Automobile wheels (rims and hubcaps) have been catching the eyes of car enthusiasts for years. Designers have used their creativity to make better products both structurally and aesthetically. Hubcaps were one of the early aesthetic accessories added to wheels to hide the nuts used to fasten the wheels onto the vehicle. Later, MAG wheels (originally made of magnesium alloys to take on a spoke effect) were developed to increase the strength and sporty appearance of the wheels. Both are found in the current market; many are replaced with fads held by automotive enthusiasts. Some believe that the wheels and tires are the most visible styling statement beyond the automobile's color and shape. This Resources in Technology will look at automotive wheels and tires. Humans learned early that simple tools could make their work easier. Heavy objects, e.g., rocks, trees, boats, could be rolled by wedging small logs under them and pushing or pulling. No doubt this is where the concept of the wheel developed. History has shown that early wheels were more easily made by fastening planks together instead of using one piece of heavy wood. Later, spoke systems were developed to lighten the weight of the wheels while maintaining strength. Tires were added to the wheels to increase useful life and to make the ride less bumpy. Today's vehicles that ride on land, roadways, and railways, are all developments or extensions of the early two-wheeled cart. The structure or propulsion of the vehicles has changed, but the basic concepts of moving a load or people have stuck to the basic vehicle concept. Today, no vehicle is more of a necessity than the automobile. Driving is a rite of passage for teenagers in developed countries. Automotive Wheels Early automotive wheels were no more than bicycle wheels. These spoked wheels had metal tires or rims to increase their life. Because of durability and automobile weight, solid rims were designed. These were forged and welded together. Today, wheels are either made of steel or other metallic alloys. Traditional steel rims are forged and welded together. Alloy wheel construction is undertaken in three manufacturing methods. Forged wheels, thought to be the best manufacturing technique, are made by taking an alloy billet (solid piece of material) and compressing it through heat and pressure. This produces a very strong, lightweight wheel. Low pressure cast wheels are made by pouring molten metal into a mold that is the shape of the desired wheel. Counter pressure casting, the third way to produce automotive wheels, uses a vacuum to pull the hot metal into the mold. This method reduces the presence of air voids in the formed metal. Specialty wheels are everywhere in the automotive market. Storefront, magazine, and newspaper ads show how wheels can change the looks of your automotive product. Many try to personalize their vehicle with a new set of wheels. Spinners are a current fad and catch your eyes when they continue to spin after the vehicle comes to a stop. If you are in the market for new wheels or tires, some knowledge and research can prove to be helpful in buying products that not only look good, but also increase the performance of your ride. Manufacturers recommend that replacement wheels and tires on automotive products be matched with those from the original design specifications. With the increased concentration on looks and performance, people want to make their vehicles look special. Some are plus- or minus-sizing their wheels and tires to enhance looks and performance. It is common to see larger diameter wheels placed on customized cars with low profile tires. Trucks are adding all-terrain and mud tires for off-road performance. Experts in the after-market wheel and tire business recommend that the overall size of replacement wheels should not exceed three percent of the manufacturer-specified wheels and tires. If this size is exceeded, problems can occur with proper transmission shifting, which will decrease fuel efficiency. …


Accurate distances are fundamental for interpreting various measured properties of galaxies. Surprisingly, many of the best-studied spiral galaxies in the Local Volume have distance uncertainties that are much larger than can be achieved with modern observation techniques. Using Hubble Space Telescopeoptical imaging, we use the tip of the red giant branch method to measure the distances to six galaxies that are included in the Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxies Survey program and its offspring surveys. The sample includes M63, M74, NGC 1291, NGC 4559, NGC 4625, and NGC 5398. We compare our results with distances reported to these galaxies based on a variety of methods. Depending on the technique, there can be a wide range in published distances, particularly from the Tully–Fisher relation. In addition, differences between the planetary nebular luminosity function and surface brightness fluctuation techniques can vary between galaxies, suggesting inaccuracies that cannot be explained by systematics in the calibrations. Our distances improve upon previous results, as we use a well-calibrated, stable distance indicator, precision photometry in an optimally selected field of view, and a Bayesian maximum likelihood technique that reduces measurement uncertainties.


The courts and constitutional law have had a significant impact on public schools and public school administrators. The purpose of this study was to examine administrative perceptions of particular school law issues and concerns. Via a questionnaire, administrators from west central Illinois overwhelmingly stated that school law information was necessary for effective performance in their jobs. They also named the superintendent as the school official who needs to have the highest level of school law knowledge. When questioned about various issues of school law, respondents indicated an extreme importance in six topics: due process and student suspension/expulsion, student rights, liability, teacher evaluation, attendance/truancy, and special education. The most popular source of school law information for the respondents was seminars/meetings closely followed by three others: professional literature, other administrators, and the school's legal representative. Data did not indicate any consensus that administrators experience difficulty in obtaining school law knowledge nor any specific problem surrounding the search for this knowledge. However, based on this study future research should continue into the area of difficulties administrators may experience when seeking school law knowledge. Table of


Based on Donald Trump's statement "You Say Asia Pacific, I Say" Indo Pacific" became a hint for the changing geopolitics of the world which marks a fundamental change to global politics. The discourse of Indo-Pacific demands a fundamental shift in how to understand the dynamics of international politics, formerly known as Asia-Pacific. The emphasis on hegemonic practices, strategic competition, to geopolitical transformation of the region is the main scope that is then created from the projection of the US grand strategy. The Indo-Pacific is essentially an expansion of geographical coverage by involving India as a symbol of the dominant force in the Indian Ocean into a progressive US move to present structural obstacles to the dominance of Chinese military power.


Fluoroquinolones (FQ), commonly prescribed antibiotics, may trigger aortic and carotid dissections. We report three successive cases of visceral artery dissection: one patient with celiac trunk dissection and two with dissection of the superior mesenteric artery. These events occurred up to 4 months after 7 to 14 days of FQ treatment (2 cases of ofloxacin, 1 of norfloxacin). There was no other apparent cause of dissection. These dissections were isolated, apart from a minimal aortic dissection separate from the visceral arterial dissection in one case. A case series cannot certify the relationship between dissection and FQ, but it can be hypothesized. The association between fluoroquinolone use and higher occurrence of aneurysm and dissection remains discussed in aortic syndrome. The potential link between FQ and visceral artery dissection is even less described but should be reported in the absence of previous cases in the literature. The pathophysiological theory is the induction of overexpression of some matrix metalloproteinases and a decrease of their inhibitors, provoking a dysregulation in collagen synthesis and degradation of the extracellular matrix.


Background: Intensive care units (ICUs) have become hubs of nosocomial infections worldwide. There has been a continuous rise in the development of antimicrobial resistance among ICU-acquired infections. Particularly, the Gram-negative bacteria implicated in ICU-acquired infections have become resistant to the majority of the antibiotics leading to a critical therapeutic problem. The present study was conducted to determine the antimicrobial resistance pattern of microorganisms causing nosocomial infections (ventilator-associated pneumonia [VAP], central line-associated bloodstream infection [CLABSI], and catheter-associated urinary tract infection [CAUTI]) in a multidisciplinary ICU. Materials and Methods: This prospective observational cohort study included the patients with ICU stay ≥ 48 h and any of the ICU-acquired infections: VAP, CLABSI, or CAUTI. The appropriate specimen was collected as per the standard procedure and cultured. The antimicrobial susceptibility of all the bacterial isolates recovered from the samples was performed according to the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) recommendations. The antimicrobial resistance data were analyzed using WHONET Microbiology Laboratory Database software 5.6 (WHONET 5.6). Results: Gram-negative microorganisms were the principal pathogens causing various infections in the ICU, out of which Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumonia were the commonest. Most of the Gram-negative bacteria showed a high degree of resistance to the majority of the antibiotics. Colistin was observed to be the most effective antimicrobial for Gram-negative pathogens followed by doripenem, meropenem, and tigecycline. The majority of Staphylococcus aureus isolates (71.4%) were methicillin-resistant S. aureus; however, all were sensitive to vancomycin and linezolid. Vancomycin-resistant Enterococci constituted 43% of Enterococcus isolates and were sensitive to linezolid and tigecycline. Conclusion: Antimicrobial resistance was very high among the pathogens causing nosocomial infections in the ICU, especially Gram-negative bacteria demonstrated a substantially high degree of resistance to the majority of the antibiotics. Antibiotic stewardship will help control the emergence of multidrug-resistant microbes.


This paper considers the Australian federal government's approach to climate adaptation policy for remote northern Indigenous communities through the close examination of a seminal Scoping Study. This approach is taken to illustrate the lag between adaptation theory and practice, and to highlight important considerations to enable the development of a just and effective policy. The analysis suggests that policy in this area would benefit from the further consideration of three factors, namely the role of uncertainty in climate policy, the need for meaningful consultation with communities, and the benefit of integrating contextual and bottom-up assessment of vulnerability with decision-making in an iterative manner. The paper concludes by suggesting that the current approach to vulnerability assessment is insufficiently nuanced to allow an adequate appreciation of factors that influence social vulnerability in remote communities, and consequently, policy developed from it is likely to be ineffective.


We have analyzed the implementation of a 4H-SiC NPN high voltage BJT as a small signal amplifier transistor. From experimental characterization and intrinsic device modeling, we determined that the factors limiting performance are base transport considerations and an inefficient layout for high frequency applications. Approaches such as improving base transport and base series resistance are suggested in order to achieve 4H-SiC BJTs with UHF and lower microwave frequency capabilities. Using two-dimensional numerical simulations, we present an improvement on the existing design wherein the intrinsic device modeling suggests a unity gain frequency f/sub T/ of approximately 5 GHz.


In stark contrast to financial markets, relatively little attention has been given to modeling agricultural commodity price volatility. In recent years, numerous methodologies with various strengths have been proposed for modeling price volatility in financial markets. We propose using a mixture of normals with unique GARCH processes in each component for modeling agricultural commodity prices. While a normal mixture model is quite flexible and allows for time varying skewness and kurtosis, its biggest strength is that each component can be viewed as a different market regime and thus estimated parameters are more readily interpreted. We apply the proposed model to ten different agricultural commodity weekly cash prices. Both in-sample fit and out-of-sample forecasting tests confirm that the two-state NM-GARCH approach performs better than the traditional normal GARCH model. For each commodity, it is found that an expected negative price change corresponds to a higher volatility persistence, while an expected positive price change arises in conjunction with a greater responsiveness of volatility. A significant and statedependent inverse leverage effect is detected only for corn in a highly volatile regime that occurs with a lower probability, indicating the volatility in this regime tends to increase more following a realized price rise than a realized price drop.


The analytical inductive programming system IGOR II is an implemented prototype for constructing recursive functional programs from few non-recursive, possibly non-ground example equations describing a subset of the input/output (I/O) behaviour of a function. Starting from an initial, overly general program hypothesis, stepwise several refinement operators are applied which compute successor hypotheses. Organised as an uniformed-cost search, the hypothesis with the lowest costs is developed and replaced by its successors until the best does not contain any unbound variables.


Eight patients born at term in the years 1974-76, with neonatal convulsions due to severe perinatal asphyxia, were treated for 6-11 days with continuous intravenous infusion of diazepam. Doses of 1.0-1.5 mg per hour (mg/h) were usually required to stop the convulsions. In one infant 2.75 mg/h was needed. During the treatment, all infants had measurable serum concentrations of diazepam, half of them above 35 mumol/1. The convulsions stopped in all eight infants, and did not return after discontinuation of the infusion. Side-effects were noted in all infants, but they were all able to breathe adequately. At follow-up the psychomotor development was normal in all cases and there were no signs of neurological disorders, except in one patient, in whom mild epilepsy was observed. Continuous infusion of diazepam should be given in doses of at least 1 mg/h (corresponding to around 0.3 mg/kg h) to stop convulsions in full-term infants efficiently and should be increased under close supervision and with monitoring of respiration and heart rate until treatment is effective.


In this paper, we present a multi-level fidelity approach and associated computational tools for the prediction of the added resistance of various types of ships in waves. Employed methods include a fully empirical formula, a semi-empirical asymptotic formula, a potential flow, 3D panel method and a CFD code. Each of them requires a different level of detail for the hull form and this enables the application to various practical scenarios. The developed software tools are here validated against recently obtained model experiments data from MARIC. Developed tools are now integrated in the design software platform of MARIC and are used in the optimisation of ship design.


The article sets forth for volleyball amateurs the means of training, tactical conduct from the points of the drilling of tactical conduct, the connotation and training of tactical sense, psychological movement and tactical behavior, and the training of flexibility in tactical conduct, etc.


We presented a miniaturized defected ground structure-based millimeter-wave (MMW) contemporary MIMO antenna for 5G smart applications devices. The proposed MIMO antenna offers many advantages including high gain, compactness, planar geometry, wide impedance bandwidth, and reduced mutual coupling effects performance. The top layer of the proposed four-port MIMO antenna design comprises 1× 2 rectangular patch array structures, with each placed at the middle of a 20× 20mm2 substrate of material (RO4350B) having thickness of 0.76mm and loss tangent of 0.0037. For miniaturization and better performance, both the ground layer and radiating patches are defected with slots of a rectangular shape while an E-shaped slot is placed at the center of the ground plane. The operating impedance bandwidth of the proposed antenna ranges from 26.4 to 30.9GHz incorporating the dominant portion of the mm-wave band. The proposed MIMO antenna is also characterized by the fundamental MIMO performance metrics such as Envelope Correlation Coefficient (ECC) which is less than 0.12 for any two-element array that encounters the mandatory standard of < 0.5, high Diversity gain (DG) reaching its ideal value of 10 as well as minimum isolation of −19 dB with a total efficiency of 85% at 28GHz. These characteristics make the proposed compact four-port MIMO antenna one of the best candidates to be used in 5G portable devices.


Advances in genetics, soil biochemistry and microbiome analysis are opening up a new era in Precision Agriculture. In this direction, new techniques bring groundbreaking changes in land management practices through direct or indirect management of soil microbial communities. There is huge demand for the protection and enhancement of soil health and climate change resilience of crops. The increase in population, food consumption and fast approaching climate change pose a new threat to mankind that only by being proactive and highly prepared to deploy all novel and innovative stratagems in state-of-the-art soil microbiome precision agriculture can be avoided.


Abstract In the present review some animal-related indicators, possibly relevant for a monitoring scheme of buffalo cow welfare at the farm level, are suggested. The indicators are discussed on the basis of their validity (meaningful with respect to animal welfare), reliability (reflecting the tendency to give the same results on repeated measurements) and feasibility (concerning time and money consume). The attention was focused on the following indicators: excessive thinning or fattening assessed with Body Condition Score (BCS) systems; cleanliness; lameness; resting, social, oral abnormal behaviours; injuries; stockmanship; animal-human relationship; positive indicators (diversity of lying postures, allogrooming, etc.). We have concluded that some of the indicators validated for cattle could be conveniently applied to buffaloes without changes (e.g. injuries and avoidance distance), while others should be appropriately adjusted to this species (e.g. BCS, cleanliness, housing factors). In addition, further studies are needed either to find reliable and feasible registration methods for some indicators (e.g. aggressive and resting behaviours) or to identify additional parameters specific for buffaloes (e.g. prevalence of buffalo cows injected with oxytocin during milking as an indicator of the quality of human-animal relationship).


Our paper concerns the question of whether there exist hedge assets during extreme market conditions, which has become increasingly important since the recent financial crisis. This paper develops a novel extended skew-t copula model to examine the effectiveness of gold and US dollar (USD) as hedge or safe haven asset against stock prices for seven developed markets over the 2000–2013 period. Our results indicate the existence of skewness and heavy/thin tails in the distributions of all three types of assets in most of the developed markets, lending support to the employment of flexible distributions to evaluate the tail dependences among assets. We find that USD is preferred to gold as a hedge asset during normal market conditions, while both assets can serve as safe haven assets for most countries when stock markets crash. Our simultaneous analysis of the three assets advises against a joint hedge strategy of gold and USD due to the high tail dependence between them during extreme market conditions. This result highlights the importance of simultaneous modelling of multiple assets in financial risk analysis.


BACKGROUND: Thyroid abnormalities are common in Type 2 diabetes mellitus, severity of thyroid abnormalities accelerate coronary heart disease by several fold in patients with thyroid dysfunction. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this prospective study is to determine the correlation between low T3 syndrome and Type 2 diabetes mellitus. METHODS: In this descriptive, prospective cross sectional study, all patients who presented to the Department of Medicine with Type 2 diabetes mellitus >5 years during this study period were included. Included clinical evidence of sepsis or cachexia or Concomitant presence of any predominant severe systemic disease including severe anaemia Hb% <5g%. Other major surgical procedures performed before or within 6 months after the time of thyroid sampling. RESULTS: Mean age of Type 2 diabetes mellitus patients was [60.50±6.15(SD) years], Fatigue and generalized weakness, dyspnoea on exertion, swelling of feet, cold intolerance, hair loss, hoarse voice and decrease libido were common symptoms of low T3 patients, Alcoholism was seen in (80%), Cardiomyopathy was see in most patients (42%) and was common in the age group of 55-60 years (38%) in present study, Mean pulse rate was [104±6.9 (SD) beats/min]. Systolic blood pressure was [131±20.8 (SD) mm of Hg], diastolic blood pressure was [84.6±12.4 (SD) mm of Hg]. Mean blood urea level was [74.2±18.9 (SD) mg/dl], mean serum creatinine levels was [2.3±0.5 (SD) mg/dl], the estimated creatinine clearance was [25.8±8.5 (SD) ml/min]. Mean serum LDL was [104.4±3.7 (SD) mg/dl], Mean PR interval is was [0.21±0.023 (SD) sec, Systolic dysfunction on 2D Echo was (20%), Diastolic dysfunction on 2D Echo was (30%), Pericardial effusion was seen in 10%. Global hypokinesia was seen in 30%. Segmental hypokinesia was seen in 3%. Mean ejection fraction was [36.78±5.08 (SD) %]. The high pulmonary artery systolic pressure was seen 70% of patients. CONCLUSION: There is significant percentage of Type 2 diabetes mellitus patients having low T3 alone as biochemical parameter. It is important to recognize this condition in patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus as it is associated with increased severity of heart failure, increased in evidence of renal failure which may need additional support of thyroid hormone administration to have a better outcome in patients with chronic heart failure.


Nursing faculty are not only charged with educating students in creative and engaging ways but also expected to participate in service activities that benefit the surrounding community. One such initiative was the creation of a television health education series hosted by nursing faculty. The authors describe the evolution of a partnership between a university-based public access television channel and the nursing department that provided community education while enriching both the undergraduate and graduate nursing curricula.


Regulation of alternative splicing is controlled by pre-mRNA sequences (cis-elements) and trans-acting protein factors that bind them. The combinatorial interactions of multiple protein factors with the cis-elements surrounding a given alternative splicing event lead to an integrated splicing decision. The mechanism of multifactorial splicing regulation is poorly understood. Using a splicing-sensitive DNA microarray, we assayed 352 Caenorhabditis elegans alternative cassette exons for changes in embryonic splicing patterns between wild-type and 12 different strains carrying mutations in a splicing factor. We identified many alternative splicing events that are regulated by multiple splicing factors. Many splicing factors have the ability to behave as splicing repressors for some alternative cassette exons and as splicing activators for others. Unexpectedly, we found that the ability of a given alternative splicing factor to behave as an enhancer or repressor of a specific splicing event can change during development. Our observations that splicing factors can change their effects on a substrate during development support a model in which combinatorial effects of multiple factors, both constitutive and developmentally regulated ones, contribute to the overall splicing decision.


Complementation of the natural NH2-terminal 134-amino acid fragment of the reduced, carbamoylmethylated human somatotropin with synthetic analogs of COOH-terminal fragments of 57, 42, or 38 amino acids of reduced, carbamoyl-methylated human somatotropin has been investigated. It was found that synthetic fragments of 57 and 42 amino acids gave recombinants with full growth-promoting activity, whereas attempts to obtain a recombinant with the synthetic 38-amino acid fragment were unsuccessful. The synthesis of two analogs of the COOH-terminal fragment of human somatotropin, human [N]e170, Ala165,182,189] somatotropin-(150-191) and human [Nle170, Ala165,182,189] somatotropin-(154-191), is herein described.


Background: The spirituality of healthcare providers and their clients is becoming a crucial issue in a world increasingly preoccupied with material issues. In light of such, how do nurses enhance their spiritual intelligence against such materialist pressures? After a 60-year separation of Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and the rancor between their two governments, what are the similarities and the differences in nurse spirituality profiles between these two different societies? With increasing contact between the two, this issue should be examined and explored, as it has the potential to become an essential unspoken element underpinning holistic care quality. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare spiritual intelligence between nurses in two different Chinese societies. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive and inferential study was conducted at five medical centers in China and Taiwan. A total of 524 registered hospital nurses were recruited as participants. We used R. N. Wolman's (2001) self-reported PsychoMatrix Spirituality Inventory to measure participant levels of spiritual intelligence. The PsychoMatrix Spirituality Inventory incorporated seven factors, including divinity, mindfulness, extrasensory perception, community, intellectuality, trauma, and childhood spirituality. Results: Results showed that social systems did have an impact on nurses' spiritual intelligence. Childhood spirituality and religious beliefs and activities greatly affected and effectively predicted nurses' spiritual intelligence. Nurses on either side of the Taiwan Strait all reported a need to deal with their daily lives pragmatically, objectively, and rationally and relied on empirical evidence in work settings. Conclusions: As social and economic contacts increase across the Taiwan Strait, it is imperative that nurses adopt cultural awareness and sensitivity as they provide holistic care to clients. This study opens doors to dialogue about and a better understanding of nurses' spiritual intelligence in Taiwan and China.


The management of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) consists of either surgical intervention and/or pharmacologic manipulation. Twelve patients with SUI were evaluated for management by the use of a fitted standard contraceptive diaphragm. Complete resolution of SUI was achieved in 11 of 12 patients (91%). Two of the 12 patients achieved continence but withdrew from the study because of associated discomfort from the diaphragm, therefore, complete resolution of SUI was achieved in 9 of 12 patients (75%).


Abstract : To simulate HANE phenomena at various altitudes, a pulsed (5 nsec) Nd-laser is focused onto Al or C foil targets surrounded by an ambient gas (N2, H2) at pressures between 15 m Torr and 5 Torr. Temperatures and densities are derived from side-on, time-resolved and time-integrated measurements of absolute spectral line and continuum intensities emitted from the photoionized region ahead of the blast-wave front, and also in the region behind the blast front. (Author)


Activation of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors is thought to mediate toxic damage to central neurons due to hypoxia-ischemia, hypoglycemia, and trauma. We studied identified rat retinal ganglion cell neurons in vitro, a useful system for the study of excitotoxicity, and compared the protective effects of delayed administration of a competitive antagonist, 2-amino-5-phosphonovalerate (APV), and of an uncompetitive antagonist, MK-801, after glutamate-induced injury. We used maximally protective doses of the 2 antagonists. Under these conditions, both antagonists were able to prevent neuronal cell death if they were present within minutes of exposure to an endogenous glutamate-related toxin. In contrast, MK-801, but not APV, protected significantly against NMDA-mediated neurotoxicity when administered 1 to 4 hours after the initial insult. Thus, at least under certain conditions, an uncompetitive NMDA antagonist may offer a distinct advantage over a competitive antagonist when given several hours after a neurologic injury.


The invention relates to a shock absorber with a housing (1), and an inner pipe (2) arranged in the housing (1), a piston rod (6) which dips into the inner pipe, a piston (5) which is arranged at that end of the piston rod (6) which dips into the inner pipe (2), and which piston (5) divides the interior of the inner pipe into a lower chamber (3) and an upper chamber (4), a first valve arrangement (9) which is arranged on the piston (5) and by means of which a working medium which is held in the inner pipe (2) can flow out of the lower chamber (3) and into the upper chamber (4), and vice versa, when the piston (5) moves in the inner pipe (2), a second valve arrangement (8) which is arranged at the upper end of the inner pipe (2) and by means of which the working medium which is held in the inner pipe (2) can flow out of the upper chamber (4) only into the interior of the housing (1), serving as a tank for the working medium, when the piston (5) moves in the inner pipe (2), a third valve arrangement (7) which is arranged at the lower end of the inner pipe (2) and by means of which the working medium which is held in the interior of the housing (1), serving as a tank, can flow out of the interior of the housing (1), serving as a tank, only into the lower chamber (3) when the piston (5) moves in the inner pipe (2). The shock absorber is distinguished by the fact that at least one proportional flow-control valve (22) is arranged between a first connecting element (13) of the lower chamber (3) of the inner pipe (2) and a second connecting element (12) at the upper chamber (4) of the inner pipe (2).


Abstract : The work described in the report had three objectives. First, to select a number of realistic physical problems and develop mathematical models suitable for solution on both analog and digital computers. Second, to develop successively more complete versions of one of the models to determine its suitability for solution on a hybrid computer. Third, to examine the utility of the parallel logic capabilities of an otherwise conventional modern analog computer. Some five models of problems arising from the dynamic behavior circulatory and respiratory control systems were programmed and solved on a digital computer. Three were also solved on an analog computer. A digital detection system was simulated with emphasis given to utilizing parallel logic. The most elaborate of the respiratory models considered is recommended for further investigation on a hybrid computer. (Author)


Wetlands are ubiquitous over the globe, comprise a vast array of ecosystem types and are of great ecological and social importance. Their functioning is intimately tied to the atmosphere by the energy and mass exchanges that take place across the wetland–atmosphere boundary. This article examines recent research into these exchanges, with an emphasis on the water vapour exchange. Although broad classes of wetland type, such as fen, bog and marsh, can be defined using ecological or hydrologic metrics, distinct difference in energy exchanges between the classes cannot be found. This arises because there are many factors that control the energy exchanges and interplay of these factors is unique to every wetland ecosystem. Wetlands are more similar in their radiation balances than in the partitioning of this energy into conductive and turbulent heat fluxes. This is especially true of evapotranspiration (ET) rates, which vary considerably among and within wetland classes. A global survey of wetland ET studies shows that location has little to do with ET rates and that variation in rates is largely determined by local climate and wetland characteristics. Recent modelling studies suggest that although wetlands occupy a small portion of the global land surface, their water and energy exchanges may be important in regional and global climates. Although the number of studies of wetland–atmosphere interactions has increased in recent years more research is needed. Five key areas of study are identified: (i) the importance of moss covers, (ii) lack of study in tropical systems, (iii) inclusion of wetlands in global climate models, (iv) importance of microforms in wetlands and their scaling to the whole ecosystem, and (v) the paucity of annual ET measurements.


We obtain an embedding theorem for compact strongly pseudoconvex CR manifolds which are boundaries of some complete Hermitian manifolds. We use this to compactify some negatively curved Kahler manifolds with compact strongly pseudoconvex boundary. An embedding theorem for Sasakian manifolds is also derived.


The present study chronicles experiments done on the feasibility of exploiting sand's natural capacity as an adsorbant for the removal of nickel laden wastewater. Batch adsorbtion studies were carried out. Leaching agents such as 0.01 M EDTA (disodium salt), 0.1 N HCI and acetic acid alongwith water as control showed 0.01 M EDTA-Na and 0.1 N HCl as suitable leaching agents to enhance metal removal from sand. Pot experiments were successively carried out with Arundo donax plants to determine the effectiveness of treatment on the sand. It was found that sand could continue as a good substrate for plant growth and the amount of leaching agent required for a pilot scale constructed wetland was estimated. The maximum amount of nickel adsorbed was 5 mg/L at a pH of 6. EDTA was selected as the chelating agent and the pot experiments showed no immediate effects on plant growth.


Proton Computer Tomography (pCT) is a new imaging modality. It based on proton with matter interaction. Treatment with protons is used already against cancer, as it offers the possibility to give a high dose to the tumour, while at the same time deposit a very low dose to the surrounding tissue. Imaging with protons improves the accuracy of the dose planning. However, there are no commercial pCT scanners available in the market today. At the Department of Physics and Technology at the University of Bergen, a new generation of a Digital Tracking Calorimeter (DTC) is designed. It is a significant part of the pCT system. It is a highly complex device designed with 41 layers of ALPIDEs, a Monotholitic Active Pixel Sensor. It is more than 4000 ALPIDEs in the design, and they will be read out and controlled by 41 custom readout units. A control system is required, both to configure the system and to monitor vital health parameters such as temperatures, current and voltages during operation. During this thesis, prototyping has been done to find the best solution. At the time of writing, the DTC is still under development, so the work covers tests of communication protocols and prototyping of a monitoring system with randomly generated data. Various options of communication protocols for the pCT control system has been tested in this thesis.The work of this thesis has shown that the best option for the pCT control system will be the use of OPC UA communication protocol as it is a standard industrial protocol of communication. An OPC UA information model for the pCT has been developed. The XML design file has been imported to a commercial SDK.


Preimplantation genetic diagnosis was carried out for embryonic analysis in a patient with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1). This is a rare autosomal-dominant cancer syndrome and the patients with MEN1 are characterized by the occurrence of tumors in multiple endocrine tissues, associated with germline and somatic inactivating mutations in the MEN1 gene. This case report documents a successful preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) involving a couple at-risk for MEN1 syndrome, with a birth of a healthy infant. The couple underwent a cycle of controlled ovarian stimulation and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Embryos were biopsied at the blastocyst stage and cryopreserved; we used PCR-based DNA analysis for PGD testing. Only one of the five embryos analyzed for MEN1 syndrome was unaffected. This embryo was thawed and transferred following endometrial preparation. After positive βHCG test; clinical pregnancy was confirmed by ultrasound, and a healthy infant was born. PGD for single gene disorders has been an emerging therapeutic tool for couples who are at risk of passing a genetic disease on to their offspring.


The passing of seasons, as gauged by annual events or phenophases in organisms' life cycles, is arguably one of the most pervasive environmental variations on Earth. Shifts in seasonal timing, or phenology, are observed in flowering and other stages of plant development, animal migration and reproduction, hibernation, and the seasonal activity of cold-blooded animals [e.g., Schwartz, 2003; Root et al., 2005]. As an important life history trait, phenology is an object of natural selection; depending on timescales, shifts in phenology can lead to evolutionary change. Thus, phenology is not only an indicator of pattern in environmental science, but also its variation has fitness consequences for individuals, and these can scale up to broader ecological dynamics.


In this article, we propose briefly the implementation of an integrated platform for the provision of advanced tele-medicine services over satellite, specifically tailored to the continuing medical education and training of health professionals on new surgical techniques. The system will enable the transmission of live - high quality - surgical video from operating rooms, including both panoramic and endoscopic view, in order to facilitate a) training of surgeons and/or students on advanced surgical techniques through the observation of live procedures using the da Vinci system and b) mentoring/proctoring of novice surgeons during their initial laparoscopic procedures. The system also provides interaction between trainees and local surgical tutors via videoconference. It is aimed at implementing an end-to-end solution, which will offer horizontal integration of the proposed tele-medicine service, with the offer of equipment and broadband satcom/telecom services, in a scalable and adaptable manner that can be easily replicated on a wider scale.


Demand for supplying contactless or wireless power for various applications, ranging from low-power biomedical implants to high-power battery charging systems, is on the rise. Inductive power transfer (IPT) is a well recognized technique through which power can be transferred from one system to another with no physical contacts. This paper presents a novel bidirectional IPT system, which is particularly suitable for applications such as plug-in electric vehicles (EVs) and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) systems, where two-way power transfer is advantageous. The proposed IPT system facilitates simultaneous and controlled charging or discharging of multiple EVs through loose magnetic coupling and without any physical connections. A mathematical model is presented to show that both the amount and direction of power flow between EVs or multiple systems can be controlled through either phase or/and magnitude modulation of voltages generated by converters of each system. The validity of the concept is verified by theoretical analysis, simulations, and experimental results of a 1.5-kW prototype bidirectional IPT system with a 4-cm air gap. Results indicate that the proposed system is an ideal power interface for efficient and contactless integration of multiple hybrid or EVs into typical power networks.


Backround Allergic rhinitis is a frequent atopic disease that appears with children from one year of age and above with seasonal character, but it might not be related to the seasons. The children are prone to infections on the upper respiratory organs. Frequently AR is followed up by obstructive bronchitis or asthma, in the scope of the sinobronchial syndrome with the small children. Methods and results The Health Cards, reports from the Children`s Clinic and IBH Kozle were used. This study has been made on 2000 children from 1–14 years of age. Microbiologic analysis has been performed (nose and throat), eosinophils from the nasal glair, specific IgE, ultrasound of sinuses in the cases of older children, blood count, SE, CRP etc. RA is proven with eosinophilia in the nose, recurrent nasal obstruction which is an obstacle for the child during its sleep and everyday life. The treatment includes local decongestants, nasal corticosteroids sprays, as Flixonase(fluticasone propionate) and it can be used from the earliest childhood and further on. Conclusion From 2006 to 2016 with diagnosis of RA, 700 children have been treated and in 389 cases there was a positive response with even a short use of nasal corticosteroids spray- fluticasone propionate, while the remaining had to be completed with antihistamines (Loratadine, Letizen). In the last few years also the very bad quality of the breathing air is suspected to be another reason for the increased AR.


Atmospheric models such as the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model provide a tool to evaluate the behavior of regional hydrological cycle components, including precipitation, evapotranspiration, soil water storage, and runoff. Recent model developments have focused on coupled atmospheric‐hydrological modeling systems, such as WRF‐Hydro, in order to account for subsurface, overland, and river flow and potentially improve the representation of land‐atmosphere interactions. The aim of this study is to investigate the contribution of lateral terrestrial water flow to the regional hydrological cycle, with the help of a joint soil‐vegetation‐atmospheric water tagging procedure newly developed in the so‐called WRF‐tag and WRF‐Hydro‐tag models. An application of both models for the high precipitation event on 15 August 2008 in the German and Austrian parts of the upper Danube river basin (94,100 km2) is presented. The precipitation that fell in the basin during this event is considered as a water source, is tagged, and subsequently tracked for a 40‐month period until December 2011. At the end of the study period, in both simulations, approximately 57% of the tagged water has run off, while 41% has evaporated back to the atmosphere, including 2% that has recycled in the upper Danube river basin as precipitation. In WRF‐Hydro‐tag, the surface evaporation of tagged water is slightly enhanced by surface flow infiltration and slightly reduced by subsurface lateral water flow in areas with low topography gradients. This affects the source precipitation recycling only in a negligible amount.


Signal transducers and activators of transcription (STATs) are cytoplasmic proteins that bind to activated membrane receptors, undergo ligand-dependent phosphorylation on tyrosine residues, and translocate to the nucleus, where they induce transcription of specific genes in response to a variety of ligands, including cytokines and some growth factors. Using immunocytochemical and biochemical techniques, we investigated the localization and responses of STAT1 and STAT2 to epidermal growth factor (EGF) stimulation in IEC-6 intestinal epithelial cells and HeLa cells. These studies provide the first description of STAT activation and localization in response to EGF in intestinal epithelial cells and some novel findings regarding the activation and localization of STATs in general. These include the following. First, EGF promoted the tyrosine phosphorylation of STAT1 in IEC-6 cells and caused its translocation to the nucleus. Second, in the absence of EGF stimulation both STAT1 and STAT2 were localized to the Golgi apparatus in IEC-6 cells. Third, EGF caused the translocation of STAT2 to the nucleus in both IEC-6 and HeLa cells without inducing the tyrosine phosphorylation of STAT2.


With the emergence of global information and technology, firms have reformulated marketing and technological teaming in a concert effort to accommodate transnational marketing relationships that enable firms to compete in a global business society. Given the competitiveness of organizational distinction and implication, firms have proactively created an internal synergy that enable marketing teams to better excel in an environment of obscurity and uncertainly. Marketing management has evolved into phenomena that require constant reassessment of vision, mission, and strategy in an unrelenting effort to maintain organizational survival and competitiveness in a global recessive business economy. Information technology has greatly inspired this renewed sense of competition; moreover, organizations that embrace the challenge of integrating technology within marketing teams will only become the change agents the business world community will aspire to duplicate for great strategic advantage.


Fairness in employment necessitates that the employer apply consistent disciplinary standards in the workplace, so that employees who commit the same or similar disciplinary infraction are treated equally. The Code of Good Practice: Dismissal (in Schedule 8 of the Labour Relations Act 55 of 1995) sets out a range of guidelines to be applied by the employer before a decision to dismiss an employer may be taken. It seeks to protect employees from arbitrary action by the employer in order to achieve a measure of employment justice. Employers must therefore apply the rules of the workplace consistently by effecting discipline against all employees accountable for similar misconduct, and also by applying the same sanction for similar infractions. The principle of consistent treatment of employees is referred to as the "parity principle". It provides that employees who participate in the same or similar wrongdoing, with no distinguishing factors from one case to another, should be penalized in the same way. The foundation of the principle lies in the notion that similar cases must be treated in a similar fashion. It is based on the principle of reasonableness in that fairness in the workplace requires the application of reasonable rules, and not arbitrary or irrational opinions of the employer. Reasonable rules will reflect generality and equality and invariably lead to legal certainty, and a failure by the employer to apply those standards consistently may lead to a finding that the employer acted unfairly in dismissal disputes. In addition to the requirement of consistency, an employer is required to consider a range of other factors before taking the decision to dismiss an employee. These include the gravity of the misconduct; the nature of the work performed by the employee; the circumstances under which the infraction occurred; and the employee's personal circumstances which may relate to the previous disciplinary record of the employee; his/her length of service and the employee's personal circumstances. The consideration of these circumstances often leads to a tension between applying the requirement of consistency on the one hand, and the need to take into account the specific circumstances of the employee and circumstances of the misconduct. This comment explores the different approaches adopted by the courts in determining whether or not inconsistent treatment by the employer justifies a finding that the dismissal of an employee was unfair in view of the obligation to take into account the other factors required in the Code. These issues often arise in circumstances where an employee is dismissed by an employer and claims that the employer acted unfairly because other employees were given less severe sanctions for the same or similar misconduct. In deciding the fairness of the matter, the courts have drawn a distinction between individual misconduct and collective misconduct. Historical inconsistency is generally applied in cases of individual misconduct, whilst contemporaneous inconsistency is applied in circumstances of collective misconduct.


Based on the Weinberg-Salam theory and on a quark-parton model of strong interactions, the one-loop radiative corrections to the P-odd asymmetries A+or- and to the charge asymmetry B in the deep inelastic scattering of polarised leptons on unpolarised nucleons are calculated at incident lepton energies up to dozens of TeV.


COVID-19 is a disease first identified in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, in December 2019, causes by a SARS-COV-2 virus infection. By 27 October 2020, 43,921,473 confirmed cases were reported worldwide, with 1,166,389 COVID-19 deaths. Conjunctivitis has been reported in adults and pediatric patients with COVID-19. Objective: The aim of this meta-analysis is to estimate the odd Ratio (ORs) of conjunctivitis in patients with COVID-19. Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis have been performed using the PubMed and Google Scholar literature search. The ORs of conjunctivitis in adults and pediatric patients is the outcome of this meta-analysis. Results: There have been 1041 articles published since the outbreak in December 2019, according to the latest literature. For the meta-analysis, 20 studies with a total of 3383 participants were included. The odds ratio (ORs) of conjunctivitis was 0.01 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.00–0.02). No bias has been reported. Conclusion: Conjunctivitis is the most common ocular manifestations reported in adults. This comprehensive meta-analysis quantifies the existing evidence linking conjunctivitis with COVID-19 and highlights the high percentage of heterogeneity that is shown in the current studies. Finally, it offers a single review article which includes all the current articles available for COVID-19 and conjunctivitis in adults and children.


Over the past few decades, microbiota research has been gaining the attention of the researchers working on the concepts of health–enhancement and overall–wellbeing. The mammalian microbiome has been progressively acknowledged as a developing research area resulting in an increased number of publications. This study intends to use scientometric and bibliometric analysis to evaluate the research development and evolution of publication patterns in the field of mammalian microbiome between 2007 and 2020. We retrieved 512 published articles from the Web of Science Core Collection and were analyzed. We assessed the quantity and quality of research output through statistical methods of bibliometric indicators, comprising a number of publications, citations, productive authors, journals and countries, using a bibliometric analysis. Scientometric analysis was performed using main path analysis, bibliometric coupling, co-word co-occurrence and co-author analysis, systematically characterizing and visualizing the trend and delivering a pivotal review of the mammalian microbiome research status quo. The results identified an increase in the number of publications over time showing the rapid research growth, with top productive countries recording the highest number of research outcomes with influential research. The bibliographic coupling revealed the most shared papers that form landmark papers and the co-author analysis indicated the most influential authors in mammalian microbiome research. The evolutionary path of the mammalian microbiome research was traced using the main path analysis identifying the milestone papers. The frequently occurred words were enumerated from co-word, co-occurrence networks. The information from this study could be a transcript for a comprehensive understanding of current mammalian microbiome research and can also direct the future and emerging trends in this research realm.


OBJECTIVES
To review the available literature on patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) following soft tissue augmentation at implant sites.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
A comprehensive electronic and manual search was performed to identify clinical studies that involved soft tissue augmentation around dental implants and reported PROMs, including post-operative morbidity, painkillers intake, quality of life, aesthetics and satisfactions.

RESULTS
Nineteen articles were included in the qualitative analysis. Autogenous grafts (free gingival graft and connective tissue graft), acellular dermal matrix and xenogeneic collagen matrix were utilized, either with a bilaminar- or an apically positioned flap approach. PROMs reported in the literature included perceived hardship of the procedure and pain during the surgery, post-operative morbidity, painkillers intake, number of days with discomfort, satisfaction, aesthetic evaluation, quality of life and willingness to undergo the treatment again. Most of the included studies showed similar PROMs between autogenous grafts and substitutes, in terms of post-operative morbidity, painkillers intake, quality of life, aesthetic assessment and satisfaction. Nevertheless, a trend towards lower post-operative discomfort was observed for graft substitutes. High scores for patient satisfaction and aesthetic evaluation were observed in all the interventions compared to non-grafted sites.

CONCLUSIONS
PROMs represent a crucial endpoint of clinical studies evaluating the outcomes of soft tissue grafts at implant sites. Most of the studies did not find significant differences in terms of patient morbidity and painkillers between autogenous grafts and substitutes. Soft tissue grafting can enhance patient satisfaction and aesthetic evaluation compared to non-grafted sites.


Vessel enhancement (aka vesselness) filters, are part of angiographic image processing for more than twenty years. Their popularity comes from their ability to enhance tubular structures while filtering out other structures, especially as a preliminary step of vessel segmentation. Choosing the right vesselness filter among the many available can be difficult, and their parametrization requires an accurate understanding of their underlying concepts and a genuine expertise. In particular, using default parameters is often not enough to reach satisfactory results on specific data. Currently, only few benchmarks are available to help the users choosing the best filter and its parameters for a given application. In this article, we present a generic framework to compare vesselness filters. We use this framework to compare seven gold standard filters. Our experiments are performed on three public datasets: the hepatic Ircad dataset (CT images), the Bullit dataset (brain MRA images) and the synthetic VascuSynth dataset. We analyse the results of these seven filters both quantitatively and qualitatively. In particular, we assess their performances in key areas: the organ of interest, the whole vascular network neighbourhood and the vessel neighbourhood split into several classes, based on their diameters. We also focus on the vessels bifurcations, which are often missed by vesselness filters. We provide the code of the benchmark, which includes up-to-date C++ implementations of the seven filters, as well as the experimental setup (parameter optimization, result analysis, etc.). An online demonstrator is also provided to help the community apply and visually compare these vesselness filters.


Ultrastructural localization of several nonspecific and nucleoside phosphatase activities during spermiogenesis was studied in Chinese hamster testes. Acid phosphatase activity was found in dense bodies, multivesicular bodies, and Colgi apparatuses of both spermatogenie cells and Sertoli cells, while no alkaline phosphatase activity was observed in the seminiferous tubule, although penitubu!ar tissue was positive. During early stages of acmsome formation, acid phosphatase activity was demonstrated in the Golgi apparatus and in acrosomal granules. This enzyme could not be detected in the granule when the acrosomal cap was formed. Thiamine pyrophosphatase, inosine diphosphatase, and acid phosphatase were detected in Golgi complex of the early spermatid, but none of these three enzymes were detected following caudal mignation of the apparatus. This phenomenon indicates a change in the physiologic status of the Golgi apparatus during spermatid maturation. Thiamine pyrophosphatase, inosine diphosphatase, and adenosine triphosphatase activities were localized on the cell surface and between intercellular spaces of spermatogenic cells and Sertoli cells throughout the seminiferous tubular cycle. In the spermatid, however, the three enzymes were not observed on the plasma membrane in exonemal canal. Furthermore, along the opposing plasma membrane of adjacent spermatogenic cells mere traces or no enzyme activities were present. The phenomenon indicates a membrane specialization and suggests a metabolic relationship between Sertoli cells and spermatogenic cells.


BACKGROUND
Advantages of digital clock drawing metrics for dementia subtype classification needs examination.

OBJECTIVE
To assess how well kinematic, time-based, and visuospatial features extracted from the digital Clock Drawing Test (dCDT) can classify a combined group of Alzheimer's disease/Vascular Dementia patients versus healthy controls (HC), and classify dementia patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) versus vascular dementia (VaD).

METHODS
Healthy, community-dwelling control participants (n = 175), patients diagnosed clinically with Alzheimer's disease (n = 29), and vascular dementia (n = 27) completed the dCDT to command and copy clock drawing conditions. Thirty-seven dCDT command and 37 copy dCDT features were extracted and used with Random Forest classification models.

RESULTS
When HC participants were compared to participants with dementia, optimal area under the curve was achieved using models that combined both command and copy dCDT features (AUC = 91.52%). Similarly, when AD versus VaD participants were compared, optimal area under the curve was, achieved with models that combined both command and copy features (AUC = 76.94%). Subsequent follow-up analyses of a corpus of 10 variables of interest determined using a Gini Index found that groups could be dissociated based on kinematic, time-based, and visuospatial features.

CONCLUSION
The dCDT is able to operationally define graphomotor output that cannot be measured using traditional paper and pencil test administration in older health controls and participants with dementia. These data suggest that kinematic, time-based, and visuospatial behavior obtained using the dCDT may provide additional neurocognitive biomarkers that may be able to identify and tract dementia syndromes.


PURPOSE
Because infection can thwart burn healing, microorganisms, their susceptibility patterns, and the effect of tangential excision timing on outcomes of burn patients were examined.

METHODS
A prospective, observational study was conducted that involved 318 patients with deep second-degree burns from a gas explosion treated in Xinxiang, Henan, China between January 2009 and December 2016. Patient demographic data, culture and antimicrobial susceptibility test results, and outcome variables (resuscitation fluid volume, signs of shock, body temperature, heart rate, and time to wound healing) were analyzed. Outcomes were compared among patients who had early (<24 hours), middle (2 to 7 days), and late (> 7 days) post burn excision.

RESULTS
Bacterial culture and drug sensitivity data were available for 314 of the 318 persons with burns >10% of total body surface area (TBSA). Of the 486 bacterial isolates, 330 (67.9%) were gram-negative and 156 (32.1%) were gram-positive. The number of isolates and resistance to third-generation cephalosporins increased over time. Patients having early tangential excision had significantly lower heart rate (P <.05) and reduced time to healing (P <.01) than patients in the middle or late excision group.

CONCLUSION
Early tangential excision was found to be safe and to facilitate healing.


The reorganization of circuitry in the immature forebrain resulting from controlled cortical impact was examined with viral transneuronal tracing. Animals injured on postnatal day (PND) 17 and sham controls from the same litters received an intracerebral injection of a recombinant strain of pseudorabies virus (PRV) into the entorhinal cortex on PND 45. Fifty hours following injection of virus the animals were perfused and infected neurons were localized immunohistochemically with antisera specific for PRV. Prior studies have demonstrated that the PRV recombinant used in this analysis moves exclusively in the retrograde direction through synaptically linked neurons. CCI induced a necrotic loss of cortex at the site of impact and variable damage to the underlying corpus callosum and rostral (dorsal) hippocampus that was not present in sham controls. Analysis of viral transport in sham controls revealed retrograde transport of virus through hippocampal and neocortical circuitry in a pattern consistent with established patterns of connectivity and topography. Injured animals exhibited preservation of topographically organized connections in both the hippocampus and neocortex. However, the magnitude of labeling in the injured hemisphere was significantly increased relative to control animals and correlated with the magnitude of the injury. The distribution of infected neurons in the contralateral uninjured hemisphere also conformed to known connections. However differences in the involvement of the corpus callosum in the injury resulted in greater variability in the number of infected neurons among cases. These data provide novel insights into trauma induced reorganization of the developing brain and add to the experimental tools that can be used to assess the basis for functional recovery in animal models of developmental traumatic brain injury.


Due to high product variety and changing consumer demands, shelf space is one of the most scarce resources in retail management. At this point, the efficient allocation of the limited shelf space carries critical importance for maximizing the financial performance. On the other hand, because of NP-Hard nature of the shelf space allocation problem, heuristic approaches are required to solve real world problems. In this paper, different from existing studies in the literature, a heuristic approach based on artificial bee colony algorithm is presented for shelf space allocation problem by using a model which considers the space and cross elasticity. In order to demonstrate the efficiency of the developed approach, another heuristic approach based on particle swarm optimization is proposed. The performance analysis of these approaches is realized with problem instances including different number of products, shelves and categories. Experimental results show that the developed artificial bee colony algorithm is efficient methodology through near-optimal solutions and reasonable solving time for large sized shelf space allocation problems.


Purpose: To assess the dosimetric impact of intra‐fraction prostate motion for step‐and‐shoot IMRT plans. Method and Materials: For step‐and‐shoot IMRT plans, fluence maps for each segment are exported from the Pinnacle treatment planning system. Each fluence map segment is modified to simulate the effect of prostate motion observed during the simulated delivery. Modified fluence maps are re‐imported into Pinnacle for dose calculations. Calculated dose distributions are compared with unmodified fluence maps dose distributions to assess the impact of intrafraction motion on the dose delivery. Measured Calypso motion tracks for 16 patients (515 tracks) are used. Changes in prostate (4–6 mm margin) and PTV (zero‐margin) D95% are scored for each fraction and for the cumulative simulated delivery. Results: Average D95% changes (± 1SD) in the PTV and prostate are −0.5±1.1% and −0.2±0.5%. Maximum per‐fraction D95% changes are −12.7% and −6.4%. 12% and 4% of all fractions suffered a PTV and prostate D95% change in excess of 1 percent. Only 2% and 0.2% of all fractions suffered respective changes in excess of 3%. The patient specific cumulative D95% changes in the PTV and prostate average −0.15±0.2% and 0.07±0.15%. The maximum cumulative D95% variations for a single patient are −0.6% and 0.5%. After the delivery of 5 fractions the cumulative D95% variations for a single patient are −1% and 0.4% for the PTV and prostate. Conclusion: Inter‐fraction prostate motion has little effect on the dosimetric target coverage for step‐and‐shoot prostate plans. Very few fractions (2 and 0.2% for the PTV and prostate) suffered D95% changes in excess of 3%. After the delivery of all fractions the effect on the both the PTV and prostate was negligible. (Supported, in part, by by NIH P01CA116602 and T32CA113277)


The common chaffinch, Fringilla coelebs, is one of the most common, widespread and well-studied passerines in Europe, with a broad distribution encompassing Western Europe and parts of Asia, North Africa and the Macaronesian archipelagos. We present a high-quality genome assembly of the common chaffinch generated using Illumina shotgun sequencing in combination with Chicago and Hi-C libraries. The final genome is a 994.87 Mb chromosome-level assembly, with 98% of the sequence data located in chromosome scaffolds and a N50 statistic of 69.73 Mb. Our genome assembly shows high completeness, with a complete BUSCO score of 93.9% using the avian dataset. Around 7.8 % of the genome contains interspersed repetitive elements. The structural annotation yielded 17,703 genes, 86.5% of which have a functional annotation, including 7,827 complete universal single-copy orthologs out of 8,338 genes represented in the BUSCO avian data set. This new annotated genome assembly will be a valuable resource as a reference for comparative and population genomic analyses of passerine, avian and vertebrate evolution.


It's important to understand that most breast lumps are benign and not cancer (malignant). Non-cancerous breast tumors are abnormal growths, but they do not spread outside of the breast. They are not life threatening, but some types of benign breast lumps can increase a woman's risk of getting breast cancer. Any breast lump or change needs to be checked by a health care professional to determine if it is benign or malignant (cancer) and if it might affect your future cancer risk" [1-25].


We propose an efficient scheme for realizing quantum dense coding with three-particle GHZ state in separated low-Q cavities. In this paper, the GHZ state is first prepared with three atoms trapped, respectively, in three spatial separated cavities. Meanwhile, with the assistance of a coherent optical pulse and X-quadrature homodyne measurement, we can implement quantum dense coding with three-particle GHZ state with a higher probability. Our scheme can also be generalized to realize N-particle quantum dense coding.


A database of individual forecasters' exchange rate predictions is analyzed. We demonstrate that only a small minority can be classed as rational, that most forecasts are inferior to easily available alternatives, and that relatively good performance in one period is not a reliable indicator of relatively good performance in subsequent periods. JEL Classification Number: F31


Background There is good evidence that hyperoxia after resuscitation in the newborn period can be detrimental to neurological outcome and survival. The association between hyperoxia and survival after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in children has not been evaluated. Methods A retrospective, observational study of children admitted to 3 PICUs after OHCA (2004–2010). Primary outcome was survival to hospital discharge. Patients were divided into three groups (hypoxia < 8kPa, normoxia 8–40kPa, hyperoxia >40kPa) based on arterial oxygen tension in the first 24 hours. The PaO2 thresholds used are based on recently published literature. Results 140 patients were identified (51 hypoxia, 60 normoxia, 29 hyperoxia), with the hyperoxia group significantly older than other groups (Table). The predicted probability of death (PIM2) at PICU admission was similar across the three groups, as was the use of interventions, such as transfer between hospitals and requirement for inotropes. Survival to hospital discharge was only 14% (95% CI: 4–31) in the hyperoxia group against 27% (95% CI: 16–40) in the normoxia group and 37% (95% CI: 24–52) in the hypoxia group (p=0.08). The Odds Ratio for survival in the hyperoxia group was 0.44 (95% CI: 0.13–1.46, p=0.18) compared to the normoxia group. Conclusions This study has observed a difference in survival related to oxygen tension status, with a trend to worsening survival from hypoxia through to hyperoxia. Confirmation of this preliminary finding is required in a larger cohort before embarking on a randomised controlled trial.


In machine learning, training data often capture the behaviour of multiple subgroups of some underlying human population. This behaviour can often be modelled as observations of an unknown dynamical system with an unobserved state. When the training data for the subgroups are not controlled carefully, however, under-representation bias arises. To counter under-representation bias, we introduce two natural notions of fairness in timeseries forecasting problems: subgroup fairness and instantaneous fairness. These notion extend predictive parity to the learning of dynamical systems. We also show globally convergent methods for the fairness-constrained learning problems using hierarchies of convexifications of non-commutative polynomial optimisation problems. We also show that by exploiting sparsity in the convexifications, we can reduce the run time of our methods considerably. Our empirical results on a biased data set motivated by insurance applications and the well-known COMPAS data set demonstrate the efficacy of our methods.


The failure of automation to improve clinical performance is likely rooted in the design concepts on which IT systems are based. Current systems provide clinicians with specific direction about how to care for individual patients. This is much like the specific, detailed, complicated, and narrow trip route driving directions that can be obtained from various web sites. Daily healthcare work rarely has the certainty that makes such directions useful. Rather than directions, useful healthcare automation is likely to have characteristics of a map. Clinicians could use its depictions of available routes, obstacles, and distances between the current and goal locations in order to choose routes and to track progress toward goals. Such representations are likely to be quite different than those currently incorporated in healthcare automation. We demonstrate the concept of creating maps and using constraints as the basis for the design of healthcare automation.


We have previously identified 17 biomarker genes which were upregulated by whole virion influenza vaccines, and reported that gene expression profiles of these biomarker genes had a good correlation with conventional animal safety tests checking body weight and leukocyte counts. In this study, we have shown that conventional animal tests showed varied and no dose-dependent results in serially diluted bulk materials of influenza HA vaccines. In contrast, dose dependency was clearly shown in the expression profiles of biomarker genes, demonstrating higher sensitivity of gene expression analysis than the current animal safety tests of influenza vaccines. The introduction of branched DNA based-concurrent expression analysis could simplify the complexity of multiple gene expression approach, and could shorten the test period from 7 days to 3 days. Furthermore, upregulation of 10 genes, Zbp1, Mx2, Irf7, Lgals9, Ifi47, Tapbp, Timp1, Trafd1, Psmb9, and Tap2, was seen upon virosomal-adjuvanted vaccine treatment, indicating that these biomarkers could be useful for the safety control of virosomal-adjuvanted vaccines. In summary, profiling biomarker gene expression could be a useful, rapid, and highly sensitive method of animal safety testing compared with conventional methods, and could be used to evaluate the safety of various types of influenza vaccines, including adjuvanted vaccine.


Original title: Publieke voorkeuren

The government provides a wide array of service for its citizens. It is responsible for safeguarding public access to those services, including social security, care, social support, education, housing, public transport, sport and culture. Other areas of government responsibility are public order and safety, defence, development cooperation, environmental protection and the general administration of the country. Not everyone uses all these services to the same degree, and not all citizens attach the same value to them. It is therefore relevant for both politicians and policy makers to ask how different groups in Dutch society view the services that the government provides.

This report elaborates on methods for identifying people's preferences in respect of public services, and explores the substantive insights that result from this. The study was carried out using a survey questionnaire developed by the Netherlands Institute for Social Research (SCP), containing budget 'games' and vignette questions to map people's preferences in relation to public services. This report offers methodological insights that are useful for measuring preferences in general and preferences for public services in particular. Although exploratory in nature, the report supplements the existing substantive knowledge in this field.


We compared the diagnoses made by one dermatologist via telemedicine with those of another dermatologist made in a face-to-face consultation. The patients first underwent a teledermatology consultation and then a face-to-face consultation. A general practitioner was present with the patient in the videoconference studio. Videoconferencing equipment connected at 384 kbit/s was used. The doctor-patient relationship and the satisfaction of the patients and dermatologists in the two settings were assessed, as well as technical conditions during the videoconferences. There were 121 patients, with a mean age of 40 years (range 17-82 years). There was a high degree of concordance between the two sets of diagnoses, with 72% complete agreement and 14% partial agreement between the two dermatologists. A total of 116 patients (96% of those included) completed a questionnaire. Both the patients and the dermatologists were in general satisfied with the videoconferences. Videoconferencing with a participating general practitioner may be useful in dermatology, but the technique should be used only for selected patients.


A postcard that Freud sent to Paul Federn on May 18, 1905, documents a meeting of the Wednesday Society devoted to Sophocles' Electra and to the controversial adaptation by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. The debate surrounding Hofmannsthal's play had already ignited on the occasion of its world premiere in Berlin in October 1903. Freud and the other members of the Wednesday group would have gathered first impressions from the predominantly negative theater reviews in Berlin newspapers and, above all, in a hostile pan of the play published in the influential Viennese daily Neue Freie Presse. As late as the summer of 1904 essays appeared in prominent journals such as Die Fackel and Die Zukunft, in which Electra was defended and praised, alternately, as a character embodying radical sublimation or as a modern hysteric based on the findings of Breuer and Freud. A statement of Freud's, made in 1909, suggests that the outcome of the 1905 discussion had been a negative one. The few traces of the Electra myth in Freud's later remarks and publications point to productive resistance that contributed in the years 1907-1910 to a firmer theoretical grounding of the Oedipus complex.


The continuous augmented demand of food production is escalating with increase of world population. The traditional farming system will not be able to cover the world's emergent demand for food with rising pollution level and oscillations in climate. The design and development of new farming and planting system technique is urgent requirement to stay away from food catastrophe in future. The present study aimed to examine an efficient lab to land transfer technique for alternative agri-farming system, the hydroponic system. The in vitro data was evaluated and validated through numerical tools for comparative accounts between hydroponics and tap water system against Triticum sp. (Poales: Poaceae), Spinacea sp. (Caryophyllales: Amaranthaceae) and Gladiolus sp. (Asparagales: Iridaceae). The results showed that wheat, spinach and sword lily showed very good growth in Hoagland solution in comparison to tap water. Thus the field application of the proposed hydroponic system for cereals, vegetables and flowering crops will meet the world wide demand of today and future by sustainable agriculture farming approaches.


Helical tomotherapy (HT) delivers intensity-modulated radiotherapy by the means of many configurations of the binary multi-leaf collimator (MLC). The aim of the present study was to devise a method, which we call the "transfer function" (TF) method, to perform the transport of particles through the MLC much faster than the time consuming Monte Carlo (MC) simulation and with no significant loss of accuracy. The TF method consists of calculating, for each photon in the phase-space file, the attenuation factor for each leaf (up to three) that the photon passes, assuming straight propagation through closed leaves, and storing these factors in a modified phase-space file. To account for the transport through the MLC in a given configuration, the weight of a photon is simply multiplied by the attenuation factors of the leaves that are intersected by the photon ray and are closed. The TF method was combined with the PENELOPE MC code, and validated with measurements for the three static field sizes available (40x5, 40x2.5 and 40x1 cm 2) and for some MLC patterns. The TF method allows a large reduction in computation time, without introducing appreciable deviations from the result of full MC simulations.


Nucleation and growth mechanism of electropolymerization of methylene blue (MB) in a basic medium and the effect of preparation potential on poly(MB) film structure were investigated by using cyclic voltammetry, potentiostatic current-time transient, scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and UV-vis. absorption spectroscopy techniques. Electropolymerization of MB has been achieved by potentiodynamic (cyclic voltammetry) and potentiostatic (constant potential) techniques. The potentiostatic current-time transients fitted with a theoretical model and morphological studies indicate that nucleation and growth mechanism of poly(MB) starts with a progressive layer-by-layer nucleation and growth besides random adsorption. Nucleation and growth of poly(MB) follows a process between progressive layer-by-layer and 3-D instantaneous mechanism resulting in highly-oriented poly(MB) nanofibers with increasing poly(MB) film thickness. Cyclic voltammetry and morphological studies exhibit that poly(MB) film structure changes depending on the preparation potential. Poly(MB) films prepared at the potential values of 900 and 950 mV show a well-ordered, smooth surface but at the potential values higher than 1000 mV, rough polymer surface arises as overoxidation takes place. UV-vis. absorption spectra of poly(MB) film and MB monomer show three peaks. The peak at 410 nm for poly(MB) shows 100 nm blue shift when compared to the MB monomer and is attributed to poly(MB) formation on the electrode.


This research study focuses on the removal treatment of oil residue on the drill cuttings before disposal. For this project, the method that we are interested is bioremediation process and it occurs when we mix together the sand and drilling cuts with the surfactant solutions (GraphSolve12 or GraphBioSolve). GraphSolve12 and GraphBioSolve solutions will be provided by Platinum Sdn. Bhd. as this is a joint venture project between Platinum Sdn. Bhd. and Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS. The surfactant solutions are the new solution synthesize by Platinum and the author will study the potential of GraphSolve12 and GraphBioSolve to remove oil from the drilling mud. The Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon (TPH) of the final drilling mud are compared while maintaining other parameters such as sand weight, drill cuttings weight and total amount of water and surfactant mixture. All 4 test has constant amount of water and surfactant mixture which is at 3,000 mL but different dosing percentage based on the surfactant amount such as 1ml, 10ml and 20ml for GraphSolve12 and 10mL GraphBioSolve.


The critical features of the models which could produce felspathic liquids are discussed. There is no evidence which will support the production of felspathic compositions by dry igneous processes. Indeed, their very existence is the only evidence for their production by dry igneous processes. There is no evidence which will support plagioclase flotation. The cumulus textured troctolites and norites demonstrate that plagioclase sank. There is no evidence against the production of felspathic liquids by wet igneous processes which can account for all of the observed felspathic rocks and leave a residue capable of producing mare basalts.


Background Many children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) experience one or more infectious complications during treatment. Infections are important to study in children with ALL because they continue to contribute to morbidity and mortality, affect quality of life for children and their families and require considerable health resources to prevent and treat. Aims To analyse the characteristics of infective episodes (I. E.) during intensive treatment (Protocol I, M and II) in children with ALL. Methods Objective of this study ware 55 patients with ALL who were treated according to ALL-BFM 90 and ALL-BFM 95 Protocol between January 2000 and December 2007 at the University Children's Hospital in Skopje. We explored the characteristics of I.E., together with the causative pathogens, the episodes of febrile neutropenia (FN), the length of antibiotic treatments and the treatments with G-CSF during intensive phases of treatment (Protocol I, M and II). Results From 55 analysed records 24 (43.64%) were male and 31 (56.36%) were female. Mean age at diagnosis was 6.0 years (1.1–15.0). Majority of the patients 43 (78%) were under 10 years and 12 (22%) were over 10 years. All of them experienced 132, 52 and 73 I. E. with 2.4, 0.9, and 1.3 infections per patient during Protocol I, M and II respectively. Regarding to the pathogens 184 (71.5%) were bacterial (102, 30 and 52 in Protocol I, M and II), 45 (17.5%) were viral (20, 14 and 11 in Protocol I, M and II) and 28 (10.8%) were fungal (10, 8, 10 in the three intensive phases respectively). There was a slight predominance of gram positive bacteria in Protocol I [Gram positive 42 (51.85%) versus gram negative 34 (41.97%)], and a very slight predominance of gram negative bacteria in Protocol II [Gram positive 16 (45.71% versus Gram negative 18 (51.42%)]. The infections were treated with antibiotic treatment in average of 23.69, 11 and 15.05 days and the number of treatments with G-CSF were in average 7.22, 2.44 and 9.20 per patient respectively in Protocol I, M and II. The number of episodes of FN in these three phases was 16.4 (29.1%), 4 (7.3%) and 22 (40%). Summary/conclusion Evaluation of the characteristics of I. E. presented that the majority of infectious events were observed in Protocol I and also the length of antibiotic treatment was longer in this phase. But the episodes of FN together with the treatments with G-CSF were higher in Protocol II possible due to the cumulative effect of chemotherapy.


A method for rapid acute toxicity test based on temperature control of Ceriodaphnia dubia has been developed and evaluated. A new toxicity test based on temperature control (TTBTC) which are based on temperature control, was developed and compared for the adsorption of the better methodology for short-term toxicity screening. Initially, daphnid larval are exposed to toxicants and at the same time the temperature of the water bath containing media is increased to high temperature After 1.25 hrs of contact time, the number of the daphnids, either living (no toxic effect) or dead (toxic effect), is counted by the naked eyes. Effect of exposure time on test sensitivity was not significantly different between 1 to 1.5 hr. Comparison of the rapid 1.25 hr acute toxicity test developed in this study and the standard 48 hr acute toxicity test using heavy metals, cyanide and pentachlorophenol indicated that the 1.25 hour test provides an acceptable level of sensitivity in toxicity test for C. dubia.


ACUTE bronchiolitis (capillary bronchitis, obstructive emphysema) is one of the common afflictions of the lower respiratory passages of infants. Although infection has long been accepted as the primary inciting factor, investigators (with the exception of Sell who believes H. influenzae to be responsible) have not found bacterial pathogens in consistent association with the syndrome. By exclusion, it has been assumed that most cases are precipitated by a viral infection. During the past decade this view has been substantiated by the application of new techniques to the study of respiratory viruses. Surveys of winter and spring epidemics of bronchiolitis in several urban centers have demonstrated a very significant portion of the cases to be associated with respiratory virus infection, most commonly the respiratory syncytial virus (RS), but in a minor number of instances influenza B or the parainfluenza agents. To date, no rapid laboratory proof of viral etiology is available, nor have any of the antiviral substances been found to be effective in treatment. Consequently, the welfare of the individual infant depends upon his physician9s acumen in arriving at a correct clinical diagnosis and in utilizing nonspecific measures to combat the disturbances of his respiratory physiology. DIAGNOSIS The first requisite of proper management is an accurate diagnosis. Table I lists other causes of infantile dyspnea which may cause confusion. Exclusion of these entities depends upon a careful history and physical examination, a chest roentgenogram, and a few well-chosen laboratory tests. The most frequent differential problem is the distinction among viral bronchiolitis, asthmatic bronchitis, and bacterial infection of the lower respiratory passages.


The solution structure of the 36-mer peptide MP-5A in SDS micelles was investigated by CD and (1)H-NMR spectroscopies. The MP-5A was dissected from the cytoplasmic linker (K1482-A1517) connecting domain III-segment 6 (IIIS6) and domain IV-segment 1 (IVS1; III-IV linker) of the rat brain type IIA sodium channel. The molecular energy calculations including nuclear Overhauser effect and dihedral angle restraints gave a well-converged set of the structures of MP-5A for the region between I1488 and S1506. It was found that a large hydrophobic cluster is formed by I1488-F1489-M1490 (IFM motif), Y1497-Y1498, and M1501, which may be related to the fast inactivation process of the sodium channel. The solvent-accessible surface area of the IFM motif (195 A(2)), which is known to work essentially as an inactivation gate particle to occlude the ion permeation pore, gave the free energy (DeltaG) of stabilization of -3.9 kcal mol(-1) as a result of the hydrophobic interactions with its receptor. This value agreed well with the free energy of binding (inactivation) of -4.1 kcal mol(-1) calculated for the equilibrium between the open and the inactivated states of the sodium channels. It is concluded that the fast inactivation of the sodium channel is achieved by the environmental polarity-dependent conformational switching at the IFM motif, in response to the voltage-dependent activation and the movement of the S4 segments of the sodium channel.


We present a new query language for information retrieval in XML documents and discuss its combination with information extraction methods. XIRQL is an XML query language which implements IR-related features such as weighting and ranking, relevance-oriented search, datatypes with vague predicates, and structural relativism. For information extracted from texts, XIRQL can rank records based on uncertainty weights, and single conditions may be evaluated using vague predicates for fact retrieval. When IE is used for automatic XML markup of plain texts, XIRQL is able to consider uncertainty weights resulting from this process, and the markup leads to increased precision of text searches


Radio Direction Finding (DF) is a technique that identifies the bearing angle or the coordinates of an incoming radio signal(s). In this paper, we propose a method for Direction of Arrival (DOA) estimation with low computational complexity that is based on the differential phase of signal received by an M-element uniform circular antenna array with a commutative switch followed by single channel Software Defined Radio (SDR) receiver. This method utilizes a bank of Phase Locked Loops (PLLs) to estimate the phase values at each antenna element. These estimated phase values are then fed into a signal processing block that estimates the DOA of the received signal. Analysis of the challenges of computational complexity in this algorithm is presented. One important factor when using phase locked loop is the small convergence rate of the algorithm compared to the switching cycle. In order to achieve small convergence rate, we also propose an improvement for reducing computational complexity. The simulation results for DOA estimation using the proposed structure are shown to verify the performance of the system.


An understanding of the thermal evolution of sedimentary basins is important in a variety of geologic disciplines for reasons related to economic importance of these features and because of implications for lithospheric tectonics and rheology. The importance of understanding the temperature history of sedimentary basins has led to development of a variety of methods of paleothermometry. The usefulness of these approaches is limited in many cases by the complexity of the thermally activated reaction(s) which in turn renders difficult the detailed theoretical understanding needed for precise temperature predictions. Recent work has demonstrated the potential of 40Ar/39Ar age spectrum analysis of detrital microclines in revealing this thermochronologic nformation. By irradiating feldspars with a known dose of fast neutrons, an isotopically distinct but chemically identical form of the daughter (39Ar) is produced from potassium, making the 40Ar/39Ar ratio of a geologic sample implicity proportional to age. If the sample has experienced a heating in the temperature range 100° to 200°C for geologic times, the transport kinetics of 40Ar in microcline are sufficiently rapid to cause partial outgassing of the sample. Given that the diffusion parameters for argon transport in microcline are known, a partially outgassed K-spar can yield information related to both the ages of crystallization and reheating as well as the temperature of the heating event. Detrital microcline separates analyze from deep drill cores obtained from the southern San Joaquin Valley (California), the North Sea, and the Albuquerque basin (Rio Grande rift) yield encouraging results and demonstrate the utility of this approach. In summary, 40Ar/39Ar analysis of detrital microcline crystals yields thermochronologic information in the temperature-time range of petroleum maturation and provides this technique with potential as both a useful exploration tool and as a means of probing the fundamental geodynamic processes of basin evolution. End_of_Article - Last_Page 795------------


PURPOSE
The purpose of this presentation is to discuss the radiation safety and dosimetric technique used for the therapeutic procedure using Y-90 microspheres through intra -arterial administration on patients with liver metastasis METHODS: The radiation dosimetry, technique and safety aspects of 14 patients with primary and metastatic liver cancer, treated with Y-90 microsphere (SIR spheres) are discussed. The liver and tumor volumes were determined using the CT and MR scans . The images were imported into the treatment planning system and the liver and tumor volumes and the volume of the liver affected were outlined and the volume calculation was performed using the software. The lung shunt fraction (LSF) and tumor to liver uptake ratio (TLR) were determined using the nuclear medicine SPECT imaging with Tc-99m MAA. The absorbed dose to the target volume in liver was calculated using the following equation:Dose ? (Gy) = C x E? x 5.92 x 10-6 (Gy/s) x T(1/2)(days) x 1.44 x 8.64 x 104 (s) The distribution of activity in the tumor bed was confirmed by post Y-90 administration imaging using the Bremsstrahlung peak at 30% window. The patient and the procedure room were surveyed and radiation safety instructions were given to the patient RESULTS: The tumor volume ranged from 77 cc to 700 cc, tumor to liver uptake ranged from 3 to 12. The lung shunt fraction varied from 1.08% to 9.0%. The activity administered ranged from 1.0GBq to 2.5 GBq, . The radiation survey in contact with the patient ranged from 1.8 mR/hr to 2.5 mR/hr and reading at 1 meter was less than 0.2 mR/hr CONCLUSION: The technique for radiation dosimetry and radiation safety for Y-90 microsphere therapy is established. The post treatment imaging helped to confirm the distribution of Y-90 microspheres inside the tumor bed.


The extracellular collagenase, produced by Bacillus licheniformis F11.4, was purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation followed by DEAE Sephadex A-50. The purified collagenase showed a 26.3-fold increase in specific activity being 1.0 U/mg and 2.6% recovery. The collagenase has an apparent molecular weight of 124 and 26 kD as analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and zymography. The optimal temperature and pH were 50°C and pH 7.0, respectively. The collagenase activity was inhibited by Fe2+ (1 mM), Mg2+ (1 mM), Mn2+ (1 mM), Co2+ (1 mM), EDTA (1 mM), and β-mercaptoetanol (1 mM). However, Ca2+ (1 mM) and Cu2+ (1 mM) increased its activity. The collagenase from B. licheniformis F11.4 was capable of hydrolyzing other protein substrates such as casein, gelatin, and fibrin. The Km and Vmax of the enzyme for collagen were 0.26 mg/ml and 0.27 U, respectively.

 Key words: Collagenase, Bacillus licheniformis F11.4, purification, characterization.


"Remote Home, One Home Two Cities" is an interactive live installation that took place simultaneously at the Science Museum (London) and the Raumlabor Gallery (Berlin) in May 2003, as part of a collaborative project between myself and the Smart Studio at the Interactive Institute in Sweden. This project was commissioned by Tricia Austin, co-curator of the "user-mode, Emotion and Intuition in Design" symposium organised across Tate Modern and the Science Museum.

My research focuses on redefining the domestic space by challenging our use and perception of textiles. 'Poetic textiles for smart homes' is the umbrella project under which I have produced a series of design outputs and research papers that propose innovative textile and product designs for the home.

In this context, "Remote Home" aimed at enabling intelligent technologies to tease and nurture human emotions through a material and design–led approach. For the first time in the history of interactive design, the project investigated the notion of flat-sharing at a distance across two cities and two countries and challenged preconceived boundaries and conventional definitions of "home".

In an increasingly global context where long distance relationships have become more common, this project explored the interaction between my architecture and emotions at a remote distance. The final live installation staged two conceptual flats embedded with intelligent technologies so as to respond to the presence and movement of their inhabitants across London and Berlin. The furniture and wall-coverings in the London "flat" physically transformed themselves in a symbiotic fashion to signify that someone was "home" in Berlin, and vice versa. This included furnishings changing shape and colour in reaction to people sitting or walking in either apartment.


Abstract This article highlights two aspects of the language used in Classical Greek literary sources to discuss pitched battle. First, the sources regularly use unqualified forms of the verb kinduneuein, "to take a risk," when they mean fighting a battle. They do so especially in contexts of deliberation about the need to fight. Second, they often describe the outcome of major engagements in terms of luck, fate, and random chance, at the explicit expense of human agency. Taken together, these aspects of writing on war suggest that pitched battle was seen as an inherently risky course of action with unacceptably unpredictable results, which was therefore best avoided. Several examples show that the decision to fight was indeed evaluated in such terms. This practice casts further doubt on the traditional view that Greek armies engaged in pitched battles as a matter of principle.