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Background

Lemierre's syndrome, sometimes referred to as postanginal septicemia or human necrobacillosis, is a multisystemic infection beginning in the oropharynx and leading to thrombosis of the internal jugular vein (IJV) with septic emboli and potential thrombotic extension to the central nervous system. This disorder occurs in the setting of oropharynx infection, leading to peritonsillar abscess. Within the abscess, anaerobic organisms penetrate the neighboring IJV resulting in an infected thrombus. Often polymicrobial, the infection is associated with the gram-negative bacillus Fusobacterium necrophorum, and if left untreated, may lead to fatal sepsis. With the advancement of antimicrobial therapies and earlier diagnosis of the disease, patient outcomes have improved. There is no clear consensus regarding the role of anticoagulation in this disorder. Some reports are in favor of anticoagulation therapy in conjunction with systemic antibiotic therapy while others support the use of antibiotic therapy alone. The purpose of this study is to better define the role of anticoagulation in this disorder and if thromboses outcomes are improved with anticoagulation therapy.

Methods

Pediatric and adult patients diagnosed with Lemierre's syndrome at the Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN) between the years 1964 and 2014 were identified. Study inclusion criteria required radiologic confirmation of jugular vein thrombosis (JVT) in the setting of oropharynx infection, clinically diagnosed blood stream or local bacterial infection and intraoperative or radiological confirmation of head and neck loculated infection, and at least 3 months follow up. Patient demographics, clinical, microbiological and radiographic features, management and thromboses outcomes were reviewed. Thrombosis outcome was defined based on radiological findings defined as: CR (complete response-resolution of thrombus), PR (partial response-improvement with decrease in size of thrombus) and NR (no response). Progression/recurrence of thrombosis and bleeding complications data were also reviewed.

Results

Twenty-four patients were identified with the diagnosis of Lemierre's syndrome. Six patients were excluded due to lack of at least 3 months of follow up. Of the remaining 18 (8 females; 10 males) patients included in this analyses, 7 patients received anticoagulation therapy. Six patients were of the pediatric age group (<18 years). Median age of patients who received anticoagulation was 18.6 years [age range: 14-46.4 years]. Median age for the non-anticoagulated group was 19.2 years [age range: 16-71.8 years].

Microbiologically documented infective organisms were: Fusobacterium necrophorum (n=10), Fusobacterium necrophorum and Arcanobacterium heamolyticum (n=1), Staphylococcus aureus (n=2), Mycoplasma pneumoniae (n=1), Streptococcus pyogenes (n=1), others (n=3). Laterality of thrombosis presentation at diagnosis: right IJV (n=7), left IJV (n=6), bilateral IJV (n=2), left external jugular vein (n=3). Other site involvement/extension included pulmonary (n=2), cavernous sinus thrombosis (n=1), and sigmoid sinus thrombosis (n=1).

All patients received broad-spectrum antibiotics. Seven patients received ≥4 weeks anticoagulation (median: 20.6 weeks; range 4-32.9 weeks]. Choice of anticoagulants and duration of anticoagulation practices were at the discretion of the treating physicians. Anticoagulation therapy consisted of unfractionated heparin (UFH) (n=1), UFH with transition to Coumadin (n=1), low molecular weight heparin (LMH) with transition to Coumadin (n=4), LMH (n=1). All patients had an improvement in their thrombus by 3 months (non-anticoagulated patient group: CR=9 and PR=2; anticoagulated patient group: CR=2 and PR=5). None of the patients developed recurrent thrombosis or progression during the follow up period regardless of their anticoagulation status. None of the patients who were anticoagulated developed bleeding complications.

Conclusions

This retrospective study suggests that anticoagulation in Lemierre's syndrome does not affect thrombosis outcomes. All patients achieved partial or complete thrombus resolution and no progression/recurrence of thrombus was noted in any patient regardless of whether anticoagulation status. Aggressive and prompt antimicrobial therapy remains the standard of care for this life-threatening disorder.

Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

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Children with visual impairments (VI) and their families experience multiple barriers when trying to access physical activity opportunities. These barriers reduce family participation in sports and physical activities and lessen access to the well-known benefits. Basic mobility skills and orientation skills can be a challenge with low vision or no vision, and the professional field of Orientation and Mobility (O&M) can be useful in addressing barriers to physical activity. The purpose of this article is to describe two O&M workshops that were provided within the context of a larger physical activity program for parents of children with VI delivered for participants' practical ideas and direct experience. This article will discuss detailed program and workshop components, rationales, design, and effective modifications for developing a similar program for children with VI and their families. Previous studies have indicated parent need for this type of hands-on experience and comments from participating parents and their children identifies the effectiveness of this approach.


This paper described a versatile block of signal conditioning options that process raw data samples from the A/D converter and deliver a filtered and resampled version of those data samples to a conventional FFT based spectrum analyzer. The conditioning performs a number of important processing functions. These include spectral translation to baseband, noise bandwidth reduction to signal bandwidth, and arbitrary resampling to obtain specified spectral spacing with available sized FFTs. The versatility of an FPGA based processor and signal conditioning block enables the use of the signal conditioner blocks to align sample rate with transform sizes without the need to vary input sample clock rate or the cut off bandwidth of analog anti-alias filters in the signal path. A straw man set of specifications for the spectrum analyzer was proposed and used as the basis of the simulations presented in this paper. The processing described here reflects the great versatility and flexibility available to the system designer. Broader bandwidths and greater dynamic range options can be quickly accommodated in the architecture presented here.


PART I. AN INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF MINORITY GROUPS IN THE UNITED STATES 1. Diversity in the United States: Questions and Concepts Narrative Portrait: The Social Construction of Racial Identity Developing a Racial Identity - Lawrence Hill Narrative Portrait: The Cultural Sources of Prejudice Kaffir Boy - Mark Mathabane Readings Prejudice, Discrimination, and Racism - Norman Yetman Using Racial and Ethnic Concepts: The Critical Case of Very Young Children - Debra van Ausdale and Joe R. Feagin Constructing Categories of Difference - Karen Rosenblum and Toni-Michelle Travis Current Debates: Race and Sports The Dominance of Black Athletes is Genetic - Jon Entine The Argument for Genetic Differences is Deeply Flawed - Kenan Malik Debate Questions to Consider 2. Assimilation and Pluralism Narrative Portrait: Assimilation, Then and Now Choosing a Dream: Italians in Hell's Kitchen - Mario Puzo Always Running: La Vida Loca - Luiz Rodrigues Readings Divided Fates - M. Patricia Fernandez-Kelly and Richard Schauffler Fifteen Years on the Bottom Rung - Anthony DePalma Opening Faces: The Politics of Cosmetic Surgery and Asian American Women - Eugenia Kaw Current Debates: English Only? English Only Will Speed the Assimilation of Immigrants - Mauro Mujica Bilingualism Should Be Encouraged - Aida Hurtado and Luis A. Vega Debate Questions to Consider PART II. THE EVOLUTION OF DOMINANT-MINORITY RELATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES 3. The Development of Dominant-Minority Relations in Pre-Industrial America: The Origins of Slavery Narrative Portrait: A Slave's Life Life as a Slave Girl - Harriet Jacobs Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb - Henry Bibb Readings Slavery Unwilling to Die - Joe R. Feagin Jezebel and Mammy: The Mythology of Female Slavery - Deborah Gray White Current Debates: How Did Slavery Affect the Origins of African American Culture? Slavery Created African American Culture - Stanley Elkins African American Culture Was Created by an Interplay of Elements From Africa and America - William D. Piersen Debate Questions to Consider 4. Industrialization and Dominant-Minority Relations: From Slavery to Segregation and the Coming of Post-Industrial Society Narrative Portrait: The Kitchenette Death on the City Pavement - Richard Wright Readings The Meaning of Emancipation According to Black Women - Angela Davis What is Affirmative Action? - Fred L. Pincus Adolescent Masculinity, Homophobia, and Violence: Random School Shootings, 1982-2001 - Michael Kimmel and Matthew Mahler Current Debates: Affirmative Action Affirmative Action Casts Suspicions on Legitimate Black Achievement and Depicts African Americans as Incapable - Thomas Sowell Why We Still Need Affirmative Action - Orlando Patterson Debate Questions to Consider PART III. UNDERSTANDING DOMINANT -MINORITY RELATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES TODAY 5. African Americans Narrative Portrait: The Persistence of Racism Just Walk on By: A Black Man Ponders His Ability To Alter Public Space - Brent Staples The Mulatto Millennium - Danzy Senna Readings I Am Not a Racist But... - Eduardo Bonilla-Silva and Tyrone A. Forman Race and Criminalization: Black Americans and the Punishment Industry - Angela Davis The Elephant in the Living Room: The Issue of Race in Close Black/White Friendships - Kathleen Odell Korgen Current Debates: Reparations Reparations for African Americans in Historical Context - Joe R. Feagin and Eileen O'Brien Reparations Are an Idea Whose Time Has Come - Manning Marable Blood Money: Why I Don't Want Reparations for Slavery - John McWhorter Debate Questions to Consider 6. Native Americans Narrative Portrait: Native Americans' Experiences and Perspectives Lakota Woman - Mary Crow Dog Talking to the Owls and Butterflies - John Lame Deer Readings Growing Up Indian - Leonard Peltier From the Ground Up - Charon Astoyer Current Debates: Are Indian Sports Team Mascots Offensive? Indian Symbols and Mascots Are Not Offensive - S.L. Price and Andrea Woo Mascots Are Offensive - C. Richard King, Ellen J. Staurowsky, Lawrence Baca, R. Davis, and Cornel Pewewardy Debate Questions to Consider 7. Hispanic Americans Narrative Portrait: The Meaning of Macho Americanization is Tough on Macho - Rose Del Castillo Guilbault Narrative Portrait: Gender Images of Latinas The Island Travels With You - Judith Ortiz Cofer Readings Mock Spanish: A Site for the Indexical Reproduction of Racism in American English - Jane H. Hill Seeing More Than Black and White: Latinos, Racsim, and the Cultural Divide - Elizabeth Martinez Not White or Black, but In Between: Latinos and Asian Americans Expanding the Language of Colorblind Racism - Eileen O'Brien Current Debates: Is Americanization Threatened by" Hispanization"? How to Make an American - John Fonte Why We Shouldn't Worry About the "Hispanization" of the United States - Francis Fukuyama Debate Questions to Consider 8. Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Narrative Portrait: The Relocation We Were Just Japs - Joseph Kurihara Readings The Interrelationship Between Anti-Asian Violence and Asian America - Victor M. Hwang South Korean Sex Slaves in the United States and Canada - Salim Jiwa Current Debates: Asian American "Success": What Are the Dimensions, Causes, and Implications for Other Minority Groups? The Success of Japanese Americans Is Cultural - Harry Kitano The "Success" of Chinese Americans Is Structural - Alejandro Portes and Min Zhou The Success of Asian Americans Has Been Exaggerated in Part to Criticize Other Minority Groups - Ronald Takaki Debate Questions to Consider 9. New Americans: Immigration and Assimilation Narrative Portrait: Two Stories of Immigration Life in the Enclave - Ho Yang Life as a Refugee - Vo Thi Tam Readings Immigrants in American Society - Philip Martin and Elizabeth Midgely Discrimination and the American Dream: The Case of Middle Eastern Americans - Amir Marvasti and Karyn D. McKinney Globalization and Its Mal(e)contents: The Gendered Moral and Political Economy of Terrorism - Michael S. Kimmel Current Debates: Is Immigration Harmful or Helpful to the United States? Immigration Is Harmful - Peter Brimelow Immigration Is Not Harmful - Reynolds Farley We Need to Reframe the Immigration Debate - George Borjas Debate Questions to Consider 10. White Ethnic Groups Narrative Portrait: Ethnicity, Prejudice, and the Irish Political Machine Shadow of the Past - David Gray Readings How Jews Became White - Karen Brodkin White Privilege and Male Privilege - Peggy McIntosh Euphemized Racism: Moral qua Racial Boundaries - Michele Lamont Current Debates: The Racial Identities of Whites and Blacks The Need to Understand Whiteness - Richard Dyer Symbolic and Involuntary Ethnicity - Mary Waters Debate Questions to Consider PART IV. CONCLUSIONS 11. Antiracist and Feminist Solutions The Emperor's New Clothes - Patricia Williams The Racial Preference Licensing Act - Derrick Bell The Redefinition and Subversion of Comparable Worth in New York State: "We Did It Our Way" - Ronnie Steinberg and Jennifer Hickman Building Connections with Antiracism and Feminism - Eileen O'Brien and Michael P. Armato Abolish the White Race by Any Means Necessary - Noel Ignatiev and John Garvey Being an Ally - Paul Kivel Commitment to Combat Racism - Judith Katz Tools for White Guys Who Are Working for Social Change - Chris Crass Discussion Questions


Lipid droplets discharged from the disintegrating holocrine cells of the flank gland of the Indian musk shrew, Suncus murinus viridescens (Blyth) are stored in the lumen of the sebaceous acini and eliminated to the exterior through the glandular ducts. Specialized hairs developed on the surface of the flank gland of the shrew are deep rooted. The osmetrichia of the flank gland of both sexes of the shrew have flattened and thickly packed culicular scales. These scales are morphologically different from the largeconical-shaped scales of the dorsal body hairs. The surface of osmetrichia is soaked with the oily secretory materials of the flank gland. The medulla of osmetrichia is developed into Special chambers which are filled with the glandular secretory droplets.


Modulation of the plasma current has been used successfully to suppress MHD activity. This was achieved in discharges near the density limit where large MHD m = 2 tearing modes were suppressed by sufficiently large plasma current oscillations. The modulation of the plasma current must be large enough to move the resonance q = 2 surface outside the island width on a timescale faster than the growth time of the instability. These observations resemble those predicted in a previous study of non-linear effects on the m = 1 mode.


The refractive error of a human eye varies across the pupil and therefore may be treated as a random variable. The probability distribution of this random variable provides a means for assessing the main refractive properties of the eye without the necessity of traditional functional representation of wavefront aberrations. To demonstrate this approach, the statistical properties of refractive error maps are investigated. Closed‐form expressions are derived for the probability density function (PDF) and its statistical moments for the general case of rotationally‐symmetric aberrations. A closed‐form expression for a PDF for a general non‐rotationally symmetric wavefront aberration is difficult to derive. However, for specific cases, such as astigmatism, a closed‐form expression of the PDF can be obtained. Further, interpretation of the distribution of the refractive error map as well as its moments is provided for a range of wavefront aberrations measured in real eyes. These are evaluated using a kernel density and sample moments estimators. It is concluded that the refractive error domain allows non‐functional analysis of wavefront aberrations based on simple statistics in the form of its sample moments. Clinicians may find this approach to wavefront analysis easier to interpret due to the clinical familiarity and intuitive appeal of refractive error maps.


the delegates belonging to different nations went on in the most amicable manner. These friendly terms must be highly appreciated. Everything points to the Organisation becoming a prosperous undertaking. The countries which are obliged to prevent the disease from being introduced are indeed in the same need of a campaign against it as those where it is actually destroying eyesight. In Hiungary the elements of this campaign were enacted as early as 1886 by a special law. The exertions of Japan in this respect are the object of general admiration. There are 1,000 trachoma consultation rooms, where half-a-million trachoma patients are being treated by 1,000 doctors at an annual cost of half-a-million yen. The League of Nations has issued a special circular letter to the Governments requesting them to support the scheme.


Background: Retroperitoneoscopic donor nephrectomy (RDN) is a well-established modality for the procurement of kidneys for renal transplantation. However the learning curve of pure RDN is not yet defined. Defining the learning curve will help in proper mentorship of the new donor surgeons besides providing safety to the donors. Objective: To define the learning curve of pure RDN. Methods: We analyzed the prospectively collected data of 102 voluntary kidney donors who underwent RDN by a single surgeon between August 2012 and April 2015 at our center. The donors were classified into group A (1–34), group B (35–68), and group C (69–102) according to the chronological order of their surgery. Left RDN was performed in 28 (82%), 25 (74%), and 28 (82%) donors of group A, B, and C, respectively. Right RDN was performed in 6 (18%), 9 (26%), and 6 (18%) donors of group A, B, and C, respectively. The clinical data were analyzed for each group. Results: Statistically significant difference was observed for the mean operative time (p<0.01) and warm ischemia time (p<0.04). The operative time remained around 200 minutes after the initial 35 cases. Conclusion: The learning curve of pure RDN was 35 cases, although the mastery requires more number of cases to be performed.


US exports of apples, poultry, and unmanufactured tobacco were analyzed using regression techniques to determine their responsiveness to foreign market development expenditures. It was determined that apple and tobacco exports were responsive, while poultry exports were not. Marginal returns to an additional dollar of export promotion for apples and tobacco were $60 and 31, respectively. Results indicated that response to poultry promotion was not different from zero. This is likely due to aggregation of data which does not permit isolating impacts of specific promotional efforts.


Currently, there are no FDA-licensed vaccines or therapeutics for eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV) for human use. We recently developed several methods to inactivate CVEV1219, a chimeric live-attenuated eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV). Dosage and schedule studies were conducted to evaluate the immunogenicity and protective efficacy of three potential second-generation inactivated EEEV (iEEEV) vaccine candidates in mice: formalin-inactivated CVEV1219 (fCVEV1219), INA-inactivated CVEV1219 (iCVEV1219) and gamma-irradiated CVEV1219 (gCVEV1219). Both fCVEV1219 and gCVEV1219 provided partial to complete protection against an aerosol challenge when administered by different routes and schedules at various doses, while iCVEV1219 was unable to provide substantial protection against an aerosol challenge by any route, dose, or schedule tested. When evaluating antibody responses, neutralizing antibody, not virus specific IgG or IgA, was the best correlate of protection. The results of these studies suggest that both fCVEV1219 and gCVEV1219 should be evaluated further and considered for advancement as potential second-generation inactivated vaccine candidates for EEEV.


Muscle stiffness has been reported to increase following eccentric muscle exercise, but to date only indirect methods have been used to measure it. This study aimed to use Magnetic Resonance Elastography (MRE), a noninvasive imaging technique, to assess the time‐course of passive elasticity changes in the medial gastrocnemius and soleus muscles before and after a bout of eccentric exercise. Shear storage modulus (G′) and loss modulus (G′′) measurements were made in eight healthy subjects for both muscles in vivo before, one hour after, 48 hours after and 1 week after eccentric exercise. The results show a 21% increase in medial gastrocnemius storage modulus following eccentric exercise with a peak occurring ~48 hours after exercise (before exercise 1.15 ± 0.23 kPa, 48 hours after 1.38 ± 0.27 kPa). No significant changes in soleus muscle storage modulus were measured for the exercise protocol used in this study, and no significant changes in loss modulus were observed. This study provides the first direct measurements in skeletal muscle before and after eccentric exercise damage and suggests that MRE can be used to detect the time course of changes to muscle properties. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


BACKGROUND: Current guidelines for accessing graphs non-visually are based on giving access to underlying tabular data and reading the values one by one. When data sets are large, it becomes impossible to get an overview.OBJECTIVE: This work presents a proof-of-concept of automated audio description of data sets up to 100 data points that can be used by persons with visual impairment or persons who for other reasons are unable to use their visual attention for data access.METHODS: A pilot study was conducted to elicit guidelines for oral chart descriptions, after which lo-fi and hi-fi prototypes were designed. Visually impaired and sighted users were involved throughout the process.RESULTS: The pilot study pinpointed important issues of oral chart descriptions and provided input for a lo-fi-prototype with three variants. The lo-fi-prototype singled out the most successful way of describing the charts based on which a hi-fi prototype for large data sets was created and tested.CONCLUSIONS: The results of the hi-fi tests are promising. Participants listened 1-2 times to the descriptions and were able to discuss details in the data. Thus, the initial guidelines and the following design process provided the necessary information to create a successful proof-of-concept.


Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) plays an essential role in meeting the edible oil demand worldwide. Sunflower seed yield can be decomposed into several yield component traits, one of which is the head diameter. In 2019, 2020, and 2022, we evaluated the head diameter phenotypic variation on a set of diverse sunflower accessions (N=342) in replicated field trials. By combining three years of field data, the broad sense heritability (H2) of the head diameter trait was estimated to be 0.88. Then, a subset of N=274 accessions was genotyped by using the tunable genotyping-by-sequencing (tGBS) method, resulting in 226,779 high-quality SNPs. With these SNPs and the head diameter phenotype, the genome-wide association study (GWAS) was conducted using two statistical approaches: 1) the mixed linear model (MLM) and 2) the fixed and random model circulating probability unification (farmCPU). The MLM and farmCPU GWAS approaches identified 106 and 8 significant SNPs that were placed close to 53 and 21 genes, respectively. Two significant peaks were identified in MLM, with a strong signal on chromosome 10 and a less strong signal on chromosome 16. The farmCPU method detected the same signals on chromosomes 10 and 16 and several additional significant signals on other chromosomes. The head diameter associated genetic loci and the underlying candidate genes can be leveraged for further functional validation and serve as a basis for sunflower oil yield improvement.


The article examines the key demographic trends and dynamics of social infrastructure development in rural areas of Ukraine in historical retrospect (1959-2021). The regional specificity of rural population depopulation is determined with an emphasis on sex and age structure transformations, and the regions are grouped by the nature of changes in rural fertility and mortality. The dynamics and peculiarities of the development of the social sphere of life support, which is considered as the basis for the preservation and reproduction of human capital in rural areas, are analyzed. The novelty of the study is the analysis of the long-term depopulation demographic trend, as well as changes in the development of social infrastructure in the Soviet and post-Soviet periods, with the presentation of examples of mapping schemes illustrating these processes.


Beam-laser and beam-foil measurements of the lifetimes of the 5p 2Po levels in Cd II are used to obtain the f-value of the 5s2S-5p 2Po multiplet. The beam-laser results give an f-value of 0.745 ± 0.012 while the beam-foil results incorporating cascade correction give 0.708 ± 0.045, the large uncertainty coming mainly from a 6% uncertainty in the post-foil ion velocity. The results are discussed in light of the experimental and theoretical data available for the lower-Z ions of the Ag I isoelectronic sequence.


The efficacy of intravenous propafenone (P) infused at 2 mg/kg in 3 min as a loading dose followed by 0.007 mg/kg/min along 24 hours, in converting atrial fibrillation (AF) was evaluated under continuous electrocardiographic and blood pressure control in 22 patients. In case of inefficacy after a wash out of 24 hours, amiodarone (A) 5 mg/kg in 3 min followed by 1.8 gr/24 hours was infused. AF had to be constant (at least one 24/hour Holter recording) and of recent onset. All the patients were NYHA class 1 or 2. Ten patients reverted to sinus rhythm after P usually within 60 min; two of the non responders reverted after A and ten did not revert at all. RR intervals were significantly shorter in the responders compared to the others: mean value 537 +/- 64 vs 771 +/- 200 msec (p less than 0.001). During P the QRS duration increased 12.9% (p less than 0.005) and QTc of a lesser extent 7.8%; during A QRS did not modify significantly and QTc prolonged 9.5% (p less than 0.002). Propafenone i.v. infusion appears to be a rapid effective method of converting recent onset AF to sinus rhythm in patients with high ventricular rate. Amiodarone i.v. does not significantly help in converting to sinus rhythm the patients non responder to P.


To examine the clinical manifestations, treatment, and outcome of pulmonary cryptococcosis, we reviewed the medical records of all patients treated for Cryptococcus neoformans infection at our hospital from January 1988 through September 1998. Sixty-three patients were included in the analysis, 10 (16%) of whom had acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Thirty-four of the 53 non-AIDS patients, including 19 men and 15 women had pulmonary cryptococcosis, including 31 with isolated pulmonary cryptococcosis and three with disseminated disease. Of the 10 AIDS patients, seven presented with disseminated cryptococcosis (including one patient with lung involvement) and one had isolated cryptococcal lung disease. The age (mean +/- SD) of the 34 non-AIDS patients with pulmonary cryptococcosis was 52.1 +/- 15.2 years (range, 19-75 yr). Cough was the most common symptom (58%). Diabetes mellitus (12%) and malignancy (12%) were two major underlying diseases. Nodules and masses were the predominant manifestations of pulmonary cryptococcosis in non-AIDS patients (79%). The most frequently used diagnostic modality for pulmonary cryptococcosis was biopsy with/without aspiration under ultrasound guidance (56%). Antifungal therapy (20/34) was the most common treatment for non-AIDS patients, followed by surgical resections with antifungal therapy (9), surgical resections alone (3), and no treatment (2). Antifungal therapy and/or resection yielded excellent outcomes (total recovery, 27; improvement, 4). Of the 18 patients who underwent lumbar puncture, only two had positive cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cultures for C. neoformans, both had symptoms and signs of increased intracranial pressure. There was no clinical evidence of meningitis in the other 32 patients. Our findings indicate that pulmonary cryptococcosis in non-AIDS patients tends to be a more localized and benign process than in AIDS patients. Ultrasound-guided lung biopsy or aspiration is an effective tool for diagnosis. CSF examination may not be mandatory as an initial routine procedure for pulmonary cryptococcosis in non-AIDS patients.


Objective: Camel mastitis is indeed a serious problem that can have significant impacts on animal health and production as well as pose a potential public health hazard. This work aimed to identify the bacterial species responsible for camel mastitis and evaluate the associated immunological and clinicopathological alterations in infected camels. Materials and Methods: Raw milk and blood samples were collected from 40 apparently healthy she-camels, and 40 she-camels suffered from clinical mastitis (CMG). Milk samples were subjected to bacteriological examination. Serum immunological, biochemical, and hematological parameters were estimated and statistically analyzed. Results: Similar bacterial species were obtained from the two groups with different isolation rates.Staphylococcus epidermidis and Escherichia coliwere the dominant species in the apparently healthy group, whilePseudomonas aeruginosaandBacillus cereus were the dominant species in CMG. A significant (p < 0.05) elevation of the pro-inflammatory cytokines, acute phase proteins (APPs), free radicals, total protein, Glob, kidney and liver function tests, and triglyceride concentrations were detected in CMG, and a significant (p < 0.05) decrease in the anti-inflammatory cytokine, antioxidants, Alb, glucose, and T/LDL/HDL-cholesterol concentrations was observed in CMG. Microcytic hypochromic anemia with hypoferremia, hypotransferrinemia, hyperferritinemia, and neutrophilic leukocytosis was depicted in CMG. The estimated pro-inflammatory cytokines, APPs, and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) yielded high sensitivity and specificity, but the highest likelihood ratio was for TAC, fibrinogen (Fb), and ferritin, and the highest percentages of increase were for IL-1α and IL-1β. Conclusion: The study emphasizes the importance of hygienic preventive measures to control camel mastitis and the importance of supportive treatment to reverse the hemato-biochemicaland iron profile changes that result from the immune response in mastitic she-camels. TAC, Fb, ferritin, IL-1α, and IL-1β are good biomarkers for camel mastitis.


We investigated the high pretilt angle effects on electro-optical properties of ion beam (IB)-irradiated liquid crystal cells on a blended polyimide surface. High pretilt angle of liquid crystals IB-irradiated on a blended polyimide surface including such as 5% and 10% of homeotropic polymer contents can be achieved. The threshold voltages of IB-irradiated twisted nematic (TN) cells on a blended polyimide surface decrease with increasing the pretilt angle. Also, the rising time of IB-irradiated TN cells decreases with increasing the pretilt angle. However the decay time of IB-irradiated TN cells increases with increasing the pretilt angle. Consequently, the electro-optical properties of IB-irradiated TN cells depend strongly on the pretilt angle in a blended polyimide surface.


[Humor in Early Islam, first published in 1956, is a pioneering study by the versatile and prolific scholar Franz Rosenthal (1914–2003), who (having published an article on mediaeval Arabic blurbs), should have written this text himself. It contains an annotated translation of an Arabic text on a figure who became the subject of many jokes and anecdotes, the greedy and obtuse Ashʿab, a singer who lived in the eighth century but whose literary and fictional life long survived him. The translation is preceded by chapters on the textual sources and on the historical and legendary personalities of Ashʿab; the book ends with a short essay on laughter. Whether or not the jokes will make a modern reader laugh, the book is a valuable source for those seriously interested in a religion or a culture that all too often but unjustly is associated, by outsiders, with an aversion to laughter., Humor in Early Islam, first published in 1956, is a pioneering study by the versatile and prolific scholar Franz Rosenthal (1914–2003), who (having published an article on mediaeval Arabic blurbs), should have written this text himself. It contains an annotated translation of an Arabic text on a figure who became the subject of many jokes and anecdotes, the greedy and obtuse Ashʿab, a singer who lived in the eighth century but whose literary and fictional life long survived him. The translation is preceded by chapters on the textual sources and on the historical and legendary personalities of Ashʿab; the book ends with a short essay on laughter. Whether or not the jokes will make a modern reader laugh, the book is a valuable source for those seriously interested in a religion or a culture that all too often but unjustly is associated, by outsiders, with an aversion to laughter.]


Australia has a well-established emergency management system to manage the threats to communities from natural and technological hazards. The key elements of the system are described with particular emphasis on the impact of disasters on Australia, fundamental concepts, and principles of planning. Emergency physicians have a key role in the development of emergency plans and in the overall health response to disasters. They can enhance their understanding of local, State and national arrangements by participating in exercises and appropriate disaster medicine and emergency management courses.


Molecules able to modulate the levels of endogenous free radicals, such as reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitric oxide (NO), are of pivotal interest for pharmacological and pharmaceutical sciences because of their potential therapeutic relevance. In fact, ROS and NO, which are normal products of cell metabolism, may play a dual beneficial/deleterious role, depending on local concentration and mode of generation. As such, they have been identified as key pathogenic factors for many inflammatory, vascular dysfunctional and degenerative disorders, including atherosclerosis, hypertension, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, diabetes mellitus, and ageing. Therefore, the identification and characterization of novel antioxidant/free radical scavenger molecules may expand the current therapeutic implements for the treatment and prevention of the above diseases. In this perspective, low molecular weight complexes of transition metals with organic scaffolds are viewed and investigated as promising pharmaceutical agents. These complexes take advantage of the known principles of inorganic chemistry, i.e. the ability of transition metals, Fe(II), Co(II), Mn(II) and Ru(II), to bind to and react with NO and/or ROS, to counterbalance excessive endogenous free radical generation in biological systems. Among NO scavengers, representative examples are iron complexes with dithiocarbamates or ruthenium compounds with polyamine-polycarboxylate scaffolds; on the other hand, manganese-based molecules appear effective as ROS scavengers. Of note, Mn(II)-containing molecules, currently under study as ROS scavengers, have major functional similarities to Mn-superoxide dismutase (SOD), a Mn-containing enzyme acting as potent endogenous anti-oxidant. In this article, we briefly summarize the state-of-the-art concerning the chemical and biological properties of transition metal ion complexes with low molecular weight synthetic ligands as ROS/NO scavengers provided with therapeutic effectiveness in animal models of free radical-induced diseases. A proper design of the organic scaffolds may yield metal complexes which are stable in aqueous solution in a wide range of physical and chemical conditions, thus preventing release of the metal and the related toxicity. These metal-based compounds may be viewed as a novel class of drugs helpful to reduce vascular dysfunction and oxidative tissue injury due to derangements of the endogenous generation/catabolism of NO and ROS.


In this paper, we present and evaluate the joint maximum likelihood (ML) estimation of the time and carrier-frequency offset in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems. The main element is the OFDM, it contains the sufficient information to perform synchronization. Redundant information contained within the cyclic prefix enables this estimation without additional pilots. Simulations show that the frequency estimator may be used in a tracking mode and the time estimator in an acquisition mode. Our novel algorithm exploits the cyclic prefix preceding the OFDM symbols, thus reducing the need for pilots.


Abstract . Abstract . Abstract . Abstract . Lead is a versatile metal used since prehistoric times and has been distributed widely in the environment becoming a risk factor for human exposure. The present analytical-ecological study was performed in a sample size with a confidence of 95% and a maximal error of 10%; 60 children between 4 and 9 years of age belonging to Michelena sector in Valencia District in 2004. The objective was to relate blood level values to nutritional and socioeconomic status. Blood levels, Hemoglobin and Hematocrit values were determined and nutritional evalua- tion was performed. Mean Blood Lead in boys (11.1±3.1 μg/dL) was significantly higher in boys with regard to girls at a p<- 0.05 than in girls ( 9.5±2.7 μg/dL).Mean Blood Lead was 10.5±3 μg/dL. Girls showed a higher % of low nutritional status. Also in stratum IV, the highest prevalence was found. Hemoglobin and Hematocrit values were inside permissible limits. and levels of Lead were found at a non-critical level. It is suggested that activities of primary prevention should be carried out to diminish the levels of Blood Lead observed in children. An Venez Nutr


This study was for the industrial application of functional food ingredients from whole fruits of sweet persimmon. Whole fruit and pulp of sweet persimmons were divided, and then lyophilized and powdered. Contents of crude fiber, vitamin C, and mineral were significantly higher in whole fruit than pulp of sweet persimmon. The amino acid content of whole fruit was 1.4 times higher than those of sweet persimmon pulp. In the biological activities of water and ethanol extracts from whole fruit and pulp of sweet persimmon, ethanol extract was higher than water extract, and whole fruit was higher than its pulp. The result which compared the biological activities of the water and ethanol extract from lyophilized sweet persimmon showed that total phenolic content was significantly higher in whole fruit of sweet persimmon, but flavonoid contents were not significantly different. Especially ABTS, NO radical scavenging activity, reducing power and tyrosinase inhibition activity were significantly higher in whole fruit extract than pulp extract of sweet persimmon. The relatively high content of fiber and vitamin C, and biological activity of whole fruit than pulp of sweet persimmon may be make it preferable as functional food materials for secondary processed goods.


Lymph node aspiration cytology smear patterns were analyzed in 60 cases of leprosy. A Type I smear pattern was found in 51.7%, Type II in 25%, Type III in 16.6%, and Type IV in 6.7% of the cases. Comparing with the histopathological diagnosis, Type I and Type II smears corresponded to LL lesions. Type III smears corresponded to BB lesions toward the lepromatous end of the spectrum, and Type IV smears corresponded to BB lesions toward the tuberculoid end of the spectrum. An increasing degree of lymphocytic cell admixture was noticed from Type I to Type IV smears with a changing appearance from classical foamy histiocytes in Type I and Type II smears to atypical histiocytes in Type III smears and epithelioid histiocytes in Type IV cases. These findings correlated with the better cell-mediated immune reactivity observed in these patients as the disease spectrum crosses from Type I and Type II smears to Type III and Type IV smears. A larger number of cases needs to be studied for definite assessment of these criteria.


Inflation generically produces primordial gravitational waves with a red spectral tilt. In this paper we calculate the backreaction produced by these gravitational waves on the expansion of the universe. We find that in radiation domination the backreaction acts as a relativistic fluid, while in matter domination a small dark energy emerges with an equation of state weff ≈ −8/9.


Two examples are given of how an unsteady quasi-three-dimensional (Q-3D) computational method can be used to simulate essential phenomena of a three-dimensional unsteady flow. The first example is the flow within a turbine stage with following gas exhaust casing (GEC) of a turbocharger. It is demonstrated that a Q-3D simulation is an important tool in understanding the complicated pulse charging process. It closes the gap between a one-dimensional quasi-steady simulation of the complete process and the steady three-dimensional simulation of components within the process. It is further demonstrated that a combination of all three simulation models is possible to get detailed insight. Detailed unsteady blade pressure measurements are available for the second example, a 1½ stage compressor. A grid dependency study is performed and it is shown that fine grids with more than 5000 grid points per blade channel are necessary to get a good agreement with the measured data.


The Prince of Songkla University, Pattani campus is located within the restive areas of Southern Thailand's insurgency. The violent situations have been continuingly deteriorating since 2004, whilst local civilians; including young people, have undergone different forms of mental distress. Hence, this cross-sectional survey aimed to compare levels, characteristics and associated factors of resilience among university students at the Pattani campus, located in the restive area of Southern Thailand's insurgency, and a nearby province (Hatyai campus). The study was conducted between 8th August, 2018 and 8th October, 2018, at both Prince of Sonkla University, Pattani and Hatyai campuses. All of the participants completed the personal information, and Thai resilience questionnaires (Thai-RQ) by themselves. The data were analysed using the R program, for both descriptive statistics and logistic regression. Most of the 443 students, who studied at Prince of Songkla University, Pattani campus were females (80.3%) and Muslims (76.3%). Most of them were at a normal level (55.7%), within the domain of resilience, with the highest prevalence, being coping strategy (75.9%). No significantly statistical difference of levels, or characteristics of resilience were found between the two campuses. Satisfaction towards: university teaching, age, religion and birth order were also significantly associated to resilience among university students in the restive area. However, only gender and satisfaction towards university teaching were found in the non-restive campus.


Rats were conditioned in automatic Skinner boxes on a discrete trial avoidance-escape schedule. The chlorpromazine-induced conditioned reflex inhibition could be reversed by apomorphine and amantadine, but not by atropine, trihexyphenidyl and diethazine. These findings seem to provide an additional tool for differentiating the atropine-like and dopaminergic anti-parkinsonian drugs.


The purpose of this Article is to assess the trajectory of almost twenty years of "transformative constitutionalism" – a judicial mandate to interpret and develop the law so as to create a more just and equitable society through the transformation of political and social institutions – in South Africa. On October 11, 1996, two-and-a-half years after a peaceful and abrupt transition from its authoritative past, South Africans enacted a "modern" constitution. The early Constitutional Court quickly set about to actualize the post-conflict constitutional principles and delivered a series of celebrated cases that addressed structural injustices brought about by decades of gross poverty, disease and inequality. Almost two decades since its inception, however, the perception of the Court and the Constitution as agents of social transformation has flagged. One of the challenges in adopting an "aspirational constitution" is squaring its progressive rights with socioeconomic realities. To date, the void between what the Court and the Constitution guarantee and the conditions in the streets remains vast. Under these sobering societal realities, the current chief justice, Mogoeng Mogoeng, assumed stewardship of the Constitutional Court. In September 2013, during the Court's third term, the Chief Justice discusses his thoughts on leading one of the most dynamic and innovative constitutional democracies.


Abstract Douinia plicata (Lindb.) Konstant. & Vilnet is the endemic species in Northeast Asia. Here, we reported complete mitochondrial genome of D. plicata. It is 144,206 bp long and includes 72 genes (42 protein-coding genes, three rRNAs, and 27 tRNAs). The overall GC content is 45.1%. Intergeneic variations against S. amplicata, which is slightly higher than intraspecific variations of S. ampliata and W. denudata. Phylogenetic trees show D. plicatum is clustered with three Scapania mitochondrial genomes with high supportive values, which is congruent with previous studies.


One-dimensional (1D) ballistic constrictions have been made in a two-dimensional electron gas of high carrier concentration (6.5 * 1011 cm-2) and high mobility (9.5 * 105 cm2 V-1 s-1) formed at the interface of a GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure. At least seven ballistic conductance steps were clearly observed at 4.2 K and remained discernible up to 40 K. A 1D subband spacing of 10 meV was found from the electric-field-induced half plateaux in differential conductance. The mobility and carrier concentration of the two-dimensional electron gas were also measured as functions of temperature in order to compare the relative effects on the degradation of the ballistic quantization of Fermi-Dirac broadening at the Fermi energy and the reduction in the ballistic mean free path. The close similarity between the experimental conductance characteristics and those calculated with a simple assumption of the Fermi-Dirac electron energy distribution strongly suggests that this is the principle mechanism in smearing the quantized conductance plateaux.


Currently, the incidence of measles and rubella has decreased and the diseases have been eliminated in some countries with high vaccination coverages. Awareness of the clinical manifestations of the two diseases is essential, as there is always the possibility of new cases, which should be suspected on the basis of the medical history and physical examination. The diagnosis is based on clinical features and epidemiology, but should always be confirmed by determina- tion of IgM or IgG. The clinical manifestations of measles are quite uniform and those of rubella less so. However, in both diseases, four periods of evolution are recognized: incubation; prodromal, (catarrhal, enanthem or pre-exanthem); exanthem (rash) period; and, convalescent period (recovery or desquamation). This work describes the clinical manifestations, presentation and complications of measles and rubella.


Diastolic suction (DS) can be defined as that property of the ventricle by means of which it tends to refill itself during early diastole, independent of any force from the atrium. Although thought to be significant in the left ventricle (LV), DS in the right ventricle (RV) has received little attention, probably because of RV geometry. Our recent LV studies have shown that DS is related to both decreased elastance (i.e., tau, the relaxation time constant) and end-systolic volume (V(LVES)), thus reconciling the two mechanisms that have been used to explain the concept of DS. We hypothesized that RV DS would similarly depend on tau and V(RVES). In six anesthetized open-chest dogs, aortic, RV, right atrial (RA), pulmonary arterial (PA), and RV pericardial pressure, tricuspid velocity, and PA flow were measured. V(RVES) was calculated by measuring distances between eight ultrasonic crystals. An empirical index of relaxation, tau', and V(RVES) were manipulated by volume loading/caval constriction and isoproterenol/esmolol. We calculated the total energy (I(W-)) of the backward expansion wave generated during RV relaxation and that component causing DS [I(W-(DS))]; i.e., the energy remaining after tricuspid valve opening. I(W-) [I(W-(DS)) also] was found to be inversely related to tau' and to V(RVES) {i.e., I(W-) = -8.85.e((-0.0423tau')).e([-0.0665(%V(RVES))])}. Thus, as for the LV, the energy of the backward-going wave generated by the RV during relaxation depends on both the rate at which elastance decreases and the completeness of ejection. Despite the thin wall and nonspherical shape of the RV, DS appears to be an important mechanism.


Optical interactions have an important impact on the optical response of nanostructures in complex environments. Accounting for interactions in large ensembles of structures requires computationally demanding numerical calculations. In particular if no periodicity can be exploited, full field simulations can become prohibitively expensive. Here we propose a method for the numerical description of aperiodic assemblies of plasmonic nanostructures. Our approach is based on dressed polarizabilities, which are conventionally very expensive to calculate, a problem which we alleviate using a deep convolutional neural network as surrogate model. We demonstrate that the method offers high accuracy with errors in the order of a percent. In cases where the interactions are predominantly short-range, e.g. for out-of-plane illumination of planar metasurfaces, it can be used to describe aperiodic metasurfaces of basically unlimited size, containing many thousands of unordered plasmonic nanostructures. We furthermore show that the model is capable to spectrally resolve coupling effects. The approach is therefore of highest interest for the field of metasurfaces. It provides significant advantages in applications like homogenization of large aperiodic planar metastructures or the design of sophisticated wavefronts at the micrometer scale, where optical interactions play a crucial role.


To combat jitter problems in voice streaming over packet networks, playout buffering algorithms are used at the receiver side. Most of the proposed solutions rely on two main operations: prediction of delay statistics for future packets; setting of the end-to-end delay so as to limit or avoid packet losses. In recent years, a new approach has been presented, which is based on using a quality model to evaluate the impact of both packet loss and delay on the voice quality. Such a model is used to find the buffer setting that maximizes the expected quality. In this paper, we present a playout buffering algorithm whose main contribution is the extension of the new quality-based approach to the case of voice communications affected by bursty packet losses. This work is motivated by two main considerations: most of IP telephony applications are characterized by bursty losses instead of random ones; the human perception of the speech quality is significantly affected by the temporal correlation of losses. To this purpose, we make use of the extensions proposed in the ETSI Tiphon for the ITU-T E-Model so as to incorporate the effects of loss burstiness on the perceived quality. The resulting playout algorithm estimates the characteristics of the loss process varying the end-to-end delay, weights the loss and the delay effects on the perceived quality, and maximizes the overall quality to find the optimal setting for the playout buffer. The experimental results prove the effectiveness of the proposed technique.


The influence of transition metals on minority carrier diffusion length in silicon is discussed. It is shown that transition metals easily precipitate on silicon lattice microdefects. These precipitates can not be easily dissolved, which makes gettering procedure ineffective. This conclusion is confirmed by experiments on FZ, CZ and photovoltaic silicon, discussed in this paper. The recombination activity of interstitial copper and its capture cross-section for electrons are determined. It is shown that the precipitates of copper have much higher recombination activity than the interstitial copper, whereas iron is very active in both precipitated and interstitial form.


Objective To evaluate whether patients who had received early class III protraction facemask treatment were less likely to need orthognathic surgery compared with untreated controls. This paper is a 6-year follow-up of a previous clinical trial. Design Multi-centre 2-arm parallel randomized controlled trial. Setting Eight United Kingdom hospital orthodontic departments. Participants Seventy three 7- to 9–year-old children. Method Patients were randomly allocated, stratified for gender, into an early class III protraction facemask group (PFG) (n = 35) and a control/no treatment group (CG) (n = 38). The primary outcome, need for orthognathic surgery was assessed by panel consensus. Secondary outcomes were changed in skeletal pattern, overjet, Peer Assessment Rating (PAR), self-esteem and the oral aesthetic impact of malocclusion. The data were compared between baseline (DC1) and 6-year follow-up (DC4). A per-protocol analysis was carried out with n = 32 in the CG and n = 33 in the PFG. Result Thirty six percent of the PFG needed orthognathic surgery, compared with 66% of the CG (P = 0.027). The odds of needing surgery was 3.5 times more likely when protraction facemask treatment was not used (odds ratio = 3.34 95% CI 1.21–9.24). The PFG exhibited a clockwise rotation and the CG an anti-clockwise rotation in the maxilla (regression coefficient 8.24 (SE 0.75); 95% CI 6.73–9.75; P < 0.001) and the mandible (regression coefficient 6.72 (SE 0.73); 95% CI 5.27–8.18; P < 0.001). Sixty eight per cent of the PFG maintained a positive overjet at 6-year follow-up. There were no statistically significant differences between the PFG and CG for skeletal/occlusal improvement, self-esteem or oral aesthetic impact. Conclusions Early class III protraction facemask treatment reduces the need for orthognathic surgery. However, this effect cannot be explained by the maintenance of skeletal cephalometric change.


The present study was undertaken to determine blood plasma protein and lipid profile changes in healthy Polish Holstein-Fresian calves of Black-and-White variety. Blood was drawn immediately after birth, before first colostrum intake and at the 3rd, 6th, 12th, 24th, 36th, 48th and 72nd hour of life. Subsequent four blood samples were collected at 24 hour intervals until the 7th day of life. Plasma proteins within the isoelectric point ranging from 3.0 to 10.0 were separated using high resolution two-dimensional electrophoresis. Among the 74 protein spots detected and analyzed, 16 were significantly altered during the first week of life. Differentially expressed spots were excised from the gels and subjected to peptide mass fingerprinting using MALDI-TOF MS. In total, 12 spots were successfully identified, which correspond to three proteins, namely: apolipoprotein A-I, apolipoprotein A-IV and fibrinogen gamma-B chain. A gradual increase in plasma triglyceride, total cholesterol, HDL and LDL cholesterol values was shown during the first seven days of calves life. The lowest concentration of these indicators were observed at birth and was followed by a rapid increase during the first week of postnatal life. These changes appear to be related to the transition in energy sources, from a maternal nutrient supply comprising mainly carbohydrates and amino acids to a diet which was rich in fat--colostrum and milk. This was reflected by the intense up-regulation of plasma proteins related with lipid transport and lipoprotein metabolism during the first week of life.


Antitrust regulators are concerned that vertical integration may allow a dominant firm in one market to lever market power into another market. Theoretically, the effects of vertical integration on other firms in the market are ambiguous. This paper studies how a dominant search engine Google in the upstream market of Internet search enters into different downstream markets. I find that Google's vertical integration either decreases or increases clicks to other sites, depending upon whether firms compete in pricing or quality and whether consumers are very price-sensitive. The results have direct public policy implications as regulators determine antitrust policy in newly emerging markets.


This experiment investigated the relationship between mental rotation and sport training. Undergraduate university students (n = 62) completed the Mental Rotation Test (Vandenberg & Kuse, 1978), before and after a 10-month training in two different sports, which either involved extensive mental rotation ability (wrestling group) or did not (running group). Both groups showed comparable results in the pretest, but the wrestling group outperformed the running group in the posttest. As expected from previous studies, males outperformed women in the pretest and the posttest. Besides, self-reported data gathered after both sessions indicated an increase in adaptive strategies following training in wrestling, but not subsequent to training in running. These findings demonstrate the significant effect of training in particular sports on mental rotation performance, thus showing consistency with the notion of cognitive plasticity induced from motor training involving manipulation of spatial representations. They are discussed within an embodied cognition framework.


Motivated by reputation management in a variety of different markets for ``expertise'' (such as online content providers and experts in organizations), we develop a novel repeated-game framework in which a principal screens a strategic agent whose type determines the rate at which he privately receives payoff relevant information. The stage game is a bandit setting, where the principal chooses whether or not to experiment with a risky arm which is controlled by an agent who privately knows its type. Irrespective of type, the agent strategically chooses output from the arm to maximize the duration of experimentation. Experimentation is only potentially valuable to the principal if the arm is of the high type. Our main insight is that reputational incentives can be exceedingly strong: the agent makes inefficient output choices in all equilibria (subject to a mild refinement) and that this can result in market breakdown even when the uncertainty about the agent's type is arbitrarily small. We show that (one-sided) transfers do not prevent this inefficiency and we suggest alternate ways to improve the functioning of these markets.


In this paper, the flame-retardant synergistic effect between rare earth oxide and conventional flame retardants (aluminum hydroxide and iron trioxide) has been studied using vertical combustion test. The results show that good flame-retardant synergistic effect exists between them. The composites combining 100 grams of aluminum hydroxide, 40 grams of iron trioxide and 0.8 grams of rare earth oxide can reach FV-0 in vertical combustion test. The thermal stability influence of rare earth oxide to silicone rubber has also been studied by means of thermogravimetric analysis. It has been found that rare earth oxide can function as thermal stabilizer in silicone rubber.


Ab initio calculations are performed to study consecutive reconstruction of a zigzag graphene edge. According to the obtained energy profile along the reaction pathway, the first reconstruction step, formation of the first pentagon-heptagon pair, is the slowest one, while the growth of an already nucleated reconstructed edge domain should occur steadily at a much higher rate. Domains merge into one only in 1/4 of cases when they get in contact, while in the rest of the cases, residual defects are left. Structure, energy, and magnetic properties of these defects are studied. It is found that spontaneous formation of pairs of residual defects (i.e., spontaneous domain nucleation) in the fully reconstructed edge is unlikely at temperatures below 1000 K. Using a kinetic model, we show that the average domain length is several micrometers at room temperature and it decreases exponentially upon increasing the temperature at which the reconstruction takes place.


Literature has widely documented the positive association of unemployment with suicide. Since 1997, the transition of suicide rate has been in line with the unemployment rate in Hong Kong. We aim to examine the suicide risk ratio between the unemployed and the employed during the period of 2003-2006 by age and gender, and explore such unknown suicide-related socioeconomic factors as living arrangement and marital status among the unemployed. Descriptive analysis and Chi-square Test are employed. Results show that not every member in the community can benefit from economic recovery, for the unemployed individuals tend to face heightened risks of completing suicide in times of economic recovery. For developing an effective strategy for suicide prevention, the government should put more effort to empower unemployed individuals.


The results of high-pressure tests of four railgun designs and four projectile types are presented. All tests were conducted at the Los Alamos explosive magnetic-flux compression facility in Ancho Canyon. The data suggest that the high-strength projectiles have lower resistance to acceleration than the low-strength projectiles, which expand against the bore during acceleration. The railguns were powered by explosive magnetic-flux compression generators. 1,2 Calculations to predict railgun and power supply performance were performed by Kerrisk.3


Dialysis is aimed at the removal of charged ionic species in the blood that arise from complications in kidney disease. Although the process for the re- moval of urea and other unwanted charged species is understood, the effect of this removal on the net sodium concentration in the blood after treatment is not clear. In this report, we focus on formulating a fundamentally-based model to address this question. We consider the formulation near the membrane at the pore scale in order to determine effective jump conditions in ionic concentrations, electric po- tential and flow rate based on the membrane properties, and in order to determine whether electroneutrality holds within the pore. Secondly, we consider the local blood-cell concentration within one of the fibres and how this varies axially within the dialysis cartridge. Lastly, we consider a simple one-dimensional model of the charged species problem and find that advection transport through the membrane is important for sodium transport, but less pertinent for transport of other cation species.


The three-level neutral-point-clamped (NPC) inverter has attracted significant interest for high power/voltage applications, due to its significant advantages. A drawback of NPC inverter is that it is prone to voltage drifts and low-frequency voltage ripples of the neutral-point. In this paper, a novel control strategy of neutral-point balancing under SVPWM-based switching strategy is proposed which can be generally applied for all NPC inverters. Different from the previous control strategies, the proposed strategy utilizes a proportional resonant (PR) controller, which not only can eliminate voltage drifts, but also can minimize low-frequency voltage ripples at the same time. The effectiveness of the approach is documented by experiments obtained from a grid-tie three-phase NPC inverter.


The aim of this study is to analyse whether moral reasoning moderates the determinants of audit quality and examine the effects of competence, time budget pressure and moral reasoning on audit quality. The participants in this study were auditors of the Audit Board of Indonesia in Central Java. Using purposive sampling, 97 participants made up the entire studies. Data was analysed using partial least square (PLS). This study found that competence had a significant positive impact on audit quality. Time budget pressure had a negative impact on audit quality. Though, moral reasoning had no impact on audit quality. Furthermore, moral reasoning enhanced the impact of competence on audit quality. On the other hand, moral reasoning weakened the effect of time budget pressure on audit quality. The findings of this study are anticipated to advance the field of auditing science and offer guidance to Indonesia's Audit Board in order to assist its auditors in maintaining the calibre of their audit.


We present an efficient implementation of the Embedded Zeroblock Coding (EZBC) algorithm for image compression called Listless EZBC (LSEZBC). The LSEZBC implementation avoids the high computation and memory costs due to the use of link-lists in EZBC by using fixed-size state buffers to keep track of the set partitionings and coding process. Large groups of predictable coefficients are efficiently skipped during the coding process by using a recursive scanning method. The new implementation requires less memory and lower complexity than EZBC but has similar performance. Moreover, LSEZBC is extended for shape-adaptive coding. Superior performance is demonstrated when compared with several prominent shape-adaptive coders.


The PEP RF system will be required to operate over a wide range of conditions, often with much heavier beam loading than in SPEAR. Since coupling loops are not readily changeable, it may be necessary to introduce other elements, such as an E-H tuner, into the system to provide flexibility for matching the klystron load requirements and simultaneously suppressing the Robinson instability. In this paper the steady state circuit relations are presented and a criterion for the Robinson instability is derived in a form which defines regions of stability in the parameter space. 2 figs.


In this paper the effect of track gauge and the bias of its tap on the track/rolling stock interaction in a conversion curve by methods of mathematical simulation is analyzed. The frame forces obtained for the accepted range of track gauges and biases of its tap are determined.


Optogenetic functional magnetic resonance imaging (ofMRI) technology enables us to control brain circuit elements with high precision while tracking the multi-synapse activity across the whole brain in vivo. This talk will describe new approaches to studying brain activity dynamics with ofMRI and its application to neurological disease network analysis including epilepsy.


Describes the labour market conditions in Latin America. Considers that the evidence points to the need to strengthen workers' bargaining power through a better implementation of the ILO's core international labour standards. Argues that in most countries the right to strike is restricted through legislation, especially in the public sector, but also in the private. Includes data on distribution of the employed labour force in the region, 1980 and 1992; labour market trends for fifteen countries, 1974 to 1997; pair-wise correlations of unemployment rates: fifteen countries 1983 to 1996; real wages: thirteen countries, 1983 to 1996; trade union membership in Latin America, percentages, 1985 and 1995.


ABSTRACT Technical challenges associated with mutagenesis of the large oriL palindrome have hindered comparisons of the functional roles of the herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) origins of DNA replication, oriL and oriS, in viral replication and pathogenesis. To address this problem, we have developed a novel PCR-based strategy to introduce site-specific mutations into oriL and other large palindromes. Using this strategy, we generated three plasmids containing mutant forms of oriL, i.e., pDoriL-IL, pDoriL-IR, and pDoriL-ILR, containing point mutations in the left, right, and both copies, respectively, of the origin binding protein (OBP) binding site (site I) which eliminate OBP binding. In in vitro DNA replication assays, plasmids with mutations in only one arm of the palindrome supported origin-dependent DNA replication, whereas plasmids with symmetrical mutations in both arms of the palindrome were replication incompetent. An analysis of the cloned mutant plasmids used in replication assays revealed that a fraction of each plasmid mutated in only one arm of the palindrome had lost the site I mutation. In contrast, plasmids containing symmetrical mutations in both copies of site I retained both mutations. These observations demonstrate that the single site I mutations in pDoriL-IL and pDoriL-IR are unstable upon propagation in bacteria and suggest that functional forms of both the left and right copies of site I are required to initiate DNA replication at oriL. To examine the role of oriL and oriS site I in virus replication, we introduced the two site I mutations in pDoriL-ILR into HSV-1 DNA to yield the mutant virus DoriL-ILR and the same point mutations into the single site I sequence present in both copies of oriS to yield the mutant virus DoriS-I. In Vero cells and primary rat embryonic cortical neurons (PRN) infected with either mutant virus, viral DNA synthesis and viral replication were efficient, confirming that the two origins can substitute functionally for one another in vitro. Measurement of the levels of oriL and oriS flanking gene transcripts revealed a modest alteration in the kinetics of ICP8 transcript accumulation in DoriL-ILR-infected PRN, but not in Vero cells, implicating a cell-type-specific role for oriL in regulating ICP8 transcription.


Surgical techniques remain central to the diagnosis and staging of lung cancer. Clinical situations which invoke the role of surgery include the diagnosis of solitary pulmonary masses, staging of the mediastinum, restaging of the mediastinum and the assessment of resectability. The techniques available include cervical mediastinoscopy, anterior mediastinotomy, video-assisted thoracoscopy and different procedures for intra-operative mediastinal lymph node assessment including systematic nodal dissection, lobe-specific nodal dissection and sentinel node mapping. The staging of lung cancer is continuously evolving as technological advances combine with clinical advances to better stratify patients into treatment and prognostic categories and alter pre-operative investigation algorithms. Although most of the surgical techniques have been around for many years, it is their application in future which is likely to change. The increasing use of positron emission tomography/computed tomography fusion imaging is raising the proportion of patients being shown to have additional lesions that could contraindicate surgical treatment but which require tissue confirmation to exclude a false-positive examination. Many such lesions are amenable to the expanding techniques available to the interventional endoscopist. The relationship between the surgeon and the endoscopist must become closer to ensure that the appropriate technique is used at each point in the patient's pathway. The future of surgical techniques will be driven by: (1) developments in screening and imaging, with a likelihood that more early stage cancers will present and may be amenable to minimally invasive surgical approaches with the possibility of a role for robotics and nanotechnology; (2) improvements in neoadjuvant therapies which will demand flawless mediastinal staging and restaging; (3) advances in molecular biology which, whilst currently requiring that surgery provide samples of tumour and lymph node tissue to fully characterize the disease, do hold the promise that ever smaller amounts of tissue will be required and that eventually the genetic fingerprint will provide a biological ultrastaging to perhaps supersede anatomical staging.


It is almost 60 years since Rudolph Nissen performed a three-staged procedure of ileostomy, total colectomy, and ileoanal anastomosis. During the last 15 years, the ileoanal operation has gained wide use in treating mucosal ulcerative colitis and familial polyposis. The authors have written an extremely interesting and complete textbook based on information from four continents. The last complete textbook on the pelvic pouch, edited by Roger R. Dozois, MD, of the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn, was entitled Alternatives to Conventional Ileostomy and was published in 1985. In the 15 chapters of their text, the authors have succeeded in addressing the technical and metabolic problems associated with pelvic pouch procedures. They also have addressed all of the known complications, providing detailed advice regarding treatment. The drawings are simple line drawings, but are very illustrative. The authors draw heavily on results of their physiologic studies in writing an excellent review chapter on


The toxic effects of man-made mineral fibers (MMMFs) have been evaluated by cell magnetometry using alveolar macrophages (AMs). Recently, on the other hand, the murine macrophage cell line, RAW 264.7, became available and has been used as an in vitro model of AMs. The objective of this study was to determine whether or not cell magnetometry using RAW 264.7 cells can be used to evaluate the toxic effects of MMMFs. RAW 264.7 cells were exposed to one of the MMMFs, potassium octatitanate (PT) or silicon carbide whisker (SiC) at 0, 20, 40 and 60 microg/ml, or chrysotile as a positive control at 0, 15, 20 and 25 microg/ml. The toxic effects of fibers were evaluated by cell magnetometry and LDH assay. For this comparison, AMs were also exposed to chrysotile fibers (CF). In the RAW 264.7 cells exposed to PT 20, 40, 60 or SiC 20, 40, 60, CF 15, 20 and 25 microg/ml, significant delayed relaxation were observed compared with the respective control. In the LDH assay, significant increases in LDH in the supernatant of the cells exposed to PT 20, 40, 60, SiC 20, 40, 60 and CF 15, 20, 25 microg/ml were observed. In AMs exposed to CF 20, 25 microg/ml significant delayed relaxation and significant increases in LDH compared with the control were observed. The levels of MMMFs that induced significant differences were similar for cell magnetometry and LDH. The levels of CF that induced significant differences in cell magnetometry and LDH were identical for RAW 264.7 cells and AMs. Our results suggest that cell magnetometry using RAW 264.7 cells is adequate to evaluate the cytotoxicity of exposure to MMMFs.


Though the use of airborne lidar bathymetry (ALB) is not new, there for more reliable results using ALB in defining the shoreline. Previous al defining the land–water interface have used either the presence of a satura infrared-channel waveforms, or a ratio between the green-channel, red infrared-channel waveforms to make a shoreline determination. R development for both algorithms were applied to older SHOALS-400 l varies in dynamic range and waveform record length from the curre 1000/3000 lidars. Observations of the red-channel waveforms show a stron between the waveform and the presence of water. Different waveform char found from water and land returns (bare earth and vegetation coverage). W lidar observations from different land and water surfaces and an algorithm for distinguishing land o from the 2 OALS-400 lidar system and the NOAA survey in the Isles of Shoals, N the SHOALS-1000. The algorithm shows good preliminary results for both the current SHOALS systems.


Abstract The author gave a short description of the Oxford Clay area in the neighbourhood of Peterborough, and mentioned the properties which caused it to be worked, in the parishes of Eye, Thorney, Whittlesey, Stanground, Fletton, and Stilton, for the manufacture of bricks and tiles. The clay is very fossiliferous at all these places, the most abundant remains being those of Belemnites Puzosianus, Gryphæa dilatata, Ammonites Elizabethœ, A. Duncani, A. convolutus, A. cordatus, A. fluctuosus, A. hecticus, A. Comptoni, and a few other species of Ammonites which Dr. Porter had not been able to determine. There were also Cerithium Damonis, Serpula vertebralis, Belemnites gracilis, Pecten, 2 sp., Nucula, Corbula, Avicula, abundant remains of Ichthyosaurus, Plesiosaurus, Pliosaurus, and Steneosaurus (?). The author had also found a portion of a spine of Ptychacanthus ornatissimus, and a few palatal teeth of Strophodus subreticulatus. What, however, he particularly called attention to in this communication was the occurrence of large quantities of fossil wood, in pieces sometimes more than a yard in length, highly bituminous, quite black, having a fracture similar to jet, and capable of almost as high a degree of polish as that mineral; it is also exceedingly brittle, and, when exposed to the air, cracks in all directions. Most of the specimens are flat, and bear on their surface impressions of Ammonites and other shells.


Abstract The study intends to develop energy load prediction equations which can be easily used to estimate the energy consumption of multi-residential buildings in the central climatic zone in Korea during the early design stage. Based on an intensive literature search, energy strategies and performance levels which affect heating and cooling energy consumption were established for a reference baseline building. To analyze the sensitivity of each energy strategy to overall performance, the table of Orthogonal Array was used to decrease the number of experiments to 81 in spite of the fact that the required number for carrying out the simulation was 312(=531,441). The computer simulation was performed using EnergyPlus. At the same time, the Analysis of Variance was conducted to estimate the relative importance of each energy factor. The results of the ANOVA were used as data for multiple regression analysis which could develop the load prediction equations. The proposed equation will provide architects with a simple and yet reliable tool to estimate the energy load of a building at the early design stage. At the same time, it will enable architects to develop the best design solution in terms of energy performance.


ABSTRACT: Cowpies molded to a standard configuration and size were subjected to simulated rainfall, and the fecal coliform counts were determined using the most probable number (MPN) method of enumeration. The standard cowpie deposits were exposed to simulated rainfall once at ages 2 through 100 days. The effects of rainfall intensity and recurrent rainfall were also tested. Naturally-occurring fecal deposits were also tested to compare their results with those from the standard cowpies.

A log-log regression was found to describe the decline in peak fecal coliform release with fecal deposit age. The 100-day-old fecal deposits produced peak counts of 4,200 fecal coliform per 100 milliliters of water. This quantity of release is minimal compared to the release from fresher fecal material.

Rainfall intensity had little effect on peak fecal coliform release from fecal deposits that were 2 or 10 days old. At age 20 days the effect of rainfall intensity was significant; the highest intensity gave the lowest peak counts, and the lowest intensity gave the highest peak counts. The effect of rainfall intensity appears to be related to the dryness of the fecal deposits.

Peak fecal coliform counts were significantly lowered when the fecal deposits were rained on more than once. This decline was thought to be produced by the loss of bacteria from the fecal deposits during the previous wettings.

Standard cowpies produced a peak release regression that was not significantly different from the regression for the natural fecal deposits. Apparently, grossly manipulating the fecal deposits did not significantly change the release patterns.


How did the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee break open the caste system in the American South between 1960 and 1965? In this innovative study, Wesley Hogan explores what SNCC accomplished and, more important, how it fostered significant social change in such a short time. She offers new insights into the internal dynamics of SNCC as well as the workings of the larger civil rights and Black Power movement of which it was a part. As Hogan chronicles, the members of SNCC created some of the civil rights movement's boldest experiments in freedom, including the sit-ins of 1960, the rejuvenated Freedom Rides of 1961, and grassroots democracy projects in Georgia and Mississippi. She highlights several key players - including Charles Sherrod, Bob Moses, and Fannie Lou Hamer - as innovators of grassroots activism and democratic practice. Breaking new ground, Hogan shows how SNCC laid the foundation for the emergence of the New Left and created new definitions of political leadership during the civil rights and Vietnam eras. She traces the ways other social movements - such as Black Power, women's liberation, and the antiwar movement - adapted practices developed within SNCC to apply to their particular causes. "Many Minds, One Heart" ultimately reframes the movement and asks us to look anew at where America stands on justice and equality today.


In 1803, during the Napoleonic Wars, the British imperial government conquered the Dutch colony of Berbice and took over the management of presumed governmental slaves. These consisted of persons on four estates and artisans in New Amsterdam, the colony's capital, which comprised a group known as winkel (shop) slaves. The British efforts to generate a profit from these slaves caused conflict and engendered resistance. This study is important because it illustrates that the imperial government arrived at the general abolition of slavery throughout its colonies in a rather ad hoc and piecemeal fashion. The study also raises important questions about the government's commitment to general abolition, noting that the crown slaves were hardly treated better than the majority of privately owned slaves. Thompson uses a wealth of archival sources and makes a significant contribution by utilizing primary material so that the slaves themselves recount their individual experiences. The major strength of this work is that it deals with state slaves, a study that has never been done before in the historiography of slavery in the Americas.


The subject of this paper will probably be regarded as uninteresting, so much having been said and written on it without producing any form of treatment that has appeared to modify much the course of pneumonia. More than one has mentally summed up the position with the thought: "We trust in the future." Yet we can not rest content with the present state of things. Osler calls pneumonia the "Captain of the Men of Death," and says it outranks consumption as a cause of death. At the Johns Hopkins Hospital the death rate in pneumonia is about 1 in 4. Of course, many of the patients come to the hospital only when the disease is far advanced and from most unfavorable surroundings.The Journalof the American Medical Association, in an editorial, quotes Dr. E. F. Wells' statistics published in 1902, in which it was shown that the mortality from


Cis and trans isomeric 5-methoxy- o -quinone α-phenylethides were generated by flash photolysis of o -hydroxybenzyl alcohol and o -hydroxystyrene precursors and their rates of decay were measured in aqueous solutions of perchloric acid, sodium hydroxide, and biphosphate (dihydrogen phosphate) ion and carbonate ion buffers. The data so obtained gave two parallel rate profiles displaced from one another by about an order of magnitude, the faster of which could be assigned to the cis isomer and the slower to the trans isomer. Both rate profiles showed acid catalyzed, uncatalyzed, and hydroxide ion catalyzed portions, with acid catalysis becoming saturated at the high acidity end of the range investigated. This saturation implies a pre-equilibrium mechanism involving quinone ethide protonation on carbonyl oxygen for the acid catalyzed process, and analysis of the data shows the trans isomer to be a slightly stronger base than the cis isomer. The fact that two separate rate profiles are observed implies that the cationic intermediates formed by substrate protonation in these acid catalyzed processes do not interconvert on the time scale of the quinone ethide decay reactions, and that in turn indicates that the former ethide bonds of the cationic intermediates have substantial double-bond character; a lower limit of 10 kcal mol^−1 may be estimated for the barrier to rotation about this bond.


Case summary A 7-year-old neutered male Norwegian Forest Cat was presented with decreased appetite and activity, weight loss, fever, neutrophilia and hyperglobulinaemia. A physical examination showed painful stifle joints and enlarged popliteal lymph nodes. Blood examination showed neutrophilia, hyperglobulinaemia and increased serum amyloid A. Urinalysis, thoracic and abdominal radiographs, and abdominal ultrasonography were unremarkable. Synovial fluid from the knee joints had diminished viscosity and revealed neutrophilic inflammation on the smear. There was no evidence of infection in a microbiological culture of the synovial fluid. A diagnosis of idiopathic immune-mediated polyarthritis (IMPA) was made. Prednisolone was initiated at 2 mg/kg q24h PO and tapered with additional immunosuppressants (leflunomide, ciclosporin A and methotrexate); however, prednisolone could not be discontinued. Informed consent was obtained from the owner and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) at a dosage of 10 mg/kg q12h PO was initiated on day 798. There were no adverse effects of MMF and prednisolone was discontinued on day 1183. Clinical signs resolved and the cat's general condition remained stable with MMF alone at a dosage of 10 mg/kg q48h PO on day 1600. Relevance and novel information There is limited information describing feline IMPA and its treatment options other than the use of prednisolone. This is the first report of the successful treatment and long-term follow-up of feline IMPA with MMF. MMF may be a safe and effective option as an additional immunosuppressant in feline IMPA.


A comparative analysis is made of the evocation of urban memory in the work of the Polish author of detective fiction Marek Krajewski and the leading Ukrainian writer of postmodernist fiction and popular historical publications Iurii Vynnchyuk. The cities that form the focus of the work of these writers, Wrocl /aw for Krajewski and L viv for Vynnychuk, both experienced massive population shifts after World War II, meaning that the postwar populations had little or no memory of the pre-war cities. The legacy of this disjunction can be felt to this day. This study demonstrates how both writers re-create a sense of memory through a number of similar memory strategies and concludes that the recreation of memory in these writers' work can be understood as what Marianne Hirsch calls postmemory, yet that this is postmemory removed from the traumatic context of Hirsch's original concept. It is also argued that these writers demonstrate that an effective 'cultural memory' can be produced in a situation when 'communicative memory' is lacking, through an imaginative and accessible representation of the ostensibly inaccessible past. This is achieved through the utilization of mass cultural forms, which some theorists of urban memory see as conducive only to forgetting.


Abstract In this paper, a simple and convenient new regularization method which is called modified quasi-boundary value method for solving nonlinear backward heat equation is given. Some new quite sharp error estimates between the approximate solution are provided and generalize the results in our paper [Trong, Quan, Khanh, and Tuan, Zeitschrift Analysis und ihre Anwendungen 26: 231–245, 2007, Trong and Tuan, Electron. J. Diff. Eqns. 4: 1–10, 2006, Trong and Tuan, Electron. J. Diff. Eqns. 84: 1–12, 2008]. The approximation solution is calculated by the contraction principle. A numerical experiment is given.


The demand for sustainable and robust catalysts for the valorisation of biomass is strictly related to the more and more pressing request to not only replace petroleum fuels with eco-friendly alternatives, but also to produce added value chemicals. In this context, the use of noble metals is not practically and economically sustainable and more abundant and stable alternatives are needed. In this contribution we have prepared and tested metal transition based catalysts (namely Ni3N and Ni nanoparticles) for the hydroconversion of levulinic acid (LA) as a model reaction. LA is useful also to produce valuable N-substituted pyrrolidones. Nanoparticles were prepared via a greener synthesis, using urea and metal salts, and have an average diameter of ∼30 nm (as ascertained by XRD and TEM studies). The main product of the levulinic acid hydroconversion was 1-ethyl-5-methylpyrrolidin-2-one. While this product was always the preferred one when Ni was used, Ni3N favoured the formation of the main product only in a shorter reaction time (below 1 h) with very high selectivity (up to 55% conversion), while a secondary product was formed in a longer time. The stability of the catalysts was also tested. To the best of our knowledge this is the first time that such a reaction is tested using transition metals and metal nitrides, with very promising results.


The Core Creek Project implemented and evaluated best management practices (BMPs) throughout the upper
watershed to reduce nutrient loading to the Neuse River. A portion of the Core Creek Project evaluated the reduction of
nitrate (NO3-N) leaving the Core Creek watershed due to the implementation of controlled drainage and nutrient
management plans. DRAINMOD-N was calibrated and extrapolated on a field-by-field basis to predict long-term hydrology
and nitrate losses based on BMPs implemented and crops grown throughout the watershed.
Predicted NO3-N reduction was most effectively accomplished when controlled drainage and a nitrogen management plan
were used in conjunction with one another. If implemented separately, a nitrogen management plan was predicted to be
more effective than controlled drainage alone. The cropping system also impacted the drainage rate and nitrate loss from
the fields. Potentially, a 30% and 75% nitrate reduction can be achieved growing cotton or soybeans, respectively, as
compared to corn. Controlled drainage reduced the drainage outflow by 6.8 centimeters (21.3%) annually, compared to
conventional drainage. This flow reduction accounted for 11.5% of the NO3-N reduction leaving the watershed.


We present a linear analysis of the vertical structure and growth of the magnetorotational instability in stratified, weakly ionized accretion discs, such as protostellar and quiescent dwarf novae systems. The method includes the effects of the magnetic coupling, the conductivity regime of the fluid and the strength of the magnetic field, which is initially vertical. The conductivity is treated as a tensor and is assumed to be constant with height.

We obtained solutions for the structure and growth rate of global unstable modes for different conductivity regimes, strengths of the initial magnetic field and coupling between ionized and neutral components of the fluid. The envelopes of short-wavelength perturbations are determined by the action of competing local growth rates at different heights, driven by the vertical stratification of the disc. Ambipolar diffusion perturbations peak consistently higher above the midplane than modes including Hall conductivity. For weak coupling, perturbations including the Hall effect grow faster and act over a more extended cross-section of the disc than those obtained using the ambipolar diffusion approximation.

Finally, we derived an approximate criterion for when Hall diffusion determines the growth of the magnetorotational instability. This is satisfied over a wide range of radii in protostellar discs, reducing the extent of the magnetic 'dead zone'. Even if the magnetic coupling is weak, significant accretion may occur close to the midplane, rather than in the surface regions of weakly ionized discs.


Abnormalities of nitrogen metabolism may be important in the production of hepatic coma (1). This concept is supported by the following: 1) Elevated blood "ammonia" 8 concentrations have been described in patients with cirrhosis of the liver, many of whom were in hepatic coma; the highest values have occurred in comatose patients. 2) Some alcoholic patients with cirrhosis given nitrogenous substances including ammonium cation-exchange resins, ammonium salts, urea, and increments of dietary protein have developed impending hepatic coma (mental confusion and often the characteristic "flapping" tremor) which usually terminated after discontinuing these substances (2, 3). 3) A similar state occurred also in Eck fistula dogs and man after feeding increments of dietary protein and other nitrogenous substances (4-6). Ammonium may react with glutamic acid to form glutamine or precursors of urea. Glutamic acid is used more than any other amino acid in brain energy metabolism, and has been reported to improve insulin coma in psychotic patients (7, 8). Walshe first used glutamic acid in the treatment of hepatic coma with encouraging results (9). Other investigators have since reported variable findings (10-20). This paper evaluates the effect of intravenous sodium glutamate administered to eleven patients with cirrhosis of the liver. Five were comatose, six showed signs of


(E. G. P38 mitogen-activated protein kinase enzyme family; Syk kinase; and through the inhibition of one or more members of the Src family of tyrosine kinases) have anti-inflammatory activity, including the use of the pharmaceutical combination therapy, in particular the compounds of formula (I) used in the treatment of lung, eye, and intestinal inflammatory diseases including inflammatory diseases is provided: Wherein R, R


The distorted-wave Born approximation has been very successful for treating electron-impact ionization (e,2e) of heavy atoms for high-energy incident electrons. However, as the energy of the incident electrons approaches threshold, significant differences between experiment and theory are observed. In these calculations, the continuum projectile electron wavefunction is typically calculated using the static field of the atom plus a local approximation for electron exchange. While this approximation is believed to be reasonable for higher energies, it is likely to become unreliable for energies near threshold. Here we report a proper treatment of electron exchange in which a full Hartree-Fock calculation is performed for both the atomic and projectile electrons. For the initial state, the projectile orbitals are calculated in the Hartree-Fock approximation with full exchange with the target electrons and for the final state, the Hartree-Fock continuum orbitals are computed for an ion. It is found that the static-exchange approximation is not valid for lower incident energy projectiles.


The claim that a border adjustment would permanently boost exports and reduce imports is often presented as an argument for consumption taxation. In reality, the economic case for consumption taxation, which is quite compelling, has absolutely nothing to do with border adjustments. The genuine advantages of consumption taxation - more efficient allocation of resources across the life cycle, increased capital accumulation, and a simpler tax system - need no boost from misconceptions about border adjustments.


Diabetes mellitus may be a gather of metabolic infection which encourages diabetic wound foot. To anticipate long diabetic wound complication and more awful condition
 it is required wound care for diabetic persistent. Cutting edge gauze has been utilized for later wound care strategy. The standards of advanced wound care item are
 keeping up and observing over the sticky environment of the wound to encourage the wound recuperating handle, keeping up fluid tissue hardship and cell expire. This
 inquire about was pointed to discover out how present-day wound gauze is connected to the diabetic quiet and to discover out the impact in recuperating wound stage.
 This investigate is subjective inquire about utilizing phenomenology approach, wound diabetic patients who were hospitalized for 2 weeks utilizing advanced wound care
 strategy in Magelang rule were taken part. The members were chosen utilizing purposive examining strategy. Perception and meet were utilized to get information,
information was analyzed utilizing clarification building strategy.


In this paper, we studied liquid-solid slip by employing a mean-field free-energy lattice Boltzmann approach recently proposed [Zhang et al., Phy. Rev. E. 69, 032602, 2004]. With a general bounce-back no-slip boundary condition applied to the interface, liquid slip was observed because of the specific fluid-solid interaction. The slip length is clearly related to the interaction strength: the stronger the interaction, the less hydrophobic the surface and hence results in less slipping. Unlike other lattice Boltzmann models, a contact angle value between 0–180° can be generated here without using a less realistic repulsive fluid-solid interaction. We found that system size does not affect the absolute slip magnitude; however, the ratio of the slip length to system size increases quickly as the system becomes smaller, illustrating that slip becomes important in smaller-scale systems. A small negative slip length can also be produced with a strong fluid-solid attraction. These results are in qualitative agreement with those from experimental and molecular dynamics studies.Copyright © 2005 by ASME