A portable, Internet-based EEG/Auditory Evoked Potential (AEP) monitoring system was developed for remote electrophysiological studies during sleep. The system records EEG/AEP simultaneously at the subject's home for increased comfort and flexibility. The system provides simultaneous recording and remote viewing of EEG, EMG and EOG waves and allows on-line averaging of auditory evoked potentials. The design allows the recording of all major AEP components (brainstem, middle and late latency EPs) and constituent single sweep EEG epochs. Auditory stimulation is remotely controlled from any internet-connected PC. The developed platform consists of a portable server computer for data acquisition and secured data transmission to the Internet, a web server for temporary storage, and a remote viewing station. During operation, signals are acquired during sleep and transmitted to the secured web server for controlled access viewing. The remote viewer station allows the user to continuously visualize the auditory evoked potentials, modify auditory stimuli at any time and adjust system parameters for its online computation. The developed internet-based EEG/EP system has been tested in a laboratory environment. Preliminary results demonstrate feasibility of remote real-time acquisition and viewing of EEG and EPs and future potential for home monitoring and telemedicine applications.


: The recently proposed category of type V deep eutectic solvents (DESs), composed only of non-ionic species, has attracted great interest in the literature. However, despite their importance in solvent design, measuring the solid − liquid equilibrium (SLE) diagrams of all possible type V DES precursor combinations is unfeasible. Therefore, a reliable computational tool must be found to estimate SLE phase diagrams and, thus, the melting points of type V DESs. In this work, a total of 134 different binary eutectic systems (1744 datapoints) were gathered from the literature, and the calculation capabilities and accuracy of three different models � COSMO-RS, UNIFAC of Dortmund, and Group and Group-Interaction Contribution method (GGIC) � were evaluated. UNIFAC and COSMO-RS were, by far, the best performing models, with average absolute deviations (AADs) of, respectively, 6.9 K for 94 systems and 7.4 K for 133 systems. Due to a lack of group interaction parameters, UNIFAC could only describe 94 systems, a severe disadvantage over COSMO-RS. Moreover, despite being able to describe all 134 systems, the GGIC model resulted in an AAD of 37 K. Finally, the effect of using the different parametrizations or multiple conformers in COSMO-RS predictions was also evaluated, and the validity of neglecting heat capacity terms when performing SLE calculations was verified.


In the last 10 years, the connectivity of the human being with technology has become evident all over the world, we are in times of high use of technology in everyday life, as evidenced by the use of an Uber to study an online class with colleagues from other countries. Technology has led to the growth of education in Peru during the Covid-19 pandemic, which has allowed entrepreneurs to have a global perspective by creating enterprises in the education sector with a vision of scaling up to the foreign market. These startups are startups known as edtech startups. In this context, this research aims to determine the factors involved in the internationalisation of startups. The qualitative approach was used with a cross-sectional design based on in-depth interviews with experts and founders of this ecosystem, and a group of founders shared a success story of two startups selected for convenience. Networking and financing. Through innovation, strategies are applied in the startup processes to retain the consumer and obtain high recognition; networking helps to have contacts in all target countries, easy access in the selected market and financing allows sustainability in the market. It is concluded that these most relevant factors cooperate in the entrepreneurial ecosystem achieving a business model with high innovation and technology focused on improving education and at the same time entering the international market.


Declines in Rana muscosa within the last ten years have been so severe that this species is threatened with extinction. The fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) has emerged as a major contributor to declines in the already small and fragmented populations of this species. Adults, juveniles and larvae continue to be found within affected populations from year to year, albeit in smaller numbers. The work presented within this dissertation asked whether immune responses could be enhanced against Bd and examined the effect of physiological factors on Bd prevalence and related mortality in R. muscosa in lab and field caught animals. I studied the possibility of protecting individuals against Bd using immunizations and examined the beneficial effects of sub-clinical Bd infections and survival between life stages. My work also included examining interactions between seasonal changes in endocrine function related to reproduction and prevalence of Bd. In laboratory studies I found that immunizations with killed Bd prior to live exposure in juvenile R. muscosa frogs was not protective. No difference in how quickly animals became infected nor in mortality between groups, was found. However, exposure to Bd during the larval stage, at sub-infectious doses, was protective in those same animals when re-exposed to Bd as sub-adults. This work provides two points for further investigation; infectious dose may be a determining factor in the pathogenesis of Bd and protective responses developed in larvae that are capable of resolving or building a memory response to infection with Bd. Within field populations of R. muscosa I detected seasonal fluctuations in Bd prevalence and the hormones involved in the stress and reproduction, corticosterone and testosterone. I found no association between either hormone and Bd prevalence within and between populations This finding refutes the immunocompetence handicap hypothesis claim that these two hormones are immunosuppressive in all vertebrates and that disease and breeding are positive correlated with each other The strongest predictors of infection prevalence and intensity were month and site of collection or population sampled. This supports work showing Bd is constrained by temperature within the environment but further suggests that factors unique to sites are important in modulating disease.


Background: Striae distensae (Stretch marks) are common cutaneous lesions that are characterised terminally by linear bands of atrophic skin. They run perpendicular to the direction of skin tension. The pathogenesis of striae remains unclear. The etiological mechanisms involved in striae are usually classified under the headings of genetic predisposition and the mechanical rupture of dermal components as an important initiating event. The estrogen and its receptors can play an important role in the pathogenesis of stretch marks despite their presence in the epidermis.
Patients and Methods: This study was carried out on 44 female patients complaining of stretch marks on different body parts. Punch skin biopsies were taken from striae distensae of the abdomen, thighs, breasts and buttocks. Immunohistochemical staining of these samples was done using estrogen receptor beta (ER-β). Results: The intensity of ER-β expression was significantly related with the site of the stretch marks (P=0.0124). The abdominal striae showed stronger staining and the buttocks showed the least expression of ER-β.
Conclusion: Using hormonal replacement therapy on the skin showing early stretch marks can be helpful as prophylactic and therapeutic modality for stretch marks.


We introduce a telematics-oriented event detection service, and programming framework supporting it, that enables application developers to more easily develop applications based on the sense-and-respond model. The system provides a rule-based programming model in which the application is partitioned in two parts: (1) a set of rules that operate on low-level position-update events and which, when triggered, produce high-level, application-defined events; and (2) logic that acts on the high-level events, which is deployed outside the event detection service, and typically within the environment of the enterprise deploying the rule. Programmers represent events of interest in the form of rules, which operate on both input received from the data acquisition systems as well as data resources provided and managed by the application programmers. Programmers declare the inputs the rules require, and the system is responsible for acquiring the inputs. A high-level programming framework assists programmers in defining the set of rules, and the actions that respond to events from the rules, and in deploying the rules to the system.


Digital food ordering platforms are used by millions across the world and provide easy access to takeaway fast-food that is broadly, though not exclusively, characterised as energy dense and nutrient poor. Outlets are routinely rated for hygiene, but not for their healthiness. Nutritional information is mandatory in pre-packaged foods, with many companies voluntarily using traffic light labels to support making healthier choices. We wanted to identify a feasible universal method to objectively score takeaway fast-food outlets listed on Just Eat that could provide users with an accessible rating that can infer an outlet's 'healthiness'. Using a sample of takeaway outlets listed on Just Eat, we obtained four complete assessments by nutrition researchers of each outlet's healthiness to create a cumulative score that ranged from 4 to 12. We then identified and manually extracted nutritional attributes from each outlet's digital menu, e.g., number of vegetables that have the potential to be numerated. Using generalized linear modelling we identified which attributes were linear predictors of an outlet's healthiness assessment from nutritional researchers. The availability of water, salad, and the diversity of vegetables were positively associated with academic researchers' assessment of an outlet's healthiness, whereas the availability of chips, desserts, and multiple meal sizes were negatively associated. This study shows promise for the feasibility of an objective measure of healthiness that could be applied to all outlet listings on Just Eat and other digital food outlet aggregation platforms. However, further research is required to assess the metric's validity, its desirability and value to users, and ultimately its potential influence on food choice behaviour.


The conceptual framework for quantitative marine ecology is attributable to Victor Hensen (1887), who proposed that quantitative studies of plant and animal production in the sea would permit predictions of annual fish yields. Hensen was strongly influenced by concurrent conceptual developments in agriculture, in which crop production was being predicted from knowledge of physiology and its relationship to environmental variables. As fish were being "harvested" by man, it was argued that relationships similar to agriculture existed between primary production and fish yield. Thus was born the notion that pelagic ecosystems were structured from the "bottom-up", or resource-limited. Subsequent refinements argued that, from basic knowledge of how vertical mixing regulates primary production, and assuming certain features of food-chain length and efficiency, one can estimate fish yields. Fundamental to these arguments are assumptions concerning resource limitation which appear to be uncertain as generic marine pelagic characteristics, primarily that trophic levels are nutrient/food limited and respond to increased resource availability by elevated standing stocks. Whereas this conceptual model explains certain features of energy flow, it fails to describe how marine pelagic foodwebs are structured and why they function as they do. Rather, it appears that certain taxa are better than others at integrating their environments and regulating the flux of materials through the foodweb, and that predation is as important as resource limitation. There appears to be a distinct need in pelagic research to focus on predation, not as a rate process so much as a mechanism responsible for organism behaviour, morphology, life history and community structure.


Chronic gray matter (GM) atrophy is a known consequence of moderate and severe traumatic brain injuries but has not been consistently shown in mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). The aim of this study was to investigate the longitudinal effect of uncomplicated mTBI on the brain's GM and white matter (WM) from 6 weeks to 12 months after injury. Voxel‐based‐morphometry (VBM) was computed with the T1‐weighted images of 48 uncomplicated mTBI patients and 37 orthopedic controls. Over the period from 6 weeks to 12 months, only patients who experienced uncomplicated mTBI, but not control participants, showed significant GM decrease predominantly in the right hemisphere along the GM‐CSF border in lateral and medial portions of the sensorimotor cortex extending into the rolandic operculum, middle frontal gyrus, insula, and temporal pole. Additionally, only mTBI patients, but not controls, experienced significant WM decrease predominantly in the right hemisphere in the superior fasciculus longitudinalis, arcuate fasciculus, and cortical‐pontine tracts as well as a significant WM increase in left arcuate fasciculus and left capsula extrema. We did not observe any significant change in the controls for the same time interval or any significant group differences in GM and WM probability at each of the two timepoints. This suggests that the changes along the brain tissue borders observed in the mTBI group represent a reorganization associated with subtle microscopical changes in intracortical myelin and not a direct degenerative process as a result of mTBI.


The effects of self-assembly on the hydrolysis kinetics of surfactants that contain ester bonds are discussed. A number of examples on how reaction rates and apparent reaction orders can be modulated by changes in the conditions, including an instance of apparent zero-order kinetics, are presented. Furthermore, it is shown that the examples on reaction kinetics display parallels and connections to important physicochemical aspects of surfactant aggregates, namely, the "reservoir function" of micelles and the fact that the headgroup region of micelles constitutes an aqueous environment largely distinct from the bulk solution. The examples presented can be used in teaching organic as well as physical chemistry. The text is written with the intention to be largely self-contained, in order to make it accessible for readers with different background experience.


An attempt was made in this study to determine the relationship between parenting styles, family types, personality dispositions and academic achievement of young people. 352 university students (144 males & 208 females) from single parent, monogamous and polygamous families responded to measures of parenting style and some personality variables and their scores on these variables and their academic performances were compared. It was hypothesized that: there would be significant and positive correlations between parenting styles and personality variables of self esteem, need for achievement, locus of control, sense of competence and academic achievement scores; that the personality variables would predict academic achievement of the participants; and that young people from families where authoritative parenting was practiced would report higher levels of the personality variables studied and obtain higher academic achievement The obtained results partially supported the hypotheses and identified type of family as the strongest predictor of academic achievement. The results also implicated authoritative parenting and single parent families in high academic achievement.


Chances are you know or have met someone affected by allergies or asthma. Asthma affects around 300 million people worldwide and caused around 400 thousand deaths in 2019. So what are we going to do about it? Let's look at your gut microbes. Scientists have discovered distinct differences between the microbes that live in the gut of healthy and asthmatic people. These microbes can influence the way your body functions in surprising ways. Let's look a little closer… To survive, these microbes make molecules from the food you eat, and we call these molecules, metabolites. These metabolites can travel from your gut into your blood and go throughout your body, where they can make it to your lungs. From here the metabolites can move out of your blood and into the cells that line the little air sacs where you breathe, and this is where my project is focused! I'm looking for specific metabolites that can act here to dampen allergic responses, which could lead to using these metabolites to improve the quality of life of those affected by allergic asthma!


In many organizations, selection of the project and activities related to the management of selected projects throughout their lifecycle are considered among the important activities. In a multi-project environment, rare resources play an important limiting role and the allocation of resources is a crucial factor in success. In the situation studied in this research, some projects should be chosen and implemented from among several projects available in Kish Island airport so that the greatest profit is obtained with respect to the limited resources. This study was conducted using the multi-criteria decision-making approach (MCDM). The structure of the multi-criteria decision-making approach is of importance for solving different types of problems in the fields related to project management, including the time when the project manager is faced with decision problem-solving and often several contradictory views, as a result of which managers can enhance their performance in controlling the project activities, especially in a dynamic and variable environment.


—Without any control mechanism, a wireless ad-hoc network is easily congested and the perceived quality of applications considerably deteriorates. Therefore, we need QoS control mechanisms to accommodate real-time multimedia application such as video conferencing, VoIP (Voice over IP), and remote monitoring while satisfying application QoS requirements. In this paper, we propose a new routing mechanism to support real-time multimedia communication by efficiently utilize the limited wireless network capacity. Our mechanism considers a wireless ad-hoc network composed of nodes equipped with multiple network interfaces to each of which a different wireless channel can be assigned. By embedding information about channel usage in control messages of OLSRv2, each node obtains a view of topology and bandwidth information of the whole network. Then, a source node determines a logical path on which application QoS requirements are satisfied. Through experiments on a simulator, our mechanism could achieve the packet delivery ratio of about 95% at the end-to-end delay of about 10 ms. In addition, real-time traffic was more evenly distributed over the whole network.


The growing decrease of traditional fuels leads to the development of a new energy model. Biomass poses as an energy alternative that can substitute fossil fuels. In this context, this work aims to study the necessities and possible solutions in biomass production for conventional energy systems in populated-industrial environments. The methodology applied evaluates the use of biomass by collecting both the integrity of the management process and the transformation of the existing resources to start up bioenergy plants for domestic and industrial markets. The results show both the energetical and environmental importance that biomass shows in said locations in terms of reducing Greenhouse Gasses (GHG) and the development of future environmentally sustainable systems through energy-renewable projects.


The initial seeding density plays a crucial role in determining the effectiveness of bone tissue regeneration utilising scaffold. One of the factors that influence cell osteoblast differentiation is cell seeding related factor. Therefore, this study aims to determine the effect of different initial seeding densities on the osteoblast performance of MC3T3-E1 cells in hydroxyapatite granular scaffold. MC3T3-E1 cells at different seeding density (5x10 5 and 1x10 6 cells/cm 2 ) were cultured in the 2-dimensional flask and 3-dimensional hydroxyapatite scaffold. Cells in both cultures were analysed in term of morphology using CellB software while biochemical activity was assessed using Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) assay. MC3T3-E1 showed a mononucleated, fibroblast-like shape cell with extended cytoplasmic projection. Cell seeding density of 1x10 6 cells/cm 2 reached 90% confluency while 5x10 5 cells/cm 2 reached 70% confluency on day six of culture. Variations in cell seeding density significantly influenced the cell osteodifferentiation. During 2-Dimensional osteoblast differentiation, lower initial seeding density resulted in higher ALP activity. However, cells were seeded on hydroxyapatite scaffold, by increasing the seeding density from 5x10 5 to 1x10 6 cells/cm 2 resulted in decreased of ALP activity. This study has shown that the seeded cell population in the 3-dimensional hydroxyapatite scaffolds clearly affected the degree of osteoblast cell differentiation in which a higher seeding density was not necessarily better. The seeding density played a major role in influencing the corresponding cell differentiation. Keywords: Seeding density; osteoblast; Granumas®; alkaline phosphatase


The government has introduced a framework for clinical governance as a means to promote high quality services for patients. Caroline Dowsett discusses the importance of adopting a positive approach to clinical governance within pressure ulcer management.


This paper presents an architecture of an on-line diagnosis system for manufacturing organization management. This diagnosis system consists of five component parts: a model base, a rule base, a diagnosis unit, and two interfaces. The functions of each part in this diagnosis system are described. An example about quality diagnosis in production management is given at the end of this paper.<<ETX>>


The beta-subunit of the insulin receptor possesses a tyrosine-specific protein kinase activity which may play a role in coupling insulin binding to insulin action. Previously, we have identified a substrate for the receptor-associated protein kinase in a cell-free system. This endogenous substrate (pp120), which appeared to be a glycoprotein with an apparent mol wt of 120,000, was detected in rat liver microsomes. In the present work, we have demonstrated that pp120 is localized to a highly purified preparation of rat liver plasma membranes (Neville preparation). Moreover, pp120 appears to be specific to liver, having been detected in liver from rat, monkey, and rabbit, but not in rat brain, skeletal muscle, heart, kidney, or adipocytes. As a preliminary to addressing the question of whether insulin stimulates phosphorylation of pp120 in intact cells, we have sought to identify tissue culture cell lines that contain both insulin receptors and pp120. We have succeeded in identifying pp120 in two cell lines derived from rat liver: 1) H35 hepatoma cells (Reuber hepatoma) and 2) rat hepatocytes transformed with a temperature-sensitive mutant form of SV-40 (cultivated at both permissive and nonpermissive temperatures). In conclusion, pp120 appears to be a liver-specific plasma membrane glycoprotein which serves as a substrate for phosphorylation by the insulin receptor-associated protein kinase in a soluble cell-free system. The presence of pp120 in cultured cell lines will facilitate investigation of whether the phosphorylation of pp120 in intact cells is physiologically regulated in response to insulin.


Photoacoustic imaging (PAI) is a new nonionizing, noninvasive biomedical imaging technology that has been employed to reconstruct the light absorption characteristics of biological tissues. The latest developments in compressed sensing (CS) technology have shown that it is possible to accurately reconstruct PAI images from sparse data, which can greatly reduce scanning time. This study focuses on the comparative analysis of different CS-based total variation regularization reconstruction algorithms, aimed at finding a method suitable for PAI image reconstruction. The performance of four total variation regularization algorithms is evaluated through the reconstruction experiment of sparse numerical simulation signal and agar phantom signal data. The evaluation parameters include the signal-to-noise ratio and normalized mean absolute error of the PAI image and the CPU time. The comparative results demonstrate that the TVAL3 algorithm can well balance the quality and efficiency of the reconstruction. The results of this study can provide some useful guidance for the development of the PAI sparse reconstruction algorithm.


Donor milk has been used to successfully treat a number of medical conditions in infants. This article highlights 3 such success stories describing the use of human milk in cases of velocardiofacial syndrome, very-low-birth weight, and failure to thrive. In 2002, more than 300 infants and young children and 15 adults received donor milk from 6 milk banks in the United States and 1 milk bank in Canada. Donor milk is often used to ensure optimal outcomes in full term or preterm infants until their own mother's milk volume is sufficient to meet their needs. However, human milk may be a lifesaving therapy for infants and young children with unusual medical conditions. J Hum Lact. 20(1):75-77.


This paper introduces a novel filter bank structure called the perfect reconstruction circular convolution (PRCC) filter bank. These filters satisfy the perfect reconstruction properties, namely, the paraunitary conditions, in the discrete frequency domain. The development of the PRCC framework has been motivated by the need for an efficient, invertible algorithm for the implementation of the discrete wavelet transform (DWT) based on bandlimited scaling functions and wavelets. As a motivation, we show how bandlimited scaling functions arise naturally in the context of interpolation and approximation sampling systems with the filters matched to the input process. Next, we show how the PRCC filter bank framework serves as a basis for a frequency sampled implementation of DWT based on bandlimited scaling functions and wavelets, and in general, of matched filters in the above sampling systems. Finally, we present simulation results using the PRCC framework which verify that the matched interpolating function gives the smallest mean squared error between the input and the reconstructed signal, as compared to other interpolating functions.


Renal fibrosis is a critical event in the progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD) to end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Unfortunately, there are few options to target renal fibrosis in order to develop novel anti-fibrotic agents that could prevent CKD progression to ESRD. We evaluated the efficacy of a novel dual-acting molecule, DM509, in preventing renal fibrosis using the unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) renal fibrosis mouse model. DM509 acts simultaneously as a farnesoid X receptor agonist (FXRA) and a soluble epoxide hydrolase inhibitor (sEHi). In this study, groups of 8-12 weeks old C57BL/6J male mice went through either UUO or sham surgery (n=6/group). Mice were pre-treated with DM509 (10mg/kg/d) or vehicle administered in drinking water one day prior to the UUO surgery. Sham, vehicle and DM509 treatments continued until day 10 and blood and kidney tissue were collected for biochemical, histological, and gene expression analysis at the end of the treatment protocol. The UUO group exhibited kidney dysfunction with elevated blood urea nitrogen (BUN) compared to the sham group (63±7 vs. 34±6 mg/dL). DM509 treatment prevented renal dysfunction as evident from 36% lower BUN level in the DM509 treated UUO mice compared to UUO mice treated with vehicle. Vehicle treated UUO mice demonstrated renal fibrosis with elevated kidney hydroxyproline content (213±11 vs. 49±9 μg/mg protein) and kidney collagen positive area (13±2% vs. 1.1±0.1%) compared to the sham group. We found that DM509 treatment prevented renal fibrosis and DM509 treated mice had 34-66% lower levels of kidney hydroxyproline and collagen positive renal area compared to vehicle-treated UUO mice. In conclusion, our data provide evidence that the novel dual-acting FXRA and a sEHi, DM509, prevented renal dysfunction and renal fibrosis in UUO mouse model.


This piece, a fictional conversation with the character of Domitius Enobarbus from Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra , was inspired by Massimo Guarascio, Professor of Engineering at Sapienza University of Rome and Director of the IV-V Michelangelo Workshop on "Mediterranean Bridging and Changing: the Role of Students, Schools and Professionals", organized with the support of the Engineering Associations of Mediterranean Countries (13-15 October 2016). The piece was enacted as a performance in the cultural session of the conference, with Guarascio playing Enobarbus as a phantasmatic character, and Rosy Colombo and Alessandro Roccati respectively in their real-life professional roles as Professors of English literature and Egyptian studies. The script deals with the conscious fashioning of the Roman empire after the model of sophistication that was Egyptian culture and the ways in which the Rome-Egypt connection was explored and re-signified by Shakespeare. It is newly edited by its co-authors and printed here as a contribution to the theme of Shakespeare's Rome, to which the forthcoming no. 4 of Memoria di Shakespeare. A Journal of Shakespearean Studies  will be devoted, with particular reference to Antony and Cleopatra . Keywords : Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra , fictional interview, ancient Egypt and Rome, cultural transfer, Alexandria, Rome, London


Six serum enzymes, alkaline phosphatase, cholinesterase, lactate dehydrogenase, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase were studied in 30 cases of protein energy malnutrition (PEM). The mean serum values of alkaline phosphatase, cholinesterase and lactate dehydrogenase in cases of PEM were significantly lower than the controls, lowering being maximum in PEM Grade IV. The mean serum values of aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase in patients with PEM were significantly higher than the controls. The mean serum values of gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase showed similar significant rise in all but PEM Grade IV. The degree of increase in the serum values of these three enzymes were maximum in cases with PEM Grade I. These findings suggest that abnormalities in blood levels of these enzymes occur in any form of PEM and these are related to the severity of the disease.


In-situ plasma spraying (IPS) is a promising process to fabricate composite coatings with in-situ formed thermodynamically stable phases. In the present study, mechanically alloyed Al–12Si and SiO2 powder was deposited onto an aluminum substrate by atmospheric plasma spraying (APS) to obtain a composite coating consist of in-situ formed alumina reinforced hypereutectic Al-18Si matrix alloy. The effect of arc current on the corrosion behavior of the composite coating has been investigated. Corrosion resistance of the composite coatings was analyzed by using the potentiodynamic polarization scanning (PDS) technique. Surface morphology of the coatings before and after the corrosion test was examined by using metallographic methods and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Obtained results are discussed in detail.


The development of novel hardware computing systems and methods has been a topic of increased interest for researchers worldwide. New materials, devices, and architectures are being explored as a means to deliver more efficient solutions to contemporary issues. Along with the advancement of technology, there is a continuous increase in methods available to address significant challenges. However, the increased needs to be fulfilled have also led to problems of increasing complexity that require better and faster computing and processing capabilities. Moreover, there is a wide range of problems in several applications that cannot be addressed using the currently available methods and tools. As a consequence, the need for emerging and more efficient computing methods is of utmost importance and constitutes a topic of active research. Among several proposed solutions, we distinguish the development of a novel nanoelectronic device, called a "memristor", that can be utilized both for storing and processing, and thus it has emerged as a promising circuit element for the design of compact and energy-efficient circuits and systems. The memristor has been proposed for a wide range of applications. However, in this work, we focus on its use in computing architectures based on the concept of Cellular Automata. The combination of the memristor's performance characteristics with Cellular Automata has boosted further the concept of processing and storing information on the same physical units of a system, which has been extensively studied in the literature as it provides a very good candidate for the implementation of Cellular Automata computing with increased potential and improved characteristics, compared to traditional hardware implementations. In this context, this paper reviews the most recent advancements toward the development of Cellular-Automata-based computing coupled with memristor devices. Several approaches for the design of such novel architectures, called "Memristive Cellular Automata", exist in the literature. This extensive review provides a thorough insight into the most important developments so far, helping the reader to grasp all the necessary information, which is here presented in an organized and structured manner. Thus, this article aims to pave the way for further development in the field and to bring attention to technological aspects that require further investigation.


Tice, Karen W. Queens of Academe: Beauty Pageantry, Student Bodies, and College Life. New York : Oxford University Press, 2012. xi + 246 pages. Cloth, $24.95. One would be hard-pressed to find a phenomenon that better exemplifies the effects of class, race, sex, gender, religion or ethnicity on campus life than a beauty pageant. A cursory analysis of the present volume from gender studies specialist Karen W. Tice quickly reveals that a large proportion of its content is drawn from experiences at historically black colleges and universities. This provides the all-important and often neglected dimension of cultural comparison to this work. The norms established by dominant social groups in any society are obscured until they are held up to comparison with subordinate groups. Beauty has long been a path of upward mobility for women, so college beauty pageantry could be a manifestation of college women's consciousness of this path to higher social ground. Thus the standards of etiquette and fashion that have been prevalent in pageantry are derived directly from the middle classes' perceptions of the upper classes to which they aspire. Ironically, members of the upper class regard overt display of these social features as signs of striving and therefore declasse. So, as the present volume points out, Harvard and Yale "do not feature pageants for women (but) hold all-male pageants..." that lampoon pageantry but outdraw audiences of all but the most ardent pageant-sponsoring campuses (p. 95). As late as 1950, Miss America contestants had to certify that they were members of the white race. African-American, Native American, Latina, and Asian-American women were barred from beauty pageants, even those on college campuses. A rare glimpse into a more diverse future was offered by the University of Hawaii, where in 1938 the Miss Ka Palapala pageant began giving members of six ethnic groups the chance to participate in "a beautiful harmony...of the spectrum of the rainbow" (p. 33). The special case of African-Americans in American history is reflected in many of the traditions attached to beauty pageantry, not the least telling of which is the ideal of "the strong black woman." This "syndrome," Tice points out, makes the apparently laudatory claim of strength, but also serves to rationalize the great burdens, struggles, and suffering that black women are expected to bear. Because of their historical role in affirming traditional gender norms, campus beauty pageants have become a platform for promoting post-modern gender constructions, which deconstruct naturalized gender identities. …


Traditional medicine continues to play an essential role in the healthcare systems of many cultures. In some Asian and African countries up to 80% of the population depend on these ancient and culturally based medicinal practices for their primary healthcare needs. Plants and their derived natural products are frequently employed as traditional medicine and such plants are viewed as attractive targets for the discovery of novel therapeutic agents in natural product investigations. A variety of useful drugs has been discovered following the investigation of traditional herbs, such as morphine (analgesic), digitoxin (cariotonic) and ephedrine (sympathomimetic). These ethnopharmacology approaches to drug discovery are based on the premise that plants used as traditional medicines have shown some form of bioactivity and have the increased likelihood of containing bioactive compounds in comparison to plants selected at random. Three systems of traditional medicine that are relevant to Australian drug discovery researchers include the Chinese, Australian Aboriginal and Indonesian systems.


Chemical cross-linked poly(vinyl alcohol-co-ethylene) (EVOH) nanofiber aerogels (NFAs) were fabricated employing an economical and facile freeze-drying process. The manufactured chemical cross-linking nanofiber aerogel was successfully confirmed by scanning electron microscopy, attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectrometer, and X-ray diffraction. The resulting aerogels showed high porosity (>99%), superior elasticity, elastic durability, high hydrophobicity, and superoleophilicity without any other hydrophobic modification. The cross-linked EVOH NFAs exhibited excellent absorption capacity (ranging from 45 to 102 times their own weight) when exposed to various oils and organic solvents, which was observed to be higher than that for most sorbents reported in the literature. Consequently, it is envisaged that the cross-linked EVOH NFA would play an important role in many fields of pollution removal.


The most common model for asset pricing (CAPM) is problematic and does not match the reality. In this article, I introduce a theoretical framework for a new model which aims at avoiding the problems of CAPM and keeping its advantages, therefore allowing universality of asset pricing. The model is built on the economic principles, using a budget constraint and a Risk Appetite (RA) function. It is based on the micro-economic decision model, involving an expected value and dividing a stock price to objective and subjective prices. As a result, rational based individuals, just like individuals with non-rational factors, may use the model to calculate a future price stock in exactly the same way.


A comparative study as carried out between skin-fold thickness tests and bioelectric impedance analysis (BIA) to assess the validity of the latter as a method for evaluating body composition in childhood and youth. The percentage values of total body fat obtained using both methods in 117 boys and girls aged between 8 and 14 appear to be significantly correlated (p less than 0.01) in both sexes (males: r = 0.891; females: r = 0.830) and in each group of subjects subdivided according to stage of puberal development (8-11 years: r = 0.905; 12-14 years: r = 0.864) or the degree of physical activity performed (active: r = 0.880; sedentary: r = 0.915). The results of the study confirm that BIA represents a valid and reliable method to analyse body composition even during circumpuberal development in phase opposition. Moreover, BIA provides an estimate of total body fat which is independent of the differences in distribution between surface and deep deposits.


The restructuring forced on many healthcare organizations today increases employees' stress and threatens their loyalty and productivity. To restore trust and improve morale, and maintain hope, healthcare leaders can implement six strategies: Clearly communicate decisions that affect employees, using verbal and written methods, and show compassion to displaced workers and acknowledge their contributions. Support remaining employees. Tell them why they survived and provide them with new challenges. Allow employees to participate in developing a shared vision of the organization's future. Empower employees by rewarding their accomplishments appropriately. Workers perform better when they develop their "personal power" and believe they are part of a team facing new challenges. Focus on learning and professional growth. New knowledge sparks workers' imaginations and helps them find better ways to accomplish their goals. Ask employees to reflect on their professional legacies-what they wish to be remembered for.


ABSTRACT Piperine, a trans-trans isomer of 1-piperoyl-piperidine, in combination with ciprofloxacin markedly reduced the MICs and mutation prevention concentration of ciprofloxacin for Staphylococcus aureus, including methicillin-resistant S. aureus. The enhanced accumulation and decreased efflux of ethidium bromide in the wild-type and mutant (CIPr-1) strains in the presence of piperine suggest its involvement in the inhibition of bacterial efflux pumps.


With help of music semiology, it's possible to interpret the
syntax of music and the process of structuring a musical work;
semiology thus becomes part of music theory. Semiology (at
least as a music-oriented pragmatic system) can be an
inspiration to music sociology, historiography,
ethnomusicology. Not even the emancipatory tendencies of the
last few decades have deprived semiology of its links to
aesthetics. It is still true that questions of signs and
meanings in music is one of the key problems of music
aesthetics. Its study offers three possible approaches with, of
course, a range of varieties and cross-currents. The most
radical approach denies that music carries any sign, or even a
communicative status. A second approach, let's call it
"non-semiotic formalism", connects the meaning of a work with
the way it is structured and modelled at all levels. The third
approach acknowledges that music is a sign structure of its own
kind and that musical signs have specific meanings.


a Clinic of Anesthesiology and Reanimation, Kartal Koşuyolu High Speciality Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey b Clinic of Cardiovascular Surgery, Siyami Ersek Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey c Clinic of Pediatric Cardiology, Kartal Koşuyolu High Speciality Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey d Clinic of Anesthesiology and Reanimation, Trabzon Kanuni Cardiovascular Research and Training Hospital, Trabzon, Turkey e Clinic of Anesthesiology and Reanimation, Şanlıurfa Training and Research Hospital, Şanlıurfa, Turkey


The Polish taxation system has been undergoing substantial changes in recent years, aimed at creating a more transparent system and conforming to the taxation standards of market economy countries. The two most important changes were introduction of the personal income tax (PIT) in 1992 and replacement of the turnover tax with the value added tax (VAT) in 1993. The uniform personal income tax covered all incomes generated by natural persons irrespective of where the sources of income are located. The reform provided also a more equitable distribution of the tax burden by introducing a progressive system with three nominal tax rates (in 1992–20%, 30%, 40%). A comparative study of the effective PIT rate for pensioners and other groups of PIT payers is the main goal of this paper. The study refers to our own research on data received from The information of Polish Ministry of Finance about accounting of PIT in several subsequent years. Statistics cover a period from 1993 to 2003. However, numbers of taxpayers refer also to year 1992 when the PIT has been established and a period from 2004 to 2006. Concluding the situation in Poland, taxpayers with the highest income make exhaustive use of tax reductions. There are occurring situations when well-off people benefit more than people with relatively minor income (e. g. pensioners). It happens even if most of deductions were aimed generally at all taxpayers. Such a situation reduces the impression of the system fairness. Because tax deductions reduce budgetary revenues, the foregone revenues have to be compensated by other taxes or / and higher rates. Therefore, the system of deductions and relief, on the one hand, supports the special gains (e. g. house building), however, on the other it generates costs. It is possible that the reduction of tax rate for the I tax bracket and removal of some tax exemptions and deductions would make the Polish personal income tax more transparent, equal and simple.


ABSTRACT Background Avoidance of allergens is one of the most effective treatments of allergenic diseases, including pollinosis. Although various masks and goggles for pollinosis sufferers are commercially available, little work has been done on preventing adhesion of pollen to the human body and clothes. We have examined the effect of polymer coating on adhesion of cedar pollen to skin, hair and fabrics, and found that a lecithin polymer (LP), containing both cationic and anionic sites, is highly effective in reducing adhesion levels. Methods We evaluated the changes in electrostatic charge and frictional coefficient of sample surfaces after coating with an anionic polymer (AP), a cationic polymer (CP), a nonionic polymer (NIP), or LP (each applied by spraying 0.10% polymer solution in ethanol/water). Pollen adhesion level was evaluated by observation of the number of cedar pollen particles on video microscope (VMS) images and by quantification of cedar pollen antigen Cry j1 with a sandwich ELISA system. Adhesion of pollen to human skin or hair was also examined by VMS observation. Results LP-coated samples showed a significant reduction in electrostatic charge level and frictional coefficient. We presumed that these properties are closely related to the significant reduction in the adhesion level of cedar pollen or Cry j1 compared with CP, AP or NIP-coated samples. A similar effect was seen on LP-treated skin, and LP-treated waxed hair. Conclusions Our results suggest that coating with LP could help in the management of pollinosis by reducing the contact level of patients with cedar pollen antigens.


Theiler's virus, a picornavirus, persists for life in the central nervous system of mouse and causes a demyelinating disease that is a model for multiple sclerosis. The virus infects neurons first but persists in white matter glial cells, mainly oligodendrocytes and macrophages. The mechanism, by which the virus traffics from neurons to glial cells, and the respective roles of oligodendrocytes and macrophages in persistence are poorly understood. We took advantage of our previous finding that the shiverer mouse, a mutant with a deletion in the myelin basic protein gene (Mbp), is resistant to persistent infection to examine the role of myelin in persistence. Using immune chimeras, we show that resistance is not mediated by immune responses or by an efficient recruitment of inflammatory cells into the central nervous system. With both in vivo and in vitro experiments, we show that the mutation does not impair the permissiveness of neurons, oligodendrocytes, and macrophages to the virus. We demonstrate that viral antigens are present in cytoplasmic channels of myelin during persistent infection of wild-type mice. Using the optic nerve as a model, we show that the virus traffics from the axons of retinal ganglion cells to the cytoplasmic channels of myelin, and that this traffic is impaired by the shiverer mutation. These results uncover an unsuspected axon to myelin traffic of Theiler's virus and the essential role played by the infection of myelin/oligodendrocyte in persistence.


Enzyme albumin conjugates have been proposed as a means of increasing the efficacy of enzyme use in vivo and decreasing immune response to the enzyme. Particulate drug carriers, however, have a pronounced tendency to localize in the mononuclear phagocyte (reticuloendothelial) system. We have examined in mice the effect on phagocytic index, tissue distribution and organ size of continued administration of conjugates of alpha-glucosidase with either homologous or heterologous albumin. Mice received 10 X 2-mg injections of bovine serum albumin (BSA) or mouse serum albumin (MSA), either free, polymerized or conjugated with alpha-glucosidase. Experiments involving BSA had to be terminated before the end of the experiment because of anaphylaxis, but these reactions were less severe to the polymerized albumin than to free albumin. Free BSA, BSA polymer and BSA-enzyme conjugates all caused a decrease in phagocytic index after six injections. Mice receiving MSA showed no evidence of anaphylaxis, but mice receiving six or more injections of free MSA, MSA polymer or MSA-enzyme conjugate had significantly decreased phagocytic indices as compared to controls. Phagocytic indices had returned to normal by 7 days after the final injection. Tissue distribution of 125-I-labeled albumin preparations was determined in either naive or chronically injected mice.


Background Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors are very rare. The aim of this study was to assess the survival rate in patients with functioning or non-functional pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. Methods The data for 49 patients with pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors who were treated at a single institution from January 2004 to December 2010 were analyzed retrospectively with regard to short-term and long-term outcomes, as well as predictive factors for survival and prognosis. Overall survival was evaluated using the Kaplan–Meier method. Cox regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with the prognosis in a multivariate analysis. Results Patients' median age at diagnosis was 59 years (range 17–83 years). Nine lesions (19%) were functioning tumors and 40 (81%) were non-functional. The 5-year survival rate was 85.5%. Among patients who underwent potentially curative resection, tumor stage (P=0.001), pathological classification (P=0.03) and presence of liver metastases (P=0.003), as well as the resection margin, were significant prognostic factors. Conclusions Surgical resection should be attempted and should play a central role in the therapeutic approach to patients with neuroendocrine tumors. The important aspect is early diagnosis, which makes it possible to carry out radical surgery before the tumor has metastasized.


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY THE ACCOUNTING PROFESSIONALS INTERVIEWED for this article were positive about some Sarbanes-Oxley requirements, saying management's reporting on and the external auditor's attestation to the internal controls are good ideas. They advocated audit committees' hiring CPAs because it could reduce the pressure on audit fees and lead to better-quality audits. All agreed that having top management certify it had reviewed the quarterly and annual reports would force it to become more engaged in the financial reporting process. All believed the legislation would have a positive impact, but would not be a panacea. Their concerns included * DOCUMENTATION COSTS AND ATTESTATION FEES, which will be substantial. There was apprehension about preparing internal control attestation reports; no widely recognized standards to do so currently exist. * FEARS THAT SMALL, PUBLICLY LISTED COMPANIES might not meet internal control reporting requirements without substantial additional expense; some may have to delist because of it. It could mean only larger companies will go public. * AUDITORS' QUALMS ABOUT POSSIBLE MARKETPLACE reaction to their small, publicly listed clients whose financial statements can be "signed off on" based on substantive testing, but which had adverse attestations on their internal control structure. * THE "CASCADE" EFFECT, which might mean having as many as 54 different sets of laws for nonlisted companies. * THE ACCOUNTING PROFESSION'S IMAGE, which has suffered unjustly because of the wrongdoings of a few. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 has ushered in the most sweeping changes in the accounting profession since the Securities Acts of 1933 and 1934. In order to gain insight into how this act will affect external auditors and corporate managers, we interviewed 10 people from public accounting, corporate management, the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) and the AICPA. They expressed their opinions on management's and the auditor's assessment of internal controls; requiring management to certify the financial statements; the setting of auditing standards; the "cascade" effect; the implications of audit committees' hiring CPA firms, CEOs' certifying reports, the systematization of Sarbanes-Oxley regulations and the act's impact on financial reporting and on the accounting profession. ASSESSMENT OF INTERNAL CONTROLS Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires each issuer's annual report to include an "internal control report which shall ... contain an assessment, as of the end of the most recent fiscal year of the issuer, of the effectiveness of the internal control structure and procedures of the issuer for financial reporting." In addition, section 404 requires each issuer's auditor to attest to and report on management's internal control assessment. When asked about management's requirement to assess internal controls, the interviewees were unanimous in agreeing this was a good idea. They believed this requirement would increase management's knowledge and concern about the quality of its internal control structure, thus sending significant signals that management takes such controls very seriously. All interviewees believed the new internal control reporting requirement would cause significant increases in external auditing costs. Such expenses would result from the requirement that external auditors must attest to and report on the internal control assessment made by the management of the issuer. Ken Peterson, partner and professional practice director for the Lake Michigan area office of Ernst & Young LLP, said, "The consideration of internal controls has been a tool used in planning the audit, but now internal controls will be an objective of the audit." John Fogarty, partner and director of auditing policies, procedures and methodologies in the United States and globally of Deloitte & Touche, member of the AICPA auditing standards board and technical adviser on the international auditing and assurance standards board, said: "The internal control report will be very expensive. …


This paper extends the admission control algorithm for book-ahead and instantaneous-request calls proposed by Greenberg, Srikant and Whitt (1997) to cover multiple classes of instantaneous-request calls, each with their own traffic characteristics and their own performance requirements. As before, book-ahead calls specify their starting and finishing times, and are assumed to book far ahead relative to the holding times of the instantaneous-request calls. The book-ahead calls may be constrained by an upper-limit on the capacity that can be reserved for them. Instantaneous-request calls are admitted if the probability of interruption (or some other form of service degradation in response to the conflict) for that call is below a threshold, but now this threshold can be class-dependent, and now the interrupt probability is calculated by a normal approximation based on the central limit theorem. Simulation experiments show that the normal approximation performs as well as the previous detailed calculation in single-class examples, and that the normal approximation can be applied to multi-class examples.


Aim: To study long-term effects of dietary patterns on dementia and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Methods: Of 525 subjects randomly selected from population-based cohorts surveyed at midlife, a total of 385 (73%) subjects were re-examined 14 years later in the CAIDE study. A healthy-diet index (range 0–17) was constructed including both healthy and unhealthy dietary components. Results: Persons with a healthy diet (healthy-diet index >8 points) had a decreased risk of dementia (OR 0.12, 95% CI 0.02–0.85) and AD (OR 0.08, 95% CI 0.01–0.89) compared with persons with an unhealthy diet (0–8 points), adjusting for several possible confounders. Conclusions: Healthy diet at midlife is associated with a decreased risk of dementia/AD in late life. These findings highlight the importance of dietary patterns and may make more effective measures for dementia/AD prevention or postponement possible.


Background: There was joint pain that frequently happens by the elderly, which was joint pain. One of actions to abate the joint pain was compress with warm ginger.Objectives: The aims of this research were to identify the effect of warm ginger compress towards joint pain of the elderly at UPT Panti Werdha Mojopahit, Mojokerto District.Method: Design of this research was Pre-Experiment with Type of one group pre-test-post test design. Population of this research was whole of elderly who undergoes joint pain at UPT Panti Werdha Mojopahit Mojokerto district. Technique that used to take sample in this research was purposive sampling with 20 respondents. Data collecting was done before and after warm ginger compress was given use pain scale instrument PAINAD with 1-10 scale. The researcher used Wilcoxon statistic test with value of α=0, 05 to analyze the data.Results: The result of this research wasgained before carried out by warm ginger compress with advance pain scale of 6 respondents (30%), and intermediate pain scale of 10 respondents (50%). After the warm ginger compress was done by 8 respondents (40%) with light pain scale and 11 respondents (55%) with intermediate pain. Data analyzing used statistic test with Wilcoxon P value test 0,003 (α˂ 0, 05). It showed that warm ginger compress effective towards joint pain of the elderly.Conclusion: Looking at the result above shows that warm ginger compress can be created as one of alternative choices to decrease joint pain intensity of the elderly, because this non-pharmacologist treatment uses easy to be obtained ingredient and there is no side effect for the elderly.Key words: Joint Pain, Warm Ginger Compress, Elderly.


A series of new and generally applicable routes to silylaziridines containing a silyl group in the 2-position has been developed with a view to examining the chemical reactivity of such species. Ring opening reactions, ring preserving reactions and fluorodesilylation reactions have been examined in detail. The study also includes an examination of the conjugate addition reactions of some vinylsilanes.

Three new routes to silylaziridines are presented, these are summarized below.

1. The thermal reaction between phenyl azide and functionalized vinylsilanes. This reaction proceeds via an intermediate triazoline and was used to prepare silylaziridines with an N-phenyl and an α-carbomethoxy substituent. Different 2-silyl groups were introduced by this method: triethylsilyl and dimethylphenylsilyl.

2. The lithium aluminium hydride reduction of bromoazides derived firom vinylsilanes. This route was used to prepare N-unsubstituted aziridines, in some cases stereoselectively. Two methods were employed to prepare the bromoazides, one using an aqueous N-bromosuccinimide/sodium azide as an in situ bromine azide source, and another using bromine azide generated from bromine and sodium azide in dichloromethane.

3. The photolysis of ethyl or methyl azidoformate in the presence of vinylsilanes. This reaction proceeds via a nitrene intermediate and was used to prepare several substituted silylaziridines.

All of the aziridines were subjected to reactions with electrophilic agents including hydrogen halides, trimethylsilyl halides, trifluoroacetic acid, and the triflates; trifluoromethanesulphonic acid, methyl trifluoromethanesulphonic acid and trimethylsilyl trifluoromethanesulphonic acid with a view to comparing their chemistry from a global perspective. Mainly products of ring opening were observed, however, a richer chemistry is displayed by the more functionalized silylaziridines, i.e., those containing a 1-phenyl and a 2-carboethoxy substituent, where an enamine (trifluoromethanesulphonic acid), an aziridinium salt (trimethylsilyl trifluoromethanesulphonic acid) were produced. Some structure-activity relationships have been drawn.

A study was conducted to find suitable conditions for the fluorodesilylation of silylaziridines. It was found that only silylaziridines that contained activating substituents could be desilylated. Silylaziridines having an N-phenyl and an α-carbomethoxy substituent were active in desilylation reactions, but, only when the silyl group contained a phenyl group (dimethylphenylsilyl) could electrophiles be trapped. Benzaldehyde and hexanal were active reagents in this respect, however, other aldehydes, or ketones could not be trapped. A mechanism involving the aziridinyl anion and the fluorosilane as a loosely associated ion pair is proposed on the basis of the results obtained.

The study also includes an examination of the conjugate addition reactions of some vinylsilanes. α-Lithiovinyltrimethylsilane reacts with ethyl chloroformate, ethyl acetate, acetic anhydride and dimethylcarbamyl chloride to produce α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds which act as Michael acceptors to the starting material, α-lithiovinyltrimethylsilane. The fate of the resultant enolate is dependant on the properties of the enolate and the electrophile.


This highly original book provides an engaging and critical introduction to the knowledge economy. The knowledge economy is a potent force pervading global and national policy circles. Yet few people outside the field of economics understand its central ideas and practices. This book makes these accessible. But it does much more. It provokes 'conversations' between the knowledge economy and those marginalized economies that haunt it: the risk, gift, libidinal and survival economies. These illuminate the knowledge economy's shortcomings and point to alternative possible systems of exchange and sets of values. This multi-disciplinary study takes the knowledge economy out of the hands of the economists and brings it into creative tension with the ideas of key thinkers from sociology, anthropology, philosophy and ecology. Illustrating the benefits of conversing with the ghosts of alternative economies, this provocative book will unsettle the way in which the knowledge economy is understood. Groundbreaking and globally applicable, it has been authored by internationally respected authors and its conceptual breadth pertains to a range of disciplines and gives it its wide appeal.


The accuracy of stereo matching has been greatly improved by using deep learning with convolutional neural networks. To further capture the details of disparity maps, in this paper, we propose a novel semantic stereo network named SSPCV-Net, which includes newly designed pyramid cost volumes for describing semantic and spatial information on multiple levels. The semantic features are inferred by a semantic segmentation subnetwork while the spatial features are derived by hierarchical spatial pooling. In the end, we design a 3D multi-cost aggregation module to integrate the extracted multilevel features and perform regression for accurate disparity maps. We conduct comprehensive experiments and comparisons with some recent stereo matching networks on Scene Flow, KITTI 2015 and 2012, and Cityscapes benchmark datasets, and the results show that the proposed SSPCV-Net significantly promotes the state-of-the-art stereo-matching performance.


A thermophilic, strictly anaerobic, sulfur-reducing epsilonproteobacterium (strain AmH(T)) isolated from deep-sea hydrothermal vents is described. Cells were motile, Gram-negative rods. Growth was observed at 30-55 degrees C, pH 6.0-9.0 and 2-5 % (w/v) NaCl. Chemolithoautotrophic growth occurred with molecular hydrogen or formate as the electron donor and elemental sulfur as the electron acceptor, producing hydrogen sulfide. Heterotrophic and mixotrophic growth occurred with formate as a source of carbon. The dominant phospholipid fatty acids were C(18 : 1)omega7c (73.26 % of the total), C(16 : 1)omega7c (12.70 %) and C(16 : 0) (12.27 %). The genomic DNA G+C content was 33.5 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences placed strain AmH(T) within the family Nautiliaceae of the Epsilonproteobacteria. DNA-DNA hybridization experiments between strain AmH(T) and Nautilia lithotrophica DSM 13520(T) revealed a level of relatedness of 34.6 % between the two strains. Based on physiological and phylogenetic characteristics, strain AmH(T) is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Nautilia, for which the name Nautilia profundicola sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is AmH(T) (=ATCC BAA-1463(T) =DSM 18972(T)).


Gain a better understanding of human behavior by exploring thought experiments in Shakespearean plays and the historical roots of experimental psychology within early modern literature. This book combines scientific psychology with English literature to discuss thought experiments in selected Shakespeare plays and examine the central role of thought experiments in the natural sciences. Thought experiments are essential for progress in scientific research. Indeed, Albert Einstein and a number of other leading scientists relied almost exclusively on thought experiments. Thought experiments also play a pivotal role in English literature, particularly in Shakespeare plays. By focussing on thought experiments and experimental psychology's place within early modern English literature, the volume establishes a more wholistic approach to understanding human behavior.


Bryophytes were diverse, primitive non vascular amphibious taxa distributed worldwide and form the second largest category of plants. Bryophytes synthesize an array of phytochemicals to combat against the unhospitable environmental conditions including predation, UV radiation, high temperature and pest and pathogens. The present investigation was undertaken to elucidate flavonoids from in vitro cell cultures of the liverwort Marchantia linearis Lehm. & Lindenb. its fractionation and analysis of insecticidal potentialities. Initially, callus culture was initiated from spores in MS/5 media containing growth regulators BAP and NAA at the concentration of 2 mg/L and 0.5 mg/L. Agitation of the friable callus at lower rpm bring about lower level of cell dispersion, on the contrary at higher rpm might have risk of cell collision that is why rpm was kept at moderate speed i.e., 110 rpm. Continuous sub culturing process substantially improves cell growth and biomass. In the second phase, the flavonoids were isolated from cell suspension cultures of M. linearis and were fractionated by TLC and HPLC PAD chromatogram, which revealed the presence of quercetin, luteolin, apigenin, rutin and kaempferol. In vivo insecticidal analysis revealed significant antifeedant, larvicidal and pupicidal activities at all the concentrations against 5 th instar larvae of Spodoptera litura. The extract also exhibited feeding deterrent activity with M. linearis. Similarly, the nutritional parameters were also affected i.e., reduced ECI (Efficiency of conversion of ingested food) and ECD (Efficiency of conversion of digested food) and increased AD (Approximate digestibility) and metabolic cost for the larvae, when compared with the control. The consumption of the basal diet with the incorporation of flavonoids by S. litura larvae was not significantly different compared to the consumption of the control diet by the larvae. Faecal production reduced proportionally with concentrations of the extract.


This paper presents a case study conducted to find out the reasons of rupture/failure at bends of water cooled stator bar in a 210 MW generator. The bars containing hollow and solid subconductors were cleaned to remove the insulation. The failed portions were examined under a scanning electron microscope, optical microscope and the corrosion products by X-ray analysis. The investigation revealed the presence of intergranular brittle cracks, cuprous oxide tarnish film, ammonia, and moisture. All these showed the characteristic features of SCC in copper metal in ammonical solution. The ultimate rupture by SCC of solid and hollow conductors took place in three stages: (1) water leaked from inside the hollow conductor, at the lug braze; (2) the water reacted with the insulation and produced ammonia; and (3) the ammonia caused SCC and led to heavy leakage of water and hydrogen in the generator. Each stage involved in the failure process has been described.


. Open clusters are ideal targets for searching for transiting Hot Jupiters. They provide a relatively large concentration of stars on the sky and cluster members have similar metallicities, ages and distances. Fainter cluster members are likely to show deeper transit signatures, help-ing to offset sky noise contributions. A survey of open clusters will then help to characterise the Hot Jupiter fraction of main sequence stars, and how this may depend on primordial metallicity and stellar age. We present results from 11 nights of observations of the open cluster NGC 7789 with the WFC camera on the INT telescope in La Palma. From 684 epochs, we obtained lightcurves and B − V colours for ∼ 25600 stars, with ∼ 2400 stars with better than 1% precision. We expect to detect ∼ 1 transiting Hot Jupiter in our sample assuming that 1% of stars host a Hot Jupiter companion.


This study investigates the influence of using a Web-Based Learning Environment as an enhancing agent to support university-level students self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies as they work through their learning process. The aim was to help them adopt a consistent approach to their learning practice (self-regulation), to foster a realistic appraisal of their met a cognitive strategies strengths and weaknesses (self-judgment), and to examine the relationship between self-initiated processes and students' overall performance. The study adopted Zimmerman and Tsikalas [1] computer-based learning environments self-regulation three-phase model as a basis for Self-Regulated Learning in e-portfolio courses. Using a non-equivalent pre-/post-test quasi-experimental research design, 127 male students from King Khalid university departments of Mathematics (51 students) and English Language (76 students) were recruited during the first semester of 2012 academic year. A mixed methodology was used consisting of an online questionnaire, artifacts, online tracking data, and interviews in order to collect relevant data. These findings suggest that e-portfolio software, by facilitating both working on tasks, and the provision of regular peer and teacher feedback on tasks, has the potential to encourage a significant improvement in students SRL and met a cognitive strategies as well as their performance.


Excessive antibiotic use in veterinary applications has resulted in water contamination and potentially poses a serious threat to aquatic environments and human health. The objective of the current study was to quantify carbonized leonardite (cLND) adsorption capabilities to remove sulfamethoxazole (SMX)- and enrofloxacin (ENR)-contaminated water and to determine the microbial activity of ENR residuals on cLND following adsorption. The cLND samples prepared at 450 °C and 850 °C (cLND450 and cLND550, respectively) were evaluated for structural and physical characteristics and adsorption capabilities based on adsorption kinetics and isotherm studies. The low pyrolysis temperature of cLND resulted in a heterogeneous surface that was abundant in both hydrophobic and hydrophilic functional groups. SMX and ENR adsorption were best described using a pseudo-second-order rate expression. The SMX and ENR adsorption equilibrium data on cLND450 and cLND550 revealed their better compliance with a Langmuir isotherm than with four other models based on 2.3-fold higher values of qmENR than qmSMX. Under the presence of the environmental interference, the electrostatic interaction was the main contributing factor to the adsorption capability. Microbial activity experiments based on the growth of Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 revealed that cLND could successfully adsorb and subsequently retain the adsorbed antibiotic on the cLND surface. This study demonstrated the potential of cLND550 as a suitable low-cost adsorbent for the highly efficient removal of antibiotics from water.


The introduction of new design activities into an established product development process may involve more work in the initial stages of development, yet this extra effort may reduce the need for more expensive and time-consuming redesign activities later in the project. Wehave studied a case where more intensive use of computational simulations in the early design phase means that fewer hardware tests are needed because the designs can be analytically evaluated in advance of physical testing. Total development lead time and cost can thus be significantly reduced. This paper addresses how to evaluate alternative design strategies and methods with respect to their impact on the development process time. This is achieved by analysing the design process using signal flow graphs. The technique has been applied to jet engine component development projects at Volvo Aero Corporation in Sweden. We have found that evaluating alternative processes using signal flow graphs not only is helpful to assess the effect of introduction of new or improved design activities on the development process, but also is a means to facilitate the discussion of process improvement alternatives and trade-offs for an organization.


The need for a new surveillance approach to understand the clinical outcomes and behaviors of people in care for HIV evolved from the new challenges for monitoring clinical outcomes in the HAART era, the impact of the epidemic on an increasing number of areas in the US, and the need for representative data to describe the epidemic and related resource utilization and needs. The Institute of Medicine recommended that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Heath Resources and Services Administration coordinate efforts to survey a random sample of HIV-infected persons in care, in order to more accurately measure the need for prevention and care services. The Medical Monitoring Project (MMP) was created to meet these needs. This manuscript describes the evolution and design of MMP, a new nationally representative clinical outcomes and behavioral surveillance system, and describes how MMP data will be used locally and nationally to identify care and treatment utilization needs, and to plan for prevention interventions and services.


Left ventricular infarctions were produced in guinea pigs, and the contractile response to β-adrenergic and H2-histaminergic stimulation was tested in isolated perfused heart preparations. Adenylate cyclase activity and binding characteristics of sarcolemmal β1, H2-, and muscarinic cholinergic receptors were determined in sarcolemmal membrane preparations of the uninvolved right ventricle of the same hearts. Three days after infarction, the positive inotropic effects of isoproterenol (2.8 × 10-9 mol/L) and tyramine (5.5 × 10-5 mol/L) were nearly abolished, while the inotropic effects of impromidine (4.6 × 10-10 mol/L) and dimaprit (8.5 × 10-9 mol/L) were not impaired. Stimulation rates of cardiac adenylate cyclase activity by isoproterenol were markedly reduced (-90%) whereas impromidine, dimaprit, and NaF revealed stimulation rates equivalent to the sham-operated control group. β-Receptor binding studies with [3H]dihydroalprenol revealed 90% loss and nearly 10 times lowered affinity (KD) of the remaining receptors, while specific binding of [3H]-tiotidine and [3H]quinuclidinyl-benzylate was unchanged in the same preparations. All of the above alterations could be prevented to a similar extent by treatment with different β-blocking agents, but differences between the drugs were seen with respect to survival rates and reduction of infarct size. In agreement with previous findings, we conclude that the observed alterations in the nonischemic surviving myocardium are the result of specific damage of sarcolemmal β-receptors due to excessive exposure to increased catecholamines after infarction. The stimulation of the uninvolved H2-receptors may be of therapeutic value.


Continued improvements in diagnostic accuracy using magnetic resonance (MR) imaging will require development of methods for tissue analysis that complement traditional qualitative MR imaging studies. Quantitative MR imaging is based on measurement and interpretation of tissue-specific parameters independent of experimental design, compared with qualitative MR imaging, which relies on interpretation of tissue contrast that results from experimental pulse sequence parameters. Quantitative MR imaging represents a natural next step in the evolution of MR imaging practice, since quantitative MR imaging data can be acquired using currently available qualitative imaging pulse sequences without modifications to imaging equipment. The article presents a review of the basic physical concepts used in MR imaging and how quantitative MR imaging is distinct from qualitative MR imaging. Subsequently, the article reviews the hierarchical organization of major applicable pulse sequences used in this article, with the sequences organized into conventional, hybrid, and multispectral sequences capable of calculating the main tissue parameters of T1, T2, and proton density. While this new concept offers the potential for improved diagnostic accuracy and workflow, awareness of this extension to qualitative imaging is generally low. This article reviews the basic physical concepts in MR imaging, describes commonly measured tissue parameters in quantitative MR imaging, and presents the major available pulse sequences used for quantitative MR imaging, with a focus on the hierarchical organization of these sequences. ©RSNA, 2017.


Many natural phenomena which occur in the realm of visual computing and computational physics, like the dynamics of cloth, fibers, fluids, and solids as well as collision scenarios are described by stiff Hamiltonian equations of motion, i.e. differential equations whose solution spectra simultaneously contain extremely high and low frequencies. This usually impedes the development of physically accurate and at the same time efficient integration algorithms. We present a straightforward computationally oriented introduction to advanced concepts from classical mechanics. We provide an easy to understand step-by-step introduction from variational principles over the Euler-Lagrange formalism and the Legendre transformation to Hamiltonian mechanics. Based on such solid theoretical foundations, we study the underlying geometric structure of Hamiltonian systems as well as their discrete counterparts in order to develop sophisticated structure preserving integration algorithms to efficiently perform high fidelity simulations.


Manholes are an essential part of the maintenance of both sewer lines and stormwater drains which are an integral part of rainwater management during monsoons. Open and broken manholes have been a cause of loss of life and injury for many years especially during rains when flooded roads cause low visibility. The positioning of said manholes according to other architecture such as metro stations, buildings and bridges shall endorse careful infrastructure management and help build efficient utility networks. The current methods used for keeping track of public utility networks lack technologies that can effectively eradicate human error while data management such as data-logging, database duplicity managers and de-seasonalization of manhole status data. Present methods involve heavy fieldwork to keep the map and status of manholes updated. Google street view images can be used to detect these manholes. This paper presents a method to detect manholes on a location basis. Its implementation can be supplemented with avoidance of the path of the manhole in times of emergencies and adversities. The areas explored in this paper are image pre-processing, detection methodology and correlation model. For pre-processing the images bilateral filtering, equalized histogram and Canny edge detection methods were used. After pre-processing the images, contour detection with convex hull method was deployed. For further detection, a method that uses pixel-wise iteration to eliminate undesirable contours was used. Finally, a regression model was created for finding a relation between the distance of manhole from the point of image capture and the area of the manhole in the image. This process can be further extrapolated for obtaining the GPS coordinates of the manhole.


Abstract Rapidly deposited Neogene sands and Pleistocene glacigenic sediments originating from NW Britain were transported across the shelf and downslope to the Barra Fan depocentre. In contrast, the Holocene interglacial shelf environment is typified by sediment winnowing, sea-floor polishing and transport of relatively small volumes of sediment along the shelf to the northwest. Interpretation of swath bathymetry, 32 kHz side-scan sonar, 3.5 kHz pinger, sea-bed photography and near-bottom current survey data on the shelf edge and slope provides good morphological evidence for both downslope and alongslope sedimentary processes on this composite slope-front fan. On the northern fan a corrugated shelf edge gives rise to a network of channels on the upper slope, which incise into Pleistocene and older sediments and funnel sediment to middle and lower fan. An underpinning variable topography on the fan bulge originates from major and minor slide masses, sediment creep and debris flows. These are reworked by spatially and secularly variable strong-to-weak bottom currents and redistribute material across and down fan forming transverse and linear bedforms, draped sandy contourite sheets and moulded drifts.


Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is a life-saving procedure for children with a variety of malignant and nonmalignant conditions. However, even if immune reconstitution after HSCT has been studied extensively, until now, data on the comparison of immune reconstitution after autologous versus allogeneic HSCT are scarce, but might provide important clinical implications. We examined immune reconstitution (T cells, B cells, and NK cells) at defined timepoints in 147 children who received 182 HSCTs. Differences in the time course of immune reconstitution were analyzed in autologous versus allogeneic HSCT. We identified a quicker immune reconstitution in the T-cell compartment, especially in the CD4 and naive subset after autologous HSCT, whereas recipients of allogeneic transplants showed a higher TCRgd proportion. B-cell reconstitution showed a delayed immune reconstitution after allogeneic HSCT in the first 2 years after HSCT. However, a reconstitution of all lymphocyte subsets after HSCT could be achieved in all patients. Children undergoing an HSCT show a different pattern of immune reconstitution in the allogeneic and autologous setting. This might influence the outcome and should affect the clinical handling of infectious prophylaxis and revaccinations.


The aim of this study was to evaluate whether, in the treatment of active non-cholesteatomatous chronic otitis media, the effectiveness of gentamicin with hydrocortisone ear-drops is due solely to the contained steroid or to the combination of antibiotic and steroid. Sixty-four patients presenting to the Ear, Nose and Throat outpatient department with active non-cholesteatomatous chronic otitis media were randomly allocated to receive either gentamicin with hydrocortisone ear-drops, or betamethasone ear-drops, for up to 4 weeks. Activity in the ear was assessed at 2 and 4 weeks. Gentamicin with hydrocortisone combination drops were significantly more effective than betamethasone drops (P less than 0.001) in producing inactivity of chronic otitis media, being effective in 80% as opposed to 29% of cases. The effectiveness of gentamicin with hydrocortisone ear-drops appears to be due to the combination of antibiotic and steroid.


This article traces the relations between South Africa and Southern Rhodesia/Rhodesia/Zimbabwe from the end of the 19th century until the present with respect to politics; economic, military, ideological, and cultural activities; as well as foreign policy. The conflicted relationship between the two countries went through varying periods of close cooperation and also of tension, especially given the difference in power between the much larger and more economically prosperous South Africa and the smaller society and economy of Southern Rhodesia. Other important factors include the dominant influence of the Afrikaners in South Africa, from the creation of the Union in 1910 onward, and the apprehension felt by a predominantly English-speaking white population of Rhodesia, which arose from a fear of being swallowed up by Afrikaner-dominated South Africa. During the Zimbabwean liberation struggle from the early 1960s onward, South Africa gave military support to Rhodesia, at least in the early part of the conflict; it changed its policy in the mid-1970s and began to advocate for negotiations between Rhodesia's warring parties. Between Zimbabwe's independence in 1980 and the democratic transition in South Africa in 1994, relations between the two countries were fraught with tensions because the Zimbabwean government persistently condemned the apartheid regime and hosted representatives of South African anti-apartheid movements, although Zimbabwe was careful not to allow these movements to launch military attacks on South Africa from its soil, for fear of reprisals. On its part, the South African government conducted a sabotage campaign against its northern neighbor and exerted economic pressure on it. Despite all these tensions, however, South Africa remained Zimbabwe's major trading partner throughout this period. The tension between the countries lessened when Nelson Mandela became president in 1994, but new tensions arose because of Mandela and Robert Mugabe's rivalry over the leadership of Southern Africa. On coming to power in 1999, Thabo Mbeki tried to diffuse tensions by adopting a different style of foreign policy that, in Zimbabwe's case, was known as "quiet diplomacy"—a policy that came under much criticism from Western countries and some sectors in Southern Africa. Mbeki's successors continued this diplomatic policy toward Zimbabwe, even following a militarily assisted political transition in November 2017, which saw the overthrow of Mugabe and his replacement by Emerson Munangangwa.


BACKGROUND
The incidence of cardiac surgery-associated acute kidney injury (CSA-AKI) is very high. The renal resistive index (RRI) is measured by transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) and can be used to predict the occurrence of CSA-AKI, but few studies have examined the renal pulsatility index (RPI). The objective of this study was to explore the predictive value of intraoperative RPI for CSA-AKI.Error! Reference source not found.

METHODS
This study was a prospective observational study. Seventy-eight patients meeting the inclusion criteria were enrolled. The RPI was measured by TEE after the induction of general anaesthesia (T1) and immediately after the surgery (T2). Serum creatinine (Scr) was measured 1 day before and 7 days after the surgery. The diagnosis of AKI was based on the KDIGO diagnostic criteria. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to analyse the risk factors for postoperative AKI and to draw the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) and analyse its diagnostic value for AKI.

RESULTS
The incidence of postoperative AKI was 29.5%. The RPI at T2 was higher in the AKI group than in the non-AKI group (2.05±0.69 versus 1.49±0.48, P< 0.001). The results of multivariate analysis showed that the RPI at T2 was an independent risk factor for the occurrence of AKI (OR=4.683, 95% CI: 1.592-13.772; P=0.006). The area under the curve (AUC) of the RPI was 0.733 (95% CI: 0.621-0.827) with a cut-off value of 1.86 (sensitivity 60.87%, specificity 85.45% and Youden index 0.46).

CONCLUSIONS
A RPI at T2 > 1.86 is correlated with a higher incidence of postoperative AKI. Treatment guided and personalized on the base of this parameter should be investigated by further dedicated studies.


In this article, a threshold cointegration test within the framework of Autoregressive Distributed Lag model suggested by Li and Lee (2010) was employed to quantify the wealth effects in Chinese stock market and domestic housing market. The time-varying features of wealth effects in these two markets were investigated through rolling regression test. The empirical results show that the substitute effect exists in the status of strong market while the wealth effect exists in the status of weak market. It is noteworthy that the wealth effect in the stock market shows an increasing trend while the wealth effect in the housing market reveals a stable trend. The policy implication is that the authority should properly strengthen the regulation in the stock market and curb the rise of housing price when the markets are in the strong status while should increase the disposable income for residents if the markets are in the weak status.


This paper explores the neuropsychiatric consequences of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) infection, specifically the use of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) therapy in treating central nervous system (CNS) symptoms associated with COVID-19. The authors searched PubMed and Google Scholar using the keywords "IVIG" and "covid-19 neuropsychiatric symptoms" to find five articles, including three case reports, a retrospective study, and a prospective study, that detail the experiences of individuals with persistent neuropsychiatric symptoms after contracting COVID-19. The neuropsychiatric symptoms reported in the analyzed studies include sleep disturbance, exhaustion, cognitive decline, anxiety, and others. Common treatments for post-COVID neuropsychiatric symptoms include medications, cognitive behavioral therapy, and lifestyle modifications. IVIG therapy to manage CNS symptoms of COVID-19 has shown mixed results in studies, with some showing positive effects while others remain inconclusive. Further research is needed to understand this therapy's potential benefits and limitations fully.


Abstract. Flood risk management generally relies on economic assessments performed using flood loss models of different complexity, ranging from simple univariable to more complex multivariable models. These latter accounts for a large number of hazard, exposure and vulnerability factors, being potentially more robust when extensive input information is available. In this paper we collected a comprehensive dataset related to three recent major flood events in Northern Italy (Adda 2002, Bacchiglione 2010 and Secchia 2014), including flood hazard features (depth, velocity and duration), buildings characteristics (size, type, quality, economic value) as well as reported losses. The objective of this study is to compare the performances of expert-based and empirical (both uni- and multivariable) damage models for estimating the potential economic costs of flood events to residential buildings. The performance of four literature flood damage models of different nature and complexity are compared with the performance of univariable, bivariable and multivariable models empirically developed for Italy and tested at the micro scale based upon observed records. The uni- and bivariable models are produced testing linear, logarithmic and square root regression while multivariable models are based on two machine learning techniques, namely Random Forest and Artificial Neural Networks. Results provide important insights about the choice of the damage modelling approach for operational disaster risk management.


The better understanding and optimization of fluid flow, injection, mixing and combustion processes in internal combustion engines are of critical importance in regard to compliance of the emission standards. Presented here is a complex simulation method, which provides transient fluid flow results in a cylinder of a gasoline engine. The model includes moving boundaries. Through the intake port and open intake valve, air is flown into the combustion chamber. Fuel is injected. In the compression stroke, after closing the intake valve, the mixing process is shown. At the top dead center (TDC) ignition is set, which results in combustion of the fuel-air mixture in the power stroke. In the exhaust stroke the burnt gases leave the combustion chamber through the open exhaust valve and the exhaust port. With the results of this simulation, it is possible to determine the temperature and heat transfer coefficients on the walls of the combustion chamber, and to define the thermal load. This load can later be used in a structural analysis of the parts of the combustion chamber, where heat transfer and expansion is calculated.


A method for separating strains of Candida albicans into nine possible groups was devised by using a cDNA probe for enolase and Southern blot analysis. Twenty-three isolates of C. albicans were found to be distributed among eight of the groups. Fifteen isolates from a single hospital segregated into four of the groups.


This present case pertains to a 48-year-old woman with a history of antiphospholipid syndrome, who presented with progressive fatigue, generalized weakness, and orthopnea acutely. She had a prior diagnosis of antiphospholipid syndrome with recurrent deep vein thromboses (DVTs) and repeated demonstration of lupus anticoagulants. She presented in cardiogenic shock with markedly elevated troponin and global myocardial dysfunction on echocardiography, and cardiac catheterization revealed minimal disease. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging was performed, which revealed findings of perfusion defects and microvascular obstruction, consistent with the pathophysiology of catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome (CAPS). Diagnosis was made based on supportive imaging, including head magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealing multifocal, acute strokes; microvascular thrombosis in the dermis; and subacute renal infarctions. The patient was anticoagulated with intravenous unfractionated heparin and received high-dose methylprednisolone, plasmapheresis, intravenous immunoglobulin, and one dose each of rituximab and cyclophosphamide. She convalesced with eventual myocardial recovery after a complicated course. The diagnosis of CAPS relies on the presence of (1) antiphospholipid antibodies and (2) involvement of multiple organs in a microangiopathic thrombotic process with a close temporal association. The myocardium is frequently affected, and heart failure, either as the presenting symptom or cause of death, is common. Despite echocardiographic evidence of myocardial dysfunction in such patients, MRIs of CAPS have not previously been reported. This case highlights the utility in assessing the involvement of the myocardium by the microangiopathic process with MRI. Because the diagnosis of CAPS requires involvement in multiple organ systems, cardiac MRI is likely an underused tool that not only reaffirms the pathophysiology of CAPS, but could also clue clinicians in to the possibility of a diffuse thrombotic process.


In micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) testing high overall precision and reliability are essential. Due to the additional requirement of runtime efficiency, machine learning methods have been investigated in recent years. However, these methods are often associated with inherent challenges concerning uncertainty quantification and guarantees of reliability. The goal of this paper is therefore to present a new machine learning approach in MEMS testing based on Bayesian inference to determine whether the estimation is trustworthy. The overall predictive performance as well as the uncertainty quantification are evaluated with four methods: Bayesian neural network, mixture density network, probabilistic Bayesian neural network and BayesFlow. They are investigated under the variation in training set size, different additive noise levels, and an out-of-distribution condition, namely the variation in the damping factor of the MEMS device. Furthermore, epistemic and aleatoric uncertainties are evaluated and discussed to encourage thorough inspection of models before deployment striving for reliable and efficient parameter estimation during final module testing of MEMS devices. BayesFlow consistently outperformed the other methods in terms of the predictive performance. As the probabilistic Bayesian neural network enables the distinction between epistemic and aleatoric uncertainty, their share of the total uncertainty has been intensively studied.


We report a resonant-cavity-enhanced Si photodetector fabricated on a reflecting silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate. The substrate incorporates a two period distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) fabricated using a commercially available double-SOI process. The buried DBR provides a 90% reflecting surface. The resonant-cavity-enhanced Si photodetectors have 40% quantum efficiency at 860 nm and response time of 29 ps. These devices are suitable for 10-Gb/s data communications.


Herein, we report on the successful synthesis of photocatalytic Pb3(BTC)2·H2O polymers via different methods including the surfactant-assisted hydrothermal method, ultrasonic method and reflux method. As the crystal growth is subjected to preparation atmosphere, changes in reaction conditions do not alter the crystal structures of products, but vary their morphology. High ultraviolet-light-driven photocatalytic abilities are attributed to the stable Pb3(BTC)2·H2O, and the effective productions of h+ and ˙OH on the catalysts.