Neurocutaneous syndromes are congenital or hereditary conditions that have many features in common: hereditary transmission, involvement of organs of ectodermal origin (nervous system, eyeball, retina, and skin), slow evolution of lesions in childhood and adolescence, and disposition to fatal malignant transformation. Except for Sturge- Weber syndrome, these major neurocutaneous syndromes are genetically determined, although sporadic cases can occur. This article reviews the clinical features of the more common neurocutaneous syndromes, including tuberous sclerosis complex, neurofibromatosis, Sturge-Weber syndrome, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, and von Hippel-Lindau disease.


Lithium ion batteries have been widely used in daily life due to their high energy density and long cycle life.However,when many batteries are connected in series and/or in parallel to form a battery array,much reduced life span is often observed.The main reason is associated with poor quality uniformity of individual cells.This paper provides a brief summary of methods for sorting battery cells according to their consistency.The mechanisms and characteristics of these methods are presented,along with research progress in our group.We will show that electrochemical impedance spectroscopy(EIS) could provide an effective and rapid way to evaluate the uniformity of battery cells.


Abstract A summary of the hydrogeological test methodologies employed in the Sellafield geological investigations is provided in order that an objective appraisal of the quality of the data can be formed. A brief presentation of some of these data illustrates the corroborative nature of different test and measurement methodologies and provides a preliminary view of the results obtained. The programme of hydrogeological testing is an evolving one and methodologies are developing as work proceeds and targets become more clearly defined. As the testing focused on relatively low permeability rocks at depth, the approach to testing differs slightly from conventional hydrogeological well testing and makes extensive use of oilfield technology.


This study aimed to reveal the role of ICAM-1 and HIF-1α in brain endothelial cell of cerebral malaria mice model after exposure to 2.4 absolute atmospheres (ATA) hyperbaric oxygen (HBO). Thirty-nine C57BL/6 mice were divided into three groups: control negative (normal mice without any exposure), control positive ( Plasmodium berghei ANKA [PbA] infection without HBO exposure), and treatment (PbA infection and exposed to HBO for 10 sessions after the parasite grew). Parasitemia and clinical symptoms were observed every day. Brain tissues were isolated on day 13 post-infection for histopathological and immunohistochemical examination (observed at 400x magnification in 10 visual fields). HBO decreased HIF-1α and ICAM-1 expression in endothelial cells. There was a moderate correlation between HIF-1α and ICAM-1 expression. Ten HBO sessions prevented cerebral malaria, as denoted by the decreased expression of ICAM-1 and HIF-1α in brain vascular endothelial cells from the experimental mice.


Purpose

Road construction projects are one of the strategic industries in each country and their construction and development requires spending huge funds. Regarding the increased demand and resource constraints; a technique which reduces costs by maintaining and improving the functioning is of great importance for the authorities of each country. Value engineering is a comprehensive and coherent means based on innovation and team work which, in addition to maintaining the quality and improving the project function, reduces its cost and is not limited to the design and construction phase; however, it includes exploitation and maintenance as well. This study aims to present a practical model for the implementation and application of value engineering process in a construction project located in a special region (in terms of tourism, positioning in an economic growth path, and the East-West strategic axis of the region). In this regard, after reviewing the advisor's design, considering the interests of the project stakeholders, reviewing design criteria and assessment methods and with the use of value engineering techniques, a new option was presented which led to a significant reduction in costs and time and an increase of quality, safety, and environmental factors. Finally, including initial costs, repair, maintenance, income and expenses, the relative value index of this option, compared to the advisor's option, increased from 0.9 to 3.5. Based on the increased need for development of roads in the country, exploiting this model in similar projects can significantly improve the project value and the effectiveness of investments.

Design/methodology/approach

This research project was selected with regard to the extremely high credit of the project and its potential in terms of Value Engineering implementation. In this study, technical and financial information were first collected after forming a value engineering team including a value engineering expert who was responsible for coordinating the work, some representatives of the employer, designer, executor, and budget estimator. In functional analysis phase with the use of FAST graph, advantageous, costly, and risky functions were identified. In the creativity phase, ideas related to selected functions were created and investigated and developed in the evaluation phase. Finally, calculating the value index, two variants with higher value index than the baseline plan, were proposed and implemented.

Findings

Since the determining criteria of designing and implementation of road construction projects including increased safety, reduced travel time, user satisfaction, ease of implementation, cost of construction and maintenance and so on are almost similar in most projects, using this study results and implementing its practical framework in other construction projects can be beneficial. These parameters lead to an increase in quality, value, and safety of the project. With regard to done steps and resulted incomes, this essay can be known as a practical and theoretical model to promote the value of crucial projects especially in developing countries.

Research limitations/implications

Sanandaj-Hamedan road with the length 176km connects central provinces of Iran. This study is regarding the first part of this route. Based on the specific topography of the region and the existing road limitations, selecting a good variance with all the features of an ideal road from geometric, economic, and safety aspects is a difficult task.

Originality/value

Employers and project sponsors are always looking for products with greater value and lower cost; therefore, present a practical model for the implementation and application of value engineering process in a construction project and providing a similar work experience can encourage the use of value engineering techniques and significantly improve the project value and the effectiveness of investments.


The distribution of extinction types in silt-stone from the Red Peak Formation (Early Triassic) of Wyoming and the Spearfish Formation (Permian-Triassic) of South Dakota are summarized in this paper. Results indicate that the amount of nonundulatory extinction, monocrystallinity, and inclusion-free grains in quartz of these rocks is extremely variable. Variability of these characteristics decreases, and the minimum observed values increase, however, with decreasing grain size.


Background: The deep inferior epigastric artery (DIEA) perforator flap is increasingly used for breast reconstruction, with preoperative imaging sought as a means of improving operative outcome. Computed tomographic angiography has been recently described as the preferred imaging modality; however, formal evaluation of computed tomographic angiography has not been described. A cadaveric study was undertaken to evaluate the accuracy of computed tomographic angiography for perforator mapping. Methods: Ten cadaveric hemiabdominal walls from five fresh cadavers underwent contrast injection of each DIEA and subsequent computed tomographic scanning, with each DIEA and all perforating branches documented. Dissection was then performed, with the recording of the course of the DIEA and the course of all perforators in each specimen. The concordance of computed tomographic angiography with dissection findings was evaluated. Results: Cadaveric computed tomographic angiography identified 154 perforators in 10 hemiabdominal walls. Computed tomographic angiography was highly accurate, with eight false-positives and six false-negatives on cadaveric computed tomographic angiography, establishing an overall sensitivity of 96 percent and a positive predictive value of 95 percent for mapping perforators. For perforators greater than 1 mm in diameter, the sensitivity was 100 percent and the positive predictive value was 100 percent. Conclusions: Computed tomographic angiography is a highly accurate tool for identifying the perforators of the DIEA before DIEA perforator flaps for breast reconstruction. Preoperative identification of these vessels can aid planning for the preferred hemiabdomen for dissection, and may save operative time, angst, and potentially complications.


Capturing images at high ISO modes will introduce much realistic noise, which is difficult to be removed by traditional denoising methods. In this paper, we propose a novel denoising method for high ISO JPEG images via deep fusion of collaborative and convolutional filtering. Collaborative filtering explores the non-local similarity of natural images, while convolutional filtering takes advantage of the large capacity of convolutional neural networks (CNNs) to infer noise from noisy images. We observe that the noise variance map of a high ISO JPEG image is spatial-dependent and has a Bayer-like pattern. Therefore, we introduce the Bayer pattern prior in our noise estimation and collaborative filtering stages. Since collaborative filtering is good at recovering repeatable structures and convolutional filtering is good at recovering irregular patterns and removing noise in flat regions, we propose to fuse the strengths of the two methods via deep CNN. The experimental results demonstrate that our method outperforms the state-of-the-art realistic noise removal methods for a wide variety of testing images in both subjective and objective measurements. In addition, we construct a dataset with noisy and clean image pairs for high ISO JPEG images to facilitate research on this topic.


Bologna process is the instruction for reshaping in the higher education system, which created significant obstacles for its implementation. The objective of this study is to investigate the issues and challenges faced Kurdistan universities during the implementation of the Bologna process. In this study, three universities have been focused; two public and a private university. A questionnaire form was designed or the three universities' staff (Erbil Polytechnic University [EPU], Soran University, and Cihan University) which included several questions about the challenges faced them during European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) implementation. The results show that Cihan University provides more knowledge about Bologna process to its staff while EPU and Cihan University were the best regarding staff participation in Bologna process and related events such as conferences, workshops, and seminars. EPU shows to be preferable in providing ECTS instructions While Cihan University tends to be better followed the policy of ECTS. Most Universities' staff disagreed about the success of the Bologna process implementation due to unsuitable universities' infrastructure and academic calendar. In conclusion, in point of view of the universities' staff, several steps have been taken toward the implementation of Bologna process, but it required more preparations and efforts.


Introduction: The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of otitis media with effusion (OME) in Malaysian children between three months to twelve years of age and to identify the risk factors associated with it. Materials and methods: This is a cross-sectional study consists of 153 children selected by stratified random sampling method. Parents of these children were interviewed with a structured questionnaire. Clinical examination, including otoscopic examination and tympanometry was performed for each child. Results: The prevalence of OME was 18.3%. There was no statistical significant relationship between OME and gender, race, household size, attendance to daycare center, breast feeding, and exposure to passive smoking, allergy, and asthma. Conclusion: The prevalence of OME is 18.3% in Malaysian children between three months to twelve years of age. Frequency of AOM is a statistically significant factor to the development of OME later in life. The different risk factors associated with OME are still controversial.


In this paper, an experimental investigation is revealed on the solidification process of the latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) system, in which the heat energy emitted into the atmosphere with the exhaust gases of ICE vehicles is stored by phase change material (PCM) enhanced with nanoparticles (Al2O3). In the study using RT55 paraffin wax as the PCM, the interior heating process of a typical sedan automobile in cold climate conditions is used as the heat release medium for the LHTES system. Experimental studies carried out in real climatic conditions were repeated for pure paraffin (RT55) and five dif-ferent Al2O3 fractions (5 wt.%, 10 wt.%, 15 wt.%, 20 wt.%, and 25 wt.%). Ex-periments are performed in an optical PCM container and are completed after 1200 seconds (20 minutes). The heat energy stored in the PCM container is discharged to the automobile cabin via the closed-circuit liquid circulation system by the heating radiator system in the automobile cabin. The findings showed that the solidification process is improved considerably up to 10 wt.% Al2O3 fractions compared with pure paraffin RT55, and the temperature in the cabin could be increased by approximately 29%. In addition, the Al2O3 frac-tion increased by more than 10 wt.%, which has a negative effect on the im-provement in the solidification process, but higher solidification ability and in-cabinet temperature were obtained with all Al2O3 fractions compared to pure RT55.


The purpose of the article is to examine whether there is a corporate governance model that could minimize the negative effects of conflicts, align of managers' behavior with stockholders, and provide stock markets development. The analysis of numerous studies helps to clarify the basic issues including objectives, interests, methods of achievement, and benefits of managerial and stakeholder conflicts. The corporate sector development demonstrates the use of mixed model in Ukraine, based partly on the application of the principals of American, and German models of corporate governance.
The causes of corporate governance conflicts are considered in Ukraine. The application of the economic and legal mechanisms for corporate conflicts elimination is proposed. Specific policy proposals designed to achieve the goal to separate regulators from company management and owners. Governance must clearly define the functions and relationships of the various parties, and separate oversight from operational and financial management. The public accountants objectivity can be introduced in Ukraine through creation of institutional structures that define and require regulation, records, and audit. In the new context, auditors will be private contractors serving as regulators, and they will work for boards of directors. Management is not involved.
The article analyses the measures that have been taken to create an effective corporate governance model in Ukraine. The international accounting standards application, based on American and European accounting standards in corporate governance, will be directed to create mechanism for disclosures and frauds preventing in all companies. The national accounting agencies foundation in East European countries, including Ukraine will provide the adoption of international accounting standards at the country's level.


The determination of a specific orbit and the procedure to calculate orbital maneuvers of artificial satellites are problems of extreme importance in the study of orbital mechanics. Therefore, the transferring problem of a spaceship from one orbit to another, and the attention due to this subject has in increased during the last years. Many applications can be found in several space activities, for example, to put a satellite in a geostationary orbit, to change the position of a spaceship, to maintain a specific satellite's orbit, in the design of an interplanetary mission, and others. The Brazilian Satellite SCD-1 (Data Collecting Satellite) will be used as example in this paper. It is the first satellite developed entirely in Brazil, and it remains in operation to this date. SCD-1 was designed, developed, built, and tested by Brazilian scientists, engineers, and technicians working at INPE (National Institute for Space Research, and in Brazilian Industries. During the lifetime, it might be necessary do some complementary maneuvers, being this one either an orbital transferring, or just to make periodical corrections. The purpose of transferring problem is to change the position, velocity and the satellite's mass to a new pre determined state. This transfer can be totally linked (in the case of "Rendezvous") or partially free (free time, free final velocity, etc). In the global case, the direction, the orientation and the magnitude of the thrust to be applied must be chosen, respecting the equipment's limit. In order to make this transferring, either sub-optimal or optimal maneuvers may be used. In the present study, only the sub-optimal will be shown. Hence, this method will simplify the direction of thrust application, to allow a fast calculation that may be used in real time, with a very fast processing. The thrust application direction to be applied will be assumed small and constant, and the purpose of this paper is to find the time interval that the thrust is applied. This paper is basically divided into three parts: during the first one the sub-optimal maneuver is explained and detailed, the second presents the Satellite SCD-1, and finally the last part shows the results using the sub-optimal maneuver applied to the Brazilian Satellite.


Caring for Strangers (2017) takes the reader on an interesting journey to the everyday lives of Filipino migrant nurse workers placed in Singapore. It does so focusing on the narratives and the frequent encounters that anthropologist Megha Amrith had over her fieldwork time in Singapore. The result is a rich compilation of the social, political, and economic factors that make many men and women in the Philippines undertake nursing education with the purpose of migrating to work abroad. This review of the book focuses on three aspects of the book that the present author found to be of great importance in the contemporary anthropology of economy and labour: the political economy of global capital, the marketization of care work, and the ways in which these migrant workers built their subjectivities.


Stimuli-responsive organic tubes are an attractive supramolecular assembly which has potential applications as a controlled release vehicle. We synthesize a smart organic tube by the coassembly of lithocholic acid (LCA) and taurolithocholic acid (TLCA) in aqueous solution. The coassembled LCA/TLCA tubes can be longitudinally unzipped into flat sheets by capillary force after being dehydrated on substrates. Consequently, the encapsulated guest molecules are released from the unzipping tubes. After the release of guest molecules, the flat sheets can be zipped back into hollow tubes upon hydration with aqueous solution. The zipping/unzipping LCA/TLCA tubes provide a new type of delivery vehicles, which may have potential for surface decontaminations.


The problem of the stability and growth of disturbances in a fluid with time-dependent heating is investigated. The analysis is restricted to the case when the temperature gradient is large in a layer which is narrow by comparison with the overall depth of the fluid. An approximate method of solution is presented. Results of computations are also presented which illustrate the method of solution and the essential features of the problem.


The oscillating flow is an important factor affecting the performance of the rotor–seal system. From the point of view of flow induced vibration, the nonlinear models of the rotor-seal system are presented for the analysis of the self-excited vibration, which is induced by interaction between the unstable seal fluid flow and the vibrating rotor. The nonlinear characteristics of flow induced vibration in the rotor-seal system are analyzed, and the nonlinear phenomena in the unbalanced rotor-seal system are investigated using the nonlinear model with the flow induced vibration.


A novel monitor for X-ray beam position, intensity and profile is presented. This diagnostic instrument is based on a commercial photodiode array which detects X-rays scattered diffusely from a featureless foil. The typical accuracy with which the beam position is determined is 1 µm. Although initially conceived for the characterization of `white' synchrotron radiation, this monitor has proven to be suitable for monochromatic radiation as well, hence providing a single solution to the task of beam characterization along the X-ray beam path, from source to sample.


Design, modeling, and analysis of a novel in-plane cantilever apex seal for maintaining high compression ratios in a MEMS-based rotary internal combustion engine are presented. This work is part of an effort to create a portable, MEMS-based Rotary Engine Power System (MEMS REPS) capable of producing power on the order of tens of milliwatts and with an energy density better than that of a conventional battery. A Wankel-type rotary engine is advantageous for a MEMS-based internal combustion engine due to its planar geometry, self-valving operation, and few moving parts. Large scale rotary engines typically incorporate a complex apex and face sealing system composed of many parts and involved assembly. A MEMS-based apex seal system can be incorporated as part of the rotor in order to eliminate manual assembly. The seal system must also have a minimal footprint and closely follow the epitrochoid profile in order to effectively integrate with the other engine systems. Based on these objectives, an integrated in-plane cantilever apex seal system can be integrated into the rotor with a small footprint. The first step in the development of the MEMS REPS is an air-powered expander which can be used to demonstrate electrical generator operation, engine rotation, and apex seal operation. The apex seals discussed here are optimized for use in an air-powered expander. A performance analysis of this flexure apex seal design is performed which examines 4 major performance constraints: resonant frequency, strain, pressure, and power dissipation. In addition, the seal design also accounts for fabrication tolerances of thick deep reactive ion etching (DRIE). During operation, dynamic effects due to combustion process and mechanical translation may drive the flexures into resonance, leading to galloping of the cantilever tips. Galloping will result in large leakage paths, thereby, reducing the compression ratio. A 0.25% strain limit is imposed to minimize the effect of fatigue on seal performance. Pre-compressed apex seals are used to counteract forces generated on the apex seal due to a pressure differential. The apex seal is also designed to minimize the power dissipated due to frictional losses. To model the cantilever apex seal, two different loading conditions are examined. One condition is distinguished by point loading at the tip, when contact is made between the seal and housing wall. Another condition is characterized by a distributed loading, due to the changing pressure by both the compression and the combustion events. Analytical models in addition to a finite element analysis were performed.© 2003 ASME


Oxygen delignification of wheat straw soda pulp with the addition of anthraquinone (AQ) was conducted to evaluate the effects of AQ on pulp quality. The pulp yield, kappa number, intrinsic viscosity, and brightness were selected as the properties to optimize oxygen delignification. The optimal pulp was obtained via grey relational analysis with an alkali charge of 3%, oxygen pressure of 0.5 MPa at 120 °C for 85 min, and with 0.05% AQ. In contrast to conventional oxygen delignification, the addition of AQ produced pulp with a higher yield, and it did not generate other negative impacts on pulp kappa number, viscosity, and brightness. The reaction mechanism of AQ in oxygen delignification was different from that in alkali pulping.


Dermatomyositis is a rare multisystem autoimmune disorder occasionally accompanied by dysphagia. It is typically treated with immune modulating agents; however, dysphagia is often unresponsive to these. Previous reports have demonstrated the utility of videoflouroscopy and manometry in understanding the etiologies of dysphagia to inform a procedural target, historically the cricopharyngeus muscle. We present a case of dermatomyositis and dysphagia resistant to medical management in a patient found by videoflouroscopy and manometry to have severe oropharyngeal dysphagia, esophageal dysmotility and a cricopharyngeal web. We demonstrate the utility and safety of upper esophageal sphincter dilation by transnasal esophagoscopy even in the setting of multifactorial dysphagia.


The purpose of the study is to assess a multidisciplinary caries-prediction model. Enrolled in the study were 184 low-income children ages 3-5 years old in two Head Start programs in Connecticut. Children were examined by a dentist at baseline and at 1 year for dental caries. Each child also provided a saliva sample to obtain a measure of S. mutans. The children's caregivers completed an interview that assessed oral health behaviors, and cognitive and socioeconomic factors. The prevalence of decay (1 dmfs) increased from 40 to 58% and the number of dmfs increased significantly from 2.5 (7.1) dmfs to 4.5 (8.8) dmfs (P < 0.001) in 1 year. S. mutans did not change significantly. Discriminant function analysis predicting change in caries in the second year from data obtained in the first year showed that S. mutans, dmfs, and toothbrushing significantly predicted caries risk (canonical correlation = 0.5571; x2 = 51; df = 3; P < 0.001). Children with higher dmfs, higher S. mutans, and whose parents reported more frequent brushing had more decay in the second year. None of the other behavioral, cognitive, or demographic factors was significant. The results emphasize the importance of early intervention in preventing dental caries in an underserved population.


Abstract. Seasonal snow in mountain regions is an essential water resource. However, the spatio-temporal variability in mountain snow depth or snow water equivalent (SWE) from regional to global scales is not well understood due to the lack of high-resolution satellite observations and robust retrieval algorithms. We demonstrate the ability of the Sentinel-1 mission to monitor weekly snow depth at sub-kilometer (100 m, 300 m and 1 km) resolutions over the European Alps, for 2017–2019. Sentinel-1 backscatter observations, especially for the cross-polarization channel, show a high correlation with regional model simulations of snow depth over Austria and Switzerland. The observed changes in radar backscatter with the accumulation or ablation of snow are used in a change detection algorithm to retrieve snow depth. The algorithm includes the detection of dry and wet snow conditions. For dry snow conditions, the 1 km Sentinel-1 retrievals have a spatio-temporal correlation (R) of 0.87 and mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.17 m compared to in situ measurements across 743 sites in the European Alps. A slight reduction in performance is observed for the retrievals at 300 m (R = 0.85 and MAE = 0.18 m) and 100 m (R = 0.79 and MAE = 0.21 m). The results demonstrate the ability of Sentinel-1 to provide regional snow estimates at an unprecedented resolution in mountainous regions, where satellite-based estimates of snow mass are currently lacking. The retrievals can improve our knowledge of seasonal snow mass in areas with complex topography and benefit a number of applications, such as water resources management, flood forecasting and numerical weather prediction.


Lack of solid waste management is one of the menaces that greatly affect Kawempe Division in Kampala capital city. A couple of sub-parishes within Kawempe division are encompassed by many an unlawful sets of landfills and solid waste disposal places. These landfills are locally termed "garbage pits". These open waste collection facilities have led to spread of some diseases like typhoid as result of Leachet finding its way to ground and surface water sources and contaminating it in the neighborhood of these waste collection areas.


PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES
To determine the long-term effects of prostate cancer treatment on spouse quality of life (QOL) at 36 months following treatment.

DESIGN
Descriptive-exploratory; community-based study.

SETTING
Telephone interviews.

SAMPLE
95 female spouses of men treated for early-stage prostate cancer.

METHODS
A computer-assisted telephone interview was used to evaluate QOL among spouses of prostate cancer survivors at 36 months after initial prostate cancer treatment.

MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES
Lymphedema, demographic information, self-reported comorbid diseases or medical issues, and medication usage.

FINDINGS
Spouses who had more negative appraisal of caregiving had lower sexual satisfaction, poorer cancer-specific QOL, and poorer mental QOL. Spouses who perceived bother related to the patient's sexual or hormone function reported more threatening appraisals of caregiving, less sexual satisfaction, and poorer QOL.

CONCLUSIONS
Spouses continued to experience negative appraisal of caregiving, which affected QOL 36 months after their husbands' treatment for prostate cancer. Additional studies related to factors that influence spouse QOL during survivorship will help guide clinical practice.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING
Healthcare providers must help spouses find strategies that promote positive coping and lessen negative appraisal. Giving caregivers information early in the treatment process will help them understand what to expect over time. Supporting caregivers and helping them manage stress will enhance QOL during survivorship.

KNOWLEDGE TRANSLATION
Spouses who experienced more bother related to urinary, sexual, and hormonal function experience more stress and worse QOL at 36 months post-treatment. Spouse appraisal can have a significant effect on QOL. Offering counseling to couples following treatment for prostate cancer may improve QOL by helping couples manage relationship intimacy.


This report describes a program for increasing primary students' reading achievement as indicated by scores on reading series theme tests, state standards achievement test scores, achievement test scores, report card grades, and students' involvement in reading. The targeted population consisted of primary elementary school students in a Midwestern, rural, middle class community. The problems of reading achievement were documented through data revealed on pretests administered to the targeted students. Analysis of probable cause data revealed that students exhibited a lack of achievement related to insufficient reading practice, poor fluency, choosing inappropriate reading materials, lack of motivation, disengagement with text, and poor role modeling. A review of solution strategies suggested by knowledgeable others, combined with an analysis of the problem setting, resulted in the selection of four major categories of intervention: an implementation of the Accelerated Reader program, increased sustained silent reading time, development of a buddy reading system, and establishment of a home-to-school reading program. Post-intervention data indicated an increase in the primary students' reading achievement as shown by a meaningful improvement of the Woodcock Reading Test scores, the state standards achievement test scores, the STAR reading test scores, and the pilot Snapshot of Early Literacy test. Appendixes contain a student reading log, a "Be a Star Reader" form, and a Reading Star chart. (Contains 68 references, and 7 tables and 3 figures of data.) (Author/RS)


Background: Piper nigrum (PN) is widely used as a traditional medicine, which has anti-cancer activity among others. Objective: Our study purposes to illuminate the inhibition of PN effects on breast cancer cells growth and migration along with its mechanisms. Materials and Methods: The piperine in the young fruit of PN extract was determined by the high-performance liquid chromatography method. Growth inhibition with a mechanism of PN extract was studied in the MCF-7 cells using sulforhodamine B assay, cell cycle analysis, colony formation, caspase-3 activity, and reactive oxygen species formation. Furthermore, the anti-migratory effects of PN were investigated using wound healing, matrigel migration, and gelatin zymography assay. Finally, PN mechanism was determined by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting for the gene and protein levels. Results: Piperine level was showed at a high concentration in the PN extract. Further, the PN extract suppressed Rac1 mRNA expression in the mevalonate (MVA) pathway as well as repressed Rac1 and RhoA protein expression. Interestingly, PN stimulated growth inhibition in dose- and time-dependent as well as being accompanied by increasing the G1 phase arrest and inhibiting cyclin D1 and NF-κB as well as inducing caspase-3 expression. The PN extract inhibited MCF-7 cell migration by reducing matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) 9 protein expression as well as MMP 2, MMP 9, VEGFA, and ICAMP1 gene expression. Conclusion: PN could be herbal medicine for anti-cancer and anti-migratory activities with a correlation to the MVA pathway; therefore, PN maybe deserving further to study as a new candidate for treating breast cancer.


The aim of this research is to explore new preferred customer criteria to subsequently rate the importance of every criterion in order to develop a maturity model that is able to assess buying firms from a supplier perspective based on a score.
With regard to the research design of this study, new criteria are explored through qualitative research by conducting semi-structured interviews with sales managers who are selling products that are sold on a regular base to the same existing business-to-business customer. These criteria are rated through quantitative research in order to highlight differences among them. This type of mixed method is considered as explorative sequential design method.
The findings of the study show that criteria identified through qualitative interviews slightly differ from the findings from the theory. Further, the findings from the quantitative data collection give a clear indication that criteria differ in terms of their importance.
In terms of limitations, the small sample size of the qualitative research is addressed. Further, the model developed of this study is applicable throughout a wide set of industries which limits its application abilities in terms of only one specific industry.
With regard to practical implication, suppliers and key accounts can profit from this research. On the one hand, suppliers are able to systematically evaluate and compare their customers in order to decide which customer to assign with preferred customer status. On the other hand, buyers are able to see what type of criteria are valued from suppliers in order to systematically improve in these points.


The value of a team approach to design projects has been well established. Projects require teams to demonstrate a wide range of skills including group management, creativity, analysis, manufacturing, testing and communication. Insuring that a team has a sufficient breadth of skills can be problematic. Establishing individual accountability within the project team can also be difficult. A new approach was recently implemented in sophomore/junior design course where teams were assembled based upon the role of company officers. Students interviewed for the positions of chief executive officer, chief technical officer, chief information officer and chief manufacturing officer. Three progress reports were submitted which contained reports from each of the officers. Three oral design reviews were conducted where the instructor and teaching assistant took on the role of venture capitalists (VCs) who were funding the company. Here each officer presented a status report and had the opportunity to ask for advice from the VCs. The company officer approach insured that each student actively participated and was accountable for their work throughout the project. Course evaluations strongly supported the use of this role playing format.


Antibiotics are commonly used in livestock and poultry farming. Residual antibiotics in manure may lead to antibiotic pollution of soil, surface water, and groundwater through land application and run-off rainfall. The black soldier fly (BSF) Hermetia illucens is a good candidate for manure management. We evaluated the effect of sulfonamide pollution on the growth of H. illucens. Four treatments were considered with a sulfonamide content in the feed of 0 (control group), 0.1, 1, and 10 mg/kg. The control larvae were fed without sulfonamide. Survival and development status of the individuals were recorded daily. The weights of the fifth instar larvae, prepupae, and pupae were checked. Antioxidant enzyme activity was determined with the fifth instar larvae. The results showed that a low (0.1 and 1 mg/kg) concentration of sulfonamides had no effects on larval survival, pupation, and eclosion of BSFs. A high sulfonamide concentration of 10 mg/kg had a significant effect on the survival of larvae and pupae and on the body weight of larvae, prepupae and pupae. Peak of the cumulated pupation rate and eclosion rate in the sulfonamide treatment of 10 mg/kg was very low. Pupation and eclosion in this group peaked later than that of the control and low sulfonamide concentration treatment groups (0.1 mg/kg and 1 mg/kg). Larvae from the sulfonamides group showed lower antioxidase activities than that of the control. In sulfonamide groups, the activity of peroxidase and superoxide dismutase was reduced in a concentration-dependent manner. Sulfamonomethoxine, sulfamethoxazole, and sulfamethazine were not detected in the harvested prepupae. Only sulfadiazine was discovered in the sulfonamide treatments of 1 and 10 mg/kg. In conclusion, BSFs can tolerate certain concentrations of sulfonamide contamination.


We study the phenomenology of the τ− → π−ντ ll decays (l = e, μ), predicting the respective branching ratios and di-lepton invariant-mass spectra. In addition to the model-independent (QED) contributions, we investigate the structure-dependent (SD) terms, encoding features of the hadronization of QCD currents. The relevant form factors are evaluated by supplementing Chiral Perturbation Theory with the inclusion of the lightest (axial-)vector resonance multiplet as dynamical fields. The Lagrangian couplings are fully predicted requiring the known QCD asymptotic behavior to the relevant Green functions and associated form factors in the limit of an infinite number of colours. As a consequence we predict that the τ− → π−ντ ee decays should be discovered soon while this is not granted for the l = μ case.


We investigate how generative adversarial nets (GANs) can help semi-supervised learning on graphs. We first provide insights on working principles of adversarial learning over graphs and then present GraphSGAN, a novel approach to semi-supervised learning on graphs. In GraphSGAN, generator and classifier networks play a novel competitive game. At equilibrium, generator generates fake samples in low-density areas between subgraphs. In order to discriminate fake samples from the real, classifier implicitly takes the density property of subgraph into consideration. An efficient adversarial learning algorithm has been developed to improve traditional normalized graph Laplacian regularization with a theoretical guarantee. Experimental results on several different genres of datasets show that the proposed GraphSGAN significantly outperforms several state-of-the-art methods. GraphSGAN can be also trained using mini-batch, thus enjoys the scalability advantage.


Academic institutions are abelist. This, however, does not have to be the case. How do individuals involved in research management address this culture? In the context of the drastic changes in Higher Education since the 1990s, and an increasing emphasis on equality and inclusion, initiatives such as Athena Swan and the Race Equality Charter have led to more awareness of exclusionary practices. However, statistics on disability highlight serious issues in relation to disclosure rates for staff and staff report being stigmatised and their career choices undermined or invalidated. This can be particularly true for those who research into or around ableism. In this environment how can research managers raise awareness and empower all academics to ask for and gain adjustments to support their work? How has the Covid-19 pandemic and the impact on higher education institutions and their finances affected this issue? In this paper we consider some of the challenges of conducting research on ableism in academia and what it can tell us. We then discuss the changes that can be made to research management that would help address and challenge the ableist academic culture. This would be achieved through raising expectations, placing inclusivity and accessibility at the heart of research communication and encouraging, equipping and challenging the academic community to embed these practices in the dissemination of their research.


The low attenuation area (LAA) of the lungs on high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) was evaluated in 20 asthmatics (10 ex-smokers and 10 never-smokers) and 10 patients with pulmonary emphysema (all ex-smokers) by ventilatory function, lung volume, DLco, and a ratio of expiratory LAA/inspiratory LAA. 1 . The % LAA of the lungs on HRCT was significantly larger in patients with pulmonary emphysema(PE) than in those with asthma, but there was not significant difference in % LAA between ex-smokers and never-smokers of asthmatics.
2. A ratio of expiratory Winspiratory LAA was significantly higher in patients with PE than in those with asthma , and the ratio was significantly higher in ex-smokers of asthmatics than in never-smokers (p<0.05).
3 . The difference in % residual volume and % DLco was significant between asthma and PE , and between ex - smokers and never-smokers of asthmatics (% RV : p<0.05, DLco : p<0.05) . 4 . The difference in the values of % FVC, % FEV(1) .O, and FEV1.0% was significant between asthma and PE, but not significant between ex-smokers and never- smokers of asthmatics. The results suggest that the difference in a ratio of expiratory W inspiratory LAA, % RV and % DLco was
significant between ex - smokers and never - smokers of asthmatics , and cigarette smoking induces more irreversible changes of the lungs.


This paper describes a novel high-performance x-band hybrid junction. Its over-ill dimensions are 1¾"×½×2". It consists of a suitably loaded gap in the narrow common wall between two it ½"×1" waveguides. Over the frequency range 8,500- to 9,600-mc per second power equality within ±0.25 decibels, isolation in excess of 30 decibels and a standing-wave ratio less than 1.07 may be obtained. The theory of the device is explained, and the particular advantages of this hybrid junction for a number of applications are outlined.


The Q&A series offers the best preparation for tackling exam questions. Each chapter includes typical questions, diagram problem and essay answer plans, suggested answers, notes of caution, tips on obtaining extra marks, the key debates on each topic, and suggestions on further reading. This chapter considers questions relating to parliamentary sovereignty. There is a traditional doctrine of parliamentary supremacy, but it has had to be adapted to accommodate membership of the European Union. The questions deal with issues such as the meaning and implications of 'parliamentary supremacy'; the impact of the UK's EU membership on the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty; the effect of EU legislation, such as directives, in English Law; how the European Union works; and how Brexit will affect parliamentary supremacy.


We consider the rescheduling problems arising when two agents, each with a set of nonpreemptive jobs, compete to perform their respective jobs on a common processing resource. Each agent wants to minimize a certain objective function, which depends on the completion time of its jobs only. In this paper, we consider the two agents rescheduling problem for jobs on a single machine to minimize makespan under a limit on the makespan of the original jobs. We show that the considered problems can be solved in polynomial time or pseudopolynomial time.


The standards of the Canadian Association of Radiologists (CAR) are not rules, but are guidelines that attempt to define principles of practice that should generally produce radiological care. The physician and medical highquality physicist may modify an existing standard as determined by the individual patient and available resources. Adherence to CAR standards will not assure a successful outcome in every situation. The standards should not be deemed inclusive of all proper methods of care or exclusive of other methods of care reasonably directed to obtaining the same results. The standards are not intended to establish a legal standard of care or conduct, and deviation from a standard does not, in and of itself, indicate or imply that such medical practice is below an acceptable level of care. The ultimate judgment regarding the propriety of any specific procedure or course of conduct must be made by the physician and medical physicist in light of all circumstances presented by the individual situation.


Ischemia-induced systolic dysfunction has been ascribed to changes in cellular excitation-contraction coupling and diastolic dysfunction because of disruption of the extracellular collagen matrix. Therefore, systolic and diastolic pressure-volume relationships and O2 consumption were determined before and after 5 min of global ischemia in isolated blood-perfused porcine hearts. The slope of the systolic pressure-volume relationship was 7.2 +/- 0.6 (SE) mmHg.ml-1.100 g-1 (n = 18) at baseline and did not change during reperfusion, but the systolic volume intercept shifted from 1.0 +/- 0.4 ml/100 g at baseline to 3.7 +/- 1.4, 4.1 +/- 1.1, and 4.2 +/- 0.9 ml/100 g at 15, 30, and 60 min of reperfusion, respectively (all P < 0.05). The diastolic volume intercept was 8.2 +/- 0.7 ml/100 g at baseline and remained unchanged during reperfusion. Therefore, the difference of the systolic-diastolic volume intercepts, an index of elastic recoil forces, was decreased to 57 +/- 8, 49 +/- 7, and 47 +/- 9% of baseline values (P < 0.05). The shift of the systolic pressure-volume relationship was accompanied by a transient decrease of contractile efficiency (slope of O2 consumption-pressure-volume-area relationship) at 15 min of reperfusion (from 43 +/- 6 to 27 +/- 7%). We hypothesize that the rightward shift of the systolic pressure-volume relationship was compatible with a decrease of elastic-restoring forces, probably induced by alterations in the extracellular collagen matrix and/or the cytoskeleton, and thereby our data imply that left ventricular dysfunction of postischemic myocardium does not result solely from disturbances in excitation-contraction coupling.


Systemic administration of capsaicin elicits heat production, which can be observed in decerebrated preparations but is blocked by spinal transection. To identify the critical locus involved in the capsaicin-induced thermogenesis in the brainstem, we studied the effect of capsaicin on rats with bilateral electrolytic lesions in the premotor areas of sympathoadrenal preganglionic neurons. Lesions in the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM), but not in other regions, largely attenuated the capsaicin-induced heat production. Unilateral microinjection of 30–100 nl capsaicin (0.5%, w/v) into the RVLM elicited a heat production response, whereas capsaicin injection in neighboring areas or vehicle injection into the RVLM did not affect heat production. These results suggest that the thermogenic effect of capsaicin is mediated, at least in part, by some capsaicin-sensitive structure in the RVLM.


In the last decade, many security solutions have been proposed to fulfil the security requirements of wireless sensor networks (WSNs). However, these solutions are specifically designed for particular security issues, based on different assumptions, and limited to certain WSNs applications. Can these security solutions work together to handle multiple problems at the same time? It is an interesting and difficult question. We believe good solutions in various security areas do not mean they can work together and deliver similar results, i.e. occurrence of any security weakness or attack in a particular security solution could expose the vulnerabilities of other solutions. Using these solutions together might also degrade WSN quality of service. To deal with the aforementioned issues, we therefore propose a novel component-based security system (COMSEC) based on proactive and reactive components. Each component looks after a particular security issue and is integrated with others. The proposed system provides better secure communication, Sybil attack detection, secure data aggregation and resilience against node capture attacks and replication attacks. COMSEC has been evaluated and compared against existing schemes. Evaluation results show a significant improvement in resilience against node capture attacks, Sybil attack detection data confidentiality, privacy, memory overhead and connectivity. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Trotting on irregular terrain is a difficult task as undesirable impulse force by collision between robot foot and an obstacle makes the robot unstable. To cope with the problem, in this paper, variable impedance control algorithm changing leg impedance parameters according to the change of finite trot states is proposed. The state of quadruped trot is divided into five phases and the impedance parameters are changed to generate adequate response to the contact force in each locomotion phase. Simulation of trotting on irregular terrain with half-ellipsoidal trajectory has been performed with the control groups. The simulation has verified that the proposed control method shows outstanding performance and better stability for trotting on the highly irregular terrain.


During its sexual reproduction, the stichotrichous ciliate Oxytricha trifallax orchestrates a remarkable transformation of one of the newly formed germline micronuclear genomes. Hundreds of thousands of gene pieces are stitched together, excised from chromosomes, and replicated dozens of times to yield a functional somatic macronuclear genome composed of ~16,000 distinct DNA molecules that typically encode a single gene. Little is known about the proteins that carry out this process. We profiled mRNA expression as a function of macronuclear development and identified hundreds of mRNAs preferentially expressed at specific times during the program. We find that a disproportionate number of these mRNAs encode proteins that are involved in DNA and RNA functions. Many mRNAs preferentially expressed during macronuclear development have paralogs that are either expressed constitutively or are expressed at different times during macronuclear development, including many components of the RNA polymerase II machinery and homologous recombination complexes. Hundreds of macronuclear development-specific genes encode proteins that are well-conserved among multicellular eukaryotes, including many with links to germline functions or development. Our work implicates dozens of DNA and RNA-binding proteins with diverse evolutionary trajectories in macronuclear development in O. trifallax. It suggests functional connections between the process of macronuclear development in unicellular ciliates and germline specialization and differentiation in multicellular organisms, and argues that gene duplication is a key source of evolutionary innovation in this process.


Destabilization of faciliatory and inhibitory circuits is an important feature of corticomotor pathology in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). While GABAergic inputs to upper motor neurons are reduced in models of the disease, less understood is the involvement of peptidergic inputs to upper motor neurons in ALS. The neuropeptide Y (NPY) system has been shown to confer neuroprotection against numerous pathogenic mechanisms implicated in ALS. However, little is known about how the NPY system functions in the motor system. Herein, we investigate post-synaptic NPY signaling on upper motor neurons in the rodent and human motor cortex, and on cortical neuron populations in vitro. Using immunohistochemistry, we show the increased density of NPY-Y1 receptors on the soma of SMI32-positive upper motor neurons in post-mortem ALS cases and SOD1G93A excitatory cortical neurons in vitro. Analysis of receptor density on Thy1-YFP-H-positive upper motor neurons in wild-type and SOD1G93A mouse tissue revealed that the distribution of NPY-Y1 receptors was changed on the apical processes at early-symptomatic and late-symptomatic disease stages. Together, our data demonstrate the differential density of NPY-Y1 receptors on upper motor neurons in a familial model of ALS and in ALS cases, indicating a novel pathway that may be targeted to modulate upper motor neuron activity.


Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the mediating effect of work engagement on the relationship between learning organization and innovative behavior. Design/methodology/approach – This study used surveys as a data collection tool and implemented structural equation modeling for empirically testing the proposed research model. Findings – The study found that learning organization culture makes a direct and indirect impact on employees ' innovative work behaviors. Results from hierarchical multiple regressions and structural equation modeling supported that work engagement fully mediates the relationship between the learning organization and innovative work behaviors. Practical implications – HRD practitioners can develop effective interventions to enhance their employees ' innovative behavior by devoting efforts to create a workplace that promotes collaborative learning culture and work engagement. Originality/value – This study is valuable to HRD specialists interested in developing eff...


Numerous studies have demonstrated a correlation between adequacy of hemodialysis (HD) and patient mortality. In this study we evaluated the effect of adequacy of dialysis and nutrition on morbidity and working rehabilitation. Single center experience carried out in 1998 in an outpatient university-affiliated dialysis facility was presented. A total of 181 patients, on HD over 3 months, was included in the study; mean age 54.5 years, mean duration of HD 5.4 years. Thirthy-two patients were hospitalized in 1998. Patients with an eKt/V < 0.8 had significantly more frequent and extended hospitalizations than patients with eKt/V > 1.2. In the regression model eKt/V had a significant effect on hospital days. Serum albumin, as an index of nutrition, was also found to significantly influence hospitalizations. Patients with a BMI < 20.0 kg/m2 were found to have significantly more frequent hospitalizations, more hospital days/patient, and hospital days/hospitalized patient/year than those with a BMI > 25.0 kg/m2. BMI < 20.0 kg/m2 was associated with a significantly lower dialysis adequacy (eKt/V and URR) and more severe anemia. However, regression model failed to confirm a statistically significant association of BMI with hospital days. The best working rehabilitation (stage 1), according to the EDTA criteria, was obtained in patients with significantly (p<0.05) higher eKt/V, URR, albumin, nPNA, and body fat than in patients at stage 6 (not able to work, and not able to take care of themselves). This study has established that dialysis adequacy and nutrition have an effect on morbidity (estimated through hospitalizations) and patient rehabilitation. (Int J Artif Organs 2000; 23: 83–9)


The remarkable progress in reducing child mortality in low-income countries is now accompanied with a rapidly expanding population of child survivors and increased life expectancy. However, many have special health care needs in the early foundational years for optimal health and educational and vocational status. Investment in early childhood development (ECD) is therefore crucial but likely to be constrained by lack of adequate resources making priority-setting inevitable. A review of current ECD approaches in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia shows that concerted multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral initiatives targeted at children with developmental disabilities across all crucial domains of ECD and guided by available evidence on optimal timing for interventions are urgently required. This focus would necessitate appropriate national ECD policies, modifications to the current global ECD programs in the developing world, and a more active collaboration between pediatricians and other related service providers.


Reconstructing stock herding strategies and land use is key to comprehending past human social organization and economy. We present laser-ablation strontium and carbon isotope data from 25 cattle (Bos taurus) to reconstruct mobility and infer herding management at the Swiss lakeside settlement of Arbon Bleiche 3, occupied for only 15 years (3384–3370 BC). Our results reveal three distinct isotopic patterns that likely reflect different herding strategies: 1) localized cattle herding, 2) seasonal movement, and 3) herding away from the site year-round. Different strategies of herding are not uniformly represented in various areas of the settlement, which indicates specialist modes of cattle management. The pressure on local fodder capacities and the need for alternative herding regimes must have involved diverse access to grazing resources. Consequently, the increasing importance of cattle in the local landscape was likely to have contributed to the progress of socio-economic differentiation in early agricultural societies in Europe.


We report on an exceptionally accurate spin-glass-type Potts model for community detection. With a simple algorithm, we find that our approach is at least as accurate as the best currently available algorithms and robust to the effects of noise. It is also competitive with the best currently available algorithms in terms of speed and size of solvable systems. We find that the computational demand often exhibits superlinear scaling O(L1.3) where L is the number of edges in the system, and we have applied the algorithm to synthetic systems as large as 40 x 10(6) nodes and over 1 x 10(9) edges. A previous stumbling block encountered by popular community detection methods is the so-called "resolution limit." Being a "local" measure of community structure, our Potts model is free from this resolution-limit effect, and it further remains a local measure on weighted and directed graphs. We also address the mitigation of resolution-limit effects for two other popular Potts models.


Alcoholic hepatitis (AH) is a syndrome of jaundice and liver failure that occurs in a minority of heavy consumers of alcohol. The diagnosis usually is based on a history of heavy alcohol use, findings from blood tests, and exclusion of other liver diseases by blood and imaging analyses. Liver biopsy specimens, usually collected via the transjugular route, should be analyzed to confirm a diagnosis of AH in patients with an atypical history or presentation. The optimal treatment for patients with severe AH is prednisolone, possibly in combination with N-acetyl cysteine. At present, only short-term increases in survival can be expected-no treatment has been found to increase patient survival beyond 3 months. Abstinence is essential for long-term survival. New treatment options, including liver transplantation, are being tested in trials and results eagerly are awaited.


Background obesity and sedentary lifestyle have been shown to negatively affect survival in breast cancer (BC). The purpose of this study was to test the efficacy of a lifestyle intervention on body mass index (BMI) and physical activity (PA) levels among BC survivors in Modena, Italy, in order to show an outcome improvement in obese and overweight patients. Methods: This study is a single-arm experimental design, conducted between November 2009 and May 2016 on 430 women affected by BC. Weight, BMI, and PA were assessed at baseline, at 12 months, and at the end of the study. Survival curves were estimated among normal, overweight, and obese patients. Results: Mean BMI decreased from baseline to the end of the study was equal to 2.9% (p = 0.065) in overweight patients and 3.3% in obese patients (p = 0.048). Mean PA increase from baseline to the end of the study was equal to 125% (p < 0.001) in normal patients, 200% (p < 0.001) in overweight patients and 100% (p < 0.001) in obese patients. After 70 months of follow-up, the 5-year overall survival (OS) rate was 96%, 96%, and 93%, respectively in normal, obese, and overweight patients. Overweight patients had significantly worse OS than normal ones (HR = 3.69, 95%CI = 1.82–4.53 p = 0.027) whereas no statistically significant differences were seen between obese and normal patients (HR 2.45, 95%CI = 0.68–8.78, p = 0.169). Conclusions: A lifestyle intervention can lead to clinically meaningful weight loss and increase PA in patients with BC. These results could contribute to improving the OS in obese patients compared to overweight ones.


The objective of this paper is to present a measurement-based control-design approach for single-input single-output linear systems with guaranteed bounded error. A wide range of control-design approaches available in the literature are based on parametric models. These models can be obtained analytically using physical laws or via system identification using a set of measured data. However, due to the complex properties of real systems, an identified model is only an approximation of the plant based on simplifying assumptions. Thus, the controller designed based on a simplified model can seriously degrade the closed-loop performance of the system. In this paper, an alternative approach is proposed to develop fixed-order controllers based on measured data without the need for model identification. The proposed control technique is based on computing a suitable set of fixed-order controller parameters for which the closed-loop frequency response fits a desired frequency response that meets the desired closed-loop performance specifications. The control-design problem is formulated as a nonlinear programming problem using the concept of bounded error. The main advantages of our proposed approach are: (1) it guarantees that the error between the computed and the desired frequency responses is less than a small value; (2) the difficulty of finding the globally optimal solution in the error minimisation problem is avoided; (3) the controller can be designed without the use of any analytical model to avoid errors associated with the identification process; and (4) low-order controllers can be designed by selecting a fixed low-order controller structure. To experimentally validate and illustrate the efficacy of the proposed approach, proportional-integral measurement-based controllers are designed for a DC (direct current) servomotor.


With increasing interest in sophisticated graphics capabilities in mobile systems, energy consumption of graphics hardware is becoming a major design concern in addition to the traditional performance enhancement criteria. Among the different steps in the graphics processing pipeline, we have observed that memory accesses during texture mapping - a highly memory intensive phase - contribute 30-40% of the energy consumed in typical embedded graphics processors. This makes the texture mapping subsystem an attractive candidate for energy optimization. We argue that a standard cache hierarchy, commonly used by researchers and commercial graphics processors for texture mapping, is wasteful of energy, and propose the Texture Filter Memory, an energy efficient architecture that exploits locality and the relatively high degree of predictability in texture memory access patterns. Our architecture consumes 75% lesser energy for texturing in a fixed function pipeline, incurring no performance overhead and a small area overhead over conventional texture mapping hardware.


Cell-mediated immunity is a subject of intense interest in parasitology. Experiments with animals and observations on humans suggest that cell-mediated immunity is involved in protozoal infections (1). The inhibition of leukocyte migration has proved a suitable method for the in vitro study of cellular immunology.
 Søborg and Bendixen (2, 3) have successfully used this test with human peripheral leukocytes; Rosenberg and David (4) have shown it applicable to soluble antigens. In the present work we have attempted to obtain an in vitro test of the immune mechanisms in American trypanosomiasis. We observed the in vitro migration of peripheral leukocytes from patients with positive serology for Trypanosoma cruzi infection against soluble antigen.
 Materials and Methods. Blood. Two samples from each of 30 human adults were drawn: one, with heparin (Abbott 5000 U/ml with benzyl alcohol preservative) for the migration test, the other for the serologic tests.


ABSTRACT The antifungal substances SH-1 and SH-2 were isolated fromStreptomyces humidus strain S5-55 cultures by various purification procedures and identified as phenylacetic acid and sodium phenylacetate, respectively, based on the nuclear magnetic resonance, electron ionization mass spectral, and inductively coupled plasma mass spectral data. SH-1 and SH-2 completely inhibited the growth ofPythium ultimum, Phytophthora capsici, Rhizoctonia solani, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and Pseudomonas syringaepv. syringae at concentrations from 10 to 50 μg/ml. The two compounds were as effective as the commercial fungicide metalaxyl in inhibiting spore germination and hyphal growth of P. capsici. However, the in vivo control efficacies of the two antifungal compounds againstP. capsici infection on pepper plants were similar to those of H3PO3 and fosetyl-AI but less than that of metalaxyl.


Rate coefficients for inelastic Mg+H collisions are calculated for all transitions between the lowest seven levels and the ionic state (charge transfer), namely Mg(3s(2) S-1, 3s3p P-3, 3s3p P-1, 3s4s S-3, 3s4s S-1, 3s3d D-1, 3s4p P-3)+H(1s) and Mg+(3s S-2)+H-. The rate coefficients are based on cross-sections from full quantum scattering calculations, which are themselves based on detailed quantum chemical calculations for the MgH molecule. The data are needed for non-LTE applications in cool astrophysical environments, especially cool stellar atmospheres, and are presented for a temperature range of 500-8000 K. From consideration of the sensitivity of the cross-sections to various uncertainties in the calculations, most importantly input quantum chemical data and the numerical accuracy of the scattering calculations, a measure of the possible uncertainties in the rate coefficients is estimated.


Hydroponic cultivation requires nutrients to support plants' growth and development. One of the efforts is by looking for alternative nutrient resources. Therefore, the goals of this study are 1) To determine the effect of the dose of GN nutrition on the growth and yield of red lettuce (Lactuca sativa L var. Red lettuce,) 2) To know the effect of the time interval by adding nutrition to the growth and yield of red lettuce. 3) To determine the effect of the interaction of appropriate nutrition and dose intervals. This research uses factorial randomized block design (RBD) consisting of 2 factors, namely first, giving GN NUTRITION dose; A1 = 5 ml / L; A2 = 6 ml / L A3 = 7 ml / L and second, giving interval; P1 = time interval of 3 days; P2 = time interval of 7 days; P3 = 10 day interval. Observation parameters included 1) Plant height (cm), number of leaves (strands), leaf area (cm), total fresh weight (grams), and fresh consumption weight (grams). The analysis of variance used ANOVA (Analysis Of Variance), while to test the difference between treatments used 5% LSD. The results of this study showed a significant effect on the parameters of leaf counts 28, 35, 42 HST, and leaf area 28 HST. It shows a noticeable influence on plant height at the age of observation 35 dd. It indicates that there is an interaction between the two treatments, namely the parameters of plant height observation with the treatment of the time interval of adding 3-day intervals and 6m / l dose age of observation 7, 21, 35, 42 hst, the number of leaves the time interval of adding 7-day intervals and 7ml doses / l 42 days after observation, and leaf area time interval with ten days interval and 7 ml / l dose at 21, 28, 35, and 42 days of observation.


In this paper, a 5 GHz FBAR based balanced oscillator is presented. The FBAR resonator was integrated directly above the 0.35 mum BiCMOS IC oscillator. The use of the balanced configuration allows dividing by two the electrodes resistance of the FBAR. Therefore, better phase noise is obtained comparatively to the single ended version. The measured phase noise is -121 dBc/Hz at 100 kHz from 5.46 GHz carrier frequency. Furthermore, the differential output allows direct driving of the divider and mixer, which are generally balanced, without the need of a single-ended to differential converter


Media effects have been studied for decades. However, it is still unclear how to assess the dynamic nature of media effects methodologically and analytically. Building on recent research on media effects and developments in statistical modeling, I present a methodological framework to provide a detailed analysis of media effect dynamics. To do so, I describe general patterns for the appearance and the duration of media effects and present statistical approaches to analyze them. Using artificial data, I illustrate how these statistical approaches can be applied to longitudinal data and show how they behave across different data scenarios. Further, extensions, limitations, and the theoretical contribution of the framework to the field of media effects research are discussed. In sum, the presented framework can be used to test various communication theories and can be combined with many research designs in order to identify patterns in the appearance and duration of media effects.


Epoxy/BaTiO/sub 3/ composite embedded capacitor films (ECFs) were newly designed for high dielectric constant and low-tolerance (less than /spl plusmn/5%) embedded capacitor fabrication for organic substrates. In terms of material formulation, ECFs are composed of a specially formulated epoxy resin and latent curing agent, and in terms of a coating process, a comma roll coating method is used for uniform film thickness in large area. The dielectric constant of ECF in high frequency range (0.5/spl sim/3 GHz) is measured using the cavity resonance method. In order to estimate dielectric constant, the reflection coefficient is measured with a network analyzer. The dielectric constant is calculated by observing the frequencies of the resonant cavity modes. Calculated dielectric constants in this frequency range are about 3/4 of the dielectric constants at 1 MHz. This difference is due to the decrease of the dielectric constant of the epoxy matrix. The dielectric relaxation of barium titanate (BaTiO/sub 3/: BT) powder is not observed within measured frequency. An alternative material for embedded capacitor fabrication is epoxy/BaTiO/sub 3/ composite embedded capacitor paste (ECP). It uses similar materials formulation like ECF and a screen printing method for film coating. The screen printing method has the advantage of forming a capacitor partially in the desired part. However, the screen printing makes surface irregularities during mask peel-off. Surface flatness is significantly improved by adding some additives and by applying pressure during curing. As a result, a dielectric layer with improved thickness uniformity is successfully demonstrated. Using epoxy/BaTiO/sub 3/ composite ECP, a dielectric constant of 63 and specific capacitance of 5.1 nF/cm/sup 2/ were achieved.


Propagator or Green's function methods are used to analyze the time-dependent Hartree–Fock model. The non-hermitian matrix problem for the time-dependent Hartree–Fock solution is reduced to a problem related only to hermitian matrices. Particular attention is given to the calculation of oscillator strength in different approximations. The connection between the stability of the Hartree–Fock solution and the solution of the time-dependent Hartree–Fock problem is demonstrated. The results of numerical calculations are given for aniline, azulene and pyridine.


The concept of thrusting of miogeosynclinal rocks eastward toward the craton along laterally continuous zones of faults in western Utah (Misch, 1960; Roberts and others, 1965) has been challenged by Eardley (1968, 1969). He has presented an hypothesis involving primary uplifts marked by local marginal upthrusts and large-scale gravity slide masses that have moved in various directions over adjacent basins. In discussing his hypothesis, Eardley suggests that the San Francisco Mountains consist of a gravity-driven plate that glided southwest from a primary uplift in the Beaver Mountains. Detailed mapping in the Beaver and San Francisco Mountains indicates that there is no glide surface present as hypothesized by Eardley (1969), but rather the San Francisco thrust mapped by East (1966) in the southern San Francisco Mountains dips northward and underlies the northern San Francisco and Beaver Mountains. Drag features near the thrust suggest yielding toward the east, not the southwest. Thus, the evidence supports eastward yielding along a laterally continuous thrust rather than gliding in various directions from locally uplifted areas.


Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships among perceived parental acceptance rejection levels with anger levels, anger expression styles, and depressive symptoms of university students. Method: For this purpose, Parental AcceptanceRejection Inventory, The State-Trait Anger Scale, and Beck Depression Inventory were administered to 366 Hacettepe University undergraduate and graduate students (185 women, 181 men) (X= 21.11; SD=3.57). Results: The t-test, correlation and regression analysis revealed that there are no gender difference, except two, in perceived parental acceptance-rejection levels, anger levels, and anger expression styles, and depressive symptom levels. The perceived warmth by the mother is significantly higher for males than females, and the female's anger levels is higher than the anger levels of males. Also, it's found that the levels of parental acceptance rejection predicts depressiveness, especially, the perceived parental rejection by the father predicts depresiveness. When the subscales of the perceived parental rejection were examined one by one, it's found that the total rejection level by the father, and by the mother predict depressiveness. Moreover, when the levels of the parental acceptance rejection were examined, it's found that the best predictor of the extraversive expression of anger, and the control of anger is the hostility/aggression levels by the father; if the perceived hostility/aggression by the father increases, the extraversive expression of anger also increases and the control of anger decreases. Conclusion: The results largely supported of the related literature.


Thrombolysis revolutionized the early management of acute myocardial infarction. The treatment was designed around the established infarction pathophysiology—rupture of a coronary artery atherosclerotic plaque triggering in-situ thrombosis which results in coronary artery occlusion. Since the landmark ISIS-2 and GISSI studies there has been an explosion of randomized controlled clinical trials aimed at further reductions of hospital mortality by pharmacological manipulations of clotting and fibrinolysis. Now, however a new phase in the early management of acute infarction is being advocated—direct disruption of the occlusion by angioplasty. This is therefore a timely book. It is written by enthusiasts and each chapter stands alone and summarizes the trial evidence. But to get a balanced view you must read the whole book.

When any new treatment is developed it has to show benefits over the current standard in order to replace it, and the alternatives are compared by means of randomized controlled trials (RCTs). However, replication of trial results in the real world is often disappointing. For example, thrombolysis within 1 hour of onset of symptoms of acute myocardial infarction reduces mortality by up to 50% but this benefit is quickly lost, declining to only 10% by 12 hours. This dramatic effect should have resulted in falling hospital mortality after the routine introduction of thrombolysis, but single-centre registry data (from Nottingham for example) show very little impact on hospital mortality through the 1990s. Now, in the 21st century, we are seeing a real reduction in mortality because of a nationally coordinated emphasis on reducing door-to-needle time with the introduction of new models of care including pre-hospital thrombolysis and chest-pain nurse specialists as part of the National Service Framework for Coronary Heart Disease. We have just got thrombolysis working well.

In this book Stephen Ellis advocates a change to direct angioplasty. The justification is a 2% absolute reduction in 30-day mortality shown in a recent meta-analysis of the few small RCTs that have been done. Other benefits include a halving of the stroke risk and a bigger reduction in reinfarction and recurrent ischaemia. Just as in thrombolysis, registry data from the USA, which record the actual results of primary angioplasty in practice, show much less benefit and even increased mortality. This is explained by the delays associated with this treatment approach, which requires clinical evaluation in the emergency room and then transfer to a cardiac catheterization laboratory, coronary angiography and the angioplasty. Since 'time is muscle', when the delay from arrival-to-balloon time exceeds 90 minutes the mortality benefits of primary angioplasty over thrombolysis are lost.

The effects of delays in thrombolysis have been addressed in another chapter which focuses on pre-hospital thrombolysis. Here a gain of 1 hour in the average time-to-thrombolysis is associated with a reduction in mortality of about 2%. However, the absolute effect depends on when the delay occurs in the natural history of infarction. A delay of 1 hour at the start of symptoms results in a 6% absolute difference in mortality, whereas a delay of 1 hour once the infarction has become established (1–3 hours after symptoms) results in only a 1% difference and the same delay after 3–6 hours, only 0.2% absolute difference.

There are no conclusions presented in this book but the data clearly show that one size does not fit all. It appears to me that patients presenting within 3 hours of the onset of infarction should have thrombolysis. Those presenting later may benefit more by a strategy of primary angioplasty, provided that services can be organized to ensure that door-to-balloon time is no longer than 90 minutes. This will be some challenge in the UK, especially given the infrastructure costs of running such a service. The book addresses other associated questions around the use of adjuvant therapy with antiplatelet drugs and anticoagulants. The good news is that aspirin, albeit a weak platelet antagonist, gives the best therapeutic results without the disadvantage of serious bleeding complications. This is good news for the UK since aspirin is very cheap.


Thirty six weeks old (Large white X Landrace) hybrid weaner pigs (fifteen females and fifteen males) were used in a 12-week experiment to determine the cost effectiveness of substituting rubber seed cake for groundnut cake on the growth rate of weaner pigs. Graded levels of rubber seed cake (0%, 25%, 50%, 70% and 100%) replaced corresponding levels of groundnut cake in five Iso-Nitrogenous and Isocaloric treatments (A, B, C, D and E) respectively which were further replicated three times in a completely randomized design. Feed and water were supplied ad libitum to the experimental pigs while medication (wormers) were administered to maintain good health. Feed intake was recorded everyday while body weight was taken every week in all the treatments. The average weight of pigs at eighteen (18) weeks were 40.30 , c 41.70b , 39.30 , 41.80 and 47.20 for treatments A, B, C, D, E respectively while the average feed cost (naira) c c b a per kilogram of pork gained were N86.95a, N77.47b, N84.04a, N68.00bc and N56.56c for treatments A, B, C, D, and E respectively. Results showed that treatment E had both significantly (P<0.05) higher weight gain and lowest cost of production.


- Marketplace is one business solution that can be profitable, because it is not bound by time and place. However, marketplace can be misused by irresponsible parties, and can harm others. Then a pattern is needed to predict cybercrime in order to prevent it. To get a pattern, we can use data mining. This paper presents a general idea about the model of Data Mining techniques and diverse cybercrimes in market place applications. This paper implements data mining techniques like K-Means, Influenced Association Classifier and J48 Prediction tree for investigating the cybercrime data sets. K-means selects the initial centroids so that the classifier can mine the record and also formulate predictions of cybercrimes with J48 algorithm. The knowledge of K-Means, Influenced Association Classifier and also J48 Prediction tree tends certainly to afford a enhanced, incorporated, and precise result over the cybercrime prediction in the marketplace sectors and prevent the cybercrime.


While discussing the enhancement of the connectivity between Europe and Asia, we explore a new area of cooperation, which is the use of European long-term investment funds in Asia's infrastructure. We argue that, if Asian countries agree to offer 50% of their spillover revenue to infrastructure investors from Europe, it will increase the rate of return of long-term investment funds, such as pension and insurance funds. This will create a win–win situation for both Asia and Europe, because investment in infrastructure will enhance various spillover benefits and increase the savings in these countries, which will ultimately enhance the economic growth in the Asian countries. On the other hand, idle European funds will generate higher returns from infrastructure investments in Asia, which will also be beneficial for European countries. This approach will reduce the divergence in infrastructure between the two regions and encourage regional connectivity, such as the People's Republic of China's Belt and Road Initiative. With some empirical evidence, we also highlight the methods of spillover revenue collection and approaches to share the revenues. It is important for Asian countries to review the approaches and develop some institutional mechanisms to allow private investors in infrastructure. Moreover, Asian and European leaders, for example in the Asia–Europe Meeting, might devise appropriate methods that would allow European long-term investors to invest in Asian infrastructure needs.


The molecular mechanisms mediating angiogenesis are not completely understood. ADP-ribosylation factor 6 (ARF6) is a small GTPase activated by distinct guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEF) and is involved in traffic and cytoskeletal organization in the cell periphery thereby regulating cell motility. Interestingly, the function of Arf6 is dependent on the upstream GEF activating it. Angiogenic factors such as VEGF have been shown to promote Arf6 activity. However, the regulation of Arf6 activity in endothelial cells (EC) is unclear. Recent evidence suggests that Brag2, a GEF for Arf6 GTPase, mediates receptor tyrosine kinase-induced Arf6 activity. In the present work we studied the role of Brag2 in angiogenesis. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) express Brag2 as assessed by western blot. Silencing of Brag2 with siRNA significantly blocked angiogenic sprouting of HUVEC under basal conditions and after VEGF stimulation (by 40 ± 7 %) in a 3-dimensional spheroidal EC culture system and tube formation in a matrigel assay in comparison to scrambled siRNA-transfected EC. Moreover, silencing of Brag2 with siRNA significantly reduced the VEGF-induced 3-dimensional migration of EC (49 % inhibition), while not affecting proliferation. EC migration is dependent on adhesion to matrix proteins. Interestingly, knock down of Brag2 with siRNA significantly increased EC adhesion on the alpha5beta1-integrin ligand, fibronectin. In line with these results, silencing of Brag2 reduced the endocytosis of beta1-integrins and as consequence increased surface expression of the alpha5beta1-integrin in EC as assessed by FACS. In order to address the role of Brag2 in in vivo angiogenesis, we studied vessel formation in developing zebrafish embryos by employing the morpholino technology. Strikingly, in vivo silencing of the Brag2 homologue in zebrafish with a morpholino disturbed the formation of the parachordal vessels and led to defects in the dorsal longitudinal anastomotic vessel and in the intersomitic vessels. These data reveal for the first time that the Arf6 GEF, Brag2 is essential for in vivo angiogenesis probably by mediating EC migration and angiogenic sprouting through regulation of adhesion by promoting integrin internalization.


Sr isotope data on groundwater samples from coal and overlying sandstone aquifers in the eastern Powder River Basin, Wyoming, demonstrate that the Sr isotope ratio effectively identifies groundwater from different aquifers where major ion geochemistry and O and H stable isotope data fail. Groundwaters from sandstone aquifers have a uniform 87Sr/86Sr ratio of 0.7126–0.7127. Waters from coal seams vary from 87Sr/86Sr ratio = 0.7127 near the recharge area to 0.7151 farther into the basin. The distinct Sr isotope signatures of sandstone and coal aquifers may reflect different sources of Sr in these two rock types: Sr in sandstones is held primarily in carbonate cement, whereas coals contain more radiogenic Sr in organic matter. The Sr isotope ratio is useful in identifying wells that contain mixed waters, whether due to well construction or to incomplete aquifer isolation. Measurement and continued monitoring of the Sr isotope ratio in groundwaters should provide a powerful tool for characterizing the impact of the burgeoning coal-bed methane industry on the hydrology of the Powder River Basin.


Neonatal maternal separation (MS) is a major early life stress that increases the risk of emotional disorders, visceral pain perception and other brain dysfunction. Elevation of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) signaling in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) precipitates early life colorectal distension (CRD)-induced visceral hypersensitivity and pain in adulthood. The present study aimed to investigate the role of TLR4 signaling in the pathogenesis of postnatal MS-induced visceral hypersensitivity and pain during adulthood. The TLR4 gene was selectively knocked out in C57BL/10ScSn mice (Tlr4-/-). MS was developed by housing the offspring alone for 6 h daily from postnatal day 2 to day 15. Visceral hypersensitivity and pain were assessed in adulthood. Tlr4+/+, but not Tlr4-/-, mice that had experienced neonatal MS showed chronic visceral hypersensitivity and pain. TLR4 immunoreactivity was observed predominately in microglia in the PVN, and MS was associated with an increase in the expression of protein and/or mRNA levels of TLR4, corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), CRF receptor 1 (CRFR1), tumor necrosis factor-α, and interleukin-1β in Tlr4+/+ mice. These alterations were not observed in Tlr4-/- mice. Local administration of lipopolysaccharide, a TLR4 agonist, into the lateral cerebral ventricle elicited visceral hypersensitivity and TLR4 mRNA expression in the PVN, which could be prevented by NBI-35965, an antagonist to CRFR1. The present results indicate that neonatal MS induces a sensitization and upregulation of microglial TLR4 signaling activity, which facilitates the neighboring CRF neuronal activity and, eventually, precipitates visceral hypersensitivity in adulthood. Highlights (1) Neonatal MS does not induce chronic visceral hypersensitivity and pain in Tlr4-/- mice.(2) Neonatal MS increases the expression of TLR4 mRNA, CRF protein and mRNA, CRFR1 protein, TNF-α protein, and IL-1β protein in Tlr4+/+ mice.(3) TLR4 agonist LPS (i.c.v.) elicits visceral hypersensitivity and TLR4 mRNA expression in the PVN.


The in vivo osteoinductive capacity of porous calcium phosphate ceramics (Ca/P ceramics) with special structure and phase composition had been found for almost decades. The mechanism of the osteoinductivity of porous calcium phosphate is studied by C2C12 cells culture in this paper. C2C12 cells were cocultured with four kinds of porous Ca/P ceramics for 2 and 5 days, without adding other growth factors. The four kinds of Ca/P ceramics were pure HA sintered at 1250 degrees C and HA/TCP with a ratio of 60/40 sintered at 1100, 1200, and 1250 degrees C respectively. RT-PCR analysis found that the Ca/P ceramics induced the expression of Cbfa1, collagen type I, bone sialoprotein, and osteocalcin in C2C12 cells, while they did not induce mRNA expression of Indian hedgehog (IHH) that regulate chondrocyte differentiation. Our results showed that Ca/P ceramics alone were sufficient to induce C2C12 cells differentiation. The induction of bone-related markers expression by Ca/P ceramics in osteoprogenitor cells suggested that the osteogenesis induced by the ceramics was intramembranous and the osteoinductivity was their intrinsic property.


The budget is a management instrument used by any entity, financially ensuring the dimension of the objectives, revenues, expenses and results at the management centers level and finally evaluating the economic efficiency through comparing the results with those budgeted for. A major component of the managerial control, the effectiveness of the budgeting process is reflected in the fact that: requires the strategic planning and implementing the plans, offers a frame of reference for performance evaluation, contributes to personnel motivation, encourages the coordination and communication.


We investigate differences between the dynamic exploration of resting-state functional connectivity (FC) states using fMRI data from 71 schizophrenia (SZ) patients and 74 healthy controls (HCs) by employing the Leading Eigenvector Dynamics Analysis (LEiDA) method to provide potential biomarkers of this disorder. We found a reduced ability of SZ patients to access and remain in a state of global BOLD phase coherence. Functionally meaningful states presented increased occurrence, limiting probability and altered dynamic transitions in SZ patients. These findings expose pronounced differences between SZ patients and HCs - supporting and developing current knowledge regarding disrupted brain dynamics in schizophrenia.


Sodium-potassium (NaK) alloy electrodes are ideal for next-generation dendrite-free alkali metal electrodes due to their dendrite-free nature. However, issues such as slow diffusion kinetics due to the large K+ radius and the loss of active potassium during the reaction severely limit its application. Here a novel cobalt/nitrogen-doped carbon material is designed and it is applied to the construction of a NaK alloy electrode. The experimental and theoretical results indicate that the confining effect of the nitrogen-doped graphitic carbon layer can protect the cobalt nanoparticles from corrosion leaching, while the presence of Co─Nx bonds and cobalt nanoparticles provides more active sites for the reaction, realizing the synergistic effect of adsorption-catalytic modulation, lowering the K+ diffusion energy barrier and promoting charge transfer and ion diffusion. The application of this electrode to a symmetrical battery can achieve more than 1800 stable cycles under a current density of 0.4 mA cm-2 and a charge/discharge specific capacity of 122.64 mAh g-1 under a current of 0.5C in a full battery. This finding provides a new idea to realize a fast, stable, and efficient application of NaK alloy electrodes.


In terminology, the predominance of nouns is an incontestable phenomenon. In Korean terminologies, this predominance of nouns is even more notable because the meaning and function associated with adjectives in Indo-European languages are often realized in noun form. However, the rarer adjectival terms are, the more they are used in restrictive, repetitive ways in specialized domains. Thus, it is important to distinguish the different senses of these terms. In this work, focusing on semantic characterization in terminology, we distinguish the different senses of adjectival medical terms by applying lexico-semantic criteria (L'Homme 2004a) and by classifying the arguments of the adjective into semantic categories (Bae et al. 2002). With this work, we aim to enrich terminological descriptions found in Korean medical dictionnaries by demonstrating empirically a method for distinguishing the different senses of adjectival medical terms. To achieve our goal, we used the KAIST corpus, composed of medical texts (1,500,000 eojeols), and a group of texts on various subjects (40,000,000 eojeols).


Measurements of attenuation and group velocity of pulsed high frequency sound have been performed up to 137.6 MHz in superfluid 3He-B near the squashing mode of the order parameter. Passage through the collective mode was accomplished by sweeping pressure. The group velocity has been observed to decrease by more than a factor of 15 from the zero-sound velocity. The width of the squashing mode was seen to increase with magnetic field, as inferred from the group velocity data, making it the first observation of an effect of splitting of this mode in magnetic field.


The practical treatment of wounds must therefore be to ensure that no adverse circumstance is allowed to impede the natural processes. The volume and variety of work at the present time on these 'adverse circumstances' are reflected in the contributions to this symposium which are too diverse to be summarized in a short review. This book should be studied by all workers in this increasingly wide field. T J S PATTERSON


Biomedical imaging is a driver of scientific discovery and core component of medical care, currently stimulated by the field of deep learning. While semantic segmentation algorithms enable 3D image analysis and quantification in many applications, the design of respective specialised solutions is non-trivial and highly dependent on dataset properties and hardware conditions. We propose nnU-Net, a deep learning framework that condenses the current domain knowledge and autonomously takes the key decisions required to transfer a basic architecture to different datasets and segmentation tasks. Without manual tuning, nnU-Net surpasses most specialised deep learning pipelines in 19 public international competitions and sets a new state of the art in the majority of the 49 tasks. The results demonstrate a vast hidden potential in the systematic adaptation of deep learning methods to different datasets. We make nnU-Net publicly available as an open-source tool that can effectively be used out-of-the-box, rendering state of the art segmentation accessible to non-experts and catalyzing scientific progress as a framework for automated method design.


Aims: The International Survey Informing Greater Insights in Opioid Dependence Treatment (INSIGHT) study evaluated the implementation of opioid dependence treatment across different countries to assess treatment delivery, quality of care and outcomes. Methods: A questionnaire-based survey was used to gather data in nine countries across Central and Eastern Europe, South Africa and South-East Asia, from patients with opioid dependence receiving medication-assisted treatment (MAT), healthcare professionals (HCPs) who cared for opioid-dependent patients and opioid users not receiving MAT. Findings: There was substantial variation between countries, but overall results suggest that several aspects of MAT can be improved, such as access to treatment (conditions to start or remain in treatment), quality of care (availability/awareness of treatment options and appropriate medication dosing) and treatment outcomes (on-top use, misuse and diversion). Conclusions: This analysis highlights key priorities that should improve the quality of opioid dependence care and access to treatment. These priorities include: acknowledging opioid dependence as a chronic medical condition requiring long-term treatment; recognition by policymakers of the cost-effectiveness of treatment; making available, to those who want them, psychosocial interventions and educating HCPs to prescribe the safest, least divertible forms of medications available at optimal doses in order to reduce opioid use, misuse and diversion.