The utilization of medicinal plants for therapeutic purposes has a rich history dating back centuries. In recent years, the focus has shifted towards nutraceuticals derived from medicinal plants, which offer a promising avenue for promoting health and well-being. This article aims to explore the significance of nutraceuticals in the medicinal plant industry, shedding light on their potential benefits and applications. We delve into the unique characteristics of nutraceuticals, their extraction and formulation processes, and their diverse mechanisms of action. Furthermore, we discuss the increasing demand for nutraceutical-based products and the implications for the medicinal plant industry. The article also addresses the challenges and opportunities associated with nutraceutical research, including quality control, standardization, and regulatory considerations. This comprehensive overview provides valuable insights into the field and paves the way for further advancements in nutraceutical research and the sustainable utilization of medicinal plants.


One hundred patients of allergic rhinitis were diagnosed and treated during the period of January 2006 to December 2006. The patients belonged to different age group. Among them patients from 20 – 29 year of age group are commonly affected (43%). Female (33%) are more sufferer than male. In our study most of the patients are student (38%). House dusts mites (73%), and cold (48%), are the common etiological factors. Majority of the patients presented with sneezing (91%). we got 19% patients with co-morbid allergic conjunctivitis and sinusitis. Patients were treated with more than one drug, mainly with oral antihistamine (91%), nasal steroid (32%) and other medications. In this study, we concluded that oral antihistamine and nasal corticosteroids are the good options to treat allergic rhinitis.


IMPORTANCE
Cryolipolysis is the noninvasive reduction of fat with localized cutaneous cooling. Since initial introduction, over 650,000 cryolipolysis treatment cycles have been performed worldwide. We present a previously unreported, rare adverse effect following cryolipolysis: paradoxical adipose hyperplasia.

OBSERVATIONS
A man in his 40s underwent a single cycle of cryolipolysis to his abdomen. Three months following his treatment, a gradual enlargement of the treatment area was noted. This enlargement was a large, well-demarcated subcutaneous mass, slightly tender to palpation. Imaging studies revealed accumulation of adipose tissue with normal signal intensity within the treatment area.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE
Paradoxical adipose hyperplasia is a rare, previously unreported adverse effect of cryolipolysis with an incidence of 0.0051%. No single unifying risk factor has been identified. The phenomenon seems to be more common in male patients undergoing cryolipolysis. At this time, there is no evidence of spontaneous resolution. Further studies are needed to characterize the pathogenesis and histologic findings of this rare adverse event.


Abstract:Sexual problems, including problems with desire, subjective arousal, initial physiological arousal, maintenance of physiological arousal, pain, and orgasm are associated with personal distress and sexual dissatisfaction. Self-compassion facilitates psychological adjustment to distressing events, and therefore we predicted that self-compassion would buffer negative effects of distress about sexual problems on sexual satisfaction in 125 mixed-sex married couples over 21 days. Individuals' daily distress about sexual problems was negatively associated with their own and partner's daily sexual satisfaction. Individuals' baseline self-compassion was positively associated with their own daily sexual satisfaction, and husbands' (but not wives') self-compassion was positively associated with their partner's daily sexual satisfaction. Only husbands' self-compassion moderated associations; specifically, husbands' distress about sexual problems was negatively associated with their daily sexual satisfaction when self-compassion was low and there was no association when self-compassion was high. The same pattern of results was observed for husbands' distress about desire, subjective arousal, and orgasm. A different pattern emerged for cross-partner effects; there was no association between husbands' distress about sexual problems and wives' daily satisfaction when husbands' self-compassion was low, but there was a negative association when husbands' self-compassion was high. The same pattern was observed for husbands' distress about subjective arousal, pain, initial physiological arousal, and maintaining physiological arousal. Thus, husbands' self-compassion buffers the negative effects of distress about sexual problems on their own sexual satisfaction but potentiates the negative effects of distress on partner outcomes.


Glomerulonephritis in BALB/c mice following infection with Trypanosoma brucei is characterized by albuminuria and glomerular deposition of immunoglobulins. Electron-dense deposits are present in the mesangium, as well as subendothelially and subepithelially along the glomerular capillary wall. In this study the nature of intracytoplasmic, electron-dense, round structures observed in glomerular endothelial cells was investigated by immunoelectron-microscopy and enzyme histochemistry. The presence of these structures was related in time with the development of proteinuria. Mice from the C57BL10 strain, which upon infection develop glomerular immune complexes without proteinuria, were examined as well. The results demonstrated that the first endothelial changes, occurring 3-4 weeks after infection, were swelling of endothelial cells containing intracytoplasmic, electron-dense, round structures. These changes were seen prior to the onset of proteinuria, and were not present in glomeruli of mice that did not develop proteinuria. The endothelial granules were shown to contain immunoglobulins and typical lysosomal enzymes, providing evidence for phagocytosis by the glomerular endothelial cells. Liver endothelial cells did not show comparable changes. Thus, local phagocytosis by glomerular endothelial cells is shown to be a specific event in the development of glomerular disease.


Due to the insecure environment the ratio of vehicle theft increases rapidly. Because of this is manufacturers of luxury automobiles has the responsibilities for taking steps to ensure the authorization for the owners and also in built the anti theft system to prevent the vehicle from theft. The proposed security system for smart cars used to prevent them from loss or theft using Advanced RISC Machine (ARM) processor. It performs the real time user authentication (driver, who starts the car engine) using face recognition, using the Principle Component Analysis (PCA) algorithm. According to the comparison result (authentic or not), ARM processor triggers certain actions. If the result is not authentic means ARM produces the signal to block the car access (i.e. Produce the interrupt signal to car engine to stop its action) and inform the car owner about the unauthorized access via Multimedia Message Services (MMS) with the help of GSM/GPRS modem. Also it can be extends to send the current location of the vehicle using the GPS modem as a Short Message Services (SMS).


The Consumer Electronics (CE) Society wants to make sure that its members have the highest level of recognition possible for their experience and accomplishments. To do so, we need to provide help for our existing members, especially our Senior Members and Fellows, to help other members achieve the membership level that reflects their achievements. Bill Orner is the membership chair of the CE Society who coordinates our membership recruitment and elevation efforts.


This study reports on the diet of breeding West African Crested Terns Thalasseus albididorsalis on the basis of otoliths found in excrement (a mixture of pellets and faeces near nests). During the period 1998–2019, towards the end of the incubation period, excrement samples were collected from breeding colonies on islands, along the Atlantic coast from Mauritania to Guinea. In 31 samples with a total of 8956 otoliths we identified 53 fish families, 75 genera and 101 species. Twelve fish families occurred in more than 2% of the samples. The families of Haemulidae, Mugilidae, Pristigasteridae and Sparidae were particularly numerous (found in 10.5–15.7% of samples). The most numerous species were Bigeye Grunt Brachydeuterus auritus (9.8%) and West African Ilisha Ilisha africana (13.3%). There were marked differences in the diets of terns from the Banc d'Arguin (Mauritania), The Langue de Barbarie (northern Senegal) and all more southerly sites together (Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea Bissau and Guinea). On Ile aux Oiseaux, Delta du Saloum, Senegal, we found long-term changes in the diet of the terns with a marked decrease in Brachydeuterus auritus and the family Sparidae and a strong increase in Ilisha africana. Our analyses suggest that breeding West African Crested Terns are food generalists rather than specialists. This is surprising in view of the general trend in terns of the genus Thalasseus. There are indications that chick diets may differ from those of adults.


Aphelenchoides besseyi is considered one of the most damaging plant parasitic nematodes to rice and can cause white tip disease. It was first discovered in Kyushu, Japan in 1915 and introduced into China from Japan in the 1940s. The disease is mainly found in rice-planting areas in South China (Zhu et al. 2016; Wang et al. 2017; Xu et al. 2019), causing yield losses of 30%-50% in irrigated rice (Wang et al. 2014). In summer 2021, rice plants displaying distortion and discoloration on new leaves, white tips on flag leaves, erect and shorter panicles, and fewer or less filled spikelets were observed in the rice field in Acheng district, Harbin city, Heilongjiang Province, China (13°32'33″S, 58°48'51″W). Plant samples with the typical symptoms of 'white tip' in the flag leaves were collected and transported to the laboratory for further pathogen identification. Nematodes were extracted from the leaves and panicles of diseased plants using Baermann funnel method, and the population density of nematode was an average of 57 individuals per sample (total 28 diseased samples). The main morphological characteristics of females (n = 20) and males (n = 15) were individually determined using a microscope (LEICA, DM2500). Female body was slender, and straight to ventrally curved when heat-relaxed, with a rounded cephalic region, the lateral field with four incisures, the excretory pore close to the anterior edge of the nerve ring, a narrow post-vulval sac and less than 1/3 the distance from the vulva to the anus, and a conoid tail with star-shaped mucro. Female measurements: body length = 724.6 (593.3 to 867.5) μm, stylet = 11.7 (10.9 to 12.5) μm, tail length = 39.4 (35.8 to 44.4) μm, a = 45.2 (38.6 to 51.0), b = 10.1 (9.4 to 10.7), c = 18.47 (14.7 to 21.4), and V = 71.1 (65.0 to 79.6). The body of male usually showed in a 'J' shape when relaxed, spicule length between 17.1 and 19.4 μm, and a conoid tail, with terminal mucro bearing two to four pointed processes. Male measurements: body length = 546.3 (521.7 to 587.6) μm, stylet = 11.9 (10.7 to 12.6) μm, tail length = 32.54 (29.53 to 34.35) μm, a = 37.7 (35.7 to 40.4), b = 8.7 (8.5 to 9.1), c = 17.8 (15.8 to19.4). The key morphological characteristics were coincident with the description of A. besseyi by Christie (1942), Ou et al. (2014) and Chen et al. (2020). DNA was extracted from six fresh nematodes, and the partial 18S-rRNA was amplified with a pair of primers 1813F/2646R (5'-CTGCGTGAGAGGTGAAAT-3'; 5'-GCTACCTTGTTACGACTTTT-3') (Holterman et al. 2006). PCR products of expected size were purified and sequenced. The newly obtained sequence (accession no. ON629604) was submitted to GenBank and displayed more than 99.5% identity with that of A. besseyi isolates (KT943536, KT454963, JQ957877). Additionally, the isolated nematodes were further confirmed using the species-specific primers Abess_11F/Abess_11R (5'-GTATTCAATCCCGCGACACT-3'; 5'-CATCCTGTTCGGGCATAGTT-3'), and the PCR amplification generated a 570 bp fragment which was specific to the 28S rDNA region of A. besseyi reported previously (Noronha et al. 2020). The pathogenicity test was confirmed in a pot assay. Approximately 2000 mixed-stage A. besseyi (juveniles, males and females) were obtained from the field-diseased rice plants, and ten-day-old rice seedlings (Japonica rice variety, Keyou 1) (n = 5) were inoculated with 400 nematodes per seedling and maintained in a greenhouse. During early growth stages (fifty days after inoculation), some young leaves of infected plants showed the chlorotic tips. Ninety days after inoculation, similar field symptoms (white tip on leaves) were observed on the aerial tissues of the inoculated plants, and an average of 237 A. besseyi were re-isolated from each plant. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of A. besseyi on rice plant in Heilongjiang Province of Northeast China. This finding indicates that A. besseyi could become a severe threat to rice production in Heilongjiang Province and contributes to the further inspection and prevention of white tip disease in rice-growing areas of Heilongjiang Province.


Psychological viewpoints are often not sufficiently regarded in the planning of institutions of public health. On the occasion of an interrogation of patients undergoing dialysis 2/3 of them said that their behaviour during the treatment is influenced by the equipment of the rooms. In accordance they were of the opinion that the equipment of a department for dialysis should possibly little remember of a hospital. In future this fact should more be taken into consideration in the equipment or reconstruction and renovation of centres for dialysis. At the practical instance is shown, how with simple remedies in rooms for dialysis could be complied with the psychic requirements of the patients.


The preoperative diagnosis of Meckel's diverticulum in adults is uncommon, and even more infrequent is
the presentation of a bleeding Meckel's diverticulum after childhood. The case of a 22-year old, otherwise
healthy male is presented here. The diagnosis was made by barium examination of small bowel and
confirmed by diagnostic laparoscopy, followed by complete laparoscopic resection using an Endo-GIA
Stapler (United States Surgical Corp., Norwalk, Conn.]. Histopathological examination of the specimen
showed inflammed ileal mucosa with hemorrhages in several foci. The literature of Meckel's diverticula and
its complications are reviewed here. Based on data from the reviewed literature and our own experience, we
suggest that laparoscopic resection is the treatment of choice for Meckel's diverticulum, if it is diagnosed
preoperatively or during diagnostic laparoscopy. The procedure allows for a smooth postoperative course,
early discharge from the hospital, and arapid return to normal activity.


This study is a Qualitative case study which highlights the important role of an educational leader using mentoring and socio emotional techniques to save her student from extremist activities in name of religion. Educational leaders should be committed not only toward their students' academic enrichment but also focus on developing their student's socio emotional wellbeing. The educational leader plays a profound role toward promoting students wellbeing, giving them a message that yes we are here for you and by building in them confidence when they need it the most. Whenever at-risk youth is mentioned, it is assumed that they hide destructive layers under their body and mind.  They need someone who knows how to read these signs and the educational leader plays a key role in this regard. This study will help educational leaders and managers to understand the aspects, importance and applicability of social emotional learning (cognitive affective) on student's behavior. Furthermore the study also shows how using some techniques of care, the teacher not only saved her students' life but also the lives' of many students. This research accentuates the importance of creating a strong bonding with students. For curriculum developers, it is of key importance to inculcate religious content that emphasizes more on aspects related to care through animal rights in Islam and humanity on whole. Furthermore this research provides imperative guidelines to inculcate social emotional learning in Islamiat curriculum and shares the result on student's behavior towards general people. It also emphasizes the leaders' role of managing students on the basis of socio emotional learning.


During the manufacture of metal parts, geometrical deviations can appear. The reasons for this can be a variation in the properties of the semi-finished product, or wear phenomena on the punch-bending machine itself or on the punch-bending tool. When geometrical deviations appear, the process parameters normally have to be adjusted manually. The choice of the most appropriate process parameters is currently based on the operator's experience. Unfortunately, this is a time-consuming and expensive procedure right at the early stages of a production scenario. In addition, the trend towards reduced part sizes with tight tolerances, made of high strength materials, is drastically increasing the requirements regarding the production process. In order to reduce the scrap rate and the setup time for production scenarios, it is necessary to implement corrective action during the process by means of a special control strategy. A self-correcting control strategy based on a closed-loop control approach is thus under development at the University of Paderborn. The first step in this strategy involved conducting simulations is to identify those process variables, e.g. the strength or the geometrical properties of the material, which have a significant influence on the process. Once correlations between input and output variables had been established, different self-correcting control strategies were set up. To validate the simulation and to test the quality of the self-correcting control strategies, a special experimental tool, mapping the most important bending operations, was constructed at the University of Paderborn. The experimental tool is equipped with an additional measurement device and can be operated on a universal testing machine. Finally, the self-correcting control strategies were tested under production conditions on the original tool in order to take any additional influences of the punch-bending machine into consideration. In this paper, recent investigations are presented that were conducted in a collaborative project at the University of Paderborn together with two industrial partners. The results of the correlation between the variables governing the process, the development of a suitable measurement method, and a first approach to a self-correcting control strategy are set out.


The purpose of this study was to determine the applicability of two accepted outpatient management protocols for the febrile infant 1-2 months of age (Boston and Philadelphia protocols) in febrile infants 1-28 days of age. We retrospectively reviewed charts of patients 1-28 days of age with a temperature greater than or equal to 38.00C. Criteria from each of the above-cited management protocols were applied to the patients to determine their applicability in screening for serious bacterial infection (SBI). An SBI was defined as bacterial growth in cultures from blood, urine, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), stool, or any aspirated fluid. Overall, 372 febrile infants were included in the study. Ages ranged from 1 to 28 days of age. The mean age was 15 days. SBI occurred in 45 patients (12%). The mean age of the patients with an SBI was 13 days. Thirty-two infants (8.6%) had a urinary tract infection; 12 (3.2%), bacteremia; five (1.3%), bacterial meningitis; three (0.8%), cellulitis; one (0.3%), septic arthritis; one (0.3%), bacterial gastroenteritis; and one (0.3%), pneumonia. Ten infants had more than one SBI. Of 372 patients, 231 (62%) met the Boston's laboratory low-risk criteria; eight (3.5%) would have been sent home with an SBI with these criteria. Philadelphia's laboratory low-risk criteria would have been met by 186 patients (50%); six (3.2%) would have been sent home with an SBI with these criteria. The negative predictive value of both the Boston and Philadelphia protocols for excluding an SBI was 97%. We conclude that current management protocols for febrile infants 1-2 months of age when applied to febrile infants 1 to 28 days of age would allow 3% of febrile infants less than 28 days of age to be sent home with an SBI. Current guidelines recommending admitting all febrile infants less than 28 days of age should be followed until the outcome of those 3% of febrile infants with an SBI treated as outpatients can be determined.


This research assesses benefits of adding to California Title-24 ventilation rate (VR) standards a performance-based option, similar to the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers 'Indoor Air Quality Procedure' (IAQP) for retail spaces. Ventilation rates and concentrations of contaminants of concern (CoC) were measured in 13 stores. Mass balance models were used to estimate 'IAQP-based' VRs that would maintain concentrations of all CoCs below health- or odor-based reference concentration limits. An intervention study in a 'big box' store assessed how the current VR, the Title 24-prescribed VR, and the IAQP-based VR (0.24, 0.69, and 1.51 air changes per hour) influenced measured IAQ and perceived of IAQ. Neither current VRs nor Title 24-prescribed VRs would maintain all CoCs below reference limits in 12 of 13 stores. In the big box store, the IAQP-based VR kept all CoCs below limits. More than 80% of subjects reported acceptable air quality at all three VRs. In 11 of 13 buildings, saving energy through lower VRs while maintaining acceptable IAQ would require source reduction or gas-phase air cleaning for CoCs. In only one of the 13 retail stores surveyed, application of the IAQP would have allowed reduced VRs without additional contaminant-reduction strategies.


INTRODUCTION
Different hypotheses of reasons for common incidence of temporomandibular disorders (TMD) and otalgia have been discussed. The hypothesis of this study was, that the high prevalence of otalgia in patients with TMD may result in part from pain in the M. masseter pars prof. or in the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) which, due to the close anatomic neighborhood, can feel like ear pain.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
[corrected] We retrospectively analyzed the anamneses of 720 of our TMD-patients with regard to main treatment motivation: how many patients quoted "pain in the ear" as main treatment motivation and how many of them had no objective findings in the ear but muscle tenderness of the M. masseter prof. or objective findings in the TMJ. Using all pairwise multiple comparison procedures (Dunn's Method) we compared the frequency of muscle and joint findings in patients with ear complaints to two controls: Tinnituspatients and patients seeking orthodontic treatment.

RESULTS
51 of 720 patients quoted ear pain as main treatment motivation. 25 of them (49 %) had findings in the masseter muscle, 9 (18 %) in the joint and 15 (29 %) had findings in both the joint and the muscle. The frequency of findings in the controls was significantly (p < 0.001) lower.

CONCLUSION
A significant fraction of patients seeking treatment due to pain in the ear have no findings in the ear, but in the TMJ and in the masseter muscle.


Tie-in spools must be designed to resist a large number of onerous load combinations. These loads include gravitational, temperature, pressure and environmental loads along with various imposed displacements. Additionally, there are several design constraints that must be satisfied. Due to the three-dimensional geometric freedom of the spool there are many possible design scenarios that could be evaluated in the search for the optimum solution.It is the responsibility of the pipeline design engineer to use their own judgment and experience to find the best possible solution within the design period. Traditionally a trial and error design approach is used in an iterative manner. This method is typically slow and labor intensive and can be too focused on one design concept at the expense of others that are potentially superior. On similar engineering problems with many design parameters automated non-linear optimization routines have been shown to be very effective. Specifically, applying evolutionary algorithms is a robust, time-effective and adaptable approach. Such a tool assists the engineer in finding superior design solutions and assists in searching the entire design space.To test this design method, a multi-objective evolutionary algorithm has been applied to two semi-constrained spool design problems. The spool design has been modeled using finite element analysis. First, the algorithm was applied to the optimization of spool geometry for multiple design objectives. Within 24-hours of runtime the algorithm was able to find superior solutions to those found using a traditional iterative approach. Also, the trade-off between conflicting design objectives could be quantified and visualized to enable the designer to select the most appropriate candidate. The second problem evaluated was the placement of supports to mitigate the onset of vortex induced vibration (VIV). The algorithm was again able to quickly find a better solution and quantify the tradeoff between conflicting design objectives. The paper presents the results of this new design process as applied by subsea pipeline engineers to find optimum spool designs.Copyright © 2013 by ASME


Abstract The well-known recurrent nova T Pyx has brightened by 7 magnitudes, starting on 2011 April 14, its first eruption since 1966. T Pyx is unique amongst recurrent novæ in being surrounded by a nebula formed of material ejected during previous eruptions. The latest eruption therefore offers the rare opportunity to observe a light echo sweeping through the existing shell, and a new one forming. The sudden exposure of the existing shell to high-energy light is expected to result in a change of the dust morphology as well as in the part destruction of molecules. We observe this process in the near- and mid-IR during several epochs using ESO's VLT instruments Sinfoni, Visir and Isaac. Unfortunately, in the data analysed so far we only have a tentative detection in Brα from the shell, so might in the end have to be content with upper limits for the emission from the various molecular bands and ionised lines.


Basal and TRH-induced responses of T3, T4, TSH, GH, and PRL were determined before and 1 month after orthotopic hepatic transplantation in 41 patients (22 with primary biliary cirrhosis and 19 with primary sclerosing cholangitis). The responses of these patients before and after transplantation were compared to those of age-matched normal subjects. The results demonstrate that 1 month after successful hepatic transplantation, basal and TRH-induced TSH, GH, and PRL levels had decreased toward, but not completely to, normal levels.


ABSTRACT Lophira lanceolata is an important indigenous oil tree species with high socio-economic potential in Africa. This study aimed to assess the fruit production of the species, the impact of infestation on production, and the variability of fruit morphological traits. Thirty mature trees were sampled from each of the two sites in western Burkina Faso. For each tree, all the fruits were collected, counted, dried, and weighed. One hundred fruits were randomly sampled per tree to estimate the infestation rate. 300 fruits collected on 30 trees were sampled to measure their morphological traits. Analysis of variance and regression analyses were performed to test for relationships between fruit production and stem diameter of trees. Results showed that the mean annual fruit production per tree varied significantly among diameter classes, from 0.47 to 8.01 kg dry mass. The infestation rate varied between 3% and 18% of the total fruit production. The prediction model showed a great predictive ability for fruit production (pR2 = 62%) with stem diameter and crown area of trees as explanatory variables. Three shape-groups of fruits were distinguished: spindle-shape (30%), orbicular-shape (19%), and elliptic-shape (51%). Lophira lanceolata has a high fruit production potential with spindle-shaped fruits as the most interesting for exploitation.


Japan is renowned for impeccable customer service (as anyone who's watched an apple get wrapped up like a crown jewel in a Tokyo grocery store will tell you). The Japanese concept of kaizen (constant improvement) is a fundamental reason for this, and for the enduring success of conglomerates such as Toyota, Honda, and Sony. From afar, you may think this trait is caused by something in the waters from Mt. Fuji, but many in the know credit the work of an American engineer named W. Edwards Deming as the catalyst for this movement. If his ideas could transform a nation, there's no question they can improve the patient satisfaction rates at your practice.


The effects of long-term dietary supplementation of fish oil (n-3 PUFA-rich) in adult male pigs on body condition as well as insulin sensitivity and secretion were examined. Fifteen Duroc boars aged 204.5 (sd 9.4) d (body weight 145.8 (sd 16.8) kg) received daily 2.5 kg basal diet with a supplement of: (1) 62 g hydrogenated animal fat (n 5); (2) 60 g menhaden oil containing 10.8 g DHA and 9.0 g EPA (n 6); (3) 60 g tuna oil containing 19.8 g DHA and 3.9 g EPA (n 4). Rations were balanced to be isoenergetic. After 7 months of treatments, oral glucose and meal tolerance tests were conducted after insertion of a catheter into the jugular vein. Dietary supplementation with n-3 PUFA altered the blood plasma profile: DHA and EPA increased whereas arachidonic acid decreased (P < 0.01). Plasma glucose, insulin and C-peptide responses to oral glucose and the test meal were not affected by treatments (P>0.34). For all animals, total body fat estimated from body weight and back fat thickness was correlated with both beta-cell function (by homeostasis model assessment (HOMA); r+0.63) and insulin sensitivity (index of whole-body insulin sensitivity and by HOMA; r - 0.63 and r+0.66, respectively). In conclusion, long-term supplementation with dietary n-3 PUFA did not affect insulin metabolism in healthy adult male pigs. The relationship between body fat and insulin sensitivity, well documented in human subjects, suggests that the adult male pig could be a promising animal model for studies on insulin metabolism.


Previously developed Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) snow classification algorithms have limitations and do not work properly for terrain where forests overlie snow cover. In this study, the authors applied unsupervised cluster analysis to separate SSM/I brightness temperature (T/sub B/) observations into groups. Six desired snow conditions were identified from the clusters; both sparse- and medium-vegetated region scenes were assessed. Typical SSM/I T/sub B/ signatures for each snow condition were determined by calculating the mean T/sub B/ value of observations for each channel in the corresponding cluster. A single-hidden-layer artificial neural network (ANN) classifier was designed to learn the SSM/I T/sub B/ signatures. An error backpropagation training algorithm was applied to train the ANN. After training, a winner-takes-all method was used to determine the snow condition. Results showed that the ANN classifier was able to outline not only the snow extent but also the geographical distribution of snow conditions. This study confirms the potential of using cluster means in ANN supervised learning, and suggests a nonlinear retrieval method for inferring land-surface snow conditions from SSM/I data over varied terrain.


In this paper, we report on first attempts and findings to analyzing German patient records, using a hybrid parsing architecture and a combination of two relation extraction strategies. On a practical level, we are interested in the extraction of concepts and relations among those concepts, a necessary cornerstone for building medical information systems. The parsing pipeline consists of a morphological analyzer, a robust chunk parser adapted to Latin phrases used in medical diagnosis, a repair rule stage, and a probabilistic context-free parser that respects the output from the chunker. The relation extraction stage is a combination of two systems: SProUT, a shallow processor which uses hand-written rules to discover relation instances from local text units and DARE which extracts relation instances from complete sentences, using rules that are learned in a bootstrapping process, starting with semantic seeds. Two small experiments have been carried out for the parsing pipeline and the relation extraction stage.


HIV is a very common infection in Thailand, affecting about one million of the population already, with 99,555 persons with full blown AIDS at the end of 1999. The first case of AIDS was reported in Thailand in 1984. Gastrointestinal involvement is very common, the commonest presentations are diarrhea, esophageal symptoms, hepatobiliary symptoms, and weight loss. When the CD4+ T cell count falls below 200, the body becomes highly susceptible to opportunistic infections and neoplasms. Almost all AIDS patients will have GI symptoms at sometime during the course of their illness. This is because the GI tract contains an abundant quantity of lymphoid tissue and is likely to function as a reservoir of HIV infection. In chronic diarrhea cases, apart from other investigations, small bowel biopsy and aspiration may help to find the cause. If oral candidiasis is present, one should keep HIV in mind and look for oral hairy leucoplakia, dysphagia and odynophagia as one-third of patients with AIDS will develop dysphagia or odynophagia in the course of their disease. Those with esophageal candidiasis will usually have oral candidiasis and odynophagia while 18 per cent of the patients will not have oral thrush. CMV esophagitis and HIV ulcer (or idiopathic oesophageal ulcer) are also common. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and biopsy are helpful in finding the exact cause of the oesophageal symptoms. Hepatobiliary manifestations are present with jaundice, hepatomegaly, and pain. ERCP is very helpful in diagnosing and classifying these conditions. Papillary stenosis and dominant biliary stricture can be treated by endoscopy but long term results are still poor due to late manifestation of these conditions.


Background: Over the past twenty-five years, Africa had experienced the smallest relative decrease of child undernutrition in any world region. Many aid organizations were redirecting efforts and resources to supporting community - based initiatives such as Community Health Work (CHW).Aim / Objectives: While peer models showed short term hope, there was limited long-term evidence. The study expounded upon an evaluation on a health promotion program using the Care Group Model. The objective of this research was to examine the sustainability of health gains associated with the use of CHWs via a Care Group Model as a health promotion strategy in the USAIDfunded Child Survival Program in Mozambique five years after the program ended.Methodology: The program was implemented from 2005 to 2010 in Sofala Province, Mozambique. The present study extended the 2010 evaluation through additional data collection in 2015 with 506 participants in th study. Data analysis was done using SPSS and Anthro for behavioral andAnthropometric data entries respectively. Frequencies, Chi-square, Cross - tabulations, and measures of central tendency (i.e., mean) were calculated using SPSS. Initial evaluation of the program, consisted of baseline and endline questionnaires of knowledge, practices, and coverage (KPC questionnaires) this was conducted in February 2006 and June 2010, respectively. This second endline study was conducted in July 2015Results: The data collected showed that, statistically, significant program gains were sustained in 10 out of the 13 indicators during the follow-up  period from 2010 to 2015. Non reverted to their 2005 level nor below. The total number of direct beneficiaries in the Manga district at the end of the project in 2010 was 7,200 women. The original Care Group Model program was implemented from 2005 to 2010 by Food for the Hungry / Mozambique (FH/M) in Sofala Province.Conclusion: Without any external financial support or training, Care Group Volunteers remained important sources of information for community  residents and program impact largely sustainable.
Key words: Child malnutrition, evaluation, Care Group Model, sustainability


Aims: Few studies have investigated premature ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) in the Middle East. We aimed to compare the clinical characteristics and one-year prognosis of young (<45 years) and older (≥45 years) Middle Eastern adults with STEMI. Methods and Material: A total of 706 patients with STEMI, who were prospectively enrolled in the First Jordanian Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Registry, were stratified into two groups (<45 or ≥45 years). Baseline clinical variables and one-year major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) were evaluated. Results: Young patients (<45 years) comprised 17.4% of STEMI patients (123 of 706). Compared with older patients (≥45 years), young patients were mostly male (96% vs 82%, P<0.001), smokers (86% vs 49%, P<0.001) and less likely to have multi-vessel disease (26% vs 44%, P=0.001). Anterior STEMI was the most common diagnosis and left anterior descending artery was the most common culprit vessel in both groups. There were no significant differences between the younger and older patients in in-hospital (20% vs 19%, P=0.12) and one-year MACE (24% vs 26%, P=0.68). However, none (0%) of the young died during one-year follow-up while 21 (4%) of the older patients died (P=0.036). Conclusions: Young adult patients in the Middle East with STEMI are more likely to be smoking men with multiple risk factors and single vessel disease by angiography. Although, younger patients had similar one-year MACE to older patients, their mortality rate appears to be better. A larger study is warranted to investigate this vulnerable group of patients to prevent future events.


Aims
To assess the contribution of aortic valve calcification to the occurrence of transient or permanent atrioventricular block (AVB) and the need for permanent pacemaker implantation (PPI) after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) in a large single-centre cohort.

Methods and results
We retrospectively analysed pre-operative contrast-enhanced multidetector computed tomography scans of patients who underwent TAVI in our centre between 2012 and 2016. Calcium volume was calculated for each aortic cusp above (aortic valve), and below [left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT)] the basal plane. Clinical and procedural data as well as pre-operative electrocardiograms were evaluated. Multivariate analysis was performed to evaluate risk factors for transient and permanent AVB. A total of 342 patients receiving a balloon-expandable prosthesis were included in the study. Overall incidence of transient and permanent AVB was 4% (n = 14) and 7.6% (n = 26), respectively. On logistic regression analysis, baseline right bundle branch block [odds ratio (OR) 7.36, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.6-20.6; P < 0.01], degree of oversizing (OR 1.04, 95% CI 1.01-1.07 P = 0.02), prior percutaneous coronary intervention (OR 2.8, 95% CI 1.1-7.3), and LVOT calcification beneath the non-coronary cusp (OR for an increase of 10 mm3 = 1.06, 95% CI 1-1.1; P = 0.03) were found to be independently associated with permanent AVB and PPI, whereas calcification of LVOT beneath the right coronary cusp (OR for an increase of 10 mm3 = 1.16, 95% CI 1.02-1.3; P = 0.02) and balloon post-dilation (OR 3.8, 95% CI 1.2-11.8; P = 0.02) were associated with reversible AVB.

Conclusion
Left ventricular outflow tract calcifications are associated with transient and non-reversible AVB after TAVI, and its evaluation could help in predicting onset and reversibility of AVB.


Recurrent neural networks (RNN) are at the core of modern automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems. In particular, long short-term memory (LSTM) recurrent neural networks have achieved state-of-the-art results in many speech recognition tasks, due to their efficient representation of long and short term dependencies in sequences of inter-dependent features. Nonetheless, internal dependencies within the element composing multidimensional features are weakly considered by traditional real-valued representations. We propose a novel quaternion long short-term memory (QL-STM) recurrent neural network that takes into account both the external relations between the features composing a sequence, and these internal latent structural dependencies with the quaternion algebra. QLSTMs are compared to LSTMs during a memory copy-task and a realistic application of speech recognition on the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) dataset. QLSTM reaches better performances during the two experiments with up to 2.8 times less learning parameters, leading to a more expressive representation of the information.


Multidimensional knowledge structures, described from a constructivist perspective and aligned with the "Mind as Rhizome" metaphor, provide support for constructivist learning strategies. This qualitative study was conducted to seek empirical support for a description of multidimensional knowledge structures, focusing on the idiosyncratic nature of knowledge that arose in the classroom and was based upon children's individual prior experience and knowledge. Participants (n=25) were students in a first and sixth grade parochial classroom in a small Midwestern city. Data were gathered through observation and student interviews. Cues and trajectories in the children's representations of knowledge were identified. Implications of the structures for generating and developing multiple perspectives and developing learner ownership are discussed. (Contains 35


The current study was designed to evaluate the curative effects of Aloe Vera Juice (AVJ) on Ochratoxin (OTA) A-induced nephrotoxicity in rats. AVJ was orally administrated in doses of 150 and 300 mg/ kg body weight (BW) for six weeks within gavages daily with OTA (0.5 mg/kg BW) to induce nephrotoxicity. The kidney function markers (uric acid, urea nitrogen, creatinine and albumin), oxidative stress markers (malondialdehyde (MDA)), non-enzymatic (reduced glutathione (GSH), vitamin E) and enzymatic antioxidants (superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidise (GPx)) were determined. In addition, the lipid profile markers such as total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low density lipoprotein (LDL-C), very low density lipoprotein (VLDL-C) and high density lipoprotein (HDL-C) cholesterols were also estimated. In OTA-induced rats showed significantly increase levels of kidney function markers in serum (uric acid, urea nitrogen, creatinine and albumin), oxidative stress markers in kidney (MDA) and lipid profiles (TC, TG, LDL-C and VLDL-C) in serum except with HDL-C. In addition, the level of non-enzymatic antioxidants (GSH and Vitamin E) and the activities of enzymatic antioxidants (SOD, CAT and GPx) were significantly decreased in OTA-induced rats. Administration of AVJ juice to OTA-induced rats the above biochemical parameters back towards to near normal in control rats. The histological examination of kidney showed more severe degeneration of renal tubules in OTA-induced rats and treatment with AVJ juice showed (300 mg/kg BW) slight hypertrophy of glomerular tuft as well as mild degenerations in renal tubules. In this study, we conclude that the administration of AVJ having beneficial curative effect on OTA-induced nephrotoxicity in rats.


Purpose of review Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is among the most commonly encountered conditions in primary care and gastroenterology. There is ample evidence that an IBS diagnosis based on symptom-based criteria and exclusion of alarm features that would otherwise support diagnostic testing is accurate and durable. For many clinicians, however, IBS remains a diagnosis of exclusion because of concern surrounding missed diagnoses of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) or other organic gastrointestinal diseases. Using blood and/or fecal biomarker tests to shift the precolonoscopy probability of IBD in patients with symptoms mimicking IBS is becoming an increasingly reasonable practice with improvement in 'preliminary' tests. Recent findings Fecal calprotectin (FCP) testing appears to be the most sensitive preliminary test for discriminating IBD from IBS. Although both fecal lactoferrin and FCP were superior to serum C-reactive peptide (CRP) in their diagnostic accuracy, FCP is superior to fecal lactoferrin based on available literature. Summary In patients with IBS with diarrhea who have not undergone previous extensive evaluation, the ability of screening tests to detect colonic inflammation is improving. FCP and fecal lactoferrin are reliable predictors of colonic inflammation and should be considered for standard testing in patients with IBS-D symptoms to help identify those who would benefit most from colonoscopy. Although predictive, there currently are no fecal or serum tests that can definitively identify or subtype IBD.


Organophosphorus (OP) compounds have been reported to inhibit Ca/Mg-ATPase, but the relevance of this inhibition to organophosphate-induced delayed neuropathy (OPIDN) has not been explored. To determine if inhibition of this enzyme was related to the development of OPIDN, neuropathic and nonneuropathic OP compounds were tested for their ability to inhibit Ca-stimulated ATPase activity in the P2 synaptosomal fraction from hen brain. Following in vitro exposure to 10-3 to 10-5 M OP compounds, Ca-stimulated ATPase activity was inhibited by chlorpyrifos, chlorpyrifos-oxon, phenyl saligenin phosphate (PSP), and tri-o-tolyl phosphate (TOTP), but not by parathion, paraoxon, or diisopropyl fluorophosphate (DFP). Further investigation of inhibition induced by chlorpyrifos determined that inhibition was noncompetitive with respect to calcium and ATP. OP compound hydrophobicity was well correlated with in vitro inhibition of Ca-stimulated ATPase, suggesting that OP compounds interact with membrane lipids, and this interaction may contribute to the noncompetitive inhibition of Ca-stimulated ATPase that was observed. Subsequent to in vivo exposure, DFP, but not PSP, produced inhibition of Ca-stimulated ATPase activity in the hen brain P2 synaptosomal fraction. These data indicate that inhibition of Ca-stimulated ATPase activity is not correlated to neuropathic potential and demonstrate that inhibition of Ca/Mg-ATPase is not responsible for OPIDN.


Metamaterials, i.e. artificial structures with unconventional properties, have shown to be highly potential lightweight and compact solutions for the attenuation of noise and vibrations in targeted frequency ranges, called stop bands. In order to analyze the performance of these metamaterials,
 their stop band behavior is typically predicted by means of dispersion curves, which describe the wave propagation in the corresponding infinite periodic structure. The input for these calculations is usually a finite element model of the corresponding unit cell. Most common in literature
 are 2D plane metamaterials, which often consist of a plate host structure with periodically added masses or resonators. In recent literature, however, full 3D metamaterials are encountered which are periodic in all three directions and which enable complete, omnidirectional stop bands. Although
 these 3D metamaterials have favorable vibro-acoustic characteristics, the computational cost to analyze them quickly increases with unit cell model size. Model order reduction techniques are important enablers to overcome this problem. In this work, the Bloch Mode Synthesis (BMS) and generalized
 BMS (GBMS) reduction techniques are extended from 2D to 3D periodic structures. Through several verifications, it is demonstrated that dispersion curve calculation times can be strongly reduced, while accurate stop band predictions are maintained.


Hyphydrus dioscoridis sp. nov. from Socotra Island is described and illustrated. The new species belongs to the H. signatus species group, and is similar to Hyphydrus pictus Klug, 1834 from the Arabian Peninsula, from which it differs in the significantly coarser, deeper and denser punctation, broadly bordered clypeus, head between punctures microreticulated, tubercle on the apex of apical ventrite in male rounded, and microreticulate dorsal surface of the female. Adephagous water beetles of Yemen (including Socotra Island) and Dhofar region, southernmost Oman, are reviewed. Altogether eight species of Gyrinidae (of which one is not identified to species level), one species of Haliplidae, one species of Noteridae, and 52 species of Dytiscidae are documented. New records of 48 species are presented, while two previously described species, Dineutus arabicus Regimbart, 1907 and Hydaticus arabicus Guignot, 1951, are diagnosed and illustrated. Four species of Dytiscidae are recorded from Oman for the first time; twelve species (one Gyrinidae, 11 Dytiscidae) are recorded from Yemen for the first time – eight from continental Yemen and four from Socotra; in addition two other Dytiscidae species are recorded from Socotra for the first time, and the occurrence of another Gyrinidae species previously known from a doubtful record is confirmed. Habitat information is provided for recently collected species. The zoogeographical patterns of the region are briefly summarized.


Hand washing is an important basic technique in disease prevention efforts. If the behavior of handwashing technicians motor vehicle repair work is not good, it will affect the health of technicians both in the short and long term. This study aims to identify the behavior of technicians at AHASS in Semarang City in hand washing. This type of research is quantitative with descriptive study. The data were collected using questionnaire sheet. The sampling technique used was Purposive Sampling with a total sample of 141 respondents. The results of this study indicate the knowledge of handwashing technicians is quite adequate with 88 respondents (62.4%), but there are still many respondents who who lack knowledge about the procedures of hand washing steps according to the World Health Organization (WHO), especially in the first step, the second step, the fourth step , The fifth step, and the sixth step. For the attitude of technicians to wash hands quite enough with 76 respondents (53.9%), but there are still a number of technicians who think if hands that looks clean, it means there is no germ in hand. In the practice of hand washing, most are sufficient with 75 respondents (53.2%), but there are still many respondents who have not applied 6 steps of handwashing routinely according to WHO. This indicates that the handwashing behavior of AHASS technicians in Semarang City is categorized enough although there are still a number of respondents who behave less well so that there is an effort to increase knowledge, especially about handwashing procedures according to WHO and hand washing practices in daily life.


This study aims to determine the effect of entrepreneurial behavior and business capital on business success. The research method used is quantitative methods and surveys. The population in this study amounted to 263 people. The technique used to determine the size of the sample under study was proposed by Slovin so that respondents who were sampled in this study were entrepreneurs of Binong Jati knitting centers in Bandung as many as 100 respondents. The data analysis technique used is multiple linear regression. Based on the results of the study, it can be seen that entrepreneurial behavior and business capital simultaneously and partially have a positive effect on business success. Based on the results of the study, the recommendations proposed were that entrepreneurial behavior and business capital must be improved so that business success was achieved.
Keywords: Entrepreneurship Behavior, Business Capital, Business Success


A quantitative comparison of 20 literature case studies of fluvial sedimentary successions tests common assumptions made in published models of alluvial architecture concerning (1) inverse proportionality between channel-deposit density and floodplain aggradation rates, and (2) resulting characteristics of channel-body geometries and connectedness. Our results do not support the relationships predicted by established stratigraphy models: the data suggest that channel-body density, geometry, and stacking pattern are not reliable diagnostic indicators of rates of accommodation creation. Hence, these architectural characteristics alone do not permit the definition of accommodation-based "systems tracts" and "settings", and this calls into question current sequence stratigraphic practice in application to fluvial successions.


Objective Pedestrian fatalities due to collisions with motor vehicles are a large public health problem in Romania, ranking them among the highest in Eastern Europe. The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of crash factors by examining how roadway and environmental characteristics contribute to pedestrian distraction and risky behaviours at pedestrian MVC (PMVC) locations in Cluj County, Romania. Methods A sample of PMVC locations was selected from the 2010 Cluj County police reported crash database for on-site examination. A total of 100 sites were visited to collect details on site characteristics and typical pedestrian and driver behaviours. Variable distributions were examined and rate ratios of pedestrian distraction and risky behaviours were calculated. Results Pedestrian distraction and risky behaviours were observed at rates of 6.3 and 24.3 per 100 observed pedestrians. The majority of distractions were related to electronic device use. Risky behaviours were evenly split between unpredictable, partial use of a crosswalk and midblock illegal crossings. Distractions and risky behaviours decreased as the number of pedestrians and average vehicle speeds at a site increased. RR of distraction was higher at intersections and locations with crosswalks. Conclusions Pedestrian distraction was highly correlated with pedestrian risky behaviours at PMVC locations in Romania. Higher pedestrian volume was protective against pedestrian distraction and risky behaviours. Locations with painted crosswalks had increased distraction. Targeted distraction prevention, particularly at intersections and crosswalk locations, may contribute to the prevention of PMVCs.


In this paper, we introduce the notion of smoothed competitive analysis of online algorithms. Smoothed analysis has been proposed by Spielman and Teng (2001) to explain the behavior of algorithms that work well in practice while performing very poorly from a worst case analysis point of view. We apply this notion to analyze the Multi-Level Feedback (MLF) algorithm to minimize the total flow time on a sequence of jobs released over time when the processing time of a job is only known at time of completion. The initial processing times are integers in the range [1,2/sup K/] We use a partial bit randomization model, where the initial processing times are smoothened by changing the k least significant bits under a quite general class of probability distributions. We show that MLF admits a smoothed competitive ratio of O((2/sup k///spl sigma/)/sup 3/ + (2/sup k///spl sigma/)/sup 2/2/sup K-k/), where /spl sigma/ denotes the standard deviation of the distribution. In particular, we obtain a competitive ratio of O(2/sup K-k/) if /spl sigma/ = /spl Theta/(2/sup k/). We also prove an /spl Omega/(2/sup K-k/) lower bound for any deterministic algorithm that is run on processing times smoothened according to the partial bit randomization model. For various other smoothening models, we give a higher lower bound of /spl Omega/(2/sup K/). A direct consequence of our result is also the first average case analysis of MLF. We show a constant expected ratio of the total flow time of MLF to the optimum under several distributions including the uniform distribution.


Soil is a vital part of the natural environment and is always responding to changes in environmental factors, along with the influences of anthropogenic factors and land use changes. The long-term change in soil properties will result in change in soil health and fertility, and hence the soil productivity. Hence, the main aim of this paper focuses on the analysis of land use/land cover (LULC) change pattern in spatial and temporal perspective and to present its impact on soil properties in the Merawu catchment over the period of 18 years. Post classification change detection was performed to quantify the decadal changes in historical LULC over the periods of 1991, 2001 and 2009. The pixel to pixel comparison method was used to detect the LULC of the area. The key LULC types were selected for investigation of soil properties. Soil samples were analysed in situ to measure the physicochemical soil properties. The results of this study show remarkable changes in LULC in the period of 18 years. The effect of land cover change on soil properties, soil compaction and soil strength was found to be significant at a  level of <0.05.


Abstract — Wind power is among the most actively developing distributed generation (DG) technology. Majority of the wind power based DG technologies employ wind turbine induction generators (WTIG) instead of synchronous generators, for the technical advantages like: reduced size, increased robustness, lower cost, and increased electromechanical damping. However, dynamic changes of wind speed make the amount of active/reactive power injected/drawn to a WTIG embedded distribution network highly variable. This paper analyzes the effect of wind speed changes on the active and reactive power penetration to the wind energy embedded distribution network. Four types of wind speed changes namely; constant, linear change, gust change and random change of wind speed are considered in the analysis. The study is carried out by three-phase, non-linear, dynamic simulation of distribution system component models. Results obtained from the investigation are presented and discussed. Keywords — Wind turbine induction generator, distribution network, active and reactive power, wind speed.


We present an audio-visual Virtual Reality display system for simulated sound fields. In addition to the room acoustic simulation by means of phonon tracing and finite element method this system includes the stereoscopic visualization of simulation results using a 3D back projection system as well as auralization by use of a professional sound equipment. For auralization purposes we develop a sound field synthesis approach for accurate control of the loudspeaker system.


The diagnosis of systemic mastocytosis without urticaria pigmentosa has been made with increasing frequency since modern methods of histamine assay have been used clinically. We examined the incidence of urticaria-angioedema and mastocytosis over a recent 12-month, period. Of 490 new patients we saw, 52 had urticaria-angioedema, and ten had evidence of excess histamine ± PGD2, with at least ten mast cells per high-power field on skin biopsy. The average age was approximately 35 years; the male:female ratio was 1:4 for urticaria-angioedema arid 1:2 for mastocytosis. Symptoms of mastocytosis included flushing, abdominal cramping/diarrhea, syncope, urticaria-angioedema, pruritus, and headache. Symptoms have typically been prevented by a combination of H1 and H2 antagonists, with addition of a cyclo-oxygenase inhibitor in syncopal cases. Acute hypotension has responded to epinephrine.


In this essay we propose ways to improve the rigor and originality of forward looking theory in the IS field. This is accomplished by proposing a set of guidelines outlining how prospective authors should prepare their manuscripts or approach their research problems so as to enhance theory. We note in particular the potential negative effect of relying too much on reference disciplines in IS theory development and call for strategies that lead to bolder and more original theory. the


In constrained multi-objective RL, the goal is to learn a policy that achieves the best performance specified by a multi-objective preference function under a constraint. We focus on the offline setting where the RL agent aims to learn the optimal policy from a given dataset. This scenario is common in real-world applications where interactions with the environment are expensive and the constraint violation is dangerous. For such a setting, we transform the original constrained problem into a primal-dual formulation, which is solved via dual gradient ascent. Moreover, we propose to combine such an approach with pessimism to overcome the uncertainty in offline data, which leads to our Pessimistic Dual Iteration (PEDI). We establish upper bounds on both the suboptimality and constraint violation for the policy learned by PEDI based on an arbitrary dataset, which proves that PEDI is provably sample efficient. We also specialize PEDI to the setting with linear function approximation. To the best of our knowledge, we propose the first provably efficient constrained multi-objective RL algorithm with offline data without any assumption on the coverage of the dataset.


In early 1976 the Homer phased-array radar was used to study the spectra of radio-auroral echoes. Good temporal resolution was obtained by using very short data segments. These were analyzed by the maximum entropy method (MEM) of spectra analysis, in a form suitable for treating multiple segments of data. The use of a relatively new method of spectra analysis to obtain spectral estimates of such a short data sample raises a number of questions concerning the reliability of the results. A variety of tests using synthetic time series have demonstrated both the reliability of the spectra estimates and the superiority of MEM for the analysis of Homer radar data. In particular, line-splitting or shifting does not seem to be a problem for spectra with sufficiently broad spectral peaks such as those of the radio aurora. Also, although the widths of the peaks in MEM spectra are highly variable, they average to give the true width. Analysis of the widths of spectral peaks in the Homer radio-auroral data indicates that more than one scattering mechanism may be involved, and that the auroral electrojet is probably quite irregular.


This study was undertaken to develop the artificially soiled cloth using clay and dyed oleic acid as model soil and to evaluating the detergency by determination of K/S value and chemical analysis. The results obtained were as follows; 1. Correlation were determined between the K/S value and chemical analysis data for the detergency of developed model soil at various conditions and it was found that model soil could be extensively used for the washing examination. 2. The surface reflectance of soiled cloth with clay-oleic acid mixture was measured two wave length band that was converted K/S values and the amount of two components was individually calculated. Positive correlation were found between detergency that obtained from chemical anlysis and K/S values. Therefore, proposed method of soiled cloth with clay-oleic acid mixed soiles could be extensively used for detergency experiment. 3. The attached state of soil of on the artificially soiled cloth which was observed under a scanning electronic microscope showed a different pattern by the sort of soil. And the difference of attached state of soil had great influence upon the detergency. 4. The composition of clay was changed and formated of noncrystalinity was vanished by calcined at 800℃. Because of a noncrystalline of clay, artificially soiled cloth could be prepared more uniformly but the detergency was decreased.


We have reported that the angiotensin II (Ang II) AT1 receptor antagonist losartan markedly lowers arterial pressure in sodium-replete, normotensive rats. We hypothesized that this action of losartan was mediated by its blocking the effects of endogenous Ang II. To test this hypothesis, rats were instrumented with arterial and venous catheters for measurement of arterial pressure and infusion of losartan, respectively. After 3 days of control measurements, losartan was infused for 10 days (10 mg/kg/d) in rats on a normal daily sodium intake (NNa; approximately 2 mmol/d, n=6) and rats on a high daily sodium intake (HNa; approximately 15 mmol/d, n=7) to suppress endogenous Ang II. Although basal plasma renin activity was markedly suppressed in HNa rats (0.9 +/- 0.4 ng Ang I/ mL/h) compared with NNa rats (4.0 +/- 0.3 ng Ang I/mL/h), control arterial pressure was not different between NNa (113 +/- 4 mm Hg) and HNa (113 +/- 2 mm Hg) rats. Losartan decreased arterial pressure from control levels in NNa rats on the first day of infusion (-12 +/- 2 mm Hg) but had no effect on arterial pressure in HNa rats (+4 +/- 4 mm Hg). Furthermore, by day 10 of losartan infusion, arterial pressure had decreased further from control levels in NNa rats (-32 +/- 2 mm Hg) but remained unchanged compared with control in HNa rats (+5 +/- 6 mm Hg). A second study was conducted to test the hypothesis that the area postrema, a circumventricular organ proposed to mediate the long-term neurogenic pressor activity of Ang II is a site of action for losartan. After 3 control days, losartan was administered for 10 days to area postrema-lesioned rats (APx; n=11) or sham-lesioned rats (n=10) consuming an NNa diet. Control arterial pressure was similar in sham (95 +/- 3 mm Hg) and APx (96 +/- 2 mm Hg) rats. Basal plasma renin activity was not different between groups (sham, 4.1 +/- 1.5 versus APx, 5.3 +/- 1.6 mm Hg Ang I/mL/h). On day 1 of losartan treatment, arterial pressure decreased to a significantly lower level in sham (80 +/- 2 mm Hg) compared with APx (90 +/- 3 mm Hg) rats. This trend continued through day 4 of losartan infusion, in which arterial pressure in sham rats (72.2 +/- 2 mm Hg) was significantly lower than in APx rats (83 +/- 4 mm Hg). However, during the remainder of the losartan infusion, there were no significant differences between groups with the exception of day 8 (sham, 72 +/- 2 mm Hg; APx, 84 +/- 2 mm Hg). Taken together, these results support the hypothesis that the hypotensive actions of losartan in sodium-replete, normotensive rats are due to blockade of the physiological effects of endogenous Ang II. Furthermore, an intact area postrema is essential for full expression of the hypotensive actions of losartan in normal rats.


TWO novel transcripts of the human excitatory amino acid transporter EAAT2 (GLT-1) were cloned using PCR cloning techniques. Comparative sequence analysis of the 5′-untranslated region (UTR) of five EAAT2 transcripts led to the definition of five putative 5′-untranslated exons that are combined in a variable manner. Alternative splicing is a likely mechanism for the 5′ complexity of the EAAT2 cDNA. The potential functional meaning of this finding such as differential expression of the EAAT2 transcripts in the central nervous system remains to be demonstrated.


A method of environmental classification has been applied twice to surveys of the whole of England, Scotland and Wales (the United Kingdom). Such experience is now being extended to the European continent. The paper draws on the unpublished working-papers of the relevant scientists and institutions in reconstructing both the motives and circumstances in which a methodology was developed in the UK for the assessment of the ecological resources of the wider countryside. The principles of strategic classification and subsequent sampling from defined strata were initially devised for broadleaved woodland, and first tested at a regional level. They drew on classical regression theory, with the environmental classification being the independent, and the vegetation or habitat the dependent, variable. The approach was linked to the development of efficient algorithms for analysis and classification, and more recently remote sensing and geographical information systems. Successive Countryside Surveys of the UK, carried out since 1978, have provided an objective measurement of the decline in the quality of vegetation and habitats. Such a statistically robust approach can be used to measure the rates of vegetation and habitat change at the strategic European level, and as an aid to devising appropriate rural-resources policies.


Web 2.0 tools, while mobilising citizens to make informed choices, may also manipulated public opinion. This hypothesis forms the central theme of this research investigation through the historiography lens. Based on concurrent research from decade, the authors take a closer look at citizen-to-citizen engagement, so as to trace the role of web 2.0 tools, in perhaps manipulating public opinion or enabling democratic governance through reversal of some existing defects in the Indian context. Specifically, they raise these questions: Has ICT enabled civic engagement manipulated public opinion in this developing democracy? Has it succeeded in reversing apparent defects in the electoral system, which is regarded pivotal in democracies? Focusing on the elections, the authors present a synopsis of the use of web 2.0 tools which were seemingly efficiently and prolifically used during the elections albeit to reach out to the large population base in this country.


Paclitaxel is widely used in many cancers including ovarian, breast, lung, head and neck and primary unknown. Paclitaxel is extensively metabolized by cytochrome P450s and excreted in bile. The cytochromes involved include 2C8 and 3A4. This is a review of the pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, drug interactions, metabolism and pharmacogenomics of paclitaxel.


Sodium dodecyl sulfate-capillary gel electrophoresis (SDS-CAGE), the capillary version of SDS-polyacrylamide-based slab gel electrophoresis, has been utilized for the separation and analysis of monoclonal antibody chimeric BR96 and the corresponding immunoconjugate prepared between BR96 and the anticancer drug doxorubicin (BR96-DOX). SDS-CAGE was performed in a coated capillary column filled with a polymer solution-based gel network matrix. Two detection formats, a uv absorbance detector and an argon-ion laser-based fluorescence detector, were incorporated into this system, providing complementary information for the determination of conjugated species. Both monoclonal antibody and immunoconjugates were studied in their native, denatured, and denatured and reduced states, respectively. Six peaks were identified following separation of the denatured BR96-DOX. These peaks were confirmed to correspond to all the possible conjugated species as expected. Analysis of the resulting "fingerprint" maps indicated that the light, heavy, and light-heavy chain conjugates are the predominant species. SDS-CAGE offers an alternative approach to the conventional slab gel electrophoresis and other chromatographic techniques, providing rapid, efficient, sensitive, and accurate information for the analysis of antibody and bioconjugates.


The purpose of this research program is to study the separation of CaC03 particles and polymer particles by controlling the operating variables of a hydrocyclone. In this experiment, we separated CaC03 and polymer particles using a 120 mm body diameter hydrocyclone manufactured by the KREBS Company. We varied the operating variables, including the concentration of inflow solid, pressure drop, etc. In CaC03 and polymer particles separation experiments using a solids concentration of 1 wt% and a solid inflow rate of 0.8 GPM, the cut size (dso) and polydispersity index (POI) after separation, using the hydrocyclone, decreased about 50 % and 70 %, respectively. Also, we achieved a narrower distribution range of 0.1 35 11m after separation of a relatively broad distribution of 0.1 120 11m. We predicted the polymer particle separation using the Massarani and Stokes equation with this hydrocyclone separation system. Howevcr, the cut size of thc separatcd polymer particles from the hydrocyclone did not agrcc with the theoretical cut size prediction. In a separation of polymcr particles by concentration, the cut sizc of polymcr particles in water incrcased ovcr 12 wt%.


The legal status of Persero assets causes different interpretation of the definition of state finance in several regulations of law. This research studies: First, legal characters of Persero; second, legal status of Persero assets. This research is normative research referring to legal principles and norms stipulated in the regulations of law. The instruments used to collect the legal materials were literature and document studies. This research concludes that first, Persero is identical with Limited Liability Company. Persero is not public legal entity but private legal entity subject to private law. Second, all assets of a Persero belong to the Persero instead of state. State asset in the Persero is the shares owned.


The brain drain of health professionals is an issue of continuing interest and debate. The WPA set up a Task Force to examine the phenomenon as it relates specifically to mental health professionals. This report provides a description of the work of the Task Force and its recommendations in regard to how the WPA might act to help address the issue.


It is, sometimes, desirable to maintain a constant plasma drug concentration within the therapeutically effective concentration range. The use of high viscosity hydromiscible vehicles such as hydrophilic gels, is one of various approaches for controlled drug delivery, and represents an important area of pharmaceutical research and development. Of these systems, Pluronic F-127 (PF-127) provides the pharmacist with an excellent drug delivery system for a number of routes of administration and is compatible with many different substances. Gels containing penetration enhancers have proven to be especially popular for administering anti-inflammatory medications since they are relatively easy to prepare and very efficacious.


The aim of this study was to investigate the factors, which controlled the lateral change of structural style in the southeastern part of the Lublin Basin (Poland). Five selected seismic reflection profiles were interpreted with a focus on structural interpretation. Along the representative seismic reflection profile, a geological cross-section was constructed and restored. The structural model was supplemented/refined with core analysis to characterize the deformation mode affecting Silurian strata at a sub-seismic scale (i.e. below the seismic vertical resolution). Published palaeothickness maps were used to estimate the pre-deformation thickness of partly eroded Carboniferous rocks. The results of cross-section restoration were then compared to the subsidence modelling carried out for one deep well. The study revealed that during Late Carboniferous shortening, a thick layer of Silurian shales played the role of detachment level, above which brittle Devonian–Carboniferous strata were folded and thrust. The lateral extent of thin-skinned deformation was controlled by the presence of a step in the basement and the pinching out of the Silurian strata. In the northwestern part of the Lublin Basin, the Kock Fault Zone acted as a region of strain concentration, where Silurian shales were tectonically thickened, and shows a ductile style of deformation resembling the mushwad structures of the Appalachian fold-and-thrust belt.


A randomized clinical trial of surgical drainage in thyroid surgery was performed on 97 patients. Morbidity was not significantly different between both groups. The length of hospital stay was shorter in the undrained group. However, this RCT is not an indication of the value of drainage after thyroid surgery because the series is too small. Using a meta-analysis of the RCTs reported it is possible to show that to drain is not useful.


Abstract: The neurokinin A‐like immunoreactivity in an extract of rabbit small intestine was resolved into two molecular forms by gel permeation chromatography. These components were purified to apparent homogeneity by reverse‐phase HPLC. The primary structure of the larger component was established as the following: Asp‐Ala‐Gly‐His‐Gly‐Gln‐Ile‐Ser‐His‐Lys‐Arg‐His‐Lys‐Thr‐Asp‐Ser‐Phe‐Val‐Gly‐Leu‐Met‐NH2. This amino acid sequence represents residues (72–92) of γ‐preprotachykinin, as predicted from the nucleotide sequence of a cloned cDNA from the rat. The peptide, termed neuropeptide‐γ, lacks residues (3–17) of neuropeptide K, and this segment is specified exactly by exon 4 in the preprotachykinin gene. The smaller form of neurokinin A‐like immunoreactivity was identical to neurokinin A. Neuropeptide K was not present in the extract, demonstrating that the pathways of post‐translational processing of β‐ and γ‐preprotachykinins in the rabbit gut are different.


To investigate the effect of sevoflurane inhalation anesthesia on hemodynamics in children undergoing lower limb fracture surgery. Between January 2019 and December 2021, 187 kids at our hospital were randomly divided into two distinct categories: the experimental category (95 cases) and the control category (92 cases). Sevoflurane inhalation anesthesia was administered to the experimental cohort whereas Ketamine basic anesthesia was administered to the control cohort. Comparisons were made among the two categories' hemodynamic indices, anesthetic quality, and VAS ratings. When the eyelash reflex vanished, immediately after skin incision, as well as 5 min after skin incision, the SaO2, as well as MAP in the experimental group, were higher than those in the control category, while HR, SBP, as well as DBP were less than those in the control category. These variations were statistically noteworthy (P < .05). The onset of the experimental group's sensory blocks and the awakening of patients was faster than the control category, and the variations were of statistical importance (P < .05). At 24 hours, 48 hours, and 72 hours, the VAS score in the experimental category was substantially distinct from that in the control category (P < .05). In addition to lowering postoperative discomfort and stabilizing hemodynamics, sevoflurane inhalation anesthesia helps speed up the onset and recovery of anesthesia block in children having lower extremity fracture surgery.


Background. The development of kidney dysfunction is one of the most important after liver transplantation (LT). Genetic variants of pathogenetically relevant cytokines may influence the development and course of the disease. The aim of our study was to evaluate the role of transforming growth factor- (cid:1) 1 (TGF- (cid:1) 1) polymorphism in this context. Methods. Four hundred eighty-six liver graft recipients were genotyped for TGF- (cid:1) 1 codon 25 (guanine 3 cytosine, G 3 C)bypolymerasechainreaction.RenalfunctionbeforeandafterLTwascharacterizedbyestimationofglomerular filtration rate (GFR) using four-parameter-modification of diet in renal disease formula on defined dates. GFR was compared among TGF- (cid:1) 1-genotype groups of the entire cohort within the median observation period of 7 years. For the assessment of renal function recovery after LT, patients were divided into three groups by GFR difference ( (cid:1) GFR (cid:2)(cid:3) 10 mL/min). Results. Mean pretransplant GFR differed significantly among TGF- (cid:1) 1-genotype groups (GG: 85.0 mL/min vs. GC/ CC: 75.3 mL/min; P (cid:2) 0.016). The significance disappeared in the follow-up period. Although GG genotype demonstrated higher mean GFR levels, patients with GC/CC genotype tended to improve kidney function compared with GG genotype ( P (cid:2) 0.013). Interestingly, lower mean GFR rates were observed among female compared with male recipients before ( P (cid:2) 0.002), separately at all dates and cumulatively after LT ( P (cid:4) 0.001). Conclusions. Genetic variants of one of the most important cytokine TGF- (cid:1) 1 at codon 25 may have an impact on kidneyfunction,suggestinganunfavorableeffectofCalleleinpretransplantsettingandserveasmarkerfortherecoveryofrenalfunctionafterLT.Theidentificationoffurtherconfoundersseemstobepromising.


The purpose of this research is to add the flying mobility to the humanoid robot to improve the efficient in climbing high obstacle and moving long distance. This paper proposed the concept of twin rotors configuration with CG shifting steering mechanism. The mathematical model was constructed. The numerical simulation showed the feasibility of proposed concept.


It is well known that multipath is one of the main sources of errors in GPS static high precision positioning of short baselines. Most algorithms for reducing multipath manipulate the GPS double difference (DD) observation residuals as input signal in GPS signal processing. In the traditional multipath mitigation methods, applying the wavelet transform (WT) to decompose the GPS DD observation residuals for identifying the multipath disturbance cannot effectively filter out the white noise of the high frequency part of the signal, and it is prone to edge effect. In this paper, for extracting multipath, a wavelet packet algorithm based on two-dimensional moving weighted average processing (WP-TD) is proposed. This algorithm can not only effectively filter out the white noise of the high frequency part of the signal, but also weaken the influence of the edge effect. Furthermore, considering the repeatability of multipath error in static positioning, we propose a method for determining the level of wavelet packet decomposition layers which make multipath extraction more effectively. The experimental results show that the corrected positioning accuracy is 14.14% higher than that of the traditional wavelet transform when applying the obtained multipath to DD coordinate sequences for position correction.


One-dimension (1D) TiO2 nanorods (TiO2-N) has been fabricated via electro-spinning method. The composites of 1D TiO2-N and graphite nanosheets, termed as (TiO2-N/G-N), have been obtained by the physical doping method. The structure and properties of TiO2-N and TiO2-N/G-N have been characterised by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Raman spectrum. Dye-sensitised solar cells devices with TiO2 nanoparticles, TiO2-N and TiO2-N/G-N as the mesoporous scaffolds have been developed and investigated, respectively. Device 2 based on TiO2-N scaffolds showed short-circuit current (J sc) of 5.57 mA·cm−1, open-circuit voltage (V OC) of 0.68 V, filling factor of 0.75, and the power conversion efficiency of 2.85%, respectively. Compared with device 2, device 3 based on TiO2-N/G-N exhibited reduced photovoltaic properties.


Oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (OTSCC) is the most common oral malignancy with different histopathological symptoms and etiology of tumorigenesis. Migration and invasion is the most important characteristics of OTSCC, and limits tumor therapy in clinics. The epithelial‑to‑mesenchymal transition (EMT) signaling pathway is an important process in the progress of tumor cell migration and invasion. Previous studies have indicated that C‑X‑C chemokine receptor‑7 (CXCR‑7) promotes the progression and metastasis of tumor cells, presenting a potential target molecule for cancer therapy. The present study investigated the inhibitory effects of C‑X‑C chemokine‑7 (CXC‑7) on human OTSCC cells both in vitro and in vivo. The results demonstrated that the Tca8113 human OTSCC cell line expressed higher levels of CXC‑7 mRNA compared with the hNOE human normal oral epithelial cell line. MTT assays indicated that CXC‑7 suppressed Tca8113 cell growth, and the cytotoxicity of CXC‑7 was indicated as the cell survival of the negative control group was significantly decreased compared with the blank control and hNOE cells. Migration and invasion assays revealed that CXC‑7 inhibited Tca8113 cell local expansion and distant metastasis. In addition, the results demonstrated that the extracellular signal‑regulated kinase (ERK)/protein kinase B (AKT) signaling pathway was inhibited after CXC‑7 treatment in Tca8113 cells. N‑cadherin, E‑Cadherin, Snail and Slug expression levels in the ERK/AKT signaling pathway were inhibited in Tca8113 cells after treatment with CXC‑7. It was demonstrated that important extracellular matrix proteins involved in cell migration, including Slug, collagen type I and Vimentin, were significantly downregulated by CXC‑7 treatment. In conclusion, CXC‑7 inhibited growth and migration in OTSCC cells, mediated by the EMT signaling pathway. This suggests that CXC‑7 serves an inhibitory role in OTSCC migration, implicating CXCR‑7 as a promising biomarker for chemokine receptor‑based drug development.


The present study is conducted to investigate the impact of Energy Consumption (EC) on the Economic Growth (EG) in Pakistan by using a trivariate model. Time series data of macroeconomic determinants of Energy Consumption (EC), Energy Prices (EP) and Economic Growth (EG) are used to analyze the linkage among the variables. Annual data are collected from different published sources like World Development Indicators (WDI), BP Statistical Review and Economic Surveys of Pakistan for the period 1971-2014. Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) unit root test and Phillips Perron unit root test are used to examine the stationarity of data and all the variables are found stationary in differenced form. Short run and long run linkage among the variables is examined through Johansen co-integration test and the results confirm the existence of one co-integrating vector among the variables. Granger causality test under Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) is applied to observe the direction of between Energy Consumption (EC), Energy Prices (EP) and economic growth (EG). Unidirectional causality is found from Economic Growth (EG) to Energy Consumption (EC) and unidirectional causality from Energy Consumption (EC) to Energy Prices (EP) is also found in short run as well as in long run. On the basis of result of the study, conservation policy regarding to the Energy Consumption (EC) is suggested with a negligible or no effect on Economic Growth (EG).


The article studies the concept and the content of the administrative-legal institute of pre-trial appeal based on the system analysis methodology. Based on the current Ukrainian legislation, the advantages and disadvantages of administrative appeal in Ukraine are analysed. The administrative appeal is considered a complicated, complex legal institution, which includes procedural and processual norms. The essential features of the relationship, arising in connection with the pre-trial appeal include: actual or alleged violation of the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of a person who is not endowed with authority in the field of public administration; particular subjective composition of relations in the field of pre-trial appeal; administrative-legal dispute - resolved by an entity, endowed with jurisdictional powers, which does not belong to the judiciary, directly or indirectly (regarding the legal status or specifics of the activity) related to the administration; a particular remedy - a complaint differs from the administrative claim by the scope of provided guarantees. At the same time, the administrative-legal institute of pre-trial appeal is defined as a system of norms that regulate the procedure of receiving, registering, reviewing complaints, and making decisions on complaints by organisations not related to the judicial system.


The current learning lesson entitled: "We identify explicit information in an oral text and order in a graphic organizer" has a students' population of fourth grade of primary level of Antonio Raimondi Institution No 81011 of Trujillo City in 2019, in which it is announced Learning to Understand oral texts is very important, since they improve the language, either expressive and as comprehensive, active listening too. In addition, they also develop ethical principles, it benefits them in their memory capacity, as it improves the ability remember and create things.
The general objective of this learning lesson for students is to learn to identify explicit information in oral texts to promote meaningful learning.
During the development of the strategies, it is trying to arouse the interest and motivation of the students all the time, since in the communication area it is important for students to understand different types of texts, whether oral or written, according to that we develop the communication skill for students.


This study critically examines how the decision-making of two-year-old children may take place and may be interpreted in dialogue. The aim is to increase adult understanding of the decision-making experiences of children. The decisions, as perceived by parents and practitioners as participants, are situated within the non-verbal as well as the verbal dialogue of the children and are interpreted through the dialogue of the interpreting adults.

Case studies focus on three children drawn from families and settings willing to engage in extensive observation and analysis. The study is conducted with dialogism meta-theory containing a contextual social constructionist approach. The principal research methods are naturalistic video observations of the children over the course of their third year and video analysis sessions with parents and practitioners. I use a second-person approach to observation that acknowledges my presence with the children.

Phenomenological principles underpin the interpretation. Multi-modal interaction analysis accesses aspects of the children's phenomenal minds (here indicating no separation of mind and body), namely their expressions and responses to each other. The children's dialogue is discussed in terms of Buber's I-You relation and I-It attitude to the other, and in terms of what the children make relevant in their decisions in and with the world.

Questions are raised about how decision-making in dialogue can be understood, discussing in particular the situated nature of this understanding, with the aim of contributing to the processes of observation and understanding in the future.

A key contribution of the study is the exploration of mutuality and contextual knowing involving the perceptions of the adults closest to the children, and the contextual continuity of knowing in adults developing professional judgement in situations of uncertainty, and yet of relevance to the children.

Keywords: decision-making /two-year-old /dialogue /children /parents / practitioners /observing /mutuality /multi-modal /phenomenology


Here, we have studied the effect of water added electrolyte on the photovoltaic performance of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). It was found that open-circuit voltage (Voc) increased and short-circuit current density (jsc) decreased with the increase of the amount of added water in the electrolyte of the DSSCs. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) study showed that the electrolyte with added water shifted the dye loaded TiO2 conduction band upward that eventually increased Voc of the cells. On the other hand, the upward shift of TiO2 conduction band decreased the driving force for the electron injection from the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) of the dye molecules to the conduction band of TiO2 that resulted in decreased jsc.


Sedimentological interpretation of outcrop and drillcore, integrated with previously published seismic interpretation and regional chemostratigraphy, is used to establish a depositional model for gold-bearing Paleoproterozoic rocks of the Tanami region. Analyses of the Dead Bullock Formation and Killi Killi Formation of the Tanami Group form a basis for future correlations across northern Australia. Poorly-exposed Paleoproterozoic sandstone, siltstone and claystone of the Killi Killi Formation record development of a deep-water, basin-floor turbidite system composed of channelised sandy lobes with muddy lobe fringes. The sediment source was located to the northwest. Underlying the Killi Killi Formation are the poorly exposed dark claystones of the upper Dead Bullock Formation, forming a condensed section. We interpret that this depositional system was an important control on gold mineralisation in both the Killi Killi Formation and the underlying Dead Bullock Formation of the Tanami Group. Gold deposition is enhanced within the Dead Bullock Formation where crustal faults intersect claystone facies. Similar facies in the Killi Killi Formation may also host gold mineralisation. Deep exploration holes at the Titania and Old Pirate prospects could potentially intersect the stratigraphically underlying goldbearing claystones of the Dead Bullock Formation. 2.


In order to solve the data communication and acquisition synchronization problem of distributed electromagnetic exploration system for specific application environment and measurement mode, master - slave distributed communication network with dual channels is constructed based on RS485 bus, thus multi-station data is received by master station quickly. The communication bus and measuring circuit is isolated completely to eliminate common mode voltage interference and ensure the stability and stability of data communication. This paper puts forward an improved scheme for line synchronization that trigger signal for starting acquisition is transferred using RS485 bus. By testing and analysis, the linear relationship between delay time of trigger signal and distance is obtained. Field experimental results show that synchronization precision is able to satisfy the requirements of the measurement after compensating delay time.


A procedure was developed for accurate quantification of REE, actinides, and light elements in complex matrixes of interest in earth and material sciences (hellandite and britholite, the REE analogue of apatite). These minerals show a peculiar chemical composition due to the coexistence of high amounts of LREE, U, Th with variable quantities of H, Li, Be, B, and F. Molecular interferences were resolved, and problems arising from unpredictable matrix effects and lack of reference materials were overcome. X-ray single-crystal structure refinement (SREF), which is not affected by matrix effects and does not require analytical standardization, was used to precisely estimate (by means of both site-scattering value and site geometry) in a wholly independent way the amounts and the distribution of the various groups of elements. The combined SIMS-SREF approach allowed us to obtain results of impact for mineralogy and also allowed the accuracy of SIMS investigation to be fixed. The capabilities of SIMS in the quantification of light (Z <6) and heavy (Z >57) elements as both minor and major constituents (sigmaREE(ox) up to approximately 70 wt % in britholite) are shown. This approach may open new perspectives for the in situ analysis of chemically complex materials.


A series of coupled time domain simulations considering stochastic waves and wind based on five 1-h time-domain analyses are performed in normal operating conditions. Power performance and tower base Fore-Aft bending moment and pitching motion response of the floating spar-buoy wind turbine with 2 MW direct-drive PMSG have been analyzed by using HAWC2 that account for aero-hydro-servo-elastic time domain simulations. When the floating spar-buoy wind turbine is tilted in the wind direction, maximum of platform pitching motion is close to 4°. Statistical characteristics of tower base Fore-Aft bending moment of floating spar-buoy wind turbine are compared to that of land-based wind turbine. Maximum of tower base Fore-Aft bending moment of floating spar-buoy wind turbine and land-based wind is 94,448 kNm, 40,560 kNm respectively. This results is due to changes in blade pitch angle resulting from relative motion between wave and movement of the floating spar-buoy wind turbine.


Plasma fibronectin is an opsonic glycoprotein which augments reticuloendothelial phagocytic clearance of nonbacterial participates. We evaluated the influence of intravenous infusion of plasma cryoprecipitate on circulating immunoreactive fibronectin and associated opsonic activity at 0.5, 2.0, 4.0, 10, and 21 hr postinfusion in septic (n = 8) and nonseptic (n = 6) surgical and/or trauma patients with documented plasma fibronectin deficiency. The study was a randomized, double-blind, crossover clinical protocol in which fibronectin-poor (0.116 ± 0.025 mg/ ml) cryoprecipitate extracted plasma (placebo) was compared to fibronectin-rich (2.139 ± 0.161 mg/ml) plasma cryoprecipitate. Septic injured patients (149.37 ± 17.11 μg/ml) had lower (p < 0.05) plasma fibronectin levels than nonseptic injured patients (212.17 ± 7.14 μg/ml) and both were less (p < 0.05) than normal (330 ± 30 μg/ml). As tested in vitro with a peritoneal macrophage monolayer assay, cryoprecipitate manifested opsonic activity related to its fibronectin concentration. Intravenous infusion of fibronectin rich cryoprecipitate reversed both the immunoreactive fibronectin and opsonic deficiency, while infusion of the placebo at a comparable total protein load did not reverse either deficient parameter. Reversal of fibronectin deficiency was more sustained in nonseptic injured patients as compared to septic injured patients. Thus, reversal of opsonic deficiency in septic and nonseptic injured patients is observed after infusion of plasma cryoprecipitate and not with infusion of fibronectin deficient plasma at comparable protein loads. Also, cryoprecipitate extracted plasma may serve as an appropriate control solution for randomized studies evaluating the therapeutic value of fibronectin-rich plasma cryoprecipitate.