An investigation into the monoculture of Clarias gariepinus was carried out with a view to determine the most suitable level of supplementing maggots with compounded rations and evaluate the growth performance. Ten juvenile Clarias were stocked each in four different hapas of 1m x 1m x 1m in a pond. Initial mean weights recorded are 105.55g, 110.63g, 108.25g and 112.65g for the four treatments respectively. There were four experimental treatments T - T 4 , T 1 100% compounded ration, T 2 50% compounded ration and 50% maggots, T 25% compounded ration and 75% maggots, T 4 100% maggots. Experimental fish were fed at 5% body weight for 8 weeks with final weight as 201.56g, 230.28g, 186.35g and 170.80g for the treatments respectively. The highest mean weight of 119.65, specific growth rate of 1.3 and protein efficiency ratio of 0.39 were recorded in treatment II for fish fed 50% compounded ration and 50% maggot Results of this study showed among others that a combination of 50% compounded ration and 50% maggot (Treatment II) yielded the best growth performance of Clarias gariepinus. Hence, equal combination of compounded ration and maggots in fish which is one of the goods sources of human protein is highly recommended.


Allosteric effects on muscarinic acetylcholine M(2) receptors were examined in a series of bisquaternary salts of the Strychnos alkaloid caracurine V (6) and related iso-caracurine V, tetrahydrocaracurine V, and bisnortoxiferine ring systems. The compounds inhibited dissociation of the orthosteric antagonist [(3)H]N-methylscopolamine (NMS) from porcine cardiac M(2) receptors with EC(0.5,diss) values from 4 to 3270 nM. The majority of compounds hardly changed [(3)H]NMS equilibrium binding, indicating similar binding affinities in free and NMS-occupied M(2) receptors. The most potent agents were found in the caracurine V, iso-caracurine V, and tetrahydrocaracurine V series and carried nonpolar alkyl groups with a maximal chain length of three carbon atoms. 3D QSAR (CoMSIA) analysis explained the wide range of binding affinities by steric and electrostatic properties of the side chains. Furthermore, the findings suggest that the spatial orientation of the "caracurine" aromatic rings compared with the bisnortoxiferine ring skeleton is favorable to optimal allostere-receptor interactions.


The central finite difference is used very often to approximate first‐order differential equations, and it results in a second‐order truncation error for a uniform grid size. Nonuniform grids are used for simulating structures with large aspect ratios or problems with large field gradients in order to improve computational efficiency. However, changing the grid size increases the truncation error at the interface between domains having different grid sizes. The error at the interface is manifested as a spurious reflection from the grid boundary, thus decreasing the simulation accuracy. The complementary derivatives method (CDM) was originally introduced as a robust discretization technique to eliminate any spurious errors arising from the changing grid sizes. In this paper, we review the theory of the CDM. We investigate the CDM analytically for the one‐dimensional case and derive the fundamental modes of propagation in the numerical solution of the differential equation. Then, we calculate the reflection coefficient from the interface of two domains having different grid sizes with and without the CDM. Different representative numerical examples also demonstrate the efficiency of the CDM in reducing the reflection from the grid boundary and improving the simulation results in different applications.


Background ADRD underdiagnosis among minority populations is well-established and known to be more prevalent among women. Yet, it remains unclear if these patterns exist among Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) adults. We estimated ADRD underdiagnosis among MENA and other US- and foreign-born non-Hispanic Whites and compared sex-stratified results. Methods We linked 2000–2017 National Health Interview Survey and 2001 –2018 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data (ages > = 65 years, n = 23,981). Undiagnosed ADRD was suspected if participants reported cognitive limitations without corresponding ADRD diagnosis. Results Undiagnosed ADRD was highest among MENA adults (15.8%) compared to non-Hispanic Whites (US-born = 8.1%; foreign-born = 11.8%). MENA women had 2.52 times greater odds (95% CI = 1.31 –4.84) of undiagnosed ADRD compared to US-born White women after adjusting for risk factors. Discussion This study contributes the first national estimates of undiagnosed ADRD among MENA adults. Continued research is needed to facilitate policy changes that more comprehensively address health disparities and related resource allocation.


Two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors such as monolayer molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) are promising building blocks for ultrascaled field effect transistors (FETs), benefiting from their atomic thickness, dangling-bond-free flat surface, and excellent gate controllability. However, despite great prospects, the fabrication of 2D ultrashort channel FETs with high performance and uniformity remains a challenge. Here, we report a self-encapsulated heterostructure undercut technique for the fabrication of sub-10 nm channel length MoS2 FETs. The fabricated 9 nm channel MoS2 FETs exhibit superior performances compared with sub-15 nm channel length including the competitive on-state current density of 734/433 μA/μm at VDS = 2/1 V, record-low DIBL of ∼50 mV/V, and superior on/off ratio of 3 × 107 and low subthreshold swing of ∼100 mV/dec. Furthermore, the ultrashort channel MoS2 FETs fabricated by this new technique show excellent homogeneity. Thanks to this, we scale the monolayer inverter down to sub-10 nm channel length.


PurposeThis study collected the bibliographic data of 2034 journal articles published in 2000–2021 from Web of Science (WoS) core collection database and adopted two bibliometric analysis methods, namely historiography and keyword co-occurrence, to identify the evolution trend of construction risk management (CRM) research topics.Design/methodology/approachCRM has been a key issue in construction management research, producing a big number of publications. This study aims to undertake a review of the global CRM research published from 2000 to 2021 and identify the evolution of the research topics relating to CRM.FindingsThis study found that risk analysis methods have shifted from simply ranking risks in terms of their relative importance or significance toward examining the interrelationships among risks, and that the objects of CRM research have shifted from generic construction projects toward specified types of construction projects (e.g. small projects, underground construction projects, green buildings and prefabricated projects). In addition, researchers tend to pay more attention to an individual risk category (e.g. political risk, safety risk and social risk) and integrate CRM into cost, time, quality, safety and environment management functions with the increasing adoption of various information and communication technologies.Research limitations/implicationsThis study focused on the journal articles in English in WoS core collection database only, thus excluding the publications in other languages, not indexed by WoS and conference proceedings. In addition, the historiography focused on the top documents in terms of document strength and thus ignored the role of the documents whose strengths were a little lower than the threshold.Originality/valueThis review study is more inclusive than any prior reviews on CRM and overcomes the drawbacks of mere reliance on either bibliometric analysis results or subjective opinions. Revealing the evolution process of the CRM knowledge domain, this study provides an in-depth understanding of the CRM research and benefits industry practitioners and researchers.


The technique of flow cytometric DNA histogram analysis (FCM) shows there to be two distinct cell populations (diploid vs aneuploid) in the poorly differentiated R3327‐G rat prostatic adenocarcinoma. The following study compares tumor weight measurements with several FCM computer‐based methods designed to determine rapidly the proliferative status of tumors. Hypophysectomy, bilateral adrenalectomy, orchiectomy, sham operations, or diethyl‐stilbestrol treatments were initiated when the tumors were palpable (day 21) and continued until the tumors were excised (day 52). Hypophysectomy, orchiectomy, adrenalectomy, and diethylstilbestrol treatments all resulted in significant inhibition by tumor weight. Quantitation of the percentage of mid‐S phase aneuploid cells by summation gave the best correlation with tumor weight. Tumors grown in hypophysectomized, orchiectomized, adrenalectomized, or diethylstilbestrol‐treated animals showed a significant reduction in the proportion of mid‐S phase cells as compared with controls. The calculation of the percentage of all aneuploid cells was significantly reduced in hypophysectomy, orchiectomy, and diethylstilbestrol‐treated animals. However, tumors grown in adrenalectomized animals were not significantly different from controls by this method. Adrenalectomy was found to be the least effective form of therapy, and this was reflected in all of the parameters measured. These data show that FCM analysis may be useful in the quantitation of prostatic carcinoma response to therapy.


The paper presents a numerical study for the seismic assessment of the St James Church in Christchurch, New Zealand affected by the recent 2011 earthquake and subsequent aftershocks. The structural behavior of the Church has been evaluated using the finite element modelling technique, in which the nonlinear behavior of masonry has been taken into account by proper constitutive assumptions. Two numerical models were constructed, one incorporating the existing structural damage and the other considering the intact structure. The validation of the numerical models was achieved by the calibration of the damaged model according to dynamic identification tests carried out in situ after the earthquake. Non-linear pushover analyses were carried out on both principal directions demonstrating that, as a result of the seismic action, the Church can no longer be considered safe. Pushover analysis results of the undamaged model show reasonable agreement with the visual inspection performed in situ, which further validates the model used. Finally, limit analysis us- ing macro-block analysis was also carried out to validate the main local collapse mechanisms of the Church.


Possibly the first argument for the origin of the three observed gauge groups and thus for the origin of the three non-gravitational interactions is presented. The argument is based on a proposal for the final theory that models nature at Planck scales as a collection of featureless strands that fluctuate in three dimensions. This approach models vacuum as untangled strands, particles as tangles of strands, and Planck units as crossing switches.
Modelling vacuum as untangled strands implies the field equations of general relativity, when applying an argument from 1995 to the thermodynamics of such strands. Modelling fermions as tangles of two or more strands allows to define wave functions as time-averages of oriented strand crossing density. Using an argument from 1980, this allows to deduce the Dirac equation.
When fermions are modelled as tangled strands, gauge interactions appear naturally as deformation of tangle cores. The three possible types of observable core deformations are given by the three Reidemeister moves. They naturally lead to a U(1), a broken and parity-violating SU(2), and a SU(3) gauge group. The corresponding Lagrangians also appear naturally.
The strand model is unique, is unmodifiable, is consistent with all known data, and makes numerous testable predictions, including the absence of other interactions, of grand unification, of supersymmetry and of higher dimensions. A method for calculating coupling constants seems to appear naturally.


Purpose: We want to determine the impact of participation in a professional event on the competences of library professionals in the field of reading literacy. We are interested to find whether professionals are more motivated to work after attending a professional event, feel more confident in working in the field of reading literacy, more connected to others and see more sense in their work, and whether participation in the event affects their work activities after the event itself.
Methodology: We used a case study with a quantitative survey method to collect data. First, we analysed selected scientific and professional literature to define the concepts of motivation, self-confidence, belonging and meaning, and responsibility of an individual's professional development. We linked our case study to the predefined theoretical starting points. The design of the questionnaire structure was linked to the impact assessment.
Results: Understanding the concepts of motivation, self-confidence, belonging and meaning is crucial in strengthening the competences of professional staff. In the first part we compare the results over a three-year period, and in the second part we use the results to determine how participation in a professional event affects the individual. Comparative results of all three events show that obtaining the necessary information positively affects self-confidence at work. The research has shown that participation in a professional event has a positive effect on motivation, belonging, meaningful work and understanding of professional and personal role.
Research limitations are linked to the size of the study, as it is based on one case study, but includes a large enough sample that can indicate the starting point for a more extensive study to determine the impact of professional events on motivation, confidence, belonging and acceptance meaningful in the professional field.
Originality/value: Studies of the impact of participation in professional trainings on the competences of professionals are rare, so our research is an additional incentive to argue for regular professional training and monitor the development of individual key elements (i.e. motivation, confidence, meaning, belonging) of professional competencies. The research highlights the importance of an individual's commitment to promoting reading literacy and building reading culture.


Left and right atrial pressures were monitored in 100 patients undergoing open heart surgery for acquired valvular disease of the heart at St. Thomas' Hospital. The right atrial pressure bore no constant relationship to the left atrial pressure in 61% of the patients and there was no reliable way of deducing left atrial pressure from the right. We believe that it is imperative to measure both right and left atrial pressures if post-operative management after cardiac valve surgery is to be effective. There has been no instance of pulmonary oedema or postperfusion syndrome in our practice since its introduction.


In a series of previous communications, the suggestion has been advanced by Pemberton 1 , and evidence has been deduced by Pemberton, Cajori and Crouter 2 , that the arthritic and rheumatoid syndrome is accompanied by disturbances of the peripheral blood flow apparently in the capillary beds, and apparently in the nature of vasoconstriction. It became desirable, therefore, to determine whether, at the periphery, any reflection of this condition could be obtained in the corpuscular elements of the blood in regard to morphology, number or other factors. It seemed possible that some reflection of any circulatory disturbances present in arthritis might be obtained by studying the blood first issuing after a quick stab of moderate depth and by contrasting it with the subsequently appearing blood representative of the general circulation. The observations here reported were made accordingly during a study of the red cell counts of patients with arthritis as compared with the red


Abstract Background: Classification and regression tree (CART) analysis is a non-parametric technique suitable for the generation of clinical decision rules. We have studied the performance of CART analysis in the separation of pleural exudates and transudates. Methods: Basic demographic, radiologic and laboratory data were retrospectively evaluated in 1257 pleural effusions (204 transudates and 1053 exudates, according to standard clinical criteria) and submitted for CART analysis. The model's discriminative ability was compared with that of Light's criteria, in both the original formulation and an abbreviated version, i.e., deleting the pleural fluid (PF)/serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) ratio from the triad. Results: A first CART model built starting from all available data identified PF/serum protein ratio and PF LDH ratios as the two best discriminatory parameters. This algorithm achieved a sensitivity of 96.8%, slightly lower than that of classical Light's criteria (98.5%) and comparable to that of the abbreviated Light's criteria (97.0%), and significantly better specificity (85.3%) compared to both classical (74.0%) and abbreviated (79.4%) Light's criteria. A second CART model developed after excluding serum measurements selected PF protein and PF LDH as the most discriminatory variables, and correctly classified 97.2% of exudates and 77.0% of transudates. Conclusions: CART-based algorithms can efficiently discriminate between pleural exudates and transudates. Clin Chem Lab Med 2007;45:82–7.


Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an umbrella term that comprises Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). Both entities are characterized by a disturbed mucosal immune response and an imbalance of intestinal microbiota composition. The complement system (C) plays a critical role in the detection, and clearance of bacteria and dysregulation of single complement components has been linked to IBD. Here, we asked if the C contributes to distinct subtypes of inflammation observed in CD and UC. We performed systematical expression analyses of the intestinal C in IBD patients and controls. Immunohistochemistry or immunoblot experiments were performed to verify qPCR data. Activity of the three activation pathways of C was studied in sera samples. In CD patients a strong upregulation of the C was observed enabling the definition of unique expression patterns being associated either with remission or active disease. These data were reflected by an enhanced C activation in sera and fecal samples. An excessive mucosal presence of immunoglobulin M (IgM) and CR2/CD21 positive B cells in concert with decreased fecal IgA level was identified in CD patients in remission. These findings point to an exacerbated induction of the intestinal C that may potentially be involved in the etiology of CD.


6 groups each of 5 adult rams were subjected in light controlled pens to a pretreatment of normal variations in daylength during May and June. Then one group followed the normal daylength and the other five different "skeleton photoperiods" of 8 hrs of light per day consisting of: 7 hrs continuous light (7 L) + 1 hr light (1 L) situated at different times of the dark period (D) according to groups. Blood samples were taken once each week and hourly during one 24 hr period in June, July and September. Peripheral plasma testosterone measured by radio-immunoassay was used as an index of testicular activity. There was increase in the level of testosterone resuting from a rise in the number of peak release during the 24 hrs. In the different light treatments tested, only the treatment (7L+9D+1L)+7D) stimulated testosterone secretion with the pattern of testosterone of this group being similar to that of the control group. This indicates that there exists a photosensitive phase at 16 to 17 hrs after the beginning of the principal light (the subjective dawn).


The purpose of this study is to increase the effectiveness of information packaging related to the Covid-19 outbreak, especially with regard to public concern for health workers who are the frontlines in handling the outbreak. The study examines the interactional meaning represented in World Health Day 2020 Poster related to Covid-19 Issue released by World Health Organization (WHO) through its official website. In doing the analysis, a Systemic Functional Multimodal Discourse Analysis (SFMDA) approach is used. SFMDA is implemented to analyze both visual and verbal modes represented in the poster. Therefore, visual grammar and Systemic Functional Grammar are employed, specifically to get a comprehensive analysis of interactional meaning from both of the modes. In visual grammar, interactional meaning is realized through the concept of interactive meaning which involves contact, social distance, attitude, and modality related to interactive and represented participants while in Systemic Functional Grammar, interactional meaning is realized through the concept of interpersonal meaning which involves mood system analysis. The results show that a good combination of visual and verbal modes can ensure readability and accurate information delivery to the readers, and finally, it is hoped that the goals expected by the poster maker can be communicated well.


COVID‐19 pandemic raised many problems for patients with acne‐prone skin: a limited access to health care services, the necessity of developing telemedical consultations also in dermatology, and the usage of face masks. The aim of the study was to investigate the influence of respiratory protective measures (type of masks, wearing time during the day) on declared skin condition in patients already diagnosed with acne or reporting acne for the first time. The study was conducted in Poland among 1420 responders using the original authors' questionnaire, of which 1274 responders were included in the final sample. Acne exacerbations were reported as being more frequent and more severe in women than in men. Changing cosmetic products, facial skin decontamination before or after applying masks, the number of days per week that a mask was worn were related to acne exacerbation. The type of mask had no significant impact on the occurrence of acne lesions. Respondents noted that masks contribute significantly to skin condition worsening by exacerbating existing and causing new acne lesions. This phenomenon was particularly observable in women, in whom, according to the research results, new lesions appeared much more frequently. Therefore, there is a need to develop new ways of limiting acne exacerbation during COVID‐19 pandemic.


In order to reduce the beam emittance blow-up due to wake fields in the linac to a tolerable level, it is necessary that the beam injection into the linac does not jitter too much. The tolerance is set to be +- 13 ..mu..m in displacement or +- 0.3 ..mu..rad in angle at the injection point where E = 1.2 GeV. This tolerance assumes ..beta.. = 42 m at the injection point and represents about 2% of the local rms beam size. One potential source of injection jitter comes from the damping ring ejection kicker. Another - which is the subject of this study - is due to the jittering in the alignments of the damping ring and RTL magnets (due to earth motion, nearby pumps, etc.). We assume this alignment jittering is random from magnet to magnet. (If we do not plan to have a fast feedback at the linac injection point; these misalignments do not have to jitter from pulse to pulse; they could be slowly oscillating in time and be equally harmful.) We estimate the tolerance on the magnet alignment jittering to be 0.1 ..mu..m.


Purpose To assess the in vitro larvicidal activity of ivermectin and povidone-iodine (PVP-I) against Oestrus ovis, the most frequent cause of external ophthalmomyiasis. Methods L1 O. ovis larvae were collected from the nasal boots of sheep slaughtered in local abattoirs and transferred onto Petri dishes containing mucosal tissue (25 larvae/dish). The larvicidal activity of the following formulations was tested: 1% ivermectin suspension in balanced sterile saline solution (BSSS), 1% ivermectin solution in propylene glycol, propylene glycol, 0.6% PVP-I in hyaluronic acid vehicle (IODIM®), and combination of ivermectin 1% solution and 0.6% PVP-I. One mL of each formulation was added to different Petri dishes containing the larvae. The time needed to kill the larvae was recorded. Results 893 larvae were tested. The median time needed to kill the larvae was 46, 44, 11, 6, and 10 minutes for Iodim®, ivermectin 1% suspension, propylene glycol, ivermectin 1% solution, and a combination of ivermectin 1% solution with 0.6% PVP-I, respectively. Kaplan-Meyer analysis disclosed that the survival curves were significantly lower in samples treated with ivermectin 1% solution, ivermectin 1% solution + 0.6% PVP-I, and propylene glycol than in samples receiving other treatments or BSSS. Conclusion In this in vitro study, ivermectin 1% solution in propylene glycol, ivermectin 1% solution + 0.6% PVP-I, and propylene glycol alone showed a good, relatively rapid larvicidal activity against O. ovis larvae. Further experimental and clinical studies are necessary to establish whether, or not, these formulations may be considered as potential candidates for the topical treatment for external ophthalmomyiasis caused by O. ovis.


PREVIEWIn the United States, an estimated 15 million to 20 million people use nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) on a long-term basis. With such statistics, it is not surprising that the most common side effect, gastrointestinal mucosal injury, remains a clinically important issue. Fortunately, this complication is largely preventable. In this review, Dr Fennerty focuses on the epidemiology, pathogenesis, risk factors, prevention, and treatment of NSAID-induced gastrointestinal injury and provides the reader with the data necessary to select care that prevents it.


Amphibians at the global scale are dramatically declining and the pathogenic fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) has been suggested to be an important driver in this biodiversity crisis. Increasing evidence points towards the global emergence of Bd being a panzootic caused by pathogen pollution. Africa has been suggested to be the origin of the pathogen but remains one of the least‐studied areas. We have conducted the most comprehensive survey on the continent to date focusing on Kenya for investigating taxonomic and environmental components in the distribution of Bd in tropical Africa. Eleven sites along a 770 km transect from the coast up to the border of Uganda were surveyed. Using quantitative PCR, we screened 861 samples from 23 different species in nine genera. The pathogen was confirmed at all studied sites, with an overall prevalence of 31.5%. No dead or symptomatic specimens were found and no declines have been reported in the region so far. Both prevalence and parasite load ranged from the detection limit to some of the highest ever reported. The parasite load showed a significant taxonomic bias and a strong inverse correlation with temperature. Our findings suggest that Bd may be enzootic in the region. We recommend that further research should focus on comparative experimental studies of susceptibility to Bd in African species. Moreover, we stress the need for improved knowledge on the conservation status of the tropical African amphibian fauna to confirm the enzootic nature of widespread Bd infections.


The objective of this work was to characterize molecularly rabies viruses from Mexican skunks, by comparison of a portion of the viral P gene sequence with corresponding regions from other skunk-adapted rabies virus variants and with other genotype 1 rabies viruses that circulate in the Americas. Furthermore, incubation period and histopathologic lesions after virus inoculation by the intra-cerebral route in mice was characterized. According to the results of phylogenetic studies the Mexican skunk strains (Antigenic Variant (AV) 8 and AV10) are evolutionarily quite distinct. The AV10 isolate from South Baja California is quite closely related to the viruses that circulate in Californian skunks, while the AV8 isolate from San Luis Potosi was most closely related to the South central skunk strain that circulates in southern states such as Texas. These variations were reflected in some biological properties of both strains in mice.


With the increasing awareness of genetics in respiratory medicine and improvements in molecular diagnostic techniques, many complicated and rare diseases in respiratory medicine can be diagnosed. Most respiratory diseases have no specific phenotype. However, the clinical spectrum of monogenic diseases in respiratory medicine varies, from pulmonary disease to other inherited disorders that involve the lung. The genes that mediate some of these diseases have been identified. Certain monogenic diseases remain poorly characterized clinically. Because of the specificity of the phenotype of respiratory disease, a future challenge will be to correlate the phenotype and genotype and understand its phenotypic variability. With the development of precision medicine, research on monogenic disorders has been intensive and vigorous. In this article, we provide a brief clinical introduction to monogenic diseases in pediatrics.


This paper presents an innovative access control model, referred to as Web service Access Control Version 1 (Ws-AC1), specifically tailored to Web services. The most distinguishing features of this model are the flexible granularity in protection objects and negotiation capabilities. Under Ws-AC1, an authorization can be associated with a single service and can specify for which parameter values the service can be authorized for use, thus providing a fine access control granularity. Ws-AC1 also supports coarse granularities in protection objects in that it provides the notion of service class under which several services can be grouped. Authorizations can then be associated with a service class and automatically propagated to each element in the class. The negotiation capabilities of Ws-AC1 are related to the negotiation of identity attributes and the service parameters. Identity attributes refer to information that a party requesting a service may need to submit in order to obtain the service. The access control policy model of Ws-AC1 supports the specification of policies in which conditions are stated, specifying the identity attributes to be provided and constraints on their values. In addition, conditions may also be specified against context parameters, such as time. To enhance privacy and security, the actual submission of these identity attributes is executed through a negotiation process. Parameters may also be negotiated when a subject requires use of a service with certain parameters values that, however, are not authorized under the policies in place. In this paper, we provide the formal definitions underlying our model and the relevant algorithms, such as the access control algorithm. We also present an encoding of our model in the Web Services Description Language (WSDL) standard for which we develop an extension, required to support Ws-AC1.


Objective: Psychiatrists are susceptible intermittently to use dehumanising terms in their clinical practice, which arguably harm patients and their families. Our goal is to shed light on this unwelcome phenomenon and to develop the means to combat it. Method: We have examined journal articles, books on the history of psychiatry, and educational material devised for psychiatric patients, for evidence of what we have called 'pathogenic language'. We have also sought colleagues' reflections on the subject. Results: We have identified several terms that are ostensibly pathogenic, tried to illuminate their intrinsic features and devised guidelines to stem their use. Conclusions: Psychiatrists have the potential to harm patients and their families by using pathogenic language when communicating with them. We conclude that meticulous attention to this risk, coupled with appropriate ethically based and educational strategies, can contribute to the eradication of pathogenic language and prevent its recurrence.


Abstract Due to a diversity of habitats and its geologic history, the US state of California hosts a spectacular assemblage of darkling beetle species (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae). In addition to being part of the California Floristic Province, one of 34 global biodiversity hotspots identified by Conservation International, California also has additional areas which are parts of the Great Basin, Mojave, and Sonoran deserts. California is divided into nine floristic regions. Each region is assessed in terms of faunal composition and endemism. A "snapshot" of our present knowledge of the Tenebrionidae indicates that 447 currently recognized species, representing 108 genera, occur in California of which one hundred and ninety are endemic. California is compared to other nearby regions in diversity and endemism. An analysis of currently valid species vs a more realistic species account based on unpublished records of likely synonyms and known species yet to be described in the scientific literature is presented. The California Floristic Region, rather than other more arid parts of California, has the highest number of total and endemic species. Because of their high diversity and endemism, tenebrionids could potentially provide a valuable tool for monitoring the environment for conservation purposes.


Life-threatening headaches in children can present in an apoplectic manner that garners immediate medical attention, or in an insidious, more dangerous form that may go unnoticed for a relatively long period of time. The recognition of certain clinical characteristics that accompany the headache should prompt recognition and referral to an institution equipped with neuroimaging facilities, pediatric neurosurgeons, and neurologists. Thunderclap headaches, which reach a peak within a very short period of time, may be the presenting feature of conditions such as arterial dissection, venous sinus thrombosis, and reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome, which can be addressed by specific pharmacological options instituted in an intensive care setting. On the other hand, subacute to chronic headaches that are accompanied by focal neurological signs, such as abducens nerve palsy, restriction of upward gaze, or papilledema, may be indicative of the need for urgent imaging and neurosurgical referral. [Pediatr Ann. 2018;47(2):e74-e80.].


Hardness and tribological properties of microstructured coatings developed by conventional thermal spraying are significantly affected by the feedstock melting condition, however, their effect on the performance of nanostructured coatings by suspension high velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) are inconclusive. In this work, nano-TiO2 coatings with different degrees of melting (12%, 51%, 81%) of nanosized feedstock were deposited via suspension HVOF spraying, using suspensions with a solid content of 5 wt.%. All the coatings produced had dense structures without visible pores and cracks. Two TiO2 crystal structures were identified in which the rutile content of the coatings increased with increased feedstock melting. Their mechanical, friction and wear behaviours largely relied on the extent of melting of the feedstock. The coating composed of mostly agglomerate particles (12% melted particles) had the lowest coefficient of friction and wear rate due to the formation of a smooth tribo-film on the wearing surface, while the coating composed of mostly fully melted splats (81% melted particles) presented the highest coefficient of friction and low wear rate, whose wear mechanism was dominated by abrasive wear and accompanied by the formation of cracks.


Acquiring high-resolution MRI data for tissue parameter mapping for quantitative imaging requires additional scan time. As a proof-of-principle, we evaluated the ability of the ConvDecoder architecture regularized with a physical model to reconstruct accelerated variable-flip angle MRI data of the brain for T1-mapping. The performance of our method was compared to non-regularized ConvDecoder, low rank reconstruction, and compressed sensing. Our results suggest that ConvDecoder with physics-based regularization may provide a stopping condition for training that is not dependent on the ground truth data while improving parameter mapping at higher accelerations.


Whole Exome Sequencing (WES) is a promising method in human genetics. Because the majority of pathogenic mutations that lead to the development of diseases are localized in exons and splice sites, WES could become a major tool for the diagnosis of diseases with a complex hereditary nature. This tool appears to be particularly useful for hereditary neurological diseases, such as autism spectrum disorders, Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease and others. In our review, we discuss the clinical application of WES, with special emphasis on the diagnosis of hereditary neurological diseases.


The objective of the study is to examine how response data from direct marketing email campaigns could be utilized in measuring the development of a customer relationship in the context of an end-user loyalty program. The case analysed in the study is Club Sony Ericsson e-mail campaigns targeted at its registered members. The primary research problem covered in the study is "how can e-mail direct marketing results be measured by using Club Sony Ericsson existing campaign response and customer data?" In order to gain understanding of the role of e-mail direct marketing campaigns in a loyalty program, a framework is created around the concept of customer relationship. As a form of interactive marketing, e-mail direct marketing contributes to relationship development by providing a channel for dialogue that consists of both communication as well as interaction. The empirical study is conducted by using a quantitative research method. Data analysis is performed in ways that could also be applied in ongoing monitoring of relationship development within the case company. The study focus is on the information that click-through data can provide when combined with variables found from the customer database. The study is conducted based on individual level secondary data available on recent Club Sony Ericsson e-mail campaigns, collected from campaign report files and Club Sony Ericsson member database. Click-through activity was found to have positive correlation with all the other behavioral variables available on the customer relationship. The youngest age group is found to have the lowest response rates. Repeat responses are rare within the studied time period. E-mail address invalidity is found to have significant effect on dialogue termination. Analysing interaction data from e-mail direct marketing campaigns clearly provides new insight into the development of a customer relationship. Due to the relatively high frequency, tracking click-through activities enables monitoring relationship development in between monetary transactions and reflects the level of interest towards the loyalty program in particular. However, clicks on links in direct marketing e-mails should be mainly considered as a confirmation of interest rather than a requirement.


This paper describes the design build and test of a linear test rig for demonstrating novel topology linear machines. The work is aimed at aiding the developments of power take off for wave and tidal energy converters. The rig consists of three parts: prime mover, test machine and converter. Experience and method for the design manufacture and initial testing of each of these components is detailed.


The recent development in the field of sustainable energy solution for ultra‐low power application is attracting the attention of researchers. This paper is themed on the boosting of input harvested voltage from micro thermo‐electric generator to an appropriate output voltage level. This research proposed an optimized DC–DC boost converter design comprising of cross‐coupled FinFET based LC resonant oscillator and FinFET three‐stage charge pump circuit. The design utilizes the dynamic threshold body biasing technique to control the threshold voltage of FinFET switches and enhance the performance in sub‐threshold region. This design succeeded in achieving 29.25% peak power conversion efficiency to generate 438 mV output voltage from 96 mV minimum input voltage while consuming 344 nW of power only. Further, the proposed boost converter shows peak voltage conversion efficiency of 53.51% and settling time of 121 μS for 1% band. The performance of proposed boost converter observed for rigorous process, temperature and load variations is within acceptable limits. In contrast to MOSFET technology, the adopted 18 nm FinFET technology make the proposed design excellent to tackle the challenges of short channel effects in ultra‐low power application.


Objectives: Cystatin c (Cys c) is a good indicator in early renal dysfunction. Blood pressure variability (BPV) is closely related to target organ damage, especially the kidney. We aimed to explore Cys c level and the relationship with BPV in hemorrhage strokes. Methods: A total of 141 first-ever hemorrhage stroke cases were recruited in our study. Cys c, blood uric acid, blood creatinine were determinate and 24-hours ambulatory blood pressure for the first 7 consecutive days (7-day/24-hours) were monitored. Standard deviation was used to describe the BPV. Patients were divided into low BPV group (L-BPV) and high BPV group (H-BPV) according to the median of the 7-day/24-hours BPV. Described methods, univariateanalysis and multiple linear regressions were used for analysis. Results: The concentration of Cys c in H-BPV group (1.01 ± 0.38 mg/L) was higher than that in L-BPV group (0.85 ± 0.41 mg/L), (t = 2.35, P = 0.02). The 7-day/24-hours BPV of systolic blood pressure (SBP) in H-BPV group (17.21 ± 2.76)was higher than that of L-BPV group (11.14 ± 1.78), (t = 15.47, P = 0.001). The 7-days SBP BPV was positively correlated with Cys c level (r = 0.34, P = 0.001). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that 7-days/24-hours SBP BPV, serum creatinine, blood uric acid, gender and age were the main influencing factors of cys c level (all P < 0.05). Conclusion: BPV was the important influencing factors for Cystatin c level and may be an useful indicator for early renal dysfunction in acute hemorrhage stroke.


This new edition incorporates the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 as well as a plethora of Orders in Council that come in its wake. New chapters have been added on moral rights, performers' and recording rights and design rights and the book also includes case law generated since the last edition. While the law of copyright becomes increasingly complex, the emphasis of the work remains one of penetrative clarity. To this end the text is paragraphed and cross referenced. The work confronts the practical problems that will face the copyright lawyer in the 1990s, but also retains its scholarly approach, commencing with a narrative review of copyright law. The work deals with international copyright, EEC community law, related forms of protection including breach of confidence, passing off and malicious falsehood, income tax and associated subjects and American copyright law. The appendices include relevant parts of the 1988 Act, as well as the 1911 and 1956 Copyright Acts with comparative tables, UK orders, US legislation and materials and relevant parts of the Treaty of Rome.


ABSTRACT Background: Acute malnutrition is the highest cause of death among children under five. This is because children are a group that is vulnerable to health problems, one of which is infection. In this phase there is a very rapid growth and development in children. This problem occurs in part in low- and middle-income countries. This study aimed to review the effect of supplementary food therapy for recovery among malnourished children aged 0-59 months. Subjects and Methods: This was a scoping review using the Arksey and O'Malley framework. The framework used to identify relevant studies is Population, Intervention, Comparison, and Outcome (PICO), with a search strategy using 5 databases, namely PubMed, Science Direct, Proquest, Wiley, and Google Scholar which match the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results: Supplementary food therapy for recovery of malnourished children 0-59 months could be done with inpatient and outpatient care using Modified Dried Skilled Milk and Coconut Oil (Modisco), Ready to use Therapeutic Food (RUTF), Soy Maize Sorghum RUTF (SMS RUTF), F 75, and F 100. The most widely used recovery supplementary food therapies are Modisco, RUTF, SMS RUTF, F75 and F100. RUTF in Indonesia has not been widely used for the therapy of malnourished children, while for F75 and F100 it has been used as a treatment but not maximally because it tastes bad so it is not liked by children. Conclusion: Several studies have examined the effectiveness of these supplementary foods, apart from being used in the hospital, they can also be given on an outpatient basis with the supervision of related health workers. Keywords: children, malnutrition, therapy, supplementary food Correspondence: Solikhah Eli Setiyani. Universitas Aisyiyah Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Email: firstname.lastname@example.com DOI: https://doi.org/10.26911/the7thicph.03.09


Celiac disease is a gluten-sensitive enteropathy, which commits the patient to a life-long gluten-free diet. This is sufficient to treat the overwhelming majority of patients. However, a small group of these patients, mainly those diagnosed above 50 years of age, fails to improve histologically and clinically upon elimination of gluten from the diet. These patients are regarded as suffering from refractory celiac disease. In a subgroup of these patients a pre-malignant intraepithelial lymphocyte population can be detected in the small intestinal mucosa (type II). These patients are at a high risk of developing an enteropathy-associated T-cell lymphoma (50–60% within 4–6 years), which has a very poor prognosis and a 5-year survival of only 8%. The therapeutic challenge in these refractory celiac disease type II patients is targeting the aberrant intraepithelial lymphocytes to eventually prevent enteropathy-associated T-cell lymphoma development. Although management of these patients is difficult and therapeutic options are currently limited, novel treatment modalities are being explored.


Methods of preparation and the influence of fluorine atoms on the principal physicochemical characteristics of fluorine-containing polyethers, polyesters, and polythia-compounds are reviewed. Heterochain and carbochain polyethers and polyesters and their possible regions of practical use in chemistry and technology are discussed. 197 references.


From a CASE point of view business applications can be divided into three broad classes depending on their generality: those requiring general workbenches, those requiring specifically tailored workbenches, and those that could use blueprints. A CASE environment for all seasons is not what many business users really need. They would prefer an environment tailored to the specific class of application under development, one that will bring that application into being most efficiently and effectively, and keep it in vigorous operation over its lifetime. We have therefore concentrated on one particular application class of interest to the business community, namely interactive, data-centred systems. A model for the application class of interest is presented. The main CASE environment requirements identified, which should be integrated through a common project database and tailored to the characteristics of the application class, include business profile, semantic data model, state transition control model, system dictionary active during development, inheritable and tailorable objects such as reports, transactions and other user interactions, procedural facilities, configuration control, project control including costing and scheduling, and interfaces to decision support systems. It is noted that development and production have quite different characteristics and require separate environments. The need for flexibility and adaptability in some CASE environment areas, such as effort estimation and project control, is recognized and it is suggested that existing rule-based techniques should be used. Limitation of a CASE tool set to a rather narrow but common application class should result in substantial productivity gains.


The paper is devoted to the study of Russia's export specialization in the countries of Africa in the period from 2001 to 2017. A comprehensive analysis of the dynamics, the commodity and geographical structure of Russian exports to the African continent has been carried out. Using bilateral trade data for product groups at the level of two digits of the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS), this study examines the main patterns of comparative advantage in Russia's trade with the countries of the region in the early 21st century. Based on the calculation results of the bilateral revealed comparative advantage index (RCA), authors identified a group of Russia's trade partners in Africa, characterized by the largest number of export specialization product groups: Algeria, Angola, Guinea, Egypt, South Africa. Comparative analysis of Russia's export specialization in Africa with the main partners in terms of trade turnover indicates, that Russia has more diverse comparative advantages in trade with some African countries (17 product groups), than with European ones, such as Germany (9 product groups) and Netherlands (8 groups). The study shows that Russia has export specialization in the following main product groups in African countries: HS 84 'Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances; parts thereof ', HS 85'Electrical machinery and equipment and parts thereof ', HS 87 'Vehicles other than railway or tramway rolling-stock, and parts and accessories thereof ', HS 48'Paper and paperboard' and HS 10'Cereals'. The authors revealed, that the intensity of Russia's export specialization in African countries increases with the augmentation of the technical complexity of products exported. It proves that Russian industrial products have competitive advantages in the African market. The development and strengthening of economic cooperation with Africa is one of the most important direction of non-commodity and non-energy exports expansion and geographical diversification of Russian trade. The paper concludes by discussing the promising avenues for the future Russian-African export partnership.


Mice with a disrupted mdrl gene do not secrete phospholipids into bile and develop severe liver disease. In this study we have determined which minimal level of phospholipid secretion into bile is required to prevent liver pathology. Mdrl (-/-) mice were used, in which phospholipid secretion was "rescued" by transgenic expression of the homologous human MDR3 gene. One strain of transgenic MDR3 ( + /-) mdrl (-/-) rescue mice (Al strain) had a maximal phospholipid secretion of 15% of control. These mice were fed a purified control diet for 6 weeks, with or without 0.03% cholate. On a purified diet liver pathology, which was present directly after weaning, completely disappeared in male A1 rescue mice, stabilized in female Al rescue mice and increased in mdrl (-/-) knockouts. Cholate-supplemented diet induced severe pathology in the Al rescue strain and in mdrl (-/-) knockout mice. On a purified diet female but not male Al MDR3 ( + /-) rescue mice developed hepatocellular carcinoma after one year. Biliary glutathione output decreased with increasing pathology, and appeared to be a very sensitive parameter for liver pathology. The development of liver pathology is determined by: 1) The extent of reduction in phospholipid secretion. 2) The rate of bile salt secretion. 3) The bile salt composition. When bile salt output is minimal and bile salt composition is very hydrophilic, 15% phospholipid secretion is the approximate threshold to prevent liver pathology in mice.


OBJECTIVE
To develop a suitable physical exercise behavior-psychological scale for the Chinese adolescents and to evaluate its validity and reliability.

METHODS
A total of 3600 junior students were recruited and tested through multistage sampling method. Reliability was assessed, using Cronbach's α and split-half reliability; while exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were used to test its validity, with entries-dimension correlation coefficient (IIC), correlation coefficient between the scores and the dimension, the dimension of correlation coefficient test content validity.

RESULTS
The internal consistency reliabilities for total scale score (Cronbach's α = 0.888), Cronbach's α of four domains were 0.880, 0.706, 0.552 and 0.839, respectively. The four-domain split-efficacy reliabilities were ranged between 0.559 and 0.876. Data from the exploratory factor analysis revealed the following dimensions: the entries were all inclusive; the cumulative contribution rate was more than 40%.

RESULTS
from the confirmatory factor analysis showed that the absolute fit measures of GFI = 0.972, AGFI = 0.958, RMSEA = 0.032 (90%CI: 0.030 - 0.034) could satisfy the condition while the model fit was better. The results of IIC showed: in the four dimensions, and the contained entries between Spearman correlation coefficient range were 0.396 - 0.700, 0.470 - 0.709, 0.696 - 0.771 and 0.665 - 0.813, while other dimensions from weak to moderate relationships, the r value range was from 0.386 to 0.935. With the change of the phase changing process, decision balance, self-efficacy scores were differently prompting the health-related intervention periodically and pertinently.

CONCLUSION
The reliability and validity of the 'Adolescent physical exercise behavior-psychological scales (Chinese version) ' were good, and could be used to measure the adolescent's physical training behavior-psychological conditions.


Micromechanical modeling of fracture behavior of unidirectional composites has been performed by predefining the statistical distribution of fracture planes in the fiber and fiber-matrix interfaces in 2D. Five fiber segments of 2, 3, 4, 5, & 6 micron length have been randomly assembled to generate a fiber of length 900 micron. Mixed mode cohesive elements have been used to define fracture planes between fiber segments and to define fiber-matrix debonding. Experimentally determined Weibull strength distribution for S-2 glass has been used to define the stochastic normal and shear tractions for fiber fracture. Rate dependent traction and mode II energy release rate for fiber-matrix debonding have been determined by microdroplet experiments and simulations, and have been used to define the fiber-matrix interfaces. Finally, experimentally determined rate dependent non-linear matrix behavior of DER353 epoxy has been used to model the rate dependent large deformation behavior of matrix resin. Using these stochastic distribution of crack planes and rate dependent properties, punch shear simulations have been conducted to understand rate depedendent micromechanical fracture behavior and predict the rate dependent punch shear strength and punch shear modulus of unidirectional S-2 glass/DER 353 composites.


During the 1960's in the United States of America, the fight for civil and human rights was at its emotional peak. The citizens popularly demanded changes within the legal structures. Infringements on the 14th amendment and the due process clause had become common. Gaps in equal protection under the law between race, gender, and the disabled were shameful. Since the advent of the Jim Crow laws, the struggle for freedom for African Americans was at the forefront of political and legal debate. Yet, at the same time, the struggle for equal rights for the mentally disabled was not sufficient due to a lack of "voice" owing to the inherent condition of the mentally disabled. Still to this day, the vague legal definition of mental competency to stand trial is ripe for abuse. Criminals such as Pinochet and others have used the mental competency to stand trial defence strategy to avoid trial for crimes. This book aims to strengthen and call more attention to the rights of the mentally disabled, by giving them a "voice". The analysis will help shed some light within the legal and medical community on the true vulnerable nature of mental competency to stand trial.


Rafiq Dossani Erin-Elizabeth Johnson Cameron Wright P roviders of early childhood education (ECE) are well positioned to help ensure that technology is used effectively in ECE settings. Indeed, the successful integration of technology into ECE depends on providers who have the ability to curate the most appropriate devices and content, facilitate effective patterns of use, guide families and caretakers on developmentally appropriate practice, and use technology to support provider needs. But ECE providers face significant obstacles that might limit their ability to successfully incorporate technology into the learning process. In this policy brief, we describe both the barriers providers face and the efforts that might be helpful in creating confident, knowledgeable providers who can help ensure appropriate, intentional, and productive use of technology among young children. Creating Strong Technology Curators, Facilitators, Guides, and Users Getting Early Childhood Educators Up and Running C O R P O R A T I O N POLICY BRIEF


Camera-equipped drones can capture targets on the ground from a wider field of view than static cameras or moving sensors over the ground. In this paper we present a large-scale vehicle detection and counting benchmark, named DroneVehicle, aiming at advancing visual analysis tasks on the drone platform. The images in the benchmark were captured over various urban areas, which include different types of urban roads, residential areas, parking lots, highways, etc., from day to night. Specifically, DroneVehicle consists of 15,532 pairs of images, i.e., RGB images and infrared images with rich annotations, including oriented object bounding boxes, object categories, etc. With intensive amount of effort, our benchmark has 441,642 annotated instances in 31,064 images. As a large-scale dataset with both RGB and thermal infrared (RGBT) images, the benchmark enables extensive evaluation and investigation of visual analysis algorithms on the drone platform. In particular, we design two popular tasks with the benchmark, including object detection and object counting. All these tasks are extremely challenging in the proposed dataset due to factors such as illumination, occlusion, and scale variations. We hope the benchmark largely boost the research and development in visual analysis on drone platforms. The DroneVehicle dataset can be download from this https URL.


Ordinary French doctrine does not deal with issues such as how electoral system and forms of government are connected. Usually, it accepts the so-called Law of Duverger, establishing a mechanical causality between voting system and bi- or multiparty system, assuming that multi-party system does not allow a majority in House, and causing government weakness or instability. This thesis can be criticized on theoretical and empirical grounds; therefore, both concepts must be expanded to connect electoral systems and forms of government. The French Fifth Republic is a peculiar parliamentarian regime, organized by constitution, and which configuration is determined by two political facts: first that there is a homogeneous majority in Parliament, and second that this majority can support the President of the Republic, or be opposed against him. This later derives from the respective results of two elections, both on direct universal suffrage: the elections for the President of the Republic and the ones for the Assemblee Nationale (the first chamber of Parliament). The main point to be considered in the electoral system is related to the way the two elections are organized. The 2000 constitutional amendment reduced the presidential mandate to the same length as the legislative one. Since both elections are called within two months, what counts is the order of these elections. The decision to call the Presidential elections first and the elections for the legislative organ later sets up a connection between electoral system and form of government. The specific parliamentary regime laid down by the Constitution grants a majority in Parliament to support the President�s policies, and installs a personalization of the President's power.


We report a more efficient and well-defined algorithm for predicting a secondary structure of single-stranded nucleic acid from a primary nucleotide sequence. Using this algorithm, one- and two-dimensional bonding-probability maps of 5S rRNA of thermus thermophilus HB8 were calculated. These maps well express the stability of the secondary structure.


Abstract A small Baradinae weevil that feeds on amaryllis plants has been known in Florida for over 15 years. It is yet to be named taxonomically and its life history has not been studied previously. Observations on weevil damage were made on containerized amaryllis (Hippeastrum hybrids) plants naturally infested in a greenhouse or used for colony rearing. Laboratory studies were conducted at ambient room temperature (75°C) with excised leaves to obtain information on weevil life history. Adults lived about 3 months, and fed on basal versus apical leaf tissue. Females inserted eggs near the thickened leaf base, and eggs were 0.65 ± 0.02 mm long by 0.40 ± 0.01 mm wide. Females laid >400 eggs over their lifetime, with egg production increasing over the first 7 weeks and then tending to decline. Eclosion ranged from 51% for eggs removed from host tissue within 24 h to 84% for eggs removed from host tissue after 24 h of oviposition. In tests with excised leaf tissue, eggs hatched after 7.1 d and larval development was complete after 28.8 d, of which 9.9 d were spent as prepupae. In no-choice tests, survival was lower and pupal developmental time period was longer when larvae were reared on excised bulb versus excised leaf tissue. Although larval development was poorer on bulbs versus leaves in the laboratory studies, in intact plants larvae tunnel through leaf tissue towards the bulb where they feed and complete development. In severe infestations, larvae hollow out the inside of the bulb and may cause plant death. Adult damage is primarily to the foliage through feeding and oviposition. This is the first report to quantify the life history of this weevil.


In the isolated perfused rat mesenteric vascular bed pretreated with guanethidine and precontracted with methoxamine, periarterial nerve stimulation elicited a frequency-dependent and endothelium-independent vasodilation. The sustained vasodilation was slow-onset and reversible. It was resistant to propranolol or atropine but sensitive to tetrodotoxin and capsaicin suggesting that this is a nonadrenergic-noncholinergic vasodilation and is a neurogenic response. The vasodilation was abolished by anti-serum against calcitonin-gene related peptide (CGRP) in a concentration-dependent manner. These data suggest that the non-adrenergic-noncholinergic vasodilation is mediated by endogenous CGRP released from the primary sensory nerve terminals upon electrical stimulation. In addition to the vasodilator action, CGRP also inhibited nerve stimulation-induced and norepinephrine-induced vasoconstriction at extremely low concentrations. The inhibitory action of CGRP appeared to be mediated by postsynaptic mechanisms inasmuch as evoked norepinephrine release was not affected by CGRP when the vasoconstriction produced by norepinephrine or periarterial nerve stimulation was attenuated greatly by CGRP. These observations suggest that the vascular tone of the resistance vessels can be regulated by primary sensory nerve-derived CGRP.


Author(s): Valdes, Gonzalo Daniel | Advisor(s): Hanson, Gordon | Abstract: This dissertation studies dynamic models in the context of international economics and the U.S. economy. First, the focus is on the effect of commodity shocks in an small open economy in a dynamic trade model. Then, this dissertation studies the effects of monetary policy in a dynamic trade model. Finally, dynamics between government debt and bubbles are studied considering an overlapping generation model.The first chapter, "Dutch Disease in a Dynamic International Trade Model of an Small Open Economy", models a dynamic small open economy which produces and trades final goods and a commodity. The commodity is modeled as an homogeneous good and it is demanded by the rest of the world. The dynamic system developed in this chapter relies on key parameters that characterize the small open economy. These parameters are the elasticity of substitution across final goods and the shape parameter of the Pareto distribution of productivities. In order to compute the steady-state of the economy and study the dynamics implied by the model, we estimate both the elasticity of substitution and the shape parameter of the Pareto distribution considering data for the Chilean economy, which satisfies the small open economy assumption as well as the commodity production.The second chapter, "Monetary policy in a dynamic trade model with heterogeneous firms", studies the effect of monetary policy on a dynamic model of trade with heterogeneous firms. We study the dynamic implications of monetary policies that act during "normal times" and monetary policies that leave the economy at the zero lower bound. In order to do so, we craft a model which incorporates nominal rigidities. This feature generates a friction such that nominal shocks affect real allocations in the economy. To build the model, we combine nominal frictions with firm heterogeneity as in Melitz (2003) in a dynamic setting as in Ghironi and Melitz (2005).The final chapter, "A Note on Government Debt and Bubbles", studies the interactions between government debt and bubbles in an economy. We consider a general equilibrium approach in a productive economy and we explore conditions under which government debt path in our model is consistent with the government debt path observed in the last twenty years. During that period, government debt, as share of GDP, has interacted with bubbles in a countercyclical pattern. That is, in the absence of bubbles there is an increase in the evolution of debt-to-GDP ratio, and when a bubble is traded, debt-to-GDP ratio is decreasing.


The paper analyses the so-called causal-closure thesis: "Pick any physical event (...) and trace its causal ancestry or posterity as far as you would like; the principle of causal closure of the physical domain says that this will never take you outside the physical domain. Thus, no causal chain involving a physical event will ever cross the boundary of the physical into the nonphysical" (J. Kim, Philosophy of Mind [1996], chap. 6, p. 147). I focus on two problems concerning this thesis: the first, the argument from the "open-ended character" of physics, is already well known. The other one, is more neglected, but it seems to cast a relevant shadow of circularity on the use of the causal closure thesis as an empirical principle. I end with some meta-philosophical remarks, arguing that we should not even accept causal physicalism as a philosophical 'stance': paraphrasing Wittgenstein, the limits of our physicalistic language (as well as those of our scientific language in general) do not mean the limits of our world.


INTRODUCTION
We aimed to develop a scoring system to quantify the distance between the renal hilum and renal tumour, termed the modified C index (m-CI), and to predict renal functional loss (RFL) following laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (LPN).

METHODS
The m-CI was measured by using computed tomography in 113 patients who underwent LPN between May 2003 and June 2014. The RFL following LPN was calculated by examining the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and radioisotope renography one year postoperatively. The Pythagorean theorem was used to calculate the distance from the tumour centre to the renal hilum. The distance was divided by the tumour radius to obtain the m-CI. The correlation between the m-CI and the postoperative RFL were evaluated using Pearson's coefficient values. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to assess the potential predictive factors of RFL following LPN. The correlation between the m-CI and the operative time, ischemia time, and blood loss during LPN were also evaluated by the unpaired t-test.

RESULTS
Pearson's coefficient values between the postoperative RFL and the m-CI and C index were 0.294 and 0.173, respectively. In the multivariate analysis, the resected volume (p=0.031) and m-CI (p=0.036) significantly correlated with the postoperative RFL following LPN. The operative time (p<0.001), ischemia time (p=0.028), and blood loss (p=0.047) during LPN was significantly longer and larger, respectively, in the group with shorter m-CI (≤4.5) than in the group with the longer m-CI (>4.5).

CONCLUSIONS
The present study demonstrates that the m-CI can predict RFL following LPN, as well as the surgical difficulty.


The political changes taking place in Ethiopia since 1 99 1 have led to the proliferation of the debate on human rigl'tts. The period after 1 99 1 has also been characterized by the  emergence of new actors, notably  non-government organizations (NGOs) some of which have made human rights the focus of their activities. The experiences of one of these NGOs in Ethiopia, that is Eneweyay Civic and Social Education Centre (ECSEC) and its educational programme in human rights are the focus of this paper. ECSEC maintained that the overaI1 objective of its programme of education is to create awareness on human rights and democracy among the Ethiopian peoples, and to create an environment in which the people could better exercise their rights. Accordingly, the assessment based on focus group discussions and individual interviews of the participants indicated that the educational programme of ECSEC's contributed to the organizations objective in terms of creating awareness in human rights among the participants in the programme. Secondly, this article argues that the creation of an alternative space for discussion of human rights issues could be one of the major achievements of the programme ECSEC conducted. The analyses in this paper demonstrates that despite the challenges posed by the uncertainty surrounding the continuity of the programme and the political context of human rights violations a programme of education based on an innovative and effective method could contribute to the expansion of the space for discussing human rights at the societal level, as part and parcel of attempts to institutionalise  human rights in the context of contemporary political developments in Ethiopia and beyond.


In this introduction to the Focus Section "Learning as a Geographical Process," I provide a context for the four articles that follow, by means of (1) making explicit the threefold rationale for this initiative; (2) relating this initiative with previous geographical scholarship on the problematic of learning; (3) highlighting the significance of the self-referential character of our work; (4) providing a brief outline of the articles that follow; and (5) pointing out the important fact that both "learning" and "geographical process" constitute semantically rich categories and that relating the two involves a many-to-many type of logical mapping.


Abstract This article recalls the recognition–colonialism conjuncture to examine how prior normative rights to self-determination, independence and decolonisation influence current recognition practice, and asks how they compete with contingent factors. The interrogation of this interpretive process provides insights into how recognition of states operates. This reveals how state recognition in current colonial conflicts is qualified based on an assessment of contingent factors such as the international consensus and level of involvement. For this purpose, Sweden's recognition practice towards Palestine and Western Sahara present apposite empirical cases. This article argues that the practice of recognition is a hermeneutic and evolving process, which is contingent on the interpretation of different situational and political aspects. This has far-reaching implications for international recognition and order, as colonised/occupied peoples' prior normative right to self-determination and independence ends up being qualified, contested and adjudicated in connection with contingent political factors.


PURPOSE
We describe our three-year experience with the laparoscopically assisted anorectal pullthrough for high imperforate anus using laparoscopic muscle electrostimulation.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
From March 2001 to January 2004, 7 patients with a diagnosis of high anorectal malformation underwent laparoscopically assisted anorectal pull-through. The patients, all males aged from 4 to 9 months (mean age, 5.8 months), presented with a rectourethral fistula. The associated malformations noted were sacral malformation, laryngeal stenosis, urethral duplication, multicystic kidney, nonpalpable testis, and esophageal atresia. All patients were treated with a colostomy in the newborn period followed by a delayed laparoscopically assisted anorectal pullthrough. Laparoscopy included stimulation of the puborectal muscle, using a modified Peña electrostimulator introduced through a trocar. All patients underwent a postoperative period of anal dilatation.

RESULTS
In 6 cases the laparoscopically assisted anorectal pull-through was successful; there was 1 conversion to the open technique, due to strong tension from the colostomy.

CONCLUSION
Although longer follow-up to evaluate continence is to come, laparoscopically assisted anorectal pull-through should be considered for the correction of the high imperforate anus and, according to our experience, it represents the gold standard. It offers the advantage of good visualization of the fistula and the surrounding structures and minimally invasive abdominal and perineal wounds. With the laparoscopic Peña stimulator the direct observation of the contraction of the puborectalis sling allows an evaluation of the functional contractility and an accurate colonic pullthrough in the center of the muscle complex.


This paper investigates a simple model for the evolution of the central Australian (Amadeus, Officer and Ngalia) basins and the adjacent Canning and Bonaparte Gulf basins at the time of the Alice Springs orogeny. Supported by evidence from surface geology, stratigraphic correlations, structural geology, recent deep seismic and gravity anomaly data, the proposed model suggests a genetic link between the two groups of basins. The model calls for a crustal scale shear zone, which has been named by the authors, the Lasseter Shear Zone, running through the Halls Creek Province and continuing south between the Canning and Amadeus basins and beneath the Western Officer Basin. This shear zone would have been active during the Middle Devonian to early Carboniferous, separating crustal blocks in compression to the east from crustal blocks in extension to the west. Several driving mechanisms acting along the margins of the Australian plate can be called upon to account for the contrasting, yet contemporary, types of deformation on either side of the shear zone.


Currently, there are a number of therapeutic schemes used for the treatment of various types of musculoskeletal disorders. However, despite the use of new treatment options, therapeutic failure remains common due to impaired and delayed healing, or implant rejection. Faced with this challenge, in recent years regenerative medicine started looking for alternative solutions that could additionally support tissue regeneration. This review aims to outline the functions and possible clinical applications of, and future hopes associated with, using autologous or heterologous products such as antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), microvesicles (MVs), and neutrophil degranulation products (DGP) obtained from circulating neutrophils. Moreover, different interactions between neutrophils and platelets are described. Certain products released from neutrophils are critical for interactions between different immune cells to ensure adequate tissue repair. By acting directly and indirectly on host cells, these neutrophil-derived products can modulate the body's inflammatory responses in various ways. The development of new formulations based on these products and their clinically proven success would give hope for significant progress in regenerative therapy in human and veterinary medicine.


Abstract. The geometrical shapes and the physical properties of stellar wind – interstellar medium interaction regions form an important stage for studying stellar winds and their embedded magnetic fields as well as cosmic ray modulation. Our goal is to provide a proper representation and classification of counter-flow configurations and counter-flow interfaces in the frame of fluid theory. In addition we calculate flows and large-scale electromagnetic fields based on which the large-scale dynamics and its role as possible background for particle acceleration, e.g., in the form of anomalous cosmic rays, can be studied. We find that for the definition of the boundaries, which are determining the astropause shape, the number and location of magnetic null points and stagnation points is essential. Multiple separatrices can exist, forming a highly complex environment for the interstellar and stellar plasma. Furthermore, the formation of extended tail structures occur naturally, and their stretched field and streamlines provide surroundings and mechanisms for the acceleration of particles by field-aligned electric fields.


The article deals with the problem of judges' professionalism as a basis for the staffing in the courts. It has been found that the quality of judicial administration of the courts depends on the professionalism of the judges, and has been noted that it is therefore advisable to exercise proper judicial personnel management. The attention has been payed to the experience of assessing the professionalism of judges as a basis for proper court staffing in the Republic of Latvia, the Netherlands and Ukraine. It has been found that the determination of the professionalism of judges is carried out through the initial evaluation of candidates for the position of judges and the systematic evaluation of judges. It has been noted that in the Republic of Latvia and the Netherlands it is advisable to pay attention to ensuring the independence of the entities that are involved in the process of evaluation, because the current situation may transform the procedure of appointing and examining the professional qualities of judges in order to ensure quality justice to the instrument of pressure on judges and the spreading of corruption in the courts. It has been concluded that in Ukraine the procedure of evaluating judges is also imperfect, but the problem of paramount importance is the minimization of the risks of abuse in the judges' professionalism evaluation.


Composite indicators aggregate a lot of information in one index based on which countries are often ranked. However, the position of a country can largely be influenced by the methodological choices made during the composite indicator process. This process consists of several phases such as selecting appropriate indicators, normalising the indicator values, assigning a weight to each indicator and selecting an aggregator. In order to guarantee a robust index considering several possibilities and alternative techniques during each phase, an uncertainty and sensitivity analysis is essential. Researchers, policymakers as well as the community of road users will benefit from such analysis. The most influencing methodological aspects will be indicated for which extra information is most valuable in order to reduce the uncertainty in the end result. Incorporating the necessary uncertainty and sensitivity analysis in the process is an aspect that will enlarge the acceptability of composite indicators. In this research, the road safety ranking of countries based on different weighting and indicator options is studied. The results show that the ranking of countries differs significantly according to the selected weighting method, expert and set of indicators. Of these three factors, the indicator set resulted to be the most influencing factor. Additional research on the selection of appropriate indicators (beside other aspects) will reduce the uncertainty in ranking and help in obtaining a robust road safety index.


Parkinson's disease (PD) is a nervous system disorder first described as a neurological condition in 1817. It is one of the more prevalent diseases in the elderly, and Alzheimer's is the second most common neurodegenerative illness. It impacts the patient's movement. Symptoms start gradually with tremors, stiffness in movement, and speech and voice disorders. Researches proved that 89% of patients with Parkinson's has speech disorder including uncertain articulation, hoarse and breathy voice and monotone pitch. The cause behind this voice change is the reduction of dopamine due to damage of neurons in the substantia nigra responsible for dopamine production. In this work, Parkinson's disease is classified with the help of human voice signals. Six different machine learning (ML) algorithms are used in the classification: Stochastic Gradient Descent (SGD) Classifier, Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGB) Classifier, Logistic Regression Classifier, Random Forest Classifier, K-Nearest Neighbour (KNN) Classifier, and Decision Tree (DT) Classifier. This research aims to classify Parkinson's disease using human voice signals and extract essential features to reduce the complexity of the dataset. Then, human voice signals are analyzed to check the voice intensity and spectrum for PD patients. Then, machine learning classifiers are applied to classify the PD patients based on the extracted features. The results show that SGD-Classifier has 91% accuracy, XGB-Classifier has 95% accuracy, Logistic Regression has 91% accuracy, Random Forest shows 97% accuracy, KNN shows 95% accuracy, and Decision Tree has 95% accuracy. Hence, Random Forest has the highest accuracy. The disease can be studied more by looking for more characteristics of PD patients to enhance its proper use in the medical field.


The conjugation system of the IncP alpha plasmid RK2/RP4 is encoded by transfer regions designated Tra1, Tra2, and Tra3. The Tra1 core region, cloned on plasmid pDG4 delta 22, consists of the origin of transfer (oriT) and 2.6 kilobases of flanking DNA providing IncP alpha plasmid-specific functions that allow pDG4 delta 22 to be mobilized by the heterologous IncP beta plasmid R751. Tn5 insertions in pDG4 delta 22 define a minimal 2.2-kilobase region required for plasmid-specific transfer of oriT. The Tra1 core contains the traJ and traK genes as well as an 18-kilodalton open reading frame downstream of traJ. The traJ and traK genes were shown to be required for transfer by complementation of inserts within these genes. Genetic evidence for the role of the 18-kilodalton open reading frame in transfer was obtained, although this protein has not been detected in cell lysates. These studies indicate that at least three transfer proteins are involved in plasmid-specific interactions at oriT.


Hot-carrier effects (HCE) induced by the parasitic bipolar transistor (PBT) action are thoroughly investigated in deep submicron N-channel SOI MOSFETs for a wide range of temperature and gate length. A multistage device degradation is highlighted for all the experimental conditions. Original V/sub t/ variations are also obtained for short-channel devices, a reduction of the threshold voltage being observed for intermediate values of stress time in the case of high stress drain biases. At low temperature (LT), an improvement of the device aging can be obtained in the low V/sub d/ range because of the significant reduction of the leakage current in the PBT regime. However, in the case of high V/sub d/, since the strong leakage current cannot be suppressed at LT, the device aging is larger than that obtained at room temperature. On the other hand, the device lifetime in off-state operation is carefully predicted as a function of gate length with various methods. Numerical simulations are also used in order to propose optimized silicon-on-insulator (SOI) architectures for alleviating the PBT action and improving the device performance and reliability.


The interest for short-reach links of the kind needed for inter-data-center communications has fueled in recent years the search for transmission schemes that are simultaneously highly performing and cost effective. In this work we propose a direct-detection coherent receiver that combines the advantages of coherent transmission and the cost-effectiveness of direct detection. The working principle of the proposed receiver is based on the famous Kramers–Kronig (KK) relations, and its implementation requires transmitting a continuous-wave signal at one edge of the information-carrying signal spectrum. The KK receiver scheme allows digital postcompensation of linear propagation impairments and, as compared to other existing solutions, is more efficient in terms of spectral occupancy and energy consumption.


This paper gives both the solutions to the puzzles of quantum gravity and a general theory of quantum gravity, and discovers their relations reflecting symmetric propertis of the standard nonlinear gravitational Lagrangian., which are not relevant to any concrete metric models. This paper concretely shows the general commutation relations of the general gravitational field operators and their zeroth, first, second and third style, respectively, of high order canonical momentum operators for the general nonlinear system of the standard gravitational Lagrangian, and then has finished all the four styles of the quantization of the standard gravity. No needing, as usual, to solve the Euler-Lagrange equation to complete the whole process of the quantization of the standard gravitational fields, namely, this paper novelly simplifies all the current quantization theories of the standard gravitational fields. So lots of the complex calculations of quantum gravitational field theories up to now can be omitted to make the physical picture clearer, simpler and more easily understanding. Therefore, the solutions to puzzles of quantum gravity are given. Consequently, this paper opens a door to study and give a general theory of the quantum gravitational field don't depending on any concrete metric models.


Abstract Background There is a limited understanding of the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on the Latinx population. We hypothesized that Latinx patients would be more likely to be hospitalized and admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) than White patients. Methods We analyzed all patients with COVID-19 in 12 Massachusetts hospitals between February 1 and April 14, 2020. We examined the association between race, ethnicity, age, reported comorbidities, and hospitalization and ICU admission using multivariable regression. Results Of 5190 COVID-19 patients, 29% were hospitalized; 33% required the ICU, and 4.3% died. Forty-six percent of patients were White, 25% Latinx, 14% African American, and 3% Asian American. Ethnicity and race were significantly associated with hospitalization. More Latinx and African American patients in the younger age groups were hospitalized than whites. Latinxs and African Americans disproportionally required the ICU, with 39% of hospitalized Latinx patients requiring the ICU compared with 33% of African Americans, 24% of Asian Americans, and 30% of Whites (P < .007). Within each ethnic and racial group, age and male gender were independently predictive of hospitalization. Previously reported preexisting comorbidities contributed to the need for hospitalization in all racial and ethnic groups (P < .05). However, the observed disparities were less likely related to reported comorbidities, with Latinx and African American patients being admitted at twice the rate of Whites, regardless of such comorbidities. Conclusions Latinx and African American patients with COVID-19 have higher rates of hospitalization and ICU admission than White patients. The etiologies of such disparities are likely multifactorial and cannot be explained only by reported comorbidities.


Author: Stephen A. Mayo Title: Change blindness in the synthetic vision primary flight display: Comparing eye tracking patterns with pilot attention Institution: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Degree: Master of Science in Human Factors and Systems Year: 2009 There have been a number of important advances in aviation technology that have made the safety rating of flying the best that it has ever been. One of the most important advances made has been in the interface that the pilot relies on for their most critical information during flight. New aviation displays have empirically shown a wide range of improvements across pilot performance. Despite these improvements, there is still a high possibility that pilots may miss pertinent information that changes may occur simultaneously with some sort of distraction a concept known as change blindness. This study analyzed how pilots use their primary flight display during a change blindness paradigm in conjunction with an eye tracker to investigate the link between where the pilot was visually looking and the instruments they were attending. Patterns indicated that pilots use a hub-and-spoke eye scanning pattern during normal flight, focusing mostly in the center of the display. Despite this, change blindness had little effect, emphasizing the display's inherent ease of


A study has been conducted on the bulging process of liquid rocket engine nozzle which is essential to the manufacturing regenerative cooling combustion chamber. Mechanical properties of the material used for the bulging were experimentally obtained by tension tests. Deformation of the bulged nozzle was confirmed by a structural analysis. The developed bulging process and the deformation analysis result were confirmed by manufacturing of the bulged nozzle specimens and the bulging test. There has been a bulging failure among 7 bulged specimens due to the necking of the material. The cause of necking was investigated by comparing microstructure of the material. The investigation has revealed grain size of the material has considerable effect on the occurrence of the neckingヨ⨀ጊ缀Ѐ㘰〻Ԁ䭃䑎䷙3㠵㬅K䍄乍쐗ጊ谀Ѐ㌸㠻Ԁ䭃䑎䶯᜜፭


We compare two methods for modeling context in the framework of a hybrid hidden Markov model (HMM)/multilayer perceptron (MLP) speaker-independent continuous speech recognition system. The first method for modeling context is based on the computation of HMM context-dependent observation probabilities using a Bayesian factorization in terms of scaled posterior phone probabilities that are computed with a set of MLPs, one for every relevant context. The second method is based on the use of input features composed of extended multiframe windows of acoustic vectors that include the acoustic information of the current phone as well as various degrees of the acoustic information of the adjacent left and right phones. Experimental results using a hybrid HMM-MLP speaker-independent continuous speech recognition system show that the first approach, based on connectionist context-dependent estimation of observation probabilities, is more efficient in the use of parameters for the same level of recognition performance.


An excimer laser spectrometer was designed and constructed. It consists of a high-vacuum interaction chamber, a short-wavelength (λ = 193 nm) excimer ArF laser used for evaporation, a probe dye laser pumped by an XeCl excimer laser, and a system for recording a laser-induced fluorescence signal. This spectrometer was used to investigate nonthermal mechanisms of photoevaporation of a number of wide-gap dielectrics.


In eukaryotic cells, DNA replication is tightly regulated to occur only once per cell cycle. DNA licensing is a mechanism to guarantee this aim; that is, licensing of replication initiation is permitted during late M phase to G1 phase. The license is canceled by the start of DNA replication. Once DNA replication begins, the license is never given until the next late M phase. The licensing corresponds to the process of assembling components of the pre-replication complex (pre-RC) on the replication origin DNA. This pre-RC is the target of several different regulation systems to prevent rereplication of DNA during a single cell cycle. In this review, the regulation mechanisms mainly in mammals to control assembling components of the pre-RC will be discussed.


Diversification of agriculture is considered essential to minimise the risk of crop failure, earn foreign exchange, alleviate poverty, and to make optimum use of slack resources. This study was based on primary as well as secondary data collected from a sample of 120 farmers. A three stage stratified random sampling was followed in drawing the sample cultivators. To study the magnitude of crop, income and employment diversification, Herfindhal and Entropy indices were calculated. The multiple linear regression models were estimated to study the factors affecting crop, income, and employment diversification. The results revealed that for crop acreage and income diversification, large farms had more diversified cropping pattern and income structure than small farms of both irrigated as well as unirrigated areas. In the overall farms analysis, un-irrigated areas were found to be more diversified in terms of number of crops than irrigated farms, whereas reverse was observed for income diversification. For employment diversification, large farms had more diversified employment pattern than small farms of irrigated areas, while reverse was observed for un-irrigated areas. In the overall farms situation, the pattern of employment was found to be more diversified, in un-irrigated areas than in case of irrigated areas. The regression results for the determinants of income diversification inferred that both the economic factors such as size of operational holding, number of fragments of holdings, dummy variable for bullock and the extent of tenancy as well as social factors like family size and age of the head of family were found to be significant factors, irrespective of farms categories, for explaining the process of income diversification, in both irrigated as well as un-irrigated agriculture. While family size, age and education level of the head of the family, size of operational holding, gross farm income and dummy variable for bullock were found to be the important determinants of off-farm income diversification in both irrigated as well as un-irrigated agriculture, irrespective of the farm categories.


In the perspective of selenium as an antioxidant and anti-carcinogen, so far no strong intervention trials with selenium over radiation-treated oral squamous cell carcinoma cases have been conducted, to examine the response of the disease and the subsequent biochemical alterations. In the present study, untreated oral cancer cases (Gp II) were compared with radiation-treated groups with and without selenium (Gp IIa, IIb), forward to find the trace elements and cancer biomarkers status, at a follow-up of 6 months. Severe alteration in the trace elements levels of Se, Cu, Fe, Zn, Na, K, Ca, Cl, were noticed in Gp II. Though Gp IIa showed slight improvement, administration of selenium (Gp IIb) improved the level of all these elements to a greater extent (p<0.001). GpII and IIa showed increased level of bio markers 5'-nucleotidase, PschE, LAP, γ-GTP, LDH, SGOT, SGPT, ACP, ALP, CPK, TNF, CEA, AFP, Scc-Ag. The greater extent of restitution to near normalcy was observed in patients given selenium (Gp IIb) (p<0.001). Owing to the fact that selenium scavengers oxidants and hence decelerate carcinogenesis by eliminating tumors, so the tumor released constituents into the systemic circulation declined significantly. Therefore, the outcome of the study suggests selenium as a valuable therapeutic measure as adjuvant for oral cancer patients undergoing cancerocidal radiotherapy.


An integral test for some multidimensional Levy processes is given. A law of the iterated logarithm of Chover type is derived from it as a corollary. This law was pointed out by Chover in the case of one-dimensional symmetric stable processes with discrete time.


Numerical solutions of electromagnetic fields are presented for the scattering by pits and guide grooves on optical disks. The boundary element method can be applied to pit scattering of various pit forms under different conditions of the incident beam. Scattering characteristics from concave or convex pits with a section of trapezoid shapes are calculated as functions of the width or the depth (height) of pits. The maximum interference effects due to disk pits are discussed, and optimum pit shapes are found. Near-field and induced currents are also studied for different polarizations.


In a review of cases of neoplasia in dogs seen at The Animal Medical Center during a 6-year period, 20 cases of primary urethral tumors were found. The majority of these cases were in older dogs (av abe, 10.4 years) and females (18/20). The most common clinical signs were hematuria and stranguria. Nineteen of the 20 tumors were diagnosed clinically, and the most consistent and useful diagnostic method was pneumocystography-cystography, with voiding urethrography. Of the 5 tumor types (squamous cell carcinoma, transitional cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, hemangiosarcoma, and embryonic rhabdomyosarcoma), squamous cell carcinoma was the most common (12/20). Metastasis occurred in 6 of the 20 dogs. Because of metastasis to regional lymph nodes and diffuse extent of the tumor in the urethra in many of the dogs, a caudal abdominal approach for surgical excision is recommended if treatment is attempted.


This video contains footage of drinking songs in both Mongghul and Tibetan. Because local Mongghul have been affected by Tibetans, some Tibetan oral literature has been adopted by Mongghul. The Tibetan employed here is a local variety understood only Tibetans in the area. These dinking songs may sung at any celebratory gatherings.
在这个录像里包含了酒歌的几个片段是由藏语和土语唱的。由于在历史上当地的土族受到藏文化的影响,所以有些口头文学从他们的祖先传承下来。但是他们的藏语只有当地附近的藏族才会听的懂。