Background: Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) is an immune disorder that affects phagocytes. It is characterized by recurrent or persistent bacterial and fungal infections. Reports of tuberculosis (TB) in patients with CGD are rare. In developing countries, where TB is endemic, possibility of other chronic infections is often overlooked by physicians. Case Description: We report the case of a 4-year-old boy who had recurrent respiratory infections and episodes of headache. He was put on antituberculosis (ATT) drugs without microbiological or pathological evidence 2 months prior to presentation. The child did not improve and was brought to our hospital where a computed tomography scan revealed multiple cerebral abscesses. These abscesses were excised. The microbiological specimen was determined to be positive for Aspergillus fumigatus. His tracheal aspirate was positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis polymerase chain reaction assay. Further work-up confirmed the diagnosis of CGD in the child. Conclusion: This report describes the course of the patient's illness in order to highlight the challenges associated with the management of these infections. We also aim to stress on the importance of pathological diagnosis before starting a therapy.


Introduction Three case reports of dermatitis from English ivy (Hedera helix) have appeared in the literature, 1-3 but, to my knowledge, dermatitis from Algerian ivy (Hedera canariensis) has never been reported. Recently, however, two patients were seen with moderately severe dermatitis which was traced to contact with juice from stems and leaves of this plant. After the attack of dermatitis both patients proved sensitive to English ivy as well. Since neither patient had ever before been sensitive to English or Algerian ivy it is suspected that a cross sensitivity to English ivy was produced by the intense reactions to Algerian ivy. However, the evidence for a true cross sensitivity was not conclusive. The purpose of this paper is to remind other physicians that both of these ivies—which are among the most widely cultivated of all plants—are capable of producing a severe contact dermatitis in sensitized individuals. Report of


Esophagoplasty with isoperistaltic stomach is a useful and satisfactory means of reconstruction of the esophagus. It is simpler and there is no necessity for using a reversed gastric tube. The most essential points of technique for the modelling of the stomach, is taking advantage of the ample intramural vascular network and adequate selection of the highest point of the stomach for the site of the esophago-or pharyngogastrostomy. To utilize the intramural vascular network, sufficient width of the stomach is necessary. This also allows strecthing of the stomach. Esophageal resection and reconstruction using the isoperistaltic stomach above the level of the neck was performed on 130 cases. Among them 40 cases were pharyngogastromies and 90 cases were cervical esophagogastromies. There was one operative death due to alcoholic liver cirrhosis (operative mortality rate 0.8%). If the stomach is properly handled, esophageal replacement by the isoperistaltic stomach gives constant success.


Dopamine sulfate (DA-3- and DA-4-S) have been determined in the human brain, but it is unclear whether they are locally formed in the central nervous system (CNS), or transported into the CNS from peripheral sources. In the current study, permeation of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) by DA-S was studied by injecting 13C6-labelled regioisomers of DA-S (13DA-3-S and 13DA-4-S) and dopamine (DA) subcutaneously (s.c.) in anesthetized rats, then analyzing brain microdialysis and plasma samples by UPLC-MS/MS. The results in the microdialysis samples demonstrated that brain concentrations of 13DA-S regioisomers clearly increased after the s.c. injections. The concentration of DA did not change, indicating the permeation of DA-S through an intact BBB. The analysis of plasma samples, however, showed that DA-S only permeates the BBB to a small extent, as the concentrations in plasma were substantially higher than in the microdialysis samples. The results also showed that the concentrations of DA-3-S were around three times higher than the concentrations of DA-4-S in rat brain, as well as in the plasma samples after the s.c. injections, indicating that DA-3-S and DA-4-S permeate the BBB with similar efficiency. The fate of 13DA-S in brain was followed by monitoring 13C6-labelled DA-S hydrolysis products, i.e. 13DA and its common metabolites; however, no 13C6-labelled products were detected. This suggests that DA-S either permeates through the BBB back to the peripheral circulation or is dissociated or metabolized by unexpected mechanisms.


Forming effective coalition is a central research challenge in AI and multi-agent systems. The Coalition Structure Generation (CSG) problem is well-known as one of major research topics in coalitional games. The CSG problem is to partition a set of agents into coalitions so that the sum of utilities is maximized. This paper studies a CSG problem for partition function games (PFGs), where the value of a coalition differs depending on the formation of other coalitions generated by non-member agents. Traditionally, in PFGs, the input of a coalitional game is a black-box function called a partition function that maps an embedded coalition (a coalition and the coalition structure) to its value. Recently, a novel concise representation scheme called the Partition Decision Trees (PDTs) has been proposed. The PDTs is a graphical representation based on multiple rules. In this paper, we propose new algorithms that can solve a CSG problem by utilizing PDTs representation. More specifically, we modify PDTs representation to effectively handle negative value rules and apply the depth-first branch and bound algorithm. We experimentally show that our algorithm can solve a CSG problem well.


In the title compound, C23H19NO4S2, the indole ring system makes dihedral angles of 89.6 (1) and 84.5 (8)° with the phenylsulfonyl and phenylsulfanyl rings, respectively. In the crystal, the molecules are linked into C(10) chains running along the c axis by an intermolecular C—H⋯O hydrogen bond. In addition, the crystal packing is stabilized by C—H⋯π interactions.


UASB treatment of cannery effluents was shown to be feasible. However, the treated effluent still does not allow direct discharge to a water system and a further form of post-treatment is necessary to reduce the COD to lower than the legal limit of 75 mg/l. The use of ozone, hydrogen peroxide and granular activated carbon were used singly or in combination to assess the effectiveness as post-treatment options for the UASB treated alkaline fruit cannery effluent. Colour reduction in the effluent ranged from 15% to 92% and COD reductions of 26-91% were achieved. Combinations of ozone and hydrogen peroxide gave better results than either oxidant singly. The best results were achieved by combining ozone, hydrogen peroxide and granular activated carbon, and COD levels were reduced to levels sufficiently below the 75 mg/l limit.


Biocatalysis in Polymer Science provides current information on biocatalysis, which is the use of enzymes or living organisms to carry out chemical reactions. All of the authors, including the editors, are experts and practitionsers of polymer biocatalysis. Topics covered in this book include synthetic polymers, natural polymers, oligomers, an monomers. These topics amply demonstrate the versatility of this technology. Organic chemists, polymer chemists, biochemists, and graduate this book a useful experience.


We present high resolution optical and UV spectra of the 46 min orbital period, helium binary, GP Com. Our data contains simultaneous photometric correction which confirms the flaring behaviour observed in previous optical and UV data. In this system all lines show a triple peaked structure where the outer two peaks are associated with the accretion disc around the compact object. The main aim of this paper is to constrain the origin of the central peak, also called "central spike". We find that the central spike contributes to the flare spectra indicating that its origin is probably the compact object. We also detect that the central spike moves with orbital phase following an S-wave pattern. The radial velocity semiamplitude of the S-wave is ∼10 km s - 1 indicating that its origin is near the centre of mass of the system, which in this case lies very close to the white dwarf. Our resolution is higher than that of previous data which allows us to resolve structure in the central peak ofthe line. The central spike in three of the He I lines shows another peak blueshifted with respect to the main peak. We propose that one of the peaks is a neutral helium forbidden transition excited in a high electron density region. This forbidden transition is associated with the permitted one (the stronger peak in two of the lines). The presence of a high electron density region again favours the white dwarf as their origin. We compute Doppler maps for the emission lines which show three emission regions: an accretion disc, a bright spot and an unidentified low velocity emission region associated with the central spike. We obtain modulation Doppler tomograms for some of the emission lines that map the anisotropic emission from the bright spot region. The HST UV spectra also show a strong flare component and confirm the under abundance of silicon in GP Com.


The sugarcane borer (SCB) [Diatraea saccharalis (F.)] and Mexican rice borer (MRB) [Eoreuma loftini (Dyar)] are two economically important pests of sugarcane (Saccharum spp. hybrids) in the United States. Because of similarities in larval feeding behavior, selecting for resistance to one species could provide resistance to the other, a phenomenon we have termed "crossresistance". The objective of this study was to determine if SCB-resistance in sugarcane is correlated with resistance to MRB. Thirty genotypes from Louisiana previously identifi ed as either resistant or susceptible to the SCB and 50 from Texas with unknown resistance status to either species were evaluated for percent borer-damaged internodes. Data from the SCBresistant and-susceptible genotypes were used to determine the SCB-resistance status of all 80 genotypes. Similar (P = 0.578) levels of MRB damage were found between the Louisiana and Texas population, whereas, the Louisiana population suffered signifi cantly (P < 0.05) less SCB damage compared to the Texas population. The SCB-resistant genotypes suffered signifi cantly (P < 0.01) less damage from the MRB compared to their susceptible counterparts. A signifi cant (P < 0.001) association was found in percent SCBand MRB-damaged internodes among the Louisiana and the SCB-resistant populations but not among the Texas or SCB-susceptible populations. Furthermore, the SCB-resistant genotypes were 40% less likely than susceptible ones to be bored by the MRB. Resources developed for SCB-resistance could form the foundation material to breed for resistance to both pests.


The kinematic motion deviations of the five-axis machining centers are deeply influenced by the geometric deviations of the components, such as guide-ways and bearings. A systematic design method is required for specifying suitable geometric tolerances of the guide-ways, in order to improve the kinematic motion deviations of five-axis machining centers. The objective of the present research is to establish a computer-aided design system for specifying a suitable set of the geometric tolerances of the guide-ways considering the trade-off between the requirements on the kinematic motion deviations and the ease of the manufacturing processes. A mathematical model was proposed in the previous papers to represent the standard deviations of the shape generation motions, based on the tolerance values of the guide-ways of the five-axis machining centers. A systematic method is proposed here, by applying an optimization method, to determine a suitable set of the tolerance values of all the guide-ways under the constraints on the kinematic motion deviations between the tools and the workpieces. The method is applied to some design problems of the geometric tolerances of the guide-ways included in the five-axis machining centers.


Numerical simulations of normal sonic gaseous injection through diamond shaped orifices into a Mach 5.0 freestream were performed using RANS and DES turbulence models. The GASP and Cobalt flow solvers were used in this work. A detailed study of the secondary turbulent flow structure was performed. Flow structures predicted by RANS solutions were compared with instantaneous and time-averaged DES solutions. Results indicate that RANS and DES predict similar flow structures. Turbulent kinetic energy results show higher predictions by DES in the downstream shear layer and lower prediction near the injector as compared to RANS model results. Also, clear connection to secondary flow structure was observed; for example, a TKE peak was observed downstream of the injector and was concluded to be due to the interaction of the wake vortices.


The role of central versus peripheral mechanisms has always been questioned while explaining the etiopathogenesis of chronic tension type headache (CTTH). The following study was done to study the role of muscle spasm in CTTH. 15 patients of CTTH and 7 age matched controls were included in the study and their m. temporalis EMG was recorded for one minute each during rest, mental activity and maximal voluntary contraction and subjective pain scoring was done by visual analogue scale. The results revealed significant overactivity of m.temporalis in CTTH patients at rest when compared with control subjects (P = 0.01 and 0.03 left and right side respectively). After respective interventions namely non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs, botulinum toxin injections and yogic life style course, the EMG records revealed decrease in the mean EMG amplitude of m. temporalis during rest and mental activity more significantly after yoga based interventions (P = 0.03) and subjective pain scores decreased from 7.00 +/- 2.10 to 2.00 +/- 1.26 (P = 0.02) supporting the beneficial effect of such non invasive techniques.


Robust, affine covariant, feature extractors provide a means to extract correspondences between images captured by widely separated cameras. Advances in wide baseline correspondence extraction require looking beyond the robust feature extraction and matching approach. This study examines new techniques of extracting correspondences that take advantage of information contained in affine feature matches. Methods of improving the accuracy of a set of putative matches, eliminating incorrect matches and extracting large numbers of additional correspondences are explored. It is assumed that knowledge of the camera geometry is not available and not immediately recoverable. The new techniques are evaluated by means of an epipolar geometry estimation task. It is shown that these methods enable the computation of camera geometry in many cases where existing feature extractors cannot produce sufficient numbers of accurate correspondences.


Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the top 10 causes of death worldwide. Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) occurs when at the minimum there is resistance to isoniazid and rifampin. Prevention of new infections of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and progression to TB disease is critical to reduce the burden and mortality of this disease. We present the case of a 73-year-old human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-negative female who presented with cervical lymphadenopathy and who was diagnosed with MDR-TB. LEARNING POINTS Tuberculosis is one of the most important causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide and approximately a quarter of the world's population is estimated to be latently infected by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis lymphadenitis is a rare manifestation of the disease in Portugal. With the advent of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, disease surveillance by the government should be intensified, with the aim of national and global TB control, focusing on prevention.


Barbara Green's monograph, How Are the Mighty Fallen?, shows her to be a strong reader of 1 Samuel, whose interpretive efforts function as both a co-author of 1 Samuel and co-creator of Saul and his cast of characters. Her dialogic style of reading, taken from Bakhtin, allows readers to engage her interpretation without having to agree to all her conclusions. Her facility with Bakhtinian analysis, however, means at times that Bakhtin intrudes on the conversation she engenders with her readers. Her distinction between the "real" God (who "wishes us well") and the God of the text requires further reflection, even if there is no final answerability from the human side. Green envisions a practice of reading, study, and engagement that is profoundly dialogical, inviting scholarly analysis beyond its conventional objectivism, but vigorously resisting a careless subjectivism that now so much jeopardizes our common work.


OBJECTIVE
The challenges of imaging posterior deeply infiltrating endometriosis with MRI are to image a small anatomic area encompassing several thin fibromuscular anatomic structures such as uterosacral ligaments, and the vaginal and rectal walls; and to image endometriotic lesions, which are fibromuscular structures and have an MRI signal intensity very close to those of surrounding fibromuscular anatomic structures.

CONCLUSION
We show the capability and potential of MRI in diagnosing and staging of posterior deeply infiltrating endometriosis after vaginal and rectal gel opacification.


Nitrogen is the major nutrient plays a key role in the production of rice crop and the lateritic soils are low in available nitrogen content. Accordingly, the field study was carried out in lateritic soils of Konkan ( Coastal ) region during year (2017 – 2018) to find out the effect of different levels of nitrogen along with silica levels on growth and yield of rice. The major aspect behind taking this kind of research was to see the interaction between the applications of varying levels of nitrogen with the different levels of silica. An experiment was carried out with FRBD design. The nitrogen was given by the Konkan Annapurna Briquettes (KAB) which is the compressed tablet type mixture of the fertilizer which is having major nutrients N, P and K. Silica was applied solely through potassium silicate with the paper packets. There might have been positive response with growth and silica levels also with the rate of application of nitrogen with the increased levels of silica. It was observed that the application of 80 per cent RDN through Konkan Annapurna Briquettes (KAB) with Silica @ 100 kg ha -1 which was applied between four hills was found promising in enhancing the growth and yield of Ratnagiri-24 Cv. in lateritic during Kharif season. It could be concluded that, the application of nutrients in the form of Konkan Annapurna Briquettes along with the application of silica can reduce the recommended dose of fertilizer to the extent of 20 per cent during Kharif season in Konkan region.


In this article, numerical approach is proposedfor dynamic behavior of symmetrical sandwich beams with viscoelastic core under movingload using the Hamilton's principle formulation and the finite element method solution. The dynamic responses are obtained for different configurations using the modal superposition method and the implicit Newmark integration scheme. The analysis shows that the viscoelastic damping has a significant effect on the vibration behavior involving the improvement of the damping of the structure. The parametric study of the effect of the configuration parameters shows that the sandwich structure has more dissipative capacities of vibratory energy by adopting adequate configurations to the structure.


In this article, the author first evaluates the background to, and the OECD and EU measures directed against, harmful taxation. She next examines the Cypriot tax system before 2004 and whether or not this did constitute harmful tax competition. Finally, Cyprus's continuing advantages in relation to international tax planning following the reforms of 2002 are considered.


We use single-spin resonant spectroscopy to study the spin structure in the orbital excited state of a diamond nitrogen-vacancy (N-V) center at room temperature. The data show that the excited-state spin levels have a zero-field splitting that is approximately half of the value of the ground state levels, a g factor similar to the ground state value, and a hyperfine splitting approximately 20x larger than in the ground state. In addition, the width of the resonances reflects the electronic lifetime in the excited state. We also show that the spin level splitting can significantly differ between N-V centers, likely due to the effects of local strain, which provides a pathway to control over the spin Hamiltonian and may be useful for quantum-information processing.


This brief note presents a case study for clocking links in multi-chip packages. A particular co-packaged multichip system design based on multi-Gbps silicon photonics global interconnect provides the context for our study of near-short range links, and we explore its design space. A preliminary exploration of phase noise suggests that the links should be clocked mesochronously, with an optically distributed full-rate clock and using local phase adjustment at each receiver.


A novel fully integrated dynamic thermal management circuit for system-on-chip design is proposed. Instead of worst-case thermal management used in conventional systems, this design yields continual monitoring of thermal activity and reacts to specified conditions. With the above system, we are able to incorporate on-chip power/speed modulation and integrated multi-stage fan controllers, which allows us to achieve nominal power dissipation and ensure operation within specification. Both architecture and circuitry are optimized for modern system-on-chip designs. This design yields intricate control and optimal mangement with little system overhead and minimum hardware requirements, as well as provides the flexibility to support different thermal mangement algorithms.


Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (DM) could be associated with cognitive impairment. The spectrum of cognitive impairment ranges from mild deficits that are not clinically detectable to the most severe clinical form, dementia. Some of the potential mechanisms include the effects of brain infarcts, white matter disease, hyperinsulinaemia, advanced glycosylated end products, and Lipoprotein Related Proteins (LRP). There is limited data on the prevalence of cognitive impairment amongst type 2 DM patients in south - east Nigeria. Therefore, this study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of cognitive impairment in type 2 DM patients attending a diabetic clinic in Abakaliki south-east Nigeria. It is a cross-sectional, descriptive and hospital based study carried out over a three months period (October 2013 to September 2014). Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) was used for cognitive functions assessment and interpreted as follows; a score of 25-30 as normal, and ≤24 as cognitive impairment. The data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 19 software. Out of 499 type 2 DM patients that were screened for the study, 450 were eligible for the study with male to female sex ratio of 2 (190): 3 (260). The age range was 30-89 years with mean age of 59.43±9.28 years. One hundred and eighty (40%) patients had cognitive impairment with male to female sex distribution of 55 (28.9%) and 125 (48.1%) respectively. Advanced age, low education attainment, unskilled occupation and presence of diabetic complications were the identified risk factors for cognitive impairment. Mini mental state examination should be a frequent tool in routine assessment of


The aim of this study was to fabricate type II collagen fibrils with surface modified by long-chain hyaluronic acid. Monomeric type II collagen was isolated from bovine articular cartilage and reconstituted into collagen fibrils followed by a reaction with EDC (1-Ethyl-3-[3-dimethylaminopropyl] carbodiimide)-activated long-chain hyaluronic acid. The existence of the hyaluronan molecules on the fibrillar surface was confirmed by the specific bindings of gold nanoparticles labeled with wheat germ agglutinin. The topographic pattern of type II collagen fibrils revealed by AFM scanning changed significantly after the surface coupling of hyaluronic acid. Beneath the hyaluronan, the characteristic D-bandings of the reconstituted collagen fibrils remained intact as shown by the results of TEM observation. The collagen fibrils became more resistant to collagenase digestion after surface coupling of hyaluronic acid as compared with that without hyaluronic acid immobilization. In addition, human mesenchymal stem cells encapsulated and cultured within the matrix of HA-collagen fibrils have a higher proliferation rate than cells grown within the unmodified type II collagen fibrils. The newly synthesized material of HA-collagen II fibrils has a great potential for use in constructing scaffold for tissue repair.


In the surgical treatment of spine instabilities or deformities, instrumentation with pedicle screws is used to obtain immediate and permanent stability. The planning relies on surgeon experience and in this study we have shown the development of a tool created to assist surgical planning. It elaborates CT data commonly available for most patients undergoing spinal surgery. It has in input parameters selected from the surgeon and supplies in output feasible screw trajectories, cortical bone detected, and amplitude of the entry region. We found that within the identified safe screw paths, insertion angle can be adjusted to increase cortical purchase without negative influence on screw pullout strength. Few authors have suggested to select screw in diameter equivalent to 80% of the pedicle transverse width, but a common accepted criteria for diameter selection has not been proposed yet. This value was found associated with reduced incidence of pedicle breaches and highest values of pullout loads within the cadaveric experiments performed. When we attempted to generalize the relationship between these variables, we found a weak linear correlation between pullout load and SD/PW ratio. With exemption for middle thoracic spine levels, for which available hardware is limited in sizes, the research highlighted the importance of cortical purchase. We developed a finite element model that closely replicate the failure load seen in the cadaveric experiments to further investigate the correlation between cortical bone purchase, as calculated in the algorithm, and pullout strength. We simulated four different screw diameters and found that the volume of detected cortical bone is correlated to pullout strength. In the end, we suggested trajectories with increased cortical purchase calculated using the algorithm to a surgeon trained for straightforward screw placement. The surgeon implanted the screws with same accuracy that despite the different dimensions revealed same mechanical performances.
In conclusion, pedicle screw placement is a complex procedure that mainly relies on surgeon experience. We created an algorithm that assists the surgical planning elaborating CT data already in use for intraoperative navigation. The algorithm calculates parameters of proven clinical relevance and has shown the potential to easy screw selection, planning and intraoperative placement.


To provide high-quality data for time-series change detection of lake water level, an automatic and robust algorithm for lake water footprint (LWF) identification is developed. Based on the Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite GLA14 data file, six parameters were taken as features of an algorithm for LWF identification, and they are elevation difference between adjacent footprints, waveform width, number of peaks, reflectivity, kurtosis, and skewness of laser echoes. The sensitivity of each parameter was discussed, and elevation difference between adjacent footprints was proved to be most effective. The algorithm was described as a combination of these six parameters, and the thresholds of each parameter were set through statistics of LWF covering Peiku Co in Tibet, China, from 2003 to 2009. The performance of this classification algorithm was evaluated by the user's accuracy and producer's accuracy. Greater than 94% is achieved for all four tested lakes with 97% being the best result of producer's accuracy, and the user's accuracy ranges from 97.9% to 90% for these four lakes.


COVID-19 has struck our education system like a lightning bolt and shaken it to its core. The pandemic that has shuttered economies around the world has also battered education systems in developing and developed countries. The impact has been dramatic and transformative as educators scramble to put in place workable short-term solutions for remote teaching and learning, particularly in emerging markets, where students and schools face additional challenges related to financing and available infrastructure. Each and every institution are facing unique challenges. The COVID 19 Pandemic has imposed pressures to all sectors of the country and the education sector has also been imposed for the paradigm shift from traditional physical classroom education methodology to the Online classes. Lecturers are still struggling to maintain the same depth of engagement with students that they could have in a classroom setting. Just as the First Industrial Revolution forged today's system of education, we can expect a different kind of educational model to emerge from COVID-19. This paper deals about the teacher's adaptability to new methods of teaching the students in online classes, through videoconference like zoom meet, google meet etc.… and the challenges that they face. Also, this paper presents about the students and their financial difficulty and family support to connect themselves in online for their education and the obstacle they face to move from face to face learning to offline modem.


A Brain Computer Interface (BCI) is developed to navigate a micro-controller based robot using Emotiv sensors. The BCI system has a pipeline of 5 stages- signal acquisition, pre-processing, feature extraction, classification and CUDA inter- facing. It shall aid in serving a prototype for physical movement of neurological patients who are unable to control or operate on their muscular movements. All stages of the pipeline are designed to process bodily actions like eye blinks to command navigation of the robot. This prototype works on features learning and classification centric techniques using support vector machine. The suggested pipeline, ensures successful navigation of a robot in four directions in real time with accuracy of 93 percent.


Reservoir properties in the Lekhwair satellite fields targeting carbonate formation (Natih C1) oil reservoir were found to be lesser quality in mobility than prognosed. Post-drilling stimulation was performed using 20% HCl with limited success. A frac stimulation opportunity was considered to unlock the Natih C1 reserves as the permeability is low. An integrated multidiscipline approach was developed to design the frac treatment in carbonates setting. As a result, a significant production improvement was observed in Natih C1 carbonate formation. Conventionally, carbonates are stimulated using acid, however, in Lekhwair satellite fields, the acid stimulation was performed and showed limited success. Extensive reviews were done using multi-disciplinary approach to assess the feasibility of proppant frac treatment in tight carbonate reservoirs. Integration of FMI data, geo-mechanical analysis, petrophysical logs, etc. were used to an optimal proppant frac trial. During the candidate selection, the main challenge in carbonates was to ensure it is designed to contain the fracture height and fracture half-length to an optimum. This was done to avoid lateral uncontrolled fracture propagation towards nearby water injector wells and producers. In addition, mitigate vertical propagation that would potentially comprise the integrity of the cap rock (natural barrier) in a carbonate setting. Initial results from two trials in the first campaign enhanced the inflow and improved production by high magnitude in a sustainable manner. Prior to the frac treatment, and due to poor inflow, the candidate wells were barely producing with very low gross and net oil production. These wells were operated under ON/OFF schedule/regime for reservoir pressure management and in turn mitigate issues with ESP reliability caused by very low rates. Post-frac well treatment results indicated huge improvement in gross and net oil production in Natih C1 carbonates. For example, in one of the wells, oil production increased by 20x and productivity was sustained much longer compared to pre-frac. These wells were able to produce continuously within ESP optimal operating envelope and were removed from ON/OFF schedule. The uptime on these wells improved from 25% to 100%. After the initial campaign, three additional wells were executed and showed continued gains in production compared to the first two trials. Through an integrated discipline approach, the concept of proppant fracture in tight oil carbonate formations were implemented successfully through two campaigns. Specifically, the proppant frac treatments were executed to yield controlled fracture height and half-length. This mitigated the risk of fracture propagation to other wells while ensuring production enhancement. In addition, the proppant fracture concept in tight oil carbonate was assessed to be technically and economically feasible. Overall, the concept can be extended to future field development plans through drilling less wells with proper optimum spacing.


In the 2005 World Summit Outcome, the international community accepted the emerging notion of the 'responsibility to protect'. The world recognised a primary responsibility on States to protect its populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. Additionally, they recognised a 'secondary' responsibility on the international community, including the United Nations, to assist and encourage States in their primary responsibility to protect. The emergence of the 'responsibility to protect' is a relatively new development in international law - it is at the frontline of the international community's efforts towards ensuring that States adhere to the principles of international law in response to mass atrocities within their own jurisdiction. It also calls for the wider international community to act in responding to such situations, highlighting legal and legitimate foundations upon which to assist or intervene when a State fails in its primary responsibility. However, if both the State (with a primary responsibility) and the Security Council (with a secondary responsibility) fail to act in response to the said mass atrocities, it may be difficult, if not impossible, for the international community to take appropriate action – especially if the use of military force is required. Therefore, this thesis will look beyond the Security Council for legal alternatives to its inaction. It shall assess popular arguments for alternative routes within the UN, such as through the General Assembly, and also outside of the UN system too, whether unilaterally or through regional organisations. With the fundamental principles of the prohibition of force and non-intervention as the focus of legal analysis, the original purpose of the UN collective security system will be traced from the origins of the Charter so that previously-rejected theories may shed new light on the interpretation of these important legal foundations. By evaluating the legality, and indeed the appropriateness, of options outside of the Security Council, the thesis will provide an opportunity to ask whether such alternatives can, or should, form part of a 'tertiary' responsibility to protect. Through its investigation, the thesis determines that there are legal avenues for establishing such a tertiary responsibility to protect, and identifies the relevant actors who have legal competence to implement it.


Electricity smart meter consumption data is enabling utilities to analyze consumption information at unprecedented granularity. Much focus has been directed towards consumption clustering for diversifying tariffs; through modern clustering methods, cluster analyses have been performed. However, the clusters developed exhibit a large variation with resulting shadow clusters, making it impossible to truly identify the individual clusters. Using clearly defined dwelling types, this paper will present methods to improve clustering by harvesting inherent structure from the smart meter data. This paper clusters domestic electricity consumption using smart meter data from the Danish city of Esbjerg. Methods from time series analysis and wavelets are applied to enable the K-Means clustering method to account for autocorrelation in data and thereby improve the clustering performance. The results show the importance of data knowledge and we identify sub-clusters of consumption within the dwelling types and enable K-Means to produce satisfactory clustering by accounting for a temporal component. Furthermore our study shows that careful preprocessing of the data to account for intrinsic structure enables better clustering performance by the K-Means method.


Background: Controlled, uniformly tapered radicular preparation is a great challenge in endodontics. Improper preparation can lead to procedural errors like transportation of foramen, uneven dentine thickness, stripping of root canal, formation of ledge, zip, and elbow in curved canals. These procedural errors and their sequel can adversely affect the prognosis of treatment. Aim/Objectives: The present in vitro study aims to evaluate canal preparation based on the following factors: canal transportation, remaining dentine thickness and comparing centering ability between hand Ni-Ti K files and ProTaper rotary Ni-Ti instruments using computed tomography (CT). Materials and Methods: For evaluation, 30 mesiobuccal roots of maxillary molars were selected. Of these, 15 roots were distributed into two groups where Group 1 included hand instrumentation with Ni-Ti K-files; and Group 2 comprised ProTaper NiTi rotary system. Pre instrumentation and post instrumentation three-dimensional CT images were obtained from root cross-sections that were 1 mm thick from apex to the canal orifice; scanned images were then superimposed and compared. Result: It was observed that the manual technique using hand Ni-Ti K-file produced lesser canal transportation and maintained greater dentine thickness than the rotary ProTaper technique at middle and coronal third and this difference was statistically significant. No significant difference was seen with regard to canal transportation and remaining root dentine at apical levels. With regard to centering ratio, no significant difference was seen between both the groups at all levels. Conclusion: ProTaper should be used judiciously, especially in curved canals, as it causes higher canal transportation and thinning of root dentine at middle and coronal levels. None of the groups showed optimal centering ability.


Objectives/Hypothesis: The aim of this study is to evaluate the results of primary hyoidthyroidpexia (HTP) and HTP after previous uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS).

Study Design: Prospective case series.

Methods: Thirty-one patients with obstruction at tongue base level and moderate to severe sleep apnea syndrome underwent HTP. Seventeen patients underwent surgery after an unsuccessful UPPP (secondary HTP), and in 14 patients, primary HTP was performed.

Results: Patients who underwent primary HTP showed a significant decrease in apnea hypopnea index (AHI) (P = .007), whereas those patients who had secondary HTP did not (P = .06). Overall, the AHI significantly changed (P = .0005). Visual analogue scales for snoring and hypersomnolence and the Epworth sleepiness scores showed significant improvement for both groups, without any difference between them. HTP was considerably less painful when compared with UPPP.

Conclusion: This study demonstrates that HTP, in particular as primary treatment in cases of obstruction at tongue base level, is a valuable addition to the therapeutic armamentarium of moderate to severe OSAS. Selection criteria are moderate to severe OSAS with preferably a body mass index less than 27, multilevel obstruction with emphasis on the base of tongue, small tonsils, and normal uvula, without a floppy epiglottis or a palatal stenosis after UPPP.


Aim Although primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) as early reperfusion therapy is one of the most important aspect of the treatment of STEMI, no-reflow after a primary PCI associated with a high incidence of left ventricular (LV) failure and a poor prognosis is still the main limitation of PCI. Various reports have demonstrated that PCI trigger inflammation. We aimed to investigate the association of local interleukin-6 levels and the risk of no flow in STEMI patients treated with primary PCI. Methods Fifty six (44 male/12 female, mean age: 59±9.9 years) eligible for primary PCI were included in this analysis. Rapid exchange clot extraction catheter (Innovative technologies, Italy) was used in all STEMI patients immediately after guidewire crossing only if a total occlusion (thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) flow 0) existed, then patients successfully received stent implantation (1.3±0.7 per patient). Angiographic no-reflow was defined as coronary TIMI flow grade <=2 or TIMI flow 3 with a final myocardial blush grade<=2. Samples of each STEMI patient to determine local inflammation levels were acquired during thrombus aspiration from a total occusion coronary using clot extraction catheter. Blood samples were also obtained before coronary angiography (pre-CA) and after PCI (post-PCI) from femora artery sheath to clarify the extent of imflammatory change induced by PCI. Plasma concentrations of inflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 were determined by immunoassay. Comparisons between groups were done by t-test or Mann–Whitney U test (as indicated) for continuous variables and by Fisher's exact test for discrete variables. Correlation analyses were done by Pearson test or Spearman test, as indicated. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was applied to identify whether IL-6 was independently associated with coronary no-reflow. At this scope, in the model we included variables hawing a significant or borderline association with no-reflow at uniariate analysis; furthermore, a stepwise selection method (sle=0.3, sls=0.05)was used to estimate the final predictors of no flow. Results Twenty one (37.5%) of the patients developed no-reflow or low-reflow phenomenon. A univariate logistic analysis including all the variables evaluated at baseline: sex, age, body mass index, hypertension, family history of coronary disease, diabetes mellitus, smoking, statin therapy, white blood cells count, fasting blood glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides, hs-CRP, systemic interleukin 6, time to balloon, lesion length, reference luminal diameter, thrombus score, number of involved coronary vessels and local interleukin 6, diabetes mellitus (OR 0.321, 95 % CI 0.104 to 0.988, p=0.044), hs-CRP (OR 0.959, 95% CI 0.918 to 1.001, p=0.048), systemic IL-6 (OR 0.611, 95% CI 0.381 to 0.981, p=0.034), time to balloon (OR 0.706, 95% CI 0.479 to 1.040, p=0.046), lesion length (OR 0.950, 95% CI 0.911 to 0.991, p=0.014), thrombus score (OR 0.250, 95% CI 0.062 to 1.011, p=0.036) and local IL-6 (OR 0.587, 95% CI 0.438 to 0.785, p<0.001) were independent predictor in this model. Multiple logistic regression analysis identified that advanced time to balloon (OR 0.448, 95% CI 0.204 to 0.984, p=0.045), thrombus score (OR 0.056, 95% CI 0.004 to 0.691, p=0.025) and local IL-6 (OR 0.575, 95% CI 0.374 to 0.884, p=0.012) as independent predictors of no-reflow phenomenon. Local IL-6 was the only independent predictor (OR 1.425, 95% CI 1.052 to 1.931, p=0.0223) in this model, with a stepwise selection method (sle=0.3, sls=0.05) was used to estimate the final predictors of cardiac events, after adjustment of all entered baseline variables. Conclusions The occurrence of no-reflow phenomenon in STEMI patients after primary PCI was relation to local inflammation response. These findings suggest that local IL-6 response decreased might be beneficial in the management of no-reflow.


also to be fitted somewhere in a local LG Period spanning the second half of the eighth and earlier seventh centuries B.C. What is more, a figure such as pi. 29, no. 176, provides a transition to (or from?) these stylised figures, linking them with the statuettes with short legs, heavy bodies and prominent buttocks (pi. 23, nos. 133, 135-6, pis. 28-9) described as 'protogeometric' and 'early geometric' and shows that these, too, cannot be so very far removed in date. The author has probably rightly identified the earliest horses and bulls (pis. 2, 10), but there is no means of establishing just how early they are. But, whatever its chronological limitations, this is a very good, clear and useful publication that makes all the essential information readily available. It is also important for our understanding of the other early statuettes from Olympia, the bronzes, since the terracottas offer some guidance for distinguishing the local products from the often more sophisticated imports. R. V. NICHOLLS Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge


This study elaborates on a model system developed in earlier papers to predict the perceived value and use of travel information. The value of travel information is conceptualized as the extent to which the information allows the individual to make better activity–travel scheduling decisions at the beginning of the day and during execution of the schedule. By taking the broader schedule context into account, the model is sensitive to the impact of information and decisions on the full activity–travel pattern. Furthermore, the model includes Bayesian mechanisms to make sure that beliefs about travel times, and other uncertain events, and the credibility of the information source are updated each time information is received and the real travel time is experienced. This paper describes the results of numerical simulations conducted to illustrate the system and to derive theoretical implications from the model. The simulations show that the schedule context, learning, and expected information gain in combination determine the perceived value of information and that none of these factors can be ignored in the derivation of estimates of these values. A theoretical analysis further shows how decision trees can be pruned to reduce a potential problem of combinatorics.


Summary
The germination of four strand-line annuals, Atriplex glabriuscula, Atriplex lacimata, Cakile maritima and Salsola kali, was studied in the field and laboratory. Germination in the field began approximately 1 month after the spring equinox. Thus, seedling establishment was not directly affected by high spring tides. The relative importance of the various biological and environmental factors influencing the timing of germination of these species is discussed.

The effects on germination of salinity and temperature and various interactions between these two factors were characterized. From experiments designed to determine the nature of the inhibition of germination by saline solutions, it was concluded that, in the Atriplex spp., the inhibition was purely osmotic but, in C. maritima and S. kali, ionic toxicity is important. The potential for dispersal of strand-line species by sea-currents depends upon the buoyancy of the fruit and the ability of the seed to survive prolonged immersion in seawater. Laboratory experiments showed that the four species differed considerably in these characteristics.


The compressive strengths of simply supported columns may be significantly increased by reinforcing them with an assemblage of cross-arms and stayed struts connecting both ends of the columns and the cross-arm members. The purpose of the stayed struts and cross-arms is to introduce partial restraints against translation and rotation, thereby decreasing the effective buckling length of the column. In this study, buckling strengths of the assembled column system have been quantitatively evaluated from the theoretical methods based on both the equivalent spring model and the stiffness matrix formulation. And the results were compared with those from elastic/inelastic analysis using a finite element analysis package program, ABAQUS, for verification purpose. Expected compressive strength curves have been proposed for the assembled column system as a function of slenderness ratio of the simply supported column.


The nucleus accumbens (NAc) is a key region in motivated behaviors. NAc medium spiny neurons (MSNs) are divided into those expressing dopamine receptor D1 or D2. Classically, D1- and D2-MSNs have been described as having opposing roles in reinforcement but recent evidence suggests a more complex role for D2-MSNs. Here we show that optogenetic modulation of D2-MSN to ventral pallidum (VP) projections during different stages of motivated behavior has contrasting effects in motivation. Activation of D2-MSN-VP projections during a reward-predicting cue results in increased motivational drive, whereas activation at reward delivery results in decreased motivation; optical inhibition has the opposite behavioral effect. In addition, in a free choice instrumental task, animals prefer the lever that originates one pellet in opposition to pellet plus D2-MSN-VP optogenetic activation, and vice versa for optogenetic inhibition. In summary, D2-MSN-VP projections play different (and even opposing) roles in distinct phases of motivated behavior.


There has been a considerable amount of research focused on the multicultural counseling competence (MCC) of counselors, but research examining the MCC of school counselors looking at school counselors' awareness of the national achievement gap has been quite sparse. The current study was conducted to fill this gap. One hundred and sixty five American School Counselor Association (ASCA) members participated in the current study. The study was a web survey where each participant was contacted through email and invited to participate by Survey Monkey, an on-line survey tool. Survey Monkey was used to post the survey and demographic questionnaire and collect the data. The Multicultural Counseling Competence and Training Survey-Revised (MCCTS-R) (Holcomb-McCoy & Day-Vines, 2004) was used to examine the perceived MCC of school counselors. A Demographic Questionnaire was also added consisting of questions regarding variables such as race/ethnicity, gender, school level, and school urbanicity and questions that examined school counselors' awareness of the national achievement gap. The results of the current study suggested that school counselors possessed a self-perceived MCC between somewhat competent and competent. The results also suggested that school counselors who had taken a Master's level or specialty course on multicultural counseling possessed a higher MCC than those who had not, school counselors of Color were found to possess a higher MCC than their White counterparts, and gender was found to have no significant relationship with MCC. In addition, the results suggested that school counselors were School Counselors iii aware of the national achievement gap, believed in the importance of being aware of the national achievement gap, were committed to activities aimed at closing the achievement gap, and believed that it was the duty of school counselors to participate in activities aimed at closing the gap. Finally, using the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (M-C SDS), the results suggested that social desirability may have played a small role in the results of the MCCTS-R. School Counselors iv


Torsion of the greater omentum is an uncommon cause of acute abdomen, often diagnosed only intraoperatively. We report a 30-year-old man with torsion of the greater omentum in association with inguinal hernia, diagnosed on CT scan and managed conservatively.


Denaturation studies with guanidine HCl (GdnHCl) were performed to test the relationship between scrapie infectivity and properties of scrapie-associated prion protein (PrP(Sc)). Large GdnHCl-induced reductions in infectivity were associated with the irreversible elimination of both the proteinase K resistance and apparent self-propagating converting activity of PrP(Sc). In intermediate GdnHCl concentrations that stimulate converting activity and partially disaggregate PrP(Sc), both scrapie infectivity and converting activity were associated with residual partially protease-resistant multimers of PrP(Sc).


PREMISE OF THE STUDY
Plants of the family Loasaceae are characterized by a usually dense indument of various trichome types, including two basically different types of mineralized, unicellular trichomes (stinging hairs or setae and scabrid-glochidiate trichomes). Mineralized trichomes have long been known to have silicified or calcified walls, but recent studies demonstrated that trichomes of Loasaceae may also contain calcium phosphate. The current study investigates the distribution of different biominerals in the mineralized trichomes across several different taxa.

METHODS
Plants from cultivation were studied with scanning electron microscopy including energy dispersive x-ray analyses and element mapping.

KEY RESULTS
The vast majority of the 31 species investigated had at least two different biominerals in their trichomes, and 22 had three different biominerals in their trichomes. Thirty of the species had calcium phosphate in their trichomes. Loasa was mostly free of silica, but contained calcium phosphate in trichome tips and barbs, whereas calcium phosphate and silica were found in representatives of other genera of the family (Blumenbachia, Caiophora, Nasa).

CONCLUSIONS
Biomineralization is remarkably diversified between species, different trichome types and parts of the same trichome. Individual genera largely had different patterns of biomineralization. The presence of three biominerals in the trichomes of the basally branching Eucnide urens indicates either an early evolution and subsequent loss or several independent origins of multiple biomineralization. Differential biomineralization of the parts of individual, unicellular trichomes clearly indicates an extraordinary degree of physiological control over this process.


We introduce an algorithm for construction of the Morse hierarchy, i.e., a hierarchy of Morse decompositions of a piecewise constant vector field on a surface driven by stability of the Morse sets with respect to perturbation of the vector field. Our approach builds upon earlier work on stable Morse decompositions, which can be used to obtain Morse sets of user-prescribed stability. More stable Morse decompositions are coarser, i.e., they consist of larger Morse sets. In this work, we develop an algorithm for tracking the growth of Morse sets and topological events (mergers) that they undergo as their stability is gradually increased. The resulting Morse hierarchy can be explored interactively. We provide examples demonstrating that it can provide a useful coarse overview of the vector field topology.


In general there is a huge potential on using multiple heat sources for heat pumps (HPs). But to arrive at concepts which are making sense from a thermoeconomical point of view it is of decisive importance to minimize the development costs to be able to use two heat sources. One approach could be the usage of a typical air-to-water HP and its heat source ambient air together with exhaust air as a secondary heat source. In case of increasing air-tightness of residential buildings ventilation systems are very often installed by default. Thus the development costs to use this secondary heat source can be considered as negligible. In the context of this objective a fin-and-tube heat exchanger was sized as evaporator. In this work the sizing process for a newly developed refrigerant distributor, the circuitry of this evaporator and testing results are presented. The experimental results comprise the refrigerant and air side maldistribution in case of using ambient air, exhaust air or the combined usage of these two heat sources.


This paper provides an example of how an NSF-funded project, Professional Engineering Pathways Study [EEC-1360665, 1360956, and 1360958] or PEPS has incorporated a community of practice approach to disseminate the use of evidence-based decisions to design activities that assist engineering students in making career choices. The paper will discuss the elements of a community of practice, how it has been used in PEPS, and how other projects might use this approach to bring about other kinds of change.


Background: Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a common causative agent of community-acquired and atypical pneumonia. M. pneumoniae-associated respiratory tract infections are most often mild and self-limiting in nature, and severe courses of disease are not common.
Aims and Objectives: We aimed to analyze respiratory samples of hospitalized patients by real-time (RT) PCR for M. pneumoniae infections.
Methodology: In this study, hospitalized patients with respiratory symptoms including nasal congestion, rhinorrhea, nasal discharge, wheezing, sore throat and cough, were tested for Mycoplasma pneumoniae between April 2018 and March 2020 and the results of these patients were analyzed retrospectively.
Results: We retrospectively investigated the results of 1245 nasopharyngeal swab samples. Records of 693 (55.7%) male and 552 (44.3%) female patients between 0-93 years were investigated.All of the patients were below 26 years. There were 37 M. pneumoniae positive patients and the highest M. pneumoniae positivity was in 2-5 age group, with 16 children. M. pneumoniae positivity rate was highest in the 0-1 age group with 8.3%. There were 19 co-infections with viruses and rhino/enterovirus (n=12) was the most frequent accompanying virus.
Conclusion: M. pneumonia infections are found in about 3% of respiratory samples. M. pneumoniae is usually a part of co-infections accompanied by bacteria and viruses. Patients with respiratory infection symptoms should be diagnosed with multiplex rapid PCR panels including M. pneumoniae.


This paper presents a method for describing and recognising local structure in 3D images. The method extends proven techniques for 2D object recognition in images. In particular, we propose a 3D interest point detector that is based on SURF, and a 3D descriptor that extends SIFT. The method is applied to the problem of detecting repeated structure in range images, and promising results are reported.


We focus on the control issue for engine systems from the perspective of chaos theory, which is based on the fact that engine systems have a low-dimensional chaotic dynamics. Two approaches are discussed: controlling chaos and harnessing chaos, respectively. We apply Pyragas' chaos control method to an actual engine system. The experimental results show that the chaotic motion of an engine system may be stabilized to a periodic motion. Alternatively, harnessing chaos for engine systems is addressed, which regards chaos as an essential dynamic mode for the engine.


This review presents the current data on the human microbiome. In recent increase of erased and primary chronic forms of inflammatory diseases of the female genital organs is observed, in which the clinical manifestations are varied, but the symptoms are not so much related with the changes in the pelvic organs, but with abnormalities in other body systems, secondarily involved in the pathological process. Recent research proved mutual influence of intestinal, vaginal and nasopharyngeal biocenosis. Women with vaginal microbiota disorders often revealed intestinal dysbiosis and chronic diseases of ENT (Ear Nose Throat) organs, which in turn contributes to chronic inflammatory process of pelvic organs, failure of therapeutic interventions, reduced quality of life and increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes.


This study considers configurations of identity-by-descent sharing in sibships as an alternative to breaking the sibship into sib pairs. A general method is presented for specifying all distinct configurations and deriving their probabilities. The method works for sibships of arbitrary size and can be implemented with paper and pencil. Specific results are given for sibships up to size six. Applications for disease-marker studies are discussed.


The main purpose of this paper is to present a functional competencies model of CEOs technology-based firms. The relationship between functional competencies variables of: marketing management competency; financial management competency; technological management competency; and additionally four technology capabilities of: research & development; innovative decisions; marketing; manufacturing; and capital capabilities are examined. To fulfill these objectivities, the structural equation modeling (SEM) is used. The sample basis for survey related to the research is 121 new technology-based firms. The results have shown a significant direction relationship between the study variables and the acceptable fit. Moreover, there is a significant relationship between functional competency and capital capabilities in 99% confidence level. Functional competencies predict 17% to 41% of the variance in capital capabilities. Cronbach's alphas for each of the 5 study variables were greater than 0.7. Functional competencies predict 33% of the variance in R&D and innovation decision capabilities, 41% of the variance marketing capabilities and 17% of the variance in manufacturing capabilities.


Using the 'adiabatic' assumptions of Austern and Blair (1965) one can derive an expression for the inelastic S matrix which is valid for arbitrary coupling strength. The power-series expansion of this expression is shown to correspond to the infinite-order distorted-wave approximation whose nth-order term contains the nth derivative of the elastic S matrix. The results of the adiabatic couple-channels method are numerically compared with those obtained from other approximations.


We present in this article a method to analyse the intrinsic transient fault tolerance of signal and image processing algorithms for DSP applications. This method allows to protect only non-tolerant parts and consequently to decrease time and memory overheads. Results are given for an algorithm of embedded satellite image compression.


The chemical bond between a transition metal and a methyl group (M-CH3) is typically defined as a single covalent bond, which is of fundamental significance and general interest in understanding the structural properties and reactivity of transition metal alkyl compounds. Herein, we demonstrate that the M-CH3 bonding involves varying σ and π components and thus should be best described in terms of the partial double M═CH3 bond. The often-neglected π bonding stems from an occupied π-symmetric orbital of the methyl group comprising all three C-H σ bonds (but one C-H' contributes more than the other two) and a vacant low-lying metal d(π) orbital, and is associated with the intramolecular C-H'···M agostic effect (i.e., an acute M-C-H' angle and a short H'···M distance), whose origin is still controversial. We quantify the geometric and energetic impacts of the π interaction involved in the M-CH3 bond by explicitly computing the intramolecular πCH' → dM interaction with the ab initio valence bond (VB) theory. Our computations of the ligand-free [TiCH3]3+ and a series of metallocene catalysts provide a direct proof for the presence of the π bonding in M-CH3 bonds, which is the cause for the agostic effect. The partial double M═CH3 bonding model is not only validated by a range of bonding analyses including VB self-consistent field (VBSCF)-based energy decomposition and quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM) but also authenticated by the specific activity of double M═CH3 bonds in the C-H activation and olefin insertion. More importantly, the σ bond gradually switches from a classical covalent bond to a novel charge-shift bond with the π bonding becoming increasingly significant. We anticipate that the recognition of the π interaction between electrophilic metal centers and C-H bonds can benefit the understanding of the nature of metal-carbon bonds in transition metal ethyl, alkyl, and carbene compounds.


The recently developed HCPV modules of SMALFOC design (Small lenses, Multijunction cells, All from glass, Lamination, Fresnel, Optics, Concentration) are characterized by structural and technological similarities with flat plate modules. In the paper, two variants of module usage are considered: (i) version for an "ordinary" generation of electricity; (ii) version for operation as a hybrid system, where a combined PV/Thermal approach is realized for producing both electricity and heated water. Water as a heat removing fluid is made to flow through a flat structure applied to the laminated back side of a HCPV module. PV and PV IT performances of the modules at different operation conditions are presented.


Many approximate heuristics for optimization are either based on neighborhood search or on the construction of solutions. Examples for the latter ones include ant colony optimization and greedy randomized adaptive search procedures. These techniques generally construct solutions probabilistically by sampling a probability distribution over the search space. Solution constructions are generally independent from each other. Recent algorithmic variants include two important features that are inspired by deterministic branch & bound derivatives such as beam search: the use of bounds for evaluating partial solutions, and the parallel and non-independent construction of solutions. In this paper we first give a theoretical reason of why these variants have the potential to improve over standard algorithms. Second, we confirm our theoretical findings by means of practical examples. Our results for the open shop scheduling problem clearly demonstrate the potential of using parallel and non-independent solution constructions.


A series of isomorphously framework-substituted ZSM-5 zeolites has been characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, with primary focus on the nu(OH) region, and by temperature programmed NH3 desorption. The protonic form of the zeolites exhibited two characteristic absorptions in the nu(OH) region: a band at 3740 cm assigned to terminal SiOH, and a band at lower frequency assigned to M(OH)Si (bridging hydroxyl), whose frequency depends on acid strength. Based on these techniques, the relative Bronsted acidity is found to increase according to SiOH < B(OH)Si << Fe(OH)Si < Ga (OH)Si < Al(OH)Si.


In cellular networks, QoS degradation or forced termination may occur when there are insufficient resources to accommodate handoff requests. One solution is to predict the trajectory of mobile terminals so as to perform resource reservations in advance. With the vision that future mobile devices are likely to be equipped with reasonably accurate positioning capability, we investigate how this new feature may be used for mobility predictions. We propose a mobility prediction technique that incorporates road topology information, and describe its use for dynamic resource reservation. Simulation results are presented to demonstrate the improvement in reservation efficiency compared with several other schemes.


ABSTRACT
Nursahid: Improving the Students' Reading Skill Using Collaborative Strategic Reading Model (A Classroom Action Research at SMA Negeri 1 Slogohimo,Wonogiri in the Academic Year of 2013/2014). Surakarta: English Education Department Graduate Program of Teacher Training and Education Faculty Sebelas Maret University.
This thesis is written: (1) to identify whether teaching English reading using Collaborative Strategic Reading Model can improve the students" reading skill, and (2) to identify the strengths and the weaknesses of teaching English reading using Collaborative Strategic Reading Model. The problem highlighted in this research is the low reading mastery of students in SMA Negeri 1 Slogohimo Wonogiri.
The research is conducted in two cycles from January to March 2014 in class XI Social 2. The procedure of the research consists of identifying problem, planning the action, implementing the action, observing the action, and reflecting the result of the research. The qualitative data were derived from observation, diary, questionnaire, interviews, and document analysis of the students" work. In analyzing qualitative data, I use Constant Comparative Method (CCM) by comparing incidents applicable to categories, integrating categories and their properties, delimiting the theory, and writing the theory. The quantitative data were derived from the pre-test and the post-tests. In analyzing quantitative data, I used a descriptive statistics describing the highest, the lowest, and the mean scores.
The result of the research indicates that: (1) Collaborative Strategic Reading Model can improve the students" reading skill in all aspects: (a) literal understanding; (b) interpretive understanding; (c) critical understanding; and (d) creative understanding. The class condition is conducive and enjoyable for children to learn reading. (2) The strengths and the weaknesses: (a) the strengths: (i) students" interest; (ii) motivation; (iii) concentrations; (iv) work; (v) participation; (b) the weaknesses are: (i) the limited time, and; (ii) the use of reciprocal teaching in CSR was effective only on preview and did not encourage natural discussion; (iii) it was difficult to find appropriate pattern in the way students applied the wrap strategy.
Since using CSR has succeeded in improving the students reading skill, it is suggested that the English teachers to (1) use CSR model as one of the strategies to improve students" reading skill; (2) facilitate students to practice CSR model in reading class; (3) be a facilitator or motivator not an instructor, so he or she does not dominate the class.
Keywords : Collaborative Strategic Reading Model, reading skill, classroom action research


A unique preload responsive pulsatile pump was compared to a centrifugal pump in total cardiac support in 25-kg canines (n = 6, each group) in the left atrial-to-aorta mode during 5 h of ventricular fibrillation. With steady flow, there was immediate drop in output from 2.1 +/- 1.0 L/min to 1.4 +/- 0.3 L/min, followed by further reduction to 0.9 +/- 0.2 L/min during 5 h of ventricular fibrillation. With a pulsatile pump, there was no significant reduction from control of 2.4 +/- 0.6 L/min and no decline during 5 h of ventricular fibrillation. With steady flow, systemic vascular resistance (SVR) rose significantly from 1,762 dyne-s-cm-5 immediately on pump to 3,013 dyne-s-cm-5 at 5 h. With physiologic pulsatile flow, significant elevation of SVR did not occur. When stressed, due to diminished left atrial return, the centrifugal pump displayed line chatter and streaks of microbubbles, whereas the pulsatile pump did not. Crystalloid volume replacement with the centrifugal pump was 6.5 +/- 1.9 L, and with the preload responsive pulsatile pump, 5.6 +/- 1.3 L. It is concluded that in the left atrial-to-aorta mode during 5 h of ventricular fibrillation and with comparable volume replacement, total cardiac support of canines is associated with lower SVR with physiologic pulsatile flow and is not accompanied by line chatter and cavitation with this preload responsive pump.


At a time when competition is getting tighter and financial difficulties, the company is very interested in consolidating its position in the domestic market. Therefore, many companies in Indonesia insert the motto "Love domestic products" in every opportunity the advertisement is posted. This sentence motto insert is expected to inspire Indonesian consumers not to be ashamed to use Indonesian products, and believe that Indonesian products also have qualities that are not inferior to those produced by foreign companies. The relationship between domestic companies and domestic customers has become an object of strong interest in the business and academic world (Cleveland et al., 2009; Shankarmahesh, 2006; Chao et al., 2005; Kaynak and Kara, 2002). Especially in Indonesia, there is a unique fact that Indonesian consumers like overseas products (marketing.co.id). Therefore, this study will examine the increase in the selling value of Indonesian local products based on ethnocentrism behavior. Ethnocentrism is defined (Shimp and Sharma, 1987, 280) as beliefs held by consumers about conformity and morality, in purchasing foreign-made products. The aim of the research is to find out the characteristics of local Indonesian cosmetic users and to know the factors that influence local Indonesian cosmetic users. It is hoped that this research can enrich the knowledge of knowledge related to the use of local Indonesian cosmetics that can boost Indonesia's cosmetic income. In addition, the results of this study can be used not only in the local cosmetics industry but can be applied in various other commercial business entities as well as in non-commercial business entities. The research method used is non probability sampling in major cities in Indonesia. Analysis of data processing using multiple regression with SPSS 20.00 software. The results of this data processing will be carried out in-depth discussion about the characteristics of local Indonesian cosmetic users and find out the factors that influence local Indonesian cosmetic users. Keywords : Indonesian Local Cosmetics, Ethnocentrism, Purchase Intention


A foreign body retained in the skin can originate from numerous sources and most of the time these foreign bodies are removed without any sequelae. The present article reports a case of persistent swelling in the lower lip misdiagnosed as keloid, which later turned out to be an embedded tooth fragment identified post spontaneous extrusion after 11 months.


Background The dorsal tangential (DT) view has been shown to improve the detection of dorsal screw perforation during volar distal radius fracture fixation. Here we performed a cadaveric imaging survey study to evaluate if the DT view was uniformly beneficial for all screws. Methods Standardized placement of fixed-angle volar distal radius plates was performed on two cadavers. Fluoroscopic images depicting variable screw perforation of each of the four screw holes on the plate were generated. A 46-image survey was distributed at a large academic medical center. Respondents were asked to answer if the screw was perforating through the dorsal cortex in each image. Statistical analysis was performed using Fisher's exact test. A p value < .05 was considered significant. Results The DT view offered a significantly more reliable determination of dorsal screw penetration than traditional lateral imaging for the radial-most screw at all degrees of perforation and the middle two screws at 2 mm of perforation. Residents and attendings had more accurate screw readings overall using the DT view. Conclusions The DT view is superior to traditional lateral imaging in the detection of small amounts of dorsal perforation of the radial-most three screws of a fixed-angle volar plate.


The novel catalytic promiscuity of pepsin from porcine gastric mucosa for the asymmetric catalysis of the domino thia-Michael/aldol condensation reaction in MeCN and buffer was discovered for the first time. Broad substrate specificity was tested, and a series of corresponding products were obtained with enantioselectivities of up to 84% ee. This specific catalysis was demonstrated by using recombinant pepsin and control experiments with denatured and inhibited pepsin. The reaction was also shown to occur in the active site by site-directed mutagenesis (the Asp32Ala mutant of pepsin), and a possible mechanism was proposed.


A new species of siphonopid caecilian, Microcaecilia butantan sp. nov., is described based on four specimens from Belterra, in the State of Pará, Brazil. The new species differs from all other Microcaecilia in having a combination of more than 135 primary annuli and long premaxillary-maxillary tooth series that extend posteriorly beyond the choanae. Some specimens were dug from soil in a cupuaçu (Theobroma grandiflorum) plantation suggesting that this form of agriculture provides an environment suitable for at least some caecilians.


One of the products of corrosion of components made from zirconium alloys is hydrogen, some fraction of which is absorbed by the component . The solubility limits for hydrogen are very low in the usual range of operating temperatures, and as a result, hydrides are often present in components . These hydrides are brittle and carry the potential for cracking . This cracking appears as a loss in toughness or can be time dependent . The latter is called delayed hydride cracking (DHC) . DHC has several limits associated with hydrogen concentration, applied stress intensity factor and temperature history . Safe and trouble-free operation of components may be achieved by staying within these limits . In this paper the limits are outlined and methods of assessment to avoid failure are outlined based on answering seven questions: 1. Is the material susceptible to DHC? 2. Is sufficient hydrogen present to form hydrides at a crack tip? 3. Was the temperature history conducive to DHC? 4. Were any temperature gradients present? 5. Are any sharp flaws present and, if so, how large are they? 6. Are large tensile stresses present? 7. Is the combination of 5) and 6) sufficient to exceed K IH, the limit for cracking?


Background and Objectives: The effect of non-pharmacological aerobic exercise training on blood pressure in sedentary older individuals receiving social home care in Saudi Arabia has not been investigated. This study aimed to examine the effects of aerobic exercise on blood pressure in sedentary older Saudis with hypertension residing in these settings. Materials and Methods: A pilot randomized control trial was conducted with 27 sedentary individuals, aged 60–85, diagnosed with hypertension, and living in social home care in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Recruitment took place between November 2020 and January 2021, and participants were randomly assigned to either the experimental or control group. The experimental group engaged in three 45 min sessions of low-to-moderate intensity aerobic activity per week for eight weeks. This trail was registered with the ISRCTN registry (ISRCTN50726324). Results: Following eight weeks of mild to moderate aerobic exercise training, the primary outcome of resting blood pressure showed a significant reduction in the experimental group (systolic blood pressure: mean difference [MD] = 2.91 mmHg, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.61, 4.21, p = 0.001; and diastolic blood pressure: MD = 1.33 mmHg, 95% CI = 1.16, 1.50, p = 0.001) compared to the control group. Within the experimental group, there was also a significant decrease in systolic blood pressure (MD = −2.75 mmHg, 95% CI = −7.73, 2.22, p = 0.005) and diastolic blood pressure (MD = −0.83 mmHg, 95% CI = −5.81, 4.14, p = 0.02). Conclusions: This trial demonstrates the feasibility and potential benefits of low-to-moderate intensity aerobic exercise training in reducing resting blood pressure among sedentary older Saudis with hypertension residing in this aged care setting.


This master's thesis is written at the Universitat Stuttgart and submitted to Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Master of Science degree in Industrial Engineering. The thesis is carried out by the student Laura Villar Rio, participating in the Erasmus+ exchange program. It is supervised by M.Sc Caren Dripke, researcher of the Institute for Control Engineering of Machine Tools and Manufacturing Units (ISW).
The thesis is also framed within the DEVEKOS project, a project carried out by several organizations such as the ISW. The context of this project is the age of digitization and industry 4.0. Thanks to the miniaturization of the electronics, control, actuators and sensors now the components can be integrated into a tight space. The embedded software makes such components intelligent and they offer their own abilities in the form of manufacturer-standardized automation functions. These skills are composed in the engineering of machine integrators to higher-quality skills until a level of skill is reached that corresponds to the process of the product being produced. This results in a component-based automation with a suitable component-oriented engineering approach - both prerequisites for the implementation of the currently emerging industry 4.0 standards.
A Distributed Control System (DCS), which will be implemented in this thesis, increases reliability and reduces installation costs by localizing control functions near the process plant, but enables monitoring and supervisory control of the process remotely. The key attribute of a DCS is its reliability due to the distribution of the control processing around nodes in the system. This mitigates a single processor failure. If a processor fails, it will only affect one section of the plant process, as opposed to a failure of a central computer, which would affect the whole process, increasing also productivity. This distribution of computing power local to the field Input/Output (I/O) field connection racks also ensures fast controller processing times by removing possible network and central processing delays. Another advantage, which makes these systems appropriate for the Industry 4.0, is that the introduction of distributed control allowed easy interconnection and re-configuration of plant controls such as cascaded loops and interlocks, and easy interfacing with other production computer systems.
In line with the digitization that Industry 4.0 heralds, future control system functionality will be decided by software and firmware upgrades and be completely independent of hardware in the future. This will allow the user to purchase the control system hardware with limited functionality and as requirements increase they can continue to upgrade to add additional functionality as required — such as faster cycle times, additional communication interfaces etc. To achieve this goal this project is going to use Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) completely reprogrammable and with high capabilities.
It also allows faster update times when new functionality is developed as this functionality can be available as soon as the firmware is upgraded, in the same way as a smartphone.


SUMMARY: Psoriasis in an ancient disease etiology and treatment of which is still not sufficiently known. We therefore tried oral zinc in a series of patients, a demonstrative example of which is presented here: A 14 year old girl complaining of recurring lesions of psoriasis since four years was treated with oral zinc. Complete cure followed. The clinical and laboratory data are presented. It appears that oral zinc administration has a place in treatment of psoriasis.


The suffering, the prolonged hospitalization and the great cost of osteomyelitis are obvious to those who have followed these patients through their hospital courses. There have been no studies that have brought out the marked economic loss entailed by this disease. A survey of the cases of osteomyelitis treated at the University of Virginia Hospital presents such a striking demonstration of this enormous economic burden that a presentation of the figures is thought to be worth while. It is particularly worth while if it can be felt that earlier diagnosis and treatment can help decrease the expense to the patient and to the hospital. The moral of this report will then become obvious. This study is limited to those cases of acute, pyogenic osteomyelitis of hematogenous origin, usually seen in children and most frequently caused by the staphylococcus. Other bone infections, including tuberculosis, traumatic osteitis, and osteitis originating in arthritis,


Since the beginning of the use of the high voltage technology, partial discharge diagnosis is an important and irreplaceable instrument for the condition monitoring and the defect assessment of high voltage equipment. Due to the missing time dependency ofDC voltage used in high voltage direct current transmission, alternative approaches to phase resolved pattern have to be developed. As partial discharges, based on avalanche processes, are of fast transient nature, they cause the emission of an electromagnetic field in the high frequency range. Detecting this electromagnetic field offers a safe and quick installation ofthe measuring equipment and, regarding the directivity of antennas, a spatial location of the partial discharge event. But electromagnetic distortions can restrain the certain detection of partial discharge pulses. The data analysis procedure presented in this paper encounters this issue based on a simultaneous data acquisition approach.


Abstract : This volume presents the Terminal Skill Objectives, Mapping Sheets, and Enabling Objectives for the MOS 11B Special Forces as performed in the Russian language. (Author)


Biological control of Indian meat moth (Plodia interpunctella ()) by iterative mass release of its larval parasitoid, Bracon hebetor Say, was tested in a large wheat elevator (diameter 8 m, height 41 m) containing 6,000 t of wheat. Adult parasitoids were released seven times from July 23 to September 3, 2002. The number of parasitoid adults per release time varied from 3,000 to 10,000 so that the total number released was 50,000. The moth population density in the parasitoid-released elevator was maintained at a level of compared to the moth population in untreated elevators.


ClustDB is a tool for the identification of perfect matches in large sets of sequences. It is faster and can handle at least 8 times more data than VMATCH, the most memory efficient exact program currently available. Still ClustDB needs about four hours to compare all Human ESTs. We therefore present a distributed and parallel implementation of ClustDB to reduce the execution time. It uses a message-passing library called MPI and runs on distributed workstation clusters with significant runtime savings. MPI-ClustDB is written in ANSI C and freely available on request from the authors.


The cellular mechanisms of cartilage-bone replacement in endochondral bone formation, in mandibular condylar heads, are poorly understood. In particular, there is no definitive evidence indicating whether cartilage is resorbed by so-called chondroclasts. Using 3-week-old male beagle dogs, we examined the cartilage-bone replacement processes in mandibular condylar heads by means of light and electron microscopy. Calcification of the cartilage matrix occurred in the central area of the longitudinal septa but not in thin transverse septa. Chondrocytic lacunae were opened by the removal of transverse septa by perivascular rough-surfaced endoplasmic reticulum (RER)-rich mononuclear cells. These cells also phagocytosed calcified cartilage fragments in the surface layer of longitudinal septa. Shortly thereafter, a thin bone layer was deposited on the remaining longitudinal septa by invading osteoblasts. Preosteoclastic multinucleated cells in lacunar canals developed neither ruffled borders nor clear zones in the cartilage matrix, but once the bone layer had been deposited on the remaining cartilage, these structures formed. Our results suggest that the cartilage-bone replacement in mandibular condylar heads involves four sequential processes: 1) degradation of the transverse septal cartilage by RER-rich mononuclear cells, 2) phagocytosis of calcified cartilage fragments in the longitudinal septa by these cells, 3) bone deposition of the remaining longitudinal septa, and 4) degradation of both bone and calcified cartilage by differentiated osteoclasts.


Based on the Kraljic model,this paper established the scoring standard system for medical equipment procurement,and determined the weight coefficients of each evaluation factor by the analytic hierarchy process (AHP),then the procurement classification model of medical equipment was successfully established.It is proved that this model can classify medical equipment effectively,which enables the purchasing personnel to adopt corresponding purchasing strategies according to different classification.This model can be extended to all medical equipment procurement,realizing the delicacy and individualized procurement management of the equipment,which has strong operability and guiding significance.


Innovative hypothesis‐driven clinical trials have achieved major successes over the past several decades in treating children and adolescents with cancer. DNA‐damaging cytotoxic agents have cured children with cancer. While the mission is not yet accomplished, chemotherapy has been validated. None of these drugs were designed specifically for a pediatric disease. Continued progress will require new strategies. Now being tested for adult cancers, these strategies include gene therapy, immunotherapy, cancer prevention, and signal transduction inhibitor (STI) therapy. Of these, the most promising is STI therapy, also known as molecular therapeutics or targeted therapy. For this therapy to succeed, components of signal transduction (i.e., candidate drug targets) must be identified, the targets relevant to cancers, and the drugs available for trial. Because STI therapy is biologically driven and because therapy will be tailored depending on the molecular profile of a specific patient's tumor, clinical pediatric oncologists will need to acquire greater understanding of signaling pathways and their therapeutic relevance. With examples drawn from pediatric oncology, the critical steps in the pre‐clinical development of targeted therapy are reviewed here. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Freshly isolated 'European' algae phagocytosed by digestive cells of 'European' green hydra were distinguished from the pre-existing population of algae by prestaining with the fluorescent agent Calcofluor White. Only a small number of phagocytosed 'European' algae or algae cultured from Paramecium bursaria avoided lysosomal degradation and were transported to the cell base in symbiotic digestive cells, although in aposymbionts up to 50% of phagocytosed algae were transported. Degradation of almost all phagocytosed algae also occurred in digestive cells of hydra containing only half the normal complement of algae, and in those of hydra symbiotic with algae cultured from Paramecium. The presence of algae at the bases of digestive cells appears to negate the mechanism by which potentially symbiotic algae normally avoid lysosomal attack. This protects the host cell and its symbionts from invasion by 'foreign' algae and suggests that once established the green hydra symbiosis is conservative in nature.


We investigated various botanical classes of peat by electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy. ESR parameters were line height and width of high-spin ferric complexes, line height and width of the organic radical, the g value of organic radical, and the microwave power for saturation of the organic radical. Qualitatively, these parameters vary more or less with the botanical classification and the degree of decomposition. ESR parameters have also been subjected to principal components (PC) analysis, which gives a nice display of peat data. The partial least-squares (PLS) technique was used to evaluate whether any relationships exist between ESR data and basic peat characteristics (R value, percentage of humification, calorific value, etc.) and amino acid constituents of peat. Klason lignin data obtained from the same peat samples were found to be more homogeneous and to contain about 10 times more of the solely detected organic radicals. Carbon-13 solid-state NMR indicates that these are large aromatic complexes.


Washington State's 2014 Water Quality Assessment (WQA) is produced in the Environmental Protection Agency's "Integrated Report" format. The WQA consists of both the 303(d) List and the 305(b) Report. The 303(d) List is comprised of only Category 5 listings. The EPA has determined that the freshwater 303(d) listings in the Current Assessment fulfill Washington State's requirement to submit an updated list of impaired freshwaters in 2012 since Washington State's 2012 Water Quality Assessment contained both marine and freshwater listings, but updated only the marine 303(d) listings. The 305(b) Report lists all waters and all categories. The 2014 WQA is presented on the 1:24k National Hydrography Dataset (NHD).


We have studied the depth-dependent magnetic and structural properties of as-grown and optimally annealed Ga12xMnxAs films using polarized neutron reflectometry. In addition to increasing the total magnetization, the annealing process was observed to produce a significantly more homogeneous distribution of the magnetization. This difference in the films is attributed to the redistribution of Mn at interstitial sites during the annealing process. Also, we have seen evidence of significant magnetization depletion at the surface of both as-grown and annealed films.


Research background. Depressive mothers are less interested in the development of the infant and therefore have less knowledge about infant's development. It can affect mother's attitude towards the infant. Many sources state that a poor sense of coherence (SOC) is associated with increased stress, also SOC is one of the risk factors for depression. So, there is possibility that mother's SOC can affect motor development of infant.
The aim of the study was to evaluate relationship between subjective evaluation of maternal sense of coherence and infant motor development.
Research methods. Forty-one mothers were surveyed by five questionnaires: sociodemographic block, Sense of Coherence Scale, Coherence with a baby scale, Daily hassles scale, and Alberta Infant Motor Scale, which was modified into a questionnaire to allow mothers independently evaluate their baby's motor development.
Research results. According to the study, mothers under severe stress had a statistically significant lower mean score of SOC (44.9 ± 7.89) compared to mothers who did not experience severe stress (49.9 ± 4.61) (p = 0.01). A strong correlation was observed between maternal sense of coherence and coherence with the baby (r = 0.72; p = 0.003). Subjective evaluation of infants' motor development done by their mothers did not depend on the Sense of Coherence (r = 0.13; p = 0.14). There was no significant relationship between motor development of infants and maternal Sense of Coherence (r = 0.03; p = 0.40).
Conclusion. Mothers with a strong sense of coherence also had strong coherence with the infant. Maternal Sense of Coherence had no statistically significant relationship with the baby's motor development.
Keywords: Sense of coherence, mother's coherence with infant, postpartum depression, motor development.


The Douala sedimentary basin (DSB) is an area of interest because of its hydrocarbon potential. Geophysical investigations in this basin are necessary to understand its structural features better. In this study, we aimed to highlight the major lineaments of the DSB by interpreting gravity data using advanced edge detection filters based on various combinations of the horizontal and vertical gradients of the field, namely the total horizontal gradient (THG), analytical signal (AS), theta map (TM), gradient amplitude of the vertical derivative (THG_VD), the tilt angle of the total horizontal gradient amplitude (TAHG) and a novel edge detector based on the soft sign function (SF). These filters were first tested on synthetic data of a simple density model to examine their effectiveness. The results show that the edges of the model structures can be visualized with greater accuracy using the TAHG and SF filters compared to the results from the others.
Further, although the TAHG and SF filters produced good results in identifying shallow and deep structures, solutions from SF proved to be better at delineating edges. Next, we applied these edge detection filters to the residual gravity anomaly of the study area obtained after a filtering process on the complete Bouguer anomaly. The SF filter clearly and accurately identifies the major structural features. The existence and location of previously unidentified lineaments have been shown. Most of the lineaments of the DSB extracted by this study provide geometric information on the lateral distribution of depositional successions filling the basin. The structural features are mainly concentrically from the volcanic center of Mount Cameroon and show that the DSB has probably been affected by earthquakes from the permanent activities of the Cameroon volcanic line since the Cretaceous. The highlighted lineaments of the DSB obtained from this study may shed light on future studies to improve mineral/hydrocarbon exploitation and update the area's geological/tectonic information.


The aim of this study was to evaluate the biodegradability of the artificial sweetener saccharin in surface waters and groundwater. Artificial sweeteners are generally persistent under environmental conditions and have been recently classified as emerging pollutants. Biodegradability in three surface waters and one groundwater was tested: the rivers Ljubljanica, Pivka, and Unica, and the groundwater Planina Cave (river Pivka). Under environmentally relevant conditions, saccharin degraded well in hypertrophic water (98%, 14 days) due to high concentrations of phosphorus and nitrogen. There was a longer lag phase and biodegradation time compared to the optimum conditions achieved in the standardized laboratory test. It has been concluded that saccharin is biodegradable in natural waters if said waters contain enough microorganisms and nutrients.