cell components are coiled within the sperm cell and that are surrounded by a proteinaceous sheath. These inactive and encapsulated sperm are transferred to the female spermathecae where they are stored for later fertilization. We analyzed the ultrastructural changes of sperm cells during residency time in the female genital system of the orb-web spider Argiope bruennichi. We found three clearly distinguishable sperm conditions: encapsulated sperm (secretion sheath present), decapsulated (secretion sheath absent) and uncoiled sperm (cell components uncoiled, presumably activated). After insemination, sperm remain in the encapsulated condition for several days and become decapsulated after variable periods of time. A variable portion of the decapsulated sperm transforms rapidly to the uncoiled condition resulting in a simultaneous occurrence of decapsulated and uncoiled sperm. After oviposition, only decapsulated and uncoiled sperm are left in the spermathecae, strongly suggesting that the activation process is not reversible. Furthermore, we found four different types of secretion in the spermathecae which might play a role in the decapsulation and activation process.


Gene mutation of p53 is documented in head and neck cancer. No reports exist relating human sinonasal inverted papilloma (IP) and its transformation to squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Using immunohistochemical techniques improved by an antigen retrieval method, p53 protein was analyzed in the following subjects: 16 IP, 12 SCC arising in IP, and 15 SCC alone subjects. Both the intensity (PI) and rate (PR) of positive p53 immunostaining were evaluated using a quantitative AutoCAD program. We correlated p53 protein expression with clinical features. p53 immunoreactivity is significantly lower in IP than in SCC specimens. Both the IP and SCC portions of IP synchronous SCC subjects showed similar p53 protein expression. SCC arising in IP shows a lower p53 immunoreactivity than SCC alone. Alteration of p53 protein may have an important role in the early stages of IP malignant transformation and prove a potential biomarker for risk assessment. Low p53 immunoreactivity, indicating the presence of a wild-type p53, may correlate with the prognosis for SCC arising in IP. However, further clinical trials are required to investigate this possibly worthwhile prognostic marker.


This is a matter of great importance when we remember that, with the exception of cases of stoppage of respiration during the administration of anaesthetics, and possibly of poisoning, the majority of instances in which artificial respiration is required occur when there is no doctor on the spot, and the treatment has, therefore, to be carried out by lay persons. This circumstance is recognized by the Humane Society in the instructions issued by them for resuscitation of the apparently drowned, and also in the instructions provided in electrical works for the treatment of persons suffering from electric shock. The teaching of artificial respiration also forms an important part of every "First Aid " or ambulance class. Under these circumstances, it is desirable that the method of artiffcial respiration recommended and taught should be the simplest possible consistent with efficiency. The Sylvester method is that which has been most universally taught and employed in this country, and I was a firm believer in its pre-eminence for all practical purposes until I had a personal experience of Professor Schtifer's method. For general use the Sylvester method, apart from its physiological deficiencies pointed out by Professor Schafer, has, in my opinion, two great disadvantages-that it entails very considerable exertion on the part of the operator, while the movements are not easily performed correctly by the ordinary layman. I have frequently seen it used, even by medical men, in a manner which must have materially interfered with its efficiency. There is, moreover, an undoubted risk connected with its employment by unskilled persons by reason of a tendency to use too much force in compressing the chest. In a case which came under my notice some time ago, when a husband was arrested for causing the death of his wife, there were very strong grounds for suspecting that the fractures of three ribs and a rupture of the liver were produced post mortem by the energetic efforts of a burly polieeman tQ restore animation by Sylvester's method of artificial respiration. In another case of supposed drowningi in a bath the attendants caused injuries through their efforts to restore animation by this method. Such accidents are practically impossible by SchaLfer's method, for reasons which he has indicated, while, on the other hand, there can be, in my opinion, no question as to his method being the simplest one to teach for employment by the publie. Any person can not only learn it but also perform it with the greatest ease. Even a woman could carry out Schifer's method for a considerable time efficiently on a heavy man, whereas there are few women who could perform any of the other methods single-handed with any degree of effectiveness. I am convinced that the public should be taught the method which, while most effective, requires least technical skill and causes least exhaustion to the patient and the operator.-I am, etc., HARVEY LITTLEJOHN, M.B., F.R.C.S.Edin. Edinburgh, Nov. rst.


An in-depth review of the methods for phase noise analysis of saturated ring oscillators is presented. The assumption and limitation of the methods are investigated in detail. The framework of an efficient analysis method for the phase noise of saturated ring VCOs is presented. The method is based on the theory of periodically time-varying systems, in particular, the response of periodically time-varying systems to stochastic inputs. We show that both the up-conversion of low-frequency noise and down-conversion of broadband noise can be treated conveniently. The method provides an insight on how device noise is converted to the overall phase noise (timing jitter) of saturated oscillators


Siqin, Gerile Complementary approaches for assessing protein sources in fish feed Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä, 2018, 46 p. (JYU Dissertations ISSN 2489-9003; 45) ISBN 978-951-39-7625-5 (PDF) Yhteenveto: Vaihtoehtoiset menetelmät kalanrehujen proteiinilähteiden arvioimiseksi Diss. Fluctuating fishmeal (FM) prices and declining marine fish stocks have led to the current trend of replacing dietary FM with plant proteins (PP) in fish feed. PPs offer challenges both with respect to nutritional quality and the occurrence of antinutrients. The assessment of utilisation efficiency of PPs for growth is important for the sustainable production of fish feed. The overall aim of this thesis was to investigate the applicability of stable isotope analysis in combination with respirometry in the evaluation of dietary PPs for juvenile rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). The dietary PPs were corn gluten meal (CGM), rapeseed protein concentrate (RPC) and potato protein (PoP). Complete replacement of FM with CGM was feasible without adversely affecting the metabolic oxygen consumption (MO2) of the trout. However, the growth of fish and apparent digestibility coefficient (ADC) of CGM and/or RPC decreased with their increasing dietary proportion through which the nutritional quality of the diets was compromised. The growth reduction may be caused by lower nutritional quality and antinutrients of the PPs. ADC of CGM and/or RPC was estimated from the faecal nitrogen isotope ratio (δ15N). There was a strong negative correlation between diet–tissue shift (∆15N) of δ15N values and dietary protein quality, and these correlations observed in muscle, liver, mucus and faeces were similar. Carbon and nitrogen turnover in muscle and liver of fish fed with corn and potato diet were estimated using stable isotope mixing model. This thesis only suggests the potential applications of stable isotope analysis and respirometry in fish nutrition research instead of providing an exact replacement level of FM. Stable isotope analysis cannot replace conventional assessment of feed ingredients and feeds, but it will bring new insight into the field of fish nutrition research provided the preconditions for using stable isotope analysis are met. In addition, development of non-lethal approach is possible by measuring the isotope ratio of faeces and mucus.


Colombo is the economic hub of Sri Lanka. Over the last two (2) decades, the physical dynamics have continually been altered to find space for urban development. Many argued that that rapid development would lead to a lot of environmental issues in Colombo. Hence, aim of this paper is to an analysis and extracts the relationship of the rapid Land Use and Land Covers (LULC) changes in six Divisional Secretariat Divisions (DS Division) in Colombo District and some of the environmental factors associated with these rapid changes: Land Surface Temperature (LST), Surface Water Quality and Soil characteristics. Primarily remote Sensing (RS) data, water quality and soil characteristic data were used. 1990 to 2015 LULC changes were an analysis based on Geographical Information System (GIS) tools (Arc GIS 10.3). Additionally, United States Geological Society (USGS) and NASA Landsat 7 and 8 data were used to investigate LST. Results show significant and accelerated land cover changes have taken place since 2010, where nearly 30% of new build-up has generated from 1990 to 2015 with large changes in wetlands and cultivated areas. Surface Water and Soil quality have degraded over the last few decades. From 2010 to 2015, the maximum LST area has increased by 30%. These results should provide the basis for the development of urban planning and regulations, holistic approaches to restore, conserve and manage the LULC, a balance of land covers demand and a sustainable human-environment and environmental and land use policies in Sri Lanka and, in particular, Colombo.


Thanks to advances in the development of laboratory medicine in the modern nephrology, there are two new terms: preclinical kidney disease, and subclinical acute kidney injury. Cystatin C a highly sensitive and accurate endogenous marker of renal disease, according to its sensitivity superior to creatinine, and allows you to identify pre-clinical kidney disease in hypertensive patients and in a timely manner to carry out preventive measures. With the determination of NGAL (lipokalin 2) an opportunity to identify patients with probable subclinical acute kidney injury with an increased risk of adverse outcomes.


For the original article see ibid., vol. 31, no. 9, p. 689-90 (1995). The commenter gives further insight into the circuits proposed in the aforementioned paper by Serrano and Carlosena and provides two equivalent simplified circuits. In reply the authors substantially agree with the comment but go on to point out several advantages of retaining their circuit configurations.