The objective of this study was to investigate the state of the interoperable mobile health application (app) ecosystem at the start of the 21st Century Cures Act to understand the opportunities currently available to patients for accessing and using their computable clinical data. Thus, we sought to identify third-party apps in the Apple App and Google Play Stores that seem to be capable of automatically downloading clinical data via a FHIR-based application programming interface through a targeted review of health apps. We found that few of the apps in this review have this capability (1.4% of 1,272 iOS apps and 0.6% of 1,449 Android apps). Ultimately, our results suggest that this is a nascent marketspace. If barriers to app development are not identified and addressed, and efforts are not made to educate patients and improve discoverability of apps, it could mean that patients will not benefit from these interoperability measures.


A thin-film bulk acoustic resonator (FBAR) filter design technique based on the genetic algorithm (GA) is proposed. Instead of using the approximate Butterworth-Van Dyke (BVD) model, the GA is used to optimise the structure of each FBAR with its exact analytical impedance expressions. US-PCS Rx/Tx bandpass filters, obtained by the proposed method, exhibit better response than those obtained by the BVD model.


The main reason which has led, traffic congestion as a 'worldwide' phenomenon over the last few decades is the increased population growth and the number of motor vehicles. With the help ofZigbee communication the system of management of road traffic has been significantly improved. The ant colonies and the principles of swarm intelligence have enlightened the system of road traffic management which has been proposed in this paper. Camera is fixed in every part of the bend .The sensor which is of ultrasonic in nature is used to find if there is any obstacle that is transmitted through theZigbee transmitter and the receiver section fixed in every car receives the information and that is announced in speaker and if any abnormalities the buzzer will alert the driver and these are displayed in the LCD display. Ultrasonic sensorsare used to find the distance of the neighbor vehicles and transfer the adapted data to receiver.IR is used to find the number of incoming vehicles.


Globin gene switching may be mediated by proteins expressed during different stages of development. Their identification may clarify the mechanisms of the conversion from fetal to adult globin production and lead to new approaches to reversing or retarding the gamma- to beta-globin gene switch. To explore this hypothesis, K562 erythroleukemia cells were induced to differentiate with 1.25, 2.5, and 5 mM sodium butyrate and gene expression was studied after 24, 48, and 72 h. Erythroid differentiation was verified by benzidine staining and by measuring the activity of a transduced A gamma-globin gene promoter linked to a luciferase reporter gene. Using differential display polymerase chain reaction (PCR), total mRNA extracted from induced cells at each time point of induction was reverse transcribed in the presence of A, G, and C anchored primers and 16 arbitrary primers, calculated to amplify approximately 50% of expressed genes. Amplified mRNAs from induced and uninduced cells were separated in polyacrylamide gels and compared. More than 110 cDNA fragments which appeared to represent either up- or downregulated mRNA species in induced K562 cells were identified. Sixty-four of these fragments had more than 95% homology to known GenBank sequences. Seventeen fragments with characteristics of transcription factors were cloned. These include differentiation-related gene-1 (drg-1), PAX 3/forkhead transcription factor, HZF2 which is a Kruppel-related zinc finger protein, three helix-loop-helix proteins (heir-1, Id3, and GOS8), alpha-NAC transcriptional coactivator, LIM domain protein, and trophoblast hypoxia regulating factor. Differential expression of all 17 fragments over 72 h was confirmed by reverse Northern dot blot analysis, semiquantitative PCR using nested primers, and Northern analysis. Erythroid maturation in induced K562 cells is associated with differential expression of numerous genes. Some encode transcription factors that could effect the initiation of HbF synthesis. Almost half of the differentially expressed clones contained cDNAs of unidentified open reading frames and these are the object of continued study.


We present an efficient image-based rendering algorithm that computes photo hulls of a scene photographed from multiple viewpoints. Our algorithm, called image-based photo hulls (IBPH), like the image-based visual hulls (IBVH) algorithm from Matusik et. al. (2000) on which it is based, takes advantage of epipolar geometry to efficiently reconstruct the geometry and visibility of a scene. Our IBPH algorithm differs from IBVH in that it utilizes the color information of the images to identify the scene geometry. These additional color constraints often result in a more accurately reconstructed geometry, which projects to better synthesized virtual views of the scene. We demonstrate our algorithm running in a real-time 3D telepresence application using video data acquired from four viewpoints.


Issues regarding robust stabilization of a class of nonlinear uncertain systems using a combined scheme are addressed. This scheme consists of the State Dependent Riccati Equation (SDRE) technique for the control of nominal system, and the Integral Sliding Mode Control (ISMC) strategy which compensates the error when the system state deviates from the nominal system's trajectory. It is shown that the state of the uncertain system using the combined scheme and that of the nominal system under the SDRE scheme are exactly the same when the uncertainties are matched type. These analytic results are also applied to the brake control of a three-wheeled vehicle. Simulation results demonstrate the benefits of the proposed scheme


Adaptive sampling is an interesting tool to lower noise, which is one of the main problems of Monte Carlo global illumination algorithms such as the famous and baseline Monte Carlo path tracing. The classic information measure, namely, Shannon entropy has been applied successfully for adaptive sampling in Monte Carlo path tracing. In this paper we investigate the generalized Renyi entropy to establish the refinement criteria to guide both pixel super sampling and pixel subdivision adaptively. Implementation results show that the adaptive sampling based on Renyi entropy outperforms the counterpart based on Shannon entropy consistently


Genomics research has greatly increased understanding of the human gut microbiome, but the existing reference databases remain insu�cient, failing to map up to half of the sequences obtained in human gut studies. To solve this problem, researchers recently created HumGut, a comprehensive global reference database for the genomes of gut microbes in healthy humans. The researchers built the database by comparing nearly half a million publicly available prokaryote genomes with over 3,500 gut metagenomes from healthy humans worldwide, and retaining the prokaryote genomes that closely matched the sequences in healthy human guts. HumGut was approximately the same size as the recently released UHGG collection and half the size of a standard reference database. However, HumGut outperformed both other databases in classifying metagenomic reads from human gut samples, resulting in a lower percentage of unclassi�ed reads. HumGut also effectively mapped metagenomes from patients with in�ammatory bowel disease, indicating that it is useful even for microbiomes that differ from those used to build the database. Although the species naming system in HumGut needs to be re�ned, this new database will help researchers identify the majority of human gut microbiome members in any study they conduct worldwide.


Recent demonstrations of electrical detection and manipulation of antiferromagnets (AFMs) have opened new opportunities towards robust and ultrafast spintronics devices. However, it is difficult to establish the connection between the spin-transport behavior and the microscopic AFM domain states due to the lack of the real-time AFM domain imaging technique under the electric field. Here we report a significant Voigt rotation up to 60 mdeg in thin NiO(001) films at room temperature. Such large Voigt rotation allows us to directly observe AFM domains in thin-film NiO by utilizing a wide-field optical microscope. Further complementary XMLD-PEEM measurement confirms that the Voigt contrast originates from the NiO AFM order. We examine the domain pattern evolution at a wide range of temperature and with the application of external magnetic field. Comparing to large-scale-facility techniques such as the X-ray photoemission electron microscopy, the use with a wide-field, tabletop optical imaging method enables straightforward access to domain configurations of single-layer AFMs.


Stochastic multi-criteria acceptability analysis (SMAA-2) and the technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) are methods for evaluating alternatives with multiple criteria. SMAA is a method that is used for solving multi-criteria decision-making problems with uncertain, inaccurate information, and does not require preference information from the decision makers. The TOPSIS method is based on the principle of determining a solution with the shortest distance to the ideal solution and the greatest distance from the negative-ideal solution. This paper proposes a new method, SMAA-TOPSIS, by combining the SMAA and TOPSIS methods. The SMAA-TOPSIS method was executed for two problems: drug benefit-risk analysis and machine gun selection. This paper found that TOPSIS could be used with uncertain and arbitrarily distributed values for weights and criteria measurements by using a combination of SMAA and TOPSIS. Also, we obtained clearer and consistent SMAA outputs.


Objective The HIV epidemic has increased the proportion of patients with smear-negative and extrapulmonary tuberculosis (TB) diagnoses, with related higher rates of poor TB treatment outcomes. Unlike in smear-positive pulmonary TB, no interim markers of TB treatment progress are systematically used to identify individuals most at risk of mortality. The objective of this study was to assess the association of body mass index (BMI) change at 1 month (±15 days) from TB treatment start with mortality among HIV-positive individuals with smear-negative and extrapulmonary TB. Methods and Findings A retrospective cohort study of adult HIV-positive new TB patients in Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) treatment programmes in Myanmar and Zimbabwe was conducted using Cox proportional hazards regression to estimate the association between BMI category change and mortality. A cohort of 1090 TB patients (605 smear-negative and 485 extrapulmonary) was followed during TB treatment with mortality rate of 28.9 per 100 person-years. In multivariable analyses, remaining severely underweight or moving to a lower BMI category increased mortality (adjusted hazard ratio 4.05, 95% confidence interval 2.77–5.91, p<0.001) compared with remaining in the same or moving to a higher BMI category. Conclusions We found a strong association between BMI category change during the first month of TB treatment and mortality. BMI category change could be used to identify individuals most at risk of mortality during TB treatment among smear-negative and extrapulmonary patients.


Continual learning usually assumes the incoming data are fully labeled, which might not be applicable in real applications. In this work, we consider semi-supervised continual learning (SSCL) that incrementally learns from partially labeled data. Observing that existing continual learning methods lack the ability to continually exploit the unlabeled data, we propose deep Online Replay with Discriminator Consistency (ORDisCo) to interdependently learn a classifier with a conditional generative adversarial network (GAN), which continually passes the learned data distribution to the classifier. In particular, ORDisCo replays data sampled from the conditional generator to the classifier in an online manner, exploiting unlabeled data in a time- and storage-efficient way. Further, to explicitly overcome the catastrophic forgetting of unlabeled data, we selectively stabilize parameters of the discriminator that are important for discriminating the pairs of old unlabeled data and their pseudo-labels predicted by the classifier. We extensively evaluate ORDisCo on various semi-supervised learning benchmark datasets for SSCL, and show that ORDisCo achieves significant performance improvement on SVHN, CIFAR10 and Tiny-ImageNet, compared to strong baselines.


There is an increasing burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in India which may be related to changing dietary patterns. We aimed to assess dietary patterns in children since they have time to change unhealthy patterns before NCDs develop. Participants were 665 children, 9–12 years old, born with low birth weight and 77 similarly aged normal birth weight controls. We collected data on sociodemography, anthropometry, body composition, and markers of risk for NCDs: grip strength, long jump, hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c). A food frequency questionnaire was used to collect dietary data from which dietary patterns were derived using principal component analysis (PCA). Fourteen food groups were included in the PCA analysis, resulting in three components: 'fruits and vegetables', 'protein', and 'sugar and fat'. Higher socioeconomic status and maternal education were associated with lower adherence to the fruit and vegetable pattern and higher adherence to the protein and sugar and fat patterns. Adherence to the fruits and vegetables pattern was associated with lower height‐for‐age, whereas the fat and sugar pattern was associated with higher indicators of body fat. In linear regression analyses adjusted for age, sex, religion, socioeconomic status, maternal education, and season of data collection, adherence to the 'fruits and vegetables' pattern was associated with lower grip strength, shorter long jump, and lower HbA1c. Adherence to the other patterns was not associated with NCD risk factors. Higher consumption of fruits and vegetables, achievable even by poorer families in the cohort, may lower HbA1c, a risk factor for diabetes.


A simple technique to measure the frequency drift of monochromatic optical sources based on the polarization change caused by a birefringent material is demonstrated. Preliminary experimental results show a resolution of 0.8 pm.


In "The Supreme Court and Critical Elections" (APSR, 69 [Sept., 1975J, 795-811) Richard Funston attempts to relate certain decisional patterns in the Supreme Court to national political realignments. Specifically, his primary question is whether "During realignment phases or, as they might be called, critical periods, was the tendency of the Court to declare federal legislation unconstitutional significantly greater than during noncritical periods of stable party competition" (p. 804). This is an interesting and important question since it is frequently asserted that the Court follows election returns. But the author goes on to assert that "To answer that [his] question, all that is necessary is to calculate the arithmetic mean for the total years of critical and noncritical periods" (p. 804). He then proceeds to make such calculations under various control conditions and concludes that " . . . as hypothesized, there has been a significantly greater tendency on the part of the Court during realignment periods to utilize its power to declare federal legislation unconstitutional, i.e., to oppose the law-making majority will, than during periods of political stability, when the Court is part of the dominant political majority" (p. 805). Unfortunately, given the author's procedures, we can have no confidence whatever in the validity of such a proposition for the reasons provided below.


Within the definition of the scientific programs of the Sardinia Radio Telescope (under construction), our team have proposed to use this facility as radar system for the study of near-Earth objects (NEOs) and space debris


In the article were analyzed the state and prospects of further medical reform in Ukraine. The authors set themselves the goal of conducting a study of the essence of health care reform, and during this process advantages and disadvantages of implemented changes in this area were characterized. The importance of this study lies in the fact that human health and life are recognized at the constitutional level as the highest price, and therefore their protection requires special attention from the state. Promoting the development of health care system improve the quality of life of the population, which in the future will have a positive effect on the economic development of the country. Four main directions of the reform were developed in the work, such as improving the quality of medical services, optimizing the financing of the health care system, improving the management system, and changes in the pharmaceutical sector. An important achievement of the reform is the introduction of the medical services market, which has its own specific features and base on the principle of free competition and financial transparency. The article focuses on the legal regulation of public relations in the field of health care. Legislative provision of this is considered from the point of view of creating a competitive market for medical services, which is opposed to the administrative model of ensuring citizens' health care. The institutional nature of the organization of such market with relevant entities providing services competing with each other is emphasized; medical service in its commodityvalue aspect; introduction of the principle of consumer choice of medical service and the entity that provides it; creation of a special state agency that pays the cost of the provided medical service to the relevant subject of medical activity for the benefit of the beneficiary-consumer, who chose this particular subject. Accordingly, the driving force of the market is recognized the actual medical economic activity. Taking into account the above, the article, based on the analysis of the relevant legal acts, concludes that relations in the field of health care have been transformed in the direction of the economic and Задихайло Д. Д., Савченко А. М. Формування ринкових засад організації охорони здоров'я в Україні... 102 ISSN 2414-990X. Проблеми законності. 2023. Вип. 160 legal nature of their regulation. This is evidenced by the use of stable constructions of economic law, namely: economic activity; non-commercial management; communal noncommercial enterprise; state regulation of economic activity; subject of organizational and economic powers, etc. The continuation of scientific researches on this issue will contribute to the further development of the national health sector, including by improving the public management of this component of the national economy.


OBJECTIVE
To survey paediatric dietitians' knowledge and use of evidence-based nutrition (EBN).

DESIGN
Cross-sectional survey using reply-paid questionnaires.

SUBJECTS
Paediatric dietitians in Australian teaching hospitals.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Age, sex, appointment, clinical practice, research activities; attitudes to, training in and use of EBN; and perceived barriers to use of EBN.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS
Data were analysed using descriptive statistics (SPSS).

RESULTS
Fifty-nine (86%) of 69 questionnaires were returned. Most (97%) dietitians were women working full-time (63%), mean age 37 years (+/-9 SD). Most (75%) dietitians encountered knowledge gaps less than five times per week and most (87%) questions related to therapy. The majority (95%) performed their own literature searches, less than five times per month. All had access to >or=1 electronic literature databases including Medline (n = 58, 98%), Cochrane Library (n = 44, 75%) and CINAHL (n = 35, 59%). Information sources used most often were Medline and consultation with colleagues. Reported barriers to using EBN were lack of time (n = 53, 90%) or lack of skills for critical appraisal of published articles (n = 51, 86%) or literature searching (n = 48, 81%). While 53 (90%) believed in an evidence-based approach, 43 (73%) either did not practise EBN or rated themselves as beginners.

CONCLUSION
Most dietitians favoured evidence-based practice, but reported lack of time, skills or rapid access to electronic databases as barriers to its practice.


We propose a simple and inexpensive technique based on laser graphenization of polyimide (PI) sheets for the fabrication of graphitic carbon nanosheets in just a few minutes. We synthesized laser scribed graphitic carbon nanosheets loaded with palladium nanoparticles (Pd/LSGCNs) quickly and easily by electrodeposition of Pd over conductive graphene, followed by laser graphenization to prepare the nanosheets. The morphology and microstructure of Pd/LSGCNs were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Furthermore the Pd/LSGCNs composite was used as an electrochemical sensor. The electrochemical response of Pd/LSGCNs towards hydrazine oxidation was studied by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and cyclic voltammetry (CV), illustrating superior electrocatalytic activity. The proposed Pd/LSGCNs sensor was further tested for sensitivity to hydrazine of varying quantities in the linear range of 0.12–888 μM. The good sensitivity and high selectivity observed suggest Pd/LSGCNs as a promising candidate for hydrazine sensing in practical applications due to its excellent catalytic performance and the simple and rapid synthesis process.


We enjoy freedom of speech in New Zealand, even though the Bill of Rights Act guarantee can be over-ridden. We have a variety of privately owned news media, even though the vast majority are owned by overseas interests. We have state-owned radio and television, even though our major television network was freed of its public service broadcasting obligations in order to pursue commercial goals. We have high quality tertiary institutions to train our future journalists, even though the ranks of our newsrooms have been systematically depleted. We have sophisticated telecommunications services, even though only 1 percent of us have optical broadband. The qualifications will not be lost on you. In other words, when I reflect on our good fortune I see that it is tempered by shortcomings, actual and potential. In this address I argue that the shortcomings are increasing and, if unchecked, ultimately threaten the way we function as a society.


SIR,-Your leading article (30 January, p. 247) on "New-style Cold Abscesses" is valuable in drawing attention to two recent papers in the British Youmal of Surgery12 which describe a clinical manifestation of tuberculosis relatively much more common in the immigrant section of our population. These subcutaneous cold abscesuses, which are quite often multiple, are a form of tuberculous disease well recognized in many developing countries. But one cannot allow the statement with which the leading article begins to go unchallenged. It is simply not true that "most tuberculosis -seen in Britain today is in the immigrant population," though it is possible that most of the tuberculosis seen by the surgeons in Bradford and Birmingham, who wrote the two articles in question, is in immigrants. A survey carried out by the British Tuberculosis Association in 1965 showed that an undue proportion (actually 16-5%) of all tuberculosis occurred in immigrants, mainly those from Commonwealth countries of Asia.3 The !survey is being repeated this year. There has been only a modest influx of immigrants since 1965. Experience in Bradford and other cities shows that immigrants continue to experience a relatively high incidence of tuberculous disease for several years after coming to this country.' So there may be rather more cases in immigrants in 1971 than in 1965. At the same time, cases of tuberculosis in the indigenous population have been declining by about 10% per annum,5 so there will be considerably fewer cases in this group. Nevertheless, one can confidently predict that in 1971 there will be at least twice as many cases of tuberculosis in the indigenous British population as in the immigrant population.-I am, etc., J. R. LAUcKNER Newcastle General Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne


BACKGROUND
Objective biomarkers that reflect the diagnosis and disease activity have not been in clinical use for psoriasis.

OBJECTIVES
We investigated the hair root miR-19a levels, regulatory microRNA of TNF-α, and evaluated the possibility that miR-19a can be a biomarker of psoriasis.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
microRNAs were extracted from hair roots of patients with psoriasis (n = 18) and healthy controls (n = 22). Samples from 10 atopic dermatitis patients and 4 dermatomyositis patients were also included as the disease controls. miR-19a levels were determined by quantitative real-time PCR.

RESULTS
Hair root levels of miR-19a were significantly up-regulated only in psoriasis compared with normal controls. In characteristics (ROC) curve analysis for hair root miR-19a, to distinguish psoriasis patients from normal subjects, the areas under curve (AUC) was 0.87. Relative miR-19a levels were inversely and significantly correlated with duration between symptom onset and the first visit to the hospital in psoriasis patients.

CONCLUSIONS
Our results indicated hair root miR-19a levels are effective as a disease marker.


Sir .—We report the case of a child who presented to The Children's Hospital of Boston (Mass) in 1923 with tuberculosis of the spine and was operated on by the father of American neurosurgery, Dr Harvey Cushing. Patient Report .—The patient was a 6-year-old girl with a 5-year history of an increasing upper thoracic kyphosis admitted with subacute progressive paraparesis. She had a double-positive Wasserman reaction, and spine roentgenograms showed questionable "luetic" bony lesions with lateral curve to the kyphos and complete lower-extremity sensory and motor loss with active spinal reflexes. The child initially underwent treatment with the Alpine lamp and arsphenamine


Background Diseases with inflammation and damage of joints lead to tissue degradation and YKL-40 may be as a marker of this fact. Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) exhibit higher levels of plasma YKL-40 compared with healthy controls. Spine and sacroiliacs joints are the main target of inflammation in AS and structural damage led to limitation of mobility and disability of patients. Objectives To evaluate YKL-40 serum levels in relation with structural damage and metrology in a longitudinal observational cohort of anti-TNF naïve AS patients. Methods Data from patients with diagnoses of AS (modified NY criteria) included demographic characteristics (age, gender, disease duration, body mass index-BMI), Metrology (cervical rotation, occiput to wall distance, chest expansion, lumbar lateral flexion, modified Schober's, finger to floor distance and intermalleolar distance), BASDAI and BASFI scores, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP). Radiographs of these patients were obtained and scored according to the Bath AS Radiology Index-spine (BASRI-s) at baseline (BASRI-spine, range 2-12; sacroiliac joints, AP and lateral views of lumbar spine, lateral view of cervical spine). Serum levels of YKL-40 were determined by ELISA (ng/ml) in blood samples at the entry in the cohort. Data are presented as mean (standard deviation). Correlations were assessed using the Spearman's rho correlation coefficient. P-values <0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results Data were available on 100 patients, 82 male (82.0%), mean of age 48.7 (12.9) years, disease duration 12.5 (8.9) years and BASRI-s score 7.4 (3.5). Serum level mean (SD) of YKL-40 obtained from 86 patients was 125.9 (89.9) and had correlation with age (r 0.54; p<0.0001), disease duration (r 0.27; p 0.011), BMI (r 0.26; p 0.017), BASFI (r 0.41; p<0.0001), cervical rotation (p 0.002), occiput-to-wall distance (r 0.28; p 0.007), chest expansion (r -0.33; p 0.005), modified Schober test (r -0.30; p 0.017), finger-to-floor distance (r 0.28; p 0.008), intermalleolar distance (r -0.40; p<0.0001) and BASRI-s (r 0.38; p<0.0001). Differences had not statistical significance with regard to lumbar lateral flexion (r -0.24; p 0.059) and not correlation was seen with gender (p 0.387), ESR (r 0.13; p 0.223), CRP (r -0.13; p 0.235) and BASDAI (r 0.08; p 0.425). Moreover, BASRI-s correlated with disease duration (r 0.51; p<0.0001) and with age (r 0.52; p<0.0001). Conclusions In our study serum levels of YKL-40 correlated with worsening of functional ability (metrology and BASFI) and axial structural damage (BASRI-spine) like disease progression in ankylosing spondylitis. References Pedersen SJ et al. Radiographic progression is associated with resolution of systemic inflammation in patients with axial spondylarthritis treated with tumor necrosis factor α inhibitors: a study of radiographic progression, inflammation on magnetic resonance imaging, and circulating biomarkers of inflammation, angiogenesis, and cartilage and bone turnover. Arthritis Rheum. 2011 Dec;63(12):3789-800. doi: 10.1002/art.30627. Disclosure of Interest None declared


The proposed research work is based on the evaluation of the services provided by academic libraries. The study of services offered by the academic libraries of all these colleges is the area of research interest of present work. This study is completely based on information collected from these libraries regarding their services. Hence, the qualitative and quantitative evaluation of these library services is based on information obtained in the survey. It will decide the quality status of libraries in terms of their strengths and weaknesses. Keywords: Library Services, Academic Libraries, Evaluation. Cite this Article Manisha Nimraj Jadhav. Evaluation of Services of Academic Libraries of Colleges. Journal of Advancements in Library Sciences. 2019; 6(Special Issue 1): 186s–193s.


Current-induced breakdown phenomena of carbon nanofibers (CNFs) for future on-chip interconnect applications are presented. The effect of heat dissipation via the underlying substrate is studied using different experimental configurations. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques are utilized to study the structural damage by current stress. While the measured maximum current density in the suspended CNF in air is inversely proportional to nanofiber length and independent of diameter, SiO2-supported CNFs improves their current capacity, which implies effective heat dissipation to the oxide. The correlation between maximum current density and electrical resistivity confirms the importance of local Joule heating, showing strong coupling between electrical and thermal transport in CNFs.


Energy levels of the Dirac oscillator perturbed by arbitrary nonlocal separable vector and scalar potentials are found in a closed form. Unlike the nonrelativistic case, the perturbation potential radically changes all energy levels of the oscillator. The δ-function limit of the perturbation potential is discussed in detail.


Populations of neurons in primary visual cortex (V1) transform direct thalamic inputs into a cortical representation which acquires new spatio-temporal properties. One of these properties, motion selectivity, has not been strongly tied to putative neural mechanisms, and its origins remain poorly understood. Here we propose that motion selectivity is acquired through the recurrent mechanisms of a network of strongly connected neurons. We first show that a bank of V1 spatiotemporal receptive fields can be generated accurately by a network which receives only instantaneous inputs from the retina. The temporal structure of the receptive fields is generated by the long timescale dynamics associated with the high magnitude eigenvalues of the recurrent connectivity matrix. When these eigenvalues have complex parts, they generate receptive fields that are inseparable in time and space, such as those tuned to motion direction. We also show that the recurrent connectivity patterns can be learnt directly from the statistics of natural movies using a temporally-asymmetric Hebbian learning rule. Probed with drifting grating stimuli and moving bars, neurons in the model show patterns of responses analogous to those of direction-selective simple cells in primary visual cortex. These computations are enabled by a specific pattern of recurrent connections, that can be tested by combining connectome reconstructions with functional recordings.* Author summary Dynamic visual scenes provide our eyes with enormous quantities of visual information, particularly when the visual scene changes rapidly. Even at modest moving speeds, individual small objects quickly change their location causing single points in the scene to change their luminance equally fast. Furthermore, our own movements through the world add to the velocities of objects relative to our retinas, further increasing the speed at which visual inputs change. How can a biological system process efficiently such vast amounts of information, while keeping track of objects in the scene? Here we formulate and analyze a solution that is enabled by the temporal dynamics of networks of neurons.


Background Surgical site infections can have a significant impact on cardiac surgical outcome. The liver plays an important role in infection prevention. This study aimed to retrospectively determine whether transient postoperative liver dysfunction after coronary bypass surgery increased surgical site infections. Methods A modified version of the Schindl scoring scale for liver dysfunction was adapted to objectively quantify transient liver dysfunction in the first 7 days after on-pump coronary artery bypass grafting. A retrospective analysis of clinical outcomes at 30 months postoperatively was performed on data of 575 patients who underwent coronary artery bypass between 2014 and 2016. The patients were categorized into a liver dysfunction group (Schindl score ≥ 4) and a non-liver dysfunction group (Schindl score < 4). Results The liver dysfunction group (47.3%) had significantly more patients who were obese, current smokers, and had diabetes, renal impairment, and peripheral vascular disease. Surgical site infections occurred predominantly in the liver dysfunction group (12.1% vs. 0.3%, p < 0.001). The independent predictors of surgical site infection were liver dysfunction, body mass index > 30 kg m−2, and coronary bypass surgery combined with other cardiac procedures. Conclusions Surgical wound infections can be precipitated by multiple factors before, during, and after coronary bypass surgery. Transient liver dysfunction in the perioperative period is associated with an increased rate of surgical infections even after adjusting for known risk factors. Considering this factor as well as other known risks may help to identify and stratify patients with a potentially higher risk of surgical site infections.


This research paper proposes to design and develop and automated controller underwater rover by the usage of raspberry pi. A underwater remotely controlled vehicle is named as a submerged rover as it is distantly controlled by the highest point of the host transport over the water surface. Presently the operational rule of a submerged meanderer isn't like a distantly controlled vehicle or robot. Along these lines, a steel link is of extraordinary need for a legitimate association among the client at the host transport and the submerged wanderer as this is a distantly controlled meanderer. There lies an incredible assortment of its relevance; it tends to be utilized for receiving the live video or still photos of the submerged life and all the submerged exercises to find out regarding the submerged life. It construct the work for jumpers, rescuer and pearl gatherers simpler as the wanderer provides the photos, live video and the wide range of various significant subtleties vital for having legitimate information about the submerged components. The submerged wanderer motor can be fabricated utilizing numerous sorts yet here we will examine about Raspberry Pi controlled motor submerged meanderer; i.e; a ROV submerged meanderer utilizing Raspberry Pi. Here we are proposed a method called monitor a parameter in rover the parameters like temperature, humidity, co2, pressure to store the data into the cloud we don't have a good internet at the rover (submarines) so we are using lora transmitter send data to the network area first and receive the data at lora receiver and sent notifications if there any abnormal parameters in rover.


The human cerebrum consists of a precise and stereotyped arrangement of lobes, gyri, and connectivity that underlies human cognition. The development of this arrangement is less clear. Current models of radial glial cell migration explain individual gyral formation but fail to explain the global configuration of the cerebral lobes. Moreover, the insula, buried in the depths of the Sylvian fissure, belies conventional models. Here, we show that the insula has unique morphology in adults, that insular morphology and slow volumetric growth emerge during fetal development, and that a novel theory of curved migration is required to explain these findings. We calculated morphologic data in the insula and other lobes in adults (N=107) and in an in utero fetal brain atlas (N=81 healthy fetuses). In utero, the insula grows an order of magnitude slower than the other lobes and demonstrates shallower sulci, less curvature, and less surface complexity both in adults and progressively throughout fetal development. Novel spherical projection analysis demonstrates that the lenticular nuclei obstruct 60-70% of radial pathways from the ventricular zone (VZ) to the insula, forcing a curved migration path to the insula in contrast to a direct radial pathway. Using fetal diffusion tractography, we identify streams of putative progenitor cells that originate from the VZ and migrate tangentially around the lenticular nuclei to form the insula. These results challenge existing models of radial migration to the cortex, provide an alternative model for insular and cerebral development, and lay the groundwork to understand cerebral malformations, insular functional connectivity, and insular pathologies.


Fig. 1. Endocytotic fusion processes in mast cells and neutrophils afer rapid freezing 1. Unreleased granule in a mast cell quick-frozen 10s after stimulation with 48/80. x 66000.2. Granule-plasma membrane fusion in a mast cell quick-frozen 200s after stimulation with 48/80. x 36000. 3. Release of granule contents in a cell quickfrozen 15s after stimulation. Interior granules have formed minute contacts with the released granule membrane (arrow). x 32000. 4. High magnification view of pedestal-like contacts seen between granules in 3 (arrows). Note also the small vesicle joined to the granule membrane (asterisk). x 75000. 5. Multiple contacts between interior granules of a mast cell quick-frozen 17s after stimulation. x 75000. 6. Narrow tubules connect interior granules in a mast cell frozen 17s after stimulation (solid arrows); crossfractured tubules are seen as craters (open arrows). x 67000. 7. Compound exocytosis in a rabbit neutrophil fixed 10s after stimulation with FMLP and cytochalasin B results in finger-like invaginations directed toward the cell centre. x 62000. 8. The narrow tips of these invaginations (arrow) may undergo fusion with the small vesicles (V) nearby. This cell was fixed 30s after stimulation with FMLP. x 54000. 9. Compound exocytosis results in a 'ribbon' of fused granule membrane in a neutrophil fixed 30s after stimulation with FMLP at 37°C. x24OOO.


It has been an extraordinary week for Volkswagen managers and investors alike as markets issued their punishment for the company's admission of emissions test cheating. Standard financial economics theory states that trading trends are based on rational investors' expectations of future cashflows, discounted back to wherever the stock had got to at that point. But has the VW share price reaction followed that rationale?


This study charts the foreign books that the Chinese have been reading over the past three decades and introduces how Western thoughts have contributed to China's economic miracle. The essay explores the sources of China's social progress under the Open Door Policy, concluding that "Without the influence of foreign books, there would have been no Chinese economic success" (p. 269).Although volumes have been written on China, little attention has been paid to mainstream Chinese intellectual trends since 1978. This essay, thus, has dealt with a consequential issue in a provocative and original way and contains information that has never appeared in English.


Abstract Reaction of a hydrous mineral with a water-bearing silicate melt is analyzed in terms of the stoichiometry of (in)congruent dissolution. Application of the law of mass action provides an explanation for the presence of an isobaric thermal maximum that manifests itself in terms of enhanced stability of the phase under conditions of water undersaturation. It is shown that the water content of the melt at which the maximum develops is independent of pressure and water speciation, but is strongly dependent on the identity of other ("anhydrous") melt species and upon the stoichiometric numbers of additional solid phases involved in the reaction. Utilizing MELTS, the analysis is applied to the cummingtonite-bearing rhyolitic magmas of the Taupo volcanic zone of New Zealand.


Abstract A combination of molybdatophosphoric acid and NaNO2 in the presence of wet SiO2 was used as an effective oxidizing agent for the oxidation of 1,2‐dihydroquinolines to their corresponding quinoline derivatives in dichlomethane at room temperature with excellent yields.


Digital technology has revolutionized electrical engineering education. Students entering engineering schools have a strong background in discrete mathematics that is often augmented by a knowledge of programming and of microcomputers. The electrical engineering curriculum has changed to include digital techniques in all major fields. Computer science and engineering, a discipline that may be taught in either computer science or electrical engineering departments, continues to grow. Software engineering is gaining increasing stature. Digital technology has affected instruction in electrical engineering and other university-level subjects less than it has affected curriculum, but significant computer-assisted or computer-managed instruction can be found. The practice of elecltrical engineering has changed with its acceptance of the computer as a design tool and the advent of the microprocessor.


Background: Physical activity stimulates the growth rate and reduces the risk factors of human health. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of aerobic exercise on the body composition and muscle strength of elementary school female students. Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted on 42 elementary school female students at Ali Abad Katoul city of Golestan Province, Iran in 2018. The samples were randomly divided in two groups including intervention and control. Data collection tool included body composition, and leg and chest pressing device. The exercise protocol contained various aerobic exercises for four weeks, three sessions per week, each session takes 45 minutes. Pre-test and post-test measurements were made by body composition, and leg and chest pressing device in both control and intervention groups. Data were analyzed by SPSS software version 16 using descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (independent and paired t-test). Results: The results of the test group indicated the average height of 152.79, standard deviation of 10.25, and so average weight of 49.28 and standard deviation of 12.86. The results showed that a four-week aerobic training period had no significant effect on the body composition and upper body muscle strength of female students (P=0.83), but this training course significantly increased the lower body muscle strength of female students in the intervention group (P=0.01). Conclusion: Considering the effect of a four-week aerobic training course on lower body muscle strength of students, it is suggested that sport teachers use these types of exercises to increase the muscle strength of students.


Gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber (PCF) is used for efficient nonlinear temporal compression of femtosecond laser pulses, two main schemes being direct soliton-effect self-compression and spectral broadening followed by phase compensation. To obtain stable compressed pulses, it is crucial to avoid decoherence through modulational instability (MI) during spectral broadening. Here, we show that changes in dispersion due to spectral anti-crossings between the fundamental-core mode and core wall resonances in anti-resonant-guiding hollow-core PCF can strongly alter the MI gain spectrum, enabling MI-free pulse compression for optimized fiber designs. The results are important, since MI cannot always be suppressed by pumping in the normal dispersion regime.


Experience with lymph node involvement (LNI) in ovarian serous tumors of low malignant potential (OSLMP) is limited, which has led to an uncertainty about the clinical significance of this phenomenon. In this study, we present the clinicopathologic features of 36 cases of OSLMP with LNI. A control group of 36 OSLMP with no LNI was established for comparison. Parameters recorded for both the study and the control group included Federation of International Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage, microinvasion and micropapillary/cribriform pattern in the OSLMP, invasive and noninvasive peritoneal implants, the total number of lymph nodes, the number of lymph node sites sampled and their location (pelvic, periaortic, and abdominal), and the greatest gross lymph node dimension per each site. LNI pattern (single cells, clusters, micropapillae, small papillae, papillae, glandular, and intraglandular) and the greatest microscopic linear dimension of LNI foci were also recorded. Statistical comparisons between the study and the control group were made using the Fisher exact test and χ2 test. The log-rank test was used to evaluate the impact of LNI on disease-free survival and overall survival. Clinical follow-up was obtained from the review of medical records and from phone calls to the attending physicians. In terms of general pathologic features, the experimental group had a significantly higher rate of invasive (P=0.01) and noninvasive (P=0.002) implants compared with the control group. In 22% of the cases in the study group, LNI represented the only site of extraovarian disease. The highest yield of lymph nodes with LNI was obtained from pelvic lymph nodes (90%), with a sampling of 3 to 4 sites. The average gross lymph node size range was comparable between the study (0.2 to 4.0 cm) and the control (0.2 to 4.3 cm) groups. The patients in the study group (38.5 y) were on average 10 years younger than those in the control group (49.1 y). Clinical information and follow-up were available for 86% (31) of the cases in both groups. No recurrences were seen in the control group. In the study group, 11% (4) patients are alive with recurrent disease and 6% (2) died of the disease. Histologic diagnosis of recurrences was available in 5 cases and showed low-grade serous carcinoma. Two cases recurred exclusively in the lymph nodes. Although the study group had a higher proportion of patients with disease recurrence and death disease, when the two groups were compared by looking only at FIGO stage III cases, LNI did not have a statistically significant impact on disease-free survival (P=0.09) or the overall survival (P=0.40). There was no relationship between the greatest linear dimension of LNI or the pattern of LNI and disease recurrence. In summary, in cases of OSLMP, LNI is associated with a higher rate of invasive and noninvasive implants, but is not an independent predictor of disease-free survival or overall survival. Women under 40 years of age and with peritoneal implants may be at particular risk for LNI. Lymphadenectomy upstages a significant proportion of patients with LNI, highlighting the need for lymph node sampling in all OSLMP cases. Grossly unremarkable lymph nodes are not at a decreased risk of LNI. The pattern and the greatest linear dimension of LNI foci were not shown to have prognostic significance.


Introduction Referring to the use of statins for hyperlipemia in children, it is not yet clearly defined who must be treated (recent recommendations focused on older than 8 years) and also the frequency of short and long-term toxicity. Methods Retrospective, descriptive study of patients, 10 year-old or younger, under statin treatment, followed in our Unit. Epidemiology, treatment and side-effects data were analized. Results Twelve children met inclusion criteria; 7/12 female and 11/12 caucasian. Main diagnosis was familiar hypercholesterolemia (10/12); 1/12 hypertriglyceridemia and 1/12 nefrotic syndrome. Positive family history of cardiovascular events: 5/12 (no death among first degree relatives). Mean age at diagnosis was 5.3 years. All of them were asymptomatic. 8/12 had been treated previously (7/12 resins, 1/12 cholesterol absorption inhibitor). Statin treatment starting age was 8.6 years, 4/12 younger than 8 year-old (minimum age: 5.2 years). Atorvastatin used in 10/12, lovastatin 1/12, simvastatin 1/12; initial dose was always 10 mg/day. The average levels before treatment were: LDL 235 mg/dL, total cholesterol 324.7 mg/dL. In one 10 year-old patient (40 mg/day lovastatin) muscular pain was reported with a CPK increase; side-effects stopped once the statin dose was reduced to 20mg/day. Besides, no adverse effect was reported. The highest dose achieved was 40 mg/day. Patients follow-up varies from 9 months to 4 years. Conclusions It remains unclear whether statins could be started before 8 year-old. From our experience, no adverse effects were found in that group. Dose had to be increased to 20–40 mg/day in order to achieve objectives.


This paper presents a technique for computing multiresolution shape models of 3D objects acquired as clouds of 3D points. The procedure is fully automated and is able to process data from any object with a genus equivalent to that of a sphere. An important feature of this method is that it does not impose any restrictions on the input data, which can be provided by any kind of 3D sensor. The method described here starts by computing an intermediate mesh that meets the subdivision connectivity requirement needed to allow the computation of the wavelet transform. The mesh is then adjusted to the 3D input data by means of an iterative deformation process. Finally, a spherical wavelet transform is computed to obtain the object's 3D multiresolution model The paper presents some real examples acquired with a hand-held 3D digitizer.


A model calculation is presented with the aim to study the interplay between magnetic and structural transitions. The model consists of an orbitally doubly degenerate conduction band and a periodic array of local moments. The band electrons interact with the local spins via the $s\text{\ensuremath{-}}f$ interaction. The interaction of the band electrons with phonons is introduced by including band Jahn-Teller (J-T) interaction. The model Hamiltonian, including the above terms, is solved for the single particle Greens function. In doing this an ansatz for self-energy of electrons, which was developed earlier, has been utilized. The quasiparticle density of states (QDOS) and hence the orbital populations are calculated treating the ferromagnetism of local moments in the mean field approximation. The critical value of electron-phonon interaction $(G)$ for the appearance of the band J-T distortion is higher in the ferromagnetic state. The strain appears at a critical temperature $({T}_{s})$ when $G$ is greater than the critical value. The onset of ferromagnetism at ${T}_{C}$ $(l{T}_{s})$ arrests the growth of the strain. It is concluded that the magnetization hinders the structural transition. The quasiparticle density of states are presented to interpret these results.


Patterns of functional connectivity are unique at the individual level, enabling test-retest matching algorithms to identify a subject from among a group using only their functional connectome. Recent findings show that accuracies of these algorithms in children increase with age. Relatedly, the persistence of functional connectivity (FC) patterns across tasks and rest also increases with age. This study investigated the hypothesis that within-subject stability and between-subject similarity of the whole-brain pediatric connectome are developmentally relevant outcomes. Using data from 210 help-seeking children and adolescents, ages 6-21 years (Healthy Brain Network Biobank), we computed whole-brain FC matrices for each participant during two different movies (MovieDM and MovieTP) and two runs of task-free rest (all from a single scan session) and fed these matrices to a test-retest matching algorithm. We replicated the finding that matching accuracies for children are low (18-44%) relative to previous work in adults and found that cross-state and cross-movie accuracies for children were the lowest. Next, we calculated three measures of connectome stability for each subject: cross-rest (Rest1-Rest2), cross-state (Rest1-MovieDM), and cross-movie (MovieDM-MovieTP), and three measures of within-state between-subject connectome similarity for Rest1, MovieDM, and MovieTP. We show that all six measures of stability and similarity are correlated, but that these measures are not related to age. A principal component analysis of these measures yielded two components that were used to test for brain-behavior correlations with IQ, general psychopathology, and a social skills measure (n=119). The first component was significantly correlated with the social skills measure (r=-0.27, p=0.003) and overall psychiatric scores (r=-0.239, p=0.009). Post hoc correlations showed that cross-rest stability was correlated with both social skills (p=0.0007) and general psychopathology (p=0.001). Connectome similarity during MovieDM was also correlated with social skills (p=0.0026). These findings suggest that the stability and similarity of the whole-brain connectome relate to overall brain development, and in particular, to those regions that support social cognition. We infer that the development of the functional connectome simultaneously achieves patterns of FC that are distinct at the individual subject level, that are shared across individuals, and that are persistent across states and across runs—features which presumably combine to optimize neural processing during development. Future longitudinal work could reveal the developmental trajectories of stability and similarity of the connectome. Highlights - Identification algorithms yielded low accuracies in this developmental sample. - Individual differences in FC were not as persistent across states or movies. - Connectome within-subject stability and between-subject similarity were interrelated. - Stability during rest and similarity during a movie correlate with social skills scores.


In this paper, we address the problem of fusing monocular depth estimation with a conventional multi-view stereo or SLAM to exploit the "best of both worlds", that is, the accurate dense depth of the first one and lightweightness of the second one. More specifically, we use a conventional pipeline to produce a sparse 3D point cloud that is fed to a monocular depth estimation network to enhance its performance. In this way, we can achieve accuracy similar to multi-view stereo with a considerably smaller number of weights. We also show that even as few as 32 points is sufficient to outperform the best monocular depth estimation methods, and around 200 points to gain full advantage of the additional information. Moreover, we demonstrate the efficacy of our approach by integrating it with a SLAM system built-in on mobile devices.


The main objective of this work is to use quantified emotions and continuous evaluation to determine significant factors in predicting an individual's overall well-being. In 2011, Martin Seligman introduced the concept of "PERMA" of factors that account for measuring an individual's well-being. The PERMA theory separates overall well-being into five pillars of Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment. Seligman's work has led to the development of many questionnaires and scales incorporating this theory and has since become an industry standard for positive psychology. However, the origins of "PERMA" remain mostly unclear and little work has explored supporting these concepts with continuous tracking measures. The work in this present study was carried out by utilizing positive emotion and well-being tracking over a span of six-months, where positive emotion was evaluated in fifteen-minute intervals and well-being was evaluated daily. Additionally, a questionnaire was developed and prompted to the participant, and the tracked measures are evaluated as predictors for positive emotion and well-being. Many findings for well-being align closely with the theories in PERMA, with strong associations with accomplishment and relationships. Predictive factors that align with the participant's well-being not included in PERMA include the influence of anticipation and specific physical and dietary components. Factors that influence positive emotion and daily exhaustion are analyzed and discussed as well. Distribution analysis of positive emotion emphasizes the impact of momentary, extremely happy moments for well-being. Future work should provide direction for studies to evaluate these findings and a new iteration of tracking measures.


A digital watermark is a visible, or preferably invisible, identification code that is permanently embedded in digital media, to prove owner authentication and provide protection for security or defence documents. In this paper, we present an approach for the generation of watermarks using a logistic chaotic function. Using this function, in conjunction with seed management, it is possible to generate chaotic sequences that may be used to create highpass or lowpass digital watermarks. A slight change in the initial conditions will quickly lead to a significant change in the subsequent states of the system, and thus will generate substantially different watermarks. This technique has been shown to offer an added security advantage over the more traditionally generated watermarks created from pseudorandom sequences, in that only the function seed needs to be stored. We have previously presented a study where an optical correlator was suitable for the detection of chaotically generated watermarks. We have also studied the impact of shot noise present in an optical detector for watermarks generated using the logistic function. The logistic function presented in this paper is ill-defined for certain seed values and has not been fully investigated for the purpose of watermark generation. We consider the impact of the theoretical properties of the logistic function on watermark generation and their highpass and lowpass properties, which when embedded in digital media, are suitable for optical detection.


The introduction of a new discourse referent with a descriptive noun phrase involves the introduction of a new concept and the assignment of a referent to that concept. Concepts can be inferred from previous context, and thus be pre-activated (e.g., gym activates the concept of the noun trainer), or can be discourse-new. The function of the definite article is to signal unique identifiability of the referent, and the function of the indefinite article is to assert the existence of a set introduced by the descriptive content. We tested to what extent concept pre-activation and the function of the definite and indefinite article affect referent activation during retrieval and integration as well as referent activation at the sentence level. In Experiment 1, a visual world eye tracking experiment, we found that inferred referents of definite noun phrases were more accessible at subsequent pronoun resolution than inferred referents of indefinite noun phrases. No effects of definiteness were observed for referents with brand-new concepts. In Experiment 2, recording event-related potentials at the noun phrase itself, referents with pre-activated concepts were accessed and integrated more easily than referents with brand-new concepts. Furthermore, definite and indefinite articles yielded differently large frontal negativities. We discuss our results within a Dual-Process Activation Model, which distinguishes two processes in referent management: concept activation and referent activation. Our data suggest that these processes not only affect noun phrase processing but also trigger specific pragmatic inferences at the sentence level.


Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a highly prevalent disorder which can be used to identify individuals with a higher risk for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. This metabolic syndrome is characterized by a combination of physiological, metabolic, and molecular alterations such as insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, and central obesity. The low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1 (LRP1—A member of the LDL receptor family) is an endocytic and signaling receptor that is expressed in several tissues. It is involved in the clearance of chylomicron remnants from circulation, and has been demonstrated to play a key role in the lipid metabolism at the hepatic level. Recent studies have shown that LRP1 is involved in insulin receptor (IR) trafficking and intracellular signaling activity, which have an impact on the regulation of glucose homeostasis in adipocytes, muscle cells, and brain. In addition, LRP1 has the potential to inhibit or sustain inflammation in macrophages, depending on its cellular expression, as well as the presence of particular types of ligands in the extracellular microenvironment. In this review, we summarize existing perspectives and the latest innovations concerning the role of tissue-specific LRP1 in lipoprotein and glucose metabolism, and examine its ability to mediate inflammatory processes related to MetS and atherosclerosis.


Mycteroperca bonaci (black grouper) is one of the most sought species of grouper along its entire distribution, being a prime target for demersal line fisheries due to its high commercial value. However, due to population declines the species is considered near threatened according to the IUCN red list. The present study aimed to determine the population parameters of M. bonaci, including growth, reproduction and mortality, and thus contribute to measures towards its conservation and management in the South Western Atlantic. The sampling area is in the North Brazil Shelf, off Maranhão state, an area of intense fisheries development and yet poorly known. The large continental shelf harbors unique coral reef formations and has been declared an ecologically or biologically significant marine area (EBSA). Sampling on landing sites was carried out monthly between May 2017 and January 2019. A total of 137 black grouper specimens were sampled from commercial landings of artisanal fisheries. The size of the specimens ranged from 44 to 157 cm, and the weight varied from 0.976 to 54 kg. The length-weight was established log(TW) = -11.26 + 3.01log(TL). Histological analysis of the gonads confirmed only the presence of female individuals, and the occurrence of individuals in the sexual transition was not recorded. Higher IGS values and higher frequency of spawning capable staged individuals occurred during the months of June to August, indicating spawning peaks. The estimated age of sexual maturity A50 for females was 4.62 years ( x _ 93 cm-TL). The growth parameters for the Von Bertalanffy model were TL∞ (cm): 185.5, k: 0.04, t0 (year): -4.75 (t0 not fixed) and TL∞ (cm): 141, k: 0.11 (t0 = 0 fixed). The total estimated mortality rate (Z) according to catch length presented a Z value = 0.11, and the natural mortality was M= 0.04 yr-1. This is the first study on the age and growth of M. bonaci in the SWA, a region where the species is considered as endangered according to Brazil's red list regional assessment. Only females were present in the samples, results that suggest either differential capturability of sexes due to distinct patterns of behavior or distribution or an effect of selective mortality upon larger and older individuals, since the species is described as a protogynous hermaphrodite. This indicates the need to closely manage this population to avoid collapses. Recovery plans that have been planned by the Brazilian government but not yet implemented for the species must be put into practice to avoid progressive decline as fisheries target more remote areas. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


We find clear demographic and ability effects on bidding in common value auctions: inexperienced women are much more susceptible to the winner's curse than men, controlling for SAT/ACT scores and college major; economics and business majors substantially overbid relative to other majors; and those with superior SAT/ACT scores are much less susceptible to the winner's curse, with the primary effect coming from those with below median scores doing worse, as opposed to those with very high scores doing substantially better, and with composite SAT/ACT score being a more reliable predictor than either math or verbal scores by themselves. There are strong selection effects in bid estimates for both inexperienced and experienced subjects that are not identified using standard econometric techniques but rather through our experimental design effects. Ignoring these selection effects is most misleading for inexperienced bidders, as the unbiased estimates of the bid function indicate much faster learning and adjustment to the winner's curse for individual bidders than do the biased estimates.


The conversion of a painless fused hip of a long standing duration to a mobile hip is usually not demanded due to a number of per-operative problems, iatrogenic complications and a high demanding procedure. The conversion is, however, required when a patient develops chronic back pain or a painful pseudoarthrosis of the hip. Conversion due to pseudoarthrosis in a recent fracture through femoral neck of previously fused painless hip has never been reported. We are reporting this unique indication for conversion.


The need for increased services for the treatment of alcoholism has been officially accepted and indeed emphasized in recent years (15, 20). The following evaluation of an Alcoholic Unit is based on the response to treatment over the course of one year shown by a cohort of 100 patients, half of whom were admitted to the Unit while the remainder were out-patients. The study aimed at describing the patients referred to the unit and at ascertaining what attributes of the patient and his treatment appeared to influence the prognosis.


Abstract Infestations of glyphosate-resistant (GR) horseweed have become widespread in the eastern United States. This biotype is problematic in no-tillage production that relies extensively on glyphosate for weed control. Because horseweed is treated at various stages of growth, a greenhouse study explored rate response of glyphosate-resistant and -susceptible horseweed at three growth stages. GR horseweed was more responsive to glyphosate at the seedling stage than at the large rosette or bolting stages. A field study evaluated GR horseweed response when treated with glyphosate at soybean planting time, POST in-crop (about 45 d after planting), or both at planting and POST in-crop. There was a cumulative effect of the at-planting followed by POST in-crop glyphosate applications. When evaluating single glyphosate applications, the at-planting application was more effective at suppressing GR horseweed than a POST in-crop application. Because glyphosate cannot control GR horseweed, this biotype should be controlled with an herbicide with an alternate mode of action and applied at the most effective timing. Nomenclature: Glyphosate; horseweed, Conyza canadensis (L.) Cronq.; soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merr


Osteoporosis is one of the major health problems in our modern world. Especially, disuse (unloading) osteoporosis occurs commonly in bedridden patients, a population that is rapidly increasing due to aging-associated diseases. However, the mechanisms underlying such unloading-induced pathological bone loss have not yet been fully understood. Since sympathetic nervous system could control bone mass, we examined whether unloading-induced bone loss is controlled by sympathetic nervous tone. Treatment with β-blocker, propranolol, suppressed the unloading-induced reduction in bone mass. Conversely, β-agonist, isoproterenol, reduced bone mass in loaded mice, and under such conditions, unloading no longer further reduced bone mass. Analyses on the cellular bases indicated that unloading-induced reduction in the levels of osteoblastic cell activities, including mineral apposition rate, mineralizing surface, and bone formation rate, was suppressed by propranolol treatment and that isoproterenol-induced reduction in these levels of bone formation parameters was no longer suppressed by unloading. Unloading-induced reduction in the levels of mineralized nodule formation in bone marrow cell cultures was suppressed by propranolol treatment in vivo. In addition, loss of a half-dosage in the dopamine β-hydroxylase gene suppressed the unloading-induced bone loss and reduction in mineralized nodule formation. Unloading-induced increase in the levels of osteoclastic activities such as osteoclast number and surface as well as urinary deoxypyridinoline was all suppressed by the treatment with propranolol. These observations indicated that sympathetic nervous tone mediates unloading-induced bone loss through suppression of bone formation by osteoblasts and enhancement of resorption by osteoclasts.


A survey was conducted in Checheche, Nemangwe, Sanyati and Tafuna areas of Zimbabwe to assess the level of insecticide use and use of protective clothing in smallholder cotton production areas where the Cotton Research Institute conducted cotton experiments. Compliance with the closed season legislation, the Plant Pest and Diseases Act, Chapter 19, Section 8 of 1988 was checked because of its role in seasonal pest survival. Generally, pest management was found to be anchored on the use of insecticides with 71.9% of the farmers having positive indications regarding dependence on insecticides for pest control. Fifty nine percent of the farmers did not use scouting as a method to determine the need to  spray insecticides. The closed season that helps break life cycle of insects was predominantly not observed. Integrated pest management approaches need to be promoted for the sack of the environment and the future of humanity.

 Key words: Closed season, insecticide, integrated pest management.


Background In previous studies we found that synovial macrophages regulate joint pathology during experimental inflammatory osteoarthritis (OA) and that high systemic levels of Low density lipoproteins (LDL) aggravate OA joint pathology.[1-4] LDL in inflamed synovium is prone to be oxidized (oxLDL) and taken-up by macrophages, leading to an activated phenotype.[5] Objectives In this study, we investigate whether direct injection of oxLDL into a murine knee joint induces pathology and elucidate the role of synovial macrophages in that process. Methods Knee joints of C57BL/6 mice were injected five consecutive days with 1.2 mg/mL oxLDL, LDL, or an equal volume of vehicle (PBS). This same procedure was performed in mice depleted of synovial macrophages by intra-articular injection of clodronate liposomes seven days prior to the consecutive injections. Joint pathology was investigated by immunohistochemistry and RNA expression and protein production by synovium were determined using RT-PCR and luminex, respectively. TGF-β activity was measured using a functional CAGA-luciferase assay. Data are depicted as mean ± standard deviation. Results LDL and oxLDL injection in naïve knee joints did neither increase synovial thickening, nor production of pro-inflammatory factors (IL-1β, IL-6 and S100A8/9) compared to vehicle injection. TGF-β activity in synovial wash-outs was, however, significantly increased by 33% (from 84.7 ng/mL/g synovium ±14.4 to 113.0 ng/mL/g synovium ±33.3; p<0.05). Immunohistochemistry of total knee joints showed that oxLDL injection decreased formation of aggrecanase-induced neo-epitopes (NITEGE) compared with vehicle injections, especially in areas along the bone margins that are prone to develop osteophytes (from arbitrary score 1.19±0.57 to 0.33±0.30; p<0.05). Repeated injections of oxLDL in macrophage-depleted knee joints led to a 3.1 fold increase of synovial thickening, compared with injection of vehicle (p<0.01), while LDL injections did not alter synovial thickening. Protein levels of S100A8/A9, markers for inflammation, were significantly increased in synovial wash-outs of oxLDL injected joints, compared with LDL (fold increase 5.6; p<0.05) or vehicle (fold increase 8.3; p<0.01) injection. RNA levels of chemokines MCP-1 and MIP-1α were also significantly upregulated after oxLDL injections (6.7 fold and 4.6 fold, respectively; p<0.01). No raise in TGF-β activity was measured in macrophage-depleted joints. NITEGE expression was markedly increased (fold increase 1.92) in the synovium-cartilage contact areas after oxLDL injection (p<0.05). Conclusions Synovial macrophages promote anabolic effects after oxLDL injections, supporting earlier studies which show increased ectopic bone formation during LDL-rich conditions in experimental osteoarthritis.[4] In absence of synovial macrophages, however, oxLDL induces cell influx, production of pro-inflammatory mediators and aggrecanase activity. References Bondeson J, Arthritis and rheumatism 2010;62:647-657 Blom AB, Arthritis and rheumatism 2007;56:147-157 van Lent PL, Arthritis and rheumatism 2004;50:103-111 de Munter W, Arthritis research & therapy 2013;15:R178 Maiolino G, Mediators of inflammation 2013;2013:714653 Disclosure of Interest None declared


Biological nitrogen fixation is fundamental to the economy of the biosphere, yet it is restricted to a few dozen bacterial species. Why have plants not acquired it during evolution? No serious physiological or genetic obstacles seem to exist. Has a relatively late emergence, among genomically flexible prokaryotes, effectively precluded appropriate seletion pressure?


INTRODUCTION
Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a progressive neurological disease with autosomal recessive transmission that affects motor neurons, causing their loss and resulting in muscle waste and motor deficiency. Nusinersen, the first SMN2 pre-mRNA targeted therapy approved by the Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency, has demonstrated high efficacy in improving motor function, as well as respiratory and nutritional statuses.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
We observed 55 patients (children/adolescents) diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), who received nusinersen therapy. To investigate the benefits of physical therapy on rehabilitation outcomes, we compared the motor evolution of patients who received nusinersen and performed daily physical therapy (study group) to those of the control group, who received only nusinersen therapy.

RESULTS
Motor skill improvements were statistically significantly (p < 0.001) higher in the study group, being almost four times better (12.66%), effect size, in comparison to the control group (3.18%).

CONCLUSIONS
Physical therapy has provided superior results for those who receive it on a regular basis. These results include the correction of posture, reduction in stiffness, expansion of the range of motion and strengthening of muscles, thus allowing patients to do more movements and boosting their ability to perform everyday tasks.


of pattern recognition that uses nonparametric regression techniques. This chapter provides an introduction to basic concepts and simple methods for pattern recognition. The book also contains three appendixes on creation and application of B-spline bases, R objects, and further readings. There are many reference books on nonparametric regression, including, to name a few, those by Wahba (1990), Hastie and Tibshirani (1990), Hardle (1990, 1992), Green and Silverman (1994), Wand and Jones (1995), Fan and Gijbels (1996), Simonoff (1996), Efromovich (1999), Eubank (1999), Loader (1999), and Gu (2002). Introduction to Nonparametric Regression is distinguished by its numerous illustrations from various scientific fields, and these illustrations will enable readers to understand the basic concepts of nonparametric regression. Furthermore, it contains many exercise problems that allows readers to practise themselves. This book mainly focuses on estimation of nonparametric models; it rarely mentions model diagnostic, goodnessof-fit tests, and statistical inference for nonparamtric models. The book by Hart (1997) is a good source of nonparametric diagnostic and goodness-of-fit tests. Overall, I like this book, and recommend it to graduate students and researchers who plan to implement nonparametric models in their research.


Objectives: This study aimed to clarify the relationship between arterial stiffness and coronary artery lesions as well as their influence on long-term outcomes after coronary artery revascularization in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Methods: A total of 205 patients who had a coronary angiography and received coronary artery revascularization on demand were enrolled and followed up for 5 years. Demographic and clinical indicators, arterial stiffness indexes, angiographic characteristics and the Gensini score (GS) were recorded at baseline. Major adverse cardiac events (MACE), including cardiac death and repeat coronary artery revascularization, that occurred during the 5 years of follow-up were also recorded. Results: All indexes reflecting the degree of arterial stiffness, including PWV, C1, C2, CSBP, CDBP, AP and Aix, were significantly higher in CKD than in non-CKD patients (all p < 0.05). Patients with CKD also had a higher rate of coronary artery disease and a higher GS (p < 0.05 and p < 0.01, respectively). Logistic regression analysis revealed CKD to be an independent risk factor for increased arterial stiffness (OR = 2.508, 95% CI 1.308-4.808, p = 0.006). During follow-up, CKD patients with PWV >13 m/s or Aix@75 >30 had a significantly higher MACE occurrence rate after coronary artery revascularization (both p < 0.05). Conclusion: These results highlight that CKD and arterial stiffness correlate with the severity of coronary artery lesions. CKD patients with impaired arterial stiffness have poor clinical outcomes, suggesting a further clinical use of the arterial stiffness index as a surrogate of worse cardiovascular prognosis in CKD than in non-CKD patients. i 2014 S. Karger AG, Basel


Australian agriculture is very dependent on herbicides for weed control and the maintenance of soil structure through no-till farming. These chemicals have been highly effective but their efficacy has been under threat for some time through the evolution of herbicide resistance. If herbicide technology fails, Australian agriculture will be poorly placed. Options need to be considered now so that there are alternatives, or at least to support the maintenance of current practices. Allelopathy is one of the possible options and its potential role is canvassed here. However it will require a different paradigm to the one currently underpinning chemical farming.


The authors report a case of intractable autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease-related pain associated with normal renal function, treated with renal denervation. Renal denervation was performed via a thoracoscopic approach. The good medium-term result suggests that thoracoscopic sympatho-splanchnicectomy would be an attractive procedure for pain management in autosomal polycystic kidney disease.


Mesothelin is a glycoprotein expressed by cells which form the mesothelial lining of the peritoneal and pleural cavities. It exists as both a secreted protein as well as a cell surface protein that is anchored via a GPI linkage. A soluble splice variant of the 40 kDa peptide (termed soluble mesothelin/MFP-related protein or SMR) has been found in the sera of patients with ovarian carcinoma and mesothelioma. Mesothelin is over-expressed on all mesotheliomas, many ovarian cancers and numerous other cancers. As mesothelin has limited expression on normal tissues and high expression on a number of cancers, it is an attractive candidate for targeted therapeutics such as an anti-mesothelin antibody-drug-conjugate (ADC). A fully human anti-mesothelin antibody (MDX-1382) was conjugated to a potent DNA alkylating agent related to Duocarmycin (MED2460). This ADC shows anti-tumor activity in xenograft models of ovarian, lung and pancreatic cancer at doses as low as 0.3 \#956;mole/kg. MDX-1382 does not bind to the mouse mesothelin protein such that toxicity assessments in mouse are limited to \#8220;off target\#8221; effects. However, a rat anti-mouse mesothelin antibody was generated and conjugated to MED2460 to assess the effects of targeting mesothelin in mice. In this model, doses of 0.3 \#956;mole/kg did not result in overt signs of toxicity. In addition, MDX-1382 binds to cynomolgus monkey mesothelin with similar affinity and tissue distribution as in humans. The intravenous administration of 0.4 \#956;mole/kg was well tolerated in cynomolgus monkeys and did not result in overt clinical or histological signs of toxicity. Citation Information: In: Proc Am Assoc Cancer Res; 2009 Apr 18-22; Denver, CO. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; 2009. Abstract nr 3235.


A key and diagnoses are provided for the North American species of Scelolyperus Crotch. Descriptions are given for Scelolyperus pasadenae, new species from California and Scelolyperus tetonensis, new species from Wyoming. Luperus morrisoni Jacoby is treated as a junior synonym of Luperus varipes LeConte, Luperodes nigrovirescens Fall is treated as a junior synonym of Luperus nigrocyaneus LeConte, and Scelolyperus chautauquus Wilcox is treated as a junior synonym of Scelolyperus liriophilus Wilcox, new synonymies. Luperus lecontii Crotch is transferred to Scelolyperus, new combination. Distributional and biological data are provided for each species.


Numerous mechanisms have been proposed to account for deficient bilirubin excretion and the pathogenesis of estrogen and steroid (danazol) induced intrahepatic cholestasis. Our hypothesis is based on the fact that danazol is administered in the treatment of pulmonary emphysema because it stimulates synthesis of alpha-1 antitrypsin and that other estrogen glucuro-conjugated metabolites are P-glycoprotein substrates. We believe that genetic alterations of alpha-1 antitrypsin and P-glycoprotein, either alone or in association with known pathogenetic mechanisms, may explain the onset of danazol induced cholestasis and justify the difference in its varying duration and intensity.


Photocatalytic performance is influenced by two contradictory factors, which are light absorption range and separation of charge carriers. Loading noble metals with nanosized interfacial contact is expected to improve the separation and transfer of photo-excited charge carriers while enlarging the light absorption range of the semiconductor photocatalyst. Therefore, it should be possible to improve the photocatalytic performance of pristine nontypical stoichiometric semiconductor photocatalysts by loading a specific noble metal. Herein, a series of novel Pt–Bi4V2O11 photocatalysts have been successfully prepared via a surface reduction technique. The crystal structure, morphology, and photocatalytic performance, as well as photo-electron properties of the as-synthesized samples were fully characterized. Moreover, the series of Pt–Bi4V2O11 samples were evaluated to remove typical organic pollutants, rhodamine B and enrofloxacin, from aqueous solutions. The photoluminescence, quenching experiments and the electron spin resonance technique were utilized to identify the effective radicals during the photocatalytic process and understand the photocatalytic mechanism. The photocatalytic performance of Pt–Bi4V2O11 was tremendously enhanced compared with pristine Bi4V2O11, and there was additional ˙O2− produced during the photocatalytic process. This study deeply investigated the relation between the separation of charge carriers and the light harvesting, and revealed a promising strategy for fabricating efficient photocatalysts for both dyes and antibiotics.


An increasing teacher shortage is creating a need for teachers across our communities. School districts and other institutions, such as universities, are engaging in joint efforts to recruit and retain highly qualified teacher professionals. In this combined effort, one way the vision of attracting teachers to the field is being characterized by an interest in teaching academies. These academies promise to provide students with an educational opportunity that facilitates their ability to reach their professional goals in teaching while making them employable. This symposium will present a new initiative at a local senior high school by introducing the Teaching Academy model and the story behind the making of this initiative. This local academy intends to create lifelong learners and improve the access to educational resources available to our community. This symposium will show the initiative's challenges, successes, and potential for future development. Participants Maria V. Tsalikis, Florida International University


Abstract Background and Objectives Nonvitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) require stricter medication adherence. We investigated the NOACs adherence in real-world practice. Methods We screened all patients in our cardiology department the day before their outpatient appointment, over a 5-month period. We enrolled 719 consecutive patients who were taking NOACs for atrial fibrillation. The patients were contacted by phone or text to bring the remnant pills with them without any information why. Adherence was measured by the percentage of prescribed doses taken (PDT) (number of doses taken/number of doses expected to be taken from the last prescription × 100 [%]) and the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS)-8. Results All 4 NOACs (apixaban 47.8%, dabigatran 21.2%, rivaroxaban 18.4%, and edoxaban 12.6%) were prescribed. The mean duration that the patients had been taking NOACs was 7.2 ± 5.7 months. The PDT was 95.4 ± 9.1% in the once-daily dosing group and 93.4 ± 12.7% in the twice-daily group, and the difference was statistically significant (p = 0.017). The mean MMAS was 2.6 ± 0.8. The proportion of patients with a PDT < 80% was 7.8%. They had a significantly higher MMAS than the PDT ≥ 80% group (3.4 vs. 2.5; p = 0.000). Conclusion Most patients who were taking NOACs had excellent adherence regardless of the dosing frequency. An MMAS ≥ 3 could be used as a simple screening tool for a poor NOAC adherence.


Bidirectional infrastructure-to-vehicle (I2V) communication applications are seen as one of the key challenges to ensure safe and efficient driving through the increasingly overloaded road infrastructure. One of the recent developments in this respect is the implementation of co-operative traffic management systems, based on the establishment of a bidirectional wireless I2V communication link for transmission of 'legally binding' messages into the vehicle (e.g. speed limit, incident warning, weather warning). By ensuring high accuracy, robustness, and reliability in terms of location, content and time the information transmitted via this I2V communication link has the potential to get legal character and can serve as source for Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA) systems.


There are different ways to keep pigs for meat production and legislation differ for example between Sweden and the rest of Europe. Swedish sows are not allowed to be confined in a farrowing crate and the age at weaning for piglets in Sweden is minimum 4 weeks and 3 weeks according EUs legislation.

Many piglets die before weaning and the Swedish statistics on mean piglet mortality from 2016 is 17,1 %. This is higher than studies made in Norway, England and Switzerland. A study made in Sweden showed a mortality of 19,5 %. One of the main reasons piglets die is because they become crushed by the sow. Starving, disease and low birth weight are other common reasons. Research also says genetics and litter size decide the mortality, were some sows have very high mortality and some almost no mortality. There are a lot of research of the actions to take in order to decrease mortality. Many of them are management routines; providing the sow with a large amount of straw before farrowing will make her calmer and more observant of the piglets, and a heat lamp will help the piglet maintain body temperature and decrease the risk of hypothermia. By staying close to the sows around farrowing and the days after the caretakers are for example able to help the piglets to the heat lamp and prevent them from getting crushed by the sow.

The purpose of this work was to find out if producers that try to decide piglet causes of death and also takes actions depending on the result have a lower mean mortality. To be able to do that a questionnaire with nine questions was sent out to pig producers on Facebook. In a total 23 participants answered some of the questions and 18 participants answered the whole questionnaire. The mortality ranged between 5-25 % and the mean mortality was 16,4 %. Seven of the participants tries to decide the cause of death and six of these took direct actions depending on the result according to their answers. The mean mortality of these seven was 17,8 %. All participants took more general actions to decrease mortality. Move piglets between litters, let them suckle in shifts and extra milk replacer are common actions for both farms with and without thorough routines. The majority of the participants believe piglet mortality is a problem that need to be solved.

This study did not see that producers with thorough routines have lower mean piglet mortality and the high Swedish mortality is still a problem in need of a solution.


A heterogeneous photonic crystal cavity structure based on the band edge mode is reviewed. The outer photonic bandgap region is introduced to contain the central band edge mode in order to minimize in-plane losses. Lasing modes are identified from the spectral position and polarization characteristics, and compared with theoretical calculations based on the three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain method.


From abstract: Geologic and aeromagnetic data show that a major tectonic unit underlies rocks of the Musconetcong nappe in the Great Valley of eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey. This structure, the Lyon Station-Paulins Kill nappe, can be traced
from Lyon Station, Pa., at least to Branchville, N.J., a distance of about 120 km. The nappe has a core of Precambrian
crystalline rocks as shown by an aeromagnetic anomaly that has the same signature as the outcropping Precambrian
rocks of the Musconetcong nappe. This core extends at least 70 km east from Lyon Station to Bangor, Pa., the eastern
limit of the aeromagnetic survey. This report details the frontal structure of this system.


Direction-of-arrival (DoA) estimation of a speaker in a room using microphone arrays is an important task in audio signal processing in general, and robot audition in particular. Recently, a novel DoA estimation method developed for spherical arrays presented accurate performance even under real-world conditions with strong reverberation. The method identifies time-frequency bins dominated by the direct signal from the source, and employs only these bins for DoA estimation. A recent extension allowed the use of shorter time frames by employing Gaussian mixture model based clustering to the DoA statistics. However, performance still degrades under challenging acoustical conditions, such as close to a reflecting surface. In this paper, a novel analysis is presented that provides insight into the acoustic significance of the individual Gaussians in the mixture, clearly showing the distinctiveness of the Gaussian corresponding to the direct path signal. The results presented here can be employed in the design of acoustically robust DoA estimation under strong reverberation.


An analytical model of drain current of Si/SiGe heterostructure p-channel MOSFETs is presented. A simple polynomial approximation is used to model the sheet carrier concentration (p/sub s//sup H/) in the two-dimensional hole gas at the Si/SiGe interface. The interdependence of p/sub s//sup H/ and the hole concentration at the Si/SiO/sub 2/ interface (p/sub s//sup S/) is taken into account in the model, which considers current flow at both the Si/SiGe and the Si/SiO/sub 2/ interfaces. This model is applicable to compressively strained SiGe buried-channel heterostructure PMOSFETs as well as tensile-strained surface-channel PMOSFETs. The model has been implemented in SABER, a circuit simulator. The results from the model show an excellent agreement with the experimental data.


A contract is a non-repudiable agreement on a given contract text, i.e., it can be used to prove unanimous agreement between its signatories to any veri er. A contract signing protocol is used to fairly compute a contract so that, even if n 1 of the n signatories misbehave, either all or none of them obtain a contract. Optimistic contract signing protocols use a third party to ensure fairness, but in such a way that the third party is not actively involved in case all parties are honest. Since no satisfactory protocols without any third party exist, this seems to be the best one can hope for. We present the rst optimistic multi-party contract signing protocol for asynchronous networks. Previous constructions supported synchronous networks only. We show how any such contract signing protocol can be used to construct an optimistic, perfectly fair general function evaluation protocol for dishonest majorities. Previous constructions did not use a third party at all but achieved fairness in a probabilistic sense only.


Objective- Cutaneous wound healing is an essential physiological process consisting of the collaboration of many cell strains and their products. Initiation of new management for treatment of wound infections caused by multidrug resistant Staphylococcus aureus is required. The aim of the present study was to assess wound healing activity of Ferula assa-foetida loaded chitosan nanoparticle biofilm in methicillin resistant S. aureus (MRSA) infected wounds in rats. Design- Experimental study Animals- Forty eight male healthy Wistar rats. Procedures- The animals were randomized into four groups of 12 animals each. In group I, the wounds were infected with MRSA and only treated with 0.1 mL the sterile saline 0.9% solution. In group II, the infected wounds were dressed with chitosan nanoparticles biofilm. In group III, animals with infected wounds were treated with 0.1 mL topical application of Ferula assa-foetida. In group IV, animals with infected wounds were dressed with Ferula assa-foetida loaded chitosan nanoparticles biofilm. Results- Microbiological examination, planimetric, biomechanical, histological and quantitative morphometric studies and determination of hydroxyproline levels showed that there was significant difference between animals in group IV compared to other groups (p = 0.001). Conclusion and Clinical Relevance- Ferula assa-foetida loaded chitosan nanoparticles biofilm could be useful for treatment of MRSA infected wounds in diabetes.


Abstract The vectorcardiograpm improves the display of the cardiac potential by clearer demonstration of the orientation and magnitude of forces at each moment. The changes in different scalar leads are correlated. It is generally a more sensitive tool for detecting electrocardiographic abnormalities. However, it shares many of the pitfalls of the conventional 12 lead electrocardiogram. The specificity of the diagnosis, in most instances, is not improved.


In this paper, a novel generic framework has been designed, developed and validated for addressing simultaneously the tasks of image registration, segmentation and change detection from multisensor, multiresolution, multitemporal satellite image pairs. Our approach models the inter-dependencies of variables through a higher order graph. The proposed formulation is modular with respect to the nature of images (various similarity metrics can be considered), the nature of deformations (arbitrary interpolation strategies), and the nature of segmentation likelihoods (various classification approaches can be employed). Inference of the proposed formulation is achieved through its mapping to an overparametrized pairwise graph which is then optimized using linear programming. Experimental results and the performed quantitative evaluation indicate the high potentials of the developed method.