Objective To explore the effect of stigma on social participation in community-dwelling Chinese patients with stroke sequelae. Design A cross-sectional survey study. Setting The study was conducted in two community centres in Tianjin, China. Subjects Community-dwelling Chinese patients with stroke sequelae. Measures Chinese version of Stigma Scale for Chronic Illness, Chinese version of Impact on Participation and Autonomy, Modified Barthel index, Self-Rating Depression Scale, Social Support Rating Scale, Medical Coping Modes Questionnaire, background and disease-related questions. Pearson's correlation coefficients were computed between stigma and social participation. The impact of stigma on social participation was estimated by hierarchical multiple regression analysis after controlling for demographic, physical and psychosocial characteristics. Results In total, 136 patients with stroke sequelae were included in this study, with a mean age of 67.8 years. The Chinese version of the Stigma Scale for Chronic Illness had a mean score of 48.4 (SD 16.9), and the Chinese version of the Impact on Participation and Autonomy was 67.1 (SD 21.1). Significant correlations were found between stigma and social participation. Pearson's correlation coefficient ranged from 0.354 to 0.605 (P < 0.01). Enacted stigma provided a significant explanation for the variance of social participation by 1.1% (P < 0.05). Felt stigma provided a significant explanation for the variance of social participation by 2.9% (P < 0.001). Conclusion Felt stigma and enacted stigma have independent associations with social participation. Patients with stroke sequelae who reported higher stigma experienced a lower level of social participation.


This study evaluated the effectiveness of Fenton's technique for the treatment of semi-aerobic landfill leachate collected from Pulau Burung Landfill Site (PBLS), Penang, Malaysia. The Fe2 + or Fe3 + as catalyst and H2O2 as oxidizing agent are commonly used for the classical Fenton's reaction. In present study, the effect of operating conditions such as pH, reaction time, molar ratio, agitation rate, feeding mode and Fenton reagent concentrations which are important parameters that affect the removal efficiencies of Fenton method were investigated. Under the most favorable conditions, the highest removals of 58.1 and 78.3% were observed for COD and color, respectively. In general, the best operating conditions were pH = 3, Fe = 560 mg L−1, H2O2 = 1020 mg L−1, H2O2/Fe2 + molar ratio = 3, agitation rate = 400 rpm and reaction time = 120 minutes. The results highlighted that stepwise addition of Fenton's reagent was more effective than adding the entire volume in a single step. Excessive hydrogen peroxide and iron have shown scavenging effects on hydroxyl radicals and reduced degradation of refractory organics in the landfill leachate.


David Churchill, Michael Buro [1 leave this spacer to make page count accurate] [2 leave this spacer to make page count accurate] [3 leave this spacer to make page count accurate] [4 leave this spacer to make page count accurate] [5 leave this spacer to make page count accurate] [6 leave this spacer to make page count accurate] [7 leave this spacer to make page count accurate] [8 leave this spacer to make page count accurate] [9 leave this spacer to make page count accurate] [10 leave this spacer to make page count accurate] [11 leave this spacer to make page count accurate] [12 leave this spacer to make page count accurate] [13 leave this spacer to make page count accurate] [14 leave this spacer to make page count accurate] [15 leave this spacer to make page count accurate] [16 leave this spacer to make page count accurate] [17 leave this spacer to make page count accurate] [18 leave this spacer to make page count accurate] [19 leave this spacer to make page count accurate] [20 leave this spacer to make page count accurate]


A Stability indicating Reverse-Phase liquid chromatographic method for the simultaneous estimation of DF and MP was developed. The chromatographic assay involves the use of Hi Q C18 W, 150 x 4.6mm, 5μm column with a simple mobile phase composition of Acetonitrile & HPLC Grade water in the ratio of 70:30%v/v at a flow rate of 1mL/min with U.V detection at wavelength of 220 nm. The method showed good linearity in the concentration range of 50-100 μg/mL for DF and 0.20-0.40 μg/mL for MP. The proposed method was also successfully applied to 20 tablets of marketed formulation (Arthotec). The developed method was successfully validated as per the ICH guidelines for following parameters. Accuracy, precision, repeatability, ruggedness, robustness, system suitability tests, etc. The RSD for Intra-day and Inter-day precision was found to be 0.96-1.85, 1.02-1.83 For DF and 0.55-0.59, 0.59-0.63 for MP. The average percentage recoveries for DF were found to be 90.83, 99.74, 100.21 and for MP it was found to be 100.83, 98.94, 99.72. which was in good agreement with labeled amount of Pharmaceutical formulation. The stability indicating capacity was tested by accelerated degradation of marketed formulation in acidic (0.1 N HCl), basic (0.1 N NaOH), Neutral (water), Oxidative (3% H2O2), Thermal (60 0 C), Sunlight exposure.


Cloud networking receives a lot of attention from the research community, especially due to its ability to bridge the dependability gaps in the existing cloud service provisioning models by enabling provisioning of virtualized network resources and providing network guarantees to the end-user. In cloud networking, network resources shared between multiple tenants are virtualized, and provisioned to customers in an elastic fashion. However, the existing cloud networking systems have many drawbacks pertaining to security, management, and performance. Therefore, it is necessary to develop new security architectures and suitable algorithms to provide effective security to the virtualized network resources available in the cloud. In this paper, we propose a new architecture which focuses on providing a security mechanism for cloud network resource provisioning models. The central feature of this architecture is a hierarchical, multi-domain, and multi-level security goal translation function which promotes security of the virtualized network resources and trust management between the service providers.


BACKGROUND
Ischemic heart disease is a leading cause of death worldwide, and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is a major treatment. Landiolol is an ultra-short-acting beta-antagonist known to prevent postoperative atrial fibrillation. However, the effectiveness of intraoperative landiolol on mortality remains unknown. This study aimed to evaluate the association between intraoperative landiolol use and the in-hospital mortality in patients undergoing CABG.

METHODS
To conduct this retrospective cohort study, we used data from the Japanese Diagnosis Procedure Combination inpatient database. All patients who underwent CABG during hospitalization between July 1, 2010, and March 31, 2020, were included. Patients who received intraoperative landiolol were defined as the landiolol group, whereas the other patients were defined as the control group. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality. Propensity score matching was used to compare the landiolol and control groups.

RESULTS
In total, 118,506 patients were eligible for this study, including 25,219 (21%) in the landiolol group and 93,287 (79%) in the control group. One-to-one propensity score matching created 24,893 pairs. After propensity score matching, the in-hospital mortality was significantly lower in the landiolol group than that in the control group (3.7% vs 4.3%; odds ratio 0.85; 95% confidence interval 0.78 to 0.94; P = .010).

CONCLUSIONS
Intraoperative landiolol use was associated with decreased in-hospital mortality in patients undergoing CABG. Further randomized controlled trials are required to confirm these findings.


The (n,2n) excitation function for 50Cr and the (n,2n) and (n,p) excitation functions for 52Cr have been measured in the energy range 14.2-18.2 MeV. Activation techniques using the mixed-powder method and a Ge(Li) detector gamma-ray spectrometer were utilized in the measurements. Neutrons were produced by the 3H(d,n)4He reaction. Using the 27Al(n, alpha )24Na reaction to monitor the neutron flux, the measured cross section values at the respective neutron energies of 14.2+or-0.2, 15.2+or-0.2, 16.2+or-0.2, 17.2+or-0.2 and 18.2+or-0.2 MeV were found to be 13+or-1, 33+or-3, 56+or-4, 66+or-6 and 78+or-6 mb for the 50Cr(n,2n)49Cr reaction, 285+or-26, 415+or-37, 456+or-40, 456+or-40 and 511+or-48 mb for the 52Cr(n,2n)51Cr reaction and 67+or-6, 63+or-5, 57+or-4, 46+or-5 mb for the 52Cr(n,p)52V reaction. The associated-particle method was also used to determine the neutron flux at 14.2 MeV in order to check the mixed-powder results. The average cross section values for four associated-particle measurements at 14.2 MeV were found to be 14+or-1 mb for the 50Cr(n,2n)49Cr reaction, 284+or-24 mb for the 52Cr(n,2n)51Cr reaction and 70+or-6 mb for the 52Cr(n,p)52V reaction.


Nowadays, serious concern has been raised by governments and also academicians for the unemployment issues among graduates. As becoming entrepreneur can be one of the options, their intention on becoming self-employed had encouraged researcher to investigate particularly on the influence of entrepreneurial intention among university
students. The main purpose of this study was to identify whether second order mediator entrepreneurial motivation mediates the relationship between independent variables
(attitude toward behavior, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control) and dependent variable (entrepreneurial intention). Besides that, this study was conducted to know the type of mediation involved in the study. A structured questionnaire was then distributed to
380 students. A survey methodology using cluster sampling was carried out, covering 380 university students from east coast region which are Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang. This study is analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The finding shows that the entrepreneurial motivation mediates the relationship between independent variables (attitude toward behavior and subjective norm) and entrepreneurial intention. The type of mediation occur are partial mediation and complete mediation.


Extreme variants of anencephaly in two human embryos of the same stage, namely 22 (54 days), shed new light on problems such as craniocerebral interrelationships and the timing of developmental events. Embryo X had a chondrocranium that possessed features typical of a holoacranial anencephalic skull and an extremely well-preserved brain, in which some of the neural tracts were comparable to those in a normal control. On the other hand, embryo Y of the same stage had a completely degenerated brain, although the chondrocranium was more nearly normal and represented the precursor of a meroacranial skull. A comparison of the two cases seems to indicate a certain independence between skull and brain. Moreover, it appears possible that the disturbances are related primarily to the skeletal, and only secondarily to the nervous, component. Comparisons with experimental data allow the conclusion that the maldevelopment involves mostly paraxial mesenchyme and little or no disturbance of neural crest. The timing of the mesenchymal defect is probably as early as stages 8 and 9 (18-20 days). This is also the time at which mesenchymal defects can result in failure of the neural tube to close.


s its key idea, Executable and Translatable Unified Modeling Language (xtUML) separates application and software architecture design and weaves them together only at deployment time via the following: • Application models capture what the application does clearly and precisely. The models are executable, including details relevant to the application but independent of the software platform (i.e., design and implementation details). • Software architecture designs – defined in terms of transformation rules and execution engine components – are incorporated by a generator that produces code for the target system. The software architecture designs are completely independent of the applications they support. • A generator, which may be human, weaves the application models and the execution engine components resulting in 100 percent complete code for modeled components. The complete separation of the software architecture design from the application models supports concurrent design of the application and the software architecture , compressing the development schedule and time to market. These benefits accrue partly as a result of simplifying the tasks of analysis and design because each can be carried out separately. In particular, design is the definition of a set of transformations that can be applied to the various analysis elements. Each design transformation rule thus applies to all matching patterns in the application , significantly simplifying the design task. This also enables automation, which yields greater benefits. For that reason, the article assumes automation here. xtUML Notation xtUML defines a carefully selected, streamlined subset of UML to support the needs of execution-and translation-based development, which is enforced not by convention but by execution: Either a model compiles, or it does not. The notational subset has an underlying execution model. All diagrams (e.g., class diagrams, state diagrams, activity specifications) are projections or views of this underlying model. Other UML models that do not support execution such as use-case diagrams may be used freely to help build the xtUML models. The essential components of xtUML are illustrated in Figure 1 (see page 20), which shows a set of classes and objects that use state machines to communicate. Each state machine has a set of actions triggered by the state changes in the state machines that cause synchronization, data access, and functional computations to be executed. A complete set of actions makes UML a computationally complete specification language with a defined abstract syntax for creating objects, sending signals to them, accessing data about instances, and …


Supervised machine translation works well when the train and test data are sampled from the same distribution. When this is not the case, adaptation techniques help ensure that the knowledge learned from out-of-domain texts generalises to in-domain sentences. We study here a related setting, multi-domain adaptation, where the number of domains is potentially large and adapting separately to each domain would waste training resources. Our proposal transposes to neural machine translation the feature expansion technique of (Daumé III, 2007): it isolates domain-agnostic from domain-specific lexical representations, while sharing the most of the network across domains. Our experiments use two architectures and two language pairs: they show that our approach, while simple and computationally inexpensive, outperforms several strong baselines and delivers a multi-domain system that successfully translates texts from diverse sources.


Abstract.
 The evolution of paleoecosystems was often accompanied by the expansion of ecological niches; organismal habitats extended from the sediment surface to the water column, and then to the interior part of the sediment. A major step in ecosystem innovation was recorded in the macrobiota of the upper Doushantuo Formation during the middle-late Ediacaran Period, including the Miaohe biota from western Hubei and the Wenghui biota from northeastern Guizhou, in the Yangtze Block, South China. The macrobiota was dominated by branching and unbranching macroalgae, with abundant metazoans (including worms or vermiform animals, trilobozoans, poriferans, and medusiform animals) and ichnofossils. They lived in a warm and calm tropical ocean, with plentiful sunlight, oxygen, and nutrients. The habitats of the organisms can be subdivided into three layers of morphology and paleoecology: the epibenthic layer, the erect-benthic layer, and the plankton layer. In the case of the epibenthic and erect-benthic layers, the organisms lived on the depositional surface, or were fixed on the seafloor; in the plankton layer, the organisms floated in the water column or on the water surface. In middle-late Ediacaran macroorganism paleoecosystems, the following changes occurred: diversification, the intensification of competition between organisms, a reinforcement of the ability of organisms to change their surroundings, and the effective conversion of bioenergy. The macroorganism paleoecosystem was a key transition in the establishment of a complicated and multilayered ecological pyramid and increasing atmospheric oxygen, and a prelude to the Cambrian explosion.


Cementing at medium temperature and high temperature (90–150 °C) is facing challenges on account of the properties of the retarders. Except for the thermal stability, abnormal gelation, such as "bulging" and "stepping", often takes place and results in safety problems. In this article, the synthesis of a new retarder DRH-150 was introduced. First, a main chain with thermal-resistant groups, 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid-acrylic acid (AMPS-IA-AA) was prepared by free radical polymerization. Second, the retarder with a branched structure was synthesized by the grafting reaction. Evaluation of the construction performance showed that, within the temperature range from 90 to 150 °C, the initial viscosity of the cement slurry with DRH-150 was less than 15 Bc, exhibiting an adjustable thickening time and a dosage sensitivity of less than 20%. Meanwhile, no abnormal gelation phenomenon was observed. Referring to the static gelation, both the transition time and the starting strength time (1 MPa) were short. The overall results proved that the retarder DRH-150 might ensure the safety of well cementing and improve the wellbore sealing effect in deep wells, ultradeep wells, and complex wells.


This study deals with guaranteed state estimation of power systems in the bounded-error context, which avoids the effect of inexact matching of the assumed statistical hypotheses on the error. A new approach, based on interval constraint propagation, is proposed to compute guaranteed estimates of state variables and measurements. According to the feature of power systems, two improvements based on interval constraint propagation are presented to improve contraction and obtain narrow interval images. First, a monotonicity-based contractor is exploited because of the monotonicity of measure function to part of state variables. Second, the constraints set are extended by combining the measurement constraints. The improved method is guaranteed, contraction efficient and time efficient. The results, achieved using the proposed method, are compared with those typical existing methods to demonstrate its effectiveness. Tests are carried out on the IEEE 14-bus system and the IEEE 118-bus system, respectively.


Recently, the polyion complex (PIC) micelle has been suggested as a promising carrier system for peptide and proteins. However, its utilities are limited by its sensitivity to the environment such as dilution and ionic strength of the solution. In this study, to overcome these obstructions, PIC micelles prepared from an anionic block copolymer, poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(alpha,beta-aspartic acid), and a cationic protein, trypsin, were cross-linked with glutaraldehyde through the Schiff base formation. On the basis of a light scattering technique, the results revealed an efficient resistance of the cross-linked PIC micelle to a high salt concentration, which was a key parameter controlling the structure of the PIC micelles. Moreover, the stability of trypsin after cross-linking was remarkably improved. Evidently, as a bionanoreactor and/or bionanoreservoir, the PIC micelles entrapping protein molecules in the cross-linked core reveal an improved stability, allowing their wide application in the fields of biotechnology and pharmaceutical sciences.


Solder joint reliability is very important to ensure that an integrated circuit (IC) semiconductor package is functional within its intended life span as the solder joint establishes electrical connection between the IC and the printed circuit board (PCB). Solder fatigue failure or crack under thermal cycling is one of the common problems with board-mounted packages. There are several factors or package characteristics that have impact on solder fatigue life like package size and material properties of the package components. This paper presents a thermo-mechanical modeling of a leadframe-based semiconductor package to study the impact of lead sidewall solder coverage and corner lead size on the solder joint reliability. Finite element analysis (FEA) technique was used to calculate the solder life considering 50% and 100% package lead sidewall solder coverage as well as smaller and larger critical corner leads of the package. The results of the analysis showed that higher lead sidewall solder coverage and larger lead could significantly increase solder life. Therefore, ensuring lead sidewall solder wettability to have higher solder coverage is beneficial. The study also reveals that packages with side wettable flanks are not only enabling high speed automated optical inspection required for the automotive industry, but they are also providing improved solder joint reliability.


Autoimmunity to retinal antigens has been implicated in the pathogenesis of both endogenous posterior uveitis and retinitis pigmentosa. Recent studies, however, suggest that low levels of antibodies to retinal antigens occur generally in the population. We have attempted to maximize antibody secretion by peripheral blood lymphocytes from patients and normal healthy controls using the polyclonal activator, Epstein-Barr virus, to stimulate lymphocytes in vitro. Whereas cells from controls and uveitis patients showed a level of anti-retinal antibody secretion which corresponded with their serum titres of antibodies, patients with retinitis pigmentosa showed a greater tendency to produce high secretor lymphocytes after EB-virus stimulation despite having low serum titres of antibody. This strategy for studying antibody secretion may be of value in unmasking low levels of autoimmune responsiveness in conditions such as retinitis pigmentosa where low grade tissue damage occurs over many years and antigen release is correspondingly too low to initiate a measurable autoimmune reaction.


: Human behaviour is often considered to be irrational, difficult to understand, and challenging to manage. This phenomenon has a direct impact on the way in which humans behave when confronted with information security which, in turn, complicates how security is to be managed. This research attempts to investigate the role that contextual factors play in how humans behave, specifically with regards to information security. Contextual factors are identified that influence human behaviour in general. These factors are conceptualised in relation to existing models of behaviour and subsequently mapped to information security behaviour. A practical research exercise, relating to information security behaviour, is conducted with a university residence as the contextual environment. The specific contextual factors, and how they relate to information security, are discussed. Information security behavioural threshold analysis is employed to evaluate the impact of the identified contextual factors on the residence's security behaviour. The results are reflected upon, based on the results from the threshold analysis. The paper concludes by highlighting the contributions that were made towards understanding contextual factors in information security.


The essential message of our review was that forensic individualization/identification science is on course for a "paradigm shift" in which its future will be more scientifically grounded than its past. Harmon and Budowle take issue with the simple point that traditional forensic science assumes that markings produced by different people and objects are observably different. The notion of uniqueness is widespread in forensic science writing, thinking, and practice. We added the qualifier "discernible" to the uniqueness assumption to indicate that criminalists do not refer to uniqueness in the abstract or as a metaphysical property. They mean that conclusions about object uniqueness are attainable in practice.


Exact amplitudes for the scattering of an electron on the zero-range potential in a magnetic field are analyzed as functions of a complex energy variable. Trajectories of the poles on various sheets of the Riemann surface are studied. Physically important resonances are identified and analytic estimates predicting their characteristics are presented. Transmission and reflection probabilities are calculated and related to the study of the resonances


Background. An ischemic stroke has long-term adverse effects on the physical, emotional, and social well-being of the stroke survivor, so it is very important to help the patient regain independence and lost functions as quickly and efficiently as possible. Dynamic Neuromuscular Stability exercises can restore movement patterns in these patients by simulating central nervous system.
The aim. To compare the effects of conventional physiotherapy and dynamic neuromuscular stabilization integrated into conventional physiotherapy on balance and gait in patients with cerebral infarction.
Methods. The study included 30 subjects who survived an ischemic stroke. Subjects were randomly divided into two groups of 15 people in each for different interventions: Conventional physiotherapy and Conventional physiotherapy combined with integrated dynamic neuromuscular stabilization. Subjects were examined at a baseline and after the interventions. Patients' balance was assessed using the Biodex platform, which was chosen to evaluate fall risk, trunk stability, stability limits and sensory organization. Gait parameters (step length and step width) of the affected and unaffected leg were assessed using the Zebris FDM-T treadmill.
Results. Both conventional physiotherapy and physiotherapy with integrated dynamic neuromuscular stabilization improved gait parameters of the patients, as well as improving the results of the tests of fall risk, postural stability, stability limits, and the results of the sensory integration test when testing with eyes open on a stable surface (p<0.05). However, the results of the sensory integration tests while standing on a stable surface with eyes closed (p<0.001), with eyes open on an unstable surface (p<0.001) and with eyes closed on an unstable surface (p=0.021) improved only post physiotherapy with integrated dynamic neuromuscular stabilization.
Conclusions. Both conventional physiotherapy and physiotherapy with integrated dynamic neuromuscular stabilization significantly improved gait and balance parameters in stroke patients.
 Keywords: Dynamic neuromuscular stabilization, stroke, balance, trunk stability, gait.


this paper details how IR sensors may be used to determine the absolute attitude of Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles under Visual Meteorological Conditions specifically the determination of an aircraft's pitch and roll angles.


Background: Injury and illness incidence rates continue to be higher in healthcare facilities than in the manufacturing environment despite improvement efforts implemented by various organizations. The prevention of workplace injury and illness is a challenge for facilities due to reasons including exposure to body fluids, infectious diseases, and patient handling activities. The purpose of this project was to reduce workplace safety-related incidents and prevent employee injuries through leadership involvement in employment of preventive, directive, and corrective controls. Methods: A tertiary medical center in California experienced 114 accepted injury claims in 1 year. As a response to the problem, the medical center developed a safety management system consisting of a process for engagement between leadership and staff members/employees to increase accountability and reduce injury risks. Findings: The medical center achieved a 59% reduction from 114 to 67 injury claims over a period of 2 years and a two-point increase in engagement scores from both leaders and staff members. Conclusion/Application to Practice: The development of a safety culture starts with leadership behavior, establishment of clear safety processes, and hazard mitigation activities. Workplace safety is a shared responsibility between frontline staff managers and leadership within an organization. Senior leaders must serve as role models to promote a speak-up culture to support safe work practices.


Pain is a universal experience, and it is the most frequent reason for people seeking health care. The study focused
 on the assessment and management of pain among surgical patients by nurses in Secondary Health Facility in
 Calabar Metropolis, Nigeria. Three research objectives and one hypothesis were formulated to guide the study.
 The study adopted a descriptive design and 68 nurses caring for patients in surgical wards were enrolled for the
 study. Data were obtained through structured questionnaire (pain assessment and management schedule) reports
 (nurses-end-of-shift) cards and patients case note. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the data and Pearson
 product moment correlation was used to test the hypothesis. The results obtained on methods of pain assessment
 recorded thus: information about patient 95.8%, pain history 89.7%, patient self report of pain 72%, observation of
 behaviour 78.9% and assessment of pain site and location 73.5%. The results on pain management revealed use of
 cold and heat compress 92.6%, diversional therapy 92.6%, health education 92.6%, use of opoids 77.9% and
 injection paracetamol 95.8%. Further, the result showed a significant relationship between knowledge of pain
 assessment and management, r-cal = 0.43, r-crit = .02, df 66 P < 0.05. Records of pain assessment and
 management were deficient in the wards and no pain management was identified. Based on this result, it was
 recommended that the hospital should set up a pain control team and organize workshop programmes to equip
 nurses with knowledge and skills in pain assessment, management and documentation.


Introduction As the Bone and Joint Decade 2000–2010 draws to a close, it is timely to review its impact on musculoskeletal medical education, which was clearly identified by the World Health Organization as a key factor contributing to less than optimal musculoskeletal care (1). The increasing burden of musculoskeletal disorders (including chronic bone and arthritic conditions) and the uncertain quality of care provided (2,3) has meant that there is a growing imperative to ensure that optimal, evidence-based, and cost-effective treatment is being provided to people with musculoskeletal disorders by medical practitioners (4). In 2004, the Bone and Joint Decade established the International Education Task Force and Undergraduate Curriculum Development Group to develop strategies to address the issue of insufficient and/or inadequate medical education, particularly in the areas of basic and clinical science (5,6). They released global core recommendations for a musculoskeletal undergraduate medical curriculum, which were designed to enable the development of a locally applicable musculoskeletal curriculum that was able to meet national guidelines and be reflective of local needs, priorities, and opportunities (5). Despite the release of the global core recommendations for a musculoskeletal undergraduate medical curriculum, in 2007 Woolfe and Akesson identified that the poor quality of medical education and a lack of coordination between the different disciplines and professional specialties working in musculoskeletal health care have meant that people do not receive the best practice treatment (6). Furthermore, in 2007 Day et al demonstrated significant deficiencies in the knowledge of chronic arthritic conditions in graduating medical students (2). Deficiencies in undergraduate education in musculoskeletal science have also been identified by medical students and graduates in studies conducted in a number of countries (2,7–10), and there is an obvious requirement for clinically relevant, evidence-based curriculum design that integrates traditional scientific and clinical disciplines. The Australian Musculoskeletal Education Collaboration (AMSEC) project began in Australia in 2005, with the aim of developing nationally agreed musculoskeletal core competencies (based on the Bone and Joint Decade curriculum recommendations) for implementation in all Australian medical schools. Initiated by the Australian Orthopaedic Association and funded by the Australian government, this project has succeeded in bringing together all key musculoskeletal specialist and representative organizations in a national, multidisciplinary education collaboration (including orthopedics, rheumatology, general practice, rehabilitation medicine, sports medicine, endocrinology, neurology, geriatrics, radiology, pediatrics, nursing, and interested allied health professions). While the Bone and Joint Decade recommendations formed the base from which the Australian competencies were developed, it was also vital that specific Australian standards and requirements were considered. The AMSEC competencies were therefore also related directly to the Australian Medical Council standards and principles and The National Patient Safety Framework (11,12). The purpose of this article is to outline the relevance of a competency-based approach to musculoskeletal education and to describe the development of theAMSECmusculoskeletal core competencies. Furthermore, we demonstrate the significance of the AMSEC competencies and the competency education process for optimal education in musculoskeletal medicine relative to chronic rheumatic disease.


A quantitative systems pharmacology model for metastatic melanoma was developed for immuno‐oncology with the goal of predicting efficacy of combination checkpoint therapy with pembrolizumab and ipilimumab. This literature‐based model is developed at multiple scales: (i) tumor and immune cell interactions at a lesion level; (ii) multiple heterogeneous target lesions, nontarget lesion growth, and appearance of new metastatic lesion at a patient level; and (iii) interpatient differences at a population level. The model was calibrated to pembrolizumab and ipilimumab monotherapy in patients with melanoma from Robert et al., specifically, waterfall plot showing target lesion response and overall response rate (Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors [RECIST] version 1.1), which additionally considers nontarget lesion growth and appearance of new metastatic lesions. We then used the model to predict waterfall and RECIST version 1.1 for combination treatment reported in Long et al. A key insight from this work was that nontarget lesions growth and appearance of new metastatic lesion contributed significantly to disease progression, despite reduction in target lesions. Further, the lesion level simulations of combination therapy show substantial efficacy in warm lesions (intermediary immunogenicity) but limited advantage of combination in both cold and hot lesions (low and high immunogenicity). Because many patients with metastatic disease are expected to have a mixture of these lesions, disease progression in such patients may be driven by a subset of cold lesions that are unresponsive to checkpoint inhibitors. These patients may benefit more from the combinations which include therapies to target cold lesions than double checkpoint inhibitors.


Twenty mild to moderate hypertensive subjects (11 men, 9 women, mean age 54.3 years, range 39-65 years) were studied to determine whether an intravenous form of captopril could be as safe and efficacious as an oral form and to estimate the time course of anti-hypertensive action over a wide dose range (100-fold) of i.v. doses versus oral captopril and placebo. Each subject demonstrated supine diastolic blood pressure (DBP) < or = 90 mm Hg following prospective ACE inhibitor monotherapy, with return of supine DBP to within 95-110 mm Hg 4 weeks after ACE inhibitor discontinuation. These subjects were then admitted to an inpatient unit for six 24 h periods; an initial acclimation period followed by five single doses of i.v. captopril (1.25, 12.5 and 125 mg) or placebo given as a 20 min infusion and oral captopril (25 mg) or placebo in a double-blind, double-dummy crossover study. Each dose was separated by 48 h. All 20 patients completed the study with no clinically significant adverse events. Captopril at doses of 125 mg i.v., 12.5 mg i.v. and 25 mg orally produced similar BP reductions over the 12 h postdose interval, and were more effective in lowering BP than intravenous captopril 1.25 mg or placebo. The 125 mg intravenous captopril dose was no more effective overall in BP reduction than the 12.5 mg i.v. and 25 mg oral doses and was associated with a greater incidence of adverse events. Treatment with 12.5 mg i.v. captopril is safe and comparable to 25 mg oral therapy.


The wavelength demultiplexing is a particularly important function in integrated optics and can be realized using photonic crystals. The aim is to extract accurately the wavelengths in a data flux. In this work, we investigate a new topologies of wavelength demultiplexing based on two-dimensional photonic crystals constituted of dielectric rods spread in a square network. The studied demultiplexer is based on optical filters with optimized parameters in order to extract four different wavelengths in the vicinity of frequencies corresponding to communication windows. It was found that the crosstalk between the structure channels of the demultiplexer are in the range of –19.19 and –44.1 dB and the channel spacing is equal to 0.96 nm. The simulation results presented in this paper are performed and analyzed using the FDTD method.


According to the generalized Eshelby et al (1953 Acta Metall. 1 251) method of a straight dislocation line in quasicrystals (QCs), the analytical expressions for elastic displacement fields induced by dislocations in decagonal, octagonal and dodecagonal QCs have been derived when the dislocation lines are parallel to some symmetry axes.


The aim of this study was to assess the interrelation between vascular ultrasonography (US) findings, histopathological data, and the expression of selected dysregulated microRNAs (miRNAs) in giant cell arteritis (GCA). The study included data on the clinical parameters, US measurements, and temporal artery biopsies (TABs) of 46 treatment-naïve patients diagnosed with GCA and 22 age-matched non-GCA patient controls. We performed a comprehensive comparative and correlation analysis along with generation of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves to ascertain the diagnostic performance of US examination parameters and selected miRNAs for GCA diagnosis. We showed significant differences in the US-measured intima–media thickness of the temporal arteries, the presence of a halo sign, and the presence of luminal stenosis between GCA-positive/TAB-positive, GCA-positive/TAB-negative, and non-GCA patients. Correlation analysis revealed significant associations between several histopathological parameters, US-measured intima–media thickness, and the halo sign. We found that the significant overexpression of miR-146b-5p, miR-155-5p, miR-511-5p, and miR-21-5p, and the under-expression of the miR-143/145 cluster, miR-30a-5p, and miR-125a-5p, coincides and is associated with the presence of a halo sign in patients with GCA. Notably, we determined a high diagnostic performance of miR-146b-5p, miR-21-3p, and miR-21-5p expression profiles in discriminating GCA patients from non-GCA controls, suggesting their potential utilization as putative biomarkers of GCA. Taken together, our study provides an insight into the US-based diagnostic evaluation of GCA by revealing the complex interrelation of clearly defined image findings with underlying vascular immunopathology and altered arterial tissue-specific miRNA profiles.


Polyurea systems have excellent performance and are therefore used in a broad variety of industrial applications. These include spray coatings that seal or cover roofs, pavement slabs for bridges, swimming pools, rail beds and tunnels. Polyurea systems offer benefits in the segment of industrial flooring and sealants because, in contrast to other spray coatings, they may be applied in humid and lowtemperature conditions and cure fast. As curing takes just seconds, waiting times are clearly reduced, for example in rehabilitation projects, which helps to cut the overall cost. Chemically speaking, polyurea elastomers are polymers formed by an isocyanate prepolymer reacting with diamines that act as curing agents. The striking features of polyurea elastomers include their ability to readily bridge cracks with an elastic coating and their superb adhesion to a wide variety of surfaces. They are also exceptionally resistant to chemicals, high temperatures and mechanical strain. Their adhesion to different types of material is illustrated by coating applications on concrete, steel, polyurethane foam and wood. Polyureas consist of defined hard and soft segments as they are known in polyurethanes, a related material. By selectively adjusting these segments, one can vary the properties of the polymer film over a broad range, from highly elastic and soft to hard and brittle. To adjust the desired properties, formulators may choose from a selection of isocyanate prepolymers and, most importantly, from different types of polyetheramines that, when appropriately mixed with each other and combined with amine chain extenders, help the broad range of applications of these coatings. With its polytetrahydrofuran amines (PolyTHF amine 1700, 350) (PTMG, C4 basis), BASF offers polyetheramines that are different from common amines based on polypropylene glycol (PPG, C3 basis) (Figure 2). They aim to enhance properties like heat and humidity resistance. This approach is based on the success story of PolyTHF, or polytetramethylene glycol in chemical terms. PolyTHF is used as an amorphous soft segment in the manufacture of elastic textile fibers such as spandex or elastane fibres. The textiles made from these fibres remain highly elastic and are also resistant to high humidity over a broad range of temperatures.


The study was conducted to determine village chicken feed and feeding practice, housing system, production performance and marketing systems and to assess the existing diseases and predators at selected districts of Kafa and Bench Maji Zone, from four representative districts; Adeyo, Chena, Gimbo and Guraferda Six farmer kebeles (2 from high land, 2 from mid-altitude and 2 from low land agro-ecologies which were boka, butta, beyamo, wareta, bifitu-03 and kujja). An attempt was made to study by selecting a total of 150 households who involved in chicken production. The data were collected by semi structured questionnaire, personal observation and interview.Purpose of supplementary feed (39.33%) giving is for egg yield. Major green forage feed (42%) is different edible green grass like "keppo". About 70% of respondents use Household scraps for poultry feed. Source of water for village birds 41% is spring water. Type of container used to supply water is clay pot (45.33%). Trained of washing water supplying materials every times (25.33%) and 23.33% of respondents never. Housing system of village chickens at study area was 41% perch in the house and 11% separate shelter. From this study 87% of the households kept local chicken followed by 8% kept cross and local together and 5% of the households kept exotic and local under the same management. Average age of first egg lying of chicken was 6 months, average number of eggs per clutch was 14, and average clutch size per chicken per year was 3. The average price of adult cock, hen and young chicken were reached 75 birr, 54 birr and 38 birr respectively and the price of egg was reached 2 birr during non-fasting period and 2.25 birr at festival time.The major (50%) Causes of village chickens mortality is diseases followed by (27%) predator. The most devastating chicken disease is Newcastle disease (NCD) 52%, followed by fowl pox (18%).To date there were no any comprehensive studies conducted in the study Weredas. Hence, will help to give important baseline information to improve the existing village chickens feed and feeding practice, housing system, production performance and marketing systems as well as causes of mortally by improving the management practice, poultry breeds with a holistic and multidisciplinary support of services like; health, husbandry, research, extension, training and educating the framers are viable options to improve the livelihood of the households. Keywords : Feeding, Housing, production, marketing, Diseases, Kafa and Benchmaji Zone


BACKGROUND
 The COVID-19 pandemic has broadened the scope of teledermatology services in the United Kingdom from a primarily outpatient-based triage tool to the management of inpatient referrals. In order to reduce the risk of transmission in hospital, a number of changes were implemented within our department. As part of this, our on-call referrals were transferred to a telemedicine app, which incorporates the secure transfer of user-generated patient images onto a web-based image management system providing remote access for the dermatology team.

 OBJECTIVE
 This study aimed to compare how the introduction of this referral method impacted the nature and number of referrals received, the efficiency of the on-call service, and user preferences.

 METHODS
 A retrospective cohort study was conducted to compare the number of referrals, time taken to review, and referral diagnoses between previous referral methods to the dermatology department (bleep, fax, email) (July and September 2019) and the new teledermatology app (July and September 2020). We also performed a survey of junior doctors, seeking their feedback and preferences pertaining to the new referral system.

 RESULTS
 The number of referrals increased by 80%, with a 6-fold increase in lesion referrals. There is a possibility that not all referrals from 2019 were accounted for as paper documents are easily lost or discarded, highlighting another advantage of teledermatology in providing a reliable record of referrals. Dermatology referrals may have increased as the telemedicine app is more accessible to staff across sites. The telemedicine app also led to a reduction in time to review by 0.53 days, resulting in a significantly higher number of patients being given dermatology input on the day of the referral (78% vs 58%). This will have led to earlier treatment, improved patient outcomes, and shorter inpatient stays, resulting in potential cost reductions for the hospital. The survey of junior doctors showed that 81% preferred teledermatology to the previous referral methods.

 CONCLUSIONS
 The introduction of teledermatology has provided an effective and acceptable method of managing on-call dermatology referrals. Easier access to dermatology advice via teledermatology may result in higher numbers of referrals, which may warrant strict referral criteria to prevent oversubscription of the on-call service. Teledermatology ensures an accurate log of referrals, including the nature of referrals, allowing for better auditing and service improvement. Teledermatology referrals allow for advice to be provided within shorter time frames compared to previous methods. This should improve patient outcomes and reduce hospital admission stays, potentially resulting in cost savings for the hospital.


OBJECTIVES
To identify habits of alcohol consumption among school-children and analyse their ways of thinking about the question.

DESIGN
A descriptive study of observation, using a crossover method, and carried out by means of a self-administered questionnaire.

SETTING
Those EGB schools within the Molina de Segura (Murcia) Health Area which accepted the questionnaire.

PARTICIPANTS
The 534 7th-year EGB students who attended class on the day of the field work.

MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS
We used the questionnaire elaborated by Torres Hernández to collect the data and that by Eysenck and Eysenck (EPI type A) to evaluate the replies' reliability. We analysed 478 of the 534 questionnaires which exceeded level 4 of the sincerity scale. We found that 83.3% had tried alcohol on some occasion, 2.5% drank it daily, 14.2% had consumed alcohol before the age of 10 and 19.5% had got drunk on some occasion. Cider and beer were the drinks preferred. We found no significant differences for gender. 91.6% thought that alcohol damaged health, 83.7% that it affected studies and 94.1% sport. 10.7% thought that it did not create dependence.

CONCLUSIONS
We underline the high percentage of alcohol consumption in young people and their early starting-age, as well as the change in the patterns of traditional female behaviour in relation to alcohol consumption. We emphasise the need for Health Education among schoolchildren.


Thermal loads are recognized as a valuable source of flexibility in face of the increasing variability caused by the large shares of renewable production. Lockout constraints can significantly reduce the flexibility of thermostatically controlled loads (TCLs). We propose a novel way of modifying the loads' lockout durations to achieve non-intrusive centralized control without relying on local computations and estimations. We derive analytical expressions for the flexibility reduction and validate them via simulations, which show that the proposed method describes the TCLs flexibility accurately. We further show that a simple stochastic centralized controller, which does not rely on local temperature measurements, outperforms the commonly used priority-stack controller in terms of system robustness against infeasible trajectories.


The paper considers MIMO relay networks where a source node transmits the signals to a destination node through multiple relay nodes, each of which is equipped with multiple antennas. As shown by previous studies, using multiple relay nodes to forward the signals can improve the performance. The distributed array gain can be achieved at the destination node while maintaining the maximum spatial multiplexing gain when the zero-forcing (ZF) weighting matrices are applied at the relay nodes. However, this relaying scheme cannot obtain the receive array gain simultaneously. To overcome the disadvantage, we propose a novel multiple relay nodes selection scheme based on the criterion of maximizing the minimum received SNR among all antennas at the destination node to enhance the diversity gain and the array gain. Simulation results confirm the superiority of our proposed selection scheme over the conventional ZF MIMO relaying scheme.


Localised gingival enlargements are commonly seen in the oral cavity. Most of these lesions are reactive and non-neoplastic in nature. Clinically it is always not possible to differentiate one specific gingival enlargement from other. Confirmatory diagnosis is made by histologic analysis. Peripheral ossifying fibroma(POF) is one such entity the confirmatory diagnosis of which is made by histopathological features. It is a reactive beningn lesion. The present case report describes a 20- year- old male, who visited the Department of Periodontology with the chief compliant of swelling of gums in the upper front teeth region since 3 months. His past dental history reveals that he had similar type of overgrowth 1year back and had undergone surgical excision 6months back. Intraoral examination revealed a solitary, pedunculated mass involving interdental papilla in relation to 11,21. His intraoral radiograph showed boneloss in relation to 11,21. Surgical excision of the lesion was done by scalpel method followed by histopathologic examination for confirmatory diagnosis. As the overgrowth was re-occurred in this patient the present case report mainly emphasis about the surgical procedure to be done and the close post operative follow up required.


Severe spinal cord injury (SCI) always leads to permanent sensory and motor dysfunction. However, the therapeutic effects of current treatment methods, including high dose methylprednisolone, surgical interventions and rehabilitative care, are far from satisfactory. In recent years, cellular, molecular, tissue engineering and rehabilitative training have shown promising results in animal models. Poly-ε-caprolacton (PCL) – based hydrogel composite system has been considered as a promising strategy to direct the axon growth and mimic the properties of natural extracellular matrix. In this study, we found the addition of the fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) and epidermal growth factor (EGF) to the hydrogel induces the production of axon growth-supportive substrates. The addition of the glial-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) to the hydrogel further induces axon directional growth. This "five-in-one" composite scaffold, referred to as PCL/PEG/FGF2/EGF/GDNF, improved the locomotor function in rats 8 weeks after spinal cord injury (SCI) after implantation in transected spinal cord. Furthermore, histological assessment indicated that the designed composite scaffold guided the neuronal regeneration and promoted the production of axon growth-supportive substrates, providing a favorable biological microenvironment. Our novel composite scaffold provides a promising therapeutic method for SCI.


The Unified Modelling Language (UML) as delivered in September 1997 offers the structure and dynamics of its modelling constructs developed in order to standardise different object oriented (OO) development practices. Represented as a language, UML covers some aspects addressed by any methodology and is expected to be accompanied by OO CASE tools through notation and implementation of the UML philosophy. This paper discusses the problem of OO CASE tools as methodology companions that encourage or enforce methodology support. The basis for an evaluation instrument has been developed in order to analyse how commercially available OO CASE tools support the UML. The evaluation instrument is based on extraction of a set of rules that are supposed to be followed in order to claim that the UML itself is being followed. The rules are extracted from the current UML Semantics document and its well-formedness rules. The evaluation instrument is tested against a few OO CASE tools in order to analyse how it can be used on a larger scale for assessing the level of automation and UML support embedded in the tools.


It is well known that a strongly magnetized electron beam propagating in an evacuated conducting pipe can exist in either of two equilibria, one with a shallow potential well and the other with a deep potential well. A Lorentz transformation connecting the two classes of equilibria is derived. Thus, since shallow-potential-well equilibria are known to be stable, the deep-potential-well equilibria must also be. The stability of space charge waves in the two equilibria should follow the same pattern. >


Of emission band spectra generally attributed to oxygen the best known is the negative band spectrum with four strong heads at λλ6420-6300; λλ6010- 5960; λλ5630-5550; λλ5290-5200. In addition there are several other fainter bands about λλ5900-5840; λλ6790-6700; λ6200; λ4980, etc. This spectrum appears with considerable intensity in the yellowish-white glow surrounding the negative electrode of a discharge tube containing pure oxygen, while at lower pressures it is visible along the capillary of the tube. The diffuse character of the bands under the dispersion of an ordinary prism spectrograph renders such wave-length determinations of little value however, except as serving for identification of the bands, and they do not appear to have been measured under high dispersion. The spectrum has been investigated by numerous observers, and although it has not been found in absorption there is general agreement that it arises from an oxygen molecule. In the far ultra-violet (λλ1830-1920) Schumann, using a fluorite spectrograph, was the first to obtain emission and absorption bands of oxygen. These bands were investigated in some detail by Steubing ( loc. cit. ), who confirmed Schumann's observations and showed that the system consists of some five bands extending from λλ1831—1845; λλ1848—1863; λλ1864—1881; λλ1882—1899; λλ1900-1919. Each head consists of about eleven lines giving the appearance of being degraded to the red; and the most refrangible head is the strongest of the five. He was also able to excite in this region the fluorescence spectrum of oxygen. It was found to coincide in position with the emission bands, though the intensity distribution in the spectrum was somewhat different. The two less refrangible heads, it should be mentioned, were observed in fluorescence only. The bands were attributed by him to an O2 molecule and this appears to have been accepted by later workers; though Kayser took exception to these views.


The brevity of this monograph contrasts with its importance. With admirable conciseness and remarkable judiciousness Schlam resolves a major Apuleian problem. Schlam's starting-point is that 'a study of the monuments is essential for understanding the symbolic meanings invested in Cupid and Psyche'. The indigestible material of iconography is then divided theme by theme ('The Iconography of Psyche', 'The Embrace' . . .) into small manageable chapters, aided by an interesting selection of illustrations. We learn that the couple first appear in South Italy in the fifth century—before Plato. (Strangely, Schlam does not draw the evident Orphic-Pythagorean conclusion). They then appear in Dionysiac surroundings, before—revealingly—finding themselves on Isiac baetyloi. Hellenistic genre use of the theme is fully recognized, but Schlam maintains appropriate perspective in presenting this as an offshoot from a continuing religious stem, which presently reveals itself above all in the sarcophagi. He constantly avoids the simplistic: 'the figures can fulfil a decorative function without losing their power to express symbolic meaning'. His major conclusion, whose definitive presentation will be welcomed, is that 'the relationship between the monuments and the text must be sought in the correspondence of symbolic meanings, not of narrative events'. For Schlam, it is Apuleius (though there is scope for diagreement here) who retells '» folk tale as the story of Cupid and Psyche' and 'imbues it with allegorical meanings', which he explores in his last chapter, though with a rather conventional caveat: 'To interpret the tale of Cupid and Psyche as a precise philosophical allegory does violence to Apuleius' literary art'. Rightly insisting on the Platonic character of the story, he closes with a discussion of divine voluptas. Documentation is full and perceptive (it is good to see Edgar Wind cited). The book is economically but not displeasingiy produced, and will commend itself to all interested in Apuleius or the history of Greek religious doctrine. Lector intende: laetaberis.


Estrogen Activity Induction involves initiation of the biological function of biochemical substances (estrogens) secreted by the ovaries that have a specific regulatory effect on the activity of cells involved in development and maintenance of secondary female sex characteristics and control of the cyclical changes in the reproductive cycle, as well as pregnancy maintenance and an anabolic effect on protein metabolism and water retention.


A current lead with kA capacity and small AC loss is being developed for use in superconducting current limiting devices cooled with liquid helium. A gas-cooled type current lead using Bi-based oxide superconducting bulk materials was examined to clarify the effects of the current lead geometry and the use of multiple current leads. This paper presents the results of experiments and numerical simulations based on the finite element method taking consideration of nonuniform transport current distribution among multiple current leads connected in parallel. The simulations are performed to investigate the relationship between the geometry of current leads and the amount of heat flow into a cryostat. In the simulations, the AC loss caused by both mutual and self-induced magnetic fields of multiple current leads is taken into account. The influence of AC loss, the joule heat generated by the contact resistance at joints of NbTi/CuNi multi-strand cables and the HTS bars, and the return passage for gas on the operating characteristics of the HTS current leads are evaluated.


Theoretical phase diagrams for betaine calcium chloride dihydrate are constructed. A phenomenological approach is used. Expressions for the thermodynamic potentials of different phases and for the boundaries between these phases are given in an explicit form. The theoretical temperature-pressure phase diagram is plotted and is found to be in agreement with the experimental diagram. The approximations and assumptions made in the construction of the diagrams are discussed.


Seoul, Korea. Of these, we identified 49 patients who had primary intimal tear in the descending aorta with retrograde extension of the AD into ascending aorta (retro-A AD). The diagnosis of retro-A AD Background —Optimal management strategy of acute aortic dissection (AD) with retrograde extension from entry tear in the descending aorta into the ascending aorta remains undetermined. the Mann–Whitney U test, as appropri-ate. Kaplan–Meier curves were used to delineate the survival rates or aortic event–free survival rates. Log-rank tests were used to compare between-group differences in these rates. Changes in native aortic diameter between initial presentation and the latest follow-up were evaluated by Wilcoxon signed-rank test. All reported P values were 2-sided, and a value of P <0.05 was considered statistically significant. SPSS software version 14.0 (SPSS Inc, an IBM Company, Chicago, IL) was used for statistical analyses.


We reported a case of severe acute hyperkalemia during pre-anhepatic stage in living-related liver transplantation. The serum potassium concentration was elevated from 5.1 mmol.l-1 to 7.3 mmol.l-1 after hepatic artery ligation. Inspite of administration of diuretics, calcium and glucose-insulin, T wave on ECG was elevated and premature ventricular contractions occurred frequently. Finally, ventricular tachycardia occurred three times. After hepatic vein ligation, in anhepatic stage, serum potassium decreased gradually to 3.7 mmol.l-1 and arrhythmia disappeared. We consider that the main cause of hyperkalemia in this case is flowing out of potassium from the ischemic liver by surgical manipulation. It is necessary to take care of the change of serum potassium concentration not only in postreperfusion but also pre-anhepatic stage in living-related liver transplantation.


This study presents the first direct observations of the movements and behaviour of free-ranging grey seals at sea. Radio and ultrasonic transmitters were attached to three sub-adult male grey seals which were then tracked from a suitable vessel. Behaviour at sea fell into one of three categories: travelling between haul-outs, short duration trips, and resting adjacent to haul-out sites. Travelling was characterized by direct, relatively fast horizontal movement and by V-shaped dive profiles. During short duration trips the seals swam slower and invariably exhibited square-wave dive profiles, spending approximately 60% of total dive duration at the maximum depth. Resting involved shallow dives close to haul-out sites and an absence of directed lateral movement.

The excellent navigational abilities of grey seals are illustrated by the rapid, direct swimming between distant haul-out sites. It is proposed that short duration trips are specifically for foraging because of their association with other piscivores, and because swimming was slow and mostly on or near the sea bed (grey seals are known to feed almost exclusively on demersal and benthic fish). These trips accounted for only 14% of the nine days that seal 1 was tracked. It is also proposed that the habit of diving to the sea bed whilst travelling between distant haul-out sites is to allow opportunistic foraging with only a small increase in total swimming distance.


The nonlinear amplitude modulation of longitudinal dust lattice waves (LDLWs) propagating in a dusty plasma crystal is investigated in a continuum approximation. It is shown that long wavelength LDLWs are modulationally stable, while shorter wavelengths may be unstable. The possibility for the formation and propagation of different envelope localized excitations is discussed. It is shown that the total grain displacement bears a (weak) constant displacement (zeroth harmonic mode), due to the asymmetric form of the nonlinear interaction potential. The existence of asymmetric envelope localized modes is predicted. The types and characteristics of these coherent nonlinear structures are discussed.


For practical laboratory exercises of networking subjects it proved efficient to interconnect laboratories of multiple institutions to build large-scale virtual education environment, which may be accessible as part of common e-learning system. In the article we describe various approaches of creation of such distributed virtual topologies and experience with technical solutions tested in real e-learning education environment. Most of presented technologies are also beneficial to automatize topology interconnection process in standard networking laboratory to save teacherpsilas work and gain more time for real studentspsila practising.


Abstract Social work in the Czech Republic is confronted with the impact of global neoliberalism, which is manifested by privatisation of social services, individualisation of social risks and economisation. Reflexivity of social workers working with vulnerable children and their families has the potential to lead to a higher quality of social work, strengthening of social workers' identity, and empowering social workers to promote changes in everyday practice. Meeting this potential requires an understanding of constructing reflexivity by social workers, which is the objective of this paper. We used a qualitative research strategy, particularly group and individual interviews with social workers and their analysis using current approaches to grounded theory. Concerning data analysis, we found out that constructing reflexivity (nature and subject of reflexion) derives from the perceived roles of social workers (social worker as an ununderstood artist, social worker a as mediator between social and individual, social workers as an agent of a (society) change, social workers as an agent of normalisation and reflexive professional). The acquired data, within the situational analysis, was inserted into a position map on the scale of holistic and technical reflection. The conclusion discusses the implication for practice and education in social work.


Subject of the research were coal samples from the seams of Orzesze and Ruda beds from "Pnió- wek" coal mine. All samples represent methabituminous coal B, which present high vitrinite content ( V mmf > 60%). Optical character of vitrinite from all analyzed coal samples is biaxial negative and it is characterized by low differentiation of bireflectance. The experiments have shown that the coal rank of investigated samples is generally decreasing with increasing both depth of coal seams and the distance between sampling point and the Carboniferous roof. It may suggests inversion of coalification. Specific types of macerals, typical for thermally metamorphosed coals have been found for all analysed coal samples. It was found, presence of such components like: fluorescing bituminous substance (FBS) filling of cellular spaces in semifusinite, fusinite, and funginite; pseudomorphs after megaspores exhibiting strong bireflectance, and anisotropic semifusinite. Petrographic components with a structure similar to structure of coke and pyrolytic carbon were observed rarely. Presence of colotelinite grains which are visible darker, impregnated with bituminous substance and exhibiting weak fluorescence may be related with influence of temperature on coal. Carbonates occur as filling of cellular spaces in semifusinite, in examined coal samples and there are the effect of thermal alteration of coal.


Abstract: A monoclonal antibody raised against the muscarinic acetylcholine affinity‐alkylating antagonist propylben‐zilylcholine mustard was tested for its ability to recognize affinity‐alkylated muscarinic receptors. We demonstrate here that although the antibody will not recognize the mustard when it is covalently linked to the native muscarinic receptor, trypsinization of affinity‐labeled membranes releases a proteolytic labeled fragment that can be specifically immunoprecipitated by the antibody. Electrophoretic analysis of the immunoprecipitate indicates that the ligand was associated with a polypeptide of molecular weight 5,000. The recognition of this fragment by the antibody provides a means to immunopurify a portion of the muscarinic receptor that is at or near the ligand binding site.


The observed greater activity, influence and task orientation of males in mixed-sex work groups is analyzed as an educational problem, having particular relevance for coeducational schooling. Following Berger, Cohen and Zelditch, this investigator analyzed greater male power and prestige as a consequence of the activation of the diffuse status characteristic "sex" under specific task conditions. The purpose of this study was to determine whether activation of a diffuse status characteristic would systematically vary according to the perceptual or cognitive style of group members. Four person mixed-sex groups of adolescents, homogeneous as to cognitive style, were videotaped while engaged in a group decision-making task.

Videotapes were coded for individual rates of activity and influence; group members were asked to rate other group members on who had the "best ideas," and who did the most to "guide and direct" the group, and to identify the overall leader.

It was found that field-dependent groups displayed male dominant interaction, while field independent groups displayed equal status interaction. Males were significantly more likely than females to be identified as leaders by their peers in all group types. Behavioral data show that the activation of the diffuse status characteristic "sex" was a function of individual differences in sensitivity to environmental cues, while self report data reflect a bias toward perceiving males as group leaders.


This paper proposes a high-precision, high-speed keypoint matching method using a two-stage Randomized Trees. The keypoint classification method uses the conventional Randomized Trees to enable highprecision, real-time keypoint matching. But the wide variety of view transformations for templates expressed by Randomized Trees make high-precision keypoint classification for all transformations difficult with a single Randomized Trees. To resolve this problem, proposed method classifies the template view transformations during the first stage. Then during the second stage, it classifies the keypoints using the Randomized Trees corresponding to each of the view transformations classified during the first stage. For images in which the viewpoint of the object is rotated by 70 degree, evaluation testing demonstrated that proposed method is 88.4% more precise than SIFT, and 63.4% more precise than the conventional Randomized Trees. We have also shown that the proposed method supports real-time keypoint matching at a speed of 12 fps.


Abstract

Purpose: The present research aimed at developing and validation of a scale for measuring the effectiveness of organization of materials in academic libraries with a holistic approach.

Methodology: The construct of the scale is follows the criteria of Competing-values approach, with an emphasis on its four relevant models. Eight key factors were considered for this purpose, namely: planning, productivity and, efficiency, availability of information, stability (equilibrium), cohesive workforce, skilled workforce, flexibility, and acquisition of resources. Based on these factors, using some reliable literature in library and information science, and personal experiences, 54 items were constructed to be used in the scale. The first draft of the scale was then sent to a Delphi panel including of some 30 experts in library and information field who were experienced in academic library management for their comments. The final draft was resolved in the second round of comments. Cronbach's Alpha method was used for the test of reliability of the scale, and consistency of the items was investigated using expert views. Also, the Friedman statistical test was applied as a means for making conclusion about the overall agreement of the panel members on the whole scale.

Findings: Based on measurement of effectiveness of organization of materials in academic libraries, 53 items were approved by the Delphi panel to be included in the scale, out of which 52 were among the first draft items, and 1 new item was suggested as an addition


It is generally agreed in the nursing literature that the maintenance of patient dignity is an important element of nursing care that is highly valued by patients. Despite this, dignity is seldom defined and there are few guidelines that nurses may use in their practice to safeguard individual patients' dignity. This phenomenological study aimed to uncover patients' and nurses' perceptions of dignity, formulate a definition of dignity based on the experience of patients and nurses, and identify nursing practices that maintain or compromise patient dignity. The study found that the characteristics nurses associated with dignity were many and varied. Important elements in the meaning the nurses ascribed to the notion of patient dignity were the elements of respect, privacy, control, advocacy and time. The themes which emerged from the patient interviews were similar to those which emerged from the interviews with nurses. The characteristics that patients attributed to dignity and its maintenance included respect, privacy, control, choice, humour and matter-of-factness.


Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, also called chronic inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), affect up to 500 per 100,000 persons in the Western world. Recent studies in the etiology of IBD suggest that these diseases are caused by a combination of genetic, environmental, and immunological factors. Results from humans and especially animal models of colitis reported by our group and others have indicated that these diseases result from a lack of tolerance to resident intestinal bacteria in genetically susceptible hosts. Probiotic bacteria have health-promoting effects for the host when ingested and have also shown efficacy in ulcerative colitis and refractory pouchitis. In light of the efficacy of providing probiotic bacteria to patients with IBD, there has been interest in the prophylactic and therapeutic potential of inulin, oligofructose, and other prebiotics for patients with or at risk of IBD. Prebiotics are nondigestible dietary oligosaccharides that affect the host by selectively stimulating growth, activity, or both of selective intestinal (probiotic) bacteria. Prebiotics are easy to administer and, in contrast to probiotic therapy, do not require administration of large amounts of (live) bacteria and are therefore easier to administer. Studies using prebiotics, especially beta-fructan oligosaccharides, for the treatment of chronic intestinal inflammation have shown benefit in animal models of colitis. Studies using these prebiotics alone or in combination with probiotics are emerging and have shown promise. These dietary therapies could lead to novel treatments for these chronic debilitating diseases.


Lung ultrasound (LUS) is a cheap, safe and non-invasive imaging modality that can be performed at patient bed-side. However, to date LUS is not widely adopted due to lack of trained personnel required for interpreting the acquired LUS frames. In this work we propose a framework for training deep artificial neural networks for interpreting LUS, which may promote broader use of LUS. When using LUS to evaluate a patient's condition, both anatomical phenomena (e.g., the pleural line, presence of consolidations), as well as sonographic artifacts (such as Aand B-lines) are of importance. In our framework, we propose to provide a deep neural network not only the raw LUS frames as input, but explicitly inform it of these important anatomical features and artifacts in the form of additional channels containing pleural and vertical artifacts masks. By explicitly supplying this domain knowledge to deep models standard off-the-shelf neural networks can be rapidly and efficiently finetuned to perform well various tasks on LUS data, such as frame classification or semantic segmentation. Our framework allows for a unified treatment of LUS frames captured by either convex or linear probes. We evaluated our proposed framework on the task of COVID-19 severity assessment using the ICLUS dataset. In particular, we finetuned simple image classification models to predict per-frame COVID-19 severity score. We also trained a semantic segmentation model to predict per-pixel COVID-19 severity annotations. Using the combined raw LUS frames and the detected lines for both tasks, our offthe-shelf models performed better than complicated models specifically designed for these tasks, exemplifying the efficacy of our framework.


Abstract Governments are often punished for negative events such as economic downturns and financial shocks. However, governments can address such shocks with salient policy responses that might mitigate public punishment. We use three high-quality nationally representative surveys collected around a key event in the history of the Dutch economy, namely the outbreak of the financial crisis in 2008, to examine how voters responded to a salient government bailout. The results illustrate that governments can get substantial credit for pursuing a bailout in the midst of a financial crisis. Future research should take salient policy responses into account to fully understand the public response to the outbreak of financial and economic crises.


deeper into graph theory, thereby generating algorithms that are more challenging to the reader. Topics such as Depth-First Search, Hamiltonian Paths, Kruskal's Algorithm and Euclidean Networks are explored in detail. I have studied graph theory and therefore I was able to appreciate the examples and algorithms given in the text. However, I believe the author gives enough of an introduction in the beginning and explanations throughout the text so that a reader without any prior exposure to graph theory can still gain valuable experience in developing algorithms to solve complex problems. This book would be an excellent tool for a graph theory course (assuming the student is familiar with programming) or perhaps an advanced programming course dealing with algorithms or object oriented design methods. I found that the explanations of theorems and proofs in this text were excellent and helped me to further my knowledge and appreciation of graph theory. The object-oriented approach to implementing algorithms in C++ broadened my programming experience and helped to keep my interest in the topic. Occasionally the author assumes that the reader either has read the first volume, or has the text available for review. The first two volumes can be purchased as a bundle, and I suggest the reader consider obtaining both texts. However the programs from both volumes are available for download on the author's website, so it is not necessary to have both books if the reader is comfortable with programming topics such as queues. Overall, I enjoyed Algorithms in C++, and I plan to purchase the first and third volumes to compliment this text. I am certain that I will refer to all three in the future when I am in need of guidance, or perhaps even diversion. Pattern matching in strings is a basic problem in many areas of computer science, but particularly in applications that deal with text searching and genetic sequences. Information retrieval and computational biology are generating dramatic increases both in the size of texts to search and in the sophistication of the searches. The authors are two academics with bioinformatics industry experience. They use this book to make the case that information on pattern matching algorithms is not well understood except by experts in the area, and that for non-experts useful, practical implementations are nearly impossible to construct from available literature. Further , they claim that the only way to truly determine the fastest algorithm …


Albinism includes a group of inherited conditions that result in reduced melanin production. It has been documented across the world, with a high frequency in sub-Saharan Africa. There is very little published research about the lives of people with albinism, but available evidence shows that myths abound regarding their condition. They are feared, viewed with suspicion and believed to have supernatural powers. In this study we explored the links between beliefs, myths, traditions and positive/negative attitudes that surround people with albinism in Uganda. The study was located philosophically within Ubuntu—an Afrocentric worldview—and theoretically within the Common-Sense Model of self-regulation of health and illness that originates from the work of Leventhal in 2003. This qualitative study took place in eight districts of Busoga sub-region, Uganda between 2015 and 2017. Data collection comprised eight group discussions and 17 individual interviews with a range of informants, capturing the viewpoints of 73 participants. Findings lend support to previous research, highlighting the life-time discrimination and disadvantage experienced by many people with albinism. It shows that there is still much to be done to address the pervasive and potentially harmful beliefs and misconceptions about people with albinism.


The presence of a chloro substituent in a planar aromatic molecule tends to favour its crystallisation in the 4 A short axis β-structure. This structure is stabilised by inter-stack Cl ⋯ Cl interactions which are weakly attractive yet directional in nature, and by intra-stack dispersive C ⋯ C interactions. The balance between intra- and inter-sheet interactions is revealed in the crystal structures of 6-chloro-3,4-methylenedioxycinnamic acid (2a), its 2:1 complex (1a) with 2,4-dichlorocinnamic acid, and its 1:1 complex (1b) with 3,4-dichlorocinnamic acid. The acid (2a) is dimorphic with both forms triclinic and with short axes ca. 4 A; the structure of one form has been determined by X-ray diffraction methods. Solid-state u.v. irradiation of the complexes (1a and b) affords mixtures of mirror and pseudomirror symmetrical cyclobutanes; the formation of these products is consistent only with an ordered sheet-disordered stack structure, derived from the completely ordered structure of (2a), for these complexes. The structures of (1a and b) have been deduced thus on the basis of topochemical, kinetic, and crystallographic evidence, and provide important corroboration of inter-stack stabilisation as a prerequisite for β-structure adoption. Mixed crystalline complexes such as (1a) permit a comparative kinetic study of topochemical reactions, a procedure normally difficult in solid-state chemistry.


Hidden Markov jump processes are an attractive approach for modeling clinical disease progression data because they are explainable and capable of handling both irregularly sampled and noisy data. Most applications in this context consider time-homogeneous models due to their relative computational simplicity. However, the time homogeneous assumption is too strong to accurately model the natural history of many diseases. Moreover, the population at risk is not homogeneous either, since disease exposure and susceptibility can vary considerably. In this paper, we propose a piece-wise stationary transition matrix to explain the heterogeneity in time. We propose a hierarchical structure for the heterogeneity in population, where prior information is considered to deal with unbalanced data. Moreover, an efficient, scalable EM algorithm is proposed for inference. We demonstrate the feasibility and superiority of our model on a cervical cancer screening dataset from the Cancer Registry of Norway. Experiments show that our model outperforms state-of-the-art recurrent neural network models in terms of prediction accuracy and significantly outperforms a standard hidden Markov jump process in generating Kaplan-Meier estimators.


Abstract Potassium nitrate as a fertilizer suitable for greenhouse and hydroponic applications can be prepared by the reaction of potassium sulphate with calcium nitrate. However, it may happen that simultaneously with the precipitation of gypsum (CaSO4·2H2O) also two other binary salts, viz. syngenite (K2SO4·CaSO4·H2O) and görgeyite (K2SO4·5CaSO4·H2O) can crystallize. This would lower the yield of KNO3. For minimization of potassium loss we have to determine the conditions under which syngenite and görgeyite crystallize. As a useful tool for the quantitative determination of specific hydrates, simultaneous DTA/TG technique appeared. Each hydrate decomposes at a certain temperature. The loss of water at dehydration can be used for a quantitative determination of the amount of the hydrate in the precipitating solid phase. Based on the experimental data several conclusions can be drawn: (i) excess of calcium cations lowers the concentration of sulphate ions in the liquid phase together with lowering of contents of syngenite and görgeyite in the solid phase; (ii) higher content of water results in a higher solubility of sulphate ions; (iii) joint crystallization of syngenite and gypsum occurs in the composition area interesting from the point of KNO3 production; (iv) area of the primary crystallization of görgeyite does not exist in the phase diagram at 80 °C. However, görgeyite crystallizes at the molar ratio Ca(NO3)2:K2SO4 = 1:1 by ternary crystallization; (v) area of crystallization of pure gypsum is shifted to lower ratio Ca(NO3)2:K2SO4 by the addition of water to the system.


Increasingly more responsive and accountable health care systems are demanded, which is characterized by transparency and explicit demonstration of competence by health care providers and the systems in which they work. This study aimed to establish measures of oral health for transparent and explicit reporting of routine data to facilitate more patient-centered and prevention-oriented oral health care. To accomplish this, an intermediate objective was to develop a comprehensive list of topics that a range of stakeholders would perceive as valid, important, and relevant for describing oral health and oral health care. A 4-stage approach was used to develop the list of topics: 1) scoping of literature and its appraisal, 2) a meeting of experts, 3) a 2-stage Delphi process (online), and 4) a World Café discussion. The aim was to create consensus through structured conversations via a range of stakeholders (general dental practitioners, patients, insurers, and policy makers) from the Netherlands, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hungary, and Denmark. The study was part of the ADVOCATE project, and it resulted in a list of 48 topics grouped into 6 clusters: 1) access to dental care, 2) symptoms and diagnosis, 3) health behaviors, 4) oral treatments, 5) oral prevention, and 6) patient perception. All topics can be measured, as they all have a data source with defined numerators and denominators. This study is the first to establish a comprehensive and multiple-stakeholder consented topic list designed for guiding the implementation of transparent and explicit measurement of routine data of oral health and oral health care. Successful measurement within oral health care systems is essential to facilitate learning from variation in practice and outcomes within and among systems, and it potentiates improvement toward more patient-centered and prevention-oriented oral health care.


In this work, fabrication and characterization of germanium (Ge) NP is presented. The germanium particles were prepared by pulsed laser ablation in liquid technique (PLAL) at different laser fluence using Q-switched Nd:YAG laser at (1.06 µm) laser wavelength with pulsewidth 10 ns .Atomic Force Microscopy(AFM) and Energy Dispersive Analysis of X-rays (EDAX) are utilized here to study the surface and sizes of Ge nanoparticles and the evidences for ablation of materials respectively and the spectrophotometer have been used to characterize the optical properties of the prepared nanoparticles


Abstract. This classroom action research is executed in class XI IA2 Semester 2 of SMA Negeri 2 Balige academic year 2011/2012, aim to know whether model  of co-operative of leraning Jigsaw type can improve student creativity in course study of Biology at System Hormone and Indra. Research of method is taken by writing down dominant perception category emerge during take place at perception sheet ( Instrument). In intake of data, researcher presents directly of study items as many as 4 cycle. Every cycle  consists  of  four  phrases.  They are  planning,  action,  observation,  and Reflection. Every cycle assisted by 2 people as observer to collect uppermost student creativity data at the same time give suggestion / inputs repair of study process. Cycle of I by applying conventional method (discussion and discourse) while cycle of II, III, and IV by applying model of co-operative of learning Jigsaw type. From result of observation and perception analyse data obtained by conclusion that model of co-operative of learning Jigsaw type can improve class student creativity of XI IA2 SMA Negeri  2 Balige in course study of Biology hormone system and Indra of student creativity mean 59,80 at conventional study become 77,13 (the first group) and 85 % ( expert team), second cycle, 83,24 (the first group) and 92,95% ( expert team), third cycle and 85,09 ( the first) and 95,45 % (expert team) at fourth cycle by applying model study of jigsaw. The result of examination with using convensional method only 8 students, but using model of cooperative of learning jigsaw type, the student can be able more b competence and improving to be 22 student. The conclution of the study shows that implementation cooperative of learning jigsaw type accompany with modul about contamination and enviromental change can improve student learning activity in class XI IA2 at SMA Negeri 2 Balige in academic year 2011/2012. Keywords: Cooperative Learning model, Jigsaw, creativity student


Freshwater mussels are one of the most diverse groups of freshwater organisms as well as one of the most endangered groups of organisms on Earth. Freshwater mussels have a life history that greatly influences their geographical distribution, genetic structure, and demographic characteristics. Here, we describe and compare the spatial genetic structure and diversity of 5 freshwater mussel species with different brooding periods and uses of larval parasitism. These 5 species co-occur in tributaries in Poyang Lake in south central China, and we studied their populations in the Gan and Fuhe Rivers, which are both large tributaries of Poyang Lake. Cytochrome c oxidase subunit-I (COI) haplotype richness and diversity of species with a spring or summer glochidia brooding period (Lamprotula caveata, Nodularia douglasiae, and Solenaia oleivora) were greater than richness and diversity in species with a winter brooding period (Anemina arcaeformis, S. carinata). In addition, the COI haplotype richness and diversity of A. arcaeformis, which does not have a parasitic portion of its life cycle, was lower than 3 species that require a host fish to complete their life cycles (L. caveata, N. douglasiae, and S. oleivora) and was higher than S. carinata. We also used the COI sequences and microsatellite datasets to determine whether the populations of each of the 5 species in the Gan and Fuhe Rivers are admixed or genetically distinct. Genetic differentiation was evident among collection populations of L. caveata, N. douglasiae, and S. carinata and largely absent in A. arcaeformis and S. oleivora. We conclude that differences in genetic diversity and patterns of genetic structure in these sympatric species could result from the different life-history attributes of these species, particularly timing and length of the brooding period, nonparasitic vs parasitic life cycles, and different host fish requirements. Therefore, we suggest increased emphasis on life history and reproductive biology research and urge managers to consider that these traits differ among freshwater mussels when making management decisions for the conservation of genetic and species diversity.


Dodo, Hidayat S. 2020. The structure, composition, and threatened plants in The Kinarum Protected Forest, South Kalimantan, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 21: 2603-2618. Kinarum Protected Forest (Kinarum PF) is one of the remaining tropical forest areas in Tabalong District, South Kalimantan, Indonesia. It is feared that deforestation will occur in this forest due to various human activities. The research was conducted to determine the structure and composition of vegetation in Kinarum PF which several decades ago was once a forest concession area. This research also explored the existence of threatened, endemic, and protected plants. Research has been carried out using the track plot method. The total research area is 0.6 ha consisting of three transect lines with five plots measuring 20 x 20 m each transect. Data were analyzed with important value index (IVI), dominance index, species diversity index, and species abundance index. The results recorded 460 specimens belonging to 121 species, 86 genera, and 43 families. Most species are from the family Lauraceae followed by Moraceae and Rubiaceae. The results also recorded 42 species included in the IUCN red list plants, eight of which are classified as threatened plants, namely Aglaia angustifolia, Artocarpus tamaran, Dracontomelon costatum, Durio dulcis, Durio kutejensis, Eusideroxylon zwageri, Myristica magnifica, and Shorea guiso. These plants have an average IVI value less than 10% and the species abundance index is close to zero. In general, the forest condition is classified as moderate with a diversity index value at each growth stage in the range of values 1-3. However, IVI of each species, especially those belonging to the threatened, endemic, and protected plants are on average low.


An analytic method to investigate a quasi-periodic disk loaded waveguide, including input and output arm, is presented. We rely on Cauchy's residue theorem to formulate the transmission and reflection from a system composed of radial arms and grooves provided that the inner radius is kept constant; all the other parameters of the system can be arbitrarily changed. This method was successfully utilized to design the input and output section of a high power traveling wave tube which is very sensitive to reflections from both ends. We found this method particularly useful for the design of the output regions where rf breakdown imposes constraints on the geometry.


High Definition (HD) video compression enables vivid reproduction of scenes. However, Motion Estimation (ME) requires large memory capacity and huge memory bandwidth, which are undesirable in many platforms including ASIC and SoC. In this paper, an algorithm and architecture design of cache system and fast ME in HD H.264/AVC are proposed. With the proposed cache system and hardware-oriented fast ME algorithm, the rate-distortion performance is maintained within 0.03dB difference, the size of on-chip memory reduced to only 10% to 21% of original size, while the external memory bandwidth from cache refill is also 18% to 56% less than that of level C data reuse scheme with vertical +64 search range.


Low-mass stars exhibit substantial pre-main sequence evolution during the first ∼100 Myr of their lives. Thus, young M-type stars are prime targets for isochronal dating, especially in young moving groups (YMGs), which contain large amounts of stars in this mass and age range. If the mass and luminosity of a star can both be directly determined, this allows for a particularly robust isochronal analysis. This motivates in-depth studies of low-mass binaries with spatially resolvable orbits, where dynamical masses can be derived. Here we present the results of an observing campaign dedicated to orbital monitoring of AB Dor Ba/Bb, which is a close M-dwarf pair within the quadruple AB Dor system. We have acquired eight astrometric epochs with the SPHERE/ZIMPOL and NACO instruments, which we combine with literature data to improve the robustness and precision for the orbital characterization of the pair. We find a system mass 0.66−0.12+0.12 M⊙ and bolometric luminosities in logL/L⊙ of −2.02 ± 0.02 and −2.11 ± 0.02 for AB Dor Ba and Bb, respectively. These measurements are combined with other YMG pairs in the literature to start building a framework of empirical isochrones in mass–luminosity space. This can be used to calibrate theoretical isochrones and to provide a model-free basis for assessing relative stellar ages. We note a tentative emerging trend where the youngest moving group members are largely consistent with theoretical expectations, while stars in older associations such as the AB Dor moving group appear to be systematically underluminous relative to isochronal expectations.


We show the Tychonoff's theorem for a Grothendieck category with a set of small projective generators. Strictly quasi-finite objects for semiartinian Grothendieck categories are characterized. We apply these results to the study of the Morita duality of dual algebra of a coalgebra.