Materials with both fluorescence and room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) can be useful in the field of optoelectronics. Here we present a general strategy, taking advantage of carbonyl compounds, which have been known to possess efficient intersystem crossing with high triplet state yield, as well as a strongly fluorescent intramolecular charge-transfer (ICT) state, to produce materials with both fluorescence and RTP at the same time, or dual-emission. In the presented model systems, in order to generate a suitable ICT state, Lewis acid binding to aromatic ketone derivatives has been proved to be a viable method. We have selected AlCl3, BCl3, BF3, and GdCl3 as binding Lewis acids, in that they exhibit sufficiently strong binding affinity toward the aromatic ketone derivatives to afford stable complexes and yet do not possess low-lying electronic transitions vs the ligands. We have successfully observed dual-emission from these designed complexes in polymers, which act to suppress competitive thermal decay at room temperature. One of the complexes is particularly interesting as it is dual-emissive in the crystalline state. Single-crystal XRD reveals that the molecule forms multiple hydrogen bonds with its neighbors in crystals, which may significantly enhance the rigidity of the environment.


The generalization of a class of low-dissipative high order filter finite difference methods for long time wave propagation of shock/turbulence/combustion compressible viscous gas dynamic flows to compressible MHD equations for structured curvilinear grids has been achieved. The new scheme is shown to provide a natural and efficient way for the minimization of the divergence of the magnetic field numerical error. Standard divergence cleaning is not required by the present filter approach. For certain non-ideal MHD test cases, divergence free preservation of the magnetic fields has been achieved.


OBJECTIVE
Etiological illness concepts of patients with schizophrenia are an important factor for the drug compliance as well as for a successful psychotherapeutic approach. These cognitive representations are influenced by issues like the illness, culture, gender, and age. The aim of this study was the elaboration of the interaction of these factors with special consideration of the gender aspect.

METHOD
The notions about the reasons of illness were explored by means of a 41-item standardized self-rating instrument in 240 patients suffering from schizophrenia from Pakistan and Austria.

RESULTS
Only in the scale "conflicts" the mean values for Austrian women were statistically significant higher than for their male counterparts. In Pakistani patients we found no significant differences, patients with an early age at onset of illness more frequently reported a magic-religious explanatory model in both cultures. Austrian patients with a longer duration of illness believed more often that the outbreak of the illness was caused by negligent behaviour.

CONCLUSION
While gender has important effects on course and outcome of schizophrenia, the influence on etiological illness concepts is rather weak. Two reasons can be postulated: (a) The acquirement of knowledge about the development of mental disorders is culture-specific, but not gender-specific, (b) psychotic disorders are even out originally existing gender differences.


This paper presents the investigation on the types of foot arch affecting plantar pressure distribution during running. In this study, 20 participants of different arch types volunteered. The participants were required to run on the treadmill at three different speed with the FSR sensors placed under the sole of the shoes. Two sensors used, one at forefoot and one at rear foot. Only left foot was examined through this study. The data were analysed to compare the foot pressure of individuals during running and to analyze the effect of speed on the voltage measured with different arch types. The rear foot showed higher pressure value compared to the fore foot.


Policy makers, judges, citizens all deplore the increasing complexity of law. Codification is traditionally one of the best ways to sustain the dynamic and necessary evolution of laws. In this paper we analyze the French environmental code (2000) to understand how the drafters have organized the previous laws scattered in various fields of law into the structure of a hierarchical table of contents. Relying on graph representation, we observe this architecture through the various levels of its organization and connections with other legal corpuses. Among the lot of information that this representation brings, we will note the new function of the article of law in the pyramid of laws. The article is no more one axiom, one rule as in the Civil Code (1804): it becomes an articulation between both an upper and a lower (intra-article) hierarchy, embedded in a network of links. So doing we also find some invariant distributions --like the Pareto-Zipf one --that shape various statistical distributions of the vertices and edges of the legal graph. We will conclude by proposing new comparative perspectives between legal sources and between Codes.


The degradation of the natural resource base that derives from unsustainable farm practices is of major concern in Australia. Confronted with mounting evidence of the extent of this degradation, governments have employed a variety of policy instruments to induce change amongst the farming community. However, there remains a widely-held view that the rate of adoption of alternative practices falls well short of that required to avert disaster and additional measures are required to accelerate change. In this context, an understanding of the processes that lead particular farmers to adopt current recommended practices would provide valuable insights to assist policy formulation. Whilst some work has been undertaken in this area, a major deficiency resides in the failure to acknowledge the important role of 'with-person' factors, like personality and values or objectives. This paper reports the results of a study that deliberately set about to measure these within-person variables to enable policy makers to focus on those attributes most susceptible to change. Data were collected from over 500 farmers in the NSW Murray catchment which enabled the isolation of the farmers' personality, objectives and attitudes to different farming practices. The results provide a useful contrast to other studies in this field by highlighting those aspects of the farmers' decision that are most malleable to policy intervention.


Magnetic matter such as transition metals or metal oxides are able to exhibit ferromagnetism by the clustering in magnetic semiconductors. We fabricated Co-doped ZnO samples using the sol-gel method, and studied the magnetic precipitates in the samples by using both neutron diffraction and X-ray absorption fine-structure measurements. The structural details were characterized by X-ray and neutron diffraction, and the data were interpreted using Rietveld refinement. The doped Co ion was fully substituted into a ZnO lattice at 5 mol%, but the secondary phase of the Co3O4 was formed above 5 mol% of Co doping and its neutron diffraction signal increased up to 20 mol%. The quantitative amounts of each phase were calculated to be 55.43 wt.% of Co3O4 and 44.57 wt.% of fully cobalt-substituted ZnO. In the 30 mol% Co-doped sample, Co metal, as well as oxidized Co, were identified in this study. Those signals, however, were not observed by X-ray diffraction. To verify the local chemical bonding state, we used extended X-ray absorption fine-structure measurement and investigated the formation of precipitates by calculating the inter-atomic distance using Fourier analysis.


We investigate $e^+ e^- \to t\bar t$ by taking into account wave function distortion effects in the near-threshold region and interpolating the correction factor to the high-energy perturbative QCD region. The strong color attraction between the color singlet $t$ and $\bar t$ enhances the cross section over the tree level results near threshold. The rise of the cross section near the threshold is smoothed by the effects of the large top width and below-threshold resonances. The reliability of the prediction is well assessed by comparing with experimental $R$ ratios for lighter quark production at lower energies. The cross sections obtained here using the reported values of the top mass, can be used directly for New Linear Collider (NLC) projections.


Morphofunctional state of the gall bladder and Oddi's sphincter was studied in 188 patients with stomach ulcer treated surgically for different complications of this disease. It is demonstrated that patients with stomach ulcer have dysfunction of the gall bladder before surgery, and in long-term period after stomach resection (especially by Bilrot-II technique) functional disorders transform in organic ones.


Objectives: In the current study, we aim to assess potential neurologist-related barriers to epilepsy surgery among Canadian neurologists. Methods: A 29-item, pilot-tested questionnaire was mailed to all neurologists registered to practice in Canada. Survey items included the following: (1) type of medical practice, (2) perceptions of surgical risks and benefits, (3) knowledge of existing practice guidelines, and (4) barriers to surgery for patients with epilepsy. Neurologists who did not complete the questionnaire after the initial mailing were contacted a second time by e-mail, fax, or telephone. After this reminder, the survey was mailed a second time to any remaining nonresponders. Results: In total, 425 of 796 neurologists returned the questionnaire (response rate 53.5%). Respondents included 327 neurologists who followed patients with epilepsy in their practice. More than half (56.6%) of neurologists required patients to be drug-resistant and to have at least one seizure per year before considering surgery, and nearly half (48.6%) failed to correctly define drug-resistant epilepsy. More than 75% of neurologists identified inadequate health care resources as the greatest barrier to surgery for patients with epilepsy. Conclusions: A substantial proportion of Canadian neurologists are unaware of recommended standards of practice for epilepsy surgery. Access also appears to be a significant barrier to epilepsy surgery and surgical evaluation. As a result, we are concerned that patients with epilepsy are receiving inadequate care. A greater emphasis must be placed on knowledge dissemination and ensuring that the infrastructure and personnel are in place to allow patients to have timely access to this evidence-based treatment.


A secure system is one that is protected against specific undesired outcomes.Delivering a secure system, and particularly a secure web application, is not easy.Integrating general-purpose information systems development methods withsecurity development activities could be a useful means to surmount thesedifficulties Agile processes, such as Extreme Programming, are of increasing interest insoftware development. Most significantly for web applications, agile processesencourage and embrace requirements change, which is a desirable characteristicfor web application development.In this paper, we present an agile process to deliver secure web applications.The contribution of the research is not the development of a new method or processthat addresses security concerns. Rather, we investigate general-purpose informationsystemdevelopment methods (e.g., Feature-Driven Development (FDD)) and mature security methods, namely risk analysis, and integrate them to address the development of secure web applications. The key features of our approach are(1) a process capable of dealing with the key challenges of web applicationsdevelopment, namely decreasing life-cycle times and frequently changing requirements; and (2) an iterative approach to risk analysis that integrates security design throughout the development process.


The Cachoeirinha Municipal Park (C.M.P.) situated in the periphery of the Ipora, State of Goias, is surrounded by a popular quarter and rural properties. Individuals who lived near C.M.P. area were interviewed to investigate their empirical knowledge on the availability of natural resources of the park. The 57 interviewed families showed no relation of subsistence with the park. They occasionally look for medicinal and ornamental plants and/or fruits from the riparian forest. They usually use it as leisure area, where they can fish for fun and food, among other activities. According to the inhabitants, there are about 41 animal species circulating in the limits of the park and of their homes. The survey questions measured in a reliable way (Cronbach Alpha = 0.54) the behavior and attitudes of the inhabitants around the C.M.P., revealing an environmental perception on the non-traditional communities.


A detailed study of the impact of channel stress on (100)/<110> Ultra-Thin Body and BOX (UT2B) Fully Depleted SOI (FD-SOI) MOSFET performance is presented. Stress-induced mobility enhancement diminishes with Si body thickness scaling below 5nm for electrons but not for holes. Performance enhancement is maintained with gate-length scaling.


We describe an efficient timing analysis technique for extended burst-mode circuits implemented according to the 3D design style. Gate-level 3D circuits with uncertain component delays are analyzed, and safe bounds on timing constraints for correct circuit operation are computed. We employ two passes of multi-valued logic simulation to precisely identify gates where timing constraint violations manifest themselves. Signal propagation delay bounds from the primary inputs to these gates are then used to compute global timing constraints for correct circuit operation. Timing constraints identified by our tool represent conservative approximations to the true timing requirements in the worst-case. In practice, our results are accurate on almost all of the 3D benchmarks we have experimented with.


Failure to maintain an appropriate balance between cell death and proliferation is partly due to derangements in the regulation of apoptosis. In this work, apoptosis and the expression of apoptosis regulating proteins were studied by 3' end labeling of fragmented apoptotic DNA (TUNEL) and immunohistochemistry in a set of 147 tissue samples consisting of 44 biopsies of normal and dysplastic bronchial epithelium, and 103 non-small cell lung carcinomas. The quantity of apoptotic cells and bodies, apoptotic index (AI%), is defined as a percentage of apoptotic cells in the entire tumor cell population. Changes in the apoptotic activity were already seen in the metaplasia-dysplasia-carcinoma sequence of the lung, where the AI% increased gradually until moderate epithelial dysplasia but started to decrease after that. Thus, the AI% for invasive NSCLC (1.20 for squamous cell carcinoma and 1.24 for adenocarcinoma) was slightly lower than in premalignant bronchial epithelium (mean 1.50), but clearly higher than in normal tissue (0.20 for normal bronchial epithelium and 0.24 for lung interstitial cells). 53 % of SQCCs and 50 % of ACs showed p53 positive nuclei indicative of mutated p53 protein. The immunostaining of bcl-2, bax and mcl-1 revealed diffuse, cytoplasmic staining and was present in most tissues studied. No statistically significant associations between the extent of apoptosis and the expression of p53, bcl-2, bax, or mcl-1 could be found, although . The immunostaining for caspases 3, 6 and 8 was restricted to the tumor areas, reflecting increased apoptotic activity in them. The AI% was significantly higher in NSCLCs in which the single-cell staining pattern for caspase-8 was dominant (P = 0.017), whereas the expression of caspases 3 and 6 had no association with apoptosis. The number of apoptotic cells was significantly higher in NSCLC tumors with a high number of CD3+ and CD8+ T-lymphocytes (P = 0.01) and B-cells (P = 0.05). By multivariate analysis, enhanced apoptosis in NSCLC showed a 1.9-fold risk (95 % CI 1.04-3.60; P = 0.04) and p53 positivity a 2.3-fold risk (95 % CI 1.30-4.10; P = 0.005) for a shortened survival. Both factors appeared as independent prognostic variables. Apoptosis is clearly enhanced in premalignant and malignant lung tissue in comparison with normal tissue. Furthermore, the expression of the apoptosis-regulating genes is different in tumor tissue from that in normal tissue, and some of the changes in their expression can be seen even in the premalignant lesions of the bronchial epithelium. The expression of caspases seen only in tumor tissue implies the activation of the apoptotic mechanisms and, thus, the lowered treshold of tumor cells to undergo apoptosis. Even in the advanced stages of the disease, the immune defense is effective and the cytotoxic action of activated CD8+ T-cells clearly involves apoptosis. Based on these results it is concluded that alterations in the apoptotic activity and changes in the expression of apoptosis-regulating genes are associated with malignant transformation and growth in lung tissue.


Fish schools are capable of simultaneous linear acceleration. To reveal the underlying hydrodynamic mechanism, we numerically investigate how Reynolds number Re=1000–2000, Strouhal number St=0.2–0.7, and wavelength λ=0.5–2 affect the mean net thrust and net propulsive efficiency of two side-by-side hydrofoils undulating in anti-phase. In total, 550 cases are simulated using immersed boundary method. The thrust increases significantly with the wavelength and the Strouhal number, yet only slightly with the Reynolds number. We apply a symbolic regression algorithm to formulate this relationship. Furthermore, we find that mirror-symmetric schooling can achieve a net thrust more than ten times that of a single swimmer, especially at low Reynolds numbers. The highest efficiency is obtained at St=0.5 and λ=1.2, where St is consistent with that observed in the linear-accelerating natural swimmers, e.g., Crevalle jack. Six distinct flow structures are identified. The highest thrust corresponds to an asymmetric flow pattern, whereas the highest efficiency occurs when the flow is symmetric with converging vortex streets.


Some patients diagnosed with methotrexate-associated lymphoproliferative disorder (MTX-LPD) develop spontaneous regression upon the discontinuation of MTX, whereas others require chemotherapy. The mechanisms underlying this differential response and the capacity to spontaneously regress are not clearly understood. We evaluated numerous clinicopathological features in 63 patients diagnosed with MTX-LPD, with a special focus on those with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-positive mucocutaneous lesions (EBVMCL). The diagnosis of EBVMCL included cases of both EBV-positive mucocutaneous ulcers (EBVMCU) and diffuse gingival swelling associated with proliferation of EBV-positive large B-cells. Of the four subgroups of MTX-LPD, one-year treatment-free survival (TFS) after the discontinuation of MTX was achieved among those with EBVMCL (100%), diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (57%), Hodgkin-like lesions (60%), or classical Hodgkin lymphoma (29%); a significant difference in TFS was observed when comparing the responses of patients with EBVMCL to the those diagnosed with other subtypes. Multivariate analysis revealed predictive factors for prolonged TFS that included EBV-positive lesions and comparatively low levels of serum LDH. Taken together, our study suggests that a diagnosis of EBVMCL is related to the overall clinical outcome after the discontinuation of MTX.


Democratic and republican constitutionalism emphasize, since ancient times, the need for holding governance of public goods legally and democratically accountable in order to limit abuses of public and private powers and protect public goods through legislation, administration, adjudication, 'public reason' and 'republican virtues'. Globalization continues to transform national into transnational public goods and requires constituting, limiting, regulating and justifying multilevel governance institutions so as to transform the 'international law in the books' into multilevel legislative, administrative and judicial protection of transnational public goods. Even though all UN member states have accepted human rights obligations, global democracy is likely to remain a utopia for a long time. This contribution discusses the republican and cosmopolitan principles underlying UN and GATT/WTO law. The 'disconnected UN/WTO governance' needs to be limited by stronger republican and cosmopolitan rights to invoke and enforce human rights and economic agreements in domestic jurisdictions in order to strengthen the legal, democratic and judicial accountability of multilevel governance of transnational public goods and 'link local engagement' with mutually beneficial transnational cooperation among citizens. Comparative institutional analyses confirm that 'cosmopolitan international agreements' empowering citizens and decentralized treaty compliance procedures (e.g. in human rights, commercial, trade, investment and criminal law) have been more effective than 'Westphalian agreements' prioritizing foreign policy discretion of governments over rights and remedies of citizens.


We propose Learned Path Ranking (LPR), a method that accepts an end-effector goal pose, and learns to rank a set of goal-reaching paths generated from an array of path generating methods, including: path planning, Bezier curve sampling, and a learned policy. The core idea being that each of the path generation modules will be useful in different tasks, or at different stages in a task. When LPR is added as an extension to C2F-ARM, our new system, C2F-ARM+LPR, retains the sample efficiency of its predecessor, while also being able to accomplish a larger set of tasks; in particular, tasks that require very specific motions (e.g. opening toilet seat) that need to be inferred from both demonstrations and exploration data. In addition to benchmarking our approach across 16 RLBench tasks, we also learn real-world tasks, tabula rasa, in 10-15 minutes, with only 3 demonstrations.


Subacute Sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE), also known as Dawson's disease or measles encephalitis, is an extremely rare and fatal subacute infection caused by a persistent defective measles virus (MV). It mostly develops 7-10 years after initial MV infection and is fatal within 3 years from onset of symptoms.1
Measles virus infection before 2 years of age has 16 times higher risk of developing SSPE as compared to infection occurring after five years of age.2
SSPE is a progressive, degenerative disease of the central nervous system that occurs several years after measles infection.
Saha et al reported an annual incidence of 21 per million population in India3 as compared to 2.4 per million population in the middle east.4-5
By this case report, we aim to stress on the certitude that the only definitive prevention against SSPE is timely measles vaccination.

Keywords: SSPE, Measles, Vaccination.


Predicting future traffic conditions in real-time is a crucial issue for applications of intelligent transportation systems devoted to traffic management and traveller information. The increasing number of connected vehicles equipped with locating technologies provides a ubiquitous updated source of information on the whole network. This offers great opportunities for developing data-driven models that extrapolate short-term future trend directly from data without modelling traffic phenomenon explicitly. Among several different approaches to implicit modelling, machine-learning models based on a network structure are expected to be more suitable to catch traffic phenomenon because of their capability to account for spatial correlations existing between traffic measures taken on different elements of the road network. The study analyses and applies different implicit models for short-term prediction on a large road network: namely, time-dependent artificial neural networks and Bayesian networks. These models are validated and compared by exploiting a large database of link speeds recorded on the metropolitan area of Rome during seven months.


Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by extracellular senile plaques and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles in the brain. Amyloid-β peptides (Aβ) are considered to play a critical role in the onset and progression of AD. Apigenin (4',5,7-trihydroxyflavone) is a pharmacologically active agent. Even though some evidence suggests that it has potential neuroprotective effects, no preexisting study has reported any therapeutic effects of apigenin in AD models. In the present study, we examined the effects of apigenin on cognitive function in APP/PS1 double transgenic AD mice and explored its mechanism(s) of action. Three-month oral treatment with apigenin rescued learning deficits and relieved memory retention in APP/PS1 mice. Apigenin also showed effects affecting APP processing and preventing Aβ burden due to the down-regulation of BACE1 and β-CTF levels, the relief of Aβ deposition, and the decrease of insoluble Aβ levels. Moreover, apigenin exhibited superoxide anion scavenging effects and improved antioxidative enzyme activity of superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase. In addition, apigenin restored neurotrophic ERK/CREB/BDNF pathway in the cerebral cortex. In conclusion, apigenin may ameliorate AD-associated learning and memory impairment through relieving Aβ burden, suppressing amyloidogenic process, inhibiting oxidative stress, and restoring ERK/CREB/BDNF pathway. Therefore, apigenin appears to represent an alternative medication for the prevention and/or therapy of AD.


The aging is related to numerous changes in our body system which declines functional ability. The functional ability in advanced age can be evaluated by the 4 components of fitness (cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular strength and endurance, flexibility and body composition). The understanding and knowledge of changing 4 components of fitness and the role of exercise on the process of aging is of paramount importance. Despite exercise and physical activity have been shown to delay the process of aging, the exercise guidelines and recommendations for old adults are not well published. This review is to presents the age-related changes in each component of fitness and to present current guidelines and recommendations for exercise in older adults.


The emergence of IoT poses new challenges towards solutions for authenticating numerous very heterogeneous IoT devices to their respective trust domains. Using passwords or pre-defined keys have drawbacks that limit their use in IoT scenarios. Recent works propose to use contextual information about ambient physical properties of devices' surroundings as a shared secret to mutually authenticate devices that are co-located, e.g., the same room. In this paper, we analyze these context-based authentication solutions with regard to their security and requirements on context quality. We quantify their achievable security based on empirical real-world data from context measurements in typical IoT environments.


A mode coupling approach based on the modal theory of coherence is suggested for the study of partially coherent beams in atmospheric turbulence. An approximate expression is derived for the mode power coupling coefficients, and some specific cases are studied using numerical methods. Several general results derived from the properties of the coupling coefficients are also presented.


Patients in rural and underserved areas face significant barriers in accessing specialty care due to unavailability of services, geographic isolation, travel burden, and other cultural and socioeconomic factors.1 Pediatric dermatology is among the top three subspecialties that provides routine care for pediatric patients, however, shortage and maldistribution of pediatric dermatologists have remained a major hurdle for those living in remote and isolated areas.2 Pediatric dermatologists cluster in urban areas with high-patient volume and estimated wait times for new patients that often exceed 13 weeks, making access one of the major drivers of inequity for rural patients.2-4.


Background : Resection and anastomosis of small bowel is one of the common surgical procedure encountered in routine and emergency cases. There are various techniques of anastomosing the resected intestine. Objectives : To know the efficacy of single layer anastomosis over double layer anastomosis in terms of anastomotic leakage, wound infection, mortality and time consumed. Methods : A comparative cross sectional analytical study was carried out at department of General Surgery at Nepalgunj Medical College Teaching Hospital, Kohalpur, Banke, Nepal from January 2013 to December 2013. Altogether 62 patients who underwent resection and anastomosis of small bowel were considered for this study. Patients who were included in this study were equally divided into two groups. Group A (n=32) underwent single layer anastomosis and group B (n=30) were subjected to double layer anastomosis. In both the groups anastomotic leakage, wound infection, mortality and time consumed were recorded and compared. Results : Altogether 62 patients were included in the study. The study showed anastomotic leakage 3 (9.37%) in Group A and 2 (6.67%) in Group B. Wound infection was 6 (18.75%) in Group A and 4(13.33%) in Group B and mortality was observed in only 1(3.12%) patient in Group A due to uncontrolled sepsis. There was no statistical difference between the two groups in anastomotic leakage, wound infection and mortality as shown by respective p (0.696, 0.562, 0.329) values. However the time required for single layer bowel anastomosis was less in comparison to double layer bowel anastomosis. Conclusion : Based on our data, the technique of single layer of bowel anastomosis does not increase the rate of anastomotic leakage, wound infection and mortality however time required for anastomosis is less as compared to double layer anastomosis. Therefore this study concludes that there is no added benefit of double layer of anastomosis over single layer bowel anastomosis. Journal of Nepalgunj Medical College Vol.12(1) 2014: 35-38


Epilepsy is a neurological disorder that affects over 50 million individuals worldwide. Today, the gold-standard treatment for those who are drug resistant, meaning that symptoms cannot be controlled with medication, is to surgically remove the seizure onset zone (SOZ), the area of the brain believed to cause seizures: the main symptom of epilepsy. Unfortunately, around 50% of drug resistant patients are not resective candidates, which can be attributed in part to poor SOZ localization. SOZ localization is a complex and lengthy procedure, requiring visual inspection and manual processing by human experts that first need to localize and isolate seizure events. The intracranial electroencephalography (iEEG) is a tool that records electrophysiological activity of the inner brain at different regions and depths, and provides critical information on the SOZ. However, iEEG data processing methodologies are not standardized, and practice and resources vary across hospitals and clinics. To assist human experts with systematic processing of iEEG data, we propose a data processing pipeline that generates graph representations of iEEG data. We evaluate 9 different graph representations of publicly available iEEG data from 25 patients with epilepsy with a graph neural network model trained to detect seizures. Our results suggest that graph representations of iEEG data that leverage electrode and functional connectivity features are powerful data structures to analyze and interpret iEEG data in the context of epilepsy. We anticipate that our data pipeline that provides a systematic processing of neural data with graphs can integrate other data modalities like neuroimaging data. Moreover, methods used in the data pipeline have potentials to apply to other neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease or major depression disorder.


The burgeoning of abstract economic analysis since about 1950
 makes the need for well-conceived consolidations and codifications at
 the textbook level peculiarly important. The task is a challenging one,
 demanding the attainment of a compromise between the "mathematics for
 economists" catalogues of techniques and the highly specialized and
 formalized "theorem-proof" sequences of the high-theory journals. It
 requires that skilful blend of the rigorous and the heuristic, the
 multidimensional and the diagrammatic, the logical and the intuitive,
 found in the teacher-born. Lancaster has succeeded admirably in finding
 the optimal mixture.


In their highly influential paper, Ben-Sasson, Goldreich, Harsha, Sudan, and Vadhan (STOC 2004) introduced the notion of a relaxed locally decodable code (RLDC). Similarly to a locally decodable code (Katz-Trevisan; STOC 2000), the former admits access to any desired message symbol with only a few queries to a possibly corrupted codeword. An RLDC, however, is allowed to abort when identifying corruption. The natural analog to locally correctable codes, dubbed relaxed locally correctable codes (RLCC), was introduced by Gur, Ramnarayan and Rothblum (ITCS 2018) who constructed asymptotically-good length-nRLCC and RLDC with $(\log n)^{O(\log\log n)}$ queries.In this work we construct asymptotically-good RLDC and RLCC with an improved query complexity of $(\log n)^{O(\log\log\log n)}$. To achieve this, we devise a mechanism-an alternative to the tensor product-that squares the length of a given code. Compared to the tensor product that was used by Gur et al. and by many other constructions, our mechanism is significantly more efficient in terms of rate deterioration, allowing us to obtain our improved construction.


Abstract Endocannabinoid (ECB) system plays a vital role in responses to stress. Moreover, ECB and its receptors cause antiinflammatory, anti-oxidative and neuroprotective effects by modulating neuronal, glial and endothelial cell functions. A number of studies have demonstrated ECB system notably defects in neurotraumatic and neurodegenerative diseases like epilepsy, TBI, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. ECB system comprise of various compartments, including 2 G-protein-coupled receptors (GCPCRs), named CB1 and CB2 receptors, which create two pathways. Most cannabinoid-based drugs used in treating neurodegenerative disorders affect CB1 pathway. Activating CB2 moderate inflammatory response and stimulate the secretion of anti-inflammatory mediators in microglial cells and astrocytes. CB2 function increased in inflammatory condition in neuronal and endothelial cells, which limit neuroinflammation and blood-brain barrier disruption. In conclusion, involvements of ECB system in neurological disorders make it a suitable therapeutic target. In this review, we discussed the role of CB1 and CB2 receptors in neurodegenerative diseases. CB2 pathway is believed involved in inflammation response, but its relationship with epilepsy remains unclear. Therefore, we suggest surveying the expression of CB2 receptor in an animal model of epilepsy.


In Southwest Atlanta, urban education reform and gentrification have intersected to create the perfect collision of housing and educational displacement of Black students, Black families, and Black teachers. While Black communities are dealing with the impacts of gentrification, Black schools are simultaneously witnessing shifts that uproot students and their teachers. As a teacher participatory action research (PAR) collective, we share our personal experiences of housing displacement and how it has impacted our students, our communities, and our ability to maintain our positions as community-centered teachers. In this article, we acclimate readers to Atlanta, Georgia, and the Southwest Atlanta region in which we serve. We also illustrate how we have confronted the displacement of our students and ourselves. Finally, we highlight the significance of community-centered teachers operating within a Critical Studyin' for Human Freedom praxis in the struggle against systemic inequities that persistently plague our students and communities.


The best-characterized epigenetic modification is DNA methylation, which was found to shape
significantly gene expression in mammalian cells, though bacteria and plants display less sequence
specificity. The cytosine methylation of DNA sequence here was studied by the molecular dynamic
(MD) method. We found that the optimized structures are not significantly altered between
unmethylated, methylated sequences. However, sampling of the molecule dynamical landscape via
long MD simulations showed that the altered sequences could adopt different conformations
(revealed in the twist and roll angles) from the unmodified DNA, which are dependent on the
§sequence environment. We propose that this conformational diversity may play a role on protein
recognition.
The G-rich sequences are studied with MD simulations to check the propensity of the sequence to
adopt to A-form or B-form of DNA. The results showed that the DNA sequence adopts most of the
time in A-form and also spend sometime in between A-form and B-form. The groove widths
showed the conformation in B-form. By analyzing the DNA in different contexts using
computational methods we were able to test limits that force field methods offer for these systems.
We propose that this conformational diversity may play a role in protein recognition.
Finally, we have studied the conformational changes of DNA sequence with uracil as a base.
Sometimes in the replication process uracil can be formed and the mismatch base pair in the DNA
sequence is removed by the enzyme UDG (Uracil-DNA sequence). In the present work MD
simulations were used to study the structure, dynamics and base pair kinetics of DNA sequence.
The opening and closing kinetics of the T-A base pair were studied. A fast base pair opening was
observed and also additionally base flipping was spotted. A very fast opening of the bases may be
responsible for the fast closing of the bases. In order to characterize the complete study of base pair
kinetics in relation to T-A versus U-A base pairs is currently under way.


This volume, which completes the Oxford English Texts edition of The Complete Works of Christopher Marlowe, contains the two parts of Tamburlaine the Great, edited by David Fuller, and The Massacre at Paris, edited by Edward J. Esche. It is the first time that either text has been presented in an old-spelling edition with a full critical commentary and textual annotation. The introduction to Tamburlaine gives a detailed account of the plays' sources, stage history, and text. The critical discussion considers the fundamental clashes which Marlowe dramatizes; the differing interpretations - often involved with opposing views of the Renaissance - to which these have given rise; and how new critical methodologies, and recent research into occult traditions in the Renaissance, might affect our reading of Marlowe. The commentary brings together the extensive modern scholarship on the plays, offers some new suggestions about their probable stage action, and cites new material from the period to contextualize Marlowe's treatment of war, medicine, religious controversy, and many other subjects. It also draws on scholarship on Elizabethan pronunciation to clarify Marlowe's poetic rhythms, and uses the revised edition of OED to investigate more fully than has previously been possible the originality and inventiveness of Marlowe's language. The Massacre at Paris survives only in a severely mangled version, which bears many of the signs of a 'reported text'; nevertheless, it provides us with the unique example of Marlowe using contemporary French history as his subject matter. The play has been edited from the copy of the Octavo once belonging to Edmund Malone, now held in the Bodleian Library. The edition also presents the single extant leaf of Massacre (Folger MS. J.b.8) in an authoritative form with apparatus, and argues for its legitimacy as a genuine playhouse document, although not Marlowe's autograph.


Lanthipeptides are a group of ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides with diverse structural features and bioactivities. Gut-microbiota-derived lanthipeptides play important roles in gut homeostasis of the host. Herein, we report the discovery and biosynthesis of class III lantibiotics named amylopeptins, which are derived from the gut microbiota of Sprague-Dawley rats and display a narrow antimicrobial spectrum. In contrast to known class III lanthipeptides, the biosynthesis of amylopeptins employs AmyP, which belongs to a subgroup of S8 family serine proteases, to remove the leader of corresponding precursor peptides in a site-specific manner during the last step of their maturation. Overall, this study shows for the first time that S8 family proteases participate in the biosynthesis of class III lanthipeptides.


In this paper, we propose an automatic parameter configuration mechanism for GridFTP, which optimizes the number of parallel TCP connections by utilizing analytic results in the work of Ito et al. (2005). The proposed mechanism first measures the network status (e.g., the goodput and the round-trip time of GridFTP data channels) at the GridFTP client. Based on these measurement results, it adjusts the number of parallel TCP connections for maximizing the GridFTP goodput. Three operational modes, MI (multiplicative increase), MI+ (multiplicative increase plus), and AIMD (additive increase and multiplicative decrease) are proposed in this paper, each of which takes a different strategy for adjusting the number of parallel TCP connections. We evaluate performance of the proposed automatic parameter configuration mechanism through simulation experiments. We demonstrate that the proposed automatic parameter configuration mechanism significantly improves the performance of GridFTP


Photorespiration Enhances Acidification of the Thylakoid Lumen, Reduces the Plastoquinone Pool, and Contributes Oxidation of Abstract: The oxidation of P700 in photosystem I (PSI) is a robust mechanism that suppresses the production of reactive oxygen species. We researched the contribution of photorespiration to the oxidation of P700 in wheat leaves. We analyzed the e ff ects of changes in partial pressures of CO 2 and O 2 on photosynthetic parameters. The electron flux in photosynthetic linear electron flow (LEF) exhibited a positive linear relationship with an origin of zero against the dissipation rate (vH + ) of electrochromic shift (ECS; ∆ pH across thylakoid membrane), indicating that cyclic electron flow around PSI did not contribute to H + usage in photosynthesis / photorespiration. The vH + showed a positive linear relationship with an origin of zero against the H + consumption rates in photosynthesis / photorespiration (JgH + ). These two linear relationships show that the electron flow in LEF is very e ffi ciently coupled with H + usage in photosynthesis / photorespiration. Lowering the intercellular partial pressure of CO 2 enhanced the oxidation of P700 with the suppression of LEF. Under photorespiratory conditions, the oxidation of P700 and the reduction of the plastoquinone pool were stimulated with a decrease in JgH + , compared to non-photorespiratory conditions. These results indicate that the reduction-induced suppression of electron flow (RISE) suppresses the reduction of oxidized P700 in PSI under photorespiratory conditions. Furthermore, under photorespiratory conditions, ECS was larger and H + conductance was lower against JgH + than those under non-photorespiratory conditions. These results indicate that photorespiration enhances RISE and ∆ pH formation by lowering H + conductance, both of which contribute to keeping P700 in a highly oxidized state.


BACKGROUND: The prevalence of financial medication assistance (FMA), including patient assistance programs, coupons/copayment cards, vouchers, discount cards, and programs/pharmacy services that help patients apply for such programs, has increased. The impact of FMA on medication adherence and persistence has not been synthesized. OBJECTIVE: The primary objective of this study was to review published studies evaluating the impact of FMA on the three phases of medication adherence (initiation [or primary adherence], implementation [or secondary adherence], and discontinuation) and persistence. Among these studies, the secondary objective was to report the impact of FMA on patient out-of-pocket costs and clinical outcomes. METHODS: A systematic review was performed using MEDLINE and Web of Science. RESULTS: Of 656 articles identified, eight studies met all inclusion criteria. Seven studies examined FMA for medications treating cardiovascular diseases, while one study assessed FMA for cancer medications. Among included studies, FMA had a positive impact on medication adherence or persistence, and most measured this impact over one year or less. Of the three phases of medication adherence, implementation (5 of 8) was most commonly reported, followed by discontinuation (3 of 8), and then initiation (1 of 8). Regarding implementation, users of FMA had a higher mean medication possession ratio (MPR) than nonusers, ranging from 7 to 18 percentage points higher. The percentage of patients who discontinued medication was 7 percentage points lower in users of FMA versus nonusers for cardiovascular disease states. In one cancer study, FMA had a larger impact on initiation than discontinuation, ie, compared to nonusers, users of FMA were less likely to abandon an initial prescription (risk ratio= 0.12, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.08-0.18), and this effect was larger than the decreased likelihood of discontinuing the medication (hazard ratio = 0.76, 95% CI: 0.66-0.88). In 3 of 8 studies reporting on medication persistence, FMA increased the odds of medication persistence for one year ranged from 11% to 47%, depending on the study. In addition to adherence, half of the studies reported on FMA impacts on patient out-of-pocket costs and 3 of 8 studies reported on clinical outcomes. Impacts on patient out-of-pocket costs were mixed; two studies reported that out-of-pocket costs were higher for users of a coupon or a voucher versus nonusers, one study reported the opposite, and one study reported null effects. Impacts on clinical outcomes were either positive or null. CONCLUSIONS: We found that FMA has positive impacts on all phases of medication adherence as well as medication persistence over one year. Future studies should assess whether FMA has differential impacts based on phase of medication adherence and report on its longer-term (ie, beyond one year) impacts on medication adherence.


Geometrical random uncertainty in radiotherapy is usually characterized by a unique value in each group of patients. We propose a novel approach based on a statistically accurate characterization of the uncertainty distribution, thus reducing the risk of obtaining potentially unsafe results in CTV-PTV margins or in the selection of correction protocols.


A number of Lewis acid catalysts were screened for their effectiveness in converting both xylose and glucose in aqueous media to furfural and 5-HMF, respectively. While other catalysts were found to be more active, SnCl4 was identified as the most selective Lewis acid. Hydrolysis of SnCl4 was observed at various concentrations and temperatures resulting in the production of Bronsted acidic protons in a 3.5 : 1 ratio to Sn4+ at all SnCl4 concentrations above 60 °C. As a consequence, there was no need to add a Bronsted acid in order to promote the dehydration of either xylose or glucose. SnCl4-promoted isomerization/dehydration of xylose and glucose at 140 °C in water resulted in conversions of 55% and 33%, respectively, after 2 h of reaction, and furfural and 5-HMF selectivities of up to 58% and 27%, respectively. Significant conversion of sugars to humins was observed in both cases, and in the case of glucose, degradation of 5-HMF to levulinic and formic acids was also noted. The effects of secondary reactions could be greatly suppressed by extraction of the furanic product as it was produced. Using n-butanol as the extracting agent, xylose and glucose conversions of 90% and 75%, respectively, were observed after 5 h of reaction, and the selectivities to furfural and 5-HMF increased to 85% and 69%, respectively. Small additional increases in the furfural and 5-HMF selectivities were obtained by adding LiCl to the aqueous phase without much effect on the conversion of either sugar. In this case, the selectivities to furfural and 5-HMF were 88% and 72%, respectively, after 5 h of reaction at 140 °C.


Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) play crucial roles in the detoxification process and the development of drug-resistance and are proved to be important markers for various tumors. Different from the previous probes, we developed a fluorescent probe enabling the detection of intracellular GSTs in a low GSH level environment by pre-treatment of the cells with thiol-scavengers.


To have a deeper understanding of the characteristics of consumer behaviors in time series as well as in individual stores and support commer- cial space planning under the fast development of city shopping centers in China, this paper expands time related information in the data collected from the consumer survey in Wangfu Jing Street, using the "Pedestrian Grid" method. The temporal distribu- tions of consumers' activities and walking behaviors, their spatio-temporal distributions in 12 time slots during 9:00-12:00, and temporal distributions of con- sumer behaviors in major activity places are described. Major findings include the single-peaked temporal distribution of consumer activities and walking behaviors, the pendulum-swinging distribution and the faultage-like distribution of pedestrian flows atsome locations. Suggestions are given for the spatial planning of Wangfu Jing Street.


Targeted protein degradation using heterobifunctional Proteolysis-Targeting Chimeras (PROTACs) or molecular glues has arisen as a powerful therapeutic modality for degrading disease targets. While PROTAC design is becoming more modular and straightforward, the discovery of novel molecular glue degraders has been more challenging. While several recent studies have showcased phenotypic screening and counter-screening approaches to discover new molecular glue degraders, mechanistically elucidating the ternary complex induced by the small-molecule that led to the initial phenotype—i.e. identifying the degraded target and relevant components of the ubiquitin-proteasome system—has remained cumbersome and laborious. To overcome these obstacles, we have coupled the screening of a covalent ligand library for anti-proliferative effects in leukemia cells with quantitative proteomic and chemoproteomic approaches to rapidly discover both novel covalent molecular glue degraders and their associated ternary complex components and anti-proliferative mechanisms. We have identified a cysteine-reactive covalent ligand EN450 that impairs leukemia cell viability in a NEDDylation and proteasome-dependent manner. Chemoproteomic profiling revealed covalent interaction of EN450 with an allosteric C111 in the E2 ubiquitin ligase UBE2D. Follow-up quantitative proteomic profiling revealed the proteasome-mediated degradation of the oncogenic transcription factor NFKB1 as a putative degradation target. Subsequent validation studies demonstrated that EN450 induced the ternary complex formation between UBE2D and NFKB1 and that both UBE2D and NFKB1 were important for the anti-proliferative mechanisms of EN450. Our study thus puts forth the discovery of a novel molecular glue degrader that uniquely induced the proximity of an E2 ligase with a transcription factor to induce its degradation and anti-proliferative effects in cancer cells. Taken more broadly, our study showcases a rapid and modular approach for discovering novel covalent molecular glue degraders and their respective ternary complex components in an unbiased fashion.


Library can add value to its services in many ways. In this paper case of value addition and various benefits for Plagiarism check service using statistical analysis is discussed. Now a day's librarians use lot of tools, software's and techniques for effective plagiarism checks. Statistical analysis gives insights and action points for improvisation of services. By implementing effective methodology, librarians are able to reduce operational iterations, save users time, build confidence and gain higher customer satisfaction. Similar kind of approach can be applied for various new services in libraries. Keywords: Value Addition, Plagiarism, Library services, Turnitin Cite this Article Tanuja Sapre, Shubhada Sachin Apte and Kishore Ingale, Value Addition to Library Services: Case Study of a Plagiarism Check. Journal of Advancements in Library Sciences. 2019; 6(Special Issue 1): 268s–271s.


It is proposed to capture localized plastic deformation via the inclusion of regularized displacement discontinuities at element boundaries (interfaces) of the finite element subdivision. The regularization is based on a kinematic assumption for an interface that resembles that which is pertinent to the classical shear band concept. As a by-product of the regularization, an intrinsic band width is introduced as a 'constitutive' property rather than a geometric feature of the finite element mesh. In this way the spurious mesh sensitivity, which is obtained when the displacement approximation is continuous, can be avoided. Another consequence is that the interfacial relation between the elements is derived directly from the conventional constitutive properties of the continuously deforming material. An interesting feature is that the acoustic tensor will not only play a role for diagnosing discontinuous bifurcation but will also serve as the tangent stiffness tensor of the interface (up to within a scalar factor). An analytical investigation of the behaviour of the interface is carried out and it is shown that dilatation may indeed accompany slip within a 'shear' band for a general plasticity model. The significance of proper mesh alignment is demonstrated for a simple problem in plane strain and plane stress. It is shown that a unique structural post-peak response (in accordance with non-linear fracture mechanics) can be achieved when the plastic softening modulus is properly related to the bandwidth. The paper concludes with a numerical simulation of the gradual development of a shear band in a soil slope.


The aim of this study was to investigate the correlations of severity of osteoarthritis (OA) and serum biomarkers including keratan sulfate (KS), hyaluronic acid (HA) and chondroitin sulfate (CS) 846 epitope. We also investigated the effect of glucosamine and fish collagen peptide (FCP) on OA. OA was induced in 12 rabbits (12 weeks of age) by anterior cruciate ligament transection (ACLT). After the surgery, the rabbits were orally administered FCP (F group), glucosamine (G group) or FCP and glucosamine (FG group) for 4 weeks. The control group was provided water ad libitum (C group). Blood was collected before surgery (pre-ACLT) and before euthanasia (post-ACLT) for serum marker measurement. Biomarker levels were measured by using commercial kits. We evaluated OA severity both macroscopically and histologically. Macroscopic evaluation showed mildly eroded condylar surfaces in the C group. Histological findings were significantly different from the FG and other groups. There were no significant differences between each group at post-ACLT in terms of serum KS, HA and CS 846. Histological assessment and serum biomarker measurements performed at post-ACLT showed a significant correlation between HA concentration and OA severity. Variations in the CS 846 concentration at pre-ACLT and post-ACLT were significantly correlated with OA severity. Administration of glucosamine and FCP had chondroprotective effects in the ACLT model. Serum biomarker concentrations were significantly correlated with cartilage injury. Serum biomarker measurement would be useful for monitoring articular cartilage damage in the clinical setting.


The authors investigated the relatively short-term and longer term effects of grade retention in 1st grade on the growth of mathematics and reading achievement over 4 years. The authors initially identified a large multiethnic sample (n = 784) of children who were below the median in literacy at school entrance. From this sample, the authors closely matched 1 retained with 1 promoted child (n = 97 pairs) on the basis of propensity scores constructed from 72 background variables and compared growth of retained and promoted children using Rasch-modeled W scores and grade standard scores, which facilitate age-based and grade-based comparisons, respectively. When using W scores, retained children experienced a slower increase in both mathematics and reading achievement in the short term but a faster increase in reading achievement in the longer term than did the promoted children. When using grade standard scores, retained children experienced a faster increase in the short term but a faster decrease in the longer term in both mathematics and reading achievement than did promoted children. Some of the retention effects were moderated by limited English language proficiency, home-school relationship, and children's externalizing problems.


It is widely accepted that the Micro and Small Enterprise (MSE) sectors have the potential to provide a livelihood for a considerably large number of people in least developed countries such as Ethiopia. African women entrepreneurship development is generally inadequate and beset with numerous constraints and challenges, which have to do with culture, entrepreneurial orientations and their total perceptions in entrepreneurship. This study is therefore to examine women entrepreneurial orientation, determine factors affecting entrepreneurial orientation Level of business women. The result indicated that the levels of EO of business women were in low to medium level of category. The result also showed that number of business, age, level of education, prior experience, the size of the business, business age since its establishment, need of independence motivational factors, self achievement, social network, and market availability (compete) are significantly associated with entrepreneurial orientation. Among the socio-economic variables, diversification of businesses or the tendency to own more than one business has been found to be positively related with the entrepreneurial orientation of women.


Streptomycesamakusaensis KO-8119,a soil isolate, was found to produce a series of new anticoccidial compounds. Four active compounds, designated as cytosaminomycins A, B, C and D, were isolated from the fermentation broth of the producing strain by solvent extraction, silica gel column chromatography and preparative HPLC. Cytosaminomycins inhibited the growth of Eimeria tenella in an in vitro assay system using primary chicken embryoniccells as a host. Noschizont in the cells was observed at concentrations ranging from 0.3 to 0.6/zg/ml for cytosaminomycins A, B and C, and at 2.5 /ig/ml for cytosaminomycin D.


Near-infrared (NIR) semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) represent promising fluorescent probes for biological and biomedical imaging. CuInSe2 is a good candidate for these applications due to its bandgap in the near-infrared and the reduced toxicity of its components compared to other NIR QD materials (CdTe, CdHgTe, PbS, etc.). Here we present a simple one-pot synthetic route without injection to make fluorescent sphalerite Cu−In−Se core and Cu−In−Se/ZnS core/shell QDs. We show that the photoluminescence (PL) of the resulting core QDs can be tuned from ∼700 nm to ∼1 μm depending on the QD size (from ∼2 to ∼5 nm in diameter). The optical and structural properties of these QDs are consistent with charge recombination via donor−acceptor levels instead of direct excitonic recombination. Finally, we show that the growth of a ZnS shell around these QDs increases their PL quantum yield substantially (up to 40−50% at 800 nm) and allows preservation of their PL properties after solubilization into water and in vivo, ...


One of the problems in the development of ruminants, especially in the dry season is difficult to feed  of quantity and quality. The aim of this research is to study of pH, the number of colonies of Lactic Acid Bacteria, antimicrobial isolated from rice straw silage with the addition of levels of molasses. This research was conducted from Juli until November 2015 at Laboratory of Agrosotology, Feed Industry and Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture and Animal Science, State Islamic University of Sultan Syarif Kasim Riau.. The research method of rice straw silage with the addition of various levels of molasses, isolation of lactic acid bacteria  and  antimicrobial  effect.  The  method  used  to  analyze  pH,  the  number  of  colonies  of  Lactic  Acid  Bacteria,  and antimicrobial effect is exploration by using descriptive analysis. The conclusion that treatment of rice straw silage by adding molasses 9% level pH content, the number of colonies and the antimicrobial effect better than the other treatments.


We propose methods to quantitatively calculate the fluctuation rate of red blood cells with nanometric axial and millisecond temporal sensitivity at the single-cell level by using time-lapse holographic cell imaging. For this quantitative analysis, cell membrane fluctuations (CMFs) were measured for RBCs stored at different storage times. Measurements were taken over the whole membrane for both the ring and dimple sections separately. The measurements show that healthy RBCs that maintain their discocyte shape become stiffer with storage time. The correlation analysis demonstrates a significant negative correlation between CMFs and the sphericity coefficient, which characterizes the morphological type of erythrocyte. In addition, we show the correlation results between CMFs and other morphological properties such as projected surface area, surface area, mean corpuscular volume, and mean corpuscular hemoglobin.


The use of pleuroscopy in patients with bronchogenic carcinoma has not been reported previously. We performed this procedure in 45 lung cancer patients in whom pleural involvement was suspected. Pleural fluid or mestastases were found in 37 patients, 5 of whom had also major atelectasis due to bronchial obstruction by tumor. Neoplasm penetrating vital structures (aorta, brachial plexus) was found in 3 patients, tumor confining to resectable structures in 3; no pleural abnormalities were disclosed in 2. Based on these findings, 43 tumors were assigned stage III. Only on two occasions pleuroscopy did not aid staging. In 20 patients with massive pleural effusion causing dyspnea we insufflated talc in order to produce pleurodesis. This was fully successful in 16 patients, while in 2 the pleural cavity became only partially obliterated, with symptomatic relief. In 2 patients pleurodesis could not be evaluated because of early death caused by progression of cancer. Pleuroscopy is a highly informative procedure, applicable when involvement of pleura by lung cancer is suspected. It is helpful in clinical staging of the tumor and in assessment of its resectability, particularly in elderly, poor-risk patients. It provides the best way for talc insufflation when pleurodesis is indicated. Pleuroscopy should have an established place in the clinical evaluation and staging of lung cancer.


This work presents the TASNOP—Teaching Algorithms for Solving Network Optimization Problems, a tool for teaching concepts and operation of some algorithms to solve Shortest Path, Maximum Flow, and Traveling Salesman problems, which are widely known and studied in graduate and undergraduate courses such as Industrial Engineering, Computer Science, Information Systems, and Logistics. Experiments carried out with undergraduate computer science students allowed to verify that the group who used TASNOP obtained better performance in the resolution of the proposed exercise, corroborating the idea that it contributed to improve the students' understanding about the addressed content. In addition, a questionnaire answered by the same group of students evidenced the potential of TASNOP as a teaching support tool.


ABSTRACT: This paper provides a qualified defense of Martin Heidegger's controversial assertion that humans and animals differ in kind, not just degree. He has good reasons to defend the human difference, and his thesis is compatible with the evolution of humans from other animals. He argues that the human environment is the world of meaning and truth, an environment that peculiarly makes possible truthful activities, such as biology. But the ability to be open to truth cannot be a feature of human biology without making such pursuits as biology, mathematics, and philosophy a biological function of a certain species, Homo sapiens. To deny the human difference amounts to species relativism, which leaves the normativity of truth unexplained. To reconcile the human evolutionary heritage and the uniquely human openness to meaning and truth, this paper amplifies a distinction occasionally made by Heidegger between condition and cause.


Aim: The aim of this study was to establish historical smoking prevalence rates among the working population of Australia. A clearer understanding of tobacco usage trends by occupation would be helpful to ensure the more effective targeting of tobacco control interventions in the workplace.
Methods: Smoking data was extracted from the 1989-90, 1995 and 2001 National Health Surveys, which captured approximately 54 600, 53 800 and 26 900 Australians (response rates: 92% to 96%). Participants were limited to employed adults aged 18-64 years, with data stratified by job category and gender during the analysis.
Results: Slightly less than one-third (31%) of Australian workers were smoking in 1989-90, a rate which declined to 25% in 1995 and then appeared to rise slightly to around 27% in 2001. A consistently higher proportion of males smoked tobacco when compared to females over all three surveys. By job category, tobacco use was most common among Labourers and Related Workers in 1989-90, Plant and Machine Operators and Drivers in 1995 and Intermediate Production and Transport Workers in 2001. The lowest smoking rates were consistently reported among Professionals.
Conclusions:Overall, our study suggests that there were widespread variations in the smoking rates of working Australians between 1989 and 2001. Effective tobacco control strategies will clearly need to target blue collar employees, who continue to shoulder the main burden from tobacco-related disease.


3 young adults with myelofibrosis, a rare disease in this age-group, are presented. Their clinical course was distinguished by a virtually asymptomatic state at time of diagnosis and a stable, or very slowly progressive course over a 4- to 5-year follow-up. Myelofibrosis in young adults may pursue a more benign course than that usually noted in older populations.


An exceptional understanding of the nature of allergy to foods is shown by the various authors. Chapters discussing the etiology and the survey and management of these hypersensitivities present a logical, lucid approach to a prevalent, but generally unrecognized, aspect of the allergic diathesis. Skin tests for detecting offending food allergens are accurately described as "occasionally valuable." They express a strong preference for testing with elimination diets and challenge feeding tests. Several elimination diets are detailed and stress the necessity for complete avoidance of all products of the foods under consideration. A precise description of the technique of oral challenge testing would have furnished a practical addition to this otherwise excellent examination of allergy to ingestants. An example of their perception of allergy to foods is found in their recognition and emphasis of the role corn sugar may play in an allergic response. This is in contrast to the general


An audio mixer for use with audio input devices for buffering audio input signals in a dual buffering system where the dual buffering system includes a mass storage device and a dynamic storage device. The dual buffering system enables large quantities of audio data to be stored allowing audio effects and mixing capabilities including simulation of vinyl record scratching, inter alai. The audio mixer also automatically determine beats thus allowing beat skipping, automatic correction for audio input defects as well as synchronization of two or more audio inputs, inter alia.


Nanoparticles of Li, Mg and Sr doped and undoped zinc oxide was prepared by simple precipitation method. The structural, optical, and magnetic properties of the samples were investigated by the Powder X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Ultra-violet Visible spectroscopy (UV-vis) spectra, Photoluminescence (PL) and Vibrational Sample Magnetometer (VSM). The Powder X-ray diffraction data confirm the formation of hexagonal wurtzite structure of all doped and undoped ZnO. The SEM photograph reveals that the pores availability and particles size in the range of 10 nm-50 nm. FTIR and UV-Visible spectra results confirm the incorporation of the dopant into the ZnO lattice nanostructure. The UV-Visible spectra indicate that the shift of blue region (lower wavelength) due to bandgap widening. Photoluminescence intensity varies with doping due to the increase of oxygen vacancies in prepared ZnO. The pure ZnO exist paramagnetic while doped (Li, Mg and Sr) ZnO exist ferromagnetic property. The photocatalytic activity of the prepared sample also carried out in detail.


Supervised and unsupervised learning have been the focus of critical research in the areas of machine learning and artificial intelligence. In the literature, these two streams flow independently of each other, despite their close conceptual and practical connections. In this work we exclusively deal with the text classification aided by clustering scenario. This chapter provides a review and interpretation of the role of clustering in different fields of text classification with an eye towards identifying the important areas of research. Drawing upon the literature review and analysis, we discuss several important research issues surrounding text classification tasks and the role of clustering in support of these tasks. We define the problem, postulate a number of baseline methods, examine the techniques used, and classify them into meaningful categories. A standard research issue for text classification is the creation of compact representations of the feature space and the discovery of the complex relationships that exist between features, documents and classes. There are several approaches that try to quantify the notion of information for the basic components of a text classification problem. Given the variables of interest, sources of information about these variables can be compressed while preserving their information. Clustering is one of the approaches used in this context. In this vein, an important area of research where clustering is used to aid text classification is the area of dimensionality reduction. Clustering is used as a feature compression and/or extraction method: features are clustered into groups based on selected clustering criteria. Feature clustering methods create new, reduced-size event spaces by joining similar features into groups. They define a similarity measure between features, and collapse similar features into single events that no longer distinguish among their constituent features. Typically, the parameters of the cluster become the weighted average of the parameters of its constituent features. Two types of clustering have been studied: i) one-way clustering, i.e. feature clustering based on the distributions of features in the documents or classes, and ii) coclustering, i.e. clustering both features and documents. A second research area of text classification where clustering has a lot to offer, is the area of semi-supervised learning. Training data contain both labelled and unlabelled examples. Obtaining a fully labelled training set is a difficult task; labelling is usually done using human expertise, which is expensive, time consuming, and error prone. Obtaining unlabelled data is much easier since it involves collecting data that are known to belong to


Boundary scan is a widely adopted DFT (design for test). According to the characteristic of FPGA application, this paper presents a boundary scan circuit designed for FDEGA (field-programmable datapath enhanced gate array), an FPGA new architecture of our group. The design emphasizes the function of PCB level test while considering chip level test function as well. We also integrate device-programming function into the circuit. In implementation of our design, "single DFF (D flip-flop) chain" structure is adopted to decrease area consumption. We finished the layout design in 0.6μm CMOS process and integrated it into our FDEGA chip. Test results of fabricated chip meet the design requirement, and shows that the circuit can achieve the expected test function and programming function while observing IEEE1149.1 standard.


Abstract In this paper, we show how process thinking enables analysis of change in a world of forces and flows, bringing out the contingent nature of change, the importance of activating inherent forces, the power of heterogeneity of factors, and the temporality of change. We apply an extended sensemaking framework to a concrete case of change in a Multinational Corporation, in which we demonstrate and explain how two separate processes under the same change programme involving the same actors and under the same management achieved significantly different degrees of momentum. Our contribution to the sensemaking literature lies in relating social interacts with commitment and the narratives that underlie the change processes. At a more general level, the analysis shows that what drives organizational change may be the dynamics inherent in the process rather than its initial rationale or its context.


Research on the transmission of Hemiurid Trematode Halipegus ovocaudatus in experimental and natural conditions demonstrates the following: --the miracidium grows into a sporocyst producing rediae in the Mollusc Planorbis planorbis; -- the cystophorous cercariae become mesocercariae in the hemocoele of Copepodes or finally Ostracodes when swallowed; -- the mesocercariae become matacercariae in the mesenteron of larval Odonates (Zygoptera and Anisoptera) when these larvae swallow the Crustacea; -- the metacercariae become become adults in the Amphibial Rana ridibundal perezi which feeds on dragonflies. The four hosts (Mollusc -- Crustacean -- Odonat -- Amphibian) are obligatory in the life cycle for it is impossible to infect the Insects directly with the cecariae or the frog (tadpoles as well as adults) with the mesocercariae. The different stages of the life cycle of H. oveocaudatus aredescribed and the mode of the transmission is compared with the other species of Halipegus and with the Trematodes in general. The adaptative value of the lengthening of the cycle is discussed from the point of view of the conquest of terrestrial hosts by the Hemiurid Trematodes.


This work presents a computationally inexpensive soot formation model for use in simulating large solid-complex fuel systems. The proposed model evaluates three variables: number density of tars, bulk mass density of soot particles, and particle number density. Each of these variables are influenced by soot formation phenomena, and this model evaluates the most common of these phenomena: soot nucleation, surface reactions, and coagulation. Two separate simulations were carried out using this model and results were compared against simulations using a more detailed and computationally expensive model. Results are promising and show a meaningful reduction in model complexity and computational cost while still giving comparable results.


Around 20 to 30% of parents experience mental health difficulties within their child's first year, but only a small proportion go on to access specialist services. This is despite growing evidence around the positive benefits of psychosocial interventions for both parents and children. Previous research highlights facilitators and barriers to generic healthcare services for mothers with postnatal depression. The current study adopted a qualitative methodology to explore parents' own perceptions of the barriers and facilitators to clinical psychology specifically. Seven women took part in the study, most of whom had no previous involvement with specialist mental health services. A thematic analysis of interview data suggested six key themes in relation to the research question: 'The importance of connecting', 'Pressing the danger button', 'I'm not mad', 'More round care', 'Psychological distress as barrier' and 'Making space, making sense'. These are presented alongside a consideration of the clinical implications for community-based practitioners, including clinical psychologists.


Adenylosuccinase (ASase) deficiency provokes accumulation in body fluids of succinyl-adenosine (S-Ado) and SAICAriboside, the dephosphorylated derivatives of the two substrates of the enzyme. The concentration of both compounds reaches about 100 μM in cerebrospinal fluid, i.e. 10- to 20-fold that In plasma. As an attempt to elucidate the mechanisms of the psychomotor retardation, accompanied by autistic features, recorded in ASase deficiency, interference of S-Ado and SAICAriboside with the binding of adenosine (Ado) to its cerebral receptors was investigated. The binding of 1-2.5 nM (2-3H]Ado to a particular fraction of rat cerebral cortex, in the presence of 0.25-1 μ M deoxycoformycin, was diminished by 56 ± 4 % (mean ± SEM, n=6) by unlabelled Ado (2.5-100 μM). Diminution of binding by ligands for A1 receptors was 24 % with 2.5 μM 2-chloroadenosine, 32 % with 25 μM R-N6-phenylisopropyl-Ado (PIA), 29 % with 25 MM N6-cyclo-hexyl-Ado (CHA) and 36 % with 25 μM N6-cyclopentyl-Ado (CPA). 200 μM 5′-N-ethylcarboxamide-Ado (NECA), a ligand for A2 receptor sites, and 100 μM dipyridamole, a ligand for uptake sites, decreased binding by, respectively, 39 and 33 %.In contrast, neither S-Ado nor SAICAriboside, both at up to 200 μM concentrations, influenced the binding of [2-3H]Ado. These results indicate that the psychomotor defects observed in ASase deficiency are probably not due to the occupation of cortical membrane sites for Ado by the succinylpurines.


This research focuses toward calculating the thermal conductivity of pillared-graphene structures (PGS). PGS consists of graphene and carbon nanotubes (CNTs). These two materials have great potential to manage heat generated by nano- and microelectronic devices because of their superior thermal conductivities. However, the high anisotropy limits their performance when it comes to three-dimensional heat transfer. Nonequilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD) simulations were conducted to study thermal transport of PGS. The simulation results suggest that the thermal conductivity along the graphene plane can reach up to 284 W/m K depending on PGS' parameters while along the CNT direction, the thermal conductivity can reach 20 W/m K.


Background This case-report explores the effects of photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) on the healing of scar tissue. The patient was a 32-year old female two years post cholecystectomy resulting in a 15 cm linear scar that was causing severe pain. Methods Treatment was initiated using the BIOFLEX® therapist device which consists of LED arrays and laser probes of a specific wavelength, power and frequency applied directly on the skin overlying the scar. The frequency and duration of treatment was every other day for six weeks in a clinic setting, followed by three times a week for two months at home. Then the patient continued to use the BIOFLEX® therapist home device on an as-needed basis. Findings The final result of this patient's treatment was significant flattening and decreased redness of her scar. Her self-reported pain decreased to a 6/10. At the one year follow up, the patient reported that she stopped taking her opioids, antidepressant and sleeping pills and that her pain decreased to a 4/10. At the last review her pain score was 1/10; and she had returned to work and took Tylenol (acetaminophen) occasionally for breakthrough pain. Conclusions We attribute the patient's improvement in scar appearance and pain symptoms to PBMT. Since pain is often associated with depressed mood and sleep disturbances, it cannot be determined whether PBMT was the direct or indirect cause of this patient's improved mood. For future studies, we propose the use of control subjects with similar scars treated with sham treatment compared to those who will receive the PBMT and observed for the same duration of time and compare the overall results. Lay Summary Dermatological applications, especially wound healing; are accepted indications for photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT). The expansion into other clinical applications, particularly neurological ones show potential benefit. We present a case of a patient with a hypertrophic scar associated with severe neuropathic pain and concurrent depression, all of which improved directly or indirectly with PBMT. Although the original focus of treatment was dermatological the improvement in pain plus the discontinuation of therapy (opioids, antidepressants and benzodiazepines) were considered to be due to the PBMT.


We evaluate the charge diffusion constant of dense and hot hadronic matter based on the molecular dynamical method by using a hadronic collision generator which describes nuclear collisions at energies 101 − 2 GeV/A and satisfies detailed balance at low temperatures (T ⩽ 200 MeV). For the hot and dense hadronic matter in the temperature range T = 80–200 MeV and with baryon number density, nB, from 0.16fm−3 to 0.32fm−3, the charge diffusion constant D gradually increases from 0.5 fmc to 2 fmc with temperature and is almost independent of baryon number density. Based on the obtained diffusion constant, we make simple discussions on the diffusion of charge fluctuation in ultrarelativistic nuclear collisions.


We retrospectively attempted to analyse prognostic factors in a group of 26 patients with centrocytic lymphomas (CCL) treated from 1979 to 1991 (representing 7% of all cases of NHL diagnosed in our institution during that period). Ten of the patients were females and 16 males, and their median age at diagnosis was 69 years (range 38-85). The majority of patients (77%) had advanced disease (Ann Arbor stage III-IV) at presentation. Twenty-two patients (85%) had good performance status (0-1 ECOG). B-symptoms were present in 10 cases. Most patients (87%) presented with generalized adenopathies. Bone marrow involvement was observed in 12 patients (46%) and Waldeyer's ring involvement in 5 (4 of them with stage I-II). In 5 cases the liver was involved and 3 pts had gastrointestinal localizations; 15 patients had more than 2 sites of disease: LDH elevation was observed in 8/24 pts. Fourteen patients (54%) received single-agent chlorambucil (3 pts) or CVP (11 pts). Eleven patients were treated with ADM-containing regimens (7 with CHOP or M-ACOD and 4 with 3rd generation regimens). One patient had radiotherapy alone. The complete response (CR) rate was 50% (13/26); 8 patients relapsed with a median time to progression of 19 months, and only 3 responded to salvage treatment. The median overall survival was 33 months, with fewer than 40% of patients surviving longer than 3 years. At univariate analysis the use of ADM-containing regimens seems significantly correlated with the CR rate (p = 0.047), the failure-free survival (p = 0.023), and the overall survival (p = 0.004).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


. The main aim of the article is to clarify what changes a near death experience (NDE) brings in the living learning process of an adult and in his attitude towards it. The existential experience, and the perceptions about life and death are considered as important self-realization and development factors in the learning process. Although currently there is no single scientific position with respect to NDE, the inner experience of the humans who have survived clinical death and as a result of that had personality change cannot be denied. In the context of pedagogy according to the phenomenological scientific methodological tradition NDE gives its contribution both in the procedure of cognition and in the field of the cognizable facts. In order to identify the relationship between NDE and living learning, in-depth interviews were conducted with 5 people who have experienced clinical death. The results of the interviews allow to identify several common change categories of the attitude and understanding related to living learning. These include the examination of one's own way of existence, understanding of the unity of all existing, the appearance of a deeper sense of responsibility, new interests and the related intuitive knowledge, the change of attitude towards knowledge, religion and self-knowledge.


This study investigates aperiodic sampled-data synchronisation of complex dynamical network (CDN) incorporate dynamics of actuators saturation. The sampling intervals considered here are time-varying which allowed to be variable within the lower and upper bounds. In order to fully captures the sawtooth structure characteristic of the sampled-data systems, a novel time-dependent continuous Lyapunov functional is employed to obtain less conservative criteria. Furthermore, the generalised sector bound condition is utilised for the estimate about the basin of the attraction. Based on the local stability condition, the sampled-data controller is constructed to guarantee the synchronisation of CDN in the presence of actuators saturation. The obtained sufficient conditions can be cast in two optimisation cases to maximise the admissible upper bound of sampling instants or enlarge estimate about the domain of attraction for the closed-loop systems. Subsequently, the validity and applicability of the criteria are verified through numerical examples.


Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most malignant brain tumor that occurs both in adults and children. One of biologic features that make GBM particularly difficult to treat is its diffuse invasion into normal brain tissue. Efforts of developing new targeted therapies against GBM invasion are hampered by poor understanding of the invasion process and biological differences between the tumor core cells and those in the invasive front, because the invasive GBM cells are rarely available for comparative analysis. To understand the molecular mechanisms of GBM invasion, we isolated invasive cells that have migrated into normal mouse brain tissue from a panel of four (1 adult and 3 pediatric) patient-tumor derived orthotopic xenograft mouse models and compared their microRNA expression profiles with that of the matched tumor core cells using Taqman MicroRNA array, a real-time PCR-based assay that profiles 768 microRNAs utilizing a normal human cerebral tissue as reference. To test our hypothesis that the invasive GBM cells depend on a common set of microRNAs to migrate into normal brain tissue, we focused our data analysis on the microRNAs that are shared in at least 3 of the 4 GBM models. From the total of 322 microRNAs that were found to be expressed in at least 3 of the four models (159 were present in all four models), we identified 7 microRNAs that were significantly upregulated in the invasive cells in all four models, and an additional 49 in three of the four models. This data set included miR-223 and miR-138, which have been previously associated with tumor invasion. A total of 16 microRNAs were also found to be decreased in the invasive GBM cells, including miR-107 and miR-18b that have been previously described in multiple human tumors. Given the critical roles of cancer stem cells in tumor initiation and progression, we also compared the neurosphere forming efficiency between the invasive and tumor core subpopulations. In both of the models analyzed to date, a significantly increased neurosphere forming efficiency was observed in the invasive cells. To determine if and to what extent that the microRNA signature of GBM invasion is preserved in the neurospheres, we compared the microRNA profiles between neurospheres and their corresponding freshly isolated xenograft cells of the invasive front and tumor core. The correlation coefficients ranged from 0.58 to 0.84(0.725 ± 0.136). Some of the dysregulated microRNAs originally found in vivo were preserved in the cultured neurospheres. In conclusion, we have established a novel in vivo model system that allows for isolation of paired and biologically accurate invasive and tumor core GBM cells in vivo in mouse brains. Using this system, we have identified a novel subset of microRNAs that are significantly altered in the invasive cells. This group of microRNAs warrants further evaluation as potential therapeutic targets. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 489. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-489


Western rationalism - nature, of course, and genesis - was Max Weber's dominant historical interest. It was the grand theme of his two world historical studies, Economy and Society and The Economic Ethics of the World Religions. His studies of the relationships among economy, polity, law, and religion are lasting scholarly achievements. In this book Wolfgang Schluchter presents the most systematic analysis and elaboration ever attempted of Weber's sociology as a developmental history of the West.


The paper has a two-fold purpose; it deals with the signal processing of nonuniform linear array, and it indicates a novel approach to achieving significant improvements in signal processing performance in sublattice array scenarios. All the efforts are based on a new concept called Toeplitz-induced mapping (TIM). A real-valued matrix associated with the Toeplitz-induced mapping is constructed in a specific manner: from a single vector that is able to be viewed as the coefficient vector of a polynomial. If the polynomial has any of roots on the unit circle, the real-valued matrix is singular, and the right singular vectors corresponding to the zero singular values are then associated with the roots on the unit circle, and consequently, the roots on the unit circle can be computed from these singular vectors. By virtue of the observations, we are able to implement array aperture interpolation (signal recovery) and signal enhancement. In particular, in the presence of highly correlated sources, application of a TIM-based signal enhancement algorithm to DOA estimation results in a considerable performance improvement. Computer simulation results are presented to show the effectiveness of the TIM technique. >


Background: Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) are common in the elderly. This study sought to determine the prevalence of LUTS among patients visiting the urology clinic at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi, Ghana and to explore its presentation patterns. Methods: Simple randomized sampling technique was used to recruit 225 subjects with a mean age of 67.96±14.57 (range=40-100years) in a prospective cross-sectional study. LUTS related characteristics and international prostate symptom score (IPSS) questionnaire were employed to obtain relevant data. Results: The average IPSS of the studied participants was 17.52±7.83. Based on the IPSS, the prevalence of LUTS suggestive of BPH was 88.89%. Bladder storage symptoms were also recorded at 88.59% whilst prostate enlargement based on digital rectal examination (DRE) was 60.4% among the studied subjects.  PSA levels ≥4.0ng/ml gave a prevalence of 81.5%. The prevalence of prostate enlargement defined as PSA ≥1.5ng/ml was 85.23% among the studied subjects whilst 63.11% of the subjects examined had troublesome LUTS. Urgency was the most predominantly reported LUTS (93.3%) among the subjects studied. Conclusions: This study has clearly shown that, the most prevalent urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia were bladder storage symptoms and urgency. These symptoms when present clinically therefore, suggest benign prostatic hyperplasia and that the prevalence estimates of LUTS in older men are relatively higher at diagnosis.


Over the next decades, the Internet will evolve to support increasingly complex mission-critical services such as telerobotically controlled surgery. The world's first telerobotic surgery over the public Internet was performed in 2003, and since then several hundred more have been performed. Three critical requirements of these services include: (i) essentially 100% restoration capability, (ii) small and bounded end-toend queuing delays (ie < 250 millsec), and (iii) very low-jitter communications (ie < 10 millisec). In this paper, algorithms to provision mission-critical services over the Internet with essentially 100% restoration capability and essentially-perfect QoS are proposed, building upon two theoretical foundations. Mission-critical traffic is routed using the theory of shared backup protection paths or p-cycles, while background traffic is routed using multiple edge-disjoint paths. Mission-critical traffic is scheduled using the theory of recursive stochastic matrix decomposition to achieve two constraints: (i) near-minimal end to end queuing delay and jitter and (ii) essentially-perfect QoS. Designs of the Application-Specific Token-Bucket Traffic Shaper Queues (ASTSQs) and the Application-Specific Playback Queues (ASPQs) for telerobotic services are provided. To test the theory, extensive simulations of a saturated Internet backbone network supporting telerobotic services along with competing background traffic (ie VOIP, IPTV) are reported. It is shown that all missioncritical traffic can be delivered while meeting the three critical requirements, even in fully saturated backbone IP networks.


This paper focuses on the problem of parametrically excited doubly curved sandwich shells with carbon nanotubes reinforced composite (CNTRC) facesheets subjected to in-plane periodic load. The panels consist of cylindrical and spherical shells modeled using QUAD-8 element which was developed using higher-order shear flexible theory. The formulation considers the secondary effects such as the influence of in-plane and rotary inertia terms, and the aerodynamic pressure when the panel is exposed to air flow. The governing equations developed are solved based on eigenvalue approach. The limits of the principal instability zone predicted here are graphically represented using excitation frequencies against the load amplitudes. The results of this study are tested against the available solutions in the literature. A detailed study considering various design parameters including structural theories on the dynamic instability boundaries and its associated origin of instability regions is conducted. These parameters include the CNT volume content, thermal environment, aspect ratio, thickness ratio of core and facesheet, and radius of curvature.


Asthma is a heterogeneous disorder associated with chronic airway inflammation, its prevalence is increasing globally and more prevalent in developed countries. This study aimed to determine the level of asthma control at Wad Medani Teaching Hospital Outpatient Clinic. A cross-sectional study was performed in 130 adult asthmatics in Wad Medani Teaching Hospital Outpatient Clinic between March to June 2021. Data were collected using a standardized questionnaire, and Asthma Control Test (ACT) was used to determine the level of the control. Multivariate analysis and Logistic Regression were used to determine the most factors that have a role in asthma control. The mean age of the study participants was 35 years (±14) and females were predominant (68.5 %). Among all asthmatics, the prevalence of uncontrolled asthma was 75.4% according to the ACT Score. The following factors were shown to be significantly associated with asthma control; education level (P = <0.001), current occupation(P = 0.02), social status (P =0.002), duration of disease (P = <0.01), frequency of asthma attacks during the last year that required an emergency department (P = 0.002), and follow-up with a physician (P = <0.001). This study showed a high rate of uncontrolled asthma at Wad Medani Teaching Hospital Outpatient Clinic. Factors associated with uncontrollable asthma can be used as targets for future intervention programs.