The electronic structure (core and valence levels) of various simple polymers has been investigated by ESCA (Electron Spectroscopy for Chemical Analysis), with the aid of original EHCO (Extended Hückel Crystalline Orbitals) calculations giving corresponding density of states and band structure schemes. Simple monosubstituted homopolymers derived from polyethylene ([CH2-CHX]n) have been chosen in order to study the influence of X substituents (X = -F, -Cl, -OH, -CH3, -CH2CH3, -C6H5, -C6H11 corresponding respectively to poly(vinyl fluoride), poly(vinyl chloride), poly(vinyl alcohol), poly(propylene), poly(1-butene), poly(styrene), and poly(vinyl cyclohexane)) through the chemical shifts measured for the core levels, and the alteration of the valence band structures. Assignment of the valence molecular orbitals is made with the aid of the theoretical calculations and with comparison of spectra recorded for molecules similar to the monomeric units. Emphasis is put on the very significant information provided by the valence band spectra for polymers containing only carbon and hydrogen atoms. Valence band data are used to calculate physical parameters (first ionization potential, energy gap, work function) of importance to deduce electrical properties for the polymers.


Pentalogy of Cantrell is a rare congenital anomaly, with an incidence of 1/100.000 and has five characteristic findings: Ectopia cordis and intracardiac anomalies; defect of lower sternum; midline supraumbilical thoraco-abdominal wall defect; anterior diaphragmatic defect; and defect of diaphragmatic part of pericardium. The exact aetiology of the syndrome is still unknown. Here we report an early diagnosed pentalogy of Cantrell in a twin pregnancy. A 34-year-old patient with a diamniotic and dichorionic twin pregnancy in which one of the fetuses had no heart activity and other fetus had a nuchal translucency of 5.38 mm. Ultrasonographic examination revealed a large omphalocele and above the defective abdominal wall regular fetal heart rate was seen out of the fetal thorax. After termination of the pregnancy anatomic examination revealed findings meeting the criteria of Pentalogy of Cantrell. Since its early detection is found in a few cases we report a very early detection of a rare abnormality. Early detection of an entity with a poor prognosis is extremely important in the prenatal medicine practice.


Photochemical transformations of quintet dinitrenes have been studied for the first time by FTIR spectroscopy during the photolysis of 1,3-diazidobenzene and its 2-methyl- and 2,4,6-trimethyl-substituted derivatives in solid argon at 13 K. The reactions involve two competitive processes. In the first one, the intramolecular insertion of the nitrene unit into the 1,6-aromatic bond induces ring-opening, which leads to the formation of aminoacetylenes. The second process involves the intramolecular addition of the nitrene unit to the 1,2-aromatic bond followed by ring-opening to form 4(2H-azirin-2-ylidene)-2-butenenitrile derivatives. Methyl groups in ortho-positions to the nitrene units of quintet dinitrenes efficiently protect their aromatic ring from nitrene attacks, substantially increasing the photochemical stability of such species. However, even quintet 2,4,6-trimethylphenylene-1,3-dinitrene decomposes to ring-opened products on extended irradiation. This indicates that quintet dinitrenes are much more photochemically reactive species than triplet nitrenes. Undesirable photochemical rearrangements of the latter at early stages of the photolysis of 1,3-diazidobenzenes are suppressed on introducing the methyl group in position 2 of these azides.


: Introduction: Normal healthy skin is usually colonized by a huge amount of bacterial organisms that inhabit the skin as commensal flora both on the surface of the skin or in the hair follicles. However, abnormalities in the growth and replication of these organisms (like overgrowth) can lead to the development of dermatological diseases where the same commensal organism can be responsible for the development of the disease. These commensal bacteria have the ability to create biofilms, which are sessile, complex accumulations of the bacterial organism along with a polymeric substance present extracellularly. Aim of work: In this review, we will discuss the most recent evidence regarding the recent advances in the management of impetigo in the pediatric population. Methodology: We did a systematic search for the recent advances in the management of impetigo in the pediatric population using PubMed search engine (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/) and Google Scholar search engine (https://scholar.google.com). Our search also looked for presentation, most common pathogens. All relevant studies were retrieved and discussed. We only included full articles. Conclusions: Impetigo is considered to be the most common skin infection that affects children between 2-5 years old. It generally has two types: non-bullous (which is responsible for about 70% of cases) and bullous (which is responsible for the remaining of cases). Non-bullous impetigo can be caused by both staphylococcus aureus and streptococcus pyogenes. It is mainly distinguished by the presence of honey crusts on the face and limbs. Bullous impetigo, on the other hand, is only caused by staphylococcus aureus and results in the development of large bullae and blisters. It generally effects intertriginous body sites. Most cases of impetigo can resolve spontaneously within few weeks, regardless of the type of impetigo, and the development of late complications is usually rare. Treatment of impetigo is usually done using either topical or systemic antibiotics. Topical antibiotics are usually preferred in mild non-complicated cases due to their efficacy and safety. On the other hand, systemic treatment is preferred in more severe or complicated cases. Systemic antibiotics is sometimes challenging due the increasing rates of antimicrobial resistance.


Aim Our purpose was to investigate the potential role of albumin variation in comparison to C-reactive protein (CRP) variation as a predictive marker for postoperative complications in colorectal surgery. Methods An prospective cohort study was conducted. Adult patients who underwent elective colorectal surgery between January 2019 and December 2020 were eligible. Serum levels of albumin and CRP were measured preoperatively and on the first 4 postoperative days. Univariate analysis were performed to assess the association of albumin (Alb) and CRP with postoperative complications. Serum albumin variation (ΔAlb) and CRP variation (ΔCRP) were calculated. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis and the Youden test were used to determine acuity and predictive cut-off values. Results Ninety-three patients were included. A CRP cut-off of 83.4 mg/dL on postoperative day (POD) 4 was the best predictor of postoperative global complications (p<0.001; AUC 0.83, 70% sensitivity, 91% specificity). Major complications were best correlated with ΔAlb on POD 2, 3 and 4 (p<0.001), with a ΔAlb cut-off of 27.4% on POD 2 showing the strongest association with this outcome (AUC 0.834, 83% sensitivity, 90% specificity). Regarding anastomotic leak, CRP on POD 3 showed better predictive values (p=0.037; AUC 0.792) with a cut-off value of 88.7 mg/dL (100% sensitivity, 52% specificity). Discussion Herein, the authors demonstrate there is a role for albumin variation, as an earlier and sensitive marker, to predict major postoperative complications in colorectal surgery. This analysis may be further applied to aid in the early identification of significant causes of re-operation and long-term morbimortality.


In the Mediterranean basin, agriculture and other forms of human land use have shaped the environment since ancient times. Intensive and extensive agricultural systems managed with a few cultured plant populations of improved varieties are a widespread reality in many Mediterranean countries. Despite this, historical cultural landscapes still exist in interior and less intensively managed rural areas. There, ancient fruit tree varieties have survived modern cultivation systems, preserving a unique genetic heritage. In this study, we mapped and characterized 106 living fruit trees of ancient varieties in the Basilicata region of southern Italy. Tree ages were determined through tree ring measurements and radiocarbon analyses. We uncovered some of the oldest scientifically dated fruit trees in the world. The oldest fruit species were olive (max age 680 ± 57 years), mulberry (647 ± 66 years), chestnut (636 ± 66 years), and pear (467 ± 89 years). These patriarchs hold a unique genetic resource; their preservation and genetic maintenance through agamic propagation are now promoted by the Lucan Agency for the Development and Innovation in Agriculture (ALSIA). Each tree also represents a hub for biodiversity conservation in agrarian ecosystems: their large architecture and time persistence guarantee ecological niches and micro-habitats suitable for flora and fauna species of conservation significance.


Modeling covariance (and correlation) matrices is a challenging problem due to the large dimensionality and positive-definiteness constraint. In this paper, we propose a novel Bayesian framework based on decomposing the covariance matrix into variance and correlation matrices. The highlight is that the correlations are represented as products of vectors on unit spheres. We propose a variety of distributions on spheres (e.g. the squared-Dirichlet distribution) to induce flexible prior distributions for covariance matrices that go beyond the commonly used inverse-Wishart prior. To handle the intractability of the resulting posterior, we introduce the adaptive $\Delta$-Spherical Hamiltonian Monte Carlo. We also extend our structured framework to dynamic cases and introduce unit-vector Gaussian process priors for modeling the evolution of correlation among multiple time series. Using an example of Normal-Inverse-Wishart problem, a simulated periodic process, and an analysis of local field potential data (collected from the hippocampus of rats performing a complex sequence memory task), we demonstrated the validity and effectiveness of our proposed framework for (dynamic) modeling covariance and correlation matrices.


Purpose of review Elevating high-density lipoprotein levels is increasingly being identified as an essential strategy for the prevention of atherosclerosis. Plasma levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and its major protein, apoAI, are largely influenced by the rate of turnover. Lipases play an important role in modulating the metabolism of high-density lipoprotein. In particular, endothelial lipase has been shown to be an important determinant of high-density lipoprotein metabolism and levels in murine models. This article reviews new developments in our understanding of the biology of endothelial lipase and its relation to high-density lipoprotein metabolism. Recent findings Inhibition of the endothelial lipase gene, either by antibody injection or by targeted gene deletion, results in an approximately 50% increase in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels in mice. As many as 31 single-nucleotide polymorphisms have been identified in the endothelial lipase gene. The 584 C/T mutation, which results in a threonine-to-isoleucine amino acid change, has been associated with higher high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels in three separate studies. Summary Increasing evidence suggests that endothelial lipase plays a significant role in high-density lipoprotein metabolism. Endothelial lipase could be an important new target for novel therapies to raise high-density lipoprotein levels.


The author discusses the importance of material re-use in distribution cables. Existing cable waste is discussed as are the problems of PVC and other polymers removal. The principles of metal reclamation and the recycling methods. The design of new cables to ensure improved utilisation of recoverable materials is discussed. >


OBJECTIVE
To summarize the literature about the clinical presentation and treatment interventions of childhood reactions to terrorism-induced trauma.

METHOD
The literature on children's responses to terrorist activities was reviewed.

RESULTS
Over the past 10 years, more research has emerged on the subject of terrorism in children. Many of the effects of terrorism-induced trauma are similar to the effects of natural and man-made trauma. Children's responses include acute stress disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, regressive behaviors, separation problems, sleep difficulties, and behavioral problems. However, several aspects of terrorist attacks result in unique stressors and reactions and pose specific challenges for treatment. The unpredictable, indefinite threat of terrorist events, the profound effect on adults and communities, and the effect of extensive terrorist-related media coverage exacerbates underlying anxieties and contributes to a continuous state of stress and anxiety. Intervention strategies include early community-based interventions, screening of children at risk, triage and referral, and trauma-loss-focused treatment programs.

CONCLUSIONS
Advances have been made in the research of childhood reactions to terrorism-induced trauma. Further research is needed to identify children at risk and to determine the long-term impact on children's development. Although the preliminary results of interventions developed to help children are promising, outcome data have not been examined, and further research is needed to evaluate their effectiveness.


A water spray cooling has been widely used in a variety of engineering applications. The current study focuses on making quantitative measurements of heat transfer by water spray as it impinges on the rough surface of hot steel plate at higher temperature nominally up to 900°C. The local heat flux measurements are introduced by a novel experimental technique in which test block assemblies with cartridge heaters, thermocouples are used to measure the heat flux distribution on the surface of hot steel plate as a function of heat flux gauge. The roles of surface roughness on heat transfer are presented for well-characterized four rough surfaces with average rms roughness heights ranging from 40 to 80 μm. The results show that the local heat transfer for the rough surface is compared with that for a smooth surface. Finally the heat transfer enhancement mechanism on rough surface can be investigated by the different boiling phenomena.


: It was shown that a short-time exposure of the spores of Act. roseolus 981 to air (oxygen) on their lyophilization by the chamber method resulted in formation of increased numbers of the free radicals in the lyophilized spores suspension and decreased the survival of the spores on their further storage under vacuum. The phenomena were less pronounced when the exposure of the spores to the air was excluded by using the collector method of lyophilization. This testified to the advantages of the latter method as compared to the chamber one. No effect of the lyophilization methods on the population composition of the spontaneous variants of Act. roseolus 981 was observed.


________ I came to psychology from art, which may explain, if not justify, the fact that at times the reader will find me painting contexts and backgrounds where he would rather have me point to facts and concepts. I have had to make a virtue out of a constitutional necessity by basing what I have to say on representative description rather than on theoretical argument. –Erik Erikson 1 I have nothing to offer except a way of looking at things. Understanding Erik Erikson's own story of personal development facilitates and illuminates an understanding of the development of his psychology. And it was a remarkably individualistic life that he led. Erikson was an illegitimate child, born near Frankfurt, Germany in 1902, of a secret romance between his Jewish mother and an unknown Danish man. His mother married when he was three years old, but Erikson took after his biological father in appearance. His blond, Nordic appearance made him stand out among his young Jewish friends. In Germany and other parts of Europe at the turn of the century, anti-Semitic attitudes were quite pronounced (as was seen with Freud), and Erikson must have felt that he failed to fit into in with either the majority culture or the Jewish minority. Because of these unusual circumstances, he had an obvious " identity problem, " which surely influenced not only his unconventional lifestyle, but also his ideas about the crises that each person encounters at each stage of his or her life. As a young man, Erikson became a wanderer – almost a nomad – as he traveled through Europe. He also became an artist, and unsurprisingly given his independent nature, was largely self-trained. Erikson lived a bohemian lifestyle during these years, rebellious, but 9-2 also confused (Freidman, 1999). But he began teaching art to the children of Americans who came to Vienna to study psychoanalysis with Freud and his circle, specializing in children's portraiture. He also became a Montessori instructor. It was at this time that he began studying psychoanalysis with Anna Freud, as well as being analyzed by her. Through his studies and associations with the psychoanalytic community he became one of the few psychoanalysts who practiced and was certified without a medical degree, specializing in chilld psychiatry. In 1933 Erikson, now married to Joan Mowat Erikson (née Serson), migrated to America to escape European fascism. Joan Erikson became Erik's editor and …


Until four or five years ago no remains of insects were recorded from any of the divisions of our carboniferous strata. Their discovery is due to the late Mr. Thomas Brown, of Stewarton, near Kilmarnock, who was also the first to find in Scotland the remains of those curious limuloid crustaceans termed Belinurus and Prestwichia. The insects and crustaceans were found in nodules of impure clay-ironstone in the shale which overlies the sandstone at Woodhill, near Kilmaurs, the beds being in the upper coal measures. Two specimens of insects were found, belonging to the Myriapoda, and somewhat allied to the recent genus Iulus. One belongs to the genus Xylobius of Dawson, and is believed by Mr. H. Woodward to be identical with a species found in the upper coal measures of England and Nova Scotia; the other, being new, he has named it after its discoverer, the late Mr. Brown. MYRIAPODA. 1. Euphoberia Brownii, H. Woodward. Geol. Mag. Vol. VIII., pl. 3, fig. 6. Upper coal measures. A single example contained in a clay-ironstone nodule from shale overlying the sandstone at Woodhill quarry, Kilmaurs. 2. Xylobius Sigillariæ, Dawson. H. Woodward, Trans. Geol. Soc. Glasgow. Vol. II., pl. 3, fig. 11. Very rare. Upper coal measures. Woodhill quarry, Kilmaurs, in clay-ironstone nodules. This 211-word extract was created in the absence of an abstract


This work used the 2D model to analyze the pos-sibility to model several excitation sources acting at the same time in different harmonic frequencies. The obtained results of the theoretical experiment were compared to the results of practical experiment. The adequacy of the acous-tic field's model formed on the basis of the finite elements to the real acoustic field was analyzed. Results showed that using the theoretical model created on the basis of FEM it is possible to model the acoustic excitation that appears in real conditions and to evaluate the noise level in particular environment.


The present study was undertaken to find out various fungi causing keratomycosis and to determine the antifungal susceptibility profile of these isolates. One hundred corneal scrapings from patients with corneal ulcers were subjected to KOH wet mount preparation. Thirty samples which were positive for fungal elements on direct microscopic examination were cultured on Sabouraud's dextrose agar medium(SDA).The isolates were identified and were subjected to drug susceptibility tests for ketoconazole and fluconazole by tube dilution method. Incidence of fungal corneal ulcers was maximum in the age group of 20-49 years (56.67%). Agriculturists constituted the largest group (53.33%), history of trauma was present in 90% of the patients. Aspergillus species were the commonest isolates (70%) followed by candida (20%), alternaria (6.70%) and penicillium (3.30%). MIC of ketoconazole varied from 0.5mg/ml to 10 mg/ml. MIC of fluconazole varied from 0.5 - 10 mg/ml and 19 isolates of fungi did not show any sensitivity to fluconazole upto concentration of 10 mg/ml which was the upper limit of the test system. As agricultural activity and related ocular trauma were principal causes of mycotic keratitis, KOH wet mount preparation is an essential tool in the diagnosis of these infections. It is a very simple and sensitive method. Susceptibility pattern to antifungal drugs was determined to optimize therapeutic response in eye infections.


OBJECTIVES
We developed and evaluated a multifaceted AIDS prevention program to increase condom use among sex workers in the city of Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS
A year-long intervention targeted sex workers, brothel owners and clients, promoted cooperation between these groups and the public health office and established a free condom supply for sex establishments. Nearly 500 women from 43 establishments took part in the program, encompassing nearly all direct sex workers in urban Chiang Mai. The intervention included repeated small-group training sessions for sex workers in which experienced women ('superstars') acted as peer educators. The 'model brothel' component encouraged all brothel owners in Chiang Mai to insist on mandatory use of condoms by sex workers and to encourage clients to use condoms. Before and after the intervention, specially trained volunteers posing as clients tested a subsample of sex workers to see whether they insisted on condom use.

RESULTS
The intervention was well received by sex workers and obtained strong support and cooperation from brothel owners. Before the intervention, only 42% (10/24) of women surveyed by volunteers posing as clients refused to have sex without a condom, even when the client insisted and offered to pay three times the usual fee. Following the program, 92% (72/78) refused; 1 year later, 78% (69/85) refused during the same scenario.

CONCLUSIONS
An innovative program directly involving sex workers as peer educators and enlisting the support of brothel owners and operators can result in improved condom use over time. Lessons learned from this program may be applicable elsewhere.


The high mortality associated with invasive fungal infections, narrow spectrum of available antifungals, and increasing evolution of antifungal resistance necessitate the development of alternative therapies. Host defense peptides are regarded as the first line of defense against microbial invasion in both vertebrates and invertebrates. In this work, we investigated the effectiveness of four naturally occurring pore-forming antimicrobial peptides (melittin, magainin 2, cecropin A, and mastoparan B) against a panel of clinically relevant pathogens, including Candida albicans, Candida parapsilosis, Candida tropicalis, and Candida glabrata. We present data on the antifungal activities of the four pore-forming peptides, assessed with descriptive statistics, and their cytocompatibility with cultured human cells. Among the four peptides, mastoparan B (MB) displayed potent antifungal activity, whereas cecropin A was the least potent. We show that MB susceptibility of phylogenetically distant non-candida albicans can vary and be described by different intrinsic physicochemical parameters of pore-forming α-helical peptides. These findings have potential therapeutic implications for the design and development of safe antifungal peptide-based drugs.


Introduction In December 2014, the Organ Procurement & Transplantation Network updated policy to mandate screening with nucleic acid tests (NAT) for hepatitis C virus (HCV) in all donors and HIV NAT in increased risk donors. Given the shorter window period associated with NAT, infections will be detected earlier by NAT than serology. The actual number of additional infections detected by NAT has not been reported. Methods HIV, HBV and HCV screening results of individuals referred for evaluation of deceased organ donation from 2004-2016 were obtained from 23 participating Organ Procurement Organizations (OPO). REDCap was used for data collection. Funding was provided by Mendez National Institute of Transplantation Foundation grant. Results & Discussion 36,429 potential organ donor screening labs were reviewed. NAT detected 29 (0.1%), 10 (0.04%), and 49 (0.3%) additional HIV, HBV, and HCV infections, respectively, in seronegative referrals (table 1). There were 2107 referrals that were seropositive for either HBV or HCV, but were not viremic by NAT. 83.8% of the total population became organ donors Conclusions As expected, NAT detected infections that serology did not, especially in the case of HCV. Importantly, there are many seropositive, NAT negative donors that should be safe to use in certain recipients, especially the HCV Ab+/NAT- donors. The effect of these tests on utilization will be evaluated. Mendez National Institute of Transplantation Foundation. Figure. No caption available.


Exercise training is a commonly used rehabilitative therapy for patients with intermittent claudication (IC). However, it is not known whether blood flow through the major conduit vessel of the leg, the common femoral artery (CFA), increases with exercise training. We tested the hypothesis that peak CFA blood flow will increase with a supervised, lengthy, and individualized exercise training program. Subjects were 10 IC patients (eight men, two women) with a mean age of 61 +/- 7 (mean +/- SD) years who had either aortoiliac (n = 7) or femoropopliteal (n = 3) stenosis. Using noninvasive Doppler flowmetry, we measured CFA blood flow and ankle pressure at rest and after a maximum symptom-limited graded treadmill test before (T1) and after 3 (T2) and 5 (T3) months of exercise training. Variables were measured in the supine and upright postures at rest and during recovery. Total walking distance and claudication distance on the treadmill were determined for T1, T2, and T3. After training, CFA blood flow and ankle pressure were not significantly higher at rest or at 1 minute after exercise compared with pretraining despite significant increases in claudication and total walking distances. The rate of CFA blood flow recovery was slower at T3, suggesting the accrual of a larger metabolic debt during exercise due to more work performed. We conclude that changes in CFA blood flow are not responsible for measured changes in performance with exercise training in IC patients.


Pooling data from the EXTEND-IA, EXTEND-IA TNK, and EXTEND IA-TNK part 2 clinical trials, Dr. Ng et al. found that persistent hypoperfusion ("no-reflow") on follow-up perfusion imaging after successful recanalization was common and associated with poor clinical outcomes. One in 4 patients had perfusion imaging evidence of "no-reflow" at 24 hours, and this radiographic finding accounted for 60% of the final infarct volume and was associated with a 4-fold higher odds of being functionally dependent or dead by day 90. Dr. Schiphorst et al. sought to validate these findings using their data set but found the prevalence of "no-reflow" occurred in half as many patients. They also emphasize that the relationship of no-reflow and clinical outcome is uncertain. Nonetheless, inherent methodologic differences in these studies, specifically selection bias for 24-hour perfusion imaging may account for the variability in findings. The systematic use of perfusion imaging in 99% of included patients from the pooled analysis by Ng et al. and larger sample size make for a convincing argument that postreperfusion hypoperfusion is not only common, but a useful prognostic factor.


Several research and development efforts have been made to ensure food security in developing countries. Dissemination of improved agricultural technologies was used as the main avenue through which some increases in food supply have been achieved. However, food insecurity remains a major challenge. This paper argues and provides empirical evidence that reducing food loss and waste can be an effective food and energy security, and natural resource, and environmental conservation strategy. Following the life cycle framework, the annual amount of wheat-based food lost or wasted from farm-to-fork in Morocco was estimated at 4 million tons (equivalent to 36% of total supply) valued at US$1.0 billion. Among all nodes, the magnitudes of farm management-related losses, wastage during consumption, and storage losses rank first to third accounting for about 17.4%, 7.92%, and 7.06%, respectively of total wheat supply in the country. Were these losses and wastes entirely prevented, Morocco would have been able to feed 29.3 million more people, or save 1.79 million hectares of land, 2.66 billion m3 of water, and 64.28 million GJ of energy, and prevented the emission from landfills of at least 16.61 million kg of methane annually. Besides the ongoing efforts to disseminate agricultural technologies, the Moroccan government needs to develop short- and medium-term national strategies to reduce food losses and wastage particularly targeting the storage and consumption nodes. Replacing bread subsidy with food vouchers targeting only the needy and creation of public awareness about the magnitudes and consequences of food loss and wastage alone may go long way in reducing them.


Throughout Haitian history, the country's presidents have not been viewed as effective heads of state. When they are acknowledged at all, they are not recognized for the progress made in Haiti. As of today over fifty heads of state have acceded to the Haitian leadership position, and all have been accused of corruption in one way or another, as any random reading of Haitian history will reveal.1 Such a conclusion, if true, would be quite a disheartening aberration. Is it believable that over fifty successive Haitian presidents, in over two hundred years of independence, were nothing more than corrupt people? Aside from the canonized founder and second chief of state King Henry Christophe from 1807 to 1820, were there no celebrated post-founders, say a Franklin D. Roosevelt or a John F. Kennedy of Haiti? Foreign accounts of Haitian history seem to suggest a resounding NO!2 Haitian accounts of their history certainly make such mention, but one would be hard pressed to find a consensus surrounding one or more presidents among a group of Haitians in the homeland or migrants living abroad.This essay briefly reviews some of the achievements of lasting significance of seven such chief of states: Christophe-the reigning "King of Hayti" (as it was spelled until 1890)3; Boyer-the "Great Unifier of Hayti"; Geffrard-the "Redeemer of the Republic"; Salomon-"Leader of the Black National Party"; Hyppolite-the "Panama Hat"- and "Iron Pants"-wearing horseman; the 1946 "Revolution" of Estime; and Magloire-the military man who led the way to Haiti's "Golden Age." These men represented seven instances of a functioning Haitian state, yet the positive impacts of their leadership have been minor footnotes in historiographies of Haiti. I will focus on these seven chiefs of state since they have some notoriety among Haitians in the country and abroad.Henry Christophe, "King of Hayti," 1807 to 1820Probably the best known of these seven leaders is Henry Christophe, a self-proclaimed monarch. Christophe's major accomplishments include establishing a monarchy in northern Haiti as well as amicable relations with the British and the Germans.4 He also created a trading partnership between Haiti and Jamaica, constructed the Citadelle fortress and SansSouci palace, and recruited teachers for the nation's schools. The lasting significance of Henry Christophe's rule is immortalized in the Citadelle and Sans-Souci, which now symbolize Haitian nationality.Christophe was the "King of Hayti" from 1807 to 1820. His legacy was forged during the slave abolition movement emerging in Great Britain. Having secured their independence in 1804, Haitians emerged as crusaders for Black people under bondage, but this fact angered slaveholding nations, which feared slave revolts, and Haitians as well, who feared imperial retaliation. More than Toussaint Louverture and Jean-Jacques Dessalines before him, Christophe became concerned about securing Haitian independence and protecting the country from another assault, which seemed ever more vulnerable (as the French seemed ever more determined) to a reinvasion after the failed French invasion of 1802.Christophe seems to have felt that Great Britain was a nation that advanced the abolition of slavery-far more than imperial France, which had offered earlier plea deals of slave emancipation during the Haitian Revolution, and the United States and Spain, which as slaveholding nations lagged behind the antislavery movement. Moreover, Christophe believed that if a kingdom such as Britain could do more to abolish slavery than France and the United States, Haitians might be better off within a kingdom.5Christophe thus modeled northern Haiti after a monarchy. This move was as much as to venerate Black independence as it was to incense slaveholding powers in the international realm. As the first-ever Negro King of a liberated colony, however, Christophe sought the respect of the international community, sending several letters requesting national leaders to address him as such. …


Abstract This study aims at the comparison of different site-effect estimation techniques. We used aftershock records of the 14 August 2003 ( M w 6.2) earthquake that occurred in the western part of Greece next to Lefkas Island. A data set of 15 events recorded at five stations was selected for the period of 20 August 2003–30 September 2003. The moment magnitudes range between 3.3 and 4.2, and the hypocentral distances vary from 5 to 34 km. The site effects are determined using the standard spectral ratio (SSR) method, the horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio for earthquake data method (the so-called receiver function [RF] method), and an inversion method for simultaneous source, path, and site-effects estimation. These methods are applied to both P and S waves, using exactly the same time windows in order to compute the spectra. Finally, using geotechnical information available for the city of Lefkas, the experimental site transfer functions at each site are compared to theoretical one-dimensional 1D transfer functions computed using Kennett's reflectivity coefficient method. We show that the SSR method and the inversion method give similar site transfer functions. However, the experimental SSR fits even better with the spectral ratios of the inversion results, which indicates that our reference site is affected by a small site effect. Moreover, the RF method results fit well with the horizontal-to-vertical ratios coming from the inversion results, indicating in this case a nonnegligible amplification on the vertical component. This is the reason why the RF gives only the frequency of amplification but not the amplitude. These conclusions hold for both P and S waves. Finally, the site effects computed using the whole record or a window including only S waves are similar, while the P waves results, although showing some similar features with those for S waves, give different transfer functions for the sites investigated.


Review(s) of: Lethality in combat: A study of the true nature of battle, by Tom Lewis, Big Sky Publishing, Newport NSW, 2012, ISBN 9781921941511, hardcover, 368 pp, RRP $34.99.


Archeological remnants in urban areas tend to be included in the urban landscape or even remain hidden in subterranean locations which are not visible and, for these reasons, they are accessed with difficulty by visitors. In our previous experience, we developed a mobile application, which guided visitors in real time through various archaeological sites using texts, images, and videos. The results of an evaluation test which collected visitors' impressions and suggestions showed us that the mobile application allowed them to visit archeological remnants in a more participative way but that most visitors were unable to imagine what relation the archaeological remnants had with the ancient urban landscape. To solve this problem and improve the visitors' experience, we are now working at another application, which combines historical and archeological details with an immersive experience. The mobile application recognizes a cultural heritage element by image recognition or by positioning and it augments the interface with various layers of information. Furthermore, the application will provide not only information but it will offer to visitors an emotional experience.


The biomechanical properties of soft tissues play an important role in their normal physiological and physical function, and may possibly relate to certain diseases. The advent of nanomechanical testing techniques, such as atomic force microscopy (AFM), nano-indentation and optical tweezers, enables the nano/micro-mechanical properties of soft tissues to be investigated, but in spite of the fact that biological tissues are highly viscoelastic, traditional elastic contact theory has been routinely used to analyze experimental data. In this article, a novel rate-jump protocol for treating viscoelasticity in nanomechanical data analysis is described.


Background We report the case of a 43-year-old female patient with systemic lupus erythematosus, class III lupus nephritis, with predialysis creatinine levels around 350 μmol/L (3.95 mg/dL) after partial resection of the left kidney with histologically verified papillary carcinoma in 2010. Preoperative computed tomography of the abdomen revealed a small 8 mm tumor in the left upper kidney pole. The patient was indicated for simultaneous bilateral nephrectomy and orthotopic renal transplantation with the aim to minimize invasiveness of the procedure as well as for curable tumor removal. Method The procedure was performed under the full anesthesia trough upper middle laparotomy. As the first step, bilateral transperitoneal nephrectomy was performed. The live donor surgery started in a parallel theater to shorten the cold ischemic time of the graft. The renal graft had singe vessels and ureter; it was placed into the recipient's right orthotopic position. End-to-end anastomosis of the right renal vein and artery anastomosis were performed; ureter was anastomosed end-to-end using recipient's ureter. Results The postoperative period was uneventful with repeatedly excellent ultrasonography check-up of the graft's perfusion. The patient was discharged after 13 days with a good renal function of the graft (urea: 15 mmol/L, creatinine 160 μmol/L [1.80 mg/dL]). Conclusion Orthotopic renal transplantation is a technically challenging but valid alternative for patients who are unsuitable candidates for heterotopic renal transplantation or in cases where there is a clear benefit of orthotopic renal transplantation.


Despite the clinical significance of prepulse inhibition (PPI), the mechanisms are not well understood. Herein, we present our investigation of PPI in the R1 component of electrically induced blink reflexes. The effect of a prepulse was explored with varying prepulse test intervals (PTIs) of 20–600 ms in 4 females and 12 males. Prepulse–test combinations included the following: stimulation of the supraorbital nerve (SON)–SON [Experiment (Exp) 1], sound–sound (Exp 2), the axon of the facial nerve–SON (Exp 3), sound–SON (Exp 4), and SON–SON with a long trial–trial interval (Exp 5). Results showed that (1) leading weak SON stimulation reduced SON-induced ipsilateral R1 with a maximum effect at a PTI of 140 ms, (2) the sound–sound paradigm resulted in a U-shaped inhibition time course of the auditory startle reflex (ASR) peaking at 140 ms PTI, (3) facial nerve stimulation showed only a weak effect on R1, (4) a weak sound prepulse facilitated R1 but strongly inhibited SON-induced late blink reflexes (LateRs) with a similar U-shaped curve, and (5) LateR in Exp 5 was almost completely absent at PTIs >80 ms. These results indicate that the principal sensory nucleus is responsible for R1 PPI. Inhibition of ASR or LateR occurs at a point in the startle reflex circuit where auditory and somatosensory signals converge. Although the two inhibitions are different in location, their similar time courses suggest similar neural mechanisms. As R1 has a simple circuit and is stable, R1 PPI helps to clarify PPI mechanisms. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Prepulse inhibition (PPI) is a phenomenon in which the startle response induced by a startle stimulus is suppressed by a preceding nonstartle stimulus. This study demonstrated that the R1 component of the trigeminal blink reflex shows clear PPI despite R1 generation within a circuit consisting of the trigeminal and facial nuclei, without startle reflex circuit involvement. Thus, PPI is not specific to the startle reflex. In addition, PPI of R1, the auditory startle reflex, and the trigeminal late blink reflex showed similar time courses in response to the prepulse test interval, suggesting similar mechanisms regardless of inhibition site. R1 PPI, in conjunction with other paradigms with different prepulse–test combinations, would increase understanding of the underlying mechanisms.


Introduction: For a targeted surgical therapy of the obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), it can be of benefit to know where snoring is generated within the upper airways. Today, drug induced sleep endoscopy (DISE) is increasingly used to identify location and form of vibrations and obstructions. However, DISE is time consuming and costly. In contrast, determination of the snoring noise location by means of acoustic analysis could be easier for doctor and patient. Furthermore, it can be performed during natural sleep. Aim of this study is to evaluate a method for acoustical analysis of snoring noise, which is based on principles of speech signal processing. Methods: Up to now, 25 patients with primary snoring and OSAS, who underwent DISE, have been included in the study. Using DISE video and audio recordings, the vibration locations where classified based on the VOTE classification (velum, tonsils (oropharynx), tongue base, epiglottis). The snoring events where extracted from the audio data. By means of speech signal processing methods (LPC, MFCC), the frequency response of the articulation tract was calculated in order to find snoring formants which are characteristic for the snoring sound location. Results: Based on the first and the second formant, characteristic frequency patterns could be distinguished for the vibration locations epiglottis, tongue base, and oropharynx/velum. These patterns are independent of the source signal9s fundamental frequency. Conclusion: In the future it may be possible to detect the location of snoring and obstructions within the upper airway by acoustical analysis of snoring during natural sleep, in order to support the selection of an appropriate therapy for the patient.


Routine chemotherapy as an important treatment mode often can not be effective because of multidrug resistance (MDR). MicroRNA (miRNA) modulates the expression of a great number of genes, including MDR. In this study, the expression of miR-1284 was reduced in gastric cancer (GC) tissue specimens with metastasis and in vincristine-resistant (VCR) GC SGC7901 cells (SGC-7901/VCR) compared to that in the controls. Recombinant lentiviral vectors with miR-1284 led to the overexpression of miR-1284 mRNA and reversed the chemoresistance of SGC7901/VCR cells, promoted cell cycle arrested at the G0/G1 phase, accelerated drug-induced apoptosis, and decreased migration and invasiveness of SGC-7901/VCR. In addition, the overexpression of miR-1284 sensitized tumors to chemotherapy in vivo. Our data provide combined evidence that miR-1284 can heighten the expression of MYC and reduce the expression of JUN, MMP12, and EIF4A1 that was the direct target. In conclusion, miR-1284 can function as a new regulator to reduce GC MDR cells by targeting EIF4A1.


It is the meeting of stone and water that creates much of the magic of Venice, the solidity and permanence of the former and the evanescent fragility of the latter. Had Venice been built of wood, the incursions of sea water and the rugged climate would have destroyed the city centuries ago. What these elements have done, however, is to wear away exterior surfaces, making the simplest brick wall an object of contemplation, and giving a special patina to the expensive marbles used for anything from a staircase to a masterpiece of sculpture. The Venetians were great craftsmen and artists, and their use of stone is unparalleled in any other city. Following the Byzantine tradition, multi-coloured pieces of marble and semi-precious stone covered the floors of a religious building in a magic mosaic, while later on chips of marble of all possible hues were tossed into cement to carpet the floors of great palaces. During the middle ages and the Renaissance, multi-coloured marble tombs climbed up the walls of the city's churches and great artists such as Andrea Verrochio, Alessandro Vittoria or Tiziano Aspetti made magnificent stones statues in all sizes for church and state as well as for the great patrician families who competed to outdo each other in the magnificence of their palaces. This beautiful, specially photographed book is a thesis on the texture, colour, shape and endless uses of stone in the hands of sensitive artists. It will be a revelation even to those who think they know Venice well, and a source of inspiration for designers and craftsmen in all areas.


Background  Spigelian hernias are a rare type of lateral ventral abdominal hernia and their content can include any of the intra-abdominal organs. Many cases have described the presence of a variety of abdominal organs in Spigelian hernias, but only few cases report the presence of an incarcerated appendicitis. Imaging is an important step in the diagnosis to avoid the lack of knowledge in such cases. Surgical treatment can be through open or laparoscopic approach, with or without using a mesh according to the size of the defect. Case Report  We report a case of an 82-year-old patient who presented with an acute appendicitis with peri-appendicular abscess strangulated in a right Spigelian hernia. The patient was successfully treated by a laparoscopic appendectomy, a surgical drainage of the abscess, and direct muscle approximation without using of mesh due to inflammation. Conclusion  Spigelian hernias with acute appendicitis in their content are a very rare condition. Clinical diagnosis is usually difficult and challenging and computed tomography scan is the imaging modality of choice. The treatment is surgical.


The amount of energy that can be fed into a network is limited by the physical capacity of the components that form the grid and the load it serves. Electrical utilities use Hosting Capacity (HC) methodologies to analyze and calculate the level of generation that a network can accommodate. Currently, HC analyses are based on conservative static models with the objective of ensuring that technical limitations are not exceeded, hence curbing the optimal network capacity. Demand Response (DR) programs seek to optimize energy resources by lowering or deferring consumption. As a result, technical solutions have focused on reducing demand. These solutions are efficient when there is no local generation of energy, or to reduce individual consumption, but they hamper with feed-in programs. To solve the above introduced issues, in this paper we propose a system with the objective to maximize the limit of the HC of each customer while ensuring stability of the grid. Each customer is assigned a nominal HC value, calculated using the existing methodologies, but has the option of requesting a temporary increase in the feed-in limit. The utility provider will grant or reject the request based on the current conditions of the grid by utilizing the existing smart meter infrastructure and the energy-balancing metering at the transformer substation. The architecture supporting the cited objectives is detailed, a PoC rooted on real experiments is showed, and future directions are also highlighted. Finally, the achieved experimental results show the viability of our proposal.


Background Chronic ingestion of ethanol increases acetaldehyde and leads to the production of acetaldehyde-derived advanced glycation end-products (AA-AGE). We evaluated the toxicity of AA-AGE on hepatocytes and studied the role of AA-AGE in the pathogenesis of alcoholic liver disease (ALD). Methods Rat hepatocyte cultures were treated with N-ethyllysine (NEL) or AA-AGE and the cell viability was evaluated using MTT assay. Male Wistar rats were fed with liquid diet containing 5% ethanol for 8 weeks following normal diet for another 12 weeks. A group of animals was sacrificed at 4th, 6th, and 8th week and the remaining animals at 12th, 14th, 16th, 18th, and 20th week. The liver sections were stained for AA-AGE and 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (4-HNE). Liver biopsy obtained from ALD patients was also stained for AA-AGE and 4-HNE. Results Hepatocyte viability was significantly reduced in cultures treated with AA-AGE compared to NEL treated or control cultures. Severe fatty degeneration was observed during chronic administration of ethanol increasing from 4–8 weeks. The staining of AA-AGE and 4-HNE was correlated with the degree of ALD in both rat and human. In rats, hepatic fatty degeneration was completely disappeared and the staining for both AA-AGE and 4-HNE returned to normal at 12th week of abstinence. Staining for AA-AGE and 4-HNE was completely absent in normal human liver. Conclusions The data demonstrated that AA-AGE is toxic to hepatocytes, but not NEL. Chronic ethanol ingestion produces AA-AGE and reactive oxygen species that contribute to the pathogenesis of ALD. Abstinence of alcohol results in complete disappearance of both AA-AGE and 4-HNE along with fatty degeneration suggesting that AA-AGE plays a significant role in the pathogenesis of ALD.


Films of LixVO2.5 were produced by reactive direct current magnetron sputtering followed by galvanostatic lithiation from an electrolyte. Infrared absorption bands, measured by spectrophotometry, showed x-dependent changes that could be reconciled with structural expansion and contraction.


Background: The clinical course of acute appendicitis, one of the most common diseases needing surgical intervention in children, was affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The global fear and panic about the outbreak and governmental decisions on lockdowns and restrictions led to an increasing number of complicated forms of appendicitis. Objectives: This study aimed to compare different aspects of appendicitis and its complications between the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods. Methods: In a retrospective cross-sectional analytical study, we enrolled all patients with a diagnosis of acute appendicitis for two consecutive years. Only children under 14 years of age were included in the study. The patients were divided into two groups based on the time of disease presentation, the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods. Demographic features, as well as clinical, laboratory, and imaging findings, were compared between the two groups. Results: Out of 369 patients included in the study, 173 were placed in the pre-pandemic group. There was no significant change in the incidence of appendicitis between the two periods (P = 0.232). However, the incidence of complicated appendicitis increased remarkably during the pandemic (27% vs. 11%, P < 0.001). No substantial differences were found in parameters like age, sex, laboratory findings, and the length of hospital stay between the two groups (P > 0.005). The patients who tested positive for COVID-19 had a significantly higher hospitalization duration (P < 0.001). Conclusions: Our results suggested that the rate of complicated appendicitis was substantially higher during the pandemic compared to the pre-pandemic time. Also, the proportion of midline laparotomy was significantly higher after the outbreak. These findings suggested that delays in care provision during the COVID-19 outbreak could have probably contributed to the rise in the incidence of complicated appendicitis in children.


Introduction. Estrogen receptors (ER) are members of nuclear receptors that act in the ER signaling pathway regulating the pathophysiology of hormone-responsive target cells including breast tissue. Aim. This detailled review literature was written on the pathophysiology of ER signaling as well as the effect altered ERα and associated pathway derangement in the oncogenesis of breast cancer. Material and methods. This review was performed according to systematic literature search of three major bibliographic databases (Scopus, PubMed, and Cochran). Analysis of the literature. In this pathway, estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) is a key estradiol-17β (E2) induced transcription factor that has been implicated in the initiation and development of the major fraction of breast cancers. Hence understanding the ERα-mediated ER signaling that results in alterations from normal phenotypic features of breast tissue to the oncogenic features of breast cancer is important. The oncogenic effect of ERα in ER signaling is driven by combinations of molecular assets within the cancer cells. Normally, the transcriptional activity of ERα is controlled by tight regulation of its protein level inside the cells. Altered stability and activity of ERα due to its phosphorylation, ubiquitination, glycosylation, sumoylation, and acetylation events can trigger oncogenic ER signaling. Conclusion. The function and activity of ERα is also modulated by its interaction with coregulators as well as crosstalk with oncogenic factors from other oncogenic pathways. These all events increase the complexity of the progression of ER+ breast cancer and its response to endocrine therapy.


OBJECTIVES
The aim of this study was to describe time trends in the application and approval rates for Veterans Affairs post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) disability benefits and identify gender or regional differences in such rates after controlling for other available predictors.

METHODS
This was an administrative, historical cohort study of all 180,039 veterans who filed PTSD disability claims between 1980 and 1998.

RESULTS
Applications for PTSD disability benefits increased geometrically between 1985 and 1998. Observed claim approval rates for PTSD disability benefits were twice as high for combat-injured men and women than for uninjured men and women. Among uninjured veterans, women serving after the Vietnam conflict had higher estimated claim approval rates than did comparable men, and estimated claim approval rates varied twofold across regions.

CONCLUSIONS
Instead of a gender bias in claim approval rates for PTSD disability benefits, there may be a "combat injury bias" that disproportionately affects women. Research is needed to understand why claim approval rates vary by region.


The remaining challenges, confronting high-power microwave (HPM) sources and pulsed power generators, stimulate the developments of robust relativistic electron beam sources. This paper presents a carbon fibre cathode which is tested in a single pulsed power generator. The distribution and the development of cathode plasma are observed by time-and-space resolved diagnostics, and the uniformity of electron beam density is checked by taking x-ray images. A quasistationary behaviour of cathode plasma expansion is observed. It is found that the uniformity of the extracted electron beam is satisfactory in spite of individual plasma jets on the cathode surface. These results show that carbon fibre cathodes can provide a positive prospect for developing a high-quality electron beam.


Esthetic restoration of implants in the anterior region of the mouth is one of the most difficult procedures to execute. This article discusses patient selection criteria. Implant position and its relationship to the esthetic outcome are also addressed. The importance of soft-tissue management in all phases of the surgical and restorative phases is emphasized. Guidelines are given for the successful delivery of this service for the patient.


Abstract β-glucans are a heterogeneous group of natural polysaccharides. They are ubiquitously found in bacterial or fungal cell walls, cereals, seaweed, and mushrooms. The beneficial role of β-glucan in tumor, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, hypertension, and obesity is being continuously documented. Ample evidence showed that β-glucan could act on several receptors, such as Dectin, complement receptor (CR3), TLR-2, 4, 6 and scavenger. Based on the above, we wanted to explore whether agaricus bisporus-derived β-glucan acted on these receptors on Raw 264.7 macrophages and 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Graphical Abstract


Areal and detailed studies of joints in the Hathira and Hazera monoclines of the northern Negev, Israel, pose several questions concerning relations between jointing and folding in this area. The joints can be divided into five areal sets: three of the sets have become slickensided by shear displacements and might be called small faults, and the other two sets appear to be extension fractures. Use of the co-appearance matrix, a method introduced here, indicates that members of a conjugate set of joints intersect at a nearly constant angle throughout the area but that the acute bisector of the conjugate set trends in different directions in different areas. This suggests that areal sets of joint sets should be defined in terms of angular relations among members rather than in terms of trends. The patterns of the joints seem to bear no simple relationship to the Hazera and Hathira monoclines. One might expect the acute bisector of conjugate sets to trend normal to axes of the monoclines; however, the bisector in the areas studied deviates 30° to 45° from normal to the axes. Average strain due to strike-slip displacement along steeply dipping joints or small faults was measured by detailed mapping of one area. The maximum shortening accommodated by slip along joints was 1.5 percent. The axis of maximum shortening calculated from strain analysis is horizontal and trends to N78°E, whereas the normal to the axes of the monoclines is in a direction of about N45°W. Thus, direction of deformation accommodated by slip along joints and direction of deformation due to monocline formation deviate markedly.


For wider include of CCD camera to industrial production as measurement device at present time defend mainly resolution of used CCD elements and for highresolution elements their price. At our department we developed the methods which allow to mathematically increasing the resolution of these CCD cameras.


As part of Transport Canada's Gateways and Trade Corridors Initiative, the Directorate of Economic Analysis was interested in developing freight performance measurements for goods using Canada's international gateways and traveling along its freight transportation corridors. These performance indicators—termed "fluidity" measures—will assist Transport Canada in painting a clear picture of system efficiency for their freight significant corridors. The indicators will ultimately aid Transport Canada in identifying to what extent the Government of Canada's policies and investment in infrastructure are being leveraged and operated to support trade and economic prosperity. Transport Canada contracted with the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) to develop and apply the indicators for measuring freight system performance. Researchers created two "fluidity indicators" using an index-approach. One indicator captures average conditions (Fluidity Index), while the other indicator captures daily variation in travel time (Planning Time Index). Because freight moves according to both travel time and delivery requirement schedules, and because travel time varies according to mode, the performance measures use a normalizing concept to allow comparisons within a mode and across an entire supply chain. This paper describes the development and application of the measures. The paper includes two applications. One application demonstrates how the fluidity measures are computed and presented for truck shipments. In the second application, researchers demonstrate the use of the fluidity measures for monitoring freight system performance for an international and multimodal corridor from China to Canada. The measures, application, and findings documented in this paper are valuable for practitioners and freight movement stakeholders interested in monitoring freight system efficiency.


Continuous development of computer networks and data transmission systems emphasizes the increasing need for adequate mathematical models and tools that allow for the study of their performance and reliability. We consider the problem of sensitivity analysis of reliability characteristics of a repairable cold standby data transmission system with exponential life time and general repair time distributions to shapes of the input distributions. The simulation model based on the discreteevent approach is introduced to obtain results in case of a general (non-exponential) distribution of repair time of the elements. There are several approaches to model the reliability of systems with general lifeand repair times distributions. Anyhow all of them are reduced to markovization of the process that describes the system behavior [1]. The proposed analytical methodology allows to assess system-level reliability in case of failures of system elements. Explicit analytical expressions were obtained for the stationary probability distribution of system states, which enable to analyze other operational variables of the system with respect to the redundant element's performance. The demonstrated analytical and simulation results show excellent asymptotic insensitivity of the stationary reliability of the system under "fast" recovery of its elements to the type of repair time distribution. Comparison of numerical and graphical results obtained using both analytical and simulation approaches, shows that they have close agreement, so the elaborated simulation model can be used in cases when explicit analytical solution can not be achieved, or as a part of a more complex simulation model.


In rats with renal hypertension, smooth muscle cells in the wall of the aorta appear to have more water, sodium, potassium, magnesium and phosphorus per unit of cell solids than similar cells in normotensive rats. When the blood pressure of a few hypertensive rats dropped to normal as a result of a low sodium diet, the potassium and phosphorus in the arterial cells also appeared to decrease to normal levels. These studies give indications of the compositional changes in arterial smooth muscle cells that are associated with renal hypertension.


General speaker-independent models have been used in nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF) based speech enhancement algorithms for the practical applicability. And additional regulation is necessary when choosing the optimal models for speech reconstruction. In this paper, we propose a novel utilization of deep neural network (DNN) to select the models used for separating speech from noise. Specifically, multiple local dictionaries are learned, whereas only one is activated for each block in the separation step. Besides, the temporal dependencies between blocks are represented by hidden Markov model (HMM), with which it turns out a hybrid DNN-HMM framework. The most probable activation sequence is then solved by the Viterbi algorithm. Experimental evaluations which focus on a speech denoising application are carried out. The results confirm that our proposed approach achieves better performance when compared with some existing methods.


In previous research, to mimic user queries with typos and abbreviations, a statistical model was used. It was trained to generate spelling variants of address terms that a human would use. A geocoding system enhanced with these spelling variants proved to yield results with higher precision and recall. To train the statistical model, thus far, user queries and their expected results were required to be linked with each other. Such training data is very costly to obtain. In this paper, a novel approach to derive such spelling variants from user queries alone is proposed. A linkage between collected user queries and result addresses is no longer required. The experiment conducted proves that this approach is a reasonable way to observe, derive, and index spelling variants too, allowing to measurably improve the precision and recall metrics of a geocoder.


Melatonin plays several important physiological functions in mammals, such as immune enhancement and regulation of dark-light signal transduction. Melatonin is also known to be an endogenous free radical scavenger and an efficient antioxidant. It detoxifies a variety of free radicals and reactive oxygen intermediates, including the hydroxyl radical, singlet oxygen and nitric oxide. These radicals participate in many diseases, for example diabetes. This study determined the effect of melatonin on the antioxidant enzymes: superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and the level of glutathione (GSH) in human diabetic (C2 line) skin fibroblasts. Confluent monolayers of control (S2 line) and diabetic (C2 line) skin fibroblasts were incubated with different concentrations of melatonin: 10, 50, 100 and 1000 micromol/l at 37 degrees C for 24 h. Next, the GSH level and SOD, CAT and GPx activities were measured colorimetrically. The activities of the antioxidant enzymes and the GSH level were lower in diabetic skin fibroblasts than in the control S2 line. Concentrations of melatonin of 100 and 1000 micromol/l caused a significant increase in the enzymes' activities and GSH level.


Outdoor recreation is an important and meaningful experience that carries numerous benefits for people with and without disabilities. Traditionally, relatively few recreation services and facilities were accessible to people with disabilities. Recent legislation such as the Americans with Disabilities Act has increased the accessibility of many outdoor recreation resources, yet little documentation of the outdoor recreation participation patterns of people with disabilities exists. If outdoor recreation services are going to be inclusive of all people, then a greater understanding of the participation patterns and barriers faced by people with mobility disabilities is needed. The National Survey of Recreation and the Environment (NSRE) is an on-going study of the outdoor recreation participation of people living in the United States. The 1995 version of the survey included questions about participation in a variety of outdoor recreation activities as well as about disability and constraints. Data were collected through a nationwide telephone survey conducted by the National Forest Service. Binary logistic regression and chi-square analyses were used to analyze the data. Results indicated that for many of the activities and constraints, significant differences were found between people with mobility disabilities and people without disabilities. Characteristics of activities that influenced participation rates included: (a) the physical nature of activities, (b) the degree of adaptation needed for participation, (c) social expectations, self perceptions, and social fears associated with certain activites, (d) the financial costs of activities, and (e) the accessibility of sites where activities took place. There were no significant differences between people with mobility disabilities and people without disabilities for six of the constraints included in the survey. Seven constraints were experienced significantly more often by people with mobility disabilities than by people without disabilities, and only one constraint was experienced more often by people without disabilities than by people with mobility disabilities.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the safety and effectiveness of early enteral feeding versus traditional enteral feeding after gastrointestinal (GI) anastomosis in children in the pediatric literature.

SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA
Prolonged postoperative fasting has been the traditional model of care following pediatric GI surgery. In contrast, early feeding has become well established in the adult population, where meta-analyses have shown early introduction of enteral feeds to be beneficial to hospital stay and patient outcomes.

METHODS
Comprehensive literature searches of the English literature search (PubMed, Ovid, Embase databases) from inception to present according to the PRISMA guidelines. Included studies were assessed according to the MINORS criteria. Outcomes for time to first feed and full feeds, and discharge, and risk of major complications were synthesized.

RESULTS
Ten studies comprising 451 patients were included in the analysis. All studies aimed at investigating the safety of early feeding in pediatric GI surgery, with or without a fast-track program. Only 4 studies compared the study group to a control group in which patients were fed in a traditional way (traditional feeding).Most studies defined early feeding as feeds commenced ≤24 hours postoperatively (range 2-72 hours). Mean time to first feed was significantly lower in the early feeding group, but not significantly lower for the mean time to full feeds and mean hospital stay. Bowel obstruction and anastomotic breakdown were classed as major complications. There was no significant difference in their occurrence in both groups.

CONCLUSIONS
Although the studies identified are few and heterogeneous, they demonstrate that there is no clear advantage of keeping children "nil by mouth" and no clear disadvantage of providing early enteral nutrition following elective gastrointestinal surgery. Larger randomized controlled trials are required to assess the true impact on postoperative complications, health care associated costs, and to investigate patient-reported outcome measures.


Angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels from existing vessels is required for many physiological processes and for growth of solid tumors. Initiated by hypoxia, angiogenesis involves binding of angiogenic factors to endothelial cell (EC) receptors and activation of cellular signaling, differentiation, migration, proliferation, interconnection and canalization of ECs, remodeling of the extracellular matrix and stabilization of newly formed vessels. Experimentally, these processes can be studied by several in vitro and in vivo assays focusing on different steps in the process. In vitro, ECs form networks of capillary-like tubes when propagated for three days in coculture with fibroblasts. The tube formation is dependent on vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and omission of VEGF from the culture medium results in the formation of clusters of undifferentiated ECs. Addition of angiogenesis inhibitors to the coculture system disrupts endothelial network formation and influences EC morphology in two distinct ways. Treatment with antibodies to VEGF, soluble VEGF receptor, the VEGF receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor SU5614, protein tyrosine phosphatase inhibitor (PTPI) IV or levamisole results in the formation of EC clusters of variable size. This cluster morphology is a result of inhibited EC differentiation and levamisole can be inferred to influence and block VEGF signaling. Treatment with platelet factor 4, thrombospondin, rapamycin, suramin, TNP-470, salubrinal, PTPI I, PTPI II, clodronate, NSC87877 or non-steriodal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) results in the formation of short cords of ECs, which suggests that these inhibitors have an influence on later steps in the angiogenic process, such as EC proliferation and migration. A humanized antibody to VEGF is one of a few angiogenesis inhibitors used clinically for treatment of cancer. Levamisole is approved for clinical treatment of cancer and is interesting with respect to anti-angiogenic activity in vivo since it inhibits ECs in vitro with a morphology resembling that obtained with antibodies to VEGF.


In this second article in a two-part work, the biases of weather radar polarimetric variables from simultaneous horizontally and vertically transmit (SHV) data are investigated. The biases are caused by cross coupling of the simultaneously transmitted vertical (V) and horizontal (H) electric fields. There are two primary causes of cross coupling: 1) the nonzero mean canting angle of the propagation medium (e.g., canted ice crystals) and 2) antenna polarization errors. Given herein are experimental data illustrating both bias sources. In Part I, a model is developed and used to quantify cross coupling and its impact on polarization measurements. Here, in Part II, experimental data from the National Center for Atmospheric Research's (NCAR's) S-band dual-polarimetric Doppler radar (S-Pol) and the National Severe Storms Laboratory's polarimetric Weather Surveillance Radar-1988 Doppler (WSR-88D), KOUN, are used to illustrate biases in differential reflectivity(Zdr). The S-Pol data are unique: both SHV data and fast alternating H and V transmit (FHV) data are gathered in close time proximity, and thus the FHV data provide ''truth'' for the SHV data. Specifically, the SHV Zdr bias in rain caused by antenna polarization errors is clearly demonstrated by the data. This has not been shown previously in the literature.


Highlighting the various advantages (in terms of flexibility, reliability, development time and cost, etc.) of reusability of well-designed cryptographic primitives, particularly the fast pseudorandom (PR) number generators (PRNG) used in stream ciphers, and the high sensitivity (to changes), confusion, and pseudorandomness of highly nonlinear key and data-dependent PRNG-based matrix transformations, we develop new parameterized PR functions (PRF). To get length preserving output with uniform distribution and effectively thwart propagation of linear and differential terms and leak of key information for cryptanalysis, the proposed PRFpsilas incorporate PR operations with stream ciphering/word-wise modulus additions. Founded on a complement theorem of the central limit theorem, the proposed PRFpsilas can give almost uniform probability distribution. Evoking the Luby-Rackoff construction of super-PR permutations from PRFpsilas, we then present an extended family of provably secure, parameterized, variable key/blocklength block ciphers that flexibly fit a variety of applications.


We demonstrate a simple RFID sensor network comprised of an Intel WISP and a commodity UHF RFID reader. WISPs are devices that gather their operating energy from RFID reader transmissions, in the manner of standard RFID tags, and further include sensors, e.g., accelerometers, and provide a very small-scale computing platform. We believe that this makes them an attractive alternative to motes for many of the original smart dust applications that require very small or long-lived sensors. The Intel WISP that we demonstrate has an ultra-low-power microcontroller, 32K of program space, 8K of flash, and accelerometer and temperature sensors. It harvests power from and communicates sensor data to standard (EPC Class 1 Gen 2) UHF RFID readers with a range of roughly 10 feet. This combination of RFID technology and sensor networks raises many research challenges, such as how to function with intermittent power and how to modify RFID protocols to support sensor queries.


BACKGROUND
Zolpidem is a short-acting, nonbenzodiazepine hypnotic with rapid onset of action. Even though it is not a benzodiazepine, it binds to one of three types of central benzodiazepine receptors, showing selective binding to the type 1 benzodiazepine receptor subtype. Therapeutic hypnotic dosages do not disturb normal sleep patterns (sleep architecture).

METHOD
A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel group multicenter trial was conducted to determine the effectiveness of 10 mg and 15 mg of zolpidem in the long-term (35 nights) treatment of chronic insomnia in 75 patients. Sleep stage effects and motor and cognitive effects during the 35-night treatment period and the 3-night posttreatment period were also investigated.

RESULTS
Within the first week of treatment, 10 mg of zolpidem had a significant effect on latency to persistent sleep and sleep efficiency. Efficacy was maintained throughout the 35 nights of drug administration. There was no evidence of residual effect with 10 mg of zolpidem. Stage 3-4 sleep was preserved at both the 10-mg and 15-mg zolpidem dosages. There was no evidence of tolerance at either dose and no significant treatment differences between the 10-mg zolpidem group and placebo in latency to persistent sleep or sleep efficiency during the posttreatment period. Also, the 10-mg zolpidem dosage was judged by the patients to have helped them fall asleep. Similar results were observed with the 15-mg zolpidem dosage. However, there were significant decreases in REM sleep at Weeks 3 and 4 with 15 mg of zolpidem compared with placebo. Overall, incidence rates of treatment-emergent adverse events in the zolpidem groups were similar to those in the placebo group.

CONCLUSION
This is the first sleep laboratory study using a parallel placebo group to demonstrate efficacy for longer than 4 weeks with a hypnotic agent. In this study 10 mg of zolpidem was found to be safe and effective for the long-term treatment of chronic insomnia, demonstrating hypnotic efficacy without affecting sleep stages or producing tolerance effects, rebound effects, or detrimental effects on psychomotor performance. The 15-mg zolpidem dosage provided no clinical advantage over the 10-mg zolpidem dosage.


The tank bromeliads Aechmea aquilega (Salisb.) and Catopsis berteroniana (Schultes f.) coexist on a sun-exposed Neotropical inselberg in French Guiana, where they permit conspicuous freshwater pools to form that differ in size, complexity and detritus content. We sampled the algal communities (both eukaryotic and cyanobacterial taxa, including colourless forms) inhabiting either A. aquilega (n = 31) or C. berteroniana (n = 30) and examined differences in community composition and biomass patterns in relation to several biotic and abiotic variables. Chlorella sp. and Bumilleriopsis sp. were the most common taxa and dominated the algal biomass in A. aquilega and C. berteroniana, respectively. Using a redundancy analysis, we found that water volume, habitat complexity and the density of phagotrophic protozoa and collector-gatherer invertebrates were the main factors explaining the distribution of the algal taxa among the samples. Hierarchical clustering procedures based on abundance and presence/absence data clearly segregated the samples according to bromeliad species, revealing that the algal communities in the smaller bromeliad species were not a subset of the communities found in the larger bromeliad species. We conclude that, even though two coexisting tank bromeliad populations create adjacent aquatic habitats, each population hosts a distinct algal community. Hence, bromeliad diversity is thought to promote the local diversity of freshwater algae in the Neotropics.


Safety surveillance is important during the entire life cycle of a drug. Pre-marketing trials have been shown to be ineffective in establishing the full safety profile of the drug, mainly due to their relatively small sample size and characteristics of the patients, which are usually younger and healthier than the average patient using the drug in general practice. Hence, the safety profile of a drug will be incomplete at market entry. Regulations have been implemented to ensure drug safety and market authorization holders are at present required to provide updated safety information as evidence accumulates. During the post-marketing phase additional safety information is mainly gathered by signal detection, observational studies, and meta-analysis of trials. The thesis is divided into three subtopics: perspectives and concepts in post-marketing safety research, utilizing data from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in safety research and finally future steps in risk monitoring. First we focused on available safety information and what we can learn by taking a different approach to this data. We discuss comparability of data from RCTs of same class drugs, where one has been withdrawn from the market due to safety concern and the second one still remains on the market. Further, we discuss learning during the post-marketing phase. We aimed to investigate whether same class drugs had similar adverse drug reaction profiles and whether learning occurs between the drug pair and at which time point. Finally, we categorize different types of off-label use and discuss the potential shift in risk associated with moving out of the licensed domain. We hypothesize that, only when the off-label population is more vulnerable to pharmacologically expected (Type A) events than the domain will we expect higher risk. Type B (unpredictable) adverse drug reactions occur randomly, also in the off-label population. The second topic focuses on utilizing data from RCTs to estimate drug safety in situations where potential safety issues rise during the post-marketing phase. We used data from the ADVANCE trial to first assess whether the intensity of glucose control influences cancer risk in patients with type II diabetes and second to discuss methodological challenges of post-hoc analysis of RCTs that explore drug associated cancer outcomes. We found that intensity of treatment did not influence cancer risk in these patients. For the last topic we propose a new strategy that could aid safety evaluation during the post-marketing phase. We structured a Bayesian meta-analysis model that combines information from phase III and phase IV and thereby, combines both trial and observational data. For this we used the example of rosiglitazone which was withdrawn from the European market due to cardiovascular risk. We conclude with a discussion on benefits of new strategies for pharmacovigilance such as the Bayesian meta-analysis which is currently not a part of routine pharmacovigilance activities and the importance of seeking the most efficient ways to use available information. We identified several areas where data may be used more efficiently; these include information about same class drugs and dosages, trial databases for post-hoc analysis and limiting uncertainties regarding off-label use.


Objective To compare [18F]AV-1451 uptake in the semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia (svPPA) to Alzheimer dementia, and determine whether increased uptake in svPPA is associated with the presence of β-amyloid (Aβ). Methods Thirty-one participants with svPPA underwent MRI and Pittsburgh compound B–PET scanning, and 17 of these also underwent [18F]AV-1451 tau-PET. A global Pittsburgh compound B standardized uptake value ratio was calculated for all participants, with a cutoff of 1.42 used to define Aβ(+) participants. We assessed region and voxel-level [18F]AV-1451 uptake in the whole svPPA cohort and separately in Aβ(+) and Aβ(−) svPPA groups, compared to 12 Aβ(+) participants with Alzheimer dementia and 170 cognitively normal, Aβ(−) controls. Results Of the entire cohort of participants with svPPA, 26% were Aβ(+). The Aβ(+) participants were older at scan compared to the Aβ(−) participants. svPPA showed elevated [18F]AV-1451 uptake in anteromedial temporal regions but the degree of uptake was lower than in Alzheimer dementia. After controlling for age, Aβ(+) status in svPPA was associated with significantly higher uptake in all anteromedial and inferior/middle lateral temporal regions, but uptake was still lower than in Alzheimer dementia. Conclusion Although [18F]AV-1451 uptake is focally elevated in svPPA, the level of uptake is much less than what occurs in Alzheimer dementia and appears to be at least partially related to Aβ. Therefore, it is possible that some of the increased uptake of [18F]AV-1451 in svPPA is related to binding paired helical filament tau.


Annotation. Changes in the size of the upper respiratory tract can lead to the emergence or aggravation, complications of already existing pathologies. In this regard, there is a need to study their sizes both in normal and pathological conditions. Cephalometric analysis is one of the important tools that allows you to assess the location of the structures of the upper respiratory tract and their parameters. The purpose of the study is to establish the peculiarities of correlations between cephalometric parameters of the upper respiratory tract in Ukrainian young men and young women with an orthognathic bite with a wide face type. On primary lateral radiographs of Ukrainian young men (aged 17 to 21 years) and young women (aged 16 to 20 years) with a wide facial type, orthognathic bite and absence of upper respiratory tract pathology, using the licensed medical software OnyxCeph 3 ™, version 3DPro (company Image Instruments GmbH, Germany) and the diagnostic program "UniqCeph" carried out a cephalometric analysis of the upper respiratory tract, soft palate, hyoid bone and tongue. Correlations were evaluated using the Statistica 6.0 license package using Spearman's non-parametric statistics. In young men and young women with a wide face type, multiple, mostly straight, medium-strength reliable (r= from 0.42 to 0.56) and strong (r= from 0.62 to 0.82) correlations were established between most of the cephalometric characteristics of the upper respiratory tract itself, and only in young women - multiple straight correlations of average strength reliable (r=0.44 and r=0.53) relationships between most of the cephalometric characteristics of the hyoid bone. In addition, in young men with a wide face type, multiple straight correlations of mostly medium strength, reliable (r= from 0.47 to 0.52) and unreliable (r= from 0.30 to 0.41) relationships of the AH-CV, AH-MP or VT distances and most of the cephalometric characteristics of the upper respiratory tract itself, mainly the inverse of the average strength of reliable (r=-0.44 in both cases) and unreliable (r=-0.32 and r=-0.38) correlations of the value of most of the cephalometric characteristics of the soft palate (with the exception of the PM-U distance) and the tongue, as well as mostly straight correlations of medium strength unreliable (r= from 0.34 to 0.38) relationships between the values of most of the cephalometric characteristics of the hyoid bone (with the exception of the AH-CV distance) and the tongue; and in young women, there are direct, reliable, medium-strength (r=0.45 and r=0.53) and strong (r=0.63 in both cases) relationships between the value of the AH-CV distance and almost all cephalometric characteristics of the upper respiratory tract itself, as well as mainly direct unreliable average strength (r= from 0.37 to 0.38) correlations between the size of the PM-U or AH-FH distance and most of the characteristics of the tongue. Thus, the most pronounced manifestations of sexual dimorphism correlations are established between the cephalometric characteristics of the upper respiratory tract itself and the hyoid bone or tongue, as well as between the cephalometric characteristics of the soft palate and the tongue.


Background Accurate detection of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) expression and gene amplification is crucial for the application of HER2‐specific therapy and for evaluating the response of patients with breast cancer. A uniform and standard procedure of immunohistochemistry (IHC) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) needs to be established for evaluating the HER2 status in breast cancer tissues for the treatment of patients with real HER2‐positive tumors. The present multicenter study was aimed to examine the HER2 status in breast cancer specimens from Chinese patients using both IHC and FISH methods. Methods A multicenter study was performed on the HER2 status in 3 149 breast cancer specimens from different ethnic populations and areas in China by IHC and FISH assays. The potential association of HER2 status with demographic and clinical characteristics was analyzed. Results The positive rates for HER2 over‐expression and HER2 amplification were 23.3% and 27.5% in this study, respectively. The concordance between IHC and FISH was 71.2% (&kgr;=0.494, P <0.001). Furthermore, 72.9% of specimens with IHC 2+ were negative to FISH. The discordance rates among laboratories were from 5% to 28% for IHC and 1% to 16% for FISH. HER2 amplification was associated significantly with advanced tumor stage (III or IV, P=0.002), large tumor size (>5 cm, P=0.002), moderate and poor histological grades (P <0.0001), post‐menopause (P <0.0001), ER‐PR‐ (P=0.002), and having ≥4 lymph nodes affected (P <0.0001) in this population. The positive rates of HER2 amplification in specimens from Man and Hui Chinese were significantly higher than that in other Chinese populations. There are slightly higher positive rates of HER2 expression and amplification in Chinese patients with breast cancer. Conclusion These findings may provide new insights into understanding the epidemiological features of HER2 expression and amplification, and may be valuable for clinical practice.


The Kasabach-Merritt syndrome is the association of cavernous hemangiomas and consumption coagulopathy marked by anemia, thrombocytopenia, and hypofibronigenemia. Exacerbation of the consumption coagulopathy has been described in the 2 previous reports of this syndrome when associated with pregnancy. The authors report a third patient whose delivery and postopartum course were marked by increased coagulation abnormalities and subsequent hemorrhage. This patient's 32-day hospital course and need for multiple blood transfusions, clotting factors, platelets, heparin, and finally epsilon-aminocaproic acid underscore the need for patients with this syndrome to deliver in a referral center hospital where replacement therapy and hematologic consultation are readily available.


In Part I of this paper we calculated depth profiles and polarization characteristics of airborne lidar return signals by the Monte Carlo method. Here we calculate the polarization characteristics of lidar return signals for different types of water. We demonstrate the feasibility of polarization lidar application to the detection of underwater inhomogeneities of different origins. It is shown that simultaneous analysis of depth profiles of the lidar return signal power and signal depolarization ratio substantially increases the information content of airborne lidar sensing of seawater. We compare calculated results with the data of airborne lidar measurements for lambda = 0.53 mum.


This paper proposes a novel rotor position estimation technique based on stator flux linkage to implement robust sensorless field-oriented control for permanent magnet synchronous motor drives. The proposed method can accurately estimate rotor position by mitigating the dependence on quality of the magnitude and phase angle of the estimated stator flux linkage. A high-accuracy load angle calculation based on $d$ - $q$ -axis current estimation method is first developed for further rotor position determination. In the rotor position calculation, the reference flux linkage magnitude is used instead of the estimated one to avoid the influence of potential high noise levels during low speed operation. As a result, the rotor angle estimation depends only on the phase angle of stator flux linkage, without the effect of its magnitude. The estimation accuracy can thus be improved. Also, by employing a simple stator flux linkage phase lag compensator, the performance of the proposed sensorless method can be dramatically improved at low speed. Moreover, the problem of motor parameter variation (e.g., changes in winding resistance, stator inductances, and permanent magnetic flux linkage) has been analyzed and overcome. Finally, comparisons between conventional and proposed methods are presented with simulations and experiments to demonstrate the effectiveness and reliability of the proposed method.


Bereavement can be an especially difficult experience for children. The Candle project provides support to bereaved young people and families.


This paper presents ethnographic observations, a diary study and a large-scale quantitative questionnaire (n=395) designed to study the reasons for adoption and refusal of context-aware mobile applications. Through a qualitative study we identify 24 user needs that these applications fulfill and 9 barriers for adoption. We found that for many of the identified needs the end-goal is not that of receiving information, thus complementing work on mobile information needs. Also, this work offers an actionable list of obstacles that prevent contextual services to reach a larger audience. Finally, our findings suggest the opportunity to develop novel mobile applications that fulfill needs in the activity and personal contextual dimensions, and that of developing an application store for feature phones.


Are all skew deviations the clinical expressions of central vestibular dysfunction in three dimensional space?

Skew means set, placed, or running obliquely; slanting.1 For a century, skew deviation has been the descriptive term for an acquired vertical deviation that slants the interpupillary axis to an oblique orientation.2,3 This condition has traditionally connoted a severe and debilitating neurological injury within the posterior fossa.4, Subsequent investigation has refined our understanding of this disorder and expanded the boundaries of this diagnosis.5 Working over the past two decades, the promethean team of Brandt and Dieterich have established that skew deviation has a clinical localising value within the posterior fossa6,7; that it is a component of the ocular tilt reaction (a triad of skew deviation, binocular torsion, head tilt)7–9; and that it is associated with a tilt in the subjective visual vertical.8–11 These studies have supplanted our basic descriptive definition of skew deviation with a mechanistic understanding of this complex disorder.

The underlying mechanism for skew deviation involves a unilateral lesion that inhibits (or occasionally stimulates) central otolithic pathways which run from the medulla to the mesencephalon.10,11 Since a physiological imbalance in central graviceptive tone is normally produced by a head or body tilt in the roll plane, this lesion produces the sensation of body tilt and evokes the same stimulus as is evoked by the Bielschowsky head tilt test.12 By activating prenuclear input to the superior rectus and superior oblique muscles of the ipsilateral eye, and the inferior rectus and oblique muscles of the contralateral eye, and by simultaneously inhibiting their antagonists, a cyclovertical divergence is produced, with intorsion of the higher eye, extorsion of the lower eye, and a corrective head tilt toward the side of the …


A High cephamycin C producing strain of Nocardia lactam‐durans was used to study cell growth and antibiotics production in defined media. Batch fermentations in shake flasks and stirred tanks showed that antibiotic production occurred during cell growth and the production rate rapidly decline as the growth slowed. Glutamate served as a primary substrate during this phase. Later, ammonia was utilized along with a remainder of the glucose. Rapid antibiotic production occurred in this phase. Increased glutamate promoted higher growth, a rise in ammonium ion concentration, and a marked reduction in antibiotic titers. An increase of the glucose concentration along with the glutamate concentration balanced to the medium; no ammonium ion rise occurred and a peak specific antibiotic titer comparable to the control medium was obtained. In a phosphate‐limited medium, cell growth equivalent to the control medium and increased antibiotic titers were obtained. In these experiments, adjustment of Na+ and K+ ion concentration equal to that in the control medium was found to be important. Based on carbon and nitrogen balances, the activity of the key nitrogen metabolism enzymes, and the published literature, a two‐stage model of regulation is suggested.


Preface Notes on Contributors Robert REID: Introduction: Pushkin: Myth and Monument David M. BETHEA: Pushkin's Mythopoetic Consciousness: Apuleius, Psyche and Cupid, and the Theme of Metamorphosis in Evgenii Onegin. Marguerite PALMER: La Beatrice Nuova: The Process of Tatiana's Beatificationin Evegenii Onegin Leon BURNETT: Sovereign Rapture: The Enigma of Pushkin's Cleopatra Andre G.F. van HOLK: Don-Juanism and Stylistic Code in Pushkin's The Stone Guest Robin AIZLEWOOD: The Alter Ego and the Stone Guest: Doubling and Redoubling Hermann in The Queen of Spades Tatiana SMOLIAROVA: The Bronze Horseman and the Tradition of Ekphrasis Alexandra SMITH: Pushkin's Imperial Image of St Petersburg Revisited Michael BASKER: Notes of Confusion: On the Footnotes to The Bronze Horseman Priscilla MEYER: How The Bronze Horseman Was Made William MILLS TODD III: Pushkin's History of Pugachev and the Experience of Rebellion Robert REID: 'A Hundred Years Have Passed...': A Diltheyan Approach in Time in Pushin Index