DISCOVERING FLORIDA: First-Contact Narratives from Spanish Expeditions along the Lower Gulf Coast. Edited and translated by John E. Worth. Gainesville: University Press of Florida. 2014.In the eyes of the first European newcomers, America was a place of wonder. Legends and fantastic stories ran rampant after 1492, especially those concerning Florida, which, because of the region's impenetrability, took longer to be dispelled. The disappointment caused by not finding the Fountain of Eternal Youth and the failure of all the expeditions earned Florida such a poor reputation that in 1561 a royal decree forbid Spanish subjects to go into these "tierras malditas" (damned lands). The lack of wealth dissipated official interest and the region was finally abandoned in 1711, leaving behind a paper trail documenting the failed Spanish conquest. Although one of these texts, Cabeza de Vaca's Account, has generated a vast literature, the rest received scant attention, especially in English. Discovering Florida comes to fill this gap in scholarship by compiling accounts from the sixteenth-century Spanish expeditions to Florida.The five sections in the book, preceded by an introduction, cover the expeditions of Juan Ponce de Leon (1513-21), Panfilo de Narvaez and Hernando de Soto (1528-39), Luis Cancer (1549), the captivity of Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda (1549-66), and the expedition of Pedro Menendez de Aviles (1566-69). Each section starts with a summary while each original text is introduced by a brief explanation and a note on the transcribing conventions employed. A strength of this book is that it includes the original Spanish texts as well as an English translation.If Columbus came across America while searching for the Indies, for Ponce, who was looking for Bimini, Florida was "an unanticipated discovery" (14). Named after the day they landed ("Pascua Florida;" Easter Sunday), they thought Florida was a group of islands. Conflicts between the Native Americans and the Spaniards immediately ensued, although the latter also tried to act as peacemakers between several Native American groups. Actually, Menendez de Aviles's peace talks resulted in an agreement between the Calusa and the Tocobaga. Spanish accounts of Florida not only convey their first impressions, but also offer a glimpse into Native Americans' lives. The description of the natives occupied much space, portraying them either as blood-thirsty or willing to be converted. …


Vitamin A is an essential micronutrient that plays critical roles in many biological functions of the body. Limited access to vitamin A-rich food or supplements severely affects tissue and blood levels of vitamin A. Therefore, low serum vitamin A and poverty levels are strongly associated in vitamin A deficiency (VAD) studies that have focused mainly on developing countries. The current national prevalence rate of vitamin A deficiency in the United States is reported to be very low (< 1%). However, several studies, including ours, have suggested that people from certain ethnic groups still face a higher proportion of vitamin A deficiency. Here, we re-analyzed two different datasets of serum retinol levels of pregnant females to assess the VAD status differences between women of different ancestries. We found that pregnant females with non-Hispanic Black and with Latin American/Afro-Caribbean ancestry have strikingly high proportions of vitamin A deficiency. Moreover, we identified candidate genetic variants that associate with the disproportions between these different ancestries. Maternal vitamin A deficiency increases the risk of adverse health outcomes for both the mother and offspring later in life. Measuring serum retinol levels of pregnant women in the higher risk groups and provision of food interventions based on genetic information to improve the vitamin A status of at-risk women are needed. Our study strongly suggests that emergency actions need to be taken to reduce vitamin A deficiency in specific, at-risk ethnic groups.


The performance of multilayer-coated Schwarzschild objectives, and similar near normal incidence soft xray focussing systems, can be affected by the changing angles of incidence for different rays and possible variations in multilayer period across the curved mirror surfaces. A design analysis which considers these issues is presented, using as an example a 20 times demagnifying Schwarzschild objective coated with molybdenum/silicon multilayers for operation at roughly 76 eV. The large bandwidth of these multi].ayers eases requirements on control of the variation of the d-spacing for the system considered. Implications for extension to similar systems operating with different magnifications, sizes, and photon energies are discussed.


This work introduces a finite element model of a steel cable-reinforced conveyor belt to accurately compute stresses in the splice. In the modelled test rig, the belt runs on two drums and is loaded with a cyclic longitudinal force. An explicit solver is used to efficiently handle the high number of elements and contact conditions. This, however, introduces some issues of dynamics in the model, which are subsequently solved: (a) the longitudinal load is applied with a smooth curve and damping is introduced in the beginning of the simulation, (b) residual stresses are applied in regions of the belt that are initially bent around the drums, and (c) supporting drums are introduced at the start of the simulation to hinder oscillations of the belt at low applied forces. To accurately capture the tensile and bending stiffness of the cables, they are modelled by a combination of solid and beam elements. The results show that numerical artefacts can be reduced to an acceptable extent. In the region of highest stresses, the displacements are additionally mapped onto a submodel with a smaller mesh size. The results show that, for the investigated belt, the local maximum principal stresses significantly increase when this region of highest stresses comes into contact with, and is bent by, the drum. Therefore, it is essential to also consider the belt's bending to predict failure in such applications.


We read with interest the paper by Radauceanu et al. [1] describing a new surgical technique and commenting on the management of patients with large retrosternal goitres causing superior vena caval obstruction. The manuscript provides the histological diagnosis in only one of the three patients. Fine needle aspiration biopsy is considered a mandatory step of all recognised national and international pre-operative protocols because it provides invaluable information that can influence operative decisions. Benign multinodular goitres pose little resistance and the trachea can easily be intubated even though it appears collapsed, whilst locally advanced cancers would pose a significant challenge. The authors failed to describe fully the extent of retrosternal extension, i.e. whether the lower limit of the goitre appeared on CT scan to be just above the aortic arch, overlapping the aortic arch or lower than its lowest margin. The significance of distal extension into the mediastinum is related to the fact that after full neck extension those goitres with minimal extension (i.e. above the aortic arch) are able to be mobilised into the neck, and pose less venous compression than goitres extending lower than the aortic arch, which will create persistent venous congestion during the operation. Though significant (down to 6-mm diameter) the degree of tracheal compression in the patients reported is by no means critical. Very recently we operated on a patient with a 4-mm pinpoint tracheal extrinsic compression distal to the vocal cords, performing a cervical thyroidectomy and right thoracotomy for a large goitre with superior vena caval obstruction without observing any peri-operative complications. The vast majority of patients with retrosternal goitres referred to our unit would have significantly more tracheal distortion and compression. As a tertiary referral centre we perform in excess of 200 thyroidectomies annually and have not encountered the possible complications mentioned in the discussion. One should be aware of such potential disastrous peri-operative complications, but in our opinion this does not justify the addition of venous bypass, which has significant potential morbidity and was not indicated in these cases. We advocate that 'informed consent' for patients with large goitres and superior vena caval obstruction should allow referral to centres with greater experience in thyroid surgery rather than leading to unnecessary surgical interventions.


The social studies in science and technology assume the perspective that knowledge and technology are built and legitimized in a certain context. A context that encompasses machines, texts, scientists, laboratories, imagination, power, interest. Considering any human construct, science and technology also embrace several social elements, and without a thorough observation in the practice itself, some might say that these elements would disappear from its composition. Science and technology would appear as necessary, functional, detached from the worldly concerns. The traditional epistemology and technology's philosophy guided us the belief that the real knowledge and its working technologies would not be related with these listed elements.


Bacterial resistance to antibiotics poses a great clinical challenge in fighting serious infectious diseases due to complicated resistant mechanisms and time-consuming testing methods. Chemical reaction-directed covalent labeling of resistance-associated bacterial proteins in the context of a complicated environment offers great opportunity for the in-depth understanding of the biological basis conferring drug resistance, and for the development of effective diagnostic approaches. In the present study, three fluorogenic reagents LRBL1-3 for resistant bacteria labeling have been designed and prepared on the basis of fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET). The hydrolyzed probes could act as reactive electrophiles to attach the enzyme, β-lactamase, and thus facilitated the covalent labeling of drug resistant bacterial strains. SDS electrophoresis and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry characterization confirmed that these probes were sensitive and specific to β-lactamase and could therefore serve for covalent and localized fluorescence labeling of the enzyme structure. Moreover, this β-lactamase-induced covalent labeling provides quantitative analysis of the resistant bacterial population (down to 5%) by high resolution flow cytometry, and allows single-cell detection and direct observation of bacterial enzyme activity in resistant pathogenic species. This approach offers great promise for clinical investigations and microbiological research.


Based on data of occurrence degree of rice planthoppers from 45 agricultural pest mo- nitoring stations in Guangxi Province during 1988 to 2012 as well as data of meteorological factors and atmospheric circulation characteristics during 1987 to 2012,three zones with different occur- rence degrees of early rice planthoppers were divided: east Guangxi,southwest Guangxi,and northwest Guangxi. Occurrence degree of early rice planthoppers was predicted in each zone by fuzzy cluster analysis,and BP neural network. The results showed that the occurrence degree of rice planthoppers was closely correlated with meteorological factors and atmospheric general circu- lation in Guangxi. High temperature,frequent rainy days,high humidity and insufficient sun- shine in winter and spring seasons were beneficial to the occurrence of rice planthoppers,and subtropical high,India-Burma trough and southwest airflow also affected the occurrence degree of rice planthoppers. Original predictive factors for the occurrence degree of early rice planthoppers in each zone were selected from the meteorological factors in winter and spring seasons and the at- mospheric circulation characteristics to build comprehensive predictors using EOF decomposition method,and then prediction models for the occurrence degree of rice planthoppers were estab- lished in each zone. The cross-test showed that the average absolute fitting error was lower in BP neural network model than in step regression by 0. 07 in east Guangxi,0. 1 in southwest Guan- gxi,and 0. 02 in northwest Guangxi. The prediction using independent-samples in 2011 to 2012 showed that the mean predicted absolute errors were 0. 42 for BP neural network model and 0. 5 for step regression,indicating that the nonlinear correlation between rice planthoppers and meteorological factors is better predicted by BP neural network model.


The paradoxes of environmental politics abound: The persistence of antiquated highly-polluting technologies when less harmful alternatives exist attests to the power and stubbornness of industrial hegemons, barriers to accepting new technologies, and a fundamental antagonism against the free-market of ideas. Brazil's President Lula proclaiming "the Amazon is not for sale" to conservation investment while allowing industry to continue clear-cutting rainforest for cattle grazing. While industrial hegemons' promise of a deus ex machina environmental panacea placates the press and popular concern, honest evaluations of the systemic shifts and short-term 'sacrifices' needed are consistently and actively ignored. This paper investigates the willful perpetuation of ignorance, and the failure of popular discourse to confront the impact of ecological fact. The juggernaut of inertia has dragged retrograde environmental gains by implanting in popular consciousness the idea that we can have our ecological cake and eat it too without sacrifice. The notion that the future will continue to provide more or less of the present goods and services, without our having to reflect on the finitude of resources or our part in the global complicity to not to take action. Movies like An Inconvenient Truth proposing demand-side only change tap into the same feel-good 'I-made-a-difference' meaninglessness perpetuated by oil industry advertisements which declare "I will leave the car at home more."Personal empowerment narratives serve to distract environmental well-wishers from the continuing infrastructural problems which perpetuate environmental violence and sends them back home to consume more pseudo-eco goods carried in their reusable bags. The rhetoric of the individual (minimal) effort 'making a difference' holds a great deal of appeal to those who are too busy or too enmeshed in society to be able to opt-out of ecologically destructive practices such as driving, using power from energy companies relying on coal, purchasing consumer electronics, etc. All of this greenwash has the (intended or unintended) consequence of pushing more systemic critiques and plans for sustainable change to the fringe, where shifts involving any amount of sacrifice, either in industry, economically, or personally in terms of current definitions of comfort, are seen as drastic, impolitic, and unreasonable. All of which secure the maintenance of the status quo. This paper applies rhetorical and political theory to contemporary popular environmental discourse in hopes of illuminating how the green movement is subsumed and co-opted in order to neutralize its political force. It concludes by highlighting examples of real environmental successes and focusing on the colluding factors that gave these particulars sufficient resistance against subsumption to flourish while being substantial enough to further environmental politics and policies.


Microwave imaging (MI) has been widely studied for cancer detection recently. In this technique, either an array or a scanning antenna is used. Employing an array has the advantage of avoiding the mechanical issues of a scanning antenna. Moreover, a scanning antenna is not a practical arrangement for self-examination purposes. However, designing the array still remains an important topic in MI. In this paper, a new array is designed and characterized at 1.2GHz for breast cancer detection and the radiation properties are studied.


ABSTRACT Objective This study investigated the baseline prevalence of general psychological distress reported by students in a regional Technical and Further Education (TAFE) Institute in Australia. In addition, the relationship between psychological distress, emotion-focused coping and academic success at the end of one semester of study was explored. Method Three hundred and four participants (M = 32.00, SD = 13.12) completed measures of psychological distress (Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale, 21 item) and emotion-focused coping (Coping in Stressful Situations Checklist). Academic success (i.e., module completion rate at the end of the semester) was also quantified. Results Consistent with university samples, the results suggest that TAFE students have higher levels of psychological distress when compared with normative data. Participants with higher levels of distress also reported applying emotion-focused coping strategies, and had reduced academic success at the end of the semester. The relationship between distress and academic success was mediated by emotion-focused coping. Conclusions This study serves to increase awareness about the possibility of an elevated prevalence of psychological distress in vocational TAFE students, their self-reported use of maladaptive emotion-focused coping strategies, and the relationship with academic outcomes. The findings also suggest potential targets for intervention with this population. KEY POINTS What is already known about this topic: (1) Recent research indicates that Australian tertiary students have a higher prevalence of psychological distress than the general population. (2) Psychological distress has been found to be associated with poorer academic outcomes and the application of less adaptive coping strategies. (3) The majority of research has been conducted using university samples, and minimal research has been undertaken in the Vocational Education and Training sector, despite its prominence in Australian post-secondary education. What this study adds: (1) Consistent with research conducted in university samples, this study indicated that a sample of TAFE students reported higher levels of psychological distress when compared with normative data. (2) Higher levels of distress were associated with the application of emotion-focused coping strategies, as well as reduced academic success at the end of the semester. (3) The relationship between psychological distress and academic success was mediated by emotion-focused coping.


The use of biorefineries for the production of chemicals as well as materials and energy products is key to ensuring a sustainable future for the chemical and allied industries. Through the integration of green chemistry into biorefineries, and the use of low environmental impact technologies, we can establish future supply chains for genuinely green and sustainable chemical products. The first step in these future biorefineries should be the benign extraction of surface chemicals; here the use of greener solvents, such as supercritical carbon dioxide and bioethanol, should be considered. The residues will often be rich in lignocellulosics and the effective separation of the cellulose is a major challenge which may, in the future, be assisted by greener solvents, such as ionic liquids. Lignin is nature's major source of aromatics; we need new ways to produce small aromatic building blocks from lignin in order to satisfy the enormous and diverse industrial demand for aromatics. Fermentation can be used to convert biomass into a wide range of bioplatform chemicals in addition to ethanol. Their green chemical conversion to higher value chemicals is as important as their efficient production; here clean technologies such as catalysis – notably biocatalysis and heterogeneous catalysis – the use of benign solvents, and energy efficient reactors are essential. Thermochemical processes for the conversion of biomass, such as the production of pyrolysis oil, will also play an important role in future biorefineries and here again green chemistry methods should be used to go to higher value downstream chemicals. Published in 2008 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd


We report on measurements of the anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) of doped EuTiO 3 . It is shown that the primary contribution to the AMR is the crystalline component, which depends on the relative orientation between the magnetic moments and the crystal axes. With increasing magnetic field, a fourfold crystalline AMR undergoes a change in its alignment with respect to the crystal axes. The results are discussed in the context of the coupling between spin canting, electronic structure, and transport. We discuss the potential role of Weyl points in the band structure. At high fields, the AMR transitions to uniaxial symmetry, which is lower than that of the lattice, along with a crossover from positive to negative magnetoresistance.


In the context of increasing fragmentation and functional differentiation in international governance, new environmental regionalism represents a recent trend involving initiatives that seek to territorialize environmental governance at the level of transboundary ecoregions, such as mountain ranges or river basins. This article examines the implications of this trend for sustainable development, which is defined here as a procedural norm for reconciling the tradeoffs between environmental, economic, and social dimensions of wellbeing. This article (1) traces arguments concerning the origins of functional differentiation to research on European state-making; (2) offers two complementary perspectives that generate insights into sustainable development at the transboundary level, one focusing on the intersection of multiple and overlapping functional spaces, and the other focusing on regionalization as the domestic manifestation of regional themes; and (3) illustrates the significance of these perspectives in the case of the European Alps. The article suggests that the Alps serve both as the bounded object of an international legally binding agreement asking its signatories to formalize sustainable development, and as the intersection of multiple overlapping functional spaces. It lends support to claims about the link between rescaling and functional differentiation, but demonstrates that a sympathetic critique of new environmental regionalism need not conclude that the phenomenon exacerbates the fragmentation of international governance.


The Purpose of this study is to examine the level of mental toughness of athletes who play individual and team sports at elite level and whether they differ according to gender, age, education level and time span of participation in that sport. 56 male (54.6%), 50 female (45.4%), totally 106 athletes from individual sports (Track and field, Boxing, Karate, Bicycle); and from team sports, (football, basketball, volleyball, handball), 57 male (56.4%) and 44 female (43.6%) participated in this study voluntarily. In the study, " Sport Mental Toughness Questionnaire (MTTQ) ", which was developed by Sheard et al. (2009) and adapted to Turkish by Altintas (2015), and personal information form prepared by researchers were used. The internal consistency of responses in the study was examined by Crα and the coefficient was found to be .83. Analysis of the data were made with SPSS 21 program, frequency (f), percentage (%) of descriptive statistics; T-test and ANOVA tests were used. As a result of the research; individual athletes have higher levels of mental toughness than team athletes. In addition, when the variables such as gender, age, education level and duration of sport were examined, statistically significant differences were found in the groups.


Although a primary objective of our journal is to publish high quality original research papers, MHR is committed to providing the reproductive community and beyond with insights into subjects as a whole. We have done this, for example, by presenting specific themes and special issues [recently series on Sperm competition (Ramm, 2014) and Mitochondria (St. John, 2015)]. This issue of MHR examines the potential impact of technological breakthroughs. Specifically, it focuses on the challenges and tremendous opportunities brought forward by the use of new methods to study early development. Boiani and Cibelli (2016) provide an introduction to this special issue focused on single cell analysis in development. However, this is no ordinary introduction but a detailed and comprehensive one. Following a brief history of the subject, they outline key problems that require urgent attention and thus should focus our thoughts. Technological innovation is being deployed and made available to scientists at a phenomenal rate. With single cell analysis we need to reach beyond the description of tissue heterogeneity and include, for instance, the understanding of what heterogeneity means to the whole embryo. The advantages and potential opportunities that single cell analysis brings to addressing these questions are put into context with the challenges that need to be overcome with their use and future fine tuning. These include, but are not restricted to, the need to study single cells without losing sight of the embryo as a whole, in tandem with understanding the molecular and physiological signatures of single blastomeres and single embryos. Additionally of course, there is the impending problem of the analysis of complex data, e.g. 'omics', whose generation is no longer precluded by such small amounts of material as those offered by single cells, yet it requires special considerations that are unique to single cells. These are very exciting times for reproductive science. Methodological developments such as single cell analysis are critical tools in our armoury. To a large degree, our discipline is ahead of the curve as we are well used to dealing with single cells. After all egg and sperm are being manipulated by hundreds of ART practitioners around the world every day of the week. Thus, we are well versed in issues such as cell heterogeneity which other disciplines are only just discovering. Moreover we have ideal functional assays to assess the impacts of this heterogeneity. Now, a key task is to utilize our collective experience to further our understanding of the biology of early development. We trust that this issue of MHR will act as impetus to galvanize these efforts.


Detecting faces and identifying their emotional expressions are essential for social interaction. The importance of expressions has prompted suggestions that some emotionally relevant facial features may be processed unconsciously, and it has been further suggested that this unconscious processing yields preferential access to awareness. Evidence for such preferential access has predominantly come from reaction times in the breaking continuous flash suppression (bCFS) paradigm, which measures how long it takes different stimuli to overcome interocular suppression. For instance, it has been claimed that fearful expressions break through suppression faster than neutral expressions. However, in the bCFS procedure, observers can decide how much information they receive before committing to a report, so although their responses may reflect differential detection sensitivity, they may also be influenced by differences in decision criteria, stimulus identification, and response production processes. Here, we employ a procedure that directly measures sensitivity for both face detection and identification of facial expressions, using predefined exposure durations. We apply diverse psychophysical approaches-forced-choice localization, presence/absence detection, and staircase-based threshold measurement; across six experiments, we find that emotional expressions do not alter detection sensitivity to faces as they break through CFS. Our findings constrain the possible mechanisms underlying previous findings: faster reporting of emotional expressions' breakthrough into awareness is unlikely to be due to the presence of emotion affecting perceptual sensitivity; the source of such effects is likely to reside in one of the many other processes that influence response times. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).


We here report the case of a 27-year old patient, followed-up in our Department for treatment of chronic Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease ( VKH disease). Fundus examination showed depigmentation of the retinal pigment epithelium and of the choroid, appearing as a pseudotumoral peripapillary lesion. Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease is a multisystem disorder, characterized by bilateral granulomatous panuveitis with serous exudative multifocal retinal detachment. Pathophysiology of this disease is unknown, but an immunological cellular reaction against melanocytes of the skin, the meninges, the retina, the uvea, the cochlea and the labyrinth is suspected. This disease mainly occurs in young subjects from the Far East as well as in pigmented subjects. Ocular involvement is often associated with neurological (meningeal stiffness, headache, sometimes associated with focal deficit and erebrospinal fluid (CSF) pleocytosis), auditory ( perceptive deafness) and cutaneous (vitiligo, poliosis, alopecia and canities) manifestations. It usually evolves in three phases: a prodromal phase mainly characterized by neurological signs, an acute uveitic phase, a chronic phase of convalescence characterized by choroidal and tegument depigmentation or a phase of recurrence during which subretinal neovessels and subretinal fibrosis may appear. Scarrings manifest during the chronic phase of VKH disease, which is dominated by diffuse depigmentation of the fundus of the eye, scars due to nummular chorioretinal atrophy, wheals due to diffuse depigmentation, macular scar remodeling. Pseudotumoral appearance is rare and atypical during the chronic phase of VKH disease. Treatment is based on intravenous corticosteroids followed by a cycle of oral therapy. Patient should be early treated with massive and prolonged therapy to improve prognosis.


The aim of this study was to evaluate whether linezolid minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) creep occurred in Staphylococcus aureus clinical isolates, including methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), over a recent 5-year period at a single Japanese center. A total of 453 MRSA and 195 methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) isolates recovered from inpatients from April 1, 2008 to March 31, 2013 were analyzed. The MIC of linezolid was determined by automated Vitek-2 system. The modal MIC, MIC range, MIC50 and MIC90 (MICs required to inhibit the growth of 50% and 90% of organisms, respectively), geometric mean MIC and percentages of susceptible and resistant isolates were evaluated for each fiscal year. None of the S. aureus isolates were resistant to linezolid. Isolates with an MIC of >1 µg/mL were more common in the MSSA samples than in the MRSA samples (91.3% versus 38.2%, p<0.001). The linezolid geometric mean MIC increased by 0.403 µg/mL (from 1.178 in 2008 to 1.582 in 2012) in the MRSA isolates (p=0.006, r(2)=0.945 according to a linear regression analysis) over the 5-year period; however, no increase was observed in the MSSA isolates. The frequency of MRSA isolates with an MIC of 1 µg/mL decreased (from 76.3% in 2008 to 35.4% in 2012) and the isolates with MICs of >1 µg/mL increased over time (from 23.7% in 2008 to 64.6% in 2012). This report demonstrates the occurrence of linezolid MIC creep, as determined using the geometric mean MIC, in MRSA clinical isolates at a single Japanese center.


In this paper, we establish some fixed point results for fuzzy mapping in a complete b-metric space. Our results unify, extend and generalize several results in the existing literature. Example is also given to support our results.


There has been an increasing interest for biodegradable polymers in recent years because they can be formed as scaffolds and safely removed from the body without the need for any surgical operation, and contribute to the healing process. However, the main problem in polymer-based biodegradable materials is the inability to obtain tunable biodegradation behavior to match healing, which limits the clinical feasibility of these biomaterials. In this study, it is aimed to model biodegradation behavior from short term experimental data in an effort to reduce time required for determination of bio-degradation parameters. Thus, the degradation behavior can be determined and controlled at a lower cost. In this context, the biodegradation behavior of poly-lactic acid (PLA) polymer which is widely used in biomedical applications, was investigated experimentally and numerically on different days related to fracture bone healing times (5–12 weeks). First, 4.5 mm × 4.5 mm × 4.5 mm cubes were printed using the fused deposition modelling (FDM). Then, printed samples were exposed to degradation in the incubator by immersion in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) solution at 37 °C at physiological conditions for different time periods (0, 15, 30, 61 and 90 days). Throughout degradation, water absorption, weight loss, mechanical properties and morphological changes were investigated. Water absorption increases up to 13% within 61 days and then decreases to 10% within 90 days. On the other hand, samples gain 1% weight for the first 15 days and following, start losing weight around 0.3% percent at the end of 90 days. This clearly indicates that degradation occurs and water replaces the degraded material. There are fluctuations in the stiffness values that decrease on the 15 and 61 days but they increase on the 30th and 90th days. The increases in stiffness can be attributed to the compressive resistance of the trapped water content. Microscopic investigation clearly verifies the water content that the colors of the samples (opacity increase) changed while no significant change in its size occurred at different degradation days. Experimental results indicate a degradation and mechanical behavior variation throughout the process while dimensional stability during the 90 day degradation period. Numerical model predicts the stiffness values reasonably well within 15 and 30 days of degradation, but differences for 61 and 90 days. This difference possibly stems from the fact that the numerical model does not include any water inclusion disturbance.


In this paper, we propose a framework called Trust-MAE to address the problem of product defect classification. Instead of relying on defective images that are difficult to collect and laborious to label, our framework can accept datasets with unlabeled images. Moreover, unlike most anomaly detection methods, our approach is robust against noises, or defective images, in the training dataset. Our framework uses a memory-augmented auto-encoder with a sparse memory addressing scheme to avoid over-generalizing the auto-encoder, and a novel trust-region memory updating scheme to keep the noises away from the memory slots. The result is a framework that can reconstruct defect-free images and identify the defective regions using a perceptual distance network. When compared against various state-of-the-art baselines, our approach performs competitively under noise-free MVTec datasets. More importantly, it remains effective at a noise level up to 40% while significantly outperforming other baselines.


AIM
To investigate the efficacy and safety of capecitabine and oxaliplatin (CapeOx) for extrahepatic metastasis after local treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

METHODS
Thirty-two patients with extrahepatic metastasis of HCC after local treatment were prospectively enrolled. The CapeOx regimen consisted of capecitabine 1000 mg/m(2) taken orally twice daily on days 1-14, and oxaliplatin was administered at a total dose of 100 mg/m(2) on day 1. The treatment was repeated every 3 wk until disease progression or unaccetablle toxicity. Efficacy and safety were assessable for all enrolled patients. The primary objective of this study was to assess the overall response rate. The secondary objectives were to evaluate the overall survival (OS), the time to tumor progression (TTP) and the toxicity profile of the combined strategy. TTP and OS were assessed by the Kaplan-Meier method and differences between the curves were analyzed using the log-rank test. The statistical software SPSS version 15.0 for Windows (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, United States) was used for statistical analysis. All P values were 2-tailed, with statistical significance defined by P ≤ 0.05.

RESULTS
Thirty-two patients were assessable for efficacy and toxicity. The median follow-up duration was 15 mo (range, 12-20 mo). At the cut-off date of March 31, 2012, 27 patients died due to tumor progression and one patient died of myocardial infarction. Four patients were still alive (three patients with disease progression). OR was 21.9% (n = 7), the stabilization rate was 40.6% (n = 13), and the disease control rate was 62.5%. The responses lasted from 4 to 19 mo (median, 6 mo). Median TTP was 4.2 mo (95%CI: 2.5-7.4), and the median OS time was 9.2 mo (95%CI: 6.5-17.8). The 1-year survival rate was 43.6% (95%CI: 29.0-66.0). In a multivariate analysis, OS was significantly longer in patients with a Child-Pugh class A compared with class B patients (P = 0.014), with a median OS of 10.1 mo vs 5.4 mo, and there were trends towards longer OS (P = 0.065) in patients without portal vein tumor thrombosis. There were no significant effects of age, gender, performance status, cirrhosis, metastatic sites, and level of alpha fetoprotein (AFP) or hepatitis B virus-DNA on OS. Among the 22 patients with elevated AFP levels at baseline (≥ 400 ng/mL), the level fell by more than 50% during treatment in 6 patients (27.3%). The most frequent treatment-related grade 3 to 4 toxicities included leucopenia/neutropenia, transient elevation of aminotransferases, hand-foot syndrome and fatigue.

CONCLUSION
CapeOx showed modest anti-tumor activity in metastatic HCC. However, the manageable toxicity profile and the encouraging disease control rate deserve further study for these patients.


Cite this article as Melgar, D., T. I. Melbourne, B. W. Crowell, J. Geng, W. Szeliga, C. Scrivner, M. Santillan, and D. E. Goldberg (2019). Real-Time HighRate GNSS Displacements: Performance Demonstration during the 2019 Ridgecrest, California, Earthquakes, Seismol. Res. Lett. XX, 1–9, doi: 10.1785/ 0220190223. Traditional real-time (RT) seismology has relied on inertial sensors to characterize ground motions and earthquake sources, particularly for hazards applications such as warning systems. In the past decade, a revolution in high-rate, RT Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) displacement has provided a new source of data to augment traditional measurement devices. The Ridgecrest, California, earthquake sequence in 2019 provided one of the most complete recordings of RT-GNSS displacements to date, helping aid in an initial source characterization over the first few days. In this article, we analyze and make available the archived RT displacement streams and compare their performance to postprocessed results, which we also provide. We find good agreement for all stations showing a noticeable signal. This demonstrates that simple modeling in RT, such as peak ground displacement scaling, would be practically identical to postprocessed results. Similarly, we find good agreement across the full spectral range, from the coseismic offsets (∼0 Hz) to the Nyquist frequency. We also find low latency between the measurement acquisition at the field site and the position calculation at the data center. In aggregate, the performance during the Ridgecrest earthquakes is strong evidence of the viability and usefulness of RT-GNSS as a monitoring


Summary Crude acetone extracts (CE) from Quercus durifolia and Quercus eduardii barks were partially purified by liquid extraction with ethyl acetate into organic extracts (OE), and these were separated by a Toyopearl HW-40F column chromatography with acetone-water (3:2) into oligomeric fractions (OLF). OEs were analyzed by HPLC and OLF by HPLC-MS. Screening of the antioxidant capacity of CE, OE, and OLF were performed by scavenging 1,1′-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical and ABTS·+ radical cations as well by β-carotene-linoleic acid model system assays. In the bark of both Quercus species the major compound identified in OE was catechin. In OLF the major compounds were monomeric and dimeric monogallate procyanidins, and monomeric, dimeric, trimeric, and tetrameric procyanidins. The best antioxidant capacity was shown by OLF from bark extracts of both species.


Background. Immunization of healthy women before pregnancy is a potential approach to providing increased levels of maternal antibody to newborns to protect them from infections occurring during the perinatal period and first months of life. Methods. Healthy nonpregnant Pima Indian women of childbearing age were randomized to receive one of two Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) conjugate vaccines [HbOC or Hib-meningococcal outer membrane protein complex (OMP)] or a 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PnPs). Infants received Hib-OMP vaccine at 2, 4 and 12 months of age. Vaccine safety and immunogenicity was evaluated in the women and their infants. Results. Anti-polyribose ribitol phosphate antibody titers were significantly higher in women in both Hib conjugate vaccine groups than in the pneumococcal vaccine group throughout the 37-month observation period. Antibody responses to HbOC vaccine were significantly higher than those to Hib-OMP. A subsequent booster dose of each Hib conjugate vaccine induced reactions and antibody responses similar to those of the first dose. Infants born to mothers immunized with Hib vaccines compared with PnPs had significantly higher polyribose ribitol phosphate-specific IgG antibody titers at birth and 2 months of age but lower antibody responses to Hib-OMP at 6 months and similar titers before and after boosting with Hib-OMP at 1 year of age. By contrast women immunized with PnPs did not have significantly elevated concentrations of pneumococcal-specific antibody at delivery, and their infants had pneumococcal antibody titers similar to those of infants born to mothers who did not receive pneumococcal vaccine before pregnancy. Conclusion. Hib conjugate vaccine given to women before pregnancy significantly increased the proportion of infants who had protective Hib antibody levels at birth and 2 months of age.


Extreme metal and rap music with violent themes are sometimes blamed for eliciting antisocial behaviours, but growing evidence suggests that music with violent themes can have positive emotional, cognitive, and social consequences for fans. We addressed this apparent paradox by comparing how fans of violent and non-violent music respond emotionally to music. We also characterised the psychosocial functions of music for fans of violent and non-violent music, and their passion for music. Fans of violent extreme metal (n=46), violent rap (n=49), and non-violent classical music (n=50) responded to questionnaires evaluating the cognitive (self-reflection, self-regulation) and social (social bonding) functions of their preferred music and the nature of their passion for it. They then listened to four one-minute excerpts of music and rated ten emotional descriptors for each excerpt. The top five emotions reported by the three groups of fans were positive, with empowerment and joy the emotions rated highest. However, compared with classical music fans, fans of violent music assigned significantly lower ratings to positive emotions and higher ratings to negative emotions. Fans of violent music also utilised their preferred music for positive psychosocial functions to a similar or sometimes greater extent than classical fans. Harmonious passion for music predicted positive emotional outcomes for all three groups of fans, whereas obsessive passion predicted negative emotional outcomes. Those high in harmonious passion also tended to use music for cognitive and social functions. We propose that fans of violent music use their preferred music to induce an equal balance of positive and negative emotions.


. At all stages of the construction design, from conceptual searches to approving the project documentation development, images are important as monoprojections on which the construction basic forms are effectively and expressively shown. Studying the construction of such monoprojections is began even in the first year of higher education, and then they are used to perform term papers and the thesis design. Purpose of study is the choice of the preferred algorithm for solving the problem of constructing monometric projections of trimetric axonometries in the context of the mapping processe computerization, taking into account the form of the object and the conditions for its presentation. In the article, the methodology of the trimetric axonometry monoprojection formation is considered in conditions of the mapping processe computerization. The methods of the metric object point fixation can be selected under the following conditions: orthogonal coordination in the reference point planes; oblique dependence; mixed, i.e., ortho-oblique-angled coordination; they can also contain intermediate transformations for various simplifications. Problems of constructing trimetric axonometry monoprojections at the mapping processe computerization are considered. Since in such cases the number of parameters of the necessary geometrical transformation increases, it becomes possible to use various algorithms for solving the problem. Based on the undertaken studies, conclusions were drawn on possible transformations for obtaining a trimetric monoprojection model and greatly simplifying the solution of problems in the construction object design.


The development of new catalysts for hydrogenation and dehydrogenation, isomerization, oxidation reactions using metals as active phase are reducing the metallic load at concentrations smaller than 1 wt.%. Therefore, information about the dispersion, size and chemical composition of the metallic phase is fundamental to understand the selectivity, reactivity and conversion results of the new catalytic formulation. Here, transmission electron microscopy plays an important role in the catalysis field [1]. This instrument gives information about the chemical composition, size and crystalline structure to a nanometric scale.


With the rapid development of wireless communications, the available bandwidth for wireless applications becomes more and more insufficient. Therefore, how to improve data rate without expending bandwidth becomes a main goal in modern communication system design. Recently, two wireless communication schemes, which can be used to effectively combat with multi-path fading, are widely investigated around the world. One is the multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology and another is the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM). As a result, a combined system, MIMO-OFDM, can be used for wireless communications to jointly explore the advantages of the above two strategies. In the study of MIMO-OFDM systems, the space-time block codes (STBC) and the spacetime trellis codes (STTC) are two efficient coding approaches. The former can be used to offer a full diversity gain, and the later can provide the systems with a large coding gain. Since 2003, super-orthogonal space-time trellis codes (SOSTTC), a new coding method processing the merits of both STBC and STTC, have been developed. However, whether or not it can perform just as well in a MIMO-OFDM system over a frequency-selective channel is still unknown. In addition, a communication channel plays a very important role on a communication system. A channel model is used to describe a realistic communication channel and its various model parameters are considered to influence the system performance such as symbol error rate (SER) as well as bit error rate (BER). Therefore, the effects on SER and BER, caused by changing channel parameters, are worth to be investigated. In the thesis, a new SOSTTC scheme for 16QAM constellation which can be used for high speed wireless communications is applied to a MIMO-OFDM system. To examine the performance of the proposed MIMO-OFDM system based on SOSTTC, the one-ring MIMO channel model is studied by evaluating the effects of antenna spacing, channel profiles and maximum Doppler frequency shift. In MATLAB simulations, the SER and the BER performance results show that enlargement of the antenna spacing can bring a higher diversity gain, and the enlargement of the antenna spacing at base station can achieve better system performance than at the mobile station. In the channel profiles, the model E can gain more 1.5dB on the SER than the other models at a SER of 10. In addition, the larger maximum Doppler frequency shift can cause more data errors by assuming non-perfect channel state information (CSI). Finally, by using SOSTTC, the system performance on SER can be improved by 0.5 to 1dB at a SER of 5×10−4, comparing it with the STBC in the same MIMO-OFDM system. According to the above results, it will be more efficient to increase antenna spacing at


Introduction:Regarding to the high prevalence of Down syndrome (1 per 700 births) different prenatal screening methods have been developed to identify high risk pregnant women. If the screening results were positive, prenatal genetic tests are recommended. This study was performed with aim to evaluate screening tests and comparison with fetal karyotype results. Methods: In this cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical study, the results of screening tests and genetic tests of 1009 pregnant women who underwent aneuploidy screening test in the years2015-2016, was examined. The information includes demographic data, familial history of previous child affected with Down syndrome, consanguineous marriage was obtained and then the results of screening and genetic test were recorded in a designed questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS software (version 19), P value less than 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Based on the results of genetic tests, 59 cases (6) of the studied fetuses had aneuploidy that 41 cases had Down syndrome. There was a significant relationship between screening tests and aneuploidy (P 0.05). Also, significant relationship was found between NT>3mm and aneuploidy (P<0.001). The sensitivity and specificity of NT test to aneuploidy detection obtained as 47 and 90, respectively. Conclusion: Fetal screening tests can help in finding pregnant women at risk for a child with chromosomal abnormalities. Further studies are recommended to determine the sensitivity of screening tests.


Objectives : Research on pesticide residues as endocrine disruptors in herbal medicines was initiated by Korea Food & Drug Administration in 1999. The presence and levels of certain pesticides in selected herbal medicines samples were determined. Forty species of herbal medicies which have no background data on pesticide residues including Osterici Koreani Radix were collected this year. Methods : 276 samples out of total 427 were circulated in Korea, and the others were in China. In order to analyze many pesticides in large number of samples, simultaneous multi-residue analysis of pesticides by GC-ECD was used. The GC-MSD analysis was followed to confirm the identity of the detected pesticide in each sample. Results and conclusions : The frequencies of pesticide detection in natural medicines were 18 samples circulated in Korea and 12 samples circulated in China. The range of pesticide residues for DDT was 0.007~0.09ppm in 8 samples. That for lindane was 0.001~0.02ppm in 7 samples, for endosulfan was 0.001~0.074ppm in 6 samples, for methoxychlor was 0.004~0.161ppm in 5 samples, for chlordane was 0.006~0.02ppm in 4 samples. The range of pesticide residues for parathion was 0.001ppm in 1 samples.


A new interpolation method for rotation and divergence free fields is presented. It is based on a suitable choice of a tricubic interpolation scheme and reaches an accuracy of third order in grid size (Δx). With the interpolation method it is possible to increase the accuracy with a factor of grid size/distance with respect to the trilinear interpolation method using exactly the same data points. Simulations for several distances of dipoles (r) to the interpolation area show that the maximum relative deviation is approximately 3(Δx/r) 3 ppm.


In addition to the galactosemias associated with galactose-1-phosphate uridylyltransferase and galactokinase deficiency, uridine diphosphate (UDP) galactose 4-epimerase deficiency is a third disorder of galactose metabolism characterized by the inability to epimerize UDPgalactose and UDPglucose. The first case was discovered during the course of newborn screening in Switzerland. 1 We would like to report observations on an infant whose condition was discovered in newborn screening and whose erythrocytes lack the capability to convert UDPgalactose to UDPglucose. Patient and Methods .—The patient is the child of healthy parents. His blood was collected on filter paper for routine screening. Active uridyltransferase was indicated by the appearance of fluorescence in an enzyme spot screening test. The Paigen assay indicated a concentration of high levels of galactose and galactose-1-phosphate. 2.3 At 3 months of age, he was referred to our hospital for the evaluation of the high level of galactose-1-phosphate in his blood. Epimerase activities


The purpose of this research was to determine knowledge management in the empowerment of the experts of Agricultural Organization in Ilam County of Iran. The statistical population was composed of all employees with the organizational positions of expert or higher in Agricultural Organization of Ilam (N=150). A self-designed questionnaire was used as data collection tool whose face and content validities were confirmed by a panel of experts and whose reliability was estimated to be 0.89 by Cronbach's alpha. Data were analyzed by SPSS20 in two groups of descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and coefficient of variations) and inferential statistics (Spearman test of correlation and multiple regression analysis). Results of regression analysis showed positive, significant relationship of knowledge exchange, knowledge generation, and number of training courses with people's empowerment so that they, together, accounted for 40% of the variations of dependent variable.


BACKGROUND
Interleukin-6 (IL-6) polymorphisms have been shown to affect IL-6 promoter activity. This study investigated the possible role of IL-6 genetic polymorphisms and haplotypes in the predisposition to aggressive periodontitis (AgP).

MATERIAL AND METHODS
A case-control association study on 224 AgP patients and 231 healthy controls was performed in order to detect differences in genotype distributions of five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) located in the promoter region of the IL-6 gene.

RESULTS
The IL-6 -1363 polymorphism was associated with a diagnosis of AgP in subjects of all ethnicities (p=0.006, adjusted logistic regression). The -1480 SNP was associated with LAgP in subjects of all ethnicities (p=0.003). The -1480 and -6106 polymorphisms were associated with Localized AgP in Caucasians (n=24) (p=0.007 and 0.010, respectively). Haplotypes determined by the -1363 and -1480 polymorphisms were also associated with LAgP (p=0.001) in Caucasians.

CONCLUSIONS
This study supports the hypothesis of a link between IL-6 genetic factors and AgP and highlights the importance of two IL-6 polymorphisms (-1363 and -1480) in modulating disease phenotype and susceptibility.


Background:Alveolar recruitment in response to positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) may differ between pulmonary and extrapulmonary acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and alveolar recruitment values may differ when measured by pressure-volume curve compared with static compliance. Methods:The authors compared PEEP-induced alveolar recruitment in 71 consecutive patients identified in a database. Patients were classified as having pulmonary, extrapulmonary, or mixed/uncertain ARDS. Pressure-volume curves with and without PEEP were available for all patients, and pressure-volume curves with two PEEP levels were available for 44 patients. Static compliance was calculated as tidal volume divided by pressure change for tidal volumes of 400 and 700 ml. Recruited volume was measured at an elastic pressure of 15 cm H2O. Results:Volume recruited by PEEP (10 ± 3 cm H2O) was 223 ± 111 ml in the pulmonary ARDS group (29 patients), 206 ± 164 ml in the extrapulmonary group (16 patients), and 242 ± 176 ml in the mixed/uncertain group (26 patients) (P = 0.75). At high PEEP (14 ± 2 cmH2O, 44 patients), recruited volumes were also similar (P = 0.60). With static compliance, recruitment was markedly underestimated and was dependent on tidal volume (226 ± 148 ml using pressure-volume curve, 95 ± 185 ml for a tidal volume of 400 ml, and 23 ± 169 ml for 700 ml; P < 0.001). Conclusion:In a large sample of patients, classification of ARDS was uncertain in more than one third of patients, and alveolar recruitment was similar in pulmonary and extrapulmonary ARDS. PEEP levels should not be determined based on cause of ARDS.


Soil stabilization is the process which involves enhancing the physical properties of the soil in order to improve its strength, durability etc. by blending or mixing with additives. The different types of method used for soil stabilization are: Soil stabilization with cement, Soil stabilization with lime, Soil stabilization using bitumen, Chemical stabilization and a new emerging technology of stabilization by Geo textiles and Geo synthetic fibres. In this study, we are making use of Jute and Coir fibre as geo synthetic material for stabilization of soil. With the introduction of Jute and Coir fibres to the soil the CBR values will improve and thickness of pavement layer also gets reduced. It also reduces the intensity of stress on subgrade. Jute and Coir fibres are such a geo synthetic material which is easily available, eco friendly and also cost-effective. With the application of soil stabilization method in construction the overall cost gets reduced when compared to the ordinary method of construction. To determine the Liquid limit using Casagrande Method, Plastic limit by rolling the sample to 3mm diameter thread, Optimum Moisture Content and Maximum Dry Density using Standard Proctor Test, Unconfined compression test and also California Bearing Ratio by conducting CBR test.


In this work a study of the CP asymmetry across the phase space of charmless three-body decays of B± mesons is presented. Four final states containing only charged light mesons are considered: π–π–π+, K–π–π+, K–π–K+ and K-K-K+. The observed pattern of the CP asymmetry distribution suggests the action of different mechanisms generating strong phases, which are necessary to give rise to CP violation.


Improving oral bioavailability of drugs those given as solid dosage forms remains a challenge for the formulation scientists due to solubility  problems. The dissolution rate could be the rate-limiting process in the absorption of a drug from a solid dosage form of relatively insoluble drugs. Therefore increase in dissolution of poorly soluble drugs by solid dispersion technique presents a challenge to the formulation scientists. In the present work solid dispersed drug was prepared by Fusion technique as a novel system for enhancing the delivery of piroxicam, a non-steroidal  anti-inflammatory drug. This solid dispersed drug was prepared from polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) (pharmaceutical grade), a biodegradable polymer, to obtain a solution with drug: polymer ratio of 1:5. The release rate of the piroxicam solid dispersed drug was studied in simulated gastric fluid. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) are used to evaluate the chemical and physical nature. The results showed that the release rates were twice increased in comparison with the pure drug. However, the blend of drug and polymer could be varied to optimize the release rates depending upon the need and formulation.


Introduction Technical improvement and new operative strategies significantly influence survival and outcomes after the treatment of acute aortic dissection type A (AADA). However, postoperative complications and particularly neurological dysfunctions (ND) are still very common. Aim To identify preoperative and intraoperative factors as well as immediate postoperative conditions with an influence on the occurrence of neurological complications of surgical treatment of AADA and accordingly take action to reduce them. Material and methods Between January 2013 and December 2018, 240 patients with AADA were emergently surgically treated. All patients were divided into two groups: group I – patients with postoperative ND (subgroup Ia – patients with mild, transient ND and Ib – patients with severe ND) and group II – patients without ND. Results Neurological damage after the operation was registered in 87 (39.5%) patients. Thirty (13.6%) patients had mild ND and 57 (25.9%) severe. Presence of preoperative neurological deficit, reduced level of consciousness, supra-aortic vessel dissection, hemodynamic instability, and excessive postoperative bleeding with hypotension are factors with a highly statistically significant association with the occurrence of severe ND. Neurological complications were not identified in 66.7% of patients who were axillary cannulated versus 55.9% of patients cannulated in the other way but the difference did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.1099). Conclusions Advanced neuroprotective strategies during surgical treatment of AADA are associated with favorable neurological outcomes, especially in a group of patients with identified risk factors for ND.


Background In the pre-biologics era several studies showed a large impact of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) on worker participation.[1] Biologicals offer the opportunity to improve work-outcomes on the one hand and offset part of the drug costs on the other hand. Objectives To systematically review the effect of treatment with biologicals in AS on three areas of work-outcomes: employment status, absence form paid work and at-work productivity loss. Methods A systematic search in Pubmed, Embase and Cochrane Library was performed (15 June 2011) by two authors to identify relevant articles. Quality of included studies was assessed by two authors using the Dutch Cochrane guidelines for (un)controlled cohorts and randomised controlled trials (RCTs). Data were extracted by one author (LvdB) and checked by another (MtW) using a self-composed form. Due to extensive inter-study heterogeneity, narrative summaries were used to present the data. Results A total of eight studies were included (5 uncontrolled cohorts, 1 population controlled cohort and 2 RCTs) and 26 comparisons of either before-after TNF or between treatment groups were reported. Overall 877 patients were treated with three different TNF-α inhibitors (etanercept, infliximab, adalimumab). While the methodological quality of RCTs was good, they lack external validity. Of the five cohort studies, three showed substantial selection bias and three did not control outcomes for potential confounders. Although trends for all outcomes were positive, only 7 of 13 before-after comparisons in the five uncontrolled cohorts were tested for statistical significance and 4 of 6 comparisons in the controlled cohort study (excluding the comparison with the general population). In the RCTs, only 4 out of 6 comparisons reported were tested for between group differences at the end of the trial. The table presents significance of results for number of comparisons made, organised by outcome. Employment status Absenteeism Presenteeism Number of studies/comparisons 4 studies; 6 comparisons 7 studies; 13 comparisons 4 studies; 7 comparisons Positive result: significant 1 7 2 Positive result: not significant – 1 3 Positive result: not tested 2 4 2 Negative result: not tested 1 – – Negative result: not significant 2 1 – Negative result: significant – – – Conclusions Large heterogeneity in type and reporting of studies, and outcomes hampers clear conclusions. Although trends towards beneficial effects on all work outcomes were shown, this effect proved often not significant either compared to the untreated group or to the baseline situation. Since the majority of studies were (extensions of) controlled trials, the generalizability of the effect of biologicals on work participation in daily practice should be further studied in larger population controlled studies or registers. References Boonen A, van der Heijde D, Landewe R, et al. Work status and productivity costs due to ankylosing spondylitis: comparison of three European countries. Ann Rheum Dis. 2002 May;61(5):429-37. Disclosure of Interest None Declared


The microwave detection characteristics of photodarlington 2N5780 series and MRD14B have been investigated in X band. The photodarlingtons produced a 10-dB better output than a conventional 1N23C point-contact detector. The mechanism of microwave detection was found to be due to the conventional potential barrier at the p-n junction rather than photovoltaic or conductive effects.


Background—Cardiac tamponade is the most dramatic complication observed during atrial fibrillation (AF) ablation and the leading cause of procedure-related mortality. Female sex is a known risk factor for complications during AF ablation; however, it is unknown whether women have a higher risk of tamponade. Methods and Results—A systematic Medline search was used to locate academic electrophysiological centers that reported cases of tamponade occurring during AF ablation. Centers were asked to provide information on cases of acute tamponade according to sex and their mode of management including any case of related mortality. Nineteen electrophysiological centers provided information on 34 943 ablation procedures involving 25 261 (72%) men. Overall, 289 (0.9%) cases of tamponade were reported: 120 (1.24%) in women and 169 (0.67%) in men (odds ratio, 1.83; P<0.001). There was a reciprocal association between center volume and the occurrence of tamponade with substantially lower risk in high-volume centers. Most cases of tamponade occurred during catheter manipulation or ablation; women tended to develop more tamponades during transseptal catheterization. No sex difference in the mode of management was observed. However, 16% cases of tamponade required surgery with lower rates in high-volume centers. Three cases of tamponade (1%) culminated in death. Conclusions—Tamponade during AF ablation procedures is relatively rare. Women have an ≈2-fold higher risk for developing this complication. The risk of tamponade among women decreases substantially in high-volume centers. Surgical backup and acute management skills for treating tamponade are important in centers performing AF ablation.


A new strategy for converting antipsychotic drug olanzapine into PDE4 inhibitors is described via the design and Pd/C mediated synthesis of novel N-indolylmethyl olanzapine derivatives. One compound showed good inhibition (IC50 1.1 μM) and >10 fold selectivity towards PDE4B over D that was supported by docking studies. This compound also showed significant inhibition of TNF-α and no major toxicities in cell lines and a zebrafish embryo model except the teratogenic effects to be re-assessed in rodents.


The present thesis constitutes a close study of a single architectural monument, the tomb of Caecilia Metella. This is a well-preserved cylindrical tomb situated on the Via Appia outside Rome, and it is generally associated with sepulchral buildings of the traditional tumulus type. An inscription reveals that the occupant of the grave was a noble woman belonging to one of the most prestigious families in late Republican Rome. The principal aim of the study is to understand the ideas and intentions behind the design and layout of the building in question, with a particular focus on the role of the commissioner. As an initiatory step the remaining structure was subjected to a close investigation, including three-dimensional documentation and computer modelling, whereby the presence of a number of architectural oddities could be established. The unique internal layout of the tomb in particular demonstrates the complexity of the building program and indicates the use of spatial concepts usually not found in Roman sepulchral architecture. In order to facilitate the interpretation of these traits comparative architectural material is presented, as well as sources of other kinds (a limited chronology of punctuation marks was constructed), but the monument itself remains at the centre of the investigation. Through a series of analyses (formal, typological, spatial and historical) of different aspects of the building, a possible explanation for the exact meaning and significance of both the external and internal layout is arrived at, and the monument is set against the background of its historical context.

The dissertation concludes that the commissioner of the tomb most likely was the son of Caecilia Metella, Marcus Licinius Crassus (cos. 30 BC), and that the sepulchre was probably erected between 30 and 20 BC. Furthermore, it outlines how the tomb was deliberately used by the commissioner for his own propagandistic purposes. Thus, the monument acted as a tropaeum of the military achievements of Crassus and his ancestors. This circumstance hints at the Roman practice of combining several, partly interrelated, spectacles (e.g. funeral games and triumphal celebrations) in order to obtain a greater effect. It is also suggested that the internal arrangement can be recognised as an architectural manifestation of a religious spatial concept – the entrance to the netherworld. Although this phenomenon originally belonged to a purely mythological imagery, the architect was able to draw on various associated concepts in order to create a physical representation of the motif. The occurrence of this representation within a sepulchral building is best explained as mirroring the personal religious affiliations of the deceased and/or the commissioner. Apart from demonstrating the close connection between a single individual and certain divinities, it may have served as a focal point for continuous cultic activities of a private character. Lacking other significant parallels the installation may tentatively be labelled as a thymele. The tomb of Caecilia Metella provides a remarkable example of the transition within Roman architecture from the late Republican to the early Imperial period, and the formation of a new architectural language.


In acidic intracellular organelles, sequestration via a proton-trapping mechanism is observed for many amine-containing drugs. It may be related to several adverse effects of a drug, yet accumulation of amines bearing antioxidant functionality may provide efficient protection of these compartments. In the present study, a possible proton-trapping mechanism of the novel antioxidant reference stobadine (STO) and its selected derivatives was investigated also with regard to their antioxidant properties, using BV-2 microglia. Unlike its 2-ethoxycarbonyl-8-methoxy derivative EC-STO (pKa1 4.95, pKa2 -3.58), STO, bearing weakly basic piperidine moiety (pKa2 9.03), induced vacuolar response in the cells. EC-STO, compared to STO, failed to provide better protection against oxidative damage induced by tert-butyl hydroperoxide (BHP), and that in spite of its predicted improved bioavailability and antioxidant properties. However, disruption of the lysosomal proton gradient abolished the efficacy of STO in suppressing oxidants generation and injury of the cells. NT-STO, the 6-nitro derivative of stobadine, lacking antiradical efficacy, showed a lower effect in protecting the cells against BHP. In conclusion, our study suggests that weakly basic hexahydropyridoindoles may act as lysosomotropic compounds. Furthermore, their weakly basic characteristics may contribute to their improved efficacy in suppressing peroxidative processes within lysosomes, and thus possibly combating ageing-related pathologies.


AIM OF THE STUDY
Aim of this study is to investigate whether, in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), regional myocardial blood flow (rMBF) regulation is affected with further mechanisms besides the effects of epicardial coronary stenosis.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
RMBF and coronary reserve are measured in 13 normal subjects and in 36 patients with effort angina and isolated (> or = 50% diameter narrowing) left anterior descending (LAD, 27 patients) or left circumflex (LCX, 9 patients) coronary artery stenosis. Measurements are obtained both at baseline and following dipyridamole (0.56 mg/kg in 4 minutes) using positron emission tomography and N13-ammonia.

RESULTS
At rest, patients with CAD show similar rMBF values in the stenotic and remote areas (0.71 +/- 0.19 vs 0.77 +/- 0.22 ml/min/gr, respectively, ns); both values are significantly (p < 0.01) reduced with respect to mean rMBF observed in the normal subjects (1.07 +/- 0.21 ml/min/gr). Following dipyridamole, patients with CAD show lower rMBF values in stenotic than in control regions (1.25 +/- 0.54 vs 1.73 +/- 0.80 ml/min/gr, p < 0.01); however, both these values are significantly reduced when compared with mean rMBF in the normal subjects (3.76 +/- 0.88 ml/min/gr, p < 0.01). To evaluate whether reduction in resting myocardial perfusion indicates maximal vasodilatation, patients with CAD are divided into 2 groups: Group 1 with homogeneous baseline perfusion (0.73 +/- 0.2 vs 0.75 +/- 0.24 ml/min/gr, in stenotic and remote areas, respectively, ns), and Group 2 with baseline perfusion defect in the stenotic related territory (0.62 +/- 0.14 vs 0.84 +/- 0.17 ml/min/gr, p < 0.01). Coronary reserve (dipyridamole flow/baseline flow) is similar in the 2 Groups (1.74 +/- 0.66 vs 1.93 +/- 0.45, ns).

CONCLUSIONS
These data suggest that, in patients with CAD, other factors beyond hydraulic effects of epicardial coronary stenosis, could modulate rMBF regulation; in fact: 1) myocardium perfused by angiographically normal coronary artery shows reduced values of both resting rMBF and coronary reserve; 2) myocardium supplied by stenotic vessel maintains a residual vasodilating capability despite a reduced baseline perfusion.


We consider a system of N servers inter-connected by some underlying graph topology GN. Tasks with unit-mean exponential processing times arrive at the various servers as independent Poisson processes of rate λ. Each incoming task is irrevocably assigned to whichever server has the smallest number of tasks among the one where it appears and its neighbors in GN. The above model arises in the context of load balancing in large-scale cloud networks and data centers, and has been extensively investigated in the case GN is a clique. Since the servers are exchangeable in that case, mean-field limits apply, and in particular it has been proved that for any λ < 1, the fraction of servers with two or more tasks vanishes in the limit as N → ∞. For an arbitrary graph GN, mean-field techniques break down, complicating the analysis, and the queue length process tends to be worse than for a clique. Accordingly, a graph GN is said to be N-optimal or √N-optimal when the queue length process on GN is equivalent to that on a clique on an N-scale or √N-scale, respectively. We prove that if GN is an Erdöo s-Rényi random graph with average degree d(N), then with high probability it is N-optimal and √N-optimal if d(N) → ∞ and d(N)/√Nlog(N)) → ∞ as N → ∞, respectively. This demonstrates that optimality can be maintained at N-scale and √N-scale while reducing the number of connections by nearly a factor N and √N/log(N) compared to a clique, provided the topology is suitably random. It is further shown that if GN contains Θ(N) bounded-degree nodes, then it cannot be N-optimal. In addition, we establish that an arbitrary graph GN is N-optimal when its minimum degree is N - o(N), and may not be N-optimal even when its minimum degree is cN + o(N) for any 0 < c < 1/2. Simulation experiments are conducted for various scenarios to corroborate the asymptotic results.


Background: Little is known about how body shapes in childhood and adolescence is associated with respiratory symptoms later in life. Aim: To examine associations between body-shapes in childhood and adolescence and productive cough in adulthood. Methods: In the Respiratory Health in Northern Europe (RHINE) III (2010-12) 12860 subjects aged 38-65, answered questionnaires on respiratory symptoms and self-perceived body shapes at 8 years and at puberty. The 9 body shapes were divided in categories "underweight", "normal weight" and "overweight". Associations of productive cough with body shapes were analysed with logistic regressions adjusted for gender, age, environmental tobacco exposure (ETS), education, childhood asthma and current BMI. We ran stratified analyses by smoking habits and gender. Results: 16% of the subjects reported productive cough. Productive cough was significantly more common in those with childhood underweight OR 1.2(1.1,1.5 95%CI) in never-smokers. After additional stratification by gender the association remained significant for women OR 1.3(1.0,1.7 95%CI), but not for men OR 1.3(0.9,1.6 95%CI). There was a significant association between productive cough and puberty overweight in ever-smoking men OR 1.6(1.0,2.5 95%CI), and a border-line significant association in ever-smoking women OR 1.5(0.9,2.5 95%CI). Conclusion: Childhood underweight was associated with productive cough in adulthood for never-smokers. Puberty overweight was associated with adult productive cough for ever-smokers. Metabolic development in childhood and adolescence should be investigated to improve understanding of COPD phenotypes.


Objective This study examined the reliability and validity of a Shame and Stigma Scale (SSS) and assessed shame and stigma among patients with facial disfigurement from nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Methods Data were collected from 218 patients with NPC through a cross-sectional survey between January 14, 2020, and December 1, 2020. The original SSS is a 20-item scale with four dimensions (i.e., shame with appearance, sense of stigma, regret, and social/speech concern). We used Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega to assess reliability and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to assess the factor structure. We also used Pearson correlation analysis to examine the relationship between each item and total score of scale items and convergent validity. Results The final 18-item SSS had a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of .89. The EFA revealed that the SSS has a four-factor structure: sense of stigma, social/speech concern, shame with appearance, and regret. These factors showed satisfactory reliability, with McDonald's omega coefficients of .87, .77, .86, and .79, respectively. The scale showed significant relationship between each item and total score of scale items with respect to item–total correlations, item–subscale correlations, and item–other-subscale correlations. Convergent validity was supported by the significant positively correlated with the total scores for depression and anxiety. Conclusion The SSS is valid and reliable in assessing shame and stigma and monitoring treatment compliance among patients with NPC.


In this thesis three different carbon allotropes are examined through bottom up and top down approaches: carbon nanotubes (CNT), carbon nanofibers (CNF) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO). The CNTs and CNFs are synthesized by Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD); CNTs were typically grown using a substrate of thin film of iron deposited on silicon, while CNFs were grown from a novel Ni-doped metal organic framework (MOF). Patterned and electrically conducting rGO structures are fabricated by focused ion beam induced deoxygenation on Graphene oxide (GO) films and micro-super-capacitor devices are constructed and evaluated. Arrays of aligned CNTs were integrated into fluidic micro-channels through microfabrication (photolithography and focused ion beam milling) approach. Ion-current measurements through these devices indicate currents of 0.93 nA per tube which is four orders of magnitude higher than the theoretical current through a standard pore. The CNFs are grown on a scaffold of MOF-5 in which a percentage of the Zn metal centres have been isomorphously substituted with Ni. The quality and diameter distribution of the CNFs are studied with varying percentages of Ni substitution up to 50% substitution. The CNFs are found to template the MOF microstructure, while introducing the electrically conductive CNF - an ideal situation for capacitive energy storage. The hierarchically porous CNF demonstrate a capacitance of 24 F/g and increases with increasing concentration of Ni in the parent MOF; however as Ni is still present, activation of the nickel centres in an alkaline environment leads to a pseudo capacitance of 247 F/g making it an effective electrode material. A novel top down approach for patterned reduction of graphene oxide (GO) is reported, which utilises the kinetic energy of incoming ions, specifically gallium ions, to preferentially sputter away the oxygen species due to differing volatility and bond strengths to carbon, leading to reduction. The ions are fired at the sample in the form of a focused ion beam allowing for the direct writing of conductive reduced graphene oxide region with nanometre spatial resolution. The effect of ion bombardment is also studied in detail uncovering distinct regimes of amorphisation and reduction with varying ion fluence. This is used to determine the optimal parameters for the reduction of the graphene oxide and makes use of them to directly write planar micro super capacitors into a graphene oxide film. These micro capacitors were evaluated and display a high specific capacitance (112 mF/cm2) as well as high specific energy densities (3.9 × 10-6 Wh/cm2) and ultra-high power densities (179 W/cm2), as yet unseen in this field.


9052 Background: Real-world evidence (RWE) is increasingly important for discovery and may be an opportunity for regulatory approval. Effective use of RWE relies on determining treatment-specific outcomes, such as overall response rate (ORR) and progression-free survival (PFS), which are challenging to accurately evaluate retrospectively and at scale. We hypothesized the use of machine learning of text radiology reports from patients with NSCLC treated with PD-1 blockade could be used to train a model that estimates RECIST-defined outcomes. Methods: 2753 imaging reports from 453 patients with advanced NSCLC treated with PD-1 blockade were collected and separated into independent training (80%, n = 362) and validation (20%, n = 92) cohorts. Reports were limited to interval of PD-1 blockade. RECIST reads performed by thoracic radiologists on all patients served as "gold standard" to determine ORR, occurrence of, and date of progression. Baseline reports were compared to all follow up reports to determine machine-learning RECIST (ml-RECIST). A four layers neural-network model for classification was proposed to solve the three above tasks. Results: In the training cohort, ml-RECIST best estimated ORR by RECIST (accuracy CR/PR 84%, SD 82%, POD 91%). ml-RECIST estimated PFS by RECIST accurately predicting progression occurred at any time (86%) and exact progression date (65%). Date of progression was closely correlated (Pearson's r coefficient = 0.91, 95% CI:0.89-0.94, p < 0.001) in patients determined to have progressed by both methods. Similar accuracy of ml-RECIST was observed in the validation cohort (accuracy CR/PR 84%, SD 80%, POD 90%; progression occurred 86%, progression date 72%). Accuracy was consistent when RECIST reads were performed prospectively as part of clinical trials vs retrospectively for standard of care treatment (e.g. CR/PR 82% vs 88%, respectively). ml-RECIST-defined response similarly determined improvement in overall survival compared to RECIST (HR = 0.19, p < 0.001 vs HR = 0.26, p < 0.001 respectively). Conclusions: Machine learning-RECIST ("ml-RECIST") accurately estimates outcomes using imaging text reports. ml-RECIST may be tool to determine outcomes expeditiously and at scale for use in RWE studies, enabling more useful and reliable applications of large clinical databases.


111 The article focuses on the problems related to the disparities in the settlement system of the Kaliningrad region, the problems of small and semi-mediumsized towns, and the role of such towns in solving the regional development problems of the Kaliningrad region. The author analyses the Lithuanian experience of revitalizing small towns. The article outlines the ways to apply this experience to the Kaliningrad region.


Many studies have pointed out that trust is the most important component of social capital. Although there have been lots of attempts to measure level of trust between members of community, it is hard to find studies which examine trust from the standpoint of structural aspects. Because of the recent rapid growth of SNS and openness trend on members and their friendship information, it became possible to understand the structure of trust relationships among users in SNS. This study aims to facilitate interpersonal trust by comparing the structure of the trust network among social network users. For this purpose, it proposes a method to explore the structure of trust network and strategies to evolve toward more open structure. In experiments to distinguish structure of trust network with three social network communities, it is discovered that ADVOGATO has characteristics of open and collective network together whereas EPINION and FILMTRUST have collective and open characteristics respectively.


This purpose of this project is to find a suitable method for conversion of bio
oil to biodiesel through adsorptive distillation approach. This is to satisfy the need in
finding latest technological advancements of the production of biodiesel. The
problem needed to be assessed is whether the approach of adsorptive distillation is
feasible for the conversion of bio oil to biodiesel.
There have been many efforts to produce biodiesel in many methods as this
fuel can be used in standard diesel engines Most methods of converting biodiesel use
transesterification process. The technology of converting bio oil to biodiesel using
the adsorptive distillation approach is still new and is rarely used as a conversion
process.
The method for conversion uses the rotary evaporator. The bio oil will be reacted
with an alcohol, in this case propanol. Sulphuric acid will be used as a catalyst in the
reaction. At the same time, water will be adsorbed by the molecular sieves to force
the reaction to the right side.
In conclusion, it is hoped that this project can prove that this method is feasible
in converting bio oil to biodiesel and can be used in the future for the production of
biodiesel.


The use of learning media is one of the important aspects in the learning process to achieve learning objectives. However, there are still educators who only use conventional learning media so that students feel bored and do not focus on learning activities. From the validation results of material experts obtained 81%, from media experts 81% and 91.67% from the results of student response questionnaires. In conclusion, interactive multimedia adjustment journal material can be a very feasible medium so that it is expected to make it easier for students to understand adjustment journals made using Lectora Inspire.


This paper presents a stress-history-based approach to predict the deformation basins of airport pavements subjected to heavy aircraft loading applied in sequential wanders. Multi-depth deflectometer data from full-scale aircraft landing gear tests conducted at the National Airport Pavement Test Facility built by the Federal Aviation Administration are used to create individual pass residual deformation transverse profiles. The computed residual deformation profiles are further corrected for stress-history effects to predict rut in the selected test sections. The developed model focuses on using the previous load location and stress history of the soil element to develop the deformations in that element. Despite the unavailability of the surface transverse profile data measured in the field at different passes, the initial attempt of the model can closely predict the deformation profile similar to width and shape expected in the field. And after the stress-history effects are accounted for, the initially calculated rut depth decreases significantly to match the final contour basin of the test sections extracted from the post traffic trenching. The advantage of using the stress-history-effects-based rut prediction tool is that it can allow any combination of wander positions and sequences of load applications to be accounted for their effects on the final surface rut development.


The spin–orbit-split L-gap surface states on Au(111) are investigated by means of spin- and angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy and relativistic first-principles calculations, the latter including both electronic structure and photoemission. The dispersion, momentum distribution and spin polarization of the surface states are consistent with those of a two-dimensional electron gas with Rashba–Bychkov spin–orbit coupling (SOC). The surface symmetry manifests itself in the spin-integrated photoemission intensities, thereby providing details of the orbital composition of the surface states. For the spin polarization, modulations which show up in theory are below the experimental detection limit of 5%. The dependence of both dispersion and spin polarization on the SOC strength are addressed theoretically. The combination of experiment and theory establishes a consistent picture of the L-gap surface states. (Some figures in this article are in colour only in the electronic version)


Results of previous studies raise the question of how timing neuromuscular functional electrical stimulation (FES) to limb movements during stepping might alter neuromuscular control differently than patterned stimulation alone. We have developed a prototype FES system for a rodent model of spinal cord injury (SCI) that times FES to robotic treadmill training (RTT). In this study, one group of rats (n = 6) was trained with our FES+RTT system and received stimulation of the ankle flexor (tibialis anterior [TA]) muscle timed according to robot-controlled hind-limb position (FES+RTT group); a second group (n = 5) received a similarly patterned stimulation, randomly timed with respect to the rats' hind-limb movements, while they were in their cages (randomly timed stimulation [RS] group). After 4 wk of training, we tested treadmill stepping ability and compared kinematic measures of hind-limb movement and electromyography (EMG) activity in the TA. The FES+RTT group stepped faster and exhibited TA EMG profiles that better matched the applied stimulation profile during training than the RS group. The shape of the EMG profile was assessed by "gamma," a measure that quantified the concentration of EMG activity during the early swing phase of the gait cycle. This gamma measure was 112% higher for the FES+RTT group than for the RS group. The FES+RTT group exhibited burst-to-step latencies that were 41% shorter and correspondingly exhibited a greater tendency to perform ankle flexion movements during stepping than the RS group, as measured by the percentage of time the hind limb was either dragging or in withdrawal. The results from this study support the hypothesis that locomotor training consisting of FES timed to hind-limb movement improves the activation of hind-limb muscle more so than RS alone. Our rodent FES+RTT system can serve as a tool to help further develop this combined therapy to target appropriate neurophysiological changes for locomotor control.


A two-dimensional thermal model of proton exchange membrane fuel cell with large active area is developed to investigate the performance of fuel cell with large active area over various thermal management conditions. The core sub-models of the twodimensional thermal model are one-dimensional agglomerate structure electrochemical reaction model, one-dimensional water transport model, and a two-dimensional heat transfer model. Prior to carrying out the simulation, this study is contributed to set up the operating temperature of the fuel cell with large active area which is a maximum temperature inside the fuel cell considering durability of membrane electrolyte. The simulation results show that the operating temperature of the fuel cell and temperature distribution inside the fuel cell can affect significantly the total net power at extreme conditions. Results also show that the parasitic losses of balance of plant component should be precisely controlled to produce the maximum system power with minimum parasitic loss of thermal management system.


Retinal prosthetic devices stimulate retinal nerve cells with electrical signals proportional to the incident light intensities. For a high-resolution retinal prosthesis, it is necessary to reduce the size of the stimulator pixels as much as possible, because the retinal nerve cells are concentrated in a small area of approximately 5 mm × 5 mm. In this paper, a miniaturized biphasic current stimulator integrated circuit is developed for subretinal stimulation and tested in vitro. The stimulator pixel is miniaturized by using a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor composed of three transistors. Compared to a pixel that uses a four-transistor CMOS image sensor, this new design reduces the pixel size by 8.3%. The pixel size is further reduced by simplifying the stimulation-current generating circuit, which provides a 43.9% size reduction when compared to the design reported to be the most advanced version to date for subretinal stimulation. The proposed design is fabricated using a 0.35 μm bipolar-CMOSDMOS process. Each pixel is designed to fit in a 50 μ m × 55 μm area, which theoretically allows implementing more than 5000 pixels in the 5 mm × 5 mm area. Experimental results show that a biphasic current in the range of 0 to 300 μA at 12 V can be generated as a function of incident light intensities. Results from in vitro.


The production quality of Palindroom and Kladboek by Joan Hambidge as case studies within the publishing industry This article investigates the quality of specific products of two publishing houses. Within this context Palindroom (2008) and Kladboek (2008) are used as case studies to determine how the different chains of production at different publishing houses influence the final product. These different procedures (reconstructed through interviews with the different role players) of the respective publishing houses are compared with the ideal chain of production indicated by Venter (2006) to identify shortcomings in these processes. These texts were chosen as examples because they are by the same author and were published in the same year by small publishing houses (Genugtig! Uitgewers and Protea Boekhuis respectively). Attention is given to various elements of these books as products. Firstly, the paratextual elements identified by Genette (1997) are analysed according to the communicative values of the peritext (cover, colophon page, title, etc.) and the epitext (reviews, interviews, etc.) respectively. Secondly, the views of Carstens (2003) regarding the standardisation of Afrikaans, those of Du Plessis and Carstens (2000) and Butcher (2006) concerning language editing, and Grebe's application thereof on the book as product are used to assess the quality of these texts. These aspects of the book are contextualised in terms of the publication process to identify which phases could have been improved to create a satisfying final product.


Workplace environments which recognize employees as human beings, and not just mere resources, tend to foster behavioral patterns which create significant benefits for the organization. Encouraging workplaces to cultivate such environments requires sturdy contextual crafting, elaborating systematically, the underlying assumptions as well as the rationale. A study of literature on prominent traditional philosophies which point to the necessity and benefits of creating such responsible workplaces, also becomes imminent. This article is an exploration on the convergence of thoughts on workplace spirituality and organizational citizenship behaviors, from the revered 'Lokasamgraha' concept of the Bhagwad Gita. After analyzing the principal conceptual dimensions of workplace spirituality, and organizational citizenship behaviors, particular emphasis is placed upon Lokasamgraha as the most elaborate and inclusive framework for justifying workplace spirituality and organizational citizenship behaviors. It places both concepts in the larger context of Lokasamgraha and outlines the associated research and its implications. The purpose is to allow for a deeper insightful understanding of these concepts through the development of Lokasamgraha, as an inquiry field, subsequently contributing to the successful application in organizational theories.


Fuzzy set theory is based on a `fuzzification' of the predicate in (element of), the concept of membership degrees is considered as fundamental. In this paper we elucidate the connection between indistinguishability modelled by fuzzy equivalence relations and fuzzy sets. We show that the indistinguishability inherent to fuzzy sets can be computed and that this indistinguishability cannot be overcome in approximate reasoning. For our investigations we generalize from the unit interval as the basis for fuzzy sets, to the framework of GL-monoids that can be understood as a generalization of MV-algebras. Residuation is a basic concept in GL-monoids and many proofs can be formulated in a simple and clear way instead of using special properties of the unit interval.