Objectives The safety and efficacy of RotaTeq was assessed in the Rotavirus Efficacy and Safety Trial (REST) in four continents in approximately 70,000 infants in 2001–2004. Here we report the safety and efficacy results from post-hoc analyses on infants from five European countries. Methods In Europe, 30,075 healthy infants aged 6–12 weeks received at least one dose of RotaTeq (n = 15,057) or placebo (n = 15,018). They were followed for rotavirus-associated hospitalizations and emergency department (ED) visits for up to two years post-vaccination. In Finland, 2,686 infants (RotaTeq n = 1,344; placebo n = 1,342) were also assessed for clinical efficacy. Rotavirus AGE was defined as vomiting and/or ⩾3 watery stools in 24-hours and detection of virus in stools (ELISA); severity was assessed by a 24-point scale. Results In 28,002 per protocol evaluable infants, RotaTeq reduced rotavirus-associated hospitalizations and ED visits, for any serotype, by 95% [95% CI: 91 to 97]. Similar results were obtained for infants receiving ⩾one dose (N = 29,565): 92% [95% CI: 89 to 95]. In Finland, RotaTeq prevented severe rotavirus disease due to any serotype by 98% [95% CI: 90 to 100] and for any severity by 68% [95% CI: 60 to 74] in 2,271 per protocol evaluable infants. Conclusions In Europe, the high and sustainable efficacy of RotaTeq, has been confirmed for severe and any severity rotavirus disease and for reduced hospitalizations and ED visits, for any serotype for up to two years post-vaccination. These findings highlight the value of a universal vaccination program for infants and for the community in terms of potential savings in health resources.


Thin polyethyleneterephthalate (PET) layers with Fe nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized by high-fluence ion implantation. Temperature dependence of conductance and magnetoresistance, were studied as a function of ion fluence. It is found that the implantation with fluences of about 1.0×10 17 cm -2 causes high enough concentration of metal inclu- sions to provide conditions for electrical percolation that leads to an insulator-to-metal transition (IMT) in charge carrier transport mechanisms. The magnetoresistance measurements indicate that the magnetic percolation takes place at metal concentrations (fluences) lower than those needed for the electrical percolation. For the samples on insulating side of the IMT, a non-monotonous dependence of resistance in an increasing external magnetic field is observed due to anisotropic magnetoresistive effect and charge carrier scattering on magnetic inclusions. For the samples implanted with fluences ≥ 1.0×10 17 cm -2 , the magnetoresistance becomes a monotonous decreasing function of the external magnetic field which is typical for ferromagnetic metals that indicates effective magnetic coupling of the iron inclusions.


We report a muon-spin relaxation study of the two-dimensional spin-gap system . We find that the form of the muon-spin relaxation is strongly temperature dependent and attribute this behaviour to the presence of a spin gap. At temperatures below 30 K a root-exponential behaviour is seen for the muon-spin relaxation function, which can be attributed to defect spins. At temperatures above 160 K we see the onset of muon hopping.


A technique is described for rearing a coccinellid on a dry, particulate food. Coleomegilla maculata lengi Timb. (Coleoptera:Coccinellidae) was reared from first-instar larva to adult on the pollens of corn, gray birch, hemp, and hornbeam, and on the dried and powdered nymphs and adults of Rhopalosiphum maidis (Fitch.) (Hom0ptera:Aphididae).


The Copper Basin is a well-endowed mineral
camp with notable Mo, Cu, and Au mineralisation, located
near Battle Mountain, Nevada, USA. Mo and Cu
mineralisation is associated with the emplacement of
Cretaceous granitic stocks and dykes, which produced
local quartz stockwork veins. Tertiary granites produced
skarn Au and Au ± Cu mineralisation. The study area lies
within the Eureka mineral belt which hosts significant
Carlin-style disseminated, sediment-hosted Au
mineralisation. Several Tertiary granitoids in the northern
part of the study area that were dated in this study had
ages, ~41 – 37 Ma, correlating with the magmatism
associated with the other intrusions along the Eureka Au
trend. Petrographic studies of pyrite have found Au-rich
weathering rinds around some pyrite grains sampled in,
and near, the Buckingham porphyry. These supergene
rims overprint the hypogene Au mineralisation.


Background and Purpose— We sought to explore the safety and efficacy of the new TREVO stent-like retriever in consecutive patients with acute stroke. Methods— We conducted a prospective, single-center study of 60 patients (mean age, 71.3 years; male 47%) with stroke lasting <8 hours in the anterior circulation (n=54) or <12 hours in the vertebrobasilar circulation (n=6) treated if CT perfusion/CT angiography confirmed a large artery occlusion, ruled out a malignant profile, or showed target mismatch if symptoms >4.5 hours. Successful recanalization (Thrombolysis In Cerebral Infarction 2b–3), good outcome (modified Rankin Scale score 0–2) and mortality at Day 90, device-related complications, and symptomatic hemorrhage (parenchymal hematoma Type 1 or parenchymal hematoma Type 2 and National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score increment ≥4 points) were prospectively assessed. Results— Median (interquartile range) National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score on admission was 18 (12–22). The median (interquartile range) time from stroke onset to groin puncture was 210 (173–296) minutes. Successful revascularization was obtained in 44 (73.3%) of the cases when only the TREVO device was used and in 52 (86.7%) when other devices or additional intra-arterial tissue-type plasminogen activator were also required. The median time (interquartile range) of the procedure was 80 (45–114) minutes. Good outcome was achieved in 27 (45%) of the patients and the mortality rate was 28.3%. Seven patients (11.7%) presented a symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage. No other major complications were detected. Conclusions— The TREVO device was reasonably safe and effective in patients with severe stroke. These results support further investigation of the TREVO device in multicentric registries and randomized clinical trials.


OBJECTIVE
To provide guidelines for identifying composite hypotheses and addressing the probability of false rejection for multiple hypotheses.

DATA SOURCES AND STUDY SETTING
Examples from the literature in health services research are used to motivate the discussion of composite hypothesis tests and multiple hypotheses.

METHODS
This article is a didactic presentation.

PRINCIPAL FINDINGS
It is not rare to find mistaken inferences in health services research because of inattention to appropriate hypothesis generation and multiple hypotheses testing. Guidelines are presented to help researchers identify composite hypotheses and set significance levels to account for multiple tests.

CONCLUSIONS
It is important for the quality of scholarship that inferences are valid: properly identifying composite hypotheses and accounting for multiple tests provides some assurance in this regard.


The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of the implementation of simple, fast and low-cost religious court procedures in the divorce case at the Religious Court, Palu. This study used qualitative research, while the data were collected through observation, interviews and document reviews. The effectiveness of the religious court procedures in regards to topic being investigated was measured through the theory of legal effectiveness. The results of the study showed that the effectiveness of simple, fast and low-cost judicial principles could be effectively achieved due to a simple trial process, continuous revision throughout the process (from registration to decision) and affordable case costs. 2) The factors that support the accountability of the Religious Court when implementing the principles are the existence of a one-stop integrated service system, Electronic Court (E-Court), free litigation, Legal Aid Post and observable court. 3) A simple, fast and low-cost judicial principles have been effective because they have fulfilled the five aspects as stated by Soerjono Soekanto.


The economic dispatch problem (EDP) is a complex, constrained, and nonlinear optimization problem. In the EDP, the active power bus should operate between the minimum and maximum bus limits to minimize the fuel cost. In this study, a fast, efficient, and reliable hybrid gravitational search algorithm-teaching learning based optimization (GSA-TLBO) method was proposed for the purpose of solving the EDP in power systems. The proposed method separates the search space into two sections as global and local searching. In the first part, searching was carried out by GSA method effectively to form the second search space. In the second part, the optimum solution was sought in the local search space by the TLBO method. The proposed method was implemented to a constrained benchmark G01 problem. The proposed hybrid method was then applied to the constrained EDP in IEEE 30-bus and IEEE 57-bus test systems and Turkey's 22-bus power system to minimize the fuel cost. Obtained results were compared with other methods. Experimental results show that the proposed method results in shorter, more reliable, and efficient lowest fuel cost solutions. It has been found that the proposed method can be used to solve constrained optimization problems.


In this study, MTT assay, cell morphology and flow cytometry were used to explore Agrimonia pilosa Ledeb on HL-60 cells in vitro. The data suggested that Agrimonia pilosa Ledeb had the effects of growth inhibition in HL-60 cells. Aftert treated with decoctum Agrimonia pilosa Ledeb, cells underwent apoptosis with typical morphological feature.DNA histograms by flow cyto-metric analysis displayed distinct apoptotic peak.


: This study examines the imaging problems in airborne synthetic aperture ladar with single detector and dual detectors along tracks under platform vibration condition. Because platform vibrations affect imaging processing for short intervals negligibly, a method uniting the subaperture imaging and phase gradient autofocus is considered for single-detector ladar. To obtain long stripmap images in azimuth, the stripmap phase gradient autofocus method and the subaperture image mosaic process using Doppler centroid estimation are used. Their performance is analyzed and compared. Considering the shortage of single-detector ladar, a method based on along-track dual-detector interferometric processing is proposed to estimate and compensate for the vibration phase error. The simulation verifies the effectiveness of the proposed methods


This paper suggests a bootstrap testing procedure for determining the rank of cointegrated systems. The properties of the new testing procedure are investigated using Monte Carlo techniques. The performance of the test compares favourably to that of the widely used procedures for determining cointegration rank proposed by Johansen (1988). JEL classi cation: C12; C15; C32.


Mobile banking (m-banking) is one of the most widely used applications and innovative banking services in the past decade. However, the adoption rate of m-banking in developing countries is low and still has potential for growth. We explored factors and value perceptions of clients toward the use of m-banking applications. A conceptual model is presented using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Uses and Gratification Theory (UGT). The tested variables are Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, Social Integrative, Personal Integrative and Hedonic Benefits. 278 valid survey responses were collected from Iranian and Turkish clients. Multiple regression analysis indicated that Perceived Usefulness and Social Integrative Benefit are the key drivers in both Iran and Turkey, but Hedonic Benefit is only significant in Iran. The results contribute to literature by integrating UGT and TAM and to participate as it enables banks to better design services and to improve customer experience.


This paper recounts the development of family medicine postgraduate training in Jamaica, the challenges faced and lessons learned. A self-administered questionnaire was completed by past trainees exploring the perceived usefulness, strengths and weaknesses of the programme. The results of this study helped guide the strengthening of family medicine training in a resource-limited setting.


Whole cell patch-clamp recordings revealed a subpopulation (16%, n = 18/112) of rat median preoptic nucleus (MnPO) neurons responded to bath-applied angiotensin II (Ang II; 100 nM to 5 microM; 30-90 s) with a prolonged TTX-resistant membrane depolarization and rhythmic bursting activity. At rest, cells characteristically displayed relatively low input resistance and negative resting potentials. Ang-II-induced responses featured increased input resistance, a reversal potential of -95 +/- 2 mV, an increase in action potential duration from 2.9 +/- 0.5 to 4.3 +/- 0.8 ms, and the appearance of a rebound excitation at the offset of membrane responses to hyperpolarizing current injection. The latter was sensitive to Ni2+ (0.5-1 mM; n = 5), insensitive to extracellular Cs+ (1 mM, n = 7), and intracellular QX-314 (4 mM, n = 5), consistent with activation of a T-type Ca2+ conductance. Coincident with the Ang-II-induced depolarization was the appearance of rhythmic depolarizing shifts at a frequency of 0.14 +/- 0.09 Hz with superimposed bursts of 4-22 action potentials interspersed with silent periods persisting for >1 h after washout. These TTX-resistant depolarizing shifts increased in amplitude and decreased in frequency with membrane hyperpolarization with activity ceasing beyond approximately -80 mV, and were abolished in low-Ca(2+)/high-Mg2+ bathing medium (n = 6), Co2+ (1 mM; n = 6), or Ni2+ (0.5-1 mM; n = 8). Thus in a subpopulation of MnPO neurons, Ang II induces "pacemaker-like" activity by reducing a K(+)-dependent leak conductance that contributes to resting membrane potential and promoting of Ca(2+)-dependent regenerative auto-excitation mediated, in part, by a T-type Ca2+ conductance.


This paper reviews oral histories and established scientific materials regarding wild reindeer (Rangifer tarandus spp.) in the Southern Sakha-Yakutia, in the Neriungri district and surrounding highlands, river valleys and taiga forest ecosystems. Wild reindeer is seen as an ecological and cultural keystone species through which environmental and social changes can be understood and interpreted. Oral histories of Evenki regarding wild reindeer have been documented in the community of Iyengra between 2005 and 2020. During this 15-year-co-researchership the Southern Sakha-Yakutian area has undergone rapid industrial development affecting the forest and aquatic ecosystems. The wild reindeer lost habitats and dwindles in numbers. We demonstrate that the loss of the wild reindeer is not only a loss of biodiversity, but also of cultural and linguistic diversity as well as food security. Our interpretative and analytical frame is that of emplacement. Socio-ecological systems have the potential and capacity to reconnect and re-establish themselves in post-extractive landscapes, if three main conditions are met. These conditions for successful emplacement include (1) surviving natural core areas, (2) links to cultural landscape knowledge and (3) an agency to renew endemic links.


On the one hand, heterogeneous computing systems have a range of diverse hardware resources that can be on a chip, within a computer, or on a local or geographically distributed network. Due to the rapid development of heterogeneous multi-core chips and the pervasive use of networks by all segments of society, the number and types of heterogeneous computing resources are growing rapidly. This growth creates the need and opportunity for new research to effectively utilize these resources in innovative and novel ways. For example, cluster computing, grid computing, peer-to-peer computing, and cloud computing all involve elements of heterogeneity. On the other hand, computing systems are often characterized by a variety of software resources that may or may not be coupled with specific hardware carriers. The effective implementation of efficient applications in these environments requires that a host of new concerns be addressed as these issues simply do not occur in homogeneous systems.


This article pursues a novel endeavor by anchoring the study of nation branding in the context of multinational federal systems. Through an examination of the manner in which international education strategies are used to cultivate images of "nation" in Canada and Quebec, the study underlines how the "politics of recognition" at the heart of Canada/Quebec relations play out in the international education sphere. The results point to the significance of policy effectiveness for the "politics of recognition," contributing to the literature on majority–minority tensions, which tends to highlight the symbolic role of policy control as opposed to the realization of said policies. The research also sheds light on the potential interplay between the political autonomy of minority nations and their symbolic recognition, by highlighting how the provision of policy control can work to substantiate the (external) recognition of their distinct nation status.


When PCB soldering is performed with microscope due to the electronic components' microminiaturization, workers' awkward upper body postures and difficulties being in focus among lens, object and eyes are one of reasons for productivity decline. The object of this study is to investigate the level of difficulties of work and the extent of productivity improvement by changing work interfaces from the work using microscope to the work using LCD monitor. Independent variables was usage of microscope and image system and dependent variables were upper body segments including neck, shoulder, back, and waist, task convenience and eye fatigue. The Visual Analogue Scale (10㎝) was used for questionnaire and one way ANOVA (two levels) and two sample t-test were conducted. In addition, RULA rating was conducted for working postures. The result showed that interface changes of LCD monitor, suggested by productivity comparison per one Man Hour, highly contributed to work convenience and productivity improvement.


The results of treatment in patients with tuberculosis are low. Within the first 3-4 months of therapy, lung caverns are closed in 12-26% of patients. The length of tuberculosis inpatient treatment is 79 days, as provided by the state guarantees of rendering free treatment, and the proposals to reduce the number of beds are not substantiated. It is necessary to optimally restructure a bedspace and to bring it into proper sanitary position.


Early fMRI studies comparing results from fMRI and electrophysiological experiments support the notion that the blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal reliably follows the spiking activity of an underlying neuronal population averaged across a small region in space and a brief period in time. However, more recent studies focusing on higher level cognitive factors such as attention and visual awareness report striking discrepancies between the fMRI response in humans and electrophysiological signals in macaque early visual areas. Four hypotheses are discussed that can explain the discrepancies between the two methods: (1) the BOLD signal follows local field potential (LFP) signals closer than spikes, and only the LFP is modulated by top-down factors, (2) the BOLD signal is reflecting electrophysiological signals that are occurring later in time due to feedback delay, (3) the BOLD signal is more sensitive than traditional electrophysiological methods due to massive pooling by the hemodynamic coupling process, and finally (4) there is no real discrepancy, and instead, weak but reliable effects on firing rates may be obscured by differences in experimental design and interpretation of results across methods.


High surgical bed occupancy levels often result in heightened staff stress, frequent surgical cancellations, and long surgical wait times. This congestion is in part attributable to surgical scheduling practices, which often focus on the efficient use of operating rooms but ignore resulting downstream bed utilization. This paper describes a transparent and portable approach to improve scheduling practices, which combines a Monte Carlo simulation model and a mixed integer programming (MIP) model. For a specified surgical schedule, the simulation samples from historical case records and predicts bed requirements assuming no resource constraints. The MIP model complements the simulation model by scheduling both surgeon blocks and patient types to reduce peak bed occupancies. Scheduling guidelines were developed from the optimized schedules to provide surgical planners with a simple and implementable alternative to the MIP model. This approach has been tested and delivered to planners in a health authority in British Columbia, Canada. The models have been used to propose new surgical schedules and to evaluate the impact of proposed system changes on ward congestion.


Background: Reactive oxygen species (ROS), as a category of highly reactive molecules, are attractive for eliminating tumor cells in situ. However, the intrinsic tumor microenvironment (TME) always compromises treatment efficacy. In another aspect, silk fibroin (SF), as a category of natural biomacromolecules, is highly promising for synthesis of metallic nanocrystals via biomineralization. Methods: As a proof-of-concept study, AuPt bimetallic nanozyme derived from bioinspired crystallization of chloroauric acid and chloroplatinic acid was facilely developed in the presence of silk fibroin (SF). Antitumor effects caused by the as-synthesized AuPt@SF (APS) nanozyme were demonstrated in 4T1 tumor cells in vitro and xenograft tumor models in vivo. Results: APS nanozyme can decompose glucose to constantly supply H2O2 and deplete intracellular glutathione (GSH). APS nanozyme can simultaneously convert adsorbed O2 and endogenic H2O2 into superoxide radicals (•O2-) and hydroxyl radical (•OH), respectively, upon highly efficient catalytic reaction. Subsequently, these cytotoxic ROS cause irreversible damage to the cell membrane, nucleic acid and mitochondria of tumors. Upon fluorescence/photoacoustic (FL/PA)-imaging guidance, remarkable tumor damage based on the current nanoplatform was confirmed in vivo. Conclusion: The objective of our investigation is to supply more useful insights on the development of SF-based nanocatalysts, which are specifically responsive to TME for extremely efficient tumor theranostics.


The aim of this study is to examine the effect of rhythm training in basketball on the lay-up skill and visual attention ability of 9-10-year-old school children. 56 primary school children (28 experimental groups and 28 control groups) receiving education in the Republic of Macedonia took part voluntarily in the study. At the beginning of the study, the Stroop Colour Test was applied to the students to evaluate their basketball lay-up skill and to measure their visual attention ability. With the experimental group, a total of 12 lessons of rhythmic basketball (1 hour a day, 2 days per week for 6 weeks) were applied, while the control group were given basketball lessons in the traditional way, and the post-tests were repeated. To test the score increases of the groups, the non-parametric Wilcoxon signed rank test was used, while for comparisons between the groups, the Mann-Whitney U test was utilised. Results show that in the post-tests for both groups (REG and TEG) in which the lay-up skill was taught by the rhythm and traditional methods respectively, the performances for both the lay-up skill and visual attention increased, with the exception of the attention error scores. When comparing the differences in the pre-test and post-test scores between the groups for their lay-up skill and visual attention abilities, a statistically significant difference in favour of the REG group was found. It is considered that the findings of this study may (1) lead to the acquisition of new teaching methods in developing lay-up skills and visual attention skills in basketball by which students can take pleasure from the activities, and (2) contribute to the implementation of new Physical Education teaching programmes.


Objective Mini dental implants could be an alternative treatment method for prosthetic treatment of edentulous cleft palate. The aim of this study was to analyze stress distribution around the cortical bone and different plans using a varied number of mini dental implants in edentulous unilateral complete cleft palates. Materials and Methods Three edentulous maxillary models were modified to create unilateral complete cleft palates. Mini dental implants (2.4 × 15 mm) were located as two mini implants at the premolar region, four mini implants at the premolar and molar region, and six mini implants at the first premolar, second premolar, and first molar regions in the models, respectively. Mucosa, o-ring/ball attachments, and overdentures were simulated. Vertical and horizontal loads of 100 N were applied on both the right and left molar teeth of the overdenture for each model. Maximum and minimum principal stress values and the distribution at cortical bone around the implants and cleft palates were evaluated by finite element analysis. Results Stress values under vertical loads were lower than values under horizontal loadings for all models. Stress values were found to be lower in the first model than in the second and third models. The highest stress values were found around implants in the second model. The unilateral feature of a complete cleft pattern affected the stress distribution. Conclusion Stresses occured mostly around implants when the overdenture was supported by six implants; however, the stress distribution around implants was low with two implants because of tissue support.


Following amplification by PCR of a portion of the matrix phosphoprotein pp150 gene, electrophoretic analysis revealed the simultaneous presence of two viral variants of human cytomegalovirus in the blood of a heart transplant recipient. Repeated denaturation-annealing cycles during the amplification reaction led to the formation of heteroduplex molecules with altered electrophoretic mobility. Sequence analysis of the amplification products showed the presence of a viral variant carrying an in-frame three nucleotide deletion, which caused the absence of an aspartic acid in the corresponding protein. Attempts to plaque-purify the deletion mutant were unsuccessful, suggesting that the variant was growth-defective.


Human C-reactive protein (CRP) is a serum-soluble pattern recognition receptor that serves as a marker of inflammation and directly contributes to innate immunity. In this study, we show that human CRP also directly contributes to adaptive immunity, that is, native CRP binds specifically to human Jurkat T cells and to mouse naive CD4+ T cells and modulates their Th1 and Th2 responses. In vitro both exogenously added (purified) and endogenously expressed (via transfection) human CRP inhibited Th1 differentiation and augmented Th2 differentiation of naive CD4+ T cells. In vivo for human CRP transgenic compared with wild-type mice, a lesser proportion of the T cells recovered from the spleens of healthy animals were Th1 cells. Moreover, in both CRP transgenic mice and in wild-type mice treated with human CRP, during myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein peptide–induced experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis both the Th1 cell response and disease severity were inhibited. These pattern recognition–independent actions of CRP directly on T cells highlights the potential for this soluble pattern recognition receptor to act as a tonic regulator of immunity, shaping global adaptive immune responses during both homeostasis and disease.


ABSTRACT Although extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs) hydrolyze cephalosporin antibiotics, some ESBL-producing organisms are not resistant to all cephalosporins when tested in vitro. Some authors have suggested that screening klebsiellae or Escherichia colifor ESBL production is not clinically necessary, and when most recently surveyed the majority of American clinical microbiology laboratories did not make efforts to detect ESBLs. We performed a prospective, multinational study of Klebsiella pneumoniae bacteremia and identified 10 patients who were treated for ESBL-producingK. pneumoniae bacteremia with cephalosporins and whose infecting organisms were not resistant in vitro to the utilized cephalosporin. In addition, we reviewed 26 similar cases of severe infections which had previously been reported. Of these 36 patients, 4 had to be excluded from analysis. Of the remaining 32 patients, 100% (4 of 4) patients experienced clinical failure when MICs of the cephalosporin used for treatment were in the intermediate range and 54% (15 of 28) experienced failure when MICs of the cephalosporin used for treatment were in the susceptible range. Thus, it is clinically important to detect ESBL production by klebsiellae or E. coli even when cephalosporin MICs are in the susceptible range (≤ 8 μg/ml) and to report ESBL-producing organisms as resistant to aztreonam and all cephalosporins (with the exception of cephamycins).


Background: Left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) may be present in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This case-control study assessed the prevalence of LVDD in patients with COPD and its association with severity and duration of COPD. Methods: Seventy-seven patients with COPD attending a tertiary care hospital in Uttarakhand, India and 77 ageand sex-matched healthy controls were included in the study. COPD was diagnosed as per the global initiative for chronic obstructive lung disease (GOLD) criteria. LVDD was assessed by pulsed-wave Doppler & tissue Doppler echocardiography as per the current American Society of Echocardiography criteria. Results: Spirometry parameters were suggestive of severe nature of COPD in 98.7% of cases. COPD patients had a higher prevalence of LVDD than controls (32.46% versus 1.29%; p<0.0001). Grade II LVDD was seen in 24.67% and Grade III LVDD in 7.79% patients with COPD. LVDD showed a significant association with age (p=0.0007), duration of disease (p=0.004), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) (p<0.0001), FEV1 (% predicted) (p<0.0001) and FEV1/FVC (%) (p=0.012) but not with gender (p=0.928) and forced vital capacity (FVC) (p=0.078). E/E' ratio (p=0.0001), deceleration time (DT) (p<0.0001), left atrial (LA) volume (p<0.0001) and peak tricuspid regurgitation (TR) velocity (p=0.0001) were significantly higher while E' velocity, A' velocity, E'/A' ratio and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) were significantly lower among cases than controls (p<0.05 each). Conclusions: LVDD was present in a significant number of patients with COPD and had a significant association with the severity and duration of COPD. Key words: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Chronic bronchitis; Emphysema; Left ventricular diastolic dysfunction


Background/Aims: Intrauterine growth restriction is an indication for growth hormone treatment. Birth length (BL) is needed to evaluate the influence of birth size on childhood short stature. However, BL is commonly measured only approximately, if at all. A single-centre study was undertaken to determine the value of measuring accurate and targeted BL and parental height (PH) for neonates with a birth weight (BW) ≤9th centile, identifying short [BL ≤-2 standard deviation scores (SDS)] and light newborns (BW ≤-2 SDS), and remeasuring short neonates at 2 years in order to detect those not showing catch-up growth. Methods: Information was collected on all live births (n = 3,798) in a single maternity unit during a 1-year period. Results: BW was ≤9th centile in 481 neonates (12.7%) of whom 47 were light but not short, 46 were short, and 60 were both light and short. Of 107 eligible infants, 57 (53%) attended the 2-year follow-up; failure of catch-up growth was identified in 6 infants (11%) of whom only 1 was already known to medical services. PH was measured in both parents of 52/153 (34%) light and/or short infants. Conclusion: Targeted and accurate BL measurement in newborns with a BW ≤9th centile is a promising alternative to the current practices. The feasibility of PH measurement after birth still requires further evaluation.


Traditionally, the legislative practice has been described from the moment the bills enter the Assemblies or Parliaments until they are promulgated into law, but there is a lot of opacity regarding what the doctrine knows about the previous moment, that is, the pre-legislative procedures, which finally determine the way in which a problem will be approached legislatively, the content that these texts will develop and who has influenced the strategy deployed. This note seeks to make visible certain practices within the administration that allow understanding which is the starting point of a bill, how the knowledge of the administration members is structured and some of its problems, which are the sources of information for the elaboration of diagnoses, what should be the previous steps for the creation of a regulation and the existence of an institutionality that gives certainty, who influences the drafting of a legal text, what have some Latin American countries done to advance on this issue and how an evidence-based bill should be structured so that its result is close to the optimum expected in terms of legal effectiveness and transparency and accountability to citizens. Finally, this note concludes on the benefits derived from the strengthening of administrative capacity that allow generating, structuring and articulating technical, impartial and transparent information to promote evidence-based laws whose follow-up and evaluation allow assess their ex post effectiveness.


We present the "lidar beams in opposite directions" (LIBOD) technique and applications for quality assessment of spaceborne observations made by Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) onboard the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation satellite. LIBOD is applicable to standard total backscatter lidar because it does not require a priori knowledge of the particle extinction-to-backscatter ratio. In this paper, we present (i) an objective assessment of the lidar signal quality and representativity of correlative ground-based lidar and CALIOP measurements only using normalized range-corrected lidar signals and (ii) a numerical filtering and optimization technique for reducing the spurious oscillations induced by noisy signal differentiation as needed for retrieval of particle extinction coefficients and extinction-to-backscatter ratio profiles. Numerical simulations and Monte Carlo tests are conducted for assessing the performance of the LIBOD technique. The applications are illustrated with examples of actual correlative 532 nm lidar profiles from CALIOP and a ground-based lidar deployed in Tamanrasset in the heart of Sahara in 2006 and near Strasbourg, France, in 2007.


Previous practices at Enbridge Pipelines Inc. regarding allowable deformation and/or strain in pipelines were closely mirrored to current North American standards and did not effectively manage the time dependent aspect of active slope movement and other similar progressive external force phenomena applied to a pipeline. In addition, variability in soil spring values and/or soil displacements utilized in FEA assessments can lead to significant variability between predicted pipeline strain demand and actual conditions. Furthermore, the risk tolerance of a potential and significant deformation that could impact the serviceability of one pipeline in a Right of Way (ROW) including multiple pipelines was not well defined. Shutting down several pipelines in a ROW until it could be proven that they are fit-for-service is time consuming. In addition, it requires a good amount of engineering work to address the significant uncertainty in confirming if a pipeline has not deformed beyond a safe limit when the latest deformation in-line inspection predates significant soil movement.
 A better tool was required to allow a more precise assessment. A better fitness-for-purpose approach has been developed and used to both predict when a timely repair would be required and conservatively set the In-line Inspection (ILI) re-inspection interval to monitor the condition of the pipe. This approach allowed to step away from the greater uncertainty associated with understanding the impact of soil movement on the pipe integrity. This paper presents the methodology used by Enbridge to redefine its fitness-for-purpose methodology using proven strain-deformation correlation models and strain rates estimated through multiple arrays of strain gauges. The discussion will include how the safety targets were re-engineered to account for multiple pipelines in a ROW.


We investigated the structural, electrical and optical characteristics of IGZO thin films deposited by a roomtemperature RF reactive magnetron sputtering. The thin films deposited were annealed for 2 hours at various temperatures of 300, 400, 500 and 600℃ and analyzed by using X-ray diffractometer, transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscope and Hall effects measurement system. The films annealed at 600℃ were found to be crystallized and their surface roughness was decreased from 0.73 nm to 0.67 nm. According to XPS measurements, concentration of oxygen vacancies were decreased at 600℃. Optical band gap were increased to 3.31eV. The carrier concentration and Hall mobility were sharply increased at 600℃. Our results indicate that the IGZO films deposited at a room temperature can show better thin film properties through a heat treatment.


In this paper, we conduct a performance study on a game scenario that supports MMORPGs through structured P2P overlay, focusing on the churn aspect - the continuous process of peer arrival and departure. Through a discrete simulation, we show that a trade-off is necessary between the game features with respect to real-time stringency, and the churn performance. For instance, in the game scenario, Map Type 1 represents a battlefield in the game world that emphasizes real-time stringent quick actions such as shooting, hence less resilient to churn; whereas Map Type 4 represents a market city in the game world that emphasizes a large group size of concurrent players at the cost of relaxed real-time stringency for actions, hence more resilient to churn. Our simulation justifies the design of the game scenario by showing that the churn performance of Map Type 1 is nearly 30% better than that of Map Type 4. Furthermore, to address the performance concerns of a global structured P2P overlay, we propose a clustered overlay setting by grouping nodes nearby into clusters. We show in the simulation that the clustered overlay setting has achieved an overall performance gain with respect to latency and churn, without incurring extra overlay maintenance cost.


Alteration in expression levels of genes as well as their regulatory components, such as those levels of miRNAs in cancer cells will likely reflect in the enrichment of unique cellular functions and biological processes in their corresponding cell systems. By employing systems biology approaches, and instead of examining individual gene, we will directly and unambiguously identify the regulatory pathways and biological processes that are distinctive to specific disease states or responses to therapeutic treatment. In this study, we employ gene set enrichment analysis inspired method to explore the functional regulation of miRNAs. The analysis integrated a mathematic model that associates miRNAs to gene sets through miRNA target genes with a statistic test of enrichment to study the regulation change at a specific pathway. Different from conventional individual miRNA processing procedures, our method enables researchers to construct regulation hypothesis at pathway and functional levels.


The onset of Industry 4.0 brings a greater demand for Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC) in manufacturing. This has led to a critical need for bridging the sensing and AI with the mechanical-n-physical necessities to successfully augment the robot's awareness and intelligence. In a HRC work cell, options for sensors to detect human joint locations vary greatly in complexity, usability, and cost. In this paper, the use of depth cameras is explored, since they are a relatively low-cost option that does not require users to wear extra sensing hardware. Herein, the Google Media Pipe (BlazePose) and OpenPose skeleton tracking software packages are used to estimate the pixel coordinates of each human joint in images from depth cameras. The depth at each pixel is then used with the joint pixel coordinates to generate the 3D joint locations of the skeleton. In comparing these skeleton trackers, this paper also presents a novel method of combining the skeleton that the trackers generate from each camera's data utilizing a quaternion/link-length representation of the skeleton. Results show that the overall mean and standard deviation in position error between the fused skeleton and target locations was lower compared to the skeletons resulting directly from each camera's data.


In order to monitor fibre break accumulation during tensile testing of high strength carbon fibre bundles impregnated with epoxy resin, acid digestion was used to release the broken fibre fragments from the resin for short lengths of tensile tested uniaxial composite. From the distribution of fibre lengths measured, an assessment of the number of fibre breaks that had accumulated within composites tested to varying levels of stress was obtained. These results were compared to those obtained using longitudinal sectioning of samples. Whereas longitudinal sectioning only enabled the counting of fibre breaks on a 2-dimensional surface, acid digestion potentially allows a better evaluation of fibre breaks throughout a composite. The results obtained using acid digestion were in good agreement with those obtained using longitudinal sectioning. The acid digestion technique combined with automatic length measurements is recommended for this type of study. The accumulation of fibre breaks was found to fit well with those predicted using Weibull statistics.


Potato early dying (PED) is a disease complex primarily caused by the fungus Verticillium dahliae. Pectolytic bacteria in the genus Pectobacterium can also cause PED symptoms as well as aerial stem rot (ASR) of potato. Both pathogens can be present in potato production settings, but it is not entirely clear if additive or synergistic interactions occur during co-infection of potato. The objective of this study was to determine if co-infection by V. dahliae and Pectobacterium results in greater PED or ASR severity using a greenhouse assay and quantitative real-time PCR to quantify pathogen levels in planta. PED symptoms caused by Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. carotovorum isolate Ec101 or V. dahliae isolate 653 alone included wilt, chlorosis and senescence and were nearly indistinguishable. Pectobacterium wasabiae isolate PwO405 caused ASR symptoms including water-soaked lesions and necrosis. Greater Pectobacterium levels were detected in plants inoculated with PwO405 compared to Ec101, suggesting that ASR can result in high Pectobacterium populations in potato stems. Significant additive or synergistic effects were not observed following co-inoculation with these strains of V. dahliae and Pectobacterium. However, infection coefficients of V. dahliae and Ec101 were higher and premature senescence was greater in plants co-inoculated with both pathogens compared to either pathogen alone in both trials, and V. dahliae levels were greater in basal stems of plants co-inoculated with either Pectobacterium isolate. Overall, these results indicate that although co-infection by Pectobacterium and V. dahliae does not always result in significant additive or synergistic interactions in potato, co-infection can increase PED severity.


This review includes an analysis of available X-ray and NMR structures of both members of the immunophilin family; cyclophilins and the FK-506 binding proteins (FKBPs). Available structures are compared and contrasted to highlight different structural features seen both within and between species. Each immunophilin family has been structurally characterised with a variety of small molecule ligands, principally immunosuppressive drugs and their analogues and an overview of these complexes is also presented. Currently the Protein Data Base contains over 60 entries for cyclophilins and over 40 entries for FKBPs. A number of FKBP related structures are also available including structures of MIP (Macrophage Infectivity Potentiator protein) from Legionella pneumophila and Trypanosoma cruzi and Trigger Factor from Mycoplasma genitalium. For all structures discussed in the review a summary of the available biological data is also presented.


Painted, illusionist stage sceneries are special pictorial works of art, both in terms of their structure, technique of execution, size, function, and the fact that the "object" in their case is not a single element but a set constituting a stage setting, the values of which are preserved in the conditions of the stage or close to the stage. This text introduces the conservation issues and shows how the material conditions and the function determine not only the state but also the value of these historic objects. The process of their recognition as worth preserving heritage is also outlined. The conservation and restoration treatments carried out so far on eleven collections are depicted in a summary emphasizing the influence of gradual recognition of the value of these specific paintings on the evolution of conservation attitudes, implying the choice of proper methods and means of conservation.


Polarimetric radar provides useful information on scattering mechanisms, and advances in polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (POLSAR) technology have shown the effect of polarization information on various applications. The disadvantage of POLSAR is low azimuth resolution capability. Since the effective pulse repetition frequency (PRF) in each polarimetric channel of POLSAR is half the total PRF, the resolution is twice as low as the single-polarization SAR. This drawback may be mitigated by employing a superresolution method designed for polarimetric radar such as polarimetric bandwidth extrapolation (PBWE), previously proposed by the authors. Thus far, the authors only empirically showed that polarization information helps in improving resolution via numerical simulations. In this paper, theoretical analysis on the resolution of a polarimetric radar is provided. Along with the resolution, estimation accuracy of the polarization property of the target is studied. In the analysis, we employ the recently proposed metric called the statistical resolution limit (SRL) that provides the highest resolution achievable by any unbiased parametric spectral estimator. The SRL of polarimetric radar is derived and compared with that of single-polarization radar. The Cramér-Rao bound (CRB) of the polarization estimation error of the polarimetric radar is also derived. The complexified full Fisher information matrix and the CRBs of signal parameters are derived first for the general multichannel signal in nonwhite Gaussian noise. Then, the SRL and the polarization estimation error are derived using the CRBs of signal parameters for the cases where two point targets are closely located. It is shown analytically and numerically that the polarization information helps in improving the SRL. It is also shown that the polarimetric processing significantly improves the accuracy of the polarization estimation when two targets are located closer than the Fourier resolution cell. Finally, the performance of the PBWE is evaluated via simulations and is compared to the SRL and the CRB for the polarization estimation.


Simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) problem of a mobile robot is studied in this paper. An improved particle filters approach is adopted to reduce the number of particles. A laser range finder is utilized to measure the distance of obstructs, and the accurate proposal distribution are obtained by scan match method, which is realized by a hierarchical iterative closest point (ICP) algorithm. A roughly global optimal estimation of robot pose is first obtained by directly searching in the discrete space of pose, and then the estimation of robot pose is refined by gradient descend method. So an accurate estimation of robot pose can be obtained by the hierarchical scan match approach. Experimental tests are carried out with our real mobile robot in an indoor environment. Experimental results show that the consistent map can be obtained by the proposed scan match approach. The efficiency of the proposed scan match approach is also validated by the RoboCup@Home competition.


New spectral line polarisation observations of 7 bright Ap stars have been obtained with the ESPaDOnS and Narval high resolution spectropolarimeters (Silvester et al. 2012). The aim of this data set is produce a series of surface magnetic field and surface chemistry maps for these Ap stars. We present new magnetic maps for the Ap star α2 CVn using these new data and the MDI inversion code INVERS10. α2 CVn is the first Ap star to be observed during two separate epochs using high resolution phase resolved spectropolarimetric IQUV observations and as such allows us an insight into how stable the surface magnetic structure is over a decade timescale. We show that the new maps give a magnetic field structure consistent with the previous maps obtained by Kochukhov and Wade (2010) from lower quality MuSiCoS spectra taken a decade ago and that the field topology cannot be described by a dipolar or quadrupolar field.


Infantile hemangioma (IH) is one of the most common neoplasm of infancy. Although with the potential to involute slowly after proliferation, IH has several subsets that could develop severe complications and lead to functional impairment or permanent disfigurement. In the present study, a novel propranolol (PRN) delivery system is developed that encapsulated in mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN). The primary nanoparticles are further treated with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) to form PVA‐MSN‐PRN nanoparticles. The encapsulation efficiency is 58.8% ± 7.2%, and nanoparticles could release PRN in a controlled‐release way. It is discovered that PVA‐MSN‐PRN could significantly suppress hemangioma stem cell (Hemsc) proliferation, promote Hemsc apoptosis in vitro, and inhibit the growth of hemangiomain xenografts in vivo. A conclusion could be made that this novel nanodrug delivery system has high therapeutic efficacy, low cytotoxicity, low administration frequency, and provides an attractive strategy for efficient IH therapy.


Confusion surrounding the treatment of cancer in the pediatric population can be very daunting especially if one is not a pediatric oncologist. Herein is described a pediatric case of mixed cell ovarian germ cell tumor that was complicated by Wernicke's encephalopathy which improved with standard treatment. This case report highlights the basic treatment plan of mixed cell ovarian germ cell tumor for the general pediatrician as sometimes the general pediatrician can be caught in the midst of a battle between specialists.  doi:10.4021/ijcp6w


The entire phenolic profiles and antioxidant activities of different organs of the edible tree peony flowers (Fengdan Bai (FDB)) were analyzed. HPLC-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometer (Q-TOF-MS/MS) analyses of individual phenolic compounds revealed that the petal and stamen contained higher levels of flavonoid glycosides than other organs (p < 0.05). Kaempferol-3,7-di-O-glucoside was the dominant flavonoid in these two organs, however, the calyx and ovary contained higher contents of gallic acid derivatives than other organs (p < 0.05). Hexa-O-galloyl-glucose was the dominant species in the calyx and ovary. At the same concentration of total phenolic extract (TPE), the stamen had the highest protection effect on Caco-2 cell oxidative damage induced by H2O2. The antioxidant effect was attributed to potent antioxidant capability; restored redox state due to the increased expression of glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and superoxide dismutase (SOD); and improved barrier function of Caco-2 cell owing to increased zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1), CLDN3 (Claudin 3), and occludin mRNA expression. As a new resource food, the edible tree peony flower is a potential functional food material and natural antioxidants resource.


Rigorous and approximate methods are compared for the simulation of CO2 absorption into aqueous alkanolamine mixtures of methyldiethanolamine and diethanolamine. In addition, data for the mixtures containing monoethanolamine and the simultaneous absorption of CO2 and H2S are presented. For the rigorous approach, the simplified eddy diffusivity theory is used to simulate the liquid-phase hydrodynamic characteristics. The approximation methods examined are the pseudo-first-order approximation, the interpolation approximation of Wellek et al. (1978), the algebraic combined flux (ACFLUX) approximation and the modified combined flux (MCFLUX) approximation. The latter approximation utilizes the reaction zone concept to determine the kinetic preference of the absorbing gas at the gas-liquid interface. Under the range of conditions studied, the MCFLUX approximation predicts very accurately the CO2 and H2S flux rates in mixed amine systems, as compared with the rigorous solution of the differential equations.


There is controversy regarding precise definitions for Stevens–Johnson syndrome (SJS) and erythema multiforme (EM) major because of overlap in clinical presentations. SJS and EM major associated with Mycoplasma pneumoniae have been reported to occur in children, but Mycoplasma is more commonly reported with SJS. We sought to further characterize Mycoplasma‐associated mucocutaneous disease. Through retrospective chart review over 10 years, six children hospitalized with a diagnosis of SJS who also tested positive for Mycoplasma infection were reviewed. Using documented physical examinations and photographs, diagnoses of SJS or EM major were retrospectively made based upon cutaneous lesional morphology employing the classification system proposed by Bastuji‐Garin et al. The majority of patients were boys, with limited acral cutaneous lesions. All patients required prolonged hospitalization because of mucosal involvement and had good short‐term outcomes. When the classification system was retrospectively applied, five of the six patients were reclassified with a diagnosis of EM major instead of SJS. Children with Mycoplasma‐associated EM major and SJS in our small retrospective series appeared to have significant mucosal involvement but more limited cutaneous involvement with lesional morphology, which is more characteristic of EM major.


A new freshwater fish species, Achondrostoma salmantinum, formerly considered as one population of Iberochondrostoma lemmingii, is described on the basis of genetic and morphological characters. The new species inhabits the rivers Huebra, Agueda and Uces and tributaries in the Duero River basin in Salamanca province, westem Spain. The species is distinguished from Iberochondrostoma lemmingii and from other species of the genus Achondrostoma according to morphometric, meristic and genetic characters such
a narrow caudal peduncle, long postorbital and head lengths, small number of scales (9-10/44-53/4-6), small number of gui rakers (15-22), usually 5-5 pharyngeal teeth, four diagnostic isozyme loci (IDHP2*, IDHP3*, MDHB* and PEP*) and one unique allele (MDHA*95). The distribution of 1. lemmingii is currently known to be restricted to
Tajo, Guadiana, Odiel and Guadalquivir basins. This new cyprinid is considered Endangered (EN) according to IUCN Red List Categories.


Small heterodimer partner (SHP) is involved in bile, lipid, and glucose metabolism. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of SHP on the development of atherosclerosis. Apolipoprotein E knockout (ApoE-/-) mice were crossed with SHP knockout (SHP-/-) mice to generate double knockout (ApoE-/-SHP-/-) mice. ApoE-/- and ApoE-/-SHP-/- male mice were fed a western diet for 20 weeks. Body weight in ApoE-/-SHP-/) mice was significantly lower than that in ApoE-/- mice (37±1 g vs. 42±1 g, p<0.01). Loss of SHP in ApoE-/- mice decreased the size of adipocytes in white adipose tissue and reduced lipid accumulation in the liver. Glucose intolerance was improved in ApoE-/-SHP-/- mice as compared with ApoE-/- mice (p<0.01). There was no statistical difference in non-high density lipoprotein cholesterol levels between ApoE-/-SHP-/- mice and ApoE-/- mice despite an increase of cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase expression in the liver. The proportion of atherosclerotic lesions in the aorta was significantly lower in ApoE-/-SHP-/- mice than in ApoE-/- mice (2.8±2.0% vs. 9.1±1.9%, p<0.01). In conclusion, loss of SHP function can prevent atherosclerosis, and resistance to diet-induced obesity is the primary factor contributing to this protective effect.


Aims: The study aimed to explore the antioxidant activity of ethanolic leaf extract of Manihot esculenta Crantz leaves (MEC) in wistar rats. Materials and Methods: Ethanolic extract of MEC leaves in the doses of 50 mg/kg, 100 mg/kg, and 200 mg/kg were used in wistar rats of either sex. The oxidative stress was produced by overdose of acetaminophen and estimation of serum concentration of various enzymes such as malonaldehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), reduced glutathione (GSH), and catalase (CAT) were measured by standard biochemical methods. Silymarin (100 mg/kg) was used as a standard drug for assessment of antioxidant status. Statistical Analysis Used: Results were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance followed by Student's unpaired t-test. Results: When compared with the standard antioxidant silymarin, MEC extract did not exhibit antioxidant activity in terms of MDA level reduction. However, it significantly increased serum levels of the antioxidant enzymes (SOD, GSH, and CAT) exerting a potent antioxidant effect in a graded manner. Conclusions: The observed results suggest that MEC could be a potential source of antioxidants. However, further studies are required to explore this therapeutic property of plant.


For some applications, 3D printed parts usually do not have satisfactory mechanical properties, so to broaden their us-age, additive technologies should be combined with the well-known metallurgical processes, such as investment and others casting techniques. 3D printing developers persistently introduce new base materials and strengthening fluids which may cause different surface roughness. Therefore, in this paper, the authors have tested the roughness of 3D printed samples strengthened with common, but also with alternative fluids. Measurements proved that fluids do have significant influence on the roughness.


The aim of this study was to characterize the interaction of adenosine A1-receptor and cannabinoid CB1-receptor antagonists in the water maze and object-location tasks, and to evaluate the participation of glutamatergic neurotransmission in the hippocampus in the learning enhancement induced by the coadministration of both antagonists. Our results show that coadministration of ineffective doses of DPCPX (8-cyclopentyl-1,3-dipropylxanthine) (an A1-receptor antagonist) and AM251 (N-(piperidin-1-yl)-5-(4-iodophenyl)-1-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)-4-methyl-1H-pyrazole-3-carboxamide) (a CB1-receptor antagonist) in different proportions enhanced the acquisition of spatial learning. N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor blockade disrupted the effects of the selected drug combination [AM251 0.25 mg/kg intraperitoneally (i.p.)+DPCPX 0.30 mg/kg i.p.] either in the water maze or in the object-location task. Moreover, this drug combination induced a significant ex-vivo enhancement in glutamate release into hippocampal slices. In addition, the blockade of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors with MK-801 (0.25 µg/site) infused into the hippocampal CA1 area reversed the effects of coadministration, as evaluated in the object-location task. In conclusion, this is the first study to show that A1-receptor and CB1-receptor antagonists might interact on hippocampal neurons to enhance spatial memory in mice.


Treatment of esophageal and extraesophageal reflux syndromes is mainly focused on inhibiting the secretion of hydrochloric acid. In spite of the high efficacy of proton pump inhibitors, approx. 30-60% of GERD patients experience daily symptoms. Beside acid reflux, other factors such as abnormal esophageal peristalsis, visceral hypersensitivity, ineffective esophageal clearance mechanisms, and impaired mucosal barrier also play an important role in generating GERD symptoms. An additional therapeutic proposition is a procedure aimed at improving the defense mechanisms of esophageal mucosa rather than inhibiting the damage-inducing factors. The preparation consisting of hyaluronic acid (HA), chondroitin sulfate (SC) and poloxamer 407 protects against harmful factors (hydrochloric acid, pepsin) and accelerates mucosal healing and regeneration, constituting a substantial element of monotherapy or add-on therapy in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease.


The goal of the Laser Megajoule (LMJ) will be to demonstrate ignition of a DT mixture and to validate theoretical models of laser-matter interaction and thermonuclear physics. This experimental validation on a complex installation such as the LMJ requires absolute measurements with as reduced as possible uncertainties.


We proposed a new expression of speech feature called orientation patterns which keeps its ability of detection higher in averaging of time domain. Because of this, we achieved to reduce number of frames in reference and input pattern in DP matching algorithm, then the calculation load were reduced. We constructed long term speech retrieval system by using this new expression. This system has RIFCDP as base matching algorithm which was already proposed. RIFCDP is an algorithm for spotting similar intervals between arbitrary reference pattern and arbitrary input pattern sequence synchronously with input frames.


SUMMARY Gap junctions provide one of the most common forms of intercellular communication. They are composed of membrane proteins that form a channel that is permeable to ions and small molecules, connecting the cytoplasm of adjacent cells. Gap junctions serve similar functions in all multicellular animals (Metazoa). Two unrelated protein families are involved in this function; connexins, which are found only in chordates, and pannexins, which are ubiquitous and present in both chordate and invertebrate genomes. The involvement of mammalian pannexins to gap junction formation was recently confirmed. Now it is necessary to consider the role of pannexins as an alternative to connexins in vertebrate intercellular communication.


There are three major trends manifesting in the business of institutional investment today. First, a growing number of pension and sovereign funds are moving towards a more active role in the investment process by taking a dynamic role in external manager selection and monitoring, or by insourcing asset management functions that would traditionally be managed by external parties. Second, there is a growing number of large institutional investors located far from the major international financial centers. Third, institutional investors are increasingly looking to new markets, industries, and asset classes to generate returns in a low-growth and low-yield environment. The combination of these trends gives rise to some geographic and organizational complexities for these investors, such as accessing talent, local knowledge, and aligned investment opportunities. In an attempt to resolve some of these issues, some investors have decided to launch satellite offices in major international financial centers and/or regional commercial centers at home and abroad. In effect, these funds are expanding geographically, moving their organizations into the markets they find appealing, rather than waiting for intermediaries to come to them, reflecting a broader trend towards the professionalization of pension and sovereign fund investment organizations. In this paper, we document and assess this trend, while also offering a set of principles and policies that could guide investors on their path to greater geographic distribution of organizational capabilities. In forming our arguments, we rely on the findings from twelve case studies of pension and sovereign funds.


An experiment was carried out in soil columns with the objective of evaluating the effect of application of gypsum and limestone on reclamation of the saline-sodic soils in the Irrigation district of Custodia, PE. The treatments were arranged in a randomized block design in a factorial scheme of four soils, two methods for applications of gypsum and gypsum plus limestone (applied on surface and incorporated into the first five cm of the soil column), two combinations of the chemical amendments (100% gypsum plus 0% limestone and 80% gypsum plus 20% limestone), calculated on the basis of gypsum requirement of soil and four granulometry gypsum strips (2.0-1.0; 1.0-0.5; 0.5-0.3 and < 0.3 mm) with three replications. The gypsum amount determined by the method of Schoonover M-1, under laboratory conditions, shows to be adequate in the displacement of the exchangeable sodium of the soil exchange complex. The efficiency of the gypsum as well as the gypsum plus lime mixture in reclamation of the soils shows to be superior, when the amendments are incorporated into the first 5 cm of the soil columns. Among the gypsum granulometry, the finest fractions, (0.5-0.3 mm and < 0.3 mm), presented better performance in replacing the exchangeable sodium of the exchange complex.


Deployment of optical fiber in the subscriber loop may eventually lead to a full-scale deployment of the broadband network. A network architecture that can be introduced inexpensively to meet the near-term demand and upgraded smoothly to support future needs is desired. The feasibility of applying multiaccess architectures to subscriber loops is studied, and five architectures for passive optical subscriber loops that meet this need are presented. All of these architectures use a double-star topology and dense wavelength division multiplexing in the downstream direction; however, various topologies and multiaccess techniques are used in the upstream direction. Limitations on node size, frame synchronization, cost, privacy and security, and standards are discussed. >


At Grayson Bluff in Denton County, Texas, the Grayson formation (Cretaceous) is 78 feet thick. It is divisible into four lithologic units: a lower marl, lower clay, upper marl, and upper clay. Each unit contains tests of Foraminifera in astonishing numbers that range from 1500 to more than 100,000/cm 3 . Twenty-two samples collected from as many horizons in the Grayson were analyzed according to their content of foraminiferal tests, classified by genera and families. The Lituolidae are the predominant benthonic family in the upper clay. In the lower clay the Bulminidae generally outnumber the combined Anomalinidae, Rotaliidae, and Lagenidae, while in both marl units the converse is the case. Lowman has shown that different families of Foraminifera predominate at different depths beneath the present Gulf of Mexico. Comparing the microfaunal facies of the Grayson with those described by him, it may be inferred that the lower two units of the Grayson were deposited in deepening waters, while the upper two were deposited in shoaling waters. This is compatible with the chronicle for the late Comanchean as known from studies of lithology, megafossils, and geologic structure. Similar analyses in other parts of the Coastal Plain might establish the order of reliability of foraminiferal populations as indicators of fluctuations in depth around the borders of the ancient Gulf of Mexico.


In this paper, we study the problem of fair worker selection in Federated Learning systems, where fairness serves as an incentive mechanism that encourages more workers to participate in the federation. Considering the achieved training accuracy of the global model as the utility of the selected workers, which is typically a monotone submodular function, we formulate the worker selection problem as a new multi-round monotone submodular maximization problem with cardinality and fairness constraints. The objective is to maximize the time-average utility over multiple rounds subject to an additional fairness requirement that each worker must be selected for a certain fraction of time. While the traditional submodular maximization with a cardinality constraint is already a well-known NP-Hard problem, the fairness constraint in the multi-round setting adds an extra layer of difficulty. To address this novel challenge, we propose three algorithms: Fair Continuous Greedy (FairCGl and FairCG2) and Fair Discrete Greedy (FairDG), all of which satisfy the fairness requirement whenever feasible. Moreover, we prove nontrivial lower bounds on the achieved time-average utility under FairCGl and FairCG2. In addition, by giving a higher priority to fairness, FairDG ensures a stronger short-term fairness guarantee, which holds in every round. Finally, we perform extensive simulations to verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms in terms of the time-average utility and fairness satisfaction.


Disclosure of one's Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) status to a sexual partner has increasingly gained prominence in the management of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Policies are based on the premise that if those infected with HIV disclose their status, it will lead to safer sex and therefore reduced rates of HIV transmission. A qualitative study, utilising in-depth interviews,was conducted to explore and describe the factors influencing the disclosure of persons' positive HIV status totheir sexual partners in Botswana. The major findings of the study confirmed that disclosure is a multi-staged process. People infected with HIV experienced mainly positive, but also some negative, consequences following disclosure. Such experiences were associated with the disclosers' motivations, personal and cultural beliefs, risk-benefit assessments, individual circumstances (contexts), previous experiences, and perceived degrees of control over private information. The Communication Privacy Management (CPM) Theory helped to understand the decision to disclose private information. The key factor influencing disclosure within this theory was protecting others. Recommendations address the privacy rule management criteria to deal with disclosure of sensitive personal information. As disclosure is a process which begins much earlier than the actual moment of telling, taking the first step of having an HIV test, forms part of the sense of responsibility to others.


Cheating, it is claimed, is anathema to sport. But is this the case? In this paper it is argued that cheating is integral to modern sport, that the model of sport as 'fair play' is simply an ideological guise of amateurism. The paper focuses on the sport of professional running which, since its origins in the eighteenth century, has been a gambling sport. Strategies involving cheating to manipulate wins, or losses, have featured in this sport as ways of increasing the probability of striking successful wagers. Such strategies are an accepted part of professional running: participants anticipate and expect others to be playing it in this way. However, a distinction is made between what is referred to in the paper as 'clean' cheating and 'dirty' cheating. The former is an accepted way of the sport, the latter occurs but is deprecated. The paper explores these different forms of cheating and the athletes' responses to them. Through a focus on the discourses of success in capitalist society, a model of cheating is developed to interpret such practices. Within the context of professional running, a working class sport, it is argued that, given the habitus of its practitioners, 'success' may be measured in terms of monetary gains and the 'kick-on' in life that these might provide. Cheating practices may serve to enhance the probability of success and social mobility. Given the relatively short career spans of sports people and the costs involved in developing the requisite skills, cheating may promote success and establish a financial base for post-sport careers. The paper concludes that cheating in sport can be anticipated as a feature of an acquisitive capitalist society.


The 2000 Tottori (Japan) earthquake caused fracture zones of surface rupture at some places away from the trace of the main causative fault. In order to explain this observation, the 3D dynamic rupture process of the 2000 Tottori (Japan) earthquake was simulated. The attractive feature of the problem under consideration is the possibility of introducing internal new cracks that propagate under tensile stress as a consequence of the dynamic process of shear slip propagation. The discrete element method was used to solve this problem because it can introduce internal tensile cracks. For the shear rupture propagation the simple slip-weakening model was used as a friction law on the fault. The new tensile cracks occur, following the classical Griffith theory, when the critical value of tensile fracture surface energy has been reached. The first step to solve the problem was the estimation of the dynamic parameters, such as stress drop, strength excess, and critical slip, which were recov- ered from the results of waveform inversion. In the second step, a shear dynamic rupture process was simulated assuming that shear slip occurs only on the pre- existing fault, and the tensile stress concentration resulting from shear slip causes the new cracks that propagate away from the pre-existing fault. The results, which are consistent with the observations, show a free-surface rupture caused by the new cracks and the development of a flowerlike structure springing from the borders of the pre-existing fault and main asperity.


Rhizophora apiculata , considered a traditional medicinal plant for its various pharmacological effects, is found on the southern coast of Lampung. However, the ethnopharmacology of R. apiculata , belonging to Rhizophoraceae, has not been widely reported. Therefore, the root bark of R. apiculata was collected to study its chemical content and pharmacological activity. Then, to investigate the structure–bioactivity relationship, three integrated phytosterol mixtures were tested for cytotoxic effects. The structures of all phytosterol compounds are clearly elucidated by the spectroscopic data. All phytosterols were examined for their cytotoxicity against three cancer cell lines: HeLa, MCF-7, and A549. Among these isolates, phytosterols with alkene units (C-22 and C-23) and 24-ethylsterol showed increased cytotoxicity in cancer cells, demonstrating the importance of the aliphatic sterol moiety. Furthermore, this investigation presented attractive phytosterols and their important cytotoxic activities and then suggested that the integrated phytosterol mixtures can be developed to modulate the lead compound for anticancer agents.


The research paper provides an in-depth analysis of the entrepreneurial ecosystem of Malawi. Employing the Global Entrepreneurship Index (GEI) methodology, the findings reveal a weak entrepreneurial ecosystem with a GEI score of 12.2 out of a possible 100. The relationship between the GDP per capita and the three entrepreneurship sub-indices, thus, attitude, ability, and aspiration are very weak and fall well below global average trends. Unfortunately, despite the high total entrepreneurship rates (TER) in Malawi, this leads to little contribution to the country's GDP per-capita a common phenomenon in many developing countries. performing not only poorly but below world averages. Despite the general positive perception of entrepreneurship by citiz ecosystem has failed to harness the propensity to develop new products and adopt new technologies for innovation and high growth entrepreneurship. From a policy intervention perspective, Malawi needs to focus most of its efforts and investments in five areas that include start-up skills, risk acceptance, high growth, risk capital, and human capital to improve the country's GEI score by 0.02.


This study was aimed to evaluate the effect of addition of two levels (1% and 2%) of Barley Beta Glucan (BBG), citrus
 (Ceamfibre 7000), and carrot (ID809) fibers on chemical, sensorial properties, oxidation and microbial quality of turkey meat sausage, during 21 days of storage at 4°C. The findings indicated that the addition of the three fibers decreased fat and protein
 contents but increased moisture content. Color parameters were significantly (p<0.05) affected by the fiber type and content. The
 meat substitution resulted in a tendency toward lighter coloration. A significant progression in the textural hardness, elasticity and
 chewiness of fiber-added sausages, was observed. The addition of the three fibers, at 1% and 2% level, induced a decrease in
 hardness when compared to control. Furthermore, color, taste, flavor and overall acceptability attributes were similar to the control
 when the fibers were incorporated. According to sensorial evaluations, the three polysaccharides remained at 1% to the consumer
 acceptability of sausage. Besides, the addition of the three polysaccharides had a significant effect on sausage safety because of
 its reduction of the lipid oxidation degree monitored by TBARS and it had no effect on microbial proliferation. Overall, the results of
 this study indicate that the three polysaccharides can be applied at 1% in turkey meat sausage to increase their nutritional status
 whilst maintaining the quality and safety attributes of the product.


In liver tissue engineering, scaffolds with porous structure desgined to supply nutrient and oxygen exchange for three-dimensional (3-D) cells culture, and maintain liver functions. Meanwhile, genipin, as a natural crosslinker, is widely used to crosslink biomaterials in tissue engineering, with lower cytotoxicity and better biocompatibility. In present study, chitosan/gelatin 3-D scaffolds crosslinked by genipin, glutaraldehyde or 1-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-3-ethyl-carbodimide hydrochloride (EDC) were prepared and characterized by Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The biocompatibility of chitosan/gelatin scaffolds corsslinked with different crosslinkers was investigated by cell viability, morphology and liver specific functions. The result showed that the 1% and 2% genipin crosslinked chitosan/gelatin scaffolds possess ideal porosity. The genipin crosslinked 3-D scaffolds possessed the best biocompatibility than that of the others, and maintained liver specific functions when HepG2 cells seeded on scaffolds. The cellular morphology of HepG2 cells seeded on scaffolds showed that cells could penetrate into the scaffolds and proliferate significantly. Therefore, genipin crosslinked chitosan/gelatin scaffolds could be a promising biomaterial used in liver tissue engineering. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 104A: 1863-1870, 2016.


In this paper, a propagator matrix method applied to logging‐while‐drilling tools is introduced and extended to deal with the anisotropic and radially inhomogeneous earth formations. This method expands the Maxwell's equations in the transverse direction, constructs the relationship between propagator matrix and reflection matrix, and obtains the solution by using the reflection matrix. We systematically derived the formulas of propagator matrix method in isotropic media, uniaxially anisotropic media, fully anisotropic media, and radially inhomogeneous media respectively. In order to obtain the propagator matrix in complex media, we used the fourth‐order Runge–Kutta scheme. Numerical experiments show that, compared with traditional methods, the propagator matrix method has wide range of applications while maintaining low computational costs and high accuracy. All algorithms presented in the paper have been parallelized and implemented on a high‐performance computing platform. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Social responsibility, despite its long existence and evolution, has had a limited understanding and recently has tried to rethink and address ways. This study aimed to know and understand the level of understanding that teachers have a university in the region Laja - Bajio, in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico. We interviewed 45 teachers who chose to answer the questions, from a universe of 60 present at the time of the interviews within the institution, a total of 164 teachers, 51 full professors and 96 lecturers (including teachers sporting and cultural activities) respondents belong to the Engineering Energy, Agro Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering Technology, Robotics Engineering and the Licenciatura in Administration and Management of SMEs, about the impact of the University in terms of social responsibility. Teachers identified, based on ISO 26000 environmental dimensions, human rights and community involvement, as important elements of social responsibility, the dimension of governance was slightly outlined in speeches and references not identified dimensions of labor practices, fair operating practices and consumer business. While the results are partial of a broader research and presents only the perception of the teachers interviewed, outlining an approach allows not conclusive, the way how to construct the concept of social responsibility of universities.


216 Abstract— Full adder is an indispensable component for the design and development of all types of processors viz. digital signal processors (DSP), microprocessors etc. Adders are the core element of complex arithmetic operations like addition, multiplication, division, exponentiation etc. The various full adders available are conventional CMOS full adder, parallel prefix adders, hybrid full adders, mirror full adders, adders using mux and transmission gate logic. The main objective is to compare the existing full adder circuit's performance and to design a Low Power Full Adder and to analyze its impact on 4x4 Wallace Tree Multiplier design. The design and implementation of proposed full adder and multiplier is done by using Mentor Graphics tool in 180 nm technology.


Predicting items a user would like on the basis of other users' ratings for these items has become a well-established strategy adopted by many recommendation services on the Internet. Although this can be seen as a classification problem, algorithms proposed thus far do not draw on results from the machine learning literature. We propose a representation for collaborative filtering tasks that allows the application of virtually any machine learning algorithm. We identify the shortcomings of current collaborative filtering techniques and propose the use of learning algorithms paired with feature extraction techniques that specifically address the limitations of previous approaches. Our best-performing algorithm is based on the singular value decomposition of an initial matrix of user ratings, exploiting latent structure that essentially eliminates the need for users to rate common items in order to become predictors for one another's preferences. We evaluate the proposed algorithm on a large database of user ratings for motion pictures and find that our approach significantly outperforms current collaborative filtering algorithms.


ABSTRACT Over the past decades, neo-Zionist discourse has gain prominence in Israel. This approach, which gives preference to the definition of Israel as a Jewish state over its definition as a democracy, is a specific version authoritarian populism. This paper explores how educational discourses, policies and curricular changes are being shaped by right-wing populist organization and politicians to strengthen New-Zionism, while delegitimising liberal-democratic values. The paper draws on three examples. The first focuses on the campaign to ban the activist groups 'Breaking the Silence' – a group of army veteran who collect testimonies on Israel's misconducts in the occupied territories – from entering schools. The second example is the case of 'Im Tirtzu', a right-wing organization, and their campaign against left-wing influences in the academy. A third example focuses on the changes to the compulsory civic curriculum – an example to the ways in which education is used to perpetuate a particular notion of Jewish nationalism. These cases help reveal the reactions of academic institutions to such actions, and the partial acceptance they have gained in recent years. They also show how the boundaries of the political were redrawn and the role education policy and institutions play in delegitimizing left-wing critique.


A morphometric analysis of the optic nerve in different age groups of (C57BL x CBA)F1 hybrid mice was carried out. Morphometric parameters examined were mean nerve cross-sectional area (csa), mean myelinated nerve fibre count, mean myelinated nerve fibre density and myelinated nerve fibre size distribution. The findings revealed that the optic nerve continues to develop well into adult life. Growth in calibre was very rapid during the early stage of postnatal life, but progressively slowed with age thereafter. No myelinated nerve fibres were observed before the 5th day of postnatal life. Similarly, once myelination was initiated, it progressed very rapidly during the early stage of postnatal development and, as for the csa, it slowed thereafter. Peak level of myelination within the optic nerve, which corresponded with the age when the maximum number of myelinated nerve fibres, i.e. 94213 +/- 1799 (S.E.M.) was measured, occurred at the 16th week of postnatal life. The earliest myelinated nerve fibres seen were predominantly large in diameter, but with increasing age, fibres of smaller diameter dominated the myelinated nerve fibre spectrum in the nerve. The highest mean myelinated nerve fibre density was observed in mice at the age of peak myelination.


Do your patients take the medications you prescribe for them? They may say they do, but half do not. Nonadherence crosses all levels of society, all types of medicines, and all types of problems. Improving adherence has been a gradual process in our practice. Like most practices, we ask patients to bring all of their medications to every office visit so we can reconcile them. When we first started a program to keep patients out of the emergency department and reduce readmissions, we felt pretty smug about adding phone medication reconciliation with each patient within 48 hours of discharge. Our nurses' phone conversations with patients went something like this: "I see your furosemide was changed in the hospital from 20 mg a day to 40 mg a day. How's that going?" Eventually we learned to ask patients "Are you taking the medications you were prescribed?" and, even better, "Do you have the medications you were prescribed?" The problem is that patients lie about taking their medications for a variety of reasons – they do not care whether they get better, they feel fine, or they don't want their doctor to be disappointed in them. Instituting the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale helped, but we eventually came up with a broader set of questions: 1. Do you have all of the medications you were prescribed? (Probe for barriers such as cost or confusion.) 2. Do you understand why you are taking them? 3. Do you ever forget to take your medications? (Discuss phone alarms, putting pills by the coffeemaker, etc.) 4. Do any of your medications make you sick? 5. If you feel worse, do you stop taking them? 6. If you feel better, do you stop taking them? 7. If you have asthma, do you have a spacer? Do you carry a rescue inhaler (at work, in the car, at school, etc.)? A nurse or medical assistant asks these questions, along with questions about health confidence, prior to the patient being seen by the provider. We record the answers in our electric health record so we can track adherence over time. Here are some of the lessons we have learned: 1. Be aware of the tendency to use medical jargon. Instead of saying, "This will treat your hypertension," say, "Let's try this for your high blood pressure." 2. Don't judge. Instead of saying, "Why aren't you taking your metformin?" say, "I'm curious to know what happens when you take your metformin." 3. Be aware of costs. Most patients are hesitant to say they can't afford a medication, so ask the patient to get back to you if the copayment or cost is too high. 4. Look for underlying conditions. For example, patients who are depressed rarely take their medications, so consider treating the depression first. 5. Be clear about the benefit of the medicine. For example, you might say, "If you take your diabetes medicines and control your blood sugar, you may not need to have your eyeglass prescription changed as often." 6. Move your patients' prescriptions to mail order if possible. Going to the pharmacy is often an obstacle. Medication adherence is key to improving patients' confidence to manage their illness, improving clinical outcomes, and lowering utilization. Asking the right questions has made a real difference in our practice.


Ground Granulated Blast-furnace Slag (GGBS) powders, the massive by-products produced in the process of manufacturing cast iron are actively used as a substitute for cement, one of the major causes of greenhouse gas emissions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the proper mixing ratio of the activator, and to reduce the usage of cement in the production of high-strength steam cured concrete using GGBS. The cured products of various ratio were analyzed by XRD and TG/DTA, and the best ratio of the cured product were applied to the Pre-stressed high-strength concrete (PHC) Pile, and the performance was then evaluated. The results showed that the fluidity was improved by mixing with GGBS, and when an appropriate amount of activator was used, it was possible to produce high-strength cured products. In the PHC-Pile test, the replacement rate of 40% GGBS and combined 4% anhydrite gypsum and 2% Ca(OH)2 as an activator was excellent. The compressive strength (2MPa more), shear strength (1.3MPa more), and Axial force strength (2.7Mpa more) were more improved than for the normal Portland cement PHC-Pile, and this GGBS pile can be manufactured more economically (the cost can be saved in the amount of 14.5%). This is caused by the activating agent destroying the glassy film of the GGBS, and actively inducing the pozzolanic reaction, so that the hydrate materials are generated, such as C–S–H. In addition, by positively utilizing the inexpensive industrial by-product, GGBS, it is possible to manufacture environmentally friendly concrete products, while reducing the amount of cement used.


Permissionless blockchain-based cryptocurrencies commonly use proof-of-work (PoW) or proof-of-stake (PoS) to ensure their security, e.g. to prevent double spending attacks. However, both approaches have disadvantages: PoW leads to massive amounts of wasted electricity and re-centralization, whereas major stakeholders in PoS might be able to create a monopoly. In this work, we propose proof-of-personhood (PoP), a mechanism that binds physical entities to virtual identities in a way that enables accountability while preserving anonymity. Afterwards we introduce PoPCoin, a new cryptocurrency, whose consensus mechanism leverages PoP to eliminate the dis-advantages of PoW and PoS while ensuring security. PoPCoin leads to a continuously fair and democratic wealth creation process which paves the way for an experimental basic income infrastructure.


Introduction . The modern approach for ensuring marine activities of necessary quality related to the assessment of current information on the state of the ocean environment in Russia is clearly insufficient. The development of operational methods and instruments of observation, as well as the assessment of the state of the ocean and its forecast naturally determine such an approach. Therefore, the development of the concept, tools and methods of obtaining data is an urgent task of the operational Oceanography formation. Objective . The objective of the paper is to con-sider the concept of ocean surface monitoring using short-wave surface wave radar. Methods and materials . The paper presents a number of specific Oceanologic examples that require operational monitoring of the state of coastal waters of the oceans and individual regions. Also, it describes observational systems used in other countries. The paper pays special attention for the development of radar sensing of surface waters, carried out in our country occasionally. The resonant nature of the reflections gives the opportunity to obtain maps of high-precision measurements of surface currents and wave characteristics on the long-range area in real time. The paper notes difficulties of the experiments implementation and the results interpretation, shows the insistent issues for the establishment of the ocean surface operational monitoring, and gives the approaches for solvation of the existing problems. The paper formulates the main task of the world ocean parameters forecast for ensuring of the sea transport safety from natural and anthropogenic threats, as well as formulates the problems solution of effective nature management. Results . The paper shows that the optimal means of natural data acquisition is the creation of an observation network of coastal HF radars, which enables to assess surface currents and wave characteristics, as well as to solve the problem of monitoring. It is Important to develop an adequate coastal model and correlate its parameters with experimental data. The adaptive modeling and monitoring by modern technical means can overcome inadequacy of physical models to specific natural conditions can. Conclusion . By assimilation in hydrodynamic and wave models, these data become applicable in spatial mapping of hydrophysical inhomogeneities of the water layer, sound velocity, and underwater acoustic noise.


In this paper, the chemical ingredients of mulberry bast was tested by quantitative analysis. Our objective was to substitute the slow and difficult to control retting process by a fast and well controlled process, i.e. the two-step boiled process treatment (TSBP) of mulberry bast which was treated by mechanism. During the TSBP treatment the pectin, Lignin and hemicelluloses are hydrolysed and rendered in water or alkali-soluble, the fibers being more easily degummed. The TSBP treatment was among the best conditions for the degumming and individualisation of the fibers. The two-step boiled samples were tested. The results indicated that the length of mulberry fiber is 23.0-35.0mm, fineness is 2.3-3.5 dT, breaking tenacity is 5.0-10.0cN/dT, breaking extension rate is 3.5-5.5%, moisture regain is 9-10%. The samples were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the morphological aspects of the mulberry fibers are discussed.Structural disruption was observed by X-ray measurement.


Field research, defined as an unstructured contact with public problems and programs, is essential to realistic policy research. Research linking governmental action to good outcomes is rare, because those who study government and those whose who analyze public problems are seldom the same. Field inquiry can help give policy research more governmental content. A lack of field contact is one reason why much of the research surrounding welfare reform has been incorrect. Ideally, the connections between policy and outcomes that respondents claim during field research should be verified by statistical analyses that use program data. Unfortunately, field research is discouraged by academic incentives favoring rigor at the expense of realism.


Neurodegenerative eye diseases, such as glaucoma, cause irreversible vision loss in millions of patients worldwide, creating serious medical, economic and social issues. Like other mammalian central nervous system tracts, optic nerve intrinsically lacks the capacity for axonal growth and its surrounding environment is also non-permissive to regeneration. Any axonal damage also triggers a vicious cycle of retinal ganglion cell (RGC) death. Exploring methods that can enhance RGCs survival and promote axonal regeneration will not only enable vision restoration for millions of patients, but also shed light on the treatment of other neurodegenerative diseases. In this review article, we will go through three current approaches to cure neurodegenerative eye diseases, including cell based therapy, neuro-regeneration and neuro-rejuvenation.