BACKGROUND
In public and residential buildings, fungi are usually found in the dust or growing on building materials medium such. It has been known that a number of their spores may contaminate the indoor environment and deteriorate air quality in accommodation spaces. Previously designed air cleaning systems do not guarantee a complete removal of agents harmful to humans and animals. Therefore, there is a great need to develop a new solution to remove molds from indoor air. In recent years, photocatalysis based on titanium dioxide (TiO2) has been proposed as an effective method for air pollutants removal. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of TiO2 activated under artificial sun light (UV-VIS - ultraviolet - visible spectroscopy) on survival of fungi Penicillium chrysogenum and Aspergillus niger.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
The commercial P 25 (Aeroxide P 25, Evonik, Germany) and nitrogen modified titanium dioxide (N-TiO2) were used. The microbiological study was performed using Penicillium chrysogenum and Aspergillus niger fungi. The survival of fungi was determined on the basis of changes in their concentration.

RESULTS
It was found that N-TiO2 has a stronger antifungal activity against P. chrysogenum and A. niger than P 25. For N-TiO2, the complete elimination of molds was possible after 3 h under artificial solar light activation. The minimal concentration of photocatalyst was 0.01 g×dm-3 (P. chrysogenum) and 0.1 g×dm-3 (A. niger).

CONCLUSIONS
The nitrogen modification of titanium dioxide produced expected results and N-TiO2 presented good antifungal activity. The findings of the presented investigation can lead to the development of air filter to be used for removal of harmful agents (including molds) from indoor environment. Med Pr 2018;69(1):59-65.


Various methods were proposed to understand the linkages in an input-output system; however, many have focused only on the identification of key sectors in the economy. An alternative approach, identifying analytically the importance of elements and combinations of elements was proposed as a field of influence theory (Sonis et al. , 1996). The purpose of this paper is to offer a complementary approach to the field of influence and the so-called 'Matrioshka principal' (Sonis & Hewings, 1990); the objectives are to identify simple row-column associations (i.e. statistical dependence), seek hierarchical associations between supply and demand in input-output systems and the decomposition of economic complexity into finite stages. For the identification of simple dependencies between rows and columns, we use a log-linear regression and for hierarchical associations and the identification of complexity stages, we use the data analysis technique known as dual scaling. Results of both approaches will be applied to input-output tables of the US and Canada.


A terrorist attack on a long-span spatial structure would cause horrible results. Therefore, it is important to determine the characteristics of blast pressure fields to protect such structures. In this study, fully confined blast loading tests were conducted using a rigid curved shell model, which had an inner space similar to that of a reticulated dome. Four different scenarios were carried out to record the blast loading on five typical positions. The blast pressure-time data were compared and analyzed. In addition, a suitable numerical simulation method was proposed for the issues involved in interior blast loading. This numerical model was verified by comparing with the test data. A parametrical analysis of the interior blast simulations was conducted based on this numerical method. The blast loading values at specific positions were obtained with the key parameters varied within a reasonable scope. The blast loading from blast tests and simulations were presented. On this basis, the interior blast loading could conveniently be predicted by using the method and data in this paper, which could be used in the protective design of other reticulated domes.


When nuclear Overhauser enhancement spectroscopy (NOESY) experiments are performed around the critical point ωτc = 1.12, internuclear cross-relaxation rates are dependent on the resonance frequency ω, where τc is the reorientation time of the distance vector between two magnetic dipoles. Therefore, the correlation times and, consequently, the internuclear distances can be determined precisely by measuring the cross-relaxation rates under two magnetic fields. An application with a cyclic pentapeptide is given as an example, demonstrating the use of the two-field NOESY method in molecular structure studies. NOESY experiments with mixing times beyond 500 ms are discussed.


We consider the problem of Nonnegative Matrix Factorization (NMF) which is a non-convex optimization problem with many applications in machine learning, computer vision, and topic modeling. General existing methods for finding a solution to the problem include additive or multiplicative update rules for doing alternate minimizations and ADMM, which find a locally optimal point for NMF. We propose a new method for finding a solution of NMF which considers transformations of initial factors derived from the singular value decomposition (SVD). This problem is shown to be equivalent to the NMF problem in a sense, and is then restricted to optimize over the set of orthonormal matrices known as the Stiefel manifold. We then utilize a method developed for optimization over this manifold to find solutions to the NMF problem. Application to synthetic data shows that the method exhibits promising characteristics, as it outperforms some traditional methods both in terms of reconstruction error and running time. Using the solution of this restriction as a starting point for the broader problem shows a further rapid decline in the error.


The article is dedicated to the modernizing the Republic of Azerbaijan every day - the biggest tribute to the blessed memory of the great leader, whose 97th anniversary we celebrate with great respect May 10 this year. As long as our national state exists, Heydar Aliyev, the founder of our Motherland, will always live in the heart of the Azerbaijani people, his bright ideas will constantly illuminate our path.


Biological membranes are not structurally passive solvents of amphipathic proteins and lipids. Rather, it appears their constituents have evolved intrinsic characteristics that make homogeneous distribution of components unlikely. As a case in point, the concept of lipid rafts has received considerable attention from biologists and biophysicists since the formalization of the hypothesis more than 10 years ago. Today, it is clear that sphingolipid and cholesterol can self-associate into micron-scaled phases in model membranes and that these lipids are involved in the formation of highly dynamic nanoscale heterogeneity in the plasma membrane of living cells. However, it remains unclear whether these entities are manifestations of the same principle. A powerful means by which the molecular organization of rafts can be assessed is through analysis of their functionalized condition. Raft heterogeneity can be activated to coalesce and laterally reorganize/stabilize bioactivity in cell membranes. Evaluation of this property suggests that functional raft heterogeneity arises through principles of lipid-driven phase segregation coupled to additional chemical specificities, probably involving proteins.


Summary. Th e results of the study of parodontal pocket micro fl ora in patients with both mild and severe forms of chronic generalized parodontitis are given. In patients the total number of parodontal pocket microfl ora reduced by 30-40 thousand times aft er a single application of gingival bandage with lyncomycin. In lyncomycin dyalisis no growth of colonies was observed aft er a single procedure, this makes it possible to recommend the dyalisis technique for antibiotic administration in both treating patients with generalized parodontitis and preparing them for the surgical treatment.


Abstract. This paper proposes an hybrid online calibration method for a laser scanner mounted on a mobile platform also equipped with an imaging system. The method relies on finding the calibration parameters that best align the acquired points cloud to the images. The quality of this intermodal alignment is measured by Mutual information between image luminance and points reflectance. The main advantage and motivation is ensuring pixel accurate alignment of images and point clouds acquired simultaneously, but it is also much more flexible than traditional laser calibration methods.


BACKGROUND
Non-human primates are valuable animal models in drug discovery and biomedical research. Human CYP2D6 accounts for 1.3-4.3% of total hepatic CYP content in the liver, but is involved in the metabolism of more than 150 drugs. With the advancement of genomic sequencing and annotation, a panel of CYP2D genes have been cloned from non-human primates. This review highlights the similarities and differences of these CYP2D genes non-human primates.

METHODS
We conducted a structured PubMed search using a focused review question and proper inclusion/exclusion criteria. The quality of retrieved papers was assessed and briefed using standard tools and expert knowledge.

RESULTS
Most studies on CYP expression in non-human primates have been carried out in the cynomolgus and Rhesus monkeys. Deduced amino acid sequences of primate CYP2D cDNAs share high sequence identity (93-96%) with human CYP2D6. The chimpanzee genome has CYP2D6 and 2D7 but bonobos only contain CYP2D6. The CYP2D6 gene is located on chromosome 22 in the chimpanzee genome (human CYP2D6 maps to chromosome 22q13.1), and on chromosome 10 in the genome of the Rhesus monkey. Cynomolgus monkey CYP2D17 and Japanese monkey 2D29 metabolize bufuralol and dextromethorphan. CYP2D17 metabolizes bufuralol and dextromethorphan, whereas CYP2D29 metabolizes bufuralol and debrisoquine. In addition, quinidine inhibits both cynomolgus monkey CYP2D17 and Japanese monkey 2D29.

CONCLUSION
The CYP2D members from non-human primates show differential genomic contexts, catalytic activities toward substrates and inhibitory profiles. Further studies are warranted to elucidate the structural and functional features of CYP2D members in non-human primates and thus offer a solid base for the application of these animals in drug discovery.


Four coordination polymers, namely, {[Co(cpnc)(bpbenz)]}n (1), {[Co(cpnc)(bide)2]}n (2), {[Co(cpnc)(bide) (H2O)1/2]·H2O}n (3), and {[Cd(cpnc)(bib)1/2(H2O)2]}n (4) (H2cpnc = 6-(4-carboxyphenyl)nicotinic acid, bpbenz = 1,4-bis(4-pyridyl)benzene, bide = 4,4′-bis(imidazolyl)diphenyl ether, and bib = 1,4-bis(1-imidazoly)benzene) have been solvothermally synthesized and characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, elemental analysis, and infrared spectroscopy. Structural analysis reveals that compound 1 consists of a 3D 3-fold interpenetrated framework with pcu topology. Compounds 2 and 3 have been synthesized by one-pot reactions. Compound 2 comprises 2D layers, while compound 3 comprises 1D chains. Compound 4 consists of 2D layers constructed from mixed ligands. In addition, the photocatalytic activities of 1–3 under UV light toward methyl orange (MO), rhodamine B (RB), methyl blue (MB), neutral red (NR), methylene blue (MEB), and safranine T (ST) with H2O2 are investigated in aqueous solutions. The results suggested that the photocatalytic efficiency of 1 for MO was 100% in one hour and that of 2 for ST was 90% in two hours; furthermore, the photocatalytic efficiencies of 3 for MO and ST were found to be 100% and 92% in one hour, respectively. The photoluminescence titration experiments demonstrate that 4 is an excellent multifunctional probe for metal ions (Fe3+ and Cu2+) and anions (Cr2O72− and CO32−).


In the introduction to the new Oxford History of the Laws of England 1820–1914, the authors suggest that their task is to tell the "history of the law itself." This review essay examines what can be learned from a history told from law's internal point of view rather than through the perspectives of other disciplines, such as economics or philosophy. It considers whether and how the common law responded to industrialization and laissez-faire ideology, the influence of salient philosophical movements—such as utilitarianism—on statutory change, and how all history is an exercise in ideology. In considering the public sphere, it suggests that this work should form the inspiration for further inquiry.


This paper introduces metrics developed for analysing irregular wave test results from the round robin testing campaign carried out on a floating wind turbine as part of the EU H2020 MaRINET2 project. A 1/60th scale model of a 10 MW floating platform was tested in wave basins in four different locations around Europe. The tests carried out in each facility included decay tests, tests in regular and irregular waves with and without wind thrust, and tests to characterise the mooring system as well as the model itself. While response amplitude operations (RAOs) are a useful tool for assessing device performance in irregular waves, they are not easy to interpret when performing an inter-facility comparison where there are many variables. Metrics that use a single value per test condition rather than an RAO curve are a means of efficiently comparing tests from different basins in a more heuristic manner. In this research, the focus is on using metrics to assess how the platform responds with varying wave height and thrust across different facilities. It is found that the metrics implemented are very useful for extracting global trends across different basins and test conditions.


The present work was aimed to illustrate how the use of Diode laser or silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) each of them individually, as an antibacterial agent against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) as well as study the effective result from the absorption of laser energy by these nanoparticles to kill or inhibition bacterial growth. The silver nanoparticles are prepared by biological method. S. aureus are isolated and identified in the Central Health Laboratory in Al Najaf city. Nanoparticles are tested against S. aureus cultured on Muller Hinton agar but Diode laser or laser with nanoparticles are tested against S. aureus cultured in Nutrient broth. S. aureus are irradiating by Diode laser with different irradiation times, moreover there are different concentrations of AgNPs have been employed for killing and inhibition bacterial growth. Results showed that S. aureus is affected by AgNPs (mainly highest concentration of nanoparticles) also detected that decrease bacterial availability with increase time of irradiation to laser.


Objective: To investigate the influence of hepatitis B virus X gene (HBx) on apoptosis of hepatic cells mediated by Fas in HePG2 cells. Methods: HBx eukaryotic vector pcDNA3.1(+)-X was transfected into HEPG2 cells with lipofectamine, and the null vector pcDNA3.1(+) and untransfected HEPG2 were used as normal controls. The cells were collected 72 h after transfection, and the expression of HBx mRNA and protein was determined using RT-PCR and Western blot, respectively. The mRNA expression of apoptosis-related genes Bcl-2 and Bax mRNA was also determined using RT-PCR. Cytotoxicity and apoptosis were evaluated using CCK-8 and flow cytometry, respectively, after HepG2-HBx and HepG2-3.1 cells were treated with stimulatory monoclonal antibody anti-Fas CH11. The t test was used for pairwise comparison. Results: The cell line HepG2-HBx was successfully established, as confirmed by RT-PCR and Western blot, and RT-PCR results showed that HepG2-HBx cells had significantly higher expression of Bcl-2 mRNA than HepG2-3.1 and HepG2 cells (P < 0.05), but had significantly lower expression of Bax mRNA than HepG2-3.1 and HepG2 cells (P < 0.05); CCK-8 and flow cytometry showed that anti-Fas CH11 had a lower cytotoxicity to HepG2-HBx cells and allowed for a lower apoptosis rate of HepG2-HBx cells compared with HepG2-3.1 and HepG2 cells. Conclusions: HBx can inhibit apoptosis of hepatic cells mediated by the Fas pathway.


BACKGROUND
One of the key factors for the long-term success of oral implants is the maintenance of healthy tissues around them. Bacterial plaque accumulation induces inflammatory changes in the soft tissues surrounding oral implants and it may lead to their progressive destruction (perimplantitis) and ultimately to implant failure. Different treatment strategies for perimplantitis have been suggested, however it is unclear which are the most effective.

OBJECTIVES
To identify the most effective interventions for treating perimplantitis around osseointegrated dental implants.

SEARCH STRATEGY
We searched the Cochrane Oral Health Group's Trials Register, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE and EMBASE. Handsearching included several dental journals. We checked the bibliographies of the identified randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and relevant review articles for studies outside the handsearched journals. We wrote to authors of all identified RCTs, to more than 55 oral implant manufacturers and an internet discussion group to find unpublished or ongoing RCTs. No language restrictions were applied. The last electronic search was conducted on 28 June 2004.

SELECTION CRITERIA
All RCTs of oral implants comparing agents or interventions for treating perimplantitis around dental implants.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Screening of eligible studies, assessment of the methodological quality of the trials and data extraction were conducted in duplicate and independently by two reviewers. We contacted the authors for missing information. Results were expressed as random effect models using weighted mean differences for continuous outcomes and relative risk for dichotomous outcomes with 95% confidence interval (CI). Heterogeneity was to be investigated including both clinical and methodological factors.

MAIN RESULTS
Only two eligible trials were identified, but one was excluded due to insufficient data presented. The included study compared the use of locally applied metronidazole gel versus ultrasonic debridement in patients affected possibly by a slight form of perimplantitis. Both interventions were repeated 1 week after. Twelve weeks after treatment there was no statistically significant difference in probing pocket depths among the two groups (mean difference = 0.1; 95% CI -0.59 to 0.79). No side effects occurred. This trial was judged to be at high risk of bias.

REVIEWERS' CONCLUSIONS
There is no reliable evidence suggesting which could be the most effective interventions for treating perimplantitis. This is not to say that currently used interventions are not effective. More quality research is needed.


ABSTRACT Writing as soul work refers to the active engagement of students in transformative writing activities in a group setting with the aim to enable students to develop new, more empowering narratives. This article explains how soul work through writing can be used to foster career adaptability, expressed in the form of increased awareness and self-direction. We summarise the labour market realities that underlie a need for more narrative approaches and introduce writing as soul work as a potential method to respond to these contemporary career challenges. We define what is meant by soul work and writing, illustrate its use with several stories from practice, and make recommendations for teachers and implementation in institutions.


Abstract Stability of hexagonal patterns in Rayleigh–Bénard convection for shear-thinning fluids with temperature-dependent viscosity is studied in the framework of amplitude equations. The rheological behaviour of the fluid is described by the Carreau model and the relationship between the viscosity and the temperature is of exponential type. Ginzburg–Landau equations including non-variational quadratic spatial terms are derived explicitly from the basic hydrodynamic equations using a multiple scale expansion. The stability of hexagonal patterns towards spatially uniform disturbances (amplitude instabilities) and to long wavelength perturbations (phase instabilities) is analysed for different values of the shear-thinning degree $\alpha$ of the fluid and the ratio $r$ of the viscosities between the top and bottom walls. It is shown that the amplitude stability domain shrinks with increasing shear-thinning effects and increases with increasing the viscosity ratio $r$. Concerning the phase stability domain which confines the range of stable wavenumbers, it is shown that it is closed for low values of $r$ and becomes open and asymmetric for moderate values of $r$. With increasing shear-thinning effects, the phase stability domain becomes more decentred towards higher values of the wavenumber. Beyond the stability limits, two different modes go unstable: longitudinal and transverse modes. For the parameters considered here, the longitudinal mode is relevant only in a small region close to the onset. The nonlinear evolution of the transverse phase instability is investigated by numerical integration of amplitude equations. The hexagon–roll transition triggered by the transverse phase instability for sufficiently large reduced Rayleigh number $\epsilon$ is illustrated.


We have directly determined with pump/probe spectroscopy the light hole (LH1) excited state lifetime for the lowest heavy hole to light hole intrawell subband transition (HH1–LH1) for three prototype samples of Si/SiGe strain-symmetrized multi-quantum well structures, designed to have the final LH1 state increasingly unconfined. The transition energy is below the optical phonon energy. We find that a decay time of 20 ps for sample 1 with a well width of 5.0 nm lengthens to 40 ps for sample 3 with a well width of 3.0 nm, in good agreement with the design. In addition, we have measured the lifetime for holes excited out of the well, from which we determine the lifetime for diagonal transitions (back into the well) to be of approx. several hundred picoseconds.


Pumps are critical infrastructure in the Oil and Gas industry, and have been widely used in pipeline transportations of petroleum products. The electrical energy needed by a pump to meet the minimum pipeline operational requirement plays an important role in the overall cost and evaluation of pumping systems performance, which has become an important issue in pump energy management and pump station designs. This paper provides a quantitative and analytical method using Bernoulli's equation for studying energy dependence between two pumps (Booster and Mainline pumps) in series within a pump station as a function of pump's head, flow-rate, and density. Using actual parameters from a pump station, the derived equations are validated on four different products. The densities of products are 1000 kg/cm 3 , 835 kg/cm 3 , 800 kg/cm 3 and 660 kg/cm 3 for Water, Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK), and Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) respectively. The results show that the energy requirement of the Booster pump is determined by the energy demand of the Mainline pump as a function of flowrate, density and pump's head. The study is essential for developing energy saving strategy in pipeline operations and in electrical consideration when selecting the right electric motors for pumps in pump station design.


Biological variations in sex development, also known as intersex, are greatly misunderstood by the wider public. This unique book discusses psychological practice in healthcare for people and families impacted by a range of 'intersex' variations. It highlights the dilemmas facing individuals and their loved ones in the social context and discusses the physical and psychological complexities of irrevocable medical interventions to approximate social norms for bodily appearance and function. It exposes the contradictions in medical management and suggests valuable theoretical and practice tools for psychosocial care providers to navigate them. Uniquely featuring theory and research informed practice vignettes, the book explores interpersonal work on the most salient psychosocial themes, ranging from grief work with impacted caretakers to sex therapy with impacted adults. An indispensable resource for working ethically, pragmatically and creatively for a variety of healthcare specialists and those affected by variations in sex development and their families and communities.


Effects of cadmium (Cd) concentration and inoculation of heavy metal-resistant soil microbes on plant growth and Cd-accumulation by millet (Pennisetum glaucum), alfalfa (Medicago sativa) and couch grass (Triticum repens) were studied. A soil sample (Soil 1) was spiked with different (0 to 100 mg kg-1) concentrations of Cd and incubated under periodic wetting-drying (WD) cycles for near seven months period. Another soil sample with a historical background of metal contamination (Soil 2), having heavy metals-resistant microbial communities, also was taken and used as inoculum. Considering the abundance of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) spores and rhizobacteria (RBs), 200 g of soil 2 was added to each 1 kg of Soil 1 as inoculum. For blank samples (samples without stress-adapted microbes), Soil 2 was sterilized prior to adding to Soil 1. This soil substrate was aged under WD cycles for further 3 months. The plants were grown in pots containing contaminated soils. At the end of growth period, plants shoots were harvested, washed, oven-dried, and grinded. Wet oxidation method was used for extraction of plant Cd. In order to test the phytotoxic effect of Cd and/or the effect of inclusion of stress-adopted microbes to soil on plant biomass production, the plants yield reductions werecalculated. Bioconcentration factors (BCF) of soil Cd by plants were also calculated to estimate the potential uptake of Cd by the plants. According to the results, Cd showed considerable affinity for the studied soil. When no Cd was added to the soil, the introduction of the microbes caused a significant decline in plant biomass when compared to the non treated soil that could be attributed to the increased access of plants to the relatively immobile Cd existed in the soil and also to more metal contaminants absorption caused by the microbes. In most treatments, by increasing concentrations of Cd, there was obvious yield reduction. Also, the most tolerant and sensitive host plant against Cd contamination was couch grass and millet, respectively.

 Key words: Cd contamination, phytotoxicity, plant metal uptake, metal-resistant microbes.


The purchase of business services is a growing activity among firms but with little appreciation that the purchase of a service requires a modification of the decision process developed for the purchase of material goods. A taxonomy for purchasing business services is developed to create a matrix with importance of service and focus of service as dimensions. Business services are classified according to their focus on three aspects of the firm: property, people, and process. A number of propositions are formulated based on insights derived from this taxonomy. The taxonomy results in six business service cells: facility support, equipment support, employee support, employee development, facilitator, and professional. Implications for managers considering a purchase in each category are explored. The paper concludes with a research agenda to test the propositions and validity of the taxonomy for purchasing business services.


The development of the modern digital integrated communications that possess the significant potential of social intrusiveness forms a new institutional framework of the interaction between the information society and the social action sphere as well as a new type of links between information and social processes. It is relevant to discuss not only new forms but rather new formats of social institutionalization that develop along the lines of the model of socio-communicational hybridity that is a specific form of manifestation of the specific social networks that have been formed under the conditions of the indivisibility of the social and communicational spaces. Socio-communicational hybridity becomes one of the major and quite effective forms of the organization of the contemporary communicational environment and one of the instruments of the involvement of the individuals as well as different social groups in social processes.


Participatory practice is acknowledged as increasingly important in empowering families in the decision-making process. Yet parental participation in child protection and welfare settings remains a complex and multi-dimensional practice, dependent on a range of individual factors including willingness to engage; understanding of need, as well as system factors including power dynamics and resource constraints (Darlington et al., 2010). Parents can feel 'powerless and helpless' when not involved in decision-making processes (Hardy & Darlington, 2008). In addition to practice wisdom emerging from literature in the field, this paper examines the findings of a research study commissioned by Tusla (the Irish, national, statutory Child and Family Agency) on parental experiences of Child Protection Conferences (CPCs) in Counties Galway and Roscommon. Analysis of findings of a series of qualitative interviews (n=14) with parents who have attended CPCs, found that parents in the study felt unprepared for CPC, unclear of the implications for their families and felt marginalised by the CPC process. While many parents recognised their right to reply, most reported wanting to appear cooperative. The paper proposes recommendations including the development of a protocol for CPC preparation; participation supports for parents to ensure their voices are heard throughout the process; debriefing as a structured phase of the CPC; and continuous intensive engagement with parents post-CPC.


We measured the electrical resistivity of iron, Fe99C1, Fe3C, and Fe7C3 up to ~80 GPa using the van der Pauw method in a diamond anvil cell. The electrical resistivity of disordered Fe99C1 at high pressure shows a strong impurity resistivity of carbon. The ferromagnetic-paramagnetic transition in Fe3C and Fe7C3 is associated with the flattening of the resistivity pressure gradient at ~6 GPa. Fe7C3 exhibits the highest electrical resistivity among all iron-light element alloys, and Fe3C and Fe7C3 disobey the Matthiessen's rule by showing a lower electrical resistivity than a disordered iron-carbon alloy because of chemical ordering. A comparison of the impurity resistivity between silicon, sulfur, nickel, and carbon shows that carbon has an exceedingly stronger alloying effect than other elements. If the chemical ordering observed in Fe-Si system is held true for the Fe-C system, the chemical ordering in Fe7C3 possibly increases the thermal conductivity of the inner core and enlarges the thermal and electrical conductivity gap at the inner-core boundary. Models of the thermal conductivity of liquid Fe70C30 with 8.4 wt % carbon show a low thermal conductivity of 38 Wm 1 K 1 at the pressure-temperature conditions of the topmost outer core. The corresponding heat flow of 6 TW at the core-mantle boundary is notably lower than previous electrical resistivity results on Fe and Fe alloys. The alloying effect of carbon on the electrical and thermal conductivity of iron can thus play a significant role in understanding the heat flux at the core-mantle boundary and the thermal evolution of the core.


An adapted and translated version of the Child's Report of Parent Behavior Inventory was administered to 182 Walloon high school students. A factor analysis of the intercorrelations of the 18 scales revealed three factors-Acceptance versus Rejection, Psychological Control, and Lax Control versus Firm Control-that were similar for boys and girls, for reports of mothers and fathers, and for American and Walloon subjects. A map of a nomological network of parent-behavior concepts was generated by stereographic projections of each scale's factor loadings. The findings provide evidence of the cross-national validity of a spherical conceptual model for parent behavior.


Oral fungal infections are common opportunistic infections that may take different forms. Fungal infection as a cause of chronic tonsillitis indicates tonsillectomy as treatment, so preoperative identification of fungal causes of tonsillitis is valuable. Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the incidence of fungal infection in chronic tonsillitis using preoperative microbiological basis and post-tonsillectomy histopathological basis. Methodology: This study included 75 children (patients group) suffering from chronic tonsillitis, and 15 healthy children complaining from obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and snoring with no history of chronic tonsillitis. Each child subjected to full history taking, clinical examination and preoperative investigations. Tonsillar swabs were taken from each tonsil of all subjects. Smears were stained and examined microscopically then cultured using Sabouraud dextrose agar (SDA).  Post-tonsillectomy, histopathological examination was carried out. Results : Tonsillomycosis is significantly associated with dental caries and recurren acute attacks of tonsillitis (with p=0.004 & 0.001respectively). Hypertrophic tonsil and neutropenia are significantly detected in tonsillomycosis (p=0.001 for both). A histopathological examination found that fungal invasion of tonsillar tissue was found in about 31.3% of tonsils (47/150) with immune reaction and presence of chronic inflammatory cells. Preoperative microbiological work revealed tonsillomycosis in 45/150 (30%) of tonsils. In comparison to histopathology, microbiological examination had 95.9% sensitivity, 100% specificity, 100% PPV and 98.1% NPV. Conclusion : Fungal infection is a common cause of chronic tonsillitis. Haphazard use of antibiotics and dental caries has a significant predisposing role in tonsillomycosis.  Neutropenia and hypertrophic tonsils can be taken as an indicator for tonsilar fungal infection. Microbiological examination is valid for preoperative diagnosis of tonsillomycosis.


During recent years, the number of natural and non-natural disasters has drastically increased, due to the climate change, causing great damages on buildings and a high number of homeless people. However, post-disaster temporary housing solutions seem to have sustainability problems. Through a historical excursus, this work aims to analyse the steps that led to the current idea of temporary housing, in order to evaluate its functional and constructive characteristics. Finally, some considerations on improving thermal environment inside temporary housings are discussed.


Runoff is an important water flux that is difficult to simulate and predict due to lacking observation. Meteorological forcing data are a key factor in causing the uncertainty of predicted runoff. In this study, climate projections from ten general circulation models of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 5 (CMIP5) with high resolution under the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 4.5 scenario are employed to estimate the future uncertainty range of predicted runoff in the North–South Transect of Eastern China (NSTEC) from 2011 to 2100. It is found that the range of future annual runoff is from 268.9 mm (Meteorological Research Institute coupled GCM, MRI-CGCM3) to 544.2 mm (Model for Interdisciplinary Research on Climate, MIROC5). The precipitation and the annual actual evapotranspiration are two key factors that affect the variation of runoff. The low annual runoff for the MRI-CGCM3 model may be caused by low precipitation and high annual actual evapotranspiration (466.9 mm). However, the high annual runoff for the MIROC5 may be caused by the high precipitation, although there is high annual actual evapotranspiration (544.2 mm). The above results imply that the forcing data and the model physics are important factors in the numerical simulation and prediction about runoff.


A theoretical formulation is proposed for forced mass transport by pressure gradients in a liquid binary mixture around a spherical bubble undergoing volume oscillations in a sound field. Assuming the impermeability of the bubble wall to both species, diffusion driven by pressure gradients and classical Fick-diffusion must cancel at the bubble wall, so that an oscillatory concentration gradient arises in the vicinity of the bubble. The Péclet number pe is generally high in typical situations and Fick diffusion cannot restore equilibrium immediately, so that an asymptotic average concentration profile may progressively build up in the liquid over large times. Such a behaviour is reminiscent of the so-called rectified diffusion problem, leading to slow growth of a gas bubble oscillating in a sound field. A rigorous method formerly proposed by Fyrillas & Szeri (J. Fluid Mech. vol. 277, 1994, p. 381) to solve the latter problem is used to solve the present one. It is based on splitting the problem into a smooth part and an oscillatory part. The smooth part is solved by a multiple scales method and yields the slowly varying average concentration field everywhere in the liquid. The oscillatory part is obtained by matched asymptotic expansions in terms of the small parameter pe−1/2: the inner solution is required to satisfy the oscillatory balance between pressure diffusion and Fick diffusion at the bubble wall, while the outer solution is required to be zero. Matching both solutions yields a unique splitting of the problem. The final analytical solution, truncated to leading order, compares successfully to direct numerical simulation of the full convection–diffusion equation. The analytical expressions for both smooth and oscillatory parts are calculated for various sets of bubble parameters: driving pressure, frequency and ambient radius. The smooth problem always yields an average depletion of the heaviest species at the bubble wall, only noticeable for large molecules or nano-particles. For driving pressures sufficiently high to yield inertial oscillations of the bubble, the oscillatory problem predicts a periodic peak excess concentration of the heaviest species at the bubble wall at each collapse, lingering on several tens of the time of the characteristic duration of the bubble rebound. The two effects may compete for large molecules and practical implications of this segregation phenomenon are proposed for various processes involving acoustic cavitation.


Virtual reality technique is the attractive domain for computer application research, its real-time three dimensional expressive force and realistic immersion will greatly improve the computer technique. This paper discusses the main characters and application of virtual reality technique, and introduces the basic format and feature of virtual reality modeling language. At last, modeling on the three dimensional complicated object can be realized based on 3DS MAX software which support VRML, and dynamic interaction between user and room virtual environment can be accomplished by Java/JavaScript.


Human Classification in public places is an emerging area in the applications
of Computational Intelligence. Therefore, modeling of an optimal architecture of the neural
network is required to classify them.

In this work for this purpose, blob dataset has been used to train the neural network. This
dataset consists of 2408 features of a human blob.

 Further, analysis of this blob dataset has been done on the basis of various characteristic parameters
for affirmation of actual training. During training and testing of this dataset, it has been observed
that when nodes at hidden layer are below and above 10 then training of neural network is
under fitted and overfitted respectively and works effectively when the nodes are 10 at the hidden
layer.

From the experimental work performed in this study, an optimal neural network has
been obtained to classify human using blob dataset.


We consider a simple network, where a source and destination node are connected with a line of erasure channels. It is well known that in order to achieve the min-cut capacity, the intermediate nodes are required to process the information. We propose coding schemes for this setting, and discuss each scheme in terms of complexity, delay, achievable rate, memory requirement, and adaptability to unknown channel parameters. We also briefly discuss how these schemes can be extended to more general networks


The generation of waste and how to manage it pose challenges to municipal and district authorities in many parts of the world. In the African context, poverty, bad management practices, and increasing consumerist culture have conspired to render the situation even more complex. Complicating the situation further is the addition of synthetic and electronic waste, non-biodegradable and, in several cases, hazardous. Drawing on personal first hand experiences in Ghana from the perspective of a pastor and a scholar of religious studies, the author reflects on contemporary waste and its (mis)management in Africa and how these affect the dignity and security of present and future generations. He draws on relevant theological motifs from Christianity and indigenous African religious beliefs and practices as well as insights from sociology and eco-theological ethics to analyse the challenge and explore ways in which African Christian public opinion may be mobilized to help address the challenge.


One-dimensional (1D) etched gratings coated with a perfect metal are used to couple light into terahertz (THz) quantum-well photodetectors (QWPs). The coupling efficiencies of these reflective gratings are simulated by using the finite element method (FEM). The results show that simple optics arguments used in the design of gratings for quantum well infrared detectors (QWIPs) are not suitable in the THz region. The near-field effect is important in the coupling, and a "standing-wave effect" is found in the grating stripes. Optimizations of the gratings are also discussed.


The most important cause of infant morbidity and mortality in the Middle East is acute and chronic diarrhea and resulting conditions of dehydration marasmus and protein malnutrition. This is particularly the case in summer and autumn months. In recognition of the fact that routine treatment is not wholly satisfactory a program was developed by the UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency) Department of health to provide daytime rehydration/nutrition centers to which infants and mothers can be admitted for 6 hours daily. The objectives of these centers include the following: 1) obtaining rapid rehydration of the child; 2) teaching the mother the administration of the repair solution by spoon (after vomiting stops); 3) providing controlled chemotherapy whenever an infectious etiology is clinically suspected by administering the drugs; and 4) advising the mother about the special diet and the prevention of recurrence of diarrhea. A case study of an infant brought to 1 of these centers is presented in an effort to illustrate the advantages of this treatment over the routine treatment previously available.


ELECTRIC CHARGE Electricity appeared to its early investigators as an extraordinary phenomenon. To draw from bodies the "subtle fire," as it was sometimes called, to bring an object into a highly electrified state, to produce a steady flow of current, called for skillful contrivance. Except for the spectacle of lightning, the ordinary manifestations of nature, from the freezing of water to the growth of a tree, seemed to have no relation to the curious behavior of electrified objects. We know now that electrical forces largely determine the physical and chemical properties of matter over the whole range from atom to living cell. For this understanding we have to thank the scientists of the nineteenth century, Ampere, Faraday, Maxwell, and many others, who discovered the nature of electromagnetism, as well as the physicists and chemists of the twentieth century who unraveled the atomic structure of matter. Classical electromagnetism deals with electric charges and currents and their interactions as if all the quantities involved could be measured independently, with unlimited precision. Here classical means simply "nonquantum." The quantum law with its constant h is ignored in the classical theory of electromagnetism, just as it is in ordinary mechanics. Indeed, the classical theory was brought very nearly to its present state of completion before Planck'sdiscovery. It has survived remarkably well. Neither the revolution of quantum physics nor the development of special relativity dimmed the luster of the electro-magnetic field equations Maxwell wrote down 100 years ago.


Some tephra fallout deposits show an increase of mass and thickness at distances from the source >100 km (areas of secondary mass maximum, ASMM) which demonstrates distal enhanced sedimentation from volcanic plumes. We explore development of the ASMMs during the 1992 August and September Mount Spurr eruptions, USA, by combining field data on the spatial distribution of mass and grain size with (1) simulations of individual particle settling through a homogeneous and horizontally stratified atmosphere and (2) mesoscale models of the three‐dimensional wind field that include the effect of the underlying topography. The crosswind and downwind variations of deposit characteristics indicate that the increase of sedimentation at the ASMMs is not formed solely because of preferential settling of small ash particles (<125 μm), as commonly assumed in aggregation models. Instead, ASMM grain sizes correspond to the fine modes of the bimodal total grain size distributions. There also appears to be a link between the ASMM and the topography: the mass local minima occur across the windward flank of 2 km high mountain ranges, while the ASMMs spread on the leeward flank. Mesoscale models of the three‐dimensional wind field show vertical oscillations in the wind over mountainous regions which may enhance mechanisms of en masse sedimentation (aggregation, hydrometeor formation, and particle boundary layers), as well as strong spatial variations of the horizontal wind field in the lower troposphere. Our study demonstrates the importance of using grain size, as well as mass, data to constrain the complex processes responsible for particle sedimentation from volcanic plumes.


Colocalization of proteins that are part of the same signal transduction pathway via compartmentalization, scaffold, or anchor proteins is an essential aspect of the signal transduction system in eukaryotic cells. If interaction must occur via free diffusion, then the spatial separation between the sources of the two interacting proteins and their degradation rates become primary determinants of the time required for interaction. To understand the role of such colocalization, we create a mathematical model of the diffusion based protein-protein interaction process. We assume that mRNAs, which serve as the sources of these proteins, are located at different positions in the cytoplasm. For large cells such as Drosophila oocytes we show that if the source mRNAs were at random locations in the cell rather than colocalized, the average rate of interactions would be extremely small, which suggests that localization is needed to facilitate protein interactions and not just to prevent cross-talk between different signaling modules.


SAR is usually used for airborne or space borne remote sensing. It can also advantageously be exploited in a ground-based radar imaging system named Ground-based SAR (GB-SAR). We extended earlier approaches and developed an ultrawideband, ground-based, fully polarimetric SAR (Pol-GB-SAR) system for the monitoring of vegetation growth variations. Measurements on three type trees in different conditions were carried out by the developed SAR system. We proposed effective 3D broadband Pol-GB-SAR data processing algorithms in the paper. In situ polarimetric calibration obviously improved the features of the system. 3D images were reconstructed from the acquired data by a series of signal processing procedures based on a variety of wave equation migration methods. By implementing methods of radar polarimetry, the broadband GB-SAR system has possibility for monitoring changes in tree structure characteristics due to seasonal variations. Interpreted results demonstrated the target scattering characteristics in different vegetation growth situations showed good agreement with the ground truth


Heterometallic polyoxotungstates (HMPOTs) are still a challenging and attractive materials in polyoxometalate chemistry despite having generated remarkable interest in recent years not only on account of a variety of new structures and topologies but also because of their multiple potential applications in catalysis, magnetism, nanoscience, electrochemistry and photochemistry. This brief highlight article is principally focused on an overview of four types of HMPOTs: polyoxotungstate-based main-group (MG) and transition-metal (TM) heterometallic derivatives (PMGTMHDs), polyoxotungstate-based TM and TM heterometallic derivatives (PTMTMHDs), polyoxotungstate-based rare-earth (RE) and TM heterometallic derivatives (PRETMHDs) and polyoxotungstate-based RE and RE heterometallic derivatives (PREREHDs), and gives a summary of some representative examples involving their syntheses, structures and related properties. In addition, an outlook on these materials is also provided.


Software product metrics have been studied as a means to measure the complexity of software artifacts. Most software product metrics focus on capturing the complexity exhibited by the program. This paper suggests that there are two types of complexity in software artifacts: the structural complexity and the application domain complexity. The structural complexity is expressed in the program structure. The application-domain complexity is inherited from an application domain. Traditional software metrics are effective in measuring the structural complexity of software artifacts. However these metrics are not effective in measuring application-domain complexity.


This study analyses the incomes and circumstances of families in which unemployed people live. It shows that there are marked differences in both the personal and family incomes of the unemployed by gender. The personal incomes of unemployed men are substantially higher than those of unemployed women, because more unemployed women live in families where the husband earns an income, thereby rendering them ineligible for unemployment assistance, which is means-tested on a family basis. On the other hand, the family incomes of unemployed women are substantially higher than those of unemployed men, again reflecting the increased probability of a second income earner in the family. Children and persons in unemployed families face a much greater risk of being in poverty than the Australian population generally. Unemployed workers generally come from much lower income families than do low wage workers.


Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) is a standout amongst the most interested exploration themes in VLSI. System security is turning out to be increasingly significant as the volume of information being traded on the Internet increments. Point addition and doubling are key operations which choose the Performance of ECC. we proposed an 8-bit multiplier using a Vedic Mathematics (Urdhva Tiryakbhyam sutra) for generating the partial products.Here the design with the information way which can perform either prime field G(p) operations or binary field G(2m) operations for arbitrary prime numbers has been proposed. Utilizing this design we can accomplish the high throughput of the both fields that is prime and binary fields. a high throughput modular divider(mod 4n) which results in maximum operating frequency and modular multiplier in the processor is optimized based on throughput and modular reduction. The adder is focused for optimization as the addition is needed for accumulation process in multiplication and division. The Xilinx Virtex 5 field programmable gate array has been utilized.


Mental illness has a significant impact on individuals, families, and society as a whole, both emotionally and economically. There are more adults in Canada age 65 and over than there are children under the age of 15, and there are significant levels of mental illness amongst this population of adults. Canadians living in rural areas have poorer determinants of health and it is thought that to meet the mental health needs of people aged 50 and over in rural communities, improved interprofessional collaboration between mental health and wellness service providers is needed. Using a mixed method approach that includes qualitative content analysis, thematic analysis, and social network analysis, this study describes how limited information exchange amongst mental health and wellness service providers reduces the quality of interprofessional collaboration and impacts service accessibility and delivery for community members. The ability of adults age 50+ in rural communities with mental health concerns to access services is impeded by poorly designed informational materials and systems; lack of social support; and stigma. For service providers, barriers to information exchange include: difficulties engaging key partners, in particular general physicians and wellness service providers; the lack of a platform for confidential information exchange between providers; lack of time or resources to spend on collaborative efforts, including the coordination of up-to-date organization and program information for both service providers and clients; and stigma. Social network analysis can identify key influencers in existing networks of service providers and can support or challenge service provider perceptions about which organizations are most active and central in the collaboration. It is hoped that elucidating the barriers to collaboration and providing recommendations for improved information exchange will contribute to a growing body of knowledge regarding what is needed for successful health service collaboration.


external measurement, to the slender semi-circular rod on one handlr another similar rod is opposed, being fixed into the opposite handle by a simple contrivance. For internal measurement the removable semi-circular rod is taken out of its joint and replaced by another with a double curve, its blunted extremity being applied to the sacral promontory. For a complete description of " the pelvimeter of Professor Lazarewitch" see Cat. Qbstet. SOC., 1866, p. 161, and Fig. 158. Just as this sample (I) diflers in certain points from the next (No. 156) so there are several and more important differences between this sample and that represented in Fig. 158 loc. cit. As in I1 the removable semi-circular rod bears a scale with notches (4 to 25 cm.) on its concave side. The Catalogue gives a lengthy description of the manner in which the pelvimeter should be used, including the employment of a separate semi-circular scale to aid in determining the anteroposterior internal measurement of the pelvis in different situations, besides those usually measured. But no such scale was included in the box containing this sample or the next, nor is there any trace of any contrivance to fix a scale on to the handles or blades. R o y a l Society of Medicine.


Aged people are the most susceptible group to COVID-19 infection. Immunosenescence characterized by impairment of immune function with inflamm-aging contributes to pathophysiological alterations, among which endocrine and metabolic diseases are not exception. Diabetes, obesity along with impairment of disorders of thyroid functions are the most frequent ones, the common feature of which is failure of immune system including autoimmune processes. In the minireview we discussed how COVID-19 and aging impact innate and adaptive immunity, diabetes and selected neuroendocrine processes. Mentioned is also beneficial effect of vitamin D for attenuation of these diseases and related epigenetic issues. Particular attention is devoted to the role of ACE2 protein in the light of its intimate link with renin-angiotensin regulating system.


This chapter summarizes historical evidence on the link between patent laws and innovation. Earlier historical analyses have emphasized the importance of patent laws in encouraging innovation. Data on exhibits at international technology fairs, such as the 1851 Crystal Palace world's fair, however, indicate that only a small share of innovations are patented and that non-patent mechanisms may play an important role in encouraging innovation. They also show that inventors' dependency on patents varies strongly across industries, so that radical changes in patent laws may influence the direction if not the level of technical change. Exhibition data also indicate that patents may play an important role in facilitating encouraging the diffusion of innovative activity by encouraging inventors to advertise their ideas. These results highlight the need for additional analyses of innovation that systematically analyze patents and alternative measures of innovation.


Application, based on DEBII platform, provides integrated
environment for lexicographic research and dictionary building.
Main part of the software consists of the editor for
lexicographic database of Russian language and the database of
quotation from several different sources (newspapers, Russian
National Corpus, webpages...). These databases are used for
linguistic research and building new dictionaries of Russian
language. The database is connected with the Russian National
Corpus and the DEBDict service with Russian electronic
dictionaries. Linguists do not need to run several
applications, they can work with several resources within one
tool. Application was developed for the Institute of
Linguistics of Russian Academy of Sciences, and Philological
faculty Sankt Petersburs State University.


Clinical trials are essential for discovering new treatments, but there are multiple challenges to patient recruitment, patient engagement, and cost containment. Virtual clinical trials (VCT) are an innovative approach that provides potential solutions by conducting home-based, rather than site-based, clinical trials. Virtual clinical trials are still the exception rather than general practice due to technical barriers. "Blockchain," a distributed ledger technology, is a perfect match for virtual clinical trials. Its peer-to-peer design, security settings, and data transparency meet the needs of many healthcare applications. The programmable "Smart Contract" feature makes blockchain more suitable and feasible for VCT by solving computational issues. Our previous work has shown the power of applying blockchain to clinical trial recruitment. This work develops a comprehensive blockchain framework, with simulations and case studies, including patient recruitment, patient engagement, and persistent monitoring modules.


Six-year-old 'Shiraz' vines were grown under field-like conditions in 780-L soil filled plastic bins. One year after transplanting, root growth was monitored non-destructively using minirhizotron tubes. Images of the roots were collected at sunrise, midday, sunset and midnight over six consecutive days during flowering. It was found that the vines displayed a diurnal dynamic in root growth with a maximum in the afternoon and evening, and a minimum in the morning. While it was not possible to separate the effects of time of day and soil temperature a positive relationship between soil temperature and root elongation was observed. The diurnal dynamics of root growth was consistent with earlier observations in young potted vines and is the first indication that mature vines also exhibit a pronounced diurnal dynamic of fine root growth. The possible influence of carbon supply and the role of the circadian clock in these diurnal growth dynamics are discussed.


The glutaminyl-tRNA synthetase (GlnRS) from the radiation-resistant bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans differs from known GlnRSs and other tRNA synthetases by the presence of an additional C-terminal domain resembling the C-terminal region of the GatB subunit of tRNA-dependent amidotransferase (AdT). This atypical synthetase was overexpressed in Escherichia coli, purified and crystallized in the presence of PEG 3350. Orthorhombic crystals were obtained that belong to space group P2(1)2(1)2(1) and diffract to 2.3 A resolution. The crystal structure was solved by molecular replacement using the structure of E. coli GlnRS as a search model.


In this paper we study the multicast routing problem in all-optical WDM networks with sparse splitting capacity. This problem have been attracted a lot of attentions by the researchers worldwide due to its challenges and interest. Most of the work makes use of light-trees (or light-forests) to solve the problem. The objective focuses mainly on minimizing the network resources, e.g. the maximum number of wavelengths (the link stress), the number of wavelength channels used (the total cost), or the end-to-end delay from the source to the destinations (the delay). However, archiving multiple objectives is not trivial. For this reason, we propose a comparative study of the most known algorithms and introduce a new one which can provide a good trade-off among those three criteria. Simulation results and comparison point out that our proposal produces multicast light-forests with the lowest link stress, low total cost and a low end-to-end delay among considered algorithms. Especially, our proposal is more advantageous in dense networks, and/or with a large multicast group size in comparison to the classical algorithms.


A new anatomical classification of the hilar lymph nodes, and their usual roentgen distribution, is presented, along with the most appropriate radiographic techniques for their demonstration. The characteristic roentgen appearances of enlarged hilar lymph nodes in various locations are correlated with the differential diagnoses. The appearance of a rounded lobulated mass is the typical radiographic finding of total hilar enlargement. The diagnosis of hilar nodal enlargement is best made from lateral body section radiographs.


Congenital nephrogenic diabetes insipidus (CNDI) is a rare disorder caused by mutations of the arginine vasopressin (AVP) V2 receptor or aquaporin 2 (AQP2) genes. The current study presented the case of CNDI in a 1-month-old male with a novel mutation in the AQP2 gene. The patient was referred due to the occurrence of hypernatremia and mild-intermittent fever since birth. An AVP stimulation test was compatible with CNDI as there was no significant response to desmopressin. Molecular genetic analysis demonstrated two mutations in exon 1 of the AQP2 gene: C to T transition, which resulted in a missense mutation of 108Thr (ACG) to Met (ATG); and a 127, 128 delCA, which resulted in a deletion mutation of glutamine in position 43 at codon CAG as the first affected amino acid, with the new reading frame endign in a termination codon at position 62. The molecular genetic analysis of the parents showed that the missense mutation was inherited maternally and the deletion mutation was inherited paternally. The parents showed no signs or symptoms of CNDI, indicating autosomal recessive inheritance. The 108Thr (ACG) to Met (ATG) mutation was confirmed as a novel mutation. Therefore, the molecular identification of the AQP2 gene has clinical significance, as early recognition of CNDI in infants that show only non-specific symptoms, can be facilitated. Thus, repeated episodes of dehydration, which may cause physical and mental retardation can be avoided.


Indonesia is an agrarian country with more than seventy percent of her population living in rural areas. The population of Indonesia was 119.2 million in 1971 with a very high growth rate. This population is not evenly distributed, with 63.8 percent of the population concentrated in the Java and Bali Islands, which is only about seven percent of the total area of Indonesia. Java is recognized by its crowded rural region, high unemployment and therefore low standard of living for the rural area. Indonesian economy is still an agrarian economy, with more than fifty percent of national income from agriculture, with low productivity in traditional techniques of production and very small holding size. Rice holds a dominant position in both production and consumption in the economies of Indonesia and most Asian countries. Failure to increase rice production in the decade ahead will create a very serious problem or situation. Higher rice prices can lead to higher wages and higher prices for goods other than rice. This will place inflationary pressure on the economy. For a long time rice has been the main food in Indonesia. The most important agricultural policy objective is to fulfill the increasing demand of the very vast growing population.


Constitutions devised by rank-and-file legislative politicians in the 'Third Wave' of democratization tend to exhibit an inverse relationship between party strength and executive strength. Party strength refers to the extent to which legislators campaign on the basis of their parties' reputations as providers of public policy as opposed to personal reputations as providers of more narrowly targeted services. Executive strength refers to the constitutional authority of the executive to influence policy independent of partisan support in the legislature. Politicians' interest in one configuration of power or another can be deduced logically from the situation in which they find themselves at the time they are designing a new democratic regime.


To gain better understanding of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in Dubai we studied the clinical and immunological manifestations in a cohort of 151 patients attended Rheumatology Clinic in Dubai Hospital between January 2002 and January 2007. We found that the female to male ratio was 20.5:1, with a mean age of 35.5 years (0.9). The mean age at disease onset was 28.9 years (0.8) and mean disease duration 6.7 years (0.4). Five-year survival rate in our cohort was 94%. The commonest clinical manifestations in this cohort were arthritis (88%), haematological abnormalities (61.6%), and malar rash (60.3%). Leucopenia, fever, hair loss and proteinuria were observed in approximately half of the patients. Anaemia was found in 44.3% but only 9.9% had haemolytic anaemia. Photosensitive rash was seen in 43% of patients. Approximately one-third of the patients had serositis and mouth ulcers, 30.5 and 27.2% respectively. Vasculitis was observed in 19.2% of patients. Neuropsychiatric manifestations (15.9%), discoid lupus lesions (12.6%), and brain infarcts (13.2%) were infrequent. Subacute cutaneous lupus (6%) was also uncommon. Anti-nuclear antibodies were detected in 98%, anti-double stranded DNA antibodies in 88.7%, anti-Sm antibodies in 19.7%, anti-RNP in 40.4%, anti-Ro antibodies in 52.3% and anti-La antibodies in 19.8%. Anti-cardiolipin IgM and IgG were detected in 25.3 and 22.4%, respectively. This study suggests that Arabs with SLE residing in Dubai have comparable clinical features to their counterparts in other Arab countries and Western countries. The high prevalence of positive anti-Ro antibodies among our Arab patients probably reflects a character, that is, commonly seen in SLE patients of Middle East origin.


Purpose: to understand the aspects of the professional trajectory and continuity of academic studies by those who graduated on Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences (Ph). Methods: it was invited 250 graduates from the course at UFMG, and they were submitted a questionnaire with questions regarding professional situation, their study's continuity and academic background. Estatistical analisis: Epi softaware Info 6.04. (Chi-square and Fisher's Exact Tests). Results: most of the graduates were female, average age of 25,7 years old and time of graduation from 1,9 to almost 3 years. Most of them did not have in Ph the only source of income; the weekly working hours was higher for those who live exclusively of Ph work and they had professional achievement, but not financial. Most of those who do not have in Ph the source of income does not feel financially and professionally fulfilled (p<0,05). The evaluation of the academic background was mostly "very good to great" in the group of graduates who had Ph as exclusive source of income. Academic background was equally divided between "bad and good" as in "good and excellent" (p=0,03) in the group of graduates who does not have in Ph the only source of income. 50% of graduates reported great difficulty in entering in the labor market. Conclusions: the increased age, increased graduation time, working hours of over 20 hours, positive assessment of the academic background are aspects that contributed to the financial independence of the graduate in Ph. The students who reported fewer difficulties in entering in the labor market assessed the undergraduate program more positively.


RNA silencing is a crucial mechanism of the antiviral immunity system in plants. Small RNAs guide Argonaut proteins to target viral RNA or DNA, preventing virus accumulation. Small RNA profiles in Cucurbita pepo line PI 420328 with tolerance to cucurbit yellow stunting disorder virus (CYSDV) were compared with those in Gold Star, a susceptible cultivar. The lower CYSDV symptom severity in PI 420328 correlated with lower virus titers and fewer sRNAs derived from CYSDV (vsRNA) compared to Gold Star. Elevated levels of 21- and 22-nucleotide (nt) size class vsRNAs were observed in PI 420328, indicating more robust and efficient RNA silencing in PI 420328. The distribution of vsRNA hotspots along the CYSDV genome was similar in both PI 420328 and Gold Star. However, the 3' UTRs, CPm, and p26 were targeted at a higher frequency in PI 420328.


Vocational education provides an educational but not a social ladder of opportunity to Australian higher education. The five dual-sector universities with significant enrolments in both vocational and higher education admit about twice the proportion of students transferring from vocational education as other universities. However, since the students in the upper levels of vocational education have a socio-economic composition similar to higher education students, vocational education does not provide a social ladder of opportunity by increasing access by students from a low socio-economic status background. Nevertheless, the article argues for the extension of dual-sector universities and other measures to articulate vocational and higher education and that more needs to be done to improve the representativeness of the upper levels of vocational education.


ABSTRACT Three different methods were developed and employed to analyze the concentration of bismuth subsalicylate in an oral liquid pharmaceutical suspension. These methods were UV-Visible spectroscopy utilizing the external calibration method and the standard addition method, flame atomic absorption spectroscopy, and complexometric titration with EDTA. All three methods were conducted within one 3-hr period by undergraduate students in analytical chemistry laboratory class settings and produced results within the allowable range of 90.0–110.0% as listed in the United States Pharmacopeia. Differences in sensitivity, precision, sample size, time, and reagent use between the three methods were observed.


The combination of rules and ontologies has a central role in the ongoing development of the Semantic Web. In previous work, autoepistemic logic (AEL) was advocated as a uniform host formalism to study different such combinations, enabling comparisons on a common basis. In this paper, we continue this line of research and investigate different embeddings of major proposals to combine rules and ontologies into first-order autoepistemic logic (FO-AEL). In particular, we present embeddings for dl-programs, r-hybrid knowledge bases, and hybrid MKNF knowledge bases, which are representatives of different combination types. We study the embeddings in the context of FO-AEL under the standard-names assumption, but we also discuss variants using the any- and all-names semantics. Our results provide interesting insights into the properties of the discussed combination formalisms.


Elastic optical network has recently been attracted massive attentions to realize a highly-flexible virtual infrastructure needed by emerging on-demand cloud applications (e.g, ultra-high definition TV, grid computing, e-science). Virtual network embedding over elastic optical network provides promising solution to fine-grained sharing of node processing and bandwidth capacity resources. Due to the fact that heterogeneous cloud applications call for different levels of service differentiation, we investigate an efficient scheduling algorithm, for the first time to our knowledge, to adopt set-up delay tolerances in the embedding procedure. Particularly, requests holding-time awareness was not taken into account to represent unpredictability of expiry times in most realistic situations. Numerical simulations carried out over two prototype substrate networks, demonstrated that our proposed scheme could significantly enhance the performance of immediate mapping strategy over wide range of offered traffic loads.


The present invention relates to a resin particle aggregate which is formed by a plurality of resin particles formed of vinyl monomer polymers. The present invention contains 100 parts by mass of the resin particle, and 1 to 5 parts by mass of a surfactant. The resin particle is cross-linked by a cross-linkable monomer of 10 to 50 wt% with respect to all mass of the resin particle. The content of an inorganic component in the resin particle aggregate is 0.5 wt% or less, and a ratio (D2/D1) of a volume average particle diameter (D2) of a particle which is contained in a dispersive liquid, which is the resin particle aggregate dispersed in water, to a volume average particle diameter (D1) of the resin particle is 15 or less.


A motion artifact reduction multi-channel bio-signal sensor is proposed for sleep monitoring system with the help of independent component analysis (ICA). To prevent signal saturation due to large motion artifacts, adaptive DC level control (ADLC) is adopted to adjust the DC level of the signal. The current-controlled level shifter (CCLS) is used in ADLC for the shifting voltage step as small as 3mV with low power consumption. The shifted voltages and the motion artifacts are recovered by the ICA. The ICA also detects only the channels suffered from motion artifact and enables ADLC circuit of those selected channels to reduce standby power dissipation. The proposed 4-channel sleep monitoring sensor is implemented in a 0.13μm CMOS process, and consumes only 46μW. With the proposed ADLC, 17.7 times larger motion artifact cannot saturate signal.


The Biga Peninsula in northwestern Turkey hosts a large number of high and low sulfidation epithermal gold-silver-(copper) and associated copper-gold porphyry deposits and prospects, associated with voluminous, Eocene-Miocene calc-alkaline volcanism and plutonism. Approximately 15 million gold-equiv oz have been discovered within the last 10 years in this area, with a number of new discoveries now in the drill-testing stage and two deposits in the development stage. At the TV Tower property in the central Biga Peninsula, Eocene(?) to Oligocene intermediate to felsic volcanic and volcaniclastic strata and associated intrusive rocks overlie metamorphosed basement rocks of the Camlica Group. The volcanic sequence is broadly divisible into a lower sequence of andesitic dikes and flows intruded by monzonite porphyry stocks and dikes, a middle sequence of andesitic breccias and flows, and an upper sequence consisting largely of dacitic tuffs, flows, and epiclastic strata. The middle and upper sequences are strongly altered over an area covering several tens of km2, including argillic, advanced argillic, and massive to vuggy quartz alteration, the latter largely manifested as ledges hosted in dacitic volcaniclastic rocks. Moderate- and high-angle normal and oblique faults are common in the area and may have influenced the distribution of mineralization. The Kucukdag zone was drill-tested in 2010 on the basis of strong surface soil and rock sample data. The second hole returned a near-surface intercept of 136.2 m averaging 4.30 g/t Au, 15.0 g/t Ag, and 0.68% Cu. As of the date of this communication, 169 holes have been drilled to test the zone, which measures approximately 600 × 400 m and consists of a lower gold-rich zone and an upper silver-rich zone. Total mineral endowment is estimated at 966,000 indicated and 351,000 inferred gold-equiv oz. Mineralization is strongly controlled by stratigraphy, with gold hosted primarily within a massive lithic lapilli-bearing tuff unit and silver largely constrained to an overlying fluvial-lacustrine sequence capped by andesite breccias. Copper is distributed throughout the zone in association with both gold and silver. The zone is located primarily in the hanging wall of a moderate-angle fault that separates the dacitic volcaniclastic sequence from andesite breccias in the footwall. Gold is associated with tectonic-hydrothermal breccias, zones of vuggy quartz and veins, and alteration minerals consisting primarily of alunite and dickite with sulfides including pyrite, enargite, and covellite. Spatially, silver is largely separate from gold, and is associated with silicification, very fine grained pyrite, and/or marcasite and enargite. Paragenetic evidence suggests that the silver event may predate the gold event, but that the two may have shared common fluid pathways. A number of other targets are currently being explored on the property, including silicified ledge or rib-style, vuggy quartz-hosted oxide gold, Cu-Au porphyry, and low sulfidation epithermal gold-silver veins.


Abstract Background Smartphone reminding applications can help overcome memory difficulties experienced by people with acquired brain injury (ABI). Cognitive difficulties with memory and attention make entering reminders into a device, and remembering to set reminders, challenging for this group. ApplTree is a reminding app with features that aim to address challenges. One app feature was push notifications (asking "Do you need to set any reminders?") to support people to initiate use of the app to set reminders. Another app feature was a customisable user interface design to support attention and short term memory during reminder setting. Methods In a mixed-methods user study, five people with self or other reported memory impairment following ABI used ApplTree for at least 4 months. They received push notifications for at least 2 months and no push notifications for at least 2 months. Monthly participant interviews provided insight into user interface preference, app use, and push notification acceptability. Results Receiving four Push notifications per day doubled number of daily reminders set and four of the five participants found receiving them to be acceptable. This long-term field study uncovered issues relevant for clinicians and designers, including insights into the potential benefits of different user interface designs, the impact of family members on app use, and the importance of perceived need influencing use and acceptance. Conclusions Feedback provided insight into future considerations when designing reminding apps and using them in neuropsychological rehabilitation. This work highlights the benefit of user-led research into accessible design and use of assistive technologies. IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION "Unsolicited" push prompts are an easy to implement feature of reminding technology that is useful and acceptable for people with ABI in community rehabilitation. Observations provide insights about how people with ABI make use of reminding apps over time. This can inform those designing apps or providing reminding technology as part of neuropsychological rehabilitation. Participants differed on their preference of the two user-interface designs available in ApplTree. This highlights an area for future research because currently available reminding apps have a broad-shallow design which may not always be appropriate for people with ABI.


Gasoline taxes are the most important tax on car use. The question naturally arises as to what tax would be adopted by a government that responds to the preferences of the public. To address that issue, we begin with the standard Downsian model, where policy is determined by the median voter. This model predicts that as long as the median voter is not a car user, he wants high taxes on road use and a road capacity that maximizes net tax revenues. When he becomes a driver himself, he wants road user taxes that are lower and only increase to control congestion, as well as more road capacity. We then use panel data for 28 countries and find support for our theory. When the median voter becomes a driver, the gasoline tax drops on average by 20%.


Cross-validation is an established technique for estimating the accuracy of a classifier and is normally performed either using a number of random test/train partitions of the data, or using kfold cross-validation. We present a technique for calculating the complete cross-validation for nearest-neighbor classifiers: i.e., averaging over all desired test/train partitions of data. This technique is applied to several common classifier variants such as K-nearest-neighbor, stratified data partitioning and arbitrary loss functions. We demonstrate, with complexity analysis and experimental timing results, that the technique can be performed in time comparable to k-fold cross-validation, though in effect it averages an exponential number of trials. We show that the results of complete cross-validation are biased equally compared to subsampling and kfold cross-validation, and there is some reduction in variance. This algorithm offers significant benefits both in terms of time and accuracy.


Background Adiposity in childhood has been associated with increased cardiovascular risk which may be established in childhood and adolescence. Also centrally distributed fat (waist circumference) has been suggested to be a better marker of cardiometabolic risk compared to body mass index (BMI). We aimed to assess the association of adiposity measures with cardiometabolic outcomes in children and consider if the magnitude of these associations differ by adiposity measurement. Methods European cohorts with data available on BMI and waist circumference and cardiometabolic outcomes (at least blood pressure) were invited to participate in the collaborative project. Cross-sectional associations between adiposity measures (age- and gender-standardised z scores) and cardiometabolic outcomes and prospective associations (cardiometabolic outcomes measured at least 12 months after adiposity measurement) were examined. Results from individual cohorts were pooled using a random-effect meta-analysis and heterogeneity between them explored. Results A total of 13 cohorts (n=3644–17186 for different outcomes) were included in the cross-sectional analysis. BMI and waist circumference were both positively associated with diastolic and systolic blood pressure (DBP, SBP) and with total cholesterol, LDLc, triglycerides, insulin and CRP, with the magnitudes of association with each outcome being similar for BMI and waist. For example, the mean difference in DBP per standard deviation (SD) increase in BMI was 0.90 mmHg (95% confidence intervals (CI) 0.55, 1.24) and per SD waist was 0.73 mmHg (95%CI 0.33, 1.12); similar results for SBP were 1.73 mmHg (95%CI 1.28, 2.18) and 1.33 mmHg (95%CI 0.83, 1.81). In prospective analysis (6 cohorts, n=3708–7073 for different outcomes) BMI and waist circumference were positively associated with SBP and total cholesterol and inversely with HDLc associations were similar for the two adiposity measurements or were stronger for BMI. For example a 1SD greater BMI was associated with 1.36 mmHg higher SBP (95%CI 0.67, 2.05) compared with 0.96 mmHg (95% CI 0.35, 1.57) for waist. Direct measurements of fat mass, such as DXA or bioelectrical impedance, did not exhibit stronger associations with risk factors than did BMI. Age at adiposity measurement did not consistently influence the heterogeneity of association between studies. Conclusion Adiposity in childhood and adolescence is associated with adverse cardiometabolic outcomes. This suggests that interventions should be considered earlier before adverse effects become established. The magnitude of the association is similar between BMI, waist circumference and direct measures of adipostiy. Therefore BMI alone could be considered an adequate measure in public health and health surveillance systems.


The existence of candlenut forest in Maros District, today, is a successfull evidence of farmers living around the forest participation. Farmers around the candlenut forest has participated in managing that forest since 1826 to meet their subsitence need. They use the candlenut fruit to be one of their household income generating. Hence, those farmers have important roles to manage and to keep that forest sustainability. Any activity, including farmers participation, will undergo enthusiatic if there is any motivation within the person doing that activity. The research intended to identify and analize the contribution of farmers' motivation to their participation in managing and utilizing candlenut forest. The data were collected on January-Maret 2010 in Maros District, South Sulawesi Province using some methods: questionnare list, interview, observation, and documents. The data were analyzed using (1) descriptive statistics, and (2) inferensial statistics based on SEM using LISREL 8.70 software programming. The result shows that farmers' motivation is in the middle level, but their participation in managing and utilizing candlenut forest is categorized in low level. The Farmers' motivation, however, has a positive contribution for increasing farmers participation in managing and utilizing candlenut forest. © 2012 Jurnal Penyuluhan, Department of Communication and Community Development Sciences, Bogor Agricultural University. All rights reserved. Key words: Farmers' motivation, farmers' partisipation, candlenut forest  [ How to cite :  Suprayitno, A., Sumardjo, S., Gani, D., & Sugihen, B. (2012). Motivation and Participation of Farmers in Managing The Candlenut Forest in Maros District, South Sulawesi Province.  Jurnal Penyuluhan, 8 (2). Retrieved from http://ejournal.skpm.ipb.ac.id/index.php/jupe/article/view/59 ]


As industry moves towards multicore chips, networks-on-chip (NoCs) are emerging as the scalable fabric for interconnecting the cores. With power now the first-order design constraint, early-stage estimation of NoC power has become crucially important. In this work, we present ORION 2.0, an enhanced NoC power and area simulator, which offers significant accuracy improvement relative to its predecessor, ORION 1.0.


Relationships were investigated between chronic bronchitis and plant dust exposure assessed by quantification of barn threshing and cattle foddering and chronic bronchitis and acute respiratory syndromes after plant mold dust exposure. Two groups of male dairy farmers were studied in the Doubs region, France: 197 with chronic bronchitis and 163 control subjects without chronic bronchitis. There was no relationship between chronic bronchitis and exposure. Thirty-three chronic bronchitis patients had semidelayed respiratory syndromes (SDRS) vs two control subjects. Twenty-seven times out of 33 (16 of 17 in the nonsmokers), the SDRS preceded chronic bronchitis. Past history of acute respiratory syndromes during barn threshing (RSBT) was more frequent in chronic bronchitis; RSBT always preceded chronic bronchitis. It is concluded that host factors are important in chronic bronchitis and that acute effects after exposure may be predisposing factors to chronic bronchitis.


Proceedings: AACR 106th Annual Meeting 2015; April 18-22, 2015; Philadelphia, PA

Cell cycle checkpoints are imperative for assuring genomic fidelity and integrity during cell division. In normal cells, the cell cycle arrest occurs in response to nuclear DNA damage via activation and inactivation of a series of cell cycle regulatory molecules that can impact the transition from G1 to S phase and G2 to M phase. However, in cancerous cells, this process is disrupted resulting in uncontrolled cell proliferation and resistance to apoptosis. Therefore, cell cycle regulatory molecules are accepted as suitable targets for drug development and cancer treatment. It has been well known that overexpression of MDM2, a negative regulator of p53, will eventually lead to the inactivation of cell cycle control and loss of apoptotic ability in many tumors. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effectiveness of MDM2 inhibition in mediating cell cycle arrest through p53 dependent pathways by using the MDM2 transfected prostate cancer cells (LNCaP-MST). During our experiments the LNCaP-MST cells were treated for 24 hrs with 20 uM Nutlin-3, a small molecule inhibitor of MDM2/p53 interaction. The impact of Nutlin-3 treatment on the gene expression profile of LNCaP-MST cells was established by using the cell cycle pathway specific PCR array. Our study clearly demonstrates a significant increase of p21 gene expression after Nutlin-3 treatment, which indicates a possible restoration and release of the transcriptional activity of p53 in LNCaP-MST cells. In addition to the elevation of p21, a significant increase in the expression of Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 4 Inhibitor B (CDKN2B) along with multiple folds increase in the expression of Growth Arrest and DNA Damage 45 (GADD45A) genes were also found. These results clearly point towards efficient initiation of cell cycle arrest mechanisms in LNCaP-MST cells, possibly through p21 and CDKN2B mediated inhibition of the CDKs (cyclin dependent kinases). In addition, it appears that MDM2 inhibition may effectively block both G1 to S and G2 to M transition and cause DNA damage through apoptosis that could lead to the death of LNCaP-MST cells. Activation of the above outlined mechanisms following MDM2 inhibition is quite evident due to increased expression of GADD45A and decreased levels of anti-apoptotic B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) genes. Our results offer convincing evidence towards the effectiveness of MDM2 inhibition in causing cell cycle arrest and apoptosis during cancer treatment. (This research was supported by the generous funds provided by the Royal Dames of Cancer Research Inc., Ft. Lauderdale, Florida)

Citation Format: Khalid Alhazzani, Ali Alaseem, Thiagarajan Venkatesan, Appu Rathinavelu. Analysis of the role of MDM2 in regulation of cell cycle arrest through p21 pathways in LNCaP-MST cells using PCR array. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 82. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-82


A major failure event was experienced at a 44 MW plant powered by four aeroderivative gas turbines arranged in two units, property of the Federal Commission of Electricity (CFE).The failure consisted of total fracture in the shaft coupling between the generator and free-turbine. Unit 2 has a twin pack configuration with two aero derivative Pratt&Whitney 20 MW gas turbines coupled to one generator at both end sides. The "A" side generator coupling was completely damaged as well as the coupling configuration at the free turbine.Failure analysis showed as root cause, an abnormal configuration of the coupling systems between the free turbine to rotor generator at side "A". This side had an additional shaft component to compensate a longer coupling distance between the turbine and generator. This was longer than the original distance, generating additional dynamic forces during operation leading to a fatigue failure mechanism.The replacement coupling configuration for the rotor generator was different than the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). The new (non-OEM) spare rotor generator was shorter in the longitudinal direction than the original one, forcing the addition of a new shaft in one side of the generator.This work describes the rehabilitation process of the generator coupling by the replacement of the old configuration by a new redesigned coupling. This was done keeping the original configuration distances and components for both end shaft sides of the rotor generator. The paper includes the redesigned couple analysis by finite element method and the in-situ activities for the installation of the new couple in the rotor generator.Copyright © 2013 by ASME


Background: Anterior inferior iliac spine (AIIS) impingement is an important risk factor for revision hip arthroscopy. Although a morphological classification system is available, evaluating AIIS impingement with respect to joint kinematics remains a challenge. Purpose: To use computer simulation analysis to ascertain the prevalence of AIIS impingement before and after osteochondroplasty. Methods: A total of 35 joints from 30 cases (20 males and 10 females; average age: 43.3 ± 13.7 years) were analyzed. All joints had cam morphology and underwent hip arthroscopic osteochondroplasty. A three-dimensional model of each joint was constructed pre- and postoperatively. Joint kinematic simulation software (ZedHip®, Lexi, Tokyo) was used to identify the impingement point on the acetabular side and the incidence (expressed as a percentage) of AIIS impingement calculated. Radiographic and clinical evaluation was performed pre- and postoperatively. Results: AIIS impingement was observed postoperatively in six joints but preoperatively in only one joint. The rate of AIIS postoperative impingement was significantly higher than that of preoperative impingement. All impingement points were located on the inferior aspect of the AIIS apex. However, there were no significant differences between the AIIS impingement and non-impingement groups in terms of clinical outcome. Conclusion: The incidence of AIIS impingement after osteochondroplasty was 17% by computer simulation analysis. Osteochondroplasty may result in subsequent AIIS impingement.


This paper investigates the effects of agricultural aid on food security in African countries during the the 1990 to 2012 period. Defining food security as increases in agricultural productivity and controlling for a large number of covariates, we find that agricultural aid, at the aggregate level, aid to the agricultural sector has positive and statistically significant effect on food security in African countries. Disaggregating agricultural aid, we find that all components of agricultural aid have significant effects on several indices of food security although the strength of the effect vary across indices of food security. The results are robust to several specifications and different estimation methodologies.


The difference in interaction energies between two laevo molecules, and one dextro and one laevo, are analysed. Formulae are given for the discriminating terms in the dispersion and induction energies for molecules in fixed orientations, between freely rotating molecules, and molecules rotating about the intermolecular axis. Discrimination in the resonance interaction between optical isomers appears in the retarded interaction (in dipole approximation) as a term with an inverse square dependence on distance in the near zone. Its significance is discussed for pairwise interactions and in crystalline systems.


Concrete filled steel tubes columns of circular cross section (CFST) have significant constructive, technological, economic advantages. Therefore, CFST are increasingly used in construction practice. Due to the complex nature of CFST load resistance, regulations of the Europe, Australia, Brazil, India, Canada, China, the USA, Japan, and of a number of other countries recommend using empirical formulas for calculating their bearing capacity. Despite the large number of the experiments, serving as a basis for these formulas, they do not always allow to obtain valid results. Besides, these methods, as a rule, do not allow the calculations of compressed CFST elements, which have any differences from a "classical" design, for example, the presence of a high-strength rod and (or) spiral reinforcement, various types of concrete, the effect of preliminary lateral compression of a concrete core, etc. The purpose of this monograph is to propose the method of deformation calculation of the bearing capacity of compressed CFST elements under short-term load action based on the phenomenological approach and the theoretical positions of reinforced concrete mechanics.


Serum creatine kinase (CK) concentration has been widely used as an indicator of skeletal muscle damage in sports. However, there are no studies on post-game CK kinetics in soccer during a competitive season. The aim of this study was to evaluate serum CK kinetics in professional soccer players at different post-game times during a competitive season without training interruption. Seventeen professional soccer players (age: 22.2±3.1 years, height: 179±6.0 cm, body fat percentage: 9.5±1.1, and 67.0±3.5 mL O2/kg/min) were evaluated over a period of 3 months of the national championship. Serum CK concentration was measured before the beginning of the season (baseline) and at four different times after a soccer game (post-1: 12-20 h, post-2: 36-48 h, post-3: 60-65 h, and post-4: 90-110 h). Plasma CK concentrations were higher at all times when compared to baseline (p<0.05). Post-2 CK concentration was lower than post-1 and higher than post-3 and -4 (p<0.05), with no significant differences between post-3 and post-4. In conclusion, serum CK kinetics was influenced by the training routine of the soccer players, with a peak between 12 and 20 h after the game, returning to normal within 60-65 h. This procedure can be used to monitor the recovery state of athletes and game and training intensities.