Although myocutaneous flaps have evolved into a primary method for managing pressure sores, their value in reducing the recurrence rate by padding the pressure point is open to question. The use of muscle to cover a pressure point violates the normal soft–tissue coverage of a bony prominence and introduces a tissue that is exquisitely sensitive to ischemia. Clinical follow–up of patients who have had myocutaneous flaps for closure of pressure sores demonstrates almost total muscle atrophy. Although skin coverage is stable, the muscle bulk of a myocutaneous flap is not retained beyond one to two years. The long–term value of myocutaneous flaps in reducing the recurrence rate of pressure sores requires careful follow–up in major series of cases.


Propagation of light through a uniaxial material is studied using field theoretical methods. The materials is modeled by cubic lattice of oriented classical Lorentz oscillators. A two-step coarse graining approach is applied. At the bulk level, excitations of the coupled light-matter system, or polaritons, are described by a Proca-type equation for massive vector bosons. On the microscopic level, multiple scattering is used to relate the sub-luminal speed of the polaritons to the polarizability of the Lorentz oscillators. For each direction of propagation of the polaritons, three independent polarizations exist, consistent with the integer spin of massive vector bosons. Reflection and refraction are calculated by imposing the requirement of a uniform gauge for the electromagnetic vector potential across the interface of the uniaxial molecular material and vacuum. Reflectance spectra near the resonance frequency are calculated. The spectra feature a characteristic minimum in middle of the reflection band, in agreement with experiment. An incident unpolarized light beam is predicted to refract into three different rays. The model supports surface bound excitations and predicts a Goos-Hänchen shift of the reflected beam upon reflection of light incident from vacuum onto the material.


Changes in the conscious and unconscious influences of memory over time were assessed in two experiments by using a variant of the process-dissociation procedure. In both experiments, performance on a stem-completion task was measured under both inclusion and exclusion instructions. Across the two experiments, there were four different retention intervals: 2 minutes, 2 days, 2 weeks, and 2 months. The results indicated that conscious influences decreased systematically across retention interval. In contrast, unconscious influences of memory in the absence of conscious influences increased between 2 minutes and 2 days, and then remained relatively stable from 2 days to 2 weeks to 2 months. These results stand in apparent contrast to those of McBride and Dosher (1999), which showed equal rates of forgetting for conscious and unconscious influences of memory on performance. The implications for models of the relation between conscious and unconscious influences of memory on performance are discussed.


Thermoplastic composite materials can be molded into complex curvature shapes via thermoforming, where the material is heated to a pliable temperature and then formed into the desired configuration. For instance, a hemispherical composite part can be thermoformed by punching a male hemispherical tool into a flat stack of heated Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE) composite sheets held in place by a binder ring. The quality of the as-manufactured part is dependent on many variables including the punch rate, friction between the composite and tooling, binder ring pressure and the material properties. The in-plane shear constitutive response of the composite is a critical input for the numerical simulation of this process, as it will dictate how easily the material conforms to the prescribed shape. Achieving a hemispherical shaped part with minimal wrinkling is the desired outcome. However, experimentally investigating the optimal set of processing parameters to achieve this outcome is time consuming and costly. The goal is to create a computational model that can accurately simulate the thermoforming process and predict the end product quality. This will allow for rapid evaluation of optimal process parameter combinations, greatly reducing experimentation time and cost. Inplane shear characterization of DSM Dyneema HB 210 is performed at relevant process temperatures between 20°C and 130°C, fiber rotational rates (0.1 /s, 0.7 /s, 7 /s) and pre-processing states (unconsolidated [0/90]2 sheets vs. consolidated [0/90]2 sheets) to provide constitutive material response input for the computational process model. Biased extension tests show that an elevated temperature leads to an increase of the in-plane shear compliance and that rate effects are more pronounced at a lower temperature. Consolidated specimens were found to require more applied force to deform than unconsolidated material. Fiber rotation is upwards of ± 35° for all specimens, regardless of the configuration. LS-DYNA finite element simulations are conducted using select in-plane shear response inputs generated from the experimental tests to demonstrate the effect of the in-plane shear response on the thermoforming process, the as-manufactured part thickness, and in-plane shear distributions.


In a paper published in the 'Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society' for March 1913 (Q. J. G. S. vol. lxix, p. 1), I gave an account of the Ashgillian succession in the Cautley District, Yorkshire, and stated that the development of the Ashgillian Series in the North of England is far more satisfactorily shown around Cautley than in the neighbouring areas of the Lake District and Edenside. I have described this Cautley succession 'as one which should be taken as the type for the Ashgillian Series of Northern England.' It is, nevertheless, desirable that one should know how this Ashgillian Series is developed in the place from which it takes its name—namely, the stream and quarry of Ashgill west of Coniston Lake,—and I accordingly devoted several weeks during the summers of 1913 and 1914 to the study of the succession in the tract in which Ashgill lies. I have been much helped in this work by my son, Lieut. F. A. Marr. The study of the rocks here is rendered more difficult than in the Cautley region, partly owing to their smaller thickness, as a result of which the fossils appear to have been largely broken before entombment, but especially owing to the great amount of cleavage, which causes much distortion of the fossils. But, after the experience gained in the Cautley region, this study has been rendered easier, and I now feel able to compare the succession of the Ashgill region with that of Cautley, though a final


In this article the authors consider the importance of scientific and technical information in the development of society, reveal the main features of information and substantiate that information should be considered as an important factor of production.


This Learning and CPD sheet is designed to pull together into a framework many of the activities that have already been published. It should also help anyone planning to go for audit of their CPD or who have been requested to submit for audit. There are a number of different ways of viewing the Personal Development Planning (PDP) or CPD cycle; the one covered here is just one example and shouldn't be seen as the only way of looking at PDP. For a greater range of activities, look at the book "Skills for Success: The Personal Development Planning Handbook" by Cottrell1 and the companion website2


Pointing on large displays with an indirect, relative pointing device such as a touchpad often requires clutching. This article introduces gliding, where the cursor continues to move during the clutching gestures. The effect is that of controlling the cursor as a detached object that can be pushed, with inertia and friction similar to a puck being pushed on a table. We analyze gliding from a practical and a theoretical perspective and report on two studies. The first controlled experiment establishes that gliding reduces clutching and can improve pointing performance for large distances. We introduce cursor efficiency to capture the effects of gliding on clutching. The second experiment demonstrates that participants use gliding even when an efficient acceleration function lets them perform the task without it, without degrading performance.


ABSTRACT The last two decades have seen the term 'foreign fighter' enter our everyday vocabulary. The insurgencies in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Syrian Civil War and the rise and fall of the Islamic State group have sparked public interest in the phenomenon of people choosing to leave their own countries and fight in a foreign conflict. Foreign fighters, their origins, motives, activities and potential danger to their home countries have become subjects of debate, attracting contributions from politicians, military personnel, the media, security analysts, political scientists and legal scholars, but to a much lesser extent from historians. The 10 articles of this special issue showcase new historical research on foreign military labour, including an overview of the early modern period and numerous case studies which cover the last 165 years and stretch over five continents. The aim is to better understand the experiences and challenges faced by both the foreigners and the host country, particularly its armed forces, and to highlight the significance of these trends to the contemporary debate on foreign fighters. Designed after a conference held in June 2018 at the Centre for History at Sciences Po, Paris, the issue is inspired by a number of key questions. What motivated individuals to join a foreign conflict or army? How were they treated and perceived by their hosts, and, when taken prisoner, by the enemy? How complete was their integration in the host's combat formations? How did foreigners perform in battle? What happened to them after the war ended?


Novel antibiotics named kigamicin A, B, C, D, and E were discovered from the culture broth of Amycolatopsis sp. ML630-mF1 by their selective killing activity against PANC-1 cells only under a nutrient starved condition. Under a condition of nutrient starvation, kigamicins A, B, C, and D inhibited PANC-1 cell survival at 100 times lower concentration than in normal culture. Kigamicins showed antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive bacteria including methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Kigamicin D inhibited the growth of


Although research on individual differences became the mainstream in SLA, it still obviously lag behind research on similarities over the whole. In order to find a clear developing direction for research in this field, main problems and difficulties arose in earlier research will be discussed. Suggestions and prospects for research on individual differences of SLA will be also proposed. The ideal of modifying one's way of teaching to suit the special requirements of each class or case should be the main trend of research on individual differences of SLA.


The paper describes a new approach to the design of digital algorithms for electric power measurements under nonsinusoidal conditions. Using the discrete Fourier transform of two sets of real data in one pass, the voltage and current spectra are obtained, simultaneously. Real and imaginary parts of both spectra are then processed to obtain the terms of the electric power components according to various definitions in both the time domain and the frequency domain. Some results of simulated measurements using an assembler program for the TMS 32010 micro-computer are given.


This, the first detailed description, interpretation and reconstruction of Odaraia alata, is based on all 29 known specimens. These include material of Eurysaces pielus Simonetta and Delle Cave, 1975, which is synonymized with O. alata herein. The head bore a pair of large eyes anteriorly and a paired mandible posteriorly. Features between these are poorly defined and the number of limb-bearing cephalic somites is unknown. The carapace was bivalved and essentially tubular in configuration, enclosing most of the body anteriorly. The trunk included up to at least 45 uniform short wide limb-bearing somites. The trunk appendages were biramous (with the possible exception of the first two), with an outer lamellate branch projecting dorsad of a segmented, spinose and apparently sometimes bifurcate inner branch which shows some evidence of variation along the trunk. The telson bore three large flukes, two projecting laterally and one vertically. The evidence suggests that O. alata fed by employing the carapace as a filter chamber within which the appendages, which trapped small pelagic animals, were confined. The arthropod probably swam on its back, using the appendages. Although the flukes did not articulate proximally, the telson appears to have been well adapted as a stabilizing and steering organ. O. alata shows some similarities to the Crustacea, particularly the Branchiopoda, but the preservation of the features of the cephalon is inadequate to allow its affinities to be determined unequivocally. It is classified in the family Odaraidae Simonetta and Delle Cave, 1975, but assignment to a higher taxon within the arthropods is not considered to be justified.


Summary: The prototrophic clones formed after fusion of mixed protoplasts from two polyauxotrophic strains of Bacillus subtilis have been counted both as L-form colonies and as bacterial colonies, by plating on selective medium in the presence and in the absence of methicillin. On average, one hundred times as many prototrophic colonies were counted when cell wall regeneration was prevented by the antibiotic. Thus genetic inactivation, which occurs regularly in bacterial exfusants, may be dependent on cell wall regeneration.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the preoperative effects of acute hypervolemic hemodilution (AHH) on intracranial pressure, cerebral oxygen supply-demand balance and cardiovascular functions of neurosurgical patients.

METHODS
Approved by hospital ethics committee, a total of 80 ASA grade I/II patients at our hospital during 2009, of either gender aged 18-60 yrs, undergoing elective craniotomy were recruited. The subjects were randomly divided equally into 2 groups: group H (hemodilution) and group C (control) (n = 40 each). After induction, 6% hydroxyethyl starch solution was infused at the rate of 24 ml×kg(-1)×h(-1) in group H, while patients in group C received compound electrolyte solution at the rate of 6 ml×kg(-1)×h(-1). Central venous pressure (CVP), cardiac output index (CI), stroke volume variation (SVV) and cerebral spinal fluid pressure (CSFP) were recorded at the following time points: T(Base) (before induction), T(0) (after induction and hemodynamic stabilization), T(30) (after infusion for 30 min) and T(60) (after infusion for 60 min). Blood samples from radial artery and jugular bulb were collected and calculated for systemic vascular resistance index (SVRI) and cerebral oxygen uptake rate (CERO(2)). The dosing frequency of vasoactive drugs was also recorded.

RESULTS
CI in group H was significantly higher than that in group C (P < 0.01). No significant difference was found in both SjvO(2) and CERO(2) between groups and among different points of time (P > 0.05). At the end of AHH, CVP and CSFP were (12 ± 2.2) mm Hg and (20.0 ± 2.1) mm Hg respectively. They were significantly higher than that in group C (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSION
Preoperative AHH in craniotomy will increase CI and maintain the balance of cerebral oxygen supply. But its clinical application is limited in the patient with high intracranial pressure due to the simultaneous increases in CVP and CSFP.


A 63-year-old woman with a history of hyperlipidemia presented to our hospital with a swollen right hand. The patient noted that she had closed her hand in a car door one week earlier, causing minor trauma to the right third metacarpophalangeal joint. Shortly after injuring her hand, she'd sought care at an outpatient facility, where she was given a diagnosis of cellulitis and a prescription for an oral antibiotic. The swelling, however, worsened, prompting her visit to our hospital.


The ultrastructure of the outer retina in the endangered killifish, Aphanius sirhani was studied. The retina shows all eight layers and two membranes typical of vertebrates. The retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) consists of a single layer of closely packed, polygonal, low columnar cells. These cells have large, vesicular nuclei, well developed smooth endoplasmic reticulum, and well developed mitochondria. Phagosomes, lipid droplets and myeloid bodies are also evident. The cells bear numerous apical processes that, in light-adapted fish, interdigitate with the photoreceptor outer segments. The retina is of the duplex type, i.e. contains rods and cones. A variety of cones have been recorded in the present species. These include short, intermediate and long single cones, double and triangular, triple cones. Rod spherules each with a single synaptic ribbon and cone pedicles, each with several synaptic ribbons have been recorded in the outer plexiform layer.


In this talk I will argue that our notion of linguistic competence needs to be revisited. Static depictions of the grammar of the target language are not suitable for informing research and language teaching. The fact is that language is dynamic, a characteristic that the term "competence" does not reflect.
By entertaining a view of language informed by Complexity Theory, we will come to see language as a complex adaptive system. Complexity theory sees language as a set of patterns emerging from use. Those that are frequentlyoccurring become emergent stabilities in a complex system. The patterns themselves are variegated in form, and their borders are graded, not discrete.Complexity theorists subscribe to an emergentist view of language development. As such, no innate language acquisition faculty is posited. Instead, it is thought that a learner's language resources develop from the interactions that the learner experiences. Out of these interactions, a new order self-organizes. Development is thus never complete, and a learner's language resources can be seen as a dynamic ensemble of interacting patterns.


The need for speed and reliability in wireless local area networks is constantly increasing. The IEEE 802.11n standard aims to offer better data rates and performances by combining OFDM and MIMO techniques. Transmit beamforming is one of these techniques and should allow a stronger, more reliable signal for the intended user, while reducing interference towards other users. In this paper we present the realization of an 802.11n transmitter aimed at comparing different transmit beamforming schemes.


In this paper, we describe a self adapting algorithm for smart watches to define individual transitions between motion intensities. The algorithm enables for a distinction between high-amplitude motions (e.g. walking, running, or simply moving extremities) low-amplitude motions (e.g. human microvibrations, and heart rate) as well as a general doffed-state. A prototypical implementation for detecting all three motion types was tested with a wrist-worn acceleration sensor. Since the aforementioned motion types are user-specific, SmartMove incorporates a training module based on a novel actigraphy-based sleep detection algorithm, in order to learn the specific motion types. In addition, our proposed sleep algorithm enables for reduced power consumption since it samples at a very low rate. Furthermore, the algorithm can identify suitable timeframes for an inertial sensor-based detection of vital-signs (e.g. seismocardiography or ballistocardiography).


ABSTRACT In recent years, the discovery of new autoantigens and the use of sensitive assays have expanded the clinical spectrum of myasthenia gravis (MG). In particular, antibodies binding to clustered acetylcholine receptors and to the low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 4 have not only bridged a significant gap in diagnosis but also have relevant clinical implications. MG management includes different therapeutic options, from symptomatic agents as the only therapy in mildly affected cases to combined long-term immunosuppression and thymectomy in patients with severe disabling disease. MG biological diversity can influence the response to therapies and should be taken into account when planning treatment. Biologic agents are promising, though their use is currently limited to patients with refractory disease.


The purpose of this article is to construct and employ a critical study to Frithjof Schuon' thought on epistemology which includes the nature of knowledge, the object of knowledge and the process of acquiring knowledge. This study is a literature research which utilize his scientific works both primary and secondary sources. The results showed that Schuon epistemology could not eluded the paradigm of Western dualism as truth and certainty viewed double, which are relative truth and absolute truth. Relative truth and certainty of the truth according to Schuon are obtained through religious dogma, but the total truth and certainty of 'being' could only be obtained through spiritual realization, namely gnosis or metaphysics. Thus, religious knowledge status which derived from revelation is lower than the metaphysical knowledge derived from the intellect through meditation. It is conclude that Schuon's view is very much contrary to the principles of Islamic epistemology. Islam has asserted al- Qur'an as an authentic revelation from Allah SWT and acknowledged it as the highest source of knowledge. Epistemology of Islam never affirms the necessity of spiritual realization through meditation to enhance the revelation.


Recognition of Eocene igneous intrusions in Highland County, Virginia, by Fullagar and Bottino (1969) prompted a search for related phenomena. The temperature culmination of a group of thermal springs, the site of maximum uplift of the Schooley erosion surface, and a regional simple Bouguer gravity anomaly in excess of —80 mg occur within 20 mi of the common juncture point of Highland and Bath Counties, Virginia, and Pocahontas County, West Virginia.

The Highland County intrusive rocks of Eocene age are the most recent surface expression of volcanism along a deep-seated crustal fracture that lies transverse to the Appalachians near the 38th parallel. Surficial rocks above the fracture zone contain igneous injections, flows, and pyroclastic deposits of late Precambrian, Devonian, Triassic, Jurassic, and Eocene age. Radiometric dating data now available suggest westward migration with time of intrusive centers. The fracture zone seems to have been present and sporadically active for more than 0.8 b. y. and may still be a zone of deep crustal weakness.


Background Intravesical migration of an intrauterine device (IUD) is a rare occurrence. The IUD becomes the nidus for calcification. Three approaches to remove the device include the use of open cystolithotomy, transurethral grasping forceps, or minimally invasive laparoscopy. Case A 50-year-old woman presented with vague abdominal pain and recurrent urinary tract infections. She was found to have an intravesical migration or malplacement of an IUD which was unretrievable 20 years ago and was encrusted with a calculus formation. We removed the foreign body through a transurethral approach aided by the use of a nephroscope which allowed for easy access of laparoscopic scissors and grasping forceps. Conclusions The transurethral approach with the use of a nephroscope significantly aids in the removal of an IUD embedded into the bladder wall.


This paper presents a new formulation for skin effect problems in current carrying conductors. The specific difficulties arising in such problems stem from the fact that total measurable currents in conductors rather than local current density distributions are required to be given. These difficulties are particularly significant in the case of three-dimensional (3-D) problems. A new approach presented in this paper attempts to circumvent these difficulties by means of special modification of field equations outside the conductors. As a result of such a modification, the total currents in the conductors appear explicitly in the formulation through the boundary conditions.


US EPA's Toxicity Forecaster (ToxCastTM) is a tool with potential use in evaluating safer consumer products, conducting chemical alternatives analyses, prioritizing chemicals for exposure monitoring, and ultimately performing screening-level risk assessments. As a case study exploring a potential use of ToxCast, we evaluated ToxCast results for ortho-phthalates focused on the well-established toxicological endpoints of some members of this class. We compared molecular perturbations measured in ToxCast assays with the known apical toxicity endpoints of o-phthalates reported in the open literature to broadly reflect on the predictive capability of the high-throughput screening (HTS) assays. We grouped the ToxCast assays into defined sets to examine o-phthalate activity and potency. This study revealed several links between key molecular events assayed in vitro and chemical-specific hazard traits. In general, parent o-phthalates are more active than their monoester metabolites. The medium-chain length o-phthalate group is also more active than other o-phthalate groups, as supported by Toxicological Priority Index ranking and statistical methods. Some HTS assay results correlated with in vivo findings, but others did not. For example, there was a notable lack of assay activity to explain the known male reproductive toxicity of these compounds. Ultimately, HTS data resources such as ToxCast may inform us of sensitive upstream toxicity endpoints and may assist in the rapid identification of environmental chemical hazards for screening and prioritization. However, this case study shows that the absence of positive results in ToxCast in vitro assays cannot be interpreted as absence of related in vivo toxicity, and limited biological coverage by the assays remains a concern.


Abstract Conclusions: Rise time in the estimation of the gravitational vertical in the head tilt response (HTR) test is increased in patients with peripheral vestibular lesions and residual chronic dizziness. Objective: Assessment of the perception of the gravitational vertical in patients with peripheral vestibular lesions through the HTR. Methods: HTR was studied in 12 patients with peripheral vestibular lesion, 8 clinically with chronic dizziness and 4 without it; 23 normal subjects were studied as control group. Two parameters of the HTR were assessed, rise time and steady-state error to characterize a dynamical system step response. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test (alpha = 5%) was used to verify normal distribution (steady-state error, p = 0.53; rise time, p = 0.88). The three sigma ellipse was calculated for the control group. ROC curves were used to measure the sensitivity and specificity of these parameters. Results: Rise time showed increased values in peripheral vestibular lesion patients with chronic dizziness. Two-dimensional analysis (rise time vs steady-state error) allows a better discrimination between patients with peripheral vestibular hypofunction with chronic dizziness and the rest of the studied population.


A monoclonal antibody (Mab; IFRN 1625) has been produced, which is specific for the most hydrophobic polypeptides responsible for foam stabilization. The binding characteristics of the Mab suggest that it is the conformation of certain hydrophobic polypeptides which is important for foam stabilization. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for assessing the foam-positive form of the foam-stabilizing polypeptides in beer was developed using IFRN 1625. A good correlation was obtained between ELISA determination of foam-stabilizing polypeptides and an empirical means of determining foaming, that is, the Rudin head retention values, for a collection of beers of various foam qualities. Application of the ELISA to different stages of the brewing process showed that the amounts of foam-positive polypeptides increased during barley germination. During the brewing process the proportion of foam-positive polypeptides present after fermentation increased slightly, although a large amount was lost along with other beer proteins during subsequent steps, such as filtering. The present study demonstrates that the amounts of beer polypeptide present in a foam-positive form have a direct relationship with the foaming potential of beer, that their levels are altered by processing, and that there is potential for greater quality control.


In theory the shipping CV should be an excellent example to prove the Modigliani Miller propositions of 1958 to be true. Due to a special taxation that does not encourages taking on debt and benefitting from a tax shield, the choice of capital structure of this Dutch legal construction should be completely irrelevant. Practise though seems to indicate otherwise. Do Modigliani and Miller''s propositions not hold for shipping CVs? In this book I will explain the Modigliani Miller propositions and show their effects by simulating several scenarios for a typical shipping CV. Among several aspects of shipping CVs in general I will especially discuss how tax policy gave many opportunities to create extra high returns. The found observations will be tested for consistency with a dataset of over 200 Dutch shipping CVs. The author originally performed the research as a thesis project at the Erasmus University of Rotterdam in the Netherlands.


AIMS
We sought to compare the predictive power and reproducibility between minimum and maximum left atrial (LA) volume for the development of first atrial fibrillation (AF)/flutter.

METHODS AND RESULTS
This prospective study included 574 adults, mean age 74+/-6 years, in sinus rhythm, and had no history or evidence of prior atrial arrhythmias. During a mean follow-up of 1.9+/-1.2 years, 30 (5.2%) developed first AF/flutter. The 3-year risk estimates of freedom from AF/flutter by tertiles of minimum and maximum LA volumes were, respectively, 97, 87, and 74% (P<0.0006) and 94, 85, and 78% (P=0.03). Minimum LA volume was incremental to clinical and other echocardiographic parameters of AF/flutter prediction [per tertile, hazard ratio (HR) 2.4], as was maximum LA volume (per tertile, HR 1.8) in a separate model. When both volumes were entered into the same model and adjusting for covariates, minimum but not maximum LA volume retained significance. However, in terms of interobserver reproducibility, maximum LA volume compared more favourably (mean difference 3.1+/-7.1 vs. 7.4+/-7.3 mL/m(2)).

CONCLUSION
Minimal LA volume was an independent predictor of first AF/flutter. Although it was marginally superior to maximal LA volume in terms of predictive ability, the interobserver variability was greater.


Abstract Larval populations of the corn earworm, Helicoverpa zea (Boddie), were surveyed in soybeans from 1995 to 1997 to catalogue larval parasites and quantify rates of parasitism. In addition, the relationship between moth captures in black-light traps and larval densities in soybeans was examined. Parasitism was consistently high throughout the region averaging 80.3%, 82.3%, and 73.1% for all dates in 1995, 1996, and 1997, respectively, and appeared to suppress H. zea populations. The predominate parasite species was Microplitis croceipes (Cresson) with some parasitism by Cotesia marginiventris (Cresson), Meterous autographae Meusebeck, and Winthemia rufopicta (Bigot). The date of the peak weekly capture of moths explained 99.7% of subsequent larval densities in soybeans, while the average weekly moth catches did not. The earlier moth peak in 1995 corresponded with higher populations of larvae, while the later peaks in 1996 and 1997 were followed by very low, sub-economic larval populations. Departures from normal for precipitation and temperature during August explained 99.8% and 95.3%, respectively, of the variation in the date of peak moth capture.


Human choriogonadotropin was isolated from urine of patients with hydatidiform mole by acid and salt precipitation, immunoaffinity, and DEAE-Sephadex chromatography. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, immunodiffusion, immunoelectrophoresis, and NH2-terminal amino acid analysis showed that the product obtained is essentially homogeneous. This choriogonadotropin was found to resemble the choriogonadotropin from urine of normal pregnant women in amino acid composition but to differ from it in having a lower content of N-acetylglucosamine and mannose.


In recent years, scientists have found unconfirmed evidence for a ninth planet in the solar system at a very wide orbit. The parameters for this planet are poorly constrained. Current estimates mostly come from the effect the planet has on trans-neptunian objects. Here we investigate an alternative scenario, that is whether this proposed planet can exert observable perturbation on Main Belt asteroids through a particular resonance, active when the precession period of the asteroid is close to the orbital period of Planet Nine. As the apsidal precession period of the Main Belt asteroid is mainly driven by Jupiter, we first derive the precession period under the disturbance of Jupiter. We find that for asteroids at ~3 AU, the resonant condition is fulfilled when Planet Nine has a semi-major axis of ~600 AU. With the asteroids' behaviour known we add a Planet Nine to the simulations at the semi-major axis of optimal resonance conditions with asteroids positioned around 3 AU and analyse the output orbital data. However, in simulations where we assign Planet Nine a mass of 1000 Earth masses, no resonances are observed. To increase the chance of capture into resonance we let Planet Nine migrate inward or outward, causing the resonance to sweep through the asteroids. The mass of the planet is also increased to the somewhat unreasonable values of a solar mass and a tenth of a solar mass. With these implausible parameters, we find that the resonance is possible and when in libration, the periapsis of the asteroid is locked to the position of Planet Nine. Further studies are needed to determine the possibility of resonance for a more reasonable planetary mass and how effectively the planet can capture asteroids into resonance. We note that the effect investigated here may be the only known mechanism able to constrain the instantaneous location of Planet Nine. (Less)


Despite many possible applications, machine learning and computer vision approaches are very rarely utilized in biodiversity monitoring. One reason for this might be that automatic image analysis in biodiversity research often poses a unique set of challenges, some of which are not commonly found in many popular datasets. Thus, suitable image datasets are necessary for the development of appropriate algorithms tackling these challenges. In this paper we introduce the ELPephants dataset, a re-identification dataset, which contains 276 elephant individuals in 2078 images following a long-tailed distribution. It offers many different challenges, like fine-grained differences between the individuals, inferring a new view on the elephant from only one training side, aging effects on the animals and large differences in skin color. We also present a baseline approach, which is a system using a YOLO object detector, feature extraction of ImageNet features and discrimination using a support vector machine. This system achieves a top-1 accuracy of 56% and top-10 accuracy of 80% on the ELPephants dataset.


We study a two-dimensional (2D) diatomic lattice of anharmonic oscillators with only quartic nearest-neighbor interactions, in which discrete breathers (DBs) can be explicitly constructed by an exact separation of their time and space dependence. DBs can stably exist in the 2D discrete diatomic Klein–Gordon lattice with hard and soft on-site potentials. When a parametric driving term is introduced in the factor multiplying the harmonic part of the on-site potential of the system, we can obtain the stable quasiperiodic discrete breathers (QDBs) and chaotic discrete breathers (CDBs) by changing the amplitude of the driver. But the DBs and QDBs with symmetric and anti-symmetric profiles that are centered at a heavy atom are more stable than at a light atom, because the frequencies of the DBs and QDBs centered at a heavy atom are lower than those centered at a light atom.


Due to an exponential growth in the generation of textual data, the need for tools and mechanisms for automatic summarization of documents has become very critical. Text documents are vital to any organization's day-to-day working and as such, long documents often hamper trivial work. Therefore, an automatic summarizer is vital towards reducing human effort. Text summarization is an important activity in the analysis of a high volume text documents and is currently a major research topic in Natural Language Processing. It is the process of generation of the summary of input text by extracting the representative sentences from it. In this project, we present a novel technique for generating the summarization of domain specific text by using Semantic Analysis for text summarization, which is a subset of Natural Language Processing.


Based on the investigation of arthropods biodiversity and insect pests controlling effect in the paddy fields of demonstration area of organic rice production in Guangzhou, a comprehensive assessment on the economic, social, and ecological profits and costs of organic rice production in study area was conducted by using analytic hierarchy process (AHP). The results indicated that among all insect pests controlling measures, organic rice planting had the best comprehensive benefits, with a weight value of 0.5355. Ecological cost played a dominant role in comprehensive costs, and that of traditional pesticide-based insect pests control was most cruel, with a weight value of comprehensive costs being 0.6252. From the viewpoint of the ratio of comprehensive profits to comprehensive costs (RPC), organic rice planting was better than any other insect pests controlling modes, whose RPC was 2.4776, being accorded with the requirement of sustainable development of agriculture.


We derive an image-domain cost function for calibrated 3-D rigid body motion estimation from two views. The cost function is based on the accumulation of minimum mean squared error values along the epipolar lines for a large number of small measurement windows. In comparison to other non-linear, but feature-based formulations, the minimization of this cost function does not require pre-computed point correspondences. Several speedups are derived that keep the computational complexity similar to other non-linear formulations of the 3-D rigid body motion estimation problem. The main advantage of the proposed technique is that no effort has to be devoted to the reliable determination of point correspondences.


The ability of murine Peyer's patch (PP) T contrasuppressor cells (Tcs) to reverse oral tolerance to the T cell-dependent (TD) antigen SRBC was studied both in vivo and in vitro. C3H/HeJ mice given SRBC orally for 4 wk are not rendered tolerant to this antigen and were used as a source of PP Tcs cells for adoptive transfer to identically treated, orally tolerized C3H/HeN mice. Transfer of 10(4) or 5 X 10(4) V. villosa- adherent PP T cells resulted in splenic IgM, IgG, and mainly IgA responses in C3H/HeN mice challenged systemically with SRBC. The T cell responsible was Lyt-1+, 2-, L3T4-, I-JK+ and V. villosa lectin- adherent, all characteristics of mature effector Tcs cells. This C3H/HeJ PP Tcs cell subset was also effective when added to in vitro cultures of tolerized spleen cells derived from SRBC-fed, C3H/HeN mice. Interestingly, C3H/HeJ PP Tcs cells restored mainly IgA responses when transferred in vivo or when added to suppressed C3H/HeN splenic cultures. Comparison of the functional activity of Tcs cells derived from spleen or PP of orally immunized C3H/HeJ mice revealed that splenic Tcs cells supported responses of all 3 isotypes; however, PP Tcs cells yielded three-fourfold higher IgA responses, when compared with IgM or IgG anti-SRBC responses. Adherence of C3H/HeJ PP Tcs to an Fc alpha R+ T cell line derived from IgA-specific Th cells resulted in a nonadherent cell fraction that potentiated only IgM and IgG responses, while bound Tcs cells preferentially supported IgA responses. These results suggest that murine PP contain IgA-specific Tcs cells that allow IgA response induction in the presence of Ts cells that mediate oral tolerance.


BACKGROUND
Pakistan lies in the Afro-Asia stone belt. Ureteric calculi are common occurrence and a major burden on health care facilities in Pakistan. The objective of this study was to assess the efficacy and safety of pneumatic lithoclast in the management of ureteric calculi.

METHODS
Case series study Department of Urology at Institute of Kidney Diseases Hayatabad Peshawar, from 1st Oct 2010 to 1st Oct 2011. One-hundred adult patients with ureteric calculi ≥ 0.7 cm were evaluated by history, physical examination, routine blood and urine examination after taking their written informed consent and approval of ethical committee. Ultrasound and X-ray KUB were done with IVU if required. All patients underwent ureteroscopy within intracorporeal lithotripsy and JJ stenting. Patients were followed up with post-op X-ray KUB at 24 hours and then weekly intervals till they became stone free. Following parameters were assessed: stone size, site, laterality, degree of fragmentation, success rate, stone migration and complications. Inability to reach the calculus with URS, proximal migration of stone or requirement of another/auxiliary procedure was considered failure.

RESULTS
One hundred and ten patients were enrolled with a mean age of 38±10 years. There were 72 males and 28 females. Fifty-eight calculi were on right and 42 on left side. 24, 24 and 52 stones were in upper, middle and lower ureter respectively. Forty stones measured 7-10 mm, 52 measured 11-15 mm and 8 measured 16-20 mm in size. 98 stones were broken while 2 calculi migrated proximally. Overall success rate was 90% (Efficiency Quotient =78.95). Success rate in upper, middle and lower ureter was 83.3%, 83.3% and 96.1% respectively. 10 and 2 patients required ESWL and open ureterolithotomy, respectively, as additional treatment. Mean operative time was 33.5 minutes. There were no major complications..

CONCLUSIONS
Pneumatic lithoclast with URS is effective and safe in the management of the ureteric calculi with some limitations in the upper ureter.


Addresses the question of how to achieve steady motion at very low velocities using proportional-derivative (PD) control. Most prior work in control has used friction models which depend only on the current value of velocity. This type of analysis indicates that stick-slip can be avoided only through velocity feedback. The tribology literature, however, indicates that friction also depends on the history of motion. By including this dependence, a second regime of stable motion is revealed which is associated with position feedback gains above a critical value. Two experimentally-based dynamic friction models are compared using a linearized stability analysis. In accord with experiment, a state variable friction model exhibits asymptotically stable motion for any system stiffness (position feedback gain) exceeding a critical value. This property is not exhibited by a time-lag friction model. >


Over many centuries humans have been mining the bounties of nature for discovering substances that have been used for the treatment of all human diseases; many such remedies are useful even today as modern day medicine. Emerging evidence also suggests that the search is still continuing for harnessing active compounds from nature in combating human illnesses although pharmaceutical industries are equally active for synthesizing small molecule compounds as novel therapeutics. The lesson learned over many centuries clearly suggests that further sophisticated search for finding compounds from natural resources together with robust characterization and chemical synthesis will lead to the discovery of novel drugs that may have high therapeutic efficacy against all human diseases including cancer. Black cumin seed (Nigella sativa) oil extracts have been used for many centuries for the treatment of many human illnesses, and more recently the active compound found in black seed oil, viz. thymoquinone (TQ) has been tested for its efficacy against several diseases including cancer. However, further research is needed in order to assess the full potential of TQ as a chemopreventive and/or therapeutic agent against cancers. Here, we have summarized what is known regarding the value of black seed oil and its active compound TQ, and how this knowledge will help us to advance further research in this field by creating awareness among scientists and health professionals in order to appreciate the medicinal value of TQ and beyond.


Chronic administration of dexamethasone in drinking water to maternal rats from days 15 to 21 of gestation (1) reduced plasma testosterone concentrations in male fetuses between days 19 and 21 but not earlier on day 18 and abolished the prenatal peak of plasma testosterone which normally occurs on day 19 of gestation, and (2) suppressed the postnatal surge of plasma testosterone in male newborns 1.5 and 2 h after delivery at term by cesarean section. The administration of dexamethasone to male fetuses at birth induced 1 h later a slight but not significant increase in hypothalamic gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) and pituitary luteinizing hormone (LH) contents, reduced drastically plasma LH levels and completely prevented the postnatal surge of plasma testosterone which occurred normally in littermate controls. A rise in pituitary LH content, and a sharp reduction in plasma LH and testosterone concentrations were noted in 19-day-old male fetuses whose mothers were acutely treated with dexamethasone on day 18 of gestation. Similar evolutions for LH were observed in littermate females. These results suggest that the inhibitory effects of exogenous glucocorticoids on testosterone secretion could be mediated in both fetuses and newborns at least partially through suppression of the hypothalamic and pituitary secretion of GnRH and LH, respectively, and provide insight how stress or hormone imbalance may affect the development of this neuroendocrine system.


We designed a method for separating two types of granules, a smaller (S) but dense and a larger (L) but less dense granule from hemocytes of the horseshoe crab (Tachypleus tridentatus), using continuous sucrose density gradient centrifugation. The isolated L-granules contained at least three clotting factors plus a clottable protein, coagulogen, as the major component. The known anti-lipopolysaccharide factor and 7 additional unknown protein components were also present in the L-granules. Two known natural substrates, Pro-rich protein and 8.6 kDa protein, for limulus transglutaminase [Tokunaga, F., Yamada, M., Miyata, T., Ding, Y.-L., Hiranaga-Kawabata, M., Muta, T., Iwanaga, S., Ichinose, A., & Davie, E.W. (1993) J. Biol. Chem. 268, 252-261] were present in the L-granules. On the other hand, the isolated S-granules contained antimicrobial tachyplesins I and II (17 amino acids in length) as the major component, in addition to 6 unidentified proteins with molecular masses of less than 30 kDa. The structural analyses of tachyplesin analogs indicated that all these peptides of mature form are stored in the S-granules, together with a processing intermediate containing the COOH-terminal Gly-Lys sequence. We also found an Arg-rich protein of 22 kDa and a Leu-rich protein of 30 kDa in S-granules. Based on these observations, we speculate that protein components in L-granules, which probably contain all the factors essential for the limulus clotting system, participate in immobilization of invading microbes and that factors in the S-granules containing tachyplesins contribute to a self-defense system against invaders.


A recent increase in the prevalence of obesity has been noticed in individuals of all age groups. With an increase in life expectancy, more elderly people are affected with obesity 'This is often associated with low muscle mass. This entity called as sarcopenic obesity is known to be associated with a significant higher morbidity and mortality. However, due to complex definitions and techniques used to define sarcopenic obesity, it is often under diagnosed in clinical practice. In this manuscript we propose simple, cost effective and easy to use anthropometric indices based on standard south Asian cutoffs that could help in screening and diagnosis of Sarcopenic obesity.


The purpose of this study is to explore the relationships between occupational professionalism and organizational cynicism levels of teachers. The sample of this study, designed as a survey research, consists of 436 teachers employed in schools in the city center of the province of Denizli, Turkey. The data of the study were collected through the administration of Teachers' Occupational Professionalism Scale and Organizational Cynicism Scale to the sample group. In data analysis, descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA and regression analyses were conducted. The results of the study indicate that occupational professionalism of teachers was high and their organizational cynicism was close to medium level. Low and negative relations were found between occupational professionalism of teachers and their cognitive and affective cynicism levels. According to regression analysis, only contribution to organization as one of the four sub-dimensions of occupational professionalism was a significant predictor of cognitive and affective cynicism of teachers. Occupational professionalism of teachers was not observed to be significantly influential on the behavioral cynicism of teachers. All four dimensions of occupational professionalism of teachers together explained 4.3% of cognitive cynicism of teachers and 5% of their


This thesis describes mechanism studies of transesterifications of phosphate esters. The aim of the studies concerns two fields. First, the catalytic mechanism that group I introns use in self-splicing. The focus was on metal ion coordinating groups at the catalytic site. Studies were performed on a (almost) full-length group I intron. A 2'-amino modification was introduced in the co-substrate and metal ion switch experiments were carried out. In the presence of magnesium ions the reaction rate decreased but introducing nitrogen preferring metal ions as for example manganese, this negative trend could be reversed. Further studies of the catalytic mechanism were performed on the same group I intron but converted to a ribozyme by deleting the substrate site. We introduced a 2'-amino group in the leaving group nucleoside, in a chemical synthesized substrate and metal ion switch experiments were carried out. At most we could study the cleavage reaction with two 2'-amino modifications at the catalytic site, in the co-substrate and in the substrate. In the presence of two 2'-amino modifications we obtained more than additive effects on the rate, in the presence of manganese ions. These experiments showed how one catalytic metal ion coordinated to the 2'-position in the co-substrate and a second one to the 2'-position in the leaving sugar nucleoside. An alternative model of the earlier proposed two metal ion mechanism used by group I introns, is presented. Five RNA model compounds, methyl furanosides with a 5-diphenyl phosphate group were synthesized. The metal ion promoted intramolecular cyclisation reaction, where the 3-hydroxyl attacks the 5-diphenyl phosphate was studied in the presence of different divalent metal ions. Two derivatives contained a 2-amino group and higher reaction rates were obtained in experiments with nitrogen preferring metal ions. These studies showed the effect of an adjacent position, on the hydroxy nucleophile, via coordination of a metal ion and also give data supporting the mechanism model for the catalytic RNA. The other field in this thesis concerns investigations on why ethylene oxide causes more DNA damages, than propylene oxide. To exclude that the intramolecular phosphate transesterification reaction was responsible for the observed differences, two dithymidine alkyl phosphates were synthesized and studied. Further, to see that the respective epoxide did not have different alkylation rates toward a phosphate center, the alkylation rate for the respective epoxide was studied. Neither of these events could be ascribed to be responsible for the earlier observations concerning ethylene oxide and propylene oxide.


Elephantopus scaber L. is a plant that has potential as traditional medicine. Callus induction and production of secondary metabolite content can be increased by culture callus using plant growth regulators. This study was purposed to investigate the effect of IBA and kinetin concentration on the induction and secondary metabolite profile of callus from E. scaber L. leaves. Leaves explant of E. scaber L. were cultured on MS medium with various combination concentrations of IBA and kinetin for 6 weeks and then callus was extracted using methanol.  Secondary metabolite content from the resulting extract was analyzed using the phytochemical screening method. The result showed that the treatment of IBA 2.0 mg/L and kinetin 1.0 mg/L and treatment of IBA 2.0 mg/L and kinetin 2.5 mg/L are the fastest combination concentration to induce callus at 5.33 ± 0.577 days. Treatment of IBA 2.0 mg/L and kinetin 2.5 mg/L produced callus with the highest fresh weight and dry weight at 0.7016 ± 0.0588 grams and 0.0766 ± 0.0062 grams, respectively. The morphology of calluses grown during this study was compact with various colors appearance, such as light green, brownish green, and brown. Secondary metabolite content of methanol extract of callus E. scaber L. are flavonoids, alkaloids, terpenoids, and saponins.


Abstract: Retrotransposons (REs) are the most abundant and diverse elements identified from eukaryotic genomes. Using computational and molecular methods, 262 intact LTR retrotransposons were identified from Brassica genomes by dot plot analysis and data mining. The Copia superfamily was dominant (206 elements) over Gypsy (56), with estimated intact copies of ~1596 Copia and 540 Gypsy and ~7540 Copia and 780 Gypsy from Brassica rapa and Brassica oleracea whole genomes, respectively. Canonical Copia and Gypsy gag-pol polyprotein organizations were observed in most elements with a few displaying 1-3 additional or internally deleted domains. The PBS and PPT motifs were identified with tRNA complementary to tRNAMet or, rarely, other tRNA types. PCR amplification of RT regions revealed their abundance and distribution among A-, B-, and C-genome Brassicas indicating a common ancestor. The evolutionary relationship of Brassica REs resolved them into superfamily-specific (Copia/Gypsy) lineages. The phylogenetic analysis of 130 Brassica Copia clustered them into 2 clades and 10 sub-clades of 18 families; Gypsy elements clustered into 2 clades. The results enabled identification and understanding of the structure and nature of full-length REs and their derivatives in Brassica. The markers derived here will be useful for examining chromosome and genome evolution in Brassica.


The terpolymer resins (8-HQ5-SAOF) have been synthesized by the condensation of 8-hydroxyquinoline 5-sulphonic acid (8-HQ5-SA) and oxamide (O) with formaldehyde (F) in the presence of acid catalyst and using varied molar proportion of the reacting monomers. The synthesized terpolymer resins have been characterized by different physico-chemical techniques. Thermogravimetric analysis of all terpolymer resins in present study have been carried out by non-isothermal thermogravimetric analysis technique in which sample is subjected to condition of continuous increase in temperature at linear rate. Thermal study of the resins was carried out to determine their mode of decomposition and relative thermal stabilities. Thermal decomposition curves were studied carefully with minute details. The Freeman-Carroll and Sharp-Wentworth methods have been used in the present investigation to calculate thermal activation energy and different kinetic parameter of the terpolymer resins. Thermal activation energy (Ea) calculated with above two mentioned methods are in close agreement. The advantage of Freeman-Carroll method is to calculate both the order of reaction (n) and energy of activation in one single stage by keeping heating rate constant. By using data of thermogravimetric analysis, various thermodynamic parameters like frequency factor (Z), entropy change ( ΔS), free energy change ( ΔF) and apparent entropy (S*) have been determined using Freeman-Carroll method.


The experiment was conducted at the experimental site of Wollo University with the objective of assessing the effect of different sowing depth on growth performance of Maize plant. There were six treatments which were replicated three times. The experimental was layed out in RCBD (randomized complete design). The treatments consisted of 2cm, 4cm, 6cm, 8cm, 10cm and 12cm sowing depth. Analysis of variance revealed a significant effect of depth of sowing on the growth performance of Maize plant (Percentage of plant emergence at 10 days after sowing, number of plant leaves at 15 days after emergence, plant height at one month after emergence and number of emerged plants after sowing by counting stand plants). Sowing at depth of 6cm produced the tallest plant, highest number of leaves per plant, the plant emerged early with 100% emergence. The deepest sowing depth showed poor performance in the parameters considered. Thus for similar agro ecologies of Kelem meda, it is better to apply 6cm depth of sowing. However, the results of the experiment are only morphological parameters and did not include yield components due to limitation of time to accomplish the experiment. Thus the results will be assured, if similar research is going to be conducted in multi locations across seasons.


From German unification in 1871 through the early 1960s, confessional tensions between Catholics and Protestants were a source of deep division in German society. Engaging this period of historic strife, Germany and the Confessional Divide focuses on three traumatic episodes: the Kulturkampf waged against the Catholic Church in the 1870s, the collapse of the Hohenzollern monarchy and state-supported Protestantism after World War I, and the Nazi persecution of the churches. It argues that memories of these traumatic experiences regularly reignited confessional tensions. Only as German society became increasingly secular did these memories fade and tensions ease.


The purpose of this paper is to present a novel methodology for the estimation of VLSI products defect level, or reject rates, in the IC design environment. A new defect-oriented (DO) fault extraction and stratified sampling technique, implemented in an extraction tool, lobs, is used with a novel DO fault simulation tool, veriDOFS, which uses a commercial Verilog simulation tool. The proposed methodology allows the evaluation of DL values with limited confidence intervals, using reduced fault samples. Results, for a s38417 benchmark circuit (almost 100,000 transistors and over 140,000 extracted bridging defects) lead to test quality validation with 2,000 sampled faults.


New relations involving curvature components for the various connections appearing in the theory of almost product manifolds are given and the conformal behaviour of these connections are studied. New identities for the irreducible parts of the deformation tensor are derived. Some direct physical applications in Kaluza–Klein and gauge theory are discussed.


Reviewed By: Dr V. Daniel Department: Reviewer/CMRO ABSTRACT Non-hormonal contraception is an action to prevent conception or pregnancy hormones include (IUD, condoms, operating methods lady/MOW, operation method man/MOP), This method can prevent pregnancy up to 99%. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the factors of family support, education, economic status, and knowledge associated with the use of non-hormonal contraception. This type of research is quantitative research design used by the cross sectional approach.The population in this study were all active family planning acceptors who visit the Tawaeli Health Center Palu subdistrict Pantoloan 2018 as many as 674 people.The sampling technique is to use a non-probability sampling technique accidental sampling, The total sample of 84 respondents. Data collection was conducted by filling out a questionnaire as a tool for an interview. Data were analyzed by univariate and bivariate, at the level of 95% (P ≤ 0.05). Chi square test results showed that family support, education, economic status and knowledge of respondents associated with the use of non-hormonal contraception with a p-value ≤ 0.05.It is expected that the community can be open and willing to receive information from health workers related to family planning.


Artificial intelligence is currently attracting unprecedented attention for its ability to tackle hard problems with huge datasets, which have been rendered tractable by the giant computational power and amount of training data available today. Photonic inverse design, in which one seeks to find objects of desired electromagnetic response, belongs to this class of complex problems that can greatly benefit from these ideas. In this work, artificial intelligence concepts are applied to advance the quest for invisible particles that do not perturb the background field; in particular, a fully connected neural network is proposed to address such a problem by learning the dynamics of visible-light interaction with low-scattering multilayered nanospheres. By swapping the roles between inputs and outputs, the same network can then be used for the inverse design of invisible nanoparticles, obtaining superior performance with respect to the best elements of the training set. The proposed approach can be generalized to approximate Maxwell interactions by simulating the electromagnetic response of more complicated optical configurations, and accomplish their inverse design directly, without successive iterations.


Heretofore, the rCBF of brain tumours has been measured by the 133Xe clearance method, but the resolving power of this method is limited and flow values measured by this method correlate poorly with the anatomical structure. On the other hand, our xenon-enhanced method has several advantages over the conventional isotope method and enables us to evaluate rCBF with a resolving power of 4 mm. With this method, we evaluated rCBF in 15 brain tumour cases and obtained the following results: Mean rCBF value of the tumour is a little lower than that of grey matter and higher than that of white matter with oedematous change. The xenon-enhanced method enables us to distinguish the demarcation between the tumour area and the surrounding oedematous area and offers useful information for determining the extent of resection in surgery. Mean lambda value of the tumour which is not obtainable in vivo by radionuclide scanning, was 1.02 +/- 0.06 for gliomas and 0.72 +/- 0.09 for metastatic tumours.


Myxedema coma is a critical disorder with high mortality rates. Disruption of the compensatory mechanism for severe and long-term hypothyroidism by various causes leads to critical conditions, including hypothermia, respiratory failure, circulatory failure, and central nervous system dysfunction. Infectious diseases, stroke, myocardial infarction, sedative drugs, and cold exposure are considered the main triggers for myxedema coma. A 59-year-old Japanese woman presented with bilateral painful purpura on her lower legs. She was diagnosed with coexisting immunoglobulin A (IgA) vasculitis and severe IgA vasculitis with nephritis and was consequently treated with intravenous methylprednisolone (125 mg/day). However, she rapidly developed multiple organ failure due to the exacerbation of severe hypothyroidism, i.e., myxedema. Her condition improved significantly following oral administration of prednisolone along with thyroxine. There was a delayed increase in the serum free triiodothyronine level, while the serum free thyroxine level was quickly restored to normal. Rapid deterioration of the patient's condition after admission led us to diagnose her as having myxedema coma triggered by IgA vasculitis. Hence, clinicians should be aware of the risks of dynamic exacerbations in patients with hypothyroidism. Furthermore, our study suggested that combination therapy with thyroxine and liothyronine might prove effective for patients with myxedema coma, especially for those who require high-dose glucocorticoid administration.


The trend towards mobile devices usage has made it possible for the Web to be conceived not only as an information space but also as a ubiquitous platform where users perform all kinds of tasks. In some cases, users access the Web with native mobile applications developed for well-known sites, such as, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. These native applications might offer further (e.g., location-based) functionalities to their users in comparison with their corresponding Web sites because they were developed with mobile features in mind. However, many Web applications have no native counterpart and users access them using a mobile Web browser. Although the access to context information is not a complex issue nowadays, not all Web applications adapt themselves according to it or diversely improve the user experience by listening to a wide range of sensors. At some point, users might want to add mobile features to these Web sites, even if those features were not originally supported. In this paper, we present a novel approach to allow end users to augment their preferred Web sites with mobile features. We support our claims by presenting a framework for mobile Web augmentation, an authoring tool, and an evaluation with 21 end users.


High-resolution topography (HRT) provides Earth scientists the opportunity to measure landscapes at unprecedented meter to submeter resolutions. HRT also enables use of new quantitative tools that explore landscape structure and evolution. The wide applications for HRT products in research have motivated Earth science educators to evaluate their usefulness for teaching concepts such as plate tectonics, faulting, and landscape change. This study assesses the usefulness of HRT as an educational tool for teaching Earth science concepts. The application of HRT to Earth science education is motivated by concepts outlined in undergraduate geology textbooks, the U.S. Next Generation Science Standards, and the Earth Science Literary Initiative. We developed three activities using HRT to assess its educational value. An exploratory study involving undergraduate students assesses their ability to evaluate and interpret the landscape in HRT shaded-relief image versus aerial photography. The hillshades allow novice learners to focus more directly on the landscape, enabling faster and more accurate interpretations of geologic features. In addition, an educational video on HRT and an exercise exploring the earthquake cycle with HRT were tested in undergraduate introductory geology classes. Students who used educational tools involving HRT increased their understanding of the earthquake cycle and HRT for studying earthquakes. Novice Earth science students who use HRT improve their ability to evaluate topography for geologic features and come to accurate conclusions about landscape evolution. These positive outcomes are possible because of the fine scale at which topography can be examined without visual distractors within HRT.


ABSTRACT We assessed the physicochemical and microbiological properties of composting toilet products in Abidjan for their potential use in agriculture. Samples of urine and faeces were collected and analysed after 123 days of storage in plastic cans (urine) and 8 months of storage in closed composting bags (faeces). Selected physicochemical parameters (ammonium, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium) and pathogens (bacteria and helminths eggs) were monitored. Results showed that temperature and pH values were 26.0°C and 7.2, and 27.6°C and 8.6 for the faeces and urine, respectively. The physicochemical analysis revealed high nutrient contents and low trace metal levels in the faeces-based compost. Concentrations of magnesium, cadmium, copper, lead and zinc ranged from 0.46 to 54.98 mg/kg; while those of phosphorus, potassium and calcium were >700 mg/kg on average. In urine, the concentrations of phosphorus, potassium, calcium, copper and zinc were 930, 1240, 1402.8, 0.0672 and 0.121 mg/L, respectively. Various bacteria (including total coliforms, faecal coliforms, faecal streptococci and anaerobic sulphite reducers), along with Ascaris lombricoïds (1.66 eggs/g), were found in the faeces-based compost. Our findings indicate that the faeces-based compost was not homogeneous, namely with regard to the microbiological parameters, and additional time would be necessary to bring it to stability.


Received: 15 February 2018 Revised: 26 June 2018 Approved: 19 July 2018 Published: 26 July 2018 This study examines the lyrics of Balinese religious songs with a primary focus on analyzing the various forms of microstructure, macrostructure, and superstructure of Balinese religious songs by using the Van Dijk discourse analysis. The type of this research is qualitative with the systematic writing of the study which is from theory to deep observation of data for further analysis. The lyrics of Balinese religious songs are literary works containing the traits of lyrical poems that are very beautiful and full of meaning. This study revealed that the lyrics of Balinese religious songs contain microstructure, macros structure, and superstructure. The results of this study provide clear pictures of what religious values are actually in the lyrics of Balinese songs which can be utilized as guidance in establishing a harmonious society.


Digital micromirror devices (DMDs) are spatial light modulators that employ the electro-mechanical movement of miniaturized mirrors to steer and thus modulate the light reflected of a mirror array. Their wide availability, low cost and high speed make them a popular choice both in consumer electronics such as video projectors, and scientific applications such as microscopy. High-end fluorescence microscopy systems typically employ laser light sources, which by their nature provide coherent excitation light. In super-resolution microscopy applications that use light modulation, most notably structured illumination microscopy (SIM), the coherent nature of the excitation light becomes a requirement to achieve optimal interference pattern contrast. The universal combination of DMDs and coherent light sources, especially when working with multiple different wavelengths, is unfortunately not straight forward. The substructure of the tilted micromirror array gives rise to a blazed grating, which has to be understood and which must be taken into account when designing a DMD-based illumination system. Here, we present a set of simulation frameworks that explore the use of DMDs in conjunction with coherent light sources, motivated by their application in SIM, but which are generalizable to other light patterning applications. This framework provides all the tools to explore and compute DMD-based diffraction effects and to simulate possible system alignment configurations computationally, which simplifies the system design process and provides guidance for setting up DMD-based microscopes.


Abstract An oscillating continuously stratified flow past an isolated obstacle is investigated using scaling arguments and two-dimensional non-hydrostatic numerical experiments. A new dynamic scaling is introduced that incorporates the blocking of fluid with insufficient energy to overcome the background stratification and crest the obstacle. This clarifies the distinction between linear and nonlinear flow regimes near the crest of the obstacle. The flow is decomposed into propagating and non-propagating components. In the linear limit, the non-propagating component is related to the unstratified potential flow past the obstacle and the radiating component exhibits narrow wave beams that are tangent to the obstacle at critical points. When the flow is nonlinear, the near crest flow oscillates between states that include asymmetric, crest-controlled flows. Thin, fast, supercritical layers plunge in the lee, separate from the obstacle and undergo shear instability in the fluid interior. These flow features are localized to the neighbourhood of the crest where the flow transitions from subcriticality to supercriticality and are non-propagating. The nonlinear excitation of energetic non-propagating components reduces the efficiency of topographic radiation in comparison with linear dynamics.


The present study was designed as an intervention study to investigate whether an educational programme was efficient in preventing work‐related skin problems on the hands. 107 student auxiliary nurses (61 in the intervention group and 46 in the control group) were followed during the first 10 weeks of their initial practical training in county hospitals. The intervention group was given an educational programme before the practical training started. For evaluation the participants had questionnaires, clinical examination of the hands, measurement of transepidermal water loss (TEWL) and patch testing. The use of hand disinfectants, which was discouraged in the educational programme, was significantly lower in the intervention group as compared to the control group (p=0.002). 48% of the intervention group and 58% of the control group had aggravation of skin problems during practical training (p>0.05). Use of hand disinfectant agents was significantly associated with aggravation of skin problems (p=0.016). A significant increase in TEWL for the control group (p<0.005), but not for the intervention group, was seen after 10 weeks of practical training. In conclusion, the present intervention study shows promising results from the use of an educational programme.


In the optical packet switch (OPS) with the hybrid buffer for contention resolution of asynchronous and variable length packets, the optimum numbers of tunable wavelength converters (TWCs) and internal wavelengths is, for the first time, presented for reducing switch cost. The hybrid buffer was addressed, to reduce packet loss further as one of the alternative buffer structures for contention resolution of asynchronous and variable length packets, which consists of the FDL buffer and the electronic buffer. To optimize TWCs and internal wavelengths related to design cost of the OPS with the hybrid buffer, we proposed a scheduling algorithm for the hybrid buffer with the limited TWCs and internal wavelengths. For the fully shared TWC structure, the optimum numbers of TWCs and internal wavelengths to guarantee minimum packet loss are evaluated to prevent resource waste under the hybrid buffer. Under a given load, TWCs and internal wavelengths could be significantly reduced, guaranteeing the same packet loss as the performance of the hybrid buffer structured OPS with more number of TWCs and internal wavelengths.


In this study, the problem of H ∞ filtering for sampled-data systems under unreliable communication links is investigated. The phenomena of data packet dropouts and signal transmission delays are addressed in a unified framework. The objective is to design an admissible filter to guarantee the asymptotic stability of the filtering error system and minimise the H ∞ disturbance attenuation level. Thanks to the proposed novel Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional together with the improved Wirtinger's inequality and the reciprocally convex approach, novel sufficient linear-matrix-inequality-based conditions are obtained for the existence and design of admissible filters. Finally, two simulation examples are provided to illustrate the efficiency and less conservativeness of the proposed H ∞ filter design methods.


The Kalman Filter (KF) is used to optimally estimate system states from the sequential noisy measurements of the outputs. On the other hand, real-time systems are often modeled with uncertainties and time-delays. Developing KF algorithms for such systems is an important problem to obtain optimal state estimates by utilizing the information on uncertainties and time-delays. First, designing of KF for nominal discrete-time systems is studied. Considering the covariance of the error in the estimation the KF algorithm is derived which is further tested on a numerical example. A designed KF is tested on a real-time problem i.e. Active Queue Management (AQM) problem.In Internet routers, Active Queue Management (AQM) is a technique that consists in dropping or Explicit Congestion Notification (ECN) marking packets before a router's queue is full. Keywords: Active Queue Management,Explicit Congestion Notification, discrete time system, time-delay.


In this paper, we design an on-chip memory processor with arithmetic accelerators, which are expected to improve power consumption. In addition, we evaluate the power performance of the processor. We propose implementing vector-type arithmetic accelerators and SIMD-type arithmetic accelerators in the on-chip memory processor. The evaluation results obtained using our simulator indicate that the performance of the 4FMAs SIMD-type accelerators is similar to that of the 4FMAs vector-type accelerators on DAXPY, Livermore kernel 1 and 3. However, the performance of the 4FMAs vector-type accelerator exceeds that of the 4FMAs SIMD-type accelerator with respect to matrix multiplication and QCD because of difference in element size of the registers. On Livermore kernel 7, the power performance of the 4FMAs SIMD-type accelerators exceeds that of the 4FMAs vector-type because of register reuse. However, the 16FMAs vector-type accelerators have an advantage in almost all simulations, excluding main memory bandwidth intensive benchmarks.


Background: Inappropriate cycling positions may affect muscle usage strategy and raise the level of fatigue or risk of sport injury. Dynamic bike fitting is a growing trend meant to help cyclists select proper bikes and adjust them to fit their ergometry. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the "knee forward of foot" (KFOF) distance, an important dynamic bike fitting variable, influences the muscle activation, muscle usage strategy, and rate of energy expenditure during cycling. Methods: Six amateur cyclists were recruited to perform the short-distance ride test (SRT) and the graded exercise tests (GXT) with pedaling positions at four different KFOF distances (+20, 0, −20, and −40 mm). The surface electromyographic (EMG) and portable energy metabolism systems were used to monitor the muscle activation and energy expenditure. The outcome measures included the EMG root-mean-square (RMS) amplitudes of eight muscles in the lower extremity during the SRT, the regression line of the changes in the EMG RMS amplitude and median frequency (MF), and the heart rate and oxygen consumption during the GXT. Results: Our results revealed significant differences in the muscle activation of vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, and semitendinosus among four different pedaling positions during the SRT. During GXT, no statistically significant differences in muscle usage strategy and energy expenditure were found among different KFOF. However, most cyclists had the highest rate of energy expenditure with either KFOF at −40 mm or 20 mm. Conclusions: The KFOF distance altered muscle activation in the SRT; however, no significant influence on the muscle usage strategy was found in the GXT. A higher rate of energy expenditure in the extreme pedaling positions of KFOF was observed in most amateur cyclists, so professional assistance for proper bike fitting was recommended.


This article analyses the characteristics of a considerable part of the foreign and travel journalism on West Papua that was published in the Swedish press during the period 1959-2009. The analysed material comprises press items, articles, and reports on West Papua published in 27 different Swedish newspapers and periodicals. The comprehensive frame identified in the material is West Papua viewed as a primitive country. Four frames, characteristic of this general frame, are found in the foreign and travel journalism: 1. the primitive Others as dangerous and destructive; 2. the primitive Others as victims; 3. the primitive Others as admirable; and 4. the primitive Others as timeless and unchangeable. In the foreign and news material, a clear elite and big power perspective is apparent, which has been fundamental for when the conflict in West Papua is brought up on the journalistic agenda, and when it is not. A power fortifying integration between the frame of West Papua as a primitive country, and the elite and big power perspective exist in the material that during the entire time period covered by this investigation, has resulted in the Papuans being made invisible, and/or maintaining the Papuans and the conflict in West Papua as something odd, not holding a high value.


Among shrimp viral pathogens, white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) and yellow head virus (YHV) are the most lethal agents, causing serious problems for both the whiteleg shrimp, Penaeus (Litopenaeus) vannamei, and the black tiger shrimp, Penaeus (Penaeus) monodon. Another important virus that infects P. vannamei is infectious myonecrosis virus (IMNV), which induces the white discoloration of affected muscle. In the cases of taura syndrome virus and Penaeus stylirostris densovirus (PstDNV; formerly known as infectious hypodermal and hematopoietic necrosis virus), their impacts were greatly diminished after the introduction of tolerant stocks of P. vannamei. Less important viruses are Penaeus monodon densovirus (PmDNV; formerly called hepatopancreatic parvovirus), and Penaeus monodon nucleopolyhedrovirus (PemoNPV; previously called monodon baculovirus). For freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii nodavirus and extra small virus are considered important viral pathogens. Monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) specific to the shrimp viruses described above have been generated and used as an alternative tool in various immunoassays such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, dot blotting, Western blotting and immunohistochemistry. Some of these MAbs were further developed into immunochromatographic strip tests for the detection of WSSV, YHV, IMNV and PemoNPV and into a dual strip test for the simultaneous detection of WSSV/YHV. The strip test has the advantages of speed, as the result can be obtained within 15 min, and simplicity, as laboratory equipment and specialized skills are not required. Therefore, strip tests can be used by shrimp farmers for the pond-side monitoring of viral infection.


Objective. To determine the rates, pattern and correlates of term/viable stillbirths (gestational age ≥ 37 weeks and fetal weight ≥ 2,500 g). Design. Unmatched case‐control, cross‐sectional study. Setting. Inner‐city maternity hospital, Lagos, Nigeria. Methods. About two‐thirds of all documented stillbirths from 2005 to 2007 were analyzed to determine factors that correlated with viability by comparing term stillbirths first with pre‐term stillbirths and then with term live births using multiple logistic regression. Main outcome measures. Prevalence rates and adjusted odds ratios at 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results. Of the total 7,216 deliveries over the three year period, there were 917 qualifying stillbirths out of which 404 (44.1%) were macerated and 13 (1.4%) were identified with congenital anomalies. Over half (57.0%) of the mothers with stillbirths had no antenatal care. Compared with pre‐term stillbirths, term stillbirths were significantly associated with multiparity (odds ratio (OR) 0.69; 95% CI 0.48–0.99), antepartum hemorrhage (OR 0.54; 95% CI 0.35–0.83), premature rupture of membranes (OR 0.26; 95% CI 0.14–0.52), hypertensive conditions in pregnancy (OR 0.60; 95% CI 0.39–0.92), cesarean section (OR 1.71: 95% CI 1.13–2.60), cephalopelvic disproportion (OR 3.56; 95% CI 1.43–8.86), prolonged/obstructed labor (OR 1.94; 95% CI 1.22–3.07), and congenital abnormalities (OR 0.20; 95% CI 0.05–0.79). Young maternal age (OR 2.50; 95% CI 1.22–5.14), lack of antenatal care (OR 1.57; 95% CI 1.22‐3.07), cord accidents (OR 29.63; 95% CI 14.23–61.71), and fetal distress (OR 5.30; 95% CI 3.35–8.38) emerged as additional risk factors when compared with term live births. Conclusions. While the uptake of antenatal care was generally poor, most factors associated with the unacceptably high proportion of viable stillbirths in this resource‐poor setting were identical to risk factors for total stillbirths and can be effectively managed with improved maternal education and obstetric care.


An amorphous SiO2/4H–SiC (0001) interface model with carbon dimer defects is established based on density functional theory of the first-principle plane wave pseudopotential method. The structures of carbon dimer defects after passivation by H2 and NO molecules are established, and the interface states before and after passivation are calculated by the Heyd–Scuseria–Ernzerhof (HSE06) hybrid functional scheme. Calculation results indicate that H2 can be adsorbed on the O2–C=C–O2 defect and the carbon–carbon double bond is converted into a single bond. However, H2 cannot be adsorbed on the O2– ( C = C ) ′ –O2 defect. The NO molecules can be bonded by N and C atoms to transform the carbon–carbon double bonds, thereby passivating the two defects. This study shows that the mechanism for the passivation of SiO2/4H–SiC (0001) interface carbon dimer defects is to convert the carbon–carbon double bonds into carbon dimers. Moreover, some intermediate structures that can be introduced into the interface state in the band gap should be avoided.


The adverse impact of the current securities disclosure regime on small entrepreneurial and start-up firms, as well as on innovation, job creation, and economic growth is substantial. Moreover, disclosure requirements have become so voluminous that they obfuscate rather than inform. This paper outlines a program of interim reforms to improve the existing disclosure regime. It recommends specific changes to Regulation A, crowdfunding, Regulation D, and the regulation of small public companies and of secondary markets to improve the current regulatory environment. This paper also outlines a program of fundamental reform that would dramatically simplify the existing disclosure regime to the benefit of both investors and issuers. This proposal would replace the current 14 disclosure categories with three disclosure regimes—public, quasi-public, and private—and disclosure under the first two categories would be scaled based on either public float or the number of beneficial shareholders.


The current research was aimed to investigate the performance of combined persulfate oxidation process and tannin via coagulation-flocculation processes as a post treatment of anaerobically treated palm oil mill effluent (AnT-POME). Different dosages of sodium persulfate (Na2S2O8, 238 g/mol) 0.1 (w/v) and modified tannin were combined as a simultaneous reaction to treat AnT-POME. Different dosages of tannin ranged between 0.02g and 0.12g with pH variation ranged between 3 and 11 retention and retention time of (30, 90, 120 and 180) were evaluated. The performance of the treatment processes was evaluated based on the removal of three different parameters namely; chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammoniacal nitrogen (NH3-N) and color under the following operational conditions: persulfate dosage, tannin dosage, pH and retention time (min). Using persulfate alone, the maximum removal efficiency of COD, color, and NH3-N were 50%, 60% and 22%, respectively by using 4 mL of 0.1 (w/v) persulfate dosage at pH 7 and 60 min retention time. While, the performance of simultaneous reaction improve the removal efficiencies of COD, color, and NH3-N to 90%, 96% and 44%, respectively using 4 mL of 0.1 (w/v) persulfate and 0.06 g of tannin during 120 min retention time at pH 7. However, the maximum removal of NH3-N (59%) was achieved at pH 11. The study revealed that the simultaneous persulfate/tannin reaction is a promising treatment method for industrial wastewater treatment.


This study develops and validates the IT knowledge relatedness construct to measure the extent to which a multi-business firm leverages related IT knowledge across its business units. It hypothesizes that synergies arising from IT knowledge relatedness differentiate performance of multi-business firms. This hypothesis is tested with primary data from senior IT executives of 315 Fortune 1000 firms. The findings support the hypothesis: IT knowledge relatedness has a positive and significant association with firm performance.


Secreted frizzled-related proteins (sFRPs) are secreted glycoproteins involved in neoplastic growth. Four hormones synthesized in the heart, namely vessel dilator, atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), kaliuretic peptide (KP) and long-acting natriuretic peptide (LANP), have anticancer effects both in vitro and in vivo. These heart hormones were evaluated for their ability to inhibit sFRP-3, which is associated with tumor invasiveness, in human pancreatic cancer, colorectal cancer and renal adenocarcinoma cell lines. Vessel dilator, KP, ANP and LANP maximally reduced the concentration of sFRP-3 by 83%, 83%, 84% and 83%, respectively (each at P<0.0001), in the human colorectal adenocarcinoma cells. In the human pancreatic carcinoma cells, the concentration of sFRP-3 was maximally reduced by 77%, 77%, 77% and 78% (each at P<0.0001) secondary to treatment with vessel dilator, KP, ANP and LANP, respectively. In the human renal adenocarcinoma cells, the sFRP-3 was maximally reduced by vessel dilator, KP, ANP and LANP by 68%, 66%, 68% and 66% (each at P<0.0001), respectively. The results indicate that these four cardiac hormones are significant inhibitors (up to 84%) of sFRP-3 in a variety of human cancer cells. Furthermore, these data suggest that the metabolic targeting of sFRP-3 by the cardiac hormones contributes to their anti-cancer mechanism(s) of action.


The ergodicity breaking parameter is a measure for the heterogeneity among different trajectories of one ensemble. In this report this parameter is calculated for fractional Brownian motion with a random change of time scale, often called "subordination". We proceed to show that this quantity is the same as the known CTRW case.


Blood pressure (BP) is the main driver of mortality with 12.8% of all deaths worldwide. Adolescents are not spared, precisely in Cameroon where they constitute more than half of its population. The objective of our work was to describe the prevalence and risk factors of pre‐hypertension and high blood pressure (HBP) among adolescents in Cameroonian schools. Descriptive study over 5 months; from January to May 2019. The study population consisted of students from private and public schools in the city of Douala. Sociodemographic, anthropometric, and personal background data were collected. Physical activity (PA) was assessed using the short International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine factors associated with pre‐hypertension and HBP. Differences were considered significant for p < .05. We recruited 771 students with an average age of 16 ± 1 years with female predominance (51.4%). The prevalences of pre‐hypertension and HBP were 6.6% and 3%, respectively. Overweight/obesity (OR = 4.6; p < .0001), hyperglycemia [(OR = 4.06; p = .001)] physical inactivity (OR = 1.85; p = .019), and public institutions (OR = 1.87; p = .02) were associated with pre‐hypertension. Similarly, overweight/obesity (OR = 2.99; p = .022), hyperglycemia (OR = 14.05; p < .0001), and physical inactivity (OR = 8.58; p < .0001) were correlated with HBP. Pre‐hypertension and HBP are high in Cameroonian school adolescents and their risk factors are overweight/obesity, hyperglycemia, and physical inactivity.


Proceedings: AACR 101st Annual Meeting 2010‐‐ Apr 17‐21, 2010; Washington, DC

Although current therapeutic strategies for malignant gliomas are non-specifically directed against the tumor bulk, increasing evidence suggests that a single glioma contains a range of phenotypically disparate cell populations with differential capacity for tumor maintenance and initiation. Recent work in brain tumors suggests the existence of cellular sub-populations (known as cancer stem cells, or CSCs) that possess stem cell-like behaviors and a potent capacity for tumor initiation in transplantation assays relative to non-CSCs. Specifically targeting the highly tumorigenic CSCs has the potential to improve the prognosis of malignant glioma patients, but many molecularly-directed anti-CSC agents may also compromise the survival of normal neural stem cells due to molecular similarities between CSCs and normal stem cells. Here we demonstrate that malignant glioma CSCs express high levels of a particular protein relative to non-CSCs. Glioma CSC growth and tumorigenic capacity were abrogated by multiple strategies interfering with the expression and activity of this protein, including RNA interference, pharmacological inhibition, and heterologous expression of a prokaryotic enzyme that specifically consumes the enzymatic product of this critical protein. Importantly, tumor growth was inhibited by systemic treatment of xenograft-bearing mice with a well-studied small molecule inhibitor of this protein that has already demonstrated low toxicity in clinical trials for other diseases. Though the activity of this protein appears critical for the maintenance of highly tumorigenic glioma CSCs, our examination of both normal human neural progenitor cells and neural stem cells derived from genetically disrupted mice indicate no substantial role for this protein in normal neural stem cells. Our findings identify a novel glioma therapeutic target with a negligible role in normal neural stem cells, suggesting clinical utility for selective inhibitors of this CSC-specific molecular target.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3318.


The NHS can make a considerable contribution to reducing social exclusion and inequalities. GPs' surgeries should play a greater role in giving information on social security benefits. Primary care should be targeted at those most in need. The NHS has many employees on low incomes and should provide them with an effective occupational health service.


Therapy is predicated on the need for clients to share intimate details about their lives, including their cultural values, attitudes, and beliefs. Previous studies have found that clients conceal certain aspects of their lives including, but not limited to their symptoms and their feelings about the therapy process. To date, there has not been an investigation focused on whether clients conceal aspects of their cultural identities, whether some therapists are more likely to have clients conceal aspects of their cultural identities, and if cultural concealment is associated with therapy outcomes. The present study attempted to do so utilizing the caseloads of 37 therapists who treated a total of 233 clients in a university counseling center setting. Client data were collected at the end of treatment utilizing the Patient's Estimate of Improvement (PEI; Hatcher & Barends, 1996), a measure that assesses client change on domains including general functioning, symptom related distress, intimate and social relationships, work or school, feelings about oneself, behavior, control of life, and tolerance for and ability to share painful feelings. Cultural concealment was assessed via 5 items regarding the amount and circumstances under which clients withheld cultural identity based information in therapy. Results indicated that within therapists' caseloads, client's ratings of cultural concealment were negatively associated with therapy outcomes. Additionally, therapists whose clients rated more cultural concealment on average had clients with worse therapy outcomes. Lastly, there was a significant contextual effect indicating that within and between therapist cultural concealment were statistically different from one another.


In article 30 of Law No. 8 of 1999 concerning Consumer Protection expressly regulates the authority to supervise business actors carried out by the government, the community, and the Non-Governmental Consumer Protection Institute (LPMSM), but the facts on the ground consumers still get product guarantees from business actors that are not in accordance with Law No .8 of 1999 concerning Consumer Protection. This shows that there has been an imbalance between regulations and facts on the ground.The problem in this study is how consumer protection against product warranties in business law and what are the consequences of warranties that are not in accordance with Law No. 8 of 1999 concerning Consumer Protection.This research method uses a normative juridical approach, with secondary data collection, to prove the consequences of guarantees that are not in accordance with Law No. 8 of 1999 concerning Consumer Protection. The data obtained were analyzed qualitatively.Based on the results of the study it was found that many losses experienced by consumers related to guarantees, such as fraud against store guarantees, fraud against bank guarantees, and others. Therefore, the government provides guarantees for the protection of consumers against product warranties through government regulations, one of which is the UUPK. In its implementation, consumer protection has not been carried out to the fullest, this is proven because there are still many irregularities and losses felt by the government. Whereas in the UUPK the sanctions / consequences received by the business actor if committing a violation related to goods will be subject to criminal acts.