AIM
The purpose of present study was to compare the acute physiological responses to a circuit weight training with the responses to a combined circuit training (weight training and treadmill run).

METHODS
The sample consisted of 25 individuals at an average state of training, 10 men and 15 female, between 18 and 35 year old. There were selected 60 second sets of resistance exercises to the circuit weight training (CWT). Whereas in the combined circuit training (CCT), the subjects spent 30 seconds on the same resistance exercises and 30 seconds running on the treadmill. The rest intervals between the sets lasted 15 seconds. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) with 5% significance level was utilized to the statistical analysis of the results.

RESULTS
Comparing circuit training protocols, it was noted that CCT elicits a higher relative and absolute VO2 and energy expenditure values than CWT for both genders (P<0.05). Regarding inter-gender comparison, males showed higher absolute and relative VO2 and absolute energy expenditure values for both CWT and CCT than females (P<0.05). Females showed a significant greater %VO2max value for both CWT and CCT. Due to the experimental conditions used to state both circuit training bouts (CWT and CCT), the VO2 rate found was higher than the values reported by previous studies which used heavier weight lift.

CONCLUSION
CCT seems adequate to produce cardiovascular improvements and greater energy expenditure for both men and women, while CWT group classes are sufficient only for unfit women.


Although the mechanism of RNA cleavage by RNases has been studied for many years, there remain aspects that have not yet been fully clarified. We have solved the crystal structures of RNase Sa2 in the apo form and in complexes with mononucleotides. These structures provide more details about the mechanism of RNA cleavage by RNase Sa2. In addition to Glu56 and His86, which are the principal catalytic residues, an important role in the first reaction step of RNA cleavage also seems to be played by Arg67 and Arg71, which are located in the phosphate‐binding site and form hydrogen bonds with the oxygens of the phosphate group of the mononucleotides. Their positive charge very likely causes polarization of the bonds between the oxygens and the phosphorus atom, leading to electron deficiency on the phosphorus atom and facilitating nucleophilic attack by O2′ of the ribose on the phosphorus atom, leading to cyclophosphate formation. The negatively charged Glu56 is in position to attract the proton from O2′ of the ribose. Extended molecular docking of mononucleotides, dinucleotides and trinucleotides into the active site of the enzyme allowed us to better understand the guanosine specificity of RNase Sa2 and to predict possible binding subsites for the downstream base and ribose of the second and third nucleotides.


Lionfishes are recognized as invasive and predatory species in the world. The genus Pterois belongs to the Scorpaenidae family has 10 confirmed species. Among them, two species Pterois miles and P. volitans were reported as non-indigenous species in Turkish marine waters. Although dorsal, pelvic, and anal fins of lionfish have venom-releasing spines which can have systemic effects such as severe pain, fever, vomiting, and dizziness, there are no reports of death by lionfish in the literature anyway. After careful removal of the venomous spines, lionfish meat is suitable for human consumption. The bioactivity of homogenates obtained from the venomous spines of lionfish has been the subject of various research since the 1950s. Until now, it has been proven that the venomous spines of the lionfish contain anticancer, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, anticoagulant, antioxidant, and antibacterial compounds and can be used in biomedical applications as a natural resource of marine origin. Moreover, the spine shape of lionfish has provided inspiration that can be useful in designing reusable syringe needles and sterilizable plungers, thereby reducing biomedical waste and sharps disposal costs. Additionally, the fins and spines of lionfish, which are typically removed and discarded, are used to make jewellery. This review, therefore, focused on evaluating alternative management actions to bring these invasive fish into the economy and control their populations, owing to both their use in biomedical fields and their suitability for bioinspiration.


The increasing number of network attacks causes growing problems for network operators and users. Thus, detecting anomalous traffic is of primary interest in IP networks management. In this paper we address the problem considering a method based on PCA for detecting network anomalies. In more detail, we present a new technique that extends the state of the art in PCA based anomaly detection. Indeed, by means of the Kullback-Leibler divergence we are able to obtain great improvements with respect to the performance of the "classical" approach. Moreover we also introduce a method for identifying the flows responsible for an anomaly detected at the aggregated level. The performance analysis, presented in this paper, demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed method.


Objectives: To examine social and physical environmental fall-risk factors in a nationally representative sample of community-living older adults overall and by racial group. Methods: We used data from the 2015 and 2016 rounds of the National Health and Aging Trends Study (n = 5581) linked to census tract measures from the American Community Survey. Recurrent falls are defined as 2+ self-reported falls over 12 months. Results: Older adults with recurrent falls were more likely to have lower education, lower income, financial hardship, live in homes with disorder and disrepair and in neighborhoods without sidewalks, with high social deprivation, and in nonmetropolitan counties. Home disrepair, lack of sidewalks, and residence in a nonmetropolitan county were important fall-risk factors among White older adults only. Financial hardship was an important risk factor among Black older adults. Discussion: Environmental factors are associated with recurrent falls among older Americans and should be incorporated into fall-risk profiles and prevention efforts.


The free-free inter-band optical transitions in quantum well and 'quantum barrier' structures of analysed. A considerable difference between the absorption coefficient of these structures and that of the bulk is found. The numerical calculations for AlxGa1-xAs/AlyGa1-yAs system indicate the possibility of reducing the absorption coefficient of the bulk nearly twofold (under favourable conditions) by inserting a single quantum well with appropriate parameters.


A comparison between two nonlinear diffusion methods for denoising OCT images is performed. Specifically, we compare and contrast the performance of the traditional nonlinear Perona-Malik filter with a complex diffusion filter that has been recently introduced by Gilboa . The complex diffusion approach based on the generalization of the nonlinear scale space to the complex domain by combining the diffusion and the free Schrodinger equation is evaluated on synthetic images and also on representative OCT images at various noise levels. The performance improvement over the traditional nonlinear Perona-Malik filter is quantified in terms of noise suppression, image structural preservation and visual quality. An average signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) improvement of about 2.5 times and an average contrast to noise ratio (CNR) improvement of 49% was obtained while mean structure similarity (MSSIM) was practically not degraded after denoising. The nonlinear complex diffusion filtering can be applied with success to many OCT imaging applications. In summary, the numerical values of the image quality metrics along with the qualitative analysis results indicated the good feature preservation performance of the complex diffusion process, as desired for better diagnosis in medical imaging processing


The mechanical performance of concrete connection plays an important role in the response of precast concrete structures. Unlike conventional small concrete shear key which is mainly to help with alignment at installation, large concrete shear keys have been often designed in recent engineering practice to improve joint shear resistance. However, the mechanical properties of large concrete shear keys have not been properly studied. This paper utilizes experimental and numerical methods to investigate both direct shear and flexural bending properties of shear keys. Four types of shear keys comprised of trapezoidal shape, semi-spherical shape, dome shape and wave shape are investigated, which are found to strongly influence the mechanical properties of the keyed joint. Laboratory shear test found unlike conventional shear key, with increased tenon size failure moves to concrete mortise. A detailed numerical model is built to help understand stress developed at the key joint. Flexural bending tests are carried out to evaluate the flexural bending properties of these key joints. Through comparing with theoretical derivation for plain flat joint, similar bending moment resistances from the keyed joints are measured with that of plain flat joint, but larger rotation angles are recorded probably because more damages at the key joint. Among the four different joint patterns, shear key with smoothed pattern could effectively relief concrete damages.


ABSTRACT The Fourier transform infrared, Raman, and UV-visible absorption spectral analyses were carried out on five 3,5-dihydro-4H-imidazol-4-one derivatives containing organo-selenium. The ground-state geometries, vibrational wavenumbers, and infrared and Raman intensities were calculated by density functional theory using the B3PW91 functional and 6-311G(2df,p) basis set. Spectral analysis shows that the large conjugation effect makes the C=N stretching vibration of the skeleton shift by 50–100 cm−1 toward the lower wavenumber. The UV-visible absorption spectra were studied by the time-dependent density functional theory method with the polarizable continuum model using B3LYP and PBE0 functionals. Theoretical calculations reveal that the strong absorption bands at 368–411 nm arise from the n → π* transition, and the sharp bands at 208–211 nm arise from the π → π* transition.


Kuroda's identities, which are used in analysis and synthesis of distributed transmision line circuits, may be applied to mixed lumped and distributed circuits. It is shown that circuits consisting of cascade connections of lumped reactances and uniform transmission lines are equivalent to circuits consisting of a cascade connection of nonuniform transmission lines, lumped reactances, and ideal transformers. Moreover, by using these equivalent transformations, network functions of some nonuniform transmisssion lines can be derived exactly.


ABSTRACT Heligmosomoides bakeri is a nematode with parasitic development exclusively in the small intestine of infected mice that induces a potent STAT6-dependent Th2 immune response. We previously demonstrated that host protective expulsion of adult H. bakeri worms from a challenge infection was delayed in selenium (Se)-deficient mice. In order to explore mechanisms associated with the delayed expulsion, 3-week-old female BALB/c mice were placed on a torula yeast-based diet with or without 0.2 ppm Se, and after 5 weeks, they were inoculated with H. bakeri infective third-stage larvae (L3s). Two weeks after inoculation, the mice were treated with an anthelmintic and then rested, reinoculated with L3s, and evaluated at various times after reinoculation. Analysis of gene expression in parasite-induced cysts and surrounding tissue isolated from the intestine of infected mice showed that the local-tissue Th2 response was decreased in Se-deficient mice compared to that in Se-adequate mice. In addition, adult worms recovered from Se-deficient mice had higher ATP levels than worms from Se-adequate mice, indicating greater metabolic activity in the face of a suboptimal Se-dependent local immune response. Notably, the process of worm expulsion was restored within 2 to 4 days after feeding a Se-adequate diet to Se-deficient mice. Expulsion was associated with an increased local expression of Th2-associated genes in the small intestine, intestinal glutathione peroxidase activity, secreted Relm-β protein, anti-H. bakeri IgG1 production, and reduced worm fecundity and ATP-dependent metabolic activity.


Piracy at sea has existed almost since voyaging began & has been effectively subdued from time to time,principally by the Roman Imperial Navy in the 1stC & the British Navy in the 19thC.Over the past twenty five years piracy has once again been increasing such that it has now become of serious concern to the maritime community,in particular the seafarer,who as always bears the brunt of these attacks. In parallel with piracy itself the laws of piracy have developed from the Rhodian Laws through Roman Law,post Treaty of Westphalia Law both British and American until today the Law of Piracy is embodied in the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea of 1982. Piracy at sea can consist of one or more of the following crimes upon the person:murder,violence actual or implied,rape,torture & disappearance & are considered a violation of the seafarers' human rights.On the high seas the flag state has jurisdiction over the ship flying its flag & all on board whatever their nationality.It is argued that the flag State is failing by omission to uphold the human rights of the seafarer over whom it has jurisdiction. This book should be of interest to academics & maritime professionals.


Conventional scanning electron microscopy permits the use of cryogenic techniques, which has led to the examination of ice-containing samples (eg ice cream) at temperatures of -80°C and below. At these temperatures moderate etching of the ice crystals occurs which helps to identify the crystals in the surrounding glassy matrix. However, imaging at higher temperatures - equivalent to those at which most ice-containing systems are actually utilised - is impossible because of rapid sublimation. We have set out to develop a system which will enable us to examine ice crystals at temperatures of -20°C and below, corresponding much more closely to realistic conditions of use. In the environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM), a gas can be maintained around the sample. Not only can this be used to maintain the sample in its native state, but the gas is actively involved in the imaging process through its role in signal amplification.


The degenerative ataxias are a very heterogeneous group of disorders that include numerous genetic diseases as well as apparently "sporadic" entities. There has been an explosion of discoveries related to genetic defects and related pathomechanisms that has brought us to the threshold of meaningful therapies in some but not all of these diseases. There also continues to be lack of knowledge of the causation of disease in a sizeable proportion of these patients. The overall rarity of ataxias as a whole and certainly of the individual genetic entities together with slow and variable progression and variable prognosis in juxtaposition with a rapid development of possible therapies in the horizon such as gene replacement and gene knock‐down strategies places the ataxias in a unique position distinct from other similar neurodegenerative diseases. The pace of laboratory research seems not matched by the pace of clinical research and clinical trial readiness. This review summarizes the author's views on the various challenges in translational research in ataxias and hopes to stimulate further thought and discussions on how to bring real help to these patients.


Infective particles have been reconstituted in vitro from the disaggregated protein and RNA of several plant viruses and virus strains. The protein and nucleic acid need not be from the same virus strain, or indeed not even from serologically related viruses (Hiebert, Bancroft & Bracker, 1968; Lebeurier, Wurtz & Hirth, 1969; Breck & Gordon, 1970). Thus the RNA from brome mosaic, broad-bean mottle or cowpea chlorotic mottle viruses has been combined with the protein of any of the three viruses and the RNA of potato virus X with protein of tobacco mosaic virus (TMV). With strains of TMV, the more differences there are in amino acid composition or the more distant the serological relationship, the smaller is the yield of infective particles and the less stable they are (Fraenkel-Conrat & Singer, 1957; Holoubek, 1962).


Treatment of 1-(benzylselenenyl)-5-butyl-5-nonanol (10) with oxalyl chloride followed by the sodium salt of N-hydroxypyridine-2-thione afforded the corresponding pyridine-2-thione-N-oxycarbonyl (PTOC) oxalate ester which was not isolated but immediately heated to provide 2,2-dibutylselenane (7). This transformation presumably involves a tertiary alkyl radical that undergoes intramolecular homolytic substitution at selenium with loss of the benzyl radical to provide the selenium-containing ring system (7). A similar protocol, when applied to 1-(2-benzylselenenyl-5-methoxyphenyl)-3-methyl-3-heptanol (18) and 1-(2-benzylselenenyl-5-methoxyphenyl)-3,7,11,15-tetramethyl-3-hexadecanol (19), followed by deprotection, afforded the selenium-containing alpha-tocopherol analogues 4 and 1f, respectively, in moderate yields. To the best of our knowledge, these transformations represent the first examples of tertiary radicals involved in homolytic substitution chemistry at selenium.


The COVID-19 pandemic has had significant impacts on healthcare systems around the world, including in Latin America. In Colombia, there have been over 23,000 confirmed cases and 100 deaths since 2022, with the highest number of cases occurring in females and the highest number of deaths in males. The elderly and those with comorbidities, such as arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and respiratory diseases, have been particularly affected. Coinfections with other microorganisms, including dengue virus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis, have also been a significant factor in increasing morbidity and mortality rates in COVID-19 patients. It is important for surveillance systems to be improved and protocols to be established for the early detection and management of coinfections in COVID-19. In addition to traditional treatments, alternatives such as zinc supplementation and nanomedicine may have potential in the fight against COVID-19. It is also crucial to consider the social, labor, educational, psychological, and emotional costs of the pandemic and to address issues such as poverty and limited access to potable water in order to better prepare for future pandemics.


The haematological profiles and serum lead levels of male fuel station attendants in Calabar metropolis were determined. The haematological parameters assessed included haemoglobin concentration (Hb), haematocrit (HCT), total white blood cell count (WBC), differential white cell counts and platelet count. Age range of participants was between 18 and 50 years and a total of 132 males participated in the study. Sixty (60) subjects were fuel station attendants, while 72 apparently healthy individuals, who were not filling station attendants and were not exposed to petroleum products by nature of their jobs served as control. Full blood count was performed on anticoagulated blood samples using an automated particle cell counter, while Lead level was estimated on serum obtained from blood samples in plain bottle using atomic absorption spectrometry. There was no significant increase (p>0.05) in the haemoglobin concentration (Hb), haematocrit (HCT), mean cell volume (MCV), mean cell haemoglobin (MCH) and mean cell haemoglobin concentration (MCHC) of the fuel attendants, when compared with control subjects. Again, total white blood cell (WBC), lymphocyte, monocyte and platelet counts, and lead level of fuel attendants' did not significantly (p>0.05) change, when compared with the control group. However, the granulocyte count showed a significant reduction, when compared with the control group. Furthermore, haemoglobin concentration, haematocrit (HCT), mean cell volume (MCV), mean cell haemoglobin (MCH), mean cell haemoglobin concentration (MCHC), total white cell count (WBC), lymphocyte count, granulocyte count, and monocyte count were significantly reduced (p<0.05) in attendants, who had been exposed for 4 years and above. A significant rise (p<0.05) in their lead level was also observed. This study concludes that prolonged exposure to petroleum products affects haematological parameters. Keywords : Haematological profile, lead, petroleum products, fuel station attendants


High strength AA7075-T6 aluminum sheets were joined by hot die-less clinching by locally heating the clinching region with an electrical resistance heating method. This method applied a large amount of current in the range 7.5–15 kA over a time period of 2–3 s to enhance the local ductility of AA7075-T6 sheets. A modified die-less clinching tool was developed to carry current from the blank holder to the anvil through a pair of AA7075-T6 sheets to be clinched. The above range of applied current and time duration led to an increase in sheet metal temperature in the range 175–260 ℃ leading to material softening and a consequent reduction in the clinch forming force as well as improved material flow. The clinched joints produced with constant forming force of 60 kN resulted in an increase in lap shear joint strength up to 41% with an applied current of 15 kA. Microstructure examination of the clinched region for a range of electrical resistance heating conditions revealed sound joints with previously reported forming and force locking mechanisms as well as recently identified elevated temperature material locking mechanism in the literature. The geometric interlock resulted in nonlinear increase in force with displacement in the lap shear test as well as instantaneous drop in the force due to failure of material locking.


Cells maintain their size within limits over successive generations to maximize fitness and survival. Sizer, timer, and adder behaviors have been proposed as possible alternatives to coordinate growth and cell cycle progression. Regarding budding yeast cells, a sizer mechanism is thought to rule cell cycle entry at Start. However, while many proteins controlling the size of these cells have been identified, the mechanistic framework in which they participate to achieve cell size homeostasis is not understood. We show here that intertwined APC and SCF degradation machineries with specific adaptor proteins drive cyclic accumulation of the G1 Cdk in the nucleus, reaching maximal levels at Start. The mechanism incorporates Mad3, a centromeric-signaling protein that subordinates G1 progression to the previous mitosis as a memory factor. This alternating-degradation device displays the properties of a timer and, together with the sizer device, would constitute a key determinant of cell cycle entry.


This study for an MCom thesis provides an oral history record of the Current Cost Accounting (CCA) debate in New Zealand between 1975 and 1985. Eleven men were interviewed, and their recollections of the debate and events surrounding the promulgation and withdrawal of this accounting standard are recorded in full transcripts. The study first compares the written explanations at the time of the non-compliance with the standard with those explanations for the failure of the standard as recalled by this group of Accounting Standard Setters. This shows that the records from academic writing and from studies of company reports during the period of non-compliance are usefully supplemented by the oral history record, as some issues, which were not given much importance at the time, in hindsight are considered to have been significant In particular, it is clear that the extent to which CCA methods show management and Board performance in poor light were not generally seen as important at the time, nor was it recognised the extent to which CCA represented a fundamental change in accounting which both preparers and users of accounts were not prepared to accept. This study then compares the events surrounding the failure of the standard in New Zealand with recent studies from the United Kingdom on the failure of CCA there. There were four major differences between the two jurisdictions: the importance of the impact on tax payable by the entities; the fall of inflation concurrent with the withdrawal of the standard in the United Kingdom which did not occur in New Zealand; the very high initial compliance in the United Kingdom compared with very low compliance in New Zealand, the practitioner revolt in the United Kingdom. It is concluded that the drivers to the acceptance or rejection of accounting standards should be viewed within specific social and economic regimes in each jurisdiction; irrespective of international trends to harmonisation, and the conceptual arguments in favour of a different method of accounting during periods of high inflation to increase representational faithfulness in accounts. This thesis further examines two other aspects of these events; the impact on the sharemarket of companies reporting using CCA, and the likelihood of any re-issue of a similar accounting standard during a future period of high inflation. The responses to these two topics both provide a complexity and diversity of views, and illustrate the uniqueness of the perspectives on this event from the point of view of the individual standard setters. The usefulness of oral history as a method in accounting research, as illustrated in this study, shows that it provides a valuable stand-alone record of the standard setting process in New Zealand, and the multiple hegemonic, economic and social factors which influence a variety of developments in accounting.


Aim: To investigate maternal alcohol intakes before and during pregnancy, their impact on mothers and infants to 18 months. Method: Prospective study of 504 New Zealand volunteers visited in months 4 and 7 of pregnancy, measurements taken, lifestyle details recorded including alcohol intake before and during pregnancy. Eighteen months after birth, 370 infants were measured, and infant development recorded. Results: Nineteen per cent of mothers never drank, 53% stopped when they knew they were pregnant, 29% continued to drink. Twenty-two per cent of drinkers binge drank (over 50 g alcohol per session) before pregnancy and 10% during pregnancy. Daily drinking was associated with increased obesity in mothers. Alcohol consumption before or during pregnancy was not associated with infant motor development, had a slight negative effect on growth, and a significant association with vocal ability to 18 months. Energy intake appeared to partially moderate this effect. Conclusion: Maternal alcohol consumption exceeding 50 g per session both before and during pregnancy was associated with decreasing vocal ability in the 18-month old infant.


The decomposition behaviour of glyphosate in four Victorian soils was investigated at two temperatures using non-steady-state compartmental analysis. At 25°C, glyphosate degradation was shown numerically to be derived from two different sources where the rate of release from each source behaved in accordance with first-order kinetics. Over the first 40 day period for each of the soils, glyphosate was derived simultaneously from the labile and non-labile phase, whilst after the first 40 days, glyphosate was derived solely from the non-labile phase. At this temperature, the amount of glyphosate partitioned into the labile phase ranged from 24·1 to 34·5%, whilst the amount partitioned into the sorbed, non-labile phase ranged from 67·2 to 74·9%. The half-lives for glyphosate within each phase was calculated and ranged from six to nine days for the labile phase to 222–835 days for the non-labile phase. Glyphosate appeared to be more strongly held in the acidic Rutherglen soil than in the alkaline soils studied, and this was thought to be related to the substantially lower pH and higher Fe content of the acidic soil. At 10°C, glyphosate was shown numerically to be derived from two different sources for two of the soils. However, for the two remaining soils, glyphosate appeared to be derived either from a single phase or from two phases at either the same rate or at differential rates where the rate of release from one phase was sufficiently fast to mask the rate of release from the other. At this temperature, more glyphosate was partitioned into the non-labile phase of the Walpeup and Rutherglen soils than at 25°C. However, the rate of release of glyphosate from this phase increased for the Walpeup soil relative to that at 25°C, but decreased substantially for the Rutherglen soil. This suggests that different mechanisms for the binding of glyphosate into the non-labile phase may exist between soils. © 1998 SCI.


An eroding or growing solid surface is treated as an advancing nonlinear wavefront and characteristic methods are used to describe its progress, when the normal velocity of erosion is a well-defined function of spatial position, and time and surface orientation. Facets, points and edges can develop as the surface evolves and the formation of these are described in terms of the theory. Some interesting examples are computed that have important application in microfabrication, surface analysis and ion beam processing.


OKT3 induces a systemic release of cytokines and a profound peripheral lymphocytopenia. In vitro, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-1, and interferon-gamma increase adhesion molecule expression on vascular endothelium. To investigate the effects of OKT3 induced cytokine release on endothelial- and lymphocyte adhesion molecule expression in vivo, we studied sequential skin biopsies of six renal allograft recipients treated for acute rejection with 5 mg OKT3. An additional group of six patients treated for acute rejection with 50 mg methylprednisolone served as a control group. Compared to pre-treatment biopsies, biopsies taken 4.5- and 24 hours after the first OKT3 dose showed a maximal increase in VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 expression, respectively. In parallel, an increased number of CD2+, CD11a+, and CD49d+ mononuclear cells in the skin was observed in all OKT3 treated patients. No changes were observed after methylprednisolone treatment. We conclude that the OKT3 induced cytokine release induces increased ICAM-1- and VCAM-1 expression on vascular endothelium, leading to increased influx of CD2+ lymphocytes which may contribute to the peripheral lymphocytopenia after OKT3.


In the study, we evaluated the psychometric properties of the Health Belief Scales Toward COVID-19 Vaccine, including the structure, reliability and validity of the scale. Psychometric properties were assessed on a general sample of 472 Polish participants aged between 19 and 69 years (M = 25.43). The procedure consisted of completing the Health Belief Scales Toward COVID-19 Vaccine, the World Health Organization's 5-item Well-being Index (WHO-5) and demographic questions. The presented research results obtained using the measure indicate that it can be considered to be a reliable and valid research tool. A four-factor solution demonstrated a good fit to the data: χ2/df = 3.90, RMSEA = 0.079, AGFI = 0.913, GFI = 0.951, CFI = 0.960, TLI = 0.941. The reliability measures for the overall index of the Health Belief Scales Toward COVID-19 Vaccine were: Cronbach's α = 0.88 and McDonald's ω = 0.87. The Health Belief Scales Toward COVID-19 Vaccine total score correlated negatively and weakly with the WHO-5 score. The Health Belief Scales Toward COVID-19 Vaccine proved to be a valid and a reliable tool to assess attitudes towards vaccination in four dimensions consistent with the HBM.


This paper describes a new digital current sharing method for parallel interleaved dc-dc converters. The difference between sensed inductor current values can cause unequal current distribution in the parallel dc-dc converters even though they are controlled by the same average current mode controller with a common current reference. To overcome this problem, a simple digital current sharing algorithm using input voltage ripple difference is proposed. The digital current sharing algorithm calculates the required current reference adjustment value using only the input ripple voltage difference information. No additional input current sensing circuit is required. The proposed algorithm achieves equal current distribution between phases of the parallel converters with high parameter insensitivity. For the experimental verification, a 500 W two phase interleaved synchronous buck dc-dc converter which charges a 24 V Li-ion battery is implemented.


Jason-3 is equipped with the Advanced Microwave Radiometer-2 (AMR-2) to account for the zenith wet delay (ZWD) caused by the troposphere in the altimeter signal, from which the precipitable water vapor (PWV) can be deduced. In order to investigate the accuracy of PWV from Jason-3 AMR-2 on a global scale, we adopted PWV observations from 263 radiosonde stations and 103 Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) stations as reference PWV. These reference PWVs are recorded during Jason-3 cycles 0–119 and are globally distributed in coastal and island regions. Over 60 000 Jason-3 PWV versus radiosonde PWV comparison points and over 380 000 Jason-3 PWV versus GNSS PWV comparison points are used in this study. For GNSS PWV, two PWV height reduction methods (Kouba empirical method and European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) method) are used to reduce the PWV from height of station to sea level. The comparison results indicate that the root-mean-square error (RMSE) of Jason-3 PWV evaluated using radiosonde PWV is 3.4 kg/m2. Jason-3 PWV has an RMSE of 3.0 kg/m2 with GNSS PWV derived using ECMWF PWV height correction, while the RMSE between Jason-3 PWV and GNSS PWV derived using Kouba PWV height correction is 3.1 kg/m2. In addition, the accuracy of Jason-3 PWV increases when the latitude of its footprints or the distance from its footprints to land increases.


The impulsive interferences are not negligible in many communication channels, such as power line channels. During the initialization of Turbo iterative decode algorithm, e.g., message passing algorithm for Low-Density Parity-Check code's decoder, it is necessary to estimate parameters of channel to retrieve the prior information from the received signals. Performances of the detector/estimator based on Gaussian optimization are deteriorated sharply due to impulsive noise. It does make sense to restudy how to get the prior information in impulsive channel. We introduce symmetric alpha-stable (SocS) noise into a statistical model of impulsive noise, and consider that interference in the receiver is a mixture of multivariate SocS noise. A novel parameters estimation scheme for impulsive channel in high-order modulation scenarios is proposed, which is based on equivalent characteristic function. It proves to be effective and low complexity for both MPSK and MQAM, as we can see in the simulations.


The ability of penicillins and chloramphenicol to enter human polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNLs) and their antibacterial activity against intracellular Haemophilus influenzae type b were studied. Penicillin was excluded whereas chloramphenicol was concentrated in PMNLs; chloramphenicol uptake was not dependent on PMNL energy and was not competitively inhibited by unlabeled drug. PMNLs that had phagocytized opsonized H. influenzae type b were examined after incubation for 24 hr. In the absences of antibiotics, intact intracellular H. influenzae type b organisms were observed in PMNLs by electron microscopy. These PMNLs contained 10(4.5) colony-forming units (cfu) of H. influenzae type b. Addition of penicillin or ampicillin at four, 20, or 40 times the minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) decreased this density from 10(4.5) to 10(3.5) cfu. In contrast, addition of chloramphenicol at four times the MBC reduced the density to approximately 100 cfu; at 10 times the MBC it reduced the density to approximately 10 cfu. Thus, lipid-soluble antibiotics such as chloramphenicol are concentrated and are bioactive within PMNLs. Such antibiotics may have a significant advantage at the cellular level.


This article sets forth a concept and an action plan to support the educational needs for the clinical systems manager. This article describes the roles, competencies, and tasks of the clinical systems manager and defines specific intermediate and long-term steps. Clinical systems management is umbrella terminology used to describe an array of related jobs including, but not necessarily limited to, multidepartmental or interdisciplinary management, regional or health system-wide laboratory management, and traditional laboratory management. In general, clinical systems management recognizes the emergence of new jobs, with the primary responsibility of leading the integration of clinical services within health-care systems.


Background The seroprevalence of immunoglobulin M (IgM) and immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) may be a more reliable approach to detect true infected population, particularly in asymptomatic persons. Few studies focus on the diagnosis of COVID-19 patients using serological tests. To detect and assess asymptomatic infections of COVID-19 among people in Wuhan, the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in China, and provide evidence for planning adequate public health measures, we collected and analyzed the clinical data in the Wuhan General Hospital mandatory for 16- to 64-year-old asymptomatic people. This retrospective study estimated the seroprevalence of IgM and IgG and compared the epidemiological characteristics of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2-infected population. Methods Demographical and radiological data were collected from the Wuhan General Hospital between March 26 and April 28, 2020. Serological tests for IgM and IgG antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 were conducted with a colloidal gold method. Nucleic acid sequences of viruses were detected with RT-PCR. Statistical analyses were carried out using SPSS 20.0 software. Findings Between March 26 and April 28, 2020, 18,391 asymptomatic back-to-work participants were enrolled. Among them, 89 had positivity for IgM (0.48%, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.38-0.58%); 620 cases had IgG positivity (3.37%, 95% CI: 3.11-3.64%), and 650 cases had either IgG positivity or IgM positivity (3.53%, 95% CI: 3.26-3.80%). After standardizing for the genders and ages in the population of Wuhan, the overall standardized seroprevalence of IgG was 3.33% (95% CI: 3.07-3.59%) and the standardized seroprevalence of IgG was 3.01% (95% CI: 2.69-3.33%) among males and 3.66% (95 % CI: 3.23-4.09%) among females. The standardized seroprevalence of IgG was higher in women than in men with a significant difference ({chi}2 = 2,060.3, p < 0.01). By a detection method adjustment, the seroprevalence of IgG was 1.57% (95% CI: 1.39-1.75%) in all medical records, of which males were 1.96% (95% CI: 1.64-2.28%), and females were 1.19% (95% CI: 0.99-1.39%). The assay-adjusted seroprevalence of IgG was higher in women than in men, and the difference was significant ({chi}2 = 5,871.0, p < 0.01). The differences were significant for the seroprevalence of IgG among people who went back to work in different categories of workplace ({chi}2 = 198.44, p < 0.01). The differences in seroprevalence for IgG positivity or IgM positivity among people who went back to work in different urban and rural areas was also significant ({chi}2 = 45.110, p < 0.01). Calculated as IgG and/or IgM antibody positivity, the number of new infections was reduced by 64.8% from March 26 to April 28, 2020. Based on the census population aged 16-64 years in Wuhan in 2017, we estimated that 172,340 (95% CI: 157,568-187,112) asymptomatic people aged 16-64 years were infected with SARS-CoV-2 in Wuhan between March 25 and April 28, 2020. This estimate was 3.4-times higher than the officially reported 50,333 infections on April 28. Interpretation The seropositivity rate in Wuhan indicated that RT-PCR-confirmed patients only represented a small part of the total number of cases. Seropositivity progressively decreased in the Wuhan population from March 26 to April 28, 2020, comparable to Japan and Denmark, but well below the level reported in New York, Iran, Italy, and Germany. The prevalence of asymptomatic infection was higher in women than in men among people who went back to work in Wuhan. The low seroprevalence suggests that most of the population remains susceptible to COVID-19. Funding The Emergency Management Project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81842035) and Advisory Research Project of the Chinese Academy of Engineering in 2019 (2019-XZ-70).


— Automatic facial expression recognition from video clips is a challenging task due to computational complexity, limitations of image analysis and subjectivity. This paper advocates a fuzzy based approach for emotion classification. On the other hand, several proposals have been put forward to enhance the pre-processing stage prior to the classification. This includes a combination of a boundary elliptical model for skin detection, adaptive thresholding, principal component analysis and use of cam-shift for face tracking. The performances of the developed system have been evaluated using TFEID and video clips and compared with Bayes' classifier.


Swedish National Data Service, SND is a service organisation for Swedish research within the humanities, social sciences and health sciences. This diversity of scientific domains creates difficulties when different types of data and metadata standards get involved. SND uses DDI as its primary standard for documentation, however other standards are used as well depending on the situation. This presentation is about how SND currently handles its data and metadata and how the tools interacts today and how we plan to use DDI in the future. Tools presented in this presentation will cover transformation between standards using XSLT, archive management tools, web services and much more.


Undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and math students (STEM) are usually not attuned to the intricacies of plant life histories or to the dynamic role plants play in ecosystems and human society, a phenomenon termed plant blindness. Botany education has declined in the past decades, whereas career paths that need and benefit from a workforce with botanical knowledge have increased. Consequently, there is a need to reduce plant blindness among undergraduate students, regardless of their career trajectories. We provide evidence that participation in a botanical experience as part of a general biology course can positively shift undergraduates' perception of botany, the study of plants. Students participating in the botanical experience showed significant positive shifts in their ability to connect botany to their college major and future careers. In addition, we show qualitative data indicating a new respect for plants and a new appreciation for the diversity among plants.


Among the areas related to fields of high tech, including the electronics industry and the Production of medical and food products those places requiring a particularly high degree of cleanliness are installing clean rooms. When clean rooms are put into operation for the purpose of assuring a high degree of cleanliness, which is the functional objective of these clean rooms, it is vitally important to measure the volume of dust leakage from the air purification filter. This operation, however, is particularly unpopular with human personnel due to the fact that these operations are preformed high above ground. Due to the foregoing reasons, our company sought to robotize these operations. The robot that we will introduce here is different from the conventional type. We have simplified robot control by providing it with the function to automatically detect the position of the filter that is the object of measurement.


The current civil infrastructure conditions can be assessed through the measurement of displacement using conventional contact-type sensors. To address the disadvantages of traditional sensors, vision-based sensor measurement systems have been derived in numerous studies and proven as an alternative to traditional sensors. Despite the benefits of the vision sensor, it is well known that the accuracy of the vision-based displacement measurement is largely dependent on the camera extrinsic or intrinsic parameters. In this study, the feasibility study of a deep learning-based single image super-resolution (SISR) technique in a vision-based sensor system is conducted to alleviate the low spatial resolution of image frames at long measurement distance ranges. Additionally, its robustness is evaluated using shaking table tests. As a result, it is confirmed that the SISR can reconstruct definite images of natural targets resulting in an extension of the measurement distance range. Additionally, it is determined that the SISR mitigates displacement measurement error in the vision sensor-based measurement system. Based on this fundamental study of SISR in the feature point-based measurement system, further analysis such as modal analysis, damage detection, and so forth should be continued in order to explore the functionality of SR images by applying low-resolution displacement measurement footage.


Plasma concentrations of big endothelin-1 were determined by ELISA in 18 patients with complicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Bangkok. Before therapy, elevated levels were recorded (21 +/- 12 vs. 2.9 +/- 1.1 pmol/L in age- and sex-matched healthy subjects; P < .001). Even 7 days after therapy, elevated concentrations were seen (25 +/- 14 pmol/L). Plasma endothelin levels were correlated with levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (r = .632, P < .01), and a negative correlation with platelet counts was seen (r = .783, P < .005). No relation between plasma endothelin concentrations and parasitemia, fever, or other indices of severe infection (hypotension, renal, hepatic or pulmonary impairment, cerebral malaria) existed. During and after complicated malaria, increased levels of plasma endothelin could contribute to malarial pathology or reflect endothelial damage or both.


Abstract An expression is derived for the surface salt input needed to induce complete convective overturning of a polar water column consisting of 1) a layer of sea ice, 2) a freezing temperature mixed layer, 3) a pycnocline with linearly varying temperature and salinity, and 4) deep water with fixed temperature and salinity. This quantity has been termed the bulk stability by Martinson. The bulk stability is found to consist of three components. The first two make up Martinson's salt deficit and are the salt input needed to increase the density of the mixed layer and the pycnocline layer to that of the deep water (the mixed layer stability and pycnocline layer stability, respectively). The third component is Martinson's thermal barrier: the potential for pycnocline heat to melt ice, reducing the surface salinity. It is found that when the pycnocline density gradient due to temperature offsets more than one half of that due to salinity, the pycnocline layer stability is negative. Consequently, it is poss...


Are we all in this together? Around 87 percent of Biden voters and 95 percent of Trump voters can at least agree on the answer to this ever-pressing question: no, we are not (Pew Research Center, 2020). Americans are increasingly divided, with a nearly even split of people believing President Joe Biden can create unity and those who have little or no confidence in his ability to do so (Pew Research Center, 2021a). Political polarization in the United States is on the rise (Iyengar and Westwood, 2015), and recent scholarship suggests that as polarization increases, its strain on familial ties becomes more acute (Afifi et al., 2019; Chen and Rohla, 2018). Extant research has demonstrated a clear link between polarization and family, and polarization and news media, but the relationship between the three constructs has thus far gone relatively unexplored. Taken together, the worsening polarization among partisans, particularly those consuming attitude-consistent media (Stroud, 2010), suggests the need for research exploring the possibly polarizing effects of political news media exposure on familial ties. The present study aims to fill this gap in the literature. Using social identity theory (SIT; Tajfel and Turner, 1979) as a theoretical lens, this study examines how exposure to distinct forms of partisan media can lead to differential polarization effects depending on political heterogeneity within the family and relational satisfaction.


"Advances in Oto-Rhino-Laryngology" Volume 16 by L. Riiedi (ed.) S. Karger 1969 "The Ventral Cochlear Nucleus: The Significance 0t the Crossed, Inhibitory Pathways Towards the Nucleus for Directional Hearing' by R. K. l, Pfalz (94 pages). "RestOTativn of Laryngeal Function after Laryngectomy Experimental Research in Animals" by 1. Serafini (27 pages). Hard cover, 36 figures and 3 tables; references. S. Karger, Basel/New York, 1969. Price $8.40.


OBJECTIVE: An uncommon case of Fournier's gangrene following vasectomy is described. METHODS/RESULTS: A 35-year-old male with no remarkable previous history, who underwent vasectomy in another hospital, developed a clinical picture compatible with Fournier's gangrene 7-8 days later. The patient required wide, aggressive surgical debridement on several occasions with broad spectrum antibiotic coverage. After a long stay at the hospital, the patient was finally discharged and referred to another hospital for plastic surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Fournier's gangrene is a polymicrobial infection of the perineoscrotal region that manifests as a rapidly progressive necrotizing fasciitis. Most of the cases have a predisposing and/or triggering factor. Fournier's gangrene following vasectomy is uncommon. The morbidity and mortality in this severe complication depend on early diagnosis and aggressive surgical management.


Glutamate release from rod photoreceptors is dependent on a sustained calcium influx through L-type calcium channels. Missense mutations in the CACNA1F gene in patients with incomplete X-linked congenital stationary night blindness implicate the Cav1.4 calcium channel subtype. Here, we describe the functional and pharmacological properties of transiently expressed human Cav1.4 calcium channels. Cav1.4 is shown to encode a dihydropyridine-sensitive calcium channel with unusually slow inactivation kinetics that are not affected by either calcium ions or by coexpression of ancillary calcium channel β subunits. Additionally, the channel supports a large window current and activates near -40 mV in 2 mM external calcium, making Cav1.4 ideally suited for tonic calcium influx at typical photoreceptor resting potentials. Introduction of base pair changes associated with four incomplete X-linked congenital night blindness mutations showed that only the G369D alteration affected channel activation properties. Immunohistochemical analyses show that, in contrast with previous reports, Cav1.4 is widely distributed outside the retina, including in the immune system, thus suggesting a broader role in human physiology.


Decades of research show that barium and strontium enter skeletal tissues in proportion to their dietary abundance and, hence, to local environmental levels. Among regions that contrast geologically or climatologically, the environmental abundance of these elements can vary substantially and exceed variation due solely to local dietary differences. Because dental enamel develops during childhood and retains the original levels of these elements, it can provide a chemical signature of the geographic origins of individuals. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


. Population substructure and the effects of scale have recently received much theoretical attention, but few studies have examined these factors in free-living populations of vertebrates. We used > 200 000 sightings of recognized females recorded over a con- tinuous 20-yr period to explore population substructure and spatial heterogeneity in red deer on the Isle of Rum, Scotland. We used hierarchical cluster analysis to group individuals together by their proximities in space, and we explored the influence of scale, considering scales ranging between the whole population and groups of one or two individuals. Intermediate scales were isolated as being the best at describing calf winter survival, the key factor in determining future population density. The most statistically explanatory scale isolated a population substructure related to vegetation, with higher local densities occurring around herb-rich Festuca-Agrostis grassland. Calves at high local density were most likely to die. Patterns of local population density varied between seasons in relation to food availability. High-resolution scales were the best descriptors of calf winter survival in summer; coarser scales were better in winter. In both summer and winter, local population density was more important than total population density in influencing calf winter survival. The effects on calf survival of local population density during the summer interacted significantly with calf sex and the mother's reproductive status. In this study, the technique of grouping animals by their proximity in space was more realistic and informative than discrete spatial divisions of the study area.


The structure of the sulfonamide isostere-containing peptide N-acetyl-tauryl-proline methylamide 4 was compared to information on the structure of the peptide N-acetyl-beta-alanyl-proline methylamide 6. NMR measurements of the beta-alanine containing peptide 6 showed the presence of two conformations due to cis/trans isomerism of the beta-Ala-Pro amide bond, whereas the sulfonamide-containing peptide 4 appeared in only one conformation. The crystal structure of N-acetyl-tauryl-proline methylamide 4 gave additional evidence for the absence of cis/trans isomerism. The crystals are orthorhombic, space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), Z = 4, F(000) = 592, a = 7.5919(3), b = 10.3822(2), c = 17.1908(7) A, V = 1354.99(8) A3, Dx = 1.359 g cm-3. The oxygen atoms connected to the sulfur take positions similar to both the cis and trans positions of the carbonyl oxygen of an amide. Consequently the tauryl part is placed perpendicular to the proline alpha-C-C(O) bond, giving it an extended conformation in contrast to the cis/trans isomers of N-acetyl-beta-alanyl-proline methylamide 6.


Background: It is suggested that one of the reasons for the lack of effect in fall prevention programs is insufficient attention given to cognitive functions in the design of interventions. New treatments have to be piloted to test whether they are feasible and effective. The aim of this pilot study was to elucidate the feasibility and efficacy of an assisted living-based, twelve weeks combined physical-computer-game-training program for older people to inform a future Phase III trial. Secondary aim was elucidating the effects of the training program on brain associated spatial and temporal characteristics of gait.
Materials and methods: We investigated the effects of a program with computer game dancing against usual care physical interventions in Swiss assisted living facilities. A controlled clinical trial experimental design was employed whereby participants in a facility were either allocated to 12 weeks usual care physical training (control group) or to 12 weeks physical training with integrated computer game dancing (experimental group). Main outcome measures were adherence rates, relative dual task costs of walking, and falls efficacy.
Results: Adherence rate of the physical-computer-game-training was excellent with 96%. Results indicate a positive effect of the computer game dancing program on relative dual task costs of walking. The program significantly lowered the fear of falling.
Conclusions: The findings from this pilot study suggests that a multicentre randomized clinical trial comparing usual care with physical-computer-game-training in older people in assisted living facilities is feasible. Pilot studies can improve the design of larger trials. A training programme with computer game dancing affects brain related walking functions, as opposed to usual care that showed no such effect.


Nonlinear system control has been widely concern of the research. At present, the nonlinear system decoupling control and static feedback linearization that based on the theory of differential geometry brought the research getting rid of limitation for local linearization and small scale motion. However, differential geometry control must depend on precise mathematical model. As a matter of fact, the control system usually is with parameters uncertainties and output disturbance. In this thesis, nonlinear system of control theory has been studied deeply. Considering sliding mode variable structure control with good robust, which was not sensitive for parameters perturbation and external disturbance, the combination idea of nonlinear system and sliding mode controls was obtained by reference to the large number of documents. Thus, it not only can improve system robustness but solve the difficulties problem of nonlinear sliding mode surface structure. As known to all, traditional sliding mode had a defect that is famous chattering phenomenon. A plenty of research papers focus on elimination/avoidance chattering by using different methods. By comparing, the document is concerned with novel design method for high order sliding mode control, which can eliminate chattering fundamentally. Especially, the approach and realization of nonlinear system high order sliding mode control is presented in this paper. High order sliding mode technique is the latest study. This thesis from the theory analysis to the simulation and experiment deeply study high order sliding mode control principle and its applications. By comparison, the second order sliding mode control law (also known as dynamic sliding mode control, DSM) may be effective to eliminate the chattering phenomenon. But it is still unable to shake off the requirement of system relative degree. Therefore, arbitrary order sliding mode controller is employed, whose relative degree can equal any values instead of one. The robot car model adopted high order sliding mode is taken as an example. The simulation results show that the tracking control is effective. In the control systems design, it is very often to differentiate the variables. Through the derivation of sliding mode, the expression of sliding mode differential value is obtained. The simulation results certificate sliding mode differentiator with robustness and precision. At the same time, the differentiator for arbitrary sliding mode is given to avoiding conventional complex numerical calculation. It not only remains the precision of variables differential value, but also obtains the robustness. A direct application is simplification for high order sliding mode controller. Due to its inherent advantages, the permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) deserves attention and is the most used drive in machine tool servos and modern speed control applications. For improving performance, this paper will applied nonlinear high order sliding mode research achievement to MIMO permanent magnet synchronous motor. It changes the coupling nonlinear PMSM to single input single output (SISO) linear subsystem control problem instead of near equilibrium point linearization. Thereby, the problem of nonlinear and coupling for PMSM has been solved. In addition, Uncertainty nonlinear robust control system has been well-received study of attention. Because the robust control theory is essentially at the expense of certain performance. This kind of robust control strategy often limits bandwidth of closed loop, so that system tracking performance and robustness will be decreased. So, sliding mode control is an effective approach for improving system robust. This thesis first proposed a robust high order sliding mode controller for PMSM. The system has good position servo tracking precision in spite of parameters uncertainties and external torque disturbance. On this basis, According to the principle of high order sliding mode, as well as differentiator, the state variables of PMSM are identified online firstly and successfully. The results of simulation indicate observe value has high precision when sliding mode variable and its differentials are convergent into zero. The same theory is used in external unknown torque disturbance estimation online for PMSM. As if, load torque will no longer be unknown disturbance. System performance can be improved greatly. It establishes theoretical foundation for the future applications. At the end of paper, using advanced half-physical platform controller dSPACE to drive a PMSM, hardware experiment implement is structured completely. The experiment results illustrate that PMSM adopting precious feedback linearization decoupling and high order sliding mode controller can realize system servo tracking control with good dynamic and steady character.


Professionals involved in the care of patients with clefts in Africa face unique challenges when compared with what obtained in western countries. It is the purpose of this paper to review some of the challenges of cleft care in Africa. A computerized literature search using electronic databases; Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE and AJOL databases was conducted for published articles from 1965 to 2006. Mesh phrases used in the search were: Cleft lip, Cleft palate, Cleft care, Management, Challenges and Africa. The search produced 46 articles. A critical evaluation of the 46 articles using the inclusion and exclusion criteria led to selection of 20 articles for the review. The findings were: (1) No reliable data on incidence of cleft; (2) Strong traditional beliefs system exist regarding etiology of cleft; (3) Health problems attributed to clefts common at presentation; (4) Patients with cleft commonly present late; (5) Lack of multidisciplinary approach to care. The chance that a child born with a cleft tomorrow in Africa will receive the best care possible can not yet be guaranteed. The need to formulate basic strategies to improve the standard of cleft care in Africa and the rest of the developing world is overdue. We hope that the findings in this review will provoke solutions that might ultimately improve the standard of cleft care in Africa and the rest of the developing world.


James Ronald Harries, or "Jimmy" as he was known to his many friends throughout the world, was one of the leading tropical physicians of his day. He is credited with bringing the technique of "glossopharyngeal frog breathing" to assist patients with bulbar-respiratory paralysis during the polio epidemic in Kenya in the 1950s. In 1956 he was awarded a WHO fellowship to the United States to study respiratory poliomyelitis. While there he learnt and taught himself how to frog breathe, introducing the technique first into the United Kingdom and then into Kenya, where he was living and working as a specialist physician. His most famous patient was Ian Bompas, who contracted bulbar polio and respiratory paralysis at the age of 20. He taught Ian how to frog breathe, allowing this determined young man to spend hours out of the iron lung and develop his immense talents for painting by mouth. Jimmy had the honour of presenting one of Ian's paintings to the Aga Khan during one of the Aga Khan's visits to Kenya in the 1960s.

Jimmy was born into a coal mining fraternity in the town of Porth, South Wales, on 26 June 1919. After school education in the Welsh valleys, Jimmy and his brother Alan were sent …


In resettling after its "swimming" response, Stomphia shows a special behavior pattern when in contact with bivalve shells. Movements of the tentacles, oral disc and column, and huge swellings of the pedal disc are the chief features in a coordinated purposive sequence, which settles the anemone on the shell in a few minutes.


Using a simple membrane model composed of spaced microcylinders, we show unambiguously that a wettability gradient along the thickness direction can cause anisotropic liquid penetration behavior, which is attributed to the coupled effects of local geometrical angle and contact angle on the critical breakthrough pressure. The anisotropic ratio of critical breakthrough pressure can be improved by reducing the spacing ratio of the cylinder membrane as well as by increasing the wettability gradient. This kind of gradient membrane with anisotropic penetration resistance to liquid may open up new applications in fluid control, membrane separation and advanced fabrics.


Medical tourism is one of the recently developed and rapid growing tourism activities of the World, especially in India. "Medical Tourism can be generally defined as the movement of people for the purpose of getting cost effective personal health care in association with the tourism industry for patients needing surgical health care and other forms of dedicated treatment." Recent days several Indian state governments have realized the potential of medical tourism and have been actively promoting it Visitors, especially from the West and the Middle East find Indian hospitals a very affordable and viable option to grdppling with insurance and National medical systems in their native lands and combine their treatments with a visit to the 'exotic east' with their families.Quality medical treatment at low cost, coupled with great traveling experience is possibly the perfect way to recover from any medical ailment. An inexpensive vacation package combined with a low cost medical treatment has led to the evolution of a new but rapidly growing industry called medical tourism. This process is being facilitated by M1 the corporate sector concerned in heath care as well as the tourism industry including tour operators, hospital administrators, travel agents, airlines, hotels and government tourism organizations. Medical or health treatment package tourism has become a persistent form of engaging the vacation in a different way by inculcating leisure with treatment and covers a broad range of health, medical and dental services. Medical tourism is organized in such a manner that leisure time inculcate with enjoyment and recreation together with wellness and health care packages in a country other than the place of residence. Health and Medical Tourism is perceived as one of the fastest growing segments in marketing 'Destination India' today. The Ministry of Tourism, airlines, tour operators, insurance companies, tourism sector and healthcare providers can make India as a dream destination for medical Tourism through an orchestrated effort. Government and private organizations that are playing a vital role in the development of tourism in India should orchestrate their developmental efforts to take advantage of the enormous potential of Medical and Dental tourism through ensuring international standard treatment to the patients and envisage a coordinated marketing and promotional strategies enough to overcome the Asian competitors.


We point out an inconsistency in a recent calculation of the parity-violating π𝒩𝒩 amplitude, based on current-algebra-PCAC techniques and a non-relativistic quark model involving neutral currents. The correct treatment along the same lines enhances the amplitude by a factor of about two, bringing it closer to the values obtained in the literature by means of different approaches.


Cardiac P2X purinergic receptors can mediate an increase in myocyte contractility and a potentially important role in the heart. The P2X(4) receptor (P2X(4)R) is an important subunit of native cardiac P2X receptors. With transgenic mice with cardiac-specific overexpression of P2X(4)R (Tg) used as a model, the objectives here were to characterize the P2X receptor-mediated cellular contractile and Ca(2+) transient effects and to determine the mechanism underlying the receptor-induced increase in myocyte contractility. In response to the agonist 2-methylthioATP (2-meSATP), Tg myocytes showed an increased intracellular Ca(2+) transient, as defined by fura 2 fluorescence ratio, and an enhanced contraction shortening that were unaccompanied by cAMP accumulation or L-type Ca(2+) channel activation. The increased Ca(2+) transient was not associated with any alteration in action potential duration, resting membrane potential, or diastolic fluorescence ratio or rates of rise and decline of the Ca(2+) transient. Simultaneous Ca(2+) transient and contraction measurements did not show any agonist-mediated change in myofilament Ca(2+) sensitivity. However, activation of the overexpressed P2X(4) receptor caused an enhanced SR Ca(2+) loading, as evidenced by a 2-meSATP-evoked increase in the caffeine-induced inward current and Ca(2+) transient. Similar data were obtained in wild-type mouse ventricular myocytes. Thus an increased SR Ca(2+) content, occurring in the absence of cAMP accumulation or L-type Ca(2+) channel activation, is the principal mechanism by which cardiac P2X receptor mediates a stimulatory effect on cardiac myocyte contractility.


This article considers the strategies that women who live within a demographic reality of widespread unemployment, infrequent marriage, and absent fathers deploy to achieve economic stability, affective commitment for themselves and their children, and sexual intimacy—in their terms, a family. Within their toolkit, women whose former partners are employed can use the Maintenance Court to sue these fathers for assistance in supporting their children. My ethnographic data reveal that these women make complex calculations about whether and how to utilize the court that situate maintenance payments within larger economies of intimacy involving exchanges of money, affection, labor, and sex. In these economies, success in the court—maintenance payments—can create a sexual debt that complicates women's relationships with the father and new lovers.


Many optimization methods for generating black-box adversarial examples have been proposed, but the aspect of initializing said optimizers has not been considered in much detail. We show that the choice of starting points is indeed crucial, and that the performance of state-of-the-art attacks depends on it. First, we discuss desirable properties of starting points for attacking image classifiers, and how they can be chosen to increase query efficiency. Notably, we find that simply copying small patches from other images is a valid strategy. We then present an evaluation on ImageNet that clearly demonstrates the effectiveness of this method: Our initialization scheme reduces the number of queries required for a state-of-the-art Boundary Attack by 81%, significantly outperforming previous results reported for targeted black-box adversarial examples.


Food is often wasted due to real or perceived
concerns about preservation and shelf life. Thus, precise, accurate and
consumer-friendly methods of indicating whether food is safe for consumers are
drawing great interest.
The colorimetric sensing of biogenic amines released as food degrades is a
potential way of determining the quality of the food. Herein, we report the use
of genipin, a naturally occurring iridoid, as a dual colorimetric sensor for
both oxygen and biogenic amines. Immobilization of genipin in edible calcium
alginate beads demonstrates that it is a capable sensor for amine vapors and
can be immobilized in a non-toxic, food-friendly matrix.


Game theory has been used a long time ago in military strategy. In Marketing, game theory can be explained as persuasion element for the organization to consider about which the competitors will likely move and the impact for this movement towards their own strategy. The structure of game theory was constructed by Von Neumann and Morgenstern. There are vast debated by past researcher about possibility to apply this game theory to solve marketing problems. Marketing scholars claimed that game theory can be a tool to identify or predict competitive behavior. In the current marketing situation, issues such as pricing decision and identifying product to be sold can be explain and predict by using this game theory. Hence, it is important and highly recommended for marketing manager to understand the basis of game theory in decision making process.


Objectives Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multi-factorial, autoimmune disease with a wide array of manifestations. The pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin (IL)-17 has been implicated in the inflammatory response and tissue damage in SLE; however, its correlation with disease activity is still questionable. Meanwhile, efficient clearance of apoptotic cells is required for immune tolerance. An abnormally low or high level of milk fat globule (MFG-E8) can result in impaired apoptotic cell clearance and the subsequent autoimmune response. In this study, we endeavoured to compare the levels of MFG-E8 and IL-17 in SLE patients and healthy controls and to reveal the alleged association of these levels with SLE disease activity. Material and methods Serum samples from 57 SLE patients and 30 healthy control subjects were examined for quantitation of MFG-E8 and IL-17 levels using ELISA. Systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity was calculated using the SLE Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI). Clinical manifestations and laboratory findings of the patients were also recorded. Results We report that serum MFG-E8 levels were significantly elevated in the sera of SLE patients compared to healthy controls (p-value = 0.019). Likewise, IL-17 levels were higher in SLE patients (p-value < 0.001). A positive correlation was revealed between MFG-E8 level and proteinuria. Surprisingly, there was a poor correlation between disease activity and the levels of either IL-17 or MFG-E8. Conclusions Although serum MFG-E8 and IL-17 levels were higher in SLE patients than in normal controls, our results indicate that they cannot accurately reflect the disease activity. Meanwhile, further studies are needed to assess MFG-E8 and IL-17 as potential therapeutic targets in SLE patients.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the regulatory effects of the circadian clock gene Per1 on cell cycle-related genes and its influence on the proliferation, apoptosis, cycle, and tumorigenicity in vivo of human oral squamous cell carcinoma SCC15 cells.

METHODS
Three groups of the short hairpin RNA (shRNA) of lentivirus recombinant plasmids were designed against the RNA of Per1 and then transfected to the SCC15 cells. The optimum interference group was screened through Western blot and quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and assigned as the experimental group. The transfected lentivirus plasmid without an interference effect on any gene was set as the control group (Control-shRNA). Untreated SCC15 cells were set as the blank group. The mRNA expressions of cell cycle-related genes, namely, Per1, p53, Cyclin D1, Cyclin E, Cyclin A2, Cyclin B1, CDK1, CDK2, CDK4, CDK6, p16, p21, Wee1, cdc25, E2F, and Rbl1 in each group were detected through qRT-PCR. The cell proliferation, apoptosis, and cell cycle distribution in each group were evaluated through flow cytometry. The cells of the experimental group and the blank group were subcutaneously inoculated in nude mice to observe tumorigenesis.

RESULTS
Three groups of Per1-shRNA lentivirus plasmids were constructed successfully. Among the groups, the Per1-shRNA- I group exhibited the highest interference effect, as indicated by qRT-PCR and Western blot analysis. As such, this group was set as the experimental group. The mRNA expression levels of CyclinD1, CyclinE, CyclinB1, CDK1, and Wee1 gene in the Per1-shRNA-I group were significantly higher than those in the Control-shRNA group and the SCC15 group (P < 0.05). By contrast, the mRNA expression levels of p53, Cyclin A2, p16, p21, and cdc25 in the Per1-shRNA-I group were significantly lower than those in the Control-shRNA group and the SCC15 group (P < 0.05). The mRNA expression levels of each gene between the Control-sLRNA group and the SCC15 group did not significantly differ (P > 0.05). The mRNA expression levels of CDK2, CDK4, CDK6, E2F, and Rb1 did not significantly differed in the three groups (P > 0.05). The proliferation index of the Perl-shRNA-I group was significantly higher than those of the Control-shRNA group and the SCC15 group (P < 0.05). The apoptosis index of the Per1-shRNA-I group was significantly lower than those of the Control-shRNA group and the SCC15 group (P < 0.05). The number of S-phase cells in the Per1-shRNA-I group was significantly lower than those of S-phase cells in the Control-shRNA group and the SCC15 group (P < 0.05). The number of G2/M-phase cells in the Per1-shRNA-I group was significantly higher than those of G2/M-phase cells in the Control-shRNA group and the SCC15 group (P < 0.05). Conversely, the proliferation index, apoptotic index, and cell cycle distribution of the cells in the Control-shRNA group did not significantly differ from those of the SCC15 group (P > 0.05). The tumorigenic ability in vivo was significantly enhanced in the Per1-shRNA-I group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION
Per1 is an important tumor suppressor gene. Per1 can regulate a large number of downstream cell cycle-related genes. The alteration of its expression can affect cell cycle progression, proliferation, apoptosis imbalance, and tumorigenic ability in vivo. Further studies on Per1 may elucidate cancer development and provide novel effective molecular targets for cancer treatment.


Background: Comfort is essential in nursing practice, so useful and valid assessment tools are required. Objectives: To analyze the psychometric properties of the Holistic Comfort Questionnaire – Family (HCQ-F) for the Portuguese population and assess the level of comfort among caregivers of people with advanced chronic disease. Methodology: A methodological study with a quantitative approach was conducted with 314 caregivers. The psychometric properties were analyzed using descriptive summary measures, item-total correlations, and Cronbach's alpha. Factor analysis was performed using Varimax orthogonal rotation and extraction factors with eigenvalues > 1. Results: The internal consistency and factor analysis of the HCQ-F items resulted in the Holistic Comfort Questionnaire – Caregivers – Portugal (HCQ-C-PT) with 18 items that were distributed by 3 factors: relief, ease, and transcendence (α = .795). Conclusion: Based on validity and reliability results, the HCQ-C-PT proved to be suitable for assessing comfort in caregivers of people with advanced chronic disease.


In this article we consider whether the city policy frameworks that are currently emerging in England and Scotland, under the influence of devolution and localism, are likely to result in a locally effective yet nationally coherent set of economic outcomes or generate a disorderly pattern of local autonomies based on a series of ad hoc, local deals. Mindful of the context of slow economic growth and austerity, we look at the evolution of city policies in Scotland and England in the light of some rather fundamental requirements for cohesive decentralised policy design and implementation. Each can learn from the policy experiences of the other, but key questions remain as to whether sufficient resources and governance cohesion, to deliver greater city-led national economic growth, will emerge in England and Scotland.


One of the two hypotheses which explain the cause of schizophrenia is the aberrant connectivity between neurons. For example, over 250,000 brain cells are generated every minute in a two months old fetus. These cells slither across the brain, seeking out their proper destination, and then send out billions of axons, similarly to new branches of massive trees in a forest. The axons make connections with other brain cells, and a single neuron may have 100,000 connections with other neurons. This connection building phase is followed by a pruning phase. Many of these synapses will die (e.g. only half of the 200 billions generated neurons will survive to adulthood). If the pruning of the synapses is not efficient, then the aberrant connectivity can lead to diseases like schizophrenia. The second hypothetical mechanism underlying schizophrenia can be the low level of local connections between neurons (excessive synaptic pruning). This two hypotheses are investigated experimentally in this paper. In order to do this investigation, we simulate the brain biological system by introducing a neural network model that embeds two sub-systems (zones) within it. In this model, which tries to reproduce the piriform cortex, we perform changes to the number of connections (by increasing or decreasing them). By modifying the connectivity, we attempt to simulate the pruning process which may cause schizophrenia. The analyzed signals which describe these two zones are EEGs. We have investigated the level of chaos and the synchronization between these two zones. Both of these hypotheses have an impact on the level of chaos, but the excessive synaptic pruning hypothesis has a higher impact on the system dynamics regarding the nonlinear interdependence measure, than the insufficient pruning hypothesis


The drying of food products is an essential step in the preservation ofcrops and agricultural by-products that serve as raw materials for numerous end applications. Solar drying with Phase Change Material (PCM) is an efficient low-energy consumption processin the post-reapingstage, reducing food deterioration. A customized solar dryer setup was assembled usingCudappah (black) stones as the baseof the drying chamber to facilitate the absorption of solar energy on its surface. Theorganic paraffin wax, with a melting point of 60℃,was used as PCM in the solar dryer. The novelty of the study is the application of a PCMin asolar dryer to improve the effectiveness of drying and decrease the absolute drying period and the microbial content in the dried food products. The study compared the drying characteristics between open sun drying, solar dryingwithout and with PCM (100 and 200 grams). The fabricated setup was utilised for drying coconut using a PCM-based solar drying method.The coconut was dried from an initial moisture content of 55.5% to a final moisture content of about 9%. The prototype dryer modelminimized the use ofthe workforce,avoided improper drying,and decreased the absolute drying time. A Total Plate Count (TPC) test was conducted to characterize the microbial content in the dried coconut.The microbial count decreased with the use of 200 g PCM as the use of PCM retained the heat for a longer time in the chamber. The drying time of the coconut was decreased by about 28 and 52 hours by installing of about 100 and 200g of PCM respectively. The drying time of the coconut decreased with an increase in the amount of PCM in the solar dryer. The sensory characteristics like colour, taste, flavour, quality, and texture of the solar-dried coconut sample were superiorto the sun-dried coconut sample.


The budget performance management of administrative institutions in China has gone through four stages: the initial stage of spontaneous exploration, the experimental stage of strengthening performance evaluation, the stage of establishing the concept of budget performance management in the whole process, and the new period of development of budget performance management. The budget performance management in China has gone through the development stage from the exploration of performance evaluation to the establishment of the whole process budget performance management concept. In recent years, China's administrative institutions' budget performance management has made remarkable progress, initially forming a whole-process budget performance management framework, gradually improving budget performance managem 你 ent rules and regulations, constantly expanding the scope of performance evaluation projects, actively expanding the depth of performance evaluation, consolidating the foundation of budget performance management, and improving the efficiency of financial funds.


The presence of sodium Lauryl sulfates (SLS) as synthetic detergents, in marine environment arises mainly from its presence in complex domestic and industrial effluents as well as its release directly from some applications (e.g., oil dispersants and pesticides). It has been reported that SLS is toxic and affects survival of aquatic animals such as fishes, microbes like yeasts and bacteria. It is also toxic to mammals like mice and humans but to a lesser extent. Many studies have shown that the direct discharge of untreated wastewater into aquatic environment containing anionic surfactants causes significant damage to the aquatic environment due to the growth of algae that consume oxygen needed for the life of aquatic organisms. These damages in the aquatic environment are caused not only by the presence of anionic surfactants (SLS), but also by their interaction with other pollutants in the aquatic environment, which increases their toxic effect on aquatic organisms. Such detergents, however, became a public nuisance because they were neither soluble nor biodegradable. The present study intended to evaluate the fate of SLS as synthetic detergents on Tripoli coastal site of Libya, and quantifying their impacts on fish (Sardine aurita) DNA mutation, compared with other species through literature review. Our results provide functional evidence for genome toxicity of fish, of the DNA mutation caused by detergents effluents. This study provides the rationale for a simple genetic test to identify the impacts of detergents on aquatic ecosystem of Libyan coastal region.


Chiral symmetry restoration high in the hadron spectra is expected but it remains to be confirmed both in lattice QCD computations and in experiments. Recently, a theorem was derived, relating chiral symmetry restoration high in the hadron spectra to the spontaneous generation of the dynamical quark mass in QCD. We refine the theorem in the case of static-light mesons. Utilizing chiral quark model computations and lattice QCD results for the spectrum of mesons composed by a static antiquark and a light quark, we explore chiral symmetry restoration in the spectrum and the quark running mass m(k).


We have studied two types of spatio-temporal turbulence dynamics in plasmas in the Large Helical Device, based on turbulence measurements with high spatial and temporal resolution. Applying conditional ensemble-averaging to a plasma with Edge-Localized Modes (ELMs), fast radial inward propagation of a micro-scale turbulence front is observed just after ELM event, and the propagation speed is evaluated as ∼100 m/s. A self-organized radial electric field structure is observed in an electrode biasing experiment, and it is found to realize a multi-valued state. The curvature of the radial electric field is found to play an important role for turbulence reduction.


In the second half of the nineteenth century India and Australia were linked through a series of ecological exchanges, among the most important of which was the introduction of such Australian trees as eucalyptus, casuarina and acacia. South India was particularly affected by these
 importations, especially the Nilgiri hills, a plausible 'neo-Europe'. But, contrary to A. W. Crosby's argument about 'ecological imperialism', many of these introductions relied heavily on calculated human agency and transoceanic networks of foresters and horticulturalists for their success;
 other attempted transfers either failed or took off in unpredictable ways. The motives behind the introduction of Australian tree species varied but included the acute shortage of fuelwood in south India, colonial landscape aesthetics, an ideology of 'improvement' and belief in the transferability
 of species within the same temperate or tropical climatic zone. By 1914 experience had revealed the complexity of these ecological exchanges and their limitations, as well as the ability of some introduced species to become 'wild' and 'invasive'.


Covers, mulches, and erosion-control blankets are often used to establish turf. There are reports of various effects of seed cover technology on the germination and establishment of warm-season grasses. The objective of this study was to determine how diverse cover technologies influence the establishment of bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon), buffalograss (Buchloe dactyloides), centipedegrass (Eremochloa ophiuroides), seashore paspalum (Paspalum vaginatum), and zoysiagrass (Zoysia japonica) from seed. Plots were seeded in June 2007 or July 2008 with the various turfgrass species and covered with cover technologies, including Curlex, Deluxe, and Futerra products, jute, Poly Jute, polypropylene, straw, straw blanket, Thermal blanket, and the control. Establishment was reduced in strawand polyethylene-covered plots due to decreased photosythentically active radiation penetration or excessive temperature build-up, respectively. Overall, Deluxe and Futerra products, jute, and Poly Jute allowed for the highest establishment of these seeded warm-season grasses.


Edge detection techniques have common problems that include poor edge detection in low contrast images, speed of recognition and high computational cost. An efficient solution to the edge detection of objects in low to high contrast images is scale space analysis. However, this approach is time consuming and computationally expensive. These expenses can be marginally reduced if an optimal scale is found in scale space edge detection. This paper presents a new approach to detecting objects within images using noise within the images. The novel idea is based on selecting one optimal scale for the entire image at which scale space edge detection can be applied. The selection of an ideal scale is based on the hypothesis that " the optimal edge detection scale (ideal scale) depends on the noise within an image ". This paper aims at providing the experimental evidence on the relationship between the optimal scale and the noise within images.


This thesis examines acoustic and mechanical properties of microbubbles stabilized by poly(butyl cyanoacrylate) nanoparticles. The microbubbles are developed with the purpose of being applied in combination with ultrasound as a novel drug delivery system to tumors. Knowledge about the acoustic and mechanical properties is essential to understand the interaction between ultrasound and the microbubbles, their drug delivery potential and stability in the circulatory system. Microbubbles with different surfactant proteins, average diameter, and nanoparticle batches are analyzed and compared in this work. Backscattered power and attenuation of ultrasound waves propagating through a suspension of microbubbles are measured in the frequency range 1-20 MHz. The measurements are done with microbubbles suspended in a sample chamber in a water tank. Attenuation are measured by using the same ultrasound transducer both for transmit and receive. The attenuation coefficients are plotted as function of frequency, and theoretical attenuation spectra calculated from the Church model and the Ho model are tted to the experimental spectra by appropriate estimation of viscoelastic properties of the microbubble shell. Using casein as a surfactant protein is found to increase the shear modulus and viscosity of the shell compared to when Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) is used. Microbubbles with BSA as surfactant protein and smaller average diameter show higher shear modulus, but lower viscosity compared to when the average diameter is larger. The backscatter is received with a transducer different from the transmit transducer. When a transmit transducer with center frequency 1 MHz is used, the scatter spectra display higher harmonics at pressures above 5-15 kPa. Furthermore, destruction takes place above 170 kPa, but apparently more for the microbubbles with casein rather than BSA as surfactant protein. Smaller microbubbles seem to exhibit more resistance against destruction. Measurements of microbubble shell elasticity is performed using atomic force microscopy (AFM) by applying nanoscale compressions (up to 500 nN) with a at cantilever on isolated nanoparticle-stabilized microbubbles. Values of the Young's modulus are found by fitting obtained force-deformation curves to the simple theoretical Reissner model. In accordance with the attenuation measurements, the results indicate that the casein microbubbles have higher Young's modulus than BSA microbubbles. The shell thickness is assumed to be 150 nm. A linear relation between the Young's modulus and the diameter is found for the microbubbles with casein as surfactant protein.


From semi-empirical considerations and a comparison with the equation of state (EOS) for solids in the Thomas-Fermi limit, an EOS for "ideal" solids is derived and used as reference for the discussion of EOS data for various types of real solids. It is shown that the data for Ni, Pt, and Au match the "ideal" solid behaviour very closely, while minor modifications must be applied for most of the regular metals, however, larger corrections are noticed for raregas solids on the one hand and for the covalent semiconductors on the other hand. Some representative EOS data for solids with different types of bonding are used to illustrate the implications of the present scheme.


Supervised learning assumes that a ground truth label exists. However, the reliability of this ground truth depends on human annotators, who often disagree. Prior work has shown that this disagreement can be helpful in training models. We propose a novel method to incorporate this disagreement as information: in addition to the standard error computation, we use soft-labels (i.e., probability distributions over the annotator labels) as an auxiliary task in a multi-task neural network. We measure the divergence between the predictions and the target soft-labels with several loss-functions and evaluate the models on various NLP tasks. We find that the soft-label prediction auxiliary task reduces the penalty for errors on ambiguous entities, and thereby mitigates overfitting. It significantly improves performance across tasks, beyond the standard approach and prior work.


Abstract Argentopentlandite has been found in samples collected on the dump of the Michael mine, an old silver mine in Zagórze Śląskie in the northern part of the Góry Sowie mountains. Though argentopentlandite is not a very common mineral, it is well known from high-temperature hydrothermal veins and from Ni-Cu deposits hosted in ultramafic rocks also containing platinum-group minerals. The argentopentlandite has been recognized in a sulphide nest in association with pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite in massive barite. In comparison to other occurrences (see Table 2), this mineral is characterized by a low Ni content (ave. 16.02wt% - EDS; 16.43wt% - WDS), a lack of cobalt and a relatively high copper content (ave. 2.13wt% - EDS; 1.55wt% - WDS). Based on these data, it can be concluded that the argentopentlandite, and the associated sulphides, were precipitated from hydrothermal fluids shortly after barite, the major vein constituent. As the optical properties of the argentopentlandite in reflected light are rather similar to those of bornite, it can be overlooked during routine observations. Thus, argentopentlandite or associated ore mineralization may also occur in other barite veins in the area.


Objective : The aim of the present work was to synthesize and characterize a series of 6- substituted benzimidazole-2-carbamic acid derivatives and evaluate them for antimicrobial activity. Methods : A novel series of 6-substituted benzimidazole-2-carbamic acid derivatives (6a-f) were synthesized by reacting substituted benzyl chlorides (2a-c) with 4-hydroxy -2- nitro aniline (3) in the presence of anhydrous K 2 CO 3 in acetone. The series of 4-benzyl oxy -2-nitro anilines (4a-c) thus obtained were reduced with Raney nickel as catalyst. The 4-substituted-1, 2-phenylene diamines were then reacted with 1, 3- bis (alkoxy carbonyl)-S-methyl isothiourea (5a-b) to yield the final compounds (6a-f). The structures of synthesized compounds were established by 1 H NMR and mass spectroscopy. The synthesized compounds were screened for antibacterial and antifungal activity against five pathogenic bacterial strains and two pathogenic fungal strains. Results: All compounds showed moderate to good antibacterial and antifungal activity and were nearly effective as the standard antibacterial and antifungal drugs used for comparison. The exhibited good activity against gram negative bacterial strains like K. pneumoniae and P. aeruginosa as well as against fungal strain C. albicans . Conclusion: The  6-substituted benzimidazole-2-carbamates. compounds synthesized and evaluated for pharmacological activity are promising as antimicrobial agents and are amenable for further optimization.


A new type of tire building drum based on parallel mechanism was presented and the mechanism analysis of the structural was carried out. Its direct and inverse displacement equations were developed explicitly considering its architecture feature. Solid model of the mechanism was set up and the kinematics simulation was conducted using software code of UG and ADAMS, which provided theoretical base for optimal design application of the manipulator.


Software bugs are common and correcting them accounts for a significant part of costs in the software development and maintenance process. This calls for automatic techniques to deal with them. One promising direction towards this goal is gaining repair knowledge from historical bug fixing examples. Retrieving insights from software development history is particularly appealing with the constant progress of machine learning paradigms and skyrocketing `big' bug fixing data generated through Continuous Integration (CI). In this paper, we present R-Hero, a novel software repair bot that applies continual learning to acquire bug fixing strategies from continuous streams of source code changes. We describe R-Hero, our novel system for learning how to fix bugs based on continual training, and we uncover initial successes as well as novel research challenges for the community.