Anonymous Referee #2 noticed that the manuscript is based on "the absolutely unique database". However, he/she suggested "a major refocusing of the paper that needs to be done in addition to correcting some aspects of the methodology and improving the analyses". We implemented most relevant suggestions given by the Anonymous Referee #2 that greatly contributed to the improvement of the manuscript. We agree that the dataset allows us to explore several topics, nevertheless, in our study, we focused on the uncertainties inherent in various methods applied in the estimation of evaporation. We believe that this topic is only first in a series of the research based on this dataset. The manuscript allows partial publication of the hydrological data collected on the glacial lakes located in East Antarctica. Our next case study will be focused on Lake Glubokoe (the Schimacher oasis), and it will be based on the dataset collected during December, 2019 February 2020.


This paper presents the experimental results of a Soil-Cement Composite Earth Retaining Wall comprised of reinforced concrete underground wall, H-shaped steel beams in earth retaining wall and fiber reinforced soil cement wall. Sixteen specimens are tested to evaluate the bending capacity of the wall. Main variables in the test are strength of concrete, arrangement of shear connector, soil-cement, and fiber reinforcement.
Test results are as follows. (1) Composite member under positive moment showed 18% increase of the maximum strength. (2) After soil cement was reinforced with fiber by adding 1% of soil cement weight, compared to cases not reinforced with fiber, strength of under compression increased 7%, moreover, 30% of strength enhancement was shown under tension case also. (3) When the composite member resists positive bending moment (i.e., H-shaped steel beam is in compression), the strength is increased by 18%. Moreover, 7% additional strength enhancement appears after the soil cement is reinforced by fiber. As a results, fiber reinforced soil cement has strength enhancement effect up to 25%.


Background: The Human immunodeficiency disease (HIV) remains a global menace decades after its discovery and despite advances in therapeutics and use of Highly active antiviral therapies (HAART). HIV/AIDS patients now have longer lifespan with increased non-AIDS related morbidity and mortality. Non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases (NAFLD), a global public health challenge has been identified as one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in HIV infected persons. Our study aimed to identify the risk factors for NAFLD in HIV infected patients and to relate the liver enzymes derangement to NAFLD. Method: we retrospectively analyzed data from 170 HAART experienced viral hepatitis sero-negative HIV patients. Sociodemographic, anthropometric, and laboratory characteristics were extracted. Hepatic steatosis was diagnosed by ultrasound scan. Result: NAFLD was present in 27.9% of the patients and the duration of HAART use (p<0.001), elevated plasma glucose level (p<0.001), increased waist circumference (p=0.004), duration of HIV infection (p=0.026), and elevated serum triglycerides (p=0.033) were identified as the major risk factors for NAFLD. Using the Wald test of variables, duration of HAART use was identified as the key prognosticator of NAFLD in HIV patient [Wald value (WV) of 10.749 (p= 0.001)]. Reduced CD4 cell count and liver enzyme derangement were not identified as risk factors for NAFLD. Conclusion: NAFLD is common in HAART experienced HIV patients and the duration of HAART use is the most important predictor for its occurrence. Early recognition and vigorous modification of these risk factors among HIV patients are necessary to prevent further progression of NAFLD.


Troxacitabine is a cytotoxic deoxycytidine analogue with an unnatural L-configuration, which is activated by deoxycytidine kinase (dCK). The configuration is responsible for differences in the uptake and metabolism of troxacitabine compared to other deoxynucleoside analogues. To determine whether troxacitabine has an advantage over other nucleoside analogues several cell lines resistant to cladribine and gemcitabine were exposed to troxacitabine, while blast cells from pediatric leukemia patients were tested for cross-resistance with other deoxynucleoside analogues. The gemcitabine resistant AG6000 (IC50: >3000 nM), and the cladribine resistant CEM (IC50: 150 nM) and HL-60 (IC50: >3000 nM) cell lines, all with no or decreased dCK expression, were less sensitive to troxacitabine than their wild type counterparts (IC50; A2780: 410, CEM: 71 and HL-60: 158 nM). dCK protein expression in CEM was higher than in HL-60, which, in turn, was higher than in A2780. Catalytically inactive p53 seems to increase the sensitivity to troxacitabine. The patient samples showed a large range of sensitivity to troxacitabine, similar to other deoxynucleoside analogues. Cross-resistance with all other deoxynucleoside analogues was observed.


Abstract Objective We sought to evaluate the current knowledge and attitudes of Indian rheumatologists concerning axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) with respect to recent terminology for diagnosis, management strategies and additional services. Methods The survey was designed for spondyloarthritis care given by rheumatologists in the Indian health-care context. The structured survey consisted of a combination of multiple-choice and open-ended questions. An anonymous Web-based questionnaire was sent to 710 members of the Indian Rheumatology Association, and descriptive analysis of responses was done. Results The survey respondents were from government and private health-care facilities and gave a response rate of 19% (133 of 710). About 49% of respondents were using the terminology axSpA for a new diagnosis of spondyloarthritis (SpA). BASDAI was used routinely as the main disease monitoring tool by most respondents (76.2%). Same-day MRI was available to 42.9% (51 of 119) respondents. Selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors were the preferred first NSAID for 50% of respondents, and SSZ was the most preferred DMARD for peripheral arthritis. Financial constraints were the most common factor that affected the initiation of biologics and also the most common reason for stopping biological therapies. Nearly 65% (80 of 122) of respondents did not have a multidisciplinary team available in clinical practice, and only 15% of respondents had access to patient support groups. Conclusion For a new diagnosis, the terminology of axSpA is not fully accepted by Indian rheumatologists. The axSpA management given by Indian rheumatologists is in agreement with recent guidelines, however, there is a significant lack of accessibility to multidisciplinary care and patient support groups in India.


Winter (December, January, February and March—DJFM) precipitation variability over Northwestern India is examined in association with large scale global forcing of El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). During winter, Northwestern India receives precipitation in the form of snow, by eastward moving synoptic weather systems—western disturbances (WDs). An attempt is made to define relationship between wintertime large scale atmospheric fields with different phases of ENSO. A composite set of El Niño (10 years) and La Niña (8 years) is prepared to analyse role of large scale fields followed by ENSO response with wintertime precipitation over Northwestern India. Significant correlation between the two indicates increased (decreased) precipitation over Northwestern India during warm (cold) phase of ENSO. Higher geopotential height, with stronger southwesterly to northwesterly wind flow suggests more moisture flux from the Caspian and Arabian Sea. Empirical orthogonal function analysis also suggests instance of ENSO impact on Northwest India winter precipitation. Copyright © 2012 Royal Meteorological Society


Purpose: The main objective of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of using a recently developed MR technique, quantitative blood oxygenation level‐dependent (qBOLD), to quantify the oxygen extraction fraction (OEF) of tumors metastatic to the brain.Materials & Methods: The qBOLD technique provides a regional OEF measurement based upon an MR signal model of brain that incorporates prior knowledge about braintissue composition. A 3D version of gradient echo sampling of spin echo sequence with RF spoiling is used to obtain the MRI signal. (He, Zhu, and Yablonskiy, MRM 60:4, 882–888, 2008). To evaluate the feasibility of qBOLD quantify OEF in central nervous systemtumors, six patients (47.9 y to 67.2 y, mean 55.4 y, 4 female and 2 male) with metastatic braintumors were prospectively enrolled in a longitudinal imaging study. The primary malignancies were lungcancer (in five patients) and renal cell carcinoma (in one patient). The qBOLD procedure was performed as part of an integrated neuroimaging protocol, including conventional pre‐ and post‐contrast images and dynamic susceptibility contrast perfusion. The patients were scanned at 1.5T (Siemens TIM Espree) while wearing a stereotactic frame prior to radiation therapy. Post processing was performed offline using Matlab. Results: Supratentorial metastatic tumors (6 patients) and surrounding vasogneic edema demonstrated marked visual conspicuity and quantifiably altered OEF using the qBOLD MRI: e.g, OEF values for the area of vasogenic edema were 54.8+/−12.3 % compared to 36.6+/−6.6 % in contralateral normal white matter. Conclusions: Using a recently developed MR pulse sequence, qBOLD, we were able to quantify the OEF in humans with metastatic braintumors. qBOLD offered excellent visual conspicuity for lesion detection for supratentorial, non‐hemorrhagic lesions. Interestingly, vasogenic edema surrounding both primary and metastatic tumors was also associated with elevated OEF, a finding which warrants further investigation.


Medical imaging techniques have evolved to expand our ability to visualize new contrast information of electrical, optical, and mechanical properties of tissues in the human body using noninvasive measurement methods. In particular, electrical tissue property imaging techniques have received considerable attention for the last few decades since electrical properties of biological tissues and organs change with their physiological functions and pathological states. We can express the electrical tissue properties as the frequency-dependent admittivity, which can be measured in a macroscopic scale by assessing the relation between the timeharmonic electric field and current density. The main issue is to reconstruct spectroscopic admittivity images from 10 Hz to 1 MHz, for example, with reasonably high spatial and temporal resolutions. It requires a solution of a nonlinear inverse problem involving Maxwell's equations. To solve the inverse problem with practical significance, we need deep knowledge on its mathematical formulation of underlying physical phenomena, implementation of image reconstruction algorithms, and practical limitations associated with the measurement sensitivity, specificity, noise, and data acquisition time. This paper discusses a number of issues in electrical tissue property imaging modalities and their future directions.


Silicon carbide grains found in meteorites are peculiar in their age and isotopic ratios; they formed before the Sun was born and their isotopic signature indicates that they come from a different galactic region. This study aims to seek a possible paradigm for such richness and peculiarity through Monte Carlo simulation of scattering of Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars off molecular cloud. Such approach randomly generates AGB stars in regions close to the Galaxy bulge and examines possibility of migration to outer regions by scattering off molecular cloud. A successful explanation to this problem will influence how we think nuclides were formed and then distributed in the Galaxy and will shed new light unto the age and the chemical evolution of the Milky Way Galaxy. Thus, it is important that we know where do they come from and how do they end up in our backyard?


Pathogenic fluorescent pseudomonads associated with sheath brown rot disease symptoms on near-mature rice were characterised by a polyphasic study. Twelve strains of Pseudomonas fuscovaginae from the International Collection of Microorganisms from Plants (ICMP), which represent those strains lodged in several world culture collections, were used for comparison. Two strains, ICMP 9997 and 9999, were considered to have no similarity at all to P. fuscovaginae and a further two strains, ICMP11283 and 11284, were considered, by fatty acid analysis, to be more closely related to P. putida. These two strains were related to P. marginalis according to Biolog, and to P. tolaasii according to 16s and rpoB data. The Australian rice isolates were all identified as P. putida Biotype A by fatty acid analysis or as P. asplenii (4 isolates), P. fuscovaginae (2 isolates) or P. fluorescens (1 isolate) by Biolog. Sequencing of the 16s rRNA gene placed the rice isolates with P. fuscovaginae and P. asplenii, whereas rpoB gene sequence analysis showed a higher similarity to P. fuscovaginae than to P. asplenii. This is the first report of P. fuscovaginae in Australia.


Cutting-needle biopsy under ultrasonic guidance was performed in 47 patients with suspected pancreatic carcinoma. The final diagnosis as revealed by autopsy, surgery, or radiologic/clinical follow-up was pancreatic malignancy in 39 patients and benign disease in eight. A correct diagnosis with the aid of biopsy findings was obtained in 44 of the 47 patients (94%). In three patients with carcinoma of the pancreas, the correct diagnosis was not obtained with use of results from the first biopsy. In two of these three patients, simultaneous biopsy of a liver metastasis revealed the presence of a malignant tumor growth. After the biopsy, two patients had a vasovagal reaction, and two experienced mild pain. No case of biopsy-induced pancreatitis occurred, although in one patient a transient rise in the serum amylase level was seen. The present results show that cut biopsy of the pancreas is a useful, reliable, and nontraumatic method in the diagnosis of pancreatic malignancy.


A higher incidence of female infertility has been reported with an unexpectedly early appearance in recent years. The female infertility treatment and application of assisted reproductive technology have recently gained immense interest from scientists. Many studies have discussed the beneficial effects of acupuncture on female infertility. With advancements in science and medical technology, acupuncture-related research has increased in investigating its effectiveness in treating female infertility. This review focuses on a compilation of research in recent years on acupuncture for female infertility treatment and the exploration of the underlying mechanism. For this purpose, literature was searched using various search engines like PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. The search was refined by only focusing on recent studies on acupuncture effectiveness and mechanism in female infertility and evaluating pregnancy outcomes.


The improvement on the QSAR prediction of the trans-stilbenes affinity for the β-amyloid peptide (employed for detecting the Alzheimer disease) achieved by means of using approximate similarity measurement is presented in this work. A wide spectrum of similarity methods is described, and results obtained by approximate similarity are compared with those obtained by constitutional, fingerprint and descriptor-based similarity. The fact of using similarity corrections by considering distances between the non-isomorphic fragments (the approximate similarity concept) led to accurate QSAR models (Q 2 > 0.80). The high predictive ability achieved by simple methods is remarked.


Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) is a leading cause of end-stage renal disease and has a high recurrence rate after kidney transplantation, attributed to a circulating permeability factor. Plasmapheresis is the treatment of choice after recurrence to remove the circulating factor. We present a case of recurrent FSGS 6 years after transplantation. It is instructive because proteinuria did not respond to intensive plasmapheresis—combined with rituximab—until the possibility of ineffective apheresis secondary to multiple aneurysms in the arteriovenous fistula (AVF) was considered. Proteinuria improved soon after alternative access for plasmapheresis was secured and AVF aneurysms were surgically repaired.


This paper presents the development of a therapy program for in-patients with cerebral dysfunctions living in a nursing home of the Arbeiterwohlfahrt, Frankfurt. The "starting-point" for the development of this therapy was the conscious decision against the segregation of patients with cerebral dysfunctions and for their "integrated housing" with other in-patients. First experiences and results with this therapy system, which is related to the findings of the intervention programs in gerontology, are presented, as well as the first survey in the evaluation of this psychosocial therapy program.


Gamma ray zone plate holography is a new technique with applications to Nuclear Medicine. Unlike other tomographic techniques three dimensional images can be reconstructed from just one projection. The history of zone plate holography is reviewed and the differences between this technique and conventional holography are outlined. Sources of error in the recorded hologram are reviewed and methods for the assessment of image quality are given. Three image reconstruction techniques are described and compared. These techniques are convolution deconvolution and the CLEAN algorithm Simulated diffraction is the main image reconstruction method which has previously been used to reconstruct images from zone plate holograms This method is a form of convolution reconstruction. Several variations on this technique are introduced and compared. Matched filltering is also investigated and compared with the simulated diffraction based methods. An approximate Fourier Wiener filter is used to reconstruct the images by deconvolution. Several different versions of this filter are discussed and compared. The CLEAN algorithm reconstruction is an iterative method which is based on either convolution or deconvolution. The three methods are tested using both computer generated and real gamma ray zone plate holograms.


Flatfoot causes abnormal biomechanics in the lower extremity, resulting in discomfort and excessive burden on lower extremity muscles during functional tasks, and it potentially leads to associated syndromes in the lower extremity. The aim of this study was to investigate how a demanding, repetitive task affects the muscle strength, activities, and fatigue of the lower extremities during function tasks. Nineteen individuals with flexible flatfoot (10M9F, age: 24.74 ± 2.68 years) and fifteen non-flatfoot participants (6M9F, age: 24.47 ± 3.74) took part in this study. All participants performed maximal voluntary isometric contraction and functional tasks, including walking and single-leg standing tests before and immediately after a 6-min fast-walking protocol. A surface electromyography system was used to collect muscle activation data. Our results showed that, after 6 min of fast walking, peroneus longus activity increased only in the non-flatfoot group, and gastrocnemius activity increased in the flexible flatfoot group. In the flexible flatfoot group, greater recruitment in abductor halluces and greater fatigue in the tibialis anterior was observed. Individuals with flexible flatfoot showed altered muscle activation pattern after 6-min fast walking. These findings can provide an evidence-based explanation of associated syndromes in flatfoot populations and lead to potential intervention strategies in the future.


This study evaluated the in vivo deployment and the healing characteristics of a self-expanding endoluminal graft [Wallgraft (WG) Endoprosthesis] in a canine (n = 22) aorta. The WG consisted of a 10 or 12 mm x 7.5 cm Wallstents (Schneider, Inc.) covered with polyethylene terephthalate (Dacron) graft material. Twenty-two WGs were deployed using fluoroscopic guidance. Devices were oversized approximately 10 per cent. Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) was repeated, and balloon expansion along the length of the WG was performed to assure maximum expansion. WGs were evaluated with IVUS, angiography, and histology at 14 (n = 4), 30 (n = 4), 90 (n = 4), 180 (n = 5), and 365 (n = 5) days. Predeployment aortic diameters were 9.9 +/- 1 mm. Mid-WG diameters were 9.0 +/- 0.8 mm before balloon dilation and 9.2 +/- 0.5 mm after dilation with 8- (n = 1), 10- (n = 16), and 12- (n = 5) mm balloons. Twenty-two of 23 devices were deployed accurately with good apposition and aortic flow after deployment. On explant, all of the covered grafts were widely patent on IVUS and angiogram. Four explants demonstrated gaps (due to WG taper) between the proximal or distal ends of the graft on IVUS. The device length (9.1 + 0.5 cm) did not change significantly after deployment. Histologically at 6 months and 1 year the lumens were cell-lined. Scanning electron micrography demonstrated endothelial-like cells. This study demonstrates the ability of a WG to be accurately deployed and maintain excellent patency. Balloon expansion after deployment did not significantly increase the diameter. Clinical evaluation of this device is in progress.


Reaction of [MoO(2)(η(2)-tBu(2)pz)(2)] with Schiff base ligands HL(X) (X = 1-5) gave molybdenum(VI) dioxo complexes of the type cis-[MoO(2)(L(X))(2)] as yellow to light brown solids in moderate to good yields. All ligands coordinate via its phenolic O atom and the imine N atom in a bidentate manner to the metal center. The third donor atom (R(2) = OMe or NMe(2)) in the side chain in complexes 1-4 is not involved in coordination and remains pendant. This was confirmed by X-ray diffraction analyses of complexes 1 and 3. Complexes 1, 3, and 5 exist as a mixture of two isomers in solution, whereas complexes 2 and 4 with sterically less demanding substituents on the aromatics only show one isomer in solution. All complexes are active catalysts in the epoxidation of various internal and terminal alkenes, and epoxides in moderate to good yields with high selectivities are obtained. In the challenging epoxidation of styrene, complexes 1 and 2 prove to be very active and selective. The selectivity seems to be influenced by the pendant donor arm, as complex 5 without additional donor in the side chain is less selective. Experiments prove that the addition of n-butyl methyl ether as intermolecular donor per se has no influence on the selectivity. The basic conditions induced by the NMe(2) groups in complexes 3 and 4 lead to lower activity.


Summary Patients undergoing major orthopedic surgery are at an increased risk of thromboembolism even after the acute postoperative phase. Therefore, prolonged thromboprophylaxis is currently recommended and widely used. The length of hospital stay after major orthopedic surgery is steadily decreasing and most patients are transferred to specialized rehabilitation centers in the early postoperative phase. Consequently, thromboprophylaxis is usually given during the rehabilitation period. Previously there have been no systematic studies of how many patients with asymptomatic thrombosis are transferred to a rehabilitation center or how many patients develop deep vein thrombosis (DVT) during rehabilitation. In the present study, 238 patients who had undergone major orthopedic surgery were examined by compression ultrasonography on day 1 or 2 and on day 20 of their rehabilitation phase in order to detect asymptomatic proximal DVT. Sonograms were read centrally with blinding to the clinical course of the patients. All patients received standard thromboprophylaxis during the acute postoperative phase. Prolonged thromboprophylaxis with enoxaparin was given during the rehabilitation phase. The mean duration of thromboprophylaxis was 36.8 days. At admission to the rehabilitation center, proximal DVT was identified in 16 patients (6.7%). New proximal DVT at discharge from the rehabilitation center was identified in 3.2% of patients following prolonged thromboprophylaxis with enoxaparin. In conclusion, a considerable percentage of patients with asymptomatic proximal DVT are transferred to rehabilitation centers following major orthopedic surgery. Using prolonged thromboprophylaxis, new proximal DVTs will still develop during rehabilitation, but at a low rate.


Ferroelectric oxides have attracted much attention due to their wide range of applications, especially in electronic devices such as nonvolatile memories, solar cells, and tunnel junctions. However, ferroelectrics are very few in nature and to achieve truly multifunctional oxide devices, these materials should be integrated in Silicon-based platforms. In this work, we used a chemical route to obtain nanowire films of a novel room-temperature ferroelectric Sr1+{\delta}Mn8O16 (SMO) hollandite oxide on silicon. Scanning transmission electron microscopy combined with crystallographic computing reveals a crystal structure comprising hollandite and pyrolusite units sharing the edges of their MnO6 octahedra, resulting in three types of tunnels arranged along the c axis, where ordering of the Sr atoms produces a natural symmetry breaking. The novel structure gives rise to a robust ferroelectricity and piezoelectricity, as revealed by Direct Piezoelectric Force Microscopy measurements, which confirmed the ferroelectric nature of SMO nanowire films at room temperature and showed a piezoelectric coefficient d33 value of 22 pC/N. Moreover, a first piezoelectric nanogenerator prototype based on vertical ultralong SMO nanowires was developed, showing an excellent deformability and high interface recombination. This work indicates the possibility of engineering the integration of piezoelectric and ferroelectric 1D hollandite thin films on silicon, a step which precedes the production of nanostructured and cost-efficient microelectronic devices.


Understanding perception of the farmers' flood risks has become increasingly important. This study aimed to evaluate the flood risk perception of farmers by constructing a farmer risk perception score based on eight statements. Data was gathered from 250 randomly selected farmers and analyzed using descriptive statistics, factor analysis, and binary logistic regression. Based on the flood risk perception score, the farmers were classified into two groups, and the results revealed that 46.00% of surveyed farmers had a high level of flood risk perception. The binary logistic regression analysis showed that seven factors, including gender, age, household size, children, farm size, insurance intention, and flood experience, had a significant impact on farmers' flood risk perceptions. The findings of this study may aid government organizations and farmers in enhancing their flood risk management strategies.
Keywords: Flood disaster; Risk perception score; Turkey


Visual content-based information retrieval intended message retrieval from infographics and their applications are gaining attention in many scientific domains. This seeks an understanding of the structure and correct semantics of infographics. Parsing flowchart and analyzing each element of infographics in the correct sequence is challenging. Using computer vision techniques, reconstruction of the structure in digital format is possible and can help to understand the features of the structure. This paper describes technical details to extract various elements of a 2D flowchart in a meaningful sequence, relate elements as connected in a flowchart and represent in conventional data structures. Region-based segmentation with adaptive thresholding and morphological operations are applied for feature extraction. The graph is generated by maintaining the semantics of the flowchart. The experimental results are evaluated for semantic correctness of flowchart and found that 90% of generated graphs are semantically correct as a flowchart.


Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a common autoimmune disease affecting around 1% of the population. Although major advances have been made in the treatment of RA, still relatively little is known on disease pathogenesis and aetiology. From treatment studies it has become clear that treating patients early in their disease course will provide the best results. However, especially in the early phase of arthritis, in particular when the patients do not yet fulfil the criteria for RA, it is difficult to decide which patients would benefit most from an early and aggressive intervention. Good biomarkers are important to guide decisions in the clinical management of RA. Next to the well-known rheumatoid factor (RF) and the anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA), several new markers are now likely to become available with interesting potential. Besides antibody responses directed against citrullinated proteins, also antibodies against carbamylated proteins (anti-CarP) have recently been shown to be present in RA. Interestingly these anti-CarP antibodies are also present in around 20% of the ACPA-negative RA patients and are associated with more severe joint damage in this group. Apart from the antibodies that help in establishing the diagnosis and prognosis, also novel biomarkers that reflect clinical disease activity scores are being discovered. The development of biomarker-based disease activity scores might allow easy and frequent monitoring of patients to rapidly adjust treatment.


Schools continue to display an interest in, and efficiency with, the implementation of the universal level of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), but often struggle to integrate tier 2 supports to address the needs of students at risk for behavioural or academic difficulties. School practitioners and researchers are increasingly interested in optimizing programme implementation through coaching and integrating supports at the more advanced tiers of PBIS. The current paper describes one such model, called PBISplus, which builds on the multi-tiered PBIS model by providing tailored training in the implementation of functional behavioural assessments, the student support teaming process, cultural proficiency, and evidence-based practices (e.g. Check-In/Check-Out) by a tier 2 coach. After describing the process for integrating these core elements with the universal PBIS model and the coaching model developed to facilitate that process, we summarize preliminary findings from a three-year group-randomized controlled trial of the PBISplus model in 42 Maryland elementary schools. Significant effects were observed on teacher efficacy and student outcomes, including rates of special education service use and teacher-reported academic performance. Implications for future research aimed at integrating programmes within the three-tiered PBIS framework are discussed.


As printed circuit board (PCB) track geometries shrink, sometimes it becomes necessary to look deeper than the material data sheet when modelling electrical properties of transmission lines; this study looks at how variation in dielectric constant should be handled in multiple and single dielectric PCB builds. This paper describes how even FR4 builds should in some cases be treated as multiple dielectric builds. Approaches for understanding the root cause of effective dielectric constant variation with structure, coupling and scale are considered. An outline of the implementation of the boundary element method is provided for those wishing to look a little deeper into the modelling process. Finally, a brief investigation covers the sources of measurement errors aimed at helping to put the best data back into the modelling process.


Advertisement, omnipresent in the media and daily life, is constitutive of a widespread cultural practice, circulating commodities as well as knowledge. While research studies have long challenged the ways in which advertising and marketing campaigns in western countries employ gendered imagery that objectify women and reinforce power differences between the sexes in order to sell their products, not much attention has been given to the images of the Orient that are adopted to create woman imagery in advertisements. This paper, by using a semiotic analysis, discusses the representation of the Orient in western women perfume advertisements—the one type of advertisement where woman images have been a focal point and most fully exploited. Through decoding the signs and discourses in the deployment of Oriental images in women perfume advertisements, the paper attempts to reveal how race and gender are combined to create and reinforce female roles and define femininity in western societies.


Knowing about optimal quantum measurements is important for many applications in quantum information and quantum communication. However, deriving optimal quantum measurements is often difficult. We present a collection of results for minimum-cost quantum measurements, and give examples of how they can be used. Among other results, we show that a minimum-cost measurement for a set of given pure states is formally equivalent to a minimum-error measurement for certain mixed states of those same pure states. For pure symmetric states it turns out that for a certain class of cost matrices, the minimum-cost measurement is the square-root measurement. That is, the optimal minimum-cost measurement is in this case the same as the minimum-error measurement. These results are in agreement with Nakahira and Usuda (2012 Phys. Rev. A 86 062305). Finally, we consider sequences of individual uncorrelated systems, and examine when the global minimum-cost measurement is a sequence of optimal local measurements. We consider an example where the global minimum-cost measurement is, perhaps counter-intuitively, not a sequence of local measurements, and discuss how this is related to the Pusey–Barrett–Rudolph argument for the nature of the wave function.


In the title compound, [Fe(C(17)H(14)P)(2)](2)[Sb(4)Cl(16)] x C(2)H(6)O, the Fe atoms lie on inversion centres and the pairs of cyclopentadienyl rings are consequently in a fully staggered conformation. The centrosymmetric anionic clusters formed by [Sb(4)Cl(16)](4-) are surrounded by the cations and are held together by weak C-H...Cl interactions. These formations stack along the a axis to form columns, and the columns are interconnected by another weak C-H...Cl interaction along the b axis.


The purpose of the study was to develop a physical therapy program for people after an ischemic stroke at the inpatient recovery stage and describe its effectiveness. Materials and methods. The following effective and objective methods of assessing the functional state of patients after ischemic stroke were used in the study: analysis of special scientific and methodical literature, clinical and instrumental research methods (survey, Berg balance scale, VAS, MMT Lovett, Cross-out test stars, Stand and Walk Test, 10-meter test, Rivermead Index, Modified Rankin Scale, Montreal Cognitive Dysfunction Scale, Hospital Depression and Anxiety Scale), methods of mathematical statistics. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the developed program of physical therapy for patients with ischemic stroke, a study was conducted of 20 patients, aged 45-65, at the inpatient rehabilitation department. The proposed method contributes to the restoration of balance, coordination and gait speed, muscle strength, activity in everyday life, level of self-care, cognitive abilities, reduces pain syndrome, severity of neglect, level of depression and anxiety. The presented materials can be used in the process of activity of specialized medical, rehabilitation and health facilities, medical centers, as well as for practical study by students of higher educational institutions specializing in "Physical therapy, occupational therapy". The study was conducted from November 2021 to November 2022 in the department of physical and medical rehabilitation of Kyiv City Clinical Hospital No. 6, which provides scheduled specialized medical care to patients with neurological and orthopedic pathologies. Results and discussion. 20 patients were evaluated, 10 patients were assigned to the main group and 10 – to the control group. The initial indicators of the studied parameters in patients of both groups did not differ statistically significantly (p>0.05). The age group of patients is from 45 to 65 years old. The effectiveness of rehabilitation largely depends on the individual program developed by a professional. The basis of the programs is an individual approach and the patient's return to the most fulfilling life and adaptation in society. Positive results of rehabilitation are possible only with a comprehensive approach to restoring lost functions. Conclusion. Based on the obtained results of the study of the control and main groups, it can be concluded that the addition of mirror gymnastics, kinesiotherapy in the rehabilitation cage, postisometric relaxation, myostimulation of the plegic muscles and ideomotor exercises to the classical program of physical therapy for patients after ischemic stroke is an effective way to combat progression of this disease


Generalizing work of K\"unnemann, Paturi, and Schneider [ICALP 2017], we study a wide class of high-dimensional dynamic programming (DP) problems in which one must find the shortest path between two points in a high-dimensional grid given a tensor of transition costs between nodes in the grid. This captures many classical problems which are solved using DP such as the knapsack problem, the airplane refueling problem, and the minimal-weight polygon triangulation problem. We observe that for many of these problems, the tensor naturally has low tensor rank or low slice rank. We then give new algorithms and a web of fine-grained reductions to tightly determine the complexity of these problems. For instance, we show that a polynomial speedup over the DP algorithm is possible when the tensor rank is a constant or the slice rank is 1, but that such a speedup is impossible if the tensor rank is slightly super-constant (assuming SETH) or the slice rank is at least 3 (assuming the APSP conjecture). We find that this characterizes the known complexities for many of these problems, and in some cases leads to new faster algorithms.


The reactive sputtering process is characterized by a hysteresis of reactive gas concentration and reactive gas flow [Schiller, Thin Solid Films 118, 255 (1984); Affinito and Parsons, J. Vac. Sci. Technol A. 2, 1275 (1984)]. The precise control of the reactive sputtering process requires maintaining operation at points on the hysteresis that ensures the desired high sputter flux and deposited thin film stoichiometry. The hysteresis is highly nonlinear in these preferred operating regimes. The practical challenge of meeting this in a reactive sputtering batch coating system requires a control system that can compensate for changes in reaction rate for various sputtered metals, reactive gas sticking coefficients, and system pumping speed. Closed loop control algorithms that rapidly bring the reactive sputtering system to the desired hysteresis steady state operating point are desired for multilayer applications such as thin film interference filters that require many target starts (and stops). Conventional methods of starting the reactive sputtering process such as temporally ramping target power, voltage or current and target shutters are undesirable for precision thin film interference filters. We present a reactive gas sensor and analysis of the proportional-integral-derivative closed loop control algorithm for an industrial reactive sputtering batch drum coater. The key enabler of the control algorithms is a reactive gas sensor employed on these drum coaters that exhibits a temporal response of several hundred milliseconds. We discuss how elements from control theory applied to the reactive sputtering process can determine what points on the hysteresis will be the most difficult to control and the limits to implementation for an industrial system.


Cover illustrations: TOP LEFT: Ordered lubricants confined to nanoscale gap (Peter Cummings). BOTTOM LEFT: Hypothetical spintronic quantum computer (Sankar Das Sarma and Bruce Kane). TOP RIGHT: Folded spectrum method for free-standing quantum dot (Alex Zunger). MIDDLE RIGHT: Equilibrium structures of bare and chemically modified gold nanowires (Uzi Landman).


Abstract Introduction to the special issue on the Kauffman Foundation Conference on Intellectual Property and Innovation, held at St. Louis (USA) on April 2-3, 2009. This conference was organized by the Center on Law, Innovation and Economic Growth of the Washington University School of Law, and sponsored by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurial Studies.


This paper gives a description of the hitherto unknown or poorly known larvae of Rhyacophila rougemonti McLachlan 1880, R. trifasciata Mosely 1930, R. pallida Mosely 1930, and R. tarda Giudicelli 1968 (Trichoptera: Rhyacophilidae). Information on the morphology of the larvae is provided, and the most important diagnostic features are figured. This dataset is included in a discriminatory matrix of the Rhyacophila larvae with tetrafilament (i.e., four-filament) abdominal gills of Italy and Corsica described so far; only the species pair Rhyacophila pallida / R. tarda in Corsica remains unresolved. Larvae can be separated by the number of metathoracic gill filaments and anal proleg morphology, and by distribution patterns. Endemism is high in the species quartet described in the present paper: Rhyacophila pallida and R. trifasciata are Sardo-Corsican endemic species, R. tarda is restricted to Corsica, and R. rougemonti is a South-Apennine endemic species.


This paper discusses the implementation of the Tri–Squared Test as an advanced statistical measure used to verify and validate the research outcomes. This type of statistical measure is ideal for teachers professional development as educators can create and validate instruments for educational settings. The initial research investigation published in i-manager's Journal on School Educational Technology determined that these types of research on academic programs provide an active solution that validates in–depth educational researches by teachers to positively impact the educational settings. The research methodology used in this paper further validates the outcomes of an initial study that used Meta–Cognitive Analysis followed up by an in–depth Tri–Squared Test on that same area to determine the reliability of educator–based investigative inquiry. This advanced approach to data analysis is a transformative mixed methods research design that involves the in–depth comparison and transformation of qualitative outcomes into quantitative


The effects of various neurotransmitter antagonists on suckling behavior of 3- and 4-day-old Sprague-Dawley rat pups were examined. Peripheral administration of three serotonergic antagonist, scopolamine, were observed to markedly reduce suckling behavior of neonatal rat pups. These effects appear to be centrally mediated since intracisternal administration of small doses of all of these drugs was observed to suppress suckling. The reduction in suckling induced by these antagonists did not appear to be a result of a debilitating effect of the drugs or to be due to any alteration in body temperature. In contrast, the opiate antagonist naloxone, the dopaminergic antagonist haloperidol, the alpha-noradrenergic antagonist phentolamine, and the beta-noradrenergi antagonist propranolol did not consistently produce any alteration in suckling behavior. These results suggest that the serotonergic and cholinergic systems may be functioning much earlier in ontogeny than previously suggested and may be involved in modulating suckling behavior in the early neonatal period.


Elk (Cervus elaphus Linnaeus), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus Rafinesque), and cattle (Bos taurus Linnaeus) distributions were determined year round from 1975-1979 on a rest-rotation grazing system established in steep mountainous terrain. Following implementation of the grazing system, cattle progressively used higher elevations and steeper slopes in each succeeding year. Elk preferred rested pastures during the grazing season (June-October) and avoided habitat frequented by cattle by using higher elevations and steeper slopes. Few mule deer used the allotment during summer, but during the winter, deer selected habitats grazed previously by cattle. Elk appeared to adjust to the grazing system by making greater use of pastures with cattle present, although preference for pastures without cattle continued.


Generating high-quality and interpretable adversarial examples in the text domain is a much more daunting task than it is in the image domain. This is due partly to the discrete nature of text, partly to the problem of ensuring that the adversarial examples are still probable and interpretable, and partly to the problem of maintaining label invariance under input perturbations. In order to address some of these challenges, we introduce sparse projected gradient descent (SPGD), a new approach to crafting interpretable adversarial examples for text. SPGD imposes a directional regularization constraint on input perturbations by projecting them onto the directions to nearby word embeddings with highest cosine similarities. This constraint ensures that perturbations move each word embedding in an interpretable direction (i.e., towards another nearby word embedding). Moreover, SPGD imposes a sparsity constraint on perturbations at the sentence level by ignoring word-embedding perturbations whose norms are below a certain threshold. This constraint ensures that our method changes only a few words per sequence, leading to higher quality adversarial examples. Our experiments with the IMDB movie review dataset show that the proposed SPGD method improves adversarial example interpretability and likelihood (evaluated by average per-word perplexity) compared to state-of-the-art methods, while suffering little to no loss in training performance.


Organizational ethnography is one of the most valued approaches to qualitative studies of organizations. Much attention has been given to the development of the research process, of which the researcher's identity is an integral part. However, we believe that the analysis of research failures has been much less developed in the discourse of ethnographic methods for the study of organizations. Therefore, we have explored some of the "slips" in ethnographic work, as described in accounts of fellow organizational anthropologists. As the study is qualitative, we have adopted a narrative research method. We have divided the "slips" (i.e., errors) into four categories important for the ethnographer's identity: (a) one's role; (b) one's project, (c) one's relation to "the Other"; and (d) the social context of the slip. Copyright © 2010 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. JEL Classifi cation: M14


In order to estimate the relationship of the adipokinetic effect of morphine (MO) to adrenergic-mediated lipolysis the interaction between MO and isoprenaline (ISO) was studied in epididymal adipose tissue of rats and perirenal adipose tissue of rabbits. Two preparations of adipose tissue (AT)-trimmed tissue and fat cells (FC)-were used. Increment of non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) release into the medium during 90 min of incubation was the measure of lipolysis. In rats, especially in FC, MO stimulated NEFA release up to 900% of basic values and also in rabbits the lipid-mobilizing action of MO was found as high as 320% of the non-stimulated level. The net increase due to MO expressed as % of maximum lipolysis induced by ISO was fluctuating between 30-50% except rat FC, where MO reached almost the level of ISO maximum effect. The calculated pD2 values of MO were in FC of both species 5.8, in trimmed AT 5.1 (rats) and 5.3 (rabbits). Different concentrations of MO (1-100 mumol/l) did not significantly alter the concentration-response adipokinetic curve of ISO. Naloxone in concentrations of 1 and 10 mumol/l did not exert any antagonistic action in MO-induced lipolysis. The MO effect is most probably not mediated via adrenergic receptors; the possibility of opiate receptor involvement has not been excluded. Pronounced species differences between rats and rabbits in sensitivity to the lipolytic morphine effect were observed.


Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) exerts its functions via the catabolism of heme into carbon monoxide (CO), Fe2+, and biliverdin, as well as by depletion of free heme. We have recently described that overexpression of HO-1 is associated with the tolerogenic capacity to dendritic cells (DCs) stimulated by LPS. In this study, we demonstrate that treatment of human monocyte-derived DCs with CO blocks TLR3 and 4-induced phenotypic maturation, secretion of proinflammatory cytokines, and alloreactive T cell proliferation, while preserving IL-10 production. Treatment of DCs with biliverdin, bilirubin, and deferoxamine or replenishing intracellular heme stores had no effect on DC maturation. HO-1 and CO inhibited LPS-induced activation of the IFN regulatory factor 3 pathway and their effects were independent of p38, ERK, and JNK MAPK. HO-1 and CO treatment also inhibited mouse DC maturation in vitro and mouse DC immunogenic properties in vivo, as shown by adoptive cell transfer in a transgenic model of induced diabetes. Thus, for the first time, our data show that CO treatment inhibits DC immunogenicity induced by TLR ligands and that blockade of IFN regulatory factor 3 is associated with this effect.


This study assesses the delay of mastectomy "time from the first consultation of a doctor to the time of mastectomy" and its relationship with the stage of the disease among Iraqi women with breast cancer. A study was carried out on (113) women who were referred to the Outpatient Clinic of the Oncology Teaching Hospital and the Iraqi National Cancer Research Center, University of Baghdad, for the period from 2012 to 2016.Patients' age range between (40-49) years comprised (60.2%) of cases, and showed advanced tumor stage (62.96%)of stage III. It was found that infiltrating ductal carcinoma was the most common type of breast cancer that found in (77%) of cases. Mostly there was no delay of mastectomy for more than one month delay in (36.3%) of  patients, while other patient's delay periods of mastectomy were distributed as : 1-3 months delay in (20.3%), 4-6 months delay in (14.2%),7-9 months delay in (8.8%), 9-12 months delay in (0.8%) and 12 months delay in(8.8%) of the patients. The percentage of the residual patients which had delay longer than one year, (2-9 years delay), was (10.6%) patients. Most patients (73%) were of stage III while others  (17.6%) were of stage I, and (7.4%) were of stage II. Statically, correlation coefficient between the delay of mastectomy and the stages of the disease was significant with stage III . Results showed that (short time delay) was associated with higher stage of the disease,(79%)  of patients were of stage III, while (53% ) of patients with long time delay had stage III  . It seemed to be that long time delay correlated with lower stages at the time of identification which goes with most of the published papers. Results showed that the time delay of mastectomy seems not to be a serious problem in Iraq during the period of the current study. Only few studies are carried out in this field especially in the city of Baghdad, therefore, Further  studies  are required  to explore the factors that are associated with different types of delay.


In order to study the abnormal differentiation and proliferation of precursor T cells in homosexual men, a study was made of T-cell colony formation in 15 healthy homosexual men without anti-human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) antibody. The colony forming method used was the one-step monolayer technique using phytohemagglutinin as an inducer. Our results revealed that colony formation was extremely reduced and 3 cases showed no colony growth. However, with the addition of recombinant interleukin 2 to the culture system, the number of colonies increased up to the same level as in heterosexual controls. In addition, the analysis of CD3+, 4+, and 8+ cells of colony component cells revealed a decrease in CD3+ and 4+ cells. However, with the addition of recombinant interleukin 2, the numbers of CD3+ cells distinctly increased. The above results suggest that a disorder in the differentiation and proliferation of precursor T cells in homosexual men might be one of the causes of immunodeficiency.


The release of granulocyte elastase and its interaction with plasma protease inhibitors was studied in dogs receiving a slow infusion of a lethal dose of Escherichia coli endotoxin. During endotoxin infusion a marked decline in leucocyte counts was parallelled by a rapid increase in plasma granulocyte elastase concentrations. Maximal values were reached after 3 h, when the infusion was ended. Crossed immunoelectrophoresis with antiserum against granulocyte elastase did not reveal the presence of elastase components with the electrophoretic mobility of free elastase, but elastase-alpha1-antitrypsin complexes were detected. A gradually decreasing plasma concentration of alpha2-macroglobulin was noted during the experiments. Crossed immunoelectrophoresis, however, did not reveal any electrophoretic heterogeneity. It is concluded that the release of granulocyte proteases might be of significance for several pathophysiological changes seen in endotoxin shock.


Among many applications enabled by the Internet of Things (IoT), smart and connected health care is a particularly important one. Networked sensors, either worn on the body or embedded in our living environments, make possible the gathering of rich information indicative of our physical and mental health. Captured on a continual basis, aggregated, and effectively mined, such information can bring about a positive transformative change in the health care landscape. In particular, the availability of data until now coupled with a new generation of intelligent processing algorithms can: (a) facilitate an evolution in the practice of medicine, from the current post facto diagnose-and treat reactive paradigm, to a proactive framework for prognosis of diseases at an incipient stage, coupled with prevention, cure, and overall management of health instead of disease, (b) enable personalization of treatment and management options targeted particularly to the specific circumstances and needs of the individual, and (c) help reduce the cost of health care while simultaneously improving outcomes. In this paper, we highlight the opportunities and challenges for IOT in realizing this vision of the future of health care.


Demand for double jointing technology is increasing to improve pipeline construction productivity. Submerged arc welding (SAW) utilized for double jointing is likely to cause a much wider heat affected zone (HAZ) than those of typical field welding by gas metal arc welding (GMAW), and it should be taken into account for strain-based design of high strength line-pipes. However, guidelines for SAW welds properties to ensure strain capacity of high strength line-pipes such as X80 have not been established yet.In this study, a submerged arc weld joint was produced using tensile strength (TS) over-matching welding consumable. API standard type transverse weld tension test was conducted to measure local elongation at weld metal, HAZ, and base material. Elongation at weld metal increases prior to base material, but soon after that elongation at the HAZ softening region and base material adjacent to the HAZ catch up with the elongation in the weld metal, and finally, deformation concentrates at the HAZ softening region before final fracture.Deformation behavior of the joint was analyzed to verify applicability to double jointing girth welds for strain-based design. From finite element (FE) analysis of notched wide plate test which characterizes tensile strain capacity of a pipeline, it is suggested that ductile crack would not initiate before base material start necking in this particular TS over-matching weld joint in which the defect size is 1mm of notch depth and 25mm of notch length. Thus, the weld joint would be applicable for double jointing girth welds based on strain-based design.Copyright © 2012 by ASME


We study a model describing some aspects of the dynamics of biopolymers. The models involve either one or two finite chains with a number N of sites that represent the "units" of a biophysical system. The mechanical degrees of freedom of these chains are coupled to the internal degrees of freedom through position dependent excitation transfer functions. We reconsider the case of the one chain model discussed by Mingaleev et al. and present new results concerning the soliton sector of this model. We also give new (preliminary) results in the two chain model in which case we have introduced an interaction potential inspired by the Morse potential.


Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text Abstract South Korean studies on coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) treatment have described the use of community treatment centers (CTCs), which combine elements of the home and hospital, to isolate and treat mild COVID-19 patients. While the number of South Koreans diagnosed with COVID-19 cases has varied greatly by season, the number of confirmed cases in foreign nationals has shown no seasonality, with an average of around 25 to 30 per day. For foreign patients, accommodation arrangements and travel routes may be difficult; they may also have difficulty accessing medical care, so require careful management. We discuss our experience in operating and managing a CTC for foreign COVID-19 patients arriving in South Korea with mild symptoms. We also propose guidelines for efficient use of resources with respect to treating these patients in CTCs. We present the clinical findings of patients treated at the CTC between 7 October and 22 November 2020, and make some recommendations. We quarantined and treated foreign patients with mild symptoms of COVID-19 at the Ansan CTC. Discharge is determined based on clinical symptoms rather than polymerase chain reaction results. Medical and administrative staff use building A, while building B is used for isolating patients. Medical rounds are in the form of twice-daily video calls. Three kinds of foods with medication are served according to the patient's country of origin. In total, 315 patients were admitted to the Ansan CTC between 7 October and 22 November 2020; 145 of them were discharged from the CTC and 26 were transferred to other hospitals. To utilize medical resources efficiently during the pandemic, it is desirable to reserve CTCs exclusively for foreign patients.


This paper deals with the applicability of extended layerwise optimization method (ELOM) for frequency optimization of laminated composite plates. The design objective is the maximization of the fundamental frequency of the laminated plates. The fibre orientations in the layers are considered as design variables. The first order shear deformation theory (FSDT) is used for the finite element solution of the laminates. Finally, the numerical analysis is carried out to show the applicability of extended layerwise optimization algorithm of laminated plates for different parameters such as plate aspect ratios and boundary conditions.


Aim: The study was conducted to determine the effect of online information searching strategies on individual innovativeness in students taking the course of information techniques in nursing.
Material and Methods:The study was conducted as a descriptive and correlational study. The population of the study consisted of 548 students whoattended nursing faculty andtookthe course of information techniques in the nursing. In the study, the whole of the population was tried to be reached without using sample selection and the study was completed with 453 students. The data were collected by using Personal Information Form prepared by the researchers, Online Information Searching Strategies Inventory, and Individual Innovativeness Scale. Descriptive statistics, independent samples t-test, One way ANOVA, post-hoc tests, Correlation analysis, and the Cronbach's Alpha reliability analysis test were used to assess the data.
Results: It was found that OISSI and subscale mean scores of the nursing students were moderate. IIS mean scores of the students were 59.76±11.38 and they were early majority according to the scale evaluation. While a positive moderate correlation was determined between the OISSI subscale levels andindividual innovativeness levels of the students in the study, a positive strong correlation was found between the online information searching strategies andindividual innovativeness (p


In numerous controlled trials, behavior therapy involving exposure and ritual prevention, either alone or in combination with pharmacotherapy, has been found to be highly effective in treating obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and panic disorder. Although some animal research suggests that serotonin level affects classical conditioning, there is little knowledge of the effect of conditioning or reconditioning on serotonin. Indirect support for such an effect comes from the neuroimaging research finding that behavior therapy, as well as pharmacotherapy with a serotonin reuptake inhibitor, normalizes glucose metabolism in successfully treated OCD patients. A novel, automated approach to making behavior therapy more widely available via telephone is discussed.


One of the grand challenges of AI is to create general intelligence: an agent that can excel at many tasks, not just one. In the area of games, this has given rise to the challenge of General Game Playing (GGP). In GGP, the game (typically a turn-taking board game) is defined declaratively in terms of the logic of the game (what happens when a move is made, how the scoring system works, how the winner is declared, and so on). The AI player then has to work out how to play the game and how to win. In this work, we seek to extend the idea of General Game Playing into the realm of video games, thus forming the area of General Video Game Playing (GVGP). In GVGP, computational agents will be asked to play video games that they have not seen before. At the minimum, the agent will be given the current state of the world and told what actions are applicable. Every game tick the agent will have to decide on its action, and the state will be updated, taking into account the actions of the other agents in the game and the game physics. We envisage running a competition based on GVGP playing, using arcade-style (e.g. similar to Atari 2600) games as our starting point. These games are rich enough to be a formidable challenge to a GVGP agent, without introducing unnecessary complexity. The competition that we envisage could have a number of tracks, based on the form of the state (frame buffer or object model) and whether or not a forward model of action execution is available. We propose that the existing Physical Travelling Salesman (PTSP) software could be extended for our purposes and that a variety of GVGP games could be created in this framework by AI and Games students and other developers. Beyond this, we envisage the development of a Video Game Description Language (VGDL) as a way of concisely specifying video games. For the competition, we see this as being an interesting challenge in terms of deliberative search, machine learning and transfer of existing knowledge into new domains. 1998 ACM Subject Classification I.2.1 Applications and Expert Systems: Games


Objective: Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a catastrophic injury impairing body systems and functions with secondary conditions like infections, chronic pain and fatigue having major negative impacts on functionality and well-being. The objective of this research was to conduct a prospective study of the change in health related quality of life (HRQOL) from the hospitalization stage to six months following discharge in adults with SCI. Methods: Participants included 91 adults with SCI, admitted over two-years into three SCI Units in Sydney, Australia. Multiple measures were taken, including socio-demographic and injury-related variables. Health related quality of life (HR-QOL) was assessed using the Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) on three occasions, the first soon after admission to rehabilitation, the second within 2 weeks of discharge and the third six-months after discharge. Results: After six months of living in the community, QOL of the SCI sample was significantly lower than Australian adult norms for all SF-36 domains except mental health. QOL domains such as physical functioning and vitality significantly improved from admission to discharge and 6 months after discharge. In contrast, SF-36 general health scores had deteriorated significantly 6 months after discharge. There was a non-significant trend for emotional functioning to also deteriorate 6 months after discharge. No improvement in the SF-36 pain interference scores were found over the time of the three assessments. Conclusion: SCI has a substantial negative impact on QOL for domains such as physical functioning, physical role, pain and health. While participants showed some improvement in HR-QOL at discharge and 6 months after discharge, it is a concern that adults with SCI living in the community continue to have significantly lower QOL. Considered advancements in


The nitrogen (N) absorption and partition of the rice plants are important indicators that can be used to improve the N use efficiency (NUE) of the plants. Improving the plant NUE can help to avoid nutrient waste that may cause environmental pollution. To investigate the N absorption and partition of the rice plants, Hwaseongbyeo (Japonica) and Dasanbyeo (indica/japonica) were applied with N fertilizers at the rates of 60, 120, and 80 ㎏ N per ha in paddy field. Also micro plots of 0.81 ㎡ were established inside each plot for application of 15 N-labeled fertilizer. The differences in N utilization of the rice plants were associated with the total N absorption and partitioning after the heading stage. In the grain filling period, the increase of nitrogen content in the total and leaf blades of Dasanbyeo was higher than that of Hwaseongbyeo. Soil N was the main contributor for the increase of total N of Dasanbyeo during the grain filling period. The N fertilizer uptake rate of Hwaseongbyeo rapidly increased with the increment of N fertilization rate. In Dasanbyeo, N fertilizer uptakes were similar under all rates and times of N application. From heading stage to harvest, Dasanbyeo continued accumulating nitrogen, whereas Hwaseongbyeo had small changes. In conclusion, the difference in nitrogen absorption and partition after heading of the two cultivars was caused by the ability of Dasanbyeo to accumulate and remobilize soil nitrogen to the grains during the grain filling period.


Abstract : Russia has all but abandoned its Caribbean friend and ally, Fidel Castro. The island is suffering economically: it is only a matter of time till the Castro brothers see the end of their thirty three year old Socialist Revolution. The United States continues its decades long trade embargo against the Communist island, and shows little sign of beginning to normalize relations with Castro. The U.S. Congress has written several laws over the years that restrict any formal relations between the two countries until Communism is gone and democracy is attempted. The political and economic power of the one million or so Cuban-Americans - living primarily in southern Florida will have to be dealt with before any bilateral talks can be successful. The real question is, what will the 100,000 plus Cuban Military do in the event that Fidel Castro dies, retires, or goes out in a blaze of Cuban Revolutionary style glory in a suicide attack on the Gringo base at Guantanamo Bay? The Cuban Military has a strong, well-traveled officer corps whose senior officers owe their position in Cuban society and government to the continued support by the Castro brothers. U. S. relations have improved with the former Soviet Union: an attempt should be made this year to initiate informal military-to-military relations to pave the way for an immediate response to whatever follow-on government attempts to emerge once Fidel Castro is gone.


The effect of Dzialoshinski–Moriya (DM) interaction on thermal entanglement of an XY two-qutrit spin chain is investigated. We find that DM interaction and the anisotropy parameter can enhance quantum thermal entanglement to a maximal value individually. However, when both of them take large values, the entanglement is not enhanced, but is destroyed. Our analysis will shed some light on the understanding of the effect of the DM interaction on thermal entanglement of an XY two-qutrit spin chain.


Aoruroides chubudaigaku n. sp. (Nematoda: Oxyuridomorpha: Thelastomatidae) is described from the wood-burrowing cockroach Panesthia angustipennis spadica (Shiraki, 1906) (Blattodea: Blaberidae: Panesthiinae) from Aichi prefecture, Japan. Females of A. chubudaigaku n. sp. are similar to A. costaricensis Carreno Tuhela, 2011 by the position of the nerve ring at level of the first third of the isthmus, the body length and the comparative measurements of the oesophagus and tail. They differ by the position of the excretory pore and the vulva. The males of A. chubudaigaku n. sp. are characterized by the absence of ornamentations in the cervical cuticle and the nerve ring located at the posterior third of the corpus. In addition, the males of the new species can be differentiated by the length of the body and the comparative lengths of the oesophagus and the tail. The phylogeny of A. chubudaigaku n. sp. is inferred by the D2-D3 domains of the LSU rDNA and the validity of the genus Aoruroides Travassos Kloss, 1958 is discussed on the basis of both molecular and morphological data. This constitutes the first species of the genus Aoruroides described from the Japanese archipelago.


In the context of interactive mobile TV services, and more precisely the creation and deployment of interactive mobile TV services, this paper presents the different issues existing in the choice of the rich media format permitting to render interactivity. A solution allowing an easy creation of interactive services for mobile TV will be proposed. This solution will take into account the low integration cost required by the service creator to create and deploy such services on different service platforms or technologies supported by networks and terminals.


Fiber introduction mass spectrometry (FIMS), a variation of solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and membrane introduction mass spectrometry (MIMS), is employed with a miniature mass spectrometer. The inlet system, constructed of commercially available vacuum parts, allows the direct introduction of the SPME needle vacuum chamber into the mass spectrometer. Thermal desorption of the analyte from the poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) coated fiber was achieved with a built in nichrome heater, followed by electron ionization of the analytes internal to the cylindrical ion trap (CIT). The system has been tested with several volatile organic compounds (VOC) in air and to analyze the headspace over aqueous solutions, with limits of detection in the low ppb range. The signal rise (10-90%) and fall (90-10%) times for the system ranged from 0.1 to 1 s (rise) and 1.2 to 6 s (fall) using heated desorption. In addition, this method has been applied to quantitation of toluene in benzene, toluene, xylene (BTX) mixtures in water and gasoline. This simple and rapid analysis method, coupled to a portable mass spectrometer, has been shown to provide a robust, simple, rapid, reproducible, accurate and sensitive (low ppb range) fieldable approach to the effective in situ analysis of VOC in various matrices.


Introduction: Osteoporosis is a disease characterized by low bone mass, increased bone fragility and risk of fracture. In Portugal, osteoporosis affects 500 hundred people. The criteria for initiating pharmacological treatment is based on the bone mineral density test and the assessment of risk factors. Due to the asymptomatic condition of the pathology patients don't adhere correctly to the medication which contributes to a higher risk of fracture and comorbidities.Objective: The aim of this study was to identify variables associated with osteoporosis and evaluate the adherence with osteoporosis treatment.Methods: We conducted a study including 107 women aged over 50 years old. The data was collected by questionnaire and women were examined using Quantitative Ultrasound of the Calcaneus.Results: 43.9 % of women were normal, 37.4% had osteopenia and 18.7% had osteoporosis. Increased age (p=0.000) and menopause (p=0.013) were correlated with T-score. Body mass index (p=0.380) was not statistically correlated with T-score. Patients taking bisphosphonates, with older age and with treatments longer than 6 months presented poor adherence to medication.Conclusions: Age, menopause and family history of osteoporosis were risk factors for the disease. Age and the duration of treatment are factors that exacerbate the poor adherence.


This paper presents a semi-automatic method to derive morphological analyzers from a limited number of example inflections suitable for languages with alphabetic writing systems. The system we present learns the inflectional behavior of morphological paradigms from examples and converts the learned paradigms into a finite-state transducer that is able to map inflected forms of previously unseen words into lemmas and corresponding morphosyntactic descriptions. We evaluate the system when provided with inflection tables for several languages collected from the Wiktionary.


Somatic mutations in the tyrosine kinase domain of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene are reported to be associated with clinical responsiveness of lung cancer to gefitinib, an EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor. To elucidate the association between somatic mutations and the pharmacological actions of gefitinib, the chemosensitivity of isolated cancer cells from the lungs of Japanese patients to gefitinib was examined by the collagen gel-droplet embedded culture drug sensitivity test in vitro. In 30 specimens isolated from non-small-cell lung cancer patients, mutations were observed in eight tumour specimens (27%) and chemosensitivity to gefitinib was observed in seven specimens (23%). However, somatic mutations were not predominantly associated with chemosensitivity to gefitinib in vitro. Both mutation and chemosensitivity frequencies in this study were higher than those reported in studies from the United States, indicating a possible ethnic difference. Moreover, both frequencies were much higher in females than in males. Since a gender difference in chemosensitivity to gefitinib was observed in isolated cancer cells in vitro, this suggests that gefitinib works in part through the suppression of EGFR signalling, but that other factors, including sex-related factors, may participate in gefitinib action.


We investigated the phylogenetic relationships among Magnaporthales fungi with harpophora-like asexual states based on DNA sequences of ITS, MCM7, RPB1 and TEF1 genes. The results indicated that these species are polyphyletic. Based on the four-gene phylogeny, the type species of Harpophora, H. radicicola, belongs to Gaeumannomyces and thus Harpophora is treated as a synonym of Gaeumannomyces. In addition, a monotypic new genus, Falciphora, is established based on F. oryzae, previous referred as Harpophora oryzae.


Abstract Background Fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) gain-of-function mutations play a crucial role in achondroplasia (ACH), thanatophoric dysplasia (TD), and hypochondroplasia (HCH). HCH is a less severe form of dwarfism than ACH, but similarly is caused by gain-of-function mutations in the FGFR3 gene. HCH is characterized by a disproportionate short stature and a growth deficit affecting both endochondral and intramembranous ossification. While multiple therapeutic strategies are being tested for ACH, currently there are no approved therapeutic options for individuals with HCH. We tested the hypothesis that the oral, selective FGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) infigratinib (BGJ398) could improve the HCH phenotype and improve endochondral and intramembranous ossification in a preclinical mouse model of HCH Fgfr3N534K/+. Methods The first Hch mouse model studied expresses the most frequent human mutation p.Asn540Lys (Fgfr3Asn534Lys/+), and exhibits a mild dwarfism and most of the hallmarks of the human pathology. Fgfr3N534K/+ mice received subcutaneous injections of infigratinib or vehicle control every 3 days (1 mg/kg) or daily (1 mg/kg) for 15 days (post-natal day [PND] 4–19) or 21 days (PND 3–24), respectively. Results Fgfr3N534K/+ mice treated with 1 mg/kg infigratinib every 3 days did not show obvious and significant modification of the dwarf phenotype. In contrast, Fgfr3N534K/+ mice treated with 1 mg/kg infigratinib daily for a total of 21 days showed a statistically significant increase in appendicular and axial skeletal measures. Length of the long bones was statistically significantly increased in Fgfr3N534K/+ mice compared with Fgfr3+/+ mice (tibia +3.18%, femur +3.16%, humerus +3.04%, ulna +2.94%, radius +3.01%). Treatment also modified the skull shape (skull width, skull height, nasal bone length and naso-occipital length), the length of the mandible and skull base, as demonstrated by measurement of the foramen magnum (foramen magnum length +3.72%). Infigratinib treatment modified the cartilage growth plate organization, in particular the hypertrophic chondrocyte area. Finally, the high activation of the MAP kinase pathway due to the HCH missense FGFR3 mutation was reduced by treatment, as revealed by the immunolabelling of phosphorylated Erk1/2 proteins. Conclusions Treatment with daily 1 mg/kg infigratinib improved the length and weight of Fgfr3N534K/+ mice and significantly modified the skull and the axial and appendicular skeleton. We demonstrated in Fgfr3N534K/+ mice that infigratinib is able to counteract the constitutive activation of FGFR3 due to the heterozygous N540K mutation localized in the tyrosine kinase 1 domain of the protein. These results provide a rationale for targeting FGFR3 with a specific TKI for the treatment of children with HCH. Presentation: Monday, June 13, 2022 12:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.


Prolapse surgery has been shown to positively alter body image and decrease pelvic floor symptoms, hereby possibly improving sexual function. However, the surgical trauma itself may adversely affect sexual function, by damaging vaginal innervation and vascularization. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of vaginal prolapse surgery on vaginal vasocongestion, vaginal wall sensibility, and sexual function.


The scalability processing of all functional layers in perovskite solar cells (PSCs) is one of the critical challenges in the commercialization of perovskite photovoltaic technology. In response to this issue, a large-area and high-quality gallium-doped tin oxide (Ga-SnOx) thin film is deposited by direct current magnetron sputtering and applied in CsPbBr3 all-inorganic PSCs as an electron transport layer (ETL). It is found that oxygen defects of SnOx can be remarkably offset by regulating oxygen flux and acceptor-like Ga doping level, resulting in higher carrier mobility and suitable energy level alignment, which is beneficial in accelerating electron extraction and suppressing charge recombination at the perovskite/ETL interface. At the optimal O2 flux (12 sccm) and Ga doping level (5%), the device based on sputtered Ga-SnOx ETL without any interface modification shows a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 8.13%, which is significantly higher than that of undoped SnOx prepared by sputtering or spin coating. Furthermore, a PCE of 5.98% for a device with an active area of 1 cm2 is obtained, demonstrating great potential in fabricating efficient and stable large-area PSCs.


The effects of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) on post‐discharge histograms of single motor units in the first dorsal interosseous have been tested to estimate the input–output properties of cortical network‐mediating short‐interval intracortical inhibition (SICI) to pyramidal cells of the human primary motor cortex. SICI was studied using the paired pulse paradigm (2‐ms interval): test TMS intensity was varied to evoke peaks of different size in post‐discharge histograms, reflecting the corticospinal excitatory post‐synaptic potential in the relevant spinal motoneuron, and conditioning TMS intensity was constant (0.6 × the resting motor threshold). Navigated brain stimulation was used to monitor the coil position. A linear relationship was observed between test peak size and test TMS intensity, reflecting linear summation of excitatory inputs induced by TMS. SICI was estimated using the difference between conditioned (produced by the paired pulses) and test peaks (produced by the isolated test pulse). Although the conditioning intensity (activating cortical inhibitory interneurons mediating SICI) was kept constant throughout the experiments, the level of SICI changed with the test peak size, in a non‐linear fashion, suggesting that low‐threshold cortical neurons (excitatory interneurons/pyramidal cells) are less sensitive to SICI than those of higher threshold. These findings provide the first experimental evidence, under physiological conditions, for non‐linear input/output properties of a complex cortical network. Consequently, changes in the recruitment gain of cortical inhibitory interneurons can greatly modify the excitability of pyramidal cells and their response to afferent inputs.


Spermiogenesis in a mature male Eledone cirrhosa has been studied by means of phase contrast and electron microscopy. Material from the testis was either studied alive or by means of thin sections. Material from the vas deferens and spermatophores was either studied live, in thin sections or in negatively stained preparations for the electron microscope. The spherical spermatid cells each become modified to give an elongate mature gamete. The gamete is remarkable in the size and complexity of its spiral head, the small size of the mid-piece and the length of the sperm tail. The acrosome is simple but helical. The flagellum originates in a single centriole; the 'proximal' centriole is lost. The axial filament consists of a 'normal' 9 + 2 microtubular system together with 9 accessory γ fibres; the γ fibres form a centriolar ring at their point of origin. Cytochemical tests show that there is a loosely packed deposit of glycogen throughout the length of the tail. There are no glycogen deposits within the mid-piece or the head.


OBJECTIVE
We evaluated commercially available software that rapidly and automatically registers brain MR images on a clinical workstation, and we studied the accuracy of these registrations.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS
Ten patients with a diagnosis of glioblastoma multiforme underwent contrast-enhanced inversion recovery prepared three-dimensional (3D) volumetric spoiled gradient-recalled acquisition in the steady state (SPGR) MR imaging (contiguous 1.5-mm slice thickness, 96-104 slices). After this imaging sequence, each patient was brought out of the head coil into a sitting position and then repositioned in the coil. The inversion recovery prepared 3D SPGR sequence was then repeated. A commercially available software program operating on a clinical workstation was used to automatically register the second inversion recovery prepared SPGR series to the first. The speed of registration was recorded. The accuracy of each registration was estimated by recording the coordinates of eight anatomic landmarks on the registered and reference series and by calculating the mean error among matching landmarks.

RESULTS
In nine of 10 patients, the registration software produced a visually satisfactory registration. In one patient, a second registration was necessary to produce a satisfactory registration. The processing time for each iteration was 48.3 +/- 3.8 sec (mean +/- SD). The mean error in aligning matching anatomic landmarks ranged from 0.67 to 1.41 mm, with an overall mean of 1.18 mm. The largest error among matching landmarks was 2.3 mm.

CONCLUSION
Commercially available registration software can automatically register 3D imaging volumes in less than 1 min. The mean error in registration was approximately equivalent to the dimensions of a single voxel.


Abundant literature has examined online trust. However the different approaches were scarcely integrated to address the determinants of online trust and their impacts on online purchase intention. An integrative approach to online trust is adopted in this paper. A survey is carried out on a sample of 401 online consumers in Indonesia. The findings show that purchase intention is significantly influenced by online trust. Besides, there is significant impact of personality-based trust (benevolence, integrity and credibility), cognitive-based trust (reputation and cost benefit calculation) and institutional-based trust (situation normality) on online trust.


Onboard centrifuges are indispensable tools for clarifying the effects of microgravity on various physiological processes in plant seedlings. Centrifuges are basically attached to the incubators designed for the International Space Station (ISS). However, because of the limitation in size, that loaded to the Cell Biology Experiment Facility (CBEF) is usable only to some small seedlings such as Arabidopsis. The Centrifuge Accommodation Module (CAM) has great advantages in the size and the amounts of plant materials feasible to load, the quality of acceleration produced, and the easiness of operation on it. The CAM is an apparatus that characterizes the ISS most and its construction on schedule is highly expected.


The risk of spread of HPAI in Nigeria was derived by using a compartmental model to outline endemic and burn-out scenarios. Two paths, low and high mortality risks, were associated to each of the scenarios. The estimated risk parameters were then used to stochastically simulate the trajectory of the disease; without intervention and with an intervention. The intervention costs the country US$ 41 million obtained through a World Bank IDA loan of US$ 50million yearly disbursed over the 2006-2010 period. The key output variables (net social welfare gain – with incremental net benefits as proxy, disease cost, and benefit cost ratio) were estimated for each randomly drawn risk parameter. On average, the results show that such an intervention would make economic sense under the endemic scenario with high mortality. The discounted costs (12% discount rate) of the disease without intervention would have amounted to US$ 145 million in total over the 2006-2010 period. The model indicates that the intervention could possibly have generated cost savings amounting to US$ 63.7 million, incremental net benefit of US$22.2 million, and a benefit cost ratio at 1.75 over the five-year period considered.


OBJECTIVE
To make a comparative study of duplex ultrasonography (DU) and internal pudendal arteriogram (IPA) in the diagnosis of trauma-associated arteriogenic erectile dysfunction (ED).

METHODS
Seven patients suffering from arteriogenic erectile dysfunction caused by pelvic fracture trauma underwent comprehensive history inquiries and physical examinations by duplex ultrasonography and internal pudendal arteriogram, which ruled out neurogenic erectile dysfunction.

RESULTS
DU suggested penile artery blood flow injury, and IPA indicated artery injury in all the cases, including left internal pudendal artery injury, right or left common penile artery injury and bilateral common penile artery injury.

CONCLUSION
Trauma-associated arteriogenic erectile dysfunction may result from common penile artery injury and internal pudendal artery injury. DU is proved valuable for evaluating hemodynamic abnormalities of cavernous artery flow, and IPA useful in locating common penile artery and internal pudendal artery injury. DU can be used as the first line diagnostic means to define trauma-associated arteriogenic ED.


We present a reaction field (RF) method which accurately solves the Poisson equation for proteins embedded in dielectric solvent continua at a computational effort comparable to that of an electrostatics calculation with polarizable molecular mechanics (MM) force fields. The method combines an approach originally suggested by Egwolf and Tavan [J. Chem. Phys. 118, 2039 (2003)] with concepts generalizing the Born solution [Z. Phys. 1, 45 (1920)] for a solvated ion. First, we derive an exact representation according to which the sources of the RF potential and energy are inducible atomic anti-polarization densities and atomic shielding charge distributions. Modeling these atomic densities by Gaussians leads to an approximate representation. Here, the strengths of the Gaussian shielding charge distributions are directly given in terms of the static partial charges as defined, e.g., by standard MM force fields for the various atom types, whereas the strengths of the Gaussian anti-polarization densities are calculated by a self-consistency iteration. The atomic volumes are also described by Gaussians. To account for covalently overlapping atoms, their effective volumes are calculated by another self-consistency procedure, which guarantees that the dielectric function ε(r) is close to one everywhere inside the protein. The Gaussian widths σ(i) of the atoms i are parameters of the RF approximation. The remarkable accuracy of the method is demonstrated by comparison with Kirkwood's analytical solution for a spherical protein [J. Chem. Phys. 2, 351 (1934)] and with computationally expensive grid-based numerical solutions for simple model systems in dielectric continua including a di-peptide (Ac-Ala-NHMe) as modeled by a standard MM force field. The latter example shows how weakly the RF conformational free energy landscape depends on the parameters σ(i). A summarizing discussion highlights the achievements of the new theory and of its approximate solution particularly by comparison with so-called generalized Born methods. A follow-up paper describes how the method enables Hamiltonian, efficient, and accurate MM molecular dynamics simulations of proteins in dielectric solvent continua.


Clinical bioethics may help ethics to pay deeper attention to the real phenomena of the moral life, with the aid of the psychological tradition, particularly of the psychoanalytic lesson. If we focus on the concrete moral experience of the patient, we recognize that rational justification of moral judgements (that is ethics) does not apply principles in a syllogistic way, but makes abstraction from a living emotional world, which is more rich and concrete than the theoretical precepts and axioms used.


Law enforcement portraits in Indonesia have not provided encouraging results. The reforms of 1998 in all aspects of the state including law have not always proceeded as planned. The fact that law continues to be legalistic-positivist is a major problem of law enforcement in Indonesia that never succeeded. Therefore, the reconstruction of such thinking model must first be done. As the law is not an independent entity separate from its association with other entities, however, the law is part of the life of society that can not be released away from social entities, politics and so on. The idea of prophetic law is the right solution for the improvement of the Indonesian legal system. The prophetic paradigm is a set of theories that not only describe and transform social phenomena, nor simply change a thing for change, but more than that, it is expected to lead to change on the basis of ethical and prophetic ideals. Where in the basis of the conception of humanization, liberation, and transdensi as stated in the letter of Ali Imron: 110. The prophetic paradigm differs greatly from the positivist paradigm. The transcendence base, humanization orientation and liberation embedded in law enforcement will encourage its existence to always be total in making legal findings (ijtihad al hukmi) objective to be applied to a case. By making the paradigm of prefetics law as the base of law enforcement value in Indonesia, it is expected that law can really give a sense of justice to society which so far only limited to wishful thinking


Shewanella putrefaciens can cause the spoilage of seafood and shorten its shelf life. In this study, both strains of S. putrefaciens (YZ08 and YZ-J) isolated from spoiled bigeye tuna were subjected to in-depth phenotypic and genotypic characterization to better understand their roles in seafood spoilage. The complete genome sequences of strains YZ08 and YZ-J were reported. Unique genes of the two S. putrefaciens strains were identified by pan-genomic analysis. In vitro experiments revealed that YZ08 and YZ-J could adapt to various environmental stresses, including cold-shock temperature, pH, NaCl, and nutrient stresses. YZ08 was better at adapting to NaCl stress, and its genome possessed more NaCl stress-related genes compared with the YZ-J strain. YZ-J was a higher biofilm and exopolysaccharide producer than YZ08 at 4 and 30 °C, while YZ08 showed greater motility and enhanced capacity for biogenic amine metabolism, trimethylamine metabolism, and sulfur metabolism compared with YZ-J at both temperatures. That YZ08 produced low biofilm and exopolysaccharide contents and displayed high motility may be associated with the presence of more a greater number of genes encoding chemotaxis-related proteins (cheX) and low expression of the bpfA operon. This study provided novel molecular targets for the development of new antiseptic antisepsis strategies.


The paper deals with the management of cicatricial stenoses of the trachea, which is a topical problem of modern thoracic surgery. Surgical techniques and endoscopic operations aimed at expanding and maintaining the lumen of the airways have been employed. Original types of surgical operations and new endoscopic tools are proposed.


Traditionally, teaching is usually one directional where the instructor imparts knowledge and there is minimal interaction between learners and instructor. With the focus on learner-centered pedagogy, it can be a challenge to provide timely and relevant guidance to individual learners according to their levels of understanding. One of the options available is to collect reflections from learners after each lesson to extract relevant feedback so that doubts or questions can be addressed in a timely manner. In this paper, we derived an approach to automate the identification of doubts from students' informal reflections through features analysis, word representation and machine learning. Using reflections as a feedback mechanism and aligning it to the weekly course content can pave the way to a promising approach for learner-centered teaching and personalized learning.


Abstract Increased time spent at home during COVID-19 exposed inequities in Australian housing quality and availability. Many Australians lack sufficient space to carry out activities shifted to their homes and the financial downturn rapidly increased stress around housing affordability. Research demonstrates living in unaffordable or poor-quality housing can negatively impact residents' mental health. This study explores the mechanisms through which housing moderates COVID-19's impact on mental health by analysing 2,065 Australians surveyed in mid-to-late 2020. Hierarchical linear regressions were used to examine associations between housing circumstances, neighbourhood belonging and mental-health outcomes (loneliness, depression, and anxiety), adjusted for demographics. Open-ended responses were analysed using thematic analysis and critical-realist epistemology. Feeling 'trapped' and 'helpless' because of insecure tenure or lack of money to improve housing conditions reduced participants' sense of control. Inadequate space and noise adversely impacted participants' well-being. Participants' housing context – including amenities, natural spaces, and social connections – strongly impacted their emotional experiences. Safe, secure, and suitable housing is a known determinant of safety and physical health; this study suggests it is also a critical factor for Australians' mental health. To improve mental health among the vulnerably-housed, future housing policy should not compromise on housing affordability, quality, space and access to nearby amenities.


ABSTRACT The epithelial layer of the gastrointestinal tract contains invaginations, called glands or crypts, which are colonized by symbiotic and pathogenic microorganisms and may function as designated niches for certain species. Factors that control gland colonization are poorly understood, but bacterial chemotaxis aids occupation of these sites. We report here that a Helicobacter pylori cytoplasmic chemoreceptor, TlpD, is required for gland colonization in the stomach. tlpD mutants demonstrate gland colonization defects characterized by a reduction in the percentage of glands colonized but not in the number of bacteria per gland. Consistent with TlpD's reported role in reactive oxygen species (ROS) avoidance, tlpD mutants showed hallmarks of exposure to high ROS. To assess the role of host-generated ROS in TlpD-dependent gland colonization, we utilized mice that lack either the ability to generate epithelial hydrogen peroxide or immune cell superoxide. tlpD gland colonization defects were rescued to wild-type H. pylori levels in both of these mutants. These results suggest that multiple types of innate immune-generated ROS production limit gland colonization and that bacteria have evolved specific mechanisms to sense and direct their motility in response to this signal and thus spread throughout tissue.