Importance
The Anti-Amyloid Treatment in Asymptomatic Alzheimer disease (A4) Study is an ongoing prevention trial in clinically normal older individuals with evidence of elevated brain amyloid. The large number of participants screened with amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) and standardized assessments provides an unprecedented opportunity to evaluate factors associated with elevated brain amyloid.

Objective
To investigate the association of elevated amyloid with demographic and lifestyle factors, apolipoprotein E (APOE), neuropsychological testing, and self- and study partner reports of cognitive function.

Design, Setting, and Participants
This cross-sectional study included screening data in the Anti-Amyloid Treatment in Asymptomatic Alzheimer Disease (A4) Study collected from April 2014 to December 2017 and classified by amyloid status. Data were was analyzed from 2018 to 2019 across 67 sites in the US, Canada, Australia, and Japan and included 4486 older individuals (age 65-85 years) who were eligible for amyloid PET (clinically normal [Clinical Dementia Rating = 0] and cognitively unimpaired [Mini-Mental State Examination score, ≥25; logical memory IIa 6-18]).

Main Outcomes and Measures
Screening demographics, lifestyle variables, APOE genotyping, and cognitive testing (Preclinical Alzheimer Cognitive Composite), self- and study partner reports of high-level daily cognitive function (Cognitive Function Index). Florbetapir amyloid PET imaging was used to classify participants as having elevated amyloid (Aβ+) or not having elevated amyloid (Aβ-).

Results
Amyloid PET results were acquired for 4486 participants (mean [SD] age, 71.29 [4.67] years; 2647 women [59%]), with 1323 (29.5%) classified as Aβ+. Aβ+ participants were slightly older than Aβ-, with no observed differences in sex, education, marital or retirement status, or any self-reported lifestyle factors. Aβ+ participants were more likely to have a family history of dementia (3320 Aβ+ [74%] vs 3050 Aβ- [68%]) and at least 1 APOE ε4 allele (2602 Aβ+ [58%] vs 1122 Aβ- [25%]). Aβ+ participants demonstrated worse performance on screening Preclinical Alzheimer Cognitive Composite results and reported higher change scores on the Cognitive Function Index.

Conclusions and Relevance
Among a large group of older individuals screening for an Alzheimer disease (AD) prevention trial, elevated brain amyloid was associated with family history and APOE ε4 allele but not with multiple other previously reported risk factors for AD. Elevated amyloid was associated with lower test performance results and increased reports of subtle recent declines in daily cognitive function. These results support the hypothesis that elevated amyloid represents an early stage in the Alzheimer continuum and demonstrate the feasibility of enrolling these high-risk participants in secondary prevention trials aimed at slowing cognitive decline during the preclinical stages of AD.


In this modern era, the need for electricity has become a primary need in both big cities and small cities, almost all of our daily life support equipment requires electrical energy. PLN as the only company engaged in the distribution of electrical energy researches in the field of maintenance, especially testing of PMT insulation prisoners. Based on IEV (International Electrotechnical Vocabulary) 441-14-20 stated that Circuit Breaker (CB) is a mechanical switching / switching equipment, which is able to close, drain and break the load current under normal conditions and is able to close, drain ( within a certain time period) and break the load current under specific abnormal conditions / disturbances such as short circuits. to be used as material for the PMT analysis. The minimum PMT isolation resistance limit at the operating temperature is calculated "1 kV = 1 MΩ". with a note of 1 kv = the magnitude of the phase voltage to the ground, allowable leakage current per kV = 1mA.


X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectra of carboxypeptidase A (ZnCPD) show progressive spectral changes particularly in the near edge region when the pH is changed from neutral to alkaline values. Both least square fitting and radial distribution function (RDF) data analysis yield two distributions of atoms in the first coordination shell of ZnCPD at all pH values and at both 150 and 297 K. Direct comparison of the first and higher coordination shells of ZnCPD reveals structural differences between pH 7.0 and pH 9.9. At pH 7.0, the zinc ion has four ligand atoms (N or O) at an average distance of 2.024 +/- 0.006 A, and a smaller distribution of 1.3 atoms (N or O) at 2.54 +/- 0.05 A from the zinc ion (from the least square fitting analysis). At pH 9.9, the larger distribution contains four atoms at a 0.022 A shorter distance (2.002 A) from the zinc, while the smaller distribution contains 0.7 atoms at 2.52 +/- 0.06 A. The smaller distribution can be attributed mainly to the contribution of the epsilon 2-oxygen of Glu 72 and to the atoms farther away for which the contribution cannot be fully separated from the first shell peak. The structural changes of ZnCPD at intermediate pHs are consistent with the changes observed at pH 7.0 and pH 9.9. The XAFS Debye-Waller factor shows an increased structural disorder for the four atom distribution at the alkaline pH.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


The content of this article is a survey of the distribution and functions of the so-called enunciative particles in the Gascon dialect of Occitan. This is a well known topic in romance linguistics and particularly in Occitan studies, but our aim here is to treat the subject from a new perspective, widening the frame in order to include more complex contexts (as for example the different values of the particle se as an introducer of direct and indirect interrogatives), and taking evidentiality as a frame to consider the enunciative que and others like plan, be and ja. Eventually, we ask about the nature of que as it has followed a process of grammaticalization in some varieties of Gascon which apparently has lead it to lose its function as evidentiality marker and to display a purely declarative value; seemingly that function has been taken on by facultative particles as for example be and ja, for which a liaison between their role as modality markers and their adverbial origin is still appreciable. For some contexts we also establish a connexion between Occitan and Catalan, suggesting then a wider perspective as those two languages share some common strategies of modality expression as a particularity in the romance domain


This work was conducted in the agricultural years 2003/04 and 2004/05, at the farm 'Tres Marcos', Uberlândia, MG - Brazil to evaluate the effect of crop residues [coverage sorghum (hybrid Cober Exp), forage millet (var. BN2), finger millet (Eleusine coracana) and St. Lucia Grass (Brachiaria brizantha)] and two amounts of straw (3.0 and 5.5 t ha-1 in the first year and 3.5 and 5.8 t ha-1, in the second year) in efficiency of herbicides (diclosulam and uimazaquin) applied pre-emergence in soybean, 'Cerrado' conditions. The efficiency of herbicides diclosulam and imazaquin was not affected by the straw at any amount. Associated to the straw coverage, it had best weed control. In the first year, after the soybean field was installed, Eleusine coracana became the major weed species in the finger millet plot.


In Romania, Community Psychiatry was developed and regulated by the Regulatory Act of 1974. This represented an advanced concept at that time, and provided training for multidisciplinary teams, with specific roles assigned to each type of professional in providing mental health services. The multidisciplinary team consisted of a psychiatrist, psychologist, nurse, social worker and occupational therapist, and mental health services were offered in the community, with a contribution from the social support network. Until 1990, these services have operated as an integrated system through territorialisation and teamwork. These efforts have stalled in recent years due to insufficient funding, various administrative difficulties and a lack of continuity of specific training programs. Meanwhile, in recent years, thousands of doctors from Romania, including psychiatrists, left the medical system to specialize in other EU countries. This article summarizes some issues related to community mental health services currently offered in the UK, with new concepts, similarities and key differences to the medical system in Romania. It is intended that the data presented here and those gathered from the experiences of other colleagues who work abroad, become useful through a possible regeneration of the Romanian medical system, with an increase in the accessibility to and quality of mental health services offered.
Keywords:


Due to their increased spending power and influence on spending within the home, children have been the focus of an increasing volume of research. A review of the literature reveals a large number of books and academic papers that focus on pertinent issues within the field of child research (for example, Christensen & James 2000; Barker & Weller 2003; Fraser et al . 2004; Greene & Hogan 2005; Solomon & Peters 2005). These texts cover issues such as the conceptual and philosophical underpinnings of child research (e.g. Christensen & James 2000; Fraser & Robinson 2004), ethical considerations of working with children (e.g. Morrow & Richards 1996; Hill 2005), the nature of the research relationship (Robinson & Kellet 2004), legal issues affecting the research relationship and the storage/use of data (Greig et al. 2007), effective and appropriate methodologies and analytical techniques for child research (for a comprehensive review see Greene & Hogan 2005; see also Christensen & James 2000), and more specific techniques and practical advice on eliciting information from children and young people (e.g. Hazel 1995; Barter & Renold 2000).


From 1979 to 1992, 101 radical cystectomy with caecoplasty were performed by the same operator (MR). Mean age of the patients was 62 years with a sex-ratio: 10 males/1 female. The indications were: Transitional Cell Carcinoma in 89 cases, neurologic bladder in 5 cases, interstitial cystitis in 3 cases tuberculosis bladder in 3 cases and lymphoma in one case. The operative mortality was 3% and postoperative morbidity was 8%. The surgical procedure consisted of performing a neo-bladder with ileocaecal segment. The technique of ureterocaecal implantation changed during the study period. On a functional point of view, 28 ureterocaecal stenosis were reported (15%). It were rare (2.4%) with the last ureterocaecal anastomosis technique. The diurnal continence rate was 100%. The nocturnal continence rate was only 25%. On uroflowmetric point of view, the detubularization permitted to obtain low pressure bladders with 15% rate of atonic bladder. Transverse taeniamyotomy of the caecum permitted to increase the uroflowmetric performance of the bladder without atonic risk. The 5 and 10 year overall actuarial survival rate were respectively 5% and 30%. Tumoral stage was a significant prognostic factor. An adjuvant chemotherapy was performed in 28 patients. The 5 year actuarial survival rate of the patients with a chemotherapy was 82% versus 28% for the patients without chemotherapy (p < 0.01). Caecocystoplasty after radical cystectomy was a reliable technique in our experience.


Adjuvant therapy is administered in the form of systemic treatment after complete resection of the melanoma in patients with high risk of recurrence, to prolong the disease free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). This has been met with limited success and new approaches are needed. Cutaneous melanoma is characterized by an initial skin lesion, and the development of satellitosis and intransit metastases that are amenable to clinical inspection, palpation and intralesional therapy. Methods: Published data from 3 research areas were reviewed: 1. Management of satellitosis and intransit metastases. 2. Effect of administering Granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) at the primary site on sentinel lymph node (SLN). 3. Factors identified in metastatic melanoma and in patients with metastases that reflect on survival. Results: 1. Repeated intralesional injections of satellitosis and intransit metastases with GM-CSF or interleukin-2 (IL-2) gave high clinical response rates of durable durations. 2. GM-CSF administration in the skin at the primary site increased the number and activation of dendritic cells (DC) and CD8+ cells at sub-cortical zone of SLN. 3. The presence of tumor specific T cells in metastatic lesions have significant survival benefit, while the presence of these cells in the peripheral blood does not. Further, induction of high levels of tumor specific CD8+ T cells in the circulation does not prevent tumor progression. Hypothesis: To utilize the primary site and its draining lymph node(s) for immune manipulation prior to their excision. The administration of GM-CSF at the primary site, where tumor cells or their debris are present, can activate DC (s) which are efficient antigen presenting cells that can process tumor antigens and cross-talk to T cells. On the other hand, IL-2 activates NK, CD8+ cells and TIL. The presence of DC, CD8+, TIL and patient9s own tumor and T cells can induce major immune response and may give rise to autologous-tumor-specific cytotoxic T cells in vivo. This should precede any systemic therapy that should be aimed at maximizing this response and hopefully improving survival. Proposal: Newly diagnosed patients with high risk melanoma who are candidates for SLN biopsy can be randomized to receive standard surgical treatment [SLN biopsy and wide excision of the primary site] vs preoperative administration of GM-CSF 500μg on day 1 and IL-2 11×106 IU/day on days 2 &3 at the primary site, 1-2 weeks prior to standard surgical treatment. Systemic therapy that consists of same low doses of GM-CSF and IL-2 should be considered in patients with lymph node metastases. The 2 groups of patients are to be compared for DFS and OS. The tissues should be evaluated for tumor necrosis and histiocytosis at the injection sites, as well as for CD3, CD4, CD8, CD25, and CD83 both at the primary site and lymph nodes. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2709. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-2709


The ability of reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) to separate some positionally isomeric disaturated and monounsaturated triacylglycerols (TAGs) as intact species is demonstrated for the first time. Mobile phases of acetonitrile modified with methanol, ethanol, 2-propanol, 1-propanol, 1-butanol, acetone, or dichloromethane were tested for the separation of POP-PPO, PLP-PPL, PEP-PPE, and PDP-PPD (P-palmitic, O-oleic, L-linoleic, E-eicosapentaenoic, D-docosahexaenoic acid residue) on a single RP-HPLC column. The resolution improved with increasing number of double bonds in the acyl residues. While POP and PPO were only partially resolved, PDP and PPD were fully separated with all tested mobile phases, except those containing methanol. Also separated were the four TAGs having the same equivalent carbon number (ECN = 42), PEP, PPE, PDP, and PPD, on a single RP-HPLC column with mobile phase acetonitrile-2-propanol (70:30, v/v) at 0.8 mL/min. In all cases the isomer with the unsaturated acyl residue in either 1- or 3-position was retained more strongly than the respective 2-isomer.


Protein synthesis is one of the major targets in the cell for antibiotics. This review endeavors to provide a comprehensive "post-ribosome structure" A–Z of the huge diversity of antibiotics that target the bacterial translation apparatus, with an emphasis on correlating the vast wealth of biochemical data with more recently available ribosome structures, in order to understand function. The binding site, mechanism of action, and modes of resistance for 26 different classes of protein synthesis inhibitors are presented, ranging from ABT-773 to Zyvox. In addition to improving our understanding of the process of translation, insight into the mechanism of action of antibiotics is essential to the development of novel and more effective antimicrobial agents to combat emerging bacterial resistance to many clinically-relevant drugs.


This module is the second in a series of Extension materials designed to provide pertinent information on a variety of nutrient management, water management, and water quality issues to Extension agents, Certified Crop Advisers (CCAs), consultants, and producers. We have included 15 questions at the back of this module that will make the learning "active" as well as offer the potential for credits for CCAs in Nutrient Management (within the "Plant Nutrition" and "Soil Fertility" competency areas.) In addition, we have included a resource section of other Extension materials, books, web sites, and professionals in the field.


The Climate Analysis Center (CAC) of the U.S. National Meteorological Center (NMC) produced gridded analyses of temperature and wind in the atmosphere by combining the operational tropospheric analyses from NMC and radiosonde and rocketsonde observations in the stratosphere. Grids are available at mandatory pressure levels from 1000 mbar up to 0.4 mbar. Additionally, total-column ozone and longwave radiation are also included. Global coverage is achieved by combining the grids for the northern and southern hemispheres at each time step.\n\nThe Flattery analysis method was used through 26 July 1984, so the usefulness of grids in that period is suspect. After that time, the analysis method used was the same as for other NMC global operational outputs.


The symmetry of electron ejection about the momentum-transfer direction in electron-impact ionization has been investigated in (e, 2e) measurements and distorted wave calculations of the cross sections for ionization from the 2s, 2p and 3s subshells of magnesium. Measurements were carried out for a scattering angle of 18° with incident energies of 400, 750 and 1500 eV. The energy loss was chosen so that the momentum transfer direction was oriented at 45° to the incident electron direction. Ejected electrons were observed both in and out of the scattering plane defined by the incident- and scattered-electron momentum vectors. Both measurements and calculations demonstrate a breakdown of the symmetry about the direction of momentum transfer.


Autophagy is a highly conservative and multi-component activated energy metabolism and self-renewal mechanism, which plays a crucial regulatory role in maintaining the normal physiological state of cells and is involved in various pathological processes. In recent years, the mechanism study has made great progress in regulating autophagy with effective components of Chinese materia medica(CMM),which are reported to prevent and treat cancers, neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases and metabolic and immune-related diseases. This review outlines the molecular regulation mechanisms of cell autophagy with CMM components in controlling the above-mentioned diseases. There are many relevant reports on the regulatory mechanisms of autophagy in tumor and cardiovascular cells with CMM monomers. The main chemical structural types are alkaloids, saponins, polyphenols, flavonoids and terpenes. And m-TOR pathway is the main mechanism relating to the regulatory mechanisms of autophagy with CMM. Therefore, the regulatory mec-hanisms of cell autophagy become a new research targeting strategy of therapies with CMM. This review provides evidences for the effectiveness and scientificity of CMM in regulating autophagy, in the expectation of providing references for the in-depth studies of CMM in the field of autophagy and the development of natural autophagy regulators.


A zero-pole cancellation transimpedance amplifier (TIA) has been realized in 0.35 μm RF CMOS technology for Gigabit Ethernet applications. The TIA exploits a zero-pole cancellation configuration to isolate the input parasitic capacitance including photodiode capacitance from bandwidth deterioration. Simulation results show that the proposed TIA has a bandwidth of 1.9 GHz and a transimpedance gain of 65 dB·Ω for 1.5 pF photodiode capacitance, with a gain-bandwidth product of 3.4 THz·Ω. Even with 2 pF photodiode capacitance, the bandwidth exhibits a decline of only 300 MHz, confirming the mechanism of the zero-pole cancellation configuration. The input resistance is 50 Ω, and the average input noise current spectral density is 9.7 pA/√Hz. Testing results shows that the eye diagram at 1 Gb/s is wide open. The chip dissipates 17 mW under a single 3.3 V supply.


Abstract : African trypanosomiasis is characterized by persistent but variable parasitemia. The level of the circulating parasite varies as a result of the interplay of host immunologic responses and parasitic adaptation resulting in changing antigenicity. Previous studies have indicated that the level of parasitemia is at times very high, and specific antitrypanosomal antibodies develop. It is hypothesized that this situation leads to periods of antigen excess and it is probable that circulating antigen-antibody complexes are formed. Early studies with Rhesus monkeys infected with Trypanosoma rhodesiense (Strain 1886) indicated pathologic changes within the glomeruli associated with increased serum creatine and in some cases hypoalbuminemia. A closer analysis of these renal lesions revealed thickened and duplicated basement membranes associated with mesangial proliferation. These changes resemble the glomerular pathology seen in human membrano-proliferation glomerulonephritis and was associated with persistent hypocomplementemia. The first nine months of our present contract has been largely spent on completion and extensions of this work in the Rhesus and is summarized in this report.


We describe a Coq formalization of constructive ω-cpos, ultrametric spaces and ultrametric-enriched categories, up to and including the inverse-limit construction of solutions to mixed-variance recursive equations in both categories enriched over ω-cppos and categories enriched over ultrametric spaces. We show how these mathematical structures may be used in formalizing semantics for three representative programming languages. Specifically, we give operational and denotational semantics for both a simply-typed CBV language with recursion and an untyped CBV language, establishing soundness and adequacy results in each case, and then use a Kripke logical relation over a recursively-defined metric space of worlds to give an interpretation of types over a step-counting operational semantics for a language with recursive types and general references.


One last piece of the overall method is required to achieve the goals of this dissertation: a technique for measuring the volume of the left ventricle. As stated in the abstract, the measurement of volume is to be accomplished without exact delineation of an object's boundaries. Most segmentation routines attempt to locate complete and precise boundaries, which provide explicit parameters for measurements and which can be rendered with realism using computer graphics techniques. Perhaps explicit boundaries seems a more accurate portrayal of physical reality, because, after all, most real surfaces are defined to a microscopic scale and interact with light in a manner easily interpretable by the human visual system. A probabilistic representation of a surface may be just as useful and more robust for making geometric measurements, but it is not so easily visualized. The accuracy of measurements based on probabilistic boundaries can, however, be assessed against those from manually determined boundaries. In previous chapters, core atoms formed the basis of a method for identifying an object. Core atoms can also be used to derive parameters of an object's shape. The ability of core atom populations to accurately measure slab thickness, cylinder diameter, and sphere diameter has already been demonstrated in Chapter 4 with parametric test objects (see Table 4.2). This approach is successfully adapted to measure the volumes of balloons scanned by RT3D ultrasound in Chapter 8, using a simple spherical model. To analyze more complicated shapes such as the left ventricle, a general theory for measuring volume based on the medial manifold is required. Such a theory, that of truncated wedges is developed in Section 7A and comprises the bulk of this chapter. This takes a foray into a new concept: using local boundary curvature as an aspect of local medial dimensionality. Although very interesting and perhaps useful eventually, the idea is not actually put into practice during the remainder of the dissertation. Some of the underlying concepts are, however, important in developing an iterative Bayesian method for fuzzy segmentation of the LV in Section 7B. The method is based on an assignment of probability to voxels of being in the LV by their intensities and locations with respect to the medial node model. From these probabilities, a total volume is computed and a local estimate of error derived relative to manual traces in Section 8E.


Vanadium-substituted iron oxide aerogels (2 : 1 Fe : V ratio; VFe2Ox) are synthesized using an epoxide-initiated sol–gel method to form high surface-area, mesoporous materials in which the degree of crystallinity and concentration of defects are tuned via thermal treatments under controlled atmospheres. Thermal processing of the X-ray amorphous, as-synthesized VFe2Ox aerogels at 300 °C under O2-rich conditions removes residual organic byproducts while maintaining a highly defective γ-Fe2O3-like local structure with minimal long-range order and vanadium in the +5 state. When as-synthesized VFe2Ox aerogels are heated under low partial pressure of O2 (e.g., flowing argon), a fraction of vanadium sites are reduced to the +4 state, driving crystallization to a Fe3O4-like cubic phase. Subsequent thermal oxidation of this nanocrystalline VFe2Ox aerogel re-oxidizes vanadium +4 to +5, creating additional cation vacancies and re-introducing disordered oxide domains. We correlate the electrochemical charge-storage properties of this series of VFe2Ox aerogels with their degree of order and chemical state, as verified by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and X-ray absorption spectroscopy. We find that the disordered O2-heated VFe2Ox aerogel yields the highest Li+- and Na+-insertion capacities among this series, approaching 130 mA h g−1 and 70 mA h g−1, respectively. Direct heat-treatment of the VFe2Ox aerogel in flowing argon to yield the partially reduced, nanocrystalline form results in significantly lower Li+-insertion capacity (77 mA h g−1), which improves to 105 mA h g−1 by thermal oxidation to create additional vacancies and structural disorder.


Introduction : Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a common condition but if it is diagnosed with delay, it can cause serious morbidity or mortality. Herein we evaluated the role of transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) as a real$time, non$invasive , portable, and cost$efficient modality in diagnosis of PE in critically ill patient. Case : We report a successful application of bedside TTE in a 55$years$old man presenting with dyspnea and unstable hemodynamic. Bedside echocardiogram showed a free$flouting thrombus at the main pulmonary artery bifurcation. Discussion : Although TTE can be used for rapid risk stratification in patients with PE, it provides a means for rapid, reproducible, portable, and cost$efficient diagnostic modality in the setting of high clinical suspicion of PE. The sensitivity and specificity of TTE for diagnosis of PE ranged between 29% and 52% and between 96% and 87%, respectively. Echocardiographic signs used in the diagnosis of acute PE include reduced RV size and function, direct visualization of thrombus, reduced LV cavity size, dilated pulmonary arteries, interventricular septal flattening, paradoxical septal motion, tricuspid regurgitation, increased velocity of tricuspid regurgitation jet, and dilatation of IVC. Conclusion : Although TTE had a low sensitivity for diagnosis of PE, this modality is non$ invasive, cost$efficient, portable, and helps us to differentiate between the etiologies of hypotension in the unstable patients.


OBJECTIVE
Given controversy remains on monotherapy and combinatory chemotherapy in elderly patients (> or = 70 years) with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), we conducted this study to compare the safety and efficacy of liposome paclitaxel and platinum-containing doublets.

METHODS
From January 2007 to March 2009, totally 65 patients (age > or = 70 years) with pathologically confirmed NSCLC were enrolled. 33 patients received liposome paclitaxel monotherapy (monotherapy group) and 32 patients received platinum-containing doublets chemotherapy (combinatory group).

RESULTS
No CR was observed in all patients. Both groups had similar objective response rate (ORR) (6.1% vs. 15.6%, P = 0.399). However, a statistically significant higher disease control rate (DCR) (65. 6%) was observed in he combinatory group when compared with that of monotherapy group (39.4%, P = 0.034). The combinatory group had longer time-to-progression (TTP) (94 days, 95% CI: 60-127 days) than the monotherapy group (51 days, 95% CI: 22-79 days, P = 0.046). The median overall survival days in the combinatory group was 524 days (95% CI: 146-901 days) where as in the monotherapy group only 146 days (95% CI 32-259 days) (P = 0.001). The most common adverse reactions were myelosuppression, gastrointestinal reactions and elevated transaminase in the monotherapy group, while those were myelosuppression, gastrointestinal reactions and infection in the combinatory group. Generally there was no significant difference in the adverse reaction, except grade 3-4 thrombocytopenia (P = 0.004). It should be addressed that 1 patient (3.0%) in the monotherapy group had an onset of severe infection, while the number rose to 5 (15.6%) in the combinatory group (P = 0.079).

CONCLUSION
Platinum-containing doublet chemotherapy achieved a higher response rate, longer time-to-progression and overall survival compared with liposome paclitaxel monotherapy in the treatment of elderly patients with advanced NSCLC. However thrombocytopenia and severe infection should be monitored for the combinatory chemotherapy.


This is a study of the performance of the State in India (Union Territory and the States) with regard to the realisation of Constitutional aspirations in the areas of Literacy, Employment and Social Security. An integrated view on three sectors is taken. Employment in the organised sector requires education. Lack of education/literacy leads to semi-skilled and skilled, organised sector unemployment and under-employment, specifically in the modern sectors. Unemployment leads to increasing poverty and inequality thereby necessitating the provision of social security. There is a need to recognise this triangular relationship while planning for India's development in the future.


OBJECTIVE
Mercury poisoning is a condition with multiple-organ dysfunction that has effects on the central nervous system, gastrointestinal system, cardiovascular system, skin, lungs, and kidneys. It can be fatal or may result in sequelae such as neurological disturbances, if treated late or left untreated. The endocrinological effects of mercury exposure are not well-known. We aimed to evaluate patients with mercury poisoning.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
A total of 6 cases of mercury poisoning from 3 families were included in the study. Clinical, laboratory, and follow-up data were recorded.

RESULTS
Thyroid dysfunction was presented as high thyroid hormones and normal thyrotropin level (unsuppressed) in 5 cases (83.3%). On the other hand, pheochromocytoma-like syndrome was detected in 5 cases (83.3%) with hypertension. The 4 cases were the first to use methimazole for mercury poisoning due to tachycardia and hypertension despite antihypertensive treatment due to catecholamine excess and thyroid dysfunction. Hyponatremia was detected in 3 cases (50%).

CONCLUSION
Mercury poisoning is difficult to diagnose because it is rare and presents with nonspecific physical and laboratory findings. Early diagnosis and providing appropriate treatment are essential in order to prevent sequelae. Mercury poisoning should be considered in patients with unexplained hypertension and tachycardia suggesting the involvement of thyroid hormones and catecholamines.


Background

The Veterans Affairs Partnership to increase Access to Lung Screening (VA-PALS) is an enterprise-wide initiative to implement high quality lung cancer screening programs at VA medical centers (VAMCs). VA-PALS will be using implementation strategies that include program navigators to coordinate screening activities, trainings for navigators and radiologists, an open-source software management system, tools to standardize low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) image quality, and access to a support network. Individual VAMCs can utilize strategies according to their local contextual factors. In this protocol, we describe the planned program evaluation for the initial 10 VAMCs participating in VA-PALS.
Methods

The implementation of programs will be evaluated using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research to ensure broad contextual guidance. Program evaluation measures have been developed using the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation and Maintenance framework. Adaptations of screening processes will be assessed every six months using the Framework for Reporting Adaptations and Modifications to Evidence Based Interventions. Measures collected will reflect the inner setting at each VAMC, estimate and describe the population reached, adoption by providers, implementation of the programs, report patient clinical outcomes and maintenance of screening programs. Analyses will primarily use descriptive statistics with means, medians, and frequencies. Outcomes will be compared over time and among VA-PALS VAMCs and non-VA-PALS VAMCs in interrupted time series analyses. Assessment of contextual factors and the relationship between predictors, such as organizational readiness and improved implementation, will be evaluated. Adaptations of processes to overcome barriers will be identified and evaluated for association with implementation.
Conclusion

This theory-based protocol will evaluate the implementation of lung cancer screening programs across the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) using scientific frameworks. The findings will inform plans to expand the VA-PALS initiative beyond the original sites and can guide implementation of lung cancer screening programs more broadly within and outside VHA.


This article examines tensions that professionals in healthcare settings in low-to-middle income countries (LMICs) face in the evolving fi eld around surveillance of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Few public health problems are of greater global importance today than AMR, that poses a threat to our ability to treat infections. In this context, the microbiology laboratory occupies a prominent place and the knowledge fi eld of microbiology is expanding. In this study, we interviewed twenty- three ( n = 23) professionals with expertise on AMR and public health systems to synthesise knowledge on strengthening AMR surveillance in LMICs. By drawing on a practice approach [Schatzki, T. R. 2001. " Practice Ttheory. " In The Practice Turn in Contemporary Theory (1 – 14), edited by T. R. Schatzki, K. Knorr-Cetima, and E. von Savigny. New York: Routledge.] combined with socio-cultural and cultural-historical theories (CHAT) [Engeström, Y. 1987. Learning by Expanding: An Activity-Theoretical Approach to Developmental Research . Helsinki: Orienta-Konsultit] the analysis reveals seven tensions between elements of the systems and discusses how such tensions serve to frame implications for implementing a capacity strengthening programme. The analysis shows that the novelty of the AMR as well as being a multi-disease and multisectoral by nature challenges existing forms of professional practice in healthcare settings. It also suggests that AMR requires to be dealt with through inter-professional and inter-sectoral approaches, while maintaining a focus across the local, national, and global systems, which is essential for initiatives that are set to address challenges to global health.


Parasporal inclusion proteins from a total of 151 Bacillus thuringiensis strains, consisting of 139 Japanese isolates and the type strains of 12 H serovars, were screened for haemagglutination (HA) activity against sheep erythrocytes. Of 58 B. thuringiensis strains with HA activity, nine strains exhibited high activity and the remaining 49 strains were moderately active. The strains with high HA activity were derived from phylloplanes and soils of five geographically different localities, and belonged to H serovars kurstaki and other undefined serotype(s). The HA activities in the four selected strains were generated only when alkali-solubilised parasporal inclusion proteins were proteolytically processed. Furthermore, the lectin activity of the four strains was strongly inhibited by preincubation with N-acetylgalactosamine. The lectin-producing B. thuringiensis strains were heterogeneous in other biological activities of parasporal inclusions: insecticidal activity and cytocidal action on human leukaemia T cells.


Interest in third‐generation biomass such as macroalgae has increased due to their high biomass yield, absence of lignin in their tissues, lower competition for land and fresh water, no fertilization requirements, and efficient CO2 capture in coastal ecosystems. However, several challenges still exist in the development of cost‐effective technologies for processing large amounts of macroalgae. Recently, genetically modified micro‐organisms able to convert brown macroalgae carbohydrates into bioethanol were developed, but still no attempt to scale up production has been proposed. Based on a giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) farming and bioethanol production program carried out in Chile, we were able to test and adapt this technology as a first attempt to scale up this process using a 75 L fermentation of genetically modified Escherichia coli. Laboratory fermentation tests results showed that although biomass growth and yield are not greatly affected by the alginate:mannitol ratio, ethanol yield showed a clear maximum around a 5:8 alginate:mannitol ratio. In M. pyrifera, a much greater proportion of alginate and lower mannitol abundance is found. In order to make the most of the carbohydrates available for fermentation, we developed a four‐stage process model for scaling up, including acid leaching, depolymerization, saccharification, and fermentation steps. Using this process, we obtained 0.213 Kg ethanol Kg−1 dry macroalgae, equivalent to 9.6 m3 of ethanol hectare−1 year−1, reaching 64% of the maximum theoretical ethanol yield. We propose strategies to increase this yield, including synthetic biology pathway engineering approaches and process optimization targets. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd


Introduction Few studies have assessed the impact of clinical decision support, with or without patient education, on patient reported outcomes in dentistry. This cross-sectional survey was conducted to understand patients' experience with shared decision-making and pain management associated with a tooth extraction. Methods We administered a phone survey to 981 adult patients within a week of having a tooth extraction. The tooth extraction was performed at a large regional dental practice by a dentist participating in a randomized controlled trial of a clinical decision support system to reduce reliance on opioids for tooth extraction-related pain management. The survey compared respondents' answers by study arm: standard practice (SP) or clinical decision support with (CDS-E) or without patient education (CDS). Results Of respondents (n = 492, response rate: 52%), 91% reported that their dental provider talked about what to expect for pain in the days following the extraction, 92% stated that their dental provider talked about how to treat post-extraction pain, and 74% expressed they were confident in their ability to manage post-extraction pain, at the end of the extraction visit. We found no statistically significant differences in patient responses across study arms for average pain in the 3 days following the extraction (p = 0.65, CDS vs. SP; p = 0.41, CDS-E vs. SP) or in shared decision-making (p = 0.38, CDS vs. SP; p = 0.70, CDS-E vs. SP). Conclusion Most patients reported adequate pain management and shared decision-making about pain management related to their tooth extraction. Further research will assess differences in analgesic recommendations across study arms.


Disclosed is a semiconductor thin film which can be formed at a relatively low temperature even on a flexible resin substrate. Since the semiconductor thin film is stable to visible light and has high device characteristics such as transistor characteristics, it does not decrease the luminance of a display when overlapped with the pixel portion in case where the semiconductor thin film is used as a switching device for driving the display. Specifically disclosed is a transparent semiconductor thin film (40) produced by forming an amorphous film containing zinc oxide and indium oxide and then oxidizing the film so that the resulting film has a carrier density of 10 cm or less, a hole mobility of 2 cm /Vsec or more, and an energy band gap of 2.4 EV or more.


We study a double inflation model (a preinflation $+$ a new inflation) in supergravity and discuss the formation of primordial black holes which may be identified with massive compact halo objects (MACHOs) observed in the halo of our galaxy. The preinflation drives an inflaton for the new inflation close to the origin through supergravity effects and the new inflation naturally occurs. If the total e-fold number of the new inflation is smaller than $\ensuremath{\sim}60,$ both inflations produce cosmologically relevant density fluctuations. If the coherent inflaton oscillation after the preinflation continues until the beginning of the new inflation, density fluctuations on small cosmological scales can be set suitably large to produce black holes MACHOs of masses $\ensuremath{\sim}{1M}_{\ensuremath{\bigodot}}$ in a wide region of parameter space in the double inflation model.


Objectives. Diagnostic markers of infection have had little innovation over the last few decades. CD64, a marker expressed on the surface of neutrophils, may have utility for this purpose. Methods. This study was conducted in an adult intensive care unit (ICU) in São Paulo, Brazil, with 89 patients. We evaluated CD64 in patients with documented or clinically diagnosed infection (infection group) and controls (patients without any evidence of infection) by two different methodologies: method #1, an in house assay, and method #2, the commercial kit Leuko64 (Trillium Diagnostics). Results. CD64 displayed good discriminating power with a 91.2% sensitivity (95% CI 90.7–91.6%) for detecting infection. The commercial kit (Leuko64) demonstrated higher specificity (87.3%) compared with method #1 as well as better accuracy (88.8%). Conclusions. CD64 seems to be a promising marker of infection in the intensive care setting, with Leuko64 showing a slight advantage.


Here, we document the first record for Montana of Halyomorpha halys (Stål) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), a major agricultural and nuisance pest in many parts of the world. The insect was found overwintering in a private residence in January 2021 in Billings (Yellowstone Co.). A preliminary survey of sites in Billings from May to October 2021 confirmed the presence of H. halys within a radius of at least 11 km from the January detection. Putatively overwintering H. halys and adult bugs found across the city of Billings in the summer suggest the insect may have been present in the area prior to 2021. Surveys conducted in various regions of the state between 2013 and 2020 reported no detections of H. halys. Yellowstone Co. was previously surveyed in 2017, indicating the species likely arrived between 2018 and 2020 or was present before 2018 at densities too low to be detected. The summary of presence and absence records we provide herein is valuable for future monitoring and management efforts of this economically important species.


Optical flow has long been a focus of research study in computer vision community. Researchers have established extensive work to solve the optical flow estimation. Among the published works, a notable work using variational energy minimization has been a baseline of optical flow estimation for a long time. Variational optical flow optimization solves an approximate global minimum in a well-defined nonlinear Markov Energy formulation. It works by first linearizing the energy model and uses a numerical method specifically successive over-relaxation (SOR) method to solve the resulting linear model. An initialization scheme is required for optical flow field in this iterative optimization method. In the original work, a zero initialization is proposed and it works well on the various environments with photometric and geometric distortion. In this work, we have experimented with different flow field initialization scheme under various environment setting. We found out that variational refinement with a good initial flow estimate using state-of-art optical flow algorithms can further improve its accuracy performance.


Students in Indonesia have been cutting classes for some time now and it has become a bad habit. They leave their house toward their educational institutions, either school or college, but in fact, they go somewhere else. The issue was supported by the lack of communication between the schools and parents related to the student attendance. Dealing with the problems mentioned above, it is required to create a Telegram Messenger application for student presence as a solution. Application-based student presence Telegram Messenger was made to ensure that students attend classes, by steps as follow: firstly, students must hand in the ID card to the teacher on duty, then the teacher will tap the card, and finally the data will be recorded and be saved in the database automatically. The data will be saved automatically every day, and then it will be sent personally to their parents who had their mobile phones registered to receive information regarding their children presence at school on the particular date and hour. In addition, this application provides service for the parents to find the information on daily and monthly basis. This application can also be a part of consideration in decision making for the principals by downloading student attendance data in Microsoft Excel file format. The implementation of the applications based on Telegram Messenger for students' presence at school was expected to be a solution for the problems of student absence due to skipping school. This application has been tested in SMK Unggulan Terpadu PGII Bandung with very satisfying results and the level of student absence was able to be fixed.


One response to requests from the transport industry to allow more "freight efficient" heavy vehicles (HVs) onto the road network has been that road authorities have allowed higher axle loads in return for HVs being equipped with "road-friendly" suspensions. These suspensions (particularly those with air springs) are critically dependant on shock absorber health for proper operation. These suspensions are only certified, however, as "road-friendly" at the time of manufacture and this via a type-test. Once in service, the "road-friendliness" is determined solely by the maintenance regime of the transport operator.
One of the triggers for shock absorber replacement in the road transport industry is tyre wear. Blanksby et al., (2006) showed that this was not a good determinant of damper wear as over 54% of a statistically significant sample of "road-friendly" HVs did not meet at least one of the criteria in the Australian standard for "road-friendly" HV suspensions (Blanksby et al., 2006). Previous reports on the prevalence of, and increased damage done by HVs with worn, out-of-specification or defective suspension dampers have been commissioned and published (Blanksby et al., 2006; Cebon, 2004; Costanzi & Cebon, 2005, 2006). The results in this report align with the conclusions of that work and indicate that Qld Main Roads could save approximately $76M/annum were HV operators to maintain their shock absorbers to manufacturers' specifications.
There is no in-service test for HV suspensions in Australia yet. In-service testing for "road-friendliness would advantage the transport industry and road asset owners. The former because worn dampers could be replaced before vehicle and payload damage occurs; high-mileage but still serviceable shock absorbers need not be replaced (saving labour and equipment costs). The latter through reductions in road and bridge asset rehabilitation costs through less wear-and tear from HVs with out-of-specification or deficient shock absorbers. That a test would be advantageous has been recognised by the Australian Government, the States of New South Wales and Queensland. These organisations are funding a programme to develop an in-service suspension test for HVs. The expansion of higher mass limits (HML) routes across Queensland and New South Wales was made conditional on such a test being developed (Australia Department of Transport and Regional Services, 2005a, 2005b). The National Transport Commission (NTC) is the project manager for the development of this test.
This report examines a test methodology involving a moderate-cost test bed that provides a low-cost-per-test methodology for an in-service HV suspension test. The results are presented within the context of a "proof-of-concept" test programme. The preliminary results indicate that low-cost-per-test suspension testing is possible with a moderate-cost testing rig.
Under the joint QUT/MR project Heavy vehicle suspensions – testing and analysis a test bed has been developed by modifying the roller from a HV brake tester. This test bed was designed to impart a known vibration to the wheel of a HV under test. This by having flat portions machined into the roller that, when the roller was spun, imparted a cyclic vibration to the wheel of the HV under test. The modified brake-testing machine was instrumented with load cells at the bearings of the roller. No instrumentation was installed, nor required, on the HV. A wheel load approximating full load was used. Damping on the wheel of the test HV was varied in three stages:
 none (no shock absorbers);
 worn to the point of tyre wear; and
 meeting the manufacturer's specification (i.e. new shock absorber).
The preliminary results from this test programme show that:
• the dynamic signals from the load cells may be used to determine the threshold beyond which HV suspensions cause tyre wear and road damage compared with when they are new; and
• a moderate-cost testing machine to perform bulk, low-cost HV suspension testing is possible at the "proof-of-concept" level.
This is a preliminary report covering only one test load and three different shock absorber conditions. The timing of the NTC project, the delivery schedule of the NTC's consultant's report and the timetable for the tests outlined herein has necessitated that this report has had to be truncated with respect to the level of detail that should be supplied in an ideal situation. This report and other reports (available as analysis continues) will be sent to the National Transport Commission (NTC) as a contribution to the in-service suspension test project and will also form part of the final output in the QUT/Main Roads project Heavy vehicle suspensions – testing and analysis.


A phase II trial of etoposide and cisplatin for patients with previously treated small cell lung cancer was carried out by CALGB from June 1983 to May 1984. Thirty-five evaluable patients who had failed one prior chemotherapy regimen were treated with etoposide 80 mg/m2 and cisplatin 20 mg/m2 days 1-5 every 3 weeks. Objective responses were seen in 7 patients (20%) with 1 complete response and 6 partial responses. The median duration of response was 5.1 months. Fifteen patients (43%) had stable disease. Overall survival was 49% at 6 months and 14% at 1 year. The median survival was 6 months. Toxicity was mainly hematologic with severe and life-threatening leukopenia and thrombocytopenia seen in 71% and 66% of patients, respectively. Two treatment-related deaths caused by infection were seen. This cooperative group study fails to confirm the high response rates previously reported in institutional pilot studies.


Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is a common human pathogen that is responsible for thousands of deaths each year. The bacterium's severity is caused, in part, by its ability to detect and evade the human immune system. In this article, Owen Burroughs, an undergraduate researcher in the lab of Dr. Jovanka Voyich, describes his research into the SaeR/S two-component system, a "security system" that allows S. aureus to avoid being killed by immune cells. Over the course of Owen's research, the Voyich lab has determined that the proteins SaeP and SaeQ likely play a major role in the functioning of this security system. By helping us better understand the interactions between S. aureus and its host, this research could pave the way for new treatments and therapies for severe S. aureus infection.


This paper presents a sliding mode control (SMC) strategy for three-phase three-level T-type rectifiers with capacitor voltage imbalance compensation capability. The proposed SMC strategy which is formulated in the natural frame is based on generating a modulating signal from the difference of line currents and their references. The amplitude of line current references is generated by regulating the output voltage using a proportional-integral (PI) regulator. In order to satisfy the unity power factor requirement, the generated amplitude is multiplied by the corresponding unity sinusoidal waveforms for each phase. For the sake of eliminating the imbalance in the capacitor voltages, a compensation term involving the capacitor voltage feedback through a suitable gain is added into the line current reference obtained for each leg. The performance of the proposed control strategy is investigated by simulation study during steady-state, transients caused by load change, and unbalanced grid. It is shown that the dc output voltage is regulated at desired level and line currents track their references in all cases.


Poverty, food, and nutrition insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have become major concerns in recent times. The effects of climate change, drought, and unpredictable rainfall patterns threaten food production and sustainable agriculture. More so, insurgency, youth restiveness, and politico-economic instability amidst a burgeoning population requiring a sufficient and healthy diet remain front-burner issues in the region. Overdependence on only a few major staple crops is increasingly promoting the near extinction of many crops, especially orphan legumes, which possess immense potentials as protein and nutritional security crops. The major staple crops are declining in yield partly to their inability to adapt to the continuously changing climatic conditions. Remarkably, the orphan legumes are climate-smart crops with enormous agronomic features which foster sustainable livelihood. Research efforts on these crops have not attained a reasonable comparative status with most commercial crops. Though many research organizations and scientists have made efforts to promote the improvement and utilization of these orphan legumes, there is still more to be done. These legumes' vast genetic resources and economic utility are grossly under-exploited, but their values and promising impacts are immeasurable. Given the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs) of zero hunger, improved nutrition, health, and sustainable agriculture, the need to introduce these crops into food systems in SSA and other poverty-prone regions of the world is now more compelling than ever. This review unveils inherent values in orphan legumes needing focus for exploitation viz-a-viz cultivation, commercialization, and social acceptance. More so, this article discusses some of the nutraceutical potentials of the orphan legumes, their global adaptability, and modern plant breeding strategies that could be deployed to develop superior phenotypes to enrich the landraces. Advanced omics technologies, speed breeding, as well as the application of genome editing techniques, could significantly enhance the genetic improvement of these useful but underutilized legumes. Efforts made in this regard and the challenges of these approaches were also discussed.


A speech enhancement algorithm that takes advantage of the time and frequency dependencies of speech signals is presented in this paper. The above dependencies are incorporated in the statistical model using concepts from the theory of Markov Random Fields. In particular, the speech short-time Fourier transform (STFT) amplitude samples are modeled with a novel Chi Markov Random Field prior, which is then used for the development of an estimator based on the Iterated Conditional Modes method. The novel prior is also coupled with a dasiaharmonicpsila neighborhood, which apart from the immediately adjacent samples on the time frequency plane, also considers samples which are one pitch frequency apart, so as to take advantage of the rich structure of the voiced speech time frames. Additionally, central to the development of the algorithm is the adaptive estimation of the weights that determine the interaction between neighboring samples, which allows the restoration of weak speech spectral components, while maintaining a low level of uniform residual noise. Results that illustrate the improvements achieved with the proposed algorithm, and a comparison with other established speech enhancement schemes are also given.


The crystal structure of Li2LaTa2O6N was determined from laboratory X-ray powder diffraction data (Cu Kα1) using the Rietveld method. The title compound is tetragonal with space group I4/mmm, Z=2, and unit-cell dimensions a=0.395 049(4) nm, c=1.850 97(3) nm, and V=0.288 869(6) nm3. The initial structural model was successfully derived by the direct methods and further refined by the Rietveld method, with the anisotropic atomic displacement parameters being assigned for all atoms. The final reliability indices were Rwp=5.73%, S=1.46, Rp=4.33%, RB=1.13%, and RF=0.53%. Li2LaTa2O6N has a layered perovskite structure similar to that of Li2LaTa2O7.


Before the 1950's, there were mostly walking, cycling and bus cities. But since then, most of them have become car-cities with streets and places mostly adapted to this use. But this situation is changing. In fact society is currently seeing a growing interest in European cities and regions for promoting the bicycle. Indeed the bicycle is an ideal complement to public transport and it contributes to the development of sustainable cities. To achieve that aim, it is known that communication is not enough; society also has to adapt streets to this traffic. And, there are different phases in this development: - First there is the "cycling city 1.0" with with around 0.1 to 2% of daily trips made by bicycle. In those cities there are some bicycles lanes and bicycles paths. They have been built or painted in different streets but not systematically and not sufficiently; - The "cycling city 2.0" with almost 2 to 15 % of daily cycle users is more interesting. Of course, cycles lanes have been generalized, but as it is impossible to separate all users in all streets, those cities have also developed mixed streets with slow traffic zones, including a lot of 30 kph zones. Those cities are safer and more comfortable for cyclists; - And there are also some innovative cities, such as Copenhagen "the City of Cyclists", and Amsterdam,which already constitute the category of "cycling cities 3.0" with more than 15 % of daily cycle users and which even aim to reach 50 %. In the authors' studies for French cities they have identified a need for new design tools adapted to cyclists for increasing the speed of change. And the V2C ("Voie Centrale Cyclable", which means Central Cycling Lane) has been created to help those cycling cities who want to have more cyclists in their streets. In the French Highway Code, as in other countries, the main rule for cyclists is "to drive on the right of the the right-hand lane" (or left in the UK). Thus cyclists don't disturb car drivers ! This approach seems natural to all road designers. And for the moment bicycle lanes have been developed following this principle. But in some situations this can be very dangerous: when a driver opens the door of a parked car onto the cyclist (it can be a fatal collision), or when a driver wants to overtake a cyclist in a narrow street. In this position, cyclists are also less visible; drivers often claim, after a collision, that they didn't see the cyclist ! The V2C consists of putting a bicycle lane in the center of the street with a narrow sideband (<1,70 m) to prevent cars from overtaking cyclists. And a new road sign has been designed for this project. It indicates to motorized vehicles "No overtaking bikes" and " Keep your speed down". And a new road sign has been designed for this. In this way cyclists are perfectly visible and each vehicle is moving at the same speed. This may seem revolutionary but the authors think that this V2C could be adapted to some streets in cities. To realize the first V2C there are many phases: to choose suitable streets, to design the project and to ask for an authorization from the national Road Safety Department. And at present, this project is being examined in conjunction with the city of Nantes, which aims to implement it in the coming months.


For optimisation of hyperthermia understanding of bioheat transfer is mandatory. When modelling bioheat transfer the thermal effect of blood flow need to be accounted for. Our 3D discrete vasculature model (DiVa) does this by modelling vessels discretely. Missing vasculature is described by an additional local heat sink dependent of a 3D perfusion map. Actual 3D temperature distributions from interstitial hyperthermia treatments of brain tumours and of isolated perfused bovine tongues are compared to the results from the treatment planning system. Both discrete vasculature and heat sink approach are used to estimate the temperature distribution. In vivo data acquisition of anatomy, geometry of the heating implant, angiography and perfusion was done with MRI. The angiographic and perfusion data are not yet optimal for hyperthermia treatment planning. However modelling the thermal decay at the end of the treatment yielded perfusion values that are in agreement with the MR findings. Arterial vasculature, heating implant, location of thermocouples and anatomy of the isolated bovine tongues were reconstructed using a cryo-tome slicing technique. The tongues were 'treated' at various perfusion levels, while the steady state temperature profile along 10 tracks was monitored. In this case, with the large vasculature relatively far from the measured profiles both discrete vessel and heat sink simulations showed quantitative agreement with the measured profiles.


Since the advent of chemotherapy there have been many conflicting reports concerning its value, and even the advisability of its use, for the treatment of acute otitis media. The majority of these reports have been made by otologists, and few have been the expressions of pediatricians. Brennemann, 1 in his article entitled "Otitis Media as a Pediatrician Sees It," appropriately stated: "He [the pediatrician] and the general practitioner, alone, are in a strategic position to acquire extensive and practical knowledge of the developmental period of middle ear disease and a resulting ability to prognosticate with some assurance in an early questionable case." It is the general practitioner or the physician limiting his practice to the care of infants and children who not only is in a position to see patients with infections of the middle ear early but usually first institutes therapy. With this thought in mind, and from a


We categorify the theory of Lie algebras beginning with a new notion of categorified vector space, or `2-vector space', which we define as an internal category in Vect, the category of vector spaces. We then define a `semistrict Lie 2-algebra' to be a 2-vector space equipped with a skew-symmetric bilinear functor satisfying the Jacobi identity up to a completely antisymmetric trilinear natural transformation called the `Jacobiator', which in turn must satisfy a certain law of its own. Much of the content of this first chapter has already appeared in a separate paper coauthored with John Baez, Higher Dimensional Algebra VI: Lie 2-algebras.
We then explore the relationship between Lie algebras and algebraic structures called `quandles'. A quandle is a set equipped with two binary operations satisfying axioms that capture the essential properties of the operations of conjugation in a group and algebraically encode the three Reidemeister moves. Indeed, we describe the relation to groups and show that quandles give invariants of braids. We further show that both Lie algebras and quandles give solutions of the Yang--Baxter equation, and explain how conjugation plays a prominent role in the both the theories of Lie algebras and quandles. Inspired by these commonalities, we provide a novel, conceptual passage from Lie groups to Lie algebras using the language of quandles. Moreover, we propose relationships between higher Lie theory and higher-dimensional braid theory. We conclude with evidence of this connection by proving that any semistrict Lie 2-algebra gives a solution of the Zamolodchikov tetrahedron equation, which is the higher-dimensional analog of the Yang--Baxter equation.


Background Low salt consumption and high fruit & vegetable intake (FVI) have been shown to reduce blood pressure (BP) in adults. To date, longitudinal data regarding the relative effect strength of FVI and salt intake (SI) on BP development during growth is not available. We aimed to characterize the long term concomitant influences of SI and FVI on the BP development during childhood and adolescence. Methods 435 healthy children and adolescents (aged 4–18 years), who had at least 3 repeated measurements of BP, 24-h urine collections, and 3-d weighed dietary records, were examined. Systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP) were determined by mercury sphygmomanometer using auscultatory method. SI was estimated by measurement of 24h-sodium-excretion. Results SI tended to be positively associated with SBP (p<0.1) in the pubertal group (aged 11–18yrs). An increase of 1g/d of SI was related to an increase of 0.2 mmHg SBP. SI was not associated with DBP or SBP in prepubertal children (aged 4–10yrs). FVI was negatively associated with SBP (p<0.05) and DBP (p<0.1, trend) in 4–10 yr-olds. The increase of SBP by a 100 g/d decrease in FVI was comparable with the increase of SBP by a 1g/d increase in SI. No FVI effect was observed in 11–18 yr-olds. Conclusion Increased FVI may already be beneficial for BD development during childhood. Unfavorable changes of BD with higher SI were not yet observed during childhood; seem to develop however during adolescence. Supported by BMELV [grant number 2811HS007].


We report a study on the desorption properties, crystallography and chemical state of MgH2 and 1 mol% Nb2O5 ball-milled composites. Desorption temperatures of the composites decreased with increase of ball-milling time. Size of MgH2 crystallites decreased during ball-milling. Reduction of Nb2O5 after ball-milling was confirmed by tracing the chemical state of Nb and was further supported by TEM observation. The reduced phases may act as more effective catalysts improving the desorption properties.


Here we describe a rapid method for extracting DNA from dried brown algae material using a microtitre plate system in conjunction with a milling instrument. The method allows the preparation of nuclear and organelle DNA of quality suitable for polymerase chain reaction amplification. It combines high throughput with low cost per sample: DNA from 192 samples can be extracted in c. 3 h for <EURO0.40 per sample, nearly tenfold cheaper than commercially available kits. Furthermore, by using microtitre plates, efficient storage and downstream processing is facilitated.


Triphala is a famous herbal formula originated in Asia and is popular in America. Due to the high abundance of polyphenols, its oral liquid is unstable and easy to cause precipitate, which results in the loss of activities. However, complex composition and unclear precipitation mechanism hinders the improvement of stability. In this study, the accumulation of precipitation in the storage and its effect on activity were investigated. Then, an integrated chain of evidence was proposed based on the physical phase, chemical profile, and sediment elements. The results showed that antioxidant activity decreased from IC50 115 to 146 μl before and after 90 days of storage, and the anti-fatigue activity decreased from 30.54 to 28.47 min. Turbiscan Lab Expert observed that particle size increased from 106 to 122 nm, and the turbiscan stability index increased from 0 to 14, which indicated that its stability is continuously decreasing. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) fingerprint coupled with multivariate statistical analysis identified that these chemical markers changed significantly, such as gallic acid, catechins, and ellagic acid. Loss of catechins tends to be involved in the formation of phlobaphene precipitation. The fact that the new-born ellagic acid in precipitation (0.47 mg/ml) is significantly higher than that reduced in solution (0.25 mg/ml) indicates that it is not only derived from colloid aging. Microscopic observation combined with energy spectrum analysis further confirmed the existence of the multi-precipitates. The crystalline precipitate is ellagic acid, and the other is phlobaphene. In conclusion, based on the evidence chain analysis, this study revealed a systematic change of the whole polyphenol solution system. It provides a novel perspective to understand the sedimentation formation of polyphenol solution, which is an important theoretical contribution to the preparation of polyphenol solutions.


The solid-pseudopapillary tumor (SPT) is a very rare pancreatic neoplasm that predominantly affects young females. About 450 cases have been described in the world literature and approximately 20% of the reported patients were children. The occurrence of SPT with distant metastases in children is extremely rare with only two previously reported cases. We now report a 16-year-old Asian girl with a large SPT and synchronous multiple liver metastases who was successfully treated in a 2-step strategy, including initial pylorus-preserving partial duodenopancreatectomy, right hemicolectomy, resection and allografting of the portal vein and secondary resection of 12 liver metastases. The patient is disease free after a follow-up of 18 months after resection of the primary tumor, suggesting that an aggressive surgical treatment might also be justified for metastasized SPT.


Axenomycins are a new group of macrolide antibiotics isolated from the fermentation broth of Streptomyces lisandri n.sp. They exhibit anthelmintic activity against tapeworms (Cestoda). Three different fractions, A, B, and D, have been obtained, the most active fraction being axenomycin D. The activities of the axenomycin complex and axenomycin D against Hymenolepis nana in mice, Taenia pisiformis, Dipylidium caninum, and Diphyllobothrium sp. in dogs, and Moniezia expansa, M. benedeni, and Avitellina centripunctata in lambs were studied in experimentally and naturally infected animals. Axenomycins were effective and well tolerated by the oral route. Worm reduction rates after a single oral dose were 90 to 100% with 5 to 10 mg of axenomycin D/kg and 50 to 100% with 20 mg of axenomycin complex/kg.


Abstract: A class of reaction-diffusion neural networks with mixed delays is studied. We will discuss some important properties of the periodic mild solutions including existence and globally exponential stability by using exponential dissipation property of semigroup of operators and some analysis techniques. Finally, an example for the above neural networks is given to show the effectiveness of the results in this paper.


Hydrogen and deuterium atoms trapped in impurity-helium condensates (IHCs) formed by condensing krypton, hydrogen, and deuterium atoms in superfluid 4He were studied with pulse electron spin resonance. We have used electron spin echo envelope modulation (ESEEM) to probe the magnetic interactions between atoms of hydrogen isotopes and 83Kr nuclei. Modeling of the ESEEM spectra suggests that the vast majority of the hydrogen and deuterium atoms reside at the surface of the Kr clusters. This conclusion is in agreement with that from continuous wave ESR experiments with IHCs of similar composition.


Researchers from the University of Washington have identified a threshold concentration of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25-(OH)D] that is associated with increased risk for major medical events and they say that season-specific targets may be more appropriate than static targets when evaluating health risk.


The author defines terms used In connection with cavitation of marine propellers and hydraulic turbines. He points out that cavitation is a problem of growing importance where higher powers and speeds are required, and when cavitation occurs that thrust, torque, and efficiency are reduced and erosion of the hardest metals occurs. Theoretical and experimental research into the mechanics of cavitation and its effect on thrust, torque, and efficiency is reported. The author reports that the standard or usual equations for thrust and torque are merely special cases of a general thrust and torque theorem which he develops. He points out that cavitation on marine propellers is a phenomenon different from anything occurring on aerial propellers.
 The author discusses the following items in detail: (a) In the general case, thrust and torque coefficients are functions of slip ratio, rotary speed, and pressure, and are not merely functions of slip ratio alone as is generally assumed. (b) For thrust and torque coefficients to be treated as functions of slip ratio only, the propellers must operate at low rotary speed or under high-pressure conditions. (c) Marine propellers operate under low-pressure conditions. (d) A simple equation indicates where burbling cavitation will begin on the back of any blade element, and what can be done to delay the appearance of such cavitation. (e) A vortex, in which the water particles move in approximately helical paths around the axis, is prerequisite to laminar cavitation. (f) A laminar cavity is not in contact with the propeller blade, but is separated therefrom by a wall of water. (g) Both kinds of cavitation can actually reduce thrust and torque with increasing rotary speed, and not merely reduce the thrust and torque below the values which would have been attained in the absence of cavitation, as is usually assumed. (h) After either type of cavitation completely covers the back of propeller blades, thrust and torque will increase again with increasing rotary speed, although at a lesser rate than in the absence of cavitation. (i) Both kinds of cavitation result in an increase of pressure on the cavitating side of the blade in excess of the pressure which would have existed in the absence of cavitation, and this accounts for the relatively small effect on thrust and torque when cavitation occurs on the face of the blade.
 In conclusion, the author shows that previously reported explanations are inadequate to account for all the observed effects of cavitation on thrust and torque. He then develops his own theories to explain such effects, and shows that insight into actual physical phenomena has frequently been obscured by the otherwise useful custom of plotting results in the form of dimensionless, or quasi-dimensionless, coefficients against dimensionless products such as Reynolds' numbers or slip ratio.


Arbitration today is turning into a quagmire of clashing cultures and conflicting ethical rules. Opinions differ on whether and how to address this situation. One approach is to level the global playing field by means of best practices, rules and guidelines, such as the IBA Guidelines on Party Representation in International Arbitration. Institutions can also issue their own particular rules, such as the LCIA General Guidelines for the Parties' Legal Representatives. This article takes a contrary approach by exploring how the general principle of good faith can guide arbitration proceedings and help fend off guerilla tactics. A comparative analysis of selected legal systems suggests that the principle of good faith permeates both litigation and arbitration, increasingly also in common law jurisdictions. It applies to all participants - parties, counsel, and arbitrators alike - and allows for bespoke solutions. The aim is to keep arbitration informal and flexible, in the interest of the users. Good faith may not be a panacea for all real or perceived ills afflicting arbitration, but it is arguably the closest substitute we have available.


During a period from 1973 to September, 1981 allogeneic(Allo-) and syngeneic (Syn-) marrow transplantation (BMT) was performed in Japan according to Thomas' method to 41 patients with acute leukemia, 6 of whom (15%) have survived in long-term (3 1/2 years at maximum). This result was roughly compared with that obtained by Thomas et al. until 1977. Interstitial pneu-monia and infections were the main (80%) cause of death. Since October, 1980, following Thomas, recommendation, our BMT team performed Allo-BMT to 5 leukemic patients in complete remission, 2 of whom (40%) are for 14 and 10 months post-transplant in unmaintained remission. According to the previously described method, our BMT team performed autologous BMT (Auto-BMT) to 4 patients with acute leukemia and 11 with several cancers of undifferentiated cell type. The 4 leukemics achieved earlier complete remission, but all died of relapse, thus suggesting that Auto-BMT is only one of supportive therapies. Results of Auto-BMT performed to 5 patients with malignant lymphoma, encouraged by our experience of Allo-BMT to a patient with malignant lymphoma of CS IV, who survived with no chemotherapy 10 1/2 months posttransplant, showed that one patient is alive for 22 months posttransplant in unmaintained remission, and patients have relapsed 2, 6 and 14 1/2 months posttransplant, but are still alive for 25, 14 and 28 months posttransplant, respectively, well responding to chemotherapy. One of 2 patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma is healthy for 2 years posttransplant in unmaintained remission. The remaining 5 patients died of either infections or relapse. Relapse in both Allo- and Auto-BMT cases, and infectious complications, and no covering of expenses for BMT by health insurance were main problems in Japan and how to solve them were discussed. As compared to Allo-BMT, Auto-BMT seems to be a safe and convenient strategy against solid tumors.


We examine the nature of peer coaching and frame it as a type of developmental tool that can enhance personal and professional development. We begin with a discussion of the relational perspective on career learning, which provides a context for peer coaching as a tool that can accelerate career learning. We distinguish between peer coaching and the related concepts of mentoring and peer mentoring and discuss factors that facilitate the development of this type of helping relationship. We offer a discussion of the key characteristics of effective peer-coaching relationships, and we provide an empirical test of the impact of these characteristics with a survey of MBA students. We also offer a theoretical model of peer coaching, along with propositions for future research. We conclude that when peer coaching works best for a person, it happens through a 3-step process of (1) building the developmental relationship, (2) creating success in development, and (3) internalizing the learning tactic by applying the peer-coaching process in future relationships.


Abstract Wafer curvature measurements reported in literature for polycrystalline (often textured) and epitaxial fcc metal thin films on hard substrates show a characteristic "signature" in the stress-temperature evolution for either type of films. While epitaxial films reveal characteristic elastic – ideal plastic deformation with no dislocation storage and highly repeatable cycles, polycrystalline films show considerable hardening upon cooling in addition to the relaxation by diffusional creep at elevated temperatures. In the present study, we study the deformation characteristics of an electron beam deposited epitaxial nanotwinned Ag on Si (111) substrate. The twin spacing λ of the nanotwinned Ag is controlled by suitable heat treatment and the "signature" thermomechanical deformation curves by wafer curvature measurements are recorded for twin spacings varying from 20 nm to 1 μm. Further, deformation is compared to other small scale deformation studies on fcc metals such as epitaxial bicrystal films, bicrystal micropillars containing a coherent twin boundary and nanotwinned micropillars.


Ayurveda is the science of life. It plays an important role to prevent and treat the disease. Ayurveda specifically deals with mind body balance. The main part of it is Yoga and Asana. Yoga provide us a simple remedies, facile skills and procedure of good health. Asana gives physical and mental power and tone the body-mind for further exercise. Setu Bandha SarvangAsana is often referred to as the Bridge Pose. This Asana stretches and tones the neck, spine, and chest. Practicing this Asana reduces depression, stress, and anxiety and calms the brain. The lungs are opened up, and thyroid problems are reduced. Setu Bandha SarvangAsana (Bridge Pose) greatly benefits pregnant women and also helps alleviate menstrual pain and symptoms of menopause. It also aids high blood pressure, sinusitis, asthma, insomnia, and osteoporosis.


The potentiometric behavior of valinomycin incorporated bilayer lipid membranes (BLMs) was studied in view of a comparison with its solvent polymeric membrane counterpart. The preparation of membranes has greatly relied on the Takagi-Montal method as well as synthetic lipid chemistry. The prepared membrane was first characterized regarding its electrical resistance, electrical capacitance and the effect of gramicidin to reveal its Bilayer nature. The membrane potential was systematically studied in terms of i) the valinomycin concentration in the lipid membrane and ii) the effect of the lipid charge. The observed membrane potentials were compared with those of valinomycin-incorporated solvent polymeric membranes in terms of i) the detection limit, ii) the dynamic range and iii) the selectivity for alkali metal ions. It was found that the detection limit, dynamic range and optimum valinomycin concentration for the K+ ioninduced Nernstian response for the BLM electrode were comparable to those of the solvent polymeric membranes. The selectivity coefficients (K9`) for alkali metal ions determined by the separate solution method were also comparable to those of liquid membranes. However, a marked difference between both the membranes was found with respect to the effect of the membranous charge. The potentiometric response of the BLMs was found to depend on the charges of lipids. With negatively charged BLMs, the detection limit and dynamic range for K+ ions were improved. On the contrary, the response with positively charged BLMs was significantly reduced without any change in the Nernstian slope. This effect of lipid charge was compared with the anion effect for a solvent polymeric membrane. Finally, the first successful formation of planar BLMs using totally synthetic lipids was also demonstrated.


This thesis presents an approach of consumer perception in relation with the packages appearance. How consumers perceive certain messages from the outlook of a package may influence their buying decision. Study had been done in three main issues arose from the topic of packages which are the appropriateness of appearance, branding and pricing as reflected by the first impression towards the packages. Survey based on coffee packages had been done targeting consumers in Malaysia through the means of printed questionnaire and online questionnaire distribution. As results obtained by these attempts, consumers notice the differences possessed by each package in the market and they are most likely to purchase what they like. Thus shows that it is crucial for the packages to be able to create emotional attachment in consumers' mind during their first glimpse. From the findings, most of the time consumer will rather attracted by the packages outlook instead of the functionality of the packages. Besides, consumers also have the opinion that appearance, branding and pricing are highly related to each other in order to convey the correct messages to the correct group of people. Also, the response of the respondents is reflecting the behaviour of consumers in Malaysia that take outlook of product packages into consideration during their buying process. Thus, it is important for the marketers in Malaysia to notice the shifting of modern consumer perception as to create product packages that is attractive and appropriate to their target market.


Industrial networks rely on Ethernet and its complementary Time Sensitive Networking standards to support critical application requirements such as bounded latency and low jitter. To meet these requirements, precise time synchronization across wired devices is typically achieved across the wired devices via the Precision Time Protocol (PTP). PTP as a UDP-based protocol can synchronize wireless devices as well, provided that these guarantee hardware-based timestamping. On the other hand, Wi-Fi integrates time synchronization mechanisms better suited to its shared medium, such as the the Fine Time Measurement (FTM) protocol. Aiming at contributing to the time synchronization solution across multi-AP industrial environments, this paper proposes a hiearchical FTM-based synchronization approach capable of supporting time synchronization in a way compatible with Ethernet/TSN. The evaluation of the proposed solution carried out with the ns-3 DetNetWiFi framework, shows that it successfully synchronizes all devices within the networ with an accuracy of less than 5 μs and providing fairness in terms of balancing FTM requests in dense networks effectively.


Low-frequency vibrational excitations of proteins macromolecules in the terahertz frequency region are suggested to contribute to many biological processes such as enzymatic activity, molecular electron/energy transport, protein folding, and others. Two possible mechanisms of the formation of long-live vibrational modes in protein were earlier proposed by H. Fröhlich and A.S. Davydov in a form of vibrational modes and solitary waves, respectively, to explain high effectiveness of energy storage and transport in proteins. In this paper we developed a quantum dynamic model of vibrational mode excitation in alpha-helical protein interacting with environment. In the model we distinguish three coupled subsystems, i.e. (i) hydrogen bond peptide groups (PGs), interacting with (ii) the subsystem of side residuals which in turn interacts with (iii) environment (surrounding water) and is responsible for dissipation and fluctuation processes. It was shown that the equation of motion for phonon variables of the PG chain can be transformed to nonlinear Schrodinger equation for order parameter which admits bifurcation into the solution corresponding to weak damped vibrational modes (Fröhlich-type regime). A bifurcation parameter was shown to determine interaction of protein with environment and in part energy pumping to the protein due to its interaction. In the bifurcation region, a solution corresponding to Davydov soliton was shown to exist. The suggested mechanism of emergence of the macroscopic dissipative structures in a form of collective vibrational modes in alpha-helical proteins is discussed in connection with the recent experimental data on the long-live collective protein excitations in terahertz frequency region.


A newly developed biosensor for nitrite having a 90% response time of about 1 min was used to monitor nitrite concentration in activated sludge exposed to oxic/anoxic cycles. The NO2- biosensor contains bacteria that reduce NO2-, but not NO3-, to N2O that is subsequently monitored by a built-in electrochemical sensor. Nitrite plus nitrate (NOx-) was simultaneously monitored by a NOx- biosensor. The maximum operational lifetime of the NO2- biosensor was 6 weeks, but much longer lifetimes can be expected as malfunctioning by the 3 sensors used for longer periods was due to either mechanical damage or ineffective internal sterilization during the construction. Insufficiently sterilized sensors became sensitive also to NO3- after some time due to development of NO3(-)-reducing bacterial populations within the sensor. The fraction of NO2- as compared to NO3- in the activated sludge was very dependent on prehistory, actual loading, and aeration. During balanced operation with NH4+ being exhausted during the later parts of the aerobic cycle, NO2- increased in concentration up to about 50 microM during the early part of the aeration cycle until NH4+ became limiting. At that time the NO2- concentration decreased to low levels. Under some operating conditions a peak of NO2- also appeared in the beginning of the anoxic period. NO2- and NO3- were depleted simultaneously during the anoxic period.


Cells rely on molecular motors moving along an ever-shifting network of polymers (microtubules) for the targeted delivery of cell organelles to biologically-relevant locations. We present a stochastic model for a molecular motor stepping along a bidirectional bundle of microtubules, as well as a tractable analytical model. Using these models, we investigate how the preferred stepping direction of the motor (parallel or antiparallel to the microtubule growth, corresponding to kinesin and dynein motor families) quantitatively and qualitatively affects the cargo delivery. We predict which motor type is responsible for which cargo type, given the experimental distribution of cargo in the cell, and report experimental findings which support this guideline for motor classification.


Choosing an accurate and appropriate statistics in data analysis are to decrease bias during the process of analysis. The purpose of this article is to emphasize on choosing statistics in data analysis for health science research. In particular, it is benefit for medical and health personnel. The component of choosing an appropriate statistics in health science research comprises of 1) data, variables and scale of measurement 2) statistics testing 3) research question and 4) type of statistics. Those components are linked to choosing an appropriate and accrual statistics in health science. In addition, statistical testing is divided into two major type such as; parametric and non-parametric statistics which have different assumptions. Hence, well-planned and organized into using an appropriate statistics is resulting to appropriate data presentation.


We present a scheme for teleporting a three-particle entangled state to three remote particles. In this scheme, three pairs of pure nonmaximally entangled states are considered as quantum channels. It is found that by means of optimal discrimination between two nonorthogonal quantum states, probabilistic teleportation of the three-particle entangled state can be achieved.


The purpose of this paper is to monitor and analyze the power quality of NSRRC's synchrotron radiation accelerator. The monitored parameters include power demand, active and reactive power, power factor, harmonic distortion, three-phase imbalance, voltage sag, power frequency and voltage fluctuation. The acquired data are displayed in trend chart and compared with relevant standards. The compared results show they meet the standard limits. Electrical engineers can analyze the observed data and conduct predicted maintenance for preventing system faults.


Heart rate variability (HRV; variability of the RR interval of the electrocardiogram) results from the activity of several coexisting control mechanisms, which involve the influence of respiration (RESP) and systolic blood pressure (SBP) oscillations operating across multiple temporal scales and changing in different physiological states. In this study, multiscale information decomposition is used to dissect the physiological mechanisms related to the genesis of HRV in 78 young volunteers monitored at rest and during postural and mental stress evoked by head-up tilt (HUT) and mental arithmetics (MA). After representing RR, RESP and SBP at different time scales through a recently proposed method based on multivariate state space models, the joint information transfer TRESP,SBP→RR is decomposed into unique, redundant and synergistic components, describing the strength of baroreflex modulation independent of respiration (USBP→RR), nonbaroreflex (URESP→RR) and baroreflex-mediated (RRESP,SBP→RR) respiratory influences, and simultaneous presence of baroreflex and nonbaroreflex respiratory influences (SRESP,SBP→RR), respectively. We find that fast (short time scale) HRV oscillations—respiratory sinus arrhythmia—originate from the coexistence of baroreflex and nonbaroreflex (central) mechanisms at rest, with a stronger baroreflex involvement during HUT. Focusing on slower HRV oscillations, the baroreflex origin is dominant and MA leads to its higher involvement. Respiration influences independent on baroreflex are present at long time scales, and are enhanced during HUT.


The redox state of cytochrome aa3 was measured at microspots (20 microns diameter) within the lobule of perfused rat livers, using reflectance microspectroscopy, and the effect of ethanol infusion on sublobular distribution of the redox states was evaluated. A sigmoidal relationship was observed between oxygen delivery and the reduction of cytochrome aa3 in both the periportal and pericentral regions of the liver lobule when the influent O2 concentration was decreased in a graduated manner. This sigmoidal curve was shifted to the more reduced state by ethanol infusion, with ethanol (25-100 mM) increasing the degree of cytochrome aa3 reduction in a dose-dependent manner according to the distance from the periportal region along a sinusoid. This increase was spatially heterogeneous within a liver lobule. These data indicate that ethanol accelerates cytochrome aa3 reduction, with a distinct gradient of reduction along sinusoids but a heterogeneous distribution within the liver lobule.


Exploration to all destinations has at one time or another involved the acquisition and return of samples and context data. Gathered at the summit of the highest mountain, the floor of the deepest sea, or the ice of a polar surface, samples and their value (both scientific and symbolic) have been a mainstay of Earthly exploration. In manned spaceflight exploration, the gathering of samples and their contextual information has continued. With the extension of collecting activities to spaceflight destinations comes the need for geology tools and equipment uniquely designed for use by suited crew members in radically different environments from conventional field geology. Beginning with the first Apollo Lunar Surface Extravehicular Activity (EVA), EVA Geology Tools were successfully used to enable the exploration and scientific sample gathering objectives of the lunar crew members. These early designs were a step in the evolution of Field Geology equipment, and the evolution continues today. Contemporary efforts seek to build upon and extend the knowledge gained in not only the Apollo program but a wealth of terrestrial field geology methods and hardware that have continued to evolve since the last lunar surface EVA. This paper is presented with intentional focus on documenting the continuing evolution and growing body of knowledge for both engineering and science team members seeking to further the development of EVA Geology. Recent engineering development and field testing efforts of EVA Geology equipment for surface EVA applications are presented, including the 2010 Desert Research and Technology Studies (Desert RATs) field trial. An executive summary of findings will also be presented, detailing efforts recommended for exotic sample acquisition and pre-return curation development regardless of planetary or microgravity destination.


This study investigated the effects of naringin on platelet aggregation and release in hyperlipidemic rabbits, and the underlying mechanisms. The safety of naringin was also investigated. The rabbits were orally administered 60, 30 or 15 mg/kg of naringin once a day for 14 days after being fed a high fat/cholesterol diet for four weeks. Following the two weeks of drug administration, the degree of platelet aggregation induced by arachidonic acid, adenosine diphosphate and collagen was significantly reduced by naringin at certain doses compared with those in the rabbits of the model group (P<0.01). The levels of P-selectin and platelet factor 4 (PF4) also decreased following treatment with naringin compared with those of the model group. Certain doses of naringin significantly reduced the total cholesterol (TC) levels and elevated the ratio of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol to TC compared with those in the model group, and significantly decreased the cytosolic free calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i). No significant difference in the coagulation function was observed between the control and drug-treatment groups. These results indicate that naringin improved platelet aggregation and inhibited the excessive release of P-selectin and PF4 in hyperlipidemic rabbits. This study suggests that the antiplatelet effect of naringin may be due to its ability to regulate the levels of blood cholesterol and [Ca2+]i in platelets. Naringin also did not cause bleeding in the hyperlipidemic rabbits.