Several ethical considerations emerge when conducting research with memory-impaired individuals, including the individuals' ability to comprehend and accurately respond to survey questions. However, little empirical research exists on how to format surveys to decrease cognitive demands, thereby allowing researchers to more accurately survey this population. The current study presents data from structured interviews with 125 community-residing, memory-impaired older adults about their illness experience. The interview contained 14 scales varying in subjectivity, directionality, and response choice content. While objectivity did not affect participants' ability to use the full range of responses, participants with greater cognitive impairment tended to use simpler, dichotomous response categories, especially when questions had bidirectional response choices. Results suggest that memory-impaired individuals can participate in survey research, that such surveys should contain unidirectional frequency/amount items when possible, and that not all memory-impaired individuals will have difficulty completing surveys.


The subject of the study is the application of a variable approach to estimate the volume of investments required for the implementation of the investment project in the form of capital investments. The study considers domestic and foreign literature on the issue of exceeding the actual volume of investments spent on the creation of a facility over the planned volume of investments. In modern domestic conditions, the volume of investments required for the construction of the facility increases from the moment the customer makes a management decision to begin the implementation of the investment project at the stage of studying the feasibility of investments up to the commissioning of the facility, completed by construction and placing the newly created real estate object on accounting. The problem of exceeding the planned investment volume (overrun budget) for the construction of the facility is characteristic not only for domestic, but also for foreign practice of implementing investment projects. On the example of several objects put into operation, the variable approach to the assessment of the investment volume was analyzed. The concept of the expected accuracy range of determining the volume of investments in the form of capital investments is formulated and justified by calculations of its value, at various stages of the life cycle of the investment project. The author proposes to apply a variable approach in determining the planned investment volume for investment projects, including for calculating investment efficiency indicators. The proposed approach will allow: increasing the accuracy of estimating the required amount of investments for the implementation of an investment project; increasing the efficiency of investments in the form of capital investments starting from the stage of technology-economic justification of investments; among comprehensive measures, solving the problem of overrun budget – exceeding the actual volume of investment spent on the implementation of an investment project over the planned investment volume. In the course of further research, in the development of the author' s proposals, it seems advisable to perform for a number of commissioned objects the calculation of investment efficiency indicators at the indicated stages of the investment project implementation (feasibility study of investments, approval of project documentation, actual costs after putting the object into operation) according to the methodology proposed by the author: using the estimated volume of investments and the marginal volume of investments when pessimistic, basic and optimistic investment performance should be assessed within the expected range of investment volume accuracy in the form of capital investments.


A stripline method has been employed to measure the electron density ne along the length of a mercury positive column. The measurements suggest that for current densities greater than 1 A cm−2 significant axial gradients in ne occur and that these gradients vary with current modulation frequency. It is suggested that the gradients are caused by neutral density perturbations produced by both electrophoresis and `clean up' at the column walls.


This research is conducted with the aim to propose appropriate model for measuring logistics service providers' capabilities for cross-border operations between Thailand and Malaysia by using literature review method from secondary sources and collect the information from various type of international and domestic documents via internet searching through online databases along with statistical information from the annual report of national and international organization. The findings were analyzed and the results were reported by using descriptive method. The overview of Logistics Service Providers and its roles in cross-border operation are taken in to account. The study results reveals that the indicators for measuring capabilities of logistics service providers were categorized in three major aspects which are service quality, business decision making and capabilities.


This paper proposes a control approach for an active robotic walking support system based on environment feedback. The support system is controlled using imposed apparent dynamics and its parameters are varied by the environment information. The environment information will not cause any motion but will only change the characteristics or maneuverability of the support system. This approach leads to a passive behavior for an active walking support system. In addition, the stability of the support system based on the apparent dynamics is also discussed. This is important as a guideline on what parameters to vary that will not cause instability to the system. Experimental results are presented to show the validity of the control algorithm with environment feedback.


Objective: Objective of this study was to compare the efficacy of misoprostol and manual vacuum aspiration for the treatment of the first trimester termination of pregnancy. Study Design: Randomized controlled trial Setting: This study was carried out in department of obstetrics and gynaecology of Nishtar Hospital Multan. Duration of Study: This study was conducted from December 2016 to May 2017. Material and methods: A total of 652 women with gestational age ≤ 12 weeks with open cervical os were included in the study. Women with scarred uterus and multiple pregnancies or having asthma, heart disease, jaundice, glaucoma or known sensitivity to prostaglandin were excluded. Total women were divided into two groups. 326 in misoprostol group while 326 in manual vacuum aspiration group. Misoprostol group received misoprostol tablet 400 mcg vaginally every 4 hour for a maximum of three doses, according to cervical softening, dilatation and uterine contractions. Oxytocin infusion was started after 6 hours of first dose administration, at a rate of 2 mIU/min with increments of 1mIU/min after every 30 minutes, to a maximum of 8 mIU/min. Manual vacuum aspiration group had not receive any uterotonics and directly underwent manual vacuum aspiration. Patients were called on 7th day of procedure for follow up. Transvaginal ultrasonograph was performed, to measure the endometrial thickness at the maximum anteroposterior diameter on the long-axis view of the uterus. Efficacy was measured in form of complete abortion. Results: Age range in this study was from 18 to 40 years with mean age of 31.791±4.86 years in misoprostol group while 32.386±4.83 years in manual vacuum aspiration group. Majority of the patients were between 31-35 years in both groups. Mean gestational age was 9.892 ±1.38 weeks in misoprostol group and 9.871±1.22 weeks in manual vacuum aspiration group, while mean doses in misoprostol group was 2.358±0.65. Efficacy was seen in 94.2% patients in misoprostol group as compare to 92% in manual vacuum aspiration group (P=0.148). Conclusion: For the treatment of the first trimester termination, both manual vacuum aspiration and 400 µg intravaginal misoprostol are effective treatments. Based on availability of each method and the wishes of individual women, either option may be presented to women for the treatment of the first trimester termination. Keywords: Abortion, Misoprostol, Manual vacuum aspiration.


The details of an infrared technique standardized to analyze cotton–polyester blends of different compositions are reported. It is observed that particle size plays a very important role in the peak intensity of the 1725 cm−1 band (CO stretching) in polyester, the absorption band recommended for analysis of cotton–polyester blends. However, the product of the band width and peak intensity is found to be dependent on particle size to a lesser extent and hence is a more reliable parameter in the measurement of percentage composition. It has further been shown that the method of sample preparation can affect the band width and hence the results. A suitable sample preparation procedure is, therefore, described whereby an accuracy of ±3% in the estimation of polyester content in a given blend can be achieved.


Around 70-90 % of medicines are given orally, and this reduces the value comparatively, whereas, Transdermal drug delivery system (TDDS) is one of the very effective ways of delivering drug to the body by limiting the site for administration and even reducing the number and size of dose given to achieve the result for systemic treatment through local dermal application. Transdermal drug delivery system is one of the innovative drug diffusion system that has gained interest overtime because of its advantages over oral route of administration, such as, non-invasive, high bioavailability, omits the first pass metabolism, has no pain and minimal/less side effects. The present analysis emphases on the herbal approach in TDDS and eliminating the inconvenience caused in oral route of administration such as, unpleasant taste, odour, colour, and side effects like gastritis. The main objective behind of development of an alternate novel dosage form is to reduce the inconvenience/problem caused to the patient and increase the efficacy, success and protection of the drug. This evolution aims at formulating the adhesive patches by integrating herbal sources. The synthetic drugs are developed to treat complicated disease but these medications are themselves related to many side effects, it is where the nature comes in, herbal source on other hand is more effective, safe and easily available. There are different herbal patches available that aids in weight loss, quit smoking, alleviates stress and anxiety, to reduce abdominal cramp, rheumatic pain, to lower blood glucose level as an antidiabetic, etc. Integration of Novel drug delivery systems like TDDS with Indian ayurvedic medicines and pure plant extracts offers significant potential to treat various diseases.


Upper Colorado River basin streamflow has declined by roughly 20% over the last century of the instrumental period, based on estimates of naturalized flow above Lees Ferry. Here we assess factors causing the decline and evaluate the premise that rising surface temperatures have been mostly responsible. We use an event attribution framework involving parallel sets of global model experiments with and without climate change drivers. We demonstrate that climate change forcing has acted to reduce Upper Colorado River basin streamflow during this period by about 10% (with uncertainty range of 6%–14% reductions). The magnitude of the observed flow decline is found to be inconsistent with natural variability alone, and approximately one-half of the observed flow decline is judged to have resulted from long-term climate change. Each of three different global models used herein indicates that climate change forcing during the last century has acted to increase surface temperature (~+1.2°C) and decrease precipitation (~−3%). Using large ensemble methods, we diagnose the separate effects of temperature and precipitation changes on Upper Colorado River streamflow. Precipitation change is found to be the most consequential factor owing to its amplified impact on flow resulting from precipitation elasticity (percent change in streamflow per percent change in precipitation) of ~2. We confirm that warming has also driven streamflow declines, as inferred from empirical studies, although operating as a secondary factor. Our finding of a modest −2.5% °C−1 temperature sensitivity, on the basis of our best model-derived estimate, indicates that only about one-third of the attributable climate change signal in Colorado River decline resulted from warming, whereas about two-thirds resulted from precipitation decline.


In this article, a novel aerial cooperative tethered carrying, and path planning framework is introduced with a special focus on applications in confined environments. The proposed work is aiming towards solving the path planning problem for the formation of two quadrotors, having a rope hanging below them and passing through or around obstacles. A novel composition mechanism is proposed, which simplifies the degrees of freedom of the combined aerial system and expresses the corresponding states in a compact form. Given the state of the composition, a dynamic body is generated that encapsulates the quadrotors-rope system and makes the procedure of collision checking between the system and the environment more efficient. By utilizing the above two abstractions, an RRT path planning scheme is implemented and a collision-free path for the formation is generated. This path is decomposed back to the quadrotors' desired positions that are fed to the Model Predictive Controller (MPC) for each one. The efficiency of the proposed framework is experimentally evaluated.


ABSTRACT Tim Bucknall from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro Libraries compared subscription, pay-per-view, and consortium models of e-journal access. When faced with a sizeable cut in their library serials budget in 2002, Bucknall and his team moved away from their e-journal subscription model and implemented a pay-per-view model. This approach proved to be more cost effective and enabled the library to expand access to e-journals. However, costs continued to rise, prompting Bucknall to establish the Carolina Consortium in 2005. Consisting of academic libraries in North and South Carolina, this consortium has been able to negotiate with a number of publishers in order to achieve lower prices and greater e-journal access. Bucknall also discussed additional cooperative efforts currently underway in North Carolina libraries that came about as a result of the consortium.


This essay offers an analysis of the viability of probation in criminal cases dealing with violence against women. To this end, it assesses the Sentence of the Supreme Court of Justice of Argentina in the case "Gongora, Gabriel Arnaldo / No 14.092", dated April 23, 2013. This analysis considers five relevant topics: violence against women as a problem in itself, the Argentinian normative framework, the reality of the judicial system, and the interests of both the victim and the imputed.The main argument in the Court's sentence departs from the premise that recourse to probation is incompatible with the purpose of the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Sanction and Eradication of Violence against Women (Convention Belem do Para). This is so because it is considered to neglect the compromise assumed by the State to "sanction" the relevant offenses by means of a "fair and efective legal procedure" (article 7, b and f of the Convention). In addition to this, the sentence claims that this would be inconsistent with the Interpretation Guidelines of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaty.In contrast to this view, this article argues that there is no prima facie legal impediment to proceed with probation in cases involving violence against women. To the contrary, this option may find support in a systemic analysis of Argentinian law. Furthermore, it maintains that trial and punishment may not constitute the most efficient response neither from the perspective of the criminal system, nor from the perspective of the victim. Parallel to this, it suggests that there are reasons to think that, depending on the case, suspension may turn out to be beneficial both for judicial administration and for those involved.Finally, the article motivates the claim that recourse to probation in cases involving violence against women must be evaluated in a case-by-case analysis. When regarded as pertinent, judicial operators must focus in the conditions for its admission and in the strict vigilance of its execution. As a result of this, it becomes imperative that probation receives regulation in the Criminal Procedure Code as long as substantive rights, judicial principles, rights and constitucional warranties constitute normative dimensions that should not be severed from each other.


STUDY QUESTION
What are the live birth rate and risks of obstetric complications following the surgical management of intrauterine adhesions (IUA) such as Asherman syndrome (AS)?

SUMMARY ANSWER
The live birth rate is 63.7%, and obstetric complications including placentation issues, prematurity and postpartum hysterectomy require that pregnancies in women after treatment for IUA should be considered moderate to high risk.

WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY
Studies reviewing short-term surgical, menstrual and fertility outcomes following hysteroscopic management are reassuring, with success correlated to the severity of IUA. There are limited data reporting live birth, neonatal and maternal complications.

STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION
This retrospective study included all women treated for IUA by hysteroscopic synechiolysis under fluoroscopic guidance in two tertiary University-affiliated hospitals. All women reported at least one pre-treatment symptom including menstrual dysfunction, subfertility or pelvic pain and intended to become pregnant post-treatment. Survival curve analysis was performed for time to pregnancy, and obstetric data were collated from a National Obstetric Database for delivery and neonatal outcomes.

PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS
A total of 154 women were included in the study. Surgical intervention involved hysteroscopic synechiolysis under fluoroscopic guidance until cavity restoration was confirmed. Questionnaires regarding fertility and its outcomes were sent to all women undergoing surgery, with analysis of menstrual, fertility rates and outcomes of those pregnancies including risks and complications to the woman and the offspring.

MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE
Women were followed up for a minimum of 1 year (range: 1-14 years) from index surgery. The chance of pregnancy was 98/124 (79.0% CI: 63.6, 83.1%) in women wishing to conceive and the chance of a live birth was 79/124 (63.7% CI: 51.3, 70.7%). The chance of a miscarriage was 29/124 (23.4% CI: 18.8, 37.1%). There were 93 live births in 79 women following surgery, with detailed obstetric data available for 85 of these births. They were complicated by abnormal placentation in 15/85 (17.6% CI: 13.0, 30.2%), postpartum hysterectomy in 4/85 (4.7% CI: -0.4, 7.0%), and prematurity in 25/85 (29.4% CI: 17.0, 35.3%) women.

LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION
The retrospective nature of the study and extended follow-up time may cause selection and recall bias, however, pregnancy and its outcomes-particularly in women with problems of subfertility-are frequently key milestones, with birthdates readily recalled. Menstrual outcomes are more likely to be subject to recall bias.

WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS
Our surgical data are similar to the published literature with reassuring short-term outcomes for menstruation and cavity reconstruction following surgery for IUA. Long-term outcomes including pregnancy rates were higher than published data, however, the obstetric and neonatal complication rates were increased, indicating a continuation of risk beyond infertility and into pregnancy. An altered biochemical or vascular environment is a possible explanation for impaired implantation resulting in poorer reproductive obstetric and neonatal outcomes. The relative rarity of IUA-particularly severe disease-makes prospective data collection difficult. Our data suggest that women with IUA should be treated as moderate-high risk obstetric patients in subsequent pregnancy and counselled appropriately.

STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S)
No funding and no competing interests.


Websites that provide a high level of data quality should logically be more visible for search engines. However, search engines base their results on methods such as Web hyperlink structure analysis and ignore data quality. The authors evaluate data quality in a group of 88 Web portals in three different domains and compare the results with the sites' positions in a visibility ranking. Looking at the relationship between data-quality level and visibility, their results show that data quality isn't a key factor in visibility.


We discuss different types of human-robot interaction paradigms in the context of training end-to-end reinforcement learning algorithms. We provide a taxonomy to categorize the types of human interaction and present our Cycle-of-Learning framework for autonomous systems that combines different human-interaction modalities with reinforcement learning. Two key concepts provided by our Cycle-of-Learning framework are how it handles the integration of the different human-interaction modalities (demonstration, intervention, and evaluation) and how to define the switching criteria between them.


Epilepsy is associated with a multitude of acquired or genetic neurological disorders characterized by a predisposition to spontaneous recurrent seizures. An estimated 15 million patients worldwide have ongoing seizures despite optimal management and are classified as having refractory epilepsy. Early-life seizures like those caused by perinatal hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) remain a clinical challenge because although transient, they are difficult to treat and associated with poor neurological outcomes. Pediatric epilepsy syndromes are consistently associated with intellectual disability and neurocognitive comorbidities. HIE and arterial ischemic stroke are the most common causes of seizures in term neonates and account for 7.5-20% of neonatal seizures. Standard first-line treatments such as phenobarbital (PB) and phenytoin fail to curb seizures in ~50% of neonates. In the long-term, HIE can result in hippocampal sclerosis and temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), which is the most common adult epilepsy, ~30% of which is associated with refractory seizures. For patients with refractory TLE seizures, a viable option is the surgical resection of the epileptic foci. Novel insights gained from investigating the developmental role of Cl- cotransporter function have helped to elucidate some of the mechanisms underlying the emergence of refractory seizures in both HIE and TLE. KCC2 as the chief Cl- extruder in neurons is critical for enabling strong hyperpolarizing synaptic inhibition in the brain and has been implicated in the pathophysiology underlying both conditions. More recently, KCC2 function has become a novel therapeutic target to combat refractory seizures.


Political and public acceptance and institutional setup are among important barriers to the adoption of congestion pricing. While urban toll schemes have never gained public acceptance in Norway, political acceptance and institutional setup have been crutial in their widespread adaption in Norway. By relying on international evidence from Edinburgh, Manchester, New York City and Copenhagen, Russo (2013) suggests that political acceptability and institutional setup are perhaps the greatest barriers to the implementation of a toll scheme . London, Stockholm and Millan demonstrate the importnace of political acceptability and institutional setups as well as the effectiveness of the policy. Russo correctly suggests that the ease of the implementation of parking regulations and pricings relates to the institutional setup. In a paper presented at hEART 2015 (Ramjerdi, Knockaert and Johansen), we analysed the public opinion surveys conducted annualy by the Public Roads Admistration since 1989 in Oslo and a public opinion survey coducted in 2014 in Trondheim. We applied latent class models to these data to identify classes that were for, against or neutral to the schemes. In this paper we suggested that those who have formed an opinion towards the scheme (for or against) are less likely to change their views, while those who are indifferent to the scheme are more likely to change their opinions. This paper focuses on the 2014 survey in Trondheim. The data collected in this survey will be used to respond to the following questions: 1. What are the factors (e.g., preceived impacts of a policy) that  could lead to an increase in a policy acceptance such as congestion pricing? 2. How different segments of a population (not only based on the observed socioeconomic variable, but also based on attitudinal variables) change their acceptance of a congestion pricing scheme? An understanding of these points could help policy makers to persuade individuals to alsign their behaviours with that of the public. Among the data collected in the 2014 survey, were data on respondents travel behaviour, their perception of traffic and environment, attitudes, travel habits, perceptions of taxes, equity, social policies, etc. Before attitudinal questions, the respondents state their stands (for, against or neurtal) on the scheme. The respondents are again asked on how they would vote for the scheme (if they could vote today), after the attitudinal questions. We have applied an ordered logit model with latent variables to evaluate how likely is a respondent to change stand and the type of variables that turn significant for changing stands. Ramjerdi, F. Knochaert, J. and Johansen, B. 2015 Public acceptance of road pricing; Does it matter? Paper presented at the hEART Conference, 9-11 september 2015, Copenghagen Russo, A. 2013. Voting on road Congestion Policy, Regional Science and Urban Economic


The 2019 IEEE Industrial Electronics Society (IES) Women in Engineering (WIE) Forum in Europe was held in Lisbon, Portugal, on 16 October 2019, in collaboration between the Women in IES initiative of the IES and Nova University Lisbon, Portugal. The workshop offered an interesting program, consisting of seven invited speeches from academia and industry regarding cutting-edge research topics.


The steepness of the bond yield curve should be an excellent indicator of a possible future economic activity. A rise in the short rate tends to flatten the yield curve as well as to slow down real growth the near term. The relationship between the spread and future GDP activity was proved already before. One question remains – which spread is the best for the future prediction? Is it the spread between sovereign 10-year bonds and 3-month bonds or 30-year and 1- year or 10-year and 1-year sovereign bonds? This paper aims to analyze which spread is the most suitable for predicting of future economic growth in France, Germany and Great Britain between the years 2000 and 2016. The natural and probably the most popular measure of economic growth is GDP growth, taken quarterly. We have found out that the best predictive spreads in France, Germany and Great Britain are the spreads of 30-year and 1-year and 10-year and 1-year government bond yields. These findings might be beneficial for investors and provide further evidence of the potential usefulness of the yield curve spreads as indicators of the future economic activity.


Optical, spectral, and thermal characteristics of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well green light‐emitting diodes (LEDs) with a large chip size of 0.8 × 1 mm2, operating at λ ∼ 525 nm, on patterned sapphire substrate (PSS) were studied. The temperature‐dependent optical and spectral properties of LEDs were measured and analyzed. The junction temperature (Tj) was also determined by the forward voltage method, in comparison with the simulation results which were theoretically calculated by a three‐dimensional anisotropic heat dissipation model based on the finite element method. Under an injection current of 350 mA at 298 K, the optical output power and forward voltage were obtained to be 63.5 mW and 3.98 V, respectively. The characteristic temperature was found to be ∼438 K at an injection current of 350 mA. The Tj was increased with increasing the injection current. From the measured Tj values, the thermal resistance (Rth) value was experimentally obtained to be ∼6.31 K W−1, which was well consistent with the simulated result (Rth ∼ 6.24 K W−1).


Feedback on the material properties of a visual object is essential in enhancing the users' perceptual experience of the object when users control the object with touchless inputs. Focusing on the softness perception of the object, we examined how the effective distance of hand movements influenced the degree of the object's softness perceived by users. In the experiments, participants moved their right hand in front of a camera which tracked their hand position. A textured 2D or 3D object on display deformed depending on the participant's hand position. In addition to establishing a ratio of deformation magnitude to the distance of hand movements, we altered the effective distance of hand movement, within which the hand movement could deform the object. Participants rated the strength of perceived softness (Experiments 1 and 2) and other perceptual impressions (Experiment 3). A longer effective distance produced a softer impression of the 2D and 3D objects. The saturation speed of object deformation due to the effective distance was not a critical determinant. The effective distance also modulated other perceptual impressions than softness. The role of the effective distance of hand movements on perceptual impressions of objects under touchless control is discussed.


We introduce electrically thin dielectric lenses and reflectors that focus a plane wave based on the principles of phase compensation and constructive wave interference. Phase compensation is achieved by arranging thin rectangular slabs having different dielectric permittivity according to a permittivity profile obtained through analytic design equations. All incident rays parallel to the optical axis converge to a focal point with equalized optical paths resulting in constructive interference. Plane wave simulations indicate strong focusing, even in the presence of impedance mismatch between free space and the dielectric layers composing the lens. We demonstrate focusing at 9.45 GHz using a lens fabricated with commercially available dielectric materials. In addition to focusing, the flat lens proposed here demonstrates relatively high power gain at the focal point. We also present a flat reflector based on the same concept. We believe that the proposed dielectric lens and reflector are strong candidates to replace heavy metallic dishes and reflectors used in a variety of applications, especially satellites.


Discriminative language modeling is a structured classification problem. Log-linear models have been previously used to address this problem. In this paper, the standard dot-product feature representation used in log-linear models is replaced by a non-linear function parameterized by a neural network. Embeddings are learned for each word and features are extracted automatically through the use of convolutional layers. Experimental results show that as a stand-alone model the continuous space model yields significantly lower word error rate (1% absolute), while having a much more compact parameterization (60%-90% smaller). If the baseline scores are combined, our approach performs equally well.


In postmitotic neurons, nucleosomal turnover was long considered to be a static process that is inconsequential to transcription. However, our recent studies in human and rodent brain indicate that replication-independent (RI) nucleosomal turnover, which requires the histone variant H3.3, is dynamic throughout life and is necessary for activity-dependent gene expression, synaptic connectivity, and cognition. H3.3 turnover also facilitates cellular lineage specification and plays a role in suppressing the expression of heterochromatic repetitive elements, including mutagenic transposable sequences, in mouse embryonic stem cells. In this essay, we review mechanisms and functions for RI nucleosomal turnover in brain and present the hypothesis that defects in histone dynamics may represent a common mechanism underlying neurological aging and disease.


Objectives To investigate the performance of the Bio-Rad Dx CT/NG/MG Assay with an internal control for the detection of Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) and Mycoplasma genitalium (MG) in urogenital samples in comparison with the Roche Cobas TaqMan CT test and an in-house TaqMan PCR test for MG. For Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG), only positive PCR results were controlled by culture. Methods In this prospective study, urogenital samples were obtained from symptomatic and asymptomatic patients attending the STI center of Bordeaux, France, from January to April 2010. For symptomatic women and men, two endocervical swabs and two urethral swabs were collected, respectively. All patients and women collected first-catch urines and two vaginal swabs, respectively. Two swabs per site were used, a flocked swab in the universal transport medium and the Bio-Rad flocked swab in its transport medium. For the Bio-Rad CT/NG/MG assay, the DNA was manually extracted and amplified according to the manufacturer's instructions. For the comparator PCR tests, DNA was extracted using the MagNa Pure LC instrument (Roche Diagnostics) and amplified with the Cobas TaqMan CT 48 assay (Roche Diagnostics) and with a MgPa-targeted PCR assay on an ABI Prism 7000 (Applied Biosystems) for MG. The patient was considered as infected if at least two of the 4 or 6 PCR tests performed according to the gender and characteristics of patients, were positive. For asymptomatic men, in case of discrepancy, the urine sample was retested by both methods and the patient was considered infected if at least two of the four PCR results were positive for the considered microorganism. Results A total of 658 clinical specimens (259 male and 180 female urines, 191 vaginal, 21 cervix and seven urethral swabs) from 453 patients were analysed. The prevalence of CT and MG infections was 7.7% (20/260) and 1.9% (5/260) in men and 10.3% (20/193) and 2% (4/193) in women, respectively. The Bio-Rad Dx CT/NG/MG test sensitivity was 100% for CT and MG in men and women. In male urines, the specificity was 99.6% for CT and 100% for MG. In women, the specificity was 99.5% for swabs and 100% for urines for CT and MG. All 7 NG-PCR positive samples were positive by culture. Patients were co-infected in 5/56 (9%) with CT/MG in three cases and CT/NG in two cases. Conclusion The Bio-Rad Dx CT/NG/MG Assay was found to be very effective for the simultaneous detection of CT, MG, and NG infections in urogenital specimens.


This article focuses on teaching and learning about dance through the use of digital media. The overarching topic is the concept of self as situated in one's cultural practices, and how this sense of self plays out in choreographic projects. The theoretical methodology that supports this work are two-fold and are illuminated in this paper: One, based on the Embodiment theory whereby the body is the generating center of experience that receives and sends information to and from the external world and is situated in culture. The second aspect is the choreographic practice with media creates an alternate live realm inclusive of the live and virtual body. All projects carry the concept of self which does not require an actual onscreen dancer, but rather a depiction of self. The primary directive is to integrate an image with live dance and that self carries significant conceptual weight which guides the process.


Background: During the 20th century, the share of elderly in the total population of the Earth has increased steadily. It is expected that this trend will continue in the 21st century. In 1950, the elderly (persons aged 60 years and older) were 8% of the world population; in 2000, is already 10%; and in 2050, according to United Nations projections, the proportion will reach 21%. This research on Kazakhstan provides demographic analysis from 1989 to 2012 and presents the main features of population' ageing through comparative analysis. Materials and Methods: We used information-analytical, content-analysis, mathematical treatment and comparative analysis of statistical data on demographic status in Kazakhstan and some other countries of the world (UK, USA, Turkey, Russia) over the 1989-2012. Results: Age dependency ratio of the Russian federation - >1.7 times, in the USA-up to 1.9 times and the UK has dependency ratio higher than 2.5 times of similar indicators in Kazakhstan in 2010. Conclusion: Life expectancy of the elderly population KZ after 65 years in 2010 was only 13.8 years, which is 6-9 years inferior to European and U.S. indices. Thus, increasing the retirement age is inappropriate for the current period.


The effect of human polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) on Chlamydia trachomatis was studied. Both trachoma (B/TW-5/OT) and lymphogranuloma venereum (L2/434/Bu) biotypes were rapidly inactivated by exposure to human PMNs. A decrease of 3 to 3.5 logs in viable count was observed after 60 min of incubation at a chlamydia-to-PMN ratio of 1:10. Both chlamydial biotypes were also rapidly inactivated by the cell-free myeloperoxidase-H2O2-halide system. A decrease in infectivity titer of 4 to 5 logs for TW-5 and complete inactivation of 434 were seen after 30 min of incubation. The microbicidal effect was prevented by the deletion of each component of the system or by the addition of the peroxidase inhibitors cyanide or azide. PMNs from myeloperoxidase-deficient patients inactivated chlamydiae normally, whereas PMNs from patients with chronic granulomatous disease, although strongly chlamydicidal, were less effective than normal PMNs in the activation of TW-5 (2-log drop in viable organisms versus a 3 to 3.5-log drop). The chlamydicidal activity of PMNs from patients with chronic granulomatous disease and normal PMNs were comparable against the 434 biotype. These studies suggest that the myeloperoxidase system, or indeed oxygen-dependent antimicrobial systems, are not essential for the chlamydicidal activity of PMNs.


The authors present a 6-year follow-up of an atypical case of idiopathic macular telangiectasia (IMT) type 1 in a 67-year-old man treated with intravitreal injections of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and subthreshold micropulse yellow laser. In this case, the authors detected a bilateral idiopathic macular telangiectasia. The right eye was characterized by a severe cystoid macular edema, whereas in the left eye, small cysts with small pseudovitelliform macular lesion were detected. Anti-VEGF intravitreal injections were performed in absence of functional or anatomical results in the right eye. After a single subthreshold micropulse yellow laser treatment, the authors reported an important reduction of intraretinal cysts with the restoration of the foveal depression in the right eye. During the follow-up, the left eye remained stable. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first reported case of macular telangiectasia with a such long optical coherence tomography follow-up treated using micropulse yellow laser. The follow-up examination is fundamental to disentangle atypical cases, especially in these conditions in which there is an overlap of different clinical elements. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2018;49:e278-e283.].


Y6(WMo)(0.5)O12 activated with Eu(3+) ions was investigated as a red-emitting conversion phosphor for white light emitting diodes (WLEDs). The phosphors were synthesized by calcining a citrate-complexation precursor at different temperatures. The photoluminescence properties of the phosphors and the energy transfer mechanisms involved were studied as a function of structure evolution. It was found that the host lattices were crystallized in a cubic or a hexagonal phase depending on the synthesis conditions. Although all the phosphors showed intensive red emission under an excitation of near-UV or blue light due to energy transfer from the host lattices to Eu(3+) ions, the photoluminescence spectra and temporal decay features were found to vary significantly with the structure and crystallinity of the host lattice. The mechanisms of the energy transfer from the host lattices to Eu(3+) ions and energy quenching among Eu(3+) ions were discussed on the basis of structure evolution of the host lattice. Phosphors calcined at 800 and 1300 °C were suggested to be promising candidates for blue and near-UV light excited WLEDs, respectively.


Experimental and theoretical investigations of the self-assembly process of a Pd(II) coordination M6L4 square-based pyramid (SP) were conducted. It was found that the probable self-assembly pathway, in which the dimerization of M2L2 with two M leads to SP, expected from the connectivity of the building blocks is not a major self-assembly pathway to the M6L4 SP. Whether the M6L4 SP is assembled or M2L2 is trapped is determined by an inter- or intramolecular reaction in a chain-like M2L2X, where X is a leaving ligand. The kinetically trapped state where the M6L4 SP is produced from M2L2 beyond the Boltzmann distribution was realized by a concentration-induced process and was kept for at least 2 months at 298 K.


We consider spin-dependent effects in low-energy electron molecule scattering. Until now no explicit spin dependent effects have been included in ab initio calculations. We discuss the fine-structure effect, well known from atomic physics, for diatomic molecules as a model which can describe deviations from pure exchange scattering. Numerical results for the a3 Pi excitation of CO will give an indication of the magnitude of the effects. Resolving the fine-structure of the target leads to the different coupling schemes for diatomic molecules. We consider in this paper Hund`s cases (a) and (b) as the two most important ones. In particular, differential cross sections and spin polarization for unpolarized projectiles and targets are discussed. For molecules obeying Hund`s case (a) coupling scheme orientation and alignment parameters are introduced.


PURPOSE
To retrospectively evaluate the computed tomography (CT)-determined size, morphology, location, morphologic change, and growth rate of incidence and prevalence lung cancers detected in high-risk individuals who underwent annual chest CT screening for 5 years and to evaluate the histologic features and stages of these cancers.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The study was institutional review board approved and HIPAA compliant. Informed consent was waived. CT scans of 61 cancers (24 in men, 37 in women; age range, 53-79 years; mean, 65 years) were retrospectively reviewed for cancer size, morphology, and location. Forty-eight cancers were assessed for morphologic change and volume doubling time (VDT), which was calculated by using a modified Schwartz equation. Histologic sections were retrospectively reviewed.

RESULTS
Mean tumor size was 16.4 mm (range, 5.5-52.5 mm). Most common CT morphologic features were as follows: for bronchioloalveolar carcinoma (BAC) (n = 9), ground-glass attenuation (n = 6, 67%) and smooth (n = 3, 33%), irregular (n = 3, 33%), or spiculated (n = 3, 33%) margin; for non-BAC adenocarcinomas (n = 25), semisolid (n = 11, 44%) or solid (n = 12, 48%) attenuation and irregular margin (n = 14, 56%); for squamous cell carcinoma (n = 14), solid attenuation (n = 12, 86%) and irregular margin (n = 10, 71%); for small cell or mixed small and large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (n = 7), solid attenuation (n = 6, 86%) and irregular margin (n = 5, 71%); for non-small cell carcinoma not otherwise specified (n = 5), solid attenuation (n = 4, 80%) and irregular margin (n = 3, 60%); and for large cell carcinoma (n = 1), solid attenuation and spiculated shape (n = 1, 100%). Attenuation most often (in 12 of 21 cases) increased. Margins most often (in 16 of 20 cases) became more irregular or spiculated. Mean VDT was 518 days. Thirteen of 48 cancers had a VDT longer than 400 days; 11 of these 13 cancers were in women.

CONCLUSION
Overdiagnosis, especially in women, may be a substantial concern in lung cancer screening.


Characterization of the properties of young brown dwarfs are important to constraining the formation of objects at the extreme low-mass end of the initial mass function. While young brown dwarfs share many properties with solar-mass T Tauri stars, differences may be used as tests of how the physics of accretion/outflow and disk chemistry/dissipation depend on the mass of the central object. This article summarizes the presentations and discussions during the splinter session on "Disks, accretion and outflows of brown dwarfs" held at the CoolStars17 conference in Barcelona in June 2012. Recent results in the field of brown dwarf disks and outflows include the determination of brown dwarf disk masses and geometries based on Herschel far-IR photometry (70–160 µm), accretion properties based on X-Shooter spectra, and new outflow detections in the very low-mass regime. (© 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)


Emotions are important on eating behaviours but the direction of the effect is unknown. The aim of this study is to evaluate eating behaviours and some related factors of first grade medical students after the university entrance exam. This study was performed in a medical faculty from Ankara, Turkey in October 2019. Researchers used a questionnaire comprising of 56 questions; 23 questions about students' sociodemographical characteristics and 33-item Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ). DEBQ is a self-report questionnaire and Turkish validity and reliability was tested in 2011. Written permission from Faculty Executive Committee was obtained prior to the study and informed consent were obtained from the participants. The significance level was taken as p < 0.05. SPSS 25.0 package program was used in data analysis. Three hundred and ninety one students (80.6%) out of a total of 485 participated in the study. Of all 319 students participating in this study, the mean age was 18.53±0.71 and 52.4% were men (n = 205). Forty point two percent of the students claimed that their eating habits were healthless, while 33.8% of the students stated that they ate more when they were stressed and 50.9% of the students stated that their body weight was increased during their university entrance exam period. Mean DEBQ total points were higher in women and in students who stated that their body weight was increased during their university entrance exam period than the others (student t test, p < 0,001; ANOVA test, p < 0,001, respectively). Multiple Linear regression analysis pointed out that being women increased DEBQ total point by 9,091 point (p < 0,001, 95% CI: 5,595-12,587). This study demonstrated that nutrition and eating habits are critical issues for young people's life and their future. Therefore many students need more help and guidance about stress management and healthy eating habits especially when they are preparing for important exams and also right after the exams.

 This study demonstrated that nutrition and eating habits are critical issues for young people's life and their future. Many students need more help and guidance about stress management and healthy eating habits especially when they are preparing for important exams and also right after the exams.


The role of aluminum (Al) in Alzheimer disease is highly controversial. However, this element has been detected in neuritic plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in patients with Alzheimer disease. Its presence in neuritic plaques in hippocampus is especially relevant, as this is an area closely related to spatial learning and memory. In this study, the diet of wild-type and Tg2576 mice (animals overexpressing the human amyloid precursor protein) was supplemented with Al lactate (1 mg/g). General neurotoxic Al effects were evaluated using a functional observational battery and a novel object recognition task. Four experimental groups were used: Control-wild, Al-wild, Control-Tg, and Al-Tg mice. The results show a decreased home-cage activity and an increase in piloerection in all Al-exposed animals, and an increased sensorimotor reactivity in Tg2576 mice given Al. Neither Al treatment nor genotype had any noticeable effect on corticosterone levels and Al concentrations in frontal cortex and cerebellum of the mice. Recognition memory was impaired in Tg2576 mice, whereas &bgr;-amyloid plaque depositions were observed in all these animals. However, Al did not alter the recognition memory and &bgr;-amyloid plaque loads of Tg2576 mice.


The role of the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), a component of the innate immune system, in the development of burn-induced acute lung injury (ALI) has not been completely defined. Recent data suggested that an intact TLR4 plays a major role in the development of organ injury in sterile inflammation. We hypothesized that burn-induced ALI is a TLR4-dependent process. Male C57BL/6J (TLR4 wild-type [WT]) and C57BL/10ScN (TLR4 knockout [KO]) mice were subjected to a 30% total body surface area steam burn. Animals were killed at 6 and 24 h after the insult. Lung specimens were harvested for histological examination after hematoxylin-eosin staining. In addition, lung myeloperoxidase (MPO) and intercellular adhesion molecule 1 immunostaining was performed. Lung MPO was measured by an enzymatic assay. Total lung keratinocyte-derived chemoattractant (IL-8) content was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Western blot was performed to quantify phosphorylated I&kgr;B&agr;, phosphorylated nuclear factor &kgr;B p65 (NF-&kgr;Bp65), and high mobility group box 1 expression. Acute lung injury, characterized by thickening of the alveolar-capillary membrane, hyaline membrane formation, intraalveolar hemorrhage, and neutrophil infiltration, was seen in WT but not KO animals at 24 h. Myeloperoxidase and intercellular adhesion molecule 1 immunostaining of KO animals was also similar to sham but elevated in WT animals. In addition, a reduction in MPO enzymatic activity was observed in KO mice as well as a reduction in IL-8 levels compared with their WT counterparts. Burn-induced ALI develops within 24 h after the initial thermal insult in our model. Toll-like receptor 4 KO animals were clearly protected and had a much less severe lung injury. Our data suggest that burn-induced ALI is a TLR4-dependent process.


Hemoperitoneum resulting from acute pancreatitis (AP) is rare. It is more commonly associated with chronic pancreatitis. Seldom, it has been associated with paediatric population. Here we report a case of spontaneous hemoperitoneum due to acute hemorrhagic pancreatitis in a child presented with the clinical features suggestive of acute appendicitis.

 A 9-year old girl presented with abdominal pain and clinical features consistent with perforated appendicitis, underwent diagnostic laparoscopy. This revealed hemoperitoneum due to acute hemorrhagic pancreatitis with fat saponification in the omentum around the splenic flexure. She was stable postoperatively and was transferred to a tertiary paediatric unit for further management.

 The incidence of paediatric AP is increasing at 1/10,000 children per year. The definition of paediatric AP is based on the Atlanta criteria in adults. Biliary condition, systemic illness, and medications remain the main causes of AP in children. Intravenous fluid therapy with crystalloids remains the mainstay of treatment.

 A high index of suspicion is required to reach the diagnosis as symptoms are commonly comprised of abdominal pain, irritability, nausea, vomiting, and epigastric pain. USS is the investigation of choice. Majority of the patient recovers completely with a recurrence reported only on 15-35% of the cases.

 Inclusion of amylase or lipase to be considered in the routine workup if there is a suspicion of an alternate diagnosis. Diagnostic laparoscopy remains a viable option for patients presented with features of peritonism to establish a diagnosis.


122 Published By: Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering & Sciences Publication Retrieval Number: L25111081219/2019©BEIESP DOI:10.35940/ijitee.L2511.1081219 Abstract: Technology has proven to be a boon to the world after it has allowed us to virtually visit the diverse ecosystems on Earth. The wildlife diversity in the inaccessible mountain regions, the dense equatorial forests, the treacherous desert environment or the deep oceans is no more a surprise to us. With the world becoming apparently smaller and accessible through technological advancements, transnational crimes have considerably increased. These crimes transcend borders and are difficult to comprehend. Wildlife Crime can be distinctly noted to be on the list of Transnational Crimes which is on the rise on an alarming rate. In India, even after implementation of several laws, wildlife crimes are booming. It is targeting the lives of not only the wildlife but the human beings associated with it. It is therefore important to understand the significance of protection of wildlife. The present doctrinal study seeks to assess the manner in which technology is used as a tool and evaluate the need to adopt better technology to curb wildlife crime in India from government reports taken as primary data.


In this paper, we pay attention to the inter-task dynamic voltage scaling (DVS) algorithms for periodic real-time task systems. We propose a fast dynamic reclaiming scheme for power-aware hard real-time systems and discuss their performances and time complexities against other inter-task DVS algorithms. The time complexity of our off-line and on-line algorithms are O(nlogn) and O(n), respectively, where n denotes the number of task.


Fleas are parasitic insects which are found all over the world. They are wingless insects 1.5-4.0mm long, have a laterally compressed body and are different from lice in they are flattened dorso-ventrally, and are covered with a hard, shiny coating, like an external skeleton, which helps them to move through an animal's fur. There are more than 2,200 species of fleas recognized worldwide (Anon, 2006). Adult fleas are usually red-brown in color and have three pairs of legs, the last pair being quite large and well-adapted for jumping. They have piercing and sucking mouth parts which are specially designed for injecting into a host and sucking blood. They feed on the blood of cats, dogs and other animals, including humans (Lyon, 1997; Kramer and Mencke, 2001). Flea infestation in cattle and other ruminants is rare; it has been more commonly reported in cats and dogs. Infestations of calves with Ctenocephalides felis felis have been reported in Israel (Yeruham et al.,1989), the USA (Dryden et al., 1993) , Japan (Otake et al., 1997) and Brazil (Araujo et al., 1998). Kraal et al. (2006), in a survey of flea infestation, reported the infestation of calves and other domestic animal species in Libya. They reported that of the 1861 fleas recovered, 1857 were Ctenocephalides felis strongylus and 4 were Pulex irritans. Yeruham and Braverman (2004) reported Seasonal allergic dermatitis in sheep associated with Ctenocephalides and Culicoides bites. Ctenocephalides felis felis is a flea of cats and dogs, which is responsible for skin irritation and anaemia (Dryden and Rust, 1994) and transmission of the tape worm Dipylidium caninum (Pugh, 1987). This flea can also infest other mammals including humans (Genchi, 1992).


Abstract: Sarcoptic mange epidemics erupted in two of the remaining populations of endangered San Joaquin kit foxes (Vulpes macrotis mutica). Both populations are in urban habitats in the cities of Bakersfield and Taft, California, USA. The risk of disease spread from the two urban populations to nearby nonurban populations, and then throughout the species range, is of considerable conservation concern. To date, mange has not been detected in any nonurban populations despite considerable surveillance effort. The reasons for the lack of detections of mange among nonurban foxes are unknown. We monitored urban kit fox movements using geographic positioning system (GPS) collars to test the hypothesis that urban foxes were not venturing into nonurban habitats. Of 24 foxes monitored December 2018 to November 2019, 19 (79%) made excursions from urban into nonurban habitats from 1–124 times. The mean number of excursions per 30 d was 5.5 (range 0.1–13.9 d). The mean proportion of locations in nonurban habitats was 29.0% (range 0.6–99.7%). The mean maximum distance that foxes traveled into nonurban areas from the urban-nonurban interface was 1.1 km (range 0.1–2.9 km). Mean number of excursions, proportion of nonurban locations, and maximum distance into nonurban habitats were similar between Bakersfield and Taft, females and males, and adults and juveniles. At least eight foxes apparently used dens in nonurban habitats; shared use of dens may be an important mode of mange mite transmission between conspecifics. Two of the collared foxes died of mange during the study and two others had mange when captured at the end of the study. Three of these four foxes had made excursions into nonurban habitats. These results confirm a significant potential for mange to spread from urban to nonurban kit fox populations. We recommend continued surveillance in nonurban populations and continued treatment efforts in the affected urban populations.


Male Wistar rats kept for 30 days on the diet containing vegetative (wheat) protein demonstrate an increase in cytochrome P-450 concentration in liver microsomes and an increase in the rate of amidopyrine N-demethylation and aniline p-hydroxylation. Administration of phenobarbital leads to cytochrome P-450 induction and activation of monooxygenase of rat liver microsomes, the quality of food protein not affecting cytochrome induction. It is assumed that high content of cytochrome P-450 is linked with prolongation of the time of cytochrome P-450 renewal at the expense of the decreased constant of its protein part degradation or with activation of cytochrome synthesis de novo (based on the preliminary data).


AIM
To determine the predictive value of the hypo-osmotic swelling (HOS) test to identify viable, non-motile sperm.

METHODS
Semen samples from 20 men with severe asthenozoospermia underwent traditional seminal analysis, eosin-nigrosin (EN) staining and the HOS test. A further EN stain was then performed on a HOS pre-treated aliquot and a total of 2000 further sperm examined.

RESULTS
The median sperm density was 5.1 million/mL (IQR 4.3 approximately 13.1) and the median motility was 3.0% (IQR 0 approximately 7). Seven samples showed complete asthenozoospermia. Initial EN staining showed 59% viability (range 48 approximately 69) despite the poor standard parameters and 47% (range 33 approximately 61) in the complete asthenozoospermia subgroup. The HOS test showed 49.9% reacted overall (range 40 approximately 59) and 41.7% (range 22 approximately 61) in the complete asthenozoospermia subgroup. The combined HOS/EN stain showed the positive predictive value of the HOS test to identify viable sperm was 84.2 % overall and 79.7% in the complete asthenozoospermia subgroup.

CONCLUSION
The HOS test can effectively predict sperm viability in patients with severe and complete asthenozoospermia.


Objective Even though 32%–83% for fear of falling (FoF) in patients with stroke, very little is known about the predictors of the problems. Therefore, we systematically reviewed the literature on risk factors for FoF in patients with stroke. Design A systematic review and meta-analysis Data sources PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library database, Web of Science, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Grey literature and other relevant databases for related publications were searched (from inception to 17 July 2021). Results Eight studies involving 1597 participants were selected to analyse risk factors for patients with stroke with FoF. The quality of all included studies was assessed and categorised as medium or high quality. Review Manager V.5.3 merged the OR value and 95% CI of the potential risk factors. Meta-regression and Egger's test were performed by Stata V.15.1. The risk factors for FoF in patients with stroke were women (OR=2.13, 95% CI 1.47 to 3.09), impaired balance ability (OR=5.54; 95% CI 3.48 to 8.81), lower mobility (OR=1.12; 95% CI 1.05 to 1.19), history of falls (OR=2.33; 95% CI 1.54 to 3.53) and walking aid (OR=1.98; 95% CI 1.37 to 2.88), anxiety (OR=2.29; 95% CI 1.43 to 3.67), depression (OR=1.80; 95% CI 1.22 to 2.67), poor lower limb motor function (OR=1.14; 95% CI 1.00 to 1.29) and physically inactiveness (OR=2.04; 95% CI 1.01 to 4.12). Measurement of heterogeneity between studies was high for all outcomes (I2=0%–93%), indicating that the substantial interstudy heterogeneity in estimated proportions was not attributed to the sampling error. Sensitivity analysis (leave-one-out method) showed that the pooled estimate was stable. Conclusion This meta-analysis indicated that female population, impaired balance ability, lower mobility, history of falls and walking aid in patients with stroke might be at greater risk for FoF. Future studies are recommended to determine other risk factors specific to patients with stroke.


AIM
The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress among dental students and its association with factors such as gender, year of study, phase of the course, and ethnicity.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
A questionnaire-based cross-sectional study was conducted among medical students in a medical institute in Malaysia. Prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress was assessed by Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21).

RESULTS
A total of 351 students took part in the study with a mean age of 22.38 (+1.69) years. The overall prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress with varying severity among the study population was 60.4, 75.2, and 50.4%, respectively. The prevalence of symptoms of depression among the study population appears to be independent of gender, ethnicity, and academic year of study. Our results show that stress and anxiety may be influenced by gender with more prevalence in females.

CONCLUSION
Early detection of symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress is of great importance to take timely remedial action to keep the mental well-being of individuals. Maintaining the mental health of young medical professionals is a need of society in the present world. Further studies are suggested to recognize other factors associated with depression, anxiety, and stress among dental students.

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Considering the students who experience depression, anxiety, or stress during undergraduate schooling, appropriate measures shall be taken to ensure effective learning. Students who have shown higher scores shall be advised for further follow-up and treatment strategies or appropriate counseling programs.


Introduced plant species that became successful invaders appear often more vigorous and taller than their conspecifics in the native range. Reasons postulated to explain this better performance in the introduced range include more favourable environmental conditions and release from natural enemies and pathogens. According to the Evolution of Increased Competitive Ability hypothesis (EICA hypothesis) there is a trade‐off between investment into defence against herbivores and pathogens, and investment into a stronger competitive ability. In this study, we conducted field surveys to investigate whether populations of the invasive perennial Solidago gigantea Ait (Asteraceae) differ with respect to growth and size in the native and introduced range, respectively. We assessed size and morphological variation of 46 populations in the native North American range and 45 populations in the introduced European range. Despite considerable variation between populations within continents, there were pronounced differences between continents. The average population size, density and total plant biomass were larger in European than in American populations. Climatic differences and latitude explained only a small proportion of the total variation between the two continents. The results show that introduced plants can be very distinct in their growth form and size from conspecifics in the native range. The apparently better performance of this invasive species in Europe may be the result of changed selection pressures, as implied by the EICA hypothesis.


Bioactive glasses are able to chemically bond to hard and soft tissues and have been proposed and used for tissue regeneration in several dentistry and medical applications. However, the majority of bioactive glass compositions do not support prolonged or repeated heat treatments, since these procedures often result in uncontrolled crystallization, which usually degrade their mechanical properties and, in most instances, substantially diminish their bioactivity. Therefore, the manufacturing of 3D devices, fibers or scaffolds, which aim to expand the usage of these materials, is a challenging task. To overcome this phenomenon, a new bioactive glass composition was recently developed at the Vitreous Materials Laboratory (LaMaV—UFSCar, Brazil) and licensed to the start-up company VETRA. This new bioactive glass composition shows high stability against crystallization coupled with high bioactivity, which allows the development of bioactive fibers, meshes and other complex 3D shapes. In addition, this bioactive glass has an elevated bioactivity, is bioresorbable and flexible (in fiber form), which makes this glass a potential alternative for soft and hard tissue regeneration. In this article, we discuss this recent development and summarize the latest advances in testing the effectiveness of this new material in in vitro and in vivo tests. To date, the results indicate that this new glass composition presents a larger workability window, which allows the development of numerous medical devices. This feature combined with the high bioactivity of this new glass delivers a promising broad spectrum of applications as a material for tissue engineering.


Available are data obtained at light and electron microscopy of operative specimens from patients with abdominal pseudotuberculosis and animals challenged orally with Yersinia pseudotuberculosis. The authors are the first to outline detailed characteristics of the intestinal and regional lymph node lesion arising in response to the infection and reflecting growing resistance to it. These features of pathological process involve marked tissue eosinophilia, necrosis due to phagocytes rexis, and granulomatosis suggesting a pronounced role in the pathogenesis of the body allergization in the course of infection. It is proposed to consider pseudotuberculosis-related changes in lymph nodes as lymphoblastic (early affection) and granulomatous-necrotic (advanced infection) lymphadenitis. The evidence obtained can promote differential diagnosis of pseudotuberculosis.


A parametrization algorithm to determine chord-length distributions (CLD) from small-angle scattering data is used to characterize details of the pore structure, pore size, and morphology of porous carbon materials. This approach is applied to various carbon processing procedures, such as steam activation, tempering, and contacting with polymer binders. It is found that this CLD method reveals, compared to previous small angle x-ray scattering evaluation approaches, fine changes in the pore structure and morphology of porous carbons with higher accuracy and physical significance.


ABSTRACT Ren, N.; Cao, M., and Han, B., 2015. Research on shipbuilding project WBS optimization based on DSM. To improve the low efficiency of China's shipbuilding industry, this paper designs a method that is based on dependency structure matrix (DSM) to optimize work breakdown structure(WBS) of shipbuilding project. Firstly, this paper defines the contact information flow between tasks that is based on clustering division using the rank transform method, and designs a method to evaluate and select the clustering division results. Then, this paper uses the Monte Carlo simulation method to optimize the above modelby calculating the sum of the contact information flow of all the WBS clustering division results in order to get the best WBS optimization scheme. Finally, this paper also validates the feasibility of WBS modeling, clustering division, evaluation and selection through questionnaire data. In a word, this paper provides a new method and thought for the practical application during the complex product project management process.


We propose an aggregation model of a two-species system to mimic the growth of cities' population and assets, in which irreversible coagulation reactions and exchange reactions occur between any two aggregates of the same species, and the monomer-birth reactions of one species occur by the catalysis of the other species. In the case with population-catalyzed birth of assets, the rate kernel of an asset aggregate Bk of size k grows to become an aggregate Bk+1 through a monomer-birth catalyzed by a population aggregate Aj of size j is J(k,j) = Jkjλ. And in mutually catalyzed birth model, the birth rate kernels of population and assets are H(k,j) = Hkjη and J(k,j) = Jkjλ, respectively. The kinetics of the system is investigated based on the mean-field theory. In the model of population-catalyzed birth of assets, the long-time asymptotic behavior of the assets aggregate size distribution obeys the conventional or modified scaling form. In mutually catalyzed birth system, the asymptotic behaviors of population and assets obey the conventional scaling form in the case of η = λ = 0, and they obey the modified scaling form in the case of η = 0,λ = 1. In the case of η = λ = 1, the total mass of population aggregates and that of asset aggregates both grow much faster than those in population-catalyzed birth of assets model, and they approaches to infinite values in finite time.


Neoplasms of the parapharyngeal space are extremely rare and represent 0.5% of all tumors of the head and neck. The majority of the mare benign and originate in the salivary gland region. Pleomorphic adenoma is the most common salivary glandular benign tumor. We report the case of a 44-year-old woman presented with the complaint of a dysphagia and swelling of the left soft palate. Cervical computed tomography showing very limited mass in the left parapharyngeal space. The patient was operated on and total excision of the lesion was carried out using a trans-oral approach. Histological examination revealed a pleomorphic adenoma. No post-surgical complications were noted. No recurrence was noted during the 2 years of follow-up.


A dynamic visual acuity measurement apparatus was designed, and tested for reliability. The apparatus was designed to take advantage of today's computer technology, utilizing the Apple II+ computer and menu driven software, allowing a person with minimal user's experience to reliably measure dynamic visual acuity. Full instructions are described in a thorough step-by-step manner, making the operation of the program practical for the average practitioner. The reliability testing results showed that this dynamic visual acuity measurement apparatus can be useful for testing dynamic visual acuity. The computer generated graphics system provides a method of measurement that keeps many stimulus variables constant, while providing a standard of measurement that is virtually free of operator bias. It requires a minimum of time to use and is maintenance free.


The cardiovascular complaints take up a significant place in the medical papyri which inform us about the medical knowledge of Ancient Egypt. The heart was depicted circa 3000 BC) with remarkable accuracy. The Ebers papyrus contains the first Essay on Cardiology of Humanity. The Egyptian physicians were the pioneers of the rigorous cardiovascular examination. They worked out an innovative design of cardiovascular anatomy and physiology which influenced all the civilizations of the Mediterranean Basin and lasted more than thirty centuries.


This paper presents a tabular technique for the calculation of fixed-polarity polynomial expressions for multiple-valued (MV) functions. The technique is derived from a generalization of the corresponding methods for fixed-polarity Reed-Muller (FPRM) expressions for switching functions. All useful features of tabular techniques for FPRMs (e.g. simplicity of the involved operations and high possibilities for parallelization of the calculation procedure) are preserved. The method can be extended to the calculation of coefficients in Kronecker expressions for MV functions.


Air pollution is a global challenge for cities across the globe. Understanding the public perception of air pollution can help policymakers engage better with the public and appropriately introduce policies. Accurate public perception can also help people to identify the health risks of air pollution and act accordingly. Unfortunately, current techniques for determining perception are not scalable: it involves surveying few hundred people with questionnaire-based surveys. Using the advances in natural language processing (NLP), we propose a more scalable solution called Vartalaap to gauge public perception of air pollution via the microblogging social network Twitter. We curated a dataset of more than 1.2M tweets discussing Delhi-specific air pollution. We find that (unfortunately) the public is supportive of unproven mitigation strategies to reduce pollution, thus risking their health due to a false sense of security. We also find that air quality is a year-long problem, but the discussions are not proportional to the level of pollution and spike up when pollution is more visible. The information required by Vartalaap is publicly available and, as such, it can be immediately applied to study different societal issues across the world.


Immortality has been one of the main desires for humanity throughout history; currently, science is trying to achieve it through cryonics techniques. This article intends to trace an overview of cryonics development in the actual world and to analyze its possible consequences by studying three Spanish sf films that address human cryopreservation. The article argues the sf genre should be considered a valuable resource to generate philosophical reflections about the ethical implications of science and technology for society and human lives in the future.


The research presented in this paper explores the role of the DNA-binding protein Dps as a key defense mechanism of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) strains in protecting against killing by the novel antimicrobial peptide WRWYCR. Our results demonstrate that Dps protects against peptide-induced killing of EHEC through direct protection against acid stress and hydroxyl radical formation, both of which are mechanisms targeted by the antimicrobial peptide. This study provides important insights into peptide WRWYCR-mediated killing of EHEC, which could be exploited in the development of more effective antimicrobials through specific targeting of Dps in order to allow a more potent response to the antimicrobial WRWYCR. ABSTRACT Dps, a DNA-binding protein from starved cells in Escherichia coli, is part of the bacterial defense system that protects DNA against various cellular stresses. Our lab previously demonstrated that a novel antimicrobial peptide, WRWYCR, enhances acid-induced killing of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) and ameliorates infection in a Citrobacter rodentium mouse model of EHEC infection. WRWYCR has previously been shown to compromise DNA damage repair and to increase chelatable iron within the cell. These findings, combined with the effects of peptide and acid stress on DNA damage, suggest a key defense role for Dps in peptide-induced killing of EHEC. The goal of this study is to evaluate the role of Dps in peptide-induced killing of EHEC through survival assays and flow cytometric analyses of DNA damage and hydroxyl radical formation. Our results demonstrate that disruption of the dps gene in stationary-phase EHEC O157:H7 cells, but not in exponential-phase cells, enhances acid-, peptide-, and peptide-acid-induced killing relative to that of wild-type (WT) EHEC. Using flow cytometric analysis, we have also demonstrated increased levels of hydroxyl radicals in peptide-treated wild-type EHEC relative to those in the untreated control. Disruption of the dps gene further increases this. These findings indicate that peptide treatment of EHEC enhances the formation of hydroxyl radicals, likely through the Fenton reaction, thereby contributing to the killing action of the peptide, and that dps protects against peptide killing of EHEC. This study provides important insights into peptide WRWYCR-mediated killing of EHEC, which could be exploited in the development of more effective antimicrobials. IMPORTANCE The research presented in this paper explores the role of the DNA-binding protein Dps as a key defense mechanism of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) strains in protecting against killing by the novel antimicrobial peptide WRWYCR. Our results demonstrate that Dps protects against peptide-induced killing of EHEC through direct protection against acid stress and hydroxyl radical formation, both of which are mechanisms targeted by the antimicrobial peptide. This study provides important insights into peptide WRWYCR-mediated killing of EHEC, which could be exploited in the development of more effective antimicrobials through specific targeting of Dps in order to allow a more potent response to the antimicrobial WRWYCR.


The role of surgeons in the treatment of Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) of the skin is reviewed, with respect to diagnosis and treatment. Most of the data in the literature are case reports. Surgery is the mainstay of treatment. A wide local excision, with sentinel node (SLN) biopsy, is the recommended treatment of choice. If SLN is involved, nodal dissection should be performed; unless patient is unfit, then regional radiotherapy can be given. Surgeons should always refer patients for assessment of the need for adjuvant treatments. Adjuvant radiotherapy is well tolerated and effective to minimize recurrence. Adjuvant chemotherapy may be considered for selected node-positive patients, as per National Comprehensive Cancer Network guideline. Data are insufficient to assess whether adjuvant chemotherapy improves survival. Recurrent disease should be treated by complete surgical resection if possible, followed by radiotherapy and possibly chemotherapy. Generally results of multimodality treatment for recurrent disease are better than lesser treatments. Future research should focus on newer chemotherapy and molecular targeted agents in the adjuvant setting and for gross disease.


The nature of the liquid crystal phases formed by different compounds and the thermal and other physical characteristics of these phases are strongly affected by the stereochemistry and structure of the molecules. Precise structure-property correlations of an embracing nature cannot yet be quantified, but even a qualitative understanding of such relations is desirable from many standpoints, including that of the achievement of still better liquid crystal materials for the ever widening range of applications that is emerging for these ordered but fluid systems. By means of a range of selected examples, an attempt is made to illustrate not only those areas where generalizations seem possible, but also others wherein the properties of the materials are much more difficult to understand, to such an extent that doubt must be cast on at least some theoretical concepts of the liquid crystal state.


SUMMARY Examining the background of the exceptional genetic improvement attained in turkeys during the last three decades the main aim of the present research was to assess the contribution of genetic merit (genetic factor) and that of the feeding management (environmental factor) to the realised improvement. BUT Big 6 turkeys and their currently used commercial diet, traditional Bronze type turkeys and their reconstructed diet used in the 1960s were set to a three factorial (G = genotype, I = sex, T = type of diet) trial, carried out in climatized and windowless houses and lasted till 20 weeks of age. Based on the results it could be concluded that the influence of feeding on the turkeys' performance was variable with the changing age nevertheless it was substantially less (7-13%) than that of the genotype. The performance of the modern hybrid using the current diet was 3.1-3.2 times more compared it to that of the Bronze type turkeys' however, applying the diet used in the 1960s the advantage over the to the Bronze type turkeys' performance was decreased to 3.0-3.1 times. Test slaughters in turkey showed radical anatomical changes. The 13-18% improvement in dressing percentage resulted in a highly favourable 10% breast fillets (due to the ratio changes of different body regions) increase on the other hand the 55-65% relative heart ratio is critical from the aspect of an unstable circulatory system.


The present study was conducted in order to extend the research conducted by Neff and Faso (2014), who found that self-compassion was a stronger predictor of parental well-being compared to autism symptom severity. However, although Neff and Faso (2014) provided extensive evidence to suggest that using self-compassion as a coping mechanism can produce many positive outcomes for the parent, they did not investigate whether self-compassion within parents has an impact on their children. Therefore, the present study investigated whether parental self-compassion could impact anxious and depressive symptomatology identified in children. Focusing on both children living with autism and typically developing children. The present study recruited 114 participants through opportunistic sampling and using a snowballing sampling technique (Goodman, 1961) in schools, autism charities and social media. The main inclusion criterion was that participants needed to be a parent of at least one child, with the child/children being within the age range of 8-12 years old. Data was obtained through an online questionnaire which measured: parenting stress, self-compassion, and anxious and depressive symptomatology identified within children. After data was collected it was analysed using three hierarchical regressions. The results of the present study suggest that parents of children living with autism experience more parental stress, with self-compassion acting as mediator in the relationship between parental stress and child diagnostic status. In addition, children living with autism experience more anxious and depressive symptomatology, compared to typically developing children, with parental stress being a significant predictor of anxious and depressive symptomatology within children. However, self-compassion failed to demonstrate a mediating effect on this relationship, which could perhaps be due to the lack of power within this study. The present study used larger more diverse sample, compared to Neff and Faso (2014), therefore providing a more generalizable sample. However, a major limitation of this study is that it used a parental evaluation to measure the psychological wellbeing of children, which is a subjective non-self-report method. Furthermore, it is suggested that future research investigates the effectiveness of self-compassion interventions, and uses a sample of children who have been professionally diagnosed with anxiety and/or depression.


Abstract Background Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is one of the most common chronic complications of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and it is particularly important to identify a high-quality method for evaluating disease progression. Urinary exosomes contain microRNA that might promise early diagnostic and monitoring markers of DKD. The present study aimed to identify novel exosome-related markers associated with inflammation and fibrosis to assess the progression of DKD. Method Exosomes were extracted from the urine of 83 participants to determine the expression levels of miRNA-615-3p and miRNA-3147 in 20 healthy people, 21 patients with T2DM and 42 patients with DKD, as determined by RT-qPCR. The circulating expression level of TGF-β1 was detected by ELISA. Serum Cystatin C was measured by a latex-enhanced immunoturbidimetric method. The correlation analyses were performed for all clinical and laboratory parameters. Result The expression level of urinary exosomal miRNA-615-3p in DKD patients was significantly higher than that in the control group and the T2DM group by RT-qPCR. The expression of miRNA-3147 showed an upward trend in the three groups of subjects, but it was not statistically significant. The urinary exosomal miRNA-615-3p was positively correlated with serum Cystatin C, plasma TGF-β1, creatinine, BUN, PCR and 24-h urine protein, and negatively correlated with eGFR and albumin. The diagnostic efficacy of urinary exosomal miRNA-615-3p combined with the ACR was higher than that of ACR alone. Conclusions Urinary exosomal miRNA-615-3p may be used as a novel biomarker for evaluating the progression of DKD, and may be involved in the process of inflammation and fibrosis in DKD. The combined diagnosis of urinary exosomal miRNA-615-3p and ACR may be used as more stable and sensitive diagnostic criteria for DKD.


Time reversal is a powerful tool used to image directly the location and mechanism of passive seismic sources. This technique assumes seismic velocities in the medium and propagates timereversed observations of ground motion at each receiver location. Assuming an accurate velocity model and adequate array aperture, the waves will focus at the source location. Because we do not know the location and the origin time a priori, we need to scan the entire 4D image (3D in space and 1D in time) to localize the source, which makes time-reversal imaging computationally demanding. We have developed a new approach of time-reversal imaging that reduces the computational cost and the scanning dimensions from 4D to 3D (no time) and increases the spatial resolution of the source image. We first individually extrapolate wavefields at each receiver, and then we crosscorrelate these wavefields (the product in the frequency domain: geometric mean). This crosscorrelation creates another imaging condition, and focusing of the seismic wavefields occurs at the zero time lag of the correlation provided the velocity model is sufficiently accurate. Due to the analogy to the active-shot reverse time migration (RTM), we refer to this technique as the geometric-mean RTM or GmRTM. In addition to reducing the dimension from 4D to 3D compared with conventional time-reversal imaging, the crosscorrelation effectively suppresses the side lobes and yields a spatially high-resolution image of seismic sources. The GmRTM is robust for random and coherent noise because crosscorrelation enhances signal and suppresses noise. An added benefit is that, in contrast to conventional time-reversal imaging, GmRTM has the potential to be used to retrieve velocity information by analyzing time and/or space lags of crosscorrelation, which is similar to what is done in active-source imaging.


1. Eighteen litters of piglets were weaned at 14 days of age and reared for a further 3 weeks at environmental temperatures of 18, 23 or 28°C. At each environmental temperature three levels of feeding were used. The changes in body composition of the piglets were studied by the comparative slaughter procedure, littermates being analysed at birth, and at 14, 22 and 36 days of age. For comparison, the bodies of suckled piglets of similar weights and ages were also analysed. 2. In the 2 to 3 day period following weaning, body weight decreased, with the greatest reduction being 0·28 (s.e. 002) kg at 18°C. Following this, body weight gain was dependent on both environmental temperature and level of feeding, although at any given level of food intake there was little difference between the values at 23 or 28°C. 3. There were marked changes in the chemical composition of the carcass in relation to the different temperature/feeding level combinations. The most variable component was fat. In the period following weaning there was considerable mobilization of fat, especially at the lower temperatures and feeding levels. The fat content of the early weaned piglets at 36 days of age (68 to 103 g/kg) was significantly less than that of the suckled piglets (169 g/kg) ( P 4. The protein content of the carcass remained relatively independent of the different treatments, ranging from 140 to 164 g/kg for the early-weaned piglets, compared with 139 g/kg for those that had suckled their mothers. 5. The differences in the growth and body composition of the early-weaned piglet are discussed in relation to an inadequate food intake following weaning, to changes in nutrient supply and to variations in the climatic environment.


During the 1996/97, 1997/98, 1998/99, and 1999/2000 seasons, isolations of influenza virus and/or confirmations of hemagglutinin gene of virus from the throat swab of patients in 9 medical institutions in Tama, Tokyo were carried out by RT-PCR and tissue culture with MDCK cells. In 1996/97 and 1997/98 seasons, type A (H3N2) was the predominant type of influenza virus, which was 85% in the 1996/97 and 97% in the 1997/98, but small-scale outbreaks with type B virus was also confirmed in the 1996/97 season (during the 8th and 10th week). On the other hand, in the other two seasons, 2 different kinds of types of virus were discovered, which was type A (H3N2) and type B in 1998/99 season, and H3N2 and H1N1 of type A virus in 1999/2000 season. In the 1998/99 season, type A (H3N2) prevailed in the first half, and type B gradually replaced type A (H3N2) after the 5th week in 1999, whereas 2 different kinds of type A in the 1999/2000 mixed during the outbreak. From the presented data, the difference of mode by age groups and year could be explained. Namely, most specimens and positive cases in 1996/97 and 1997/98 seasons were those from low age groups (fifteen years of age and below). In 1998/99 and 1999/2000 seasons, the number of specimens from high age groups (sixteen years of age or over) accounted for above 50%, and about 70% of type A (H3N2)-positive cases. Contrary, the frequency of type B virus in 1998/99 season and type A (H1N1) in 1999/2000 season was higher in the low age groups than the high ones.


The Vela pulsar is the brightest pulsar at radio wavelengths. It was the object that told us (via its glitching) that pulsars were solid rotating bodies not oscillating ones. Along with the Crab pulsar, is it the source of many of the models of pulsar behavior. Therefore it is of vital importance to know how far away it is and its origin. The proper motion and parallax for the Vela pulsar have been derived from 2.3 and 8.4 GHz very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations. The data span 6.8 years and consist of 11 epochs. We find a proper motion of μα cos δ = -49.68 ± 0.06, μδ = 29.9 ± 0.1 mas yr-1 and a parallax of 3.5 ± 0.2 mas, which is equivalent to a distance of 287 pc. When we subtract out the Galactic rotation and solar peculiar velocity, we find μ* = 45 ± 1.3 mas yr-1 with a position angle of 301° ± 1.°8 which implies that the proper motion has a small but significant offset from the X-ray nebula's symmetry axis.


During the Tevatron collider Run I, a great deal of effort was spent understanding the luminosity at the two colliding detectors. In collaboration with the Tevatron operations group, the DZero experiment recorded data while the colliding beams were intentionally separated by several beam widths in the horizontal and vertical planes. The resulting luminosity profiles contain a great deal of information about the lattice and beam size parameters at the low-beta focus, which can be extracted by fitting in a variety of ways. This paper reviews details of these separated beam measurements and present results on Tevatron lattice parameter and luminosity determination.


Interest in magnetic nanoparticles has increased in the recent years due to the industrial applications such as the ultra-high density storage device and the fundamental interest in finite size effect. By naturally grown stripe structures with ~ 4 nm interdistance on the Al2O3 layer, Fe and Mn nanoparticles were prepared by self assembling. The surface morphology and magnetic properties were characterized by STM and MOKE, respectively. The 9~33 ML Fe and 0.1~16.9 ML Mn nanoparticles both reveal that the separation of particles decreases with increasing coverage. [1 ML is defined as the surface atom density: 1.54 × 10^15 at./cm2 on Cu(100).] The Fe nanoparticles are magnetic isotropic until 23 ML, and the twostep hysteresis loops of 23, 33 ML are ascribed to the uniaxial anisotropies with the higher order term along the stripe directions, which is supported by the Stoner-Wohlfarth simulation. Mn nanoparticles are proven to be non-ferromagnetic at 0.1~8.5 ML and there is no exchange bias with Fe capped on 3.4~16.9 ML Mn at our lowest accessible temperature ~ 130 K. For 17.6 ML Fe capped n ML Mn (n= 3.4~16.9), the drastic reduction of magnetic moments and the enhancement of coercivity were found at RT (room temperature), while at LT (150 K), the coercivity decreases unusually. The increasing roughness with increasing coverage of Mn and Fe-Mn interdiffusion account for the RT observations, and the temperature dependent reversed domain nucleation and domain wall pinning may be responsible for the LT behaviors.


The aggregates of the PBI derivative 1 in combination with Benedict's reagent have been used for the first time as reactors for facile preparation of Cu2O NPs at room temperature. During this process the aldehyde groups of the aggregates of derivative 1 are oxidized to carboxylate groups which act as stabilizers for Cu2O NPs to generate the supramolecular ensemble 2:Cu2O. Interestingly, the in situ generated supramolecular ensemble (2:Cu2O) of Cu2O NPs and aggregates of oxidized species 2 exhibited excellent photocatalytic efficiency in the Suzuki–Miyaura and Suzuki type cross-coupling reactions under mild and eco-friendly conditions.


Purpose Genetic variants in cytochrome P450 (CYP), platelet membrane receptor (P2Y12, P2Y1), and glycoprotein IIIa (GPIIIa) genes are associated with the efficacy of clopidogrel and adverse clinical events on ischemic stroke (IS) patients. However, few studies have assessed whether gene-gene interactions among these genes influence the risk of IS. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association of fifteen variants with IS and to determine whether these gene-gene interactions increase the risk of IS. Methods Fifteen variants in CYP3A4, CYP3A5, CYP2C8, CYP2C9, CYP2C19, P2Y12, P2Y1 and GPIIIa genes were examined using mass spectrometry methods in 396 patients with IS and 378 controls. Gene-gene interactions were analyzed using generalized multifactor dimensionality reduction (GMDR) methods. Results Single-gene variant analysis showed no significant differences in the genotype distributions of the fifteen variants between IS patients and controls using the single-locus analytical approach. However, GMDR analysis showed a significant gene-gene interaction among rs17110453A>C, rs2317676A>G, and rs16863323C>T, which scored 10 for cross-validation consistency and 9 for the sign test (P = 0.016). Logistic regression analysis showed that high-risk interactions among rs17110453A>C, rs2317676A>G, and rs16863323C>T were independent risk factor for IS after adjusting for age, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and hemoglobin A1C (OR=2.24, 95% CI: 1.17–5.62, P=0.005). Conclusions The rs17110453A>C, rs2317676A>G, and rs16863323C>T three-loci interaction may confer a higher risk for IS. The combinatorial analysis used in this study may be helpful to elucidate complex genetic risk factors for IS.


Game strategies have been developed in past decades and used in the field of economics, engineering, computer science and biology due to their efficiency in solving design optimisation problems. In addition, research on Multi-Objective (MO) and Multidisciplinary Design Optimisation (MDO) has focused on developing robust and efficient optimisation method to produce quality solutions with less computational time. In this paper, a new
optimisation method Hybrid Game Strategy for MO problems is introduced and compared to CMA-ES based optimisation approach. Numerical results obtained from both optimisation methods are compared in terms of computational expense and model quality. The benefits of using Game-strategies are demonstrated.


The rising atmospheric concentration of CO(2) has motivated researchers to seek routes for improved utilization, increased mitigation, and enhanced sequestration of this greenhouse gas. Through a combination of bioinformatics, molecular modeling, and first-principles quantum mechanics the binding of carbon dioxide to proteins is analyzed. It is concluded that acid/base interactions are the principal chemical force by which CO(2) is bound inside proteins. With respect to regular secondary structural elements, beta-sheets show a marked preference for CO(2) binding compared to alpha-helices. The data also support the inference that while either or both oxygens of CO(2) are generally tightly bound in the protein environment, the carbon is much less "sequestered." First principles and more approximate modeling techniques are assessed for quantifying CO(2) binding thermodynamics.