Background Although vancomycin dosing recommendations are based on creatinine clearance estimated using the Cockcroft–Gault formula, it may not be optimal for critically ill patients due to their physiologic changes. A direct measure of creatinine clearance can provide more accurate information on renal function and dose adjustment of vancomycin. Purpose The objective of the current study was to determine vancomycin clearance during intermittent infusion and to explore its correlations with measured and estimated creatinine clearance in critically ill patients with normal renal function. Material and methods 20 critically ill patients who received treatment with vancomycin intermittent infusion were enrolled (16 men, 4 women, age 46.8±19.8 years, body mass index 24.0±2.8 kg/m2, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) 108.0±44.3 mL/min, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II score 12.7±5.0 at admission). Vancomycin clearance (CLvan) was determined 1–2 times for each patient during the study (n=32). Its correlation with measured creatinine clearance in 6 hour urine (CL6-h) and estimated creatinine clearance from the Cockcroft–Gault formula (CLCG) was investigated. Results Data analysis revealed that CL6-h was a stronger predictor of CLvan rather than CLCG (Pearson coefficient correlation=0.83 vs 0.67; p<0.001). The relationship between CLvan and CL6-h was utilised to develop the following equation to estimate clearance of vancomycin in the critically ill patients without renal impairment: CLvan (mL/min)=26.55+0.73 CL6-h ( mL/min). Conclusion Measured creatinine clearance estimated from a 6 hour urine collection is a simple test that provides more reliable and practical information compared with the Cockcroft–Gault formula for vancomycin dose adjustment in critically ill patients with normal renal function. References and/or acknowledgements We would like to acknowledge all of the patients who agreed to contribute to the study. No conflict of interest


Some unbiased, design-based stereological methods that have recently been developed for the study of anisotropic tissues like muscle, myocardium, brain, cartilage, and skin, are briefly reviewed. Vertical sections permit the unbiased estimation of surface density and mean volume-weighted particle volume from microscopic sections. The available experience includes various studies on malignant melanomas. In addition, the surface area of total organs (e.g., the pleural surface area) can be determined with vertical sections, which was hitherto not feasible. The orientator is a simple method to generate isotropic sections in biological material. With the orientator method it is possible to determine not only the surface density, but also the length density of the objects. Thus the method is suitable for the study of fascicular systems (tubules etc.), and for the study of vascularisation in particular.


This article explores internal service relationships within the service delivery process of a large telecommunications company. The empirical research generates an expression of the psychological contracts held between internal customers and suppliers based upon the content analysis of qualitative interviews. Seven hundred and twenty three contractual expectations are reduced into 17 categories and this analytical framework is applied to measure the strength of the psychological contract between three interdependent service groups. The research explores how established psychological contracts encouraged the provision of flexible internal services and how psychological contract breach precipitated service delivery problems with clear implications for managers and service organisations.


The aim of this paper is to determine the performance of the heat exchanger system using thehydraulic fluid . Investigation of heat exchanger system efficiency has been done versus the flow rate on the BETA test loop. This system can be used for investigation the hydraulic thermal changing. The Sequences on this system consist of a heat exchanger circuit that serves as a heat degree reducing from the primary part to the secondary part .The test method is carried out by operating the heat exchanger system with some variations of fluid flow rate in the primary part. The efficiency of system has been determined by comparing the energy value in the primary inlet to the energy value taken out form outlet by a secondary. Obtained results indicates that the increasing of fluid flow rate in the primary part from 3.86x10-4 m3 /s to 8.23x10-4 m3 /s cause a reduction in the efficiency of the heat exchanger system of about 82% to 74%.


The article presents an analysis of the design of cooling liquid pumps for a compression-ignition aircraft engine. A 100 kW twin- charged, two-stroke, liquid-cooled engine has 3 cylinders and 6 opposed-pistons. In the first part of the study, the amount of heat needed to be removed by the cooling system was estimated to obtain the required volumetric flow rate. Then, the design of automotive cooling liquid pumps for compression-ignition engines with a Common Rail power supply system and power of about 100 kW was analyzed. The aim of the analysis was to select a suitable pump for applications in the aircraft compression-ignition engine. 5 constructions of different shape, diameter and width of the working rotor were selected. The pressure and volume flow rate were determined for a given rotational speed of the pump on a specially built stand. The operation maps of individual pumps were created to select the most efficient types of pumps.


Background: Nonspecific chronic neck pain (NSCNP) is a great discomfort to individual suffering from it and serious problem to physiotherapist managing them.
Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of neck stabilization exercises on pain, disability, craniovertebral angle and psychological status in patient with non-specific chronic neck pain.
Methodology: Fourteen patients (6 male and 8 female participants) with non-specific chronic neck pain with a mean age of 41.64±14.78 were involved in this study. They were recruited from selected hospitals in Lagos state. Subjects performed stabilization exercise two times in a week for eight consecutive weeks and were assessed for pain severity, level of disability, anxiety, depression and cranio-vertebral angle using the numerical pain rating scale (NPRS), neck disability index (NDI), hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS). The craniovertebral angle (CVA) was obtained and recorded photographically and was measured using coral draw X7 software at pre-intervention, 4 weeks and 8 weeks post intervention. Data analysis were done with Friedmann test, Wilcoxon sign rank test and spearman correlation. Level of significance was set at p≤0.05.
Results: There was significant reduction in pain severity (p=0.001) and improvement in function disability level (p=0.001) of the subjects following intervention. There was also improvement in depression level (p=0.001), anxiety level (p=0.001) and increase in the craniovertebral angle (p=0.001) of the subject's post intervention.
Conclusions: This study revealed that neck stabilization exercises alone are effective in the treatment of individuals with NSCNP.


Gaucher-like cells were found in the bone marrow and liver of an Omani teenager who had common acute lymphoblastic leukemia (cALL) confirmed on peripheral blood analysis by the presence of CD10 antigen. Leukocytic or fibroblastic beta-glucocerebrosidase enzyme activity was not measured, but other biochemical data and features of bone marrow on electron microscopy were not indicative of genuine type 1 Gaucher's disease. To our knowledge, this is the first report of pseudo-Gaucher's cells in association with cALL.


There is a lack of assertive carbon sink identification techniques and guidelines to underpin landscape planning based on the promotion and protection of support ecosystem services, as well as other categories, needed for human well-being (regulation, provision and culture). Considering this, the present article aims to identify carbon sinks in stretches of the territorial landscape of Distrito Federal, by the use of remote sensing tools. To this end, it was applied the hyperspectral index ICO2 in a stretch of Distrito Federal's landscape, seeking variations of CO2 in the atmospheric air column of areas with carbon sink action. Then, it was applied an index CO2flux in the same stretch, in a different approach: variations in carbon sequestration in vegetation performance (photosynthetic efficacy) in areas with carbon sink behavior. In sequence, the correlation between the indexes above was verified for the validation of the carbon sinks that have been found by both methods. __________________________________ * Corresponding author The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Volume XLII-3/W12-2020, 202


The finite element field solvers in Beam Optics Analyzer (BOA), Poisson solver using scalar shape functions and Curl-Curl solver using vector shape functions for interpolation, have already had a built-in adaptivity but only serially. The new parallel adaptivity in BOA takes full advantage of the current low-cost high-performance multi-core processors making adaptive meshing highly efficient. Parallel adaptivity methodologies will be discussed, and numerical results will be demonstrated.


THE NEED for an in vitro method of cultivating lenses which would be suitable for performing quantitative metabolic studies over periods of twelve to twenty-four hours gave rise to the present investigation. The apparently limitless possibilities for experimentation on the lens, were it possible to maintain lenses in a normal physiologic state for a relatively indefinite period, stimulated us to perform several preliminary experiments, using different culture mediums, in an attempt to establish such conditions. In this paper a technic is described for culturing lenses, as well as observations on changes in carbohydrate metabolism—a sensitive index of damage—which lenses undergo when incubated in different mediums for periods of approximately a week. Previous methods of culturing lenses have been based on a perfusion technic devised by de Haan.1Bakker,2for example, placed rabbit lenses in a shallow air-tight and water-tight glass chamber and then perfused the lenses with sterile


Diagnosis and therapy of breast cancer are briefly reviewed for the general internist. He should know what triple diagnosis, breast-conserving surgery, radiotherapy and adjuvant systemic therapy involve. He should know when to perform a screening mammography, what follow-up examinations after breast cancer are indicated and what dangers loom in metastatic breast cancer. He should know of new therapeutic avenues such as bisphosphonates, new aromatase inhibitors, taxanes, and high-dose chemotherapy with stem cell support. Since advances in the treatment of breast cancer have been achieved mostly through randomized studies, a positive attitude toward such studies and a willingness to take part in them are desirable.


One of the most common problems preventing the application of prediction models in the real world is lack of generalization: The accuracy of models, measured in the benchmark does repeat itself on future data, e.g. in the settings of real business. There is relatively little methods exist that estimate the confidence of prediction models. In this paper, we propose novel methods that, given a neural network classification model, estimate uncertainty of particular predictions generated by this model. Furthermore, we propose a method that, given a model and a confidence level, calculates a threshold that separates prediction generated by this model into two subsets, one of them meets the given confidence level. In contrast to other methods, the proposed methods do not require any changes on existing neural networks, because they simply build on the output logit layer of a common neural network. In particular, the methods infer the confidence of a particular prediction based on the distribution of the logit values corresponding to this prediction. The proposed methods constitute a tool that is recommended for filtering predictions in the process of knowledge extraction, e.g. based on web scrapping, where predictions subsets are identified that maximize the precision on cost of the recall, which is less important due to the availability of data. The method has been tested on different tasks including relation extraction, named entity recognition and image classification to show the significant increase of accuracy achieved.


In this paper, we present three techniques for incorporating syntactic metadata in a textual retrieval system. The first technique involves just a syntactic analysis of the query and it generates a different weight for each term of the query, depending on its grammar category in the query phrase. These weights will be used for each term in the retrieval process. The second technique involves a storage optimization of the system's inverted index that is the inverse index will store only terms that are subjects or predicates in the document they appear in. Finally, the third technique builds a full syntactic index, meaning that for each term in the term collection, the inverse index stores besides the term-frequency and the inverse-document-frequency, also the grammar category of the term for each of its occurrences in a document.


. In this paper, we explore the effects of temporary policy in a dynamic general equilibrium by using Neumeyer and Yano's money in-utility model. Even under dynamic interaction between consumers through markets, the impact of temporary policy both on the present and future economy is very small if the long-run interest rate level is low, which coincides with the intuitive explanation by the permanent income hypothesis.


This gene is involved in the regulation of gene expression. While it has no known role in oncogenesis, MIR132 plays a role in the development of Huntington's disease.


Background Phthalates are ubiquitous chemicals used in consumer products. Some phthalates are reproductive toxicants in experimental animals, but human data are limited. Objective We conducted a cross-sectional study of urinary phthalate metabolite concentrations in relation to self-reported history of endometriosis and uterine leiomyomata among 1,227 women 20–54 years of age from three cycles of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 1999–2004. Methods We examined four phthalate metabolites: mono(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (MEHP), monobutyl phthalate (MBP), monoethyl phthalate (MEP), and monobenzyl phthalate (MBzP). From the last two NHANES cycles, we also examined mono(2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl) phthalate (MEHHP) and mono(2-ethyl-5-oxohexyl) phthalate (MEOHP). We used logistic regression to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), adjusting for potential confounders. Results Eighty-seven (7%) and 151 (12%) women reported diagnoses of endometriosis and leiomyomata, respectively. The ORs comparing the highest versus lowest three quartiles of urinary MBP were 1.36 (95% CI, 0.77–2.41) for endometriosis, 1.56 (95% CI, 0.93–2.61) for leiomyomata, and 1.71 (95% CI, 1.07–2.75) for both conditions combined. The corresponding ORs for MEHP were 0.44 (95% CI, 0.19–1.02) for endometriosis, 0.63 (95% CI, 0.35–1.12) for leiomyomata, and 0.59 (95% CI, 0.37–0.95) for both conditions combined. Findings for MEHHP and MEOHP agreed with findings for MEHP with respect to endometriosis only. We observed null associations for MEP and MBzP. Associations were similar when we excluded women diagnosed > 7 years before their NHANES evaluation. Conclusion The positive associations for MBP and inverse associations for MEHP in relation to endometriosis and leiomyomata warrant investigation in prospective studies.


In this work, we conduct a thermal pointing error analysis of the observation satellites considering seasonal and daily temperature variation with interpolated temperature based on prescribed average temperature (PAT) method. Maximum 200 degree temperature excursion is applied to the observation satellites during on-orbit operation, which cause the line of sight (LOS) to deviate from the designated pointing direction due to thermo-elastic deformation. To predict and adjust such deviation, the thermo-elastic deformation analysis with a fine structural finite element model is accomplished with interpolated thermal maps calculated from the results of on-station thermal analysis with a coarse thermal model. After verifying the interpolated temperatures by PAT with two benchmark problems, we evaluate the thermal pointing error.


ABSTRACT Young women's relationship with physical activity has been explored extensively, yet the focus is often upon young women who are White. This paper considers South Asian, Muslim young women's experiences of physical activity and how these are influenced by family. A 'middle ground' feminist approach is used, drawing upon the work of Hill Collins [(2000). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. London: Routledge] and Hamzeh [(2012). Pedagogies of deveiling: Muslim girls and the hijab discourse (critical construction). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing]. Data were generated with 13 young women using participatory approaches in focus group settings, and individual interviews. This research highlights how the young women's families can both enable and challenge opportunities and involvement in physical activity. The paper discusses how gender and religion intersect with family and wider community to influence experiences in multiple, diverse and fluid ways. The young women's narratives suggest that experiences are not determined solely by these influences; rather, they emerge as active agents negotiating different contextual challenges in their quest to be physically active.


The use of fluidizable affinity adsorbents for the adsorption of cells in expanded mode is investigated. Affinity adsorbents have been synthesized by immobilizing the lectin Concanavalin A onto the surface of triazine-activated perfluorocarbon-solids. The adsorbents were found to adsorb Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells from solution with adsorption capacities of up to 6.8 x 10(9) cells mL(-1). Adsorption kinetics were rapid with a time constant of </=8 min. The adsorbed cells could be eluted using 500 mM methyl alpha,D-mannopyranoside, although the kinetics of release were slowed by the multipoint nature of the interaction. The dynamic capacity of the Con A PVA FEP in expanded mode was up to 4.5 x 10(9) cells mL(-1). The operating parameters of bed height, application flow rate, and adsorbent size distribution were investigated for any potential improvements in throughput, which may improve utility for more fragile cells. A decrease in settled-bed height from 20 to 5 cm resulted in a decrease in dynamic capacity of 27% from 4.5 to 3.3 x 10(9) cells mL(-1). An increase in application flow rate from 0.7 to 2.0 mL/min(-1) (resulting in an expansion increase from two- to fourfold) resulted in a 40% decrease in dynamic capacity from 4.0 to 2.4 x 10(9) cells mL(-1). An increase in the mean size distribution of the perfluorocarbon from 42 to 69 microm and therefore the flow rate needed for twofold expansion of 0.7 to 1.5 mL/min(-1) resulted in a 56% decrease in dynamic capacity from 4.0 to 1.8 x 10(9) cells mL(-1). The expanded bed, using certain combinations of the operating parameters, therefore shows significant potential for the robust, high efficiency and high capacity capture and separation of cells.


This book provides an indispensable guide to the economic, political and diplomatic process that led to the creation of the European single market and the signing of the Maastricht Treaty. In this new, expanded edition Padoa-Schioppa presents a lucid assessment of the opportunities and risks that EMU entailed; assesses the economic, monetary, political, and institutional significance of the euro; and reconsiders the rationale and underlying philosophy of EMU in the light of recent developments. Padoa-Schioppa has brought together a selection of his papers and speeches, covering 1982-94, from his work as Deputy Director General of the Banca d'Italia, and has edited them thoroughly to illuminate the recent history of European integration. A central theme of his book is the belief that a group of sovereign countries cannot for long sustain free trade, unrestricted capital movement, fixed exchange rates and full autonomy of national macroeconomic policies, and so need to move towards a single currency. He discusses extensively such issues as the single currency, the tasks of a European central bank, the ECU, the role of budgetary rules, currency competition, and the relationship between EMU and political union. The author has created an insider's guide to this topical issue for students, academics, policymakers and commentators alike. This book contains extracts from documents and an extensive chronology which will be of particular use for readers.


The equation of state for the monolayer comprised of the molecules of different sizes (water and biopolymers) is modified to describe the fluid (liquid-expanded and gaseous) state of the insoluble molecules monolayer. In contrast to the equation of state derived previously in ref 1, this equation does not involve either the Gibbs' adsorption equation or the differential equation for the chemical potential of the insoluble component, but it is based only on the equations for the chemical potential of the solvent in the bulk and in the surface layer. The results calculated from the proposed equations are in perfect agreement with the experimental Pi-A isotherms of the liquid-expanded state obtained for Langmuir monolayers of various types of amphiphilic compounds. The values of molecular areas of amphiphilic molecules estimated from the fitting of experimental data to the proposed equation are found to be quite similar to those measured in independent grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXD) experiments.


A two-layer non-hydrostatic numerical model is proposed to simulate the formation of undular bores by tsunami wave fission. These phenomena could not be produced by a hydrostatic model. Here, we derived a modified Shallow Water Equations with involving hydrodynamic pressure using two layer approach. Staggered finite volume method with predictor corrector step is applied to solve the equation numerically. Numerical dispersion relation is derived from our model to confirm the exact linear dispersion relation for dispersive waves. To illustrate the performance of our non-hydrostatic scheme in case of linear wave dispersion and non-linearity, four test cases of free surface flows are provided. The first test case is standing wave in a closed basin, which test the ability of the numerical scheme in simulating dispersive wave motion with the correct frequency. The second test case is the solitary wave propagation as the examination of owing balance between dispersion and nonlinearity. Regular wave propagation over a submerged bar test by Beji is simulated to show that our non-hydrostatic scheme described well the shoaling process as well as the linear dispersion compared with the experimental data. The last test case is the undular bore propagation.


This is a first-person narrative of a dentist's slow slide into alcohol and drug abuse, his denial in the face of a professional intervention, and his eventual acceptance of personal responsibility and recovery. There is also a discussion of the dentist diversion program in Minnesota.


Agent-based modeling and simulation (ABMS) has become one of the most popular simulation methods. It has been applied to a wide range of application areas including business and management. This article introduces ABMS and explains how it can support management decision making. It covers key concepts and the modeling process. AgentPy is used to show the software implementation of the concepts. This article also provides a literature review on ABMS in business and management research using bibliometric analysis and content analysis. It shows that there has been an increase in the research that uses ABMS and identifies several research clusters across management disciplines such as strategic management, marketing management, operations and supply chain management, financial management, and risk management.


CD40 is a B-cell surface molecule that has been shown to induce B-cell growth upon ligation with monoclonal antibodies. This report shows that triggering via CD40 is essential for the activation of resting B cells by helper T cells (Th). A soluble fusion protein of CD40 and human immunoglobulin, CD40-Ig, inhibited the induction of B-cell cycle entry, proliferation, and differentiation by activated Th1 and Th2. The ligand for CD40 was identified as a 39-kDa membrane protein that was selectively expressed on activated Th. A monoclonal antibody specific for the 39-kDa protein inhibited CD40-Ig binding and also inhibited the activation of B cells by Th. These data indicate that the 39-kDa membrane protein expressed on activated Th is a binding protein for CD40 and functions to transduce the signal for Th-dependent B-cell activation.


This thesis has as its main theme the coexistence of wildlife and livestock in East African savannas. First however, the group size of native herbivore species was related to their body mass, feeding style, habitat choice and density. Body mass explained most variation in group size because of its relation to food requirements and how different sized animals experience the distribution of food. Differential use of (food)resources by Zebu-cattle, wildebeest and zebra was then investigated. The three species show substantial overlap in resource use by selecting similar feeding sites, foraging on the same grass species and preferring the same habitat types. More overlap was found between cattle and either wildebeest or zebra than between wildebeest and zebra. This overlap in combination with limited resources implicates a strong potential for competition between cattle and the native species. However, wildlife is able to avoid competition with livestock during the dry season by moving to areas where cattle do not have access. This seasonal movement is not because of competition, but is a result of differences in resource availability between areas.This thesis also shows that the animals move to their wet season range because only there they can satisfy all their nutritional needs, which are high at this time of the year since the females are lactating. Their movement back to the dry season range however is related to water requirements. Furthermore, a clipping experiment was performed to investigate if the dry season range of migratory wildebeest and zebra could sustain current populations year-round when access to the wet season range would be restricted. The results indicate that clipping had a positive effect on forage quality, but that the mineral concentrations were still not sufficient to meet herbivore nutrient requirements while clipping also reduced the annual forage production to insufficient levels. The results of this study can be put to use in present land-use issues related to the integration of wildlife conservation and development of pastoral areas. Margje M. VoetenWageningen UniversityDepartment of Environmental SciencesTropical Nature Conservation and Vertebrate Ecology GroupBornsesteeg 69, 6708 PD WageningenThe NetherlandsFax: 31-317-484845E-mail: email@example.com http://www.slm.wau.nl/natcons/ND


Purpose To review management, clinical and imaging outcomes of dissecting posterior cerebral artery (PCA) aneurysms with emphasis on endovascular management in the form of parent vessel occlusion (PVO) at a tertiary care center. Methods Thirty-six dissecting PCA aneurysms (19 ruptured) encountered at our center between January 2013 and November 2019 were reviewed for aneurysm location/size/presence of fetal PCA/management. Postprocedural imaging of patients who underwent endovascular intervention was reviewed for PCA territory infarcts and clinical records assessed for presence of neuro-deficits and outcome. None of the patients underwent a balloon test occlusion (BTO) prior to PVO. Results The location of the aneurysms was as follows-P1 = 8/P1-P2 = 11/P2 = 5/P2-P3 = 10/P3 = 2. The mean size was 11.7x6.8 mm. Endovascular intervention was carried out in 20 patients in the form of PVO with coiling in 16 patients, coiling alone in 3 patients, and reconstruction of the left PCA with flow diverter deployment in one patient. Postprocedural PCA territory infarct was seen in 5 cases of PVO out of which 4 had a good functional recovery. Overall, 15/16 patients (93.7%) who underwent PVO had mRS ≤ 2 on follow-up. The single case with flow diverter also developed an infarct and had adverse outcome on follow up. Conclusion Among the various management strategies for dissecting PCA aneurysms, PVO is feasible and relatively safe even in absence of BTO in scenarios like critically ill patients with ruptured aneurysms, difficult access and financial constraints. Thromboembolic complications and antiplatelet therapy is a concern in reconstructive strategies.


Sonographic examination of the hypopharynx and the extrathoracic oesophagus can be difficult. Therefore, most surgeons prefer to utilise CT or MRI scanning. Surgery is planned on the basis of endoscopic findings combined with radiologic information. The aim of the present prospective study was to demonstrate that the combination of ultrasonography and endoscopy provides a sufficient basis for the planning of surgical interventions in patients suffering from hypopharyngeal cancer or cancer of the proximal oesophagus. In 10 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the hypopharynx/proximal oesophagus (8T4, 2T2) and 2 patients with a T4 squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx, both preoperative CT and ultrasound were performed and compared with the extent of the tumour seen during endoscopy. With ultrasound, the T4 tumours of the hypopharynx were recognized well as opposed to the T2 tumours which were not detected. The CT results were similar. An infiltration of the proximal oesophagus was seen with both imaging techniques in all affected patients. In contrast to CT, intralaryngeal tumour spread was not seen with ultrasound as long as the laryngeal skeleton was intact. The retropharyngeal region could also not be examined by ultrasound. Nevertheless, these results show that in all patients included in this study the extent of the tumour could have been estimated correctly by using ultrasound plus endoscopic examination alone. The reliable examination of this anatomically difficult region, however, requires examiner experience.


Identifying and accessing all pulp canals is particularly challenging in the endodontic treatment of teeth with atypical canal configurations. This report describes the nonsurgical endodontic treatment of a maxillary first premolar with three root canals. The prevalence of this unusual morphology is reviewed and suggestions are offered to help dentists identify and treat such teeth. This case reminds dentists to be alert for variations in the root canal anatomy of maxillary first premolars.


This letter presents a new process for the fabrication of solar cells and modules from single crystal silicon wafers with substantially reduced silicon consumption and processing effort compared to conventional wafer-based cells. The technique of narrow trench etching in an alkaline solution is used to create a series of thin silicon strips extending vertically through the wafer. By turning the silicon strips on their side, a large increase in surface area is achieved. Individual cells fabricated using the new process have reached efficiencies up to 18.5% while a 575 cm/sup 2/ module incorporating a rear reflector and a cell surface coverage of 50% has displayed an efficiency of 12.3% under standard rating conditions. The technique has the potential to reduce silicon consumption by a factor of 10 compared to standard wafer-based silicon solar cells and, therefore, to dramatically reduce the dependence to the expensive silicon feedstock.


This study examines the exposure of television advertisements to children. Two variables have been used to measure the exposure; attitudes and responds. Relationships between television exposure and gender were also been examined. Structured questionnaire was developed based on previous literatures and a total of 50 preschool children were employed in this study. Findings disclosed that there is a positive relationship exists between exposure on television advertisements and its impact on children's attitudes and responds towards the advertisements.


Summary Two diuretic drugs, hydrochlorothiazide (HCT) and piretanide (PT), were compared for their effects on plasma lipoproteins and glucose tolerance in 24 hypertensive male subjects over a period of 12 weeks. In comparison with preceding placebos, both drugs caused an increase of total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, total triglyceride, and very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) triglyceride concentrations, whereas no significant change occurred in high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. The alterations were partly reversible in patients receiving HCT. Apoprotein A and B concentrations were increased by PT but were little influenced by HCT. Also, the LDL/HDL cholesterol ratio was increased during PT. Neither drug invariably influenced the postheparin plasma lipase activities, oral glucose tolerance, plasma insulin levels, or insulin binding to red cells. The results suggest that diuretic drugs may promote the hepatic secretion of VLDL. The mechanism of this action remains to be established, and the clinical relevance of these findings is still not clearly understood.


Introduction : This study was carried out in the Department of Burns, Plastic and Maxillofacial Surgery, Safdarjang Hospital, New Delhi. Aim : The aim of this study was to assess the psychological status of patients with facial burn scars and to assess the quality of life (QOL) of these patients. Materials and Methods : The study was performed on 20 patients who were interviewed to assess depression (psychological status) and QOL. The assessment of depression was carried out using Beck's depression inventory, which has been translated into Hindi for use. The depression based on this questionnaire was graded into present or absent and further into mild, moderate and severe if present. QOL was assessed using the World Health Organization (WHO) QOL index questionnaire. The QOL was assessed to determine the environmental well being, adjustment to social relations, psychological well being and physical health and level of independence. The assessment of the patients was compared with the general population of similar socioeconomic strata. Results : The study showed presence of depression in all the studied subjects, with more females in the moderate and severe group of depression and more males in the mild group of depression. QOL assessment revealed significant derangement of psychological well being and social interaction in all subjects, but the physical abilities and environmental interaction were comparable to the normal subjects. Further, it is concluded to carry out larger and well-designed studies in burn and trauma patients to establish a protocol for assessment and management of post-traumatic stress disorders.


The advent of the Web of Data kindled interest in link-traversal (or lookup-based) query processing methods, with which queries are answered via dereferencing a potentially large number of small, interlinked sources. While several algorithms for query evaluation have been proposed, there exists no notion of completeness for results of so-evaluated queries. In this paper, we motivate the need for clearly-defined completeness classes and present several notions of completeness for queries over Linked Data, based on the idea of authoritativeness of sources, and show the relation between the different completeness classes.


This article is devoted to the problem of Islamic law development in modern times. Economic and political backwardness of Muslim countries and especially the fall of the Ottoman Empire exacerbated the crisis of Muslim social thought. It led to searching the ways out of the current situation. Moreover, the revival movement encouraged theologian lawyers to search the ways of formalizing and popularizing Islamic law among Muslims. Within the framework of the problem, we consider the reasons that infl uenced the process of Islamic Law revival, as well as the results of this process. Economic, social and political events in the Islamic world triggered the processes of the education system modernization, led to the revaluation of Islamic Legal Heritage. All these transformations caused the creation of research centres and number of conferences and weeks devoted to the problems of Islamic law came in response to all the changes.


America's education system faces a stark dilemma: it needs governmental oversight, rules and regulations, but it also needs to be adaptable enough to address student needs and the many different problems that can arise at any given school - something that large educational bureaucracies are notoriously bad at. Paul T. Hill and Ashley E. Jochim offer here a solution that is brilliant for its simplicity and distinctly American sensibility: our public education system needs a constitution. Adapting the tried-and-true framework of our forefathers to the specific governance of education, they show that the answer has been part of our political DNA all along. Most reformers focus on who should control education, but Hill and Jochim show that who governs is less important than determining what powers they have. They propose a Civic Education Council-a democratic body subject to checks and balances that would define the boundaries of its purview as well as each school's particular freedoms. They show how such a system would prevent regulations meant to satisfy special interests and shift the focus to the real task at hand: improving school performance. Laying out the implications of such a system for parents, students, teachers, unions, state and federal governments, and courts, they offer a vision of educational governance that stays true to - and draws on the strengths of - one of the greatest democratic tools we have ever created.


X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) was used to characterize the nitrogen species in perfluorophenylazide (PFPA) self-assembled monolayers. PFPA chemistry is a novel immobilization method for tailoring the surface properties of materials. It is a simple route for the efficient immobilization of graphene, proteins, carbohydrates and synthetic polymers onto a variety of surfaces. Upon light irradiation, the azido group in PFPA is converted to a highly reactive singlet nitrene species that readily undergoes CH insertion and C=C addition reactions. Here, the challenge of characterizing the PFPA modified surfaces was addressed by detailed XPS experimental analyses. The three nitrogen peaks detected in the XPS N1s spectra were assigned to amine/amide (400.5 eV) and azide (402.1 and 405.6 eV) species. The observed 2:1 ratio of the areas from the 402.1 eV to 405.6 eV peaks suggests the assignment of the peak at 402.1 eV to the two outer nitrogen atoms in the azido group and assignment of the peak at 405.6 eV to the central nitrogen atom in the azido group. The azide decomposition as the function of x-ray exposure was also determined. Finally, XPS analyses were conducted on patterned graphene to investigate the covalent bond formation between the PFPA and graphene. This study provides strong evidence for the formation of covalent bonds during the PFPA photocoupling process.


Background: The testing of heteroresistance vancomycin-intermediate Staphylococcus aureus (hVISA) by the population analysis profile-area under the curve (PAP-AUC) is tedious and laborious. The goal of this study was to determine the prevalence of hVISA among methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and compare two screening tests: brain heart infusion agar with vancomycin 4 mg/L (BHIV4) and macromethod E-test (MET) with PAP-AUC as the gold standard. Materials and Methods: Antibiotic sensitivity test and detection of MRSA were performed according to the CLSI guidelines. PAP-AUC, BHIV4, and MET were used to detect hVISA. Results: A total of 288 MRSA isolates were tested for hVISA, with 48 (16.66%) being detected by PAP-AUC. With PAP-AUC, BHIV4's sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were 70.83%, 96.66%, 80.95%, and 94.3%, respectively. The majority of hVISA isolates were found in the vancomycin minimum inhibitory concentration range 1–2 mg/L. Conclusions: hVISA was found to be 16.6% in this investigation. When compared to MET, BHIV4 had a higher sensitivity, and teicoplanin and linezolid were found to be the most effective drug against hVISA.


Switched capacitor (SC) DC-DC voltage converters have been widely used for low-power applications. These converters play a role of voltage doublers or are used to obtain a dc voltage with reverse polarity. They may also be configured to implement a particular voltage conversion ratio. However, there are applications which require multiple output voltages. If multiple output voltages are required, such converters are duplicated and tuned to obtain the desired output voltages. Employing a separate switched capacitor DC-DC converter for each output increases the silicon area and results in higher cost. Thus, a simple, low-complexity SC DC-DC conversion scheme is proposed, which obtains multiple output voltages from a single input source. The scheme is scalable in nature and is well suited for integration. The scheme is demonstrated using a test chip fabricated in 0.18μm CMOS process.


A proximate composition of four varieties of Turkish sesame seeds (moisture, ash, protein, oil) was determined along with a characterization of their oils (fatty acids, triacylglycerols and desmethylsterols) The results of the proximate analysis showed the following contents: moisture, 4,40%; ash, 4,41%; protein, 21,00%; and oil, 54,26%. Oleic and linoleic acids were the major unsaturated fatty acids while palmitic and stearic were the main saturated. The triacylglycerol composition of the sesame oil samples was determined by HPLC and LOL; LOO; PLO; LLL; OOO were the major triglycerides while triacylglycerols containing oleic and linoleic acyl residues comprize 62,45% of the total. The major desmethyl sterols found in sesame seed oils were β-sitosterol, campasterol, stigma-sterol, and Δ-5, avenasterol. Small proportions of cholesterol, clerosterol 5,24 stigmastedienol, Δ-7, stigmastenol and avenasterol were also identified.


Show rates for psychiatric outpatient appointments are low among new patients, which affects all patients as well as providers and programs. This column describes two initiatives implemented to address this issue in a community psychiatry program: inpatient referrals and self-referrals. Inpatient referrals were scheduled for an orientation group within five days postdischarge, with initial evaluations within two working days. Biweekly walk-in screening clinics were established for community self-referrals, during which patients were screened and scheduled for an initial evaluation within three working days. Both initiatives significantly increased patient show rates and reduced unused scheduled physician time. Relatively simple initiatives can result in improvements in initial evaluation attendance, benefiting all involved.


The research aims to investigate the financing sourcing of the university-based firms in the form of university spinoff (USOs), namely the in-house finance, the debt finance and equity finance, jointly with their impact on the financial performance of USOs. A panel sample of 621 Italian USOs was examined over the period 2004–2013. The results show a positive but low effect of in-house finance on the financial performance of USOs, while debt finance has positive and relevant impact on the financial performance of USOs. Taking into account the effect of equity finance, the evidence is comparable to those associated with the effect of debt finance. However, the most significant impact is exercised by the institutional investors in the form of venture capital and private equity. This evidence shows that, in the entrepreneurial university context, these dedicated investors have the most beneficial and central role in improving the financial development of university-based firms.


With the high budget cuts in higher education in Jordanian universities and with the growing demand for information technology (IT) services Jordanian Universities should consider adopting cloud computing strategies to meet with this growing demand on different IT services and the budget cuts, Cloud computing could offer good business models for Jordanian universities since these universities often do not have enough resources and knowledge to manage the necessary information technology (IT) support for educational, research and development activities that must be provided in a higher education environment, while cloud computing aims to eliminate these complexities from the user. This paper describes the importance and the challenges facing higher education in Jordan, introduction to cloud computing technologies, services and deployment models, reasons for the rise of cloud computing in higher education as a possible solution for the challenges facing higher education in Jordan, a proposed model for universities using Cloud computing technology in Jordan and the possible challenges that could face the proposed model. KeywordsCloud Computing; Higher Education; Jordan; Cloud Computing Services; Cloud Computing Challenges.


Although psychotherapeutic observation and empirical data suggest a link between borderline and antisocial personality disorder or traits in adolescents, there is no study on the relationships of borderline personality organization (BPO) and psychopathic traits in adolescents. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship of structural criteria of (BPO) as assessed by the French version of the Borderline Personality Inventory (BPI), with psychopathic traits, as assessed by the French version of the Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale (LSRP), in a nonclinical sample of 243 adolescents. Significant correlations were found between the BPI scales of identity diffusion, primitive defense mechanisms, impaired reality testing, and psychopathic traits of callousness and impulsivity, suggesting that BPO may contribute to psychopathic traits in nonforensic, nonclinical adolescents.


Many biologically active molecules are chiral. Many drugs, which are currently in use, are supplied as an equimolar mixture of enantiomers. Although they have the same chemical structure, i.e. are not distinguishable by conventional Raman spectroscopy, most isomers of chiral drugs exhibit marked differences in biological activities such as pharmacology, toxicology, pharmacokinetics, metabolism, etc. In this report we introduced a new spectroscopic tool to extend nonlinear Raman spectroscopy to chiral substances.


Considered as ligands due to the presence of donor atoms in their chemical structures, and being also among the major pollutants of water, Eriochrome Black B (Erio), Calmagite (Calma) and Acid Blue 25 (AB25) were successfully immobilized on cellulose-chitosan microspheres loaded with copper ions. Prepared supports were characterized by Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) spectral study and Thermogravimetic analysis (TGA). The effect of experimental factors during dye immobilization such as pH, contact time, temperature, and initial dye concentration were studied. The experiments demonstrate that the adsorption capacities of dyes on [Cu(II)/cellulose-chitosan] are much higher than the unloaded microspheres. This indicates that these dyes can act as efficient ligands for coordinating metals already involved in [cellulose-chitosan]. At least, in the case of AB25, a 60% of difference in target removal was achieved at equilibrium. The kinetic adsorption fitted well to the intra-particle diffusion model and the corresponding rate constants were obtained. In addition, the interpretation of the equilibrium sorption data complies well with the Freundlich model. The thermodynamic parameters were also determined and the enthalpy change (ΔH°) was found to be low, between −5.93 and −20.68 Kj.mol-1, indicating that the adsorption phenomenon is exothermic and physical. A probable mechanism of the Dye/Copper(II)/cellulose-chitosan complex is also proposed.


Macaque monkeys are good sentinel to humans for environmental pollutions because their similarities in genetic and physiological characteristics. So, their reference values about exposures to heavy metals are required for proper data interpretation. Here, we report several heavy metals concentrations in the hair of rhesus monkeys which are widely used in biomedical research. The hair of 28 imported rhesus monkeys from an animal farm in southwest China were examined for the presence of eight heavy metals (Arsenic, Beryllium, Cadmium, Chromium, Iron, Lead, Mercury, and Selenium). The analyzed data in parts per million (ppm) for hair concentrations of heavy metals in rhesus monkeys were as follow: As (0.654±0.331), Be (0.005±0.003), Cd (0.034±0.022), Cr (11.329±4.259), Fe (87.106±30.114), Pb (0.656±0.613), Hg (0.916±0.619), and Se (3.200±0.735). The concentrations of Be, Cr, and As showed significant higher in females than in males (P<0.05). We present here the reference values of several heavy metals in healthy China-origin rhesus monkeys. These data may provide valuable information for veterinarians and investigators using rhesus monkeys in experimental studies.


This article establishes an intuitionistic fuzzy linear regression model (IFLRM) under the consideration that the explanatory and response variables in the observation data set as well as the parameters of the model are intuitionistic fuzzy numbers (IFNs). The weakest T-norm arithmetic is applied in the formulation of the IFLRMs to avoid wide spreads in the predicted IFN responses. The sign of the parameters is determined in the formulation process. We propose a mathematical programming problem to find the optimal IFN parameters. The goal of the optimization is to minimize the absolute distances between the observed and predicted IFNs. To enhance computational efficiency, a three-step procedure is proposed for solving a mathematical programming problem when the number of explanatory variables or the size of the observation data set is large. Comparisons with existing approaches indicate that the proposed approach has outstanding performance in terms of similarity and distance measures.


In the X10 language, computations are modeled as lightweight threads called activities. Since most operating systems only offer relatively heavyweight kernel-level threads, the X10 runtime system implements a user-space scheduler to map activities to operating-system threads in a many-to-one fashion. This approach can lead to suboptimal scheduling decisions or synchronization overhead. In this paper, we present an alternative X10 runtime system that targets OctoPOS, an operating system designed from the ground up for highly parallel workloads on PGAS architectures. OctoPOS offers an unconventional execution model based on i-lets, lightweight self-contained units of computation with (mostly) run-to-completion semantics that can be dispatched very efficiently. We are able to do a 1-to-1 mapping of X10 activities to i-lets, which results in a slim runtime system, avoiding the need for user-level scheduling and its costs. We perform microbenchmarks on a prototype many-core hardware architecture and show that our system needs fewer than 2000 clock cycles to spawn local and remote activities.


The role of leadership has been becoming an important determinant of organization sucess. There are a bundle of study investigating few of leadership. However, there is a lack of study investigating the aspiration leadership, especially using Indonesia context. Therefore, this study investigate the  influence of organizational identification and communal orientation on aspiration leadership aspiration . Thirty-two employee of broadcast television in Padang were particpated in this study. Data was collected by survey. In addition, structural equation model is employed to accept the hypotheses. Smart-pls is used to analyse the research data. the result shows that organizational identification and communal orientation has a positive effect on aspiration leadership. Practically, an organization need to have an organizational identification and communal orientation in order to have a aspiration leadership. Theoritically, this study contribute to the leadership literatures. Keywords: Organizational Identification, Communal Orientation , Leadership Aspiration.


OBJECTIVE
To study the pathologic type, clinical manifestations and treatment of skull neoplasms.

METHODS
A series of 119 patients with skull neoplasm were analyzed retrospectively with respect of clinical manifestations, radiologic features, treatment and prognosis.

RESULTS
122 operations were done with 3 patients being operated twice. Complete resection was done 75 times, subtotal resection 24 times, partial resection 22 times and biopsy only once. Gross type: exophytic 43(36.1%), endophytic 27(22.7%) and mixed type 49 (41.2%). Among the 85 patients followed, 78.6% have recovered and are living well, 16.6% of patients are self-caring, 2 need others' help and 2 have died.

CONCLUSION
Most skull neoplasms require neurosurgical intervention. Surgical excision is able to confirm the diagnosis, slow down the progression of neurologic dysfunction, prolong the patients' lives and improve the cosmetic results.


Fatty acid metabolism in adipocytes is known to be regulated by the intracellular transducer cAMP. This study was undertaken to determine the temporal and hormonal regulation of cAMP-dependent protein kinase during the differentiation of preadipocyte mesenchymal cells to adipocytes. For this we have used a stable cell line (TA1) in which the undifferentiated preadipocyte acquires adipocyte functions and morphology after growth to confluence. We observed that synthesis of type I and II cAMP-dependent protein kinases was induced during the adipogenic conversion of growth-arrested TA1 cells. In preconfluent cells, neither mRNAs encoding regulatory subunits (RI, RII beta) and catalytic subunit (C alpha) nor the peptides themselves were detectable. Within several days of growth arrest at high cell density, mRNAs for RI, RII beta, and C alpha were detectable in total RNA extracted from cell populations. The subunits themselves were detectable in some, but not all, of the cells by indirect immunofluorescence. Immunoblotting of cytosolic extracts indicated that RI and the beta-isoform of RII (mol wt = 52,000) were expressed in these cells. Analysis of subunit presence or absence in single cells by immunofluorescence also indicated that kinase subunit expression preceded the accumulation of lipid droplets within the cells. Further, the subunits were predominantly associated with a reticular cytoplasmic structure (Golgi apparatus?) abutting the nucleus. Conversion of TA1 cells to adipocytes can be accelerated by indomethacin (125 microM) or dexamethasone (1 microM) treatment, compounds that also enhanced the accumulation of RII beta and C alpha mRNAs. Within 2-3 days of addition of indomethacin to confluent cultures, RII beta message content is increased about 20-fold, and protein content is increased about 5-fold relative to those in untreated cultures. C alpha mRNA content is increased about 5-fold relative to that in untreated cells. The response to dexamethasone requires 6-7 days, and changes in RII beta message levels were the most pronounced. We also observed the induction of mRNAs for the functionally relevant mRNA lipoprotein lipase in indomethacin-treated cells. In addition to this apparent transcriptional regulation of kinase subunit expression, we provide evidence for regulation at the posttranscriptional level. Within a differentiated culture, there exist stem cells that can be selected, will repopulate the dish, and will again differentiate into adipocytes upon growth arrest at high cell density. In preconfluent populations of these stems cells, unlike the preconfluent TA1 cells originally plated, both RII beta and C alpha messages were present.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)


The importance of Ayurveda in global scenario is because of its holistic approach towards positive life style. Ayurveda is a science of life, which is continuously developing as a result of various discussions and researches from ancient time onwards. It gives equal importance to preventive and curative aspects of diseases. Panchakarma therapy is an integral part of Ayurveda (Indian Medical System). Panchakarma is a term used to symbolize five medical procedures for internal purification of body. It helps in detoxifying and rejuvenating body by simple techniques that can be done easily applied in outdoor practice. Failure of contemporary medicines in the prevention of major health burdens force us to revert back for the original detoxifying naturopathy. Panchakarma is an effective therapy in managing autoimmune, neurological, psychiatric and musculo-skeletal diseases of chronic and metabolic origin. In the current scenario, these unique procedures are widely practiced by physicians in India and many other countries globally for prophylactic and therapeutic purposes.


With presence of distributed generation (DG) in distribution networks, distribution system operators (DSO) have the options to purchase energy from DG units and/or directly from the wholesale electricity market. The utility's desired purchasing price of DGs energy depends on their impact on network, and wholesale market price. This paper proposes a method to determine DG energy price in short-term operation with consideration their impact on loss and reliability. The performance of the proposed approach is assessed by using 8-bus distribution network. (4 pages)


Modern FPGAs have become so affordable that they can be used to substitute ASICs in mass produced devices. Typically, the term configurable system on a chip (CSoC) is used for this kind of usage. A key component in such a CSoC is the processor core. Currently, several cores are available for FPGAs. 32 bit processors like MicroBlaze, NIOS 2 or OpenRisc require a lot of resources, whereas very small solutions like PicoBlaze or Lattice Mico8 are not capable of running reasonably complex software. Thus, there is a gap between these two extremes, which we want to fill with our development SpartanMC. This contribution describes its design objectives, architecture, tools, peripherals and compares it to other well known processor cores.


Since 1994, South Africa's first democratic election, the public service and the state in general has been the object of numerous interventions to "transform" it. Transformation has referred to four principle initiatives. It has included measures to (1) integrate the diverse governments and administrations of the apartheid period into a single public service. Much attention has been paid to (2) changing the direction of public spending to focus on, for the first time, the majority Black population. There have also been important efforts to (3) change the demographic character of the public service, to make it more representative of the composition of South Africa's population. This paper focuses on a fourth element of 'transformation', one that has included measures to 'de-bureacucratise' the public service in South Africa.


Fault diagnosis for rolling bearings has attracted increasing attention in recent years. However, few studies have focused on fault diagnosis for rolling bearings under variable conditions. This paper introduces a fault diagnosis method for rolling bearings under variable conditions based on visual cognition. The proposed method includes the following steps. First, the vibration signal data are transformed into a recurrence plot (RP), which is a two-dimensional image. Then, inspired by the visual invariance characteristic of the human visual system (HVS), we utilize speed up robust feature to extract fault features from the two-dimensional RP and generate a 64-dimensional feature vector, which is invariant to image translation, rotation, scaling variation, etc. Third, based on the manifold perception characteristic of HVS, isometric mapping, a manifold learning method that can reflect the intrinsic manifold embedded in the high-dimensional space, is employed to obtain a low-dimensional feature vector. Finally, a classical classification method, support vector machine, is utilized to realize fault diagnosis. Verification data were collected from Case Western Reserve University Bearing Data Center, and the experimental result indicates that the proposed fault diagnosis method based on visual cognition is highly effective for rolling bearings under variable conditions, thus providing a promising approach from the cognitive computing field.


Climate change and thawing of permafrost will likely result in increased decomposition of terrestrial organic carbon and subsequent carbon emissions to the atmosphere from terrestrial and aquatic systems. The quantitative importance of mineralization of terrestrial organic carbon in lakes in relation to terrestrial carbon fluxes is poorly understood and a serious drawback for the understanding of carbon budgets. We studied a subarctic lake in an area of discontinuous permafrost to assess the quantitative importance of lake carbon emission for the catchment carbon balance. Estimates of net ecosystem production and stable carbon-isotope composition of dissolved organic carbon in the lake water suggest substantial input and respiration of terrestrial organic carbon in the lake. The lake was a net source of CO2 and CH4 to the atmosphere at ice breakup in spring and during the whole ice-free period. The carbon emission from the lake was similar in magnitude to the terrestrial net release of carbon to the atmosphere. The results indicate that lakes are important sources of catchment carbon emission, potentially increasing the positive feedback from permafrost thawing on global warming.


Objective To estimate the relative frequencies of hemicrania continua and its clinical features in adult patients who were evaluated for headache in a clinic-based setting. Methods PubMed and Embase were searched for observational, clinic-based studies published between 1 January 2004 and 1 February 2022, that reported on the relative frequencies of hemicrania continua and its clinical features. Two independent investigators (HMA and SA-K) screened titles, abstracts, and full text-articles. A random-effects meta-analysis was conducted to estimate pooled relative frequencies of hemicrania continua and its clinical features across clinic-based studies. Results Eleven clinic-based studies were deemed eligible for inclusion. Of these, eight studies reported on the relative frequency of hemicrania continua among adult patients (n = 9854) who were evaluated for headache in a tertiary care unit. The pooled relative frequency of hemicrania continua was found to be 1.8% (95% CI; 1.0–3.3). Considerable heterogeneity was noted across studies (I2 = 89.8%). The three most common symptoms associated with hemicrania continua were lacrimation (72.3%), conjunctival injection (69.8%), and restlessness/agitation (60.2%). Conclusion The findings of this meta-analysis suggest that there is limited epidemiologic data on the relative frequencies of hemicrania continua and its clinical features. Standardized data acquisition and reporting are needed to estimate prevalence rates more accurately and to better understand epidemiologic patterns. This, in turn, should increase awareness of the impact that hemicrania continua has in clinical practice.


In current biomechanics approach, the assumptions are commonly used in body-segment parameters and muscle strength parameters due to the difficulty in accessing those subject-specific values. Especially in the rehabilitation and sports science where each subject can easily have quite different anthropometry and muscle condition due to disease, age or training history, it would be important to identify those parameters to take benefits correctly from the recent advances in computational musculoskeletal modeling. In this paper, Mass Distribution Identification to improve the joint torque estimation and Muscle Strength Identification to improve the muscle force estimation were performed combined with previously proposed methods in muscle tension optimization. This first result highlights that the reliable muscle force estimation could be extracted after these identifications. The proposed framework toward subject-specific musculoskeletal modeling would contribute to a patient-oriented computational rehabilitation.


Objective: Dracocephalum kotschyi (Lamiaceae family) has been used in traditional medicine for stomach and liver disorders, headache and congestion. In the present study, we have investigated phytochemical properties and antioxidant activities of dichloromethane, ethyl acetate and methanol extracts of D.kotschyi. Material and Methods: Antioxidant activities of extracts were evaluated using the integration of HPLC-DPPH and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) methods. In addition, the luteolincontent was determined using HPLC method. Results: The highest antioxidant activity was observed for the methanol extract (among the three tested extracts) showing 50% DPPH scavenging activity at 4.85µg/ml as compared to butylated hydroxy toluene (BHT) and ascorbic acid (3.00 µg/ml, 0.97 µg/ml). Also, luteolin was detected in methanol extract; it was identified by comparing its retention time and DAD spectra with standard and it was one of antioxidant components of this plant. In addition, the antioxidant activity of methanol extract was higher than BHT, in FRAP assay. Total phenolic content was in the range of 11.62-22.29 mg Gallic acid /gram of dry extract and flavonoid content was in the range of 3.97-5.042 mg Quercetin/ gram of extract for dichloromethane, ethyl acetate and methanol extracts. The quantity of luteolin in D.kotschyiwas found to be 1061.005 µg/g of dried plant. Conclusion: The results of this investigation indicated that luteolin plays major role in the antioxidant activity of the plant.


A new class of power devices is described that is based on an optimal combination of MOS and thyristor elements. Devices of this class function in the ON-state and OFF-state in a manner indistinguishable from a thyristor yet can switch from on-to-off or off-to-on by applying a voltage to its MOS gate. Thus, the devices exhibit extremely low forward drop, high surge current capability, and enjoy negative thermal feedback. To turn off the device, one activates the gate so that FET's are turned on to effectively short one of the emitting junctions of the thyristor. These FET's need only block a maximum of about 1 V when off and carry a sizable current for about 1 µs when on. To turn on the device, any of the normal methods may be employed. However, it is most convenient to use the same MOS gate electrode (and polysilicon layer) and a voltage of the opposite polarity to turn on the thyristor with another FET-just as if it were a normal MOS gated thyristor. The current density that can be turned off depends on the density and effective resistance of the turn-off FET's while turn-on speed and di/ dt rating depend on the initial turn-on area, which in turn depends on the density of the ON-FET's. If the OFF-gate voltage is maintained during the desired OFF-state period, the device has, effectively, an infinite dv/dt capability. Switching speed is most similar to, but somewhat faster than, that of gate turn-off thyristors (GTO's) and, as in other bipolar devices, depends chiefly on carrier recombination time, device thickness, and turn-offdi/dt.


ZnO nanofibrous-based materials required for sensors and dye-solar cells have been grown on tin oxide/glass substrates by magnetron sputtering. Synthesis regimes have been identified that give nanoporous and nanofibrous morphologies of depositions as shown by SEM. The structural properties of the nanomaterial have been characterized by X-ray diffraction. Vibrational properties have been investigated by Micro-Raman spectroscopy. All experimental data are discussed in details and promising applications are suggested.


The senior staff members of the Federal University of Technology Minna (F U. T) are placed with the enormous task of directing students towards their future aspirations. The accumulated strain caused by the daily activities carried out by the staff members leaves them tired and stressed. This state of mind could evolve and may cause deep psychological problems like high-blood pressure, sleep deprivation and aggressive or antisocial behaviours. The advancement in medical technology has provided various means to cure most of these ailments associated with stress. Although one does not disregard these orthodox and conventional therapies or remedies, rather one sees a possibility to alleviate stress related problems of senior staff by evoking the senses in an environment whose visible features have been modified through landscaping. Pertinent information collected from the University's academic planning office showed that the staff/student ratio was higher in most departments than the required standards stipulated by the Nigerian Universities commission (N.U.C). This indicates a high probability that senior staff members are overworked. Results obtained in the field work provided interesting results. The responses provided by staff tallied significantly with general data provided by researched sources and the conclusion arrived at shows that introducing a carefully planned landscaped environment designed to incorporate selected plants and features will have restorative effects on staff members by stimulating their emotions positively thereby alleviating the incurred stress levels.


Abstract : The United States Navy lacks the proper and efficient tools to evaluate/predict the performance of computer systems during the early design phases of system development. This thesis applies state of the art techniques to provide a methodology that can assist in the evaluation/prediction process for Naval fire control systems. The computer system evaluated is a part of the modular addition to existing shipboard gun fire control systems. A contract for the Engineering Development (ED) phase of the program has recently been awarded to industry. The computer system architecture is evaluated utilizing a Petri-Net simulation which is best suited to the purpose of concurrent computer system performance prediction. The prediction model, described herein, accomplished the evaluation with the results being utilized to recommend possible performance improvements in the hardware and software to the U. S. Navy Program Office. (Author)


Two groups of patients were followed up for four to eight years after first referral or admission to hospital for intermittent claudication (IC) in a study of the natural history of the disease and of factors determining its outcome. In one series of 60 patients, those who stopped or reduced smoking after referral had a much improved prognosis. Thus even after the diagnosis of IC it is extremely important that patients should be encouraged to stop smoking, since this correctable factor appears to be of greater importance in determining outcome than other medical risk factors for the disease that are less amenable to treatment. In the second study, 160 patients were followed up for eight years after first hospital admission. They had a total of 480 hospital admissions and had spent 11 190 days in hospital; their life expectancy after the age of 60 was about half that of the general population. Age, coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease, and diabetes were associated with an adverse outcome.


Abstract Context We set out to characterize the dynamics of islet autoantibodies over the first 15 years of life in children carrying genetic susceptibility to type 1 diabetes (T1D). We also assessed systematically the role of zinc transporter 8 autoantibodies (ZnT8A) in this context. Design HLA-predisposed children (N = 1006, 53.0% boys) recruited from the general population during 1994 to 1997 were observed from birth over a median time of 14.9 years (range, 1.9-15.5 years) for ZnT8A, islet cell (ICA), insulin (IAA), glutamate decarboxylase (GADA), and islet antigen-2 (IA-2A) antibodies, and for T1D. Results By age 15.5 years, 35 (3.5%) children had progressed to T1D. Islet autoimmunity developed in 275 (27.3%) children at a median age of 7.4 years (range, 0.3-15.1 years). The ICA seroconversion rate increased toward puberty, but the biochemically defined autoantibodies peaked at a young age. Before age 2 years, ZnT8A and IAA appeared commonly as the first autoantibody, but in the preschool years IA-2A– and especially GADA-initiated autoimmunity increased. Thereafter, GADA-positive seroconversions continued to appear steadily until ages 10 to 15 years. Inverse IAA seroconversions occurred frequently (49.3% turned negative) and marked a prolonged delay from seroconversion to diagnosis compared to persistent IAA (8.2 vs 3.4 years; P = .01). Conclusions In HLA-predisposed children, the primary autoantibody is characteristic of age and might reflect the events driving the disease process toward clinical T1D. Autoantibody persistence affects the risk of T1D. These findings provide a framework for identifying disease subpopulations and for personalizing the efforts to predict and prevent T1D.


We perform a search for binary black hole mergers with one subsolar mass black hole and a primary component above $2 M_\odot$ in the second observing run of LIGO/Virgo. Our analysis therefore extends previous searches into a mass region motivated by the presence of a peak in any broad mass distribution of primordial black holes (PBHs) around $[2-3] M_\odot$ coming from the equation of state reduction at the QCD transition. Four candidate events are found passing a false alarm rate (FAR) threshold of 2 per year, although none are statistically significant enough for being clear detections. We first derive model independent limits on the PBH merging rates assuming a null result of the search. Then we confront them to two recent scenarios in which PBHs can constitute up to the totality of the Dark Matter, explain LIGO/Virgo mergers and the possible observation of a stochastic gravitational-wave background by NANOGrav. We find that these models still pass the rate limits and conclude that the analysis of the O3 and O4 observing runs will be decisive to test the hypothesis of a primordial origin of black hole mergers.


This study is a quantitative study which is aimed at showing the perception and atittude of residential elders at the House of Elders in Tirana. For three different days, I obtained questionnaires from all elders of these institutions. At the start of this study, I analysed the available literature as a method of data collection, from which I got the topic of this analysis. From the collection of the basic data of this study, I created and used a 10 question questionnaire. The method of census was choosen as the method of deciding the measurements, because of my intention of studying all the elders of the House of Elders in Tirana. The excel program was used for working through the statistics. After analysing the quantitative data, there were three conclusions. Firstly, males and females prefer more integrated social services than residential services. Secondly, even though the elders feel protected and safe at the House of Elders in Tirana, they mostly expressed that they missed the family environment. They emphasized that if the System of Social Defence offered them home social services, a high number of elders will not remain at the House of Elders. However, this study can be used by policy makers of the elders services and institutions from which we obtained the data for this study to improve their services as well as offer services in the home-family way.


Herein we describe a case of a 25-year-old man diagnosed with the "variant late infantile-onset" neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (NCL) who has a novel mutation in the CLN6 gene located on chromosome 15. The patient developed seizures at the age of 10 years along with progressive symptoms of ataxia, spasticity, cognitive decline and visual difficulties. At the age of 25 years, the seizures were drug-resistant, and the patient was put in an anesthesia-induced coma until the use of cannabis oil in combination with Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved anti-seizure drugs proved to be lifesaving. Treatment for NCL currently consists of symptomatic relief of seizures, and supportive therapies for associated symptoms of behavior, language and visual difficulties. Although limited, recent data on the efficacy of cannabinoids for treatment-resistant epilepsy have been published. Since cannabis oil is not currently FDA approved for most formulations, its use in drug-resistant epilepsy is anecdotal and remains highly controversial. J Neurol Res. 2020;10(6):245-247 doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/jnr626


Cherkin DC, Eisenberg D, Sherman KJ, Barlow W, Kaptchuk TJ, Street J et al. Randomized Trial Comparing Traditional Chinese Medical Acupuncture, Therapeutic Massage, and Self-care Education for Chronic Low Back Pain. Arch Intern Med2001;161(8):1081-8. Summary Two hundred and sixty-two patients aged 20 to 70 years with 'persistent low back pain' were randomised to receive 'Traditional Chinese Medical acupuncture', massage or self-care educational materials. Up to ten sessions of acupuncture or massage were given over a tenweek period. Primary outcomes were a subjective score on a 'symptom bothersomeness scale', and a modified Roland Disability Scale. Outcomes were measured at four weeks, 10 weeks and one year. At 10 weeks massage was superior to self-care in both primary outcome measures. At one year massage was not better than self-care, but was superior to acupuncture. The authors conclude that massage was effective for persistent low back pain. Comment It is not clear from this paper exactly how the statistics were calculated. Mean values for the two primary outcome measures are given, and if the change from baseline is calculated, the self-care group is superior at one year on the disability scale with a numerical reduction of 5.6. The reductions for acupuncture and massage were 4.8 and 5.0 respectively. We are told that massage is superior to acupuncture at one year, yet the difference in the change of scores is only 0.2. On this scale, a change of 2.5 is said to be significant. It is somewhat concerning that the graphs of the changes in the primary outcome measures do not include baseline values, but start at the four week mark. The largest changes had already occurred by this point. What is more concerning is that the results displayed on the graphs are imprecise to the point of being misleading; indeed, in the graph illustrating the changes in the Roland Disability Scale scores, the results for self-care and massage at one year have been reversed, so that the latter appears superior. Furthermore, the figures quoted in the text do not seem to match those in the table of results for the primary outcomes. It is difficult to draw any firm conclusions from this study; however, there does appear to be sufficient detail to refute the authors' conclusions. At one year, massage did not appear to be superior to the self-care control.


Anaerobic treatment of terephthalic acid plant wastewater was tested using two UASB reactors (T and U) and a downflow tubular fixed film reactor. UASB T was inoculated with sludge sampled from an anaerobic stabilization pond receiving waste activated sludge from a petrochemical industry treatment plant. UASB U and the fixed film reactor were inoculated with anaerobically adapted activated sludge from a municipal plant. Raw effluent had to be settled and neutralized before reactor feeding. Sedimentation resulted in 70% TSS and 37% COD removal. UASB digesters presented comparable treatment efficiencies with rather low COD removals: the best results were 46.4% for UASB T at 2.6 kg COD/m 3 .d and a hydraulic retention time (θ) of 2.7 days and 43.9% for UASB U at 2.2 kg COD/m 3 .d and θ of 3.2 days. The performance of the tubular reactor was much higher, 74.5% COD removal at 1.89 kg/m 3 .d and θ of 3.4 days. The better efficiencies of this last digester are explained mainly by a higher VSS content and a better resistance to toxicity caused by the aromatics present in the wastewater. A primary settling-anaerobic-aerobic process is proposed as an alternative to the conventional aerobic process for treating terephthalic wastewater, but disposal of solids from primary sedimentation and cost of neutralization have to be considered before application.


This paper introduces a framework for the conceptualization and design of novel operator-aircraft/unmanned system automated interface concepts that will assist to enhance operator reliance on automated advisories. There is a need to explore new human-machine interface strategies stemming from the proliferation over the past years of accidents due to system complexity, failure modes and human errors. Concepts of autonomy establish the foundational elements of the work. We pursue a rigorous systems engineering process to analyze and design the tools and techniques for automated vehicle health monitoring, human-automation interface and conflict resolution enabled by innovative methods from DempsterShafer theory and reasoning algorithms. The emphasis in this contribution is on conflict resolution arising between the human operator (pilot) and on-system automated apparatus. The enabling technologies for conflict resolution borrow from Dempster-Shafer evidential theory, probabilistic and Game Theory for improved system autonomy and reasoning paradigms. The efficacy of the approach is demonstrated via an application to major drive subsystems of a helicopter and an autonomous hovercraft laboratory prototype.


Scoping the impacts on the environment of proposed development projects is key to the good practice of environmental impact assessment (EIA). The Environment Agency is the most important environmental advisor and regulator in England and Wales and a statutory consultee in the EIA process. It has produced generic Scoping Guidance for its own staff, external developers and their consultants, and other stakeholders. This is intended to help identify opportunities and constraints early in development planning and help avoid inconsistencies in scoping practice. The Guidance addresses specific impacts and associated mitigation measures for 72 different project types and four categories of site operations. In this paper, the development of this Scoping Guidance is discussed and its format explained. The implications for scoping potential impacts on the environment in England and Wales (and elsewhere) are discussed.


We report a rare clinical presentation of renal cell carcinoma in the form of small bowel obstruction which was secondary to a metastatic ileal intussusception. Intussusception in the elderly is most commonly due to an underlying neoplasm, however metastases from a renal cell carcinoma is very uncommon. We present clinical details, radiological and pathological findings of the case followed by a discussion of the diagnosis and management of intussusception in the adult population.


High spatial resolution benthic habitat information is essential for coral reef protection and coastal environmental management. Satellite-based shallow benthic composition mapping offers a more efficient approach than traditional field measurements, especially given the advancements in high spatial and temporal resolution satellite imagery. The Planet Dove satellite constellation now has more than 150 instruments in orbit that offer daily coverage at high spatial resolution (3.7 m). The Dove constellation provides regularly updated imagery that can minimize cloud in tropical oceans where dense cloud cover persists. Daily image acquisition also provides an opportunity to detect time-sensitive changes in shallow benthic habitats following coral bleaching events, storms, and other disturbances. We developed an object-based coral reef habitat mapping approach for Dove and similar multispectral satellites that provides bathymetry estimation, bottom reflectance retrieval, and object-based classification to identify different benthic compositions in shallow coastal environments. We tested our approach in three study sites in the Dominican Republic using 18 Dove images. Benthic composition classification results were validated by field measurements (overall accuracy = 82%). Bathymetry and bottom reflectance significantly contributed to identifying benthic habitat classes with similar surface reflectance. This new object-based approach can be effectively applied to map and manage coral reef habitats.


This paper presents a theoretical analysis of greedy geographic routing protocols on a common class of wireless sensor networks that must provide sensing coverage over a geographic area. Contrary to well known results on random networks, we prove that the Greedy Geographic Forwarding and our new greedy protocol always succeed in any sensing covered network when the communication range is at least twice the sensing range. Furthermore, we derive the analytic upper bound for the network dilation of sensing covered networks and quantify its relationship with the ratio between communication range and sensing range. Simulations show that, when the ratio between communication range and sensing range reaches 4.5, the studied greedy routing protocols can find network paths whose hop count on a sensing covered network approaches 1.5 times that of an ideal network. These results provide several important insights into the design of sensor networks. Simple greedy geographic routing protocols are "good enough" in this class of wireless sensor networks, and more sophisticated routing protocols designed to handle routing voids are not necessary. In addition, redundant sensors can be turned off without significant loss in communication performance as long as the remaining active nodes maintain sensing coverage. This result provides a theoretical justification of sensing coverage control protocols that conserve energy through sleep schedules.


Purpose: To evaluate a calibration method using the depth-dose data of an electron beam for MRI-based polymer gel dosimetry. Methods: MAGAT was manufactured in-house to fill two 400mL-cylindrical phantoms and nine 22mL-glass vials. Phantom-A was irradiated along the cylinder axis with a 9MeV electron beam of 6 cm x 6 cm field size (FS). Phantom-B was irradiated with a 6MV photon beam of 3 cm x 3 cm FS by a 360-degree arc technique. Eight vials were irradiated in a water-bath to various doses with a 20 cm x 20 cm FS 6MV photon beam. All irradiated phantoms and one un-irradiated vial were scanned with a 3T MRI scanner to obtain the spin-spin relaxation rate (R2) distributions. By comparing the measured R2-to-depth data with the known depth-dose data for Phantom-A, R2-to-dose calibration data were obtained (e-beam method). Another calibration data were obtained from the 9 vials data (9-vial method). We tested two regression equations, i.e., third-order polynomial and tangent functions, and two dose normalization methods, i.e., one-point and two-point methods. Then, these two calibration methods were used to obtain the 3D dose distribution of Phantom-B and evaluated by comparing the measured data with the dose distribution from a treatment planning system. The comparison was made with gamma passing rate (2%/2mm criteria). Results: We did not observe a clear advantage of the e-beam method over the 9-vial method for the 3D dose comparison with the test case. Nevertheless, we found that the e-beam method required a smaller dose scaling for the dose comparison. Furthermore, the tangent function showed better data fitting than the polynomial function with smaller uncertainty of the estimated coefficients. Conclusions: Considering the overall superior performance, we recommend the e-beam method with the tangent function as the regression equation and one-point dose normalization for the MRI-based polymer gel dosimetry.


It is known that Virtual Scanning is a cognitive technology that translates electro-physiology arising from bio- photons emission into clinical information. The technology promises diagnostic and therapeutic applicability for all cate- gories of migraine. We present a case of migraine in which the patient testifies that the technology helped to alleviate the physiological symptoms. The biochemical basis for anti-platelet medication vis-a-vis stasis and thrombogenesis in mi- graine and the technology is highlighted. The validity of the clinical benefits of light therapy and Virtual Scanning tech- nology in particular, which can be employed as an emerging non-invasive option to manage migraine, requires a consid- eration and research in order to develop a framework for integration into conventional medical practice.


MicroRNA 122 (miR-122) stimulates the replication and translation of hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA by binding to two adjacent sites, S1 and S2, within the HCV 5'UTR. We demonstrated previously that the miR-122 antagomir miravirsen (SPC3649) suppresses the infection of HCV strain JFH1-based recombinants with HCV genotypes 1-6 5'UTR-NS2 in human hepatoma Huh7.5 cells. However, specific S1 mutations were permitted and conferred virus resistance to miravirsen treatment. Here, using the J6 (genotype 2a) 5'UTR-NS2 JFH1-based recombinant, we performed reverse-genetics analysis of S1 (ACACUCCG, corresponding to miR-122 seed nucleotide positions 8-1), S2 (CACUCC, positions 7-2), and ACCC (positions 1-4) at the 5' end of the HCV genome (5'E); the CC at positions 2-3 of 5'E is involved in miR-122 binding. We demonstrated that the 5'E required four nucleotides for optimal function, and that G or A at position 3 or combined GA at positions 2-3 of 5'E was permitted. In S1 and S2, several single mutations were allowed at specific positions. A UCC → CGA change at positions 4-3-2 of S1, S2, or both S1 and S2 (S1/S2), as well as a C → G change at position 2 of S1/S2 were permitted. We found that 5'E mutations did not confer virus resistance to miravirsen treatment. However, mutations in S1 and S2 induced virus resistance, and combined S1 and/or S2 mutations conferred higher resistance than single mutations. Identification of miR-122 antagomir resistance-associated mutations will facilitate the study of additional functions of miR-122 in the HCV life cycle and the mechanism of virus escape to host-targeting antiviral approaches.


The concept of multi-headed self attention (MHSA) introduced as a critical building block of a Transformer Encoder/Decoder Module has made a significant impact in the areas of natural language processing (NLP), automatic speech recognition (ASR) and recently in the area of sound event detection (SED). The current state-of-the-art approaches to SED employ a shared attention mechanism achieved through a stack of MHSA blocks to detect multiple sound events. Consequently, in a multi-label SED task, a common attention mechanism would be respon-sible for generating relevant feature representations for each of the events to be detected. In this paper, we show through empirical evaluation that having more MHSA blocks dedicated specifically for individual events, rather than having a stack of shared MHSA blocks, improves the overall detection performance. Interestingly, this improvement in performance comes about because the event-specific attention blocks help in resolv-ing confusions in the case of co-occurring events. The proposed "Event-specific Attention Network" (ESA-Net) can be trained in an end-to-end manner. On the DCASE 2020 Task 4 data set, we show that with ESA-Net, the best single model achieves an event-based F1 score of 52.1 % on the public validation data set improving over the existing state of the art result.


The Port Talbot interstade is a cool, long, nonglacial interval separating the Early from the Late or Main Wisconsin in the Lake Erie region. Recent test borings at its type locality, lithologic and palynologic investigations of the cores, and new radiocarbon dates suggest that this interval was considerably longer than previously assumed. It began more than 48 000 years before present (B.P) and ended, if the Plum Point interval is included, 24 000 years B.P.The entire nonglacial interval comprises two relatively warm episodes, with boreal climate (Port Talbot I and II), separated by a brief glacial readvance that reached Lake Erie from the north; 100 varves were deposited during this readvance. Another similar readvance separates the Port Talbot I beds from the Plum Point (?) sands and silts. Pine (Pinus) and spruce (Picea) pollen predominate throughout the section, with relative abundance of oak (Quercus) in the Port Talbot I green clay. The pollen assemblages are dissimilar from those of the Sangamon i...


Aortic valve stenosis increases peak systolic velocity (PSV) and flow complexity in the ascending aorta, and is treated with either biological or mechanical implants. Vector flow imaging (VFI) is an angle independent ultrasound method for flow assessment. In contrast to conventional ultrasound, VFI can quantify complex flow patterns, e.g. the flow complexity called vector concentration (VC) in long axis and the secondary rotation (SR) in short axis view. Study aim was to evaluate flow changes only visible with VFI before and after valve implantation in patients with aortic valve stenosis. VFI on a commercial scanner (Pro Focus 2202 Ultra View, BK Medical) with a linear transducer (8670, BK Medical) was applied intraoperatively on the ascending aorta. Four patients scheduled for biological valve implants and 4 patients for mechanical valve implants were scanned before and after surgery. Four patients with normal aortic valve were scanned for comparison. VFI data of the ascending aorta were obtained in long and short axis view during the systolic phase for assessment of VC and SR. VC ranges from 0 to 1 (complex to laminar flow), and SR is measured in Hz. PSV was obtained with conventional spectral Doppler. Before surgery, patients with aortic valve stenosis scheduled for mechanical (PSV: 356.3 (64.3) cmls; SR: 15.3 (7.8) Hz; VC: 0.18 (0.03)) and biological implants (PSV: 350.0 (80.8) cmls; SR: 17.9 (2.6) Hz; VC: 0.26 (0.07)) had more complex flow with higher velocities compared with patients with normal aortic valve (PSV: 124.8 (16. 7) cmls; SR: 2.9 (1.1) Hz; VC: 0.83 (0.09)). After surgery, velocities were lower for mechanical (PSV: 214.5 (47.5) cmls; SR: 5.6 (3.0) Hz) compared with biological implants (PSV: 241.5 (39.1) cmls; SR: 13.2 (1.8) Hz). However, VC was higher for biological (0.68 (0.05)) compared with mechanical implants (0.56 (0.09)) indicating a more laminar and less complex flow despite higher systolic velocities in patients treated with biological implants. The mechanical valve has a larger opening with cusps attached centrally in the lumen opposed to the biological valve, which may explain the differences found. Normal flow was neither found for biological nor mechanical implants. VFI can provide new parameters for flow evaluation and be useful for aortic flow assessment before and after valve implantation and in the development of mechanical valves.


Chrysanthemums have beautiful flowers with high ornamental value and rich genetic diversity. Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers were used todetect the relationshipsamong12wild accessions and62groundcoverchrysanthemum cultivars. Nineteen EcoRI/MseI primer combinations revealed 452 informative poly- morphic bands with a mean of 23.8 bands and 71.5% polymorphic rate per primer pair. Jaccard's coefficient of similarity varied from 0.64 to 0.89, indicating much genetic variation in chrysanthemums. The 74 accessions were classified into two major groups by unweighted pair group method with the arithmetic averages (UPGMA). The dendrogram showed that AFLP variability was closely correlated with both geographic distribution and traditional classification of the wild accessions. Among all accessions, genetic relationship was the most relevant factor in AFLP-marker clustering, whereas petal type was also informative. AFLP technology could be very efficient for discriminating species of chrysanthemum and its related genera and reconstruct their genetic relatedness.


The Islamization of language could not be deniable when Isalamization process is carried out in any cultures. Arabic language is being charged with Divine inspiration in the form of Revelation so that Arabic becomes the noblest one among the humankind's language and it is the only divinely inspiration living language. The Islamic key concepts as represented by its worldview is encompassing some vocabularies which are use in any languages such as the words Allah (God), Rasulullah (Messenger), Jannah (Paradise), Akhirah (The Day After), iman (belief), adl ( justice), etc. In Indonesian language for example, these basic Arabic vocabularies also used as key concepts in understanding of Islam. However, because of social dynamic and developing era of politics, economics or culture in Indonesia deIslamization of language takes place as well. In fact, changing meaning of the key concepts of Islam and shifting paradigm of thoughts cause to devastating of Muslim's religiosity.


The resource allocation problem is one of fundamental problems in distributed systems, and many resource models and resource allocation algorithms have been proposed in many literature. In this paper, we consider a problem of allocating a set of unnamed resources that can be overbooked. Such a resource model is suitable for sharing broadband communication channel by many nodes. We propose a randomized distributed resource allocation algorithm for such a resource model based on quorum scheme. Specifically, our algorithm uses probabilistic quorum system, which is an extension of coterie, and processes in a distributed system distributedly maintains status of resource allocation. We also show some experimental results on degree of overbooking of resources by computer simulations.