Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is a systemic disease impacting upon several organ systems. These include gastrointestinal, reproductive, endocrine and pulmonary manifestations of which the latter contributes the heaviest burden of disease morbidity, mortality and impact on quality of life. The defective protein in the disease state is the Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Regulator (CFTR) that normally functions as an ion channel permitting intracellular chloride escape. Regulated by cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) and localized to the apical membrane of epithelial cells, CFTR's function is diminished or absent in CF precipitating a cycle of events including sodium hyper-absorption, mucus hypersecretion, impaired mucociliary clearance and pathogenic colonization with microorganisms. This in turn leads to the clinical picture of recurrent infections, bronchiectasis and airway destruction culminating in respiratory failure and premature death (Davis et al., 1996).


The enactment of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) in the European Union (EU) triggers intense activity among Member States and raises some criticism. The good status of waters may include an ecological dream that is difficult to achieve. Moreover, criteria for derogations require strong economic arguments. This challenge raises the debate on whether the WFD is part of an incremental process, embedded in prior European water law, with feasible goals, or whether it is a dramatic change of policy towards an ecological dream that emerged during late negotiations, and therefore was hardly achievable. I will state that although the high ecological ambition of the WFD is unprecedented within the EU's water law, it has several precedents in other arenas, notably long enforced in the United States of America. I will argue that the major challenge of the directive is the combination of the ecological dream with an economic ideal, which has no equivalent in the United States.


Low-power design is one of the dominant considerations for certain circuits, and energy consumption as well as power distribution is two important measurements. The paper proposes ILP-based high-level synthesis with multi-cycling and multiple supply voltages scheme, which focuses on energy reduction and combined peak power minimization. Experimental results show that the scheme can efficiently reduce the total energy, and obtain an improved power distribution in both temporal and spatial directions by cycle peak power and module peak power simultaneously optimizing


The state of lipid peroxidation (LP), antioxidant blood activity (ABA) and spontaneous chemiluminescence (SC) of the gastric mucosa was studied in 37 patients with ulcer disease. It was found that LP and ABA remained practically unchanged. At the site of the ulcerative defect and around it SC was 2-4 times higher than in the intact zone. Use of a 20% dibunol solution was rather effective in the correction of LP disorders.


Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the expression levels of miR-126-3p, miR-182-5p, miR-183-5p, miR-184, miR-221-3p, and miR-205-5p in primary pterygium tissue and compare these levels with those in healthy conjunctiva tissue. Methods: Twenty-four patients who were diagnosed with grade 3 primary pterygium and scheduled for surgery between January 2014 and January 2016 and had no systemic disease or other ocular pathology were included in the study. The control group comprised nasal interpalpebral conjunctival tissue specimens from 24 age- and sex-matched patients with no history of systemic disease or ocular pathology other than cataract. Expression levels of miR-126-3p, miR-182-5p, miR-183-5p, miR-184, miR-221-3p, and miR-205-5p were determined and compared between the pterygium and conjunctiva specimens. Results: Expression levels of miR-182-5p, miR-183-5p, and miR-184 were significantly higher in pterygium tissue compared with normal conjunctival specimens (P<0.0001, P=0.01, and P=0.01, respectively), whereas expression of miR-221-3p was significantly lower (P=0.02). Expression levels of miR-126-3p and miR-205-5p did not differ significantly between the 2 groups (P>0.05). Conclusions: Expression levels of miR-182-5p, miR-183-5p, and miR-184 are increased, whereas expression of miR-221-3p is decreased in primary pterygium tissue, and these miRNAs may play a role in the pathogenesis of pterygium.


The leaves of globe artichoke, Cynara scolymus Family Asteraceae/ compositea have long – used in traditional medicine and now included in British and European Pharmacopeia, the British Harbal Pharmacopeia and complete German Commission E monographs.The plant originally comes from Mediterranean region and North Africa and cultivated around the world. The flowers are used worldwide for nutrition purposes and the leaves for medical purposes including hepatic affections. The plant wildly distributed in Iraq in the watery lines and boundary of the field.The plant contains many phytochemicals such as the bitter phenolic acids whose choleretic and hypocholestremic as these compounds are antioxidant. Other materials to have other pharmacologic effect specially flavonoids. Thus this work deals with phenolic acids cholrogenic acid and cynarin.This work includes cold extraction evaporation by freeze drying and separation inusing column chromatography, TLC and finally in High pressure liqued chromatography (HPLC), the two important compound; chlorogenic acid and cynarin were separated and identified.
Key words: Artichoke, Cynara scolymus, Poly phenolic acids, Chlorogenic acid, Cynarin.


Lupus Mastitis (LM) is a rare presentation of lupus panniculitis involving the breast. Because it often presents as a tender palpable mass, a workup for malignancy usually ensues. It is well documented that surgery may worsen the condition; therefore, it is important to consider LM in the differential of a palpable breast mass in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Currently, management of LM remains primarily medical. We discuss the multi-disciplinary work-up of LM, and further describe its appearance on serial Magnetic Resonance (MR) exams.


Background Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) is an established treatment for degenerative disease of the cervical disc, but adjacent segment degeneration or instability may develop long term. The aim of this study was to investigate the risk factors for adjacent segment degeneration following ACDF compared with the use of the Bryan artificial disc for cervical disc arthroplasty (CDA). Material/Methods A prospective comparative study included 93 patients who underwent ACDF or CDA with the Bryan artificial cervical disc between 2002 and 2004, and who had more than eight years of follow-up. There were 29 cases in the CDA group and 39 cases in ACDF group, with a follow-up rate of 73.12%. Clinical results and imaging data were assessed before and after surgery. Results There was no significant difference between the two groups in radiographic parameters at each follow-up time point. There were 19 cases of adjacent segment degeneration (48.72%) in the ACDF group, and 13 cases of adjacent segment degeneration (44.83%) in the CDA group, with no statistically significant difference (P>0.05). Univariate analysis showed that advanced age (OR 1.271, 95% CI 1.005–1.607), low preoperative overall lordosis (OR 0.858, 95% CI 0.786–0.936) and low preoperative segmental lordosis (OR 1.185, 95% CI 1.086–1.193) were significantly correlated with adjacent segment degeneration. Conclusions Equally good clinical outcomes were achieved with both the ACDF and the Bryan CDA. Increasing patient age was associated with adjacent segment degeneration in both patient groups.


ABSTRACT Objectives: To identify studies that evaluated psychometric properties of functional capacity tests in children and adolescents, and to verify which of these have satisfactory properties of measurement. Data sources: Searches on MEDical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (MEDLINE), Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) and Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO) databases without limiting period or language. Two investigators independently selected articles based on the following inclusion criteria: children and/or adolescent population (healthy or with cardiorespiratory diseases); and assessment of psychometric properties of functional capacity tests. Studies with (I) adult samples, (II) sample with neurological diseases, and (III) on reference values or prediction equations only were excluded. Data synthesis: From the total of 677 articles identified, 11 were selected. These evaluated the psychometric properties of the following tests: 6-minute walk test (6MWT) (n=7); 6MWT and the 3-minute step test (3MST) (n=1); and Incremental Shuttle Walk Test (ISWT) (n=3). Reproducibility and reliability were good for 6MWT and ISWT, and moderate for 3MST. The ISWT showed high validity measures for both healthy children and children with chronic respiratory disease. The validity of 6MWT varied across studies, and should be analyzed according to the health conditions of test takers. The validity of 3MST is unclear, and further studies in pediatric population are required. Conclusions: Most studies investigated 6MWT measurement properties. Validity of 6MWT varied according to different pediatric populations. The use of 6MWT, ISWT and 3MST tests to measure clinically important changes in children and adolescents with cardiorespiratory diseases is still unclear.


We show that relational algebra calculations for incomplete databases, probabilistic databases, bag semantics and why-provenance are particular cases of the same general algorithms involving semirings. This further suggests a comprehensive provenance representation that uses semirings of polynomials. We extend these considerations to datalog and semirings of formal power series. We give algorithms for datalog provenance calculation as well as datalog evaluation for incomplete and probabilistic databases. Finally, we show that for some semirings containment of conjunctive queries is the same as for standard set semantics.


Background: HIV/AIDS eradication strategy rooted in the sustainable development goal 3 aims at achieving global health security by 2030, but the low engagement of men in HIV services is a setback to this goal. Therefore this trial aim to assed the efficacy of face to face weekly health education in community based groups, to improve knowledge and perception about HIV services, especially HIV testing in men 21 years and above in the Buea Health District. Methods: We did a cluster selection of communities and assigned blocks of community men's groups to either the brief health education intervention condition of 30 to 45 minutes weekly, or a comparison group of community men who are left to receive only standard services. A manual generated randomization district health areas list was used to select community male groups into intervention or control groups. A total of 366 participants either receive health education on HIV Services or not. The primary outcome for this study which was improved knowledge about HIV prevention; HIV Services and positive perception about HIV Services especially testing services was assessed at baseline and at six months. Results: Assessing the knowledge of participants after six months of follow-up, it was observed that the odds of knowing where HIV services are offered in their area was 0.35 times more (CI; 0.21, 0.59) in the intervention arm that in the control arm and was statistically significant at p=0.00. When asked if they knew the types of HIV services that are offered, the odds of knowing the services was 2.58 times (CI: 1.42, 4.70) in the intervention arm compared to the control arm (P=0.02). When examining perception about HIV, both men in the control and intervention arm consider that people should test regularly (92.9% and 93.3% respectively) but agreeing that partners should do and share results together was more in the intervention group than in the control ( 60.4% against 56.5%). Conclusion: community face to face health education on HIV to men in community based groups can be a good strategy to improve correct knowledge and positive perception on HIV Services, especially testing. This contributes to the growing body of evidence on the use of Health Believe Model in giving Health Education. This is a complementary strategy for strengthening HIV testing services which will contribute in achieving the 2030 health security agenda.


PurposeBlockchain technology, a key feature of the fourth industrial revolution, is receiving widespread attention and exploration around the world. Taking the coronavirus pandemic as an example, the purpose of this study to examine the application of blockchain technology from the perspective of epidemic prevention and control.Design/methodology/approachExploring multiple case studies in the Chinese context at various stages of deployment, this study documents a framework about how some of the major challenges associated with COVID-19 can be alleviated by leveraging blockchain technology.FindingsThe case studies and framework presented herein show that utilization of blockchain acts as an enabler to facilitate the containment of several COVID-19 challenges. These challenges include the following: complications associated with medical data sharing; breaches of patients' data privacy; absence of real-time monitoring tools; counterfeit medical products and non-credible suppliers; fallacious insurance claims; overly long insurance claim processes; misappropriations of funds; and misinformation, rumors and fake news.Originality/valueBlockchain is ushering in a new era of innovation that will lay the foundation for a new paradigm in health care. As there are currently insufficient studies pertaining to real-life case studies of blockchain and COVID-19 interaction, this study adds to the literature on the role of blockchain technology in epidemic control and prevention.


This article says that climate shaped the long-term pattern of economic change in India and that the climatically conditioned economic change generated a distinct set of environmental consequences in the region. From the nineteenth century, political and economic processes that made scarce and controlled water resources more accessible to more people, enhanced welfare, enabled more food production and sustained urbanization. The same processes also raised water stress. These propositions carry lessons for comparative economic history and the conduct of discourses on sustainability in the present times.


Insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-binding protein (IGFBP) proteases modulate IGF action by cleaving IGFBPs into fragments with lower affinity to IGFs, thereby increasing the levels of free IGFs. We have previously documented that prostate-specific antigen (PSA), a serine protease of the kallikrein family, is an IGFBP-3 protease. In this study, we characterized the potential IGFBP proteolytic activity of nerve growth factor (NGF gamma-subunit), which shares high sequence homology with PSA. [125I]IGFBP-3 was cleaved by NGF (but not other kallikreins) at a 3-fold lower concentration than that of PSA, thus proving NGF to be a more potent IGFBP protease than PSA. NGF-generated, lower mol wt IGFBP-3 fragments, detected by immunoblotting and cross-linking to IGFs, had a lower affinity to IGFs than intact IGFBP-3. Unlike PSA, which cleaves primarily IGFBP-3 and -5, NGF also displayed potent proteolytic activity against IGFBP-4 and -6. These data suggest that NGF may be involved in the growth of cells by more than one mechanism. In addition to binding to its receptors, NGF is capable of cleaving IGFBPs and, thus, enhancing IGF action. This synergistic action between NGF and IGF may have important implications on cell growth, development, and repair in the brain and other tissues.


The perceptions of customers on the Internet retail banking systems implemented recently are empirically examined through a survey of selected Internet users in Singapore. The results show that expectations assigned to security and accuracy, transaction speed, user friendliness, and user involvement represent the attributes that most likely support the market success of the innovation. The present findings should provide useful information to assist in the development and marketing of commercially viable cyber banking systems.


Vibrio cholerae produces a phenolate-type siderophore that stimulates growth of the organism in low-iron medium. This compound is similar, but not identical, to enterochelin, the siderophore produced by Salmonella and Escherichia coli.


Weak organic acid food preservatives exert pronounced culture pH-dependent effects on both the heat-shock response and the thermotolerance of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In low-pH cultures, they inhibit this stress response and cause strong induction of respiratory-deficient petites amongst the survivors of lethal heat treatment. In higher pH cultures, 25 degrees C sorbic acid treatment causes a strong induction of thermotolerance without inducing the heat-shock response. In this study we show that trehalose, a major stress protectant, accumulates rapidly in S. cerevisiae exposed to sorbate at low pH. In pH 3.5 cultures, a 25 degrees C sorbate treatment is as effective as a 39 degrees C heat shock in inducing trehalose. This weak-acid-induced trehalose accumulation is enhanced in the pfk1 S. cerevisiae mutant, indicating that it arises through inhibition of glycolysis at the phosphofructokinase step. The more preservative-resistant food spoilage yeast Zygosaccharomyces bailii differs from S. cerevisiae in that: (1) its basal thermotolerance is not strongly affected by culture pH; (2) it does not display trehalose accumulation in response to 25 degrees C sorbate treatment at low pH; and (3) there is no induction of respiratory-deficient petites during lethal heating with sorbate. This probably reflects Z. bailii being both petite-negative and better equipped for maintenance of homeostasis during weak-acid, pH or high-temperature stress.


Six neurologically intact adults (3 young adults <35 years and 3 elderly adults >50 yrs) were recruited to determine their acceleration detection threshold at three different lateral perturbation lengths (1, 4, and 16 mm). Using an optimized two alternative forced choice test, a parameter-estimation-by-sequential-testing technique varied acceleration according to the previous response of the subject until a threshold of detection was reached. Thresholds were compared among displacements and between young and elder adults. Results indicated that young adults had similar thresholds for all displacements, while elder adults had significantly higher accelerations at the 1 mm displacement. Elders performed similarly to the young adults at the 4 and 16 mm displacements. This indicates that aging may influence the sensory capabilities of elders, especially at small displacements.


PURPOSE
To determine learning effect in healthy patients without perimetric experience, tested with the frequency doubling technology perimetry, with the new model Matrix.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Frequency doubling technology in the 30-2 threshold mode was performed on 37 healthy subjects. Each subject was tested twice in different sessions. The test always began with the right eye (RE) and continued with the left eye (LE). To evaluate learning effect the results of the REs at the first session were compared with those of the LE. The following parameters were evaluated: foveal threshold (FT), reliability indexes, mean defect (MD), pattern standard deviation (PSD), glaucoma hemifield test (GHT), duration of examination.

RESULTS
At the first session the average values of RE were FT=30.81 db, MD=-1 db, PSD=3.01 db, and duration of the examination=383.27 "and of LE were FT=30.73, MD=-0.79 db, PSD=2.97 db, and duration of examination 382.62." At the second session the average values of RE were FT=32.22 db, MD=+0.16 db, PSD 2.75 db, and duration of examination=374.97 db. The reliability was different and the GHT between the RE and LE in the first and second session was also different.

CONCLUSIONS
A learning effect was observed between the first and the second sessions and the results of the GHT appeared improved. This above all should be taken into account when considering the clinical use of this test to avoid erroneous diagnostic conclusions.


The peptide quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR), also known as the quantitative sequence-activity model (QSAM), has attracted much attention in the bio- and chemoinformatics communities and is a well developed computational peptidology strategy to statistically correlate the sequence/structure and activity/property relationships of functional peptides. Amino acid descriptors (AADs) are one of the most widely used methods to characterize peptide structures by decomposing the peptide into its residue building blocks and sequentially parametrizing each building block with a vector of amino acid principal properties. Considering that various AADs have been proposed over the past decades and new AADs are still emerging today, we herein query the following: is it necessary to develop so many AADs and do we need to continuously develop more new AADs? In this study, we exhaustively collect 80 published AADs and comprehensively evaluate their modeling performance (including fitting ability, internal stability, and predictive power) on 8 QSAR-oriented peptide sample sets (QPSs) by employing 2 sophisticated machine learning methods (MLMs), totally building and systematically comparing 1280 (80 AADs × 8 QPSs × 2 MLMs) peptide QSAR models. The following is revealed: (i) None of the AADs can work best on all or most peptide sets; an AAD usually performs well for some peptides but badly for others. (ii) Modeling performance is primarily determined by the peptide samples and then the MLMs used, while AADs have only a moderate influence on the performance. (iii) There is no essential difference between the modeling performances of different AAD types (physiochemical, topological, 3D-structural, etc.). (iv) Two random descriptors, which are separately generated randomly in standard normal distribution N(0, 1) and uniform distribution U(-1, +1), do not perform significantly worse than these carefully developed AADs. (v) A secondary descriptor, which carries major information involved in the 80 (primary) AADs, does not perform significantly better than these AADs. Overall, we conclude that since there are various AADs available to date and they already cover numerous amino acid properties, further development of new AADs is not an essential choice to improve peptide QSAR modeling; the traditional AAD methodology is believed to have almost reached the theoretical limit nowadays. In addition, the AADs are more likely to be a vector symbol but not informative data; they are utilized to mark and distinguish the 20 amino acids but do not really bring much original property information to these amino acids.


This paper examines the optimal production, export allocation and hedging decisions of a risk-averse international firm that exports to several foreign markets with different currencies. The firm faces multiple exchange rate risks. Optimal decisions are analyzed under two scenarios. In the first, there is a forward market for one currency only. Then, the export allocation to different markets is separable from the firm's preferences and the joint distribution of the exchange rates. In contrast, total production is not separable except for a special case. In the second scenario, there is a forward market for each currency. Then, both production and export allocation are separable. Hedging with forward contracts depends on risk premia and the joint distribution of the exchange rates. If tradable exchange rate risk is a linear function of untradable exchange rate risk plus noise, there is a conflict between cross hedging and taking a basis risk. If, alternatively, the untradable exchange rate risk is a linear function of the tradable exchange rate risk and noise, there is no such conflict. A speculative position in a biased forward market for one currency can be cross hedged using an unbiased forward market for another currency.


Abstract— Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) stimulates the formation of a collateral circulation on arterial occlusion. The present study served to determine whether these proarteriogenic properties of MCP-1 are preserved in hyperlipidemic apolipoprotein E–deficient (apoE−/−) mice and whether it affects the systemic development of atherosclerosis. A total of 78 apoE−/− mice were treated with local infusion of low-dose MCP-1 (1 &mgr;g/kg per week), high-dose MCP-1 (10 &mgr;g/kg per week), or PBS as a control after unilateral ligation of the femoral artery. Collateral hindlimb flow, measured with fluorescent microspheres, significantly increased on a 1-week high-dose MCP-1 treatment (PBS 22.6±7.2%, MCP-1 31.3±10.3%;P <0.05). These effects were still present 2 months after the treatment (PBS 44.3±4.6%, MCP-1 56.5±10.4%;P <0.001). The increase in collateral flow was accompanied by an increase in the number of perivascular monocytes/macrophages on MCP-1 treatment. However, systemic CD11b expression by monocytes also increased, as did monocyte adhesion at the aortic endothelium and neointimal formation (intima/media ratio, 0.097±0.011 [PBS] versus 0.257±0.022 [MCP-1];P <0.0001). Moreover, Sudan IV staining revealed an increase in aortic atherosclerotic plaque surface (24.3±5.2% [PBS] versus 38.2±9.5% [MCP-1];P <0.01). Finally, a significant decrease in the percentage of smooth muscle cells was found in plaques (15.0±5.2% [PBS] versus 5.8±2.3% [MCP-1];P <0.001). In conclusion, local infusion of MCP-1 significantly increases collateral flow on femoral artery ligation in apoE−/− mice up to 2 months after the treatment. However, the local treatment did not preclude systemic effects on atherogenesis, leading to increased atherosclerotic plaque formation and changes in cellular content of plaques.


Abstract A survey by parent questionnaire and interview was carried out to determine the frequency of health problems in 204 children with Down syndrome. Seventy‐two children (35.3%) had a congenital heart defect. Refraction had been performed on 196 and 68 (34.6%) of these had a refractive error. A diagnosis of 'glue ear' had been made in 112 (54.9%) and in 12 (11%) of these permanent hearing loss was present. Significant ill‐health over the previous 12 months consisted of cardiac failure (two children), more than three upper respiratory tract infections (24 children), bronchitis (eight children), pneumonia (two children) and asthma (seven children). A neck X‐ray had been performed in 172 (84.3%) and had demonstrated the presence of atlanto‐axial instability in 12 (7%) of these. One hundred and thirty‐two (64.7%) of the children had been tested for hypothyroidism in the previous 18 months and this had been found in four (3%) of these children. The implications of these and other findings are discussed in relation to parental counselling and planning of routine health checks.


Fabry disease, an X-linked lysosomal storage disease, results from the deficient activity of the enzyme alpha-galactosidase A (alpha-Gal A) and the progressive accumulation of globotriaosylceramide (GL-3) and related glycosphingolipids. In classically affected males with this inherited nephropathy, early and marked GL-3 deposition in the podocytes leads to proteinuria in childhood or adolescence. With increasing age, GL-3 deposition in renal microvascular endothelial cells, and to a lesser extent in interstitial and mesangial cells, leads to renal insufficiency in the third to fifth decades of life. Recently identified "renal variants" who lack the classical disease manifestations of acroparesthesias, angiokeratoma, hypohidrosis, and characteristic corneal/lenticular opacities also develop renal failure. In contrast, "cardiac variants" who also lack the classical phenotype, develop proteinuria in adulthood, but survive a normal lifespan without developing renal failure. Here, we review the renal involvement and pathology in the classical, renal and cardiac variant phenotypes, and present highlights of the preclinical studies and clinical trials that demonstrated the safety and effectiveness of recombinant alpha-Gal A replacement for this inherited nephropathy.


A time/motion study performed in the Department of Anesthesiology at Ohio State University divided intraoperative events into three categories: (1) patient-centered, direct--activities that direct the anesthesiologist's attention to the patient; (2) patient-centered, indirect--observation of equipment or data related to patient status; and (3) non-patient-centered--activities that direct the anesthesiologist's attention away from the patient. Surprisingly, results of this study did not differ greatly from those of earlier investigators, who found that the anesthesiologist was distracted from the patient 46% of the time. Future studies and monitor development should address this problem by reducing non-patient-centered activities and distractions to the anesthesiologist during surgery.


The article describes the process of spatial reorganization of provincial cities in accordance with the ideas expressed in the model of an ideal state formed by Ekaterina II. Town-planning and architectural reorganization of the province is viewed as a component of the 'cultural charity' of the provincial authorities or an endeavor to recreate the elements of the metropolitan way of life in the Russian province.  The behavioral model demonstrated by the provincial authorities is considered to be a messianic opportunity to give an example to follow. The article deals with the activities of Tambov governors-general and governors R. I. Vorontsov, M. F. Kaminsky, I. V. Gudovich, G. R. Derzhavin etc.


Stem-cell derived β cells offer an alternative to primary islets for biomedical discoveries as well as a potential surrogate for islet transplantation. The expense and challenge of obtaining and maintaining functional stem-cell derived β cells calls for a need to develop better high-content and high-throughput culture systems. Microphysiological systems (MPS) are promising high-content in vitro platforms, but scaling for high-throughput screening and discoveries remain a challenge. Traditionally, simultaneous multiplexing of liquid handling and cell loading poses a challenge in the design of high-throughput MPS. Furthermore, although MPS for islet beta culture/testing have been developed, studies on multi-day culture of stem-cell derived β cells in MPS have been limited. We present a scalable, multiplexed islet beta MPS device that incorporates microfluidic gradient generators to parallelize fluid handling for culture and test conditions. We demonstrated the viability and functionality of the stem-cell derived enriched β clusters (eBCs) for a week, as assessed by the ~2 fold insulin release by the clusters to glucose challenge. To show the scalable multiplexing for drug testing, we demonstrated the exhaustion of eBC insulin reserve after long term exposure to logarithmic concentration range of glybenclamide. The MPS cultured eBCs also revealed a glycolytic bottleneck as inferred by insulin secretion responses to metabolites methyl succinate and glyceric acid. Thus, we present an innovative culture platform for eBCs with a balance of high-content and high-throughput characteristics.


Ada Shopping Mall is located at the corner of Radnička and Paštrovićeva Street in Belgrade, closed to Lake Ada Ciganlija. The building has a gross area of about 100.000m². It consisted of reinforced concrete structure with three underground and four above-ground levels and a steel roof structure. The foundation pit protection was made by bored and bored secant piles in combination with two different Top-Down methods during construction. The excavation depth was up to 25 m. As the building was built in rock mass, during excavation blasting was applied. During construction a monitoring system was implemented. This paper provides an overview of the construction process of shopping mall.


Smokers with smoking-related diseases who are hospitalized in rehabilitation centers should be offered smoking cessation. This is the first study evaluating whether telephone booster sessions after intensive inpatient treatment are an effective strategy. The present study was conducted in 13 rehabilitation centers for somatic disorders as a prospective multicenter study with a randomized treatment-control group design. We compared abstinence rates after hospital discharge from treatment that included a group smoking cessation program with (treatment group) and without telephone booster sessions (control group). Data from 290 smokers were analyzed. After 6 and 12 months the treatment group achieved abstinence rates twice as high as those of the control group. Men profited more from telephone booster sessions than did women. Results indicated that telephone booster sessions were highly effective (even) after an inherently intensive group program during a hospital stay. Further research should focus on the special needs of women receiving telephone counseling.


Designing Tasks for the Communicative Classroom provides a balanced introduction to both the theoretical and practical aspects of communicative task design, and is aimed at all second and foreign language teachers who want to develop their own tasks, or adopt/adapt those of others. The major purpose is to integrate recent research and practice in language teaching into a framework for analysing learning tasks. This framework should help teachers select, adapt or create their own communicative tasks. The ideas presented are relevant to teachers working in or preparing for a range of teaching situations with a variety of learner types.


THE ARAB REGION consists of many teaching-intensive universities that are intrinsically committed to holistic educational excellence. According to a recent UNESCO report,5 the higher education sector in the Arab region is undergoing a need for massive expansion given exponentially growing populations, record-breaking youth cohorts, coupled with a strong recognition of the economic and social value of higher education. Such an enormous need for growth poses a significant challenge for publicly funded universities yet offers many opportunities for private universities to meet the ever-increasing demands of advanced education. As is the case with many similar universities worldwide, not being dedicated research institutions often results in limited availability of research funds, resources, and hence innovation throughput. The examples given in this paper are those of universities in the region that were initially focused on consolidating their teaching, except for one which started first as research-intensive. However, it was not long before a shift in policy included research excellence in undergraduate education by harnessing the most valuable resource of any university: the aspiring students themselves. While the different universities followed seemingly different approaches to tap into undergraduate student potential, most successful models follow the same broad guidelines. The heart of stimulating high-quality undergraduate research innovation in computing lies in enabling full potential through early maturity, stimulation of discovery, exposure to international collaborations and projects while providing students with the needed freedom to grow and innovate. We take a shot at explaining how this is happening through four prominent universities from diverse areas across the Arab region.


ABSTRACT Lead (Pb) represents a serious threat to wildlife and ecosystems. The aim of this study was to examine the subcellular effects of dietary Pb pellet ingestion on mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) livers. After ingestion of a single Pb shot (LS4 size class: 0.177 ± 0.03 g) in 41 mallard ducks (22 males and 19 females) versus 10 controls (5 males and 5 females), all 7-week old, a morphologic study was conducted by TEM (transmission electron microscopy) of liver at the subcellular level. The results in treated mallards showed at a magnification of 2500 X that hepatic parenchyma was altered as evidenced by intralysosomal electron-dense deposits, which are compatible with Pb deposits. Further, at a higher magnification (15,000 X) in both genders, deterioration of mitochondria was observed in which the crests and, to a lesser extent, outer membrane were lysed. While the rough endoplasmic reticulum was fragmented, intracytoplasmic electron-dense material compatible with Pb deposits was maximally visible, thereby underscoring the deeply destructive effect of this metal on the subcellular architecture of the liver. In addition, applying an optimized and validated method in a clean room using electrothermal atomic absorption spectrophotometer (ETAAS) with Zeeman background correction, the objective was to improve and refine certain indispensable measurements pertaining to Pb impregnation in tissues other than liver such as kidneys, bones, and feathers of mallards. Data demonstrated show that compared with controls, Pb accumulation increases significantly, not only in the liver (3-fold), but also in the bones and the feathers (14-fold). No significant difference was noted between males and females. Bearing in mind the marked subcellular toxicity attributed to Pb, this study reinforces present-day arguments advocating limitation of game consumption.


This paper is an introduction to the study of the practice and rehearsal of performances, based on the methodological process applied to the actions produced between 2007 and 2013, both individually and collectively. The research project focuses on the rehearsal phase which takes place immediately before the concerted action, but it does not leave out the precedent and subsequent events, as it is understood that the phases in their particularity shape the artistic project in its entirety, as a result of the use of a series of interrelated disciplines that allow the performance to express itself beyond the performing arts.


In this note we present a bound of the optimal maximum probability for the multiplicative odds theorem of optimal stopping theory. We deal with an optimal stopping problem that maximizes the probability of stopping on any of the last m successes of a sequence of independent Bernoulli trials of length N, where m and N are predetermined integers satisfying 1 ≤ m < N. This problem is an extension of Bruss' (2000) odds problem. In a previous work, Tamaki (2010) derived an optimal stopping rule. We present a lower bound of the optimal probability. Interestingly, our lower bound is attained using a variation of the well-known secretary problem, which is a special case of the odds problem.


The alpha, beta and gamma recombinant interferons are indicated in a growing spectrum of therapeutic indications. Some unwanted side effects occur on the skin. The main clinical presentations include vesiculo-bullous sometimes infiltrated dermatitis, vasculitis, necrosis, ulceration and alopecia. Exacerbation of dermatoses such as psoriasis is also possible.


Neutron diffraction with static and pulsed magnetic fields is used to directly probe the magnetic structures in LiNiPO$_4$ up to 25T and 42T, respectively. By combining these results with magnetometry and electric polarization measurements under pulsed fields, the magnetic and magnetoelectric phases are investigated up to 56T applied along the easy $c$-axis. In addition to the already known transitions at lower fields, three new ones are reported at 37.6, 39.4 and 54T. Ordering vectors are identified with ${\bf Q}_{\mathrm{VI}}$ = (0, 1/3, 0) in the interval 37.6--39.4T and ${\bf Q}_{\mathrm{VII}}$ = (0, 0, 0) in the interval 39.4-54T. A quadratic magnetoelectric effect is discovered in the ${\bf Q}_{\mathrm{VII}}$ = (0, 0, 0) phase and the field-dependence of the induced electric polarization is described using a simple mean-field model. The observed magnetic structure and magnetoelectric tensor elements point to a change in the lattice symmetry in this phase. We speculate on the possible physical mechanism responsible for the magnetoelectric effect in LiNiPO4.


Easily-accessible digital palaeontological databases-a new perspective for the storage of palaeontological information Techniques that allow to render diverse types of palaeontological data as publicly available internet resources are described. In order to develop an easily accessible digital palaeontological database, three steps should be followed: (1) digitization of the studied specimens, (2) acquisition of morphometric data, and (3) contribution of the data to open and searchable geoinformatic (palaeontological) databases. Digital data should be submitted to internet databases that allow a user to fetch various types of information from dispersed sources (semantic web services).


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the feasibility and the therapeutic effect of orthognathic surgical procedures combined distraction osteogenesis and scapular flap for correction of progressive hemifacial atrophy.

METHODS
5 cases with progressive hemifacial atrophy were treated. 1 mild case was treated with microsurgical de-epithelia scapular flap (MDSF) and genioplasty in one stage. The 2 moderate cases were treated with Le Fort 1 osteotomy following by sagittal split ramus osteotomy and genioplasty at the first stage. 3 - 6 months later, the MDSFs were used for augmentation. 2 sever cases were treated with bimaxillary distraction osteogenesis on the affected side. 3 - 4 months later, the distraction devices were removed and MDSFs were transplanted.

RESULTS
The facial asymmetry was obviously improved. The orthognathic procedures and distraction osteogenesis achieved good therapeutic effect. All the MDSFs were survived.

CONCLUSIONS
The progressive hemifacial atrophy can result in very severe deformity when it occurs in very young age. The combined deformity of bone and soft tissue can be effectively corrected by orthognathic procedures combined with distraction osteogenesis and scapular flap transplantation.


Automatic analysis of fetal heart and related components in fetal echocardiography can help cardiologists to reach a diagnosis for Congenital Heart Disease (CHD). Previous studies mainly focused on cardiac chamber segmentation, while few researches deal with the cardiac component detection. In this paper, we tackle the task of simultaneous detection of the fetal heart and descending aorta in four-chamber view of fetal echocardiography, which is useful to analyze some kinds of CHD, such as left/right atrial isomerism, dextroversion of heart, etc. Several CNN-based object detection methods with different backbones are thoroughly evaluated, and finally, the Hybrid Task Cascade method with HRNet is selected as the detection method. Experiments on a fetal echocardiography dataset show that the method can achieve superior performance according to common-used evaluation metrics.Clinical relevance—This can be used to help the cardiologists to estimate the position of the fetal heart and the descending aorta, which is also useful to estimate the direction of the cardiac axis and apex and analyze some kinds of CHD, such as left/right atrial isomerism, dextroversion of heart, etc.


The consumption of squab (young unfledged pigeons) as part of the cuisine of many countries, together with the observation that squabs are vectors of zoonotic agents, may make them a public health risk. This study was designed to determine the serotypes, distribution of 11 virulence genes (invA, avrA, ssaQ, mgtC, siiD, sopB, gipA, sodC1, sopE1, spvC, bcfC) and the antimicrobial resistance profiles of salmonellae recovered from squabs. Six isolates were identified from among 45 (13.3%) squabs sampled. Three serotypes were identified according to the Kauffmann-White serotyping scheme: Salmonella Typhimurium (4/6; 66.7%), S. Braenderup (1/6; 16.7%) and S. Lomita (1/6; 16.7%). Polymerase chain reaction analyses revealed the presence of invA, sopB and bcfC in all six isolates, whereas sopE1 and gipA were absent. All six isolates were resistant to lincomycin and streptomycin, but all were susceptible to ciprofloxacin, colistin sulphate and gentamicin. Among the S. Typhimurium isolates, seven resistance profiles were identified: penicillins,aminoglycosides,fluoroquinolones, lincosamides,phenicols, tetracyclines and sulphonamides; four resistance profiles were identified in the isolates of S. Braenderup and S. Lomita: aminoglycosides, fluoroquinolones, lincosamides and polymyxin. Thus, the distribution of resistance to the antibiotics was largely dependent on serotype identity. The presence of invA, avrA, ssaQ, mgtC, siiD, sopB and bcfC was associated with resistance to chloramphenicol; invA, sopB and bcfC with resistance to streptomycin and lincosamide; and invA and sodC1 with resistance to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. The identification of serotypes S. Typhimurium, S. Braenderup and S. Lomita in the squab samples has important implications because these serotypes are significant causes of food poisoning and enteric fever in humans.


While appropriate nutrient intake is important for older adults, various oral problems cause decreased masticatory function. This cross-sectional study aimed to identify the factors associated with decreased masticatory performance in older adults. Oral examinations were performed on 80 participants (mean age: 75.10 ± 5.64 years) to determine the number of functional tooth units (FTUs). Symptoms of periodontal and temporomandibular diseases were evaluated via a questionnaire. The tone, elasticity, and dynamic stiffness of the masseter muscle were measured using the Myoton® PRO device. The mixing ability test was used to assess the masticatory performance, and the mixing ability index (MAI) was calculated. The analysis of covariance test was performed to adjust for confounding factors, and multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the risk factors affecting MAI. A lower MAI was significantly associated with higher tone (p = 0.006) and lower elasticity (p = 0.013). The number of FTUs (adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 0.724, p = 0.029), tone (adjusted OR = 1.215, p = 0.016), and elasticity (adjusted OR = 4.789, p = 0.038) were independently associated with the MAI. Muscle function training and prosthetic treatments may help increase masticatory performance in older adults, which would improve overall health.


In this work, we propose a new generation of sensors and actuators based on a piezoelectric polymer (PVDF) with embedded carbon nanotubes. Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) double walled carbon-nanotubes (DWNT) composite films are prepared with the goal to develop new polymeric materials with enhanced electrical and electromechanical properties. Electrical conductivity and dielectric properties of polyvinylidene fluoride- double-walled carbon nanotubes composites are investigated as a function of frequency (10 Hz -1 MHz), and as a function of weight fraction (0.01-2 wt%). DWNT and PVDF are mixed under mechanical stirring and sonication. The dispersion is assessed by Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), indicating a good dispersion. Differential Scanning Calorimetery (DSC) is used to study the effect of DWNTs inclusions on the glass transition temperature, Tg , and the crystallinity of the resulting PVDF composite. The percolation threshold is computed by using the bulk conductivity data and it is found that percolation occurs at about 0.19wt%.© 2006 ASME


The design of the queue manager is of key importance for the shared buffer ATM switch architectures. We propose the recycling queue manager (RQM) with reduced hardware complexity by eliminating the external FIFO for the avail queue. By separating the shared buffer into cell and address memories, the power consumption of idle accesses in the RQM can be reduced, and the linked list bubbles can be removed. The required storage for the proposed RQM and other queue managers of existing shared buffer ATM switches are compared, considering delay/loss priorities and partial sharing. It is found that the RQM requires the least storage size for most cases, and the reduction is more significant as the switch dimension grows. A two-level RQM-based scheme, with reduced storage, is also proposed for the shared multi-buffer switch architecture. An RQM prototype chip supporting a 16/spl times/16 switch with two priority classes and back pressure capability was implemented and successfully tested to verify the proposed architecture.


Patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD) consume a large proportion of inpatient, procedural and emergency services within United States health care system. These patients are major contributors to the steadily increasing demand for health care services nationwide. Unfortunately, economic and legislative factors have resulted in concurrent reductions in hospital system capacity. The resulting imbalance has fallen directly on to the shoulders of emergency departments (ED) in the form of boarding. Boarding refers to the act of holding admitted patients in the ED until an inpatient bed becomes available. Boarding is a barrier to efficient throughput, a major contributor to ED overcrowding and a threat to patient safety. Patients with CVD often use the ED as an entry point to the hospital system. These patients frequently experience long boarding times as a result of hospital wide competition for inpatient resources. The objective of this study is to use survival analysis to determine how demand from competing cardiology admission sources affects access to ED patients requiring inpatient cardiac care. The model reflects bed management policies of the division of cardiology and demonstrates how variability in demand


The antioxidative activity of the mewthanolic extract of Beta vulgaris roots (MEB) was investigated in rats with carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) induced erythrocyte damage. Simultaneous intraperitoneal administration of the crude extracts (100 and 200 mg/kg body weight/day) with CCl4 (1 mL/kg of body weight) to rats for alternate days of two weeks prevented the loss of functional integrity and membrane lipid alteration in red blood cells induced by oxidative stress. Beta vulgaris extract inhibited the accumulation of lipid peroxidation products in the plasma as well as maintained the activities of antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase. The extracts further had the ability to decrease the membrane fluidity induced by CCl4. It can therefore be suggested that the root extract of Beta vulgaris possess an erythrocyte protective activity against drug induced oxidative stress.


This article summarizes the issues prompting a recent NIH Consensus Conference on mammography screening for women in their forties. To date, eight randomized controlled trials of breast cancer screening have been conducted, and a reduction in breast cancer mortality has emerged after 10 to 15 years of follow-up among women offered screening in their forties. No effect appears for at least eight years, and the reason for the delay, compared to that seen in women aged 50-69, is not clear. Two possibilities include cancer-stage shift due to screening in younger women and the aging of women into their fifties during the course of screening. Possible adverse effects of screening include radiation risk, although this is low, false-negative and false-positive screening tests, and overdiagnosis due to detection of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). In order to make appropriate decisions regarding mammography, women need age-related information about both the benefits and potential risks of screening.


On 27 April 1994 the most hated flag in Africa was lowered, signifying the end of the
Apartheid regime. As the world watched the transformation of South Africa taking place –
without the bloodshed that the state"s direst cynics had predicted – words like "miracle" and
"inspirational" abounded. Since then, the world has continued to watch South Africa"s
transition to democracy and even those who were its greatest supporters have begun to ask
questions about the quality and quantity of democratic reforms. The increasing centralisation
and monopolisation of power by the African National Congress, declining rates of formal
participation by citizens and considerable failures in service delivery are major factors
contributing to the concerns about the long-term prospects for democracy in South Africa,
especially given the record of democratic failure across the rest of the continent. While
significant contributions have been made to the study of South African democracy – both
theoretical and empirical – there are few, if any, that have sought to combine both these
methodologies and hence the scholarship is not, in my view, paying the dividends it should.
This research thus explores contemporary politics in South Africa, examining its assets and
liabilities in order to provide a clearer picture of the state of democracy in the country. It
does so by measuring practices in South Africa in terms of the role accorded to participation
in three conceptions of democracy: liberal representative accounts, deliberative accounts and
what I term the "categorical" account. In so doing the research will show that although
concerns about democracy in South Africa are justified, if we shift our focus from the
instrumental value of participation to its categorical one we may find a way to ensure that the
miracle continues.


Numerical simulations and experiments were conducted to analyze the design parameters for a slim room air-conditioner. These design parameters included a fan shape, a front panel, a scroll shape, a bell mouth, a distance between a fan and a heat exchanger, etc. Each design parameter was analyzed numerically and / or experimentally in terms of the flow rate and the sound pressure level, which should be the most influential factors for developing the slim room air-conditioner. The fan with a uniform height showed a better performance than that with a linearly varying height. It is recommended to use a front grill rather than a front panel according to sound pressure levels since the front panel itself is a huge resistance to the inlet flow. A redesigned scroll shape by changing the rotational direction of a fan also contributed a lot to lowering the sound pressure level. There existed a distance between a fan and a heat exchanger, where flow rates increased effectively.


We consider the problem of determining a set ofoptimal tariffs for a revenue maximizing operator, on a subset ofall arcs of a telecommunications network. We suppose multiplerational clients are active on the network who route their demandson the cheapest paths from source to destination, where the costof a path is determined by all costs and tariffs on the arcs ofthe path.The complexity of the problem is studied first. Second, we proposea remodeling of the network, combined with model specific graphreduction methods. This new model is used in a branch and boundalgorithm to solve the problem to optimality. Finally, we providecomputational results which show the efficiency of our method fora number of real-life instances.


A Canadian Society for Pharmaceutical Sciences (CSPS) discussion group met on August 23, 1997 in Edmonton and December 13, 1997 in Winnipeg to discuss issues surrounding the bioequivalence and interchangeability of narrow therapeutic range drugs. Participants in the discussion presented topics on the variability of subject response, biostatistics in bioequivalence, the variability in drug manufacturing as well as the clinical relevance of bioequivalence and interchangeability of narrow therapeutic range drugs (1). This paper will discuss one of those debated topics, namely, the clinical significance of bioequivalence and interchangeability of narrow therapeutic range drugs, focusing on warfarin.


The aim of the present study is to clarify relevant factors concerning the short-term outcome of elderly patients beginning dialysis. One hundred nineteen patients aged 60 years and over who had newly started dialysis at our hospital were studied. The male/female ratio was 70:49. The age was 74 +/- 7 years (mean +/- standard deviation). In all patients, the timing of referral to a nephrologist (early/late), the urgency of the initiation of dialysis (non-urgent/urgent), the cause of renal failure (nondiabetes/diabetes), serum albumin concentration, comorbid conditions (cerebrovascular disease, ischemic heart disease, etc.), ambulation, cognitive function, and the outcome (relief/death) were surveyed. Twelve patients did not obtain relief and finally died. The influence of the timing of referral on the urgency of the initiation of dialysis was studied. Furthermore the influence of the urgency of the initiation of dialysis on the outcome was studied. The chi 2 test was used for statistical comparisons. The need for urgent dialysis was less among early referral cases as compared with late referral cases (p < 0.0001). The incidence of death was more frequent in urgent dialysis than in non-urgent dialysis (p = 0.016). Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed using background factors as explanatory variables and the outcome as a dependent variable. Statistically significant factors were the urgency of the initiation (p = 0.040), serum albumin concentration (p = 0.022), and cerebrovascular disease (p = 0.002). The most common cause of death was severe infectious diseases (pneumonia, sepsis). It was speculated that background factors associated with the outcome could contribute to the onset and the progression of infectious diseases.


Coaxial relativistic backward wave oscillator with the rippled inner conductor not only increases the output efficiency but also results in the serious phenomenon of pulse shortening in experiments. Our research indicates that the two main mechanisms leading to the pulse shortening are the electron beam interruption and combining effects of the explosive field electron emission and the secondary electron multipactor on the surface of the slow-wave structure. In order to enhance its power capacity the electrodynamic structure is modified by detailed analysis of the field distribution in the coaxial slow-wave structure. The appropriate resonant reflector and the electron collector are developed for the application of the coaxial relativistic backward wave oscillator. A series of surface treatment is applied to enhance the power capacity of the coaxial RBWO. In the experiment, the microwave pulse duration is increased from less than 10 ns to 20 ns, and the output efficiency is enhanced from less than 20% to 34% employing the electron beam pulse of the full width at half maximum 28 ns. The peak power of 1.01 GW at the frequency of 7.4 GHz is achieved. It is found that the output efficiency of the coaxial RBWO is likely to be advanced if its power capacity can be boosted further.


A key to the Swedish species of Halticoptera Spin., Halticopterina Erd., Schimitschekia BouC., and Thinodytes Grah. is presented. Together with a brief description of Halticoptera Spin., a description of H. longitpetiolus sp.n. is given. The following species are recorded from Sweden for the first time: Halticoptera elongatula Grah., H. poreia (Walk.), H. violacea Askew, H. crius (Walk.), H. letitiae Askew, Halticopterina triannulata Erd., and Schimitschekia populi BouC.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate necessity of the further processing for adsorptive resin material.

METHODS
According to GB/ T 16886.4, coagulation tests, haematology tests, in vitro spontaneous platelet-adhesion test and complement activation tests were conducted respectively to assess the in vitro blood compatibility of adsorptive resin material.

RESULTS
In comparison with polypropylene, he adsorptive resin material appears to be a very slight activator to the endogenous blood coagulation system, it can inhibited the exogenous blood coagulation system very significantly (P < 0.01), it can adhere to fibrinogen, red blood cells, reticulocytes very significantly (P < 0.01), and platelet significantly (P < 0.05). The adsorptive resin material is also revealed to be a very significant activator (P < 0.01) to the complement system.

CONCLUSIONS
The in vitro blood compatibility assessment witnesses that it is very necessary for the adsorptive resin material to go through the certain special processing(such as the surface modification and the microencapsulation technology, etc) before its application to human being.


Dye-sensitized solar cell and electrochemical capacitor have been coaxially integrated into a novel "energy fiber" that can simultaneously realize photoelectric conversion and energy storage. A Ti wire substrate modified with perpendicularly aligned titania nanotubes on the surface and horizontally aligned multi-walled carbon nanotube sheet serve as two electrodes in the integrated "energy fiber" device. The "energy fiber" is flexible, and can be woven into various structures such as lightweight textiles to meet the portable facilities in the electronics.


ABSTRACT The lower part of the Maastrichtian-Paleocene Niesenflyseh near Adelboden, Switzerland, consists of shale and shale--sandstone alternations. The sandstone beds normally are 4 to 5 cm thick, have distinct upper and lower bedding planes and are rather well sorted. The only primary sedimentary structures are parallel lamination and some foreset bedding. Although these two sedimentary structures are known from turbidites, the absence of diagnostic vertical successions are indicative of processes other than turbidity current deposition. The series is believed to be deposited by turbidity currents and normal pelagic sedimentation. The sandstone beds are interpreted to be fossil contourites: local reworking by contour--following bottom currents.


Sports robots have become a popular research topic in recent years. For table-tennis robots, ball tracking and trajectory prediction are the most important technologies. Several methods were developed in previous research efforts, and they can be divided into two categories: physical models and machine learning. The former use algorithms that consider gravity, air resistance, the Magnus effect, and elastic collision. However, estimating these external forces require high sampling frequencies that can only be achieved with high-efficiency imaging equipment. This study thus employed machine learning to learn the flight trajectories of ping-pong balls, which consist of two parabolic trajectories: one beginning at the serving point and ending at the landing point on the table, and the other beginning at the landing point and ending at the striking point of the robot. We established two artificial neural networks to learn these two trajectories. We conducted a simulation experiment using 200 real-world trajectories as training data. The mean errors of the proposed dual-network method and a single-network model were 39.6 mm and 42.9 mm, respectively. The results indicate that the prediction performance of the proposed dual-network method is better than that of the single-network approach. We also used the physical model to generate 330 trajectories for training and the simulation test results show that the trained model achieved a success rate of 97% out of 30 attempts, which was higher than the success rate of 70% obtained by the physical model. A physical experiment presented a mean error and standard deviation of 36.6 mm and 18.8 mm, respectively. The results also show that even without the time stamps, the proposed method maintains its prediction performance with the additional advantages of 15% fewer parameters in the overall network and 54% shorter training time.


Modern pollen spectra from a series of lakes in northwestern Quebec reflect the major vegetation zones of the forest–tundra transition from latitude 55°N to 59°N. Shrub tundra samples are dominated by Betula and herb pollen, whereas Picea percentages are between 10 and 20%. Lichen woodland samples can contain over 60% Picea, with Betula and Alnus crispa each less than 20%. Pollen assemblages from the shrub subzone of the forest–tundra resemble those of the shrub tundra, while those from the forest subzone resemble lichen woodland samples. Maximum percentages of Alnus crispa are found in the forest–tundra. Classification of the samples using cluster analysis and an ordination by principal coordinates analysis suggest that densely and sparsely forested regions can be discriminated.


The purpose of the study was to investigate the challenges facing the development of Islamic banking in Kenya. The research designed for study was a case study approach focusing on four Islamic compliant banks in Kenya. These are: - First Community Bank; Gulf African Bank; Dubai Bank; Kenya commercial Bank Ltd and Barclays Bank Ltd. The population of the study consisted of 33 customers, who were the holders of accounts in the respective banks and 11 managers. Sample data collected by use of questionnaires administered by the researcher and a research assistant. Data analysis method used is based on the quantitative approach using descriptive statistics: mean, mode, and median. Frequency tabulations and cross tabulations were used to bring out the finding of the study. The study revealed Islamic banking compliant was driven by religious compliance and customers need being met. It also revealed that continuous review and improvement of shariah compliant products together with diversifying market niche will lead to drastic development and marketing of Islamic banking products. From the study the following conclusions were drawn: firstly, the factors that influence development of Islamic banking products in Kenya are purely religious compliance and customers need being met. Keyword : Islamic Banking.


This paper presents a new and fast method for evaluating the efficiency of different power converter topologies in variable speed wind turbine applications. The method involves an accurate model of the considered generator while the converter models are based on ideal switches. The converter losses are modeled by analytical expressions of the switches, and the description of the losses incorporate both temperature, blocking voltage and switched current. The method is used to evaluate two converter topologies, a two-level back-to-back voltage source inverter (VSI), and a three-level back-to-back VSI for use in a 2 MW wind turbine system based on a doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG). From this evaluation, it appears that, with regards to the efficiency, the two-level VSI is the most suitable solution for the rotor side inverter while at the grid side, both inverter topologies show approximately the same efficiency. The evaluation method is validated by experimental results.


This is a penetrating analysis of UN Security Council reform. It presents an overview of the current debates - emphasising the potential for, and modalities of, adjustment in the post-Cold War era - through a systematic investigation of the various reform proposals and the attitudes of member states. This is essential reading for all students and scholars of the United Nations and international relations.


The aim of this study was to determine antimicrobial resintance paterns of different strains of Salmonella isolated in pig farms of the Zulia State. To achieve these goals 126 strain Salmonella were screened by Kirby-Bauer method, colleted from heces of pigs asymptomatic. Antimicrobial susceptibility tests showed that the highest level of resistance was against Sulphonamides (54%), Tetracycline (40%), Nalidixic acid (29%) and Amplicillin (23%). However, susceptibility superior to 95% was found to Ceftriaxone, Gentamycin, Apramycin and Colistin. Thrity percent of the strains showed multirresitance, being the patterns resistance ASuT (7.14%) the most frequent. The results indicate the proportion of strain of Salmonella of pig origin with characteristics of multiresistance to the antimicrobial agents is elevated (30%) and this multiresistance could affect to anyone serotype. From this point of view, the infection of the people by isolates of Salmonella from swine origin entails a potential risk to present difficulties in the specific treatment.


In radio astronomy the sky is continuously scanned to collect frequency information about celestial objects. The inverse 2D Fourier transformation is used to generate images of the sky from the collected frequency information. We propose an algorithm that incrementally refines images by processing frequency information as it arrives in a temporal data stream. A direct implementation of the refinement with the discrete Fourier transformation requires O(N^2) complex multiplications to process an element of the stream. We propose a new algorithm that avoids recomputations and only requires O(N) complex multiplications.


Obesity is a disease that has reached epidemic proportions across the world. Many types of treatments have been used to combat obesity including using synthetic drugs such as sibutramine and orlistat. However, the high cost and potentially hazardous side-effects of anti-obesity drugs have led many researchers to turn to naturally occurring compounds obtained from fruits, vegetables, herbs and plants for the treatment of obesity. In our study, the anti-obesity effects of S. crispus crude extract (SCE) and individual polyphenols (EGCG, Resveratrol, Phloridzin, Quercetin and Verbascoside) found in fruits, vegetables and herbs have been investigated.

The effects of S. crispus extract (SCE) in vivo were tested on high fat-induced obese LDLr KO mice maintained on high fat diet (HFD) or switched to low fat diet (LFD). All mice were HFD for 25 weeks to induce obesity, after which half were maintained on the HFD and half switched to LFD. At the same time, mice were given normal water or 0.1% (w/v) SCE in water at Week 0-4 which was increased to 1% (w/v) at Week 5-10. Oxygen consumption (VO2), CO2 production (VCO2), RER, locomotor activity (LMA) and heat production (HP) were measured at Week 0, 5 and 10. Food intake, water intake and body weight was measured weekly. Plasma glycerol (PG) and abdominal adipose tissue (AAT) weight were determined at Week 10. Mice switched to LFD lost weight (p< 0.001), mainly due to decreased energy intake (p<0.001). They also had lower AAT weight and PG concentration (all p<0.001). SCE had no effect at either dose on body weight, VO2, VCO2 or LMA, but significantly reduced respiratory exchange ratio (RER) (p=0.034) and increased HP at Week 4 (P=0.048), without altering food or water intake (p=0.1, p=0.222). PG concentration were also increased in SCE treated mice (p=0.032).

The effects of SCE and individual polyphenols in vitro were tested on rat epididymal and human omental adipose tissue explants and results were compared with with the results from the pig perirenal adipose tissue explants. SCE does not appear to have any direct effect on lipolysis in the rat epididymal adipose tissue explants and human omental adipose tissue explants. EGCG was found to consistently inhibit lipolysis in rat, human and pig adipose tissue explants and the effects were greatest at 100µM. The effects of Phloridzin in human, rat and pig fat explants were inconsistent as it was found to either increase or decrease lipolysis with different treatments. In all experiments, when Isoproterenol (IP) was present Resveratrol inhibited lipolysis and was independent of adenosine deaminase (ADA), with greater inhibition found at 100µM compared with 50µM Resveratrol. The effects of Resveratrol on lipolysis in the human adipose tissue explants was found to be different when compared with the effects found in the pig and rat adipose tissue explants when incubated for 24 and 26hr. The effects of Resveratrol on lipolysis in the human adipose tissue itself are also dependent on the presence and absence of ADA and IP.
Subsequent experiments were carried out where basal lipolysis and effects of the presence and absence of ADA were also investigated. Basal lipolysis was found to be higher in pig adipose tissue explants (Headland, 2007) than in human adipose tissue explants, but lower than rat adipose tissue explants. This is also true for the IP stimulated lipolysis in pig perirenal adipose tissue explants, but not in the pig subcutaneous adipose tissue explants, where IP stimulated lipolysis was similar to that in human omental adipose tissue. As expected, the presence of adenosine does have an effect on the lipolysis rate in rat, human and pig adipose tissue explants, since the addition of ADA (to metabolise/remove adenosine) increased basal lipolysis. However, only in the pig perirenal adipose tissue explants was IP stimulated lipolysis found to be increased with ADA. In the human omental adipose tissue explants, we also found that although BMI and age had weak negative correlations with lipolysis, these were not statistically significant (P=0.097 for BMI, P=0.48 for age). However, the trend suggests that IP stimulated lipolysis decreased with increased BMI.
Thus, SCE appeared to induce lipolysis and body fat oxidation in vivo but no direct effect on lipolysis were found in vitro. Resveratrol is the most promising polyphenol to induce lipolysis based on the studies across the rat, human and pig species compared with quercetin, EGCG and Phloridzin. The consistent effects of EGCG on lipolysis inhibition however, might also be an anti-obesity effect through the mechanism of adipocyte apoptosis which requires further study.


From 01.10. to 05.10.2007, the Dagstuhl Seminar 07401 Deduction and Decision Procedures was held in the International Conference and Research Center (IBFI), Schloss Dagstuhl. During the seminar, several participants presented their current research, and ongoing work and open problems were discussed. Abstracts of the presentations given during the seminar are put together in this paper.


The action research was aimed at improving writing skills on narrative texts for grade VIII E students of SMPN 6 Magelang through collaborative techniques in the academic year of 2014/2015. This study was carried out in the second semester, from February to May 2015. This research was conducted in two cycles. In each cycle, the steps were reconnaissance, planning, action, evaluation, and reflection. The data were obtained through observing the teaching and learning process, interviewing the students and collaborators, and testing the students. The data collected were in the form of qualitative and quantitative data. Assembling the data and to reread it again, coding the data into more specific patterns or categories, comparing the data to see whether patterns or categories are repeated across different data collecting techniques, building meanings and interpretation, reporting the outcomes were used to analyze the data. The results of this study show that there are some improvements in the students' participation, motivation, writing skills, and attitude toward the teaching and learning process through application of collaborative techniques. Additionally, the means scores of each aspect of writing also indicate that students' writing skills have improved. The students' scores increased from 50.00 in the pre-conditional to 63.67 in Cycle 1 and to 73.70 in Cycle 2.


INTRODUCTION
During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was established that otorhinolaryngologists were at a high risk of contracting the infection due to examinations of the upper airways. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health among healthcare workers (HCWs) in primary ear-nose-throat (ENT) practices.

METHODS
This was a cross-sectional questionnaire study among HCWs assessing symptoms of anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder, ten-item scale) and depression (Patients Health Questionnaire, nine-item scale). The survey targeted otolaryngologists and staff in primary private practices in the Capital Region of Denmark during the COVID-19 lock-down in May 2020.

RESULTS
For 30% of the participants, signs were observed of depressive symptoms and 13% had signs of anxiety symptoms. Seventy percent felt sufficiently protected by their available personal protective equipment. Fifty-two percent worried about becoming infected in relation to their work and 56% feared infecting their families.

CONCLUSIONS
HCWs in Danish primary ENT practices did not display extraordinary stress reactions during the first wave of the pandemic. Noticeably, participants were concerned about acquiring the infection or transmitting it to their household.

FUNDING
none.

TRIAL REGISTRATION
not relevant.


The statistics of causes of death is the informational basis for identifying public health problems. That is why the accurately accounting for mortality from diabetes mellitus, which is a global medical and social problem for society, is important. The study was carried out to analyze the correctness of coding death causes of diabetes mellitus and the frequency of alleged death.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The Moscow deceased population database of July 2018 - July 2019 was analyzed. Using the decision tables on codes linkages from ICD-10, incorrect codes for underline cause were established for 342 death cases from diabetes mellitus. Among 43044 cases of cardiovascular death the cases of presumed death from diabetes were detected. The analysis was carried out in the Microsoft Access 2007 software.

THE RESULTS
In 18.4% of cases, the cause of death from diabetes was encoded incorrectly. If a modification of the underline death cause is assumed due to the mention of certain diseases in any line of the Death Certificate, cases of coding for death from diabetes with wrong fourth character are more often detected when mentioning kidney diseases. If modification of the underline cause is provided for cases when information in the Death Certificate indicates that diabetes has caused the development of some diseases then the largest number of cases with incorrect coding was detected when mentioning circulatory diseases. Only in one medical organization the frequency of incorrect coding is 3.4%, in the rest it varies from 15.4% to 52.2%. Among all death causes, diabetes was only 0.41%. If to add cases of presumptive death from diabetes mellitus, then the proportion of diabetes in the structure of death causes will almost triple and reach up to 1.2%.

CONCLUSIONS
The quality of diagnosis and coding of death causes from diabetes has not improved in recent years. To increase it, it is advisable to organize and establish the institution of coders. It is advisable to indicate the presence of diabetes mellitus in the Death Certificate without fail and use the information from the diabetes register. It is proposed to encode the death cause from diabetes mellitus with multiple complications use line D in the Death Certificate to indicate damage to various organs and systems if it is necessary.


OBJECTIVE
To describe the characteristics of the research work published by Primary Care professionals in Catalonia between 1989 and 1991, with an analysis of the preferred research areas, design type and different bibliometric features, with the aim of finding what is the real state of Primary Care research in Catalonia.

DESIGN
Descriptive study based on checking all the original articles published between January 1989 and December 1991 in nine Spanish journals in the Primary Care, internal medicine and paediatrics fields.

SETTING
Included were studies carried out by Primary Care professionals in Catalonia, either working alone or in collaboration, and which were relevant to Primary Care.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS
A total of 63 articles were surveyed. The average number of authors per article was 5.8 +/- 2.4. The majority of the signatories were Family and Community Medicine (FCM) specialists. 65.1% of articles were by professionals from FCM teaching units. The most common research areas were epidemiology, clinics and prevention. 74.6% of the articles were descriptive. 69.8% used some technique of inferential statistics. The average number of bibliographical quotations was 18.9 +/- 10.4: with the journal Atención Primaria the most quoted.

CONCLUSIONS
This study revealed the type of research being undertaken in the Primary Care field in Catalonia.


SUMMARY 1. Crayfishes and other freshwater aquatic fauna are particularly at risk globally due to anthropogenic demand, manipulation and exploitation of freshwater resources and yet are often understudied. The Ozark faunal region of Missouri and Arkansas harbours a high level of aquatic biological diversity, especially in regard to endemic crayfishes. Three such endemics, Orconectes eupunctus, Orconectes marchandi and Cambarus hubbsi, are threatened by limited natural distribution and the invasions of Orconectes neglectus. 2. We examined how natural and anthropogenic abiotic factors influence these three species across multiple spatial scales. Local and landscape environmental variables were used as predictors in classification and regression tree models at stream segment and segmentshed scales to determine their relation to presence/absence and density of the three species. 3. Orconectes eupunctus presence was positively associated with stream size, current velocity and spring flow volume. Orconectes marchandi presence was predicted primarily by dolomite geology and water chemistry variables. Cambarus hubbsi was associated with larger stream size, with highest densities occurring in deep waters. Stream segment and segmentshed scale models were similar, but there were important differences based on species and response variables (presence/absence versus density). Stream segment scale models consistently performed better than or equal to segmentshed scale models. 4. Anthropogenic abiotic environmental variables were of minor importance in most models, with the exception of O. marchandi being negatively related to road density and human population density. Classification tree models predicting distribution performed well when compared to random assignment, but regression trees were generally poor in explaining variation in density. 5. We found that a range of environmental variables were important in predicting crayfish distribution and abundance at multiple spatial scales and their importance was species-, response variable- and scale dependent. We would encourage others to examine the influence of spatial scale on species distribution and abundance patterns.


Kali Semarang is one of the watering pattern that was in Semarang, Central Java, which runs from Pandanaran heading north toward the Java Sea. At the time of Semarang and surrounding areas have a condition that there are no rocks exposed at the surface because it is an area of older alluvium and river stage consisting of loose material such as clay, so this area has soft soil conditions until very soft. Lowering occurs in the area of construction of the embankment caused by the soft soil in the area around the construction of the embankment. Judging from the condition of the soil is soft and very soft, so we must be careful in determining the appropriate and correct methods for prevention of ground movement. Based on the soil conditions in the area of Kali Semarang, a study was undertaken using data SPT (Standard Penetration Test) to see the condition of the soil strength, and then to increase the strength of the soil used a method which is the method of grouting. From the results of drilling conducted at the Gate House point E1 +10 m, known at depth 0-2 m of sand sized loose gravel gray. At a depth of 2-20 m in the form of clay sized soft to very soft with gray. From SPT test data at Gate House point E1 +10 m, obtained N - SPT values <2 (very soft) at a depth of 2.8 to 5.8 m and a depth of 10.4 to 11.7 m. 2-3 N - SPT values (soft) is at a depth of 7.8 to 8.8 m and a depth of 13.4 to 19.3 m. SPT N - values (very dust) contained in an area close to the surface that is at a depth of 1.4 m. Once implemented method of grouting on Retaining Wall section B point 13 +1 m, +2 m point C10, and C18 +2 m point, a change in the value of the SPT test that the higher the value of N-SPT 4 (very dust) its value changed to 10 -15 (rather dense). N-SPT value of 0-1 (very soft), and the N-SPT values 2-3 (soft) turned into a N-SPT values 3-4 (soft), the value of N-SPT 5-7 (firm,) and N-SPT values 8-13 (stiff). To pile foundation bearing capacity changes from 16.57 tons to 35,98 tons to 53,03 tons. From the results of this investigation obtained good results for the purpose of grouting method successfully to increase the carrying capacity of the soil at the study site. Judging from its success with the implementation of the construction of grouting method can be resumed because the carrying capacity of the land has allowed it to withstand the load of the building to be erected.


The study of gender is essential to the study of language. It is quite clear that male and female characters are different in many aspects. They not only different in their physical aspect but also in using a language. This research aimed to uncover the differences of a linguistic feature in the speech of male and female characters based on woman's language theory revealed by Robin Tolmach Lakoff, linguistic features which are dominantly used by male and female characters and its implication in teaching speaking. Lakoff is a linguist who began the research of the feature of woman's language. The data of this research were taken from conversations of male and female main characters in Pride and Prejudice novel by Jane Austen. Data collection technique used was documentation which was applied two steps they are reading the novel thoroughly and enlisting all speeches uttered by the main characters of the novel. The instrument of this research was Documentation Guideline. The researcher analyzed the data by using analysis technique according to Mile and Huberman, namely data reduction, data display, and verification. This research revealed that male and female character differs in their number of using of linguistic features. Female characters are stated use more lexical hedge, avoidance of strong swear word, rising intonation on declarative, empty adjective, intensifier, emphatic stress and super polite form than male do. Female characters use those features to show their uncertainty toward things; they tend to avoid strong swear word and use more superpolite form. Therefore, female expressions are considered more polite than male. Consequently, they can avoid friction in their conversation and build effective communication across gender. This result is in line with Lakoff theory. The researcher found that the feature which is dominantly used by male and female is an intensifier. Furthermore, the implication of this research in teaching speaking especially complimenting and interrupting expression as the functional expression is the student needs to exposed expressions of complimenting and interrupting appropriately.


The unfolded protein response (UPR) kinase PERK has been shown to serve as a survival factor for HER2-driven breast and prostate cancers as well as for dormant cancer cells. However, its role in metastasis is not understood. Here we found in the MMTV-HER2 mouse model that quiescent HER2+ disseminated cancer cells (DCCs) displayed unresolved ER stress as revealed by high expression of the PERK-inducible GADD34 gene. Single cell gene expression profiling and imaging confirmed that a significant proportion of DCCs in lungs were dormant and displayed an active UPR. In human breast cancer metastasis biopsies, GADD34 expression and quiescence were also positively correlated. Importantly, PERK inhibition with a specific inhibitor (HC4) blunted metastasis development by selectively killing UPRhigh quiescent but not proliferative DCCs. We also show that PERK inhibition altered optimal HER2 activity in primary tumors as a result of sub-optimal HER2 trafficking and phosphorylation in response to EGF. Our data identify PERK as a unique "Achilles heel" in dormant DTCs, supporting a requisite role for PERK in DTCs. Taken together, these data identify novel strategies to eliminate quiescent DCCs in patients with disseminated cancer disease.


Vitamin A and carotenoid data in food composition tables have been generated with the use of the Association of Official Analytical Chemists procedures. These procedures fractionate complex mixtures of retinoids and carotenoids into only three fractions, e.g., retinoids, carotenes, and xanthophylls. Food tables lack uniformity in the presentation of vitamin A and carotenoid data. For example, the revisions of Agriculture Handbook, No. 8 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Govt Print Off, 1963), report both international units and retinol equivalents of vitamin A in foods. Food tables published in the United Kingdom (Paul AA, Southgate DA. McCance and Widdowson's: The composition of foods. Amsterdam: Elsevier/North-Holland, 1978) report preformed vitamin A as retinol and carotenoids as carotene on a weight basis (micrograms/100 g food). The vitamin A and carotenoid data currently available in food composition tables allow only the intake of total vitamin A activity to be estimated. Information about the intake of specific species of retinoids or carotenoids is not available and could not be calculated from existing food tables. Limited applications of new separation techniques and chemical instrumentation have demonstrated the potential for generating detailed analytic information in regard to the retinoid and carotenoid contents of foods.


Although recombination is accepted to be common in bacteria, for many species robust phylogenies with well-resolved branches can be reconstructed from whole genome alignments of strains, and these are generally interpreted to reflect clonal relationships. Using new methods based on the statistics of single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) splits, we show that this interpretation is incorrect. For many species, each locus has recombined many times along its line of descent, and instead of many loci supporting a common phylogeny, the phylogeny changes many thousands of times along the genome alignment. Analysis of the patterns of allele sharing among strains shows that bacterial populations cannot be approximated as either clonal or freely recombining but are structured such that recombination rates between lineages vary over several orders of magnitude, with a unique pattern of rates for each lineage. Thus, rather than reflecting clonal ancestry, whole genome phylogenies reflect distributions of recombination rates.


Indifferent streptococci occur in comparatively the same abundance in the throats of patients suffering from rheumatic fever or early in convalescence from the disease as they do in those who have recovered from the disease, or in those of patients suffering from other diseases. There is a slightly increased incidence of these microorganisms in the throats of hospital patients as compared with those of normal individuals. Type I occurs with comparatively equal frequency and abundance in the throats of all four classes of individuals studied.


Column buckling is an important topic in strength of materials courses. This topic has been emphasized with a compression/buckling experiment using a Satec uni-axial testing machine to compressively load 1/2 inch diameter Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) pipe columns to failure due to buckling. Several lengths of pipe have typically been used to demonstrate failures due to both normal compressive stresses and column buckling for a variety of slenderness ratios and end fixity conditions. In the past, the butt ends of the PVC pipes were placed against the moving loading platform and the stationary stage of the Satec machine to approximate an end fixity condition similar to that of a "fixed-end"; however, often buckling would occur in two stages, especially for taller PVC columns. First, the PVC columns would behave as if they were fixed at both bearing surfaces. Minor lateral deflection prior to the critical buckling load lead to eccentric loading conditions at the bearing surfaces as the neutral axis shifted. This eccentric load caused local deformation in the portion of the PVC loaded highest in compression at the surface, which accelerated the asymmetry and caused the opposite portion of the pipe to experience lower and lower compressive loads. At a critical point, the end fixity transitioned from an approximately cantilevered connection to something more closely related to a pinned connection when the butt end dramatically pivoted about a corner of the PVC tube resulting in a single point of contact remaining between the tube and the surface. Although this transition was interesting and provided an opportunity to discuss in more detail why the demonstration progressed the way that it had, the ambiguity of end fixity made it difficult for students to correlate the resulting load-deflection curves to those predicted by theory. To better simulate loading conditions discussed in lecture, two sets of fixtures were designed and fabricated. One set (top and bottom) was rotationally fixed and provided support for the pipe ends to simulate a cantilevered/fixed end condition. The second set was designed to hold the pipe end securely but allowed rotation about one axis to better approximate a "pinned" joint. Both sets of fixtures worked very well in practice. The effective length factor calculated by the students as a result of using these fixtures was very comparable to predicted values.


Single-electron devices have been widely used in electronics and physics research, and are believed to be one of the potential alternatives to CMOS circuits due to their small size and ultra-low power dissipation. In the recent past, three simulation methods have been used for single-electron device and circuit analysis: the Monte Carlo method, the master equation method, and SPICE using analytic models. Among these, the Monte Carlo method provides excellent accuracy, but is too slow for large-scale circuit simulation. In this work, we propose and develop an adaptive simulation technique based on the Monte Carlo method. This technique significantly improves the time efficiency while maintaining accuracy for single-electron device and circuit simulation. We have shown it is possible to reduce simulation time up to nearly 40 times and maintain an average propagation delay error of 3.4% compared to a nonadaptive Monte Carlo method.


The Advanced Resource Connector (ARC) middleware introduced by NorduGrid is one of the basic Grid solutions used by scientists worldwide. While being well-proven in daily use by a wide variety of scientific applications at large-scale infrastructures like the Nordic DataGrid Facility (NDGF) and smaller scale projects, production ARC of today is still largely based on conventional Grid technologies and custom interfaces introduced a decade ago. In order to guarantee sustainability, true cross-system portability and standards-compliance based interoperability, the ARC community undertakes a massive effort of implementing modular Web Service (WS) approach into the middleware. With support from the EU KnowARC project, new components were introduced and the existing key ARC services got extended with WS technology based standard-compliant interfaces following a service-oriented architecture. Such components include the hosting environment framework, the resource-coupled execution service, the re-engineered client library, the self-healing storage solution and the peer-to-peer information system, to name a few. Gradual introduction of these new services and client tools into the production middleware releases is carried out together with NDGF and thus ensures a smooth transition to the next generation Grid middleware. Standard interfaces and modularity of the new component design are essential for ARC contributions to the planned Universal Middleware Distribution of the European Grid Initiative.


The successful surgical treatment of an aneurysm of the left main pulmonary artery is reported. It appears that, after ligation of the main pulmonary artery, it is desirable not to remove the lung but preserve it as a space occupying organ which will retain some function. Literature on the subject of pulmonary aneurysms is reviewed.


PURPOSE OF REVIEW
Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) has an increasing global prevalence. Diastolic dysfunction is the predominant cause of symptoms, most commonly, exertional dyspnea. Although prevalent, the syndrome is challenging to identify due to the comorbid conditions that can present similarly. This paper will review established, guideline recommended, echocardiographic variables, and pathophysiology.

RECENT FINDINGS
Echocardiography is the primary diagnostic modality. The latest advances in strain analysis, algorithmic use of multiple parameters, and deeper understanding of exercise hemodynamics have improved our classification of those with HFpEF.

SUMMARY
There remains a paucity of therapies with mortality benefit in this subgroup. Thus, improving diagnostic efficacy is important as it can clarify epidemiologic, phenotypic, and pathologic features of HFpEF.


Summary The paper extends Shannon's classical theory of ciphers. Here ciphers are modeled by Latin rectangles and their resistance to brute force attack is assessed through the valence of cryptograms. The valence of a cryptogram is defined as the number of all meaningful messages produced by decrypting the cryptogram with all possible keys. In this paper, the mean cryptogram valence of an arbitrary modern cipher with K keys, N outputs and N inputs, of which M inputs are messages, is derived. Furthermore, the lower bound on the valence of the cryptograms of entire ciphers is derived in this paper. The obtained parameters allow to assess the resistance of cryptograms, resp. ciphers against brute force attack. The model is general, illustrative and uses a simpler mathematical apparatus than existing theory. Therefore, it can also be used as an introduction to the theory of resistance of ciphers to brute force attack.