The aim of this study was to provide applicable knowledge for taking capercaillie into consideration in forest management and thus progress ecologically sustainable forestry. Capercaillie is a respected game species, but it also has indicator and umbrella species characteristics. Therefore capercaillie is closely linked to many other species. The study focused on the question: which structural characteristics of forest are important for the capercaillie? To gain a thorough view of capercaillie habitat needs, various capercaillie habitats were studied at several spatial scales in Finland in 1990s and 2000s. Species data were mostly from the wildlife monitoring counts. Forest planning data from Metsahallitus and data from the national forest inventories formed the landscape data. At large spatial scale (2500 km study units) the capercaillie population density was positively associated with the proportion of young thinning stands throughout the country. The association between capercaillie and young thinning stands was also positive at smaller scales in summer habitats, winter habitats and lek surroundings in northern Finland, where also the stand density was found to be positively associated with capercaillie in the summer habitats. The positive relationship between capercaillie and mature forests was found at the beginning of 1990s, but later this association was weak. The managed boreal forests become suitable for the capercaillie within 30 – 40 years, and so the large areas clear-cut in 1950s and 1960s in Finland became suitable for the capercaillie mostly in the 1990s. But the habitat quality may also decrease in the later successional stages of forest. The shortterm effects of thinnings on the capercaillie microhabitat quality can vary depending on the stand characteristics and season, and between adult birds and broods, but in the long term low cover on the ground may be the factor, which reduces the habitat quality in older managed forests especially in the low-productive areas and sites. Overall forest cover at the landscape scale, canopy cover and cover on the ground are important forest characteristics for the capercaillie. Longer rotations, understorey management and selective cuts are suitable methods to increase the capercaillie habitat availability and quality in the managed Finnish forests. Capercaillie habitat management calls also for spatial planning and preserving the availability of pine specifically in southern Finland. Also the costs and benefits of cutting residue management and possibilities to reduce the ditch restoration intensity in peatland forest management deserve a careful evaluation in the future. Furthermore, the connections between the abovementioned forest characteristics and other species deserve also to be studied.


Despite high rates of depression, anxiety, and burnout among medical students and residents, there has been little discussion about the role of the medical educator in supporting affected mentees. In this Invited Commentary, an anonymous third-year medical student with post-traumatic stress disorder describes her experiences during her preclinical and early clinical training. She argues that most educators intend to provide a supportive and inclusive environment, but that many struggle to balance this goal with the need for academic rigor and student well-being. She describes several innovative solutions developed by the instructors, preceptors, and administrators at her medical school, in the hope that they might be used to support students at other institutions. Finally, she illustrates the ways in which these efforts have empowered her to be a better advocate for the patients and students in her community.


ABSTRACT While the FAIR Principles do not specify a technical solution for 'FAIRness', it was clear from the outset of the FAIR initiative that it would be useful to have commodity software and tooling that would simplify the creation of FAIR-compliant resources. The FAIR Data Point is a metadata repository that follows the DCAT(2) schema, and utilizes the Linked Data Platform to manage the hierarchical metadata layers as LDP Containers. There has been a recent flurry of development activity around the FAIR Data Point that has significantly improved its power and ease-of-use. Here we describe five specific tools—an installer, a loader, two Web-based interfaces, and an indexer—aimed at maximizing the uptake and utility of the FAIR Data Point.


Anomalous Monism is characterized by two major theses: (1) that the mental is indeterminate (anomalous) and (2) that rationalizations are causal explanations, more specifically though, of a sort that depends on the identification of mental particulars – events – which possess causal efficacy. This paper criticizes the thesis of the indetermination in a limited way, only in so far as it is based on the conception of rationalizations connected with a specific metaphysics of action: particularism. I try to show that the explanation of actions in terms of the explanations of the occurrence of particulars in mistaken. Positively, I propose that the agent is the causer, not of her actions, but rather of the results of her actions. Consequently, actions may be conceived as the causations of events by an agent, they will then be the causations of the results of the actions of the agent. This proposal clearly explores the possibility that actions themselves are not events. I intend only to bring to the fore of the philosophical discussion of action this possibility, because I see it as the unexplored theme of much of the current discussion of the topic. PHILÓSOPHOS 12 (2): 33-54, jul./dez. 2007 48 ARTIGO INDETERMINATION OF THE MENTAL IN ANOMALOUS MONISM AND PARTICULARISM IN AGENCY


Bt maize in Kenya is promising biotechnology innovation for poor households. Econometric prediction from a trait-based model of variety adoption indicates that the choice of host variety has equity and efficiency implications related to heterogeneity in maize growing environments and pest pressures, as well as the differences among farm households in terms of wealth, income, and market access.


An experiment was conducted to measure recycling through cecotrophes and retention of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) in the body fat of rabbits. A commercial diet was formulated and given ad libitum to six New Zealand × Californian rabbits. Animals were weaned at 25 days of age and were reared in individual cages for five weeks, reaching an average body weight of 2.5 kg. Excretion of soft faeces was individually determined for 24 h after putting a wooden collar around the animals' neck. Ether extract content and fatty acid profile were determined in both soft and hard faeces, and also in the suprarenal and intramuscular fat. CLA cis-9, trans-11 isomer was detected in faeces and tissues. The CLA concentration was higher in soft than in the hard faeces (6.4 vs. 3.6 g/kg total fatty acids). No difference in CLA concentration was found between tissues (muscle vs. adipose). However, CLA incorporation in muscle was only detected in the neutral lipid fraction. It was concluded that the amount of CLA cis-9, trans-11 isomer recycled through cecotrophy in rabbits fed a commercial diet is retained in similar proportions in the suprarenal and intramuscular fat, but differs in the lipid classes.


We consider the problem of aggregating pairwise comparisons to obtain a consensus ranking order over a collection of objects. We use the popular Bradley–Terry–Luce (BTL) model, which allows us to probabilistically describe pairwise comparisons between objects. In particular, we employ the Bayesian BTL model, which allows for meaningful prior assumptions and to cope with situations where the number of objects is large and the number of comparisons between some objects is small or even zero. For the conventional Bayesian BTL model, we derive information-theoretic lower bounds on the Bayes risk of estimators for norm-based distortion functions. We compare the information-theoretic lower bound with the Bayesian Cramér–Rao lower bound we derive for the case when the Bayes risk is the mean squared error. We illustrate the utility of the bounds through simulations by comparing them with the error performance of an expectation-maximization-based inference algorithm proposed for the Bayesian BTL model. We draw parallels between pairwise comparisons in the BTL model and interplayer games represented as edges in an Erdős–Rényi graph and analyze the effect of various graph structures on the lower bounds. We also extend the information-theoretic and Bayesian Cramér–Rao lower bounds to the more general Bayesian BTL model, which takes into account home-field advantage.


Objective: Acute lung injury (ALI) and its more severe form acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in critically ill patients. Despite decades of research, there is still no effective therapy for ALI/ARDS, and treatment options are largely limited to supportive care. Neutrophil-mediated inflammation and endothelial cell (EC) injury are unifying features of the pathogenesis of ALI/ARDS. Interleukin-8 (IL8) receptors IL8RA and IL8RB (ILRA/RB) on neutrophil membranes bind to IL8 with high affinity and play a critical role in neutrophil recruitment to sites of injury and/or inflammation. This study tested the hypothesis that administration of rat induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell-derived ECs (iPS-ECs) overexpressing IL8RA/RB inhibits liposaccharide (LPS)-induced ALI. Design and Method: 12-wk-old ovariectomized SD rats were divided into three groups and received intra-peritoneal (i.p.) injection of saline (Sham); LPS (Escherichia coli 026:B6, Sigma-Aldrich, 10 mg/kg, i.p.) followed by i.v. infusion of saline; iPS-ECs overexpressing IL8RA/RB (IL8RA/RB-iPS-EC, 1.5 x 106 cells/rat, 2 hrs post LPS), or iPS-ECs overexpressing Ad-Null vector (AdNull-iPS-EC, 1.5 x 106 cells/rat, 2hrs post LPS), respectively. 6 hrs after LPS treatment, pro-inflammatory cytokine/chemokine mRNA levels were measured by real-time, RT-PCR in total lung homogenates. Neutrophil infiltration was assessed by immunohistochemical staining. Pulmonary edema was assessed by wet to dry weight ratio and Evans blue staining. Results: Expression of mRNA for adhesion molecule [P-selectin, vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM)-1, and intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1], chemoattractant [cytokine-induced neutrophil chemoattractant (CINC)-2&bgr; and monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1], and pro-inflammatory cytokine [interleukin (IL)-6 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-&agr;] was markedly increased in lungs of LPS rats. Transfusion of IL8RA/RB-iPS-ECs significantly attenuated expression of the pro-inflammatory mediators (by 40–50%) in LPS-injured lungs. Transfusion of IL8RA/RB-ECs also significantly attenuated LPS-induced neutrophil infiltration, pulmonary edema and vascular permeability changes. Conclusions: These provocative findings indicate that targeted delivery of iPS-ECs overexpressing IL8RA/RB protects against LPS-induced acute lung injury.


Outpatient hospital and ambulatory care services represent the fastest growing part of national health care expenditures. Until recently, most health plans reimbursed providers' outpatient facility costs on the basis of billed charges. Some health plans have now implemented prospective payment systems with incentives for limiting the volume of ambulatory care services. Findings from 1997 telephone interviews with senior managers in national managed care companies and local health plans reveal that recent reforms at some health plans have been generally incremental, building on existing systems, but use of outpatient prospective payment systems by private health plans is still rare. However, health plan managers expect continued reforms in the future as experience is gained with new payment systems such as those based on the Ambulatory Patient Groups case mix grouping method.


In recent years, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) codes have been utilized actively in the early part of the product development cycle. Numerical analysis models have also been developed rapidly and have added cavitation flow analysis functions peculiar to hydraulic machines, in which the flow analysis has been developed remarkably with high-precision and high-reliability. On the other hand, it is well known that three kinds of cavitation, such as vortex cavitation, reverse flow cavitation and cloud cavitation appear in a double-suction volute pump. We have much interest in a relationship among the cavitating flows, pump oscillation and noise. In this study, full 3D numerical simulations have been performed using a commercial code inside the pump from the inlet of suction duct to the outlet of delivery duct. The numerical model is based on a combination of multiphase flow equations with the truncated version of the Rayleigh-Plesset model predicting the complicated growth and collapse process of cavity bubbles. This study highlights especially the mechanism of vortex cavitation occurrence from the end of the suction duct in the pump and pump oscillation which causes cavitation noise from the pump. The experimental investigations have also been performed on the cavitating flow with flow visualization to evaluate the numerical results.


By analyzing the propagation of discontinuity in nonlinear electrodynamics, we numerically investigate the related black hole shadows of recently derived rotating black hole solutions in gravity. In this context, the geodesic motion of the relevant perturbations is governed by an effective geometry, which is closely related to the underlying spacetime metric. We derive the effective geometry, and the latter is used to determine the trajectory of the propagation vector of an arbitrary finite discontinuity in the electrodynamic perturbations, namely, the photon. Subsequently, the image of the black hole is evaluated using the ray-tracing technique. Moreover, we discuss the physical relevance of metric parameters, such as the nonlinear coupling, spin, and charge, by studying their impact on the resultant black hole shadows.


Analyses of the anaphylactic and immune reactions by means of perfusion experiments with the isolated guinea-pig lungs show that we are here concerned with three essential factors: Cellular hypersensitiveness, or the anaphylactic response of the hypersensitive fixed pulmonary tissues,Humoral anaphylaxis, or the chemical response (anaphylotoxin formation) of the anaphylactic blood, andHumoral immunity, or the inhibiting or protecting action of the immune blood.
 In the 14-day anaphylactic guinea-pig, the fatal bronchial spasm is due, in part to fixed cellular hypersensitiveness, in part to humoral anaphylaxis.
 In the 4-week anaphylactic guinea-pig, the fixed cellular hypersensitiveness is usually greater than that of the 14-day anaphylactic guinea-pig. The humoral reaction, however, is usually absent. The fatal bronchial spasm in the 4-week anaphylactic guinea-pig is usually due solely to fixed cellular hypersensitiveness.
 The immune guinea-pig usually shows a fixed cellular hypersensitiveness greater than that of the 14-day anaphylactic guinea pig. A fatal bronchial spasm is prevented in the immune guinea-pig, however, by the inhibiting or protecting action of the immune blood.
 The immune guinea-pig, therefore, shows a seemingly paradoxical phenomenon, the coexistence of a fixed cellular hypersensitiveness and a humoral immunity.


This paper aims at investigating the causes of child marriage in Nigeria and its consequences on the girl child and society at large using Stephanie Linus's film; Dry as a case study. Objectification is the inhuman treatment of the feminine gender as mere objects or instruments of manipulation without giving consideration to their preferences and opinions. This trend which is common in Nigeria is worrisome due to the overbearing influence of patriarchy one of whose consequences is the forced marriage of adolescent and teenage girls to older men in their quinquagenarian, sexagenarians and septuagenarians. The study anchors on Womanism, and adopts a mixed method of Qualitative, Quantitative and Content analysis to discover the underlying motifs and images inherent in the movie understudy, as well as deduce facts from social respondents. The study thus concludes, that increased poverty rate, illiteracy, culture and tradition among others, is a causal factor behind this phenomenon and this has led to infections such as vesico vaginal (obstetric) fitsula due to forced expansion of the pelvic muscle, still birth, and in most cases death. Against this background, the study recommends that, government should embark on a nationwide campaign to curb this excesses and pass the forced early child marriage bill into law to check the menace. The paper further recommends that applied theatre Workshops through Theatre for Development should be taken to these villages/towns to enlighten, conscientise and re-orientate them about these practices. Civil society groups/org should also partner with health workers in the rural suburbs to embark on routine awareness and enlightenment on the aftereffect of such obsolete cultural practices.
Keywords: Objectification, Patriarchy, Child Marriage, Womanism, Intra-Subjugation.


The processing of TiO2 semiconducting materials has a long route with numerous contributing variables. The binder plays an important role in the development of this electro-ceramic material. Higher density and strength of a green body are critical not only for handling at its green state but also to avoid the causes of flaw formation during sintering. Use of appropriate binder can lead to improve characteristics of powder which will reduce density gradient in the green body during compaction. Enhanced green properties can consequently lead to higher fired strength of the varistor discs. The binder system is anticipated to have an influence on the grain growth and microstructure which in turn affect the electrical performance. To investigate this phenomenon, TiO2 powder doped with 0.2% of Ta2O5 was processed with and without binder polyvinyl alcohol. The prepared samples were characterized by evaluating the physical properties like green density, fired density, axial and radial shrinkage, micro hardness and compressive strength. It was observed that TiO2 processed with binder exhibited better properties compared to powder processed without binder. The higher percent of binder enhanced the properties further. XRD revealed that the diffraction angle peak was similar to that of pure TiO2. SEM analysis indicated that the average grain size was larger for discs prepared with higher percent of binder. It is anticipated that the larger grain size will improve varistor properties in terms of low voltage applications.


The Astronomical & Physics Cloud Interactive Desktop (ACID) has been developed for the prototype of CTA Science Gateway in Catania, Italy. ACID is based on a web environment that, avoiding any installation on a local PC, allows the use of plenty of software packages for both on-line and off-line analysis of astrophysical data. The users are able to exploit, if applicable, the native Graphical User Interface (GUI) of the tools available in the ACID environment. The ACID environment exploited by the Science Gateway offers two modes of usage: interactively to perform an on-line analysis through the VNC desktop and the native GUIs or shell environment of the programs, Distributed Computing Infrastructure (DCI) to perform an off-line analysis through a workflow submission. For the interactive usage of the remote software, ACID exploits an ad hoc VNC-based User Interface (VUI). Each type of analysis can be exploited through the CTA Science Gateway based on Life ray and WS-PGRADE/gUSE. Data file sharing is ensured by own Cloud technology. All of these functionalities can be also used through iOS and Android devices.


Dietary record-keeping was used to determine intake of food, fluid, alcohol and
nutritional supplements in 35 male canoeists during the 24 hours prior to, the three
days of and day following the 1998 Dusi Canoe Marathon. Control data were
obtained from 13 male, age-matched sedentary control subjects during the three days
of the event. These data were coded and analysed using a computerised dietary
analysis programme. Changes in body mass were used to assess hydration status. In
the canoeists, mean total daily energy consumption from a combination of diet, liquid
and supplement consumption over the 5-day period, ranged from 14.0 + 0.70 MJ to
14.6 + 1.45 MJ and was significantly higher (p<0.05) than the mean daily energy
intake of the sedentary control subjects (range: 11. 7 + 0.87-12.7 + 1.64). Carbohydrate
(CHO) supplementation was reported in 34.3 % of canoeists, while 37.1 % reported
using vitamin supplementation. In the canoeists, relative mean protein intake
exceeded 1.75 g/kg/d, CHO intake was less than 5.8 g/kg/d and mean fat intake
comprised 32.6 % of total kilojoule intake over the 5-day period. A loss of body mass
was apparent in 22.8% of the canoeists following the 3-day event and the mean
percentage of dehydration was 1.9 + 1.1. There was no apparent incidence of
overhydration. Alcohol usage occurred in 74. 3% of the canoeists and 30.8% of the
controls during the 5-day race period. The findings of this study indicate that
participants in this multi-day event do not adhere to current recommendations
regarding the percentage contribution of CHO & fat to total energy intake during
endurance events.


Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text Objective: To identify the most prevalent symptoms and those with greatest impact upon health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among esophageal cancer survivors. Background: Long-term symptom burden after esophagectomy, and associations with HRQOL, are poorly understood. Patients and Methods: Between 2010 and 2016, patients from 20 European Centers who underwent esophageal cancer surgery, and were disease-free at least 1 year postoperatively were asked to complete LASER, EORTC-QLQ-C30, and QLQ-OG25 questionnaires. Specific symptom questionnaire items that were associated with poor HRQOL as identified by EORTC QLQ-C30 and QLQ-OG25 were identified by multivariable regression analysis and combined to form a tool. Results: A total of 876 of 1081 invited patients responded to the questionnaire, giving a response rate of 81%. Of these, 66.9% stated in the last 6 months they had symptoms associated with their esophagectomy. Ongoing weight loss was reported by 10.4% of patients, and only 13.8% returned to work with the same activities. Three LASER symptoms were correlated with poor HRQOL on multivariable analysis; pain on scars on chest (odds ratio (OR) 1.27; 95% CI 0.97–1.65), low mood (OR 1.42; 95% CI 1.15–1.77) and reduced energy or activity tolerance (OR 1.37; 95% CI 1.18–1.59). The areas under the curves for the development and validation datasets were 0.81 ± 0.02 and 0.82 ± 0.09 respectively. Conclusion: Two-thirds of patients experience significant symptoms more than 1 year after surgery. The 3 key symptoms associated with poor HRQOL identified in this study should be further validated, and could be used in clinical practice to identify patients who require increased support.


Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2. It often manifest with respiratory symptoms such as cough, fever, and difficulty in breathing. In addition to pulmonary involvement, COVID-19 is also associated with several extrapulmonary manifestations. The extrapulmonary pathology of COVID-19 could be due to either extrapulmonary dissemination of the virus and its replication, as has been observed for other zoonotic coronaviruses or widespread immunopathological complications of the disease. We report a case of an 18-year-old female who presented with persistent vomiting as the only presentation of COVID-19. Clinical evaluation including a battery of investigation such as hematological, biochemical, imaging, and endoscopy did not reveal any abnormality. However, her nasopharyngeal and nasal swab samples tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). We placed her on the approved COVID-19 regimen comprising lopinavir/ritonavir, zinc sulfate, hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin with augmentin, vitamin C, metoclopramide and intravenous fluid for one week. The vomiting subsided within 48-h of commencing the medications, and she became asymptomatic after 72-h. Repeat PCR after 12 days returned negative for SARS-CoV-2. This case report highlights the unusual clinical feature of COVID-19. It, therefore, underscores the need to thoroughly investigate symptomatic patients and also to optimize standard precaution as potentially infectious diseases such as COVID-19 may "masquerade" as a vague constitutional symptom(s).


Indigenous Australian philosophy is more than just a survivalist kit to understanding nature, human or environmental, but is also a system for realising the fullest potential of human emotion and experience. This paper explores elements of indigenous philosophy, focusing on indigenous views that maintain human-ness is a skill, not developed in order to become a better human being, but to become more and more human. In this context, the paper considers indigenous understandings of the land as a spiritual entity and human societies as dependent upon the land.


The article discusses the effect of the adsorbed dose、initial value of pH and reaction temperature on the adsorption process of Cr3+ by fly ash based synthetic zeolite, and then the data is simulated for adsorption isotherm and dynamics at the same time. The results indicate that the dose of zeolite、initial value of solution pH and reaction temperature all have the significant effects on the removal effect of Cr3+. With the increasing of addition of adsorbent, the removal efficiency of Cr3+ improves constantly and the saturated adsorption capacity drops gradually. The adsorption rate of zeolite adsorbing Cr3+ is about 100% when the initial value of pH comes to 4. The rise of reaction temperature is not positive for the adsorption of zeolite on Cr3+ and the adsorption effect of zeolite on Cr3+ begins to fall gradually with the going up of reaction temperature. The process of zeolite adsorbing Cr3+ fits the Freundlich adsorption isotherm and pseudo second-class reactive kinetics equation can well describe the adsorption behavior of zeolite on Cr3+.


A novel molecular imprinting technology was developed to prepare highly selective sorbents, composed of adhesive peptides and microporous silica particles, for the adsorption of target metal ions from aqueous environments. Using solid-phase peptide-synthesis, tyrosine-, lysine-, and histidine-containing peptides were tailored to contain tyrosine-, lysine- and histidine-rich regions. The tyrosine residues of the peptide were converted to 3,4-dihydroxy-L-phenylalanine (DOPA) residues to give the peptides adhesive properties mimicking the adhesion of mussel-foot proteins to wet surfaces. The resulting DOPA-peptides were incubated with target metal ions Ni(II), Cu(II), Co(II), or Zn(II), and subsequently with microporous silica particles, at pH 8.0 and 25°C. Almost all the DOPA-peptides, with the metal ions, strongly attached to the particles within 24 h and were not detached from them upon washing with an aqueous solution of pH 1–12. However, the metal ions were easily released from the particles at a pH below 7.0, implying that imprinted cavities from the target metal ions, created on the peptide-immobilized silica particles, remained after the removal of the template metal ions. The metal adsorption characteristics of the resulting particles, which were termed metal-imprinted peptide–silica particles (metal-iPSPs), were investigated. The target metal ions were adsorbed to metal-iPSPs at a pH of 8.0. The adsorption kinetics fit a pseudo-second-order model well. The adsorption isotherm was well approximated using the Langmuir model, indicating that the metal-iPSP surface was homogeneous, adsorption sites were equivalent, and the coverage formed a monolayer. The metal-iPSPs exhibited a significant and high selectivity for the imprinted target metal ions in the presence of an equimolar quantity of competitive metal ions.


This paper presents the design of a high-speed low-power 8/spl times/8-bits pipelined multiplier, built upon a full adder cell implemented with an alternative internal logic structure that uses the C input signal to select XOR/XNOR and AND/OR logic functions, to get the sum and carry outputs, respectively. Furthermore, the full adder cell was designed using a swing-restored complementary pass-transistor logic style in order to avoid static power dissipation and to have a complete voltage swing at internal nodes to enable a faster operation. The multiplier has been designed with a 0.35/spl mu/m CMOS technology, and it is able to operate up to 1.2GHz when supplied with 3.3V. Post-layout simulations have been carried out for this multiplier and other ones previously published, in order to compare their performance on regards of speed and power dissipation. The results show that the power savings obtained for the proposed multiplier are about 20% when operating with transitioning input data, over 95% with stable input data and 90% with the clock signal disabled.


Where the spacing effect promotes longer intervals between facts that need to be memorized, the testing effect argues for intervals that are short enough to recall the facts. As the ease by which facts are memorized differs greatly between students, an individual assessment of how well certain facts are represented in memory is required to successfully balance spacing and testing effects. We present a model that adapts itself to the abilities of the student, and show in a real-world experiment that this model outperforms other approaches to spacing.


Abstract In this study, the nutritional and mineral composition of Diospyros kaki fruits from Apulia, Campania, Lazio, Sardinia and Sicily regions was evaluated. Dietary fiber, mineral, pectin, polyphenol, and protein contents were evaluated. Particularly high are the contents of the dietary fiber and pectins. The mineral elements profile was interesting due to its modest content of sodium and high potassium concentration. Protein amounts were in line with the quantities for this fruit. The total polyphenol content of the fruits analysed was very variable, interesting for the quantities found both total and gallic acid. The results obtained confirmed the nutritional value of this fruit even for special dietary regimens such as hypertension and heart diseases and the genuineness of its cultivation in Central-Southern Italy.


According to tackling key problems of science and technology to the collection,sorting,seed reproduction,list and safe savings of beet germplasms for 20 years,the phytological morphologic character and genetic diversity of beet germplasm resources were made clear in middle-term beet storage in China.The appraisal results of main economic character of 1382 beet germplasms showed that the root yield,sugar content and sugar yield of beet in the northwest ecological region were superior to others,that in the north China region was middling,that in the northeast region was inferior.Variance ranges of the characters were great.The indicated that the beet germplasms preserved in different ecological regions have great heterogeneity and abundant hereditary basis,it will be beneficial to sustainable development of scientific research and beet breeding.


Wireless sensor nodes capable of acquiring and transmitting biosignals are increasingly important to address future needs in healthcare monitoring. One of the main issues in designing these systems is the unavoidable energy constraint due to the limited battery lifetime, which strictly limits the amount of data that may be transmitted. Compressed Sensing (CS) is an emerging technique for introducing low-power, real-time compression of the acquired signals before transmission. The recently developed rakeness approach is capable of further increasing CS performance. In this paper we apply the rakeness-CS technique to enhance compression capabilities for electroencephalographic (EEG) signals, and particularly for Evoked Potentials (EP), which are recordings of the neural activity evoked by the presentation of a stimulus. Simulation results demonstrate that EPs are correctly reconstructed using rakeness-CS with a compression factor of 16. Additionally, some interesting denoising capabilities are identified: the high-frequency noise components are rejected and the 60 Hz power line noise is decreased by more than 20dB with respect to the state-of-the-art filtering when rakeness-CS techniques are applied to the EEG data stream.


Doping effect on ferromagnetic (FM) properties in perovskite manganites La1−xSrxMnO3 (x = 0.175) were investigated by low-temperature Lorentz transmission electron microscopy (TEM), in combination with the conventional magnetic measurements. It is found that La0.825Sr0.175Mn0.95Al0.05O3 exhibits a structural phase transition from the rhombohedral to orthorhombic structures at Ts~116 K. During the rhombohedral-to-orthorhombic transition, the FM domain structures changed from the macroscopic FM domains to the FM ones with the wavy stripe pattern. The ac magnetic measurements also revealed that La0.825Sr0.175Mn0.95Al0.05O3 shows unconventional magnetic behaviour at low temperature below 65 K. Partial substitution of non-magnetic Al3+ for Mn3+ has some influence on magnetic ordering and double-exchange interaction, which should induce insulator behaviour in the orthorhombic phase.


ABSTRACT This paper seeks to recover and establish the distinct (and distinctly) institutionalist social ontology that underpins social constructivism as an approach to political economic analysis. It views social constructivism as a profoundly normative mode of political inquiry which seeks to discern, interrogate and elucidate the contingency of social, political and economic change – restoring politics (broadly understood) to processes and practices typically seen to be inevitable, necessary and non-negotiable. More controversially, perhaps, it also sees social constructivism, after both Berger and Luckmann and Searle, as ontologically institutionalist. Social constructivism, it is argued, has its origins in the attempt to establish the ontological distinctiveness of institutions as 'social' (as distinct from natural or 'brute') facts. This leads it to a distinct understanding of the relationship between actors and the environment (both natural and social) in which they find themselves and to its characteristic emphasis on the ideational mediation of that relationship. That in turn leads it to a particular type of analytic purchase on political economic realities, reflected in its distinctive emphasis on interpretive ambiguity, the social construction of political and economic imperatives and on disequilibrium. The argument is illustrated and developed further through an elucidation of the implications of such a social constructivism for the analysis of the period of crisis through which we now acknowledge ourselves to be living.


An investigation was conducted to determine the presence of fungi in C. gariepinus harvested from selected farms and dams in Zaria and its environs. A total of 360 randomly sampled Clarias gariepinus (African mudfish) and 144 fish holding water samples were collected from three dams (wild captured) and three fish farms (cultured). They were screened for fungi using Sabouraud Dextrose Agar as isolation medium. Identification of the fungi was done by macroscopic observation of the growth morphology followed by microscopy after staining with lactophenol cotton blue. Four fungal genera namely; Mucor (12.50%), Aspergillus (18.06%), Tricophyton (5.56%) and Penicillium spp. (4.17%) were isolated from water samples. Similar fungi were also isolated from the fish skin swabs in the following order; Mucor spp. (49.57%), Aspergillus sp.(31.30%), Trichophyton sp.(10.43%) and Penicillium sp.(8.0%). Finding these fungi in the fish holding water might have occurred through the use of contaminated and/or decomposed feed, from runoffs, waste water discharges from nearby human settlements into the aquatic environment. The infection of fish by the isolated fungi diminishes both the aesthetic and economic value of fish. Attention must therefore be paid to fish hygiene and fish health management practices must be upheld. We hereby recommend that fish meant for human consumption be properly exposed to temperature high enough to eliminate contaminating fungi. Keywords: Fungi, African Mudfish, Clarias gariepinus , Dams (wild captured) Fish Farms (cultured)


This article reports the findings of a 3-year epidemiological survey for dementia in an urban community-resident population in Mumbai (Bombay), India, wherein the prevalence of all types of dementia was determined. Method: The study was conducted in three stages. Stage 1: From a potential pool of 30,000 subjects aged 40 years or more, 24,488 (male = 11,875; female = 12,613) persons completed self-report or interviewer-rated protocols based on the Sandoz Clinical Assessment Geriatric Scale, but 5,512 (18.37%) persons refused to participate. Scores on the protocol had a possible range from 0 through 34. Stage 2: Persons with a score +2SD above the mean were selected in this stage where the persons were screened for cognitive functioning using a modified and translated version of the Mini-Mental State Examination. Individuals who scored below the 5th percentile were included in Stage 3 and underwent a detailed neurological, psychiatric, and neuropsychological evaluation as well as hematological, radiological, electrocardiographic, and electroencephalographic investigations. Diagnoses were made jointly by a neurologist, psychiatrist, and psychologist using the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria. Subjects were also rated on the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scale and assessed for activities of daily living. Results: One hundred five subjects with dementia (CDR ≥ 0.5) were identified in this population of 24,488 persons. The prevalence rate for dementia in those aged 40 years and more was 0.43% and for persons aged 65 and above was 2.44%. Seventy-eight individuals had a CDR of ≥ 1 yielding an overall prevalence rate of 0.32%, and a prevalence rate of 1.81% for those aged 65 years and older. The overall prevalence rate for Alzheimer's disease (AD) in the population was 0.25%, and 1.5% for those aged 65 years and above. AD (n = 62;65%) was the most common cause of dementia followed by vascular dementia (n = 23;22%). There were more women (n = 38) than men (n = 24) in the AD group. Increasing age was associated with a higher prevalence of the dementia syndrome in general as well as AD specifically. Conclusion: In the population surveyed, the prevalence of AD and other dementias is less than that reported from developed countries but similar to results of other studies in India. Prevalence of the dementia syndrome increased with age and was not related to gender. AD was the most common dementia and the prevalence was higher in women than in men. Results are discussed with respect to shorter life expectancy, relocation of affected persons, and differences in the risk factors as compared to developed countries.


For real-time dosimetry in electron beam therapy, an integrated fiber-optic dosimeter (FOD) is developed using a water-equivalent dosimeter probe, four transmitting optical fibers, and a multichannel light-measuring device. The dosimeter probe is composed of two inner sensors, a scintillation sensor and a Cerenkov sensor, and each sensor has two different channels. Accordingly, we measured four separate light signals from each channel in the dosimeter probe, simultaneously, and then obtained the scintillation and Cerenkov signals using a subtraction method. To evaluate the performance of the integrated FOD, we measured the light signals according to the irradiation angle of the electron beam, the depth variation of the solid water phantom, and the electron beam energy. In conclusion, we demonstrated that the pure scintillation and Cerenkov signals obtained by an integrated FOD system based on a subtraction method can be effectively used for calibrating the conditions of high-energy electron beams in radiotherapy.


Maintenance of mouse sperm motility requires exogenous Ca+2 in most, but not all, samples of epididymal spermatozoa. In these samples, the loss of motility with time is the same in Tris/NaCl buffer containing 1.7 mM Ca+2 (medium TNC) as it is in complete culture medium used for in vitro fertilization (medium CM) over the first 2 hours; spermatozoa in medium TNC lose motility at more rapid rate thereafter. The cation specificity for maintenance of motility is unusual in that both Sr+2 and Mg+2 substitute for Ca+2, with Mg+2 being the more effective. In the absence of Ca+2, these samples of mouse epididymal spermatozoa in Tris/NaCl buffer (medium TN) lose motility in about 30 minutes. If Ca+2 is added after incubation in TN for 15 minutes, motility is maintained as well as it is in medium TNC. If Ca+2 is added at 30 minutes, motility is partially restored. But if Ca+2 is added after 60 minutes, there is no restoration of motility. Spermatozoa suspended in medium TNC lose motility rapidly on addition of EGTA in excess of the Ca+2 present. Attempts to show uptake of Ca+2 by spectrophotometric assay, by effects of Ca+2 on oxidative metabolism, and by electron probe X-ray microanalysis were unsuccessful; motility is not maintained by entry of Ca+2 into the cells. Our results are consistent with a Ca+2 site on the plasma membrane and suggest that these sites function as oligomers of ordered subunits whose structure requires Ca+2. In the absence of Ca+2, the ability to form the oligomer is lost with time, possibly due to an irreversible conformational change.


Discrimination between patients with smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis and healthy adults achieved by the assay of serum anti-mycobacterial antibodies in the major immunoglobulin class (IgG) was greatly improved by assay of antibodies in its four subclasses. By the former method, only 55 of 107 (51%) patients had antibody levels above the upper limit of 31 control sera, but 96 (90%) patients had levels above the upper control level in one or more of the IgG subclasses. Antibody levels in the IgA and IgM classes were less discriminative, but four patients with no elevated levels in the IgG subclasses had elevated IgA antibody levels, bringing the total of patients with significant serological changes compatible with tuberculosis to 100 (93.5%).


Localization of target is one of the core issues in target tracking. This paper analyzes mathematical techniques of localization from the view point of error in position estimation. It is observed that error in position estimation reduces as the number of sensors making measurement to the target increase. Moreover, it is dependent on the positions of sensors making measurements to target node and on the error in measurement. The error in position estimation is least when the sensors making measurement to the node are well distributed in all the directions around the target node. It has been analyzed that after a particular number of well distributed nodes making measurements to the target node there is no significant reduction in position estimation error. Due to the random nature of deployment of sensors, saturation in accuracy is reached after around eight neighbors making measurement to the target. The paper makes a significant contribution by analyzing and establishing an optimum threshold bound for network density such that the accuracy in position estimation is maximum.


An algal biofilm was employed as a novel kind of adsorbing material to remove Zn(II) from simulated wastewater. The algal biofilm system formed by Oedogonium sp. was operated in a dynamic mode for a period of 14 days with an initial Zn(II) concentration of 10 mg/L. The average effluent Zn(II) concentration was 0.247 mg/L and the average removal efficiency reached 97.7%. The effects of Zn(II) on key algal physiological and biochemical indices such as chlorophyll content, nitrate reductase and superoxide dismutase activity, extracellular polysaccharides (EPS), and soluble protein levels were studied. Our results showed that the algal biofilm could adapt to the simulated wastewater containing Zn(II). Scanning electron microscope and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analyses of algal biofilm revealed the presence of carboxyl, amino, and sulphonate groups, which were the main functional groups of EPS and proteins, and these were likely responsible for biosorption of the Zn(II) ions.


Gene expression varies widely between individuals of a population, and regulatory change can underlie phenotypes of evolutionary and biomedical relevance. A key question in the field is how DNA sequence variants impact gene expression, with most mechanistic studies to date focused on the effects of genetic change on regulatory regions upstream of protein-coding sequence. By contrast, the role of RNA 3′-end processing in regulatory variation remains largely unknown, owing in part to the challenge of identifying functional elements in 3′ untranslated regions. In this work, we conducted a genomic survey of transcript ends in lymphoblastoid cells from genetically distinct human individuals. Our analysis mapped the cis-regulatory architecture of 3′ gene ends, finding that transcript end positions did not fall randomly in untranslated regions, but rather preferentially flanked the locations of 3′ regulatory elements, including miRNA sites. The usage of these transcript length forms and motifs varied across human individuals, and polymorphisms in polyadenylation signals and other 3′ motifs were significant predictors of expression levels of the genes in which they lay. Independent single-gene experiments confirmed the effects of polyadenylation variants on steady-state expression of their respective genes, and validated the regulatory function of 3′ cis-regulatory sequence elements that mediated expression of these distinct RNA length forms. Focusing on the immune regulator IRF5, we established the effect of natural variation in RNA 3′-end processing on regulatory response to antigen stimulation. Our results underscore the importance of two mechanisms at play in the genetics of 3′-end variation: the usage of distinct 3′-end processing signals and the effects of 3′ sequence elements that determine transcript fate. Our findings suggest that the strategy of integrating observed 3′-end positions with inferred 3′ regulatory motifs will prove to be a critical tool in continued efforts to interpret human genome variation.


This paper investigates the efficiency, robustness, and scalability of approximate ideal restriction (AIR) algebraic multigrid as a preconditioner in the all-at-once solution of a space-time hybridizable discontinuous Galerkin (HDG) discretization of advection-dominated flows. The motivation for this study is that the time-dependent advection-diffusion equation can be seen as a "steady" advection-diffusion problem in $(d+1)$-dimensions and AIR has been shown to be a robust solver for steady advection-dominated problems. Numerical examples demonstrate the effectiveness of AIR as a preconditioner for advection-diffusion problems on fixed and time-dependent domains, using both slab-by-slab and all-at-once space-time discretizations, and in the context of uniform and space-time adaptive mesh refinement. A closer look at the geometric coarsening structure that arises in AIR also explains why AIR can provide robust, scalable space-time convergence on advective and hyperbolic problems, while most multilevel parallel-in-time schemes struggle with such problems.


The appearance of X-linked adrenomyeloneuropathy (AMN)/adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) on MRI is usually specific, with bilateral symmetric areas of white matter abnormality surrounding the posterior horns of the lateral ventricles with various degrees of atrophy of the spinal cord.1 Our patient with AMN, however, showed a lesion in the right caudate head simulating a brain tumour, which has not been a feature in this disease.

At the age of 25 the patient started to have progressive spastic paraparesis and mild ataxia with genitourinary dysfunction (urge urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction).2 On admission to our hospital at the age of 34, T2 weighted MR images showed …


Baphia nitida Lodd (camwood) is widely used medicinal plant in Nigeria for treatment of variety of skin infections. The plant is used in unspecified quantities without standardisation. B. nitida extracts were incorporated in some cream and ointment base in order to present the medicinal plant in an elegant and pharmaceutically acceptable dosage form, as one of the major steps in the scientific evaluation and standardisation of the plant product. The formulated products were evaluated for their antimicrobial activities using agar diffusion technique and microbial challenge test. Their performances were compared with those of standard antiseptic creams and ointments. The results of agar diffusion studies on cream and ointment formulations revealed that the topical bases used to disperse the medicaments could significantly affect the antimicrobial effectiveness of the formulation. Formulations prepared with Aqueous cream BP (a more hydrophilic base; 70% aqueous) exhibited greater antimicrobial activity than the formulation with anionic cream base (a less hydrophilic base; 44% aqueous). Antiseptic creams and ointments containing B. nitida extract, which were effective against various test organisms used in this study, were successful formulated in this work. Journal of Pharmacy & Bioresources Vol. 2(2) 2005: 124-130


Stimulation of thymidine kinase (TK) activity occurs after abortive or productive infection with human adenoviruses. Striking changes in TK electrophoretic profile accompany this stimulation.


In the most recent decades, central Europe and the Danube River Basin area have been affected by an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme daily rainfall, which has resulted in the more frequent occurrence of significant flood events. This study characterised the link between moisture from the Mediterranean Sea and extreme precipitation events, with varying lengths that were recorded over the Danube River basin between 1981 and 2015, and ranked the events with respect to the different time scales. The contribution of the Mediterranean Sea to the detected extreme precipitation events was then estimated using the Lagrangian FLEXPART dispersion model. Experiments were modelled in its forward mode, and particles leaving the Mediterranean Sea were tracked for a period of time determined with respect to the length of the extreme event. The top 100 extreme events in the ranking with durations of 1, 3, 5, 7, and 10 days were analysed, and it was revealed that most of these events occurred in the winter. For extreme precipitation, positive anomalies of moisture support from the Mediterranean were found to be in the order of 80% or more, but this support reached 100% in summer and spring. The results show that extreme precipitation events with longer durations are more influenced by the extreme Mediterranean anomalous moisture supply than those with shorter lengths. However, it is during shorter events when the Mediterranean Sea contributes higher amounts of moisture compared with its climatological mean values; for longer events, this contribution decreases progressively (but still doubles the climatological moisture contribution from the Mediterranean Sea). Finally, this analysis provides evidence that the optimum time period for accumulated moisture to be modelled by the Lagrangian model is that for which the extreme event is estimated. In future studies, this fine characterisation could assist in modelling moisture contributions from sources in relation to individual extreme events.


KID syndrome is a rare congenital disorder characterized by keratitis, ichthyosis, and deafness. We have described a 4-year-old girl who is treated with bland emollients and topical keratolytics such as urea and surprisingly observed marked improvement in skin hyperkeratosis and palmoplantar keratoderma. We think that along with urgent ophthalmologic and otolaryngologic measures, simple topical therapies may improve skin condition in KID syndrome precluding the possible hazards of systemic retinoid therapy.


Modern information retrieval interfaces typically involve multiple pages of search results, and users who are recall minded or engaging in exploratory search using ad hoc queries are likely to access more than one page. Document rankings for such queries can be improved by allowing additional context to the query to be provided by the user herself using explicit ratings or implicit actions such as clickthroughs. Existing methods using this information usually involved detrimental UI changes that can lower user satisfaction. Instead, we propose a new feedback scheme that makes use of existing UIs and does not alter user's browsing behaviour; to maximise retrieval performance over multiple result pages, we propose a novel retrieval optimisation framework and show that the optimal ranking policy should choose a diverse, exploratory ranking to display on the first page. Then, a personalised re-ranking of the next pages can be generated based on the user's feedback from the first page. We show that document correlations used in result diversification have a significant impact on relevance feedback and its effectiveness over a search session. TREC evaluations demonstrate that our optimal rank strategy (including approximative Monte Carlo Sampling) can naturally optimise the trade-off between exploration and exploitation and maximise the overall user's satisfaction over time against a number of similar baselines.


OBJECTIVE
To analyze the care process and treatment outcomes from the perspective of patients undergoing prostatectomy.

METHODS
A qualitative study based on depth interviews was performed in 12 of 14 patients who had undergone prostatectomy for localized prostate cancer at a regional hospital. An intentional survey was carried out. Patients were informed about the survey through a letter and by telephone and were asked to decide where they wished the interview to be held. All patients were interviewed by one of the authors who was unrelated with the hospital. The interviews were recorded and transcribed with the patients' consent and the assurance of confidentiality. We performed qualitative analysis of the transcriptions, interviewer's notes and patient hospital discharge reports, and validation through discussion of the results after deleting all identity-related data.

RESULTS
Transmission of the care process experiences transcends the presumable adequacy to the conventional phases of diagnosis, treatment and outcome. Patient assessment varied according to the functional results achieved, previous symptoms, patient expectations and interpretation of the information provided. Due to this variability, the urologist's approach should be individualized to each patient from the outset, before the definitive diagnosis is made, and should continue long after surgery. In this regard, substantial shortcomings in urologist-patient communication were found.

CONCLUSIONS
The approach to the perspectives of patients with localized prostate cancer is a necessary component that has not been sufficiently developed by the urologist during the clinical management of this disease or its subsequent assessment. Apart from the changes in attitude that the foregoing may entail, it is advisable to incorporate quantitative and qualitative measures that support patient assessment of quality of life and its variability, into the daily practice of all the health professionals involved.


The Present Study was planned to assess the acute toxicity of Coccinia indica roots. Rats were orally administrated single dose of 100, 500 and 1000mg/kg of aqueous extract of Coccinia indica. Mortality, signs of toxicity, body weight, food consumption and gross findings were observed for 07 days post treatment of Coccinia indica extract. In addition, no significant differences were noticed in the body and organ weights between the control and treated groups. These results state that aqueous extract of Coccinia indica is toxicologically safe by oral administration.


How might our logic be changing as ubiquitous computing links our gestural acts to those of distant, yet virtually present bodies? Neurological researchers along with theorists of embodiment will be drawn into a consideration of the negotiation of moving bodies though sensor-mined environments, exploring the impact such negotiations have on the generation of meaning. The body will be considered as a complex system of transducers, actuated by diverse powers in collaborative environments. Interactive sound installations created by the author will be analyzed as triggers to a consideration of techno-spliced gestures in mixed reality.


Abundant brittle deformation structures can be found in the Neoproterozoic Katangan sedimentary series in the Lufilian Arc and its Kundelungu foreland. These sedimentary series, typically known for their high-grade host copper-cobalt ores, are folded, brecciated and faulted during the Pan-African orogeny (550 - 520 Ma, with its peak at ~ 530 Ma). By performing a regional paleostress reconstruction, we intend to highlight the late- to post-orogenic tectonic evolution of this belt and its possible effects on the reshaping and emplacement of mineral deposits by Co-Cu-sulphide remobilization. Fault-slip data have been sampled in open pit mines and occasional outcrops at different sites across the Lufilian Arc and its foreland. We apply a paleostress reconstruction (using the Tensor software) based on fault kinematics and field observations in order to comprehend the fracture types and their chronology, the fault behavior and mineralization associated. Our results allow to identify several brittle tectonic stages in the Lufilian Arc and its foreland. They have been classified as syn-, late and post-orogenic relative to the main stage of the Pan-African deformation. They are all characterized by their own stress state, in terms of horizontal stress orientation and stress regime. They can by differentiated by their typical fault-kinematics, reactivation features, associated cataclastic texture and their relation with the mineralization. The oldest brittle event, which has been recorded in open mines at different locations of the Arc, is compressional. It is interpreted as syn-orogenic and has no remobilizing effect on the Co-Cu sulfides. It was followed by a multiphase strike-slip to extension faulting, causing remobilization of Co-Cu-sulphide mineralization trough remobilization. Dip-slip sub-vertical fractures sometimes mineralized and mainly reactivating bedding planes are typically found in the central part of the Arc. They occur in both limbs of the major fold structures, as well as within the tectonic breccias that commonly occupy the core of the folds, both suggesting a post-folding brittle extension faulting event. The brittle structural data set records different stress solutions of regional importance, leading to a subdivision of the Lufilian Arc into periods of different fracturing behavior, reflecting successively the Pan-African orogeny, a later compression event of possible Late Paleozoic-Early Mesozoic age, followed by Late Mesozoic to Cenozoic rift-related extension. The youngest brittle structure generation complies with a stress field reconstruction that is compatible with recent local earthquake focal mechanisms.


We examined effects of low molecular weight dextran in intraocular irrigating solutions on in vitro ERGs of the rabbit. A significant difference in ERG b-wave amplitude was observed between dextran-free and 3-4% dextran-added solutions. The b-wave amplitudes were well maintained and even enhanced to 120% of the presubstitution level after 90 minutes incubation with 4% dextran-added solution (15 mM/L bicarbonate, 290 M0sm/kg). It is suggested that low molecular weight dextran might be a useful or, at least, non-toxic agent in intraocular irrigating solutions for maintaining the retinal function with respect to ERG b-wave.


BackgroundCataract is a major contributor to avoidable blindness in the world. It is the clouding of the normally clear lens of the eye characterized by reduced vision, increasing difficulty with vision at night and sensitivity to light and glare. The risk factors of cataract include increased age, smoking and excess exposure to sunlight. Though studies have focused on the causes and treatment of cataract, there is no data on optometrist knowledge, skill and practice on cataract in Kenya. The optometrists are the primary health care providers for cataract patients, they are well placed to assess, provide advice and refer cataract patients to the ophthalmologists.Methods: a cross sectional design was used. Stratified random sampling was used to select sample. Fisher's formula was used.ResultsA total of 49 optometrists were interviewed over a period of four months, the male to female ratio was 2:1, mean age of 45.8(72%) years, age ranged from 25-39 years with mean duration of practice of one year and maximum of 10 years. One hundred percent optometrists had good knowledge and understanding of importance of slit lamp assessment in making cataract diagnosis. However, our results found that (83.6%) of optometrists used pen torch for assessment of lens changes in patients. On skills, optometrists were classified as having poor skills with thirty nine (79.6%) being unable to diagnose. 61.2% of optometrists did not screen patients aged 40 years and above who attended eye clinics for cataract. The most common challenges reported for not screening was long queues. The study further established that the optometrists had various reasons to refer patients to another hospital including 52.6% for availability of ophthalmologists and 39.5% of optometrists for availability of equipment.ConclusionThe study established that despite the good level of knowledge among the optometrist on cataract, there exist gaps in skills in categorizing the type of cataract. Most optometrists do not screen patients aged 40 years and above for cataract. Hence there is need to sensitize optometrists on the significance of screening for cataract to prevent blindness due to cataract.


The statistical characteristics of 1789 deaths, 1552 injuries and 1904 disasters caused by lightning based on the 2009 to 2018 National Lightning Disaster Compilation of mainland China were analyzed. The results showed that males accounted for 53 % of casualties. Lightning disasters were more common in the east and south than in the west and north. The number of lightning disasters and casualties in the south accounted for 82.98 % and 82.94 % of the totals, respectively. May to August of each year is the intensive period of lightning disasters in China, and the number of deaths, injuries and disasters caused by lightning during these four months accounted for 84.80 % , 79.45 % and 82.77 % of the total numbers per year, respectively. From 2009 to 2018, the annual injury and death rates per million people in China were 0.13 and 0.12, respectively. After population weighting, the high death rate of lightning disaster shows a certain trend of transferring from the concentrated area to the sparsely populated area, after area weighting, the casualty density was higher in small provinces and lower in large provinces . The analysis of the environments in which lightning disaster casualties occurred found that environments closely related to agriculture, such as farmland ( 35 % ) and paddy fields or ponds ( 4 % ) , accounted for nearly 40 % of the casualties; accordingly, rural farmers were the main victims, accounting for 80.96 % of the total casualties. Lightning protection and disaster reduction measures in rural agricultural areas should be the focus of future work.


Shows that a robot with the hand-eye system can learn the hand-reaching task without apparent calculations of the target, obstacle, and hand locations. The system consists of a neural network whose inputs are raw visual sensory signals, joint angles of the arm, and the existence of the obstacle. It is trained by reinforcement learning, and the reward is given only when the hand reaches the target that can be found only on the visual sensor. In order to show the effectiveness of this learning, the following three assumptions are introduced. (1) The target, obstacle and hand cannot be distinguished in the vision. (2) The hand disappears out of the visual field. (3) The obstacle appears randomly but the location is always the same. The initial hand location and the target location are chosen randomly at each trial. After the learning, the robot could reach its hand to the target. By the analysis of the hidden neurons' representation after the reinforcement learning, it was found that the target location was not represented independently from the hand location, either in the work (visual sensory) space or in the joint space. Furthermore, the representation of the hand location is acquired by mixing the joint angles and visual signals.


Background: When planning rehabilitation and conditioning for performance enhancement and a return to sports after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, identifying the elements of physical function associated with one-leg hop is important. The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationship between one-leg hop distances in 3 directions and knee extensor and flexor strengths at 6 months after reconstruction.Methods: Participants were 47 patients taking part in training sessions for sports involving cutting, pivoting, and jump-landing 6 months after reconstruction using a hamstring tendon. Demographics, activity scale score, days before and after reconstruction, and meniscus surgery procedure were analyzed. One-leg hop distances in 3 directions (anterior, lateral, and medial) and isokinetic strengths of knee extension and flexion were measured. Simple regression analyses using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient were performed to assess relationships between one-leg hop distances and knee strengths.Results: In the involved limb, correlations between one-leg hop distance in 3 directions and knee strengths were significant and effect sizes ranged from medium to large. Correlation coefficients between all one-leg hop parameters and knee extension/flexion strengths at an angular velocity of 180°/s were greater than those of 60°/s.Conclusions: Knee strength showed moderate to high associations with lateral and medial one-leg hop distances in addition to anterior one-leg hop distance. The results of this study will be useful in planning and teaching conditioning to improve multi-directional one-legged hop skills and improve knee strength for a full-scale return to sports after reconstruction.


One approach for information dissemination in large-scale communication systems is using epidemic protocols. Current epidemic protocols, however, adopt a constant fanout policy, which does not enable end users to control the information dissemination process. For distributed applications that need to compute a global function within a pre-determined response time, better procedures to control the information dissemination process have to be developed. In this paper, we introduce two distributed adaptive epidemic protocols using a dynamic fanout scheme. They are named Round-Based dynamic fanout (RBdf) and Cluster-Based dynamic fanout (CBdf). In RBdf, the network topology is flat and each node transmits a message with a varied fanout every round. In CBdf, the network topology is hierarchical, and the fanout values in every cluster differ within the same round. The main objectives are to ensure that peers receive messages within a bounded latency and that the system message overhead is a bounded value. The performance of the proposed protocols are verified through both theoretical and simulation studies.


BACKGROUND
Acceleration time (AT)/ejection time (ET) ratio is a marker of aortic valve stenosis (AS) severity and predicts outcome in moderate-severe AS.

METHODS
We explored the association of increased AT/ET ratio on prognosis in 1530 asymptomatic patients with presumably mild-moderate AS, normal ejection fraction, and without known diabetes or cardiovascular disease. Patients were part of the SEAS study (Simvastatin Ezetimibe Aortic Stenosis). Patients were grouped according to the optimal AT/ET ratio threshold to predict cardiovascular death and heart failure hospitalization. Low-gradient severe AS was identified as combined valve area ≤1.0 cm2 and mean gradient <40 mm Hg. Outcome was assessed in Cox regression analyses, and results are reported as hazard ratio and 95% CI.

RESULTS
Higher AT/ET ratio was significantly associated with lower systolic blood pressure, lower left ventricular ejection fraction, lower stress-corrected midwall shortening, low flow, and with higher left ventricular mass and higher peak aortic jet velocity. AT/ET ratio ≥0.32 provided the optimal cutoff for predicting incident cardiovascular death and heart failure hospitalization in the total study sample. In patients with low-gradient severe AS, this threshold was >0.32. AT/ET ratio ≥0.32 had a 79% higher risk of cardiovascular death and heart failure hospitalization (hazard ratio, 1.79 [95% CI, 1.20-2.68]). In patients with low-gradient severe AS, AT/ET ratio >0.32 was associated with a 2-fold higher risk of cardiovascular death and heart failure hospitalization (hazard ratio, 2.15 [95% CI, 1.22-3.77]).

CONCLUSIONS
In asymptomatic nonsevere AS and low-gradient severe AS, higher AT/ET ratio was associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Registration: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Unique identifier: NCT00092677.


Background: As Bangladesh has gained the reputation of improving the health sectors, much health related sites still require improvements. Community clinic services (CCS) may contribute to this sector with its foremost importance. So this study was conducted to investigate the utilization and health services provision by community clinics (CCs) in rural area.
Methods: A descriptive longitudinal study was conducted among three community clinics of Jashore and a structured questionnaire was developed on which most of the questions were developed to find out the contributions of these community clinics. Here for data analysis we used SPSS version 25.0 software.
Results: Here we analyzed health service related data from three randomly selected community clinics (CCs). We found an average of 15 patients got antenatal care every month by the Komlapur CC throughout the year. About 140 patients received health services per month from Dogachiya CC. About 634 children were benefited by Saziyali CC throughout the year. By this study we came to know that average 67-75 patients were provided iron supplementations each month by Saziyali CC. All of the CCs had active referral system and online reporting system.
Conclusion: From our study we came to know that majority % of rural people are now dependent on community health care services. But most of the community clinics have many limitations regarding infrastructure, training, medicines, financial etc. So the government should take necessary steps regarding this.


Results of auditory brainstem response (ABR) evaluation of 145 infants, ages 6 months and younger with craniofacial anomalies (CFA), were examined to determined predicted degree and nature of hearing loss. Approximately 50% of infants demonstrated at least mild bilateral hearing loss. Presence and degree of hearing loss varied by CFA. All infants with bilateral aural atresia exhibited at least a moderate bilateral hearing loss; less than 20% of infants with isolated external ear anomalies (ear tags, isolated microtia) exhibited any degree of hearing loss. In 92% of infants with hearing loss, results of ABR were consistent with primarily conductive dysfunction. Implications for early identification and audiologic management of infants with CFA and hearing loss are discussed.


The increase in the work stress and decrease in the time for oneself has led to the rise in the dependency on the medicines and drugs. The drugs and medicines are the key sources for saving the human life when the patient is in the danger. In order to maintain regular and quality supply of the drugs and medicines has to monitor on the regular basis. There are numerous medicines and drugs brought in the store but usually drugs and medicines are stolen to satisfy one's greed, get expired or placed at unknown locations in the store. So to prevent such situation and saving the life of the patient Drug and Medicine Monitoring Model can be used. The model uses the RFID and IoT technology in order to monitor the drugs and medicines in the store. In medical and drug using systems which are increasing work stress and decreasing the time for oneself that has risen in dependency. The danger situation drugs and medicine is the main source for saving human life when the people are in danger. A daily regular basis to maintain a quality supply of the drug and medicine has been monitored. While traveling and transportation time is numerous medicines and drugs brought from the store but usually it is stolen to one's greed and the medicines and drugs or placed at unknown locations. To prevent and save a patent life and monitoring model can be used to check the medicine and drug. In our model RFID tag and IoT technology can be used to monitor medicine and drug storage with the help of hospitals and how having a knowledge of the system and chemist of the medical and drugs available, the medicines and drugs quality of location and their safety.


Co(bpb) [bpbH2is N,N′-o-phenylenebis(pyridine-2-carboxamide) ,C18H12N4O2] complex has active axial sites like a porphyrin complex. We studied the coordination of azide ion(N3-) to Co(bpb) in binary methanol-water mixtures by spectrophotometric method at the temperature range of 283-303 K. From the temperature dependence of the rate constant,activation parameters(Ea,ΔH,ΔS,and ΔG) were obtained. An isokinetic temperature at about 302 K was observed at which the formation rate of Co(bpb) -N3-was more or less independent of the solvent composition. The resulting ΔH against TΔS plot showed a good linear correlation,indicating the existence of enthalpy-entropy compensation in azide complexation process. Under optimum conditions and based on the absorbance of Co(bpb) -N3-produced through complex formation,a spectrophotometric method for the determination of N 3-in solution was developed. A linear relationship between the absorbance and N3-concentration was obtained in the range of(0.85-5.00) × 10-4 mol·L-1(3.6-21.0 μg·mL-1) . The detection limit was 2.5×10-5 mol·L-1(1.0 μg·mL-1) . The proposed method was applied to the determination of N3-anion in real water samples.


Dissociative symptoms are now widely recognized, but they are nevertheless challenging for clinicians and bewildering to patients. The author presents a conceptual framework for understanding dissociative processes, emphasizing discontinuity in experience and delineating various junctures in the unfolding of dissociative episodes. The conceptual framework provides the theoretical underpinnings for a simple schema that can be used to explain dissociation to patients and to help them articulate their dissociative experience.


Molecular phylogenetic studies of Moraea Mill. and the inclusion of Barnardiella Goldblatt, Galaxia Thunb., Gynandriris Parl., Hexaglottis Vent., Homeria Vent. and Roggeveldia Goldblatt in the genus have rendered the existing infrageneric classification, dating from 1976, in need of substantial revision. In particular, subg. Moraea and subg. Vieusseuxia have been shown to be paraphyletic. We propose a new infrageneric classification, based, as far as current data permit, on phylogenetic principles. Monophyletic subgenera and sections are circumscribed based on molecular phylogenies alone or in combination with morphological considerations. We recognize 11 subgenera, 15 sections and three series, arranged as follows in phylogenetic sequence: Plumarieae ; Visciramosae (with sect. Multifoliae and sect. Visciramosae ); Moraea (with sect. Moraea and sect. Polyphyllae ); Galaxia (with ser. Unguiculatae , ser. Eurystigma and ser. Galaxia ); Monocephalae ; Acaules ; Polyanthes (with sect. Serpentinae , sect. Deserticola , sect. Hexaglottis , sect. Gynandriris , sect. Polyanthes and sect. Pseudospicatae ); Grandifl orae ; Vieusseuxia (with sect. Integres , sect. Vieusseuxia and sect. Villosae ); and Homeria (with sect. Stipanthera , sect. Flexuosae , sect. Homeria and sect. Conantherae ). Most are moderately to well circumscribed at the morphological level either by floral or vegetative characters, except subg. Moraea , which includes a small number of unspecialized species apparently not linked by any apomorphic features. With over 27 new species described in the past 25 years and another 60 transferred to the genus, Moraea now includes 214 species. We provide a full taxonomic synopsis of the genus.


The purpose of this work was to define, in this laboratory, the conditions of most general utility for the metabolic activation of chemicals to mutagens in the mouse lymphoma L5178Y cell tk+tk- ----tk-tk- assay. The approach used was to optimize the generation of non-toxic concentrations of NADPH from NADP glucose-6-phosphate (G6P) and G6P dehydrogenase, then use that system to examine the effects of increasing concentrations of Aroclor-1254-induced Fischer 344 male rat liver post-mitochondrial supernatant fluid (S9) upon the mutagenicity of chemicals. The promutagens were 2-acetylaminofluorene, cyclophosphamide, dimethylnitrosamine, methanol, 3-methylcholanthrene and procarbazine. It was determined that: (i) cell population growth was reduced at NADPH concentrations of greater than or equal to 1 mM; (ii) to ensure a maximum conversion of NADP to NADPH the G6P/NADP ratio should be two or greater; (iii) excess G6P (2.5 mM) is not harmful to the cells; (iv) toxicity due to S9 was observed at 12.5 mg whole liver equivalents (WLE)/ml (i.e. 50 microliters of a 25% liver S9 preparation per ml); (v) concentrations of S9 between 2.5 and 7.5 mg WLE/ml appeared to be adequate for the activation of the six promutagens to demonstrably mutagenic products.


Spammers use automated content spinning techniques to evade plagiarism detection by search engines. Text spinners help spammers in evading plagiarism detectors by automatically restructuring sentences and replacing words or phrases with their synonyms. Prior work on spun content detection relies on the knowledge about the dictionary used by the text spinning software. In this work, we propose an approach to detect spun content and its seed without needing the text spinner's dictionary. Our key idea is that text spinners introduce stylometric artifacts that can be leveraged for detecting spun documents. We implement and evaluate our proposed approach on a corpus of spun documents that are generated using a popular text spinning software. The results show that our approach can not only accurately detect whether a document is spun but also identify its source (or seed) document - all without needing the dictionary used by the text spinner.


Imagine a graph. Now imagine arranging its nodes in some sort of hierarchy. Now think of a forest and imagine adding edges between various pairs of nodes of the forest. Either way you get the same sort of thing: a higraph. A higraph is a set of nodes that are both linked by edges and arranged in a hierarchy. In 1987, David Harel introduced higraphs as a visual formalism, initially for system modelling. Higraphs are suitable for modelling many kinds of data: computer programs, linked storage structures, class diagrams, mind maps, system models, state charts, data-flow graphs. In this paper we discuss a new software library for information visualization and manipulation inspired by and based on higraphs. Rather than committing to a single visual formalism, we separate visualization concerns from modelling concerns. Each application can depict hierarchy and edges in its own way.


To develop and validate an instrument to measure user satisfaction in Internet shopping environment, the EUCS instrument by Doll and Torkzadeh (1988) was used for this research. The results of the study shows how the main constructs of the model that will eventually interact for the user satisfaction in internet commerce environment. This research will present significant progress towards keeping the End-User Computing Satisfaction instrument relevant and applicable under the Internet shopping environment.


The filtered-X affine projection (AP) algorithm is applied for active control of the tonal noises generated by periodic noise sources like rotating machines. The convergence analysis ofa complex filtered-X (CFX) AP algorithm using multi-reference signals is then investigated. Next, computer simulation is presented to show that the CFX AP algorithm yields faster convergence than the CFX LMS algorithm.


A survey was conducted to address the question of whether overall quality of life (QOL) in women with advanced breast cancer is significantly impaired by treatment with docetaxel in routine clinical practice. Health-related QOL (HRQOL) measured by the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer QOL Questionnaire C30, as well as performance status (PS) and tumor response, were assessed at baseline, then after every 2 cycles of treatment. The 209 evaluable patients received a median of 5 treatment cycles (range, 2-9), with a response rate of 35% (95% CI, 28.5%-41.4%). There were significant adverse changes in fatigue (P = 0.002) and diarrhea (P = 0.0002). However, HRQOL scores for emotional function (P < 0.0001), pain (P = 0.0001), constipation (P = 0.01), and nausea and vomiting (P = 0.03) all showed significant beneficial changes. Several QOL parameters improved during docetaxel therapy even in patients who did not have an objective tumor response. Overall, PS was maintained during docetaxel treatment. Following the encouraging QOL data from clinical trials of docetaxel in breast cancer, the authors conclude that, in actual clinical practice, docetaxel does not have an overall detrimental effect on QOL.


The purpose of this paper is to describe briefly the distribution system of the Illinois Central Suburban Electrification and to state considerations influencing the selection of high-speed circuit breakers for d-c. feeder and machine protection. The knowledge gained by nearly two years' operating experience with this system, which contains 98 high-speed circuit breakers, and the conclusions reached, are also presented.


The substances picrotoxin, strychnine, ephedrine, benzedrine, cardiazol and coramine have been compared for (a) toxicity in mice, (b) power to awaken mice narcotised with nembutal in sublethal doses, (c) power to antagonize the toxic action of nembutal, (d) convulsive and emetic action in pigeons, (e) power to stimulate respiration in cats and mice depressed with nembutal, (f) power to increase the carotid sinus reflex.

In relation to toxicity benzedrine has the greatest awakening power. Picrotoxin and cardiazol are the only substances which antagonize the toxic action of nembutal. Picrotoxin, cardiazol and ephedrine will all cause vomiting in pigeons. Benzedrine and ephedrine are excellent respiratory stimulants in mice, similar in potency to lobeline. Compared with lobeline the others are almost of no value. The medullary stimulants increase the carotid sinus reflex when this is depressed, but the doses required are too large to make this action useful in therapeutics.


We studied the effects of dexamethasone, ascorbic acid, and metronidazole on the irradiated spinal cord of Wistar rats. Thirty adult Wistar rats were randomly assigned into 3 groups. Five rats served as the control group. Another group of 5 rats were irradiated in the neural axis with 2.5 Gy of gamma rays. The last group of 20 rats were irradiated and then divided into four subgroups of 5 rats each: one subgroup was administered dexamethasone alone, a second subgroup had metronidazole alone, a third subgroup was treated with dexamethasone and metronidazole combined, and a fourth subgroup had ascorbic acid alone, given intraperitoneally for 7 days before exposure to radiation, and also for 5 days after-irradiation. All irradiated animals demonstrated similar vascular changes in form of splitting of the smooth muscle layers of the arterioles of the anterior spinal arteries. Similarly, all the irradiated spinal cord demonstrated shrinkages as noted in the diminution of the neuronal sizes measured by a microscope with a micrometer embedded in the eye-piece objective. The drugs did not individually protect neurons from damage at the level of our investigation. However, the combination of dexamethasone and metronidazole produced a reduction of the degenerative effect of radiation on the neurons when the post-irradiation diameters of the neurons were compared with the control and those of the other experimental groups. We conclude that gamma ray induced damage in the spinal cord may be ameliorated by combining dexamethasone with metronidazole but not by individual treatment with any of the three drugs.


Introduction:. The pronounced contrast asymmetry between ± g weak beam diffraction images of dislocations has been frequently reported in the literature[1,2]. However these observations have not been well understood with the conventional form of the diffraction theory. For instance in the case of a scre w dislocation, the calculated images with Howie-Whelan(HW) equation give always symmetrical contrasts[3]. In this paper we report a new formulation of the theory in which the inclination of the entrance surface and the slip plane of dislocation are taken i nto account, which may give better understanding of the contrast asymmetry.


This study examinated the effect of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction -Korean on school maladjusted middle school students" emotion in camp for three days. 15 students (8 boys, 7 girls) participated in this camp. The effect was identified in pre or post of camp with Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAIC), Impulsive Scale (IS), and Children Depression Inventory (CDI). The data were analyzed in time (pre and post)×sex (boys and girls) ANOVA with SPSS 17.0. The scores of negative affect, state anxiety, trait anxiety, and depression were significantly decreased after the program. In depression score, there was significant interaction effect, the depression of girls was more decreased than boys" depression after the program. These results indicates that meditation program was effective for changing school maladjusted juveniles" negative emotion and it will contribute to help school maladjusted juveniles adjust to school life. (Korean J Str Res 2012;20:229∼236)


Epigenetic programming and reprogramming, by means of DNA methylation and histone modifications etc., control the mammalian development to a large extent. They are also artificially altered for cell fate conversion and regeneration. Though epigenetic modifications change with slow dynamics during somatic cell lineage differentiation, they undergo a genome-wide dramatic change with extensive DNA de-methylation and histone modification during two specific time windows, the early embryogenesis and the Primordial Germ Cell (PGC) development stage. Here we reviewed these global epigenetic reprogramming occurred during normal development, mainly focusing on DNA methylation, histone modification and X-chromosome inactivation. Epigenetic reprogramming participates in many key biological processes such as genomic imprinting, X-chromosome inactivation, gene expression regulation and tumorigenesis and genome stability. Understanding the mechanisms of epigenetic reprogramming during the early embryogenesis and PGC formation would facilitate our knowledge of the developmental process and disease progress.


The aim of this paper is to report the finding from study to outline the underlying skill set required in getting and sustaining employment in the organised grocery and vegetable retail industry. The focus was 'Employability' which is neither one time attainable nor marketable vocational and academic skills just to create opportunity to get employment. An exploratory study has been carried out to understand the requirement of skill set in organised grocery and vegetable retailing for entry level jobs. Personal interview and questionnaire were the instruments used. Scope of the study to understand and identify required skills for entry level job in the organised grocery and vegetable retailing. Skill Matrix and employability skill set are formulated based on the study for entry level jobs in organised grocery and vegetable retailing sector.This study presents a comprehensive framework for selecting stores level managerial jobs by using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). AHP method, expresses to determine the attributes in a multiple criteria decision-making problem in selection of personnel. Further scope for future research is enormous; study in the area of different or entire profile of retail jobs and geographical employability which is an influencing and deciding factor in organised grocery and vegetable employment.


Endophytic isolates of fungi were obtained from leaves, stems and roots of 110 sweetsop and 90 soursop plants from Pernambuco. Twenty-nine isolates were analyzed for production of extracellular enzymes by qualitative assay in Petri dishes containing specific solid media, and for the capacity to promote growth of sweetsop seedlings. These isolates were identified as Acremonium (10.34%), Aspergillus (3.45%), Chaetomium (3.45%), Colletotrichum (10.34%), Cylindrocladium (13.8%), Fusarium (31.03%), Glomerella (3.45%), Nigrospora (6.9%), Penicillium (6.9%) and Phomopsis (10.34%). Nineteen isolates showed lypolytic activity while five showed proteolytic activity; cellulolytic and amylolytic activity were not detected. Eleven isolates of the genera Acremonium (GFR6 and GRR1), Colletotrichum (GFR4 and PFR4), Phomopsis (PFR3 and GCR4), Cylindrocladium (GRR4), Chaetomium (GRR7) and Fusarium (GRR5, PRR1 and PRR6) efficiently improved plant growth. Increase in shoot dry matter of sweetsop seedlings ranged from 23.2 to 32.7%; there was no increase in root dry matter. It is worthy of note that 20 isolates caused significant (P = 0.05) reduction in root dry matter of sweetsop seedlings. In apparently healthy tissues of sweetsop and soursop plants, some fungi promote shoot growth or reduce root growth, while others have no effect on growth of sweetsop seedlings.


OBJECTIVE A computer based touchscreen family cancer history questionnaire was developed and implemented to facilitate the provision of cancer risk assessments for the ambulatory and outpatient populations of a free standing cancer hospital. METHODS A questionnaire consisting of a series of branched point decision making screens was developed which enables the participant to enter demographic data, personal cancer history, and cancer histories for first and second degree relatives. A freestanding touchscreen computer kiosk system was used to place the questionnaire in public areas of the cancer hospital and clinic. Genetic professionals analysed the data received, using published criteria, and provided a basic cancer risk assessment and surveillance recommendations within 10 business days. A survey was completed by a small random group of users (n=59) three to six months after receipt of their risk assessment. RESULTS After 11 months, 1440 people had entered information and received a written communication. Only 2% of completed questionnaires contained insufficient information to provide a basic risk assessment. Of the small group of participants surveyed, almost all (95%) felt "very comfortable" using the system, 93% remembered receiving the risk assessment letter when queried three to six months later, 42% felt their perceptions about cancer risk had changed, and 20% had made changes in their or their family's cancer surveillance practices. CONCLUSION The touchscreen computer family history questionnaire allows easy collection of family history information, provision of risk assessments to a broad population, and promotes increased awareness of familial risk and appropriate surveillance.


The location of GaN nanowires is controlled with essentially perfect selectivity using patterned SiNx prior to molecular beam epitaxy growth. Nanowire growth is uniform within mask openings and absent on the mask surface for over 95% of the usable area of a 76 mm diameter substrate. The diameters of the resulting nanowires are controlled by the size of the mask openings. Openings of approximately 500 nm or less produce single nanowires with symmetrically faceted tips.


In this paper, stability analysis of thick-walled spherical and cylindrical shells made of functionally graded incompressible hyperelastic material subjected to internal pressure is presented. Instability point happens in the inflation of above mentioned shells and in this paper effect of material inhomogeneity and shell thickness has been investigated. Extended Ogden strain energy function with variable material parameter is used to model the material behavior. To model inhomogeneity, we assume that material parameter varies by a power law function in the radial direction and inhomogeneity factor is a power in the power law function. Analytical method is used to find the internal pressure versus hoop extension ratio relations in explicit form for both of cylindrical and spherical shells and the non-monotonic behavior of the inflation curves is studied. Following this, profile of inflation pressure versus hoop stretch is presented and effect of the inhomogeneity and shell thickness in the onset of instability is studied. The obtained results show that the material inhomogeneity parameter and shell thickness have a significant influence on the stability of above mentioned shells. Thus with selecting a proper material inhomogeneity parameter and shell thickness, engineers can design a specific FGM hollow cylinder that can meet some special requirements.


Severe congenital neutropenia (SCN) was originally described as an autosomal recessive disorder. Subsequently, autosomal dominant and sporadic forms of the disease have been recognized. All forms are manifest by persistent severe neutropenia and recurrent bacterial infection. In contrast, cyclical hematopoiesis is characterized by periodic neutropenia inter-spaced with (near) normal neutrophil counts. Recently, linkage analysis on 13 affected pedigrees identified chromosome 19p13.3 as the likely position for mutations in cyclical hematopoiesis. Heterozygous mutations in the ELA2 gene encoding neutrophil elastase were detected in all families studied. Further work also demonstrated mutations in ELA2 in sporadic and autosomal dominant SCN. However, all mutations described to date are heterozygous and thus appear to act in a dominant fashion, which is inconsistent with an autosomal recessive disease. Therefore, the current study investigated whether mutations in ELA2 could account for the disease phenotype in classical autosomal recessive SCN and in the sporadic and autosomal dominant types. All 5 exons of ELA2 and their flanking introns were studied in 18 patients (3 autosomal recessive, 5 autosomal dominant [from 3 kindreds], and 10 sporadic) using direct automated sequencing. No mutations were found in the autosomal recessive families. A point mutation was identified in 1 of 3 autosomal dominant families, and a base substitution was identified in 8 of 10 patients with the sporadic form, though 1 was subsequently shown to be a low-frequency polymorphism. These results suggest that mutations in ELA2 are not responsible for classical autosomal recessive Kostmann syndrome but provide further evidence for the role of ELA2 in SCN.


The cell surface of Aneurinibacillus thermoaerophilus DSM 10155 is covered with a square surface (S)-layer glycoprotein lattice. This S-layer glycoprotein, which was extracted with aqueous buffers after a freeze-thaw cycle of the bacterial cells, is the only completely water-soluble S-layer glycoprotein to be reported to date. The purified S-layer glycoprotein preparation had an overall carbohydrate content of 19%. Detailed chemical investigations indicated that the S-layer O-glycans of previously established structure accounted for 13% of total glycosylation. The remainder could be attributed to a peptidoglycan-associated secondary cell wall polymer. Structure analysis was performed using purified secondary cell wall polymer-peptidoglycan complexes. NMR spectroscopy revealed the first biantennary secondary cell wall polymer from the domain Bacteria, with the structure alpha-L-Glc p NAc-(1-->3)-beta-L-Man p NAc-(1-->4)-beta-L-Gal p NAc-(1-->3)-alpha-L-Glc p NAc-(1-->3)-beta-L-Man p NAc-(1-->4)-beta-L-Gal p NAc-(1-->3)-alpha-L-Glc p NAc-(1-->4)-[alpha-L-Glc p NAc-(1-->3)-beta-L-Man p NAc-(1-->4)-beta-L-Gal p NAc-(1-->3)-alpha-L-Glc p NAc-(1-->3)-beta-L-Man p NAc-(1-->4)-beta-L-Gal p NAc-(1-->3)-alpha-L-Glc p NAc-(1-->3)]-beta-L-Man p NAc-(1-->3)-alpha-L-Glc p NAc-(1-->3)-beta-L-Man p NAc-(1-->3)-alpha-L-Glc p NAc-(1-->3)-alpha-L-Glc p NAc-(1-->O)-PO(2)(-)-O-PO(2)(-)-(O-->6)-MurNAc- (where MurNAc is N -acetylmuramic acid). The neutral polysaccharide is linked via a pyrophosphate bond to the C-6 atom of every fourth N -acetylmuramic acid residue, in average, of the A1gamma-type peptidoglycan. In vivo, the biantennary polymer anchored the S-layer glycoprotein very effectively to the cell wall, probably due to the doubling of motifs for a proposed lectin-like binding between the polymer and the N-terminus of the S-layer protein. When the cellular support was removed during S-layer glycoprotein isolation, the co-purified polymer mediated the solubility of the S-layer glycoprotein in vitro. Initial crystallization experiments performed with the soluble S-layer glycoprotein revealed that the assembly property could be restored upon dissociation of the polymer by the addition of poly(ethylene glycols). The formed two-dimensional crystalline S-layer self-assembly products exhibited the same lattice symmetry as observed on intact bacterial cells.