Pneumocystis carinii f. sp. suis is a fungus multiplying in the respiratory tract of pigs which occasionally is associated with interstitial pneumonia. Identification of Pneumocystis in tissue samples is considered difficult and there are only scarce data on its occurrence in European pigs. This investigation presents an in situ hybridization (ISH) procedure for identification of Pneumocystis spp. in paraffin wax embedded tissue samples and its application for labeling the agent in lung samples of pigs with interstitial pneumonia. Thirty-two out of 100 lung samples from pigs on Austrian farms were identified as positive, five of them with multiple, 12 with moderate and 15 with few organisms but Grocott's methenamine silver staining demonstrated that only 20 cases were unequivocally positive for Pneumocystis carinii. In addition to interstitial pneumonia Pneumocystis-positive pigs were more frequently affected with granulomatous pneumonia than Pneumocystis-negative pigs. Frequently concurrent infections with different viral or bacterial lung pathogens were noted but there was no positive correlation between Pneumocystis- and PCV-2-infections. With other infections, no clear-cut differences between Pneumocystis-positive and Pneumocystis-negative animals were found. This study shows that Pneumocystis infections occur frequently in Austrian pigs with interstitial pneumonia. It remains to be shown which are the factors triggering severe multiplication and whether infection with Pneumocystis alone is able to induce lung disease in pigs.


Using standard 0.18-μm CMOS process and the special platform for 8-inch phase change random access memory (PCRAM), the first Chinese 16k bits PCRAM chip has been successfully achieved. A 1R1T structure has been designed for low voltage drop and low cost compared to the 1R1D structure and the BJT-switch structure. Full integration of the 16k bits PCRAM chip, including memory cell, array structure, critical circuit module, and physical layout, has been designed and verified. The critical integration technology of the phase change material (PCM) fabrication and the standard CMOS process has been solved. Test results about PCM in a large-scale array have been generated for the next research of PCRAM chip.


"selfportrait.map" charts the development of the collaborative work by artists Lilla LoCurto and William Outcault from 1992 to the present, culminating in a series of self portraits generated from three dimensional body scans. Employing a full-body scanner, traditional cartography software, and another software to make the two compatible, the artists began to produce photographic self-portraits as map projections. LoCurto/Outcault set about this inquiry as a way to "deconstruct the human form in terms of its volume, rendering it in absolute two-dimensions." This volume accompanies an exhibition of 18 of these images. Helaine Posner is an independent curator living in New York. David Gerlenter is art critic for the Weekly Standard and author of "Machine Beauty: Elegance and the Heart of Technology".


Methods: A systematic review of the literature using the Pubmed, Embase and Cochrane databases (search dates 1/1/90 to 12/15/12) was conducted to identify peer-reviewed publications relevant to the use of radiotherapy after prostatectomy. The review yielded an evidence base of 294 articles after the application of inclusion/exclusion criteria. These publications were used to create the guideline statements. If sufficient evidence existed, then the body of evidence for a particular treatment was assigned a strength rating of A (high quality evidence; high certainty), B (moderate quality evidence; moderate certainty) or C (low quality evidence; low certainty) and evidence-based statements of Standard, Recommendation or Option were developed. Additional information is provided as Clinical Principles and Expert Opinion when insufficient evidence existed. See text for definitions and detailed information.


In this digital era, all information and communication technology emhanched faster all the time. This issue gives a big chance on communication practice become more effective than before. Hence, to full the tight competition on digital era such as online media, the researcher wanted to investigate about applying ethic of journalist code in the online media and in journalist understanding to the ethic journalist code. The researcher used qualitative descriptive method which oriented on the field research and literature. On the other side, the qualitative research also directs into the finding of basic theory which is emphasized the process over the result. It also limits the research with the focus which has criteria on finding the trustwothiness dta. Based on the result on the research about applying ethic of journalist code in the Islamic rubrik OASE at Depok POS.com, online media in Depok POS always apply the ethic of journalist code with colaborate on that ethic such as the way which always used in the field by journalist and the ethic of journalist understanding are the specific detail and detail things which manage about how should the media worker such as journalist, editor, chief of reporter, news achor and every profession which can called a journalist can behave on ethic of journalist code. Further, ethic of journalist code is the basic of journalist thought.


Big shadows hung over to the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by large conglomerates have made the growth of SMEs limited as they have to play restricted roles as suppliers to their large companies along with the supply chains. Thus appropriate innovation or disruptive changes of SMEs have been restricted in the era of the 4th industrial revolution. The structural changes of economy in South Korea require lots of SMEs which have competitive technological advantages in the field of parts, materials and equipments. Not only cost competitiveness but also technological excellence of SMEs is essential for the vitality of economy, and the balance between large companies and SMEs also can be facilitated by the growth of SMEs. What should be done for this? Creation of small but strong SMEs, that is, small giant enterprises (SGEs).
This study tried to discover the growth factors needed by SMEs in becoming SGEs which can exert their power in the global market. Based on the sample from a group of Korean government-selected candidates for SGEs, which is called 'World Class 300 companies', we tested hypotheses focusing on the analysis on the relationships between the core growth factors. The relations between innovation capability, talent management, and transformational leadership as well as the impact of these on the subjective and objective organizational performances were analyzed.
Empirical analysis supported the significant strong relationships between growth factors and ROE(objective performance) as well as job satisfaction(subjective performance). The mediation effect of leadership between the innovation capability as well as talent management and performance was found in this study.
These results imply the importance of SGEs'' ability to innovate, secure talent, and furtherly, having proper leadership which bridges them to the performance. This study shows that securing systematic talent management and investing in them for retention are indispensable to attain better returns on investments. The paper suggested that transformational leadership is effective for the growth of SGEs. This also contributed to connecting the organizational unit research and individual-level leadership. Leadership is perceived differently by individuals because of the changing patterns of leadership along with time and situation. We discussed some theoretical backgrounds on these findings.
Practical implications are also suggested, that is, the importance of R&D investment to facilitate the innovation capability and systematic talent management to secure professional manpower. Transformational leadership is a key driving force in the Korean context as it would be difficult to achieve outstanding results without appropriate leadership exercise.
Therefore these results suggest that Korean economy requires systematic development of ecosystem for SGEs and government-level support to secure core growth factors considering the poor resources of the domestic SGEs. Some limitations related with sample, single-level analysis, construct of SGEs are also discussed.


Purpose: To assess whether adenovirus-mediated retinoblastoma 94 (Ad-RB94) transgene expression enhances efficacy of radiation therapy (XRT) of human head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Experimental Design: The HNSCC cell lines (JHU006 and JHU012) were treated in vitro and in a nude mouse xenograft model with Ad-RB94, Ad-DL312 control vector, or untreated as mock control. Cell viability and tumor growth were evaluated and combined RB94/XRT antitumor activity was analyzed by measuring DNA double-strand breaks, apoptosis-associated early DNA fragmentation, and levels of RB-regulated cell cycle progression E2F1 transcription factor. Results: Ad-RB94/XRT resulted in significant HNSCC cell growth inhibition compared with XRT alone or Ad-RB94 alone in vitro and caused significant tumor regression compared with XRT alone and Ad-DL312/XRT in JHU006 and with XRT alone, Ad-DL312/XRT and Ad-RB94 alone in JHU012 in vivo. Neutral comet analysis revealed that DNA damage was significantly elevated in cells treated with Ad-RB94 alone and Ad-RB94/XRT. Tumors treated with Ad-RB94 alone showed a striking increase in early apoptosis DNA fragmentation, and DNA fragmentation was further enhanced with XRT. In addition, levels of E2F1 were up-regulated by Ad-RB94/XRT combination, whereas Ad-RB94 alone did not affect E2F1 levels and XRT alone led to down-regulation of E2F1. Conclusions: A potent antitumor effect has been observed after Ad-RB94/XRT combination treatment in HNSCC xenograft tumors. Enhanced tumor regression correlated with increased apoptosis. Ad-RB94 treatment enhances the efficacy of XRT through tumor cell sensitization by arresting the cells at the radiation-sensitive G2-M cell cycle and via E2F1 up-regulation.


OBJECTIVE
To explore the role of cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) in the pathological mechanism of allergic rhinitis.

METHOD
Three kinds of CAMs, which are intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), vascular cellular adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and lymphocyte function antigen-1 (LFA-1), as well as three kinds of NOS, which are neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS), inducible isoform of nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) were orthotopic detected by strept avidin-biotin complex (SABC) immunohistochemistry method in 40 cases of inferior nasal concha of allergic rhinitis.

RESULT
There are only small number of ICAM-1, VCAM-1 and LFA-1 positive cells in the normal concha mucosa epithelial but more positive cells in allergic rhinitis. The number of positive cell of ICAM-1, LFA-1, VCAM-1 in the concha mucosa was [(14.4+/-2.2), (17.2+/-3.3), (11.5+/-2.7) per scope (x400) +/-s] respectively; in the control group the number of positive cell of ICAM-1, LFA-1, VCAM-1 in the concha mucosa was (8.7+/-1.8), (10.3+/-2.1), (6.9+/-1.8) respectively. The statistic differences were significant (t = 11.57, 10.02, 8.07 respectively; P<0.01). A certain number of nNOS positive cells were found in the concha mucosa in allergic rhinitis patients, it was mainly expressed in mucosa epithelial and submucosa glandular; a large number of iNOS positive cells were found in the concha mucosa in allergic rhinitis patients, iNOS was mainly expressed in mucosa epithelial, submucosa glandular, endothelial and submucosa inflammatory cell; the number of eNOS positive cell was few. In the normal control, few positive cells of nNOS, iNOS or eNOS could be found. Between the allergic rhinitis patients and the normal control, the number of nNOS positive cell was [(9.4+/-1.7), (4.7+/-1.3) per scope (x400)] respectively, t = 12.62 (P<0.01); the number of iNOS positive cell was (27.5+/-3.2), (4.3+/-1.7) respectively, t = 36.03 (P<0.01) the number of eNOS positive cell was (6.5+/-2.1), (6.2+/-1.9) respectively, t = 0.62 (P>0.05).

CONCLUSION
These adhesion molecules might be involved in edema, exudation and infiltration of inflammatory cells of nasal mucosa in allergic rhinitis patients. The number of nNOS, iNOS positive cell in inferior concha mucosa in allergic rhinitis patients was significant higher than in normal control. It suggests that nNOS and iNOS might be involved in the pathogenesis of allergic rhinitis.


This article is the result of an empirical research developed in the Master's Program in Cultural Studies of FUMEC University, which addresses the virtual visit to the Inhotim museum as a proposal of mediation between technology and tourism through the marital experience of a virtual visit versus face-to-face experience. The theoretical framework presented seeks the representation of cultural elements through the digital-imaging technology of the screens, projecting through the imbrications between culture and technology a reflection on the experience of visiting an environment through algorithmic constructions. Finally, the article discusses the cultural validity of this experience, with a special look at the cultural constructions of the technological contemporaneity that are materialized through digitalized and mathematically (pre)-conceived information.


Republic of Srpska (RS) covers an area of 24,666 km 2 or about 48.5% of Bosnia and Herzegovina's territory. Spatial and environmental changes accelerated due to dynamic historical period upon the RS formation and the following development period. The extent of these changes can be determined by comparing satellite images obtained from different acquisition periods. By processing images, with the support of geographic information systems, it is possible to create a database that aims to analyze spatial processes in a specific area in order to determine quantitative and qualitative parameters. In this way, the trends of spatial development (e.g. excessive logging, land cover damage, water pollution, etc.) and potentially vulnerable components of the environment can be monitored. The data for Bosnia and Herzegovina were collected from CORINE Land Cover (CLC) database for 39 European countries. The CLC is a project launched by the European Environment Agency (EEA) more than thirty years ago with the aim of collecting, coordinating and ensuring the consistency of information on natural resources and the environment. The goal of the paper is to identify land cover types and determine environment changes in the territory of Republic of Srpska over the period 2000–2018 as a consequence of the land use conversion.


This book has given the evaluation of a great hero, motivator and a unique icon to be remembered in the history of the world and especially, Nigeria. Joseph Ayo Babalola has been identified as a prophetic figure in Nigeria. The book therefore analyzes the historical antecedents, growth and expansion of indigenous Pentecostalism in Nigeria; it also enumerates the prophetic and evangelistic activities of Joseph Ayo Babalola on faith healing. These resultant activities stimulated growth and changes till the early 1960s. The book reveals that Apostle Joseph Ayo Babalola was a major contributor to the growth of the Christ Apostolic Church as well as nation building. It also reveals how indigenous Pentecostal leaders emphasized divine healing and prophetic gifts such as visions, dreams, and discernment as remedies to personal problems confronting Nigerians at that time. The book concludes that the indigenous Pentecostal churches in Nigeria would continue to be functional and relevant to other churches and contemporary society.


The authors establish sharp error bounds for the error committed in computing N values of the Fourier transform of a square summable function by means of the discrete Fourier transform. No assumptions are made as to the bandwidth or desired frequency resolution. Instead their error bound depends explicitly on five parameters: the number N of sampling points, the interval T where the samples are taken, the interval Omega where the Fourier transform is being approximated, and two extra parameters that account for local averaging in the time and frequency domains respectively. The resulting error bound is independent of the function in question and they find that, for an appropriate model of sampling, the error bound is minimised as a function of T, Omega by the Nyquist-Shannon choice 4T Omega =2N+1. They finally consider how these bounds are affected by some a priori knowledge about the class of functions under discussion. This is done in detail for band-limited functions.


Extraction and assay of sorbitol dehydrogenase (SDH) throughout fruit maturation of 3 apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) cultivars, watercore-resistant 'Golden Delicious,' occasionally susceptible 'McIntosh', and normally susceptible 'Starkrimson,' showed no relationship between susceptibility to watercore and extractable enzyme activity. There was, however, a relationship between increased SDH activity and onset of the climacteric as measured by ethylene and CO2 evolution, suggesting that SDH, like certain other enzymes, increases during maturation.


Plants or Plant cells in vitro, show physiological and morphological response to microbial, physical or chemical factors which are known as 'elicitors'. Elicitation is a process of induced or enhanced synthesis of secondary metabolites by the plants to ensure their survival persistence and competitiveness. The application of elicitors, which is currently the focus of research, has been considered as one of the most effective methods to improve the synthesis of secondary metabolites in medicinal plants. Plant secondary metabolites are unique sources for pharmaceuticals, food additives, flavours and other industrial materials. Accumulation of such metabolites often occurs in plants subjected to stresses including various elicitors or signal molecules. Commonly tested chemical elicitors are salicylic acid, methyl salicylate, bezoic acid, chitosan and so forth which affect production of phenolic compounds and activation of various defense-related enzymes in plants. Plants are challenged by a variety of biotic stresses like fungal, bacterial or viral infections. This lead to the great loss to a plant yield. Here we discuss the classification of elicitors, mechanism of elicitor, the use of elicitors and the different features of elicitors.


The research intended to explore the possibility of fortifying the wheat flour and plum powder to formulate the nutritional biscuit which has the ability to improve the quality of food products due to various nutritional properties. Supplementation of plum powder was tried at different ratios (wheat flour:plum powder) 100:00(WF:PP), 95:5(WF:PP), 90:10(WF:PP) and 85:15(WF:PP). Prepared biscuit is subjected to sensory, physico-chemical and microbiological analysis to evaluate the suitability of biscuit for consumption. Nine-Point Hedonic Score System was used for sensory evaluation of prepared biscuit. From overall acceptability rating, 90% wheat flour and 10% plum powder incorporated biscuit obtained the highest rating compare to other treatments. At p ≤ 0.05, there were no significant differences between the control treatment and best-rated supplemented biscuit (90:10) in general preference of sensory rating. Nutritional evaluation of best-rated supplemented biscuit were protein (8.54%), fat (22.74%), moisture (3.45%), total carbohydrates (62.51%) and ash (2.28%). Thus supplementation of wheat flour and plum powder at 10% level each, would improve the nutritional quality without adversely affecting the sensory parameters. Keywords: Wheat flour, plum powder, sensory, physico-chemical properties, biscuit Cite this Article: Umar Aftab, Anamika Das, Shanta Peter, et al., Development of plum powder fortified biscuit, Research & Reviews: Journal of Food Science and Technology. 2015; 4(1): 28–31p.


The response of adult rats fed diets containing amino acid mixtures with varying combinations of lysine and threonine was studied by estimating the change in body weights, organ weights, total nitrogen content of organs and the concentration of free plasma lysine and threonine. Analysis of variance indicates a significant effect of threonine, lysine and a significant interaction due to feeding the two amino acids on the body weights, organ weights and total nitrogen content of various organs. Significant effect on the level of the plasma free amino acid was also shown as a result of feeding the particular amino acid. Results show that in deficient animals the rates of building body protein are low but are higher in the lysine deficient animals than in the threonine deficient and protein deficient animals. The varying rates of exchanging protein between the various organs in response to changing the levels of amino acids in the diet would mean that total change in body protein or total nitrogen balance may not be satisfactory way to determine the protein or amino acid requirements for maintenance. It seems to be necessary to focus down on protein turnover rates in specific tissues.


Introduction: Chronic otitis media (COM) is now synonymous with chronic suppurative otitis media, which is not actively used since COM is seldom associated with "the collection of pus." Acute suppuration of the ear which transcends 6 weeks is considered to be COM which suggests an abnormality of the ear drum. With a prevalence incidence of 1%, Eustachian tube (ET) dysfunction is among the most important factors in the development of COM. Recently, mastoid air cells have been acknowledged as an essential compounding factor for the pathogenesis of middle ear disease. Since ET, mastoid air cell system, and nasopharyngeal mass like adenoids can play a pivotal role in the causation and persistence of COM, the current study will be taken to observe the status of ET, mastoid air cells system, nasopharynx in general, and adenoids in particular in patients of COM. Aim: This study aims to study the status of the mastoid antrum on surgical exploration, the status of ET, and nasopharynx for adenoids in patients of large, subtotal perforation, and posterosuperior retraction pockets (PSRPs). Study Design: This study was an observational, cross-sectional study. Study Setting: All the patients with large, subtotal perforation, and PSRPs visiting the Outpatient Department and Inpatient Department of ENT in Acharya Vinoba Bhave Rural Hospital (AVBRH) between 2022 and 2023 will be studied. Methods: All the selected patients of large, subtotal perforation, and posterosuperior retraction pocket (PSRP) in the age bracket of 15–65 years and satisfying the inclusion criteria will be considered and accrued in this study. We plan to look at a sample size of 50 patients (50 ears). Diagnostic nasal video endoscopy to get insight into ET function, size, and grade of adenoids by grading system given by Cassano et al. and pure-tone audiometry by ALPS AD2000 to know the type and amount of hearing loss will be carried out. Status of the mastoid antrum, the extent of the disease, status of ossicles, and associated abnormalities of temporal bone along with any other incidental findings will be noted intraoperatively. Expected Results: The data will be tabulated, analyzed statistically, and will be discussed in the context of existing research. Conclusion: The purpose of the present study is to help the surgeon have a better insight into the status of the mastoid antrum, ET in cases of large and subtotal perforation, and PSRP and nasopharynx in general with significance to adenoids in patients of COM in rural area.


Gradstein et al. (1982) propose to conserve four generic names of Lejeuneaceae: Lopholejeunea (Spruce) Schiffn., Acrolejeunea (Spruce) Schiffn., Trachylejeunea (Spruce) Schiffn. and Taxilejeunea (Spruce) Schiffn., each of which was introduced as a subgeneric name in Lejeunea by Spruce (1884), and subsequently raised to generic rank by Schiffner in his treatment of the Hepaticae in Engler-Prantl (preprint 1893) [see proposals to conserve 675-678 see p. 746]. Although Spruce (l.c.) used for his Lejeunea species a binary nomenclature by combining subgeneric names with specific epithets, it is clear (e.g. text, index) that the binomina are meant as Lejeunea combinations and they are considered as such by most authors (see Gradstein et al. for further details). Before 1893, however, the Sprucean subgeneric names were used in various papers by F. Stephani in a "seeming" generic rank; indeed Stephani now and then referred to them as "genus." A chronological survey of a number of relevant papers by Stephani, mainly those published in Hedwigia, was given by Bonner et al. (1961), in conjunction with a brief discussion of the subject of this paper. These authors were the first to realize that on the basis of Art. 42 ICBN some generic names in Lejeuneaceae, e.g. Taxilejeunea and Trachylejeunea, can be considered as validly published by Stephani in Hedwigia 28, 1889. Later on Grolle (1979) demonstrated valid publication of monotypic new Lejeuneaceae genera by Stephani in the Bot. Gaz. 15, 1890, e.g. Lopho-Lejeunea and Acro-Lejeunea. For an evaluation of the status of Lopho- Lejeunea Steph., Acro-Lejeunea Steph., Trachylejeunea Steph. and Taxilejeunea Steph., one might consider these names against the background of the entire context of Stephani's work on Lejeuneaceae until 1893. As the survey of Stephani's papers in Bonner et al. is rather incomplete, and as there are several points of divergence in opinion, a new analysis of Stephani's relevant papers (before Sep 1893) is presented below.


We experimentally studied the inscription of fiber Bragg gratings by using femtosecond (fs) laser point-by-point (PbP) technology. The effects of the focusing geometry, grating order, laser energy and grating length on the spectral characteristics of the PbP FBG were investigated. After optimizing these parameters, a high-quality first-order PbP FBG with a reflectivity > 99.9% (i.e., Bragg resonance attenuation of 37.7 dB) and insertion loss (IL) of 0.03 dB was successfully created. Moreover, taking advantage of the excellent flexibility of the fs laser PbP technology, high-quality FBGs with various Bragg wavelengths ranging from 856 to 1902.6 nm were inscribed. Furthermore, wavelength-division-multiplexed (WDM) FBG arrays consisting of 10 FBGs were rapidly constructed. Additionally, a Fabry-Perot cavity was realized by using two high-quality FBGs, and its birefringence could be reduced from 3.04 × 10−5 to 1.77 × 10−6 by using a slit beam shaping-assisted femtosecond laser PbP technology. Therefore, such high-quality FBGs are promising to improve the performance of optical fiber sensors, lasers and communication devices.


Globus pallidus internus (GPi) deep brain stimulation (DBS) increasingly shows promising efficacy in the treatment of severe primary generalized dystonia. Functional imaging studies have shown previously that dystonia could be related to abnormal cortical activation during voluntary movement. In the present study, the effects of GPi DBS on regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) during a motor task were studied in patients with primary generalized dystonia. rCBF was measured using H215O and PET in eight control subjects and six patients with dystonia treated with bilateral GPi DBS. Subjects were scanned at rest and while performing joystick movements. Dystonic patients were tested in two conditions: 'OFF' (stimulator bilaterally switched off) and 'ON' (unilateral stimulation). In the 'OFF' condition, compared with rest, motor activation of the most dystonic hand was associated with overactivity in the contralateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, gyrus frontalis medialis, superior frontal gyrus (area 10), frontoorbital cortex and thalamus. In the 'ON' condition, GPi DBS contralaterally to the most dystonic hand induced a decrease of the overactivation in the same areas, as well as the putamen. According to the present study, generalized dystonia is associated with prefrontal overactivation which can be reversed by effective GPi DBS.


Biosensors for the specific, sensitive and rapid detection of analytes could play an important role in fermentation industries such as the whisky industry. Long-standing challenges remain unmet and these are associated with the establishment of low-cost, easy-to-use, miniaturised, robust, reliable and highly specific biosensors. In this paper, an optical method, and more specifically fluorescence, is used for the development of a portable biosensor in combination with enzyme technology and microfabrication for the determination of phenols in smoked whisky. At present, chromatographic techniques are utilised by taking a single sample from the fermentation vessel, which may not be totally representative, so an in situ biosensor can improve the quality control during the fermentation process.
The enzyme tyrosinase and a fluorescence ruthenium complex oxygen indicator were used for the detection of different phenol percentage. The enzyme and the indicator were immobilised in polymeric films during the microfabrication process. Furthermore, a comparative assessment of the enzyme and the aptamer technologies are discussed. During the last 20 years since the SELEX method developed, over 2000 papers related to aptamers or SELEX have been published and the aptamer biosensors have been enchanced and many new DNA aptamers have been developed. The utilisation of aptamer technology is discussed and advantages over the enzyme biosensor are highlighted for future work.


Technological innovation in the area of personalised genetic data poses novel regulatory concerns for state governance. Since personalised genetic data reveals highly sensitive and private information about a person's susceptibility to illness, it may lead to stigmatisation, discrimination, and breach of privacy. Although legal arrangements for personal or medical data have always been governmental and legal concerns, the introduction of genetic technologies over the past two decades has breathed new life into the idea of privacy and non-discrimination protection for individuals and communities, leading to possible new types of social relationships that circulate in a global biomedical arena. Thus, our analysis of genetic information regulation is based on a comparative analysis of policy instruments by examining the appropriateness of various policy instrument choices made in the United States and in the United Kingdom for securing the rights for privacy, non-discrimination, and access to research benefits for individuals and communities.


Background: Given the broad age range across which the quadrivalent meningococcal conjugate vaccine MenACWY-CRM is used, coadministration with routine vaccines should be evaluated across age groups for possible immunologic interference and impact on vaccine reactogenicity and safety. Methods: We summarize data from a large population of infants, adolescents and international travelers from 10 phase 3 or 4 clinical studies to evaluate coadministration of MenACWY-CRM with commonly administered vaccines. Noninferiority analyses of immune responses were performed across studies and age groups for each vaccine. Reactogenicity and safety were also assessed. Results: In infants, MenACWY-CRM coadministered with routine vaccines did not reduce immune responses to diphtheria, tetanus, poliovirus, hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae type b, pneumococcal conjugate, measles–mumps–rubella, varicella or pertussis antigens. Noninferiority criteria were not met for some pneumococcal conjugate serotypes at 7 months of age, but no consistent trends were observed. In adolescents, coadministration did not reduce immune responses to tetanus, diphtheria and human papilloma virus vaccine antigens. Noninferiority criteria for pertussis antigens were not uniformly met in infant and adolescent studies, although the clinical relevance is unclear. In adults, coadministration did not reduce immune responses to hepatitis A/B, typhoid fever, yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis and rabies antigens. Immune responses to MenACWY-CRM were not impacted by coadministration of commonly administered vaccines. Coadministration did not increase frequencies of postvaccination adverse events in any age group. Conclusions: With no clinically relevant vaccine interactions or impact on vaccine reactogenicity or safety, these results support the coadministration of MenACWY-CRM with routine vaccines in all age groups.


Supersaturation with respect to calcium salts (oxalate and phosphate) is the driving force leading to crystalluria and nephrolithiasis. High-molecular-weight urinary inhibitors are recently described molecules capable of altering the process of kidney stone formation. By inhibition of crystal nucleation, growth and aggregation and by inhibition of crystal interaction with tubular cells, these proteins efficiently prevent stone formation and retention in the urinary tract. But in spite of considerable efforts, characterization of these proteins is still under way. Besides the pathophysiology of risk factors for calcium salts supersaturation such as idiopathic hypercalciuria or hyperoxaluria, the renal involvement of protein inhibitors is the most exciting field in the comprehensive approach of nephrolithiasis, a disease that affects up to 10% of people in Western countries.


Menstruation hygiene is of utmost importance in a female's life. Poor menstrual hygiene is a significant reason for the high prevalence of reproductive tract infection and other related problems. The objectives of the present study were to investigate the awareness and practices of menstruation and to study menstruation hygiene practices among rural females. The demographic details, information regarding menstruation practices and hygiene were collected through pre-tested questionnaire. The results showed that the majority of rural females have sufficient knowledge about the cause of menstruation and having normal menstruation cycle length and blood flow. Majority of females were using old washed cloth and about one-third of the subjects were regularly using sanitary pads. Menstruation hygiene was not appropriately practiced among the females. The present study concludes that awareness about menstruation hygiene is of prime importance to prevent urinary tract infection and maintain healthy life during adulthood and later. Keywords : Menstruation, hygiene, reproductive health, sanitary pads Cite this Article Diksha Patel, Viraj Roghelia. Awareness and Practices of Menstruation Among Rural Females. Research & Reviews: A Journal of Health Professions . 2018; 8(Issue 3 Special): 25s-30s.


It is shown that recurrent bronchial obstruction with nonallergic genesis is a significant problem for young children. Further researches of this disease are needed in order to develop differentiated therapies.


Studies of different species of tunas from the shore of Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil were carried out. The digenean Hirudinella ventricosa (Pallas, 1774) (Hirudinellidae), already referred in Brazil in Scomberomorus cavalla (common named "cavala"), is now reported parasitizing Katsuwonus pelamis ("bonito"). The monogenean Sibitrema poonui Yamaguti, 1966 (Gastrocotylidae), parasitizing Thunnus albacares ("albacora") e T. obesus ("patudo"), is referred for the first time in South America. Original figures and measurements are presented.


Nickel-based catalysis allows the efficient bis-allylation of soft nucleophiles with allylic alcohols. The reaction is best promoted by a combination of Ni(cod)2 (cod = cyclooctadienyl) and diphenylphosphinobutane under additive-free conditions. Alternatively, nickel(II) precursors can be used provided that a reductant is used to generate the nickel(0) species. The NiCl2/Zn combination is particularly simple, and can advantageously replace the use of the more air-sensitive Ni(cod)2 precursor. The scope of the reaction was studied with nucleophiles and allylic derivatives suitable for bis-allylation reactions.


recognised" Despite recent advances in its management, asthma remains a significant ongoing cause of morbidity1 and mortality2 in Australia. Ciclesonide, a newer inhaled corticosteroid, offers exciting potential to improve both asthma control and longer-term outcomes. This is because of its improved safety profile relative to other asthma medications, and the potential for improved adherence to treatment, given its proven efficacy as a once-daily medication.3 It is administered as a prodrug, activated within the lungs, and has lower oral bioavailability and extensive firstpass metabolism which reduces its systemic side effect profile.4 In Australia, ciclesonide is now available on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme for use in children from the age of 6 years. Despite increasing use of this drug, side effects are infrequently reported.


Compressive Strength (CS) is an important mechanical feature of concrete taken as an essential factor in construction. The current study has investigated the effect of fly ash and silica fume replacement content on the strength of concrete through Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) and Extreme Learning Machine (ELM). In this study, different ratios of fly ash with (out) extra quantity of silica fume have been tested. Water cement (w/c) ratio varies during the test. Eight input parameters including Total Cementitious Material (TCM), Silica Fume (SF) replacement ratio, coarse aggregate (ca), fly ash (FA) replacement ratio, Sewage Sludge Ash (SSA) as a combination of cement and fine aggregate replacement, water-cement ratio, High Ratio Water Reducing Agent (HRWRA) and Age of Samples (AS) and one output parameter as the CS of concrete have been investigated through ANN and ELM. Up to now, numerous experimental studies have been used to analyze the compressive strength of concrete while retrofitted with fly ash or silica fume, however, the novelty of this study is in its use of AI models (ELM, ANN). The models have been developed and their outcomes were compared through six statistical indicators (MAE, RMSE, RRMSE, WI, RMAE and R2). Subsequently, both methods were shown as reliable tools for assessing the influence of cementitious material on compressive strength of concrete, however, ANN remarkably was better than ELM. As a result, FA showed less contribution to the strength of concrete at short times, but much at later ages. As a result, the enhanced influence of low amount of SF on CS was not significant. Adding fly ash has reduced the compressive strength in short term, but increased the compressive strength in long term. Adding silica fume raises the strength in short term, but decreases the strength in long term. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium provided the original work is properly cited.


This study examined strategies use by smoked fish marketers in Kainji Lake Basin, Nigeria. Multistage sampling procedure was used to select forty-six respondents. Semi-structured interview schedule was employed for data collection. Data were analysed using percentages, mean and standard deviation. The study reveals that 80.4% of the respondents were male, with 48.1% within the age bracket 41 and 45 years with mean age of 45 years. Many of the respondents were literate (89.7%) and married (94.5%). The study identified commissioned agents as the main marketing channels in the area. Creating effective point of fish sale (3.94± 0.83), use of ICT (GSM) to reach customers (3.92 ±0.97), establishment of good reputation (3.90 ±0.52), increase access to market information (3.87 ±0.67) were the leading marketing strategies adopted by the smoked fish marketers. Challenges faced by the respondents included inadequate financial resources (3.96 ±0.84), weak extension service (3.84± 2.43) and high cost of transportation (2.86 ±1.42). The study concludes that the limitations to smoked fish marketing were related to policy issues and infrastructure in terms of access to financial resources, efficient means of transportation and extension service delivery Therefore, it is recommended that smoked fish marketers group be registered as cooperative to facilitate vibrant extension service for effective linkage of fish smoked marketers with credit sources and also provide market support in the area. Keywords : Fish marketing, smoked fish, Kainji lake basin


Virtual tour applications have gained popularity in recent years by providing immersed user experience and visual navigation hints. Typically, a virtual tour contains both image data and inter-scene spatial connections, and is usually presented as a constellation of images. The construction of virtual tours originally requires sophisticated devices and time-consuming site survey. Lately, the technology advance in smartphones facilitates the virtual tour capture on such versatile end devices. In this work, we introduce a crowdsourced approach toenable large-scale panoramic virtual tour construction with the active participation of smartphone users. We have designed and implemented the framework, as well as proposed further optimizations on constellation construction. Extensive experiments are conducted to evaluate the overall performance, including image quality, constellation accuracy, user experience, and energyefficiency.


This study was conducted to test a three-layered artificial neural network analysis of phonocardiogram recordings to diagnose, automatically and objectively, the condition of the heart in patients with heart murmurs. The data were recorded simultaneously in each of 49 patients with a heart murmur through eight microphones attached to the skin surface with adhesive tape, and were analysed by computer. The diagnosis was automated using a three-layered neural network technique. The neural network generated correct answers in over 70% of cases. Furthermore, about 80% of cases of two concurrent diseases were identified correctly. However, ventricular septal defects were incorrectly classified as aortic stenosis or aortic regurgitation, and patent ductus arteriosus was not diagnosed correctly. Accurate diagnoses can frequently be obtained using a neural network, but accuracy can be improved with further data accumulation.


During the last couple of years, point sets have emerged as a new standard for the representation of largely detailed models. This is partly due to the fact that range scanning devices are becoming a fast and economical way to capture dense point clouds. Traditional rendering systems are impractical when a single polygonal primitive contributes less than a pixel during rendering. We present a data distribution strategy for parallel pointbased rendering, using a cluster of PCs as target platform. We describe a data-structure and a system architecture, which allows for decoupling the point-data from the computational work. This strategy enables both a balanced workload as well as no full data replication on each node. We exploit frame-to-frame coherence to make our system scalable. The system renders high-resolution images from high complex data sets at interactive frame rates. To our knowledge parallel point-based rendering has not been investigated in the past. Our results indicate the feasibility of sort-first parallelization applied to point-based rendering.


This paper presents a product development methodology for use with indigenous rural workers. It is based on the revival of cultural and social values, with a focus on the conservation of natural resources. Illustrated by the case of Mixtec craftswomen in Mexico, this paper shows how poor groups can improve their living conditions through innovation and the diversification of their products. The process combines techniques of product development based on marketing, with a participatory focus and continuous improvement, in order to develop a unique and high‐quality product that can be more successfully marketed. The craftswomen are now able to plan their production and can evaluate and commercialise their products.


Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is an inherited motor neuron disease caused by mutation of the telomeric copy of the survival motor neuron gene (SMN1). Although a centromeric copy of the survival motor neuron gene (SMN2) is retained in all patients with SMA, it differs from SMN1 at a critical nucleotide such that the majority of SMN2 transcripts lack exon 7 and encode an unstable, truncated protein. Here, we show that valproic acid increases levels of exon 7–containing SMN transcript and SMN protein in type I SMA patient–derived fibroblast cell lines. Valproic acid may increase SMN levels both by activating the SMN promoter and by preventing exon 7 skipping in SMN transcripts. Valproic acid and related compounds warrant further investigation as potential treatment for SMA. Ann Neurol 2003;54:647–654


UAVs are capable of providing significant potential to IoT devices through sensors, cameras, GPS systems, and so forth. Therefore, the smart UAV‐IoT collaborative system has become a current hot research topic. However, other concerns require in‐depth investigation and study, such as resource allocation, security, privacy preservation, trajectory optimization, intelligent decision‐making, energy harvesting, and so forth. Here, we suggest a task‐scheduling method that splits IoT devices into distinct clusters based on physical proximity and saves time and energy. Cluster heads can apply an auto regressive moving average (ARMA) model to predict intelligently the timestamp of the arrival of the next task and associated estimated payments. Based on the overall expected payment, a cluster head can smartly advise the UAV about its time of next arrival. According to the findings of the simulation, the proposed ETTS algorithm significantly outperforms Task TSIE and TDMA‐WS in terms of energy use (67%) and delays (36%).


Entailment trees have been proposed to simulate the human reasoning process of explanation generation in the context of open--domain textual question answering. However, in practice, manually constructing these explanation trees proves a laborious process that requires active human involvement. Given the complexity of capturing the line of reasoning from question to the answer or from claim to premises, the issue arises of how to assist the user in efficiently constructing multi--level entailment trees given a large set of available facts. In this paper, we frame the construction of entailment trees as a sequence of active premise selection steps, i.e., for each intermediate node in an explanation tree, the expert needs to annotate positive and negative examples of premise facts from a large candidate list. We then iteratively fine--tune pre--trained Transformer models with the resulting positive and tightly controlled negative samples and aim to balance the encoding of semantic relationships and explanatory entailment relationships. Experimental evaluation confirms the measurable efficiency gains of the proposed active fine--tuning method in facilitating entailment trees construction: up to 20\% improvement in explanatory premise selection when compared against several alternatives.


One-shot voice conversion has received significant attention since only one utterance from source speaker and target speaker respectively is required. Moreover, source speaker and target speaker do not need to be seen during training. However, available one-shot voice conversion approaches are not stable for unseen speakers as the speaker embedding extracted from one utterance of an unseen speaker is not reliable. In this paper, we propose a deep discriminative speaker encoder to extract speaker embedding from one utterance more effectively. Specifically, the speaker encoder first integrates residual network and squeeze-and-excitation network to extract discriminative speaker information in frame level by modeling frame-wise and channel-wise interdependence in features. Then attention mechanism is introduced to further emphasize speaker related information via assigning different weights to frame level speaker information. Finally a statistic pooling layer is used to aggregate weighted frame level speaker information to form utterance level speaker embedding. The experimental results demonstrate that our proposed speaker encoder can improve the robustness of one-shot voice conversion for unseen speakers and outperforms baseline systems in terms of speech quality and speaker similarity.


Hietala K, Harjutsalo V, Forsblom C, Summanen P, Groop P-H, on behalf of the FinnDiane Study Group. Age at onset and the risk of proliferative retinopathy in type 1 diabetes. Diabetes Care 2010;33:1315–1319 In the print version of the article listed above, the affiliation for Paula Summanen is incorrect. The correct affiliation is as follows: the Department of Ophthalmology, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland. The online version reflects these changes.


Correlations of the collision frequency and the coalescence frequency of an agitated dispersion are combined with models relating drop sizes and hold-up to agitator speed, to predict the ambivalence range and phase inversion composition of liquid-liquid dispersions. Our model was tested by comparing predicted and experimental phase invesrion compositions of the system toluene-water ad carbontetrachloride-water. In addition, the predicted results have been compared ith published results for the system kerosene-water, and in all cases, agreemet between predicted and experimental resutls are excellent.


We are witnessing the first stages of the document web becoming a data web, with the implied new opportunities for discovering, re-purposing, "meshing up" and analyzing linked data. There is an increasing volume of linked open data and the first data web search engines are taking shape. Dealing with queries against the nascent data web may easily add two orders of magnitude in computing power requirements on top of what a text search engine faces. Queries may involve arbitrary joining, aggregation, filtering and so forth, compounded by the need for inference and on the fly schema mapping. This is the environment for which Virtuoso Cluster Edition is intended. This paper presents the main challenges encountered and solutions arrived at during the development of this software product. We present adaptations of RDF load and query execution and query planning suited for distributed memory platforms, with special emphasis on dealing with message latency and the special operations required by


The advent of compressed sensing provides a new way to sample and compress signals. In this thesis, a parallel compressed sensing architecture is proposed, which samples a twodimensional reshaped multidimensional signal column by column using the same sensing matrix. Compared to architectures that sample a vector-reshaped multidimensional signal, the sampling device in the parallel compressed sensing architecture stores a smaller-sized sensing matrix and has lower computational complexity. Besides, the reconstruction of the multidimensional signal can be conducted in parallel, which reduces the computational complexity and time for reconstruction at the decoder side. In addition, when parallel sampling is not required but analog compressed sensing is desired, an alternative architecture proposed in this thesis, named parallel compressed sensing reconstruction architecture, can be used. In both proposed architectures, permutation is introduced and shown to enable the reduction of the required number of measurements for a given desired reconstruction error performance.


Polyethylene-polystyrene blends were synthesized by in situ ethylene polymerization with polystyrene porous beads supported metallocene; the influence of fragmenting support beads on the morphology and the mechanical performance of the blends was investigated.


Aims There are significant differences in how atrial (A-type) and B-type natriuretic peptide (ANP and BNP) are secreted and metabolised, but there is little information available about the relative clinical significance of the two peptides. The aim of the present study was to investigate: (1) the association between the circulating level of each ANP molecular form and patient clinical background and (2) their prognostic power for patients with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF). Methods We used specific chemiluminescence enzyme immunoassays to prospectively evaluate the levels of six bioactive molecular forms of ANP (pro-ANP, β-ANP and total ANP) and BNP (pro-BNP, N-terminal pro-BNP (NT-pro-BNP) and total BNP) in plasma samples collected from 173 patients with ADHF on their hospital admission. Results We found that pro-ANP levels were strongly associated with left ventricular (LV) size and ejection fraction (p<0.001), but were not associated with left atrial size. Percent pro-ANP ([pro-ANP/total ANP]x100) was also associated with LV size and function. During the follow-up term (median: 469 days), composite adverse events (all causes of death or rehospitalisation for HF) occurred in 67 patients (38.7 %). Pro-ANP was significantly associated with composite adverse events even after adjusting by estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) (p<0.05). In contrast, NT-pro-BNP was not independent of eGFR in the multivariate analysis. Conclusion Circulating levels of pro-ANP are strongly associated with LV function and clinical outcomes of patients with ADHF. These findings suggest that during the acute phases of HF, pro-ANP has a prognostic power comparable with NT-pro-BNP independently of renal function.


China's role in foreign aid and, more broadly, in development cooperation on the global stage has grown significantly since it began seven decades ago. Particularly in recent years, through such platforms as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China's profile and engagement in global governance in foreign aid and related areas has been further enhanced. China's ambition is taking a more proactive approach in foreign aid and moving towards a model of international development cooperation by linking with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and by including the BRI as a major platform to achieve key development goals. This paper provides a timely analysis of the evolution of China's foreign aid policy in the past seven decades with a particular focus on the developments since 2000. It discusses China's development finance to Africa and the major sectors receiving Chinese aid. It also analyses recent trends of Chinese foreign aid and identifies some of the challenges that China faces as it becomes a major player in international development financing.


The case for monitoring large-scale sea level variability is established in the context of the estimation of the extent of anthropogenic climate change. Satellite altimeters are identified as having the potential to monitor this change with high resolution and accuracy. Possible sources of systematic errors and instabilities in these instruments which would be hurdles to the most accurate monitoring of such ocean signals are examined. Techniques for employing tide gauges to combat such inaccuracies are proposed and developed. The tide gauge at Newhaven in Sussex is used in conjunction with the nearby satellite laser ranger and high-resolution ocean models to estimate the absolute bias of the TOPEX, Poseidon, ERS 1 and ERS 2 altimeters. The theory which underlies the augmentation of altimeter measurements with tide gauge data is developed. In order to apply this, the tide gauges of the World Ocean Circulation Experiment are assessed and their suitability for altimeter calibration is determined. A reliable subset of these gauges is derived. A method of intra-altimeter calibration is developed using these tide gauges to remove the effect of variability over long time scales. In this way the long-term instability in the TOPEX range measurement is inferred and the drift arising from the on-board ultra stable oscillator is thus detected. An extension to this work develops a method for inter-altimeter calibration, allowing the systematic differences between unconnected altimeters to be measured. This is applied to the TOPEX and ERS 1 altimeters.


The Middle Dutch plays Esmoreit, Gloriant and Lanseloet, three of the four abele spelen contained in the Hulthem Manuscript not only belong to the earliest secular theatre literature that has survived from the Middle Ages, they are also the only texts of their time in which a dramatization of chivalric themes and ethics has been preserved. It is true that some of the Miracles de Nostre Dame par personnages, a collection of miracle plays staged by a confraternity of Parisian goldsmiths between 1339 and 1382, also have been inspired by chivalric romances and show a tendency towards secularization, but in essence they remain religious dramas and do not call into question the generic uniqueness of the abele spelen. But, as many scholars have observed, this does not preclude a possible relation, even of 'influence', on the level of the narrative contents, the subject matters or the dramatic structures as such. In this article, I examine the possible affinities between the abele spelen and those of the Miracles which have been deemed to be 'more secular' by literary historians, especially the relation put forward by Jacques Tersteeg between Esmoreit and Du roy Thierry, the 32nd of the Miracles. In contrast to Tersteeg I argue that Du roy Thierry was not the (or a) source of Esmoreit, but that both have been inspired by the epic romance Theseus de Cologne (probably about 1364). As Gloriant on the other hand appears to have drawn a number of its central features from Baudouin de Sebourc, another chivalric romance so to speak contemporaneous of Theseus, it becomes apparent that the abele spelen are first of all related to these two French romances - and perhaps a few others - from the (beginning of the) second half of the fourteenth century. To conclude, I conduct a tentative exploration of what these observations imply on the level of comparative ethics and ideology.


| african arts WINTER 2022 VOL. 55, NO. 4 Fancy Dress Carnival is a multimedia spectacle wherein masked performers don costumes and dance down the street or compete in an arena with accompanying musicians, usually a brass band, delighting Ghanaian audiences (Fig. 1). Fancy Dress is a distinctive form of carnival1 belonging to Ghana with a deep history that stems from both international and local practices. What sets Fancy Dress apart from other African masquerades are the carnivalesque meanings that connect it to other Black Atlantic carnivals. The colorful costumes, characters, and other fancy aspects exhibiting "play" and fierce characters expressing "power" interact with their spectators as a means to negotiate community identity, demonstrating a complicated relationship with Europe and the United States. Fancy Dress is a form of kakaamotobe, an umbrella term for a fierce display through costume, music, and dance found throughout the country.2 The carnival started around the turn of the twentieth century as a combination of local religious and performance practices with foreign carnival forms. Local performances include those primarily from Fante asafo, paramilitary troops with religious and communal responsibilities, but also from Nzema and Ga practices along the coast.3 British sailors and officers, West Indian troops, Afro-Brazilians and others came to the coast in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries bringing with them their comedic skits, carnival, and British Fancy Dress.4 The Fante, one of several Akan groups in southern Ghana, occupy part of the coastline in the Central Region (Fig. 2). Energized by these popular forms of expression, the local Fante created their own version of Fancy Dress to release tensions built during British colonization.5 As Doran H. Ross aptly stated, the Fante of coastal Ghana, formerly the Gold Coast Colony, were "fighting with art" (Ross 1979). Masquerade can manipulate the space for empowerment, and through "selective amnesia" participants and spectators can reinvent a more acceptable memory (than perhaps one of disempowerment) that suits the community (Njoku 2020: 190–92), which is often the case with Black Atlantic carnivals that use performance as a healing tonic from the cultural trauma suffered during the transatlantic slave trade and colonialism. Theater in the streets as a performance conducted by the oppressed empowers participants and spectators as a therapeutic form of activism (Boal 1985: 122). Because characters allow performers to enact their desires and frustrations on the streets, Fancy Dress operates as theatrical activism to heal communities and thus has thrived for over a century. Multimedia events incorporating music, dance, costume, and skits provide a mechanism for letting off steam by revealing what is hidden from view. The hidden and unexpected are considered dangerous in many communities. Different rules exist during liminal periods such as those created by a masquerade; chaos creates a new order and is a source of power used to counter these dangerous forces (Kasfir 1988: 8). Ghana's youth embrace this power through play by bringing long-established forms to the contemporary moment through the utilization of foreign visual culture, elaborate costumes, masks and brass bands. Like Black Atlantic carnivals elsewhere, Fancy Dress expresses a sense of joy and unity while it also releases tensions at many sociopolitical levels.


This paper describes how dynamic traffic assignment (DTA) models have been applied more and more on large-scale real-world networks in recent years. Thereby the complexity of the DTA models has increased to the point that maintaining routes between all zone-pairs is now an inefficient use of computing resources. Several traffic models have been introduced that are based on the usage of splitting rates at bifurcation nodes at the cost of losing route information. This paper presents an innovative approach to model routes in large dynamic traffic models (e.g. 4000+ zones) using the well-known analogy of conduits in fluid dynamics. Within detailed multiregional models, a large subset of routes between two regions will contain a significant segment of their routes in common. Binding all routes on this segment together in a single sub-route can significantly reduce the amount of resources required. Multiple catchment areas are defined that are connected by several bound routes, reflecting interregional route choice. Using this approach, original route information is preserved up to the point where the destination catchment area is reached. Some, manageable, loss of information will occur when entering the destination catchment, since from that point splitting rates are used. Thus, the algorithm aims at combining the best of both worlds; optimizing performance while at the same time keeping track of as much route information as possible The algorithm is implemented and analyzed in an existing DTA framework and compared with approaches using routes and splitting rates respectively. This paper show how the results using this approach are far better compared to splitting rates based models and arguably inferior to keeping track of all routes at all time.


We describe a hypertensive nephrosclerosis patient presenting with severe hyperkalemia due to a combination therapy of the angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) candesartan and spironolactone despite mildly decreased renal function. Recently, ARBs are replacing the ACE inhibitors. The combined therapy with ARB and spironolactone will eventually become the standard regimen. The strict attention and close monitoring of serum potassium should be mandatory in combination therapy to prevent hyperkalemia. Assessment of trans-tubular potassium gradient (TTKG) and fractional excretion of potassium (FEK) before starting the therapy would help in identifying the patients at higher risk of developing hyperkalemia. Co-administration of thiazide or loop diuretics is recommended to reduce the risk of hyperkalemia.


sympathize with Bella and her many woes, and find relief and reassurance in the message that bad days don't last forever. The lively and detailed art features muted and pastel tones, against which stocky brunette Bella in her red dress and shoes stands out. Patterson is particularly deft at portraying Bella's emotional state through her dramatic posture as she throws out her hands in defiance, clenches her fists in frustration, or prostrates herself on the ground in a fit, all while her eyes squint grumpily and her mouth is perpetually open in vehement verbal protest. Cute baby Bob is clearly bewildered by his sister's emotional state, while Bella's put-upon mother exhibits the kind of weary, grim-lipped endurance that will be familiar to many parents. This might be a good one to tuck away for a similarly dreadful day or to use as discussion about bad days for those too little for Viorst's Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day (BCCB 12/72). JH


We studied dopant (boron) activation using flash lamp annealing (FLA) from a view of depth dependence in silicon substrate. As FLA is an annealing method by which temperatures of surface region only rump up and down rapidly, the dopants in deep region of wafer might be unable to be activated. We confirmed that carrier concentration in deep region activated by FLA was surely low compared with that by spike rapid thermal annealing (sRTA). However, the depth dependence of the carrier activation was resulted from the dopant concentration dependence and the degree of the damage recovery, not from the thermal budget dependence.


Effective public transportation depends on the system components efficiency and it's consider very essential to overall transportation network. Terminals as one of important component in the urban transport structure is selected to be the theme of this research, it is going to focus on bus terminal building in order to evaluate the nature of existing services and what is required to provide good transit services. The research is going to apply one of the famous building assessment concepts which is Post Occupation Evaluation (POE) in Larkin bus terminal as case study in order to have subjective and objectives feedback about the provided services, their quality and how to improve the terminals conditions. Due to urban transportation problems generally in Malaysia which is related to private transportation and poor utilities quality, the study emphasize on how to decline the private mobility and encourage more people to use public transport. The research seeks to study the bus terminal quality of services, performance and environment in order to attract more users to public transit services. To reach this, the study provides firstly proper review of terminal design specifications and considerations to identify the main attributes to be examined and assessed. Through 88 random samples, a survey had implemented in Larkin and structured to evaluated five attributes categories based on respondents satisfaction and importance which they are, Access and circulation, Internal and external environment, Passenger comfort and User information's. The demographic analysis of the respondents shows that majority of bus services users in Larkin are from low and moderate educated groups (school and university students). Importance- Satisfaction Analysis is used as analytical method which represent that among the five attributes safety and security groups considered as the most important one with high improvement priorities. In addition, the physical characteristics of the spaces are generally affecting the attributes evaluation, that lead to recommend more innovation of bus terminals design and transportation infrastructure concepts to take the users demands. Such evaluation studies will maintain providing a valuable information to public transport system, expose where the shortage, the loop and the needs for improvements.


The influence of the presence of an electrolyte in a low-polarity solvent (tetrahydrofuran) on the rate of a weakly exoergic ([approx]50 meV) nonadiabatic intramolecular charge shift reaction and on the position of the charge transfer absorption band in a degenerate system has been studied by pulse radiolysis. The investigation focused in particular on the dependence of the effect on the size of the cation of the chemically inert electrolyte. Electrolytes caused dramatic rate reductions of 2-3 orders of magnitude. Unexpectedly, the rate reduction was found to increase with an increasing size of the cation. The recorded spectral blue shifts were as large as 0.5 eV and exhibited the expected tendency; the smaller counterions produced larger spectral shifts, due to a stronger Coulombic interaction. In both cases the effects exceeded the limits predicted by the continuum approach and pointed to the ion-pairing mechanism. The discrepancy between the dependence of the thermal electron transfer and the optically assisted electron transfer on the radius of the counterion could not be easily explained on purely energetic grounds, and the dynamics of the counterion had to be considered. Unfortunately, no agreement between the experimental results and the Eigen model of dissociative diffusion of ion pairsmore » in the zero ionic strength limit could be found. However, a qualitative correlation between the measured rates and the dissociation constants of the used salts, as well as the counterion mobilities was observed. 34 refs., 8 figs., 3 tabs.« less


Vitamin D is the collective name for a group of closely related lipids, whose main biological function is to maintain serum calcium and phosphorus concentrations within the normal range by enhancing the efficiency of the small intestine to absorb these minerals from the diet. We used a commercially available ELISA method for the determination of vitamin D in bovine milk. Individual milk samples from two different Italian Friesian herds were analysed. The enzyme immunoassay method used was confirmed as a useful tool to measure the vitamin D in the milk as it greatly reduces the time required to perform the conventional HPLC analysis. An interesting variation was found among individual animals that may be associated with management factors and specific genetic effects. A relationship was highlighted between vitamin D and the genetic polymorphism of β-lactoglobulin, the main bovine whey protein which is involved in the transport of small hydrophobic molecules such as retinol and vitamin D. The relatively high content of vitamin D in most milk samples suggests an opportunity to improve the natural content of vitamin D in milk either by acting on the herd management or selecting individuals genetically predisposed to produce milk with a higher vitamin D content.


Introduction The United Kingdom Transcatheter Aortic Valve (TAVI) Registry was established to define the clinical and procedural details of all patients being treated by TAVI, regardless of access route or technology used, and to assess their outcomes. The registry has captured all cases in England and Wales. Methods For every TAVI performed, all centres complete an agreed dataset. The data are encrypted and sent electronically to servers at the Central Cardiac Audit Database (CCAD) for analysis. A unique patient identifier (the NHS number) is used to link with the NHS Central Register to track mortality. This analysis is based on all procedures performed up to 31st December 2009. Results 25 centres in England and Wales performed a total of 877 procedures in 870 patients; 66 in 2007, 273 in 2008 and 538 in 2009. Median number of cases per centre was 24. Median (IQR) age was 82 (78–87) yrs. 52% were male, and mean logistic Euroscore (LES) was 22.2%. 68% were transfemoral, the remainder being mainly transapical. 90% of CoreValve implants and 46% of Edwards used a transfemoral approach. Patients needing a transapical route had more comorbid conditions than those treated by a transfemoral route (LES 25.2% vs 20.9%). Mortality tracking was successful in 100% of patients. Survival at 30 days was 93.1%, 78.9% at 1 year (443 at risk) and 72.3% at 2 years (114 at risk). Survival was significantly poorer in those needing non-transfemoral approaches (1 year survival 73.5% vs 81.4%). Survival was also poorer in those with poorer LV ejection fraction, with moderate or severe post procedural aortic regurgitation and with a LES>40. Survival was not associated with age, NYHA class, or the presence of concomitant coronary artery disease, and not different between those with a LES<21 compared with LES 21–40. There was also no difference in survival between patients treated with CoreValve or Edwards technologies, or between proctored and non proctored cases. There was a significant improvement in survival over the 3 years of the registry, and a change in demographics with the proportion of patients with prior CABG rising from 16.4% in 2007 to 29.9% in 2009. The total number of cases in the UK TAVI registry has risen to 1490 as of 29 Nov 2010. More details of the 2010 cohort will be available at the time of presentation (Abstract 163 figure 1).Abstract 163 Figure 1 Conclusions The UK TAVI Registry has successfully captured the entire TAVI activity of England and Wales incorporating the learning curves of every centre. Outcomes following TAVI are excellent in a high risk patient population. Outcomes are better in the population who are suitable for a transfemoral approach (with less comorbidity) than those treated with the transapical approach. These data suggest that careful proctoring allows the introduction of a new treatment method without an adverse effect on patient outcome, and we have demonstrated no systematic difference in outcome between the two commercially available technologies.


The oil and gas industry is heavily dependent on instrumentation and measurement technology. This article explores the relationship between the petroleum industry and the I&M technology that supports it. It specifically identifies technology needed by, but not yet available to, the industry. Research groups are invited to consider how their efforts might be applied to the industry's exciting and remarkably demanding measurement problems.


Summary The current treatment of haemophilia with coagulation protein replacement therapy is both effective and safe. Nevertheless, this therapy requires frequent, repeated intravenous infusions and approximately 25% of treated haemo philia A patients develop antibodies to the replacement protein. Furthermore, the cost and limited availability of current concentrates has restricted access to therapy to less than 30% of the global haemophilia population. With this background, efforts are now underway to develop coagulation concentrates with enhanced biological properties that further improve the quality of care for haemophiliacs. The specific areas of enhancement that are being explored include improved biosynthetic processes, prolonging the circulating half-life and reducing concentrate immuno -genicity. Coincident with these approaches, it is hoped that there will be more widespread availability of these concentrates and that their cost will be contained.


The aim of this study was to understand better the specific signaling events resulting from different modes of exercise. Three different exercise protocols were employed based on their well-characterized, long-term training effects on either muscle hypertrophy or endurance phenotypes. Rats were subjected to a single bout of either a high-frequency electrical stimulation, a low-frequency electrical stimulation, or a running exercise protocol. Postexercise intracellular signaling was analyzed in the tibialis anterior and soleus muscles at 0, 3, and 6 h. A prolonged increase in p70(S6k) and a transient increase in protein kinase B phosphorylation were only observed in response to a growth-inducing stimulus (e.g., tibialis anterior in high-frequency electrical stimulation). In contrast, extracellular regulated kinase and 38-kDa stress-activated protein kinase were activated in response to all forms of exercise at 0 h, but only extracellular regulated kinase phosphorylation was found significantly elevated at 6 h after running exercise. These results demonstrate that different exercise protocols resulted in the selective activation of specific intracellular signaling pathways, which may determine the specific adaptations induced by different forms of exercise.


The aim of this prospective randomized study was to compare functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) with the standard Caldwell-Luc (C-L) procedure in relieving the symptoms of chronic maxillary sinusitis. One hundred and fifty consecutive adult patients were operated after the failure of treatment with antimicrobials and repeated antral irrigations: 143 patients were available for the follow-up examination, at a median of 12 months after the operation. The patients' global evaluation showed marked improvement in 50.7% of the C-L group and in 76.7% of the FESS group. Overall subjective symptoms deteriorated in 5.5% of C-L operated patients, but not at all in the FESS group. Patients' compliance, asked post-operatively, was 80.2% in C-L patients and 93.0% in FESS patients.


Objective This study was conducted to determine the construct validity and reliability of the Children Participation Assessment Scale in activities outside of School–Child version (CPAS-C) in 6-12-year-old children with physical disabilities (PDs). Materials & Methods In this methodological study, participants were 100 children with PDs, recruited from a school for exceptional children with physical-motor disabilities and 100 normally developing children. For assessing the test-retest reliability (ICC), 40 children with PDs completed CPAS-C within a two-week interval, and for assessing the internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) and construct validity, 100 children with PDs separately completed the Vinland Adaptive Behavioral Scale (VABS) and CPAS-C. Result The majority of participants were children with CP, among whom the highest and lowest ratios were related to diplegia (32%) and dystonia (1%), respectively. The results showed that CPAS-C had acceptable reliability (ICC: 0.6-0.99). Cronbach's α score was between weak to moderate (α = 0.25-0.75). The difference in the score of participation between the two groups (normally developing children and children with physical disabilities) was significant in all areas (P<0.001). Conclusion The CPAS-C had acceptable psychometric properties; it can be used as a valid and reliable tool for assessing the participation of 6-12-year-old children with PDs in school activities.


By applying time-domain methods the measurement time for emissions measurements is reduced by several orders of magnitude. In this paper a novel real-time capable ambient noise cancelling system is presented to perform measurements of electromagnetic interference (EMI) in time-domain during the presence of ambient noise. The hardware implementation of the least-mean-square (LMS) algorithm in combination with a digital down-conversion is described and it is shown that in comparison to systems presented in the past a continuous processing of the measurement data in real-time is achieved. Based on such a system a full gap-less evaluation of the emission spectrum can be realized. This is a basic requirement of the CISPR 16-1-1 standard for applying the quasi-peak detector mode. Measurements were carried out at an inner urban site showing the cancellation of ambient noise and detecting of covered device-under-test signals.


Thanks you very much for your comments suggesting our manuscript entitled "Glacier variations in the Himalayas from 1990 to 2015 based on remote sensing". We have corrected grammar and wording by a native speaker, and improved the layout by inserting empty lines before section headings and before/after figures and tables in the revised manuscript. Several smaller glaciers have not been mapped in Fig. 5 and 7, and we explained it in the revised manuscript lines 194-202 (In this process, we extracted glaciers with an area greater than 0.05 km2 (the remaining small scales areas are likely to be snow). In addition, due to the impact of the quality of remote sens-


Background: Breast cancer is the most common malignancy among Asian women including Pakistan where recurrent mutations among certain sub-ethnic groups predisposing to breast cancer have recently been established. Study Design: The current retrospective study involves identification of genetic and non-genetic risk factors in 27 specific mutation positive females out of a total of 100 females diagnosed with breast cancer, representing a sample from the Punjabi ethnic population of the city of Lahore. The study has been carried out by telephonic communication with the mutation positive patients or their relatives. Results: Out of the total 27% patients positive for specific BRCA mutations, 23% were positive for BRCA1 mutations and 4% for BRCA2. Among a total of 100 breast cancer patients the BRCA1-IVS14, 1G>A mutation was identified in 5 Punjabi ethnic females with Rajput subethnicity, BRCA1-3889delAG in 10 (8 with Mughal and 2 with Khan subethnicity), BRCA1-2080insA in 8 (Rajput subethnics) and BRCA2-3337C>T in 4 (Minhas subethnic) subjects. Two BRCA1 mutations, namely 3889delAG and 2080insA were found to coexist in only one study case (with Mughal subethnicity). All the mutation positive breast cancers had unilateral ductal carcinoma. Of the 23 cases positive for screened BRCA1 mutations, 17 were diagnosed for breast cancer at a relatively early age (age≤40) and 6 were diagnosed at late age (age≥41) whereas all cases positive for single BRCA2 mutation under consideration were diagnosed at late age. Furthermore, 24 of 27 patients with specific BRCA mutations had a positive family history of breast cancer. Conclusion: The high prevalence of the screened BRCA mutations in certain Punjabi sub-ethnicities indicates the importance of counseling. It is suggested that consanguinity may be a risk factor for recurrent population specific mutations. Hormonal factors including use of oral contraceptives, polycystic ovaries, central obesity, nulliparity, late age at first pregnancy, lack of breast feeding and activity as well as dietary factors like active or passive smoking seem to have little role in study population. Dietary factors like active or passive smoking were less likely risk factors than dietary deficiency of vitamins, especially in low income group. Anxiety and exposure to traffic pollution were additional risk factors.


Objective Discusses the health education pathway to carry on the intervention to inpatients with diabetes, probing into the feasibility, the validity, then observing its treating result. Methods 120 diabetes inpatients were ramdonly divided into two groups each of 60. Both groups had the same pharmacological treatment but the control group carry on the health education according to the traditional propaganda method; the observation group received individual program designed according to patient's real condition, human-centered, and different segment of time and executes the most appropriate health education. Evaluate the result using the cognitive capacity and self-administration ability questionaire(self-edicted), investigation of patient's satisfaction(our hospital designed form), fasting and 2hr after diet blood-glucose control. Results The observation group grasps the self-control ability as well as the blood sugar control, the degree of satisfaction investigation aspect in the related knowledge obviously as a result better than that of the control group(p0.01).Conclusion The health education pathway may sharpen the diabetic cognitive capacity and self-control ability, the control has the positive role to the blood sugar.


Community-based coastal resources management has become a popular approach to marine conservation and sustainable fisheries management in the Asia-Pacific region. One premise of this approach is that enforcement of community management initiatives is the primary responsibility of the community and that, in most instances, they have the capability to effectively enforce locally developed regulations and rules. The socioeconomic theory of resource management compliance is reviewed and applied to community-based case examples from North Sulawesi, Indonesia. Compliance with nondestructive exploitation practices in several village sites, empirically measured by changes in live hard coral cover, was related to reef distance from a settlement area and not significantly related to visibility from a settlement. A typology of enforcement strategies relative to the type of violator and violation is presented. In certain instances, a comanagement approach is preferred in order to achieve effective enforcement and high compliance.


Urban forestry in sidewalks is essential to the maintenance of life quality, offering comfort to the city inhabitants. However, there are problems caused mainly by the lack of planning in the implantation and management of urban forestry. The aims of this work have been to carry out qualitative and quantitative analyses of the tree individuals and to evaluate the index of green area/inhabitant of the section Jardim Aguas do Paiol, in the city of AraraquaraSP, Brazil. The inventory showed 159 trees belonging to 15 families, being Licania tomentosa (Benth.) Fritsch (oiti) the most frequent, with 23,71% and the least frequent, Schinus lentiscifoluis (pimenteira), with 1,92%. The total area of tree tops found in the streets and avenues of the section was 1.818,82 m 2 and the green area ratio was 18,43m 2 /inhabitant. The majority of the trees which are planted on the sidewalks don't conflict with


This report, and the associated data files, present the results of a functional network analysis conducted upon a fMRI data set, with the aim of identifying differences, in various functional network properties, between a group of healthy young individuals, a group of healthy aged individuals, and a group of individuals diagnosed with probable to mild Alzheimer's Disease. This report is intended as a complement to the PhD thesis Functional network analysis of aging and Alzheimer's Disease, by Paul McCarthy, submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, at the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand [12].


An optical fiber relative humidity (RH) sensor is proposed and experimentally demonstrated with a multimode-fiber taper coated with a layer of polyvinyl alcohol cascading with a fiber Bragg grating. The operation is based on the interaction between the optical evanescent field and the coating along the taper waist. Humidity changes the refractive index of the extended coating, thus transmission loss of the light signal is introduced and humidity measurement is therefore realized. The measurement sensitivity is enhanced since the light passes through the taper twice. A maximum sensitivity of 1.994 μW/%RH is achieved within the measurement range of 30-95%RH with the taper waist diameter of 50.2 μm. The average response time is ~2 s and the measurement is nearly insensitive to temperature.


Introduction Combined positron emission tomography (PET) and computed tomography (CT) has the potential to assess both the anatomy and biology of carotid atherosclerosis. We sought to assess whether 18F-fluoride or 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose can identify culprit and high-risk carotid plaque. Methods We performed 18F-fluoride and 18F-fluorodeoxygluose PET/CT in 26 patients following recent stroke/transient ischaemic attack: 18 patients with culprit carotid stenosis awaiting carotid endarterectomy and 8 control patients without culprit carotid atheroma. We compared standardised uptake values (SUVs) in the clinically adjudicated culprit to the contralateral asymptomatic artery, and assessed the relationship between radiotracer uptake and plaque phenotype or predicted cardiovascular risk. Results Carotid 18F-fluoride uptake was increased in clinically adjudicated culprit plaques compared to the asymptomatic contralateral plaques (log10SUVmean 0.29±0.10 versus 0.23±0.11, p=0.001) and compared to control patients (log10SUVmean 0.29±0.10 versus 0.12±0.11, p=0.001). 18F-Fluoride uptake correlated with high-risk plaque features (remodelling index [r=0.53, p=0.003]; plaque burden [r=0.51, p=0.004]) and predicted cardiovascular risk (r=0.65, p=0.002). Consistent with the binding of necrotic tissue, 18F-fluoride bound avidly to regions of cerebral infarction (SUVmean4.8±1.98 versus SUVmean of 0.07±0.02, infarcted versus non-infarcted cerebrum; p<0.001). Carotid 18F-FDG uptake appeared to be increased in 7/16 culprit plaques but no overall differences in uptake were observed in the culprit versus the contralateral plaques or control patients. However, 18F-FDG did correlate with predicted cardiovascular risk (r=0.53, p=0.019) but not with plaque phenotype. Conclusion 18F-Fluoride PET/CT highlights culprit carotid plaque. This has the potential to improve risk-stratification and the selection of those patients who would benefit from surgical intervention.


The article presents the results of a study of serum alanine aminotransferase levels in patients with chronic diffuse liver diseases on the background of combined hepatoprotector Forceliv application. According to the findings, a significant decrease of this indicator in all examined patients has been found, that confirms the efficiency of the above mentioned hepatoprotector.


PURPOSE
To assess biometric changes in eyes after trabeculectomy (TE) and its impact on refractive outcomes of phacoemulsification (PE) in order to determine the corrections for calculation of intraocular lens (IOL) power.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
The study included two groups of patients: the 1st group consisted of 116 patients who were assessed by optical biometry (IOL-Master 500) for mean biometric values before and after TE; the 2nd group included 31 patients with history of TE (study subgroup) and 47 individuals without glaucoma (control subgroup) who underwent PE with subsequent comparison of IOL calculation accuracy.

RESULTS
There was significant axial length (AL) shortening in the 1st group from 23.28±0.97 to 23.19±0.97 mm (p<0.001) 6 months after TE, which positively correlated (r=0.296, p=0.001) with intraocular pressure (IOP) decrease (from 25.4±5.34 to 17.2±4.42 mm Hg, p<0.001). Mean keratometry and anterior chamber depth values did not significantly change after TE. Mean IOL power calculation error after PE in the 2nd group was -0.05±0.47 D and 0.003±0.62 D for the control and study subgroups, respectively (p=0.697). However, significant impact of preoperative IOP on IOL power calculation error was discovered in the study subgroup (R2=0.526, p<0.001), but not in the control subgroup (R2=0.061, p=0.052). Based on linear regression, the expected IOL power calculation errors depending on the preoperative IOP were determined for patients with history of TE.

CONCLUSION
AL shortening due to decrease in IOP in patients with history of TE leads to IOL power calculation errors. Expected IOL calculation error related to preoperative IOP level was determined, which could help improve refractive outcomes of PE in patients with history of TE.


Energy harvesting from the renewable sources has been the main concern in the present scenario. Till now most of the researchers focused on harvesting solar energy and wind energy. However the small amount of energy harvesting without affecting environment is very important. In the recent years mobile communication has become a part of our daily life, extracting energy from the Radio Frequency (RF) signals used everywhere is an attractive solution to the existing energy problem. Another major source of harvesting small amount of energy is from the human body heat. The energy extractions from these sources are emerging as a guaranteed alternative way to substitute the available energy resource to some extent. This paper presents a hybrid model which consists of two sections. First being the harvesting of energy from the RF signals in the range of GSM 4G band (1800-2100 MHz) using a micro-strip patch antenna followed by impedance matching circuit to reduce the dissipated power between load and antenna. Then a rectifier circuit that converts RF into DC signals is used and finally a voltage multiplier circuit is used to boost up the DC voltage. Second section consists of Thermo Electric Generator (TEG) module which converts human body heat into electricity, followed by a voltage booster to increase the level of voltage. The main objective of this work is to find a way to design a hybrid system that can harvest energy from RF signals as well as human body heat and the combined energy that is harvested can be used to power up low voltage implant device.


Huang et al have performed a meta-analysis to determine the relationship between cagA seropositivity (by serology and polymerase chain reaction) and the risk of gastric cancer. An extensive review of the literature identified no previous systematic overviews. The authors identified 16 studies involving 2284 cases and 2770 controls. The overall prevalence of Helicobacter pylori was 77.7% in cases and 63.1% in controls. Tests for cagA were positive in 62.8% of cases and 37.5% of controls. Thus, H pylori and cagA seropositivity significantly increased the risk for gastric cancer, by 2.28 (95% CI 1.71 to 3.05) and 2.87 (95% CI 1.95 to 4.22), respectively. In patients with H pylori, those who were infected by a cagA-positive strain had a slightly higher risk of gastric cancer, with an odds ratio of 1.64 (95% CI 1.21 to 2.24). The authors also found that patients infected with H pylori with or without cagA seropositivity had an increased risk of noncardia gastric cancer, but not of cancer of the gastric cardia. They concluded that cagA-positive strains confer a greater risk of gastric cancer than does H pylori infection alone.


ABSTRACT The local atomic structures of amorphous Pd80Si20 alloys and their configuration heredity in the rapid solidification are investigated by a molecular dynamics simulation with the help of cluster-type index method based on Honeycutt–Anderson bond-type index and an inversely tracking technique of atomic trajectories. Their short-range orders are found to be various Kasper clusters as well as their distorted configurations, and among which (10 2/1441 8/1551) bi-capped square Archimedean anti-prism (BSAP) clusters are dominated, e.g. Si-centred Pd10Si1 clusters. These Kasper clusters mainly exist in the form of isolated basic clusters. Few medium-range orders can be detected, especially for Si-centred Kasper clusters. Similarly to icosahedrons of Cu–Zr amorphous alloys, their sustainable configuration heredity also occurs firstly in the super-cooled liquid region, and BSAP clusters have higher onset temperature Tonset and bigger descendible fraction F than other Kasper clusters in the rapid solidification of Pd80Si20 alloys.


In this video we present a Dynamic Force Simulator (DFS) for force feedback in human-machine systems. We propose a virtual world model with two force flows: one is the force flow from human to an object, the other is the force flow from an object to human. To use this model, DFS simulates object dynamics, contact model and friction characteristics of the human hand interacting with the object in Virtual Reality. After derivation of kinematic and force relations between hand and object space, we balance the tow forces: one from the human and the other from the object in the contact force space in Virtual World and then realize the adequate feedback forces to human operator. Interaction with DFS a.llows calculation and feedback of appropriate forces to the force controlled actuators of the sensor glove we have developed. In this video grasping of a cylinder in the virtual world is presented. During object grasping, we measure joint angles and torques using the sensor glove system. In the future we will use this system to analyze human dextrous manipulations called Human Skill. Grasp and Multi-Fingers 5 Robust Control Basis for Coordinating Multiple Manipulators Roderic A. Grupen, Jefferson Coelho, Manfred Huber, Willard MacDonald and Kamal Souccar Laboratory for Perceptual Robotics, Department of Computer Science, University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA 01003, USA E-mail: email@example.com (Roderic A. Grupen)


We report two children with hydronephrosis, in whom we have utilized voiding urosonography (VUS) in the evaluation of vesico-ureteric reflux. With wider availability of ultrasound contrast agents and high-end ultrasound machines, VUS is likely to become a popular tool to diagnose or exclude VUR.


Abstract The main processes that have an impact on the entrepreneurial media are innovation, promotion of products and services, and the element of novelty. Through technological progress and the dynamism of labor market development, new entrepreneurial directions have emerged, which have seen a rise through the development of media content. Media and entrepreneurship determine new content techniques, resulting in new services and products. This paper aims to highlight the correlation of the media industry with that of entrepreneurship, these being in a close relationship, which results in innovation, creative content, and business development. To this extent, a bibliometric analysis was performed on a corpus of scientific papers, from the Web of Science platform, focusing on media entrepreneurship to determine the current state of knowledge in this area. Furthermore, the analysis reveals the most researched themes and the relevant terminology used. As a selection protocol of the scientific material for media a series of keywords were used, that is: "media", "internet", "radio", "TV", "newspapers", "social media", "journalism" and for entrepreneurship we followed the keywords: "business", "entrepreneurship" and "entrepreneur". The results of the analysis showed that the most frequently used terms in media entrepreneurship research studies are: Internet, development, social medium, and business model. In addition to that, media and entrepreneurship seem to be closely researched concerning innovation, economic development, and education.