Metal-halide hybrid perovskites have prompted the prosperity of the sustainable energy field and simultaneously demonstrated their great potential in meeting both the growing consumption of energy and the increasing social development requirements. Their inimitable features such as strong absorption ability, direct photogeneration of free carriers, long carrier diffusion lengths, ease of fabrication, and low production cost triggered the development of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) at an incredible rate, which soon reached power conversion efficiencies up to the commercialized level. During their evolution process, it has been witnessed that alkali metal cations play a pivotal role in the crystal structure as well as intrinsic properties of hybrid perovskites, thus enabling the unique positioning of the correlated doping strategy in the development history of PSCs in the past decade. Herein, we summarize the growth and progress of the state-of-the-art alkali metal cation (Cs+, Rb+, K+, Na+, Li+) doping in the field of hybrid perovskite-based photovoltaics. To start with, the accurate identification of different alkali metal-occupied locations in the perovskite crystal lattice are discussed in detail with highlighted advanced characterization methods. Beyond that, the location-dependent functions induced by alkali metal doping are intensely focused upon and comprehensively assessed, indicating their versatile and special effects on perovskites in terms of bottleneck issues such as crystallinity modulation, crystal structure stabilization, defect passivation, and ion-migration inhibition. Thereafter, we are committed to analyze their responsible working mechanisms so as to unveil the relationship between occupied locations and crucial roles for each doped cation. The systematical overview and in-depth understanding of the superiorities of such strategies together with their future challenges and prospects would further boost the advancement of perovskite-related fields.


In the present study, three new luminogens ATT-(1–3) based on 1,3,5-triazine and end-capped with multi-branched triphenylamine-containing alkyl chains have been synthesized and characterized. All the three dyes are nonemissive in solution but have a strong red fluorescent emission in the aggregate state. The two-photon absorption (2PA) cross sections measured by the open aperture Z-scan technique are determined to be as large as 2756, 4750 and 10 003 GM for ATT-1, ATT-2 and ATT-3 in chloroform, respectively, showing a dramatic enhancement with an increasing number of donor branches. The relationship between their structures and properties on one- and two-photon absorption and aggregation-induced emission (AIE) is discussed, which can serve as a guideline for the development of a series of solid materials with larger two-photon cross sections and high fluorescence quantum yield. In addition, one- and two-photon fluorescence (2PF) microscopy images of HeLa cells incubated with these three dyes were obtained to demonstrate the potential applications of these fluorophores in biosensing and bioimaging.


This study aimed to explore the application of microdialysis in pharmacokinetic (PK)/pharmacodynamic (PD) integration of cefquinome against Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae. After the A. pleuropneumoniae population reached 106 CFU/thigh, the mice received 0.04, 0.16, 0.63, 2.5, and 10 mg/kg cefquinome by subcutaneous injection. Plasma samples were collected by retro-orbital puncture for 4 h, and thigh dialysate was obtained by microdialysis at a flow rate of 1.5 μL/min for 6 h for the PK study. For the PD experiment, the infected mice were treated with a 4-fold-increase in the total cefquinome dose, ranging from 0.01 to 10 mg/kg/24 h, divided into one, two, three, four, and eight doses. The number of bacteria was determined and an inhibitory sigmoid maximum effect (Emax) model was used to analyse the relationships between PK/PD parameters and efficacy. The mean penetration of cefquinome from plasma to the thigh was 0.591. The PK data for PK/PD integration were obtained by extrapolation. The fittest PK/PD parameter for efficacy evaluation was %fT>MIC (the percentage of time that free drug concentrations exceed the MIC). The magnitudes of %fT>MIC to achieve net bacterial stasis, 1-log10 CFU reduction, 2-log10 CFU reduction, and 3-log10 CFU reduction were 19.56, 28.65, 41.59, and 67.07 % in plasma and 21.74, 36.11, 52.96, and 82.68% in murine thigh, respectively. Microdialysis was first applied to evaluate the PK/PD integration of cefquinome against A. pleuropneumoniae. These results would provide valuable references when we apply microdialysis to study the PK/PD integration model and use cefquinome to treat animal diseases caused by A. pleuropneumoniae.


Research objective: The aim of this research was to evaluate the stimulating potential of (FertilTomix: product based on minerals and organic molecules from the sea) obtained from an innovative extraction process and to determine the possible use of the recycled sea water obtained from this process for the cultivation of Impatiens glandulifera and Helianthus annuus. Materials and Methods: The experiments, which started in September 2022, were conducted in the CREA-OF greenhouses in Pescia, Italy. Two experiments were carried out for each species in cultivation. One test was performed to evaluate the biostimulant activity of FertilTomix compared with an algae-based biostimulant and a fertilised control. A second experiment was carried out to evaluate the possible use of water obtained from the extraction process of sea minerals as possible irrigation water for plants. On February 15, 2023, plant height, leaves number, leaves surface area, vegetative weight, roots weight and length, the number of germinated seeds, average germination time, the number of microorganisms in the substrate, plants dead number were determined. In addition, the SPAD index was measured on three leaves pinched from the bottom to the apex of the canopy of each plant (for a total of 90 measurements per treatment). Results and Discussion: The first experiment showed that the use of FertilTomix, irrespective of the extraction process, was able to significantly increase seed germination, vegetative and root growth (Figures 2-3), root length and reduce mortality of Impatiens glandulifera plants (Tables 1-2). As found in the first experiment in the treated theses, a significant increase in microbial biomass was noted, which definitely influenced seed germination, vegetative and root development and significantly reduced plant mortality. With regard to the second part of the experiment carried out to test whether recycled water, obtained from the extraction process of sea minerals, was valid for plant irrigation, the data showed that it can indeed be used successfully on Helianthus annuus. There are as yet no cost-effective technologies and processes in the world capable of extracting minerals from seawater that are useful for fertilising plants and recycling process water that can be used for irrigation. The technology of the FertilTomix product itself could be regarded as innovations in this respect, which deserve great consideration and expanded knowledge. Conclusions: The test demonstrated a significant effect on plant growth after the application of certain extracts obtained by an innovative mineral extraction process from seawater. Furthermore, the possibility of being able to use recycled seawater from this process to irrigate plants, which is very interesting and applicable in countries where this resource is scarce. New experiments are currently underway to test the product on new plant species in and out of soil and to assess whether the application of FertilTomix can increase the organoleptic and nutraceutical quality of treated fruits and vegetables.


Injury and violence are among the most serious public health challenges facing our communities. Injuries are the leading cause of death for Americans 1–44, resulting in over $406 billion in health costs and lost productivity. At the same time, pervasive violence results in substantial health effects; over 740 000 youth are treated in the ER annually as a result of violence, the second leading cause of death for youth 10–24. While unintentional and intentional injury prevention advocates have traditionally been siloed from each other, there are benefits to coordinating efforts. Understanding partner intentions and motivations, perspectives on the issue at hand, communication styles, professional and community cultures, and varying interests, values, and missions can lead to more effective collaboration. Informed by years of experience working collaboratively with a range of diverse organisations on community prevention efforts, Prevention Institute developed Collaboration Multiplier, a framework for community stakeholders and decision makers to learn more about each other and identify ways of working together. Advocates from both unintentional and intentional injury fields can engage groups across a multitude of sectors and disciplines, including public health, policymakers, planners, law enforcement, educators, community-based organisations, and health care providers to leverage expertise, share data and best practices, and maximise their collective impact. This presentation will share the lessons learned from various community efforts utilising multi-sector collaboration and introduce a tool for delineating potential roles for unintentional and intentional injury advocates to engage in strategies to create safe and equitable communities.


Hydrological models require accurate and representative meteorological inputs for better prediction of discharge and hence, the efficient management of water resources. Numerical weather prediction model-based reanalysis data products on the catchment scale are becoming available, and they could be an alternative input data for hydrological models. This study focuses on the applicability of a set of model-based data as input to hydrological models used in inflow predictions for operational hydropower production planning of three hydropower systems in middle Norway. First, the study compared the data products with gauge measurements. Then, Hydrologiska Byråns Vattenbalansavdelning (HBV) models of the three catchments were calibrated with three different meteorological datasets (model-based, gauge and observational gridded) separately using a Monte Carlo approach. It was found that the correlation between the model-based and gauged precipitation was highly variable among stations, and daily values showed a better correlation than hourly. The performance of model-based input data with daily timestep was nearly as good as the gauge or gridded data for the model calibration. Further, the annual simulated flow volume using the model-based data was satisfactory as similar to the gauge or gridded input data, which indicate that model-based data can be a potential data source for long-term operational hydropower production planning.


In Primary Myelofibrosis, several lines of evidence suggest that pleiotropic cytokine TGF-β1, released by clonal proliferation of pathological megakaryocytes and/or monocytes, plays a prominent role in reticulin fibers deposition. This cytokine is synthesized as a biologically inactive molecule that needs to be activated in order to trigger biological responses. However, the mechanisms involved in local TGF-β1 activation within the hematopoietic environment remain unclear. Since TGF-β1 and thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1) are synthesized and stored within the same organelles in megakaryocytes, one can speculate that the abnormal release of both molecules leads to pathological local TGF-β1 activation that becomes ultimately responsible of fibrosis development in the vicinity of these cells. To investigate the role of TSP-1 in local TGF-β1 activation, we used the TPOhigh murine model of bone marrow (BM) fibrosis. BM cells from wild-type (WT) or Tsp-1-null male littermates were infected with a retrovirus encoding the murine TPO protein and engrafted into lethally irradiated WT or Tsp-1-null female hosts, respectively, leading to the following engraftment combinations, WT/WT (WT TPOhigh mice, n=21) and Tsp-1-null/Tsp-1-null (Tsp-1-null TPOhigh mice, n=17). Lethally-irradiated hosts were engrafted with 4 to 8 × 106 cells in 3 independent experiments. Peripheral blood was analyzed every 4 weeks during 3 months and mice were killed for histological analysis at week 8 and 12 post-engraftment. The magnitude of plasma TPO level increase was comparable regardless of the TPOhigh mice groups. Chimerism levels, analyzed in recipients by FISH on the presence of the donor Y chromosome in whole nucleated BM cells, were more than 90% in either WT or Tsp-1-null TPOhigh mice. We report here that all TPOhigh mice developed a similar myeloproliferative syndrome associated with TGF-β1 overproduction. Surprisingly, we were able to detect the active form of TGF-β1 in BM and spleen extracellular fluids in all mice, including Tsp-1-null TPOhigh mice, suggesting that alternative mechanisms are mainly responsible for local TGF-β1 activation in this murine model of myelofibrosis. We then confirmed that Tsp-1-null platelets are able to activate TGF-β1 in vitro in response to thrombin. As predicted by the detection of the active form of TGF-β1, Tsp-1-null TPOhigh mice developed BM and spleen fibrosis which appears, intriguingly, to be of a greater grade than the one displayed by WT TPOhigh mice. Since TSP-1 is a potent inhibitor of angiogenesis, we investigate whether this increased fibrosis could be correlated with an augmentation of neoangiogenesis. The microvascular density (MVD) in control Tsp-1-null BM were higher than in control WT one (10±4.7 vs 0.6±0.2; p show that TSP-1 is not the major activator of TGF-β1 in this in vivo model of myelofibrosis; suggest that other mechanisms are involved in this activation; shed light on a possible new mechanism of TGF-β1 regulation by one of its own activator.


PURPOSE
To examine the correlation between landmark-based spatial registration error and a novel metric for evaluating dose mapping error.

METHODS
The dose mapping error was calculated from the difference between the dose distributions obtained using two different dose mapping techniques. One method calculates the dose on a deformed geometry while the other calculates the dose on the target geometry. In both cases the dose distributions are mapped in a consistent manner back to the reference geometry. For a realistic clinical lung plan, dose distributions were mapped to the Exhale phase for repeated deformable registrations with different average spatial registration accuracies as determined by distance to agreement of 300 manually identified landmarks. The dose mapping error and spatial registration error were compared at each landmark and the correlation was assessed.

RESULTS
No clear correlation was observed between spatial registration accuracy and dose mapping error, however, the average dose mapping error was found to increase as average spatial registration accuracy increased. The relationship between the dose mapping error and spatial error at each landmark point was found to be influenced by the dose gradient, density gradients and voxel size.

CONCLUSION
The dose mapping error was found to not have any direct relationship with spatial registration error but depends on a number of factors including: dose gradient, density gradient and voxel size. Our results indicate that landmark analysis on its own is not a sufficient predictor of the accuracy of dose mapping and that metrics that directly assess the dose mapping error should be used. Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council.


We utilize the dipole model to analyze the light outcoupling and angular radiation pattern of the quantum dot light emitting diodes (QLEDs). Red, green and blue QLEDs are used as examples and the simulation results match well with the experiment. We then confirm that by combining a high refractive index glass substrate with macroextractors, the light outcoupling efficiency can be doubled. And electroluminescent spectra analysis at different angle demonstrates that all three QLEDs have small color shift. Author


Objective:To investigate the clinical characteristics, two different treatment outcomes and prognostic factors of hypopharyngeal carcinoma. Method:The life table method was used to calculate the overall survival rates, Log-rank test was used to compare the overall survival rates between the two groups.The Cox proportional hazard model was used to perform the multivariate analysis to confirm independent treatment modalities as prognostic factors. Result:Among the 321 patients, 197 patients received surgery combine with radiotherapy or concurrent chemoradiotherapy treatment(S+R/CRT) and 124 patients received radiotherapy or concurrent chemoradiotherapy treatment(R/CRT). For 321 patients, the 1,3,5year overall survival rates were 75.87%,49.39%,41.38% and the median survival time was 37.65 months. The difference in throat retention ratio between the radiotherapy or concurrent chemoradiotherapy treatment(41.94%) and surgery combine with radiotherapy or concurrent chemoradiotherapy treatment(11.17%) was statistically significant (P<0.01).Univariate analysis showed that clinical stage of tumor, T stage, N stage, M stage and two different treatment modalities have impact on survival prognosis. Cox regression multivariate analysis showed that T stage, N stage, two different treatment modalities were independent risk factors of prognosis. Conclusion:The overall prognosis of hypopharyngeal carcinoma was poor and dismal. Hypopharyngeal carcinoma is characterized by high degree of malignancy, difficult to be found early, prone to recurrence and metastasis after operation, large trauma and poor prognosis. Comprehensive examination should be conducted to define the stage of tumor and choose the rational treatment plan before treatment. Surgery combine with radiotherapy or chemotherapy treatment modality is still the main treatment strategy for advanced-stage hypopharyngeal carcinoma..


The review surveys the data in numerous publications of the synthesis of the pheromones of scale-winged insects (Lepidoptera). Attention is concentrated on problems of the sterospecific synthesis of pheromones. The bibliography includes 217 references.


Currently approved treatments for hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection include the immunomodulatory agent, IFN-alpha, and nucleos(t)ide analogues. Their efficacy is limited by their side effects, as well as the induction of viral mutations that render them less potent. It is thus necessary to develop drugs that target additional viral antigens. Chemicals and biomaterials by unique methods of preventing HBV replication are currently being developed, including novel nucleosides and newly synthesized compounds such as capsid assembling and mRNA transcription inhibitors. Molecular therapies that target different stages of the HBV life cycle will aid current methods to manage chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection. The use of immunomodulators and gene therapy are also under consideration. This report summarizes the most recent treatment possibilities for CHB infection. Emerging therapies and their potential mechanisms, efficacy, and pitfalls are discussed.


Conspicuous and soft-bodied planktonic marine invertebrate larvae often use bioactive compounds for defense against predators. Bioactive compounds play a significant role in shaping the host ecology, and in some cases, the molecules are synthesized by microbial symbionts. This dissertation addresses fundamental questions of bioactive metabolite symbioses between metazoans and microbes. The bryozoan Bugula neritina transmits the symbiotic proteobacterium 'Candidatus Endobugula sertula,' via its larvae. E. sertula synthesizes the bryostatins, which protect B. neritina larvae from predation in the environment. Development of a method for simultaneous in situ bryostatin and E. sertula localization demonstrates that embryos are coated with bryostatins before release from adult colonies, and there is an ontogenetic shift in bryostatin concentration and localization throughout the host life cycle. E. sertula is present in all host life stages of the host, suggesting that bryostatin biosynthesis may somehow be regulated, reserved for specific events in the life history, such as the protection of larvae. The second invertebrate studied in this dissertation is the sponge Corticium candelabrum. C. candelabrum possesses tedanolides, anti-tumor polyketides that might possibly be produced by bacteria in the sponge. Two chapters in this dissertation are dedicated to microbial assemblages associated with developing C. candelabrum embryos. Both Archaea and Bacteria are present throughout C. candelabrum embryonic development. Here we identify three specific bacterial taxa, and show that there are likely dozens more, that are vertically transmitted in C. candelabrum and consistently associated with it across space and time. One of these species, a strain of alpha-proteobacterium a-CC01, is present throughout embryogenesis and is also present in swimming larvae. These studies show that C. candelabrum inoculates vertically transmits a specific, diverse microbial community. A main theme linking the studies in this dissertation is vertical transmission of microbes in marine invertebrates. Embryo and larva isolation allows identification of specific microbial associates in marine invertebrates by decreasing the complexity of microbes in a sample. In addition, understanding of microbial assemblages in marine invertebrate embryos and larvae offers valuable insight into how species-specific invertebrate-microbe associations are maintained in the environment


This study uses the pharmacy industry to demonstrate the applicability of a service value networks (SVNs) structural equation modeling (SEM) approach as new method to investigate services industries. The author's theoretically developed front-end business SVNs approach to customer engagement is modelled using observed business, customer and environmentally related variables. The business and the customer engage via multiple significant interaction pathways, which combine to deliver the net business-customer encounter outcome. This SVN SEM approach sheds new light on the complexities in delivering a businesscustomer exchange, and offers the manager an alignment tool that targets customer satisfaction, customer servicing and customer perceived value. This SVN SEM approach offers a more complex and engaging approach to that of customer relationship management (CRM).


The influential roles of culture and ethnic identity are frequently cited in developing disordered eating and body dissatisfaction, constituting both protective and risk factors. For African American women, strongly identifying with African American cultural beauty ideals may protect against disordered eating to lose weight, but may actually increase risk in development of disordered eating directed at weight gain, such as binge eating. This study compares African American and Caucasian women on disordered eating measures, positing that African American women show greater risk for binge eating due to the impact of ethnic identity on body dissatisfaction. Findings indicate low levels of ethnic identity represent a risk factor for African American women, increasing the likelihood of showing greater binge eating and bulimic pathology. In Caucasian women, high levels of ethnic identity constitute a risk factor, leading to higher levels of both binge eating and global eating pathology. Implications for prevention and treatment are discussed.


The present investigation reports cognitive improvement following withdrawal of topiramate (TPM) maintenance therapy in two patients with intractable seizures. The first patient received a neuropsychological evaluation after 10 months of adjunctive TPM treatment and was reassessed after complete withdrawal. The second patient received a first evaluation without TPM therapy. A reassessment was conducted after 13 weeks of stable TPM add-on therapy, and a third evaluation was performed after TPM withdrawal. During TPM treatment, the first patient demonstrated dysfunction on both verbal and non-verbal measures, suggesting bilateral impairment. Reassessment yielded cognitive improvement, and was consistent with a lateralized lesion as supported by seizure semiology, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and electroencephalogram (EEG) data. The second patient showed cognitive and emotional declines during TPM therapy. Reassessment, without TPM, demonstrated recovery on a majority of variables. These results illustrate the risk for considerable cognitive side effects after TPM habituation and support good recovery after withdrawal. Attempting to withdraw TPM and conducting a re-evaluation may be especially justified in the presence of a deflated neuropsychological profile that is inconsistent with a patient's estimated level of cognitive functioning. Reducing the influence of medical effects that could mimic bilateral dysfunction is particularly important in presurgical evaluations.


Because there have been reports that factor IX concentrate is less immunosuppressive and therefore factor IX users have less immunologic aberrations, we have studied a group of 22 patients with hemophilia B and six patients with factor VIII deficiency and high titer inhibitors with respect to lymphocyte numbers and function, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) serology, and factor usage. This group was compared to 111 patients with hemophilia A and a group of 28 healthy male volunteer controls. When the study began in 1983, the majority of patients with hemophilia B and with higher titer factor VIII inhibitors were seronegative, 77% and 83% respectively, as compared to only 30% of patients with hemophilia A. At that time the factor IX users also had milder immune aberrations than the hemophilia A group. However, with time and increasing clotting factor concentrate usage, seroconversion and more striking abnormalities in immune function have occurred in the hemophilia B group. In a subgroup of 16 patients with hemophilia B studied twice, the incidence of seropositivity increased from 31% in 1983 to 69% in 1985. We thus conclude that factor IX concentrate in itself is not less immunosuppressive than factor VIII concentrate. Seroconversion in factor IX concentrate users appears to be lagging behind seroconversion in factor VIII concentrate users, perhaps secondary to the lower cumulative dosage of concentrate that patients with hemophilia B utilize.


Background: We reported that effects of cough mucus clearance on the differences of rheological property, driving pressure and frequency during HFCWO in ERS Congress 2013. The purpose of this study is to compare the efficacy of cough with MI-E and HFCWO. Methods: Study 1: Four MI-E equipments were compared the movement distance of the different viscoelastic mucus stimulants (MS) in tube length 1m internal diameter 1cm with varying compliance and resistance using a TTL model lung. We set adjustment by applying a driving pressure of three 30/-30, 40/-40, 50/-50cmH 2 O, I time1.5sec, E time1.5sec, pause time1sec. Then we measured the moving distance of MS with combination of percussion mode. Study 2: 10 normal subjects (21.4±1.3yr) were also measured migration length of each MS by coordinated compressing chest strap in HFCWO by mask in MI-E. Results: In the MS of 1%, the moving distance is increased as the pressure is stronger in the each MI-E (p Conclusions: Moving distance of MS in the MI-E equipment was dependent on airway resistance and the flow rate of the device. Combination of percussion was effective in the high sputum viscoelasticity. Combined MI-E and HFCWO was more effective than applying only MI-E.


A cobalt test assembly containing yttrium hydride pins for neutron moderation was irradiated in the Fast Flux Test Facility during Cycle 9A for 137.7 equivalent full power days at a power level of 291 MW. The 36 test pins consisted of a batch of 32 pins containing cobalt metal to produce Co-60, and a set of 4 pins with europium oxide to produce Gd-153, a radioisotope used in detection of the bone disease Osteoporosis. Post-irradiation examination of the cobalt pins determined the Co-60 produced with an accuracy of about 5%. The measured Co-60 spatially distributed concentrations were within 20% of the calculated concentrations. The assembly average Co-60 measured activity was 4% less than the calculated value. The europium oxide pins were gamma scanned for the europium isotopes Eu-152 and Eu-154 to an absolute accuracy of about 10%. The measured europium radioisotope and Gd-153 concentrations were within 20% of calculated values. In conclusion, the hydride assembly performed well and is an excellent vehicle for many Fast Flux Test Facility isotope production applications. The results also demonstrate that the calculational methods developed by the Westinghouse Hanford Company are very accurate. 4 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab.


communication can be considered as a promising technology to significantly increase the transmission rate along with the coverage area of a wireless network which aims to achieve spatial diversity via the cooperation of user terminals in transmission without requiring installation of multiple transceiver antennas. The user terminals which can be used for this purpose can be termed as relay nodes. However, most of the existing solutions on relay node assignment problem with multiple source-destination pairs are limited to assign each single pair at most one cooperative relay node. Therefore, this paper studies the cooperative relay node assignment problem in a network environment, where multiple source-destination pairs compete for the same pool of cooperative relay nodes and each pair can be allotted multiple cooperative relay nodes for cooperative communication to maximize the transmission rate and hence improves the performance among all communicating pairs. Without requiring multiple antennas on the same device, spatial diversity is achieved by exploiting the antennas on other nodes, i.e., relay nodes, in the network. Therefore, the selection of relay nodes has a significant impact on the achieved total capacity. KeywordsCommunications, MIMO, Relay Selection,


Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging is a technique which has long been used to study white matter microstructure in vivo. Recent advancements in hardware and modelling techniques have opened up interest in disentangling tissue compartments in the grey matter. In this study, we evaluate the repeatability of soma and neurite density imaging in a sample of six healthy adults scanned five times on an ultra-strong gradient magnetic resonance scanner (300 mT/m). Repeatability was expressed as an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Our findings reveal that measures of soma density (mean ICC=.976), neurite density (mean ICC=.959) and apparent soma size (mean ICC=.923) are highly reliable across multiple cortical and subcortical networks. Overall, we demonstrate the promise of moving advanced grey matter microstructural imaging towards applications of development, ageing, and disease.


Ajuga is a medicinally important genus of the Himalayan region. This study was carried out on the phenotypic variability and reproductive allocation in two species of genus Ajuga, A. bracteosa and A. parviflora growing in variable habitats of Kashmir valley. Our findings clearly displayed significant divergence among sites which reveals a definite impact of altitude on morphological and reproductive features of the species under study. In A. bracteosa the plants growing at low altitudes are comparatively taller and produce more number of leaves, greater leaf dimensions and inflorescence number. But in case of A. parviflora a more or less reverse trend was seen. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that the habitat of Kangan and Dachigam proved relatively better for the growth of A. bracteosa and Brinal 2 and Gogaldara for A. parviflora. Maximum resources were allocated to the growth and development of the leaves followed by stem, root tubers and inflorescence in both the species. The reproductive effort was higher (40.48 ± 1.59) for the high altitude Betab valley population in case of A. bracteosa and was lowest for the high altitude Brinal 2 population (45.88 ± 1.37) in case of A. parviflora. The regression analysis revealed a positive correlation between branch length and root length, branch length and apical leaf length in both the species and a negative correlation between branch length and number of branches per plant in both the species. Our results are very useful to introduce the species into cultivation and developing strategies for conservation.


An in vitro treatment of immunocompetent cells was tested in an effort to prevent graft-vs-host (GVH) disease and to promote survival of allogenic radiation chimeras. Spleen cells from adult strain-A mice were mixed and incubated for 1 hr at 37°C with liver cells from 5-day-old strain-A mice. There was no apparent decrease in hematopoietic stem cell function in the incubated liver and spleen cell mixtures when compared with stem cell function in separate cell suspensions maintained at 4°C. Severe GVH disease occurred when fresh strain-A spleen cells were given to lethally irradiated CBA mice. No mice survived longer than 33 days. Incubation of spleen cells alone for 1 hr at 37°C or incubation of liver-spleen cell mixtures for 1 hr at 4°C did not appreciably improve survival. Incubation of spleen cells alone for 2 hr at 37°C caused improved 30-day survival of the allogeneic radiation chimeras. Significant inhibition of GVH disease was also observed when lethally irradiated CBA mice were treated with strain-A spleen cells that had been incubated with strain-A liver cells for 1 hr at 37°C.


Abstract Small droplets in turbulent flows can undergo highly variable deformations and orientational dynamics. For neutrally buoyant droplets smaller than the Kolmogorov scale, the dominant effects from the surrounding turbulent flow arise through Lagrangian time histories of the velocity gradient tensor. Here we study the evolution of representative droplets using a model that includes rotation and stretching effects from the surrounding fluid, and restoration effects from surface tension including a constant droplet volume constraint, while assuming that the droplets maintain an ellipsoidal shape. The model is combined with Lagrangian time histories of the velocity gradient tensor extracted from direct numerical simulations (DNS) of turbulence to obtain simulated droplet evolutions. These are used to characterize the size, shape and orientation statistics of small droplets in turbulence. A critical capillary number is identified associated with unbounded growth of one or two of the droplet's semi-axes. Exploiting analogies with dynamics of polymers in turbulence, the critical capillary number can be predicted based on the large deviation theory for the largest finite-time Lyapunov exponent quantifying the chaotic separation of particle trajectories. Also, for subcritical capillary numbers near the critical value, the theory enables predictions of the slope of the power-law tails of droplet size distributions in turbulence. For cases when the viscosities of droplet and outer fluid differ in a way that enables vorticity to decorrelate the shape from the straining directions, the large deviation formalism based on the stretching properties of the velocity gradient tensor loses validity and its predictions fail. Even considering the limitations of the assumed ellipsoidal droplet shape, the results highlight the complex coupling between droplet deformation, orientation and the local fluid velocity gradient tensor to be expected when small viscous drops interact with turbulent flows. The results also underscore the usefulness of large deviation theory to model these highly complex couplings and fluctuations in turbulence that result from time integrated effects of fluid deformations.


In this essay, we propose a Multiband Spectrum Sensing (MSS) approach that utilizes randomized sampling and its spectral analysis to accomplish the sensing task using considerably low sampling rates. Since the spectrum sensing procedure does not necessitate signal reconstructing, it is shown that the sampling rates can be arbitrarily low for some randomized sampling schemes. Most importantly, general guidelines are provided to ensure that the developed MSS satisfies certain detection probabilities set by the user. Spectrum sensing involves scanning predefined part(s) of the radio spectrum in search of meaningful activity such as an ongoing transmission or the occurrence of an event. Standard communications laboratory test equipment, e.g. spectrum analyzers, can perform similar functionality. They conventionally sweep the spectrum using a narrowband tunable bandpass filter(s) and determine the energy within each of the scanned spectral bands.


Background. Soybean is a legume of substantial economic importance. The quality and quantity of soybean yield are influenced by various factors include pH soil. Many species of plants have strictly specified physiological requirements concerning the soil pH mainly in early phases of plant development, i.e. seed germination. Traditional methods used in germination data analysis include geramination energy and germination capacity. An alternative may be use tuse of growth models to describe germination process. Mathematical models give considerable information resulting in parameter estimates with relevant biological interpretations.Material and methods. Soybean seeds (cv. Abelina, Merlin and SG Anser) collected from cultivated plants grown in experimental fields in 2017 and 2018 were analysed. Field experiment was conducted in Łączka, eastern Poland (52°15′ N; 21°95′ E). After harvest, samples of seeds were collected and analysed in the laboratory, seed germination parameters were determined at different pH values of the water solution (pH = 5.0, 5.5, 6.0, 6.5, 7.0). The numbers of germinated seeds were recorded during the period of 14 days. Logistic function was used to analyse cumulative germination curves over time. The function parameters: value of the horizontal asymptote coefficients and rate of increase in germination rate, were calculated.Results. Generally, the seed germination was the better in 2017 than 2018. The numbers of seeds germinating in 2017 had the highest theoretical asymptotic value (parameter a) and low values of coefficients k (germination rate parameter) and b (shape parameter). Differences were found also between seeds germinated at different pH levels. The pH values of 6 and 6.5 provided were associated with the most rapid germination of all the test cultivars. Based on the logistic function, the highest number of germinated seeds was recorded between day 4 and 6 (germination rate ranging from 18 to 21% per 24 hours).Conclusion. Testing of germination of cultivars at different pH levels of the medium might be of help while identifying and selecting genotypes for particular locations.


Patients with incomplete spinal cord injuries may face physiologic instability and functional uncertainty during the acute phase. Although the injury is incomplete, critical care nurses are challenged to accurately assess and rapidly develop interventions for these patients. Developing potential and actual nursing diagnoses assists the critical care nurse in preventing and reducing complications.


Study Objective: to assess the impacts of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) in prostate cancer (PCa) management on glucose metabolism Study Design: follow-up study
 Materials and Methods: A total of 99 consecutive patients with PCa who received ADT followed-up at Pletnev and 62th Moscow Hospitals. The mean age was 69±8,64 y.o. Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) , HbA1c, body mass index (BMI) , waist circumference (WC) , were measured at baseline, after 3, 6 and 12 months ADT with gonadotropin releasing hormone agonists (GnRH agonists) . Ambulatory glycemic profiles (AGP) were obtained in patients with elevated glycemia who received ADT with GnRH agonists for at least 6 months by Flash glucose monitoring systems. Glucose variability indices (AUC, CONGA, JINDEX) were calculated.
 Study Results: During ADT there were an increase in FPG and HbA1c over 12 months of ADT regardless of baseline age, BMI, WC, with a maximum increase during the first 3 months of treatment, and progressively after 6 months and 12 months. FPG (mmol/l) initially, 3, 6 and 12 months, were respectively 5,18±0,91; 5,67±0,93; 5,77±0,96; 5,90±1,12 (for all differences p ≤ 0.001) . HbA1c (%) 5,36+0,66; 5,66±0,83; 5,77±0,82; 5,89±0,83 (for all differences p ≤ 0.001) . The proportion of individuals with prediabetes were increased, according to ADA criteria (5,6-6.9 mmol/l) after 3 months 36%, after 6 months 41%, and after 12 months 66%. The impact on glucose metabolism ware in also AGP changes, manifested by an increase in the total daily glycemic load (mean AUC 172,49 (p≤0.001) , glycemic variability (mean CONGA 6,817 (p≤0.001) , and an increased in postprandial glycemia (JINDEX 22,945 (p≤0.001) . Conclusion: ADT with GnRH agonists did worsen metabolic parameters: early, progressive, clinically significant impair of glucose metabolism regardless of baseline age, BMI, WC. AGP deteriorations were increased of glucose variability, total glycemic load gained and peak glycemic values rose.

 E.Y.Gritskevich: None. A.Gritskevich: None. T.Demidova: None.


Many children experience stress-related physical symptoms, such as fatigue, headache or abdominal complaints. This paper deals with the physical consequences of psychological stress and the possibility of reducing stress by yoga in childhood. The literature on this topic is presented. It is concluded that the usefulness of yoga is theoretically supported. Some empirical support is also listed, but available research on this topic is still limited. The need for studies that take social and cultural factors into consideration is stressed.


The authors present a restoration scheme for single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) images that performs restoration before reconstruction (pre-reconstruction restoration) from planar (projection) images. In this scheme, the pixel-by-pixel geometric mean of each pair of opposing (conjugate) planar projections is computed prior to the reconstruction process. The averaging process is shown to help in making the degradation phenomenon less dependent on the distance of each point of the object from the camera. The restoration filters investigated are the Wiener and power spectrum equalization filters. These filters are used to obtain SPECT images of a hollow cylinder phantom, a resolution phantom, and a truncated conic phantom containing two types of cold spots-a sphere, and a triangular object. A comparison of results obtained by pre-reconstruction restoration with and without averaging is performed through measurement of root mean squared errors and contrast ratios.


The present work describes a methodology for patterning biomolecules on silicon analytical devices, such as novel Bio-MEMS or conventional biosensors, that reconciles three-dimensional (3-D) biological functionalisation with standard resist lift-off techniques. Unlike classic sol-gel approaches in which the biomolecule of interest is introduced within the sol mixture, a two-stage scenario has been developed. It consists firstly of patterning micron scale polycondensate scaffold structures - using classic microfabrication tools - which are then loaded with native biomolecules via a second simple incubation step under biologically-friendly environmental conditions. The common compatibility issue between the biological and microfabrication worlds has been circumvented since native recognition biomolecules can be introduced into the host scaffolds downstream of all compatibility issues. The scaffolds can be generated on any silicon substrate via polycondensation of aminosilane - namely aminopropyltriethoxy silane (APTES) - under conditions that are fully compatible with resist mask lithography. The scaffold porosity and high primary amine content allow proteins and nucleic acid sequences to penetrate the polycondensate and to interact strongly, thus giving rise to micron/sub-micron 3-D structures exhibiting high biological activity. The integration of such a bio-patterning approach in the microfabrication process of analytical devices has been demonstrated via the successful biofunctionalisation with recognition antibodies and/or nucleic acid sequences of MEMS circular diaphragm resonator (CDR) sensor patterns.


Acute inflammatory muscular syndromes secondary to clofibrate therapy are rare. They usually present with muscular pain in all four limbs with biochemical signs of rhabdomyolysis. The outcome is favourable as a rule with rapid regression of the clinical and biochemical changes after stopping the responsible drug. The authors report an atypical case of this syndrome with chest pains suggestive of angina.


In this article the author presents and explains in detail the elements, including the pros and cons, of two contrasting schools of thought in one of the key debates which the author introduced as a teaching tool at the UNESCO Training-the-Trainers (TTT) Workshop that took place in Granada, Spain, 27–29 October, 2008. That debate, briefly stated, is whether or not Information Literacy (IL) and Media Literacy (ML), to be truly effective, should be pursued as complementary concepts, not in some way opposing concepts. One side in this debate argues that the two concepts have mutually inter-dependent goals, and therefore should be ideally learned and pursued together, and, most effectively, learned and pursued in the context of Social Networking and Web 2.0 tools and applications. The other side of the debate disagrees, and concedes that while the two concepts are indeed inter-related, they should be pursued largely independently, with only an occasional cross-reference. The debate is directly related to the role which Information Literacy and Media Literacy play in helping students become literate in a digital, networking-based society. Without necessarily taking sides in the debate, although expressing a preference for complementarity, the author contends that it is absolutely essential that all persons (not just students) learn to become both Information Literate and Media Literate in this digital world in which we now find ourselves. Additionally, the author contends that Web 2.0 and Social Networking tools, such as Facebook, Tuenti (in Spanish context), MySpace and Twitter, including the rich portfolio of applications they encompass, can substantially assist people in achieving that goal. The author presents a number of case examples to support her thesis, drawn largely from Spanish libraries and Spanish educational institutions that already are using Web 2.0 and Social Networking tools extensively to train people to become digitally competent. The ideas presented in this article, both the theories and best practices, are current insofar as the Spanish context is concerned, but the original arguments and supporting evidence put forth by the author at the aforementioned Granada UNESCO 2008 TTT workshop have been updated because of new developments and ideas that have occurred since the workshop took place. However, the original materials which were presented to and debated by the participants and the expert-presenters, including the author, at the workshop, can be easily accessed at the public domain virtual space of the University of Granada website Universidad de Granada, 2008. Two UNESCO TTT workshops, not just one, were actually organized at Granada. One was a traditional type held on-campus at the Library of Andalusia, and the other was an online, or a virtual workshop. During the on-campus workshop, as well as during the online workshop that preceded it, an interesting discussion took place between and among the participants and the expert-presenters concerning the necessity to redefine IL from its current, largely Web 1.0 focus and orientation, to the newer Web 2.0 focus, with emphasis on Social Networking. This article tries to capture, amplify and hopefully clarify the key points of this debate as it was presented by the author and then debated in the participant discussions which ensued (see http://www.slideshare.net/nievesglez/taller-alfin-unesco-sesion-paralela-alfin-20-presentation).


Host resistance in Desi and commercial layer breeds was studied in this study. It was evaluated by measuring sensitivity of RBCs to LPAIV induced hemagglutination by using RBCs of two breeds and nine other avian species. Moreover, egg infectious dose 50 (EID50) along with mean death time (MDT) in embryonated eggs, intracerebral pathogenicity in dayold chicks, and intravenous pathogenicity, in four weeks old chickens, of LPAIV H9N2 in two breeds were also compared. Using same viral suspension and RBCs from various avian species including three chicken breeds, a statistically non-significant variation was found among chicken breeds, while on species level there were significant differences in H9N2 titers. The viral titer for same virus stock solution in Desi embryonated eggs was found 10 11.24 EID50 / ml while in commercial layer embryonated eggs it was found to be 10 11 EID50 / ml. The mean death time in Desi layer was 96.3±13.8 hours while in commercial layer it was found to be 106.6±19.3 hours. Intracerebral Pathogenicity Index (ICPI) of the virus in Desi chicken was found to be 0.21 3 and in commercial layer it was 0.216. Intravenous Pathogenicity Index (IVPI) of 0.137/3 was found in Desi chicken while it was 0.1/3 in commercial layer. The H9N2 infection resulted in reduction in body weight, feed intake, water intake and a rise in rectal temperature. In conclusion, the AIV H9N2 isolate was found to be of low pathogenic in nature and it produced variable pathogenicity in Desi and commercial layer breeds pointing towards a genetic basis of resistance against LPAIV infection.


The present work investigated the dependence of domain switching (90° and 60° domains) on the piezoelectric property due to an applied electric field in Mn-doped Na0.55K0.45NbO3 (Mn-NKN) ceramic samples. In addition, the electric-field-induced strain and temperature-dependent planar extensional electromechanical coupling factor kp were studied. The results indicate that the piezoelectric properties for the orthorhombic phase due to 60° domain switching are stable over a wide range of temperatures.


Human resource climate plays an important role in associating people with their organizations. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence about how faculty perceives components of the HR system, particularly in higher educational institutions. The aim of this paper is to explore the factors of HR climate and study their association with faculty retention in different Indian universities. The data for this study was collected through structured questionnaire administered to 306 faculty members of universities and their responses were analyzed using SPSS and AMOS. The results revealed that mentoring, professional development and compensation were perceived as major components of the HR climate. Of these three, mentoring and professional development played a significant role in predicting faculty retention. The post-hoc results showed that the factors varied in their significance according to the university type. These findings suggest that Indian universities lack a formal HR system and the need to integrate HR departments in the university environment is strongly recommended.


The need for cassava starch is increasing along with its aplication in industries. Our study aim to determine the yield and production of starch from several local cassava genotypes. Forty-one cassava genotypes from LIPI collection were used to produce starch. Cassava tubers were harvested from five trees of each genotype. The number and the weight of tuber from each genotypes were then calculated. Around 2500 grams of tuber from each genotypes were grated and extracted to produce the starch. The results showed that cassava with the highest yield was Kristal Merah (15,460 Kg), and followed by PNG1 (15,1Kg), Menti (9,970Kg) and Roti (9,380Kg). The genotype with the highest tuber weight is PNG1, and then followed by Roti , Menti and Kristal Merah. Eleven genotypes of cassava produced starch with levels above 25%. Based on our results, the genotypes that potentially used as raw material for the starch industry were Kristal Merah, PNG, Menti and Roti.


Introduction Per-oral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) has been adopted as a minimally invasive treatment option for achalasia. The first case of POEM was performed at King's College Hospital in late 2013. Here we present our initial case series with video demonstration of technique. Methods Prospective data was collected for consecutive patients undergoing POEM including demographics, procedure technique, the use of Endoluminal Functional Lumen Imaging Probe (EndoFLIP) and adverse events. Follow up data at 3 months and 12–24 months post-POEM including Eckardt scores and lower oesophageal sphincter integrated resting pressure (IRP-4s) were compared with pre-POEM findings. Post-POEM Gastro-oesophageal Reflux Health-Related Quality of Life scale (GORD-HQL) was recorded. Statistical analysis was achieved using Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed rank test. Results POEM was performed in 33 patients (12 F, age 49.5±13.25 years). Pre-operative high-resoloution manometry confirmed type II achalasia in all patients. 19 patients had previous treatment (Botulinum n = 8, Pneumatic dilatation n = 10, Heller myotomy n = 5, POEM n = 1, >1 treatment n = 2). Median pre-POEM Eckardt Score 8, range 3–12. Median gastric and oesophageal myotomy was 3 cm (range 2–4) and 12 cm (range 5–16) respectively with a selective circular myotomy in all cases and a posterior approach in n = 5. There was significant reduction in post-operative Eckardt score at 3 months Median 0, range 0–6 (p < 0.0001) and IRP-4s (p = 0.0078, figs. 1 and 2). Sustained improvement in Eckardt score was observed at 12–24 months post-POEM (p = 0.0005). One patient required revision of POEM at 6 months. EndoFLIP Intra-operative EndoFLIP measurements before and after myotomy have been implemented to aid confirmation of adequate myotomy (Figure 3).Abstract PTH-041 Figure 1 Adverse Events One patient underwent single clip displacement and was replaced at gastroscopy day 1 post POEM. There were no cases of perforation, infection or major bleeding. Gastro-oesophageal reflux Post-POEM GORD-HQL score was collected in 26 patients with a median score of 2.5, range 0–31. Two cases of reflux (positive 24 hr pH at 3 months) were identified and successfully managed with maintenance proton pump inhibitor. Conclusion POEM was performed successfully in 33 patients in whom 57.5% had prior endoscopic or surgical treatment representing a potentially more challenging patient population. This study is in line with international consortia and ASGE findings1 that POEM is a safe and efficacious procedure for the treatment of achalasia for both short term and sustained symptomatic benefit. Reference 1 Stavropoulos S, Desilets D, Fuchs KH et al; Per-oral endoscopic myotomy white paper summary; Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. 2014;1:1–15. Disclosure of Interest None Declared


Background: Questionnaires are the most commonly used data collection methods in applied research for assessment of inputs. It is a useful instrument if valid and reliable. Objectives; To establish, design and appraise the reliability and validity tool for measuring knowledge with skills among undergraduate students. Methods: An observational study conducted at Peshawar Medical College in six months' duration through three stage process, after having approval of Institutional Review Board of Prime Foundation. Process initiated by slot regulation, component development and questionnaire generation with judgement analysis of instrument by an expert panel of five public health specialists for relevance, representativeness and transparency of each item based on Likert rating scale. Validity and reliability measured in the final steps. Suggestions put forward by the experts with item impact scores corresponded to face validity. Rewording, combination and elimination resulted in final 35 item instrument.Data was analysed through SPSS Version- 21 with computation of content validity ratio, content validity index, item content validity, scale validity, Kappa statistics and Cronbach's Alpha values. Results: Mean years of experience for the panellists was 14.2 years with S. D + 5.2 (n= 5). Excellent CVR, I CVI, S CVI, Percent Agreement and Kappa statistics were calculated for the entire questionnaire as 1.The final 24 item knowledgesection had 0.732 Inter Class Correlation and acceptable Cronbach Alphaas 0.743, while the 11 item skill portion had 0.819 Inter Class Correlation with good Cronbach Alpha 0.890. Conclusions: The findings support the face and content validity of the questionnaire. Keywords: Instrument development and Validation, Competency, Knowledge, Skill, Assessment, Content Validity, Content Validity Ratio, Reliability, Questionnaire


Modern instrumentation has been installed in an ASTM D-613 cetane rating engine to provide the tools needed to investigate characteristics of combustion during the rating process. Detailed descriptions are given for sensors and their installation in measuring main- and pre-chamber dynamic pressures, injector pintle lift, injector inlet pressure, and crank shaft timing information. Sensor outputs are monitored with a computer based data acquisition system that employs a high speed processing oscilloscope and a personal computer. Both high speed and multiple cycle data are obtained and stored on diskette for further off-line processing. A detailed description of use of the instrumentation to simulate the cetane rating process and determine cetane numbers is provided.


SUMMARY Two populations of Agrostis stolonifera and seven populations of Festuca rubra from salt marsh and inland habitats were grown on a free draining soil and at two levels of soil waterlogging. The growth of A. stolonifera was stimulated by soil waterlogging while that of F. rubra was depressed. There was no difference between the two populations of A. stolonifera in growth response to waterlogging but the inland population had a greater Fe concentration in the shoots when grown on waterlogged soil than the salt marsh population. In F. rubra the yield of the salt marsh populations was generally less depressed by soil waterlogging than that of populations from free draining soils; the salt marsh populations also had lower concentrations of Fe and Mn in the shoot on the continuously waterlogged soil than the inland populations. It is concluded that the evolution of a degree of waterlogging tolerance has occurred in the salt marsh


We report a novel approach for the preparation of polyoxometalate-based hybrid organogels from a triblock copolymer via charge-induced assembly. The triblock copolymer used is poly(4-vinyl pyridine)-block-poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(4-vinyl pyridine) (4VPm-EGn-4VPm), and polyoxometalate (POM) is phosphotungstic acid (HPW). The ionic interaction between the pyridine groups of the 4VPm-EGn-4VPm and HPW drives the assembly of the triblock copolymer to form solvophobic cores. The PEG middle blocks connect and stabilize the different cores to form hybrid organogels. The structures of POM remain unchanged in these hybrid organogels, and the properties of POMs can be preserved, which has been confirmed by the existence of photo-reduction properties of POM in the hybrid organogels.


This paper considers the oscillations modeled by a forced Van der Pol generalized oscillator. These oscillations are described by a nonlinear differential equation of the form $ \ddot{x}+x-\varepsilon\left(1-ax^2-b\dot{x}^2\right)\dot{x}=E\sin{{\Omega}t}.$ The amplitudes of the forced harmonic, primary resonance superharmonic and subharmonic oscillatory states are obtained using the harmonic balance technique and the multiple time scales methods. We obtain also the hysteresis and jump phenomena in the system oscillations. Bifurcation sequences displayed by the model for each type of oscillatory states are performed numerically through the fourth-order Runge- Kutta scheme.


Abstract The contemporary management of infectious diseases is built around antimicrobial therapy. However, the development of antimicrobial resistance threatens to create a post–antibiotic era. Antimicrobial stewardship attempts to reduce the development of antimicrobial resistance by improving their appropriate use. Osteopathic manipulative treatment as an adjunctive treatment has the potential for enhancing antimicrobial stewardship by enhancing the human immune system, shortening the duration of antimicrobial therapy, reducing complications, and improving treatment outcomes. The present article reviews the evidence published in the literature since this unique treatment approach was first developed more than 100 years ago. The evidence suggests that adjunctive osteopathic manipulative treatment has great potential for enhancing antimicrobial stewardship and should be further investigated.


Abstract Objective  The accuracy, timeliness, and reliability of the current methods of heart rate (HR) determination in neonatal resuscitation are debatable, each having its own limitations. We aim to compare three methods of HR assessment: (1) traditional stethoscope, (2) electrocardiogram and traditional stethoscope, and (3) digital stethoscope with loudspeaker amplification of heart sounds. Study Design  This was a simulated crossover experiment using a high-fidelity manikin. Each team with a physician, a nurse, and a respiratory therapist performed the resuscitations using the three methods (three different scenarios) in different order. The person controlling the HR via manikin controller was blinded, but the single recorder and the providers were not. Results  Eighteen resuscitations were completed (six teams of three methods each). The time to first HR recording ( p  < 0.001), total number of HR recorded ( p  < 0.001), and time to recognize dips in HR was significantly improved in the digital stethoscope group ( p  = 0.009). Conclusion  Use of digital stethoscope with amplification improved documentation of HR and earlier recognition of HR changes. Key Points Amplified heartbeats during neonatal resuscitation improved documentation. Amplified infant heartbeats resulted in earlier recognition of HR changes (increase or decrease). Providers using this method had greater satisfaction.


Abstract Introduction: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ability of first-year paramedic students to identify ST-segment elevation myocardial injury (STEMI) on 12-lead electrocardiograms (ECGs) following a three-hour presentation by a board-certified emergency medicine physician experienced in ECG interpretation. Methods: Thirty-three first-year paramedic students with minimal to no experience in evaluating 12-lead ECGs were administered a pretest with 20 12-lead ECGs and were asked to evaluate each for: (1) presence of STEMI (STEMI identification); (2) if STEMI presents, ECG leads demonstrating ST-elevation (LEAD identification); and (3) if STEMI present, the anatomic distribution of the STEMI (ANATOMY identification). The students were randomized into two groups. Group 1 (16 students; control group) received a handout describing the evaluation of ECGs for STEMI, while Group 2 (17 students; experimental group) received the handout plus a threehour presentation on the evaluation of ECGs for STEMI. Following randomization, distribution of the STEMI handout and ECG STEMI presentation, a posttest with 20 new ECGs was administered to all participants. The pretest and posttest mean scores were compared between the two groups to determine if attendance at the presentation improved the paramedic students' abilities to evaluate and identify STEMI ECGs. Following the STEMI posttest, students in Group 1 were provided with the STEMI lecture. Students were retested with 20 new ECGs five months following the initial study to examine retention of the information taught. Results: The mean pre-test scores for the two groups (Group 1 vs Group 2, respectively) in STEMI identification (74.4 vs 75.6%; p = 0.79), lead identification (50.0 vs. 51.2%; p = 0.8) and anatomy identification (49.4 vs 51.8%; p = 0.60) were similar in all three categories. Post-test scores between Group 1 and Group 2 demonstrated statistically significant differences in STEMI identification (85.6 vs 92.4%; p <0.02), lead identification (73.4 vs 85.2%; p <0.02), and anatomy identification (65.9 vs 87.1%; p <0.01), with Group 2 demonstrating higher mean scores relative to Group 1 in all three categories. Comparison of mean initial pre-test and five-month retest scores for all students demonstrated statistically significant differences in STEMI identification (75.0 vs 87.4%; p <0.0001), lead identification (50.6 vs 82.2%; p <0.0001), and anatomy identification (50.6 vs 76.6%; p <0.0001). Conclusions: The ability of first-year paramedic students to accurately detect STEMI on prehospital 12-lead ECGs is enhanced by a structured ECG STEMI presentation provided by an emergency medicine physician, and these students maintained excellent retention of STEMI ECG skills over a five-month period.


We have reported deficient expression of decorin on skin fibroblasts from a patient with carbohydrate-deficient glycoprotein syndrome type I [Gu, J. and Wada, Y. (1995) J. Biochem. 117, 1276-1279]. The characteristics of fibroblasts from this patient included increased cell spreading and reduced proliferation. We analyzed the expression of other extracellular matrix proteins by Western and Northern blot analyses, and found that adhesion molecules, fibronectin, and type I collagen, were increased, whereas an anti-adhesion molecule, tenascin, was decreased, like decorin. Subsequently, decorin was purified from bovine tendons, and cultured with these fibroblasts in fibronectin-depleted culture medium. Exogenous decorin inhibited cell attachment to a plastic culture dish in a dose-dependent manner, while dermatan sulfate did not. The cell morphology was markedly normalized by decorin, but proliferation was not restored. These findings suggest that decorin exhibits an anti-adhesion property in a fibroblast culture system and that the deficiency is responsible for the morphological change observed in this patient's fibroblasts.


Implementing a recommendation system on the data of mobile social networks exploits knowledge about behavior and preferences of its users and hence raises serious privacy concerns. Leveraging the wealth of aggregated information in these services promises an immense benefit by allowing suggestions for presumably appreciated, yet previously unseen restaurants, sights, and further types of locations. Privacy preserving recommenders based on homomorphic encryption have been proposed, which have a systematic draw-back: while recommender systems often store their information as real values, all homomorphic encryption schemes used today process only data from other algebraic structures, e.g., the ring of integers modulo some integer n. Therefore, we present a novel distributed recommender and a homomorphic encryption scheme, which works directly on real numbers and which possesses some remarkable properties: it is conceptually simple, efficient, and provably secure.


The maintenance and reformation of gene expression domains are the basis for the morphogenic processes of multicellular systems. In a leaf primordium of Arabidopsis thaliana, the expression of FILAMENTOUS FLOWER (FIL) and the activity of the microRNA miR165/166 are specific to the abaxial side. This miR165/166 activity restricts the target gene expression to the adaxial side. The adaxial and abaxial specific gene expressions are crucial for the wide expansion of leaf lamina. The FIL-expression and the miR165/166-free domains are almost mutually exclusive, and they have been considered to be maintained during leaf development. However, we found here that the position of the boundary between the two domains gradually shifts from the adaxial side to the abaxial side. The cell lineage analysis revealed that this boundary shifting was associated with a sequential gene expression switch from the FIL-expressing (miR165/166 active) to the miR165/166-free (non-FIL-expressing) states. Our genetic analyses using the enlarged fil expression domain2 (enf2) mutant and chemical treatment experiments revealed that impairment in the plastid (chloroplast) gene expression machinery retards this boundary shifting and inhibits the lamina expansion. Furthermore, these developmental effects caused by the abnormal plastids were not observed in the genomes uncoupled1 (gun1) mutant background. This study characterizes the dynamic nature of the adaxial-abaxial specification process in leaf primordia and reveals that the dynamic process is affected by the GUN1-dependent retrograde signal in response to the failure of plastid gene expression. These findings advance our understanding on the molecular mechanism linking the plastid function to the leaf morphogenic processes.


Abstract In this study, 2 previously described surgical techniques for performing an orchiectomy in the adult male degu (Octodon degus) were evaluated: (1) prescrotal open technique and (2) scrotal open technique. Additionally, an ovariectomy procedure was assessed in female degus using the bilateral (dorsolateral) technique similar to that performed in related species. Twenty two animals (n = 14 males; 8 females) from a local small mammal shelter group, that were presented for routine surgical castration for population control measures, were included in this study. There was a significant difference in mean surgical time for the prescrotal and scrotal approach of 16.46 ± 4.28 and 23.83 ± 2.09 minutes, respectively. No significant differences were noted on anesthesia and recovery times for the orchiectomy procedures. Overall, the prescrotal approach was a faster procedure and required less anesthesia time. One male degu undergoing the scrotal open technique died during surgery, this was believed to be related to anesthesia complications (increased saliva secretions). No other complications were reported perioperatively in any other animals. All animals were observed to have sufficient pain management using an in-house visual analogue scale. The bilateral flank (dorsolateral) ovariectomy approach in female degus yielded a short total procedure time with no adverse events. No over grooming and or self-injurious behaviors were reported during both the 24 hours and 14 days recheck examinations.


The cytoplasmic incompatibility induced by the bacterial endosymbiont Wolbachia is attributed to chromatin modification in the sperm of infected individuals and is only 'rescued' by infected females after fertilization. Chorthippus parallelus is a grasshopper with 2 subspecies that form a hybrid zone in the Pyrenees in which this Wolbachia-generated cytoplasmic incompatibility has recently been described. The analysis of certain cytogenetic traits (sex chromosome-linked heterochromatic bands, nucleolar organizing region expression, spermatid size and morphology, and number of chiasmata formed) in pure and hybrid Chorthippus parallelus that are infected and not infected by this bacterium indicates that the infection affects some of these traits and, in the case of the spermatids, reveals a synergism between the infection and the hybrid condition. These results are interpreted as being secondary effects of the chromatin modification induced by Wolbachia which thereby support this model of modification/rescue. The possible effects of these cytogenetic variations on affected individuals are also considered.


The cross sections for antihydrogen formation in the n = 1, 2 and 3 levels from the reaction are computed in the close-coupling approximation. A large basis of positron - hydrogen channels (28 states) is supplemented by the Ps(1s), Ps(2s) and Ps(2p) channels. The present results represent the most accurate calculations of this cross section yet undertaken. It is seen that the net cross section for antihydrogen formation decreases extremely rapidly as a function of increasing energy and beyond about 5 Ryd is essentially negligible.


The recognition ability of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) is largely governed by factors such as polymerization conditions, nature of crosslinking agents, and degree of crosslinking. In addition to these factors, monomers could also influence the ability of the MIPs to recognize the print molecules. MIPs based on 2-hydroxy ethyl methacrylate and N-vinyl pyrolidone imprinted for cholesterol and testosterone are prepared. The results show that the recognition ability strongly depends on the characteristics of monomer also, in addition to the nature of the print molecule. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 68: 1863–1866, 1998


In relation to the total number of births in the United Kingdom there was an excess of hydatidiform moles arising in women over 34 years of age and possibly also under 15. The incidence of trophoblastic tumour requiring chemotherapy after hydatidiform mole was greatest in the 30 to 34 year age group and it was also high in the 20 to 24 year age group. This distribution appears to be influenced by the morphology of the moles, the mode of their removal and the use of oestrogens and progestogens in the post‐evacuation period. The need for chemotherapy for trophoblastic tumour after evacuation of a hydatidiform mole was found to be two‐ to three‐fold greater in patients who had undergone a medical induction, hysterectomy or hysterotomy compared with those whose hydatidiform moles had been evacuated by vacuum or surgical curettage, or who had aborted spontaneously. The increased risk of chemotherapy was most marked in the earlier weeks of gestation.


Abstract Nelson, GA, Bent-Forsythe, DA, and Roopchand-Martin, SC. Electromyographic activity of the rectus abdominis during a traditional crunch and the basic jackknife exercise with the AB lounge™. J Strength Cond Res 26(6): 1584–1588, 2012—The use of nontraditional exercise devices such as the Ab Lounge™ has been promoted as being as effective as the traditional abdominal crunch in strengthening the abdominal musculature. Evidence for this is lacking, however. The purpose of this study was to compare the degree of activation of the upper and lower rectus abdominis using electromyography (EMG) during a traditional crunch with the basic jackknife using the Ab Lounge™. Twenty-two subjects (6 men and 16 women) were randomly selected from the student population at the University of the West Indies (Mona Campus). The mean age of the participants was 20.5 ± 1.5 years, height 166.4 ± 6.2 cm, weight 64 ± 10.3 kg, and waist-hip ratio 0.7 ± 0.1. Surface EMG was used to assess the muscle activity from the upper and lower rectus abdominis while each exercise was performed. The EMG data were full-wave rectified and normalized using a mathematical model that was set up in Microsoft Excel for Windows XP. Statistical analysis was performed on the data using a univariate analysis of variance with gender as a covariate. Significance was determined by p < 0.05. The mean EMG data recorded for the upper rectus abdominis was significantly higher with the traditional crunch when compared with the basic jackknife performed on the Ab Lounge™ (F = 4.39, p = 0.04). The traditional crunch produced a higher level of activity in the lower rectus abdominis when compared with the basic jackknife, but this was not statistically significant (F = 0.249, p = 0.62). There was no significant interaction between gender and the effect of the type of exercise on upper and lower rectus abdominis activation. These results suggest that the traditional abdominal crunch is more effective than the basic jackknife is in activating the rectus abdominis musculature.


Dyspnea (breathlessness) is a threatening and aversive bodily sensation and a major symptom of various diseases. It has been suggested to impair several aspects of functioning in affected patients, but experimental proof for this assumption is widely absent. Error processing is an important domain of functioning and has intensively been studied using electrophysiological measures. Specifically, the error-related negativity (ERN) has been suggested to reflect early performance monitoring and error detection, while the error positivity (Pe) has been linked to subsequent error awareness. So far, little is known about the effects of anticipated or perceived dyspnea on error processing. Therefore, in 49 healthy participants, we studied the effects of experimentally induced dyspnea and threat of dyspnea on the ERN/Pe and behavioral task performance. Participants performed the arrowhead version of the flanker task during three experimental conditions: an unloaded baseline condition, a dyspnea condition, and a threat of dyspnea condition. Dyspnea was induced by breathing through inspiratory resistive loads, while high-density EEG was continuously measured. No differences in task performance (reaction times, error rates) and ERN mean amplitudes were found between conditions. However, mean amplitudes for the Pe differed between conditions with smaller Pe amplitudes during threat of dyspnea compared to baseline and dyspnea conditions, with the latter two conditions showing no difference. These results may suggest that threat of dyspnea, but not dyspnea itself, reduces error awareness, while both seem to have no impact on early error processing and related behavioral performance.


In this study, the crystal plasticity finite element method (CPFEM) was used to predict the texture evolution in a Goss (011)[100] aluminium single crystal after multi-pass reverse rolling and unidirectional rolling. Submodel was also used to improve the mesh resolution in a smaller region, by which micro-subdivision was successfully captured. After the predictions being validated by the experimental observations, the deformation behaviours were investigated, in terms of crystal rotation, shear strain, and slip system activity. Macro-subdivision occurred through the thickness by forming matrix bands. It was found that the deformation was unidirectional after unidirectional rolling and macro- and micro-subdivision were amplified with increasing reduction, while the previously developed deformation pattern was destroyed by the following pass of reverse rolling.


A case is reported where after resection of a large cervical spinal intradural schwanomma a direct plate and screw fixation of the adjacent vertebral bodies was performed. The issue of instability after spinal tumour resection and the merits of the fixation technique described are discussed.


Corruption is a major issue that affects the economy. Over the last few years, India is experiencing a number of scams spanning across the country, public as well as the private sector. World Bank has identified corruption as among the greatest obstacles to economic management, commerce industry and social development. In this paper, all these problems are presented and also described some suggestions to reduce the corruption in India. The objective of this paper is to focus on the causes of corruption and to highlight the forms of corruption in economic society of India. The study, like the earlier ones, is based on perception, experience and estimation (PEE) model where the scope is not only limited to perceptions about corruption in general, but perception in specific context of a service and, more importantly, actual experience of paying bribe by BPL households in availing one or more of the 11 selected public services. Depending on frequency of interaction, the eleven services are divided broadly into "basic services" (PDS, Hospital Service, School Education (up to 12th), Electricity Service and Water Supply Service) and "need based services" (Land Records/Registration, Housing Service, Forest, NREGS, Banking Service and Police Service (traffic and crime)). This round of India Corruption Study is designed and conducted by Centre for Media Studies (CMS) in collaboration with the Transparency International India (TII).Corruption is a major serious problem country facing today. Highly corrupt India is poorly governed may be the main reason for rampant and widespread corruption in India.


Amikacin was used in the treatment of various Gram-negative infections in sixty-six children ranging in age from two days to thirteen years. Over 72% of the infections treated were classified as severe and the remainder were moderate. Among infections in which the site of origin was the urinary or gastro-intestinal tract, amikacin achieved thirty-eight (95%) complete or partial cures in forty patients. In respiratory tract infections, amikacin completely or partially cured six (75%) out of eight patients. The remaining eighteen infections involved skin, soft tissue and other miscellaneous categories in which amikacin therapy resulted in seventeen (94%) complete or partial cures. Overall, amikacin achieved fifty-four complete cures and seven clinical or bacteriological cures in sixty-six patients, which represents an 82% complete cure rate and 10% partial cure rate for all the patients in the study.


Frequent pattern mining is one of the active research themes in data mining. It plays an important role in all data mining tasks such as clustering, classification, prediction, and association analysis. Identifying all frequent patterns is the most time consuming process due to a massive number of patterns generated. A reasonable solution is identifying efficient method to finding frequent patterns without candidate generation. In this paper, we present An Evolutionary algorithm for mining association rules using Boolean approach for mining association rules in large databases of sales transactions. Traditional association rule algorithms adopt an iterative method to discovery, which requires very large calculations and a complicated transaction process. Because of this, a new association rule algorithm is proposed in this paper. This new algorithm scanning the database once and avoiding generating candidate itemsets in computing frequent itemset and adopts a Boolean vector "relational calculus" method to discovering frequent itemsets. Experimental results show that this algorithm can quickly discover frequent itemsets and effectively mine potential association rules.


The purpose of this study was to determine whether the coaching by the school head can improve the discipline of teachers in preparing teaching and program Elementary School 12 South Bengkulu learning. The specific objective to increase discipline in developing the syllabus, lesson plan and program assessment. The method used is action research school, with study subjects were 12 elementary school teachers from South Bengkulu. The results of this study indicate that coaching by the school head can improve discipline and ability of teachers to develop learning programs.


Among the most critical issues of wireless ad hoc and sensor networks are energy consumption in general and interference in particular. The reduction of interference is consequently considered one of the foremost goals of topology control. Almost all of the related work however considers this issue implicitly: Low interference is often claimed to be a consequence of sparseness or low degree of the constructed topologies. This paper, in contrast, studies explicit definitions of interference. Various models of interference-both from a sender-centric and a receiver-centric perspective-are proposed, compared, and analyzed with respect to their algorithmic properties and complexities.


Uncertainty is an essential and ubiquitous factor in the real world. The meaning and utility of uncertainty have been pondered by theoreticians and practitioners for more than two millennia. It has been found that the concept of uncertainty is too complicate to be captured within a single framework. In response to this, a number of different approaches including probability theory, fuzzy sets, and rough sets have been developed to cope with uncertainty from distinct angles of views.

Molodtsov's soft set theory was initiated in 1999, which provides us with a new framework for handling uncertainty. The philosophy of soft sets is founded on the idea of parametrization, which is utilized by human to perceive and understand concepts of high complexity in daily life. Soft set theory suggests that complicated concepts with intrinsic uncertainty should be characterized from a variety of different aspects, and all these related facets are supposed to be organized and treated as a whole. Without any restriction on its parameters, this theory comes with an ability to model uncertain concepts in a convenient and meaningful way. As a newly emerging area of interdisciplinary research, soft set theory, has received much attention from researchers all over the world. Evidence of this can be found in the increasing number of high-quality works on soft sets and related topics that have been published over past few years.

This special issue mainly aims to provide the researchers with a collection of state-of-the-art research contributions which represent some emerging trends in soft set theory and related topics. It received an overwhelming response from the community. Editors received 47 submissions from different countries around the world. All submissions followed the same standard as applied to regular submissions to this journal. Due to the limited space, 18 articles were finally selected to be published. Contributions of the included papers are briefly summarized as follows.

In "Concave soft sets, critical soft points, and union-soft ideals of ordered semigroups," Y. B. Jun et al. introduce soft algebraic notions such as union-soft semigroups and union-soft (left, right) ideals by organizing parameters with the structure of an ordered semigroup. They examine some basic aspects of these notions mainly under the regularity condition. In addition, the authors define concave soft sets, critical soft points, union-soft products, and union-soft semiprime soft sets and investigate some related properties as well.

In "Hesitant fuzzy soft subalgebras and ideals in BCK/BCI-algebras," Y. B. Jun et al. apply hesitant fuzzy soft sets to the exploration of BCK/BCI-algebras. They define hesitant fuzzy soft subalgebras and (closed) hesitant fuzzy soft ideals over BCK/BCI-algebras, investigate their algebraic properties, and obtain a number of meaningful results.

In "Soft mappings space," T. Y. Ozturk and S. Bayramov introduce soft compact-open topologies in functional spaces of soft topological spaces. They also ascertain interrelations among several functional spaces with soft compact-open topologies.

In "Soft translations and soft extensions of BCI/BCK-algebras," N. Sultana et al. define soft translations of soft subalgebras and soft ideals over BCI/BCK-algebras. They also introduce a related notion called soft extensions and explore the relations between soft translations and soft extensions.

In "Soft covering based rough sets and their application," Ş. Yuksel et al. generalize Pawlak's rough sets based on covering soft sets. They introduce soft covering approximation spaces and soft covering rough approximation operators. Moreover, they present a practical example involving prostate cancer risk data of 78 patients from Selcuk University Meram Medicine Faculty to illustrate the potential applications of soft covering based rough sets in medicine.

In "A new approach to entropy and similarity measure of vague soft sets," D. Hu et al. focus on uncertainty measures of vague soft sets. They propose a new axiomatic definition of entropy and develop a new method to construct the similarity measures and entropies for vague soft sets. They also describe various inner relationships among these uncertainty measures of vague soft sets.

In "Cyclic soft groups and their applications on groups," H. Aktas and Ş. Ozlu define orders of soft groups, powers of soft sets, and cyclic soft groups. They investigate some algebraic properties of cyclic soft groups and reveal the relationships between cyclic soft groups and classical groups.

In "Ideal theory in semigroups based on intersectional soft sets," S. Z. Song et al. introduce int-soft semigroups, int-soft (left, right, and two-sided) ideals, and int-soft quasi-ideals by equipping the parameter set with an associative operation. They present some characterizations of subsemigroups, left ideals, and right ideals based on these notions. They characterize int-soft semigroups and int-soft (left, right, and two-sided) ideals by virtue of int-soft products. Moreover, the authors also discuss the characterization of regular semigroups using int-soft quasi-ideals.

In "On soft β-open sets and soft β-continuous functions," M. Akdag and A. Ozkan present the concepts of soft β-interiors and soft β-closures of soft sets in soft topological spaces. They also investigate some properties of soft β-open sets and soft β-continuous functions.

In "Novel applications of intuitionistic fuzzy digraphs in decision support systems," M. Akram et al. present several decision support models based on intuitionistic fuzzy digraphs. In particular, they describe potential applications of intuitionistic fuzzy digraphs in organization management, medical diagnosis, marketability of books, and vulnerability assessment of gas pipeline networks. They also design and implement the algorithms for these decision support models.

In "Similarity measure and entropy of fuzzy soft sets," Z. Liu et al. discuss a general approach to similarity measures and entropies of fuzzy soft sets based on fuzzy equivalences. They also compare their method with several existing proposals in the literatures.

In "Subalgebras of BCK/BCI-algebras based on cubic soft sets," G. Muhiuddin et al. apply cubic soft sets to the study of BCK/BCI-algebras. They introduce several basic operations of cubic soft sets. An example is presented to show that the R-union of two internal cubic soft sets might not be internal. They also discuss the condition under which the R-union of two internal cubic soft sets results in an internal cubic soft set. Basic algebraic properties of cubic soft subalgebras of BCK/BCI-algebras are examined as well.

In "Type-II fuzzy decision support system for fertilizer," A. Ashraf et al. demonstrate the application of type-II fuzzy sets in developing a decision support system for modelling a spatial surface of fertilizer. They present a basic platform for the development of spatial surfaces using a type-II fuzzy inference engine based on human linguistic values.

In "On topological structures of fuzzy parametrized soft sets," S. Atmaca and I. Zorlutuna explore the topological structure of fuzzy parametrized soft sets and fuzzy parametrized soft mappings. They introduce the notion of quasi-coincidence for fuzzy parametrized soft sets and investigate some basic concepts including closures, interiors, bases, compactness, and continuity in fuzzy parametrized soft topological spaces.

In "Soft congruence relations over rings," X. Xin and W. Li introduce soft congruence relations with regard to rings. They also define soft quotient rings and generalized soft ideals. A one-to-one correspondence between soft congruence relations and idealistic soft rings (or soft ideals) is presented. In addition, the authors establish various soft isomorphism theorems regarding soft rings.

In "Hesitant fuzzy soft sets with application in multicriteria group decision making problems," J. Wang et al. define some operations of hesitant fuzzy soft sets by virtue of Archimedean t-norms and t-conorms. They present some aggregation operators, including HFSWA, HFSWG, GHFSWA, and GHFSWG operators, which are used to develop a multicriteria group decision making approach based on hesitant fuzzy soft sets. The authors also illustrate the newly proposed notions and method with a numerical example.

Finally, in "Some properties of fuzzy soft proximity spaces," I. Demir and O. B. Ozbakir explore some properties of fuzzy soft proximity spaces in Katsaras's sense. They demonstrate that each fuzzy soft proximity could induce a fuzzy soft topology by virtue of fuzzy soft closure operators. They present the notion of fuzzy soft δ-neighborhoods as an alternative description of fuzzy soft proximities. Moreover, the authors introduce products of fuzzy soft proximity spaces and analyze the relationship between fuzzy soft proximities and proximities.

We sincerely hope the readers will find this special issue informative and inspiring.


Purpose This study aimed to analyze the efficacy and prognostic significance of adjuvant tamoxifen in breast cancer patients with various hormone receptor statuses. Methods Typically, 1,260 female breast cancer patients were recruited in this study. The correlation between estrogen receptor (ER)/progesterone receptor (PR) phenotypes and clinical characteristics was investigated, and the survival rate was assessed after 5-year follow-up. Results The 5-year overall survival (85%) was better in women under the age of 50 years. Patients with ER+/PR+ tumors had a better 5-year survival rate (94%); those with ER-/PR- tumors experienced the worst outcome (74% survival rate); whereas single-positive cases were in between. In 97 out of 128 patients with ER-/PR+ tumors, tamoxifen was given as adjuvant hormonal therapy, and it increased the survival benefit in the lower grade group in terms of overall survival and disease-free survival (p=0.01 and p=0.03, respectively). Conclusion For high-grade tumors with ER-/PR+, adjuvant tamoxifen therapy may have no survival benefit, whereas for the patients with low-grade ER-/PR+ tumors, adjuvant tamoxifen therapy is highly suggestive.


The genetic component of osteoporosis in caged laying hens is large, and a method for detecting hens susceptible to fracture could be useful in breeding programs. A radiographic absorptiometry film method was modified by video digitization from an image intensifier and computer analysis and termed digitized fluoroscopy (DF). Humeral and ulnar DF values were measured in 165 hens during lay. Relationships (P < 0.001) were seen between DF assessments from 25 wk onward and postmortem measurements at 70 wk. We conclude that DF can detect poor bones in hens early but is problematic. Quantitative ultrasound was also investigated. We measured amplitude-dependent speed-of-sound (Ad-SoS) in the third toe in hens. Nutritional studies revealed Ad-SoS values correlated with postmortem peripheral quantitative computerized tomography, (control group, r = 0.48, P < 0.001; treatment group, r = 0.39, P < 0.001). In caged and free-range hens, Ad-SoS correlated with shear strength (r = 0.33, P < 0.001, all hens) and radiographic density values (r = 0.53, P < 0.001, all hens) measured postmortem. The Ad-SoS values were higher in free-range than in caged hens (1,904 vs. 1,850 m/s, P < 0.001). Ad-SoS measurements were made in hens from a study where divergent genetic selection has produced high and low bone index lines with 92% difference in tibia strength. The value in high bone index hens was higher than in low bone index hens at 32 (P < 0.001), 42 (P < 0.001), 52 (P < 0.05), and 62 wk (P < 0.001) in generation 8. In an Ad-SoS heritability study, heritability estimates ranged from 0.15 to 0.39. We conclude that Ad-SoS is a heritable trait, reflects other bone measurements, and rapidly detects poor bone quality in hens.


Résumé — Stress Corrosion Cracking (SCC) represents a significant cause of failure in pressurised water reactors and many efforts have been made to address this problem [1]. It involves the combined action of the environment, mechanical stresses and material properties on the damage of engineering components. Current SCC models developed to predict crack growth behaviour or SCC susceptibility criteria do not fully incorporate the complex multiphysical processes that occur during oxidation at the scale of the microstructure. The aim of the work is to formulate a multi-physics modelling framework based on continuum thermodynamics able to describe the growth of an oxide film on a polycrystalline material using the phase field method.


PURPOSE
To investigate changes in the variability of white-on-white perimetry in patients with glaucoma who are undergoing surgical or medical reduction of intraocular pressure (IOP).

METHODS
This retrospective study included 67 eyes of 50 patients who underwent trabeculectomy (25 eyes) or medical IOP reduction (25 eyes) about midway through the follow-up; 17 fellow eyes of the surgical group were the control group. Their pre- and postinterventional visual fields were analyzed (full-threshold, 24-2 program, Humphrey Field Analyzer; Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc., Oberkochen, Germany) to evaluate changes in short-term fluctuation (SF) and test-retest variability (TRV). The longest follow-up periods possible were considered, provided that glaucoma was stable (as confirmed by intraocular pressure, optic nerve appearance and visual field). For each patient and in each period, TRV was defined as the mean of the square roots of the mean variances in each of the 54 locations.

RESULTS
Trabeculectomy reduced mean IOP (5.7 +/- 4.7 mm Hg; P < 0.0001), IOP fluctuations (-2.9 +/- 4.4 mm Hg; P = 0.003), and eye drop use (-1.3 +/- 1.4; P = 0.0001). Pre- and postsurgical SF was 3.0 +/- 1.1 and 2.7 +/- 1.0 dB, respectively (P = 0.34), and pre- and postsurgical TRV was 2.90 +/- 0.97 and 2.53 +/- 0.86 dB, with a decrease of 0.37 dB (P = 0.0006). In the medical group, mean IOP decreased (-4.0 +/- 2.0 mm Hg; P < 0.0001) as did IOP fluctuation (-3.7 +/- 4.1 mm Hg; P = 0.0008), but eye drop use increased by 1.0 +/- 0.6 (P < 0.0001). TRV (2.58 +/- 0.53 vs. 2.72 +/- 0.67 dB; P = 0.37) and SF (2.3 +/- 0.8 vs. 2.3 +/- 0.8 dB; P = 0.89) remained stable during the study. There was no change in perimetric variability throughout the study in the control group. The individual reductions in TRV were higher in the surgical group than in the medical (P = 0.004) or control (P = 0.015) groups. No differences were found between the control and medical groups (P = 0.55).

CONCLUSIONS
After trabeculectomy, there was a small but statistically significant reduction in long-term perimetric variability compared with the medical and control groups. There were no significant changes in short-term variability in any of the groups during the study.