The present paper attempted to determine the factors that might affect turnover intention. Although the research participants consisted of 234 employees of PT Petrosea, only samples from 152 employees were used. The samples were derived by using the simple random sampling method and collected through a questionnaire. The collected data was then analyzed based on the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with an application software called Lisrell. The results showed that the following variables, adversity quotient, job satisfaction, and job motivation, did not have a significant effect on turnover intention. However, the regression equation showed that the higher scores of adversity quotient, job satisfaction, and job motivation would make turnover intention lower. Thus, to prevent staff or labor turnover, a company is advised to select those prospective employees that have a higher score of adversity quotient since it has a significant effect on job satisfaction and motivation. This might result in decreasing turnover intention.


In 1949 and 1950, Dudley and his associates (1, 2) showed that radiogallium 72 concentrated in areas of osteogenic activity, but Brucer et al. (3) subsequently demonstrated the impracticability of use of the isotope therapeutically because of toxicity of the non-radioactive carrier. Later, Desgrez et al. (4) investigated further the distribution of radioactive gallium in the skeleton and particularly in bone tumors. More recently Bauer and his co-workers (5, 6) found a high uptake of Sr85 by external counting over skeletal lesions such as fractures, metastatic carcinoma, eosinophilic granuloma, chondroma, osteomyelitis, and Paget's disease. In 1961, Fleming and his group first demonstrated the use of Sr85 for the photoscanning of bone lesions (7). Strontium 85 is admirably suited for photoscanning since, in its decay by electron capture to stable rubidium 85, a single gamma photon of 0.51 Mev is emitted. The material is administered intravenously, 50 µc to adults and 20 µc to patients under twenty years o...


OBJECTIVE
We aim to explore and identify the high abundance of peptides in urine.

METHODS
Random urine samples from 30 healthy individuals were purified by weak cationic-exchange magnetic beads (MB-WCX) and then analyzed by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). Then the generated mass spectra of peptides were handled by ClinPro-Tools2.1 bioinformatics software and the high abundance of urinary peptide was filtered. Subsequently, the amino acid sequences of highly expressed peptides were identified by a nano-liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and the corresponding protein names were found by Sequest search.

RESULTS
There were 159 urinary peptides of which mass to charge ratios (m/z) varied between 1,000 and 10,000 in the 30 healthy samples. Only peaks with average intensity >600 and the frequency >50% in the whole group were filtered. There were 15 peptides passed though the threshold and they were identified as fragments of fibrinogen alpha chain precursor, vitronectin precursor, inter-alpha-trypsin inhibitor heavy chain H4, complement component 3, prothrombin, apolipoprotein C-II, and alpha-fetoprotein.

CONCLUSION
These urinary peptides could be used for further research on urine.


Genes located on the CTX element and the Vibrio cholerae pathogenicity island (VPI) were investigated in 297 clinical V. cholerae O1 and 76 environmental O1 and non-O1 isolates from Brazil between 1991 and 1999. RAPD analysis suggested that serogroup O1 strains regardless of clinical or environmental source were clonal while non-O1 strains showed greater diversity. PCR analysis showed that 71% of O1 clinical isolates had a complete set of CTX element target genes (ctxA, ctxB, zot and ace) and 68% a complete set of the VPI genes studied (orf1, aldA, tagA, tcpA, toxT and int genes). The results also showed that 72.4% of environmental O1 isolates possessed ctxA, ctxB, zot and ace genes while environmental non-O1 strains rarely possessed virulence genes. Our data are consistent with the hypothesis that the CTX element and the VPI can have a mosaic structure in some V. cholerae strains, genotype diversity is due to the circulation of virulence genes which are more commonly found in O1 strains in Brazil. This study also shows that the aquatic environment is a potential source for virulence genes and toxigenic V. cholerae during epidemic periods.


The spectroscopic analysis of plume emissions is a non-intrusive method which has been used to check for fatigue and possible damage throughout the pumps and other mechanisms in a rocket motor or engine. These components are made of various alloys. Knowing the composition of the alloys and for which parts they are used, one can potentially determine from the emissions in the plume which component is failing. Currently, optical multichannel analyser systems are being used which utilize charge coupled devices, cost tens of thousands of dollars, are somewhat delicate, and usually require cooling. We have developed two rugged instruments using less expensive linear photodiode arrays as detectors. A high-resolution system was used to detect atomic emission lines while a low-resolution system was used to detect molecular emission bands. We have also written data acquisition software and built electronic circuits to control the arrays and collect data. While the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has used similar systems for characterization of the space shuttle main engine, the emissions from other rocket systems have not been surveyed so well. The two instruments described will be utilized to study hybrid rocket emissions at the University of Arkansas-Little Rock hybrid rocket facility.


The trace metal manganese (Mn) plays a significant role in seawater as it is bio-essential for phytoplankton. Mn plays a critical role as a redox center in Photosystem II (PSII) during the conversion of water to oxygen in photosynthesis. It is also essential in other redox related enzymatic processes; in particular Mn is important as the active metal center in superoxide dismutase (SOD) which provides intracellular protection against oxidative stress due to photochemically produced superoxide (O2 ). Mn exists in seawater in three redox states: soluble and prevalent Mn(II), insoluble Mn(III) and Mn(IV)-oxides. In the euphotic zone the biogeochemical cycling of Mn is strongly influenced by reactive oxygen species (ROS). The highly reactive and short-lived superoxide (O2 ) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) can both act as oxidants and reductants, and they play a key role in the Mn processes in seawater. For example the dominant Mn sources to the open ocean are the Mn-oxides which are present in atmospheric dust which are reduced to soluble Mn(II) by photochemically produced H2O2. While these processes have been crudely identified, the dominant reactions and mechanisms of Mn and ROS in seawater are poorly understood. This lack of knowledge demands investigations into the in-situ dissolution processes of Mn from dust and into studying the exact reaction mechanisms between Mn and ROS in the euphotic zone. This thesis comprises four manuscripts. Manuscripts 1 and 2 (Wuttig et al., subm., 2013a; Wuttig et al., subm., 2013b) focus on the cycling and reaction mechanisms of Mn and ROS. Manuscript 3 (Wuttig et al., in prep., 2013) addresses differences in the input and distribution of cadmium (Cd), iron (Fe) and Mn in the Eastern Tropical Atlantic Ocean off Cape Verde, and manuscript 4 (Wuttig et al., 2013) describes Mn cycling after dust additions in a trace metal clean mesocosm experiment in the Mediterranean Sea. This study has conclusively shown that Mn and organic matter are the dominant sinks for O2 in the Eastern Tropical North Atlantic (manuscripts 1; Wuttig et al., subm., 2013a). Mn dominates this decay especially in the surface waters which are influenced by high atmospheric dust deposition and near the sediment/water interface due to Mn sediment resuspension. This contrasts with current knowledge based on findings from the Mn poor Southern Ocean where copper (Cu) was shown to be the major sink. In manuscript 2 it is demonstrated that O2 decays by reaction with inorganic Mn(II) in seawater following a first order loss rate which appears to involve a catalytic reaction involving the Mn(II)/MnO2+ couple, in which MnO2+ is a manganous superoxide complex (Wuttig et al., subm., 2013a). Thus in sunlit and oxygenated waters Mn(III) is unlikely to be found in significant concentrations when strong Mn(III) binding ligands are not present. In other studies Mn(III) was found under anoxic conditions in the presence of unknown strong Mn(III) binding ligands. Therefore, in contrast to the Mn(II)/MnO2+ pair, Mn(III) cannot act as a SOD in the oxygenated surface ocean. In the Eastern Tropical North Atlantic Ocean atmospheric dust is the main source of Mn to surface waters (manuscript 3; Wuttig et al., in prep., 2013). However this study provides clear evidence that equatorial upwelling and sediment resuspension are important Mn sources in this region. In contrast to findings from the Eastern Tropical Pacific, where unexpected high surface concentrations were observed, no secondary Mn(II) maximum was found in the Eastern Tropical North Atlantic Ocean. This could have been introduced by a combination of lateral transport of Mn rich waters from the coastal margins and reduction of Mn-oxides. While Aeolian sources were predominantly influencing Mn and also Fe cycling in the Eastern Tropical Atlantic, Cd was not controlled by dust deposition (manuscript 3; Wuttig et al., in prep., 2013). These biologically relevant elements exhibited contrasting distribution patterns. For Fe and Mn, atmospheric depositions masked a classical nutrient type profile, while Cd was very depleted at the surface and concentrations steadily increased with depth. Cd was highly correlated to Phosphate (hereafter referred to as P). The Cd/P ratio was mainly controlled by P with elevated concentrations at depth resulting in strongly differing ratios in surface and subsurface layers of 16.6 pmol / µmol and 237 pmol / µmol, respectively. The complex photochemical processes during the dissolution of Mn dust are also subject of manuscript 4. This paper describes a mesocosm project in the Mediterranean with two consecutive additions of evapocondensed dust conducted. The data also show that the dissolution and loss rates of Mn were comparable during both seedings. The calculated fractional solubilities for the first and the second dust addition were 41 ± 9 % and 27 ± 19 %, respectively. The results presented in this thesis have significantly improved our understanding of Mn distribution and especially cycling in the euphotic zone. An insight into the mechanisms between Mn and ROS and into the dissolution processes from dust is given.


This paper outlines the conception of effective innovation and discusses the method to achieve it. Effective Innovation is constrained on the path of technological evolution so that the corresponding path must be detected before conceptual design of the product. The process of products technological evolution is a technical developing process that the products approach to Ideal Final Result (IFR). During the process, the sustaining innovation and disruptive innovation carry on alternately. By researching and forecasting potential techniques using TRIZ technological evolution theory, the effective innovation can be achieved finally.


Unlike most books on slavery in the Americas, this social history of Africans and their enslaved descendants in colonial Costa Rica recounts the journey of specific people from West Africa to the New World. Tracing the experiences of Africans on two Danish slave ships that arrived in Costa Rica in 1710, the Christianus Quintus and Fredericus Quartus, the author examines slavery in Costa Rica from 1600 to 1750. Lohse looks at the ethnic origins of the Africans and narrates their capture and transport to the coast, their embarkation and passage, and finally their acculturation to slavery and their lives as slaves in Costa Rica. Following the experiences of girls and boys, women and men, he shows how the conditions of slavery in a unique local setting determined the constraints that slaves faced and how they responded to their condition.


In Robot Assisted Minimally Invasive Surgery, discriminating critical subsurface structures is essential to make the surgical procedure safer and more efficient. In this paper, a novel robot assisted electrical bio-impedance scanning (RAEIS) system is developed and validated using a series of experiments. The proposed system constructs a tri-polar sensing configuration for tissue homogeneity inspection. Specifically, two robotic forceps are used as electrodes for applying electric current and measuring reciprocal voltages relative to a ground electrode which is placed distal from the measuring site. Compared to existing electrical bioimpedance sensing technology, the proposed system is able to use miniaturized electrodes to measure a site flexibly with enhanced subsurfacial detection capability. This paper presents the concept, the modeling of the sensing method, the hardware design, and the system calibration. Subsequently, a series of experiments are conducted for system evaluation including finite element simulation, saline solution bath experiments and experiments based on ex vivo animal tissues. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed system can measure the resistivity of the material with high accuracy, and detect a subsurface non-homogeneous object with 100% success rate. The proposed parameters estimation algorithm is able to approximate the resistivity and the depth of the subsurface object effectively with one fast scanning.


The work presented in this paper is aimed at deepening the optimisation of the energy performance of highly insulated buildings in summer conditions through the application of an original methodology of thermal analysis. The methodology, already presented in a previous work (Ballarini et al., 2011), allows us to investigate the building energy balance and identify the most important parameters affecting the energy performance under certain conditions. The analysis is developed through the application of a dynamic simulation tool (EnergyPlus). The methodology consists of analysing the different contributions to the convective energy balance on internal air and their interrelations with different boundary conditions. Each contribution is split according to the dynamic driving forces of outdoor and indoor environment, i.e. external air temperature, solar radiation, internal air temperature and internal heat sources, and it is referred separately to the specific groups of components that exchange heat with internal air. This work focuses on the application of the above thermal analysis to a highly insulated single-family house in summer conditions, in two different Italian climatic zones. The methodology provides the mean values and the standard deviations of the contributions to the convective energy balance on internal air, and allows both to identify the main causes of low energy performance and to quantify the effects of possible retrofit or operational measures. As an exemplification, the effect of increasing the air change rate by natural ventilation during the night is investigated. The results show how the energy performance could be improved also in highly insulated buildings located in warm climates


Extracted from Volumes 1, 8, and 18. Includes Jung's Foreword to Phenomenes Occultes (1939), "On the Psychology and Pathology of So-called Occult Phenomena," "The Psychological Foundations of Belief in Spirits," "The Soul and Death," "Psychology and Spiritualism," "On Spooks: Heresy or Truth?" and Foreword to Jaffe: Apparitions and Precognition.


This paper presents a compositional approach to specification-guided abstraction refinement for control synthesis of a nonlinear system associated with a method to over-approximate its reachable sets. The control specification consists in following a lasso-shaped sequence of regions of the state space. The dynamics are decomposed into subsystems with partial control, partial state observation and possible overlaps between their respective observed state spaces. A finite abstraction is created for each subsystem through a refinement procedure, which starts from a coarse partition of the state space and then proceeds backwards on the lasso sequence to iteratively split the elements of the partition whose coarseness prevents the satisfaction of the specification. The composition of the local controllers obtained for each subsystem is proved to enforce the desired specification on the original system. This approach is illustrated in a nonlinear numerical example.


In the traditional implementation methodology, a range of target voltage levels as defined in the Unified Power Format (UPF) together with the regular timing constraints are applied during the timing, area and power optimization stages of RTL-to-gate mapping. However, this approach usually requires stronger-driving-strength and bigger-size combinational and sequential standard cell mapping for maintaining the degraded performance caused by lower supply voltage. In this paper, an innovative power-saving design platform, using an analysis flow that effectively integrates the following methodologies, was proposed: (1) path retiming, slack redistribution, and modified razor insertions; (2) customized vector-free approaches and the automation procedures of generating corresponding and randomized stimulus for early-stage static and dynamic voltage-aware power analysis; and (3) precise prediction via Design Dependent Critical Path Monitor (DDCPM) for avoiding the happening of unexpected timing violations caused by the aggressive scaling of supply voltage during the fine-grained DVFS. Accordingly, not only dramatic reductions of power consumption and chip area but the serious routing congestion issues often happened in a design with high occupation of long-depth critical timing paths could also be effectively alleviated. One of our experimental results in TSMC 55nm process node shows the maximum power and area reduction is 62.7% and 29.1%, respectively.


The relationship between the clinical course and a family history of affective disorder among 377 carefully diagnosed male primary alcoholics admitted to the Alcohol Treatment Program (ATP) at the San Diego Veterans Administration Medical Center is evaluated. Data were gathered from interviews with patients and two resource persons at intake and from patients and one resource person interview obtained on 361 (95%) of the men 12 months after discharge. The 37 primary alcoholic men (10%) who had a first-degree family member with affective disorder were themselves more likely to have had secondary depressions and to have experienced more alcohol-related problems at 1-year follow-up than the 90% of primary alcoholic men without such family histories. However, many clinical characteristics associated with a family history of affective disorder were similar to those observed in men with family histories of alcoholism. This indicates the possibility that the presence of a family history of illness in general may be as important as the specific diagnoses of affective disorder or alcoholism in the close family member.


Objective: To assess the role of unenhanced multidetector computed tomography (CT) of kidneys, ureters and bladder (KUB) in the initial imaging of suspected acute renal colic.
Study Design: Retrospective longitudinal study.
Place and Duration of Study: Combined Military Hospital, Kharian Pakistan, from Jan 2020 to Jan 2021.
Methodology: One hundred and thirty-eight cases of suspected acute renal colic underwent CT-KUB. The demographic,radiological, clinical, and follow-up data were recorded for each patient.
Results: There were 88(51.8%) males and 82(48.2%) females in the present study, with a mean age of 50.86±18.57 years. Out of 170 patients, only 138(81.17%) were indicated with acute findings, whereas 32(18.82%) individuals showed no acute findings.The mean stone size was found to be 4.77±0.98mm. Most of the stones had a location near the pelvic brim (n=47; 34.15%).
Conclusion: The use of CT KUB should be encouraged for the evaluation of renal colic.Keywords: Acute renal colic, Computed tomography (CT), Computed tomography of Kidneys, ureter and bladder (CT-KUB).


Chikungunya fever is an acute infectious disease that is mediated by the mosquito-transmitted chikungunya virus (CHIKV), for which no licensed vaccines are currently available. Here, we explored several immunization protocols and investigated their immunity and protective effects in mice, with DNA- and virus-like particle (VLP)- vaccines, both alone and in combination. Both DNA and VLP vaccine candidates were developed and characterized, which express CHIKV structural genes (C-E3-E2-6K-E1). Mice were immunized twice, with different protocols, followed by immunological detection and CHIKV Ross challenge. The highest antigen-specific IgG and neutralizing activity were induced by DNA and VLP co-immunization, while the highest cellular immunity was induced by DNA vaccination alone. Although all vaccine groups could protect mice from lethal CHIKV challenge, demonstrated as reduced viral load in various tissues, without weight loss, mice co-immunized with DNA and VLP exhibited the mildest histopathological changes and lowest International Harmonization of Nomenclature and Diagnostic Criteria (INHAND) scores, in comparison to mice with either DNA or VLP vaccination alone. We concluded that co-immunization with DNA and VLP is a promising strategy to inducing better protective immunity against CHIKV infection.


Background. The quality of asthma therapy and its control depends on asthma phenotype. It is well known that defects of detoxification system genes accompanied by increased risk of asthma development. Aim. This study was conducted to evaluate the GSTTS1/GSTM1 deletion polymorphisms contribution to the asthma phenotypes in children in comparison with the same of functional active genes. Materials. We examined 238 children with asthma in dynamics from perinatal period to school age. In 128 of them asthma was in comorbidity with atopic dermatitis and, in most cases, allergic rhinitis (group I). Only the respiratory manifestations of allergic diseases, such as asthma in alone or combined with allergic rhinitis, were in 110 children from the 2nd group. Genotype GSTT1–/–GSTM1–/– ("G–") was determined in 30 children from I gr. and in 18 children II gr. Genotype GSTT1+GSTM1+ ("G+") was in 47 and 53 children of the respective groups. Results. Among children with genotype "G–" in I gr. maternal allergic diseases (RR=2.2 CI 1-4) were detected more often than in II gr. Conversely the not allergic parents, feeding by milk mixtures and passive smoking during first year of life (RR=5 CI 1.6-19) were prevailed in II gr. children with the same deletion genotype. Among children with genotype "G+" in I gr. the pathology of pregnancy (RR=2 I 1-3), onset of wheezing during 1 st year (RR=1.5 CI 1-2.7) and food sensitization, high serum IgE level were more frequently, and diagnosed of asthma after 6 years were less frequently than in II gr. Conclusions. Obtained data demonstrates that defects of the glutathione-S-transferase genes are accompanied with different clinical effects in patients, depending on the asthma phenotypes.


We propose a novel protocol for wireless mobile ad hoc networks, which establishes a dynamic wireless mobile infrastructure. The proposed protocol, namely, the power-aware virtual base stations (PA-VBS) protocol, mimics and maintains the operation of the conventional fixed infrastructure in cellular networks. In the PA-VBS protocol, a mobile node is elected from a set of nominees to act as a temporary base station within its zone based on its normalized power value. Likewise, we study the characteristics and performance of PA-VBS by means of simulation. It is shown that PA-VBS scales well to large networks of mobile stations, and that it outperforms other infrastructure-formation protocols in terms of load balancing.


Accurate segmentation of brain tumors plays an important role for clinical diagnosis and treatment. Multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can provide rich and complementary information for accurate brain tumor segmentation. However, some modalities may be absent in clinical practice. It is still challenging to integrate the incomplete multimodal MRI data for accurate segmentation of brain tumors. In this paper, we propose a brain tumor segmentation method based on multimodal transformer network with incomplete multimodal MRI data. The network is based on U-Net architecture consisting of modality specific encoders, multimodal transformer and multimodal shared-weight decoder. First, a convolutional encoder is built to extract the specific features of each modality. Then, a multimodal transformer is proposed to model the correlations of multimodal features and learn the features of missing modalities. Finally, a multimodal shared-weight decoder is proposed to progressively aggregate the multimodal and multi-level features with spatial and channel self-attention modules for brain tumor segmentation. A missing-full complementary learning strategy is used to explore the latent correlation between the missing and full modalities for feature compensation. For evaluation, our method is tested on the multimodal MRI data from BraTS 2018, BraTS 2019 and BraTS 2020 datasets. The extensive results demonstrate that our method outperforms the state-of-the-art methods for brain tumor segmentation on most subsets of missing modalities.


Motion control has been a fruitful ground for applying variable structure systems (VSS) theory. This paper provides an assessment of the state of the art of the relevant theoretical results for sliding mode control. The design of a sliding-mode controller consists of three main steps. First is the design of the sliding surface, the second step is the design the control law which holds the system trajectory on the sliding surface, and the third and key step is the chattering-free implementation. The main contribution of that paper is a new method for surface sector design based on tensor product model transformation to reduce the chattering. Experimental results of a DSP-controlled single-degree-of-freedom motion-control system are presented


The last decade has witnessed remarkable technological advances in mass spectrometry-based proteomics. The development of proteomics techniques has enabled the reliable analysis of complex proteomes, leading to the identification and quantification of thousands of proteins in gastric cancer cells, tissues, and sera. This quantitative information has been used to profile the anomalies in gastric cancer and provide insights into the pathogenic mechanism of the disease. In this review, we mainly focus on the advances in mass spectrometry and quantitative proteomics that were achieved in the last five years and how these up-and-coming technologies are employed to track biochemical changes in gastric cancer cells. We conclude by presenting a perspective on quantitative proteomics and its future applications in the clinic and translational gastric cancer research.


We develop a model where trade agreements - in addition to correcting terms-of-trade externalities - help governments to commit vis-a-vis domestic industrial lobbies. We explore how trade liberalization is affected by the characteristics of the political environment, such as the degree to which governments are politically motivated and the influence of lobbies during the negotiation of the agreement. We find that governments may prefer to commit to tariff ceilings, rather than exact tariff levels. We also find that trade liberalization is deeper when capital is more mobile across sectors. In a dynamic extension of the model, the optimal agreement entails an immediate slashing of tariffs followed by a phase of gradual trade liberalization. In the gradual phase, the speed of liberalization is higher when capital is more mobile.


Statement of the Problem: Various researchers have suggested the use of β2-adrenergic receptor antagonists in prevention or treatment of bone resorption. Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of β2-adrenergic receptor antagonists on number of osteoclasts and osteoblasts involved in the healing of extraction socket of maxillary first molar in rats. Materials and Method: Maxillary first molars of 40 rats were extracted and divided into two groups. The test group received 0.1 mg/kg propranolol intraperitoneally daily. The controls received normal saline. At days 7, 14, 21 and 28 post-extraction, 5 rats were euthanized from each group. Maxillary bone was resected and the mean number of osteoblasts and osteoclasts in tooth socket was measured. Results: After 1 week, the number of osteoclasts in the controls was significantly higher than the test group. A significant increase in the number of osteoclasts in both groups at week 1 was observed compared to the following weeks (p< 0.05). The number of osteoblasts in the controls at second week reached its maximum rate but stayed constant in the 3rd and 4th weeks. Osteoblasts in the test group increased similar to the controls but reached its maximum at 3rd week and showed a significant increase compared to the controls (p< 0.05). Conclusion: β2 adrenergic receptor antagonists decrease the number of osteoclasts and increase the number of osteoblasts during extraction socket healing.


This study utilized the transfer of preimplantation embryos to pseudo-pregnant mice to determine whether PAF-antagonists act primarily on the maternal or embryonic components of implantation. The first experiment used reciprocal embryo transfers, in which blastocysts from mice treated with PAF antagonist (SRI 63-441) or saline (controls), from Days 1 to 4 of pregnancy, were transferred to Day-3 pseudo-pregnant recipients which were also treated with SRI 63-441 or saline on Days 1-4 of pregnancy. The antagonist (40 micrograms) was administered at 16:00 h on Day 1 and at 09:00 h on Days 2-4 of pregnancy. The percentage of the transferred embryos which implanted was determined on Day 8 of pregnancy. Treatment of the recipient or the donor female with SRI 63-441 resulted in a reduction in implantation rate, from a control level of 45% to 33.8% or 34.7% (P less than 0.0002, P less than 0.007) respectively. These results suggest that the PAF antagonist affected implantation at the embryonic and maternal levels. However, when the blastocysts were transferred to Day-4 pseudopregnant recipients, treatment of the donor female had a dramatic effect on the implantation rate, resulting in a reduction of 64% (from 40% to 14.3%, P less than 0.04), while treatment of the recipient female had no significant effect. In this later experiment the transferred embryos were exposed to the recipient uterine environment for a shorter period before implantation. These results suggest that PAF antagonists affected implantation at the embryonic level and did not adversely affect maternal physiology.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


In order to investigate risk factors of ischemic stroke, a matched case-control study with two kinds of controls (community controls and hospital controls) was conducted. The multiple conditional logistic regression analysis showed that hypertension, transient ischemic attacks, alcohol consumption and habitual snoring were independent risk factors of ischemic stroke. Physical activity at leisure time was an important protective factor. No independent relationships were found between cigarette smoking, history of mellitus diabetes or heart diseases, stroke history of father or mother and ischemic stroke.


To determine the phylogenetic relationship of six species (Dioscorea gracillima, D. nipponica, D. quinqueloba, D. septemloba, D. tenuipes, and D. tokoro) in the section of Stenophora in the genus of Dioscorea, nucleotide sequence variation in 1073 bp of coding region of the phosphoglucose isomerase (Pgi) locus was analyzed. Estimates of nucleotide diversity (π) for D. gracillima, D. quinqueloba, D. tenuipes, and D. tokoro were 0.0020, 0.0005, 0.0025, and 0.0013, respectively. Deviation from neutrality in the pattern of polymorphism in these four species was not detected by the Tajima's test. The difference in the pattern of amino acid substitutions between divergence and polymorphism was not observed by McDonald and Kreitman test. The obtained phylogenetic trees indicated that D. tokoro and D. tenuipes belonged to a monophyletic clade, while the other four species formed a separate monophyletic group. The branch lengths of phylogenetic tree varied among species. D. nipponica had a significantly faster substitution rate compared to D. gracillima, D. quinqueloba, and D. septemloba.


Time synchronization is essential for a number of network applications. As the era of ubiquitous computing is ushered in, high precision time synchronization of nodes in wireless networks is required. High precision time synchronization can enable a variety of extensions of applications. This paper includes the design and implementation of the precision time protocol over low rate wireless personal area networks (LR-WPANpsilas). To achieve high precision in LR-WPANpsilas, we analyze the factors of latency and jitter in wireless environments, and we aim to minimize these factors. In addition, this paper presents experiments and the performance evaluation of the precision time protocol in LR-WPANpsilas. The result is that we established for nodes in a network to maintain their clocks to within a 50 nanosecond offset from the reference clock.


In order to meet the current and future demands for engineers needed to retain and increase the economic competitiveness and innovation capacity of the United States, there is a growing need to engage students from traditionally underrepresented groups in engineering. At Cañada College, a federally designated Hispanic-serving community college in the San Francisco Bay Area, a large number of students from traditionally underrepresented minority groups enter with high levels of interest in engineering. However, their success and completion rates have been low due primarily to low levels of preparation for college-level work, especially in math. To address this major barrier to student success, Cañada College developed Math Jam as a one-week intensive math placement test review program. Since its development in 2009, Math Jam has served over 2500 students, and the demand continues to grow such that the program is now offered in six separate sessions each year – both day and evening sessions during three one-week periods immediately preceding the fall, spring, and summer sessions. It has expanded from a program designed to help students review for the placement test to a program where returning students can also prepare for their next math class. For the last eight years of program implementation, underrepresented minority students (Hispanic, African American, and Pacific islanders, and Native Americans) have participated in Math Jam at a higher rate than other students. This paper explores the similarities and differences in the program outcomes for minority and non-minority students. Comparisons will be based on student retention and success rates in subsequent math courses, preand post-program math self-efficacy survey, and surveys that assess satisfaction with the program and student perception and knowledge of resources and skills needed for academic success.


Despite having relatively short timespans of eruptions, monogenetic volcanoes can pose significant risks to the nearby population. Here, we describe the ∼1700 CE eruption of Tseax volcano, British Columbia, which killed up to 2,000 people of the Nisga'a First Nation and is ranked as Canada's worst natural disaster. Within the Nisga'a culture, Adaawak stories preserve an observational account of the Tseax eruption. In this study, we establish the chronology of the eruption by integrating field observations and petrophysical data informed by Nisga'a oral and written histories. The Nisga'a stories corroborate the short duration and exceptional intensity of the eruption as recorded in the volcanic products. The eruption was divided in two main periods: 1) Period A and 2) Period B. 1) The eruption started in a typical Hawaiian style with low levels of lava fountaining that built up a spatter rampart. This pyroclastic edifice was breached by voluminous pāhoehoe lavas erupted at high discharge rates. We estimate that almost half of the emplaced lava volume (0.20 km3) was erupted in Period A and had a flux of 800–1,000 m3/s. The low viscosity lava reached the Nass Valley, 20 km downstream of the volcano, in "swift currents", and engulfed the former Nisga'a villages in only 1–3 days, thus likely being responsible for the reported fatalities. The discharge rates progressively diminished to 10–200 m3/s until the end of this first eruptive period, which lasted a few weeks to a few hundred days. 2) The Period B eruption produced two 'a'ā lavas with discharge rates <50 m3/s. This period was also characterised by an explosive phase of eruption that built a 70 m high tephra cone overlapping with a spatter rampart; Period B lasted approximately 20 days. In total, the eruption produced 0.5 km3 of volcanic materials (mostly in the form of lava flows) on the order of weeks to a few months. The mountainous terrain significantly controlled the emplacement of lava flows that reached long distances in a short amount of time. Our work shows that, under certain conditions, eruptions of small-volume monogenetic volcanoes ca pose risks comparable to flank eruptions on long-lived shield volcanoes.


Nile perch (Lates spp.) was introduced into Lake Victoria only five decades ago but is now well established and distributed throughout the lake. Given the extensive size of the lake, there is a possibility of isolation by distance that can lead to local adaptations. Microsatellite DNA variability was used to assess the genetic diversity and to define the population structure of Nile perch collected from 22 different geographical locations within Lake Victoria. In total, 432 individuals were genotyped at nine microsatellite loci. Analyses of multilocus microsatellite genotypes revealed that genetic diversity of Nile perch of Lake Victoria is relatively high (HE = 0.68). Results also reveal shallow but significant genetic differentiation (FST = 0.029, P < 0.05). STRUCTURE indicated that Nile perch of Lake Victoria was made up of two (K = 2) genetically distinct populations. Separate analysis for each of the two groups also revealed relatively high genetic diversity for each group (HE[N1] = 0.73 and HE[N2] = 0.64). These results are surprising given that Nile perch was only recently introduced and is known to be migratory by nature. We interpret these results in light of multiple introductions from two different source populations of Nile perch and discuss implications of these results for the region's fisheries management.


We introduce our fuzzy signature and pattern matching with possibility calculation based approach for modelling the communication between human-control robot and a pair of assistant robots for completing cooperative tasks in a simulated environment. We show that a sophisticated extension using computerised recognition of eye gaze with fuzzy modelling based interpretation of possible intentions effectively eliminates the need of any physical control from the human's side. The experiment results show a good improvement of time saved by the use of our eye gaze intention in the context.


In a recently concluded exhaustive, qualitative investigation carried out in an evening primary school in Mexico City, we follow the case of Lucina along with four others. The research alternated the use of natural numbers, fractions and decimals; here we deal exclusively with the semantic and conceptual enrichment of fractions, in the resolution of problems which allow the reconstruction of vital experiences of the subject. The study was made up of an exploratory questionnaire and two didactical interviews with this 41-year-old woman who attends 6th grade elementary school, the interviews being the main source of information of the study. We have selected Lucina's case because she has recently returned to school, has shown a solid performance on the questionnaire and a satisfactory level of reflection on the nature of her own development.


Linguists have long sought to draw support from developmental disorders like Williams Syndrome (WS) and Specific
 Language Impairment (SLI) for linguistic theories and the modularity of language in particular. Linguistic diversity in the autism
 spectrum (ASD) has received comparatively little attention from linguists. Here I argue, against recent claims to the contrary,
 that language patterns in ASD do not support the modularity of language any more than WS or SLI are by now acknowledged to do.
 Rather, conceptualizing the linguistic diversity in question requires integrated neurocognitive models in which language is an
 inherent aspect of human-specific forms of cognition, social interaction, and communication. ASD can be seen as providing us with
 important indications of how these are linked.


Introduction: Sepsis remains a major cause of death in neonatal period. Although significant advances in diagnosis, therapeutic and prevention strategies have been noted, sepsis remains a common concern in clinical practice especially in low-resource countries. The aim of this study was to determine the predictors of mortality in neonatal sepsis in Lubumbashi city (Democratic Republic of Congo). Methods: The records of newborns with sepsis managed in Neonatal Intensive Care Units in two University Hospitals between November 2019 and October 2020 were studied. Binary and multiple logistic regressions have been used to observe the association between independent variables and dependent variable. Results: A total of 162 cases of neonatal sepsis were reviewed. The mortality rate of neonatal sepsis was 21% of babies admitted. Very low birth weight (< 1500 grams) and primiparity were significantly associated with mortality in neonatal sepsis (AOR = 12.66; 95% CI 2.40 to 66.86; p = 0.003 and AOR = 3.35; 95% Cl 1.31 to 8.59; p = 0.012, respectively). Conclusion: The mortality rate of neonatal sepsis was 21%. Very low birth weight and primiparity were significantly associated with mortality in neonatal sepsis.


The development of ethics case consultation over the past 30 years, initially in North America and recently in Western Europe, has primarily taken place in the secondary or tertiary healthcare settings. The predominant model for ethics consultation, in some countries overwhelmingly so, is a hospital-based clinical ethics committee. In the United States, accreditation boards suggest the ethics committee model as a way of meeting the ethics component of the accreditation requirement for payment by Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs), and in some European countries, there are legislatory requirements or government recommendations for hospitals to have clinical ethics committees. There is no corresponding pressure for primary care services to have ethics committees or ethics consultants to advise clinicians, patients, and families on the difficult ethical decisions that arise in clinical practice.


AKAP-Lbc is a Rho-activating guanine nucleotide exchange factor (RhoGEF) important in heart development and pro-fibrotic signaling in cardiomyocytes. Heterotrimeric G proteins of the G12/13 subfamily, comprising Gα12 and Gα13, are well characterized as stimulating a specialized group of RhoGEFs through interaction with their RGS-homology (RH) domain. Despite lacking an RH domain, AKAP-Lbc is bound by Gα12 through an unknown mechanism to activate Rho signaling. We identified a Gα12-binding region near the C-terminus of AKAP-Lbc, closely homologous to a region of p114RhoGEF that we also discovered to interact with Gα12. This binding mechanism is distinct from the well-studied interface between RH-RhoGEFs and G12/13 α subunits, as demonstrated by Gα12 mutants selectively impaired in binding either this AKAP-Lbc/p114RhoGEF region or RH-RhoGEFs. AKAP-Lbc and p114RhoGEF showed high specificity for binding Gα12 in comparison to Gα13, and experiments using chimeric G12/13 α subunits mapped determinants of this selectivity to the N-terminal region of Gα12. In cultured cells expressing constitutively GDP-bound Gα12 or Gα13, the Gα12 construct was more potent in exerting a dominant-negative effect on serum-mediated signaling to p114RhoGEF, demonstrating coupling of these signaling proteins in a cellular pathway. In addition, charge-reversal of conserved residues in AKAP-Lbc and p114RhoGEF disrupted Gα12 binding for both proteins, suggesting they harbor a common structural mechanism for interaction with this α subunit. Our results provide the first evidence of p114RhoGEF as a Gα12 signaling effector, and define a novel region conserved between AKAP-Lbc and p114RhoGEF that allows Gα12 signaling input to these non-RH RhoGEFs.


Imam Abdullah Muhammad bin Yusuf Shami RA (942 h) was one of the most important personalities in the history of Islam. He wrote many books in Islamic points of view. One of the most important and significant his book belongs to Seerah of Muhammad PBUH, which is in fourteen volumes. In that book, Imam Shami RA wrote many verses of the Holy Quran to describe Seerah of Holy Prophet PBUH. We added verses of Surat Al Fatiha in this article that are used in Imam Shami's book (Sublul Huda Wal Rashad fi Seerat-e-Khair-e-Ebad) to know his Tafseeri points. He often wrote one verse of the Holy Quran at different places and chapters of Sublul Huda, and he got different meanings and concepts from that verse to narrate Seerah al Nabwya (pbuh) in Sublul Huda. In this article, it is analyzed the tafseeri points of Imam Sham with other mufassirin to get meanings from verses. What is the different way of Imam Shami to describes Seerat-ul-Nabi (pbuh) and what are the findings of tafseeri points discussed in Sublul Huda.


A useful zero-background method for the detection of persistent spectral holes, HUMPH (High-resolution Ultrasonic Modulation of Persistent Holes), is described and demonstrated. The method utilizes the fact that spectral holes are sensitive to strain fields and involves modulation of an ultrasonic field at kilohertz rates in order to induce a corresponding modulation in the shape of the spectral hole. The resulting time-varying sample transmission is detected with a lock-in amplifier. The technique is demonstrated for the case of photochemical holes in color centers in x-irradiated NaF and is shown to be effective for the detection of shallow strain-sensitive absorption features. A model for the process based on the interaction of the centers with uniaxial stress accounts for the observed line shapes. This method is expected to be generally applicable and quite sensitive for the following reasons: Spectral holes in photochemical and nonphotochemical systems are intrinsically strain sensitive, the technique involves modulation only of the effect under study, and the signals appear on zero background, in contrast to standard absorption and fluorescence excitation techniques.


Peripheral nerve block provide effective analgesia with a lower incidence of autonomic side effects , less motor block and fewer serious neurological complications compared with epidural block. The present study was undertaken to compare continuous lumbar epidural(CEA) with continuous 3in 1 block (C3in1NB) for postoperative pain control in lower limb surgeries and also with commonly practiced systemic analgesic regime. Materials and Methods: Ninety patients of either sexes of ASA physical status I and II aged 18-65 years weighing after taking due consent were blindly randomized into three treatment groups. Patients received bupivacaine 0.125% via alumbar epidural catheter (placed preoperatively) for 24 hrs after surgery at a fixed rate of 5ml/hr( Group A) and via a catheter placed in the femoral sheath 'Winnie Approach' preoperatively( Group B). Patients received parenteral analgesics post operatively (Group C). Data on Visual Analog Scale (VAS) pain scores, hemodynamic changes, side effects at 0, 1, 4, 8, 12, 18, 24 h and requirement of analgesic doses for the first 24 h of the surgery were noted. Results: Demographic data, surgical characteristics were comparable and statistically not significant in all the groups. In the groups CEA and C3in1NB, pain was well controlled, and statistically significant as compared to parenteral analgesic. The patients in CEA had more incidences of urinary retention. Procedure related failure rates were high in C3in1NB group. Conclusion: C3in1NB provides postoperative analgesia equivalent to that obtained with a CEA but with fewer side effects. However 3in1 block is difficult to perform with high failure rate and mostly sparing the obturator nerve.


BackgroundLeprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by the obligate intracellular microorganism Mycobacterium leprae that tends to infect the skin and peripheral nerves. Nitric oxide (NO) plays a role not only in limiting bacterial growth, but also in limiting the damaging of immunopathological consequences of chronic mycobacterial infection. ObjectiveTo assess NO metabolites level in sera of leprosy patients across the spectrum of the disease as a possible parameter of prognostic value and as an indicator of disease state. Patients and methodsThis case–control study was conducted on 80 leprosy patients who were selected from Benha Dermatology and Leprosy Clinic, Benha University Hospital, and Abu Zaabal Leprosarium. Twenty age-matched and sex-matched healthy volunteers were included as the control group. Patients were subjected to history taking, clinical examination, and dermatological examination and were divided into groups according to the WHO classification. Blood samples were collected from both patients and controls for assessment of NO metabolites [nitrite (NO2) and nitrate (NO3)] serum levels by ELISA. ResultsOur results showed that comparison of the mean values of serum NO metabolites levels for each group of untreated patients versus the control group revealed increased serum NO metabolites levels in untreated patients, whereas comparison for each group of treated patients versus the control group revealed decreased serum NO metabolites levels in treated patients. The present study also showed that, in paucibacillary leprosy patients, in multibacillary leprosy patients, and in type 1 reaction patients, receiver operating characteristic curve at cutoff value of 155.97, 195.98, and 157.17 µmol of serum NO2, respectively, has sensitivity of 80, 67, and 73% and specificity of 90, 93, and 93%, respectively. ConclusionSerum NO metabolites levels of leprosy patients increase during the disease and decrease after treatment. Serum NO metabolites in leprosy patients can be used as a parameter of prognostic value.


The nutritional status prior to and 3 months and 1 year after biliopancreatic bypass surgery was evaluated. The common nutritional indexes (serum albumin and transferin concentrations, daily urinary creatinine excretion and delayed hypersensitivity) were determined. The body compartments were derived from total body water (TBW) and total body sodium (TBNa), measured by dilutional technique, and total body potassium (TBK), calculated from TBW, TBNa, and the ratio of the sodium plus potassium content divided by the water content in a sample of whole blood. Before surgery, obese patients showed a dilatation of both fat an lean compartments with a normal lean body mass (LBM) qualitative composition, as indicated by TBNa/TBW, and TBNa/TBK ratios not greater than those measured in controls. Three months following very-little-stomach biliopancreatic bypass (VLS BPB), a consistent reduction of body weight and body fat were observed. The body cell mass value fell and reached a level closely similar to that found in lean control subjects. LBM showed only a slight decrease. A sharp increase of TBNa/TBW and TBNa/TBK ratios demonstrated a dilatation of the extracellular space. This malnutritional status was not detected by the usual nutritional parameters. One year after VLS BPB surgery, the patients' body composition became very similar to that of lean subjects, though a TBNa greater than that of controls suggested that a slightly expanded extracellular space was still present.


CONTENTS Introduction Chapter I. Auxiliary results § 1. An integral transform § 2. Generalized Faber polynomials § 3. Asymptotic approximation by polynomials § 4. A boundary value problem Chapter II. Asymptotic properties of orthogonal polynomials § 1. Extremal properties and asymptotic behaviour of the leading coefficient § 2. Asymptotic formulae § 3. An estimate of an orthogonal polynomial inside the domain § 4. A second derivation of the estimates inside the domain § 5. Polynomials orthogonal on a circle Chapter III. Fourier series in orthogonal polynomials § 1. Conditions for convergence inside the domain § 2. The rate of convergence inside the domain § 3. Convergence in the closed domain § 4. Representation of analytic functions under smoothness conditions on the contour and weight Chapter IV. Some results on the Steklov problem § 1. The Steklov problem in the theory of orthogonal polynomials § 2. Boundedness conditions and estimates of the growth of polynomials orthogonal on a contour § 3. Asymptotic properties of polynomials orthogonal on a contour when the weight function becomes infinite at isolated points § 4. Asymptotic properties of polynomials orthogonal on a contour when the weight function has isolated zeros § 5. Example References


Self-Optimizing mechatronic systems which are able to react autonomously and flexibly to changing environments are one promising approach for the next generation of mechanical engineering systems. To render designing such systems possible, an approach is required which goes far beyond what is offered by today's standard tools for mechatronic systems. In this paper, we outline how a smooth integration between mechanical and software engineering methods and tools supports the design of verifiable, complex, reconfigurable mechatronic systems. The focus of the paper is on enabling the design and simulation of safe reconfigurable mechatronic systems, as reconfiguration is a critical prerequisite for self-optimization.


Objective Although catheter ablation is an effective treatment for typical atrial flutter (TFL), atrial fibrillation may occur during follow-up. The aim of this study was to assess the frequency of postablation atrial fibrillation in patients with or without atrial fibrillation before TFL ablation. Methods One hundred and ninety-two patients (135 men, age 68 ± 9 years) ablated for TFL were divided into two groups: group 1 (80 patients) with isolated TFL and group 2 (112 patients) with TFL and atrial fibrillation before ablation. The end-point of the study was the occurrence of documented atrial fibrillation after ablation. Several predetermined variables were tested with regard to atrial fibrillation occurrence. The patients' perception of the frequency and severity of arrhythmia-related symptoms was evaluated before and after ablation by means of the Symptom Checklist Frequency and Severity scale (SCFSS). Results At least one episode of atrial fibrillation was recorded in 18 (22.5%) group 1 and 52 (46%) group 2 patients (P = 0.001), during a follow-up of 1086 ± 825 and 1126 ± 962 days, respectively. On multivariate analysis, independent predictors of atrial fibrillation occurrence in group 1 were the number of preablation episodes of TFL and the younger age of the patients. The 37 group 2 patients who continued to have paroxysmal or persistent atrial fibrillation episodes after ablation showed a significant decrease in atrial fibrillation incidence and hospitalizations. SCFSS significantly improved in the 63 group 2 patients in whom it was evaluated. Conclusions On long-term follow-up, after ablation of isolated TFL, more than three-quarters of patients remained free from atrial fibrillation. Conversely, in patients with preablation atrial fibrillation, TFL ablation reduced the number of atrial fibrillation episodes as well as the number of hospitalizations and arrhythmia-related symptoms.


The safety of chemotherapy for patients with systemic sclerosis is unclear, and there are few published reports documenting the side effects of chemotherapy in patients with this condition. Here, we report the case of a patient with systemic sclerosis who developed severe digital ischemia during combination gemcitabine/S-1 chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer. In spite of aggressive treatment, the digital ischemia progressively worsened and gangrenous changes developed in multiple fingers and toes. In this patient, the systemic sclerosis had been well controlled, with no digital ischemic symptoms for the previous 6 years, so this progressive clinical course in spite of aggressive treatment strongly suggests that the chemotherapy triggered or aggravated the digital necrosis. To the best of our knowledge, this is only the third reported case of a patient with systemic sclerosis developing digital necrosis after gemcitabine-based chemotherapy. The incidence of digital necrosis during chemotherapy in patients with systemic sclerosis is unknown, and the mechanism by which it occurs is unclear, but the three reports published to date, including the present case, suggest that physicians should be very cautious about administering gemcitabine-based chemotherapy to patients with systemic sclerosis. Any resulting digital ischemia might be refractory to treatment and worsen progressively, even if chemotherapy is withdrawn in the early stages of digital ischemia.


Despite the technological advances in adapting web user interfaces to the small display of handhelds, the role that task nature plays in the formation of user attitude towards adaptive interface designs remains largely unknown. This study compares user readiness towards adaptive web interface design under different task contexts. Capturing such a situated user attitude is valuable for the designers of mobile websites to engage in user-centred design, enhance user experiences, and ultimately improve the viability of mobile information services. Based on a review of relevant theoretical frameworks, a research model was hypothesised and tested with experimental data. The results support the concept that mobile users are generally positive about adaptive interface design, and their preferences are more salient for complex tasks than for routine tasks.


my work The Recipe Exchange is featured in the illustrated section charting significant projects undertaken by the artists and curators of Steedman, M et al (2012) Gallery as Community: Art, Education, Politics, Whitechapel Gallery, London in collaboration with Valiz

The publication sets out to discuss a particular vein of curatorial activity initiated by galleries, much contested, and articulated differently across institutions. It is characterised by activity beyond the site of the gallery, an interest in context and situation and a tendency to problematise notions of community. The publication aims to make explicit the inherent tensions at play in this field and to map some of the projects, artists and institutions influencing thought in this area. The book features a foreword by Marijke Steedman, Curator: Community Programmes at the Whitechapel Gallery, an introduction by Grant Kester, Chair of the Visual Arts department, Professor of Art History, and Director of the University Art Gallery at the University of California, San Diego, a series of ten themed conversations and a detailed, illustrated section charting significant projects undertaken by the artists and curators included in the book. Contributors include: Greygory Vass, Camden Arts Centre, Kate Gray, Collective Gallery, Sarah Mossop, Modern Art Oxford, Janna Graham, Serpentine Gallery, Emily Pethick, The Showroom, Emma Smith, The Showroom, Frances Williams, South London Gallery, Martha Crean, Spacex, Marie-Anne McQuay, Spike Island, Marijke Steedman, Whitechapel Gallery and Lotte Juul Petersen, Wysing Arts Centre.


This study examines the relationship between secular behaviors and religious behaviors among youth in the United States. While there is no doubt that these two things are intrinsically linked, the nature of that relationship has been predominantly studied in the direction of religion affecting secular behavior. However, in today's society with secularization and the prevalence of the mass media, it makes more sense to examine the relationship the opposite way and see how secular behavior affects religiosity. Using the National Study of Youth and Religion (NSYR) dataset and change in change modeling, causality can be established showing how behaviors such as drinking, smoking, and marijuana usage affect religiosity in youth. Smoking had the most wide-reaching effect on youth religiosity, followed by drinking. Marijuana usage did not seem to affect religiosity at all. These behaviors are all classified as deviant behaviors though, and while there are significant relationships between them and religiosity measures, the trends seen also mimic frequency tables of only the religiosity measures over time, bringing into doubt just how much change can actually be accounted for by these deviant behaviors. Non-deviant secular behaviors relating to the vast shifts in lifestyle over the past fifteen years need to also be examined for their effects on religiosity to see if consumption of media and popular culture is a bigger culprit of secularization than deviant behavior is among youth.


An empirical stndy on house price index Huang, Yikun and Dr. Ge, X in Janee Department of Mathematics, Zhejiang University, P R China School of the Built Environment, University of Technology Sydney, Australia The house price index decreases in Mainland China during the last few months have been accompanied by a collapse of the stock market which has fallen to 40% of its original high point. Many investors are concerned that the falling stock market will bring similar uncertainty to the housing market and induce a similar collapse of house prices. It is important to study the relationship between these indexes in order to understand the impact of the stock market on the housing market. The analysis also provides information on investors' behavior and capital movement The analysis of the relationships between the housing and the stock markets for mainland China employs an econometric approach. Monthly time-series data collected from the National Bureau of Statistics of China are tested and the empirical results suggest that the correlations between the housing and the stock markets are relatively weak. The collapse in the stock market is not likely to be duplicated in the housing market as while the stock market does impact on the housing market, the effect is relatively small. The paper starts with some background to the housing and stock markets to demonstrate the need for the current research. Secondly, the relationships and methodology and methods used to study markets are reviewed. Thirdly, the data collection and test procedures are outlined; and finally, the results from the tests and analysis and their implications are presented.


This thesis explores the relationship between migration and disease in c.1830 – c.1860. Each chapter questions how convicts, emigrants and the surgeons who accompanied them thought about disease and in turn how disease changes how we understand migration historically. It is a study of the creation of medical knowledge across the geographical space of the voyage to Australia and emphasises an understanding of disease as a mental and physical interaction between humans and their environment. The thesis argues that this understanding allowed migrants and colonists to see disease at sea as a test of migrants' and convicts' fitness to colonise.

The point of departure for this thesis is that the Australian sailing voyage provides a unique and prolonged tension between shipboard confinement and global movements through ever-changing, often extreme, oceanic climates. From this premise, six individual chapters follow the trajectory of the voyage from Britain to Australia. These chapters analyse individual disease such as cholera, fevers, scurvy and consumption, as well as deepening our understanding of the tropics and quarantine by rethinking these histories through a maritime dynamic.

Throughout, the thesis analyses evidence in convict and emigrant ship surgeons' journals, migrants' diaries and published medical literature as its primary source material, supplemented by government reports and contemporary newspapers. Collectively, the chapters of the thesis connect conventionally separate histories of medicine, convict transportation, colonial emigration, and British welfare and prison reform. By exploiting a uniquely maritime tension between shipboard confinement and global migration, the thesis provides a new way to understand the persistence of ideas about the relationship between people, environment, migration and disease in the modern period.


Abstract Carbon dynamics of high-latitude regions are an important and highly uncertain component of global carbon budgets, and efforts to constrain estimates of soil-atmosphere carbon exchange in these regions are contingent on accurate representations of spatial and temporal variability in carbon fluxes. This study explores spatial and temporal variability in soilatmosphere carbon dynamics at both fine and coarse spatial scales in a high-elevation, permafrost-dominated boreal black spruce forest. We evaluate the importance of landscape-level investigations of soil-atmosphere carbon dynamics by characterizing seasonal trends in soil-atmosphere carbon exchange, describing soil temperature-moisture-respiration relations, and quantifying temporal and spatial variability at two spatial scales: the plot scale (0–5 m) and the landscape scale (500–1000 m). Plot-scale spatial variability (average variation on a given measurement day) in soil CO2 efflux ranged from a coefficient of variation (CV) of 0.25 to 0.69, and plot-scale temporal variability (average variation of plots across measurement days) in efflux ranged from a CV of 0.19 to 0.36. Landscape-scale spatial and temporal variability in efflux was represented by a CV of 0.40 and 0.31, respectively, indicating that plot-scale spatial variability in soil respiration is as great as landscape-scale spatial variability at this site. While soil respiration was related to soil temperature at both the plot- and landscape scale, landscape-level descriptions of soil moisture were necessary to define soil respiration-moisture relations. Soil moisture variability was also integral to explaining temporal variability in soil respiration. Our results have important implications for research efforts in high-latitude regions where remote study sites make landscape-scale field campaigns challenging.


This paper provides an overview of demand-side management (DSM) alternatives. It covers the general state of the art, projected developments, and the application of DSM alternatives. It starts with a background discussion of DSM which provides the reader with a historical reference and an understanding of the types of needs DSM alternatives can address and the benefits they can provide. Categories of DSM alternatives are then described. General design, application, and issues involved are discussed. Although it is not possible to discuss DSM alternatives in complete detail, specific information based on actual installations is presented. Also, typical values, costs, and load impacts are given in most cases.


Background: There are different types of medication errors which are experienced by the pharmacists in hospital settings.In Pakistan number of attending Pharmacist per bed is low and is a major cause of fatal and life threatening events. Aim: The aim of present retrospective study was to assess the extent and type of medication error in inpatient medical charts. Method: The physician's orders were analyzed by the clinical pharmacists in hospital setting during 2007- 2008 in different wards. Various types of prescription errors had been reported and expressed in percentages. Result:Out of 450 medical treatment charts, 381 medication errors were found in 350 charts. The highest rate of error was the wrong dose (25%) prescribed by physicians.Infrequent errors were lack of dosage frequency, protocol for treatment, dosage form and continuation of antibiotic after prescribed treatment days. However, most frequently occurring serious errors were wrong dosing frequency (17%) and no dose adjustment according to creatinine clearance (12.8%).3.41% errors were related to directions for use of medicines. Conclusion:Our study has demonstrated large number of prescription errors and high proportion of themwere of serious nature therefore careful counter checking of medical charts is suggested.


Abstract. Subducting slabs are an important driver of plate motions, yet the
relative importance of different forces in governing subduction motions and
styles remains incompletely understood. Basal drag has been proposed to be a
minor contributor to subduction forcing because of the lack of correlation
between plate size and velocity in observed and reconstructed plate motions.
Furthermore, in single subduction system models, low basal drag leads to
subduction behaviour most consistent with the observation that trench
migration velocities are generally low compared to convergence velocities.
By contrast, analytical calculations and global mantle flow models indicate
basal drag can be substantial. In this study, we revisit this problem by
examining the drag at the base of the lithosphere, for a single subduction
system, in 2D models with a free trench and composite non-linear rheology.
We compare the behaviour of short and long plates for a range of
asthenospheric and lithospheric rheologies. We reproduce results from
previous modelling studies, including low ratios of trench over plate
motions. However, we also find that any combination of asthenosphere and
lithosphere viscosity that produces Earth-like subduction behaviour leads to
a correlation of velocities with plate size, due to the role of basal drag.
By examining Cenozoic plate motion reconstructions, we find that slab age
and plate size are positively correlated: higher slab pull for older plates
tends to be offset by higher basal drag below these larger plates. This, in
part, explains the lack of plate velocity–size correlation in observations,
despite the important role of basal drag in the subduction force balance.


Small town sport as a primary strategy for mass sport development is a carrier to narrow sports differences between cities and towns and to develop sport toward the homogenous direction. It should base its guiding ideology on "inclusive development" and its basic contents on establishing such development characteristics as all national participation and seeking sameness while reserving differences, opportunity equal development process and benefit shared development achievements. The author put forward the following new ideas for small town sport development: configure sports resources according to traffic location advantages; build five service platforms to meet resident needs; establish a multi-elemental management body to optimize the governing structure; mobilize town enterprise participation to expand financing channels; promote cultural education introduction to innovate on fitness activities.


[1] Densely populated river deltas are losing land at an alarming rate and to successfully restore these environments we must understand the details of their morphology. Toward this end we present a set of five metrics that describe delta morphology: (1) the fractal dimension, (2) the distribution of island sizes, (3) the nearest-edge distance, (4) a synthetic distribution of sediment fluxes at the shoreline, and (5) the nourishment area. The nearest-edge distance is the shortest distance to channelized or unchannelized water from a given location on the delta and is analogous to the inverse of drainage density in tributary networks. The nourishment area is the downstream delta area supplied by the sediment coming through a given channel cross section and is analogous to catchment area in tributary networks. As a first step, we apply these metrics to four relatively simple, fluvially dominated delta networks. For all these deltas, the average nearest-edge distances are remarkably constant moving down delta suggesting that the network organizes itself to maintain a consistent distance to the nearest channel. Nourishment area distributions can be predicted from a river mouth bar model of delta growth, and also scale with the width of the channel and with the length of the longest channel, analogous to Hack's law for drainage basins. The four delta channel networks are fractal, but power laws and scale invariance appear to be less pervasive than in tributary networks. Thus, deltas may occupy an advantageous middle ground between complete similarity and complete dissimilarity, where morphologic differences indicate different behavior.


This paper proposes an approach based on the Symbiotic Organism Search (SOS) for optimal determining sizing, siting, and number of Distributed Generations (DG) in distribution systems. The objective of the problem is to minimize the power loss of the system subject to the equality and inequality constraints such as power balance, bus voltage limits, DG capacity limits, and DG penetration limit. The SOS approach is defined as the symbiotic relationship observed between two organisms in an ecosystem, which does not need the control parameters like other meta-heuristic algorithms in the literature. For the implementation of the proposed method to the problem, an integrated approach of Loss Sensitivity Factor (LSF) is used to determine the optimal location for installation of DG units, and SOS is used to find the optimal size of DG units. The proposed method has been tested on IEEE 33-bus, 69-bus, and 118-bus radial distribution systems. The obtained results from the SOS algorithm have been compared to those of other methods in the literature. The simulated results have demonstrated that the proposed SOS method has a very good performance and effectiveness for the problem of optimal placement of DG units in distribution systems.


markdownabstractOptical coherence tomography (OCT) is an infrared light-based imaging modality with near-histological resolution (5-15μm) allowing the comprehensive evaluation of the vascular wall and intracoronary devices. This imaging modality has been widely used in clinical practice for the assessment of atherosclerosis and of the impact of interventions on the vascular wall, but also for the guidance of coronary intervention.

The aim of this thesis is to outline the contemporary use of optical coherence tomography in clinical practice and summarize insights gained by this imaging modality into the acute and chronic vascular response after intravascular interventions.

In specific, this thesis intends to:
- Summarize the current status of OCT in clinical practice
- Describe and validate new analysis tools for optical coherence tomography, that allow to overcome some of the current limitations
- Examine the pathomechanisms of very late metallic stent failure with particular emphasis on the role of neoatherosclerosis
- Assess the acute and chronic vascular healing response after bioresorbable vascular scaffold implantation and provide pilot observations regarding the pathomechanisms of early and late bioresorbable scaffold failure
- Evaluate the acute effects of catheter-based renal denervation on the renal artery integrity


Abstract New models for plane curved rods based on linear couple stress theory of elasticity have been developed.2-D theory is developed from general 2-D equations of linear couple stress elasticity using a special curvilinear system of coordinates related to the middle line of the rod as well as special hypothesis based on assumptions that take into account the fact that the rod is thin. High order theory is based on the expansion of the equations of the theory of elasticity into Fourier series in terms of Legendre polynomials. First, stress and strain tensors, vectors of displacements and rotation along with body forces have been expanded into Fourier series in terms of Legendre polynomials with respect to a thickness coordinate.Thereby, all equations of elasticity including Hooke's law have been transformed to the corresponding equations for Fourier coefficients. Then, in the same way as in the theory of elasticity, a system of differential equations in terms of displacements and boundary conditions for Fourier coefficients have been obtained. Timoshenko's and Euler-Bernoulli theories are based on the classical hypothesis and the 2-D equations of linear couple stress theory of elasticity in a special curvilinear system. The obtained equations can be used to calculate stress-strain and to model thin walled structures in macro, micro and nano scales when taking into account couple stress and rotation effects.


Here, 2 postprocessing methods for fMRI were tested: a simple commercially available one against one commonly used for more advanced research. The authors compared visual concordance, image quality, voxel size, and radiologist preferences and concluded that widely available commercial fMRI software can provide reliable information for therapeutic management, meaning sophisticated, less widely available software is unnecessary in most cases. (See the accompanying commentary by Pillai.) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Whereas fMRI postprocessing tools used in research are accurate but unwieldy, those used for clinical practice are user-friendly but are less accurate. We aimed to determine whether commercial software for fMRI postprocessing is accurate enough for clinical practice. METHODS: Ten volunteers underwent fMRI while performing motor and language tasks (hand, foot, and orolingual movements; verbal fluency; semantic judgment; and oral comprehension). We compared visual concordance, image quality (noise), voxel size, and radiologist preference for the activation maps obtained by using Neuro3D software (provided with our MR imaging scanner) and by using the SPM program commonly used in research. RESULTS: Maps obtained with the 2 methods were classified as "partially overlapping" for 70% for motor and 72% for language paradigm experiments and as "overlapping" in 30% of motor and in 15% of language paradigm experiments. CONCLUSIONS: fMRI is a helpful and robust tool in clinical practice for planning neurosurgery. Widely available commercial fMRI software can provide reliable information for therapeutic management, so sophisticated, less widely available software is unnecessary in most cases.


This Essay surveys recent developments across the fields of finance and innovation to highlight some common themes concerning the importance of property rights to economic success. Society regularly makes choices when shaping the precise contours of the legal institutions that govern the behavior of market actors, often in response to high profile issues like the collapse of Enron and the patenting of life-saving AIDS drugs. Recognizing that no set of legal institutions or related enforcement mechanisms will be perfect, this Essay explores some particularly helpful institutional features based on property rights that too often are overlooked by policy makers and commentators, even though these property-based institutional features have long been associated with economic success in a number of diverse settings.


Contents: Introduction and Overview. Part I: Why Marriages Succeed or Fail. S. Carrere, J.M. Gottman, Predicting the Future of Marriages. T.L. Orbuch, J. Veroff, A.G. Hunter, Black Couples, White Couples: The Early Years of Marriage. Part II: Child Adjustment in Different Family Forms. K. Deater-Deckard, J. Dunn, Multiple Risks and Adjustments in Young Children Growing Up in Different Family Settings: A British Community Study of Stepparent, Single Mother, and Nondivorced Families. S. Avenevoli, F.M. Sessa, L. Steinberg, Family Structure, Parenting Practices, and Adolescent Adjustment: An Ecological Examination. Part III: Family Functioning and Child Adjustment in Divorced and Single-Parent Families. E.M. Hetherington, Should We Stay Together for the Sake of the Children? S.S. McLanahan, Father Absence and the Welfare of Children. P.R. Amato, Children of Divorced Parents as Young Adults. P.L. Chase-Lansdale, R.A. Gordon, R.L. Coley, L.S. Wakschlag, J. Brooks-Gunn, Young African-American Multigenerational Families in Poverty: The Contexts, Exchanges, and Processes of Their Lives. M.J. Zaslow, M.R. Dion, D.R. Morrison, N. Weinfield, J. Ogawa, P. Tabors, Protective Factors in the Development of Preschool-Age Children of Young Mothers Receiving Welfare. Part IV: Family Functioning and Child Adjustment in Repartnered Relationships and in Stepfamilies. D.S. DeGarmo, M.S. Forgatch, Contexts as Predictors of Changing Maternal Parenting Practices in Diverse Family Structures: A Social Interactional Perspective of Risk and Resilience. J.H. Bray, From Marriage to Remarriage and Beyond: Findings From the Developmental Issues in StepFamilies Research Project. M.A. Fine, M. Coleman, L.H. Ganong, A Social Constructionist Multi-Method Approach to Understanding the Stepparent Role. E.R. Anderson, S.M. Greene, E.M. Hetherington, W.G. Clingempeel, The Dynamics of Parental Remarriage: Adolescent, Parent, and Sibling Influences. Part V: Intervention. R.E. Emery, K.M. Kitzmann, M. Waldron, Psychological Interventions for Separated and Divorced Families.


The skin is аn organ closely related to the central nervous system, and is subjected to its constant effects. Numerous investigators draw attention to the direct relationship between the functional changes in the central nervous system, the brаin cortex respectively, аnd the occurrence аnd course of some dermatoses (eczema,.neurodermitis, urticaria, psoriasis etc.). Regardless of the great number of clinical аnd experiinental studies performed, many problems concerning the alterations in the functional condition of the central nervous system аnd their significance for the occurrence, course and treatment of the skin diseases remain obscure. Particularly vague is the effect of the changes, marked in the functional state of the cerebral cortex under the effect of climatic factors, uроn the course of skin diseases. Аnу research work in this direction represents theoretical аnd practical interest. In order to investigate the changes in the functioпal state of the cerebral cortex, а variety of methods аrе resorted to. The latent period of the brain condition-reflexive activity is оnе of the indices of cortical processes, which could afford measurement for most of the analysers, аnd thereupon а number of authors (Frolov, Pravdin, Shur, Kotliarovski etc.) utilize it very often for studyiпg the mechanism of action of the various stimulants of the organism. After reviewing pertinent literature data concerning the significance of the changes in the functional state of the central nervous system for the occurrence аnd development of skin diseases, the interest surged bу the investigation of these changes, brought about bу the effect of climatic factors, upon various skin diseases аnd the frequent use of reactive time (latent period) as аn index for the condition of the cortical processes, wе established our goals as fo llows: 1. То study the changes occurring during the reactive period in patients with skin diseases undergoing climate treatment (оn the mountain or at sea). 2. То make inferences concerning the functional state of the cortical processes in patients with skin diseases, subjected to the effect of the factors cited above.


The objective of the present study is to explore the impact of acoustical design on children with autism in school classrooms. Empirical research on this topic will provide information on how interior space features and spatial environment characteristics can be used to support the learning and developmental needs of children with autism. Specifically, the connection between repetitive behaviors and ambient noise levels in school classroom environments was observed in four classrooms. The occurrence of repetitive motor movements, repetitive speech, ear covering, hitting, loud vocalizations, blinking, and verbally complaining in relation to decibel levels were analyzed using Noldus Observer XT software. As hypothesized, a correlation between noise levels and frequency of target behaviors was found; that is, as decibel levels increased, several of the observed behaviors occurred with greater frequency. Further empirical testing is necessary to test a causal relationship between increased ambient noise levels and autism-related behaviors, and sensory discomfort as a mediator of that relationship. Findings are applied to the development of classroom design guidelines.


This book provides an analytical exploration of the condition of teachers working in expanding school systems across the world, with a particular focus on the lives of women teachers in rural Sub-Saharan Africa. Drawing from award-winning research, it looks beyond the official portrayals of teachers' lives in order to better understand the reality of the contexts in which teachers live and work.

Positioning Amartya Sen's capability approach at the heart of the study, each chapter considers documentary evidence alongside ethnographic research from rural, remote and under-resourced schools in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and Sudan. Interweaving rich narratives from teachers in a variety of contexts, the book proposes a concept of professional capability and examines female teachers' agency to pursue and achieve this in their classrooms. This key examination challenges existing notions of 'quality education' and reveals insights into the broader purpose of schooling for rural communities.

Quality Teaching and the Capability Approach will be of value to researchers, academics and postgraduate students in education, particularly those concerned with gender, development and teaching, as well as educationalists and policy makers concerned with education and development.


Abstract In German talk-in-interaction it can be observed that so-called loose appositions are frequently used as a grammatical resource for performing selfinitiated self-repairs in the domain of reference. In the current paper, it is argued that this kind of appositional pattern can be described as a grammatical construction which indicates that the incorporated grammatical elements give alternative 'reference instructions' for building up compatible conceptualizations of one and the same entity with respect to different epistemic domains. Thereby it offers the possibility to incrementally adjust the design of reference instructions to divergent knowledge states of the interlocutors. The use of appositional constructions is thus frequently linked to aspects of epistemic stance regarding a lack of common ground. Hence, it is argued that aspects of the local management of epistemic asymmetries can be considered part of the pragmatic specifications of the construction. These specifications are sometimes made explicit through the use of lexical markers like also 'that is' so that the extended pattern which contains such markers might be called a metapragmatic construction.


Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to explore how faculty development program can be effectively used to develop the faculties who are working in different private universities of Bangladesh. It also establishes a bridge between faculty development program and its impact on creating a student centered learning environment. This paper has proposed a framework which supports active learning and student centered learning by focusing on developing content, outcome based curriculum and teaching method focusing students need.
Methodology: Thenatureofthestudyareaincludestheresearchdesign,population,sampleandsamplingtechniques,datacollection andanalysis.Theresearchquestionwasansweredthroughacarefulanalysisofthedifferenceamongstmeanrating score before the faculties attended the faculty development workshop and after theprogram.
Findings:  The findings of the paper confirm that faculty development program is effective for developing faculties skills and plays a vital role on creating a student centered learning environment
Research limitations/ Implications: Further research can be done to investigate how faculty development program can support the students in terms of nurturing their skills and transforming them into a good citizen of the society
Practical Implications: Through this research, universities can get a guideline on how to implement faculty development program for the faculties
Social Implications: This study can enhance awareness among the faculties and students and can support to build such environment which can foster cooperation, innovation and active learning.
Originality/ value: Universities can take realistic approach while developing a faculty development program which can play an important role in faculties' professional growth as well as helping the students to learn better.


Growing resistant cultivars from the Brassicaceae family (brassicas) is an effective strategy to minimize crop loss caused by the soilborne pathogen Plasmodiophora brassicae (clubroot). However, there are many clubroot pathotypes, and genetic resistance to clubroot may be pathotype-specific. To determine which pathotypes are present in western Oregon, diseased roots were collected from five farms and identified by the European clubroot differential (ECD) set. To assess resistance to the identified pathotypes, 21 vegetable cultivars from nine crops with purported resistance to clubroot were evaluated for disease incidence and severity in field and greenhouse studies. The crops evaluated included broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica), cauliflower (B. oleracea var. botrytis), brussels sprouts (B. oleracea var. gemmifera), cabbage (B. oleracea var. capitata), napa cabbage (Brassica rapa var. pekinensis), pak choi (B. rapa var. chinensis), kohlrabi (B. oleracea var. gongylodes), turnip (B. rapa var. rapa), and rutabaga (Brassica napus var. napobrassica). ECD host reaction showed similar virulence among clubroot collections, and all field isolates had the same ECD pathotype designation, 16/02/ 30. Compared with a crop-specific susceptible control, 17 of 21 cultivars had some resistance to clubroot, and of those, 15 were highly resistant (£15% incidence with low disease severity). This research demonstrated that westernOregon farmers have several commercially available cultivars with resistance to the dominant pathotyope in the region. However, each farmer must evaluate the suitability of these cultivars to meet consumer and industry requirements.


SiR,-In the discussion on rickets reported in the JOURNAL of November 24th, only a passing reference was made to " want of light " as one factor of the disease, and one to which little importance was attached. It has long seemed to me that this was the chief element in the case. I was led to this conclusion by the fact that, during a residence of nine years and a half in Japan, during which time a large number of patients of all sorts passed through my hands, rickets was conspicuous by its absence. Contrasting the conditions of child-life in that country with those prevailing in the large cities of Great Britain, the most striking point of difference is the abundant stunshine, both in winter and summer in the former country, and its rarity in England. Our murky skies, ouir smoke-laden city atmosphere, our high houses and narrow streets, helping to exclude the struggling rays of the sun, are the direct opposites of the conditions prevailing in the ' Land of the Rising Sun." I believe that a further study of the distribution of this disease would show it to be in direct relation to the absence of sunslhine. The facts with regard to the prevalence of the disease among animals seem to be explicable also by the confinement of the animals where they cannot enjoy that luxury of basking in the sun, which they also, especially the feline race, evidently take much pleasure in, and can have ad libitum in their native habitat. The malnutrition of rickets, on this view, has also its analogy in the vegetable kingdom in the malnutrition of plants when deprived of sufficient sunlight. If this theory be correct, the most rational treatment would be the systematic use of sun-baths. A rickety child should be kept in the sunshine as far as possible, but I would suggest that the little patient should be placed naked in a well warmed glass conservatory, the temperature and length of exposure being duly regulated. I may say that I have never had the opportunity of carrying out this suggestion. It is, perhaps, fanciful to ask whether the tendency, which rickety children particularly show, to kick off their coverings and lie exposed may not be an indication of Nature in the direction suggested.-I am, etc., THEOBALD A. PALMI, MLA., L.D. Birkenlhead, November 24th.


OBJECTIVE
To analyze medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ) with bone single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)/CT, especially relationship between patient characteristics and maximum standardized uptake value (SUV).

METHODS
48 patients with MRONJ who underwent bone SPECT/CT were prospectively included. MRONJ patients were included 34 osteoporosis and 14 bone metastases from 6 lung cancer, 6 breast cancer and 2 rectal cancer. The maximum SUV of the MRONJ patient characteristics were analyzed such as gender, location, underlying disease, medication and staging of MRONJ by Mann-Whitney U test. P-values lower than 0.05 indicate significant differences.

RESULTS
Regarding underlying disease, maximum SUV of patients with osteoporosis (18.69 ± 8.57) were significantly higher than those with bone metastases (12.28 ± 4.32, p = 0.005). Furthermore, maximum SUV of MRONJ was a significant difference for medication (denosumab: 13.62 ± 5.70 and minodronate: 22.98 ± 11.73, p = 0.009) and staging of MRONJ (Stage 2: 15.59 ± 8.06 and Stage 3: 21.51 ± 7.15, p = 0.014).

CONCLUSION
Maximum SUV assessed by SPECT/CT was significantly increased in MRONJ patients with osteoporosis and Stage 3. Bone SPECT/CT could be an effective tool for the analysis of MRONJ.


PURPOSE
This study was conducted to address change in smoking behavior of cancer patients when admitted to a cancer center, and elucidate factors associated with long-term smoking abstinence after discharge.

METHODS
The subjects were 97 patients with stomach cancer and 93 with head and neck cancer (cancer in the oral cavity, pharynx and/or larynx that did not require total laryngectomy) who were current smokers at the time of first visit to a cancer center. In order to obtain detailed information on their smoking behavior, a self-administered questionnaire was mailed to each patient at least 18 months after the patient was discharged. Seventy-three percent (138/190) of the subjects returned the completed questionnaire by mail.

RESULTS
The smoking cessation rates at five different time points, namely, 1) one day before admission, 2) the first day of admission, 3) the last day of admission, 4) one day after discharge, and 5) at the time the patient received the questionnaire, indicating long-term smoking abstinence after discharge, were 10.4%, 32.6%, 71.9%, 40.0% and 51.0%, respectively. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that patients who had stopped smoking by the first day of admission had a significantly higher probability of long-term smoking abstinence than their counterparts who smoked up to the last day of admission. The patients who received doctors' and/or nurses' advice for smoking cessation at our medical center did not have significantly higher probability of long-term smoking abstinence than those who did not receive it.

CONCLUSION
With patients suffering from stomach or head and neck cancer admitted to a cancer center, multivariate analysis indicated that smoking behavior in the pre-admission period influences long-term smoking abstinence after discharge.


This CHR tool explains how hospitality managers can evaluate the extent to which their hotel or restaurant website meets potential customers' needs by means of usability tests. As hospitality businesses seek to drive more business to their own websites rather than third-party sites, websites must not only look appealing but also be easy to use so that potential customers can find information quickly and easily. Functionality is equally important for internal websites, such as those used to communicate with employees about policies and benefits. In addition to explaining how to conduct usability tests, the report provides sample test results and summarizes recent research on website structure and functioning.


BACKGROUND: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrine disorder in women. Its presentation is that of irregular menstruation associated with ovulation defects. Because of adverse outcomes such as metabolic and cardiovascular disorders, its diagnosis and treatment is very important. Therefore, the diagnostic value of prostatespecific antigen (PSA) in women with polycystic ovary syndrome was evaluated. METHODS: A total of 32 women with PCOS and 32 aged matched healthy females were recruited in this case-control study. The subjects were compared by means of metabolic measures and serum PSA level. The correlations between these markers were evaluated. Sensitivity and specificity values and cut off levels of PSA were established for diagnosis of PCOS. RESULTS: Mean PSA, Ferriman Gallwey score (FGS), luteinizing hormone/follicle stimulating hormone ratio (LH/FSH), testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), 17α hydroxyprogesterone (17α HP) levels were significantly higher in PCOS (P<0.001, respectively). PSA levels greater than 0.07 ng/ml yielded a sensitivity of 91% and specificity of 82%, and was helpful as a diagnostic tool for women with PCOS. Circulating androgens and hirsutism were associated with higher levels of PSA in PCOS women. CONCLUSIONS: Our results showed direct correlation between PSA, hirsutism and hyperandrogemsm state. Therefore, it seems logical to use PSA level for detection of hyperandrogemsm state in women.