This paper presents a study on the performance of NASA Rotor 37 with the casing grooves based on three-dimensional numerical analysis. Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations are solved on a hexahedral grid with the shear stress transport model as a turbulence closure model. The governing equations are discretized by a finite volume method. The validation of the numerical results is performed through experimental data for the total pressure ratio and the adiabatic efficiency. The investigation for an axial compressor with a smooth casing and the casing grooves is carried out to compare the performance parameters, for example, surge margin and efficiency, etc. The surge margin is improved in the case of the casing grooves while remarkable improvement of the efficiency is not produced. The result shows that the casing groove is beneficial to expand the operating range of NASA Rotor 37.


THE NIGHT WATCHMAN RETURNS Stephen T. Loiaconi, M.F.A. George Mason University, 2010 Thesis Director: Stephen Goodwin This thesis contains the first sixteen chapters of a novel about retired urban vigilante Ted Walker and the nephew who unwisely chooses to follow in his footsteps. When a night of crime-fighting ends with his nephew in the hospital, Ted takes it upon himself to seek justice, an investigation that will force him to face the mistakes of his past and the consequences he still can't escape today. The story spans nearly 30 years of Ted Walker's life, revisiting the highs and the very, very deep lows of his career and following him into today's real-life superhero subculture. Along the way, he faces angry relatives, a former sidekick, an old nemesis and the new world of 21 st century online media. It's a novel about family, responsibility, atonement and what happens to American heroes when we don't need them anymore.


—The recent emergence of programmable GPUs on mobile devices means that mobile ray tracing at interactive rates is imminent. Previous work has focused mainly on speeding up real-time ray tracing. However, on a mobile device, the most constraining resource is frequently its available battery energy. In addition to maintaining reasonable frame rates and image quality, ray tracing on mobile devices must also be energy efficient. We present results of a comprehensive measurement study that investigates the energy efficiency of mobile ray tracing. We compared the energy efficiency of uniform grid, k-d tree, and bounding-volume hierarchy (BVH) acceleration structures on scenes ranging in size from 1lk to 990k triangles when rendered on both the CPU and GPU. Our results show that from an energy perspective, several scene characteristics such as the number and distribution of triangles, mobile display size, and the rendering processor (CPU vs. GPU) can affect which acceleration structure is most energy efficient. With the exception of the SAH k-d tree, the build energy of all acceleration structures was much smaller than the rendering energy, making the SAH k-d tree a bad choice energy wise for highly dynamic scenes. For small screen sizes (e.g., cell phone resolutions), rendering on the CPU using a naïve k-d tree uses less energy than any other processor-acceleration structure combination. On the GPU, the BVH is the most energy-efficient acceleration structure for larger screen sizes (e.g., PDA and laptop resolutions), regardless of model size.


The placenta is a fetal organ that separates the maternal from the fetal circulation and mediates the transfer of nutrients between the mother and the fetus. Placental transfer of nutrients occurs across the placental villi, which are finely branched tree-like structures. Nutrients from the maternal blood in the intervillous space cross the villous barrier and then enter the fetal capillaries. A healthy pregnancy outcome is dependent on adequate placental transfer of gases and nutrients from the maternal to the fetal circulation. Impairments in nutrient transfer lead to altered fetal growth, which also has health implications in later life. While the transport mechanisms that mediate this transfer are known, the ways in which these interact as a system are not well understood. Mathematical modelling provides a tool to enhance the interpretation of placental transfer experiments. In this thesis, physiologically based compartmental models were employed for the study of nutrient transfer between the mother and the fetus and validated with data from ex vivo placental perfusion and in vivo clinical experiments. With respect to previous models, a more extensive range of modelling applications is presented in this thesis including several different transport mechanisms. Model implementation was carried out for fatty acids, amino acids and cortisol. In particular, fatty acids were studied extensively in vivo and in vitro. In addition, a 3D image based modelling approach of the placental microstructures was carried out. The main novelty compared to previous approaches was that the transport of nutrients in the maternal blood was modelled explicitly and a study of nutrient uptake with respect to different maternal blood flow rates was performed. The main objectives of this thesis were to increase the biological understanding of placental transfer and to provide a platform for quantification, prediction and evaluation of nutrient transfer across the placenta. This may ultimately form the basis for clinical tools to help physicians to prevent, recognise, intervene and cure problematic pregnancies. The main results of the thesis were that placental metabolism was found to play a rate-limiting role in fatty acid and amino acid transfer and that the flow environment in the placental microstructure had a significant effect on limiting transfer. Examples of application of the proposed models to experimental data from external collaborators was successful and enhanced their interpretation and value. Future work needs to focus on the further investigation of placental metabolism, such as the localisation and characterisation of metabolic sub compartments. Moreover, future modelling investigation of the 3D microstructure of the placenta should focus on the inclusion of both maternal and fetal capillary flow and the implememntation of more complex transport mechanisms. The models developed in this thesis could equally be used to study the transfer of other substances, e.g. drugs or toxins, in normal and altered pregnancies. In this respect, the models presented should be integrated as part of the realisation of a "virtual" placenta.


In this paper, we study two classical saving-insurance problems for the intertemporal version developed by Hayashi and Miao (2011) of the smooth ambiguity model of Klibanoff et al. (2005). These models put risk, ambiguity and time preferences together in a Kreps-Porteus aggregator, and disentangle the effects among risk, ambiguity and time preferences. We show that the concepts and techniques developed by Topkis (1998) and others can be used to obtain a set of simple and intuitive sufficient conditions such that risk, ambiguity and time preferences together always raise the demand for saving and self-insurance.


Nearly 400 Tycho-2 stars have been observed in a 720 square degree field in the direction of the North Galactic Pole with the high resolution echelle spectrograph ELODIE. Absolute magnitudes, effective temperatures, gravities and metallicities have been estimated, as well as distances and 3D velocities. Most of these stars are clump giants and span typical distances from 200 pc to 800 pc to the galactic mid-plane. This new sample. free of any kinematical and metallicity bias, is used to investigate the vertical distribution of disk stars. The old thin disk and thick disk populations are deconvolved from the velocity-metallicity distribution of the sample and their parameters are determined. The thick disk is found to have a moderate rotational lag of -51 ′5 km s - 1 with respect to the Sun with velocity ellipsoid (σ U , σ V , σ W ) = (63 ′ 6.39 ′ 4,39 ′ 4)km s - 1 , mean metallicity of [Fe/H] = -0.48 ′ 0.05 and a high local normalization of 15 ′ 7%. Combining this NGP sample with a local sample of giant stars from the Hipparcos catalogue, the orientation of the velocity ellipsoid is investigated as a function of distance to the plane and metallicity. We find no vertex deviation for old stars, consistent with an axisymmetric Galaxy. Paper II is devoted to the dynamical analysis of the sample, puting new constraints on the vertical force perpendicular to the galactic plane and on the total mass density in the galactic plane.


In this paper, the relationship of chromatographic retention index (I) and aromatic ring number (ARN) of 49 pure reagents in Zorbax-NH2 column/hepatane chromatographic system using high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC) have been studied. The results obtained were that log I values can be divided into several regions according to ARN. They were 0.672-1.089, 1.652-2.588, 2.629-3.241, 3.447-4.160 and 4.482-5.000 for ARN 1 through 5. Those were clear-cut and could be applied to the division of aromatic ring distribution (ARD) of heavy oil products. Hence the ARD method, which was based on the results from pure synthetic compounds, has been established. On the study of quantitation, the peak-area normalization method was used to quantify the aromatics with different ARN. The method has the features of high rapidity, high resolution and long life of column. In this paper heavy oil and pitch products from seven plants have been systematically analyzed for their ARD.


The pharmacodynamic activity (leukopoietic effect) and pharmacokinetics of recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (rhG-CSF) administered in various doses as hollow-type suppositories were investigated in rabbits with leukopenia induced by cyclophosphamide (CPA-treated rabbits). We found that serum granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) concentration was increased following the rectal administration of rhG-CSF. Therefore, rhG-CSF could be absorbed from the rectal mucosa in leukopenic rabbits who received CPA at a dose of 30 mg/kg/d. When rhG-CSF of at least 300 micrograms/kg was administered rectally once a day for 3 d in CPA-treated rabbits 1 d after the induction of leukopenia (the total count of leukocytes in peripheral blood [total blood leukocyte count] was below 5000/microliter), decreased total blood leukocyte count returned to the normal physiological level and a maximum (7000-16000/microliter) was obtained 3 d after the start of the rhG-CSF multiple-dosing regimen. We report for the first time that rhG-CSF administered rectally induces leukopoiesis in CPA-treated rabbits and reduces the period of leukopenia induced by CPA. Thus, the rhG-CSF hollow-type suppository offers a promising means of reducing the risk of leukopenia, an adverse side effect of CPA therapy.


A nonlinear Multi-Grid Predictor-Corrector algorithm is developed using a modified Full Approximation Scheme. For this modification an extra predictor is introduced utilizing data obtained from the coarse grid correction. Convergence of this algorithm is proven for each continuation step and the performance of the algorithm is tested for different applications.


Introduction. The paper studies the problem of legitimacy of norms, regulating release from criminal liability and determining a procedural form of implementation of such release. Purpose of this investigation is to check out the norms regulating release from criminal liability as well as enshrining a procedural form of such release in the context of compliance with the principle of presumption of innocence. The investigation is intended to establish if it is necessary to keep that institute in the current legislation. Methods. The study is a multimethod research. The knowledge of different branches of legal science is used during the investigation. Results. It is shown that release from criminal liability is a constantly developing legal institute. It is proved that it is predetermined by the importance of this measure of criminal-legal nature for the solution of problems enshrined in clause 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The opinions of scientists, who suppose that the institute of release from criminal liability and rules designed to regulate its procedural form conflict with the principle of presumption of innocence, are analyzed. It has been found that the essence of release from criminal liability is deliverance of the person committed a crime from conviction for the commission of a crime. It is proved thereupon that the person can't be immune from criminal liability under sentence. The explanation for why a person doesn't plead guilty to a crime in case of the termination of criminal case (prosecution) on not rehabilitating grounds is offered. Conclusion. It is concluded that procedural rules, determining the order of release from criminal liability, fully conform to clause 49 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. A conclusion is also made that there is a need to keep the institute corresponding with these rules. Field of application. The study is recommended for scientists and practitioners.


College is a really exciting time! It's the best of both worlds. You have gained all the freedoms that adult life brings, but you haven't quite been saddled with all the responsibilities yet. You are learning about yourself and discovering your passions. One thing that a lot of schools do is assign projects that must be hosted online. I was fortunate enough to go to a school that gave each of us our own free hosting while we were students, but a lot of people don't have that luxury.


OBJECTIVE
To analyze the association of dengue fever incidence with Aedes mosquito's abundance, and the effect of climatological and geographical variables, in a region in Morelos State, Mexico.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Weekly data during the period 2010 to 2014 was used. Mosquito abundance was determined using ovitraps. Confirmed dengue cases were obtained from the Epidemiological Surveillance System. Climatic variables were obtained from weather monitoringstations. The correlation between climate variables and ovitraps data was estimated using a multivariate regression model.

RESULTS
A correlation of mosquito abundance with dengue fever incidence, and a yearly pattern with seasonal variations were observed. The daily mean temperature, relative humidity and rainfall parameters were associated with mosquito egg abundance. Time lags of three and four weeks between egg counts and dengue fever incidence were observed.

CONCLUSION
Time lags between egg counts and dengue incidence could be useful for prevention and control interventions.


Background Antibodies against citrullinated proteins are a characteristic of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Recently, we demonstrated that autoantibodies recognizing homocitrulline containing proteins are present in sera of RA patients and predict joint damage (1). Because homocitrulline is post-translationally formed by a process called carbamylation, we named these novel auto-antibodies anti-Carbamylated Protein antibodies (anti-CarP antibodies). As no information is present on the molecular mechanisms underlying the break of tolerance and hence the induction of anti-CarP-responses, we analysed their appearance in the mouse collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) model. Methods CIA was induced in mice by immunisation with type II collagen (CII) in complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA). Arthritis severity was monitored by clinical scoring and anti-CarP levels were determined by ELISA. The specificity of the ELISA was validated using inhibition and immunoblotting assays. Results Anti-CarP antibodies were not detected in naïve, non-immunised mice. However they were readily detectable in mice injected with CII and CFA demonstrating arthritic scores. The ELISA results of the specificity of the antibodies for carbamylated proteins were confirmed by inhibition assays and immunoblotting. No correlation between anti-CarP antibody levels and disease severity was observed. Injection of CFA could also cause the development of anti-Carp antibodies, indicating that arthritis is not required for the emergence of anti-CarP antibodies. However, in mice with arthritic disease, the anti-CarP response was stronger and developed more rapidly. The onset of clinical symptoms of CIA was preceded by an increase of anti-CarP IgG2a levels in the serum. Conclusion Anti-CarP antibodies can be detected before disease onset in mice with CIA, but are not required for disease induction. Our data indicate that induction of inflammation by e.g. CFA can lead to a break of B-cell tolerance to carbamylated proteins and the emergence of anti-CarP-antibodies. Disclosure: This project is supported by Pfizer Inc. as part of the IMI BTCure program. L. A. T. receives a fellowship from Janssen Biologics BV (Johnson & Johnson). M. H. is a Pfizer Inc. employee. Reference Shi J, et al. Autoantibodies recognizing carbamylated proteins are present in sera of patients with rheumatoid arthritis and predict joint damage. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A 2011;108:17372-7.


his article continues the semiannual series initiated by the late Constance M. Winchell more than thirty years ago. Although it appears under a byline, the list is a project of the reference departments of Columbia University's Butler and Lehman libraries, and notes are signed with the initials of the individual staff members. 1 Since the purpose of the list is to present a selection of recent scholarly and general works of interest to reference workers in university libraries, it does not pretend to be either well balanced or comprehensive. A brief roundup of new editions of standard works, continuations, and supplements is presented at the end of the article. Code numbers (such as AE213, CJ34) have been used to refer to titles in the Guide to Reference Books and its supplements. 2


Abstract We consider a linear elasticity boundary value problem in a beam with Robin boundary condition at an end and on a segment of the lateral boundary in the middle of the beam. The Robin parameters are scaled differently in the longitudinal and cross-sectional directions. The dimension of the problem is reduced by a standard asymptotic approach with an additional expansion suggested to fulfil the Robin conditions. The 3D Robin conditions result into 1D Robin boundary conditions for corresponding ODEs. The asymptotic error is estimated and illustrated by a numerical comparison of the 3D and 1D solutions.


Abstract Safety and emergency preparedness in U.S. and Turkey Kindergarten thru 12th grade public school system that are potentially applicable to other educational systems arediscussed first within the context of the laws that set the legal ground for safety issues.The main purpose of this study is to develop a clear understanding regarding issues surrounding Safety and Emergency Preparadness Procedures and Policies in the USA and Turkey. The main question of this study is how similar or dissimilar the two cases are. The similarities and differences are examined within the following contexts:1)accidents, injuries and illnesses, 2) utility problems, 3) health security, 4) mental health crisis, suicide threat, and death, 5) custody procedures, 6) fire safety procedures, 7) possession of prohibited substances (drugs etc.) and weapons, 8) searches and seizures, 9) secret organizations (Gangs etc.), 10) field Trips, 11) security personnel, 12) threats from outside the school, 13) disappearance of children, hostagetaking or kidnapping, 14) protection from inbound threats from their parents and relatives of the students, 15) physical and psychological violence towards students and teachers, and 16) traffic rules on school grounds. According to the results of content analysis, the guidelines for some safety issues are more formally structured and explained in a more detailed manner in US public schools than it is in the Turkish public schools.


This paper investigates empirically the drivers of financial imbalances ahead of the global financial crisis. Three factors may have contributed to the build-up of financial imbalances: (i) rising global imbalances (capital flows), (ii) monetary policy that might have been too loose, (iii) inadequate supervision and regulation. Panel data regressions are performed for OECD countries from 1999 to 2007, so as to shed light on the relative importance of these factors, as well as the extent to which these factors might have interacted in fuelling the build-up. We find that the build-up of financial imbalances was driven by capital inflows and an associated compression of the spread between long and short rates. The effect of capital inflows on the build-up is amplified where the supervisory and regulatory environment was relatively weak. We find that, by contrast, differences in monetary policy cannot account for differences across countries in the build-up of financial imbalances ahead of the crisis.


This guide provides help in find reliable nursing information, describes library article databases, books and reputable web sites. In addition help in APA citing and Evidence Based Practice are linked.


Starting from the renewable biomass material palm kernel shell (PKS), nitrogen, sulfur and phosphorus codoped high specific surface area porous activated carbon materials were prepared through carbonization and KOH chemical activation and applied to the supercapacitor electrode materials. PKS is a low-cost carbon source byproduct of biomass, which is rich in cellulose, lignin, and moisture, and its other components also provide nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus and other heteroatoms for the final product. After further activation with different ratios of alkali and carbon, porous activated carbon (PAC) with different pore sizes could be obtained. The presence of heteroatoms not only provides redox pseudocapacitance, but doping heteroatoms is also beneficial to suppress irreversible changes of the oxygen-containing functional groups on the carbon material surface during the charging and discharging process. In 3 mol L 1 KOH electrolyte solution, PAC showed an excellent electrochemical performance with good cycling stability, and its maximum specific capacity could reach 380 F g .


Many individual animal-level studies have been conducted to investigate the risk factors for success of passive transfer (SPT) in dairy calves. However, a much smaller number of studies are available to identify risk factors for SPT at the herd level. Therefore, the first objective of this study was to describe colostrum management in dairy herds when considering colostrum quality (IgG concentration and bacterial contamination) and feeding (volume and timing). The second objective was to quantify the prevalence of SPT in these herds and to investigate its association with colostrum management at the herd level.


Aim of the study To determine the effect of a 4-week Nordic walking training on the physical fitness of women of the perimenopausal age and self-assessment of the quality of their health. Material and methods Eighty-four women between 48 and 58 years of age were included in the study. Half of the group (42) was assigned to the control group and the other half was assigned to the experimental group. In both groups studied, physical fitness was evaluated using a modified Fullerton's test and a quality of life self-assessment SF-36 (Short Form of Health Status Questionnaire). Similar tests were repeated 4 weeks later. In the experimental group, a Nordic walking training was conducted between the two tests. During 4 weeks, 10 training sessions were performed, each session was 60 minutes long, and there was an interval of 2 days between the sessions. Results A 4-week Nordic walking training resulted in a significant improvement (p < 0.001) of physical fitness as demonstrated by an increased strength and flexibility of the upper and lower part of the body and the ability to walk a longer distance during a 6-minute walking test. Women participating in the training also showed a significant improvement in health in terms of both physical health (p < 0.001) and mental health (p < 0.001). Conclusions A 4-week Nordic walking training has a positive effect on the physical fitness of the women in the perimenopausal age. Participation in training contributes also to a clearly higher self-assessment of the quality of health.


The Swartland is a largely agricultural region situated to the north of the greater Cape Town metropolitan area in the Western Cape, South Africa, and is known to have been subject to significant land use changes over many decades. This fertile land lies within the winter rainfall region of the Western Cape and has been used intensively for agriculture since European colonial occupation from the mid-seventeenth century onwards. Historically, the most prominent land use in the region was grain production, although there has been a substantial shift among many commercial farms in the region towards wine grapes. Quantitative assessments of the nature and extent of such changes, their underlying causal factors or, indeed, their environmental and economic impacts are lacking. This study presents an extension and re-evaluation of previous work in the region that considered land use change and its environmental implications (Meadows, Rahlao, & Dietrich, 2006) with the aim of providing a more detailed description of land use change in the Swartland during the period from 1960 to 2010 and to explore possible causes and implications of the observed changes. Five comparable sets of sequential aerial photographs for the Philadelphia area that may be considered representative of the broader Swartland landscape are analysed. GIS techniques are used to quantify the land use changes and the results show a marked recent shift from grain to grape, as well as a general increase in urbanization. The underlying structural causes of such trends are discussed and their possible environmental consequences are explored.


Abstract Calathella eruciformis, a species hitherto unknown in Poland, is reported from four localities in the north-eastern part of the country. This wood-inhabiting saprotroph was found on dead decorticated but still attached twigs and branches of living Populus tremula in an oak-hornbeam forest (Carpinion betuli). Macro- and microcharacters of the recently collected material are presented in detail, together with selected illustrations. Examination of ITS rDNA sequences indicated that Calathella is not monophyletic and that the type species of the genus C. eruciformis is alien to the heterogeneous genus Flagelloscypha. Furthermore, molecular evidence is provided for a close relationship between C. eruciformis and the type species of the genus Sphaerobasidioscypha, Sphaerobasidioscypha citrispora.


To optimise the utilisation cost of cutting tools, it is imperative to develop an online system to efficiently and accurately predict tool wear conditions and remaining useful lives (RULs). With this aim, a novel system is proposed based on deep learning algorithms distributed over an edge-cloud computing architecture. The system is innovative in the following aspects: (i) a lightweight convolutional neural network-random forest (CNN-RF) model is designed to be executed on an edge device to assess tool wear conditions efficiently, which supports severe tool resilience and tool replacement when necessary; (ii) a convolutional neural network-long short-term memory (CNN-LSTM) model is designed to be executed on a cloud to process long-term signals to predict the RUL of the cutting tool, which supports fine-tuning tool parameters dynamically; (iii) a signal compression mechanism is developed to condense the signals of tooling conditions into 2D images so the signal volumes transferred over the network are minimised and signal security is improved. Experiments were performed in a real-world machining workshop for research methodology validation. It showed that the prediction accuracies for tool wear and RUL achieved 90.6% and 93.2%, respectively, and the volume of signals transferred over the network was reduced by 89.0%. The experiments and benchmarks with comparative algorithms demonstrated that the system and its methodology exhibited great potential to reinforce cutting tool optimisation for real-world applications.


The existing thermodynamics of the cosmological horizon in de Sitter spacetime is established in the micro-canonical ensemble, while thermodynamics of black hole horizons are established in the canonical ensemble. Generally in the ordinary thermodynamics and statistical mechanics, both of the micro-canonical and canonical ensembles yield the same equation of state for any thermodynamic system. This implies the existence of a formulation of de Sitter thermodynamics based on the canonical ensemble. This paper reproduces the de Sitter thermodynamics in the canonical ensemble. The procedure is as follows: We put a spherical wall at the center of de Sitter spacetime, whose mass is negligible and perfectly reflects the Hawking radiation coming from the cosmological horizon. Then the region enclosed by the wall and horizon settles down to a thermal equilibrium state, for which the Euclidean action is evaluated and the partition function is obtained. The integration constant (subtraction term) of Euclidean action is determined to reproduce the equation of state (e.g. entropy-area law) verified already in the micro-canonical ensemble. Our de Sitter canonical ensemble is well-defined to preserve the "thermodynamic consistency", which means that the state variables satisfy not only the four laws of thermodynamics but also the appropriate differential relations with thermodynamic functions; e.g. partial derivatives of the free energy give the entropy, pressure, and so on. The special role of cosmological constant in de Sitter thermodynamics is also revealed.


Neuroinflamation occurring after traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a complex phenomenon comprising distinct cellular and molecular events involving the injured cerebral tissue. Mechanical injury to adult rat brain elucidated the accumulation in the affected area of trophic activity. In the tissue adjacent to the injury, trophic titers began to rise after the lesion. This study aimed to determine the effect of injured brain extract on proliferation of neonatal rat neural stem/progenitor cells (NS/PCs). NS/PCs were isolated from olfactory bulb of neonatal rat then cultured as neurospheres. After second passage, cells were seeded in PuraMatrix scaffold by injection method and incubated with intact or injured brain extracts. The proliferation assay was carried out by MTS assay 10 days later. For preparation of the injured brain extract, we used a rat brain injury model and collected the extract 48 hrs after injury. The experimental results showed that NS/PCs derived olfactory bulb have a good potential to proliferate. MTS assay demonstrated that NP/SCs proliferation rate was increased in injured brain extract. Injured brain extract could be benefit for NP/SCs proliferation.


One of the challenges electric submersible pumps (ESPs) face in harsh environments is the corrosion of copper electric components caused by H2S. Copper is aggressively and quickly corroded by H2S, compromising the electrical integrity of the system. ESP improvements, such as the metal-to-metal motor lead extension (MLE), has had a positive impact in the ESP's run life in sour environments, and it sparked the creativity for further similar enhancements throughout the ESP system. Understanding the path of the H2S into the motor is of paramount importance to effectively aim the resources for these additional enhancements.
 This paper offers an outlook of the components that play a key role in allowing the H2S to enter the electrical system. It is supported by evidence from the dismantle, inspection and failure analysis (DIFA) of motors, MLEs, and seal sections with and without H2S scavenger, and having different times of exposure based on their run life. For the objective of this paper, all observations are to revolve around the electrical integrity of the ESP.
 When examining the copper end rings of motor rotors, it has been observed that the H2S attack is concentrated at the top of the motor. Similarly, from tandem seals with bags in series and H2S scavengers, where the scavenger (copper tube) in the top chamber was corroded more severely than in the bottom chamber. Furthermore, in ESP systems where the H2S had been successfully scavenged at the top of the motor or the seals no further corrosion was observed in the lower parts of those components. These observations indicate that the source of the contamination is at the top of the seal section, with no concerning H2S entrance happening below (i.e., flanges and threaded parts relying on o-rings). For all practical purposes, these conclusions are of great benefit in determining the components that require enhanced H2S protection. They also suggest that developing and implementing metal-to-metal connections all along the ESP components is either not necessary or of least priority.
 The findings of this paper are intended to help direct the efforts of future ESP improvements in terms of H2S resistance toward key components. The analysis of the novel information presented here confirms that the main entry point for H2S in the ESP electric system is the top of the seal section. The shaft mechanical seals are a particular suspect. If so, vibration could be a major contributor, but further study is required to understand the effect of vibration on the rate of contamination through the shaft mechanical seals.


In the present study assessment of Global Precipitation Mission's (GPM) IMERG research and IMERG real time was carried out under varied climatic and topographic conditions in Pakistan. Three types of statistical indices were applied. First the Correlation Co-efficient (CC), describes the covenant between the satellite estimations and rain-gauge data. Second the BIAS, Relative-BIAS (RBIAS) and Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) that define the BIAS and errors of satellite-based products compared with rain-gauge estimates. The third Probability of Detection (POD), False Alarm Ratio (FAR), and Critical Success Index (CSI) used to pronounce the prospect of satellite-based rainfall products. The assessment was carried out at grid scale, for the entire study area and by dividing the study area in to five regions based on topography and climatic conditions. For this purpose daily accumulated rainfall data in mille meters, of eighty two rain gauges, for the period from March till December 2015 was obtained from Pakistan Meteorological Department. For inter comparison among the satellite based products TRMM TMPA 3B42 Real Time was also used. The result showed that a very good co-relation was not observed at regional as well as grid scale but the result of BIAS has been encouraging. Similarly value of POD varied from 50 to 100 percent. However the value of CSI remained up to 30 percent. It was observed that performance of satellite based products improved in plain areas and areas with sufficient rainfall. However in high altitude areas results were not satisfactory due to complex topography and climatic conditions. Inter comparison of satellite products showed that performance of IMERG research was better than IMERG real time and TMPA 3B42. However at mean daily basis, the performance of IMERG real time was better than the other two. The overall performance of IMERG products remained better than 3B42 RT. An inter comparison between spatial distribution of daily mean precipitation of the satellite based estimations and rain gauge values strongly encouraged application and further exploration of satellite based precipitation products.


Objective: to test the hypothesis that there is a difference in the contraceptive satisfaction of women with sickle-cell anemia (SC) using long-acting reversible contraceptive methods (LARC) and depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA). Methods: cross-sectional study performed at two reference centers for SC women in Bahia, Brazil during 2016. Women with SC were included in reproductive age, who had been using a LARC or DMPA for more than 3 months. Were excluded women post-tubal sterilization, with hearing impairment, or on use of medications that could interfere with the reliability of the data. A structured questionnaire was used to collect reproductive and sociodemografic variables. Contraceptive satisfaction was analyzed by grouping a Likert scale (1- satisfied and very satisfied, 2-indifferent, 3- unsatisfied and very unsatisfied). Results : A total of 66 patients were included, 22 in LARC group and 44 in DMPA group. LARC group used it for less time (31.8% vs. 75%, p = 0.002), reported more irregular bleeding (36.4% vs. 12.5%, p = 0.038), higher levels of general satisfaction (1 [1-2] vs. 2 [2-2], p = 0.012) and less dysmenorrhea (45.5% vs. 84.4%, p = 0.002) when compared to DMPA group. Conclusion : In this population, users of LARC were more satisfied than users of DMPA.


The resonance and nonlinear dynamical properties of micromechanical structures have been harnessed to demonstrate an impacting micromechanical switch with substantially higher switching speed, better reliability (even under hot switching), and lower actuation voltage, all by substantial factors, over conventional RF MEMS switches. The particular resoswitch implementation demonstrated in this work comprises a wine-glass mode disk resonator, driven hard via a 2.5V amplitude ac voltage at its 61-MHz resonance frequency so that it impacts electrodes along an orthogonal switch axis, thereby closing a switch connecting a signal through switch axis electrodes. The 61-MHz operating frequency corresponds to a switching period of 16ns with an effective rise time of ~4ns, which is more than 50 times faster than the mus-range switching speeds of the fastest conventional (non-resonant) RF MEMS switches. Furthermore, with the signal on during switching, a capacitive version of the switch has hot switched for more than 16.5 trillion cycles without failure, which is substantially more than the 100 billion cycles normally posted by conventional RF MEMS switches. The reliability of the present resoswitch benefits from the high stiffness of its actuating disk resonator, which provides a large restoring force with which to overcome sticking forces; and from the energy stored via resonance vibration that provides a momentum that further increases the effective restoring force. Resonance operation in turn allows the actuation voltage amplitude to be a mere 2.5V, despite the large spring restoring force. Such mechanically resonant switches (dubbed ldquoresoswitchesrdquo) used in place of the switching transistors in switched-mode power converters and power amplifiers stand to greatly enhance efficiencies by allowing the use of much higher power supply voltages than allowable by transistors.


A reproducible method is described for the determination of the MICs of ketoconazole, miconazole, fluconazole, and itraconazole with sharp endpoints when employed with either yeasts or molds. A semisolid medium is used with controlled pH and standardized inoculum. The time of reading results is a critical factor in the conduct of this test. The medium is simple to prepare and has a relatively long refrigerator shelf life in a user-ready state, requiring only the addition of a freshly prepared inoculum after restoration to room temperature.


The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of funding decisions and risk to financing decisions on Islamic banking in Indonesia. Funding decisions consists of variable wadia demand deposits (GWD), mudaraba saving deposit (TAB), and mudaraba time deposits (DEP). Risk is proxied by capital risk (CAR), liquidity risk (RR and FDR), and financing risk (NPF). While the financing decisions consists of murabaha financing, mudaraba financing, and Musharaka financing. Samples were taken from all Islamic banks operating in Indonesia by 11 Islamic banks, and quarterly data using multiple regression analysis. The results showed that DEP and TAB significant and positive impact on all of financing, while GWD significant and positive impact on murabahafinancing is however negatively affect to mudaraba and musharaka financing. CAR and RR a significant and negative effect on all of financing. NPF non significant effect on all financing decisions, while FDR significant and negative effect on mudaraba and musharaka financing, but no significant effect on murabaha financing.


Welding materials, which are as a rule used for making the responsible metal constructions, do not always meet the high indices of rolled steel properties of durability classes С355-490 MPa. In the paper the research results of application of welding materials produced by the firm «ESAB» for the automatic flux welding of rolled steel 06Г2Б ТУ В 27.1-05416923-085:2006 are presented.


Blood brain barrier (BBB) is a dynamic interface responsible for proper functioning of brain, but also a major obstacle for effective treatment of neurological diseases. Increased levels of free radicals, in high ferrous and high lipid content surrounding, induce lipid peroxidation, leading to production of 4-hydroxynonenal (HNE). HNE modifies all key proteins responsible for proper brain functioning thus playing a major role in the onset of neurological diseases. To investigate HNE effects on BBB permeability, we developed two in vitro BBB models–'physiological' and 'pathological'. The latter mimicked HNE modified extracellular matrix under oxidative stress conditions in brain pathologies. We showed that exogenous HNE induce activation of antioxidative defense systems by increasing catalase activity and glutathione content as well as reducing lipid peroxide levels in endothelial cells and astrocytes of 'physiological' model. While in 'pathological' model, exogenous HNE further increased lipid peroxidation levels of endothelial cells and astrocytes, followed by increase in Nrf2 and glutathione levels in endothelial cells. At lipid composition level, HNE caused increase in ω3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) level in endothelial cells, followed by decrease in ω3 PUFA level and increase in monounsaturated fatty acid level in astrocytes. Using these models, we showed for the first time that HNE in 'pathological' model can reduce BBB permeability.


The present research study attempted to provide an interpretation of George Orwell's Animal Farm as an outcry against false revolutionary leaders who go back on their promises and turn into dehumanized dictators even worse than the dictators against whom they and their fellow revolutionaries rebelled. To achieve that objective, the researcher read the novella critically within its socio-political context and traced the transformation of the leading character, Napoleon, who stands for such revolutionary leaders. The data of the current research were all extracted from Orwell's Animal Farm. The researcher used content analysis to analyze the selected data and developed an analytical comparison through which he closely examined Napoleon's character before and after the revolution. The findings of the study revealed that Napoleon was an opportunistic revolutionary who used the revolution to an evil end. Napoleon's dramatic transformation from a noble revolutionary into a ruthless, corrupt ruler proved that Orwell's novella can be read as an attack on false revolutionary leaders who become dehumanized despots, far worse than the dictators whom they aspired to replace with democratic leaders.


Michel Foucault's concept of governmentality has been hugely influential in sociology and other disciplinary fields. However, its application has been criticised by those who suggest it neglects agency, and gives overwhelming power to governmental discourses in constituting subjectivities, determining behaviour and reproducing social reality. Drawing on posthumously translated lecture transcripts, in this article the authors suggest that Foucault's nascent concept of pastoral power offers a route to a better conceptualisation of the relationship between discourse, subjectivity and agency, and a means of understanding the (contested, non-determinate, social) process through which governmental discourses are shaped, disseminated and translated into action. The authors offer empirical examples from their work in healthcare of how this process takes place, present a model of the key mechanisms through which contemporary pastoral power operates, and suggest future research avenues for refining, developing or contesting this model.


In this essay, the author is not attempting to redefine deterrence but to encourage readers to consider the notion of acting before deterrence—through dissuasion. So what constitutes dissuasion and why consider it? The author feels that similar to deterrence, there is no direct answer as each country has its own set of unique security challenges and capabilities. Furthermore, the issue is made more complex as nuclear powers and non-nuclear powers employ different strategies. So, in this essay, the author attempts to: (1) elucidate the limitations of deterrence theory, (2) establish a coherent trend of elements that help define the concept of dissuasion, and (3) adapt them to the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF)'s defence policy. He first begins by analysing the limitations of classical (rational) deterrence theory and its modern derivatives in the security landscape of tomorrow. He then explores the interpretations of dissuasion today and how they can be applied. Finally, the author develops what dissuasion as a strategic concept means for Singapore and how the SAF can meld dissuasion into deterrence


ABSTRACT Multilocus sequence typing of 56 Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica strains isolated from Australian wildlife hosts was performed. The results of population assignment algorithms revealed that the 56 strains could be subdivided into two distinct clades. Strains belonging to the two clades were further distinguished phenotypically, genotypically, and with respect to host distribution.


There is indirect experimental evidence suggesting that the state of immunological tolerance is a central failure of the immune system to initiate immunological reactions against a particular antigen and that the main lesion in tolerance is to be sought at the level of the antigen-reactive lymphocyte (1). From work on the specificity of antigenic determinants in hapten-earrier systems (2--4), on feedback inhibition mechanisms depending on competition for antigenic determinants by 19S and 7S antibodies (5), and on lymphocyte stimulation by anti-allotype serum (6), it would seem that the participation of immune competent cells in an immune reaction depends on the interaction of surface-bound recognition sites and antigenic determinants. Since immunological tolerance is antigen specific, it is self-evident that similar basic mechanisms must determine the induction of unresponsiveness at the cellular level. New experimental possibilities regarding the cellular and molecular mechanisms which lead to the state of immunological tolerance have emerged with the introduction of a system which not only allows the tolerization of mouse spleen cells to a protein antigen in vitro, but also the subsequent testing on the cellular level (14) for the degree of unresponsiveness by in vitro antigenic challenge of the cultured cells (7). Such a system bears the advantage over in vivo models in that it depends on the interaction between a defined number of cells and an antigen which can be quantitated accurately and which is distributed homogenously throughout the cell suspension in culture.


Molecular Basis of Congenital Cardiovascular Disorders.- Genetics of dilated cardiomyopathy.- Registry of families with inherited dilated cardiomyopathy for molecular analyses.- Distinct phenotype patterns of Ca2+ handling proteins in end-stage failing human hearts.- Apoptosis in the overloaded myocardium: potential stimuli and modifying signals.- Analysis of inherited causes of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy as part of clinical practice.- Molecular genetics of arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy.- Cardiomyopathy: Genetics in muscular dystrophies.- Molecular impact of ion channel mutations for the pathogenesis of long-QT (LQT) syndromes.- Acquired abnormal QT prolongation and torsade de pointes - clinical significance of genetic information from congenital long QT syndrome.- Molecular genetic approaches to human hypertension.- Renin-angiotensin system and coronary artery disease - Interaction of angiotensin II with pro-inflammatory cytokines in human stable and unstable coronary plaques.- Genetics of Lipoprotein(a).- The molecular mechanisms of inherited hypercholesterolemia.- Insulin resistance: A pathogenic link between cardiovascular risk factors and atherosclerosis.- Genetic control of hemostatic factors in relation to atherosclerosis.- Increased platelet aggregability associated with platelet GPIIIa PIA2 polymorphism: the Framingham Offspring Study.- Genetic aspects of chronobiologic rhythms in cardiovascular disease.- Is capillary sprouting enough?.- Angiogenesis and gene therapy.- Genetic engineering for human bypass vein grafts.- Molecular cardiology and physician.


Adoptive immunotherapy with Tregs is a promising approach for prevention or treatment of type 1 diabetes. Islet antigen-specific Tregs have more potent therapeutic effects than polyclonal cells, but their low frequency is a barrier for clinical application. To generate Tregs that recognize islet antigens, we engineered a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) derived from a monoclonal antibody with specificity for the insulin B-chain 10-23 peptide presented in the context of the IAg7 MHC class II allele present in NOD mice. Peptide specificity of the resulting InsB-g7 CAR was confirmed by tetramer staining and T cell proliferation in response to recombinant or islet-derived peptide. The InsB-g7 CAR re-directed NOD Treg specificity such that insulin B 10-23-peptide stimulation enhanced suppressive function, measured via reduction of proliferation and IL-2 production by BDC2.5 T cells and CD80 and CD86 expression on dendritic cells. Co-transfer of InsB-g7 CAR Tregs prevented adoptive transfer diabetes by BDC2.5 T cells in immunodeficient NOD mice. In wild type NOD mice, InsB-g7 CAR Tregs stably expressed Foxp3 and prevented spontaneous diabetes. These results show that engineering Treg specificity for islet antigens using a T cell receptor-like CAR is a promising new therapeutic approach for the prevention of autoimmune diabetes. Brief Summary Chimeric antigen receptor Tregs specific for an insulin B-chain peptide presented by MHC class II prevent autoimmune diabetes.


Objective: The aim of the current study is to assess the impact of hyperglycemia and elevated blood pressure on serum lipid profile in Sudanese patients. The results will influence the monitoring and management policies so as to avoid complications related to hypertension and diabetes mellitus. Design and Method: This is a cross sectional case control study conducted in Khartoum state, Sudan at 2015. A total of 228 participants we enrolled in this study. Out of them 68 were known hypertensive, 42 were known diabetics, 24 were both hypertensive and diabetic and 94 were sex and age matched controls. Fasting blood glucose was measured by calibrated glucometer. Parameters of lipid profile were determined by using clinical chemistry analyser (Echo, Italy) and commercial kits (Biosystem, Spain). Results: Mean triacylglycerol level among hypertensive and hypertensive patients combined with diabetes was significantly higher than that of controls (p < 0.023, p < 0.007) respectively. Hypertensive patients combined with diabetes also showed significantly higher triacylglycerols level than the diabetic group (p < 0.019). Apart from fasting blood glucose, No significant difference was observed between diabetics and controls in all study parameters. Conclusions: In contrast to the reported data, our results clearly demonstrate that lipid profile is not influenced by type 2 diabetes mellitus. However, hypertension increases the level of triacylglycerols significantly. This increase is even worse when hypertension is combined with diabetes. Interestingly, neither diabetes nor hypertension alters the levels of cholesterol, LDL-C and HDL-C. Further studies are therefore recommended, probably at DNA level, to reveal the causes of low cholesterol level among Sudanese hypertensive and diabetic patients compared to other populations.


The need for service rules, or policies, in supply chains arises if not all the parts processed in the chain are considered identical, but are distinguished by certain attributes. We develop and analyze a methodology to model arbitrary service rules in large supply chains based on a kinetic (traffic flow like) theory and a level set approach. The final result is a system of hyperbolic conservation laws for the densities of parts, grouped by their attributes. The validity of the model is verified against discrete event simulations for several test cases.


ABSTARCT Nanoparticles (NPs) have revolutionized the society being a part of numerous products of day to day uses. However, its potential to act as an adverse entity was greatly ignored. Recently, the toxic effect of nanoparticles on biological system is checked using various model organisms. Among various models fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster has turned up as a promising model since numerous diseased genes and signalling pathways are similar to that of a human being. Effects of many NPs were tested using Drosophila, and results suggest the deleterious effect of NPs on the various physiological system. NPs cause defects in genetic, molecular, phenotypic, developmental as well as behavioral level in Drosophila. Any chemical compounds that can cause abnormalities in offspring when ingested in prenatal stages are known as teratogens. In this review, we have summerized the toxic effect generated by NPs tested using Drosophila model and propose NPs as a teratogen.


Escherichia coli purB is regulated by a repressor-operator interaction. The purB operator is 242 bp downstream from the transcription start site and overlaps condons 62 to 67 in the protein-coding sequence (B. He, J. M. Smith, and H. Zalkin, J. Bacteriol. 174:130-136, 1992). The mechanism by which the repressor-operator interaction functions to repress transcription was investigated by a combination of promoter replacement experiments and RNA analyses. By using a trp promoter replacement that deleted 5' flanking DNA to position -986, purB expression was increased sevenfold, yet normal two- to threefold regulation was maintained. This indicates that repressor-operator control is independent of the purB promoter and other 5' flanking sequences. Transcriptional regulation was likewise independent of coupled translation. An approximately 260-nucleotide truncated in vivo purB mRNA was identified which was dependent upon repressor-operator interaction. Thus, binding of purine repressor to the purB operator inhibits transcription elongation by a roadblock mechanism. The roadblock was not influenced by a sevenfold increase in promoter strength or by an operator mutation resulting in a 2.5-fold increase in repressor-operator affinity.


BACKGROUND
In recent years, the hospital admission rate of non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) patients has exhibited an increasing trend, and a forthcoming transition from ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) to NSTEMI has been observed in China. The association between serum N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and major adverse cardiac events (MACEs) within 12 months after discharge among patients with NSTEMI remains unclear.

METHODS
A total of 1,357 consecutively admitted NSTEMI patients were from the TAMI cohort.The patients' baseline demographic and clinical information were collected, and follow-up was carried out for 12 months. The primary outcome was composite MACEs consisting of all-cause death, hospital admission for unstable angina, hospital admission for heart failure, non fatal recurrent myocardial infarction, and target lesion revascularization (TLR). We adopted a Cox proportional hazard model to analyze the effect of NTproBNP on MACEs and quantified the added prognostic value of NT-proBNP on the Global Registry of Acute CoronaryEvents (GRACE) risk score using the Harrell C-index, NRI, and IDI.

RESULTS
The overall average follow-up period was 313 days. In total, 211 (15.55%) patients suffered from at least one MACE, and 97 patients were lost to follow-up, with a median follow-up time of 147 days. As the NT-proBNP level increased, a significant uptrend in the incidence of composite MACEs, all-cause death, and heart failure was observed. The multivariable Cox model revealed that NT-proBNP was an independent risk factor for composite MACEs [medium- vs. low-, HR: 2.19 (1.45-3.32), P=0.0002]; [highvs. low-, HR: 3.07 (1.78-5.29), P<0.0001], as well as for all-cause death and heart failure. Subgroup analysis indicated that NT-proBNP was a robust prognostic biomarker, and the prognostic value was more evident for patients older than 60 years and whose LVEF was less than 40%. NT-proBNP (log-scale) was moderately correlated with the GRACE score (r=0.58, P<0.0001). The Harrell C-index of NT-proBNP combined with the GRACE score was 0.7715, which was higher than that of the GRACE score alone (0.7149) for predicting composite MACEs, and this improvement was verified by significant IDI (0.064, 95% CI: 0.027-0.106).

CONCLUSIONS
NT-proBNP is a robust long-term prognostic biomarker for patients diagnosed with NSTEMI, especially for older patients and those with impaired cardiac ejection function. Combined usage of NT-proBNP levels with the GRACE score might help identify a subset of NSTEMI patients at a particularly high risk of MACEs 12 months after discharge.


A model for the exchange coupled polycrystalline ferromagnetic/antiferromagnetic (F/AF) bilayers is proposed in order to discuss the mechanism of the change of the unidirectional anisotropy constant (JK) of the bilayers by thermal annealing. The AF layer is treated as an aggregation of the AF grains whose magnetic anisotropy axes lay in the film plane with two-dimensionally random distribution. Two stable states concerning the direction of the AF spins are calculated for the AF grain. Determining the populations of the AF grains in each state in thermal equilibrium, total energy of the system is obtained, which provides the magnetization curves and the magnetic torque curves of the F/AF bilayers. The calculated results show the reduction of JK with increasing the equilibrium temperature, which is due to the changes of the probability functions for the respective spin alignments of the AF grain. We conclude that the changes in JK do not necessarily need any changes of the microstructure and the intrinsic p...


During adult hippocampal neurogenesis, most newborn cells undergo apoptosis and are rapidly phagocytosed by resident microglia to prevent the spillover of intracellular contents. Here, we propose that phagocytosis is not merely passive corpse removal but has an active role in maintaining neurogenesis. During adult hippocampal neurogenesis, most newborn cells undergo apoptosis and are rapidly phagocytosed by resident microglia to prevent the spillover of intracellular contents. Here, we propose that phagocytosis is not merely passive corpse removal but has an active role in maintaining neurogenesis. First, we found that neurogenesis was disrupted in male and female mice chronically deficient for two phagocytosis pathways: the purinergic receptor P2Y12, and the tyrosine kinases of the TAM family Mer tyrosine kinase (MerTK)/Axl. In contrast, neurogenesis was transiently increased in mice in which MerTK expression was conditionally downregulated. Next, we performed a transcriptomic analysis of the changes induced by phagocytosis in microglia in vitro and identified genes involved in metabolism, chromatin remodeling, and neurogenesis-related functions. Finally, we discovered that the secretome of phagocytic microglia limits the production of new neurons both in vivo and in vitro. Our data suggest that microglia act as a sensor of local cell death, modulating the balance between proliferation and survival in the neurogenic niche through the phagocytosis secretome, thereby supporting the long-term maintenance of adult hippocampal neurogenesis. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Microglia are the brain professional phagocytes and, in the adult hippocampal neurogenic niche, they remove newborn cells naturally undergoing apoptosis. Here we show that phagocytosis of apoptotic cells triggers a coordinated transcriptional program that alters their secretome, limiting neurogenesis both in vivo and in vitro. In addition, chronic phagocytosis disruption in mice deficient for receptors P2Y12 and MerTK/Axl reduces adult hippocampal neurogenesis. In contrast, inducible MerTK downregulation transiently increases neurogenesis, suggesting that microglial phagocytosis provides a negative feedback loop that is necessary for the long-term maintenance of adult hippocampal neurogenesis. Therefore, we speculate that the effects of promoting engulfment/degradation of cell debris may go beyond merely removing corpses to actively promoting regeneration in development, aging, and neurodegenerative diseases.


To the Editor.— Erythema gyratum repens is the rarest variety of the annular erythemas. It is associated with internal malignancy, usually of breast or lung.1,2 Report of a Case.— A 52-year-old retired bricklayer was admitted to University of Oklahoma Hospital, Oct 22, 1968. He had experienced severe frontal headaches and noted weight loss since January. In July he developed a generalized, slightly pruritic scaling eruption. Beginning in early September, he had right upper quadrant pain, and in early October developed jaundice. By the date of admission, he had lost approximately 30 lb (13.6 kg) and exhibited mental confusion. The only drugs taken during his illness were aspirin and codeine. He had been a "heavy drinker" and had smoked two packs of cigarettes a day for years. Physical Examination.— The patient was a chronically ill, emaciated, poorly oriented white man who was obviously jaundiced. Over the trunk, proximal


ABSTRACf: Some surveys of over 200 beginning semester students preparing for a teacher's certificate in biology at the Technical University of Berlin indicate that biology instruction is not considered a very popular subject. Biology instruction in Germany is too abstract and theoretical, too cumbersome and inaccessible to the normal student. Biology instruction is approaching its lowest standard in history in most federal states since the majority of these states have taken biology instruction out of grades 7, 8 and 9. The methods of biology instruction, the objectives and the content are among the central issues related to biology instruction in Germany. A paradigmatic model expansion and/or change by necessity is needed to enhance the current curricula of biology instruction.


With the advent new proteasome inhibitors (carfilzomib, ixazomib), new immune-modulatory drugs (pomalidomide), and new monoclonal antibodies (elotuzimab, daratumumab) as approved treatments for myeloma, the therapeutic landscape for this disease has changed. In this chapter, using a case-based approach, I will provide a personal guide of how I approach myeloma therapy in a transplant eligible patient in 2018.


This study analyzes an effective classroom teaching style that relies on interactive learning and integrates classroom activities and efforts into communities. Notable new contributions of this study are: (1) to examine the existing problems with the traditional economics instruction, (2) to introduce new innovative approaches to classroom teachings and (3) to introduce the Service Learning project as an alternative effective teaching style designed to enhance the student's learning outcomes. The success of the Service Learning project is affected by the degree of integration existing among the institution and the public and private community agencies. Through such integration, both the students and the community receive greater benefits from increased knowledge and joint activities. The analysis suggests the inclusion of the Service Learning project in the economic classroom as an effective tool to enhance students' learning outcomes and to create direct benefits to the community.


To date, eight different mcr-variants have been identified encoding phosphoethanolamine transferases contributing to phosphoethanolamine addition to lipid A and thereby conferring colistin resistance. This novel mechanism of plasmid-mediated colistin resistance provides an efficient way in distributing colistin resistance. This thesis aims to further our understanding of the multifaceted aspects of mcr-like genes using detailed molecular analysis including
whole-genome sequencing (WGS) for 17 mcr-positive Klebsiella pneumoniae (MCRPKP) and 219 mcr-positive Escherichia coli (MCRPEC) from Thailand and Vietnam.
Fitness is an important factor to predict the spread and development of antibiotic resistance.
In chapter 3, the data show that over-producing MCR-1 in E. coli imposes a great fitness loss, observed by slow growth rates, impaired membrane integrity and decreased competitiveness.
The fitness burden conferred by mcr-3 seems to be more moderate and mcr-3-positive plasmids are more stable and competitive, than that of mcr-1-carrying plasmids.
In addition, I provided evidence that blowflies serve as reservoirs of mcr-genes and 48 mcr-1-positive strains recovered from blowflies have been characterized. In particular, the clonal relationship among 17 MCRPKP strains obtained from blowflies was observed by
indistinguishable PFGE patterns and an identical phylogenetic tree. The virulence potential of
this MCRPKP clone was measured in the Galleria mellonella model.
Furthermore, 219 MCRPEC isolates were characterized using WGS and bioinformatics analysis. WGS analysis shows that MCRPEC isolates are highly diverse, with distinct
phylogenetic groups and various accessory genes including heavy-metal/antibiotic resistance determinants, virulence factors and toxin-antitoxin systems. The genetic context analysis on the origin and spread of gene mcr-1 and mcr-3, provides important knowledge of understanding on the movement and dissemination of mcr-like genes bacterial population.


Vertebral artery compression is a syndrome that occurs as a result of hemodynamically significant partial or complete obstruction of vertebral arteries by extravascular structures. In clinical practice, this condition is most often called vertebral artery syndrome. Any vertebral segments can be compressed, but most often the lesion is determined at the level of C1–C2. Russian authors consider vertebral artery compression to be a common cause of a wide range of patient complaints, including dizziness, headaches, and subjective tinnitus. In some studies, it is reported that vertebral artery syndrome develops in 50% of patients with degenerative changes in the cervical spine. In the world literature, vertebral artery compression syndrome which is often referred to as "bow hunter's syndrome" is called a rare pathology. Such a pronounced difference in the frequency of detection of vertebral artery compression in Russian and world literature may be associated with a lack of common diagnostic criteria, low awareness of alternative diagnoses, and incorrect interpretation of patient complaints. It is obvious that these factors need to be corrected in order to reduce the likelihood of overdiagnosis of vertebral artery compression syndrome and improve the quality of medical care. authors the obvious and potential conflicts of interest article.


In order to ensure the safe and reliable transmission of images on public channels, this paper proposes a dual-domain image encryption algorithm based on a seven-dimensional hyperchaos and dynamic wavelet decomposition. It is worth mentioning that the existing encryption algorithms generally use spatial encryption, which still has shortcomings in encryption security and execution efficiency. However, the combination of dynamic wavelet decomposition and scrambling and diffusion operations is adopted in our algorithm to realize the combination of spatial and frequency domain encryption. Compared with the existing algorithm, this not only ensures the security of the encryption algorithm, but also ensures the robustness and operating ef-ficiency of the encryption, and at the same time reduces the risk of being attacked. First, divide the original image into blocks, use a random number sequence to control the block scrambling process, and generate a scrambling matrix; Then by calculating the Hamming distance related to the plaintext, dynamically selecting the wavelet type, performing wavelet decomposition, and generating a wavelet coefficient matrix; Re-input the plaintext image to the SHA-512 algorithm to generate the initial value of the seven-dimensional hyperchaos. The chaotic system generates the chaotic key matrix through iteration; Then the scrambling matrix is dynamically rotated, and then the Zigzag transform is used to generate the key matrix; Finally, the wavelet coefficient matrix, the chaotic key matrix, and the key matrix are subjected to bitwise XOR operation to realize the diffusion of pixel values and obtain the final en-Zhongyue crypted image. Simulation experiments and performance analysis experiments can show that this algorithm can effectively encrypt and decrypt images, and has good encryption and decryption quality. And compared with existing encryption algorithms, it has better security, robustness, operational efficiency and the ability to resist various attacks.


Abnormal levels of some plasma constituents influenced by the activity of the liver were studied in 3-day chicks after single dose x-irradiation of 1000 r, given at 43 r/min. An approximately twofold increase in total plasma amino acid concentration was observed at 1 hour following x-irradiation and an approximately threefold increase at 3 hours following x-irradiation. Although the average increase over control values at 5 hours was the same as at 3 hours, some individual values increased to about four times the control level. Concurrently, total plasma protein decreased. There is a lack of correlation between the condition of the irradiated animal and the amino acid level or number of amino acids; increased levels occurred at 1 hour following x-irradiation in animals which appeared normal at autopsy. A similar alteration in amino acid levels has been reported in man immediately following x-irradiation; this seems to be an extremely sensitive radiation response. Mean plasma glucose levels determined in newly hatched chicks at 1, 3 and 5 hours after x-irradiation showed no significant changes from control levels. Individual animals, however, showed a hyperglycemia of 50–100 mg % over control values at 3 and 5 hours following x-irradiation. Such hyperglycemia was usually found in sick birds and was commonly associated with liver hemorrhages.


The Internet Engineering Task Force NETLMM Working Group recently proposed a network-based localized mobility management protocol called Proxy Mobile IPv6 (PMIPv6) to support mobility management without the participation of mobile nodes in any mobility-related signaling. Although PMIPv6 reduces the signaling overhead and the handover latency, it still suffers from packet loss problem and long authentication latency during handoff. In addition, there are many security threats to PMIPv6. In this paper, we perform a bicasting scheme for avoiding the packet loss problem, use the piggyback technique to reduce the signaling overhead, and provide a secure password authentication mechanism (SPAM) for protecting a valid user from attacks in PMIPv6 networks. SPAM provides high security properties, including anonymity, stolen-verified attack resistance, location privacy, mutual authentication, forgery attack resistance, no clock synchronization problem, modification attack resistance, replay attack resistance, fast error detection, choose and change password free, and session key agreement. Moreover, SPAM is an efficient authentication scheme that performs the authentication procedure locally and has low computational cost. From the analysis, we demonstrate that our scheme can resist various attacks and provides better performance than existing schemes.


This article uses an important Sri Lankan Supreme Court case concerning religious sound as a starting point for thinking about the intersections of Islam, law, politics, and Buddhism in Sri Lanka. It argues that Sri Lankan Muslims find themselves in three interlacing legal "environments" at the present moment: in an environment of general laws governing religion, in an environment of special laws and administrative bodies for Muslims, and in a broader constitutional environment that grants special recognition to Buddhism. These environments offer differing opportunities and imperatives for expressing Muslim identity, religious equality, diversity, rights, and freedoms in contemporary Sri Lanka. Through a consideration of these legal environments and the way they affected the case, this article illuminates ongoing questions about the legal and political status of Muslims on the island and provides a snapshot of the legal debates and discourses that have flowed into and fortified recent anti-Muslim sentiments on the island.


The authors study the influence of the charge asymmetry degree of freedom on fission at small and very high mass symmetries. Using the condition of maximising the barrier penetrabilities, they compute the most probable decay channels for the cold fission of 234'236U, and compare the result with the experimental measurements.


Planar Laser-Induced-Fluorescence technique was applied to measure the NO fluorescence distribution in a spark ignition engine. The fluorescence intensity had high value near the flame front, and gradually decreased from the flame front to the postflame gas. The fluorescence was distributed in the broad flame zone as compared with the case of the constant-volume combustion chamber. The effect of equivalence ratio on the NO fluorescence intensity were investigated. At the flame-development duration, the total NO fluorescence intensity was high as the equivalence ratio became rich. However, at the rapid-burning duration, the total NO fluorescence intensity of a slightly lean condition had a maximum value. As the equivalence ratio became lean, the peak intensity of the radial NO fluorescence distribution increased and the width of the high intensity zone in radial distance broadened. The peak intensity and the width of the radial distribution reached the maximum value at a slightly lean condition.


Serpocaulon triseriale (Sw.) A.R. Sm. is considered the most widespread species in the genus. It has been recorded from south of Mexico to Bolivia, Paraguay and Brazil. Here, we expand its distribution by reporting a new record from Salta province, Argentina, based on material that was previously misidentified as S. polystichum (Link) A.R. Sm. We compare the S. triseriale and S. polystichum with their relatives (S. attenuatum (Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd.) A.R. Sm., and S. rex Schwartsb. & A.R. Sm.), providing photographs of the plants in the field, SEM images of the spores and light photos of the rhizome scales to discriminate S. rex from S. triseriale. In addition, distributional records are included.


This paper models and experimentally measures the acoustic interference from two low intensity 3MHz continuous ultrasound transducers of the sam® wearable ultrasound device. Resulting data show that placement configuration, which dictates interference depth, and frequency phase variation are the main factors to acoustic pressure distribution. Mathematical analysis reveals that the acoustic pressure distribution from continuous ultrasound is modulated by near field variations at shallow tissue depths. This observation is useful in the application of sam® and in the further research of its therapeutic benefits.


Although medicine and politics are distinct subjects and among the oldest professions, there have been calls for medical doctors to get involved in active politics. Thus this study sought to identify and describe the relationship between medicine and politics by doing conceptual analysis of themes that are common to both disciplines. It was found that the relationship between medicine and politics has not been properly examined, especially from the Nigerian perspective. But the two professions are found to be related in the field of Social Sciences in the areas of their practitioners' calling and levels of their operation. The paper however argued that when medical practitioners abandon their duty of care to patients and seek to acquiesce to politics it is because there is a sense of loss of the leadership influence among them in the body politics of society. It concludes by suggesting that the loss can best be retrieved from the health discipline of public health, which is the point of convergence of both professions. Keywords: Leadership, Public health, public policy, politics, public interest


Ordinarily, double tax conventions restrict their benefits to residents of the states that are parties. Moreover where a resident of one state claims relief in respect of income derived from the other state, the claimant must ordinarily be "beneficially" entitled to the income in question. How do these rules apply to trustees who are resident in one state and who accumulate income that they derive from sources in the other state? That is, must the jurisdiction of source recognize such trustees as (a) residents of the jurisdiction of destination and (b) beneficially entitled to the income, and therefore entitled to exemption or tax relief? As a matter of interpretation, the answer may vary according to the terms of the applicable convention. This article sets out arguments for and against the proposition that the state of source may in some circumstances be bound to grant treaty benefits to trustees resident in the state of destination even though the ultimate beneficiaries of the trust in question are resident elsewhere.


This paper proposes a method for measurement of the length of a pedestrian crossing and for the detection of traffic lights from image data observed with a single camera. The length of a crossing is measured from image data of white lines painted on the road at a crossing by using projective geometry. Furthermore, the state of the traffic lights, green (go signal) or red (stop signal), is detected by extracting candidates for the traffic light region with colour similarity and selecting a true traffic light from them using affine moment invariants. From the experimental results, the length of a crossing is measured with an accuracy such that the maximum relative error of measured length is less than 5% and the rms error is 0.38 m. A traffic light is efficiently detected by selecting a true traffic light region with an affine moment invariant.


Offshore wind turbines are a leading renewable energy technology with significant potential to support the drive for a low-carbon economy. As the availability of shallow water sites declines, floating offshore wind turbine (FOWT) technologies can play a leading role in accessing deep water sites. This paper investigates design and global performance of a semi-submersible floating offshore wind turbine system.
 Existing design concepts of floating support structures and station keeping systems for FOWT's are mostly developed based on experience from the offshore oil and gas industry, which has witnessed almost 70 years of designing and operating numerous floating offshore structures. This paper first introduces a new semi-submersible FOWT system developed by the authors for the application in South China Sea. The system consists of 8MW wind turbine, supporting tower, semi-submersible platform structure, station keeping mooring lines, and dynamic cable. The principal dimensions of the platform and ballast setting are iteratively designed for the better global performance in terms of response amplitude operator. The FOWT system also covers the layout of mooring lines and the configuration of dynamic cable. The semi-submersible FOWT system is designed to meet the requirement for natural periods recommended by the guidance notes from ABS.
 The time domain fully coupled aero-hydro-servo-elastic response of the floating wind turbine is investigated by using the FEA program of OrcaFlex. The turbine takes the form of a conventional three-bladed rotor, with variable-speed and variable blade-pitch control capabilities. The turbine object in OrcaFlex is used to model the generator, gearbox, hub, blades and associated control systems. The environmental conditions in South China Sea are used in the dynamic analysis. The load case matrix covers 1-yr operating, 10-yr, and 100-yr extreme conditions. The time history of generator power is presented for the illustration of the regulation facilitated by the blade controller. The results include generator power, vessel offset, heave motion, heel angle, and maximum tension of mooring lines. For the 100-yr tropical environmental condition, the wind turbine is parked. The air gap especially at the tip of blades is examined for the extreme parked condition.
 This paper finally summarizes the findings from the design and global performance of the semi-submersible floating offshore wind turbine system.


In spite of the important role played by DNA sequences in living matter, it is only relatively recently that general methods for their determination have been developed. This is mainly because of the very large size of DNA molecules, the smallest being those of the simple bacteriophages such as qXl74 (which contains about 5,000 nucleotides). It was therefore difficult to develop methods with such complicated systems. There are however some relatively small RNA molecules notably the transfer RNAs of about 75 nucleotides, and these were used for the early studies on nucleic acid sequences (1). Following my work on amino acid sequences in proteins (2) I turned my attention to RNA and, with G.G. Brownlee and B.G. Barrell, developed a relatively rapid small-scale method for the fractionation of P-labelled oligonucleotides (3). This became the basis for most subsequent studies of RNA sequences. The general approach used in these studies, and in those on proteins, depended on the principle of partial degradation. The large molecules were broken down, usually by suitable enzymes, to give smaller products which were then separated from each other and their sequence determined. When sufficient results had been obtained they were fitted together by a process of deduction to give the complete sequence. This approach was necessarily rather slow and tedious, often involving successive digestions and fractionations, and it was not easy to apply it to the larger DNA molecules. When we first studied DNA some significant sequences of about 50 nucleotides in length were obtained with this method (4,5), but it seemed that to be able to sequence genetic material a new approach was desirable and we turned our attention to the use of copying procedures.


Preface Part I. General Considerations: 1. Preoperative assessment of the adult patient Elizabeth A. M. Frost 2. Fluid management Maria Bauer, Andrea Kurz and Ehab Farag 3. Blood conservation Robert Helfand 4. Upper airway management Basem Abdelmalak and D. John Doyle 5. Spine imaging Doksu Moon, Christian Koopman and Ramez Malaty 6. Evoked potential monitoring Chakorn Chansakul and Dileep R. Nair 7. Pharmacology of adjunct anesthetic drugs John E. Tetzlaff Part II. Spine Surgery for Adult Patients: 8. Surgical techniques: 8.1. Anterior cervical surgery Iain H. Kalfas 8.2. Posterior cervical surgery Kalil G. Abdullah, Jeffrey G. Clark, Daniel Lubelski and Thomas E. Mroz 8.3. Intraoperative neurophysiologic monitoring: surgeon point-of-view Manuel Saavedra and Robert F. McLain 8.4. An overview of minimally invasive spine surgery R. Douglas Orr 8.5. Posterior lumbar interbody fusion Virgilio Matheus and William Bingaman 8.6. Minimally invasive procedures for vertebral compression fractures Jason E. Pope and Nagy Mckhail 8.7. Endoscopic surgery for Chiari type I malformation Rodolfo Hakim and Xiao Di 8.8. Posterior and anterior thoracic surgery Matthew Grosso and Michael Steinmetz 8.9. Surgery for intermedullary spinal cord tumors John H. Shin and Edward C. Benzel 8.10. Avoiding complications: surgeon point-of-view Michael Kelly and Richard Schlenk 9. Anesthsia for cervical spine surgery Alaa A. Abd-Elsayed and Ehab Farag 10. Anesthesia for thoracic spine surgery Rafi Avitsian 11. Lung isolation during thoracic spine surgery Gordon Finlayson and Jay B. Brodsky 12. Anesthesia for lumbar spine surgery Mariel R. Manlapaz, Ajit A. Krishnaney and Zeyd Ebrahim 13. Anesthetic management of spinal cord trauma Brian P. Lemkuil and Piyush M. Patel 14. Anesthesia for patients with spinal cord tumors Stacie Deiner and Jeffrey Silverstein Part III. Postoperative Care of the Adult Patient: 15. Complications Lorri A. Lee and Karen B. Domino 16. Postoperative care in the PACU Maged Argalious 17. Postoperative care in the neuro-intensive care unit James K. Liu, Dani S. Bodros and Edward M. Manno 18. Postoperative acute pain Juan P. Cata and Sherif Zaky 19. Postoperative chronic pain management Dmitiri Souzdalntiski and Jianguo Cheng Part IV. Spine Surgery for Pediatric Patients: 20. Pathophysiology of the pediatric patient Stephen J. Kimatian and Kenneth J. Saliba 21. Preoperative evaluation of the pediatric patient Sara P. Lozano and Julie Niezgoda 22. Fluid management and monitoring of the pediatric patient Tunga Suresh, Patrick M. Callahan and Peter J. Davis 23. Surgical techniques in the pediatric patient: 23.1. Scoliosis David Gurd 23.2. Tethered cord: surgical release Mark Luciano 24. Spinal surgery for patients with congenital heart disease and other associated conditions Patrick M. Callahan, Tunga Suresh and Peter J. Davis 25. Postoperative pain control in pediatric patients Rami Karroum, Loran Soliman Mounir and John Seif Index.


According to the initiative "The Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (CoM)" and within the framework of the EU-funded "Positive Energy Areas Project", the Municipality of Vidin should establish a "Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan". The city's sustainable energy development plans aim to reduce CO2 emissions by 40% up to 2030 and develop a comprehensive climate change adaptation strategy at the local level or integrate it into existing plans. The initiative envisages actions both for mitigating climate change and also for climate adaptation at the local level.
This paper presents the results of the first part of the process for establishing the "Sustainable Energy and Action Plan of the Municipality of Vidin", including the assessment and calculation of the final energy use in the city by the different sectors. The research aims to present the main data sources necessary for СО2 emissions inventory at the city level and to process, validate, and analyze used statistical data for defining the final energy use by different sectors in one Bulgarian municipality.
The purpose of this assessment is to determine final energy use by different sectors and by types of energy sources. The results from the analysis and evaluation of the final energy use in the sectors "Residential buildings", "Municipal buildings", "Industry", "Tertiary buildings", "Public lighting" and "Transport" will serve to conduct a baseline of CO2 emissions inventory, which is a part of the "Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan". These results also could help the local authorities and key energy players to identify and implement the most suitable measures and actions for climate change adaptation and mitigation.


In this paper we establish the stability of an iterative algorithm for a countable family of quasi-contractive operators in an arbitrary Banach space in a more general form.


CONTEXT The transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block is a new regional anaesthesia technique applicable to infants and children. OBJECTIVE(S) The present study was designed to evaluate the analgesic efficacy of ultrasound-guided TAP block with high volume local anaesthetic (0.5 ml kg−1) during the first 24 h after surgery in children undergoing inguinal hernia repair. DESIGN Randomised comparative study. SETTING Gaziantep University Hospital between December 2010 and May 2011. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS Fifty-seven children between 2 and 8 years of age undergoing unilateral inguinal hernia repair were randomised to TAP block (group T, n = 29) or to wound infiltration (group C, n = 28). INTERVENTION(S) A TAP block using ultrasound guidance with 0.25% levobupivacaine 0.5 ml kg−1 or wound infiltration with 0.2 ml kg−1 0.25% levobupivacaine, was performed on the same side as the hernia under general anaesthesia. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Time to first analgesic, cumulative number of doses of analgesic, pain scores and adverse effects were assessed over the course of 24 h. RESULTS The time to first analgesic (mean ± SD) was significantly longer in group T than in group C (17 ± 6.8 vs. 4.7 ± 1.6 h, respectively; P < 0.001). Thirteen (45%) patients in group T did not require any analgesic within the first 24 h. The cumulative number of doses of analgesic was significantly lower in group T than in group C (1.3 ± 1.2 vs. 3.6 ± 0.7, respectively, P < 0.001). Pain scores were significantly different between the groups at all time points except at 1, 20 and 24 h (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION Ultrasound-guided TAP block with high volume (0.5 ml kg−1) 0.25% levobupivacaine provides prolonged postoperative analgesia and reduced analgesic use without any clinical side-effects after unilateral hernia repair in children. TRIAL REGISTRATION ACTRN12611000585921 (7/06/2011) from Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry.


Background and Aims: This prospective, randomized, double-blind study was undertaken to establish the effect of addition of magnesium or dexmedetomidine, as an adjuvant, to epidural bupivacaine in lower limb surgeries. Materials and Methods: One hundred and twenty ASA (American Society of Anesthesiologists) class I and II patients undergoing lower limb surgeries were enrolled to receive either magnesium sulfate (Group M) or dexmedetomidine (Group D) along with epidural bupivacaine for surgical anesthesia. All the study subjects received an epidural anesthesia with 14 ml of 0.5% bupivacaine along with either MgSO4 50 mg (Group M) or dexmedetomidine 0.5 μg/kg (Group D) or saline (Group C). The onset of motor and sensory block, duration of block, hemodynamic parameters, and any adverse events were monitored. Results: Analgesia in the postoperative period was better in Group D, duration of sensory and motor blockade was significantly prolonged in Group D and incidence of sedation was more in Group D. Conclusion: Hence, addition of dexemedetomidine to epidural bupivacaine can be advantageous with respect to increased duration of motor and sensory blockade and arousable sedation.


The subject of this thesis deals with the creation of a website for an elementary school, with content that can be accessed by students and their parents, in order to get informed about the activities, communication and information of the school unit directly. There are also sections such as: recommended websites and recommended literary books. In addition to the informative content, there is a section that contains an application of multiple choice questions through which the students can test their knowledge of the courses available per class. Apart from this implementation, we have created the corresponding application on Google's Android platform for mobile devices that support the OS. Our aim is that students discover this option as well in terms of training and education, because the mobile devices are commonly used for entertainment only. In that way, it is much more tempting for students to engage in a multiple choice test on the mobile device than on a computer or any other typical way. For the website, we used the PHP language in conjunction with HTML, JavaScript and the SQL (for the database). For the android application, we used the Java programming language with extensions of the Google SDK and for the database we used the SQLite.


We present a patient with a history of benign monoclonal gammopathy, who developed thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP), initially presenting as bilateral serous retinal detachment. Plasma of the patient contained high titers of anti ADAMTS13 antibodies that were directed towards the disintegrin/TSR1/cysteine-rich/spacer and CUB1-2 domains. ADAMTS13 activity was undetectable. Total IgG purified from plasma of the patient partially inhibited ADAMTS13 activity. In contrast, the isolated M-protein did neither bind to, nor inhibit activity of ADAMTS13. We conclude that in this patient the monoclonal gammopathy and TTP co-existed as distinct pathological entities.


Many applications require the localization of a moving object, e.g., a robot, using sensory data acquired from embedded devices. Simultaneous localization and mapping from vision performs both the spatial and temporal fusion of these data on a map when a camera moves in an unknown environment. Such a SLAM process executes two interleaved functions: the front-end detects and tracks features from images, while the back-end interprets features as landmark observations and estimates both the landmarks and the robot positions with respect to a selected reference frame. This paper describes a complete visual SLAM solution, combining both point and line landmarks on a single map. The proposed method has an impact on both the back-end and the front-end. The contributions comprehend the use of heterogeneous landmark-based EKF-SLAM (the management of a map composed of both point and line landmarks); from this perspective, the comparison between landmark parametrizations and the evaluation of how the heterogeneity improves the accuracy on the camera localization, the development of a front-end active-search process for linear landmarks integrated into SLAM and the experimentation methodology.


One of the biggest challenges we will face over the next few decades is finding a way to power the future while maintaining strong socioeconomic growth and a clean environment. A transition from the use of fossil fuels to renewable energy sources is expected. Cellulose, the most abundant natural biopolymer on earth, is a unique, sustainable, functional material with exciting properties: it is low‐cost and has hierarchical fibrous structures, a high surface area, thermal stability, hydrophilicity, biocompatibility, and mechanical flexibility, which makes it ideal for use in sustainable, flexible energy storage devices. This review focuses on energy storage applications involving different forms of cellulose (i.e., cellulose microfibers, nanocellulose fibers, and cellulose nanocrystals) in supercapacitors, with particular emphasis on new trends and performance considerations relevant to these fields. Recent advances and approaches to obtaining high capacity devices are evaluated and the limitations of cellulose‐based systems are discussed. For the first time, a combination of device‐specific factors such as electrode structures, mass loadings, areal capacities, and volumetric properties are taken into account, so as to evaluate and compare the energy storage performance and to better assess the merits of cellulose‐based materials with respect to real applications.


Abstract All six naupliar stages of the harpacticoid copepod Nitocra karanovici are described. A key to the identification of the naupliar stages is provided. Stages can be distinguished by number of segments of the exopod of antenna 2, setation of the limbs including the bud of the caudal ramus, and presence and setation of the bud of maxilla 1. A particular naupliar character was found in the nauplii of N. karanovici that is in common for all Ameiridimorpha, except Ameiridae and otherwise not known from other Harpacticoida. This is a pair of bean-shaped, bare medial cuticular areas of the ventral body wall present in Parastenocarididae, Cylindropsyllidae, and as in Canthocamptus, Attheyella, Moraria, and Mesochra of the Canthocamptidae.