Goals in the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) focus on reducing symptoms and disease progression. Registry data indicate that the accumulation of significant disability can take decades. Therefore, long-term follow-up (LTFU) studies are needed to understand the impact of disease-modifying therapy (DMT) in MS. Based on analyses of available LTFU study data, recommendations for future LTFU studies can be made. A disability milestone may be considered because exploratory data show that DMT may slow the progression of disability. Achievement of the EDSS steps 4 or 6 may be sufficient milestones because, once reached, MS progresses inevitably. Since a placebo control cannot be ethically used in LTFU studies, a standard-of-care comparator could be considered. The ideal LTFU study should be performed according to the highest possible standards. A high-quality LTFU study would achieve high retention rates, capture complete data at prespecified assessment intervals, and be powered to the key outcome measure. In addition, propensity scoring is an approach used to reduce bias in treatment comparisons in observational studies and might be a suitable approach for analyzing LTFU studies. With careful consideration of LTFU limitations and study design, it is possible to attain a high degree of rigor in future studies.


U.S. electric power production is significantly dependent on the operation of coal-fired steam generation units and a large majority of these units are reaching ages over 50+ years with concerns for operating component integrity and remaining life. This paper discusses a small sample testing technique (impression creep) that was used to estimate the remaining life of a hot reheat seam welded piping system that saw about 322,000 hours of operation at nominally 4170 kPa (605psig) and 538°C (1000°F) steam conditions. Two different life assessments using experimental impression creep data are discussed and findings compared to a previous preliminary study of the same piping system using operational data, reported measured piping thickness values (from UT measurements), and published creep rupture data. Impression creep tests were conducted in unaffected base metal, weld metal and the heat-affected zone. Impression creep rates of the various zones showed no creep mismatch. Minimal creep mismatch, proper design, fabrication and operation, combined with proper metallurgy have successfully demonstrated that even low-alloy seam welds can operate 300,000+ hours and still exhibit useful remaining life.


Purpose: The use of robots in rehabilitation is a relatively recent development and a growing area that is rapidly making inroads in clinical practice. This research examined changes in parameters when a gait-assist robot was worn and the use of a kinematic measurement method to examine the effects of differences in support and loading resulting from the use of a gait-assist robot on gait. Methods: The measured task was a walking task performed on a treadmill equipped with a robot suit. The measurement involved recording images with four digital video cameras, with one trial measured under each condition and a rest period between trials. The treadmill speed was set to 1.5 km/h, and steady-state gait was measured with a robot suit mounted over the treadmill. A motion analysis system was used for the analysis. The sampling rate was 60Hz. Three-dimensional motion analysis was used to calculate joint angles (degrees) during the walking task. The joint angles and the robot suit and the body joint angles were then compared under two conditions, the condition 1 (Assist 1) and the condition 2 (Assist 3). Each condition was performed five times (five gait cycles). Results: according to the comparison of joint angles under the condition of Assist 1 and Assist 3, the mean peak flexion of hip, knee, and mean peak dorsiflexion of ankle joints of assist 3 was greater than that of assist 1 during the swing phase of one gait cycle. For the comparison of HAL and the body joint angles, the misalignment may arise between the assist robot (robot suit) and the body during the period of swing phase of one gait cycle walking as a characteristic of exoskeleton-type gait-assist robots. The value (mm) of the knee joint of misalignment between the robot suit and body of Assist 1 was significantly greater than that of Assis 3. Conclusion: The misalignment that may arise between the assist robot (robot suit) and the body during walking will need to be investigated in detail. Robot therapy should be used by understanding the characteristic of assist level of an exoskeleton-type gait-assist robot for effective gait training of versatile patients.


Okadaic acid and calyculin A, specific and cell permeable inhibitors of protein phosphatase 1 and 2A, inhibited aggregation, secretion and delta [Ca++]i in thrombin stimulated platelets. The inhibitory effect of calyculin A (IC50: 3.6-4.8nM) was about two hundred times more potent than that of okadaic acid (IC50: 0.8-1.3 microM), which is consistent with the difference of the reported Ki values for protein phosphatase 1. These phosphatase inhibitors and PGI2 synergistically enhanced the phosphorylation of 50kDa protein (P50), which is solely related to the inhibition of platelet reaction. These results indicate that serine/threonine protein phosphatase 1 might play a role in platelet activation.


The effect of some amino acids, succinate and different doses of ACTH on the convulsion response readiness of the organism under the action of a strong sound stimulant was studied. With enrichment of the ration with glutamic acid and also following a parenteral introduction of large doses of succinate a definite protective effect was revealed and, conversely, administration of ACTH (intramuscularly, for 7 day in a dose of 5 Units per 100 g of body weight) increased the convulsion response readiness of the organism. A possible mechanism underlying the detected changes in the convulsion response readiness of the organism under the active factors under study are discussed.


Data and information are very important as it contains company's identity and all business transaction. Every employee from higher position to the lowest position are responsible for the security of the data. Data should be treated as company asset and must be taken care of properly. Data governance will guide all employees in managing the data and make sure the security of data. Lack of awareness and poor data governance can lead to data breach and business disaster. By implementing data governance, every data in the company will have ownership, and access level. It will make the data more secured as the access level will be limited. This study intended to use extensive literature review for questions development and in-depth interview for data collection. The target respondents for this study must have expert knowledge in cloud security area. Finally, a data governance security assessment focusing on IaaS in cloud data center will be proposed and tested in HPC3 (High Performance Cloud Computing Center).


The doctoral dissertation analyses revitalization process of the existing
residential buildings whose basic structural system comprises load-bearing
wall system, and which were constructed in the period prior to enacting the
regulations of construction in seismically active areas. The reasons for their
revitalization are protection and preservation of the housing stock in order to
improve the quality of housing. In order to correctly evaluate status of such
structures, here are listed types and causes of damage, with necessary
classifications and tabular presentations. The status assessment is performed
from a developed methodological framework, which contains all the phases
and activities in the process, with a defined goal and contents.
The methods of rehabilitation and reinforcement of the basic load bearing
wall structure, as the first phase of revitalization in which bearing capacity
and safety should be ensured, as well as the necessary calculus, were
provided in accordance with Eurocode 6 and Eurocode 8. For the analysis
were selected two characteristics types of masonry buildings within a mixeduse
(but mostly residential) block in Nis. Variations of the walls bearing
capacity and load to compression and shear, as well as the variation of
horizontal relative floor displacements and absolute displacements by height
of the building for the selected models of bearing structure strengthening was
monitored by implementing the software package FEDRA for design of
masonry structures in seismically active areas, based on the principles of
Eurocode 6 and Eurocode 8, in order to select the most appropriate solutions.


Internet access has become a requirement to participate in society; however, the majority of the world's population is not yet online. Citizens can self-organize cooperatively to crowdsource community network infrastructures and achieve Internet access. In order to help address that challenge, this paper provides an analysis of a crowdsourced Internet access mechanism: the distributed Web proxy service in one of the largest community networks in the world. Several perspectives were considered in this analysis, e.g., data traffic, networking issues, and proxies responsiveness. The evaluation results show how the current manual proxy choice, based on social clues, becomes a popular service plagued with hot spots and inefficiencies, which opens several opportunities for improving these infrastructures. By taking advantage of it, our research shows that the trade-offs between informed proxy selection and admission control in proxies, could alleviate imbalances and uncertainty, and also improve the service with little additional burden. This represents an explicit and direct mechanism for improving the service provided by these community networks, and a clear benefit for its members.


There is little likelihood that child abuse and metabolic bone disease are confused in cases which reach the stage of court proceedings.


In recent years there has been a proliferation of massive open online courses (MOOCs), which provide unprecedented opportunities for lifelong learning. Registrants approach these courses with a variety of motivations for participation. Characterizing the different types of participation in MOOCs is fundamental in order to be able to better evaluate the phenomenon and to support MOOCs developers and instructors in devising courses which are adapted for different learners' needs. Thus, the purpose of this study was to characterize the different types of participant behavior in a MOOC. Using a data mining methodology, 21,889 participants of a MOOC were classified into clusters, based on their activity in the main learning resources of the course: video lectures, discussion forums, and assessments. Thereafter, the participants in each cluster were characterized in regard to demographics, course participation, and course achievement characteristics. Seven types of participant behavior were identified: Tasters (64.8%), Downloaders (8.5%), Disengagers (11.5%), Offline Engagers (3.6%), Online Engagers (7.4%), Moderately Social Engagers (3.7%), and Social Engagers (0.6%). A significant number of 1,020 participants were found to be engaged in the course, but did not achieve a certificate. The types are discussed according to the established research questions. The results provide further evidence regarding the utilization of the flexibility, which is offered in MOOCs, by the participants according to their needs. Furthermore, this study supports the claim that MOOCs' impact should not be evaluated solely based on certification rates but rather based on learning behaviors.


Fibromatosis colli or sternocleidomastoid tumor of infancy is a condition of benign proliferation of fibrous tissue within the sternocleidomastoid muscle leading to focal or diffuse enlargement of the sternocleidomastoid muscle and is often clinically associated with torticollis. Radiological imaging especially ultrasound, if performed by an expert radiologist plays an important role in differentiating this benign condition from other causes of neck masses in this age group, thereby preventing unnecessary investigations in a neonate and decreasing parent`s anxiety. We hereby, present a case report of a sternomastoid tumor in a two week old neonate diagnosed using high frequency ultrasound, signifying that every physician should be aware of this clinical entity in a neonate and refer them immediately for ultrasound.


Aim To study the antianginal and heart rate slowing effects in patients with stable angina (SA) who failed to achieve the heart rate (HR) goal and were switched from the beta-blocker (BB) metoprolol tartrate to a combination of metoprolol tartrate and ivabradine.Materials and methods The study included 54 patients with SA not higher than functional class (FC) III (35 (64.8 %) men and 19 (35.2 %) women) aged 59 [48; 77] years. Prior to the study start and at 4 and 8 weeks of follow-up, electrocardiography (ECG) and 24-h ECG monitoring (24h-ECGM) were performed for all patients. The follow-up period duration was 8 weeks. The antianginal and heart rate slowing effects of therapy were clinically evaluated by a decrease in frequency of anginal attacks and patients' requirement for nitrates, a decrease in HR, and the effect on 24h-ECGM indexes characterizing myocardial ischemia. At the first stage, all patients were prescribed metoprolol tartrate (Egilok®, Egis, Hungary) 25 mg twice a day. Patients with resting HR still higher than 70 bpm after 4 weeks of treatment were switched from metoprolol tartrate to a fixed ivabradine/metoprolol combination (Implicor®, Servier, France) 5 / 25 mg twice a day. Thus, based on achieving/ non-achieving the HR goal, two groups of patients were formed. Statistical analysis was performed with a STATISTICA 10,0 software package.Results After 4 weeks of therapy with metoprolol tartrate 25 mg twice a day, 18 (33.3%) patients of group 1 achieved the HR goal of 70 bpm, while  36 (66.7%) patients of group 2 did not achieve the goal. For further correction of HR, patients of group 2 were switched from metoprolol tartrate to ivabradine/metoprolol 5 / 25 mg twice a day. After 4 weeks of the ivabradine/metoprolol treatment, 31 (86.1 %) patients achieved the HR goal with median resting HR of 62 [56; 70] bpm. The number of angina attacks decreased from 6 [3; 8] to 2 [1; 3] per week (р<0.001). 24hECGM showed that the mean diurnal HR decreased from 81 [76; 96] to 66 [56; 76] bpm (р<0.001); mean night HR decreased from 69 [73; 80] to 52 [43; 60] bpm (р=0.012); and the ischemic ST segment depression was absent.Conclusion Only 33.3% of patients with stable angina achieved the HR goal on metoprolol tartrate 25 mg twice a day. Supplementing the beta-blocker metoprolol tartrate at the same dose with ivabradine allowed 86.1% of patients to achieve the HR goal and exerted a pronounced anti-anginal effect.


The Southwire Company (USA) has initiated an R&D project to develop superconducting underground power transmission cables using newly developed high-temperature superconductors (HTS). In collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, two 500 A and one 2000 A prototype cables have been designed, constructed and tested. The cables were wound with Bi-2223/Ag HTS tapes acquired from Intermagnetics General Corporation and tested with both DC and AC currents in liquid nitrogen (LN/sub 2/). Critical currents of 900 A DC or better were achieved for the first two cables. The third cable was tested to an AC current over 2200 A/sub RMS/. This paper describes the design rationale, the construction process and the highlights of the test results.


The Jewel House. Elizabethan London and the Scientific Revolution. By Deborah E. Harkness. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, 2007. 371 pp. $32.50. ISBN 9780300111965. The author discusses the activities of Francis Bacon's London contemporaries whose practices helped set the stage for the scientific revolution.


Bacillus brevis ATCC I 0068 grown under appropriate growth conditions produces a mixture of tyrocidine and gramicidin, which are potent inhibitors of electron transport and oxidative phosphorylation processes. We have recently characterized the electron-transport system of this strain and have identified a menaquinone (MK-7) by thin-layer chromatography and by U.V. and mass spectroscopy to be the sole quinone component (Fynn, Thomas & Seddon, 1972). Pentane extraction (Szarkowska, I 966) and acetone extraction (Fynn & Redfearn, 1964) were used to remove the endogenous quinone in an attempt to confirm a functional role for MK-7 in the electron transport system. Although these methods were successful in removing 90 to 95 % of the quinone and largely abolishing the NADH oxidase activity of the preparation, the addition of MK-7 in various carrier systems failed to restore the latter activity. However, from the literature it is clear that while restoration of succinoxidase activity of acetone-extracted preparations has been successfully demonstrated, the reactivation of the NADH oxidase pathway has been more difficult to achieve. Also the pentane extraction technique suffers from the disadvantage that it can only be successfully employed to extract lyophilized material. The lyophilization process itself involves some structural damage to the electron transport particle since the NADH oxidase activity falls to 40 to 60 % of its original value. We now report on the U.V. irradiation of fresh material as a means of inactivating the endogenous menaquinone and providing the basis for a further investigation of quinone function in the organism.


An efficient method that converts 2D video sequences to 3D is presented. This method utilizes the motion information between consecutive frames to approximate the depth map of the scene. To estimate the depth map, the horizontal motion captured by a single camera is revised and then approximated as the displacement between the right and left frames captured by two cameras in a stereoscopic set-up case. To enhance the visual depth perception, a non-linear scaling model is then applied to the modified motion vectors. The low complexity of our approach and its compatibility with future 3D systems, allows real-time implementations at the receiver-end for no additional burden on the network. Performance evaluations show that our approach outperforms the existing H.264-based depth map estimation technique by 1.84 dB PSNR, providing more realistic depth representation of the scene. Moreover, the subjective comparison of results (obtained by viewers watching the generated stereo video sequences on a 3D display system) confirms the better performance of our method.


Eight yeast strains isolated from infant feces and the traditional Greek Feta cheese, selected for their probiotic properties, were tested along with a commercially available strain of Saccharomyces boulardii for their ability to remove cholesterol from a growth medium (yeast extract glucose peptone broth) supplemented with 0.3% Oxgall. The amount of cholesterol removed during 72 h of growth at 37 degrees C revealed significant variations among the yeast strains examined. Two isolates from infant feces, namely Saccharomyces cerevisiae KK1 and Isaatchenkia orientalis KK5.Y.1 and one isolate from Feta cheese, namely S. cerevisiae 832, along with the commercial strain S. boulardii, were able to remove cholesterol from the growth medium after 48 h of incubation at 37 degrees C. However, Saccharomyces strains proved to be able to remove cholesterol even after 24 h of growth at 37 degrees C. The cholesterol removed from the growth medium was not metabolically degraded but was rather assimilated into the yeast cells. The ability to assimilate cholesterol in vitro and to tolerate low pH levels, gastric juice, and bile indicate that S. cerevisiae 832, and especially S. cerevisiae KK1 and I. orientalis KK5.Y.1 (being more bile and gastric juice tolerant because of their human origin) may be promising candidate strains for use as probiotics.


Keepsake was commissioned by Channel 4 Wales as short animated film (4 minutes, 34 seconds) and first broadcast on 2nd May 2004.

Keepsake (also known as Cofiwch in Welsh) was created to evoke a strong emotional response to a particular tract of land and its history through the use of objects and sound without reliance on narrative devices of plot, actor and dialogue and mise-en-scene. The film explores memory and loss but avoids a didactic documentary approach and elides the national protest in the 1970s about the destruction of parts of Wales in the interest of the Midlands. Only the Welsh title, Colfiwch retains a vestigial element of this.

The point of departure for Keepsake was the historic flooding of the Elan Valley in mid-Wales in 1904. This took place in order to supply water to a Birmingham that was suffering epidemics of typhoid and cholera. In the process a historic part of Wales was obliterated including three historic country houses, a number of farms, a school, a church and a chapel. The flooding also led to the displacement of over a hundred people.

Archive research was originally conducted in Birmingham and Wales. Keepsake uses selected findings from this initial research including archive footage, maps, engravings, photographs and domestic objects (such as a family bible, lace bonnet and a teacup). Using digital manipulation, the reservoir is 'drained' to recreate some sense of what was lost in the flooding.

Words from R. S. Thomas' Reservoirs are read by Sian Phillips and "Clli laith" is sung by Heather Jones. Music by the Icelandic composer Johann Johannsson also adds to the distinctly watery theme.

Following its initial broadcast on 2nd May 2004 3.30-3.35pm, Keepsake (Cofiwch) was additionally screened on 18th July 2004 9.55-10.00pm and a year later on 2nd November 2005 6.25-6.30pm.


Approximately 5% of all cancers develop in the mucosa of the head and neck area (Boyle et al., 1990). A substantial number of these patients present at a moment that curative treatment is possible, due to the fact that many head and neck cancers cause complaints in an early stage. The prognosis of TINO and T2NO glottic laryngeal cancer, for instance, is in the order of 90 and 70% 5 year survival respectively. It is very likely that the pathogenesis of head and neck cancer is multifactorial. Both tobacco and alcohol are important risk factors in oral, oropharyngeal, hypopharyngeal and laryngeal cancer (Wynder et al., 1956, 1976; Williams & Horn, 1977; Tuyns, 1979; Rothman et al., 1980). In addition, it is very likely that an individual genetic susceptibility (de Vries et al., 1987a, 1987b; Schantz & Hsu, 1989; Spitz et al., 1989; Schantz et al., 1990) is important if only because so many individuals have been and are being exposed to tobacco and alcohol, whereas only relatively few actually develop cancer in the upper airand food passages. Patients with head and neck cancers are prone to develop multiple primary cancers (see further), probably because the mucosa of the upper air and food passages is being exposed to the same carcinogens. The situation in lung cancer patients is different from that of head and neck cancer patients. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in men and the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women, after cancer of the breast. The major factor in the development of lung cancer is the inhalation of tobacco smoke, by susceptible hosts. In contrast to head and neck cancer patients, most lung cancer patients already have a poor prognosis at the time of diagnosis. The 5 year survival rate for all stages of lung cancer has been about 9% for the last 20 years. This small subpopulation of patients that will be cured from their lung cancer are unfortunately prone to develop second primary cancers as well. Multiple primary tumours occurs in 10-30% of all patients with head and neck cancer and in 10% of patients with, lung cancer (Vrabec, 1979; Gluckman & Crissman, 1983; Tepperman & Fitzpatrick, 1981; Gluckman, 1983; Wagenfeld et al., 1981; Hordijk & de Jong, 1983; de Vries & Snow, 1986; de Vries et al., 1986; De Vries, 1990, and many others). The great majority of these second primary cancers occur metachronously in the respiratory tract and upper digestive tract. These second primary tumours usually carry a bad prognosis because they often occur either at notoriously bad sites, like (again in) the lung or esophagus, or within previously


Treatment of 34 patients with bleedings from chronic gastroduodenal ulcers associated with cirrhosis of the liver and portal hypertension was analysed. Overall lethality was 41.2%, postoperative lethality was 41.7%. Temporary hemostasis due to a solution of Caprofen used during fibrogastroduodenoscopy allows the operation to be delayed and complex intensive therapy can be performed in patients with hepatic insufficiency. Control medical endoscopic investigations should be performed 4 and 12 hours after admission to the hospital of patients with sub- and decompensated cirrhosis of the liver with portal hypertension and symptoms of unstable hemostasis. The emergency and delayed operative treatment of patients with subcompensated hepatic insufficiency should include organ-saving operations such as vagotomy with pyloroplasty and/or dissection of the ulcer. Operation is indicated to patients with cirrhosis of the liver at the stage of decompensation but if they have evident reappearance of bleeding and in minimal volume. The attainment of final endoscopic hemostasis will allow to avoid surgical interventions intolerable for this category of patients.


A LCC Technique is essential to decision making in the building industry for the very simple reason that buildings are durable assets. The LCC Technique provides architects, consultants, and their clients with an usable technique which can assist in determing optimum design among several alternatives. In developing LCC technique, it is required that the technique involve the manipulation of large amounts of data. These data must be grouped into hierachical structure so as to apply to LCC technique for the process of APT project. It provides a methodology and frawork, to enable the design team to estimate the total cost.


This study aims at the analysis for the organizatioc of the dewelling space of Sa. Dae. Bu who is in the upper class of Choseon in the social, economin status. For this purpose, existing houses built in between early Choseon Dynasty and late 16C, are chosen.From the analysis of organizational characteristics, especially found in the unit dwelling space of An-Chae (Inner Quarter), the following results are derived.According to the Kyung-Kee Type and the Min-Ka Type, the composition of An-Bang (the woman's quarter) & kitchen, or kitchen & the other space are changed differently each other.For Kyung-Kee Type, there is little change, until late 16C, in the shape & the coming in and out method of An-bang, and the functional characteristics of space connected with kitchen. Howerer there are large changes, since the middle of 16C, in the organization method for Minka Type houses.


Contemporary linguistics, especially the research achievements of contrastive linguistics and text linguistics injected creative vigor into translation, which brought about the field of contrastive text. In view of the above, we adopt a new objective research method of systemic functional linguistics to analyze the Russian version of the poem Qingming. This study is based on Halliday's theory of metafunctions of language.


In this paper we present Studierstube Workspace, an application framework which supports multiple users, multiple applications and multiple 3D and 2D interaction contexts in an augmented environment. We develop a design concept for collaborative working environments in virtual reality, especially the concept of multi-user aware applications and show how our implementation fits into this concept. Implementation details and application samples conclude the paper.


ABSTRACT By 2050, the majority of Australia's surviving Indigenous languages are likely to become extinct. The intergenerational transmission of languages in which children acquire languages from their parents and grandparents is a key mechanism for reversing language shift, but many Australian children whose parents speak an Indigenous language do not speak that language. Using a unique, national survey of Australian Indigenous children, I identify factors associated with the successful intergenerational transmission of Indigenous languages within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families. Results highlight the importance of parents' language use. Although community-level characteristics account for some of the variance in successful language transmission, parents who use Indigenous languages at home, speak them as well as they speak English, and do not also speak a creole language are more likely to pass those languages onto their children.


The focus of this edition of Clinical Pharmacolgoy & Therapeutics (CPT) is on drugs and renal function and will not include a detailed discussion of kidney disease and its treatment. It is well recognized that drugs affect the kidneys in different ways, while kidney disease impacts drug metabolism and response. It is impossible to underestimate the value of the kidneys to man in health and disease, from regulation of fluid and electrolyte balance to participating in drug metabolism and transport. Additionally, the kidneys serve as targets for drugs used to treat cardiovascular (CV) diseases including hypertension and heart failure, metabolic diseases such as diabetes mellitus and obesity, chronic kidney disease (CKD), as well as playing a role in the regulation of several hormones. Kidney damage may be distinguished from changes in kidney function using biomarkers, as discussed in some detail in this issue.


Rivers serve as a highly valued component in ecosystem and urban infrastructures. River planning should follow basic principles of maintaining or reconstructing the natural landscape and ecological functions of rivers. Optimization of planning scheme is a prerequisite for successful construction of urban rivers. Therefore, relevant studies on optimization of scheme for natural ecology planning of rivers is crucial. In the present study, four planning schemes for Zhaodingpal River in Xinxiang City, Henan Province were included as the objects for optimization. Fourteen factors that influenced the natural ecology planning of urban rivers were selected from five aspects so as to establish the ANP model. The data processing was done using Super Decisions software. The results showed that important degree of scheme 3 was highest. A scientific, reasonable and accurate evaluation of schemes could be made by ANP method on natural ecology planning of urban rivers. This method could be used to provide references for sustainable development and construction of urban rivers. ANP method is also suitable for optimization of schemes for urban green space planning and design.


Calcareous soils, which are typical for warm and dry areas contain minerals such as calcite and dolomite, which increase pH of the soil and worsen the conditions of plants nutrition with microelements and partly with phosphorus and nitrogen. The potential for bioremediation of such soil by rhizospheric bacteria and humic acids were studied in pot vegetation test. Test plant was Medicago sativa (Alfalfa). The strains of species �< . subtilis and B. amiloliquefaciens were isolated from rhizospheres of Cichorium intybus (Common chicory), inhabiting the area with carbonate soil. The used humic acids were extracted from leonardite. There isn't significant effect of microbial cultures on physical-chemical properties of the carbonate soil. The test shows that microorganisms alone or in combination with humic acid decrease the active calcium with 5 to 20%. The composition of the soil organic carbon, after treatment with humic acid, was changed to humate type. The biomass of alfalfa, after treatment of soils with microbial culture alone or in combination with humic acid, was increased in the range of 5 to 10 times.


Abstract Criminogenic needs are now well established in the fields of psychology and criminology as factors that identify risk of criminal behaviour and recidivism. We propose that an inflated sense of entitlement may also be identified as a criminogenic need. An examination of the literature revealed an extensive variety of descriptions pertaining to an inflated sense of entitlement from character excesses to character deficits. However, whilst the wide variety of notions may be correct, there has been no mention, nor acknowledgement, of the origin of the concept of a sense of entitlement. In this article we will illustrate how an inflated sense of entitlement underpins criminal behaviour in general and violent behaviour in particular by using the framework proposed by Plato. An inflated sense of entitlement is then is discussed in response to each of the criteria required to be classified as a criminogenic need. This notion is purely theoretical and will benefit from qualitative exploration and quantitative investigation.


The main objective of this study was to examine the impact of motor vehicles inspection in reduction of road fatality in Kenya. In order to realize this objective, time series properties of the data including unit roots, cointegration and Granger causality test was implemented. In the end, a regression equation was estimated and revealed a positive relationship between populations, number of driving licenses issued, proportion of the number of inspected motor vehicles and per capita income. The study concludes that there is no causality between fatality rate and the proportion of the number o f inspected motor vehicles. This implies that fatality on the Kenya roads are caused by other factors other than motor vehicle inspection. Further, there is no causal link between fatality rate and average speed. Therefore, to improve on road safety and reduce ? fatality rates on the Kenyan roads, other factors other than the average speed and motor vehicle inspection are important. These include, slack enforcement of traffic rules by the traffic department, corruption in the road that has immensely contributed to lack o f respect for traffic rules, non deterrent penalties/fmes that do not serve the purpose, drunken driving, loopholes and the general delay in adjudication o f traffic offences in law courts due to poor co-ordination between traffic enforcement function and the adjudication function.


The spectrum of spin waves (SW) of tangentially magnetized films of yttrium iron garnet (YIG) with a surface metastructure in the form of gratings of etched grooves with a period Λ close to the film thickness d (Λ~d) has been experimentally and numerically studied. It has been found that the spectrum of the signal reflected from a microstrip transducer with a width w>>d,Λ located on the YIG film contains absorption lines associated with the excitation of the SW of the surface metastructure. In the case when the magnetic field H and the transducer are oriented along the grooves, the absorption lines of the metastructure are located at frequencies f* near the short-wavelength edge of the spectrum of the surface magnetostatic (Damon-Eshbach) wave fs. It is shown that f* linearly depends on H , which can be used to develop magnetic field sensors. The results of measurements of dependences f* (H) are in qualitative agreement with the results of micromagnetic modeling.


In armed internal conflict, violence against civilians is frequent. For insurgent groups, so-called terrorist acts are an important part of conflict with the state and yet there are numerous unanswered questions about the role and uses of terrorism during these conflicts. This paper examines the causes of terrorism in the context of a larger struggle between a state and insurgent groups. In particular, we examine the hypothesis that outbidding among insurgent groups results in more suicide terrorism specifically and also more terrorism of any type. A global analysis of terrorism from 1970-2004 provides limited support for Bloom's thesis related to suicide terrorism. An extension of the argument to all types of terrorist attacks provides even less support for an outbidding thesis. Similar to Pape's argument, the outbidding thesis has received considerable attention in academic and policy circles. But both hypotheses have received little empirical support and suggest that considerable cross-national work is still needed to understand suicide terror adequately.


Wearing headscarves in universities has been forbidden in Turkey for several years. The implementation of this ban is based on the Higher Education Council's regulations on 'preventing ideological and political polarisations among university students'. Muslim students with headscarves have found a way around this exclusionary enforcement: wearing wigs. This bodily performance itself creates a contradictory practice, a novel form of veiling turns out to be another form of exhibition/representation. In this paper, we investigate Muslim students' interpretations of wig-wearing practice through in-depth interviews conducted both in Turkey and in Northern Cyprus.


The aim of this trial was to test the feasibility of a screening method based on the well-known risk factors of cardiovascular disease (CVD), and to evaluate the efficacy of 2 preventive strategies to lower the level of risk factors. Par- ticipants (n = 755) were female employees contacted during their health check visit at the age of 40, 45, 50, or 55 years. The risk-index consisted of body mass index, total serum cholesterol level, blood pressure, smoking and exercise activity. Psychosocial factors (e.g. vital exhaustion, optimism-hopelessness) were assessed with self-report questionnaires. High- risk women were invited to participate in a preventive intervention. Simple crossover design was used to evaluate the effi- cacy of personal feedback and health education as compared with feedback and group-based intervention programme. Fol- low-ups were completed at 6 and 12 months. Nearly one third (29.0 %) of the participants scored over the previously es- tablished risk-limit. Indicators of negative affectivity, i.e. vital exhaustion and hopelessness, associated significantly with the risk index after controlling for age and education. The feasibility of the screening method in an occupational health care setting proved to be good. The proportion of high-risk women was higher than expected but remained clearly lower than the 41 % prevalence in corresponding male cohorts. Results suggest that the screening method offers a good starting point for prevention.


A general theoretical treatment of energetic oxygen ion conic formation through cyclotron resonance with magnetospheric electromagnetic plasma turbulence is presented. With suitable assumptions, there exists a similarity regime in which the process may be profitably characterized by two parameters corresponding roughly to the velocity scale and pitch angle of the ion distribution. These may be independently determined from the wave and particle observations of a conic event, as is illustrated here using typical auroral passes of the Dynamics Explorer 1 satellite. The predictions of the theory are found to be in excellent agreement with the observations.


ABSTRACT
Eosinophilic solid and cystic renal cell carcinoma is a recently described emerging renal tumor. Usefulness of FDG PET/CT in the management of eosinophilic solid and cystic renal cell carcinoma has been rarely reported. We describe FDG PET/CT findings in a case of eosinophilic solid and cystic renal cell carcinoma with lung metastases. The primary renal tumor and its metastases showed intense FDG uptake with SUVmax of 29.3 for the primary tumor and 21 for the lung metastases.


This study aims to investigate and compare architectural design including layout planning and stupa design of Thai and Mon Buddhist temples in Sam-Khok district. The data collection is gained from literature reviews, field observation, and interview. It is found that the design of these two temples is slightly transformed from those of the royal temples in terms of the layout axis and size of stupa. The change of the main access from water-based to landbased approach effects the layout of Buddhavas and Sangkhawas zones. These findings can provide an understanding of influential factors on architectural design of Thai and Mon Temples. It is benefiting the cultural tourism development in Sam-Khok district.


A new approach is outlined for the digital realization of Boolean neural networks. It is based on programmable gate array technology (PGA). Each cell in the gate array performs the binary addition/subtraction function. Space iteration of such a digital circuit allows the calculation of all output functions of the neurons in the network. The topology of the network influences the connections between neurons and therefore the connections in the PGA. This approach offers definite advantages over other solutions.<<ETX>>


Background: The interest in autologous red blood cell salvage is increasing rapidly, but it is well known that platelets and white cells are activated during cell washing. Therefore, we aimed to determine whether or not eicosanoids transfused together with the salvaged blood are responsible for nonhemolytic immunological transfusion reactions. Materials and Methods: In 11 patients who underwent radical prostatectomy we studied the release of eicosanoids, prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and thromboxane B2 (TxB2), in association with reinfusion of intraoperatively salvaged blood. Blood samples were taken before operation, on days 1 and 3 after operation and before and after cell washing. Results: There was a twofold increase in PGE2 and a twentyfold increase in TxB2 in the unwashed salvaged blood. Washing caused a reduction in eicosanoid plasma levels of up to 95%, but a significantly lower level in relation to its corresponding preoperative value was only found for PGE2. After transfusion of an average of 420 ml RBC sediment from washed blood, the patients' plasma concentrations of PGE2 and TxB2 on the 1st and 3rd postoperative day did not significantly differ compared to baseline values. Conclusion: Our data support the notion that RBC sediment from 'salvaged' and washed autologous blood contains increased amounts of PGE2 and TxB2. It remains, however, questionable if these passively infused eicosanoids become biologically active. According to our study, the PGE2 and TxB2 transfused are apparently not responsible for nonhemolytic immunological transfusion reactions.


This paper deals with the vehicle and driver scheduling problems at UKM transportation department. Given daily sets of trips, drivers and non homogenous vehicles fleet, the aim is to schedule the resources in order to cover, if possible, all the trip demands. The problem formulation has been done using sequential approach where an integer programming and goal programming models have been presented respectively for vehicle scheduling problem and driver scheduling problem.


Introduction Pancreatoduodenectomy (PD) is one of the most complex abdominal operations to perform, and it is usually conducted for tumours of the periampullary region and chronic pancreatitis. Minimally invasive surgery has been progressively being developed for pancreatic surgery, first with the advent of hybrid-laparoscopy and recently with total laparoscopic surgery. Issues including the safety and efficacy of total laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy (TLPD) and open pancreaticoduodenectomy (OPD) are currently being debated. Studies comparing these two surgical techniques are emerging, and large randomised controlled trials (RCTs) are lacking but are clearly required. Methods and analysis TJDBPS01 is a multicentre, prospective, randomised controlled, parallel-group, superiority trial in 14 centres with pancreatic surgery experts who have performed ≥104 TLPDs and OPDs. A total of 656 patients who will undergo PD are randomly allocated to the TLPD group or OPD group in a 1:1 ratio. The trial hypothesis is that TLPD has superior or equivalent safety and advantages in postoperative recovery compared with OPD. The primary outcome is the postoperative length of stay. Ethics and dissemination The Instituitional Review Board Approval of Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology has approved this trial and will be routinely monitoring the trial at frequent intervals, as will an independent third-party organisation. Any results from this trial (publications, conference presentations) will be published in peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings. Trial registration number NCT03138213


Askin's tumors are rare malignant neoplasms located in the thoracopulmonary region and mainly occur in children and adolescents. In this report, we describe a case of histologically proven Askin's tumor in a 24-year-old male. The patient was admitted with a history of 3-month lower back pain and with a rare presentation of paraparesis.


Background: The COVID-19 pandemic caused many problems in Türkiye and the world. Education became one of the most important issues negatively affected by this process. Clinical practice, which is stressful for nursing students, can be even more stressful during the pandemic process. Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between pre-clinical practice anxiety and coronavirus anxiety among nursing students. Methods: The study is a cross-sectional design. Data were collected with online survey. The study was completed with 166 nursing students. Data were collected with the Personal Information Form, the State Anxiety Inventory and Trait Anxiety Inventory (SAI and TAI), and the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS). Data were analyzed by Mann–Whitney U, Kruskal– Wallis, Independent Sample t -test, and Wilcoxon and Pearson correlations tests. Results: The mean age of the students was 19.74 ± 1.38 years, and 81.4% were female. The anxiety levels of the students before the clinical practice; the mean score of SAI was 44.99 ± 7.3, TAI was 46.99 ± 11.7, and CAS was 3.36 ± 4.31. After clinical practice, the mean score of SAI was 43.33 ± 9.4, and CAS was 1.97 ± 2.58. There was a statistically significant decrease in the mean scores of SAI and CAS after clinical practice ( P < 0.05). There was a positive relationship between SAI and CAS levels. Conclusion: The stress and coronavirus anxiety level of nursing students was high before the first clinical practice, and their stress level decreased after the clinical practice. This study proposes the implementation of interventions to reduce the stress levels of students before clinical practice.


OBJECTIVE
The aim of this review was to explore recent pieces of evidence focused on the use of miRNAs for PMI estimation both in humans and animal experiments, with particular interest on the best miRNAs to use as reference/target markers in different tissues or biological fluids. MiRNAs are innovative biomarkers used in clinical and research field; they appear very attractive, being introduced in forensic research scenarios even for PMI estimation.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Data from PubMed and Scopus were analyzed from January 2013 to August 2020. Based on inclusion/exclusion criteria, high-quality articles have been selected to become the subject of this review.

RESULTS
A total of 737 papers were found but, after titles/abstracts screening for inclusion criteria and a full-text careful selection, 33 papers were deeply studied. After the exclusion of 19 papers, 15 articles remained. Eight papers dealt with animals (mice/rats), two both with animals and humans (for method validation previously built), while 5 exclusively with humans. Myocardium (6/15) and brain (6/15) were the most studied tissues, respectively in mice/rats and humans. PMI considered was up to 7.5 days in mouse studies and less than 3 days in human models.

CONCLUSIONS
Because of their significant stability in both early and long PMI, miRNAs are the cleverest reference markers to be used. Temperature and environmental conditions influence mostly mRNA, while miRNAs are less susceptible to them. The best miRNA to choose depends on its tissue specificity, i.e., miR-9 and miR-125 in brain or miR-1 and miR-133 in skeletal muscle/heart.


The concentration of heavy metal were studied for the estimation of quality in herbal medicines which is Bupleuri Radix, Paeoniae Radix, Dioscoreae Rhizoma and Astragali Radix in products of north Gyeongbuk area Also, we collected soils from several area in Gyeongbuk, and determined heavy metal concentration of soils by ICP. We compared with herbal medicines in products of Gyeongbuk and their soils. The average levels of heavy metal of herbal medicines in Gyeongbuk area are as follows: Mercury is 0.037mg/kg, Chromium is 0.093 mg/kg, Nickel is 0.108mg/kg, Copper is 0.475mg/kg, Zinc is 3.14mg/kg, Manganese is 1.52mg/kg, Iron is 7,83mg/kg, and Cadmium, Lead and Arsenic is not detected. It was very lower in concentrations than those of average Korea area. For the heavy metals contents of Gyeongbuk area, in Gong Jung Ri, represented the higher level, it may be due to a near the road. The Cd contents in soil was not a wide difference. For the As and Pb contents in soil, Song Sa Ri (Bupleuri Radix) represented the higher level(0.68mg/kg, 1523mg/kg). Correlation coefficients of heavy metal contents in cultured herbal medicines and their soils did not give reproducible results. But the degree of correlation between a few heavy metal contents of Dioscoreae Rhizoma and their soil showed the good transfer from the soil.


OBJECTIVE
The objective of the study is to examine the relationship between the physical availability of off-campus alcohol and drinking outcomes among college students.

METHOD
A multilevel analysis of students (N = 17,051) nested within college campuses (N = 32) was conducted. Four problem-drinking-related outcomes (i.e., average number of drinks when partying, frequency of drunkenness in past 2 weeks, 30-day frequency of drinking, and greatest number of drinks in one sitting) along with individual level covariates of drinking were introduced at the student level. The physical availability of alcohol was assessed as the number of on-premise and off-premise alcohol outlets within 3 miles of campus per 1,000 students enrolled.

RESULTS
Higher densities of on-premise alcohol outlets were strongly related to drinking outcomes even after controlling for individual predictors of college drinking. The association indicated that the campus means for the average number of drinks when partying and the number of drinking occasions in the past 30 days were, respectively, 1.13 drinks and 1.32 occasions greater when the outlet density was 2 SDs higher.

CONCLUSIONS
Off-campus, on-premise outlet density is strongly associated with college-drinking outcomes. Given the limited number of modifiable factors that affect college drinking, on-premise outlet density represents a potential modifiable means of addressing the problem.


A poor presentation detracts from an informed and timely message. Nursing administrators need to communicate effectively via public speaking to achieve their personal and organizational goals. While each one develops a unique presentation, style commonalities of public speaking apply to each of us and include getting organized to speak, tailoring the message to the audience, adapting to audience feedback, and, of key importance, delivering an appealing presentation.


Let X be an affine toric variety. The total coordinates on X provide a canonical presentation $$\bar X \to X$$ of X as a quotient of a vector space $$\bar X$$ by a linear action of a quasitorus. We prove that the orbits of the connected component of the automorphism group Aut(X) on X coincide with the Luna strata defined by the canonical quotient presentation.


Aim: The purpose of this article is the identification of contemporary challenges, the source of which is human activity in the cyberspace, as well as provision of an analysis of potential risks following the rapid development of IT networks. The article identifies risk factors and describes potential behaviour of cybercrime perpetrators, and cyber terrorists, which pose risks to the operation of emergency services 1 Uniwersytet Dzieci, Kraków / The Children's University, Poland; wkład merytoryczny w powstanie artykułu / percentage contribution – 50%; 2 Szkoła Aspirantów Państwowej Straży Pożarnej w Krakowie / The Fire Service College of the State Fire Service in Krakow; wkład merytoryczny w powstanie artykułu / percentage contribution – 50%; firstname.lastname@example.com; BiTP Vol. 38 Issue 2, 2015, pp. 105–111 DOI:10.12845/bitp.38.2.2015.10 106 TECHNIKA I TECHNOLOGIA and proper functioning of the emergency notification system. Therefore, the article intends to identify risks, which should be considered and utilised in the design of appropriate preventive strategies against cybercrime and cyber terrorism. Introduction: Current developments in IT surpass the development of social sciences concerning human behaviour in cyberspace and response to development of new technology. Technological developments precede the creation of laws and consequently we frequently encounter an absence of legal norms, which specify appropriate action to evolving situations. Consequently, there is some speculation about potential behaviour of humans in relation to developments of IT networks and scenarios are developed in response to needs associated with the conduct of operations in complex circumstances, both legal as well as practical. Training, which incorporates such elements, may be useful for real life rescue operations. Methodology: Available reports were analysed (Report concerning cyberspace safety in the Republic of Poland 2013, Poland 2013 Crime and Safety Report) as well as available literature about cyber terrorism and cybercrime risks. Research has identified main sources of threats as well as hypothetical scenarios based on IT network attacks identified to date, with a particular focus on aspects associated with successful operation of rescue services. Conclusions: The authors recommend further research about technological developments, in the context of human behaviour and creation of preventive strategies against emerging threats, the source of which may be cyberspace activity. The importance of a continuous training system, to deal with current threats, which emerge from technological progress is emphasised, as well as the need for education about the consequences of future technological developments. Opportunities arising from technological developments should be grasped, but potential risks from emerging threats should be minimized. It is also necessary to promote research and interdisciplinary cooperation between the uniformed services responsible for safety and rescue operations.


IT has been said that the trouble with a mathematical solution to an industrial problem is that it is, only too often, an exact solution to another problem. This state of affairs has arisen because of the number of simplifying assumptions that arc usually necessary before such a mathematical solution may be attempted. However, the writer holds the view that a mathematical solution tends to throw light upon the problem of design and hence, even when a number of assumptions are made, the results may serve as a guide to the designer where otherwise guess‐work, inspired by experience, would be the only course.


According to the United Nations (UN) World Risk Index 2020, Malaysia is at high risk of natural catastrophes and is highly exposed to them, but has a low vulnerability to them. This is due to Malaysia's geographical location at the edge of the Pacific Ring of Fire, which makes it relatively secure from earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Large-scale landslides continue to occur in the country, mainly during the monsoon season. Landslide disasters in Malaysia are managed by several entities, coordinated by The National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA) where each entity has its particular landslide disaster management practices. Therefore, several concerns remain, such as inadequate documentation and decentralization of standards of procedure (SOP). This paper presents an implementation review of the current landslide risk register, focusing on the geospatial metamodel approach. A risk register is an active document that lists all the identified hazards in a region and the decisions taken to monitor and manage them. Initially, preliminary studies were conducted to identify the current practices of landslide disaster management in Malaysia. These include collecting geospatial data, such as LiDAR, aerial photographs (AP), existing landslide inventory maps, and SOPs for landslide non-structural mitigation activities. The geospatial metamodel consists of the concept and the relationship, which describes the domain with an additional geospatial element. To conclude, a risk register using the geospatial metamodel approach would enable NADMA to monitor and coordinate the landslide disaster management process more effectively.


Activity was brisk in the onshore area of California during 1982. Four hundred and seventy-five exploratory wells (41.4% successful) were drilled, including the discovery of 2 new oil and 4 new gas fields. The number of wells drilled decreased from a record 486 in 1981 to 475 in 1982; however, the total footage drilled increased from 2,711,217 ft in 1981 to 2,910,277 ft in 1982, and the average footage per well jumped sharply from 5,579 to 6,127 ft. In addition, 2,062 development wells were drilled (97.4% successfully). At various times during the year, up to 10 drilling vessels were active in state and federal waters. Four new offshore discoveries were announced by Texaco, Atlantic Richfield, Oxy, and Union. Texaco's "Hueso" discovery is a probable extension of the Chevron-Phillips Point Arguello field announced in October 1981. The field is believed to be a giant oil field containing over 100 million bbl of recoverable reserves. Union, Oxy, and Atlantic Richfield struck oil in the fractured Monterey Shale. Further delineation drilling will be needed to determine field reserves. California's total oil production for 1982 was 401.4 million bbl, a 4% increase from the 1981 record of 385 million bbl. Five unsuccessful wildcats were abandoned in Washington. Although there were some encouraging shows, the accumulations were deemed noncommercial. The bulk of drilling activity in Oregon centered around the Mist gas field. There were no discoveries announced for 1982. Geothermal activity in California was concentrated in The Geysers, Imperial Valley, and Coso areas. Oregon activity continued at the Newberry caldera.


The integration of passive components (resistors, capacitors, inductors) into printed wiring boards (PWBs) has become a very significant part of electronic packaging technology. The biggest advantages of integrating passive components into a substrate are reduced assembly costs, minimized PWB real estates, reduced component dimensions, and improved electrical performance. One of the challenges of incorporating passives into a PWB is choosing a suitable material that satisfies both electrical and reliability needs. This research seeks to develop high dielectric constant (k) materials for integral capacitors and integral decoupling capacitors. More specifically, the goal of this work is to develop low viscosity, high k polymers for use in conjunction with high k ceramic materials, such as lead magnesium niobate, to form high k polymer-ceramic composites. Polymers with viscosity values ranging from 0.13 to 0.15 Pa/spl middot/s were formulated and characterized by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), dielectric analysis (DEA), and rheology. The polymers were mixed in different volume percentages with lead magnesium niobate-lead titanate (PMN-PT) ceramic powder by ball milling. DSC and DEA were used to characterize this composite material. Several methods for increasing dielectric constant were identified and implemented. Prototype capacitors were fabricated in order to measure k values for the composite materials. Dielectric constant values as high as 62 were achieved with samples containing relatively low volume percentages of PMN-PT ceramic powder.


As exercise intensity and duration increase, substrate utilization typically shifts to carbohydrates over fats. However, individuals with higher levels of adiposity have been shown to rely more heavily on fat oxidation during higher intensity exercise than their lean counterparts. Currently, there is limited research on how carbohydrate and fat oxidation differ in men compared to women at different exercise intensities. PURPOSE: To examine the difference in substrate utilization of fat and carbohydrate between men and women at different exercise intensities. METHODS: Participants (n=34) between 18-55 years old (Women: 35.9 +/11.3 years; Men: 36.1 +/7.7 years) with a BMI between 27-35 kg/m (Women: 30.5 +/1.7 kg/m; Men: 30.6 +/2.2 kg/m) completed a modified Bruce protocol on a treadmill for measurement of a estimated VO2Max at their age-predicted heart rate max. To be included in the analysis these participants were required to reach 85% age predicted heart rate max. RESULTS: Women utilized a higher (p≤0.05) percentage of fat at 65% (Women: 42.9 ± 16.9%; Men: 24.8 ± 17.7%), and 80% (Women: 14.7 ± 18.2%; Men: 2.7 ± 7.95%) of their VO2Max and greater (p≤0.05) usage of overall Kcal from fat per kg of body mass at 80% (Women: 0.02 ± 0.02kcalF/kg; Men: 0.01 ± 0.01 kcalF/kg) of VO2Max. Men re lied more heavily (p≤0.05) than women on carbohydrates per kg of body mass at 50% (Women: 0.03 ± 0.02kcalC/kg; Men: 0.06 ± 0.03kcalC/kg), 65% (Women: 0.07 ± 0.03kcalC/kg; Men: 0.13 ± 0.06kcalC/kg) and 80% (Women: 0.16 ± 0.08kcalC/kg; Men: 0.26 ± 0.08kcalC/kg) of VO2max. CONCLUSIONS: Women oxidized more fat than men at 65% and 80% VO2Max, but not 35% and 50% VO2Max. As exercise intensity increased, the gap between women and men fat oxidation levels became larger. Funding: Montana State University Research Initiative 51040-MUSRI2015-03 and USDA-NIFA 2017-67018-26367.


The discrete hard-sphere (HS), square-well (SW), and square-shoulder (SS) potentials have become the battle horse of molecular and complex fluids because they contain the basic elements to describe the thermodynamic, structural, and transport properties of both types of fluids. The mathematical simplicity of these discrete potentials allows us to obtain some analytical results despite the nature and complexity of the modeled systems. However, the divergent forces arising at the potential discontinuities may lead to severe issues when discrete potentials are used in computer simulations with uniform time steps. One of the few routes to avoid these technical problems is to replace the discrete potentials with continuous and differentiable forms built under strict physical criteria to capture the correct phenomenology. The match of the second virial coefficient between the discrete and the soft potentials has recently been successfully used to construct a continuous representation that mimics some physical properties of HSs (Báez et al 2018 J. Chem. Phys. 149 164907). In this paper, we report an extension of this idea to construct soft representations of the discrete SW and SS potentials. We assess the accuracy of the resulting soft potential by studying structural and thermodynamic properties of the modeled systems by using extensive Brownian and molecular dynamics computer simulations. Besides, Monte Carlo results for the original discrete potentials are used as benchmark. We have also implemented the discrete interaction models and their soft counterparts within the integral equations theory of liquids, finding that the most widely used approximations predict almost identical results for both potentials.


OF THESIS MULTI-CAMERA SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM FOR TIME AND MOTION STUDIES OF TIMBER HARVESTING OPERATIONS Timber harvesting is an important activity in the state of Kentucky; however, there is still a lack of information about the procedure used by the local loggers. The stump to landing transport of logs with skidders is often the most expensive and time-consuming task in timber harvesting operations. This thesis evaluated the feasibility of using a multi-camera system for time and motion studies of timber harvesting operations. It was installed in 5 skidders in 3 different harvesting sites in Kentucky. The time stamped video provided accurate time consumption data for each work phase of the skidders, which was used to fit linear regressions and find the influence of skidding distance, skid-trail gradient, and load size on skidding time. The multi-camera systems were found to be a reliable tool for time and motion studies in timber harvesting sites. Six different time equations and two speed equations were fitted for skidding cycles and sections of skid-trails, for skidders that are both loaded and unloaded. Skid-trail gradient and load size did not have an influence on skidding time. There is a need for future studies of different variables that could affect skidding time and, consequently, cost.


The efficient use of spectrum and energy in cellular communication systems has become extremely important. However, it is not easy to increase spectral efficiency and energy efficiency together, as they are in conflict with each other. In this paper, spectral and energy efficiencies trade-off optimizations have been carried out in the sample of massive multi-input multi-output system, which is known to be successful in spectral efficiency and energy efficiency issues. The multi-objective version of the artificial bee colony algorithm has been applied to the problem, and the results have been compared with the other intelligent optimization techniques, the multi-objective genetic algorithm, multi-objective differential evolution algorithm and multi-objective bat algorithm. The evaluations have shown that the multi-objective artificial bee colony algorithm is more successful than other algorithms compared.


Right © 2016 Fujisawa, Nishitani, Iwanaga, Matsuzaki, Kawasaki, Tochigi, Sasaki, Kato and Shinohara. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. NAOSITE: Nagasaki University's Academic Output SITE


Abstract : In May 2003, the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) formalized the Commander's Emergency Response Program (CERP) in Iraq, authorizing U.S. field commanders to use available funds to respond to urgent humanitarian, relief, and reconstruction requirements within a commander's area of responsibility by executing programs that immediately assist indigenous populations and achieve "focused effects." CERP guidance directs commanders to focus funds on projects that improve water and sanitation, electricity, and civic cleanup and that employ the most Iraqis over an extended period of time. Selection of a project is expected to be based on how quickly they can be executed, how many Iraqis would be employed, how many would benefit, and the "visibility" of the project. Initial funding for CERP came from seized Iraqi assets and the Development Fund for Iraq. By late 2003 the United States began to appropriate U.S. dollars to CERP and by the end of fiscal year 2007, Congress has appropriated over $2.3 billion for the CERP program in Iraq. The Multi-National Corps-Iraq is the overall program coordinator for CERP. MNC-I publishes Money as a Weapon System (MAAWS), a policies and procedures manual that directs program execution and establishes the goals for CERP funding. This SIGIR report contrasts funding devoted to small-scale projects typically associated with the CERP program with funding devoted to more expensive, large-scale CERP projects; it also provides observations regarding the applicability of selected management issues identified in prior SIGIR reviews, and lessons learned noted in this review that could be important to managing such projects.


In situ immunophenotyping of leprosy lesions can improve our understanding of the biology of inflammatory cells during the immune response to Mycobacterium leprae antigens. In the present study, biopsies from 10 healthy controls and 70 leprosy patients were selected, 10 for each of the following conditions: clinical tuberculoid (TT), borderline tuberculoid (BT), borderline borderline (BB), borderline lepromatous (BL), lepromatous (LL), reversal reaction (R1), and erythema nodosum leprosum (R2). Qualitative and quantitative immunohistochemical analyses were performed to detect CD3, CD4, CD8, FoxP3, CD20, CD138, CD1a, CD57, CD15, CD117, CD68, and CD163. In addition, histochemistry was employed to identify eosinophils. The amount of CD3+ and CD4+ T cells was higher in TT than in LL patients. CD8+ T cells were predominant in T lymphocyte infiltrations in the basal layer of the epidermis. The number of FoxP3+ cells was similar among different forms of the disease, but was higher in BL and LL than in R2 individuals. CD20+ lymphocytes were most abundant in TT samples, while CD138+ plasma cells displayed no detectable differences. Epithelioid macrophages from the center of TT and R1 granulomas exhibited the M1 phenotype (CD68+CD163-), whereas those in LL granulomas showed the M2 phenotype (CD68+CD163+). There was a gradual decrease in the amount of CD1a+ cells from the TT towards the LL form of the disease. A significant increase in the number of neutrophils was observed only in R2 samples. All the cells investigated, except eosinophils, participated in the immunopathogenesis of leprosy.


The purpose of this paper is to study the role of person-job fit as a mediator between perceived organizational support, organization engagement, as well as technology ease of use and general life satisfaction. New forms of organizing knowledge work may challenge conventional employee well-being theories; therefore, it is important to investigate aspects that affect knowledge workers' satisfaction with life. We built a theoretical model and used SEM with LISREL to test our hypotheses with a dataset (N = 332) composed of traditional knowledge workers (n = 190) and digital work platform experts (n = 142). Our results show that the relationship between person-job fit and life satisfaction is stronger for traditional knowledge workers, and that organization engagement is more important to traditional knowledge workers, while technology ease of use is more important for digital work platform experts. Our findings indicate that there are differences in the antecedents of person-job fit depending on the knowledge work context.


Most modern embedded systems are now required to satisfy seemingly divergent critical properties like safety and security. It is therefore becoming increasingly important that any systems development methodology employed should support modeling of system requirements in a manner that it facilitates validation and verification of such critical properties. In the paper we present the result of applying the genetic software engineering (GSE) method to design an ambulatory infusion pump (AIP) which must satisfy a number of safety and security properties. The safety and security requirements are integrated with the rest of the systems requirements in the form of integrated behavior tree (IBT), which is systematically refined into a design behavior tree (DBT). The integrated behavioral view of the requirements provides a platform for requirements conflict resolution, defect detection and requirements validation. The formal semantics of the behavior tree (BT) notation, used to specify the requirements, makes formal verification of critical properties in the final design possible.


In cloud radio access network, a baseband unit (BBU) performs the baseband processing for a cluster of low-power low-cost remote radio heads (RRHs) that are connected to the BBU through low-latency fronthaul links. In this study, the authors study the optimisation of two energy-efficient compression and precoding strategies which take transmit power constraint, fronthaul capacity constraint and user specific rate constraint into account. To overcome the non-convexity nature of the original problem, they first transform the objective of the original problem into a parameterised subtractive form and obtain an approximate convex problem via the successive convex approximation. Then, an effective optimisation algorithm with provable convergence is designed to solve the effective problem. Numerical results reveal that the proposed scheme outperforms the conventional maximum sum rate and minimum total power consumption schemes in terms of the energy-efficiency criterion. In particular, compression after precoding strategy outperforms compression before precoding strategy when both of their RRHs perform the same user scheduling, while the opposite conclusion can be drawn otherwise.


[1] The decadal dynamics of the subsurface North Pacific Ocean are largely inaccessible beyond sparse instrumental observations spanning the last 20 years. Here we present a ∼200 year long record of benthic foraminiferal radiocarbon (Δ14C), extracted at biennial resolution from the annually laminated sediments at the Santa Barbara Basin (SBB) depocenter (∼600 m). The close match between core top benthic foraminiferal Δ14C values and the Δ14C of seawater dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) suggests that benthic foraminifera faithfully capture the bottom water radiocarbon concentrations, as opposed to that of the deeper (>0.5 cm) sediment porewater zone. The full time series of benthic foraminiferal Δ14C displays significant variability on decadal timescales, with excursions on the order of 40‰. These excursions are overprinted by a unidirectional trend over the late 20th century that likely reflects the sedimentary incorporation of bomb radiocarbon (via remineralized particulate organic carbon). We isolate this trend by means of a one-dimensional oxidation model, which considers the possible contribution of remineralized particles to the total ambient carbon pool. This oxidation model also considers the possible influence of carbon with a variety of sources (ages). Though variable oxidation of preaged carbon could exert a strong influence on benthic foraminiferal radiocarbon variability, the totality of evidence points to the vertical density structure along the Southern California Margin (SCM) as the primary driver of the SBB benthic foraminiferal Δ14C record. For example, intervals characterized by significantly lower Δ14C values correspond to periods of enhanced upwelling and subsurface equatorward flow along the SCM.


A research study was conducted to find the effect of Fenugreek (Trigonella Foenum-Graecum L.), parsley (Petroselium sativam L.) and Sweet Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) seeds as natural feed additives on broiler performance. A total of 120 day-old chicks were reared for 42 days. Feed and water were provided ad libitum. Chicks were divided into four treatments (30 birds each). Each treatment contained three replicates of 10 birds. Each treatment was fed on one of the following experimental diets:1) Control diets (without supplementation). 2) Control diets supplied with Fenugreek at 3 g/kg of the diet. 3) Control diets supplied with parsley at 3 g/kg of the diet. 4) Control diets supplied with Basil at 3 g/kg of the diet. Chicks fed basil diets had significantly (p<0.05) heaviest body weight than those fed the control and fenugreek diets. Carcass characteristics had no significant differences. Significant reduction occurred in serum cholesterol as compared to control diets. It would suggested that the supplementation of broiler chicks diets with (3 g/kg) basil or parsley seeds improved productive performance.


The total or partial replacement of face-to-face teaching with distance teaching brings a number of problems for teachers, children and families. Recently, in our province in Southern Italy, in a seaside area, we conducted a survey to assess the experiences of high school teachers faced with distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the purpose of examining the real impact of these dramatic changes, both from social and health perspectives. From the preliminary aspects of this survey it emerges that it is difficult to univocally consider the effectiveness of distance learning in such a complex territory, especially in a seaside area. This experience will serve us to reflect in the future on a school tailored to the individual student by a permanent integration of face-to-face forms with distance learning.


Kayu manis (Cinnamomum burmanii BL) is known and cultivated for its aromatic content. In the previous experiment the powder of kayu manis leather can be extracted to be atsiri oil. And the rubbish like; leaf, scrap, the powder from cutting tree, trank are the parts of wood leather that haven't been used yet, so it will be appear as a problem for the environment. If the rubbish are extacted by steam and water destilation it will produce atsiri oil with good quality and good cost, as a mix ingredient of medicine beverages, food, and parfume. The experiment goal is to filter by using arrange destilation tool to get output the process is an optimal rendeman atsiri oil. An the extract metode used is steam and water destilation. To get a good filter output should be treated by parameter variety suitable with test tool performance they are; pressure variety (1 atm; 1,65 atm; 1.85 atm), temperatur (99oC; 114oC; 119oC) and resident time (1 hour; 2 hour; 3hour). The result of the testing is an output of the most atsiri oil, it is at pressure 1,85atm, the ingredient weigh is 750 gram, and the resident time 3 hour. Where, the maximum percentage rendeman from the leaf, powder, and scrap until 1,63 %; 1,49%; and 1,42%. Atsiri oil has not reached optimum point, because the pressure has not been optimal and the capacity of the tank is limited. The percentage rendeman up to 1% can give chance for the rubbish of kayu manis to be processed become atsiri oil. So that, this research can be continue by project for study of home industry. Keywords : Destilation process, atsiri oil, kayu manis, the rubbish of kayu manis leather.


Dysregulated endogenous retroelements (EREs) are increasingly implicated in the initiation, progression, and immune surveillance of human cancer. However, incomplete knowledge of ERE activity limits mechanistic studies. By using pan-cancer de novo transcript assembly, we uncover the extent and complexity of ERE transcription. The current assembly doubled the number of previously annotated transcripts overlapping with long-terminal repeat (LTR) elements, several thousand of which were expressed specifically in one or a few related cancer types. Exemplified in melanoma, LTR-overlapping transcripts were highly predictable, disease prognostic, and closely linked with molecularly defined subtypes. They further showed the potential to affect disease-relevant genes, as well as produce novel cancer-specific antigenic peptides. This extended view of LTR elements provides the framework for functional validation of affected genes and targets for cancer immunotherapy.


The large-scale synchronization of neural oscillations is crucial in the functional integration of brain modules, but the combination of modules changes depending on the task. A mathematical description of this flexibility is a key to elucidating the mechanism of such spontaneous neural activity. We present a model that finds the loop structure of a network whose nodes are connected by unidirectional links. Using this model, we propose a path-finding system that spontaneously finds a path connecting two specified nodes. The solution path is represented by phase-synchronized oscillatory solutions. The model has the self-recovery property: that is, it is a system with the ability to find a new path when one of the connections in the existing path is suddenly removed. We show that the model construction procedure is applicable to a wide class of nonlinear systems arising in chemical reactions and neural networks.


In everyday life, humans interact with a dynamic environment often requiring rapid adaptation of visual perception and motor control. In particular, new visuo–motor mappings must be learned while old skills have to be kept, such that after adaptation, subjects may be able to quickly change between two different modes of generating movements ('dual–adaptation'). A fundamental question is how the adaptation schedule determines the acquisition speed of new skills. Given a fixed number of movements in two different environments, will dual–adaptation be faster if switches ('phase changes') between the environments occur more frequently? We investigated the dynamics of dual–adaptation under different training schedules in a virtual pointing experiment. Surprisingly, we found that acquisition speed of dual visuo–motor mappings in a pointing task is largely independent of the number of phase changes. Next, we studied the neuronal mechanisms underlying this result and other key phenomena of dual–adaptation by relating model simulations to experimental data. We propose a simple and yet biologically plausible neural model consisting of a spatial mapping from an input layer to a pointing angle which is subjected to a global gain modulation. Adaptation is performed by reinforcement learning on the model parameters. Despite its simplicity, the model provides a unifying account for a broad range of experimental data: It quantitatively reproduced the learning rates in dual–adaptation experiments for both direct effect, i.e. adaptation to prisms, and aftereffect, i.e. behavior after removal of prisms, and their independence on the number of phase changes. Several other phenomena, e.g. initial pointing errors that are far smaller than the induced optical shift, were also captured. Moreover, the underlying mechanisms, a local adaptation of a spatial mapping and a global adaptation of a gain factor, explained asymmetric spatial transfer and generalization of prism adaptation, as observed in other experiments.


ABSTRACT Diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging is an imaging modality that measures the diffusion properties of water molecules in tissues noninvasively. Water diffusion is affected by tissue constituents, such as macromolecules, membranes, organelles, as well as by tissue microstructure, architecture, and organization. From the quantities measured with diffusion tensor-magnetic resonance imaging, one can infer information about brain tissue that cannot be obtained using conventional, compositional-based (eg, proton density and chemical spectroscopy), or relaxometry-based (eg, magnetization transfer, T1, T2, and T2*) magnetic resonance imaging methods. Understanding the relationship between a measured water diffusion pattern and the underlying histological features of the tissue, however, is not simple. In the absence of a robust and comprehensive model of water diffusivity in biological tissues, the biological interpretation of diffusion measurements relies on empirical evidence. Herein, the properties of several diffusion tensor-derived quantities are reviewed, together with the experimental evidence that helps clarify their relationship with the underlying properties of brain tissue.


This paper addresses artificial intelligence and signal processing based online fault detection and identification. Fuzzy logic controller has been utilized for temperature control. Faults often cause undesired reactions, so to keep the system stable and to obtain an acceptable control performance is an important problem for control system design. In this paper, a multiplicative, an additive and a disturbance type of Termocouple sensor faults have been examined for temperature control. Feature vector of the sensor faults has been constructed using a statistical analysis. For classifier of the feature vector the Self Organizing Map (SOM) has been used. So sensor fault can be detected and identified using feature vector.


Abstract β-Thalassemia intermedia (β-TI) patients present with a wide spectrum of phenotypes depending on the presence of primary, secondary, and tertiary genetic modifiers which modulate, by different mechanisms, the degree of imbalance between α and β chains. Here we describe a new β0 frameshift mutation, HBB: c.44delT (p.Leu14ArgfsX5), identified in four members of a family, associated with secondary genetic modifiers in three of them. The different genotype present in this family was suspected after hematological analysis and thorough observation of blood smears highlighting their importance in the identification of β-TI patients among members of the same family.


In studies of five hysterectomized and five control dogs, hysterectomy shortened the anoestrous interval (96.6 +/- 28.0 versus 149.4 +/- 50.9 days, P < 0.05). No differences in hormone concentrations (progesterone, oestradiol, prolactin and growth hormone) were observed between the control and hysterectomized dogs except for a brief fall in progesterone concentrations over 8 days immediately after surgery, between days 35 and 40 after onset of pro-oestrous bleeding; only these animals developed symptoms of overt pseudopregnancy. It is concluded that, in dogs, luteal regression occurs independently of a uterine luteolysin, but that the uterus may play a role in control of duration of anoestrus. Pseudopregnancy seems to be initiated by a fall in progesterone concentrations rather than by other hormonal changes.


Few ways exist single by means of which the man produces the energy to satisfy his necessities and most of these ways they imply the combustion of a solid fuel or, liquid or gaseous, looking for that the thermal efficiency and of the combustion approaches most possible 100%. In this study the procedures are discussed to quantify the thermal efficiency and of the combustion, in a furnace that uses like combustible husk of rice, by means of the application of the Soviet norm and the indirect method, analyze the most influential factors on this, making experimental tests to obtain some variables.


The purpose of this study is to characterize palaeoceanographic variations induced by climate changes on the glacial-interglacial time scale. The climatic control of terrigenous clay mineral sedimentation depends on latitudinal and longitudinal distribution of the sediments investigated (BoutRoumazeilles et al., 1997). The climatic variations affect the intensity of both physical and chemical weathering on the continent and, the transport of clay minerals by wind and marine currents. Clay particules, less than 2 microns, from a series of ODP cores and piston cores from various geographical settings in the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, will be used as palaeoceanographic proxies. Nd-Sr-Pb isotope composition of the clay minerals will provide informations as to changing detritat fluxes, source provenances, and deep-water transportation patterns. Sr and Nd isotopic data have been successfully used on the bulk lithic fraction of sediments for hydrological and sedimentological reconstruction of the North Atlantic ocean since 150 Ky (Revel et al., 1995). Our work is focused on the transition from glacial stage 6 to interglacial stage 5, which is clearly characterized in all cores studied by drastic modifications of the clay mineral fraction composition. Four sites are located in the Western Atlantic basin: core SU90-38 is located near Rockall Plateau;


Splenic artery aneurysms are considered rare; however, they are the most common visceral artery aneurysm in reality. The incidence of splenic artery aneurysm increases in pregnancy and may result in significant maternal and fetal mortality if that would develop. This review summarizes etiologic, clinical, and diagnostic features and management of splenic artery aneurysms during pregnancy in the light of re-


Tapping in time to a metronome beat (hereafter beat synchronization) shows considerable variability in child populations, and individual differences in beat synchronization are reliably related to reading development. Children with developmental dyslexia show impairments in beat synchronization. These impairments may reflect deficiencies in auditory perception of the beat which in turn affect auditory-motor mapping, or may reflect an independent motor deficit. Here, we used a new methodology in EEG based on measuring beat-related steady-state evoked potentials (SS-EPs, Nozaradan et al., 2015) in an attempt to disentangle neural sensory and motor contributions to behavioral beat synchronization in children with dyslexia. Children tapped with both their left and right hands to every second beat of a metronome pulse delivered at 2.4 Hz, or listened passively to the beat. Analyses of preferred phase in EEG showed that the children with dyslexia had a significantly different preferred phase compared to control children in all conditions. Regarding SS-EPs, the groups differed significantly for the passive Auditory listening condition at 2.4 Hz, and showed a trend toward a difference in the Right hand tapping condition at 3.6 Hz (sensorimotor integration measure). The data suggest that neural rhythmic entrainment is atypical in children with dyslexia for both an auditory beat and during sensorimotor coupling (tapping). The data are relevant to a growing literature suggesting that rhythm-based interventions may help language processing in children with developmental disorders of language learning.


The effect of liming on the growth and yield of apple trees (cv. Golden Delicious and Starking on Merton 793) and on the incidence of bitter pit was studied in a field trial. Tree growth as indicated by trunk diameter was significantly increased by liming and the best growth was obtained when compost had been applied with lime during soil preparation. Yield was significantly increased by lime alone or in combination with compost applied during soil preparation, as well as by an annual lime application on the soil surface. The incidence of bitter pit was significantly decreased by application of lime on the soil surface, but could not be eliminated completely. Acidification of the gravelly soil used in this trial was very rapid and annual maintenance liming at a sufficient rate is important to maintain the soil reaction at a desirable level.


We study the quantum-size effect and the influence of the external magnetic field on the exciton ground state energy in the type–II InP quantum disk, lens and pyramid deposited on a wetting layer and embedded in a GaInP matrix. We show that the charge distribution over and below quantum dot and wetting layer induced by trapped exciton strongly depends on the quantum dot morphology and the strength of the magnetic field.


The pressure-broadened spectra of water vapor, carbon dioxide, ethylene, ethanol, and acetaldehyde were recorded with the use of a liquid nitrogen-cooled CO laser-based photoacoustic spectrometer. The results obtained for CO2 and H2O gases were compared with those from the Hitran database. The absorption coefficients of ethylene, ethanol, and acetaldehyde on CO laser emission frequencies were determined as well. Finally, the measured spectra were used in a multicomponent analysis of trace gases released by pears (Pyrus communis, cultivar Conference).


Metareasoning research often lays out high-level principles, which are then applied in the context of larger systems. While this approach has proven quite successful, it sometimes obscures how metareasoning can be seen as a crisp computational problem in its own right. This alternative view allows us to apply tools from the theory of algorithms and computational complexity to metareasoning. In this paper, we consider some known results on how variants of the metareasoning problem can be precisely formalized as computational problems, and shown to be computationally hard to solve to optimality. We discuss a variety of techniques for addressing these hardness results.


The purpose of this research was to develop a free radiological anatomy software for radiologic anatomy education to assist students and professionals in health science. The study was divided into two phases: image acquisition and software development. The first phase was to obtain plain radiographic images and computed tomographic (CT) scans of an anthropomorphic phantom of head and neck. In addition, plain radiographic images of an anthropomorphic phantom of the chest were obtained. The second phase was the development of the anatomy software as an ImageJ macro. The software was developed through the insertion of the radiologic anatomy landmarks into the images that were obtained and application of multiple choice questions. The software was then tested for usability by getting the professors to answer the multiple choice questions. The software presented radiologic anatomy from 1) Head projections: Waters view, Towne view, Caldwell view, Lateral view, Submentovertex, PA view; 2) Thoracic Spine projections: AP and Lateral View and 3) Chest: PA view, Lateral and Oblique. Tomographic imaging presented one hundred radiologic landmarks of head. In total, there were 354 questions. A final report containing the score of correct answers, as well as the user ID, Date and Time of the test were showed. The test were available in three languages (Spanish, English and Portuguese). A user-friendly and inexpensive software was developed and presented. Students and professionals from several countries are able to practice, repeatedly, the recognition of radiologic anatomical landmarks.


Cellulose-acetate electrophoresis (CAE) was used to investigate isozyme polymorphisms among different isolates of Fusarium cerealis, F. culmorum, F. graminearum and F. pseudograminearum from around the world. After initial testing of 22 enzymes in three buffer systems for activity and resolution of bands, 12 proved to be appropriate for analysis of the full sample set. Remarkably uniform isozyme patterns were obtained intraspecifically, irrespective of the geographical origin of the isolates or the host/substratum from which they were isolated. This result indicated that isolates within a given species are descendant from a same ancestral population. Comparing the different electrophoretic types (ETs), adenylate kinase (AK), NADP dependent glutamate dehydrogenase (NADP GDH), peptidase B (PEP B), peptidase D (PEP ID) and phosphoglucomutase (PGM) proved to be diagnostic for at least one species examined. However, only PEP D was useful alone as a marker to distinguish the four taxa studied providing a rapid and simple CAE based diagnostic protocol. Cluster analysis of band sharing coefficients grouped the isolates into four distinct groups corresponding to the 4 species studied. Isolates of F. cerealis were clustered between those of F. culmorum and F. graminearum corroborating their known close relationship to both species. For common ETs, the similarity values between F. cerealis and F. culmorum and between F. cerealis and F. graminearum were the same. Furthermore, the similarity values and the resulting phenogram indicated that F. graminearum is more closely related to F. cerealis and F. culmorum than to F. pseudograminearum, thus the morphological similarity of F. graminearum and F. pseudograminearum does not reflect their generic relationship. This fact supports the species status of F. pseudograminearum.


ABSTRACT Objective: To prescreen the ex- vivo wound healing activity of flavonoid rich fraction of ethyl acetate extract of the leaves of Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam. Family Moraceae using porcine skin wound healing model (PSWHM) along with  phytochemical, XRF, HPTLC analysis. The aim of this present study is to provide pharmacological validation to the traditional claim for wound healing activity of Artocarpus heterophyllus leaves. Method: Total phenolic content by UV spectral methods and ursolic acid content by HPTLC, trace elements by X-ray fluorescence were determined.  The wound healing effect of the ethyl acetate extract of the leaves of A.heterophyllus (EAAH) was evaluated using ex- vivo porcine skin wound healing model - a novel organ culture model system for evaluation of drugs in cell-cell junction in the wound healing process. Results: Total phenolic content by UV method, HPTLC determination of ursolic acid content of EAAH was found to be 376.5mg/g GAE, 134mg/g respectively. XRF study showed the presence of calcium (39.4%), potassium (29.6%), magnesium (2.06%), Iron (0.99%), sulphur (1.83%), zinc (0.083%), strontium (0.23%), manganese (0.13%) and aluminium (0.005%).   Histopathological evaluation showed all treated wounds were sound with no signs of apoptosis, necrosis or bacterial contamination and no toxicity of the tested concentrations of EAAH of the leaves. Morphology of the wound margins, epidermis and dermis layer were found to be normal. Epidermal migration or keratinocyte migration distances from the edges of each wound were measured, normalized with the PBS control group and expressed as mean%. The result clearly showed EAAH (1.5%) promoted statistically significant wound healing effect is comparable to the standard drug Mupirocin. Conclusion: This study indicates that the ethyl acetate extract of the leaves of A.heterophyllus possesses potential wound healing activity on ex-vivo porcine skin wound healing model. Wound healing activity of EAAH (leaves) may be due to its phenolic content (flavonoids), triterpenoids constituents especially ursolic acid. Both of them known to have astringent property which is responsible for wound contraction and increased rate of epithelialisation along with the supportive anti-microbial activity. More over trace elements like Zinc (Zn), Copper (Cu), Manganese (Mn), Iron (Fe) supports wound healing property as essential trace mineral are required for cellular growth and replication. This present investigation provides scientific evidence to ethnomedical use of A.heterophyllus leaves in wound healing activity. Our study showed significant enhancement of wound repair and therefore can be beneficially, safely used as auxiliary therapy in diabetic patient with foot ulcers in addition to the other available treatment as the leaves possesses scientifically validated traditional use in diabetes