Aim: The better survival rate of extremely low birth weight preterm infants results in retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). Blindness due to ROP can be prevented with urgent treatment started within 72 hours. A preterm infant always presents a great challenge to the anesthetists. Laser photocoagulation treatment under general anesthesia possesses extreme risks due to sharing the limited area with the surgeon. We aimed to present our experience of anesthetic management of premature infants receiving general anesthesia during laser photocoagulation treatment of ROP. Materials and Methods: Data belonging to a total of 159 former preterm infants that had 178 laser photocoagulation under general anesthesia between January 1st, 2013, and December 31st, 2015 were evaluated retrospectively in a period of three-years. Demographic and medical data were recorded from pre-anesthetic assessment sheets. Anesthesia induction technique, airway and pain management, peri/post operative adverse events, need for intubation were also recorded from anesthesia charts. Results: There was no significant difference between the stage of ROP and gender. Among 159 infants 13 of them were from twinbirths and 5 of them were from triplet-births. Number of infants, who previously had general anesthesia for a surgical procedure other than laser photocoagulation, was 10 (%5.6). Most common surgical operation performed was explorative laparotomy for ileus (%2.8). Mean duration of anesthesia was 78.12±34.8 min (min-max 20-210). Mean birth weight of the infants was 1334±398g (minmax 480-2330). Mean gestational age at birth was 29.37±2.5 w (min-max 23-35 w). Conclusion: In the light of our results, with an experienced anesthetic and neonatal team, general anesthesia with sevoflurane can be performed safely to perform an immediate return to their preoperative hemodynamic and consciousness state at the end of the procedure. The need for further prospective data regarding the management of this vulnerable patient group is still evident.


This paper presents the design of a triple-mode wireless power-receiving unit (TWPRU) for battery charger with high efficiency. The TWPRU is proposed based on Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP), Wireless Power Consortium (WPC), and Power Matters Alliance (PMA) standards. An adaptive alignment gate controller technique is proposed in the triple-mode active rectifier to block the reverse leakage current and improve the power conversion efficiency (PCE). This technique can compensate for the delays in the gate control signals of the main switching mosfets at different operating frequencies for A4WP, WPC, and PMA. The dead time of a dc–dc converter is optimally determined depending on the voltage and the temperature variations by phase calibration circuit. This chip with an active area of 5.0 mm × 3.5 mm is implemented in 0.18-μm BCD technology. The maximum PCEs of the triple-mode active rectifier are 91.7% in the A4WP mode and 92.7% in the WPC/PMA mode, respectively. The maximum PCE of the dc–dc converter is 92.3% at a load current of 500 mA, while the system efficiencies of TWPRU at A4WP and WPC/PMA modes are about 84.5% and 85.5%, respectively.


ABSTRACT Football has recently developed into a unique sector with complex management and marketing functions, where novel communication technologies are employed. In this paper, we aim to contribute to the numerous fields involving emerging European sports marketing literature, social media analytics, and digital consumer behaviour. Our purpose is to explore Twitter use related with football by analysing real-time streamed data in offering a longitudinal perspective by focusing on 2013 and 2018 leagues in Turkey via the use of social media analytics framework. Retrieved dataset involved randomly selected publicly available 370 thousand and 6.8 million real-time tweets in 2013 and 2018 leagues, respectively. We report that majority of tweets about the football was posted within the three-hour window before the match independent of the match result and the importance of the result. Moreover, pre-match tweeting volume was almost a crystal ball signalling match winning. Our findings are valuable for sports managers and marketers where some key suggestions provided are to involve particular contexts of winning or losing in their after-match marketing plans, to value weekdays as much as the weekends, and to utilise the after-work prime time of social media engagement.


Increase in temperature related to climate change will have consequences on the performance of organisms. Insects could be expected to respond more than other organism groups because they are ectotherms. Many herbivorous insects are considered pests and may cause severe damage, therefore, trying to predict the performance of pest insects in a future climate is vital. In order to make predictions about the future we need to better understand the mechanisms and processes that are driving the population dynamics of pest insects. To achieve that all the life stages and the interactions with other trophic levels, such as host plants and natural enemies need to be considered. The European pine sawfly, Neodiprion sertifer Geoffr. (Hymenoptera: Diprionidae), is a pest species in boreal pine (Pinus spp.) forests. Its populations undergo large fluctuations in densities that may reach very high levels, so called outbreaks. In this thesis the effect of temperature on interactions known to be important for the sawfly population dynamics is evaluated to assess if the risk of outbreaks will increase due to climate warming. Sawfly performance was studied with respect to stage specific mortality factors; i.e. secondary compounds in the food (diterpenes), arthropod predation of the larvae and small mammal predation on the pupae. Climate chambers were used to create different temperatures in the laboratory and in a field study a latitudinal gradient was utilized. The results indicate that survival in the larval stage may decrease but survival in the pupal stage may increase with increasing temperature. The relative importance of the different mortality factors was investigated in a simple population model and the outcome suggests that in warmer temperatures, increased larval mortality outweighs the effects of decreased pupal mortality, which imply that the propensity for sawfly outbreaks to occur will be reduced in a warmer future climate.


Terminologies are indicators of linguistic and intellectual changes of a vocabulary in its historical context. This vocabulary may preserve some of its original meaning despite the sequential shifts, but it will get away from the lexical meaning and abbreviate intellectual, social and cultural dimensions. Sheikh Yassine is one of thinkers who took the Quranic teachings an intellectual Submission date: 15 September 2019 Accepted date: 12 October 2019 Journal of Ma'alim al-Quran wa al-Sunnah Vol. 15, Special Issue, (2019), pp. 128-139 ISSN: 1823-4356 | eISSN: 2637-0328 129 reference. This article aims to present the educational and intellectual terminologies that Yassine developed in response to modernity and western thought. He was excessively concerned to derive those terminologies from the Quran and give them a practical dimension. The method used in this research is inductive by collecting terminologies from Yassine's books, and subject it to the method of analysis and criticism in order to show its influence. The most important outcome of this research is the conception of qawmah (uprising) that Yassine invented is based on seven stages starting from the prophet's revolution among his people and ended with establishing a united ummah (Islamic community). While the most firmed concept of Yassine is minhaj which become a code that actualize his project of reformation. Yassine has set some precise principles to deal the mystical experience and teachings of tasawwuf and finally he called for protecting reason from the mazes of mysticism when he dedicated his life completely to da'wah (missionary) and reformation.


A 16-year-old boy presented to hospital with a 6-day history of diarrhoea, vomiting and abdominal pain. During his admission he was found to be hypotensive, tachycardic and persistently feverish. Blood cultures taken on admission isolated Fusobacterium necrophorum. CT scanning of his neck showed a non-occlusive thrombus of the right internal jugular vein and a small right parapharyngeal abscess. CT scans of the chest and abdomen revealed multiple pulmonary abscesses, bilateral pleural effusions and splenomegaly. Treatment consisted of an unfractionated heparin infusion and intravenous antibiotics. A right-sided intercostal drain was inserted for a complex right-sided empyema. He subsequently developed a left-sided pleural effusion which was treated with a video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) pleurodesis procedure. His fever resolved after his VATS pleurodesis procedure 3 weeks after initial presentation. Clinically he made a slow recovery but now is improved after 6 weeks of intravenous antibiotics and was discharged home.


This paper reports findings from the Ear-Playing Project in relation to the teaching strategies that 15 instrumental teachers adopted during one-to-one instrumental lessons whilst helping their students to copy music by ear from a recording. Overall, the teachers used a variety of strategies including singing and humming along with or without the recording, asking questions and giving verbal explanation and positive feedback. By the end of the project, the teachers indicated that the project showed them a new and enjoyable way to introduce aural-training tasks, it helped them develop their own confidence in ear-playing and it gave them the opportunity to observe and assess their students' needs more carefully. The benefits for the students included greater enjoyment during instrumental lessons, development of aural and improvisation skills and greater confidence in instrumental playing.


The effect of fracture speed on the ductile fracture resistance of line-pipe steels can have an important effect in the basic understanding of the toughness requirements for crack arrest. Over the last few decades, it has become recognized that the drop-weight tear test (DWTT) better represents the ductile fracture resistance than the Charpy test since it utilizes a specimen that has the full thickness of the pipe and has a fracture path long enough to reach steady-state fracture resistance. However, the fracture speed in the DWTT is typically 50 to 60 feet per second (15.2 to 18.3 m/s), whereas the fracture speed in the full-scale pipe test is 300 to 1,000 fps (91.4 to 305 m/s). Recently, the authors have extended the DWTT work and developed a modified back-slot DWTT specimen to obtain higher fracture speeds. One aspect of this modified specimen was to increase the width of DWTT sample from the standard 3-inch (76.2 mm) to 5-inch (127 mm). This was done to increase the ligament length in a relatively deep back-slotted specimen to capture more steady-state data. The initial experimental results demonstrated that this type of specimen can be used to obtain higher fracture speeds. Furthermore, the experimental results clearly showed the effect of fracture speed on the ductile fracture resistance. In this paper, to extend the work on modified back-slot DWTT specimens, the tup was instrumented to measure the load during dynamic impact. From this, the load-displacement curve, steady-state energy (or energy per area) was obtained for the modified back-slot DWTT specimens. These results were compared to those obtained from the standard 3-inch specimens. These results also clearly showed the effect of fracture speed on fracture resistance.Copyright © 2010 by ASME


Bacillus anthracis is a bioterrorism agent classified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). A highly amplified, nanoparticle-based, biobarcoded electrochemical biosensor for the rapid detection of pagA gene (accession number = M22589) in Bacillus anthracis is reported in this paper. The biosensor system is mainly composed of two nanoparticles: gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and magnetic microparticles (MMPs). The AuNPs are coated with the 1st target-specific DNA probe (pDNA), which can recognize the target DNA (tDNA), and nanoparticle tracer (NT)-labeled barcode DNA (bDNA) as a signal indicator in a 1:100 probe-to-barcode ratio. The MMPs are coated with the 2nd target-specific pDNA. After mixing the nanoparticles with the tDNA, the sandwich structure (MMPs-2nd pDNA/tDNA/1st pDNA-AuNPs-bDNA-NTs) is formed. A magnetic field is applied to separate the sandwiches from the unreacted materials. Because the AuNPs have a large number of NTs per pDNA binding event, there is substantial amplification. Then, the NTs are dissolved in 1-M nitric acid and the metal ions (Pb2+ and Cd2+) are detected by square-wave anodic stripping voltammetry on a screen-printed carbon electrode sensor. Using this technique, the detection limit of this biobarcoded DNA sensor is as low as 0.2 ng/mL using cadmium sulfide NTs, or 0.02 ng/mL using lead sulfide NTs. The nanoparticle-based biobarcoded DNA sensor has potential applications in multiplexed detection of bioterrorism threat agents.


In April 1919 Walter Gropius founded the Bauhaus in Weimar, Germany. Until 1925, the year it moved to Dessau, this was the meeting-place for the wide spectrum of often contradicory ideas, utopias and experiments that formed the basis of the institution's renown. With more than 400 illustrations, this book illustrates the achievements of the Weimar Bauhaus--the first time they have been given such extensive coverage in a publication. The main focus is on the outstanding works by students from all workshops, from the studies in the famous introductory cours given by Johannes Itten to the design sketches that have become classics today. Another section is dedicated to Weimar's important Bauhaus collections, especially the world's only authorised collection on the Weimar Bauhaus at the Kunstsammlungen zu Weimar, which contains more than 8000 exhibits. Finally, the original Bauhaus locations in Weimar are brought to life, such as Henry van de Veldes' art school buildings and Walter Gropius' memorial to those who died in the Revolution of 1848. Thanks to the great wealth of material, some of which is published for the first time in this book, what emerges is a colorfull, pluralistic world that contradicts the common idea of one single Bauhaus.


Imatinib Mesylate is an anti cancer agent which is used to treat chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) and a number of other malignancies. In the present research work an attempt has been made for the formulation of floating tablet containing Imatinib Mesylate as a drug candidate which would remain in stomach or upper part of GIT for prolonged period of time thereby maximizing the drug release at the desired site within the stipulated time. In the present study Imatinib Mesylate floating tablets were prepared by wet granulation method. The floating tablets were subjected to preformulation studies, in- vitro drug release, kinetic studies and stability studies. FTIR studies shown there was no interaction between drug and polymers. The percentage of Imatinib Mesylate content from the tablets was determined by UVSpectroscopy and ranged from 98.25±1.8 to 98.91±1.5. The in-vitro percentage release of Imatinib Mesylate from the optimized tablets at the end of 12 hours was 99.46 %. The kinetic studies revealed that the drug was released by zero-order kinetics. The optimized formulation was subjected to stability studies and shown there were no significant changes in drug content, physicochemical parameters and release pattern. From this study, it is concluded that, the formulations retained for longer period of time in the stomach and provides controlled release of the drug. Hence, it will be increasing the bioavailability of the drug and patient compliance.


In his landmark 1967 novel One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez wrote about the 'Banana Massacre', where plantation workers that had been striking against the United Fruit Company to improve their working conditions were killed by the military. Despite being an event depicted in a magic realism novel, this example also shows some of the characteristics of Latin America, where colonialism, the close relationship between business and governments, and the incessant fight to protect people from human rights abuses, often converge not just in literature, but in real life. Indeed, Latin America is marked by contradictions between very progressive domestic human rights frameworks and increasing levels of social inequality and poverty; by being part of global value chains while also having an important percentage of informal economy; and by promoting the development of rules and practices without a sufficiently strong rule of law and fragile democracies. To some extent, as the land of magic realism, the business and human rights field in many cases is a real-life example of the nuances and complexities of the region, where progress and challenges are frequently intertwined.


Dementia is one of the most disabling conditions. Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia (VaD) are the most frequent causes. Subcortical VaD is consequent to deep-brain small vessel disease (SVD) and is the most frequent form of VaD. Its pathological hallmarks are ischemic white matter changes and lacunar infarcts. Degenerative and vascular changes often coexist, but mechanisms of interaction are incompletely understood. The term mild cognitive impairment defines a transitional state between normal ageing and dementia. Pre-dementia stages of VaD are also acknowledged (vascular mild cognitive impairment, VMCI). Progression relates mostly to the subcortical VaD type, but determinants of such transition are unknown. Variability of phenotypic expression is not fully explained by severity grade of lesions, as depicted by conventional MRI that is not sensitive to microstructural and metabolic alterations. Advanced neuroimaging techniques seem able to achieve this. Beside hypoperfusion, blood-brain-barrier dysfunction has been also demonstrated in subcortical VaD. The aim of the Vascular Mild Cognitive Impairment Tuscany Study is to expand knowledge about determinants of transition from mild cognitive impairment to dementia in patients with cerebral SVD. This paper summarizes the main aims and methodological aspects of this multicenter, ongoing, observational study enrolling patients affected by VMCI with SVD.


This bachelorproject has examined whether or not a political necessity discourse exists in the current Danish governments reform proposals. The focus throughout the project has been on the Danish citizens on public benefits and how the government with the help of a range of incentitives and reforms, tries to get people back- or into employment. The scientific standpoint used in this project, was that of a critical realist, with the primary emphasis on Faircloughs critical discourse analysis techniques. The empirical data examined in this project covers several of the government's reform proposals: The disability pension and flex job reform proposal from 2012, the taxation proposal from 2012, the economic growth plan from 2013, the public money assistances from 2013 and the "Fair Losning 2020" reform proposal from 2011. All of these reform proposals were theoretically analyzed through Ove Kaj Pedersen's theory on "Konkurrencestaten" and Peter Nielsen's "Velstandssamfundet". Furthermore elements of Faircloughs critical discourse methods were used as theoretical framework for this project, which allowed generalization, to a certain extent, of his techniques upon the projects empirical data. The analyses of the empirical data resulted in the understanding that there in fact does exist a necessity discourse in the government's reform proposals and that the "Fair Losning 2020" reform proposal, didn't represent an alternative necessity discourse. The Danish left wing government are in fact beginning to emphasis more on Danish companies' global competitive capabilities and expanding the national workforce despite the fact, that there isn't enough jobs for the expanded workforce, through the use of more liberal incentives toward the individual.


Acne is an inflammatory condition of the pilosebaceous unit. One of the essential factors for development of acne lesions is increased sebum excretion that is promoted by androgen. It is shown that oral cyproterone acetate significantly reduces the sebum excretion. In this study we evaluated the efficacy of cyproterone acetate alcohol lotion (CAAL) in the treatment of the mild to moderate acne vulgaris. This was a randomized double-blind clinical trial performed on 86 female patients with mild to moderate acne. They were randomly divided into 3 groups and were treated with 0.5 percent CAAL (n = 30), 1 percent CAAL (n = 13) and placebo (n = 43). They were followed every 15 days for a period of 45 days. Response to treatment was evaluated by the total acne lesions counting (TLC) and acne severity index (ASI) and was analyzed statistically by SPSS program. The efficacy of treatment on TLC was maximum for 1 percent CAAL (90 % reduction in TLC)(P value = 0.000). CAAL at 0.5 percent was able to reduce TLC as high as 80.8 percent during 6 weeks followup. The efficacy of placebo was determined to be 38.5 percent. Regarding TLC, 1 percent CAAL was 2.33 times more effective than placebo. CAAL at 0.5 percent was 2.09 times more effective than placebo in this respect. The efficacy of treatment on ASI was maximum for 1 percent CAAL (88 % reduction in ASI)(P value = 0.000). CAAL at 0.5 percent reduced ASI as much as 79.5 percent during 6 weeks of followup. The efficacy of placebo was calculated to be 9.8 percent in reduction of ASI . Regarding ASI, 1 percent CAAL was 8.97 times more effective than placebo. CAAL at 0.5 percent was 8.06 times more effective than placebo. Regarding the results of this study, we suggest the use of cyproterone acetate alcohol lotion as one of the main treatments for mild-moderate acne in female patients and as an adjuvant treatment for moderate to severe acne vulgaris.


Few clinical studies have examined the utility of bipolar fractional radiofrequency (FRF) therapy as a treatment for atrophic acne scars and active acne in people with darker skin. This study was designed to compare the safety and efficacy of bipolar FRF therapy as a treatment for atrophic acne scars and acne vulgaris. Twenty‐three Japanese patients with atrophic acne scars and mild to severe acne on both cheeks were treated with a bipolar FRF system (eMatrix; Syneron, Yokneam Illit, Israel). Five treatment sessions were carried out at 1‐month intervals, and the patients were followed up for 3 months after the final treatment. Assessments of scar severity and the number of acne lesions and 3‐D in vivo imaging analysis were performed. Evaluations of the treatment outcomes and their effects on the patients' quality of life (QOL) were also carried out. We demonstrated that the improvement in scar volume was marked in the patients with mild scars and was at least moderate in 23 (57.5%) of the treated areas. With regard to the number of acne lesions, the treated areas exhibited significantly fewer lesions compared with the baseline at each time point (P < 0.05). The patients' assessments of the treatment outcomes and their QOL indicated that both had improved significantly by the end of the study. Furthermore, significant reductions in the patients' sebum levels, skin roughness and scar depth were observed. Bipolar FRF treatment significantly improved the atrophic acne scars and acne of Japanese patients and had minimal side‐effects.


One of the characteristics of the Space business (and the one feature which keeps it expensive) is the vast number of conferences held on different subjects. This volume is a collection of 20 papers from the "Symposium on Space Commercialization: Roles of Developing Countries" held at Nashville in 1989. The subjects covered are launch vehicles, power in space, and two papers on legal aspects of remote sensing. Conferences and symposia are constrained by the papers and participants they can attract. Because the market is oversupplied, few conferences can offer a coherent overview on any subject. Many papers will be "variations on a theme". Often, the papers simply act as an "identification of interest", the most important activity taking place in the contracts and the conversations outside the meeting room. An author may feel it is nice to have his words preserved for posterity, but a year or more afterwards many of the papers can seem very weak indeed. Ideally published papers should be useful — contributing new data or theory to ease the activities of other workers in the field. In the space arena it may also be relevant to publish papers with new ideas or new proposals, so that these can be assessed by the space community at large. But many papers — particularly at "generalist" conferences such as this will be simple or complex advertising, statements of capabilities which may be useful within the context of the conference, but provide little useful information thereafter. In this collection, 10 of the papers are "advertising" in one form or another. There are summaries of legal problems associated with access to launch vehicles or Earth observation, and seem to largely repeat material available from elsewhere. Four papers represent descriptions of "new ideas", although ideas by no means unique to this conference. (Peter Glaser discussing solar power satellites rnay be interesting, but the idea dates back to 1968!) One paper describes the Space Shuttle power system in incomplete detail, and the remaining two papers are general discussions of low cost satellites and the relationship between education and Space development. This last paper contains the one gem in the whole of the volume — a quotation from Wolfgang Pauli:


This issue brief uses large employer experiences with pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) to shed light on their potential as Medicare outpatient drug benefit administrators. PBM management techniques and typical employer approaches are discussed, as well as employer perspectives on PBM strengths and weaknesses and lessons learned. Considerations for Medicare policy are also examined. Information is based on a literature review and conversations and telephone interviews with employers, PBM industry executives, and benefit consultants. This brief builds on previous National Health Policy Forum PBM industry analysis; in particular the October 1999 forum and issue brief "The ABCs of PBMs."


AIM
To evaluate the development of retinal changes in adolescent patients with diabetes type I (T1DM) with diseases duration more than 10 years, which started before 5 years of age.

METHODS
The development of the findings on the posterior pole was followed up. The retinal functions were established by means of contrast sensitivity in four space frequencies: 3 cycles/degree (c/deg) (perimacular area), 6 c/deg and 12 c/deg (macular area), and, finally, 18 c/deg (foveola). The central retinal thickness, average retinal thickness of the specified quadrant of macular area, the foveolar depth of its own, and the volume of the perimacular area (perimacular cube volume) were measured by means of optical coherent tomography (OCT).

MATERIAL
Altogether 20 patients with diabetes type I meeting the set criteria were examined, and their findings were compared with control group of healthy adolescent people. The values from the control group were used as our normative database.

RESULTS
On the retina, there were found, during the diseases course lasting in average 13.3 years, changes of the macular area, especially tortuosity of macular final capillaries and pigmentation with disappearing of foveolar reflex, which, in 20 %, were followed by sporadic hard exsudates of the retina. Difference of the decreased values in adolescent patients, comparing to the control group, was recorded in contrast sensitivity in space frequencies of 3 c/deg (p 0.047) and 12 c/deg (p 0,0497), but statistically significant was the difference in space frequencies of 6 c/deg (p 0.0001) and 18 c/deg (p 0.0001). Using the OCT, no statistically significant difference was found in the central retinal thickness, but the values of foveolar depth in patients with diabetes type I were variable (p 0.0153); in four eyes it was much deeper, and in other four of them it was much shallower. Furthermore, there was higher the average thickness of the retina (p 0.0008) and the volume of the perimacular area (perimacular cube) (p 0,0001).

CONCLUSION
The findings in eight eyes out of five patients with T1DM were evaluated as diabetic preretinopathy - pre-stage of beginning stage of diabetic retinopathy in central area of the retina from the functional and structural point of view of current pathological changes of contrast sensitivity and OCT. The findings of other three patients were rated as diabetic preretinopathy according to sporadic hard exsudates of the retina and OCT changes, but. until now, without contrast sensitivity changes. The one-year profile of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) was higher in patients with diabetic preretinopathy than without the eye involvement, but it was not statistically significant (p 0,0314).Key words: Contrast sensitivity (CS), Spectral Domain Optic Coherence Tomography (SD-OCT), diabetes mellitus type I (T1DM), diabetic preretinopathy (DpR), glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c).


The uptake of 42K and 24Na by cat erythrocytes was investigated. Under steady-state conditions, the nontransient component of 42K influx was found to be 0.18 ± 0.01 meq/liter RBC/hr and insensitive to ouabain (100 µM); the corresponding value for 24Na was 17 ± meq/liter RBC/hr. A study was made of the effects of anions upon cation movements in these and other mammalian red cells. Iodide was found to inhibit markedly (>50%) Na inward movements in cat and dog but not in the other erythrocytes. An increase (15–30%) in K uptake in the presence of iodide was noted in all the mammalian cells studied.


Many researches which were published in other countries identified certain benefits and barriers to physical activity among young people. But there is no data about the subject pertaining to Macedonian adolescents. This study tries to rectify this with a study of Macedonian adolescents. The research was realized on a sample of 847 adolescents of Macedonian nationality. Current exercise habits and perceived barriers to physical activity were assessed in the sample. Using a Likert Type scale, participants responded an instrument with 18 items representing barriers to physical activity. Adolescents who perceive less barriers have higher levels of physical activity. The most often reasons for their physical inactivity according to the respondents are: too many responsibilities at school, lack of time, too busy, parents who believe that learning is more important than exercising, lack of motivation and interest. The results should be taken into consideration when making strategies and educational programs to promote physical activity among young people.


In a multienergy framework, power-to-heat technology is becoming increasingly attractive. This interest is mainly due to the possibility of exploiting excesses and unbalances of electricity, which are becoming more and more common with the increasing capacity of the renewable sources. An interesting option consists in using heat pumps to convert excess of electricity produced by photovoltaic systems (especially in the midday hours) into cold to be provided to district heating and district cooling networks. This article aims to propose a methodology to select the best heat pump location in district cooling system. The analysis is performed with the aim of minimizing the cost of network construction and pumping. The procedure includes the best heat pump location and the design of the pipeline. Results show that distributed heat pumps allow one reducing both the costs and the average pipeline diameters by about 50% with respect to concentrated production. Furthermore, the optimal location of distributed heat pumps allows reducing costs of about 7% with respect to a uniformly distributed production.


The authors address the problem of motion segmentation using the singular value decomposition of a feature track matrix. It is shown that, under general assumptions, the number of numerically nonzero singular values can be used to determine the number of motions. Furthermore, motions can be separated using the right singular vectors associated with the nonzero singular values. A relationship is derived between a good segmentation, the number of nonzero singular values in the input and the sum of the number of nonzero singular values in the segments. The approach is demonstrated on real and synthetic examples. The paper ends with a critical analysis of the approach.<<ETX>>


This study evaluated: 1) the time required for anaesthesia induction and recovery of oysters Crassostrea rhizophorae, Crassostrea gasar and Crassostrea gigas using magnesium chloride (MgCl2); 2) the survival after anaesthesia and gonad sampling; and 3) the D-larvae generation after anaesthesia. For each species, three groups of 10 animals were kept in 50 g L-1 MgCl2, salinity of 36 and temperature of 22 oC. One control group was kept in solution without MgCl2. Every 1 h anaesthetised oysters were recorded, sampled to determine sex and placed in clean seawater to assess recovering every 30 min. Gonad samplings were made beside the posterior adductor muscle, using 1 mL syringes and needles (0.60 x 25 mm). Factorial crosses were generated within and between anaesthetised and non-anaesthetised oyster groups to produce D-larvae in C. gigas. The survival after 10 days of anaesthesia was 100% for the three studied species. For C. rhizophorae and C. gigas, 100% of the animals were anaesthetised after 360 min and were recovered after 240 and 150 min, respectively. For C. gasar, 87% were anesthetised after 720 min and recovered after >240 min. There were no significant differences in D-larvae numbers between factorial crosses. The salt MgCl2 served as an efficient relaxant and caused no deleterious effect on the survival of the three studied species, or on the D-larvae generation in C. gigas.


We sought to determine the incidence, risk factors, and consequences of acute rejection (AR) after conversion from a calcineurin inhibitor (CNI) to a proliferation signal inhibitor (PSI) in maintenance heart transplantation. Relevant clinical data were retrospectively obtained for 284 long‐term heart transplant recipients from nine centers in whom CNIs were replaced with a PSI (sirolimus or everolimus) between October 2001 and March 2009. The rejection rate at one yr was 8.3%, stabilizing to 2% per year thereafter. The incidence rate after conversion (4.9 per 100 patient‐years) was significantly higher than that observed on CNI therapy in the pre‐conversion period (2.2 per 100 patient‐years). By multivariate analysis, rejection risk was associated with a history of late AR prior to PSI conversion, early conversion (<5 yr) after transplantation and age <50 yr at the time of conversion. Use of mycophenolate mofetil was a protective factor. Post‐conversion rejection did not significantly influence the evolution of left ventricular ejection fraction, renal function, or mortality during further follow‐up. Conversion to a CNI‐free immunosuppression based on a PSI results in an increased risk of AR. Awareness of the clinical determinants of post‐conversion rejection could help to refine the current PSI conversion strategies.


In this paper, FPGA based gate triggering pulses for five-level Cascaded Multilevel Inverter is designed. CORDIC algorithm is implemented on FPGA which is used for calculating different sine values. These sine values are used for generating gate pulses of five-level cascaded multilevel inverter. MATLAB/SIMULINK software was used for simulation and verification of proposed method.Gating signals are generated using FPGA Spartan-2 processor. The processor is designed using Verilog HDL using a structured coding method, simulated using Model Sim simulator and implemented using Xilinx 7.3FPGA synthesis Tool. The gating pulses are analysed and verified ,and compared with the actual pulses obtained from MATLAB/SIMULINK.


This brief general survey extends from Sufi prose to journalism. There are sections dealing with prose during the Makdiyah, contemporary prose, with the author's ancestor the sjiaikh al-Mahjflb, and with Muhammad 'Ashri. Professor al-Taiyib supports his contention that Sudanese colloquial language is afsah al-lughat with citations of some persistent and significant classical usages. Discussing prose under the Condominium and the earlier newspapers, the author singles out 1924 as a key date in the progress of Sudanese prose-writing, the time when Egyptian influence began to be extruded from the Sudan, and young Sudanese were beginning to find employment in Government offices. Prose developed side by side with educational development. The last two essays are studies of particular persons belonging to the era which led ultimately to independence. Al-Mahjub seems to have used saj' in mawlids, but not in his rasd'il. These essays describe the growth of the ideas of the Sudanese about themselves, the rise of concepts of nationalism and reflection on how tribal might be turned into national sentiment. Muhammad 'Ashri shows the influence of his reading in both English and Egyptian literature.


We study the charge trapping phenomenon that restricts the endurance of n-type ferroelectric field-effect transistors (FeFETs) with metal/ferroelectric/interlayer/Si (MFIS) gate stack structure. In order to explore the physical mechanism of the endurance failure caused by the charge trapping effect, we first establish a model to simulate the electron trapping behavior in n-type Si FeFET. The model is based on the quantum mechanical electron tunneling theory. And then, we use the pulsed I d–V g method to measure the threshold voltage shift between the rising edges and falling edges of the FeFET. Our model fits the experimental data well. By fitting the model with the experimental data, we get the following conclusions. (i) During the positive operation pulse, electrons in the Si substrate are mainly trapped at the interface between the ferroelectric (FE) layer and interlayer (IL) of the FeFET gate stack by inelastic trap-assisted tunneling. (ii) Based on our model, we can get the number of electrons trapped into the gate stack during the positive operation pulse. (iii) The model can be used to evaluate trap parameters, which will help us to further understand the fatigue mechanism of FeFET.


Uric acid used as a marker of cardiovascular risk, which is associated with oxidative stress and inflammation. P-wave dispersion (PWD) is an electrocardiographic measure, which shows heterogeneity of atrial depolarization. It has demonstrated that there is an association of increased PWD with atrial fibrillation. This article's goal was to investigate the relationship between PWD and uric acid in subjects with heart failure (HF). Methods This descriptive, cross-sectional study included a total of 315 stable HF outpatients. The subjects were classified into two groups by their PWD: the normal PWD group consisted of subjects with a PWD lower than 40 ms (n = 201), and the increased PWD group consisted of subjects with a PWD higher than or equal to 40 ms (increased PWD) (n = 114). Results Significantly higher uric acid levels determined in the increased PWD group, in comparison with the normal PWD group (7.4 ± 1.6 mg/dL, vs. 6.5 ± 1.6 mg/dL p < 0.001). Univariate analyses revealed an association between uric acid, blood urea nitrogen, systolic pulmonary artery pressure, left atrial diameter, and increased PWD. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, there was an association of uric acid level (OR: 1.293; 95% CI: 1.106-1.511, p: 0.001), systolic pulmonary artery pressure (OR: 1.027; 95% CI: 1.011-1.044, p: 0.001), and left atrial diameter (OR: 1.754; 95% CI: 1.028-2.992, p: 0.039) with PWD. The receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve analysis demonstrated that the optimal cut-off level of uric acid for predicting increased PWD was ≥ 7.1 mg/dL with a specificity of 77 percent and a sensitivity of 81 percent. Conclusion Our study results suggest that serum uric acid levels independently correlated with PWD in subjects with HF.


We have characterized fractionated magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) for magnetic particle imaging. Original Ferucarbotran particles were magnetically divided into three fractionated MNPs called MS1, MS2, and MS3. Harmonic spectra from the three fractionated MNPs were measured at excitation fields of 2.8 and 28 mT with a frequency of 10 kHz. MS1 showed a 2.5-fold increase in the harmonic spectrum over that of the original MNPs. To understand the origin of the enhancement in the harmonic spectrum from MS1, we explored the magnetic properties of the MS series, such as distributions of effective core size and anisotropy energy barrier, and the correlation between them. Using these results, we performed numerical simulations of the harmonic spectra based on the Langevin equation. The simulation results quantitatively explained the experimental results of the fractionated MS series. It was also clarified that MS1 includes a large portion of the MNPs that are responsible for the harmonic spectrum.


In October 2013, a blight condition was observed on the fruiting bodies of Pleurotus eryngii in Beijing (China). Symptoms began as yellow spots on the stipe surface near the pilei, fruiting bodies became blighted and their growth stopped. Pieces from the inside of diseased fruiting bodies were excised, placed in 0.85% NaCl and the suspension was spread on trypticase soy agar (TSA) plates that were incubated at 30°C. Round yellow cultures were obtained, made up of bacterial cells 2.0-3.0×1.0 μm in size. The 16S rRNA and the atpD, gyrB, infB, rpoB genes of four isolates were amplified and sequenced (GenBank accession Nos. KJ654341-KJ654345). Although neighbour-joining tree constructed with 16S rRNA sequences and a multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) showed that these isolates had the highest similarity with Pantoea agglomerans JCM 1236T (99.8% and 99.3%, respectively) the results of biochemical properties based on API 20E, 20NE, ZYM (bioMerieux) and GN2 MicroPlate (Biolog) disclosed 18 differences with P. agglomerans JCM 1236T. Bacterial suspensions in PBS (pH 7.0) ca. 1×106 CFU/ml were sprayed onto the surfaces of healthy fruiting bodies which 5-10 days post inoculation reacted with symptoms similar to those observed in the naturally infected samples, while the negative control sprayed with sterile PBS remained symptomless. Koch's postulates were fulfilled by re-isolating a bacterium identical to that used for inoculation based on biochemical properties, 16S rRNA gene and MLSA. P. agglomerans was reported as the causal agent of blight disease of several hosts in many countries (Lee et al., 2010; Kim et al., 2015). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of Pantoea sp.-induced bacterial blight of P. eryngii in China.


Control of muscadine diseases is necessary to minimize yield loss and is especially important for highest quality fresh-market berries. In a systematic disease control spray program, four fungicides registered for grapes were applied sequentially at 10- to 20-day intervals from early bloom until just before harvest to five muscadine cultivars. Objectives of the study were to: 1) determine the effects of the spray schedule on foliage and berry diseases; and 2) study the relationship between disease incidence and resveratrol content of the berries. Resveratrol, a phytoalexin, has shown potential value in prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease and certain cancer processes. Foliar diseases were rated visually twice during the season. Berry disease ratings were made at harvest. All fungal foliage and berry diseases were significantly reduced by fungicide treatments. Resveratrol was determined separately on berry skins, seed and pulp/juice by gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy (GC/MS). Overall, resveratrol levels in berry skins from unsprayed vines were much higher than those of sprayed vines. Concentrations varied by cultivar and within cultivar by treatment. The relationship between resveratrol concentration in skins and total disease score or scores of specific diseases was not established. Seed resveratrol concentrations differed by cultivar but were not affected by the fungicide treatments. Resveratrol concentration of seed was lower than that of skins. Accumulation of resveratrol in juice/pulp was much lower than in skins and seeds.


Background The C-OPERA study (NCT01451203) demonstrated better clinical outcomes of certolizumab pegol (CZP)+MTX compared to placebo (PBO)+MTX in Japanese MTX-naïve early RA patients (pts) with poor prognostic factors.1 Objectives To identify factors associated with better outcomes of CZP+MTX compared to PBO+MTX at 1 year using subgroup analyses by baseline (BL) factors. Methods Pts with ≤12 months persistent RA fulfilling 2010 ACR/EULAR classification criteria2 were enrolled in C-OPERA, a multicenter, double-blind, randomized study. Pts were MTX-naïve, with moderate disease activity (DAS28[ESR]≥3.2), positive ACPA (≥3xULN), and either RF positive or had bone erosion on radiographs of hands/feet. Pts were randomized 1:1 to CZP+MTX or PBO+MTX. CZP 400mg was administered at Weeks (Wks) 0, 2, and 4, followed by CZP 200mg Q2W to Wk52. Unless precluded by tolerability, MTX was started at 8mg/wk and escalated to 16mg/wk over 8 wks. We report association of BL parameters and mean MTX dose with radiographic progression (change from BL [CFB] in modified total Sharp score [mTSS]) and clinical remission (DAS28<2.6) at Wk52. Results In PBO+MTX arm, higher BL DAS28, CRP, mTSS, HAQ-DI and serum MMP-3 were associated with greater radiographic progression at Wk52, whereas CZP+MTX still inhibited progression of structural damage in these pts despite higher risk of progression.3 No positive trend of MTX dose with inhibitory effect on CFB in mTSS was observed overall. In the PBO+MTX arm, higher BL DAS28 and CRP were associated with lower DAS28 remission rate at Wk52, suggesting BL factors associated with either radiographic progression or disease activity may differ. Lower dose MTX group (8–≤12mg/wk) showed lower DAS28 remission rate compared to high dose group (>12–16mg/wk) (30.5% vs 42.9%). DAS28 remission rate was higher in CZP+MTX compared to PBO+MTX, particularly in pts with high BL parameters. Conclusions CZP+MTX showed better clinical outcomes compared to PBO+MTX, particularly in pts with higher risk of progression identified by BL factors. Therefore, this subgroup of MTX-naïve early RA pts may need combination treatment with CZP+MTX to inhibit progression of structural damage. References Atsumi T. Ann Rheum Dis 2014;73(2):S484. Aletaha D. Ann Rheum Dis 2010;69:1580–1588. Atsumi T. Arthritis Rheumatol 2014;66(11):S1078. Acknowledgements The authors acknowledge Costello Medical Consulting for writing and editorial assistance which was funded by UCB Pharma. Disclosure of Interest T. Atsumi Speakers bureau: Astellas, Bristol-Myers, Chugai and Mitsubishi-Tanabe, K. Yamamoto Grant/research support from: UCB Pharma, Pfizer, Abbott, Santen, Mitsubishi-Tanabe and Eisai, Consultant for: UCB Pharma, Pfizer, Abbott, BMS, Roche, Chugai, Mitsubishi-Tanabe and Eisai, T. Takeuchi Grant/research support from: Abott, Astellas, BMS, Chugai, Daiichi-Sankyo, Eisai, Janssen, Mitsubishi-Tanabe, Nippon Shinyaku, Otsuka, Pfizer, Sanofi-Aventis, Santen, Takeda and Teijin, Consultant for: AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, Novartis, Mitsubishi-Tanabe and Asahi Kasei, Speakers bureau: UCB Pharma, Abbott, BMS, Chugai, Eisai, Janssen, Mitsubishi-Tanabe, Pfizer and Takeda, H. Yamanaka Grant/research support from: UCB Pharma, Abbott, Astellas, BMS, Chugai, Eisai, Janssen, Mitsubishi-Tanabe, Pfizer and Takeda, Consultant for: UCB Pharma, Abbott, Astellas, BMS, Chugai, Eisai, Janssen, Mitsubishi-Tanabe, Pfizer and Takeda, N. Ishiguro Grant/research support from: Takeda, Mitsubishi-Tanabe, Astellas, Chugai, Abbott, BMS, Eisai, Janssen, Kaken and Pfizer, Speakers bureau: Takeda, Mitsubishi-Tanabe, Astellas, Chugai, Abbott, BMS, Eisai, Janssen, Kaken, Pfizer, Taisho-Toyama and Otsuka, Y. Tanaka Grant/research support from: BMS, MSD, Chugai, Mitsubishi-Tanabe, Astellas, Abbvie, Daiichi-Sankyo, Consultant for: UCB Pharma, Mitsubishi-Tanabe, Abbott, Abbvie, Eisai, Chugai, Janssen, Pfizer, Takeda, Astellas, Daiichi-Sankyo, GSK, AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, Quintiles, MSD, Asahi Kasei, Speakers bureau: UCB Pharma, Mitsubishi-Tanabe, Abbott, Abbvie, Eisai, Chugai, Janssen, Pfizer, Takeda, Astellas, Daiichi-Sankyo, GSK, AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, Quintiles, MSD, Asahi Kasei, K. Eguchi Consultant for: UCB Pharma, A. Watanabe Grant/research support from: Daiichi-Sankyo, Kyorin, Shionogi, Taisho, Dainippon-Sumitomo, Taiho, Toyama Chemical and Meiji Seika, Speakers bureau: SD, GSK, Shionogi, Daiichi-Sankyo, Taisho-Toyama, Dainippon-Sumitomo, Mitsubishi-Tanabe, Pfizer, H. Origasa Consultant for: UCB Pharma and Astellas, T. Shoji Employee of: UCB Pharma, O. Togo Employee of: UCB Pharma, T. Okada Employee of: Astellas, D. van der Heijde Grant/research support from: AbbVie, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Augurex, BMS, Boehringer Ingelheim, Celgene, Centocor, Chugai, Covagen, Daiichi, Eli-Lilly, Galapagos, GSK, Janssen Biologics, Merck, Novartis, Novo-Nordisk, Otsuka, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi-Aventis, UCB Pharma, Vertex, Consultant for: AbbVie, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Augurex, BMS, Boehringer Ingelheim, Celgene, Centocor, Chugai, Covagen, Daiichi, Eli-Lilly, Galapagos, GSK, Janssen Biologics, Merck, Novartis, Novo-Nordisk, Otsuka, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi-Aventis, UCB Pharma, Vertex, Employee of: Imaging Rheumatology bv., N. Miyasaka Grant/research support from: Pfizer, Takeda, Mitsubishi-Tanabe, Chugai, Abbott, Eisai and Astellas, T. Koike Consultant for: Abbvie, Astellas, BMS, Chugai, Daiichi-Sankyo, Eisai, Mitsubishi-Tanabe, Pfizer, Santen, Taisho-Toyama, Takeda, Teijin, UCB Pharma, Speakers bureau: UCB Pharma, Pfizer, Chugai, Abbott, Mitsubishi-Tanabe, Takeda, Eisai, Santen, Astellas, Taisho-Toyama, BMS, Teijin and Daiichi-Sankyo


Background . A violation of nutritional status (obesity) and emotional-behavioral status (depression) is one of the urgent problems of modern health care. Often these two problems are at the same time. Particularly striking manifestations of a decrease in nutritional and emotional statuses are observed in children with oncological diseases of various origins. Objective : to assess the emotional-behavioral status and nutritional status in pediatric cancer and hematological diseases after treatment. Materials and methods . The study included 112 children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (n = 49) and central nervous system tumors (n = 63) in remission. Age 6–18 years (median 11.5 years). 66 male (58.9 %). The Aachenbаch questionnaire was used to assess the behavioral and individual-personality characteristics. CDI (children depression inventory) questionnaire was used to assess the presence and level of depression. Body mass index (in percentile terms) and body tissue composition by bioimpedance analysis (body fat and lean body mass were evaluated) were used to assess nutritional status. Results . As a result, it was found that a significant proportion of children have delayed effects of treatment in the form of reduced nutritional status and emotional and behavioral difficulties. Children with brain tumors have an increased risk of nutritional and emotional-behavioral disorders compared to children who have survived acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The nutritional and emotional-behavioral statuses of children are related: the presence of excess fat mass increases the risk of emotional-behavioral disorders. According to questionnaires, parents identify detected problems much more often than patients themselves. Conclusion . In children who have experienced antitumor treatment and achieved remission, in case of excess body fat, the risk of emotionalbehavioral disorders increases. Emotional-behavioral disorders can have a negative effect on rehabilitation measures; therefore, before starting rehabilitation measures it is necessary to take into account the nutritional and emotional-behavioral status of patients.


Two patients who received combined chemo- and radiotherapy for Hodgkin's disease developed secondary tumors in irradiated fields by 15 and 24 years, respectively. All the necessary criteria for the diagnosis of radiation-induced sarcoma have been found.


In 2030, we will have a different interactive experience with our built environments, at home, at work, and even in public urban spaces. This is attributed to advancements in sensing and actuation systems that can integrate into the building infrastructures, in symbiosis with the new environmental concerns that call for new life, work, and mobility styles. This change, whether gradual or sudden, evident or seamless, can have a remarkable impact on our everyday experiences, and thus entails efforts to envision possible scenarios and plan for them. We believe that buildings, as they would embody our digital and physical interactive daily experiences, should be designed and nurtured in a dialogue with their users at the individual as well as social levels. This implies a responsibility of the HCI community to intervene and involve the user in the Human-Building Interaction (HBI) design practice. We propose bringing together expertise from the fields of human-computer interaction, building and urban architecture, and social sciences, and provide them with an occasion for collaboratively creating and sharing ``images' of HBI by 2030. The goal is to uncover research opportunities and challenges that will emerge through discussions and multi-faceted debates about the topics proposed.


Vascularized osteocutaneous scapular flaps belong into the most convenient ones in reconstruction of mandibular defects followed by massive loss of adjacent skin and mucous membrane due to its vascular supply, bulkiness, suitability and mobility of cutaneous component of the flap. In seven wounded patients such defects of the mandible and adjacent soft tissues after war wounding have been reconstructed at the Clinic for Maxillofacial Surgery of the Military Medical Academy - Belgrade during the six years period with vascularized osteocutaneous scapular grafts. Here we present localization and structure of the defect, features of harvested compound graft, the procedure of reestablishment of mandibular continuity, immediate and late complications during the consolidation period, as well as the analysis of the success rate.


In this paper, we propose a novel high SNR tunable filter using a photorefractive single crystal fiber with multiple holographic gratings. Since the single crystal fiber which is grown by the laser heated pedestal growth (LHPG) technique can be more than 100 mm long, volume gratings with an extremely large number of period can be obtained in the fiber. Thus, the wavelength selectivity of the grating can be very high on the order of 105 so that one can achieve very narrow band filter (< 0.01 nm). To increase the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the filter, a method of using multiple holographic gratings is proposed. The SNR can be improved by more than 100 times as compared with a conventional volume grating filter. Finally, the electro-optic effect can be used to change the refractive index of the crystal fiber, which in turn changes the wavelength response of the stored volume grating. Since the response time of the electro-optic effect is on the order of 1 ns, one can very rapidly tune the central-wavelength of the filter.


Abstract To evaluate the nutritional status of children with chronic kidney disease (CKD) before dialysis via a series of indexes, and investigate the prognostic impact of nutritional status in these patients assessed by the Prognostic Nutritional Index (PNI). Fifty-four children with CKD before dialysis were enrolled in this study. The nutritional status was evaluated by different indexes, including dietary intake, anthropometry data and biochemical parameters. Additionally, PNI is calculated as 10 × serum albumin (g/dL) + 0.005 × lymphocyte count (/mm3). Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) of patients with different PNI scores was followed up. Thirty-four patients (63.0%) experienced unreasonable dietary intake, and the patients with CKD stage 4 were characterized by lower energy intake. The height was the most affected anthropometry parameter. Additionally, 46 patients (85.2%) suffered from anemia. The serum albumin of 42 patients (77.8%) was <35 g/L, while 34 cases (63.0%) had increased cholesterol and triglyceride. According to the PNI scores, the patients were divided into 3 groups: high-PNI (PNI ≥ 38), middle-PNI (35 ≤ PNI < 38), and low-PNI (PNI < 35). Of the 54 patients, the PNI was <35 in 29 (53.7%) and ≥38 in 13 (24.1%). The patients with CKD stage 4 were belonged to the low-PNI group. At follow-up, GFR decreased significantly in patients with low-PNI scores compared with the high-PNI group (P < .05). Malnutrition, as a common complication of CKD, has a prognostic impact in children with CKD before dialysis, as assessed by the PNI score.


—Within neural monitoring systems, the front-end amplifier forms the critical element for signal detection and pre-processing, which determines not only the fidelity of the biosignal, but also impacts power consumption and detector size. In this paper, a novel combined feedback loop-controlled approach is proposed to compensate for input leakage currents generated by low noise amplifiers when in integrated circuit form alongside signal leakage into the input bias network. This loop topology ensures the FEA maintains a high input impedance across all manufacturing and operational variations. Measured results from a prototype manufactured on the AMS 0.35µm CMOS technology is provided. This FEA consumes 3.1 µW in 0.042 mm 2 , achieves input impedance of 42 GΩ, and 18.2 𝒏𝒗/√𝑯𝒛 input-referred noise.


Purpose of Review For many around the world, losing weight seems to be a consistent desire. As the number of overweight individuals increases, studies on caloric restriction (CR) and intermittent fasting (IF) become even more relevant. In recent years, studies have discovered the beneficial effects of CR and IF in overweight adults. Not only has this fasting been proven to aid in weight loss, but it has been shown improving various parts of the human body. This manuscript will review a research publication discussing this topic. While it was proved that caloric restriction has positive effects on the human person, a larger number of participants in the study would help increase validity of this correlation. This study states to have limited the caloric intake and carbohydrate consumption of the participants. While this is a helpful discovery, a current pressing question around the world is whether other types of biomolecules should be limited in order to lose weight in the most effective manner.


Long cycle performance is a crucial requirement in energy storage devices. New formulations and/or improvement of "conventional" materials have been investigated in order to achieve this target. Here we explore the performance of a novel type of carbon nanospheres (CNSs) with three heteroatom co-doped (nitrogen, phosphorous and sulfur) and high specific surface area as anode materials for lithium ion batteries. The CNSs were obtained from carbonization of highly-crosslinked organo (phosphazene) nanospheres (OPZs) of 300 nm diameter. The OPZs were synthesized via a single and facile step of polycondensation reaction between hexachlorocyclotriphosphazene (HCCP) and 4,4′-sulphonyldiphenol (BPS). The X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) analysis showed a high heteroatom-doping content in the structure of CNSs while the textural evaluation from the N2 sorption isotherms revealed the presence of micro- and mesopores and a high specific surface area of 875 m2/g. The CNSs anode showed remarkable stability and coulombic efficiency in a long charge–discharge cycling up to 1000 cycles at 1C rate, delivering about 130 mA·h·g−1. This study represents a step toward smart engineering of inexpensive materials with practical applications for energy devices.


Memantine is a symptomatic treatment that partially prevents cognitive decline in Alzheimer disease (AD). The neuroprotective effects of memantine and vitamin D may potentiate each other, with benefits for cognition. The objective of this exposed/unexposed pilot study was to determine the cognitive changes among AD patients using memantine according to the presence or absence of vitamin D deficiency (VDD). Fifty-eight AD patients followed in a memory clinic during 6 months between 2009-2014 (mean±standard deviation, 82.9±5.0years; 56.9%female) were separated into four groups according to VDD (i.e., serum 25hydroxyvitamin D≤25nM) at M0 and M6 (i.e., Group 1: no VDD-M0, no VDD-M6; Group 2: VDD-M0, no VDD-M6; Group 3: no VDD-M0, VDD-M6; Group 4: VDD-M0, VDD-M6). The 6-month cognitive change was examined with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score in the 4 groups according to the use of memantine. Age, gender, body mass index, IADL score, GDS score, and use of pchychoactive drugs were measured at baseline. We found that participants using memantine had a lower MMSE score at M0 compared to those without memantine (P=0.006). After 6 months of follow-up, there was a memantine-related improvement of the MMSE score only in the participants with VDD-M6. This was significant in Group 3 with no VDD-M0 (P=0.039), but not in Group 4 who already had VDD-M0. Similarly, using memantine was associated with a 6-month improvement of MMSE only in Group 3 in whom VDD appeared during the followup (=8.8, P=0.044). In conclusion, the use of memantine was associated with improved cognitive performance after 6 months of treatment in the presence of VDD at M6. Memantine may prevent the cognitive


The development of application specific instruction set processors comprises several design phases: architecture exploration, software tools design, system verification and design implementation. The LISA processor design platform (LPDP) based on machine descriptions in the LISA language provides one common environment for these design phases. Required software tools for architecture exploration and application development can be generated from one sole specification. This paper focuses on the implementation phase and the generation of synthesizable HDL code from a LISA model. The derivation of the architectural structure, decoder and even approaches for the implementation of the data path are presented. Moreover the synthesis results of a generated and a handwritten implementation of a low-power DVB-T post processing unit are compared.


Preface. Introduction. I. GETTING STARTED IN E-BUSINESS. 1. Responsible Email Targeting. Opt-In or Opt-Out? Why Not Spam? Email List Development. Buying Lists. Renting Lists. Building Lists. 2. Powerful Promotions Through Email. Direct Email Marketing. Similarities. Differences. Email Promos. Email Newsletters. Timing. Piggyback Email Marketing. Viral Marketing. 3. Improved Operations through Increased Email Use. Making the Most of Email in Your Business. Personal Email Systems. LAN-Based Email Systems. PC-Based Personal Email Systems. ASP-Based Email Systems. Choosing the Right Personal Email System. Mailing Lists. Alternative Mailing List Tools. What Can You Do with a Mailing List? Choose the Mailing List Tool that Best Fits Your Strategy. Privacy in Business Email. 4. The Role of the Web in Your Business Information System. Choosing the Right Kind of Network. Intranet. Extranet. Virtual Private Networks. Improving Operations. High-Touch Web-Based Customer Service Through High Tech. Think Warmer! Order Tracking: Let Customers Save You Money by Doing It Themselves! Customer Help: Just Answer the Question!!! 5. Using a Brochure Web Site to Tell Your Story as it Evolves. About Us. Contact Us. Industry Overview. Product Pages: The Unique Selling Proposition. Entry or Home Page. Making a Good First Impression. What Not to Do. Telling Visitors Whose Site They are Visiting. Providing Easy Access to Interior Pages in the Web Site. 6. Web-Based Electronic Commerce. Security First. Hacker Attacks on Your PC. Hacker Attacks on Your Web Site. Damage or Loss of Business Data. Catalog Web Site: Is Online Ordering Right for Your Business? Do Your Customers Want to Order Online? Will Your Business System Support Online Sales? Subscription Web Site: Will Customers Pay You for Access? Download Web Site: If You Can Download it, Do it! Application Service Provider (ASP) Web Site. II. IMPLEMENTATION FIRST STEPS: FAST, EASY, INEXPENSIVE, AND SAFE. 7. First Principles for Getting Started Using the Internet in Your Small Business. The Project Must be Fast. The Project Must be Easy. The Project Must be Inexpensive. The Project Must be Safe. Lawyer Time! 8. Mailing List Marketing: Choose the Right Tool and Develop a List. Three Choices in Mailing List Tools: How They Work. PC-Based Mailing Lists. Free Mailing Lists. Fee-Based ASP Mailing Lists. Acquire Email Lists. Rent a List. Build a Prospect List: Think Incrementally. 9. Mailing List Policies and Procedures: Getting it Right. Overview Of Procedures. Determine the purpose and goals of your mailing list application. Manage your email lists. Subscribe New Members to Your Discussion Group or Newsletter. Unsubscribe Members who Wish to Leave Your Discussion Group or Stop Receiving Your Newsletter. Honor Remove Requests. Delete Bounced Messages. Manage the messages you send. Determine an Appropriate Frequency for Sending Email. Design the Message. Send Messages. Archive Messages. Manage responses. Handling Email Responses. Moderate Discussion Postings. Assess Mailing List Performance. 10. Developing a Web Infrastructure. Get Connected to an ISP. Acquire a Domain Name of Your Own. Rent Host Space. Host Space. Data Transfer Allowance. Microsoft FrontPage and FTP Support. Web Site Statistics. Email Services from Your Host Service Provider. Choose an E-commerce Service Provider. Shopping Cart Systems. Secure Web Hosting. Online Payment Processing. 11. Build Your Web Development Toolkit. HTML. MS FrontPage. WSFTP. Graphics Tools. 12. Web Design Principles and Procedures. Decide What Exactly You Want from Your Web Site. Decide on a Structure for Your Site and Develop a Rough Site Plan. Decide What Interactive Elements You Need. Decide What Graphics You Want to Include. Write the Text for Each Page in Your Site. Determine Your Budget and Timeframe for the Project. Establish Your Web Infrastructure. Collect Your Toolkit. Discuss Your Site Plan with at Least Three Developer Candidates and Obtain Written Proposals. "What is the smallest job you have done in the past year?" "Who does the work: you or a staff member, and is your staff member an employee or a sub-contractor?" "What development tools do you use?" "When could you start and finish my job?" "What questions do you have for me?" Evaluate the Developer Proposals and Select Your Developer. Monitor the Development Progress. Establish Procedures for Ongoing Site Maintenance. 13. Constructing the Elements of a Web Site. Template Pages. Page Headers. Page Footers. Menubars. Don't Get Cute: Use Words Rather than Icons. Make the Menubar Small and Put it Where it Goes. Put The Whole Menubar on Every Page in the Web Site. Repeat the Menubar at the Bottom of All Pages that Require the Visitor to Scroll down to Get to the End. Make Sure Your Menubar Takes Visitors to the Action Page with a Single Click. Site Map. Interactive Forms. Content Mailers. Discussion Forums. Newsletter/Discussion Group Subscriptions. Order Forms and Shopping Carts. Search Components. Appointment Scheduling. Connections to Other Services. 14. Supporting and Refining Your Web Site. Managing Graphics For Maximum Impact. Reuse and Resize Images. Use the Right Image Format and Optimize. Animated GIFs. Flash Animations. Using Enhancements to Promote Stickiness. Chat Rooms. Message Boards. News Feeds. Counters. DHTML and CSS. Streaming Audio and Video. Developing and Maintaining Content. List the Kind of Content You will Provide. Determine Who will Develop the Content. Consider How You will Maintain Control over Quality. Consider How Often and to What Extent Content will Need to be Updated. Estimate the Host Space You will Need to House the Content. Determine the Various Levels of Access to Content you Wish to Provide. Determine the Extent of Your Distribution Plan. Developing an E-Commerce Back-end. 15. Generating Traffic. Helping Prospects Find You. Choosing an Appropriate Domain Name. Choosing an Appropriate Host Service. Managing Search-Engine Positioning. DirectHit. Pay-per-Click Services. Reciprocal Links. Special-Interest Directory Listings. Driving Prospects to Your Site. Banner Ad Systems. Email Promos and Newsletters. Conventional Advertising. Affiliate Systems. Integrated Marketing System. III. MAKING SURE IT WORKS: PLANNING, TUNING, AND BUDGETING. 16. Internet Marketing Basics. Personal Service Businesses. Big-Decision Businesses. Shopping Destinations. 17. Developing an Email Marketing Plan and Budget. 18. Developing a Web Marketing. Plan and Budget. Keeping Tabs on Traffic. Budgeting. Index.


Endotheliocyte structure in the gingival capillaries of patients with chronic catarrhal gingivitis (CCG) in the presence of connective tissue dysplasia and arterial hypertension differs from that in patients with CCG without somatic diseases, which essentially increase the permeability of capillary walls.


7-Ethyl-10-hydroxycamptothecin (SN-38) is the active metabolite of an anticancer drug, irinotecan (CPT-11). Severe late diarrhea is the dose-limiting toxic effect of CPT-11. This diarrhea has been examined regarding biliary excretion and deconjugation of SN-38 glucuronide by the enzyme beta-glucuronidase (beta-GL) in intestinal microflora. Prompted by the enzymological and structural similarity of CPT-11 to organophosphorus and carbamate insecticides, we studied the effect of CPT-11 on blood beta-GL activity in rats. The i.v. injection of CPT-11 in rats significantly elevated their plasma beta-GL activity (with phenolphthalein glucuronide as a substrate) at doses of 10 and 40 mg/kg, with peak activity observed 2-3 h after administration. SN-38 lactone and carboxylate had no effect on the plasma beta-GL level. The enhancement of the activity was also observed in serum using SN-38 glucuronide as a substrate. The serum beta-GL levels showed a close correlation between these substrates. The enhancement of plasma (serum) beta-GL activity is suggested to be a result of the release of beta-GL from liver microsomes. Serum and microsomal carboxylesterase were not significantly affected by CPT-11 administration.


Background:Subdural empyema is the collection of pus beneath the dura matter, commonly manifests as a complication of oto-rhino-laryngeal infection and rarely locates in the inter-hemispheric subdural space either as an isolated collection or as extension from the convexity of the cerebral hemisphere.Case presentation:A case of right fronto-parietal convexity subdural empyema with inter-hemispheric extension in 19 years old male is presented patient presented with fever, left sided convulsions, hemiparesis and blurring of vision. Despite the use of broad spectrum antibiotics based on cultures, surgical intervention with craniotomy was the definitive intervention needed for good recovery.Conclusion:Subdural empyema located in inter-hemispheric area represents rare form of subdural empyema. The best investigation to choose to diagnose these lesions is definitely magnetic resonance imaging of the brain .craniotomy is the surgical intervention of choice in most of the cases and almost lead to complete evacuation of the collection followed by the use of empirical antibiotic for six weeks duration, both means of treatment are used in order to reach better functional outcome.


The primary purpose of this article is to draw closer attention to a particularly important orthopedic problem: the prevention and early treatment of Developemental Displasia of the Hip (DDH) in children, using ultrasonography (USG) as the main diagnostic method. The article presents clinical material collected over a period of several years in the Children's Orthopedic Outpatient Clinic at the County Pediatric Hospital in Toruń. The material covers a period of six years (1994-1999), but the experience of this clinic in the area of DDH dates back many years. The entire system of complex diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of dysplasis hip joints in children will be presented in the light of Polish realities. The authors' intention is to portray the rich potential of USG technology in the diagnosis of DDH, to demonstrate its effectiveness, and to promote the use of this method among orthopedic surgeons and pediatricians, who may have differing opinions concerning its actual value. The problem of the early prevention of DDH is an interdisciplinary one, involving first neonatologists and obstetricians, later pediatricians, orthopedic surgeons, and even primary care physicians whose practice includes infants. This issue has been the subject of many national and international conferences, congresses and symposia.


The question of whether or not "genes" should be eligible for patent protection continues to be a cause of significant tension around the world in academic, policy and commercial contexts, as well as in the media and other public forums, for wide-ranging reasons. The primary focus of this paper is an analysis of a recent attempt in Australia to use legislative means to exclude from patent eligibility isolated nucleotide and polypeptide sequences that are similar to those that exist in nature.


This paper discusses a systematic method for deriving basic converter configurations that achieve power factor correction (PFC) and voltage regulation. The discussion begins with a general three-port representation of power supplies that provide PFC and voltage regulation. Based on this representation and a power flow consideration, a systematic procedure is derived to generate all possible minimal configurations. It is found that two basic converters are, in general, required for implementing any of the possible configurations. Among these configurations only a few have been known previously and been used in practice. The various possible configurations are compared in terms of their theoretical efficiency and control requirements of the basic constituent converters.


Abstract The general lack of assessment tools that adequately measure communicative participation has been well documented in the adult literature. However, there has been no systematic attempt to document the availability of these assessment tools in pediatric populations. The purpose of this literature review was to investigate the availability of patient-reported outcome (PRO) tools that measure communicative participation in children. Results indicate that there are no such tools that measure communicative participation in children at this time. In an effort to inspire researchers to develop these tools, the following guidelines for the development of pediatric PRO tools are discussed: (1) consider age-based criteria for tool development and administration, (2) design and format the tool specifically for the target age group, (3) establish content validity, (4) determine whether a parent proxy-report tool is necessary, and (5) consider cross-cultural issues.


A 76-year-old woman developed weakness and sensory loss in the lower limbs and urinary disturbance in four days. She had a history of operation for the ascending colon cancer and lung metastasis one year ago. Neurological examination revealed flaccid paraplegia, absent Achilles tendon reflex, severe disturbance of superficial and deep sensation below the L3 level, and vesicorectal abnormality. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies showed an intramedullary T1-iso, T2-low lesion with Gd-DTPA contrast enhancement in conus medullaris at LI level. The laboratory examination revealed the elevated level of serum FDP. D-dimer and TAT. She was diagnosed as hematomyelia, which may be caused by the activation of coagulation and fibrinolysis system. We suggested that the ascending colon cancer and lung metastasis may contribute to the coagulation-fibrinolysis abnormality.


Knowledge-intensive services are prevalent in B2B environment involving complex problems and custom solutions. As such services consume and generate a large amount of information, knowledge-sharing mechanisms are required to capture, transfer and reuse information across projects. So far, with the advent of the internet, the business community has mainly focused on web-based technologies for knowledge sharing. The most common approach is a web portal through which a practitioner can access the organization's collection of intellectual capital. This approach, however, has notable drawbacks. In particular, they often fail to stimulate active user participation, in terms of both contributing to and using the knowledge base. The problem, as we see it, is largely caused by the separation between the environment of a client engagement and that of knowledge management. In this paper, we propose a knowledge management system that is integrated into the process of delivering a client engagement. The integration is realized at two levels: at the content level, the knowledge is organized by a framework that is central to the client engagement at hand; at the tool level, the knowledge management system is embedded in the software for developing work products for a client engagement The advantages of the proposed integration over existing tools are discussed.


Political meanderings of emigrant socialist. Contacts of Henryk Polowiec with the Polish People's Republic (PRL) intelligence in years 1952–1963 H. Polowiec connected with socialist movement in the 30s. of the XX century. After World War II he ended up in emigration in Great Britain, where he became one of the leading activists of the Polish Socialist Party (PPS). In 1954, because of criticism of the political line of the PPS he was suspended in the rights of party member. In response, he accused the authorities of PPS, that they became the agency of western intelligences, and withdraw from the party. He was also criticizing socialists for political cooperation with National Democrats in emigration. From 1952 to 1963 (with interruptions) he was also secretly contacting with PRL intelligence. For submitted orally information he received remuneration. In issued in London magazine "Tygodnik" and in political brochures he was criticizing leadership of the PPS. Considering himself as conceptual socialist he accused his former party companions of betrayal of socialism and democracy. After October 1956, fascinated by liberalization of the communist regime, he wrote with approval about W. Gomulka. In PRL intelligence estimation, Polowiec fell into persecution mania. As a result, in 1963 the communist secret service ended cooperation with him.


Abstract The Platinum-bearing Belt of the Urals consists of a series of zoned ultramafic bodies obducted onto the passive continental margin of the East European Craton during the Palaeozoic. Conventional U-Pb and secondary ionization mass spectrometry U-Th-Pb analyses of single zircon grains from a pegmatitic gabbro of the Kumba massif provide Mid-Silurian ages of 425 ± 3 Ma and 419 ± 10 Ma, respectively, interpreted as dating crystallization of the gabbroic magma. This contrasts with the c. 360 Ma age of the neighbouring Kytlym massif and indicates that the Uralian Platinum-bearing Belt is best interpreted as remnants of an island-arc oceanic lithosphere that started forming in Mid-Silurian times and had a protracted lifetime of about 70 Ma. The Uralian Platinum-bearing Belt is thus coeval with the Sakmara arc of the Southern Urals, and is of similar age to other ultramafic bodies such as the Kempersai and Mindyak massifs. Ophiolitic fragments, now preserved along the Main Uralian Fault, may thus represent the assemblage of contemporaneous oceanic and arc terranes brought together during the final stages of the evolution of the Uralide orogen. The age of the Kumba massif, in addition, indicates that the Uralian Ocean underwent contractional events as early as the Mid-Silurian, which suggests a possible link with the pivotal rotation of Baltica.


Diverse spectral estimations methods, i.e. MUSIC, Maximum Likelihood (ML), Weighted Subspace fitting (WSF), are proposed and applied to the estimation of building height dense urban environments and to the retrieval of scatterers' physical properties. Compared to other estimators, the polarimetric WSF estimator is optimally model adaptive and results in reduced sidelobes induced by irregularly sampled baselines.


This thesis examines the lives, careers and fortunes of the de Lacy constables of Chester and earls of Lincoln, Roger, John, Edmund and Henry de Lacy, between 1190 and 1311, and sheds light on a family who have been relatively neglected within existing scholarship. This thesis charts the family's rise from local baronial magnates to comital status with two earldoms, and their position as one of the richest tenants-in-chief of the crown.

This study establishes how the family, as a whole, was able to take advantage of the opportunities arising over four generations, one hundred and twenty one years and the reigns of five kings, to develop and maintain its lordship. The thesis explores the mechanisms they used and were able to take advantage of, during such a vibrant period of history, which included tumultuous civil wars and dynamic political change. It examines in detail the political careers of each of the de Lacy constables in turn and explores their relationships with royal government and the affect of Magna Carta and Plantagenet rule on this family. It then explores the development of the de Lacy family's honorial estates through each generation and the strategies they employed to expand their dominions. It also discusses the family's patronage and the evolution of their various associations with religious communities and how this compared to contemporary trends. The examination of the de Lacy affinities, in particular, is the first to explore their composition and development across four generations of this family, identifying the men who were in their service and the transition from a baronial to comital following. This study of the de Lacy constables therefore sheds new light on the development of baronial families and the transformation of their honours during this period of history.


Abstract Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have stable structures, being a covalently closed loop without 5 ′ and 3 ′ free ends. They can function as "miRNA sponges" in regulating the expression of their target genes. It was thought that circRNAs are involved in the development of the secondary hair follicle (SHF) in cashmere goats. In our previous investigation, a new circRNA named circRNA-0100 was identified from the SHF of cashmere goats, but its function is unknown. In this work, we found that circRNA-0100 exhibited significantly higher expression at anagen SHF bulge than its counterpart at telogen in cashmere goats. Based on the use of both overexpression and siRNA interference assays, our data indicated that circRNA-0100 promoted the differentiation of cashmere goat SHF stem cells (SHF-SCs) into hair follicle lineage, which was evaluated by analyzing the transcriptional level changes of six indicator genes in SHF-SCs of cashmere goats. Using the RNA pull-down technique, we showed that circRNA-0100 served as "molecular sponges" of miR-153-3p in SHF-SCs. Through the use of dual-luciferase reporter assays, our data indicated that circRNA-0100 positively regulated the transcriptional expression of the KLF5 gene via the miR-153-3p-mediated pathway. Ultimately, we showed that circRNA-0100 promoted the differentiation of SHF-SCs into hair lineage, which might be achieved via sequestering miR-153-3p to heighten the KLF5 expression in SHF-SCs of cashmere goats. Our results provide novel scientific evidence for revealing the potential molecular regulatory mechanisms on the differentiation of SHF-SCs into hair lineage in cashmere goats.


Abstract Introduction Bovine adenovirus (BAdV) type 3 causes respiratory and gastroenteric diseases of varying severity in cattle, particularly newborn calves. Trials have been conducted of a vaccination against the diseases caused by BAdV using both modified live-virus and inactivated-virus preparations in cattle, but no commercial BAdV-3 vaccine has yet reached the market. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop new, safe, and effective vaccines against BAdV-3. Material and Methods Recombinant hexon protein (rhexon) of BAdV-3 was expressed in the E. coli system to evaluate immune response in mice and goats. Antibody responses and cytokine levels were analysed and the effects of administrations of different amounts of recombinant protein compared. Long-term antibody production was evaluated by indirect ELISA, and the total immunoglobulin G secreted by goats and mice immunised with the purified rhexon protein was determined. Results The immunised mice had a stronger antibody response than the control group at eight weeks post vaccination. The immunised groups also showed significantly higher (P ˂ 0.05) expression of interferon-γ, interleukin 2 (in mice), and interleukin 21 (in goats) at four weeks. Furthermore, vaccination with rhexon was able to induce long-term antibody production for at least 16 weeks in mice and goats. Conclusion The rhexon protein induced immune responses, especially long-term antibody production and T helper 1 cell cytokine production in mice and goats. The immunogenic properties of this protein make it a promising subunit vaccine antigen.


This paper introduces a 3D surface reconstruction method from serial parallel slices of cross-sections. Depends on the contour shape we get a series of regular points. The density of the points reflects the change of the contour shape, and then corresponding knot vectors and control points are generated from these points. Define a flexible space to compute the knot vector of the surface. For the multi-connectivity problem, using image division translates it into some single-connectivity problem. The centroid of each slice and each closed contour is generated to get the relationship of the contours. So, the many-to-many question translates into some one-to-one question.


This cross-sectional study is the first to estimate the prevalence of cattle pediculosis in Tunisia. A total of 39 cattle farms in the region of Nabeul in north-east Tunisia were visited and lice were collected by intensively brushing 789 cattle. The prevalence was estimated to be 20.5% on the farms (8/39) and 4.7% in animals (37/789). Collected parasites were examined under a stereomicroscope and three lice species were identified: Bovicola bovis, Linognathus vituli and Haematopinus eurysternus. Thirty-two animals were infested with the chewing lice B. bovis (4%), three with H. eurysternus (0.4%) and two with L. vituli (0.2%). The infestation prevalence was higher in calves under eight months of age (21.6%)than in adults (0.8%). Decision-makers in animal health should consider this parasitic disease in their control and eradication programmes.


Based on the Correlated-Basis-Functions (CBF) theory, we have obtained the many-body wave function for the quasi-two-dimensional electron system in AlxGa1-xAs-GaAs heterojunction. The pair-correlation functions g(R) were calculated, and a new method for the calculation of correlation energy was also presented.


This paper proposes a study on mechanical properties of virtually cured microstructures accounting for uncertainty in matrix properties and fiber packing. Computations are carried out using the finite element method (FEM) using the commercial code Abaqus supplemented by user written subroutines. An instantaneous linear elastic model for the stress evolution during manufacturing is employed to model curing. Results are presented in terms of transverse stiffness and strength for cured microstructures of different sizes. Comparisons are proposed with models not including curing induced residual stresses.


There are numerous methods currently available to assess the integrity of drilled shaft and ACIP piles. Each method has its advantages and limitations. This paper will compare the various available methods as well as introduce a new method for assessing integrity of drilled shafts and ACIP piles. This new method, known as Thermal Integrity Profiling, determines the integrity of the shaft both inside and outside the reinforcing cage by measuring the hydration temperature of the concrete along the length of the shaft. These temperature measurements can be made by either passing a thermal probe through a standard Cross Hole access tube, or from embedding thermal wires within the shaft. This Thermal Integrity Profile method will be described in detail and one case history will be presented. Additional testing methods which will be compared include low strain Pile Integrity Testing and Cross Hole Sonic Logging. Advantages and limitations for each method will be discussed.


Increasing power demand forces the power systems to operate at their
maximum operating conditions. This leads the power system into voltage instability and causes
voltage collapse. To avoid this problem, FACTS devices have been used in power systems to increase
system stability with much reduced economical ratings. To achieve this, the FACTS devices
must be placed in exact location. This paper presents Firefly Algorithm (FA) based optimization
method to locate these devices of exact rating and least cost in the transmission system.

Thyristor Controlled Series Capacitor (TCSC) and Static Var Compensator (SVC) are
the FACTS devices used in the proposed methodology to enhance the voltage stability of power
systems. Considering two objectives of enhancing the voltage stability of the transmission system
and minimizing the cost of the FACTS devices, the optimal ratings and cost were identified for the
devices under consideration using Firefly algorithm as an optimization tool. Also, a model study
had been done with four different cases such as normal case, line outage case, generator outage
case and overloading case (140%) for IEEE 14,30,57 and 118 bus systems.

 The optimal locations to install SVC and TCSC in IEEE 14, 30, 57 and 118 bus systems
were evaluated with minimal L-indices and cost using the proposed Firefly algorithm. From the
results, it could be inferred that the cost of installing TCSC in IEEE bus system is slightly higher
than SVC.For showing the superiority of Firefly algorithm, the results were compared with the
already published research finding where this problem was solved using Genetic algorithm and
Particle Swarm Optimization. It was revealed that the proposed firefly algorithm gives better optimum
solution in minimizing the L-index values for IEEE 30 Bus system.

The optimal placement, rating and cost of installation of TCSC and SVC in standard
IEEE bus systems which enhanced the voltage stability were evaluated in this work. The need of
the FACTS devices was also tested during the abnormal cases such as line outage case, generator
outage case and overloading case (140%) with the proposed Firefly algorithm. Outputs reveal that
the recognized placement of SVC and TCSC reduces the probability of voltage collapse and cost
of the devices in the transmission lines. The capability of Firefly algorithm was also ensured by
comparing its results with the results of other algorithms.


Astrocytes play a key role in brain functioning by providing energy to neurons. Increased astrocytic mitochondrial functions by Korean red ginseng extract (KRGE) have been investigated in previous studies. KRGE administration induces hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in astrocytes in the adult mouse brain cortex. VEGF expression can be controlled by transcription factors, such as the HIF-1α and estrogen-related receptor α (ERRα). However, the expression of ERRα is unchanged by KRGE in astrocytes of the mouse brain cortex. Instead, sirtuin 3 (SIRT3) expression is induced by KRGE in astrocytes. SIRT3 is a nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+)-dependent deacetylase that resides in the mitochondria and maintains mitochondrial homeostasis. Mitochondrial maintenance requires oxygen, and active mitochondria enhance oxygen consumption, resulting in hypoxia. The effects of SIRT3 on HIF-1α-mediated mitochondria functions induced by KRGE are not well established. We aimed to investigate the relationship between SIRT3 and HIF-1α in KRGE-treated normoxic astrocyte cells. Without changing the expression of the ERRα, small interfering ribonucleic acid targeted for SIRT3 in astrocytes substantially lowers the amount of KRGE-induced HIF-1α proteins. Reduced proline hydroxylase 2 (PHD2) expression restores HIF-1α protein levels in SIRT3-depleted astrocytes in normoxic cells treated with KRGE. The translocation of outer mitochondrial membranes 22 (Tom22) and Tom20 is controlled by the SIRT3-HIF-1α axis, which is activated by KRGE. KRGE-induced Tom22 increased oxygen consumption and mitochondrial membrane potential, as well as HIF-1α stability through PHD2. Taken together, in normoxic astrocytes, KRGE-induced SIRT3 activated the Tom22–HIF-1α circuit by increasing oxygen consumption in an ERRα-independent manner.


Saliency object detection estimates the objects that most stand out in an image. The available unsupervised saliency estimators rely on a pre-determined set of assumptions of how humans perceive saliency to create discriminating features. By fixing the pre-selected assumptions as an integral part of their models, these methods cannot be easily extended for specific settings and different image domains. We then propose a superpixel-based ITerative Saliency Estimation fLexible Framework (ITSELF) that allows any user-defined assumptions to be added to the model when required. Thanks to recent advancements in superpixel segmentation algorithms, saliency-maps can be used to improve superpixel delineation. By combining a saliency-based superpixel algorithm to a superpixel-based saliency estimator, we propose a novel saliency/superpixel self-improving loop to iteratively enhance saliency maps. We compare ITSELF to two state-of-the-art saliency estimators on five metrics and six datasets, four of which are composed of natural-images, and two of biomedical-images. Experiments show that our approach is more robust than the compared methods, presenting competitive results on natural-image datasets and outperforming them on biomedical-image datasets.


Healthcare wastes are produced from all medical and therapeutic activities in hospitals and healthcare centres. Around 15-20% of these wastes are classified as infectious wastes that could be hazardous. Therefore, an effective approach is required for handling costs and environmental issues. In this paper, a bi-objective Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) model is presented for logistics of infectious and non-infectious wastes. The proposed bi-objective model aims to minimize network costs and the risk of exposure to contamination. In this respect, a multi-stage network consisting of hospitals, recycling centres, treatment centres, disposal centres, mainly covering the location-routing problem, is considered. To deal with computational complexity of the proposed model, a Benders Decomposition Algorithm (BDA) has been employed. The researchers were faced with two important questions: (1) whether the proposed model can be applied to real-world scenarios or not, and (2) how efficient is the proposed algorithm in solving standard test problems and real-world cases. To answer these questions, the outputs of the BDA have been compared with the optimal solutions provided by the CPLEX software. The results imply that the BDA has been able to achieve optimal solutions in less computation times. Moreover, the proposed model and algorithm have been applied to a real-world study in Alborz Province of Iran. The outputs demonstrate that the proposed model and algorithm can yield applicable solutions for the case study which have been approved by experts. The proposed model can be extended by considering compatibility of wastes in storage.


Acetone, Methanol and Aqueous extracts of Gloriosa superba (Tubers) were investigated for their ability to inhibit three gram negative and two gram positive major food borne microorganisms. The antibacterial activity of three organic solvents of Gloriosa superba (Tubers) crude extracts against gram negative and gram positive organisms were tested by well diffusion with zone of inhibition 05 – 24mm. Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) for both gram negative and gram positive organisms were 1.25 mg/ml – 0.3125 mg/ml. In this study the acetone and methanol extracts showed greater antimicrobial activity against both gram positive and gram negative organisms. The present study confirm the tubers of Gloriosa superb Linn extracted using various solvents and is therefore, a potential drug that required further studies and developments.


The present paper analyses the semantic meaning of the subjunctive mood from the standpoint of Cognitive Grammar (Langacker 1987, 1991, 2008). It is shown that the subjunctive mood appears in grammatical contexts where the described event is outside the conceptualizer's dominion: either because of a minimal possibility to actively exert control over the described event, either because the event does not correspond to the conceptualizer's conception of reality. Thus, it is argued that the semantic meaning of the subjunctive mood is associated with events and propositions outside the conceptualizer's dominion. The analysis focuses on complements of volitional, epistemic and factive verbs, and on relative clauses