Typically a rigid body can have three degrees of rotational freedom. Among these, there can be two types of out-of-plane rotational modes, called the pitch and the roll. The pitch motion is typically to turn the particle along an axis orthogonal to the axis of symmetry. However, rotation about the axis of symmetry (called the roll motion) has so far not been shown in optical tweezers. It is here that we use a hexagonal shaped particle (NaYF4) which prefers to align side on with the optical tweezers [Rodriguez-Sevilla et al., Nano Letters 16, 8005 (2016)]. In this work, we find that the stable configuration of the hexagonal particle changes while using one beam and two beams, so that when one of the tweezers beams is switched on and off, the particle tends to switch between the different configurations. Thus we get a controlled roll motion. This is the first time that controlled partial roll motions have been generated in optical tweezers.


A representation theory based on convolution operations is developed for a large class of linear systems containing pure and distributed delays in state and control. In terms of this framework a necessary and sufficient condition and a sufficient condition are given for functional (null) controllability. The conditions involve the generation of modules defined over a convolution ring of functions.


Objective: There is limited evidence concerning the association between air pollution and outpatient visits in moderately polluted areas. This paper investigates the effects of moderate level ambient air pollution on the number of outpatient visits associated with five categories of medical conditions. Methods: We analyzed a total of 1,340,791 outpatient visits for five medical departments (pediatrics, respiratory, ENT, cardiovascular, and orthopedics) in Xi'an from 2016 to 2018. A distributed non-linear model was used to analyze the associations and was fitted and stratified by age and season. Results: We found 𝑆𝑂2 had the largest effect on pediatrics visits (RR=1.105 (1.090, 1.121)). The relationships among 𝑃𝑀2.5 and 𝑂3 and ENT were more statistically significant in a heating season than those in a non-heating season. Meanwhile, 𝑃𝑀2.5, 𝑃𝑀10, and 𝑆𝑂2 had bigger impacts on ENT visits for people under 50 years. The results showed a strong association between 𝑂3 and cardiovascular outpatient visits in a non-heating season (RR=1.026 (1.020,1.032)). The results also showed that 𝑃𝑀10 was not significantly associated with respiratory outpatient visits, and every 10 𝜇𝑔/𝑚3 increase of 𝑆𝑂2 reduced the number of respiratory outpatient visits by 3%. We found 𝑃𝑀2.5 and 𝑁𝑂2 were significantly related to orthopedic outpatient visits for people under 60.Conclusion: Our findings indicated short-term exposure to air pollutants had varying associations with outpatient visits to four medical departments. We also proposed a new set of air pollution thresholds, which could help hospitals optimize outpatient resource allocation and the government determine appropriate air quality standards.


Inter-core crosstalk is a potential limitation on the achievable data-rates in optical fiber transmission systems using multi-core fibers. Crosstalk arises from unwanted coupling between cores of a homogenous multi-core fiber and it's average power has been observed to vary over time by 10s of decibels, potentially requiring an additional performance margin to achieve acceptable outage probability. Most investigations of crosstalk have so far only considered continuous wave laser light or amplified spontaneous emission as sources of crosstalk. In this paper, we theoretically and experimentally investigate the time-dependence of inter-core crosstalk in a homogeneous multi-core fiber when considering signals with various modulation formats and symbol rates. We find that crosstalk power fluctuations depend on the symbol rate, modulation and skew between cores. For carrier-free signals, such as quadrature amplitude modulation, the crosstalk power is nearly constant for expected conditions of multi-core transmission systems. However, carrier-supported signals, such as OOK, always induce time-varying crosstalk powers.


There is an old saying, "a man's home is his castle". The ideal condition would be that a person's dwelling should be suitable from 'cradle to grave'. However, many people are forced to leave their homes because of the deterioration of their capabilities, commonly due to the normal aging process. Adaptability of the dwelling to aging should be taken into consideration by the homeowner (Universal Design or UD). By Japanese legislature this UD for adaptability embraces at least (i) level floors without step differences, (ii) structural supports for installation of handrails or grabbars, and (iii) adequate door openings and turning space to accommodate a wheelchair. It must be admitted that not all dwellings can be designed and built to be able to house everybody, because some type and level of disabilities require more extensive modifications than is readily available. But for most people, UD for adaptability suffices.


We present a new partial order planner called PSIPOP, which builds on SNLP. We drop the closed world assumption, add sensing actions, add a class of propositions about the agent's knowledge, and add a class of universally quantified propositions. This latter class of propositions, which we call C-forms, distinguishes this research. C-forms represent partially closed worlds, such as "Block A is clear", or "x.ps is the only postscript file in directory/rex." We present our theory of planning with sensing and show how partial order planning is performed using C-forms. Noteworthy are the facts that lack of information iscan be represented precisely and all quantified reasoning has polynomial complexity. Thus, in finite domains where the maximum plan length is bounded, PSIPOP is NPcomplete.


An intermolecular three-component arylsilylation of alkynes has been developed under mild palladium/copper cooperative catalysis. The reaction proceeds through syn-addition of an aryl group and a silyl group across the carbon-carbon triple bond of an alkyne. This represents the first transition-metal-catalyzed fully intermolecular arylsilylation of alkynes, and transformations of the resulting products have also been demonstrated.


In this work tremor suppression by functional electrical stimulation is described, using repetitive and iterative learning control algorithm. Multibody and muscle dynamics are exploited to obtain models of the human arm. Furthermore, for first evidence and realistic feasibility the wrist joint is chosen for tremor suppression. System parameters are obtained by measurements and frequency decomposition. For simulations robust high order repetitive control, optimality-based repetitive control and norm-based iterative learning control are applied. For experiments optimality-based repetitive control is applied, using a wrist setup for signal processing. The simulations and experiments are executed for tremor stabilization and reference tracking.


Hypertensive mechanisms are postulated to play a major role in the progressive glomerulosclerosis (GS) after renal mass reduction. But, in contrast to converting enzyme inhibitors, BP reduction by calcium channel blockers, has not provided consistent protection. Radiotelemetric BP monitoring for 7 wk was used to compare nifedipine (N) and enalapril (E) in the rat approximately 5/6 renal ablation model. After the first week, rats received N, E, or no treatment (C). The overall averaged systolic BP in C (173 +/- 7 mmHg) was reduced by both E and N (P < 0.001), but E was more effective (113 +/- 2 vs. 134 +/- 3 mmHg, P < 0.01). GS was prevented by E (2 +/- 1 vs. 26 +/- 5% in C) but not by N (25 +/- 6%). GS correlated well with the overall averaged BP in individual animals of all groups, but the slope of the relationship was significantly steeper in N compared with C+E rats (P < 0.02), suggesting greater pressure transmission to the glomeruli and GS for any given BP. Since autoregulatory mechanisms provide the primary protection against pressure transmission, renal autoregulation was examined at 3 wk in additional rats. Autoregulation was impaired in C rats, was not additionally altered by E, but was completely abolished by N. These data demonstrate the importance of autoregulatory mechanisms in the pathogenesis of hypertensive injury and suggest that calcium channel blockers which adversely affect pressure transmission may not provide protection despite significant BP reduction.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
Fludarabine has shown a definite clinical activity in B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). If the effects of this drug could be potentiated, it could be useful in order to obtain complete remissions. In this study we evaluated the effects of the combination of fludarabine and gemcitabine, a deoxycytidine analog that has shown both in vitro and in vivo activity against a variety of solid tumors.

DESIGN AND METHODS
CLL cells from 10 patients were cultured in vitro in the presence of fludarabine (0.5-1,000 microg/mL) and gemcitabine (0.1-5,000 microg/mL), both alone and in different combinations. Cytotoxic activity was tested by the XTT colorimetric assay. Furthermore we evaluated BCL-2 protein expression and, subsequently, the induction of apoptosis at baseline and after exposing cells to different concentrations of fludarabine and gemcitabine.

RESULTS
The IC(50) of fludarabine and gemcitabine on CLL cells was 550 and 1,100 microg/mL, respectively, in our series of samples; the cytotoxicity of either drug was not influenced by the percentage of BCL-2 positive cells in the same sample. The addition of gemcitabine increased fludarabine-induced cytotoxicity; however, isobologram analysis of the data showed synergism only when lower doses of gemcitabine were combined to fludarabine. Induction of apoptosis reflected this pattern of activity.

INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSIONS
Gemcitabine was able to increase the activity of fludarabine only when low doses of the former were employed. As both compounds incorporate into DNA blocking chain elongation, our results could be explained by the drugs interfering at that level. The possibility of potentiating the effects of fludarabine with low doses of gemcitabine renders this combination promising in view of an in vivo use.


The movements of two wandering albatrosses, one of each sex, breeding at South Georgia, were tracked using satellite telemetry, particularly to assess whether such birds could be at risk from longline fishing operations in the subtropics. Full details of the performance (number and quality of uplinks) of the Toyocom transmitters are provided, together with data on flight speeds and night and daytime travel by the albatrosses. The female, tracked for seventeen days—covering three foraging trips totalling 13951 km - had a much more northerly distribution than the male, which made two trips to sea during the same period and travelled a minimum distance of 9280 km. On one trip the female frequented the area off Brazil known to be used for longline fisheries. The distributional differences between the sexes support earlier suggestions, based on at-sea observations, that the observed high mortality rates of South Georgian females could be due to a greater likelihood of incidental mortality in longline fishing. These results also show that the presence of females off Brazil can include birds still rearing chicks, rather than simply representing post-breeding dispersal.


SUMMARY This study describes the benefits of hearing aid (HA) use in a sample of elderly experienced HA users (n = 102, mean age 81.1 years), investigating the role of the age, hearing impairment and cognitive function. The benefit was assessed in aided condition by measuring audiometric outcomes (aided thresholds and speech reception in quiet and in noise) and self-assessed outcomes addressing the disability and the handicap domains of auditory dysfunction. Several cognitive abilities were assessed, including short-term memory, working memory and executive functions. To discover potential latent factors and assess which factors significantly influenced the benefit of HA use, age, hearing impairment, cognitive function, audiometric and self-assessed outcomes were examined with multivariate analysis, followed by correlation and regression analysis. The analysis revealed a significant improvement in aided audiometric outcomes and a decrease in the perceived disability and handicap in the sample population. Multivariate, correlation and regression analyses showed that better aided audiometric outcomes were significantly associated with hearing impairment of lower degree and higher cognitive abilities. Moreover, self-assessed outcomes were significantly associated with audiometric outcomes and hearing impairment: subjects with better audiometric outcomes and lower hearing impairment tend to perceive more benefit in using their HAs. Cognition was only indirectly associated with self-assessed outcomes through its direct correlation with aided audiometric outcomes, meaning that the perceived subjective benefit with HA was not directly associated with better cognitive abilities.


The nonlinear predator-prey singularly perturbed Robin initial boundary value problems for reaction diffusion systems were considered. Under suitable conditions, using theory of differential inequalities the existence and asymptotic behavior of solution for initial boundary value problems were studied.


Mobile phone addiction has become a common phenomenon among college students, which seriously affects their physical and mental
 health. In this process, individuals with a strong sense of loneliness tend to seek social support and belonging in the virtual
 network, which leads to the occurrence of mobile phone addiction. At the same time, studies have begun to explore ways to reduce
 mobile phone addiction by improving physical activity. The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of low-level college
 students' physical exercise on mobile phone addiction, and focuses on the mediating mechanism of loneliness. The mobile phone
 addiction scale, the physical activity level scale, and the loneliness scale were selected as the subjects. SPSS 23.0 was used
 to perform descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, multiple regression analysis, and bootstrap mediation effect test on
 the data. There were significant differences in gender dimensions between physical exercise, mobile phone addiction, and
 loneliness of low-level college students. Correlation analysis shows that there is a significant negative correlation between
 physical exercise and mobile phone addiction (r = -0.14, P < 0.01) and loneliness (r = -0.15, P < 0.01). Loneliness and
 mobile phone addiction (r = 0.29, P < 0.01) was significantly positively correlated. The test results of the mediating
 effect show that the 95% confidence interval of the indirect effect Bootstrap produced by loneliness does not contain a value
 of 0, indicating that loneliness has a significant mediating effect between the level of physical exercise and mobile phone
 addiction (standardized effect value = -0.58, Accounted for 29% of the total effect). The level of physical exercise of low-level
 college students is significantly negatively related to mobile phone addiction and loneliness, and loneliness is significantly
 positively related to mobile phone addiction. There is a mediating effect of loneliness between physical exercise and mobile phone addiction.


Patient navigation is increasingly utilized to link and (re)engage persons with HIV to care. Understanding client experiences with HIV patient navigation can facilitate intervention design and translation of evidence to practice. We conducted a qualitative meta-synthesis of client experiences with HIV patient navigation. Data were analyzed using thematic synthesis. We identified seven relevant studies; all collected data via in-depth interviews with persons with HIV who participated in HIV patient navigation. Four interrelated themes emerged from analysis that pertain to (1) the complexity of the health and social service environment and the holistic approaches taken by the navigator, (2) the profound significance of the client–navigator relationship, (3) client reluctance to end the navigation program, and (4) client self-efficacy and feelings of hope and psychological change as a result of their navigation experience. The unifying theme across all studies was the value and impact of the client–navigator relationship on client experience and quality of life. Programs should consider hiring navigators who possess strong relational skills and are peers of the clients, and clearly delineating the role of the navigator. Research should examine the impact of the client–navigator relationship on client outcomes and further investigate how participating in patient navigation affects client self-efficacy, client resiliency, and the role of posttraumatic growth to achieve improved HIV outcomes. This review underscores the significance of the relationship within intensive, multilevel interventions for individuals and communities marginalized and isolated from health and social service systems.


Missionary pharmacy developed as a special type of the European pharmacy from the 16th to the 18th centuries in the overseas missions in the context of the proclamation of the Christian faith, the European expansion and the beginning globalization. As this type of pharmacy was determined by the specific circumstances of the medical-pharmaceutical situation in the mission countries as well as by the knowledge of the missionaries themselves, it can be defined as missionary pharmacy. It followed principally the model of the medieval monastery pharmacy and paved the way for the Medical Mission at the beginning of the 19th century. Different lines of development on various levels of exchange, forming, documenting and transmission of knowledge shaped the concept of the missionary pharmacy. The activities in the context of the missionary pharmacy initiated a global transfer of drugs and the referring pharmaceutical knowledge, which was institutionalized by the pharmacies of the Jesuits and essentially influenced the development of the Materiae medicae and the development of modern pharmacy all around the globe. The trading routes of typical drugs like the Fever bark and compositions can reconstruct this international transfer of knowledge. Still nowadays, knowledge of the missionary pharmacy, especially about genuine plants of the non-European countries, can be interesting for the development of new phytotherapeutics and possibly active substances.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
The sensitivity and accuracy of white light bronchoscopy (WLB) in airway examination are low. Autofluorescence bronchoscope (AFB) can determine early lesions in bronchial mucosa more sensitively, but it has seldom performed in China. To assess the clinical value of the AFB in airway examination, we compared the sensitivity and specificity of the AFB and WLB in detecting cancer of the airway mucosa.

METHODS
Between September 2009 and May 2010, bronchoscope examinations using both the AFB and WLB were performed on 136 patients, 95 men and 41 women with a median age of 61.5 years (ranged from 25 to 84 years). There were 46 lesions located in the central airway, 84 in the peripheral lung parenchyma, and 6 in the mediastinal region. All patients received local and general anesthesia and were subsequently examined with the WLB and AFB in tandem. All procedures were completed safely. Abnormal visual findings were recorded, and biopsies of the affected regions were collected for pathologic examination.

RESULTS
Of 241 regions sampled for biopsy, 76 sites contained malignant lesions, whereas 165 sites contained benign lesions. The AFB detected 72 of the 76 malignant lesions, but the WLB detected only 50. The sensitivities of the AFB and WLB were 94.7% and 65.8%, respectively, and the specificities were 57.0% and 83.6%, respectively. The negative predictive values of the AFB and WLB were 95.9% and 84.1%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS
The AFB is more sensitive than the WLB in detecting cancerous lesions in the mucosa, and is an effective airway examination.


At the violet hour when the eyes and back Turn upward from the desk, when the human engine waits Like a taxi throbbing waiting I Tiresias, though blind, throbbing between two lives Old man with wrinkled female breasts, can see -T. S. Eliot The Waste Land In presenting the daily struggles of a working-class transgendered person, a person who fits into neither prescribed gender category, Leslie Feinberg's first novel, Stone Butch Blues (1993), exposes the quotidian practices through which fixed gendered and sexual identities are culturally constructed and systematically imposed. Stone Butch Blues chronicles pre-Stonewall(1) working-class transgendered and gay and lesbian life and struggles in the urban Northeast and the conflicts between those struggles and the women's liberation movement. Feinberg employs narrative fiction to foreground the interrelationship of class structures and gender constraints. This essay examines the interrelationship of gendered identity development, socioeconomic structures, and resistance to oppression in Stone Butch Blues. The achievement of Feinberg's award-winning novel is not that it is the first novel to tell the story of a transgendered person, but that it is the first to embrace "transgendered" as an identity.(2) Stone Butch Blues addresses a transgendered experience that is just beginning to see the light of day in both the medical and the popular literature on the subject: that of the female-to-male (FTM) transgendered subject.(3) Stone Butch Blues makes it clear that FTM expression is a complex identity in its own right. The very terms FTM and MTF are inadequate-Feinberg might argue-in their suggestion that anyone whose gender expression falls outside of either "F" or "M" is moving towards the expression of the "opposite" gender. Feinberg's novel is the first work of fiction about a transgendered person to interrogate the notion that if one is uncomfortable with one's assigned gender identity, there is something wrong with the one experiencing the discomfort rather than with the cultural institutions doing the assigning. The novel implicitly interrogates the American Psychiatric Association's official construction of "gender identity disorder" (g. i. d.), a construction that has recently been challenged by transgender activists.(4) Stone Butch Blues implies that the "disease" of gender dysphoria (upon which the g. i. d. "diagnosis" is based) infects the dominant culture, and that it is a disease with difference.(5) The concept of transgender has been seized upon by gender theorists because it deconstructs the naturalness of gender and challenges the biological "sex" categories upon which gender identity has been constructed as dependent. Transgendered subjects exist not in a space outside of gender, but in a space in which gender does not necessarily follow naturally from "sex," in which biological sex is often a mutable construct.(6) It is important to note, however, that definitions are contested in this realm. Neither transgendered communities nor those who theorize gender speak with a monolithic voice. Not all transgendered subjects, activists, and scholars, for example, endorse Marjorie Garber's concept of a "third space" outside of gender binaries.(7) Nor do all agree that the concept of transgender brings biological "sex" categories into question. For many transgendered persons, the notion of gender identity is the locus of transgender subjectivity. Feinberg portrays the relationship between the body, gender, and desire as not contingent on any "natural" factors, and as subject to change. "The transgenderist," argues Anne Bolin, "disput[es] the entire concept of consistency between sexual orientation and gender," a concept that Stone Butch Blues undermines.(8) The categories that define/confine desire-gay, straight, lesbian, bisexual-are dependent on notions of gendered identity and biological sex. "Same-sex" desire, for example, takes on a new and paradoxical meaning if the very notion of sex is problematized. …


The presence of cyanobacterial blooms and their subproducts interferes directly in water quality and may cause negative effects, both aesthetically and to public health, due to the production of potentially toxic and carcinogenic compounds. The most common type of intoxication involving cyanobacteria is caused by microcystin-LR (hepatotoxin), which can cause severe damage to the liver. The objective of this study was to identify the genera that caused cyanobacterial blooms in the Tapajos river (Santarem, Para, Brazil) in March 2007, as well as to execute acute toxicity bioassays in Swiss-webster mice. Sample collection was performed at five sampling points throughout the left margin of the Tapajos river, by horizontal dragging with the aid of a 20 μm plankton net. Samples of raw water (5,000 ml) were also collected in amber propylene bottles. Optical microscopy was applied to identify the organisms, and the determination of microcystin-LR was executed through ELISA and HPLC. The analyses showed that, at P01 and P02, there was an ecological imbalance in the phytoplanktonic community, characterized by an intense proliferation of the genera Anabaena and Microcystis. The concentrations of microcystin-LR reported in the raw water samples were below the maximum values permitted by Brazil's legislation for drinking water. However, it is important to note that the blooming observed in loco occupied around 10 cm of the water column surface and therefore presented cyanobacterial cells enough to cause rashes in people who swam or bathed in the rivers during this period.


Background: Adjuvant endocrine therapy is a standard of care for early stage estrogen receptor positive (ER+) patients, but analyses show the majority of benefit accrues after 10 years of treatment. Recent changes to the American Society of Clinical Oncology recommendations now include the option to extend tamoxifen treatment duration to 10 years. In contrast, screening trial data with 25 years of follow-up suggest that 50% of screen-detected cancers may never come to clinical attention (Miller et al BMJ 2014). Better tools are needed to identify patients who benefit from any, 5 or 10 years of adjuvant endocrine intervention. MammaPrint (MP) is an FDA-cleared gene expression signature that categorizes untreated patients as Low (LR) or High risk (HR) for distant recurrence (DR) at 10 years, independent of ER and HER2 status. Herein, we examined the performance of MP to predict long-term (25 years) survival benefit from adjuvant endocrine therapy in early stage breast cancer patients randomized after surgery to receive 2 or 5 years tamoxifen vs observation only (control arm). Methods: The Stockholm Tamoxifen Trial (STO) is a uniquely annotated trial with long-term follow-up. 733 samples were made available from the 1774 lymph node negative breast cancer patients, age 10 years) for all patients as well as for each of the randomized treatment arms. MP status was successfully assessed for 656 patients; 3 patients were excluded due to missing randomization data. Multivariate proportional hazards analyses (Cox) was performed, with the multivariate model adjusted for ER, PR and HER2 status (original assessment), tumor grade and size, and treatment cohort. Results: A statistically significant difference in survival by MP risk categories was seen for all patients (P–log rank=0.0013), as well as for the tamoxifen treatment arm (P–log rank=0.011) and the control arm (P–log rank=0.047). By multivariate proportional hazards (Cox) analyses and after adjustment, women with MP–HR had a statistically significant two–fold increased risk of dying from breast cancer by 25 years (Hazards ratio, HR = 1.68, CI 1.13–2.48), compared to women with MP–LR. In this STO trial, the UltraLow threshold (MP index of > 0.355) was associated with a statistically significant survival advantage across all patient groups with a 95% breast cancer specific survival at 15 years. Conclusions: MP accurately predicts for a statistically significant long–term survival benefit in MP–LR patients across all STO patients and, specifically, for those who received adjuvant tamoxifen. Separation of 9UltraLow9 risk patients from the MP-LR group may facilitate clinical decisions for the duration of hormonal therapy. Additional analyses are underway to evaluate the timing of risk with and without endocrine treatment stratified by MP risk categories. Citation Format: Linda S Lindstrom, Christopher C Benz, Christina Yau, Laura J van9t Veer, Carlie K Thompson, Laura J Esserman. MammaPrint accurately predicts long-term survival (25 years) and adjuvant tamoxifen therapy benefit in lymph node negative patients [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Thirty-Seventh Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: 2014 Dec 9-13; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(9 Suppl):Abstract nr P4-11-12.


The distance between the calcium site (site I) and the zinc site (site II) in alpha-lactalbumin was estimated from Forster energy-transfer measurements between donor Eu(III) [or Tb(III)] at site I and acceptor Co(II) at site II to be 11.5 +/- 1.5 A. Intersite distances were also measured between the bis-ANS [4,4'-bis[1-(phenylamino)-8-naphthalenesulfonate]] binding locus and cobalt at site II (13.6 +/- 1.0 A), between bis-ANS and a fluorescein moiety covalently bound to Met-90 (33.5 +/- 3.0 A), and between Met-90 (fluorescein) and cobalt at site II (16.7 +/- 1.0 A). The apparent Kd for cobalt binding to site II agreed well with the value measured previously by intrinsic fluorescence [Murakami, K., & Berliner, L. J. (1983) Biochemistry 22, 3370-3374]. A Zn(II) titration of Eu(III)-alpha-lactalbumin reconfirmed that both sites I and II can be occupied simultaneously [Musci, G., & Berliner, L. J. (1985) Biochemistry 24, 3852-3856], since the lanthanide fluorescence was unaffected.


In statutory legal cultures, both the introduction of mediation into the legal order and the determination of the legal status of the mediator and his responsibility require legislative action. This is the situation of the Polish legal order. Mediation proceedings in civil cases were introduced into the Polish civil procedure in 2005, while in 2015 the mediation model in civil cases was substantially significantly amended. The mediator's status has also changed as a result of the introduction of a new type of mediator – the so-called permanent mediator, and with a slightly different shaping of the legal liability of mediators. These changes were considered in the article. As a consequence, the reasons for the progressive professionalization of mediation activities have been strengthened.


Improved methods are needed to identify host mechanisms which directly protect against human infectious diseases in order to develop better vaccines and therapeutics1,2. Pathogen load determines the outcome of many infections3, and is a consequence of pathogen multiplication rate, duration of the infection, and inhibition or killing of pathogen by the host (resistance). If these determinants of pathogen load could be quantified then their mechanistic correlates might be determined. In humans the timing of infection is rarely known and treatment cannot usually be withheld to monitor serial changes in pathogen load and host response. Here we present an approach to overcome this and identify potential mechanisms of resistance which control parasite load in Plasmodium falciparum malaria. Using a mathematical model of longitudinal infection dynamics for orientation, we made individualized estimates of parasite multiplication and growth inhibition in Gambian children at presentation with acute malaria and used whole blood RNA-sequencing to identify their correlates. We identified novel roles for secreted proteases cathepsin G and matrix metallopeptidase 9 (MMP9) as direct effector molecules which inhibit P. falciparum growth. Cathepsin G acts on the erythrocyte membrane, cleaving surface receptors required for parasite invasion, whilst MMP9 acts on the parasite. In contrast, the type 1 interferon response and expression of CXCL10 (IFN-γ-inducible protein of 10 kDa, IP-10) were detrimental to control of parasite growth. Natural variation in iron status and plasma levels of complement factor H were determinants of parasite multiplication rate. Our findings demonstrate the importance of accounting for the dynamic interaction between host and pathogen when seeking to identify correlates of protection, and reveal novel mechanisms controlling parasite growth in humans. This approach could be extended to identify additional mechanistic correlates of natural- and vaccine-induced immunity to malaria and other infections.


A new redundant haptic interface has been developed to overcome the disadvantages of most commercial devices: low force/torque capability, small workspace and limited degrees of freedom. In order to control the new device, two kinds of inverse kinematics will be investigated: an inverse function and a partitioned inverse kinematic solution. Moreover two different motion controllers will be presented: an independent joint controller and a computed torque scheme with acceleration feedforward. To evaluate the closed loop performance of the device the backdrivability and the Cartesian position tracking performance will be analyzed and the before mentioned controllers will be compared.


In his philosophical anthropology Paul Ricoeur sees man's innate goodness, despite his propensity for evil, ramifying into many capacities, among them, forgiveness. The capacity to forgive, for Ricoeur, lies between the paralysis of the power to act due to human fault, and the possible lifting of this incapacity through the separation of the offending agent from his or her evil deeds. But if forgiveness obtains in isolating offenders from their evil deeds, their self-understanding, sense of responsibility, and identity might become distorted and inaccurate, and would make us question whether forgiveness should be horizontal, that is, conditional; or vertical, that is, unconditional. This article aims to address these problems using Ricoeur's narrative approach to understanding the self and his idea of forgiveness that intersects with justice and gift.


This communication presents a simplified approach to the design of a single feed dual polarised, dual frequency (1.9 and 2.4 GHz) aperture coupled microstrip antenna. Using simulation and practical investigation, the coupling between the microstrip feed line and aperture, along with the coupling between the aperture and patch, is investigated and modelled using equivalent transformers. The results obtained are used to reduce the number of interdependent design parameters, thereby allowing initial approximate values to be determined more directly with only fine tuning subsequently required to obtain good matching at both frequencies. Excellent agreement is obtained for the simulation and practical results of the return loss and the gain of the antenna.


BACKGROUND
 There is a shortage of health care professionals competent in diabetes management worldwide. Digital education is increasingly used in educating health professionals on diabetes. Digital diabetes self-management education for patients has been shown to improve patients' knowledge and outcomes. However, the effectiveness of digital education on diabetes management for health care professionals is still unknown.

 OBJECTIVE
 The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness and economic impact of digital education in improving health care professionals' knowledge, skills, attitudes, satisfaction, and competencies. We also assessed its impact on patient outcomes and health care professionals' behavior.

 METHODS
 We included randomized controlled trials evaluating the impact of digitalized diabetes management education for health care professionals pre- and postregistration. Publications from 1990 to 2017 were searched in MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, PsycINFO, CINAHL, ERIC, and Web of Science. Screening, data extraction and risk of bias assessment were conducted independently by 2 authors.

 RESULTS
 A total of 12 studies met the inclusion criteria. Studies were heterogeneous in terms of digital education modality, comparators, outcome measures, and intervention duration. Most studies comparing digital or blended education to traditional education reported significantly higher knowledge and skills scores in the intervention group. There was little or no between-group difference in patient outcomes or economic impact. Most studies were judged at a high or unclear risk of bias.

 CONCLUSIONS
 Digital education seems to be more effective than traditional education in improving diabetes management–related knowledge and skills. The paucity and low quality of the available evidence call for urgent and well-designed studies focusing on important outcomes such as health care professionals' behavior, patient outcomes, and cost-effectiveness as well as its impact in diverse settings, including developing countries.


Financial access is gradually being recognised as an important input to economic development. Using World Bank (2007) database, this study examines the extent of financial access in developed and developing countries. Further, it develops a new socio-economic development index which incorporates financial access. It then compares socio-economic development of various countries as shown by HDI alone, and by the new index incorporating financial access. The results of the study show that Belgium ranks highest in terms of financial access among all the countries considered, followed by Spain and Germany. In addition, the ranking of countries in terms of HDI changes if financial access is taken into account.


Professional learning communities (PLCs) are often established and organised through collaboration among teachers, with one teacher having the role of facilitator. Such communities are widely recognised as important for facilitating both teacher and student learning. However, less is known about the leadership practices and the nature of the communicative spaces for learning as part of a PLC. The case study presented here focused on a district in Sweden involving 14 early childhood teachers who led their colleagues in implementing the revised curriculum for early childhood education (Lpfö-98). In this case, the leadership practices resembled a shared form of activity, which recognises that leading peers in learning-focused professional activities require what we describe as 'middle leadership'. Data was collected in the form of field notes and recordings of participants' dialogue in meetings involving middle leaders as they discussed their work; the dialogue was analysed through the lens of the theory of practice architectures. The results show the nature of communicative spaces as mechanisms for enabling teachers to engage in learning-focused meaning-making activities connected to systematic quality work. The results also reveal the practices and practice architectures that enabled the middle leader to conduct the work of leading the development of his or her colleagues.


&NA; In the course of the psychoanalytic treatment of patients with neurotic‐depressive reactions, it was noted that there was a high incidence of dreams with unpleasant content. This unpleasant content was of a particular kind; namely, the dreamer was the recipient of rejection, disappointment, humiliation, or similar unpleasant experiences in the dream content. A rating scale was constructed for the objective identification of these unpleasant themes, which were labelled "masochistic." This rating scale was applied to the first 20 dreams in treatment of 6 patients who had the diagnosis of neurotic depression and to the dreams of 6 nondepressed patients. The 2 groups were matched as closely as possible on the basis of sex, age, and estimated degree of psychopathology. The total sample of 240 dreams was randomized and then subjected to a "blind" scoring by the junior author. The dreams were also scored by the senior author for a reliability check, and 95 per cent agreement was obtained. The depressed patients showed a significantly higher number of dreams with "masochistic" content than the nondepressed patients (P=.025). Cross‐validation and multiple‐validation studies are necessary to confirm these findings. These results appear to be consistent with the psychoanalytic concept of inverted hostility in depressed patients. Future studies will attempt to establish whether there is any correlation between other clinical manifestations of masochism and the occurrence of "masochistic" dream content.


1. Calf blood flow was measured by venous occlusion plethysmography to compare two stimuli for eliciting maximal calf vascular conductance: (i) 10 min of arterial occlusion and (ii) isolated exhaustive calf exercise with ischaemic occlusion. The subjects were semi-supine with the calf in position for immediate blood flow measurements after release of the occluding cuff. Three groups of subjects were studied: young [35 years (SD 9, n = 9)], old [57 years (SD 5, n = 10)] and patients with congestive heart failure [63 years (SD 7, n = 7)]. 2. Occlusion and ischaemic exercise were equally effective in producing maximal calf vascular conductance in each of the subject groups. Maximal calf vascular conductance (ml min-1 100 ml-1 mmHg-1) was equivalent in the young [ischaemic exercise 0.54 (SEM 0.03), occlusion 0.54 (SEM 0.05)] and old [ischaemic exercise 0.47 (SEM 0.05), occlusion 0.48 (SEM 0.04)] subjects. However, patients with congestive heart failure exhibited significantly reduced maximal calf vascular conductance [ischaemic exercise 0.20 (SEM 0.02), occlusion 0.20 (SEM 0.01)]. 3. Analysis of the curves, generated by plotting serial calf vascular conductance values obtained immediately and every 15 s after occlusion cuff release for 165 s, revealed differences in the pattern of vasodilatation after occlusion and ischaemic exercise.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


The sensitivity of a bioassay in detecting soil inoculum of Colletotrichum coccodes and Helminthosporium solani was examined using potato minitubers and microplants. Tests were conducted on soils which were collected from fields in which the interval after a previous potato crop differed, and which were also artificially infested with conidia or microsclerotia. For C. coccodes, determining plant infection based on the occurrence of infected roots after 9–12 weeks was a sensitive method for detecting and quantifying the amount of inoculum in soil. Infestations of less than 0·4 microsclerotia per g soil were detected in artificially infested soils. A semiselective medium, developed for isolating C. gloeosporioides from pepper, detected soil infestations by C. coccodes as low as nine conidia or one microsclerotium per g soil in artificially infested soil. For H. solani, infection on minitubers was a sensitive measure, with soil inoculum of fewer than 10 conidia per g soil being detected. Soil infestation could be quantified by assessing the percentage surface area of minitubers covered by sporulating lesions, which was strongly related to the amount of soil infestation. The results of these bioassay tests were compared with published results for real-time quantitative PCR assays on the same soils. The two methods were in good agreement in artificially infested soils, but the bioassay appeared to be more sensitive with naturally infested soils.


Providing effective and efficient infrastructure underpins all attempts to reduce poverty. Trade is the engine of economic growth, and reliable and efficient transport is essential for successful trade. Transport is needed to facilitate production and exchanges, enable farmers to produce and bring their products to markets, and provide the basis for private investment. The poor state of transport infrastructure impedes Africa's development and obstructs poverty reduction. Introducing the private sector into managing and financing transport infrastructure in Africa cannot be approached as a classical private sector development case. It requires special attention to address issues linked to public, private partnerships in the region. Investments in African transport infrastructure are vulnerable to political risks, including governmental reneging on regulatory commitments. Establishing an adequate legal and regulatory framework will help build trust with the business community and specify clear rules and procedures. This framework will ease the constraints on mobilizing local finance by introducing risk-reducing mechanisms.


Cytologic and colposcopic histories of cases of invasive cervical cancer and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade III (CIN III) registered in Ravenna (northern Italy) between 1986 and 1990 were evaluated. During the 5 years prior to diagnosis, 10/49 invasive cancer patients and 25/61 CIN III patients had had at least one pap smear reported as negative. At the time of the most recent false-negative report, 9/10 and 17/25 of these cases had been recommended for a repeat smear within 2 to 6 months. Of the 9 patients with invasive cancer, 5 had also undergone an inconclusive colposcopy (with biopsy unperformed). Among invasive cancer patients aged under 50, half of incident cases (7/14) and most of those with some cytologic experience (7/8) had had a false-negative report; each of these patients (7/7) had been recommended for an early repeat smear. For invasive cancer patients as well as for CIN III patients, the suggested intervals for the early repeat were largely exceeded. Median delay in diagnosis was about 2 years. Although the frequency of negative reports recommending repeat smears within a few months was estimated to be some 10 % of total screening patients, current concepts in cervical cytology suggest that cancer cases with such false-negative reports should be regarded as follow-up failures rather than laboratory errors. In fact, they passed quite unnoticed. In unplanned (spontaneous) cervical screening practice, sensitivity needs to be maximized, but even the occurrence of false-negative cases is not monitored. The present study points out what may result from such a contradiction.


Iran's nuclear plans and Israel's attempts to deter a nuclear Iran are part of the IsraeliIranian 'secret war', a 'war' which has recently spread beyond the boundaries of Israel and Iran. Accordingly, Azerbaijani officials have speculated that the Hezbollah and even Iran may be responsible for recent plans to attack an Israeli politician and members of the Jewish community in Azerbaijan. These foiled attacks and the consequent fear over potential future attacks backed by Iran have led to heightened tension between Azerbaijan and Iran and greater speculation that Azerbaijan may become a battleground of the Israeli-Iranian secret war. This article will provide a political and security assessment of Israel-Iran-Azerbaijan triangular relations, particularly in the context of Iran's growing nuclear capability. The article shall cover the recent foiled attacks in Azerbaijan and introduce one of the main sources of tension between Iran and Azerbaijan, Iranian Azerbaijanis. Iranian fears over irredentist claims and Turkish influence over ethnic Azerbaijanis living in Iran have fuelled discrimination against this group with instances such as the Cartoon Crisis and the Lake Urmia incident. Furthermore, a background and recent developments of relations between these countries shall be provided. While relations between Iran and Azerbaijan have been historically been cordial, they have been growing increasingly more distant due to Iran's support of Armenia in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, alliance with Russia in the case of the status of the Caspian Sea, attempt to influence Azerbaijan's political and religious orientation, and due to recent events including Azerbaijan's growing cooperation with the United States and Israel. Similarly, relations between Iran and Israel shifted from warm under the time of the Shah to sour following the Iranian Revolution, primarily due to Israeli officials' belief that Iran has sponsored terror groups hostile to Israel, fear over Iran's growing nuclear capability, and Ahmadinejad's anti-Zionist rhetoric in 2007 that caused Israel to demand Iran's expulsion from the UN. In light of these factors, Israeli officials have come to denounce Iran's nuclear program, a move which has led to speculation that Israel may be planning an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities. Alternatively, relations between Israel and Azerbaijan have been warm since the 1990s when Azerbaijan reached out to Israel to help rebuild its military following the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Azerbaijan and Israel have cooperated increasingly in the areas of economics and security, a factor that has alarmed Iranian authorities who fear possible Israeli attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities. Israeli threats of attack are fiercely debated and the US has remained relatively ambiguous on this matter. Such an attack by Israelis may result in fierce retaliation by Iran either in the form of direct military strike against Israel or attacks against Israeli (and possibly Azerbaijani and US) targets all over the world. Azerbaijan's increased military cooperation with Israel and the West, its key geographical location, and the existence of a pro-separatist Azerbaijani minority in Iran suggest that should the Israeli-Iranian secret war escalate, Azerbaijan may indeed become involved or become a proxy of Israeli-Iranian confrontation.


Primary resistance drastically limits the clinical success of immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) in melanoma. Resistance to ICB may also develop when tumours relapse after targeted therapy. To identify cancer cell-intrinsic mechanisms driving resistance to ICB, we generated single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) data from a prospective longitudinal cohort of patients on ICB therapy, including an early time point obtained after only one cycle of treatment. Comparing these data with murine scRNA-seq datasets, we established a comprehensive view of the cellular architecture of the treatment-naïve melanoma ecosystem, and defined 6 evolutionarily conserved melanoma transcriptional metaprograms (Melanocytic or MEL, Mesenchymal-like or MES, Neural Crest-like, Antigen Presentation, Stress (hypoxia response) and Stress (p53 response)). Spatial multi-omics revealed a non-random geographic distribution of cell states that is, at least partly, driven by the tumour microenvironment. The single-cell data allowed unambiguous discrimination between melanoma MES cells and cancer-associated fibroblasts both in silico and in situ, a long-standing challenge in the field. Importantly, two of the melanoma transcriptional metaprograms were associated with divergent clinical responses to ICB. While the Antigen Presentation cell population was more abundant in tumours from patients who exhibited a clinical response to ICB, MES cells were significantly enriched in early on-treatment biopsies from non-responders, and their presence significantly predicted lack of response. Critically, we identified TCF4 (E2-2) as a master regulator of the MES program and suppressor of both MEL and Antigen Presentation programs. Targeting TCF4 expression in MES cells either genetically or pharmacologically using a bromodomain inhibitor increased immunogenicity and sensitivity to targeted therapy. This study describes an increasingly complex melanoma transcriptional landscape and its rapid evolution under ICB. It also identifies a putative biomarker of early response to ICB and an epigenetic therapeutic strategy that increases both immunogenicity of ICB-refractory melanoma and their sensitivity to targeted therapy.


Fermentation process is one of the most complicated processes, which is a large scale nonlinear modeling problem with multi-constraints and multi-variables. The successful applications of model-based advanced measurement and control techniques mostly depend on the accuracy of bioprocess model. As a swarm intelligence approach, particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm can explore the global optimal solution of complex problems. In recent years, there has increasingly research activities regarding the chaotic PSO (CPSO) algorithms, which performs better by instead pseudo random number with chaotic series. In this paper, a novel CPSO algorithm exploiting the properties of swarm energy is proposed for the bioprocess model parameters identification. The algorithm remains the good global searching ability by releasing the swarm energy slowly and accelerating the particles with worse fitness. Simulation experiment results show that the improved CPSO not only performs better convergence capability but also presents better solution quality as compared to the conventional CPSO.


This article centers the labor aid workers perform to manage researchers in the humanitarian aid sector in Jordan. It examines how workers move and manage researchers' bodies (including the author's) as part of their daily job routines. Drawing from sociological and postcolonial scholarship on labor and the body to document the latter highlights multiple "knowledge producers" that shape and contest data collection in this context. The goal in describing this process is twofold. First, this article seeks to elaborate understandings of power relations in data collection processes, particularly in postcolonial settings considered over-researched. Second, it aims to broaden the scope and utility of analytic reflexivity through contrapuntal thinking about researchers' positions in the research process.


Frequency versus wave number diagram of turbulent magnetic fluctuations in the solar wind was determined for the first time in the wide range over three decades using four Cluster spacecraft. Almost all of the identified waves propagate quasi‐perpendicular to the mean magnetic field at various phase speeds, accompanied by a transition from the dominance of outward propagation from the Sun at longer wavelengths into mixture of counter‐propagation at shorter wavelengths. Frequency‐wave number diagram exhibits largely scattered populations with only weak agreement with magnetosonic and whistler waves. Clear identification of a specific normal mode is difficult, suggesting that nonlinear energy cascade is operating even on small‐scale fluctuations.


We study the relationship between the design and analysis of graph algorithms in the coarsed grained parallel models and the behavior of the resulting code on clusters. We conclude that the coarse grained multicomputer model (CGM) is well suited to design competitive algorithms, and that it is thereby now possible to aim to develop portable, predictable and efficient parallel code for graph problems on clusters.


Our aim is to determine whether the serum electrolytes (Sodium and Potassium) measured by two different methods on two different equipments are equivalent or not. This retrospective study was conducted over three month's period (June 2017-August 2017). A total number of 300 patients from intensive care unit or in the different wards with a variety of diagnoses were enrolled in this study. Analysis of sodium and potassium levels in their serum was carried out using an electrolyte analyzer and an auto analyzer. Statistical measures were applied using students paired t-tests. The mean level (± standard deviation) of sodium measured by electrolyte analyzer was statistically significantly higher than the auto analyzer values (139.99 ± 7.48 mmol/l and 137.15 ± 7.66 mmol/l respectively; PE'0.0001). Regarding the potassium levels, the Mean level (± standard deviation) measured by electrolyte analyzer was statistically significantly greater than that of potassium measured by auto analyzer (4.290 ± 0.743 mmol/l and 4.147 ± 0.738 mmol/l respectively; pE'0.0001). Our results showed that serum electrolytes levels measured by electrolyte analyzer were higher than those measured by auto-analyzer. Differences obtained were statistically significant.


Methylphenidate (MPD) is considered as the first-line pharmacotherapy to treat ADHD. More recently, MPD has also been used as a cognitive enhancement recreationally. Its therapeutic effects are not fully understood, nor are the long term effects of the drug on brain development. The ventral tegmental area (VTA) neuronal activity was recorded from freely behaving adolescent rats using a wireless recording system. Five groups were used: saline, 0.6, 2.5, 5.0 and 10.0 mg/kg MPD. The experiment lasted for 10 days. This study demonstrated that VTA neurons respond to MPD in a dose response characteristic and the same dose of MPD can cause both behavioral sensitization and behavioral tolerance. The neuronal unit activity was evaluated based on the animals' behavioral activity following chronic MPD administration. The study showed that the animals' behavioral response to different acute MPD of 0.6, 2.5 and 10.0 mg/kg doses responded in a dose response characteristics. Moreover, the same chronic dose of 0.6, 2.5, and 10.0 mg/kg MPD elicits in some animals' behavioral sensitization and in some others behavioral tolerance. Therefore, the neuronal activity recorded from animals expressing behavioral sensitization was analyzed separately from the neuronal activity recorded from of behaviorally tolerant animals and it was found that the VTA units of the behaviorally sensitization animals responded significantly different to the drug than those VTA units recorded from animals expressing behavioral tolerance.


Background: Pulmonary impairment is a common manifestation in previously treated pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) patients. Approximately 40-60% of patients with history of complete anti-tuberculosis therapy (ATT) developed the obstructive, restrictive or mixed patterns of lung disease.
Objective: To determine the frequency and type of impairment of lung function in previously treated PTB patients.
Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at Ojha Institute of Chest diseases, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi during the period of six months from April 2021 to September 2021. One hundred and forty four previously treated PTB patients with age of 18-60 years were selected through consecutive sampling. Spirometry of each patient was performed by trained spirometry technician and lung function was assessed by an experienced pulmonologist. Data was interpreted with SPSS v. 25.0.
Results: Out of 144 previously treated PTB patients, male were 83 (57.6%) and female were 61 (42.4%). Impaired pulmonary function was present in 87 (60.4%) patients, out of which 49 (56.3%) patients had obstructive impairment; 23 (26.4%) patients had restrictive impairment while 15 (17.2%) patients had mix pattern.
Conclusion: Prevalence rate of impaired pulmonary function was higher in treated PTB patients who have completed ATT. Obstructive pulmonary impairment was the most common pulmonary impairment followed by restrictive and mixed pulmonary impairment.


Abstract Collostructional analysis is a corpus-based quantitative method of measuring the mutual attraction of lexemes and constructions (cf. Stefanowitsch and Gries 2003) which has gained considerable popularity among corpus linguists and especially cognitive linguists with a statistical bent. For many less statistically minded linguists, it has proven rather difficult to evaluate the theoretical background assumptions and cognitive underpinnings of collostructional analysis and to compare them to alternative ways of modelling lexicogrammatical attraction phenomena. This paper aims to spell out these premises and foundations in terms comprehensible to a wider audience. It begins with a concise survey of how collostructional analysis works and then reports on a number of practical, theoretical and statistical issues of which both practitioners of the method and those who try to appreciate results of its application should be aware. With these issues in mind we then discuss alternative ways of calculating and interpreting lexicogrammatical attraction. The advantages and disadvantages of the different methods are discussed, also against the background of the results of studies that have tried to evaluate the measures by means of external evidence from psycholinguistic experiments. Finally, cognitive underpinnings of lexicogrammatical associations and implications for the different approaches are discussed. It is argued that at present we lack adequate knowledge about the ways in which discourse frequencies affect entrenchment. We conclude that the complexities of the relation between corpus frequencies and degrees of entrenchment are still rather poorly understood, and make suggestions for future work.


INTRODUCTION
Fever of unknown origin (FUO) is one of the most challenging diagnostic dilemmas in the field of infectious diseases and tropical medicine. Clinicians should use the frequency distribution of disorders causing FUO to guide their diagnostic approach in patients with prolonged, unexplained fevers meeting the definition of FUO.

METHODOLOGY
The present study was undertaken to examine the etiologies, clinico-epidemiologic profile, and prognosis of classical FUO in patients reporting to the Alexandria Fever Hospital in Egypt. Records of 979 patients admitted to the fever hospital (from January 2009 to January 2010) and diagnosed as having FUO were examined carefully. FUO was defined as three outpatient visits or three days in the hospital without elucidation of cause of fever.

RESULTS
A total of 979 cases (57.0% males and 43.0% females), with ages ranging from 0.2 to 90 years, were investigated. The mean duration of fever before hospitalization was 31 ± 10 days. The etiology of FUO was delineated in 97% of cases, and only 3% remained undiagnosed. Diagnoses were grouped into five major categories. Infectious causes of FUO were strongly associated with better outcome (73.7% improved). Smoking, contact with animals or birds, drug addiction, and HIV seropositivity were important risk factors associated with infections.

CONCLUSIONS
Infections are the most common cause of FUO, followed by collagen vascular diseases, in our region. A three-step diagnostic work-up approach is recommended to be applied in Egypt in order to improve the quality of medical service provided to FUO patients.


IgG antibody against avian antigens was measured by quantitative radioimmunoassay in serum samples obtained regularly from twenty pigeon fanciers over a 1‐year period. A seasonal variation was seen in nine antibody‐positive subjects; eight of whom had symptoms of pigeon breeder's disease (PBD), and a clear peak of antibody production occurred during late summer, corresponding with the period of maximum avian contact in the sporting season. All subjects with insignificant specific IgG levels were asymptomatic and displayed minimal changes throughout the year despite a similar exposure pattern to antigen for all individuals. Raised total IgG was a feature of six symptomatic subjects, two of whom had raised total IgA. Three of these six subjects had maximum hypergamma‐globulinaemia coinciding with peak specific‐antibody levels, but in general the total imrnunoglobulin levels tended to remain high throughout the year with only marginal fluctuations. The total immunoglobulin levels in the other individuals were within normal limits and displayed no remarkable changes during the year. The subjects with pigeon breeder's disease had a more active immune responsiveness to avian contact, and the association of the highest levels with periods of maximal contact with antigen may have an important bearing on the dynamic nature of this condition.


A review of the use of pelletized poultry litter for creation of wealth through use as organic fertilizer was done, using information from literature and data from field observation. Poultry wastes, which are a menace to the environment, are sources of wealth creation, especially for organic farming. There is an abundance of poultry wastes in Nigeria, as about 932.5 metric tonnes of poultry manure is produced annually from the well-established poultry houses which keep expanding at the rate of 8% per year. Also, global trend is shifting to organic fertilizer as the use of chemical fertilizer over the years has destroyed our soil. Organic fertilizer has much organic content, which can rejuvenate the already destroyed soil. Not only that, organic fertilizer is safe for human health. Pelletized poultry litter would compete successfully as a soil conditioner or soil amendment. It would also be priced competitively, as it provides a unique mixture of nutrients and conditioning properties. Consequently, there is more poultry farming profitability, efficient resources utilization and conservation of environment due to waste management.


An efficient algorithm for extraction of three-dimensional (3-D) capacitance on multilayered and lossy substrates is presented. The new algorithm presents a major improvement over the quasi-3-D approach used in a Green's function-based solver and takes into consideration the sidewalls of 3-D conductors. To improve the efficiency of the computation and the transformation of the Green's function, a nonuniform grid is adopted. The most computationally intensive part in the transformation of the Green's function is computed separately as technology-independent matrices Tk foremost. Once computed, Tk can be stored and used for any technology, thus the storage requirement and computational complexity are reduced from O (S/sup 2/) and O (S/sup 2/ log S/sup 2/), respectively, to just O [(log S/sub max/)/sup 2/]. Extensive tests have been performed to verify the new algorithm, and its accuracy has been established by comparing with other programs.


BACKGROUND
Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), a procedure often used during cardiac surgery, is associated with an inflammatory process that leads to lung injury. We hypothesized that inhaled nitric oxide (INO), which has anti-inflammatory properties, possesses the ability to modulate lung cell apoptosis and prevent CPB-induced inflammation.

METHODS
Twenty male pigs were randomly classified into four groups: sham, sham plus INO, CPB, and CPB plus INO. INO (20 ppm) was administered for 24 h after anesthesia. CPB was performed 90 min into INO treatment. BAL fluid and blood were collected at time 0 (before CPB), at 4 h after beginning CPB, and 24 h after beginning CPB (T24).

RESULTS
At T(24), BAL interleukin (IL)-8 levels and neutrophil percentages were elevated significantly in the CPB group. At T(24), INO reduced IL-8 concentrations and attenuated the increase of neutrophil percentage in the CPB-plus-INO group. Nitrite-plus-nitrate (NOx) concentrations were decreased significantly in groups without INO. Moreover, animals treated with INO showed higher rates of pulmonary apoptosis compared to their respective control groups except for the sham-plus-INO group, in which they were diminished.

CONCLUSION
These results demonstrate that NOx production is reduced after CPB, and that INO acts as an anti-inflammatory agent by decreasing neutrophil numbers and their major chemoattractant, IL-8. INO also increases cell apoptosis in the lungs during inflammatory conditions, which may explain, in part, how it resolves pulmonary inflammation.


A five-year experience with the vasopressin analogue desmopressin acetate (DDAVP) for nocturnal enuresis is described in 59 children. The initial starting dose of 5 μg at bedtime is lower than that reported in other series. Eighty-one percent of patients required 10 μg or less to achieve improvement or resolution of bedwetting.


The pilin antigenic variation (Av) system of Neisseria gonorrhoeae (Gc) mediates unidirectional DNA recombination from silent gene copies into the pilin expression locus. A DNA sequencing assay was developed to accurately measure pilin Av in a population of Gc strain FA1090 arising from a defined pilin progenitor under non‐selective culture conditions. This assay employs a piliated parental Gc variant with a recA allele whose promoter is replaced by lac‐regulatory elements, allowing for controlled induction of pilin Av. From this assay, the frequency of pilin Av was measured as 0.13 recombination events per cell, with a corresponding rate of pilin Av of 4 × 10−3 events per cell per generation. Most pilin variants retained the parental piliation phenotype, providing the first comprehensive analysis of piliated variants arising from a piliated progenitor. Sequence analysis of pilin variants revealed that a subset of possible recombination events predominated, which differed between piliated and non‐piliated progeny. Pilin Av exhibits the highest reported frequency of any pathogenic gene conversion system and can account for the extensive pilin variation detected during human infection.


Tumour markers are substances stemming either from the tumour cell itself or the production of which is stimulated by the malignant growth. They are released into body fluids where they can be detected quantitatively with the aid of sensitive immunological methods. In addition to oncofetal antigens they include hormones, enzymes, isoenzymes as well as special proteins. The determination of markers by aid of monoclonal antibodies has led to an additional improvement in tumour diagnostics. Tumour markers are indubitably valuable preoperatively as prognostic parameters, and postoperatively for the follow-up and after-care. However, the tumour-associated substances so far in use are unsuitable for the early recognition of malignant processes.


Managing Editor: Sue Kegerreis, Centre for Psychoanalytic Studies, University of Essex, UK Submissions Editor: Eleanor Boulton, University of Hertfordshire, UK Assistant Submissions Editor: Mischka Byworth, University of Oxford, UK Open Space Editor: Alex Coren, University of Oxford, UK Book Reviews Editor: Jonathan Smith, South London and Maudsley NHS Mental Health Trust, London,UK Consultant Editor: Paul Terry, Hertfordshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, UK Commissioning Editor: Ann Heyno, Birbeck College, University of London & Independent consultant


Imam al-Syafi'i has a very important role in the development of science in Islam,besides being known as a faqih (fiqh expert), Imam Syafi'i is one of the figures who are very understanding of the meanings of the Qur'an. Therefore, this study aims to find out the thoughts about the method of interpretation in the book al-Risalah. Because basically this book was written as a gift from Abdurahman bin Mahdi regarding the content of the meaning of the Qur'an. Using a qualitative approach (library research), the results show that in the book of al-Risalah, Imam Syafi'i's method of understanding the Qur'an can be found using the sources bil-Ma'tsur or bil-Riwayah, both the Qur'an , hadith, opinions of friends and the words of the tabi'in.


Objective: To understand which types of Medicare patients with diabetes disproportionately used telehealth during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and how their characteristics mediated their inpatient and emergency department (ED) utilization. Methods: Logistic regression analyses were used to measure the associations between patient characteristics and telehealth utilization using electronic health records among Medicare patients with diabetes (n = 31,654). Propensity score matching was used to examine the relative impact of telehealth use in conjunction with race, ethnicity, and age on inpatient and ED outcomes. Results: Telehealth was associated with age (75-84 vs. 65-74; odds ratio [OR] = 0.810, p < 0.01), gender (female: OR = 1.148, p < 0.01), and chronic diseases (e.g., lung disease: OR = 1.142; p < 0.01). Black patients using telehealth were less likely to visit the ED (estimate = -0.018; p = 0.08), whereas younger beneficiaries using telehealth were less likely to experience an inpatient stay (estimate = -0.017; p = 0.06). Conclusions: Telehealth expansion particularly benefited the clinically vulnerable but saw uneven use and uneven benefit along sociodemographic lines. Clinical Trial Registration Number: NCT03136471.


This brief deals with the application of linear parameter varying control concepts to the design of a full envelope flight control system for commercial aircrafts. The proposed controller is fixed to have a multivariable proportional-integral structure. A linear matrix inequalities-based technique is proposed to account for variations both in the reference model and in the plant. Some numerical simulations show the effectiveness of the proposed technique all over the aircraft operating envelope.


In this study, we present an efficient graph clustering method called graph communities to analyze occupational accidents in Turkey from 2013 to 2014 and use the Pearson correlation to calculate the similarity measure between the accident data. For this purpose we represent each accident as a vector of a social actor. Then, we obtain sub-communities which can be seen as the cluster of clusters iteratively. Moreover, we present the sub-dominant ultra-metric structures among occupational accidents using the minimum spanning tree method. In each sub-community we analyze the central nodes in minimum spanning trees which are the dominant in the information flow. Furthermore, we use the topological measures to determine which hierarchical structure is best to represent occupational accidents in sub-communities.


The effects of forage type, breed type and sex on lamb growth and carcass composition, and their changes throughout growth, were measured. The three breed types were Scottish Blackface (no. = 31), Suffolk (no. = 28) and their reciprocal cross (no. = 30). The lambs were given ad libitum a pelleted ryegrass alone, pelleted lucerne alone or a choice of both. Each lamb was scanned using X-ray computed tomography to measure the weights of fat, lean and bone in the carcass at three proportions of mature body weight (0·30, 0·45 and 0·65). Live weights and food intake data were recorded weekly. Average daily gains in live weight and carcass tissues, food intake and efficiency were calculated for each lamb between degrees of maturity. Relationships between weight and food intake were investigated using a Spillman function. Breed type had no effect on fat or lean proportion in the carcass but Scottish Blackface lambs had 1·04 times the carcass bone proportions of the Suffolk or crossbred lambs. Diet had no effect on carcass tissue proportions. The effect of sex on carcass composition changed with stage of maturity. Breed type and sex effects on intakes and gains in live weight and tissue weights were related to mature size differences. Scaling by (mature size) 0·73 did not fully remove these differences. There were no effects of breed type, sex or diet on efficiency. Lambs on ryegrass had lower intakes (0·878 as great) and slower growth (0·851 as fast) than those on lucerne or the choice treatment. The mean proportion of ryegrass in the choice diet was 0·366 (s.e. 0·0273); it increased slightly with time. There was no breed type by diet interaction for any of the variables examined. The Spillman function described growth well and showed that there were no effects of breed type, diet or sex on efficiency.


This paper reports the plasmonic lasing of a split ring filled with gain material in water. The lasing mode (1500 nm) is far from the pump mode (980 nm), which can depress the detection noise from the pump light. The laser intensities of the two modes simultaneously increase by more than 103 in amplitude, which can intensify the absorption efficiency of the pumping light and enhance the plasmonic lasing. The plasmonic lasing is a sensitive sensor. When a single protein nanoparticle (n = 1.5, r = 1.25 nm) is trapped in the gap of the split ring, the lasing spectrum moves by 0.031 nm, which is much larger than the detection limit of 10−5 nm. Moreover, the lasing intensity is also very sensitive to the trapped nanoparticle. It reduces to less than 1/600 when a protein nanoparticle (n = 1.5, r = 1.25 nm) is trapped in the gap.


Sugars are involved in plant growth, fruit quality, and signaling perception. Therefore, understanding the mechanisms involved in soluble sugar accumulation is essential to understand fruit development. Here, we report that MdPFPβ, a pyrophosphate-dependent phosphofructokinase gene, regulates soluble sugar accumulation by enhancing the photosynthetic performance and sugar-metabolizing enzyme activities in apple (Malus domestica Borkh.). Biochemical analysis revealed that a basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factor, MdbHLH3, binds to the MdPFPβ promoter and activates its expression, thus promoting soluble sugar accumulation in apple fruit. In addition, MdPFPβ overexpression in tomato influenced photosynthesis and carbon metabolism in the plant. Furthermore, we determined that MdbHLH3 increases photosynthetic rates and soluble sugar accumulation in apple by activating MdPFPβ expression. Our results thus shed light on the mechanism of soluble sugar accumulation in apple leaves and fruit: MdbHLH3 regulates soluble sugar accumulation by activating MdPFPβ gene expression and coordinating carbohydrate allocation. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


Suppose that $A \in \mathbb{R}^{N \times N}$ is symmetric positive semidefinite with rank $K \le N$. Our goal is to decompose $A$ into $K$ rank-one matrices $\sum_{k=1}^K g_k g_k^T$ where the modes $\{g_{k}\}_{k=1}^K$ are required to be as sparse as possible. In contrast to eigen decomposition, these sparse modes are not required to be orthogonal. Such a problem arises in random field parametrization where $A$ is the covariance function and is intractable to solve in general. In this paper, we partition the indices from 1 to $N$ into several patches and propose to quantify the sparseness of a vector by the number of patches on which it is nonzero, which is called patch-wise sparseness. Our aim is to find the decomposition which minimizes the total patch-wise sparseness of the decomposed modes. We propose a domain-decomposition type method, called intrinsic sparse mode decomposition (ISMD), which follows the "local-modes-construction + patching-up" procedure. The key step in the ISMD is to construct local pieces of the intrinsic sparse modes by a joint diagonalization problem. Thereafter a pivoted Cholesky decomposition is utilized to glue these local pieces together. Optimal sparse decomposition, consistency with different domain decomposition and robustness to small perturbation are proved under the so called regular-sparse assumption (see Definition 1.2). We provide simulation results to show the efficiency and robustness of the ISMD. We also compare the ISMD to other existing methods, e.g., eigen decomposition, pivoted Cholesky decomposition and convex relaxation of sparse principal component analysis [25] and [40].


Reticulocytes were separated on the basis of density by isopycnic centrifugation in dextran gradients. This parameter was shown to correlate with the degree of maturity of the cells. Lactoperoxidase iodination of cells of different densities followed by sodium dodecyl sulfate (NaDodSO4) electrophoresis revealed a 190 000 molecular weight protein which was well labeled in early reticulocyte membranes. Efficiency of labeling decreased as the cells increased in density, and high specific activity iodination of mature erythrocytes did not result in the labeling of any species near this molecular weight. Inclusion of rabbit transferrin prior to the iodination procedure resulted in a specific loss of labeling of this 190 000 molecular weight species. When steps were taken to clear endogenous transferrin from the membranes, the labeling of this species was enhanced. These observations are consistent with the concept that transferrin can block the lactoperoxidase catalyzed iodination of this membrane protein by specifically associating with it. Coomassie blue and periodic acid-Schiff staining of NaDodSO4 gels of these membranes revealed that a glycoprotein present at this molecular weight is lost during the course of reticulocyte maturation. It is concluded from these studies that a glycoprotein of molecular weight 190 000 constitutes the transferrin receptor in the reticulocyte membrane.


Three recent development proposals in Northern Manhattan highlight community participation and empowerment in the planning process. The following will detail community empowerment in the planning and development process and provide a clear definition of some of the issues challenging these communities. In addition, it will explore the three development proposals as case studies defining the success, limitations, and frustrations of community empowerment. I. ZONING--A DEFINITION Modern zoning began with the passage of the New York City zoning ordinance in 1916, which regulated the use and location of buildings throughout the city. (1) Though the art of zoning has become more sophisticated since then, zoning basically regulates three fundamental aspects of the developed urban environment: i) type of land use (residential, commercial, industrial, community facility or a mixture of uses); ii) intensity of the land use (how much can be built on a site, usually described as a Floor Area Ratio or FAR, a number multiplied by the lot size to determine maximum development potential); iii) and shape of the land use (governed by lot coverage, set backs, maximum building height, etc.). (2) II. CREATION AND INSERTION OF COMMUNITY BOARDS INTO THE PLANNING PROCESS The creation of New York City's fifty-nine community boards in 1975 (3) marked the city's return to neighborhood-based politics. (4) The urban machine politics of the late 1800s and early 1900s had also once relied on decentralized, neighborhood support from the city's new immigrant groups in return for the effective delivery of municipal services, (5) a practice perfected by the rule of Tammany Hall, (6) but brought to an end during the fiscal crisis of the 1930s at the hands of urban reformers and Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia. (7) To counteract the clientelism under the previous political order, this new reform government, institutionalized as the "welfare city," concentrated administrative power and control in semi-autonomous central city agencies. (8) From there, professional bureaucrats, theoretically isolated from political influence, made decisions intended to benefit the city as a whole, rather than any particular neighborhood. (9) Thus, from roughly 1930 to 1965, New York City's administrative apparatus was decentralized along functional, rather than geographic, lines. (10) The emphasis on city over neighborhood, however, led to the alienation of lower income groups. (11) Resultant ethnic strife and conflict between the urban bureaucracies and their clients in the late 1960s and early 1970s initiated a second major readjustment in New York City's political order, (12) as black and Hispanic protest groups organized communities around neighborhood issues. (13) John V. Lindsay's successful effort to ally these groups with business elites ushered him into the mayor's office in 1965. (14) From there, he introduced a series of measures to geographically decentralize the city's political system, (15) including community control of schools. (16) This shift back to community input into politics and neighborhood service delivery culminated in the City Charter Revision of 1975, (17) which gave communities broad, unprecedented powers. (18) A countercurrent to the predominant tendency toward geographic centralization of government under the mid-century reform regime did exist, however, and ultimately evolved into the community board system. (19) Starting in the late 1940s, some local governmental reform groups called for community planning. (20) Manhattan Borough President Robert F. Wagner, Jr., finally heeded this call by establishing twelve Community Planning Councils within the borough of Manhattan in 1951. (21) Each council had fifteen to twenty members and was intended both to serve as an official place for local residents to register their views on public decisions that would affect their communities and to advise Borough President Wagner on budgetary and local planning matters. …


This paper, delivered as a keynote address to the 19th World Congress in Reading, explains why the author chooses imagination as a core issue in children's learning to read and write. Drawing on literature, history, psychology, and other disciplines, the author explores how imagination grows and develops and contributes to comprehension and learning. (Please cite this paper as Spencer, M.M. (2002, July 29). What more needs saying about imagination? Paper presented at the 19th International Reading Association World Congress on Reading, Edinburgh, Scotland.)


In order to determine the prevalence of ankylosing spondylitis and the prevalence and pattern of back pain amongst the relatives of patients with ankylosing spondylitis, 63 first degree relatives of 14 propositi were assessed by means of questionnaire, physical examination, and radiology. There were no significant differences in the responses of the B27 positive and negative relatives in relation to prevalence, severity and character of back pain. Ankylosing spondylitis was found in 6.5 per cent of B27 positive relatives and 3.1 per cent of B27 negative relatives; sacroilitis being present in 12.9 per cent of B27 positive relatives and 6.3 per cent of B27 negative relatives. A family studied is presented as a possible corssover between HLA B locus and disease "predisposition" genes. It is suggested patterns of back pain may not be as discriminating as has been thought.


Higher education is a growing industry. For the past few years, the number of higher institutions offering engineering programmes has been increasing dramatically. In the increasing competitive environment, engineering schools are concerned about competitive advantages, market share, quality of engineering education and services. This paper presents a complete strategy formulation by integrating Blue Ocean strategy, SWOT analysis, Balanced Scorecard and Outcome-based framework for meeting the demanding challenges of engineering education. This integral approach encompasses all the functional and operational activities of engineering education and embraces innovation into teaching and learning activities. It highlights that creating uncontested market through value innovation to attract non-customers can become more effective only when all the strategy approaches are integrated and woven together.


Deflected control surfaces can be used as variable camber control in different flight conditions, and a convex corner resembles a simplified configuration for the upper surface. This experimental study determines the presence of passive vortex generators, VGs (counter-rotating vane type), on shock-induced boundary layer separation for transonic convex-corner flow. The mean surface pressure distributions in the presence of VGs for h/δ = 0.2 and 0.5 are similar to those for no flow control. If h/δ = 1.0 and 1.5, there is an increase in the amplitude of the mean surface pressure upstream of the corner's apex, which corresponds to greater device drag and less downstream expansion. There is a decrease in peak pressure fluctuations as the value of h/δ increases, because there is a decrease in separation length and the frequency of shock oscillation. The effectiveness of VGs also depends on the freestream Mach number. For M = 0.89, there is an extension in the low-pressure region downstream of a convex corner, because there is greater convection and induced streamwise vorticity. VGs with h/δ ≤ 0.5 are preferred if deflected control surfaces are used to produce lift.


The main purpose of the doctoral dissertation was to research the attitude of preschool teachers to their own autonomy and, consequently, how an autonomous preschool teacher encourages the development of autonomy in preschool children. Promoting children's autonomy in kindergarten is believed to have a positive effect on individuals' autonomy in later stages and is based on the assumption that there is a relationship between a child's autonomy and the autonomy of his/her preschool teacher. Promoting children's autonomy in kindergarten was the main focus only from the relational and didactic aspects (e. g. making choices, children's participation in learning). By analysis of accessible literature, we have explored the factors that influence autonomous functioning of preschool teachers and the factors that partly influence the development of preschool children's autonomy. By empirical quantitative research, we have been studied preschool teachers' attitude to their autonomy and discover how autonomous preschool teachers stimulate the development of autonomy in children enrolled in Slovenian kindergartens. We have been interested in the possible correlations between preschool teachers' positive attitude towards their professional autonomy and a greater degree of promoting children's autonomy. Since the concept of promoting children's autonomy in kindergarten is based on the assumption that the level of preschool teachers' professional autonomy affects the promotion of preschool children's autonomy, we have analysed the conditions, advantages and disadvantages of promoting children's autonomy and the autonomy of preschool teachers, and prepared a set of proposals that could contribute to preschool teachers' good practices.
In the empirical research, we determined that most preschool teachers have a positive attitude towards their professional autonomy. However, within the various professional ranks and different lengths of work experience of preschool teachers, there are statistically significant differences in their attitude to professional autonomy. We discovered that preschool teachers' attitude to their own autonomy is correlated to a greater promotion of children's autonomy. The higher is the level of promoting children's autonomy, the less negative is the preschool teachers' attitude to their professional autonomy. We also discovered that preschool teachers' positive attitude to their professional autonomy has a beneficial effect on the relational and didactic aspects of promoting children's autonomy. A positive attitude of preschool teachers towards their own professional autonomy is one of the factors that stimulate promotion of children's autonomy.
In the area of preschool education, we have confirmed one of the factors for promoting children's autonomy and have made indirect contribution to the improvement of preschool education at the procedural level with a set of proposals to promote children's autonomy.


The advancement of technology in medical science has just changed human lives, as well as biomedical innovations are making human lives better but lesser harmful. In past, scientifically and religiously approved techniques such as testtube baby & human stem cells therapy have served humanity especially infertile and connubial parents. Nowadays, the advancement in CRISPER/cas9 technology which is about human germline gene editing, just rekindled the religious and ethical concerns, especially in Islamic perspectives. Although, human germline genome editing and modification have been started decades ago claims about disease prevention strategies have raised many religious concerns such as tampering with God's creation, human dignity, safety and efficacy of the technology, and human genetic enhancement. This kind of editing might result in inheritable changes in the human genome. So, questions about its status whether it should be allowed or not, need deep & serious study from religious and ethical perspectives. This study will encompass Islamic perspectives on these concerns in the light of ethical principles of Islam while considering and assessing the permissibility or lawful status of CRISPR/Cas9 mediated human germline gene editing. This research study also aims to address the controversial discussions among Muslim jurists regarding human germline gene editing as well as to comprise the related ethical regulations and concerns.


A benzene thermal conversion route has been successfully developed to prepare nanocrystalline indium nitride at 180-200 degrees C by choosing NaNH(2) and In(2)S(3) as novel nitrogen and indium sources. This route has been also extended to the synthesis of other group III nitrides. The product InN was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high-resolution TEM, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Raman spectroscopy, and infrared spectroscopy (IR). The optical properties of nanocrystalline InN were also recorded by means of UV-vis absorption spectroscopy and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy, indicating that the as-prepared sample was within the quantum confinement regime. Finally, the formation mechanism was also investigated.


Several propositional fragments have been considered so far as target languages for knowledge compilation and used for improving computational tasks from major AI areas (like inference, diagnosis and planning); among them are the ordered binary decision diagrams, prime implicates, prime implicants, \formulae" in decomposable negation normal form. On the other hand, the validity problem val(QPROPP S) for Quantied Boolean Formulae (QBF) has been acknowledged for the past few years as an important issue for AI, and many solvers have been designed. In this paper, the complexity of restrictions of the validity problem for QBF obtained by imposing the matrix of the input QBF to belong to propositional fragments used as target languages for compilation, is identied. It turns out that this problem remains hard (PSPACE-complete) even under severe restrictions on the matrix of the input. Nevertheless some tractable restrictions are pointed out.


Cadmium is a known immunotoxic agent in animal studies. Cells of the mononuclear phagocytic system are strategically located at portals of entry in humans and therefore may be particularly at risk for cadmium exposure through contaminated air, food, and drinking water. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there were changes in interleukin-6 (IL-6) production, a pleiotropic cytokine, when an activated human monocytic cell line was exposed to cadmium. Results suggest that there were statistically significant lower levels of IL-6 at 0.06 mM cadmium (P < 0.05), and 0.8 and 0.1 mM cadmium (P < 0.01), determined via the ELISA method. IL-6 messenger RNA (mRNA) levels were also decreased at these cadmium concentrations. The addition of a chelating agent, EDTA, to the cultures prevented the suppression of IL-6 secretion.


Comparators are most commonly use and basic blocks of analog-to-digital converters. For the purpose of increasing speed and also for lesser power and delay circuits needed high-speed comparators. It is very difficult and challenging to design high-speed comparators when the smaller of supply voltages. In this paper, a new double-tail comparator i.e inverter based double-tail comparator is implemented with lesser power, high speed and low-voltages based on the results of conventional double-tail and proposed double-tail comparators. When compared to the results of conventional and proposed double-tail comparators, a new inverter based double-tail comparator gives better performance in terms of delay and power. this project is done with tanner tools in 180nm technology. output waveforms will be shown in w-edit.


We evaluated clinical effects of mitral valve replacement with preservation of ventricular annular continuity in 53 patients with isolated mitral stenosis and regurgitation. The patients were divided into 3 groups; Group 1: the patients had conventional mitral valve replacement, Group 2: with preservation of posterior leaflet ventricular annular continuity (VAC) (33 patients), and Group 3: preservation of both anterior and posterior leaflet (8 patients). Operative technique was described for pure mitral regurgitation and mitral stenosis. There was one patient died within 30 days operatively in each group. In Group 1 the patient died for poor LV function, in Group 2, the patient died for postoperative GVHD, and in Group 3, the death caused by postoperative LV rupture. We have observed no late death. Minor thromboembolization in early stage were seen in 2 cases of Group 2 and there were no apparent correlation with operative technique. Postoperative cardiac catheterization data (Pulmonary Artery wedge pressure, C.O, LVEF, LVEDV1) showed no significant difference among these 3 groups. Segmental wall contraction in left ventriculography demonstrated good contraction in Group 2 and Group 3 compared with that of Group 1. Left ventricular contraction index with heart rate corrected mean Vcf (Vcfc) and left ventricular end-systolic wall stress (sigma es) relation using two dimensional cardiac echogram demonstrated almost normal range in the groups 2 and 3. These findings suggests that mitral valve replacement with preservation of ventricular annular continuity has beneficial effects on postoperative left ventricular function and requires to be further investigated.