The purpose of this study was to find whether the educational program contributed to the increase of caring confidence and rearing attitude of the newborn mothers. The subjects for this study were 40 newborn mothers-20 control group and 20 experimental group-who delivered a normal neonate and were gotten general informations from the nurses at the K medical center in Seoul. Especially, the experimental group was educated for 30-40 minutes in maternal educational program through lectures, demonstrations, discussion with textbooks and visual materials by a researcher at 2-3 days after delivery. The data were collected two times-at 2-3 days after delivery and at 4 weeks after discharge-from October, 1998 to January, 1999 by investigators interviewing with a structured questionnaire. Pharis(1978)'s self confidence scale was used after some modification to measure caring confidence and Cohler's maternal attitude scale to check mother's rearing attitude. Analysis of data was done by using of frequency, %, x²-test, Independent sample t-test. The results of this study were as follows ; 1. The Confidence of the experimental group was significant higher than the control group (t=2.519, p=.016) and the rearing attitude changed more positively(t=5.545, p=.000). 2. In the confidence scale, the statements having a significant change were holding a baby, changing diapers, feeding, and caring umblicus. 3. In the rearing attitude scale, the statements having a significant change were 12 of 20 statements.


The Research to Accelerate Cures and Equity for Children Act recently went into effect, potentially paving the way for more drug development in pediatric cancers. The legislation will tighten the requirements for testing cancer agents used in adults to treat malignancies in children when there is a shared molecular target.


Despite recent advances in screening methods, lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. By the time lung cancer becomes symptomatic and patients seek treatment, it is often too advanced for curative measures. Low-dose computed tomography (CT) screening has been shown to reduce mortality in patients at high risk of lung cancer. We present a 66-year-old man with a 50-pack-year smoking history who had a right upper lobe (RUL) pulmonary nodule and left lower lobe (LLL) consolidation on a screening CT. He reported a weight loss of 45 pounds over 3 months, had recently been hospitalized for hyponatremia, and was notably cachectic. A CT of the chest showed a stable LLL mass-like consolidation and a 9 × 21 mm subsolid lesion in the RUL. Navigational bronchoscopy biopsy of the RUL lesion revealed squamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration of the LLL lesion revealed small cell lung cancer (SCLC). The final diagnosis was a right-sided Stage I NSCLC (squamous) and a left-sided limited SCLC. The RUL NSCLC was treated with stereotactic radiation; the LLL SCLC was treated with concurrent chemotherapy and radiation. In patients with multiple lung nodules, a diagnosis of synchronous multiple primary lung cancers (MPLCs) is crucial, as inadvertent upstaging of patients with MPLC (to T3 and/or T4 tumors) can lead to erroneous staging, inaccurate prognosis, and improper treatment. Recent advances in the diagnosis of small pulmonary nodules via navigational bronchoscopy and management of these lesions dramatically affect a patient's overall prognosis.


Laser cutting of bones has been proposed as a technology in orthopaedic surgery. In this short study, the laser–bone interaction was examined using a pulsed erbium-doped yttrium aluminium garnet laser and compared to a conventional cutting technique. Microscopic analysis revealed the nature of waste debris and showed higher proportions of finer particles for conventional sagittal sawing compared to laser cutting.


6 cases of upper extremity embolism observed over the past three years are reported. Fogarty embolectomy was carried out in all patients, favourable revascularization results being obtained in 5. Forearm amputations was necessary in 1 case owing to the presence of ischaemic lesions that were already advanced at admittance, further proof that results depend above all on the vitality of the extremity rather than on the duration of the arterial occlusion.


Abstract. Atmospheric aerosols have a substantial impact on climate and remain one of the largest sources of uncertainty in climate prediction. Accurate representation of their direct radiative effects is a crucial component of modern climate models. However, direct computation of the radiative properties of aerosol populations is far too computationally expensive to perform in a climate model, so optical properties are typically approximated using a parameterization. This work develops artificial neural networks (ANNs) capable of replacing the current aerosol optics parameterization used in the Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM). A large training dataset is generated by using Mie code to directly compute the optical properties of a range of atmospheric aerosol populations given a large variety of particle sizes, wavelengths, and refractive indices. Optimal neural architectures for shortwave and longwave bands are identified by evaluating ANNs with randomly generated wirings. Randomly generated deep ANNs are able to outperform conventional multilayer-perceptron-style architectures with comparable parameter counts. Finally, the ANN-based parameterization produces significantly more accurate bulk aerosol optical properties than the current parameterization when compared with direct Mie calculations using mean absolute error. The success of this approach makes possible the future inclusion of much more sophisticated representations of aerosol optics in climate models that cannot be captured by extension of the existing parameterization scheme and also demonstrates the potential of random-wiring-based neural architecture search in future applications in the Earth sciences.


In this culmination of his half-century of involvement with American workers and their traditions, Archie Green explores occupational expression - stories, songs, customs, beliefs, artifacts - on the job and in institutions such as trade unions. Combining ethnographic description with analysis drawn from folklore, history, literary criticism, art history, linguistics, and philosophy, Green presents ten case studies in which he reflects on single words as social texts ("Wobbly, " "fink") and clustered words within anecdotes, tales, and ballads ("John Henry, " Homestead's strike songs, job yarns about cuckoldry and sexual impotence, and pile-driving traditions, for example). Drawing on Green's own experience as a shipwright and carpenter, the book will appeal both to workers curious about their history and traditions and to academicians who study the workforce and labor process.


The pullout test is a nondestructive testing method certified by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) and British Standards (BS). Research has shown that it is very reliable in terms of evaluating the concrete strength of reinforced concrete members. However, the pullout test is rarely performed on domestic construction sites due to the complex procedures and high costs involved. This study proposes a new pullout test composed of a post installable break-off bolt, an insert nut, and a pullout tester, which satisfy both economical and practical purposes on a construction site. Three different types of special fastening methods, a temporary fixed bolt, a plastic fixed panel, and a fixed bar, have been developed. A pullout tester is proposed that is driven by the circle force introduced into a handle composed of eight gears without a load cell and a hydraulic cylinder. The serviceability and reliability of these instruments were investigated through experiments at construction sites. Furthermore, the sample pullout test with a wall specimen was conducted to estimate the usefulness of the temporary fixed bolt type of fastening methods and pullout devices. Eventually, the developed instruments will be useful on construction sites if minor requirements are met.


Contrast enhancement of the lateral skull X-ray images is very important in orthodontic practice, cephalometric evaluation and craniofacial landmarking. In this paper we present computational techniques involving contrast enhancement of two-dimensional digitized X-ray images. The algorithm is developed based on the use of local heterogeneity measures of pixel distribution. Image enhancement is accomplished by an adaptive gray scale pixels transformation depending on results of local heterogeneity contribution measures. The proposed approach was tested on different images and the results prove that the proposed method has better performance the existing conventional methods.


A 28-year-old nonsmoking woman was referred to the pulmonary clinic for further evaluation of shortness of breath with exertion. She had slowly progressing dyspnea over the past year and general fatigue. She did not report a history of xerostomia, keratoconjunctivitis sicca, pleural effusions, pneumothoraces, seizure, cognitive impairment, recurrent sinopulmonary infections, or previous autoimmune disease diagnosis and had no relevant family history of lung disease. Her physical examination findings were unremarkable and there was no evidence of cutaneous lesions. A high-resolution computed tomographic (CT) scan of her chest revealed diffuse thin-walled pulmonary cysts without nodules, parenchymal changes, or lymphadenopathy (Figure). Imaging of her abdomen did not show kidney lesions or abdominal masses. The patient's serum vascular endothelial growth factor D (VEGF-D) level was elevated at 1300 pg/mL (reference range, <600 pg/mL).


We present a TTS neural network that is able to produce speech in multiple languages. The proposed network is able to transfer a voice, which was presented as a sample in a source language, into one of several target languages. Training is done without using matching or parallel data, i.e., without samples of the same speaker in multiple languages, making the method much more applicable. The conversion is based on learning a polyglot network that has multiple per-language sub-networks and adding loss terms that preserve the speaker's identity in multiple languages. We evaluate the proposed polyglot neural network for three languages with a total of more than 400 speakers and demonstrate convincing conversion capabilities.


Background: Since previous decades Internet as well as smart phones have become easily accessible to maximum people. This has made social networking an integral part of human life. People are sharing their comments and reviews on the forum or portal about their views and experiences. These reviews help others to judge the brand value of any product. Even in taking the final decisions about the brand selections for best hotels, colleges and products people are gradually depending on the previous online reviews. In such scenario, some companies may indulge themselves in generating the fake reviews with wrong intentions to create the positive or negative hype about the particular products. It may mislead the customers and decision makers. Objectives: Objective is to develop an algorithm to development of the optimal machine learning algorithm for hotel reviews Efforts are made to remove maximum limitations and constraints of existing algorithms to develop a robust algorithm. Methodology: After finding the gaps appropriate mathematical models are proposed to be implemented to detect genuinety of the reviews based on behavior metrics, quantify the past trust analysis of the reviewer, group membership activities and quantify the sentimental analysis for the hotels. Findings: Due to filtration of the spam reviews and fake reviewers, systematic predication about the hotel facilities and ambience may be done that will encourage the customer to use the hotel booking website that will utilize such algorithms. Applications/Improvements: Although this work is specifically proposed for helping customers in selection of the best hotels by analyzing the previous online reviews, and help in concluding the right decision based on Location, Security, Price, Quality, Ambiance etc. Yet the something similar model may be designed after minor modifications for taking right decision in selecting the best colleges, best products etc.


The intellectual history suggests that desire for intelligence augmentation underlies the idea of virtual reality (VR). The assumption underlying this teleological thrust towards intelligence augmentation is that intellectual advances are made by improving and facilitating human thinking and problem solving. This was thought possible only if computers were integrated effectively into the whole ecology of thought by virtue of a human-computer partnership, or symbiosis. VR media are seen as augmenting intelligence by more direct, intuitive channelling of information through the senses to establish a more direct interface, or experience with knowledge. The history of the idea of virtuality shows that policy, personnel choice and placement, and research and development aimed to implement this vision for VR. Related work led to the internet as focus was placed on networked, cooperative interaction - computers and people working together to augment human intelligence.


This paper describes the development of a system for SemEval-2023 Shared Task 11 on Learning with Disagreements (Le-Wi-Di). Labelled data plays a vital role in the development of machine learning systems. The human-annotated labels are usually considered the truth for training or validation. To obtain truth labels, a traditional way is to hire domain experts to perform an expensive annotation process. Crowd-sourcing labelling is comparably cheap, whereas it raises a question on the reliability of annotators. A common strategy in a mixed-annotator dataset with various sets of annotators for each instance is to aggregate the labels among multiple groups of annotators to obtain the truth labels. However, these annotators might not reach an agreement, and there is no guarantee of the reliability of these labels either. With further problems caused by human label variation, subjective tasks usually suffer from the different opinions provided by the annotators. In this paper, we propose two simple heuristic functions to compute the annotator ranking scores, namely AnnoHard and AnnoSoft, based on the hard labels (i.e., aggregative labels) and soft labels (i.e., cross-entropy values). By introducing these scores, we adjust the weights of the training instances to improve the learning with disagreements among the annotators.


ABSTRACT Objective: This study compares the responses of male and female WorldSID dummies with post mortem human subject (PMHS) responses in full-scale vehicle tests. Methods: Tests were conducted according to the FMVSS-214 protocols and using the U.S. Side Impact New Car Assessment Program change in velocity to match PMHS experiments, published earlier. Moving deformable barrier (MDB) tests were conducted with the male and female surrogates in the left front and left rear seats. Pole tests were performed with the male surrogate in the left front seat. Three-point belt restraints were used. Sedan-type vehicles were used from the same manufacturer with side airbags. The PMHS head was instrumented with a pyramid-shaped nine-axis accelerometer package, with angular velocity transducers on the head. Accelerometers and angular velocity transducers were secured to T1, T6, and T12 spinous processes and sacrum. Three chest bands were secured around the upper, middle, and lower thoraces. Dummy instrumentation included five infrared telescoping rods for assessment of chest compression (IR-TRACC) and a chest band at the first abdomen rib, head angular velocity transducer, and head, T1, T4, T12, and pelvis accelerometers. Results: Morphological responses of the kinematics of the head, thoracic spine, and pelvis matched in both surrogates for each pair. The peak magnitudes of the torso accelerations were lower for the dummy than for the biological surrogate. The brain rotational injury criterion (BrIC) response was the highest in the male dummy for the MDB test and PMHS. The probability of AIS3+ injuries, based on the head injury criterion, ranged from 3% to 13% for the PMHS and from 3% to 21% for the dummy from all tests. The BrIC-based metrics ranged from 0 to 21% for the biological and 0 to 48% for the dummy surrogates. The deflection profiles from the IR-TRACC sensors were unimodal. The maximum deflections from the chest band placed on the first abdominal rib were 31.7 mm and 25.4 mm for the male and female dummies in the MDB test, and 37.4 mm for the male dummy in the pole test. The maximum deflections computed from the chest band contours at a gauge equivalent to the IR-TRACC location were 25.9 mm and 14.8 mm for the male and female dummies in the MDB test, and 37.4 mm for the male dummy in the pole test. Other data (static vehicle deformation profiles, accelerations histories of different body regions, and chest band contours for the dummy and PMHS) are given in the appendix. Conclusions: This is the first study to compare the responses of PMHS and male and female dummies in MDB and pole tests, done using the same recent model year vehicles with side airbag and head curtain restraints. The differences between the dummy and PMHS torso accelerations suggest the need for design improvements in the WorldSID dummy. The translation-based metrics suggest low probability of head injury. As the dummy internal sensor underrecorded the peak deflection, multipoint displacement measures are therefore needed for a more accurate quantification of deflection to improve the safety assessment of occupants.


Liquorice is a herbal medicine produced mainly in China and Iran. This plant is suspected to contain ochratoxin A (OTA), a secondary metabolite produced by fungi. Although liquorice is not included in the daily dietary of humans, the high levels of OTA reported in this product have concerned consumers. Registration of a standard method for measuring the amount of this mycotoxin in liquorice-derived products is an important challenge and requires the introduction of a reliable, simple, fast-performance and reproducible technique. This review examines studies carried out concerning the occurrence of OTA in liquorice products. Recent information regarding contaminated liquorice, the regulatory framework and methods to degrade OTA in liquorice are discussed.


ABSTRACT Recent years have seen a spike in New Zealand's road death toll, a phenomenon also seen in some other countries such as Australia. This paper analyses the short-run impact of fuel prices on road accident outcomes in New Zealand, including the numbers of road deaths, accidents, and injuries. Using data for the period 1989–2017, we find a negative relationship between fuel prices and key road-risk outcome variables, including the number of road deaths. There are similar results for models in levels and first differences. The number of serious injuries to cyclists tends to increase when fuel prices are high, however. Lower fuel prices appear to have contributed to New Zealand's recent uptick in road accidents, pushing against the long-term trend of improved road safety.


Bronchopulmonary hyperresponsiveness (BHR) is a hallmark of asthma and other inflammatory diseases of the airways. Animal models of BHR are available in which systemic or local immunizations, followed by acute allergenic provocations into the airways, augment responses to intravenous or intratracheal nonspecific bronchoconstrictor agents. Guinea-pig models are easy to manipulate but have serious handicaps: lack of proper genetics, lack of biomolecular tools, and frequent excess of eosinophils in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). Murine models have proper genetics and molecular tools, and they have the further advantage of being widely used for the study of other pathologies. In many of these studies, interleukin (IL)-5 appears as a major cytokine, produced by Th2 lymphocytes. Interleukin-5 promotes eosinophil differentiation and maturation, recruitment to the airways, and possibly activation. The presence of eosinophils in the airways and in the BALF may be necessary but is not sufficient to support BHR, since intense eosinophilia may be present in its absence. Bronchopulmonary hyperresponsiveness is also induced by the administration of lipopolysaccharide (LPS); in that case, eosinophils are not involved, and the role of neutrophils and of tumor necrosis factor-alpha, even though likely, has not been proven. Comparison of BHR induced by allergen (Th2- and largely eosinophil-dependent) and by LPS (probably macrophage-dependent) should allow for a better understanding of the mechanisms of BHR and for the development of important remedies.


Glucocorticosteroids represent the "drugs of choice" for treatment of sarcoidosis. Steroids can be given by all routes of administration. Daily therapy with oral steroids is most widely applied. Initial therapy should consist of prednisolone 30-60 mg/day or its equivalent. Alternate day therapy can be used during the maintenance phase. Inhaled steroids can also be tried during the maintenance phase for treatment of pulmonary sarcoidosis. Other drugs, which may be effective in sarcoidosis, and have a steroid-sparing capacity, are methotrexate, azathioprine, chlorambucil and cyclophosphamide. Chloroquine can be used for chronic skin lesions and potassium para-aminobenzoate may soften fibrotic lesions and keloids. Duration of treatment varies with the clinical situation; from between 6 and 18 months to lifetime. In principle, continuing signs of disease activity and functional impairment require continuing treatment. Determination of on-going activity may be a difficult task. Symptomatic patients with stage II-III pulmonary sarcoidosis, and many extrapulmonary manifestations of the disease, must be adequately treated. Symptom-free patients with deteriorating lung function and/or biochemical signs of disease activity also require treatment. Steroids are not indicated for pulmonary stage I disease (hilar lymphadenopathy) with or without erythema nodosum unless there are troublesome persistent chest symptoms (cough, pain, pressure symptoms) or arthralgia, oedema and pain of the legs.


Abstract : As the United States improves its collective awareness and emergency preparedness in the face of increased terrorist activity, more efforts are being made to create and enhance community readiness for catastrophic events. There have been substantial efforts to improve the nation's bioterrorism preparedness. Better planning, equipment, training, surveillance, and pharmaceutical caches have elevated the nation s readiness for biological attacks. In order to effectively meet the challenges created by a bioterrorism attack, its first lines of defense, the first responders, must be rapidly prophylaxed to allow the continuance of their mission. Many states and localities have tackled the gigantic undertaking of mass prophylaxis plans to provide chemoprophylaxis to civilians should the need arise. Many cities have developed and tested their plans to provide general public mass prophylaxis. It is assumed, or briefly mentioned, that the mass prophylaxis of first responders will occur, but few plans have been developed. The primary objective of this research is to develop, test, and make recommendations for a straightforward, adaptable mass prophylaxis plan to meet the prophylactic requirements of local first responders in the event of a biological attack.


In this study we have evaluated some of the potential mechanisms that may be responsible for the inefficiency with which resting B cells function as antigen-presenting cells (APC) and the mechanism by which that function is enhanced following treatment of B cells with neuraminidase. One mechanism that has been previously suggested is that glycosylation differences in Ia associated with different APC accounts for the different functional capacities of resting and activated B cells. It has been postulated that removal of sialic acid from resting B cell Ia results in a correction of its antigen-presenting defect. To study this possibility, we have used purified I-Ad from different B cell sources in a planar membrane system to present an immunogenic peptide of chicken ovalbumin (Ova) to an I-Ad-restricted Ova-specific T cell hybridoma. It was found that I-Ad isolated from resting B cells, B cell stimulatory factor 1 (BSF-1) or lipopolysaccharide and dextran sulfate-stimulated B cells, or A20 B lymphoma cells were all equivalent in their antigen-presenting capacity. Furthermore, removal of sialic acid from Ia did not enhance its capacity to serve as a restriction element. The mechanism by which neuraminidase treatment enhances B cell APC function was further investigated by studying the effect of sialic acid removal on a primary mixed leukocyte reaction (MLR). When allogeneic fixed B cells were used as stimulator cells it was found that neither resting nor BSF-1-stimulated B cells could induce a MLR. Following neuraminidase treatment, BSF-1-treated B cells, but not resting B cells, were capable of stimulating a MLR. However, a MLR was also stimulated by allogeneic BSF-1-treated B cells when the responder T cells, rather than the stimulator cells, were treated with neuraminidase. An enhancing effect similar to that obtained by neuraminidase treatment could be obtained by the addition of 2% polyethylene glycol to the MLR culture. These data suggest that the inability of BSF-1-stimulated cells to function efficiently as accessory cells in stimulating a primary MLR is due to their relative inability to interact physically with T cells, a deficiency that is overcome by neuraminidase treatment of either T or B cell populations or by the addition of polyethylene glycol to the culture. Although the reason for the failure of these same treatments to restore the accessory cell function of resting B cells is not known, some possible mechanisms are discussed.


Electricity markets are complex environments, involving a large number of different entities, playing in a dynamic scene to obtain the best advantages and profits. MASCEM is a multi-agent electricity market simulator to model market players and simulate their operation in the market. Market players are entities with specific characteristics and objectives, making their decisions and interacting with other players. MASCEM is integrated with ALBidS, a system that provides several dynamic strategies for agents' behavior. This paper presents a method that aims at enhancing ALBidS competence in endowing market players with adequate strategic bidding capabilities, allowing them to obtain the higher possible gains out of the market. This method uses a reinforcement learning algorithm to learn from experience how to choose the best from a set of possible actions. These actions are defined accordingly to the most probable points of bidding success. With the purpose of accelerating the convergence process, a simulated annealing based algorithm is included.


The present article describes the significance of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for the rural development. It is based on the perception survey about ICT, suggesting that ICT can be very beneficial and powerful tool for facilitating rural development, particularly in the sectors of e-commerce, e-health, e-government services and the most important e-education, training, information and expertise exchange, experience sharing, communication and society engagement. Overall, ICT is an effective tool for the different dimension of rural development.


The purpose of this study was to determine whether a rise in the level of circulating hormones is responsible for initiating fetal lung maturation. Explants of 13- to 20-day fetal rat lung were cultured in a constant chemically defined medium containing 0 or 1% serum. Growth, morphological maturation, and two biochemical markers of lung development, disaturated phosphatidylcholine (DSPC) synthesis and specific nuclear glucocorticoid binding, showed evidence of continuing development in culture. There is normally a marked increase in DSPC content and in the rate of choline incorporation into DSPC after 20 days gestation. Regardless of the gestational age of the fetal lungs used, there was a similar increase in culture at an equivalent gestational age of 20 days (e.g., 14-day lung after 6 days, 16-day lung after 4 days). Removal of 50 or 75% of the lung mesenchymal tissue at the initiation of the culture period did not prevent the increase in choline incorporation. Since the culture environment was constant and contained virtually no hormones, we conclude that the stimulus for the initiation of fetal lung maturation is most likely located in the lung tissue itself. The role of circulating hormones is probably later modulation of the maturational process.


Poisoning with organophosphorus compounds occupy one of the leading places in exotoxicosis. At the first stage, the detoxification of organophosphates can be provided with the help of DNA or RNA aptamers that bind the poison in the bloodstream. Currently, the main method of searching for aptamers is the experimental method of systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX). In the process of aptamer selection, the target molecule must be immobilized via the streptavidin-biotin complex. Since the poison molecule is small in size, to increase its availability for binding to aptamer, it is necessary to use a spacer between organophosphorus compounds and biotin. The aim of this work was to optimize the selection of aptamers for organophosphorus compounds by increasing the availability of a poison molecule immobilized via the streptavidin-biotin complex on the example of paraoxon. For this purpose, three spacers between organophosphorus compounds and biotin were tested using molecular modeling methods: three links of polyethylene glycol (3-PEG), four links of polyethylene glycol (4-PEG) and aminohexyl. The conformation of the biotinylated paraoxon complex with streptavidin and the interaction of paraoxon with the binding fragment of the aptamer were modeled using molecular docking and molecular dynamics methods. The ability of biotinylated paraoxon to bind to the aptamer has been evaluated by analyzing the surface area of the paraoxon available to the solvent, as well as by calculating the free binding energies. It has been shown that only in the case of aminohexyl immobilized paraoxon can contact the aptamer. At the final stage, the synthesis of paraoxon bound to biotin via aminohexyl was carried out.


The point cloud based 3D single object tracking has drawn increasing attention. Although many breakthroughs have been achieved, we also reveal two severe issues. By extensive analysis, we find the prediction manner of current approaches is non-robust, i.e., exposing a misalignment gap between prediction score and actually localization accuracy. Another issue is the sparse point returns will damage the feature matching procedure of the SOT task. Based on these insights, we introduce two novel modules, i.e., Adaptive Refine Prediction (ARP) and Target Knowledge Transfer (TKT), to tackle them, respectively. To this end, we first design a strong pipeline to extract discriminative features and conduct the matching with the attention mechanism. Then, ARP module is proposed to tackle the misalignment issue by aggregating all predicted candidates with valuable clues. Finally, TKT module is designed to effectively overcome incomplete point cloud due to sparse and occlusion issues. We call our overall framework PCET. By conducting extensive experiments on the KITTI and Waymo Open Dataset, our model achieves state-of-the-art performance while maintaining a lower computational cost.


This is the third and final article in a series that discusses the deposition of airborne particles onto critical surfaces in cleanrooms. This article explains a method for calculating the amount of particle or microbe-carrying particle deposition onto critical cleanroom surfaces, such as product, and a method for calculating the airborne particle cleanliness class, or airborne microbial concentration that is required to obtain a specified and acceptable amount of product contamination.


We analyse the linear and weakly nonlinear thermoconvective stability of a ferrofluid, confined between rigid horizontal plates at different temperatures and subjected to a strong uniform external magnetostatic field in the vertical direction. When this magnetically saturated ferrofluid is heated from below our critical parameters for the linear stability problem agree with those of Finlayson. The corresponding weakly nonlinear analysis predicts that under microgravity conditions, the ratio of the steady heat transfer by convection to that by conduction can be up to 10% greater than when the magnetic field is absent. If the ferrofluid is heated from above, critical temperature gradients can attain extremely high values and the horizontal separation of roll cells can be less than half the spacing observed when the lower plate is warmer. In this non-standard régime, where convection is due to magnetic body forces, the Nusselt numbers for a given supercritical temperature gradient are significantly higher than when the ferrofluid is heated from below.


Hepatic fibrosis is a common pathological process in the development of various chronic liver diseases into liver cirrhosis. Based on current research findings, it is widely believed that the process of hepatic fibrosis is reversible, and effective treatment cannot only delay the development of hepatic fibrosis into liver cirrhosis, but also alleviate the degree of hepatic fibrosis. Therefore, the research on the treatment of hepatic fibrosis is of great clinical significance. The article reviews the recent research advances in the treatment of hepatic fibrosis.


The renin angiotensin aldosterone system (RAAS) plays a key function in renovascular hypertension induced by renal artery stenosis (RAS). RAS causes a decrease in renal perfusion in the stenosed kidney which in turn stimulates renin the rate limiting enzyme in RAAS. This stimulation triggers a series of events starting with renin release leading to Ang II production, decrease in sodium excretion, increase sympathetic tone; all contributing to the development of renovascular hypertension. In RAS increase of superoxide reduce nitric oxide in the afferent arteriole increasing vasoconstriction and a marked decrease in glomerular filtration rate. In renovascular hypertension prostaglandins mediate renin release in the stenosed kidney. Targeting different RAAS components is part of the therapy for renovascular hypertension, with other options including renal nerves denervation and revascularization. Different clinical studies had explored revascularization, RAAS blocking and renal nerves denervation as a therapy. We will discuss organ, cellular and molecular components of this disease.


These reports forms part of a set of two reports that examine key influences on children's Maths, English and social behavioural outcomes (self-regulation, pro-social behaviour, hyperactivity and anti-social behaviour) in Year 6 and on their progress across Key Stage 2. The sister report describes the results of analyses on children's social/behavioural outcomes (ref: DCSF-RR049).

The report is from the effective pre-school and primary education 3 to 11 project (EPPE 3 to 11) which is longitudinal study using multi-level modelling investigating the effects of home background, pre-school and primary education on pupils' attainment and social / behavioural development.

Around 3,000 children were recruited from 141 pre-school settings in 6 English LEAs at the age of 3+ between 1996 and 1999. The study followed these children through pre-school and into more than 900 primary schools in 100 local authorities.


Background: Terrorism is the use of violent action in order to achieve political aims or force a government to act. It has become a growing trend in the global scene today in varying dimensions from hijacking, bombing, to state terrorism, bio-terrorism, cyber terrorism, eco-terrorism, nuclear, and narco-terrorism. All these disrupt population health with far reaching consequences. Objective: This study explored the dynamics of terrorism and public health in Nigeria. Methods: A narrative overview of relevant literatures was carried out. Literature search was carried out in PubMed, and Google Scholar. Information from previously published articles covering terrorism and public health was condensed to present a broad perspective and development. Only articles written in English Language carried out between 1999 and 2018 that clearly referred to terrorism, public health and diseases was used. Extracted information was discussed narratively. Results: A total of 1595 people died through terrorist attack in 2013 and 6118 in 2014. Immunization officers were killed in northern Nigeria in 2013. It leading to massive decline in immunization activities in northern Nigeria and contributed to the re-emergence of polio. In 2014, 662 terrorist attacks resulted in the death of 7512 people and 2246 were injured with varying degrees of disabilities. Many internally displaced peoples (IDP) fled to make shift camps with poor hygienic conditions with records of epidemics, psychosomatic conditions, malnutrition, overcrowding, and death. Conclusion: study suggests that terrorism deplete the general living condition of people and predispose them to varying levels of illness and diseases and ultimately disrupting public health status. Review, implementation of government policies, and equitable resource allocation could be utilized as preventive strategies


Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) is ubiquitous in nature, and may be a causative agent in severe, life-threatening infections. In >60% of cases, β-lactam antibiotics are used in the therapy of P. aeruginosa infections, therefore the emergence of carbapenem-resistant P. aeruginosa (CRPA) is a significant clinical concern. In this study, phenotypic methods were used to characterize fifty-four (n = 54) P. aeruginosa isolates, which were included based on their suspected non-susceptibility to meropenem. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of meropenem, ceftazidime, cefepime, ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, were determined using E-tests, while colistin MICs were determined using broth microdilution. The isolates were subjected to the modified Hodge test (MHT), the modified carbapenem-inactivation method (mCIM) and the imipenem/EDTA combined disk test (CDT). AmpC and efflux pump overexpression was studied using agar plates containing cloxacillin and phenylalanine-arginine β-naphthylamide (PAβN), respectively. Assessment of biofilm-formation was carried out using the crystal violet tube-adherence method. 38.9% of the strains showed meropenem MICs in the resistant range (>8 mg/L). Efflux-pump overexpression and AmpC-hyperproduction was seen in 44.4% and 35.2% of isolates, respectively. 88.8% of the isolates were characterized as strong biofilm-producers. On the other hand, the presence of carbapenemases was suspected in a minority (16.7%) of tested isolates. As safe and effective therapeutic options in carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative infections are severely limited, characterization of these isolates using phenotypic and molecular-based methods is important to provide insights into the epidemiological features of these pathogens.


Abstract Focusing on the ∣Xam narrative 'Di-xεrretən and the lioness', its recording history and possible connection with Springbokoog and its rock engravings, this article proposes a method for editing the ∣Xam kukummi (tales, accounts) collected by W. Bleek and L.C. Lloyd in the 19th century, making the case for the need to go beyond the received text of narratives and edit the English translations found in the manuscripts not only by modernising Lloyd's English, as other editors have done, but also by making informed changes on the text based on the ∣Xam original, which can be accessed by means of D.F. Bleek's Bushman dictionary (1956) and her grammatical sketches of the ∣Xam language. Using as a theoretical basis the work of Dell Hymes on the presence of 'measured verse' in Chinookan narratives, this article also proposes to lay out the texts in short lines.


Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is a neurobehavioral imprinting disorder, which arises due to an absence of paternally expressed genes within the 15q11.2-q13 region. This occurs via one of the three main genetic mechanisms, as follows: Deletion of the paternally inherited 15q11.2-q13 region, maternal uniparental disomy and imprinting defect. Recent studies have reported an association between imprinting disorders and assisted reproductive technologies (ART). The current study presents a 6-year-old female patient who is a dizygotic twin, in which one was born with de novo microdeletion at 15q11.2-q13.1 following in vitro fertilization. The patient had characteristic facial features including narrow bifrontal diameter, strabismus, downturned mouth, feeding problems and generalized hypotonia during infancy, developmental delay, mental retardation and rapid weight gain. Based upon phenotypic resemblance and the medical records, methylation-specific multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification and array-based comparative genome hybridization analyses demonstrate type 2 microdeletion between breaking point 2 (BP2) and BP3, which occur from MKRN3 through HERC2 at 15q11.2-q13.1. To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first to report a PWS case born following ART reported in South Korea. In addition to previous studies, the present study contributes to the consensus regarding genotype-phenotype comparisons in this respect.


The fifth edition of this sailing standard includes updated charts and text reflecting changes in regulations and facilities for most countries and specific ports of entry. New appendices include procedures for entry to Australia, which are more exacting than most Pacific landfalls, and an extensive list of information sources: cruising guidebooks, important general tourist guides, chart suppliers, and key web sites for the countries covered by "Landfalls of Paradise".


An attempt has been made in the article to explain the now perceptible tendencies toward "individualization" of political life and toward appreciable devaluation of party ideologies, in terms of the development of the relationship between two political trends embodying respectively the conservative and the liberal type of policy. After analyzing the process of the formation and deepening of consensus between these trends, the author demonstrates that the now typically prevailing domination of short-term over long-term interests is to a great extent conditioned by historic success of the consensus, by its having acquired a value character. According to his conclusion, it is exactly the firm value foundation and the conversion of the values shared by the parties, into something that goes without saying and is not seriously disputed by anyone, that brought about the prerequisites for tough fights over interests, and if one observes closely the changed societal structure, if one scrutinizes the conglomeration of interests and of positions, the set of ideas that sound new, one may see through them the visible outlines of familiar, though modernized, ideological-political trends.


Purpose
Focusing on Rudak, a village destroyed in the Buin-Zahra earthquake of 1962 in Qazvin, Iran, this paper aims to evaluate the reconstruction of this village in terms of sustainability. Rudak reconstruction has left long-term consequences on the physical structure of the village, as some of the people refused the constructed houses and built their own ones. Hence, after more than 50 years, this village is now consisted of two physically different neighborhoods. Examining the long-term consequences of this reconstruction through comparing housing and physical structure of the two different neighborhoods contains valuable lessons in terms of sustainability because sustainable reconstruction results unveil in long term.

Design/methodology/approach
Using sustainable reconstruction theory as the conceptual framework, this research investigates social, economic and environmental sustainability of Rudak housing reconstruction and that leads to comprehensive lessons. The study has a qualitative method and is based on fieldwork allowing for dynamic interviews with the community. Furthermore, data are analyzed through descriptive and comparative approaches.

Findings
The research concluded that sustainability related implications of post-disaster reconstruction policies are not restricted to the time of reconstruction or a limited interval after that. Lack of livelihood considerations, providing all people with similar houses and nontransparent decisions, resulted in unsustainable consequences such as building vulnerable extensions by people, social segregation and people unwillingness for participation. However, this experience was sustainable in terms of some other factors. For example, using local materials for building the structures of the new houses, putting the houses on the natural bedrock and building public services for people were sustainable measurements.

Originality/value
This paper is a rare example of research focusing on impacts of post-disaster reconstruction after more than 50 years. It contains valuable lessons for planners and architects.


Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is among the most common and devastating diseases in neonates and, despite the significant advances in neonatal care and clinical and basic science investigations, its etiology remains incompletely understood, specific treatment strategies are lacking, and morbidity and mortality from this disease remain high. Recent improvements in the pathophysiology of NEC may have therapeutic consequences. Toll-like receptors and intestinal microflora play an increasing role in the pathogenesis of NEC. Pharmacologic inhibition of TLR signaling, the use of novel nutritional strategies, and microflora modulation may represent novel promising approaches to the prevention and treatment of NEC. This review focuses on current and future therapeutic perspectives, starting from the recent acquisitions in the pathogenic mechanisms of NEC. Proceedings of the 9 th International Workshop on Neonatology · Cagliari (Italy) · October 23 rd -26 th , 2013 · Learned lessons, changing practice and cutting-edge research


We present a genome assembly from an individual female Eupsilia transversa (the satellite; Arthropoda; Insecta; Lepidoptera; Noctuidae). The genome sequence is 467 megabases in span. The entire assembly (100%) is scaffolded into 32 chromosomal pseudomolecules with the W and Z sex chromosomes assembled. The complete mitochondrial genome was also assembled and is 15.5 kilobases in length. Gene annotation of this assembly on Ensembl has identified 18,065 protein coding genes.


Abstract. Snow cover is one of the features that change rapidly on the surface, and remote sensing data with high spatial and temporal resolution is an important means to monitor the dynamic changes of snow. However, due to the limitation of satellite conditions, it is difficult to acquire remote sensing images with both high temporal and spatial resolution at the same time. The classical Enhanced Spatial and Temporal Adaptive Reflectance Fusion Model (ESTARFM) breaks through the limitations of a single sensor and effectively brings into play the complementary advantages of different observation platforms. In this paper, we take the Babao River Basin within the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau as the study area to investigate the effect of fusion of Sentinel-2 and MODIS (Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) based on the ESTARFM and analyze the fusion-supplemented snow accumulation period data. The results show that the fusion effect of Sentinel-2 and MODIS is good in terms of visual and multiple quantitative indicators. The snow accumulation area of the fused image is also close to the real image. By fusing to supplement the missing Sentinel-2 data, a variation map of snow NDSI (Normalized Difference Snow Index) in the study area was obtained. It was found that the snowfall process in the watershed appeared first in the surrounding uplands and then in the flat areas, and the maximum rate of snow cover area change was 116.17 km2. Therefore, the spatiotemporal data fusion of Sentinel-2 and MODIS based on ESTARFM algorithm can provide reliable satellite remote sensing data with a higher spatiotemporal resolution for snow accumulation change monitoring.


Measurements of pulse permeability and loss of Ni/Fe toroidal cores in the unidirectional pulse current transformer mode are reported. These are discussed in comparison with the classical eddy current theory and an improved empirical model developed.


The minimum-entropy clustering (MEC) algorithm proposed in this paper provides an optimal method for addressing the non-stationarity of a source with respect to entropy coding. This algorithm clusters a set of vectors (where each vector consists of a fixed number of contiguous samples from a discrete source) using a minimum entropy criterion. In a manner similar to classified vector quantization (CVQ), a given vector is first classified into the class which leads to the lowest entropy and then its samples are coded by the entropy coder designed for that particular class. The MEC algorithm is used in the design of a lossless, predictive image coder. The MEC-based coder is found to significantly outperform the single entropy coder as well as the other popular lossless coders reported in the literature.


We investigate the set $\mathfrak(R)$ of shift-isomorphism classes of semi-dualizing $R$-complexes, ordered via the reflexivity relation, where $R$ is a commutative noetherian local ring. Specifically, we study the question of whether $\mathfrak(R)$ has cardinality $2^n$ for some $n$. We show that, if there is a chain of length $n$ in $\mathfrak(R)$ and if the reflexivity ordering on $\mathfrak (R)$ is transitive, then $\mathfrak(R)$ has cardinality at least $2^n$, and we explicitly describe some of its order-structure. We also show that, given a local ring homomorphism $\varphi\colon R\to S$ of finite flat dimension, if $R$ and $S$ admit dualizing complexes and if $\varphi$ is not Gorenstein, then the cardinality of $\mathfrak (S)$ is at least twice the cardinality of $\mathfrak (R)$.


Therapeutic hypothermia (TH) is provided to newborns with moderate to severe hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) to improve survival and long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes. Although the benefits certainly outweigh the risks associated with therapeutic hypothermia, it is important to be mindful of potential rare side effects in the background of asphyxia-related injury to various body organs. One of those side effects includes subcutaneous fat necrosis (SCFN) that can occur in term newborns after perinatal hypoxia-ischemia or other stressing factors such as systemic hypothermia. It is usually a self-limited condition, however, in some cases, it can lead to severe hypercalcemia. We report three such cases of SCFN in newborns with HIE treated with TH. Due to potential long-term complications, such as metastatic calcifications, caregivers should be informed about this potential complication prior to discharge from hospital so that they can help diagnose or continue to monitor cases of severe hypercalcemia.


Bathymetric mapping and observations of the seafloor using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV, Hyper‐Dolphin 3K) were carried out on the slopes of the Miyako‐Sone submarine platform, east of Miyako‐jima in the Ryukyu Islands, northwestern Pacific Ocean. The bathymetric map indicates that terraces are present at water depths of approximately 140 m, 330 m, 400 m, and 680 m on the northwestern slope of the platform. A number of NW–SE trending lineaments, probably faults, extend perpendicular to the axis of the Ryukyu Island Arc. Two ROV surveys were conducted at water depths ranging from 519 m (on the slope) to 121 m (shallowest part of the platform). The surveys revealed that well‐indurated carbonate rocks are exposed at terrace margins and on upper slopes, and that the lower slopes are covered with modern sediments consisting of unconsolidated, coarse‐sand‐sized bioclastic carbonates. Calcareous nannofossils from the well‐indurated carbonate rocks indicate a Middle–Late Pleistocene age, which suggests that the rocks correlate with the Quaternary reef and fore‐reef deposits of the Ryukyu Group (Ryukyu Limestone) on the Ryukyu Islands. No siliciclastic deposits corresponding to the upper Miocene–lower Pleistocene Shimajiri Group (as exposed on Okinawa‐jima and Miyako‐jima islands) were recovered during the surveys. Coeval well‐indurated carbonate rocks, all of which formed in a similar sedimentary environment, have been downthrown towards the west due to displacements on the western sides of normal faults. Subsidence of the Miyako‐Sone submarine platform was the result of large vertical displacements on such normal faults. The timing of initial subsidence cannot be tightly constrained, but the presence of the youngest limestone at progressively lower levels towards the west suggests the subsidence continued until after 0.265 Ma.


The innate immune response to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) skin infection culminates in forming an abscess that prevents the bacterial spread and tissue damage. Pathogen recognition receptors (PRRs) dictate the balance between microbial control and tissue damage. Therefore, intracellular brakes are of fundamental importance to tune the appropriate host defense while preventing injury. The intracellular inhibitor suppressor of cytokine signaling 1 (SOCS-1); is a classic JAK/STAT inhibitor that prevents PRR responses by influencing the expression and actions of PRR adaptors and downstream effectors. Whether SOCS-1 is a molecular component of skin host defense remains to be determined. Here, we hypothesized that SOCS-1 decreases type I interferon production and IFNAR-mediated antimicrobial effector functions of the inflammatory response during MRSA skin infection. Our data show that MRSA skin infection enhances SOCS-1 expression, and both SOCS-1 inhibitor peptide treated and myeloid-specific SOCS-1 deficient mice display decreased lesion size, bacterial loads, and increased abscess thickness when compared to wild-type mice treated or not with scrambled peptide control. SOCS-1 deletion/inhibition increases phagocytosis and bacterial killing, dependent on nitric oxide release. SOCS-1 inhibition also increases antimicrobial effector function correlated with type I and type II interferon levels in vivo. IFNAR deletion and antibody blockage abolished the beneficial effects of SOCS-1 inhibition in vivo. Notably, we unveiled that hyperglycemia triggers aberrant SOCS-1 expression that correlates with decreased overall IFN signatures in the skin. SOCS-1 inhibition restores skin host defense in highly susceptible hyperglycemic mice. Overall, these data demonstrate a role for type I interferons in enhancing microbial clearance and host defense during MRSA skin infection.


As one of the most conservative proteins in evolution, Y-box-binding protein 1 (YB-1) has long been considered as a potential cancer target. YB-1 is usually poorly expressed in normal cells and exerts cellular physiological functions such as DNA repair, pre-mRNA splicing and mRNA stabilizing. In cancer cells, the expression of YB-1 is up-regulated and undergoes nuclear translocation and contributes to tumorigenesis, angiogenesis, tumor proliferation, invasion, migration and chemotherapy drug resistance. During the past decades, a variety of pharmacological tools such as siRNA, shRNA, microRNA, circular RNA, lncRNA and various compounds have been developed to target YB-1 for cancer therapy. In this review, we describe the physiological characteristics of YB-1 in detail, highlight the role of YB-1 in tumors and summarize the current therapeutic methods for targeting YB-1 in cancer.


MODERN BIBLICAL SCHOLARSHIP has long been convinced that the Bible rests upon traditions (oral or written) which have flowed into it. "Tradition-history" has become a salient feature of literary analysis. It proceeds from the final form of a text to conclude, somewhat hypothetically, to the tradition(s) that compose it. The process may involve a begging of the question when the alleged "tradition" becomes the decisive factor in analyzing the text. Fishbane has inverted the process by presenting innumerable cases of "inner-biblical" exegesis: a movement from an earlier to a later biblical text. His goal is to show how the handing down (traditio) has modified what was handed down (traditimi). In the first part he investigates the role of the scribes and their comments in the transmission of the biblical literature (scribal corrections, pious and theological reflections). The heart of the book deals with legal exegesis (how various laws were transformed in the traditioning process), aggadic exegesis (e.g., in the historical writings, instances "where a specific version of an event in one historical source has been reinterpreted in another," p. 291), and mantological exegesis (dream, visions, omens). There is a dynamic tension between the traditio and the traditum, and a paradoxical r e l a t i onsh ip : T h e traditio strengthens and gives new life to the traditum, but "it also potentially undermines it" (p. 15). Fishbane catches the excitement of the growth of the Bible. Those who cultivated the traditum (the tradents) reworked it, "making traditio the arbiter and midwife of a revitalized traditum" (p. 18). Thus biblical religion renewed itself. We can see a trajectory of exegetical tradition over many centuries into classical rabbinic exegesis (without "proof" of historical dependence of one upon another). This is a masterful and important study which illustrates in countless ways the nature of the ongoing exegesis of biblical texts within the Bible itself. Some of the examples are not new (e.g., Ps. 8 and Job 7:17-18), but most of them were new to the reviewer; and all are handled with that delicate sensitivity to the text that is characteristic of the author.


The cytotoxic-based platinum compound cisplatin has been commonly used in ovarian cancer treatment for almost three decades. However, the intrinsic and acquired resistance to cisplatin in cancer cells remains a big challenge for overall survival. A growing body of evidence indicates a role of autophagy as a prosurvival and resistance mechanism against chemotherapy. Here, we reported MIR152 as a new autophagy-regulating miRNA that plays a role in cisplatin resistance. We showed that MIR152 expression was dramatically downregulated in the cisplatin-resistant cell lines A2780/CP70, SKOV3/DDP compared with their respective parental cells, and in ovarian cancer tissues associated with cisplatin resistance. Overexpression of MIR152 sensitized cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer cells by reducing cisplatin-induced autophagy, enhancing cisplatin-induced apoptosis and inhibition of cell proliferation. A mouse subcutaneous xenograft tumor model using A2780/CP70 cells with overexpressing MIR152 was established and displayed decreased tumor growth in response to cisplatin. We also identified that ATG14 is a functional target of MIR152 in regulating autophagy inhibition. Furthermore, we found that EGR1 (early growth response 1) regulated the MIR152 gene at the transcriptional level. Ectopic expression of EGR1 enhanced efficacy of chemotherapy in A2780/CP70 cells. More importantly, these findings were relevant to clinical cases. Both EGR1 and MIR152 expression levels were significantly lower in human ovarian cancer tissues with high levels of ERCC1 (excision repair cross-complementation group 1), a marker for cisplatin resistance. Collectively, these data provide insights into novel mechanisms for acquired cisplatin resistance. Activation of EGR1 and MIR152 may be a useful therapeutic strategy to overcome cisplatin resistance by preventing cyto-protective autophagy in ovarian cancer. Note: This abstract was not presented at the meeting. Citation Format: Jun He, Jing-Jie Yu, Bing-Hua Jiang. EGR1- MIR152 pathway overcomes acquired cisplatin resistance in ovarian cancer cells by inhibiting cyto-protective autophagy via ATG14. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 4429. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-4429


The main issue regarding pediatric audiology diagnosis is determining procedures to configure reliable results which can be used to predict frequency-specific hearing thresholds. Aim To investigate the correlation between auditory steady-state response (ASSR) with other tests in children with sensorineural hearing loss. Methods Prospective cross-sectional contemporary cohort study. Twenty-three children (ages 1 to 7; mean, 3 years old) were submitted to ASSR, behavioral audiometry, click audiometry brain stem response (ABR), tone burst ABR, and predicting hearing level from the acoustic reflex. Results the correlation between behavioral thresholds and ASSR was (0.70- 0.93), for the ABR tone burst it was (0.73 -0.93), for the ABR click it was (0.83-0.89) only at 2k and 4 kHz. The match between the ASSR and the hearing threshold prediction rule was considered moderate. Conclusion there was a significant correlation between the ASSR and audiometry, as well as between ABR click (2k and 4 kHz) and for the ABR tone burst. The acoustic reflex can be used to add information to diagnosis in children.


It has recently been proven that postoperative radiotherapy combined with fluorouracil affords an increase in survival and local control in patients with rectal cancer. However, haematological and intestinal toxicity also increase. Experimental and clinical studies have shown an increased effect of radiation with an acceptable toxicity by delivering the drug via continuous intravenous infusion. From 1988 to 1998, 80 patients radically operated on for stage B2-C rectal cancer were irradiated with 3 fractions of 100 cGy per day up to a total dose of 5,600 cGy; 34 of these patients underwent postoperative radiotherapy alone and 46 received radiotherapy combined with concomitant protracted infusion of fluorouracil at doses of 250 mg/m2 per day. After a median follow-up of 60 months, the 5-year overall and disease-free survival rates were 59% and 54%, respectively, in the combined modality group, as compared to 42% and 34%, respectively, in the radiation alone group. The differences were non-significant, but the incidence of local relapse and patient survival showed better trends with the combined approach. The international literature data are in favour of a combined approach in both the preoperative and postoperative treatment of advanced rectal cancer. Adjuvant therapy needs to be re-assessed in trials using total mesorectal excision as the standard operative technique.


This paper develops methodology and technique for the design, analysis, and implementation of an adaptive generalized predictive controller (AGPC) for active queue management in TCP networks. The TCP/AQM dynamic is modeled experimentally as a second-order system with a time delay where its parameters are estimated using the standard gradient algorithm. Based on this model, an AGPC is designed to gain the set-point tracking and robustness. AGPC, as a queue-based control mechanism, responds quickly to traffic changes, thus allowing for high utilization and small loss. We illustrate our results using ns-2 simulations and demonstrate the practical impact of adaptive model reference control on managing queue utilization and delay


Abstract This paper asks whether the level of integration of world countries in the international network of temporary human mobility can explain differences in their per-capita income and labor productivity. We disentangle the role played by global country centrality in the network from traditional openness measures, which only account for local, nearest-neighbor linkages through which ideas and knowledge can flow. Using 1995-2010 data, we show that global country centrality in the international temporary human-mobility network enhances both per-capita income and labor productivity. Our results hold cross-sectionally, as well as in a dynamic-panel estimation, and take into account potential endogeneity issues. Our findings imply that how close a country is to the theoretical technological frontier, depends not only on how much she is open to temporary human mobility, but mostly on whether she is embedded in a web of relationships connecting her with other influential partners in the network. Our exercises also suggest that most of the gain in income and productivity can be attained if country centrality in the network comes mostly from influential partners that lie not too far away from, but neither too close to them in the network.


Objective: The objective of this study is to measure pubic length and ischial length and to define ischiopubic index. This may be of value in physical anthropology, anatomy, gynecology to estimate the extent of labor, archeological analyses and in solving medicolegal cases. Methodology: Data were collected over the period of 4 months from June to September 2018 with the total of 120 patients who underwent pelvic and KUB radiographs. The pubic length, ischial length and the ischiopubic index were measued.Pubic length is a straight line drawn on the radiograph from centre of the triradiate cartilage to the medial end of pubic symphysis. Ischial length is a straight line drawn on the radiograph from triradiate cartilage perpendicular to the line joining the bilateral lower ischial tuberosities.Ischiopubic index is determined from the pubic length divided by ischial length, and then


The coverage dependence of the sticking coefficient and temperature programmed desorption kinetics for molecular adsorption of oxygen on Ag(001) are investigated both experimentally and theoretically. The nearly exponential decrease of the sticking coefficient as a function of coverage by about five orders of magnitude is explained within a kinetic lattice gas model to be the result of strong nearest- and next-nearest-neighbor repulsions. The latter also shape the desorption spectra which are calculated within the same model under the assumption that fast surface diffusion maintains the adsorbate in quasiequilibrium during desorption. Because the desorption rate is proportional to the sticking coefficient under these conditions, we find a massive decrease of the pre-exponential factor in the Arrhenius parametrization of the rate as a function of coverage which explains the peculiar shape of the desorption spectra.


Phenytoin (5,5'-dipenylimidazolidine-2,4-dione) and Thiophenytoin (5,5-diphenyl-2-thioimidazolidine-4-one) are the prime examples of anticonvulsant agent. According to reported procedure, they are synthesized by condensation of benzil and urea in presence of base (30% w/v NaOH) using ethanol as solvent which itself acts as CNS stimulant. Removal of solvent after synthesis is most difficult and non-assured process. Therefore in the present work by application of green chemistry principles thiophenytoins were synthesized by condensation of benzil and sub. aryl thioureas in presence of base and water as green solvent. These compounds were characterized on the basis of its spectral (UV,IR, 1H NMR) data.


This paper describes the submission to the IWSLT 2021 offline speech translation task by the UPC Machine Translation group. The task consists of building a system capable of translating English audio recordings extracted from TED talks into German text. Submitted systems can be either cascade or end-to-end and use a custom or given segmentation. Our submission is an end-to-end speech translation system, which combines pre-trained models (Wav2Vec 2.0 and mBART) with coupling modules between the encoder and decoder, and uses an efficient fine-tuning technique, which trains only 20% of its total parameters. We show that adding an Adapter to the system and pre-training it, can increase the convergence speed and the final result, with which we achieve a BLEU score of 27.3 on the MuST-C test set. Our final model is an ensemble that obtains 28.22 BLEU score on the same set. Our submission also uses a custom segmentation algorithm that employs pre-trained Wav2Vec 2.0 for identifying periods of untranscribable text and can bring improvements of 2.5 to 3 BLEU score on the IWSLT 2019 test set, as compared to the result with the given segmentation.


Microtremor seismic surveys are routinely used to provide shear wave velocities that are converted to soil stiffness site profiles. In this paper, we look to assess the feasibility of using trains as seismic sources to characterize near-surface geology, define the optimum survey parameters to collect train-induced vibrations (i.e., array location and orientation to the railway) and find how the geology affects train-induced vibration characteristics. Three-component train-induced shear wave vibrations were recorded on short (44 m) and long (115 m) linear seismic arrays, both parallel and orthogonal to the nearby railway embankment, using standard seismic refraction recording equipment. The collected data were divided into short/long array size/orientation and seismic components for each survey configuration. 1D shear wave velocity-depth profiles were also generated for all data sets. Results showed thst long linear arrays with vertical components, parallel to the railway embankment, was optimal with the greater depth ranges. The vertical component amplitude of train-induced vibrations was found to be affected by the site geology, increasing with the thickening of Quaternary deposits and having different magnitudes for trains traveling in different directions. Results showed that different apparent shear-wave velocities were obtained from different train groups and different seismic components. The passenger trains (i.e. Virgin Trains Pendolino and British Midland 319 series) generate Rayleigh waves at higher frequencies than the freight trains.


This research presents a methodology for determining the optimal dwell point location for an overhead bridge crane to minimise the expected response times. The problem is modelled as a planar minisum location problem with both zero dimensional (point) and two-dimensional (planar) existing demands. These demands come in three forms: from the Input/Output (I/O) location into the service area (storage move), from the service area to the I/O (retrieval move); and, across the service area (intra-service area move). The result is a non-trivial solution to where the crane should dwell when it is idle. Results of an implementation are also presented.


It is effective and desirable for a proper customer relationship management or marketing to focus on the specific customers rather than a number of non specific customers. This study forecasts the prospective purchasers with high probability to purchase a specific product. Artificial Neural Network( ANN) can classily the characteristics of the prospective purchasers but ANN has a limitation in comprehending of outputs. ANN is integrated into IRANN with IR of decision tree program C5.0 to comprehend and analyze the outputs of ANN. We compare and analyze the accuracy of ANN, IR, and IRANN each other.


A sensorless three-level neutral-point-clamped inverter-fed induction motor drive is proposed in this paper. The conventional direct torque control (DTC) switching table fails to consider the circuit limitations, such as neutral-point-balance and smooth vector switching, caused by the topology of a three-level inverter. Two kinds of modified schemes for three-level DTC are proposed to solve these problems. They also provide performance enhancement while maintaining robustness and simplicity. Fuzzy logic control and the speed-adaptive flux observer (with novel gain and load toque observation) are introduced to enhance the performance of the system. The issue of large starting current is investigated and solved by introducing the technique of preexcitation. A 32-bit fixed-point DSP-based motor drive is developed to achieve high-performance sensorless control over a wide speed range. The effectiveness of the proposed schemes is confirmed by simulation implementation and experimental validation.


Localization is an active field of research in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) to identify the current location of the sensor nodes. A WSN consist of thousands of nodes that make the installation of GPS on each sensor node expensive and moreover GPS will not provide exact localization results in an indoor environment. Manually configuring location reference on each sensor node is also not possible in the case of dense network This gives rise to a problem where the sensor nodes must identify its current location without using any special hardware like GPS and without the help of manual configuration. Localization techniques make the deployment of WSNs economical. Most of the localization techniques are carried out with the help of anchor node or beacon node, which knows its present location. Based on the location information provided by the anchor node or beacon node, other nodes localize themselves. In this paper we present a succinct survey on the localization techniques used in wireless sensor networks covering its problems and research gap.


Background Non-ST elevation acute coronary syndromes (NSTEACS) confer a broad range of risk of adverse outcomes following presentation to an emergency department. This study compares the Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) risk scoring system with the used but untested, Cheshire, Merseyside and North Wales Cardiac Network (CMNW) NSTEACS risk stratification system in predicting the adverse outcomes of re-admission to hospital with either a NSTEACS or death at 30 days post presentation. Method Once a diagnosis of NSTEACS was made, patients were risk scored, then case notes were retrieved 30 days later. Primary adverse outcome of death and secondary adverse outcome of NSTEACS at 30 days was analysed using a ROC curve. Results 104 patients were included in the study diagnosed as having NSTEACS. Of these patients, 11 (11%) were initially diagnosed as having unstable angina (UA) (troponin I negative, <0.07), 43 (41%) non-ST elevation myocardial infarction Group 1 (troponin I 0.07–0.49) and 50 (48%) had non-ST elevation myocardial infarction Group 2 (troponin I ≥0.50). For death at 30 days, the CMNW risk c-statistic is 0.845 (95% CI 0.728 to 0.962, asymptotic significance 0.02) and TIMI 0.670 (CI 0.493 to 0.847, asymptotic significance 0.25). NSTEACS at 30 days (including NSTEMI and UA), the CMNW risk c-statistic is 0.466 (95% CI 0.345 to 0.586, asymptotic significance 0.616), TIMI 0.418 (CI 0.281 to 0.555, asymptotic significance 0.231). Conclusions The CMNW score categorised more patients as higher risk, who suffered death at 30 days than the TIMI score.


Educated Hand Publishing LLC "The Science Behind the Art" Anesthesia eJournal Online ISSN 2333-2611 Medication errors are an important public health problem with high human and financial costs. Medication errors in anesthesia can result in patient morbidity or mortality and should be preventable. Evidence in the literature supports increasing computer access to reduce the number of medication errors. The purpose of this study was to determine if medication errors could be reduced in one university hospital through a clinical intervention of increasing computer access in the post-anesthesia care unit. A quantitative retrospective chart review was conducted. A statistical test of two independent proportions was used to examine the occurrence of schedule II (fentanyl) and IV (midazolam) controlled substance documentation errors before and after increasing computer access in the post-anesthesia care unit. Access to computers appeared to be associated with a reduction of medication errors from 2.3% to 1.5%. The compliance rate increased from 97.6% to 98.5%. The reduction in the error percentage was significant (z = 2.045, p = 0.04). Our findings provide objective evidence for the support of continuous process improvement to reduce medication errors in anesthesia.


Background: Loss-of-function mutations in the imprinted gene MKRN3 represent the most common known genetic defects associated with central precocious puberty (CPP). Methods: We report the first case of a girl carrying an MKRN3 mutation detected in childhood and followed until the development of pubertal signs. Results: The girl was screened at the age of 4 years because of a positive family history; her sister had developed CPP at 6 years of age and was found to harbor the MKRN3 p.Pro161Argfs*16 mutation, inherited from their asymptomatic father. During close follow-up, she initially developed increased growth velocity at 6 years (9 cm/year), followed by a slightly increased basal luteinizing hormone level (0.4 mIU/ml) and, ultimately, clinical thelarche with rapid progression (Tanner stage 1-3) between 6.3 and 6.7 years. In the context of a loss-of-function MKRN3 mutation and a positive family history, these features established the diagnosis of CPP and supported the initiation of treatment with a gonadotropin-releasing hormone analog. The absence of significant bone age advancement, pubic or axillary hair, or behavioral or social problems could be ascribed to the early diagnosis. Conclusion: The identification of carriers of MKRN3 mutations may contribute to early diagnosis of CPP, facilitating treatment decisions and guiding genetic counseling and prompt intervention in familial cases.


The paper investigates the information content of speculative pressure across futures classes. Long-short portfolios of futures contracts sorted by speculative pressure capture a significant premium in commodity, currency and equity markets but not in fixed income markets. Exposure to commodity, currency and equity index futures' speculative pressure is priced in the broad cross-section after controlling for momentum, carry, global liquidity and volatility risks. The findings are confirmed by robustness tests using alternative speculative pressure signals, portfolio construction techniques and sub-periods inter alia. We argue that there is an efficient hedgers-speculators risk transfer in commodity, currency and equity index futures markets.


The objective of this study was to evaluate the retentive ability and weight change of two extracoronal attachments after repeated insertion/removal cycles. Material and methods: Two extracoronal attachments were used, one with plastic inserts and the other one with conventional metal-alloy. Initial retentive ability was checked under a 20kgf load cell at 5mm/min. The weight of the fixed/removable pairs was verified with an electronic mass comparator. Fixed/removable pairs were tested with an insertion/removal cycling machine, for 5800 cycles (corresponding to 5 years) at a speed of 32 rpm speed. Insertion/ removal cycles were performed under artificial saliva. Weight change and retentive ability of attachments were verified at baseline, six-month, one-year, two-year, three-year, four-year and five-year time intervals. The two-way ANOVA for repeated measurements test was used to verify possible interactions between precision attachment type and retentive ability/weight change over time. Statistically significant associations were found between attachment type and retentive ability over time (P=0.006). Metal-alloy group showed significant differences between baseline and first year (P=0.005), baseline and second year (P=0.001), and between baseline and five years (P=0.035) of insertion/removal cycles. In the plastic insert group, no significant differences were found over time. No statistically significant associations were found between precision attachment types and weight change over time (P=0.643). Initial retentive ability can not be standardized for both attachments; the metal-alloy showed better performance than the plastic insert after five years. Both attachments did not show weight change after five years of simulated use.


Arrays of Nb/Al/sub 2/O/sub 3//Nb Josephson tunnel junctions show dc characteristics of high quality when the trilayer is deposited direct on polished Si wafers. Underlayers such as rf-sputtered SiO/sub 2/, can considerably degrade the junction parameters. These results suggest that voltage standard chips should be produced with a cover instead of a groundplane. First results of attenuation measurements on such circuits are presented and discussed. Furthermore, a new and more simple fabrication process without a window-insulating layer and only two photolithographic steps is presented. Arrays of several thousands of junctions showed no problems of any kind with trapped flux.<<ETX>>


The IBM Tivoli Storage Manager, a client/server product providing backup, archive, and space management functions in heterogeneous distributed environments, performs extensive storage management after client data have reached the server. Beyond minimizing the amount of data that a client needs to send on successive backup operations, Tivoli Storage Manager optimizes data placement for disaster recovery, for restore operations, and for fault tolerant access. It also adapts to changes in device technology. The original design points of the product in research have been expanded to provide a comprehensive set of functions that not only facilitate backup but also support content managers and deep storage applications. The design points and functions are described in this paper.


This study aims to produce Flash-based physics learning media, knowing the feasibility of Flash-based physics learning media on the subject of Newton's Laws. Type of research and development. The product development model adapting the ADDIE development model developed by Lee & Owens (2004) consists of analysis, design, development and implementation, evaluation. The feasibility of learning media involves 2 media experts, 2 material experts, 5 students on small group trials, and 22 students of grade VIII on field trials. Data analysis technique used in this research is descriptive. The results of this study are: To produce Flash-based physics learning media products. Knowing the feasibility of instructional media, resulting in a mean total score of 4.14 in the eligible category. The material expert's eligibility earned an average total score of 3.73 in the eligible category. The results of the assessment by the students resulted in 40% of students declared this learning media in the category very feasible, 60% of other students in the eligible category. 22 students resulted in 64% of students declared in a very viable category, 36% of other students were in a decent category. Thus, Flash-based physics learning media can be applied in the learning process.


Recently, great progress has been made in nanozyme research due to the rapid development of nanomaterials and nanotechnology. MXene-based nanomaterials have gained considerable attention owing to their unique physicochemical properties. They have been found to have high enzyme-like properties, such as peroxidase, oxidase, catalase, and superoxide dismutase. In this mini-review, we present an overview of the recent progress in MXene-based nanozymes, with emphasis on their synthetic methods, hybridization, bio-catalytic properties, and biomedical applications. The future challenges and prospects of MXene-based nanozymes are also proposed.


Background: The fibrotic process in liver fibrosis is faster when there is coinfection with HIV than in Hepatitis B or Hepatitis C mono-infection. Objectives: We sought to compare the presence of liver fibrosis based on Aspartate Aminotransferase to Platelet Ratio Index (APRI) in HIV clinical stage I-II and III-IV. We also sought to identify factors associated with liver fibrosis in HIV-infected children. Methods: The population was HIV-infected children who were registered in 2006-2014 Sanglah hospital's TApHOd (Treat Asia Pediatric HIV Observational Database) cohort. The cutoff point for fibrosis was APRI > 0.5. The sample was grouped into two outcomes: liver fibrosis and without fibrosis. The associations of liver fibrosis to the severity of HIV clinical stage and other variables were analyzed using Fisher-Exact test. Results: From 81 HIV-infected subjects, 46 were in stage III-IV and 35 in stage I-II. The range of APRI was 0.11 to 12.01. There were 27 subjects with liver fibrosis. There were 21 subjects with liver fibrosis in stage III-IV HIV infection and 6 in stage I-II. The analysis showed in a group of liver fibrosis patients; there are more patients with the severe clinical stage of HIV (p-value = 0.009). Conclusion: Liver fibrosis is more common in the more severe clinical stage of HIV infection in children than in the milder clinical stage. Advanced clinical stage significantly increases the risk for liver fibrosis.


Underground mines are a vital part of the European raw material industry. The subsurface mining process is related to the large-scale development of underground structures like tunnels, chambers, workings, etc. These structures are abandoned or liquidated during the process of exploitation or after the termination of works. Still, due to the unique environment, post-mining facilities may be adopted for different purposes. There are few examples of implementations of this capacity in practical terms such as underground laboratories (ULs), energy storages, landfills of dangerous wastes, or food production plants. Unfortunately, the unique environment offered by underground space is also related to the occurrence of exceptional hazards, like seismicity and ground control problems, gases, floods, the lack of natural ventilation, and high temperatures. This results in low interest in investing in such facilities. Within this paper, some ways to repurpose underground mines have been presented, and possible challenges that need to be faced have been described. An extensive database of threats to post-mining repurposing and ways to mitigate them has been prepared based on surveys and interviews conducted with representatives of currently existing Uls and mining companies and a literature review. Finally, this manuscript provides a general look at post-mining infrastructure in Europe's current situation and in the future.


Pay-for-performance (P4P) programmes have been introduced in numerous developing countries with the goal of increasing the provision and quality of health services through financial incentives. Despite the popularity of P4P, there is limited evidence on how providers achieve performance gains and how P4P affects health system quality by changing structural inputs. We explore these two questions in the context of Rwanda's 2006 national P4P programme by examining the programme's impact on structural quality measures drawn from international and national guidelines. Given the programme's previously documented success at increasing institutional delivery rates, we focus on a set of delivery-specific and more general structural inputs. Using the programme's quasi-randomized roll-out, we apply multivariate regression analysis to short-run facility data from the 2007 Service Provision Assessment. We find positive programme effects on the presence of maternity-related staff, the presence of covered waiting areas and a management indicator and a negative programme effect on delivery statistics monitoring. We find no effects on a set of other delivery-specific physical resources, delivery-specific human resources, delivery-specific operations, general physical resources and general human resources. Using mediation analysis, we find that the positive input differences explain a small and insignificant fraction of P4P's impact on institutional delivery rates. The results suggest that P4P increases provider availability and facility operations but is only weakly linked with short-run structural health system improvements overall.


Laparoscopic treatment of intractable duodenal ulcers is intended for the treatment of patients who do not heal after a trial of intensive regimen of medication such as H2 blockers and/or therapy aimed at eradication of Helicobacter pylori. Patients in a category who are Helicobacter-negative can be offered a laparoscopic treatment of their ulcer by vagotomy. Patients who have early relapses on stopping medical treatment are also candidates for vagotomy. Complications of the disease, such as bleeding or pyloric outlet obstruction, represent valid indications in 1995 for performing surgery in patients with duodenal ulcer disease.


: The dark 'bad' side of herbal and supplement use is not only in their direct adverse effects or toxicity, but in their potential for interactions with a variety of agents commonly used by mainstream practitioners. In the next issue, Part III--The Ugly--will focus on the distorted image of these hazardous herbal drifters.


We consider the problem of driving a system from some initial configuration to a desired configuration while avoiding some unsafe configurations. The system to be controlled is a dynamical system that can operate in different modes. The goal is to synthesize the logic for switching between the modes so that the desired reachability property holds.
 In this paper, we first present a sound and complete inference rule for proving reachability properties of single mode continuous dynamical systems. Next, we present an inference rule for proving controlled reachability in multi-modal continuous dynamical systems. From a constructive proof of controlled reachability, we show how to synthesize the desired switching logic. We show that our synthesis procedure is sound and produces only non-zeno hybrid systems.
 In practice, we perform a constructive proof of controlled reachability by solving an Exists-Forall formula in the theory of reals. We present an approach for solving such formulas that combines symbolic and numeric solvers. We demonstrate our approach on some examples. All results extend naturally to the case when, instead of reachability, interest is in until properties.


The Njoro and Kamweti River catchments are productive catchments that have and continue to experience major land-use changes with consequences on land cover and the associated environmental resources. It is, therefore, crucial to understand the type of changes occurring, spatial patterns, and the rates at which these changes are occurring. In this study, we quantified the changes in land use and land cover that occurred between 1988 and 2019 identifying areas of change and the average annual rate of change. Thematic Mappers (TM) and Enhanced Thematic Mappers Plus (ETM +) and Sentinel images were obtained for 1988 and 2019. Ground truthing was carried out to enable us to verify the accuracy of the remotely sensed data using in-situ observations to refine the classification output. The results obtained indicated that both catchments have experienced intense land-use changes but at different levels. Njoro River catchment's forest cover and shrubland had decreased at a rate of 6.06 Km2/year and 0.92 Km2/year respectively and the most increase was recorded in farmlands (3.11 Km2/year) as the other land use classes also increased. In the Kamweti River catchment, forest cover showed a decrease at a rate of 0.21 Km2/year, and farmlands also a slight decrease of 0.1 Km2/year while the other land cover classes increased in area coverage during the period 1988-2019.  The changes in land use and land cover were attributed to increased demand for food and housing and thus continued degrading the two catchments especially the Njoro River catchment. Results obtained indicated that anthropogenic activities were the major contributing factors to the changes in Land Use Land Cover experienced in both catchments. We recommend continued analysis of the trends and rates of land cover conversions owing to their potential use by development planners.


SCIENCE POLICYA festering feud over possible health risks of low radiation levels has blistered into public view. But instead of assailing each other, two bitter foes are unloading on the National Research Council (NRC) for assembling what they claim is a biased panel to weigh radiation risks. In response, the NRC last month canceled the panel's first meeting and agreed to review its composition.


In this article, we describe transitional leadership development programs as the beginning of a journey, and we propose that for this type of program, an integrated collaborative approach to evaluation is logical and appropriate. We argue that the leadership development evaluation process for one program described in this article is continuous. On-going evaluation includes base line entry interviews, 360° testing, action planning and experimentation, and most significantly, live case study presentations and feedback loops, which are embedded into the rhythm of the work and lives of the participants who attend our program. Our post-program retest study has validated, albeit on a small scale, that change does occur in a direction that we predicted, as a result of the program.


In this research, the growth of CNTs is carried out on Fe/Al2O3 substrate by CVD method. Preparation of Fe catalyst nanoparticle supported on Al2O3 substrate as catalyst system for growth of CNTs, were carried out by two different methods, in order to, investigate its effects on the quality of synthesized CNTs. In the first method, Fe nanoparticles (with the size of less than 60nm) were mixed with alumina powder, and in the second one impregnation method were employed to synthesis catalyst particle on alumina substrate from Fe(NO3)3.6H2O salt. The qualities of CNTs growth on the substrates produced by above methods were compared using SEM images and XRD pattern of the produced samples.


Background Lupus Mastitis is rare and can be easily confounded with infection or breast cancer. Methods We report two cases of lupus mastitis, in different clinical settings. Results The first patient was a 34-year-old female with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) with renal, hematological, musculoskeletal and cutaneous involvement, medicated with hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) 400 mg/day, mycophenolate mofetil 2000 mg/day and prednisolone 7.5 mg/day. She presented to the emergency department with painful right breast. On the examination, the breast was swollen, warm and painful to palpation. Breast ultrasound revealed a vascularized and lobulated mass at the upper external quadrant, with liquid areas inside, suggesting possible abscess, which was drained and biopsied. Histopathological analysis demonstrated a fibroinflammatory process, with fibrotic and abscedated areas, ductitis, lobulitis and vasculitis, compatible with lupus mastitis. Cultures from the aspirated fluid were negative. The patient was medicated with antibiotic, NSAIDs and prednisolone dose was increased to 10 mg/day with significant improvement. The second case refers to a 48-year-old female patient, with SLE with cutaneous, immunological and musculoskeletal involvement, who had withdrawn HCQ due to ocular toxicity. In the following months, the patient presented recurrent episodes of mastitis, on the same location. Breast ultrasound performed during one of the episodes revealed a hyperecogenic area of the fibroglandular tissue, with cystic areas. In spite of repeated treatment with antibiotics and NSAIDs, mastitis recurred, in a total of seven times. Because of worsening of the cutaneous lupus, the patient was medicated with methotrexate up to 15 mg/week. No more episodes of mastitis were recorded and biopsy of the breast, which had been considered, was not performed due to total recovery. The gynecology and rheumatology teams concluded that lupus was the etiology of the recurrent mastitis. Conclusions Clinicians should be aware of this entity to avoid unnecessary invasive procedures, which may increase inflammation involved in lupus mastitis. Therapeutic approach usually demands increasing immunomodulation.


Dysfunction in adipocytes is associated with insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Diabetes-associated anemia has been reported due to the increased non-enzymatic glycosylation of RBC membrane proteins, which correlates with hyperglycemia. The present study was hypothesized to assess the effect of citrus flavonoids on hematological parameters and adipose tissue interleukin-6 and adiponectin in type 2 diabetic rats. Diabetes was induced by feeding rats with a high fat diet for 2 weeks followed by an intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin. An oral dose of 50 mg/kg hesperidin or naringin was daily given for 4 weeks after diabetes induction. By the end of the experiment, blood samples were collected and were immediately used for determination of haematological parameters. Expression levels of adiponectin and interleukin-6 were assayed in adipose tissue samples. Both hesperidin and naringin significantly improved the levels of erythrocytes, leukocytes and their functional indices. Similarly, supplementation with either compound significantly ameliorated the declined adipose tissue adiponectin expression in conjunction with down-regulated interleukin-6. The findings of the present study indicated that hesperidin and naringin exert protection to diabetes-associated anemia in type 2 diabetic rats. This could be due to attenuation of proinflammatory cytokine production and stimulation of adiponectin expression.


Overview This learning module is concerned with the issue of leadership in the NHS and in particular what health visitors can do to develop their leadership skills at this vital time for their profession. Present coalition government policy emphasises the importance of clinical leadership and of the service being led by clinicians. But in practice, what does this mean? And how can individual practitioners develop their leadership skills in the changing NHS environment when the need for exemplary leadership in the NHS is greater than ever?