Background: Studies that quantify the quality of sit-to-stand-to-sit (STS) motions, particularly in terms of smoothness, are limited. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the possibility and usefulness of quality evaluation during STS motions. Methods: This cross-sectional study enrolled 36 females aged >60 years, including 18 females each in the healthy and hip fracture groups. Measurements were performed at two different speeds: five STS as fast as possible (STSF) and two seconds for each motion (STS2s). Indices of smoothness, including harmonic ratio (HR) and power spectrum entropy (PSE), were calculated and compared from the measured data in each of the three axial directions. Results: HR in the vertical direction was significantly higher in the healthy group (STSF: 3.65 ± 1.74, STS2s: 3.42 ± 1.54) than in the hip fracture group (STSF: 2.67 ± 1.01, STS2s: 2.58 ± 0.83) for STSF and STS2s. Furthermore, PSE for all directions and triaxial composites were significantly lower for STS2s (the healthy group (mediolateral (ML): 7.63 ± 0.31, vertical (VT): 7.46 ± 0.22, anterior–posterior (AP): 7.47 ± 0.15, triaxial: 7.45 ± 0.25), the hip fracture group (ML: 7.82 ± 0.16, VT: 7.63 ± 0.16, AP: 7.61 ± 0.17, triaxial: 7.66 ± 0.17)). Conclusions: This study suggests the usefulness of HR and PSE as quality evaluations for STS motions.


Eukaryotic mRNAs with premature translation-termination codons (PTCs) are recognized and eliminated by nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD). NMD targeted mRNAs can be degraded by different routes that all involve phosphorylated UPF1 (P-UPF1) as a starting point. The endonuclease SMG6, which cleaves mRNA near the PTC, is one of three known NMD factors thought to be recruited to nonsense mRNAs by interaction with P-UPF1, leading to eventual mRNA degradation. By MS2-mediated tethering of SMG6 and mutants thereof to a reporter RNA combined with knockdowns of various NMD factors, we demonstrate that besides its endonucleolytic activity, SMG6 also requires UPF1 and SMG1 for inducing RNA decay. Our experiments revealed a phosphorylation-independent interaction between SMG6 and UPF1 that is important for SMG6-mediated mRNA decay and using yeast two hybrid assays, we mapped this interaction to the unique stalk region of the UPF1 helicase domain. This region of UPF1 is essential for SMG6-mediated reporter RNA decay and also for NMD. Our results postulate that besides recruiting SMG6 to its RNA substrates, UPF1 is also required to activate its endonuclease activity.


Protecting healthcare professionals is crucial in maintaining a functioning healthcare system. The risk of infection and optimal preventive strategies for healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic remain poorly understood. Here we report the results of a weekly testing regime that has been performed since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to identify pre- and asymptomatic healthcare workers. Based on these observations we have developed a mathematical model of SARS-CoV-2 transmission that integrates the sources of infection from inside and outside the hospital. The data were used to study how regular testing and a desynchronisation protocol are effective in preventing transmission of COVID-19 infection at work, and compared both strategies in terms of workforce availability and cost-effectiveness. We showed that case incidence among healthcare workers is higher than would be explained solely by community infection. Furthermore, while testing and desynchronisation protocols are both effective in preventing nosocomial transmission, regular testing maintains work productivity with implementation costs.


With the advent of the information revolution and the shear bulk of information that are freely available on the Web, many of our user's perception of information is that if it is not easily accessible, it's not worth the effort. It is therefore imperative that librarians and information providers find out why this preference is so dominant especially among undergraduate students and use this information in a way to design parallel information systems. This paper presents the results of two case studies and identify (1) information-seeking behaviors of life sciences and chemistry students in the fast-paced digital environment and what is meant by "cool" as it relates to information retrieval, and (2) users' preferences for scholarly material via traditional electronic databases and search engines, especially Google Scholar. In so doing, it presents the findings of the undergraduate students' preferences and discuss implications for library instruction, the design of Web pages and offerings of databases that would encourage lifelong learning skills.


BACKGROUND: The objective was to characterise the process and consequences of eosinophil activation and lysis in patients with chronic eosinophilic pneumonia and to compare them with those in patients with eosinophil pulmonary infiltrates from other causes. METHODS: Cells from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of four patients with chronic eosinophilic pneumonia and four patients with eosinophilic infiltrates associated with Sjögren's syndrome, drug hypersensitivity pneumonia, postradiotherapy fibrosis, and pulmonary disease associated with graft versus host disease were studied ultrastructurally and with immunogold labelled antibodies directed against eosinophil proteins: major basic protein, eosinophil cationic protein, and Charcot-Leyden crystal protein. The concentration of eosinophil cationic protein was also measured in bronchoalveolar fluid. RESULTS: In the four patients with chronic eosinophilic pneumonia, ultrastructural studies demonstrated numerous lysed eosinophils. Further, three released eosinophil proteins were detected in distinct cytoplasmic structures in alveolar macrophages. These features were not found in the four patients with eosinophilic pulmonary infiltrates from other causes. CONCLUSION: Eosinophils in chronic eosinophilic pneumonia show signs of activation with release of eosinophil proteins. The appearance of three of these eosinophil proteins in different macrophage compartments suggests that macrophage uptake, with or without intracellular transport of released eosinophil proteins, involves separate mechanisms. This interaction does not lead to macrophage lysis, however, and one or more of these eosinophil proteins might directly affect macrophage function.


: Diatoms are photosynthesizing algae found in almost every aquatic environment. Detecting the number and diversity of diatoms is very important to analyze water quality appropriately. Accurate segmentation of diatoms is therefore crucial for this detection process. In this study, a new and effective model for the automatic segmentation of diatoms based on image processing and deep learning algorithms is proposed. In the proposed model, edge segments of a given image containing diatoms and nondiatom particles are first obtained. These edge segments are then combined, resulting in closed contours representing diatom candidates. In the final step, the diatom candidates are classified as either diatom or nondiatom using a transfer learning approach with different pretrained deep neural network models including AlexNet, ResNet18, VGG16, and their ensemble. Hence, the boundary of a diatom candidate, which is classified as a diatom, is considered to be the final output of the proposed segmentation model. Besides, a new and annotated diatom image dataset is introduced. The dataset is divided into two parts. The first part is used to train and evaluate the classification stage of the proposed model, while the second part is used for evaluating the overall performance of the proposed segmentation model. This dataset is also made publicly available at https: //www.kaggle.com/huseyingunduz/diatom-dataset for the research community. Through extensive experimental work, the performance of the proposed segmentation model is measured in terms of precision, recall, F-measure, and intersection over union values. Our work is also compared with the previous works based on various aspects such as segmentation method, dataset size, diatom varieties, dataset availability, success metric, and segmentation performance. Considering all these aspects, it is verified that the proposed model surpasses the previous works, and stands out as a well-performing approach to the automatic segmentation of diatoms.


ABSTRACT This Special Issue on environmental attunement introduces seven papers that engage with a range of different insights and practices of nature-culture and embodied connections to place across health, sport and physical education. We have organised the papers into three themes that explore possibilities for: (i) notions of the environment and 'nature' in research and practice; (ii) possibilities and challenges of translating environment, sustainability and 'nature' from policy and curriculum documents into practice; and (iii) philosophical and theoretical links to emplaced and embodied learning – past-present-future. These are by no means exclusive themes and readers will recognise other patterns of theoretical and empirical possibility as well as important geographical and contextual nuances that need to be explored further. Because of this, we hope that this collection inspires further submissions via an extended call for papers that engage with the challenges and the possibilities of how we might approach the complex environmental, ecological, political and cultural factors that shape health, sport and physical education in current times.


Abrasive composites are very important, since they are widely used in industrial machining processes, responsible for both fine and rough grinding of the work material. For this reason, there is great interest in the research of materials for abrasive wheels, since advances in this area are restricted to the industries, without disclosure to the academic community. This study aims to compare the Young's modulus and the Impact strength of the produced materials, parameter that can be related to the material's hardness, thus defining its applicability. The abrasive materials produced are defined by a structure containing 46% vol. of aluminum oxide grain (mesh #46), 22% vol. of phenolic resin binders with different levels of hexamethylenetetramine (14.55% and 8.97%), curing agent responsible for the crosslinking of the resins and 32% vol. of pores. The materials were mixed and pressed at room temperature, and the curing process happened at 60°C/6h, 80°C/8h and 160°C/4h. The Young's modulus were determined by non-destructive testing using the impulse excitation technique and the results obtained were compared to those obtained by the dynamic mechanical analysis. The abrasive composite materials produced from the mixture with higher hexamethylenetetramine content presented greater Young's modulus and greater rigidity as demonstrated by the impact strength too, which should be associated with the influence of its content in the composition. The use of a resin with a higher content of this agent for the production of abrasive wheels will result in a higher stiffness tool compared to tools that do not use excess hexamethylenetetramine.


This thesis introduces a power electronic interface for a kinetic hydropower generation platform that enables extraction of electric power from a free-flowing water source such as a river or a stream. Water currents are of fluctuating nature and hence, a power interface is required to provide regulated voltage for the load from this resource. The implemented system transfers power from a high-frequency permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) to a 60-Hz load. Special configurations and control techniques were developed to cater for the long distance between the generator and the power interface; and also to address the wide range of the PMSG frequency and voltage variations. Simulation-based analysis was used for designing the components and validating the devised control strategies prior to construction. The proposed powerelectronic interface was constructed and tested in the laboratory as well as in the field. These tests confirmed acceptable performance of the constructed power interface. The thesis also introduces two feasible methods for controlling a hydrokinetic plant to supply islanded loads or to deliver the maximum power available from the turbinegenerator to the utility network. Application of multiple turbines in a kinetic farm was also investigated, and different approaches to controlling hydrokinetic turbines in such a configuration were developed. Analysis was conducted using detailed simulation models on an electromagnetic transients (EMT) simulation program.


Most organisations have realised that employees are their most valuable assets which require development in order to improve their loyalty and  motivate them and hence increase productivity to achieve their vision. It is in this light that this study investigated the effect of staff development on organisational performance in selected banks in Lagos State, Nigeria. This study adopted a descriptive survey research design through the use of questionnaires. The population of the study comprised 7,616 staff members of First Bank of Nigeria PLC, which was further reduced to 380 personnel as the sample size through the use of a formula derived by Taro Yamanne. Proportional sampling technique was used to select the staff from ten selected branches in Lagos State. The data was analysed using a statistical tool of Regression Analysis with the aid of the Statistical  Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 23.0) at 5% level of significance. Descriptive Statistics was also used to analyse the relevant data. Findings revealed that there staff development has a significant effect on organisational performance. The study concluded that staff development should be  held consistently in order for employees to have career advancement and for increased loyalty in the organisation, which in turn increases their job performance. The aggregate performance will increase the organisational performance. The implication is that a well-trained staff will have a positive impact on organisational performance as it will add more effectiveness and efficiency to their output and will in turn improve the organisational performance.
Keywords: Staff development, education, training, mentoring, organisational performance.


Atopic dermatitis is very common. In most instances, the condition is relatively mild and can be managed in primary care.1 Topical corticosteroids are the standard therapy for controlling acute 'flares' of dermatitis.2,3 However, poor communication between doctors and patients often results in suboptimal use of such therapy.4 Here, we review the efficacy and safety of topical corticosteroids for the treatment of atopic dermatitis. We discuss their optimal use in primary care, and the advice and information that patients or parents of children need when using such treatment.*


To make comparisons of BSF time and UTC(TL) for time keeping have been continued in Taiwan for years. A microwave two-way time and frequency transfer experiment without using the spread spectrum technique performed between TL and BSF broadcast station is reported. The result showed the stability was less than 5 ns.


In the framework of the cultural heritage, several records are recognized to our Country. With regard to them, it is worth to mention the establishment of a selected body of investigators Carabinieri Tutela Patrimonio Culturale specifically dedicated to combating crimes against cultural heritage. The Interview to Gen. B. Mariano Mossa is mainly focused to highlight the experience gained over more than 40 years of activity by the mentioned body. In particular, it will be illustrated the features and services which can enjoy a citizen by downloading the mobile app developed by Carabinieri Tutela Patrimonio Culturale.


Radiative transition probabilities have been calculated for the magnetic dipole (M1) and electric quadrupole (E2) transitions connecting the 63 metastable levels in the 3d 6 4s, 3d 7 and 3d 5 4s 2 configurations in Fe II. The most important configuration interaction (CI) and relativistic effects have been taken into account in the computations carried out with the help of two independent computer programs, SUPERSTRUCTURE (SST) and RELATIVISTIC HARTREE-FOCK (HFR). The results obtained in the present work are compared with previous theoretical studies and with some astrophysical observations. The new data presented here are probably the most reliable to date.


We have derived the angular correlation function of a sample of 2096 sources detected in the ROSAT All-Sky Survey (RASS) Bright Source Catalogue, in order to investigate the clustering properties of active galactic nuclei (AGN) in the local Universe. Our sample is constructed by rejecting all known stars, as well as extended X-ray sources. Areas with |b|<30° and declination δ<−30° are also rejected owing to the high or uncertain neutral hydrogen absorption. Cross-correlation of our sample with the Hamburg/RASS optical identification catalogue suggests that the vast majority of our sources are indeed AGN. A 4.1σ correlation signal between 0° and 8° was detected with w(θ<8°)=2.5±0.6×10−2. Assuming a two-point correlation function of the form w(θ)=(θθ0)−0.8, we find θ0=0062. Deprojection on three dimensions, using Limber's equation, yields a spatial correlation length of r0≈6.0±1.6 h−1 Mpc. This is consistent with the AGN clustering results derived at higher redshifts in optical surveys and suggests a comoving model for the clustering evolution.


Every text, indeed all writing in communication, either does or should stress the centrality of feedback in basic and advanced models of communication. Most work in this area has focused on taking feedback, distilling information and using it to make good decisions. What is lost in the traditional understanding is that feedback can be used to establish good relations. A manager's feedback can enhance employee/manger relationships, strengthen loyalty and commitment, and increase morale. This paper examines how managers can use feedback to make important and genuine connections with their employees; thereby getting the greatest return on human resources. A theory based "do and don't do" framework is offered. Establishing any good relationship is simply a matter of knowing what to say, how to say it, when and to whom. It's 9:00 a.m.; do you know who your employees are?


Water stress after flowering, one of the major factors limiting yields of pearl millet,
affects both seed setting and grain filling and is a consequence of more/less
water used prior to anthesis. However, whether genotypes have different sensitivities
for seed setting and filling under drought, if exposed to similar stress intensity,
is unclear. Experiments were conducted in two pairs of pearl millet
genotypes, that is, PRLT2/89-33 and H77/833-2, 863B and 841B, contrasting for
terminal drought tolerance, and two genotypes, ICMR 01046 and ICMR 01029
(IL-QTLs), introgressed with a terminal drought tolerance QTL from PRLT2/89-
33 into H77/833-2. Total seed weight, panicle number, 100-seed weight, seed
number and stover biomass were measured at different soil moistures and
throughout grain filling. Sensitive H77/833-2 had higher seed number and yield
under well-watered (WW) conditions than in PRLT2/89-33 and IL-QTLs. Upon
increases in water stress intensity, H77/833-2 suffered losses mostly in stover biomass
(45 %) and seed number (60 %) at 0.3 FTSW whereas the biomass and seed
number of PRLT2/89-33 decreased little (20 % and 25 %). The 100-seed weight
of H77/833-2 decreased only 20 % under stress. Tolerant 863B also maintained a
higher seed number and biomass under water stress than 841B. Grain filling
duration in PRLT2/89-33 and IL-QTLs was similar to that of H77/833-2 under
WW conditions but lasted longer than in H77833-2 under water stress (WS).
Similarly, seed growth of 863B was longer than 841B under WS. It is concluded
that the higher seed yield of tolerant parents PRLT2/89-33 and 863B, and of ILQTLs
under WS was explained by the retention of a higher number of seeds than
in sensitive lines, while the decrease in the 100-seed weight was proportionally
less than the decrease in seed number. Phenotype with lesser number and larger
size of panicles and larger grain size, like genotypes PRLT2/89-33 and 863B, withstood
post-anthesis water stress better. IL-QTL inherited part of these characteristics,
indicating a role for the terminal drought QTL in maintaining larger seed
number and higher 100-seed weight. The continuous stover biomass increase
under WW in H77/833-2, due to tillering, might indicate that tiller growth and
grains are in competition for resources after anthesis, and this may relate to the
relatively shorter grain-filling period.


B cells can be polarized to express various cytokines. The roles of IFNγ and IL-10, expressed respectively by B effector 1 (Be1) and Bregs, have been established in pathogen clearance, tumor growth, autoimmunity and allograft rejection. However, the in vivo role of B cell IL-4, produced by Be2 cells, remains to be established. We developed B-IL-4/13 iKO mice carrying a tamoxifen-inducible B cell-specific deletion of IL-4 and IL-13. After alloimmunization, B-IL-4/13 iKO mice exhibited decreased IL-4+ Th2 cells and IL-10+ Bregs without impact on Th1, Tregs, or CD8 T cell responses. B-IL-4/13 iKO mice rejected islet allografts more rapidly, even when treated with tolerogenic anti-TIM-1 mAb. In ovalbumin-induced allergic airway disease (AAD), B-IL-4/13 iKO mice had reduced inflammatory cells in BAL, and preserved lung histology with markedly decreased infiltration by IL-4+ and IL-5+ CD4+ T cells. Hence, B cell IL-4 is a major driver of Th2 responses in vivo which promotes allograft survival, and conversely, worsens AAD.


Aims/Objectives/Background We aim to describe ED clinical leads' experiences of implementing and delivering 'primary care services' and 'emergency medicine services' where GPs were integrated into the ED team. NHS England policy has promoted services in which patients presenting to EDs with non-urgent problems are directed to general practitioners (GPs) and other primary care clinicians working within or alongside EDs to address increasing demand. Our findings describe variation in the ways that these primary care services are implemented and the ways in which GPs work within them. We also highlight successes and challenges in implementing such services. Methods/Design We conducted interviews with ED clinical leads in England (n=19) and Wales (n=2). We used framework analysis to analyse interview transcripts and explore differences across 'primary care services', 'emergency medicine services' and emergency departments without primary care services. Results/Conclusions In EDs with separate primary care services, success was reported with a distinct workforce of primary care clinicians, who improved waiting times and flow by seeing primary care-type patients in a timely way, using fewer investigations, and enabling ED doctors to focus on more acutely unwell patients. Some challenges were: aligning services with the policy guidance, inconsistent demand for primary care, accessible community primary care services, difficulties recruiting GPs, lack of funding, difficulties agreeing governance protocols and establishing effective streaming pathways. Where GPs were integrated into an ED workforce success was reported as managing the demand for both emergency and primary care and reducing admissions. To support successful and sustainable primary care services in or alongside EDs, policy makers and commissioners should consider varied ways that GPs can be employed to manage local demand and also local contextual factors such as the ability to recruit and retain GPs, sustainable funding, clear governance frameworks, training, support and guidance for all staff.


The steady increase in the world's population combined with the globally growing need for living space by each individual is leading to an ever-faster consumption of limited resources by the construction industry, particularly sand and gravel. While a consensus exists regarding the sand and gravel resource availability on a global level for long-term supply, it is important to note that local supply shortages may still occur. Thus, this study aims to identify critical aspects of both locally and globally traded construction materials by adapting the ESSENZ method, which evaluates the criticality of globally traded abiotic resources. For the specific case of the local availability of construction materials, a new indicator is introduced: The Surface Squared Driven Indicator (SSDI), which is adapted to the specific conditions of the German market. The modified ESSENZ method is applied in a case study of materials needed for maintaining the material stock of the city of Herne, Germany. The results indicate that raw materials for concrete production in Germany, such as aggregates, are expected to be sufficient in the long term, but silica sand for glass production is only guaranteed for a few decades. Concrete poses the highest supply risk due to its high material demand, with steel and concrete dominating the environmental impacts. Limitations include data availability and the exclusion of certain materials. The adapted ESSENZ method allows for the comparison of criticality results for materials traded globally and locally, offering valuable insights for decision-makers seeking to promote sustainable construction practices.


The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) which is capable to observe the Earth has wide applications and large quantities, such as reconnaissance and surveillance, attack on the ground, fire-proof forest, and marine search and rescue, and so on. The system of simulation composed of tracking, navigation, telecontrol, telemetering, and flight control is introduced in this paper. The method of simulation on telemetering and telecontrol, tracking and position, and target observation and tracking is explained


Transport mode detection is a classification problem aiming to design an algorithm that can infer the transport mode of a user given multimodal signals (GPS and/or inertial sensors). It has many applications, such as carbon footprint tracking, mobility behaviour analysis, or real-time door-to-door smart planning. Most current approaches rely on a classification step using Machine Learning techniques, and, like in many other classification problems, deep learning approaches usually achieve better results than traditional machine learning ones using handcrafted features. Deep models, however, have a notable downside: they are usually heavy, both in terms of memory space and processing cost. We show that a small, optimized model can perform as well as a current deep model. During our experiments on the GeoLife and SHL 2018 datasets, we obtain models with tens of thousands of parameters, that is, 10 to 1,000 times less parameters and operations than networks from the state of the art, which still reach a comparable performance. We also show, using the aforementioned datasets, that the current preprocessing used to deal with signals of different lengths is suboptimal, and we provide better replacements. Finally, we introduce a way to use signals with different lengths with the lighter Convolutional neural networks, without using the heavier Recurrent Neural Networks.


This paper tries to define any impact of structural competence towards speaking competence. In this research, the writer used descriptive co-relational method. It was used to describe whether there was an impact between two variables, i.e. structural competence (X) as independent variable and speaking competence (Y) as dependent variable. The subject of study was the fourth semester students of English department of Tarbiyah Faculty IAIN Walisongo Semarang. After the data had been analyzed, it was found that there was significant impact of structural competence especially in appropriateness. It helped students to arrange words into sentences that they utter.


Choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) expressing retinal amacrine cells are present across vertebrates. These interneurons play important roles in the development of retinal projections to the brain and in motion detection, specifically in generating direction‐selective responses to moving stimuli. ChAT amacrine cells typically comprise two spatially segregated populations that form circuits in the 'ON' or 'OFF' synaptic layers of the inner retina. This stereotypic arrangement is also found across the adult human retina, with the notable exception that ChAT expression is evident in the ON but not OFF layer of the fovea, a region specialized for high‐acuity vision. We thus investigated whether the human fovea exhibits a developmental path for ON and OFF ChAT cells that is retinal location‐specific. Our analysis shows that at each retinal location, human ON and OFF ChAT cells differentiate, form their separate synaptic layers, and establish non‐random mosaics at about the same time. However, unlike in the adult fovea, ChAT immunostaining is initially robust in both ON and OFF populations, up until at least mid‐gestation. ChAT expression in the OFF layer in the fovea is therefore significantly reduced after mid‐gestation. OFF ChAT cells in the human fovea and in the retinal periphery thus follow distinct maturational paths.


ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Majority of the pediatric burns happen when an adult is nearby the child. This suggests the role of adult carelessness or neglect as a cause of burns. The aim of this study is to provide clinical data on pediatric hand burns and to draw attention to the role of neglect in pediatric burn injuries. METHODS: Children admitted to a tertiary burn center between September 2017 and October 2018 were included in the study. Epidemiological data including age, sex, etiology and place of injury, presence of caregiver nearby, physical signs of neglect or abuse, clinical outcomes including burned total body surface area, length of admittance, and complications were recorded. RESULTS: A total of 335 pediatric burns were admitted to the burn center. Among them 89 patients with hand involvement were included in the study. Most of the patients were under the age of 6 (79.8%) and 88.8% of the burn accidents occurred indoors. Scalding was the main mechanism for hand burns. There was an adult nearby in 71.9% of the patients. Among patients with hand involvement, 19 (21.35%) were considered as neglect. All the neglect cases were under the age of 6. CONCLUSION: Pediatric burn accidents occurred mainly at home, mostly with an adult around. Habits of drinking hot beverages, dangerous cooking practices and lack of awareness are some important issues leading to burn accident. Neglect is found in 21.35% of hand burns as the etiology. In addition to general preventive measures special attention should be paid to the signs of neglect in the evaluation of patients. These burns should also be reported to official services, as they may reflect inadequate supervision or neglect by the caregiver.


The article aims to offer a student-centered system of work on the communicative competence formation of foreign students in the process of Professional Education: Methodology, Theory and Technologies, Vol 11 (2020) 159-174 ISSN 2415-3729 (Print) / ISSN 2415-3737 (Online) Website: https://education-journal.org 160 teaching Ukrainian. The author implements it with the help of theoretical (analysis, synthesis and generalization of scientific knowledge to find out the main factors of the Ukrainian language communicative competence formation of foreign students), empirical (author's own observations on the educational process) and statistical methods (analysis of foreign students' poll results). Main results and conclusions. The article suggests the system of work on forming the foreign students' communicative competence based on the student-centered approach in the process of teaching Ukrainian. The author submits that a number of factors contribute to the foreign students' effective education and their communicative competence formation, among which she highlights the following: sociocultural adaptation, individual characteristics of the person, direct communicative interaction with teachers and students. These factors convince that the educational process of foreign-language communicators should be based on the student-centered approach and should be carried out in stages. Each of the stages has a certain system of work, a corresponding set of methods and techniques. For example, at the adaptive-propaedeutic and motivationalstimulating stages of foreign speakers communicative competence formation it is recommended to apply the oral method of Herald Palmer and the audiovisual method; at the third stage, it is necessary to implement the method of exercises (pre-communicative, communicative-situational, post-communicative, etc.), imitative, situational-communicative and communicative-game methods; at the production-creative stage it is possible to organize work by means of discussion, text-translation and project methods; the reflection-evaluation stage is provided by the methods of free conversation and reflection. Each method has a number of techniques, which are implemented in the exercises. Our proposed methods and techniques for the foreign students' communicative competence formation in classes of Ukrainian as a foreign language are effective, but they are tentative and can be improved. There is no doubt that this issue requires further research, so we will continue to work in this direction and its results will be highlighted in the next articles. The Ukrainian Language Communicative Competence Formation of Foreign Students Based on ... © Liudmyla Ovsiienko 161


This small-scale study explores the attitudes of fifty initial teacher education (ITE) subject methods tutors towards the use of virtual reality (VR) in education and considers whether VR could be a catalyst for reviewing the partnership model within ITE programmes. In addition, this study offers a novel solution to ITE tutors' challenges when managing their own technological and pedagogical development alongside preparing student teachers for technology-enhanced learning (TEL). Building on previous research on ITE tutors' use of TEL across the island of Ireland, this paper discusses the synergy between the cognitive apprenticeship model and reverse mentoring that upends the classic co-operating teacher/student teacher hierarchy and positions all partners in ITE programmes as learning leaders at key points in the partnership process. An online survey comprising 51 items was administered to a purposive sample of 50 ITE tutors from four ITE providers, two in Ireland and two in Northern Ireland (NI), who were selected due to their developing interest in the use of virtual reality in teacher education. Data analysis using SPSS combined with thematic analysis of open-ended responses revealed that although the majority of ITE subject methods tutors conveyed open-minded and willing attitudes to embrace VR in the future, they identified a number of systemic issues that need to be addressed first. These include the disconnect between innovative pedagogical practices presented in university-based modules and the stark reality of technological deficits in some classrooms; the pedagogical and resource-based 'readiness' of ITE tutors to embed VR in their subject-specific teaching; and the need for curriculum-focused, VR resources for school-based use. As a result of this study, an incremental, cyclical approach to growing the body of knowledge around VR pedagogy is proposed in conjunction with new forms of collaboration between the partners in ITE.


ABSTRACT Accumulating evidence suggests that dysbiosis plays a role in the pathogenesis of intestinal diseases including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) as well as extra-intestinal disorders. As a modulator of the intestinal microbiota, we isolated a mouse monoclonal IgA antibody (clone W27) with high affinities for multiple commensal bacteria, but not for beneficial bacteria such as Lactobacillus casei (L. casei). Via specific recognition of an epitope in serine hydroxymethyltransferase (SHMT), a bacterial metabolic enzyme, W27 IgA selectively inhibited the in vitro growth of bound bacteria, including Escherichia coli (E. coli), while having no effect on unbound beneficial bacteria such as L. casei. By modulating the gut microbiota in vivo, oral administration of W27 IgA effectively prevented development of colitis in several mouse models. Here we discuss how intestinal IgA modulates the gut microbiota through recognition of SHMT.


We report an experimental demonstration of polarization smoothing by using a specially cut KDP plate in the convergent ultraviolet (351 nm wavelength) section of a high-power laser system. A 410  mm×410  mm×10  mm sized KDP plate placed after the final focus lens successfully reduced the focal spot intensity contrast to 75.6%, which is in good agreement with the theoretical expectation. In our experiment, no obvious transverse stimulated scattering was observed with the maximum 351 nm laser energy of 4032 J/3 ns, thus indicating the operation safety margin of our laser system.


BACKGROUND
To determine the prognostic predictors for non-small cell lung cancer ( NSCLC) with multivariate analysis.

METHODS
From 1981 to 1994, 158 patients with NSCLC had been treated by surgery alone or combined with radiotherapy and/ or chemotherapy . Their clinical characteristics were collected. All histological slides were reviewed to evaluate the histological type, tumor differentiation and vascular and lymphatic vessel invasion. Oncoprotein overexpressions were measured by immunohistochemistry assay ( ABC) , including Pan-ras, c-myc, c-erb B2, EGFR and p53. PCNA was also measured by ABC. The endpoints for prognosis consisted of survival, local control and distant metastasis. They were calculated by Kaplan-Meier method with Log-rank test determining the difference between subgroups. Cox model was used for multivariate analysis. The prognostic index ( PI) was calculated basing on the results of multivariate analysis, then the high risk group was determined by PI.

RESULTS
The overall actual 5-year survival rate was 44%. The unfavorable predictors were late T and N of TNM stage ( P = 0. 025 and < 0. 001) , lymphatic vessel invasion ( P= 0. 002) and multi-oncoprotein overexpression ( P= 0. 018) . The overall median of PI was 1. 71( 0. 23-3. 75) . The patients were divided into three groups: good prognosis group ( 42 cases, PI ≤ 1. 3) , moderate prognosis group ( 63 cases, 1. 3 < PI ≤ 2. 2) and bad prognosis group ( 53 cases, PI > 2. 2) . There was significant difference in survival rate among the three groups ( P < 0. 001) , 5-year survival rate was 77%, 45% and 21%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS
The unfavorable predictors are late T, late N, lymphatic vessel invasion and multi-oncoprotein overexpression. PI could be used to determine the high risk group in patients with NSCLC.


We constructed nonrestricting strains of Streptomyces fradiae blocked in different steps in tylosin biosynthesis. Plasmid transformation frequencies were 10(3)- to 10(4)-fold higher and bacteriophage plating efficiencies were 10(4)- to 10(8)-fold higher in the nonrestricting strains than in the restricting strains. The efficiencies of transduction of plasmid pRHB101 in S. fradiae strains varied by over 1,000-fold, depending on growth conditions, and optimum transduction frequencies were obtained when cells were grown to mid-exponential phase at 39 degrees C. Under these conditions, restricting and nonrestricting strains were transduced at frequencies that differed by only two- to fivefold.


Deltoid ligament complex (DLC) injury repair in the presence of an ankle fracture remains a topic of controversy in the current literature. No work in the current literature has commented on hindfoot and subtalar instability in the presence DLC injury associated with ankle fracture fixation. Our aim was to introduce and validate a new method for assessment of hindfoot instability, when fixing an ankle fracture with associated DLC injury.

 DLC injury, specifically superficial DLC, controls not only the ankle but the subtalar joint and medial longitudinal arch. Valgus stressing can unmask subtalar instability. It was noted by referencing the hindfoot position to a line parallel with the lateral aspect of the fibula, the lateral fibula line, subtalar instability was probable. We used six morphologically normal cadaveric specimens to validate the test.

 Six cadaveric specimens were used for validation of the hindfoot stability test. Pre-injury, no specimen illustrated bisection of the calcaneal tuberosity by the lateral fibular line on hindfoot stability test under fluoroscopy. Post-injury, all specimens showed bisection of the calcaneal tuberosity by the lateral fibular line on hindfoot stability test.

 The hindfoot stability test assesses hindfoot stability on valgus stressing of the hindfoot using the calcaneal tuberosity bisection of a line drawn from the lateral border of the fibula as a reference point for instability. This was validated using morphologically normal cadavers.


Na,K-ATPases are ubiquitous membrane-bound enzymes comprising α and β subunits. Here we clone a Na,K-ATPase β homolog (designated SNaK1β) from the human parasitic platyhelminth, Schistosoma mansoni. The predicted protein is about 33 kDa, and contains a single transmembrane domain and multiple conserved motifs. SNaK1β and its previously cloned α-subunit counterpart (SNaK1α) are both expressed throughout the schistosome life cycle. In adults, both subunits are detected in the tegumental membrane, likely functioning at the host-parasite interface in Na/K exchange. Both SNaK1 genes can be suppressed by RNAi using target-specific small inhibitory RNAs (siRNAs), and this severely debilitates the parasites both in vitro and in vivo. However, treating schistosomiasis by delivering the siRNAs hydrodynamically to infected mice has no detectable impact on worms. Additionally, treating schistosome-infected mice with the Na,K-ATPase inhibitor, ouabain, is ineffective. Nonetheless, since schistosomes are very susceptible to perturbation in SNaK1 expression, further work to identify other Na,K-ATPase inhibitors as anti-schistosome agents is warranted.


Avian brood parasites impose strong selection on their hosts leading to the evolution of antiparasite defenses like egg recognition and rejection. Discordance and template-based cognitive mechanisms may form the base for egg recognition by hosts. For discordance, hosts recognize eggs that constitute the minority in a clutch as alien, whereas in template-based recognition, hosts recognize eggs as alien when they do not match a template that can be innate or learnt. Template-based recognition by learning can be compromised in host species with polymorphic egg color like Paradoxornis parrotbills, hosts of the common cuckoo Cuculus canorus, because a male that learns an egg color in his first breeding attempt can subsequently mate with females having different colors and therefore reject his own eggs. We present a simple conceptual model to understand how an asymmetry in sex roles of care for eggs and egg polymorphism influence the evolution of egg recognition by hosts. We derive host reproductive success in the presence of variation in egg phenotype for both host and parasite. Our model shows that male recognition by learning is disadvantageous unless the host has monomorphic eggs. We suggest that interclutch variation in egg phenotype is the key to understanding the evolution of egg recognition and the sex involved. Key words: avian brood parasitism, discordance, egg polymorphism, egg recognition, learning and imprinting, template-based. [Behav Ecol]


To the Editor of The Journal of the American Medical Association The relative importance of different climatic attributes in the cure of phthisis is one of the most difficult problems in climatology to solve. The arduousness of the task is not lessened because the inquirer is an invalid himself seeking the total elimination of his tubercular bacilli. The liability of his being unduly influenced by his own experiences and environment is too great. Nevertheless it has to be acknowledged that much of the good work which has been done in climatology has been actuated by the intense interest of personal need. I am reminded that in our own country this field has been covered by such men as Solby, Fisk, Anderson, Keating, Tindale, Loomis and Gleitzman, whom I happen to know were one time invalids. Nor would I wish to dodge the applicability of the criticism to my own writings


We report a new mode of airborne operation for capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUT), in which the plate motion spans the entire gap without collapsing and the transducer is driven by a sinusoidal voltage without a dc bias. We present equivalent-circuit-based design fundamentals for an airborne CMUT cell and verify the design targets using fabricated CMUTs. The performance limits for silicon plates are derived. We experimentally obtain 78.9 dB//20 μPa@1 m source level at 73.7 kHz, with a CMUT cell of radius 2.05 mm driven by 71 V sinusoidal drive voltage at half the frequency. The measured quality factor is 120. We also study and discuss the interaction of the nonlinear transduction force and the nonlinearity of the plate compliance.


Emotional painful stress provokes phasic disorders of heart contractile function, the time course of which corresponds to the temporary parameters of the phasic development and to the recovery of the metabolism and structure of the heart.


Redox status is a key determinant in the fate of β-cell. These cells are not primarily detoxifying and thus do not possess extensive antioxidant defense machinery. However, they show a wide range of redox regulating proteins, such as peroxiredoxins, thioredoxins or thioredoxin reductases, etc., being functionally compartmentalized within the cells. They keep fragile redox homeostasis and serve as messengers and amplifiers of redox signaling. β-cells require proper redox signaling already in cell ontogenesis during the development of mature β-cells from their progenitors. We bring details about redox-regulated signaling pathways and transcription factors being essential for proper differentiation and maturation of functional β-cells and their proliferation and insulin expression/maturation. We briefly highlight the targets of redox signaling in the insulin secretory pathway and focus more on possible targets of extracellular redox signaling through secreted thioredoxin1 and thioredoxin reductase1. Tuned redox homeostasis can switch upon chronic pathological insults towards the dysfunction of β-cells and to glucose intolerance. These are characteristics of type 2 diabetes, which is often linked to chronic nutritional overload being nowadays a pandemic feature of lifestyle. Overcharged β-cell metabolism causes pressure on proteostasis in the endoplasmic reticulum, mainly due to increased demand on insulin synthesis, which establishes unfolded protein response and insulin misfolding along with excessive hydrogen peroxide production. This together with redox dysbalance in cytoplasm and mitochondria due to enhanced nutritional pressure impact β-cell redox homeostasis and establish prooxidative metabolism. This can further affect β-cell communication in pancreatic islets through gap junctions. In parallel, peripheral tissues losing insulin sensitivity and overall impairment of glucose tolerance and gut microbiota establish local proinflammatory signaling and later systemic metainflammation, i.e., low chronic inflammation prooxidative properties, which target β-cells leading to their dedifferentiation, dysfunction and eventually cell death.


Nonlinear stress-strain behavior of carbon nanotube (CNT) fibers is studied based on the test data where fiber strength can be modeled by the Weibull distribution. CNT fibers spun from vertically aligned arrays are tensioned at slow sustained strain rate (0.00001 1/s) to study the tensile strength resulting from sliding-to-failure effects. A model is developed to estimate the Weibull modulus which characterizes the dispersion of fiber strengths in terms of the maximum sustained stress and failure strain of the fibers. The results show that the sliding indeed has great influence on the stress-strain relation of CNT fibers at low strain rate.


Piping signals are particular sounds emitted by honey bees during the swarming season or sometimes when bees are exposed to specific factors during the life of the colony. Such sounds are of interest for beekeepers for predicting an imminent swarming of a beehive. The present study introduces a novel publicly available dataset made of several honey bee piping recordings allowing for the evaluation of future audio-based detection and recognition methods. First, we propose an analysis of the most relevant timbre features for discriminating between tooting and quacking sounds which are two distinct types of piping signals. Second, we comparatively assess several machine-learning-based methods designed for the detection and the identification of piping signals through a beehive-independent 3-fold cross-validation methodology.


Broccoli (Brassica oleracea L. var. italica 'Citation') florets were treated postharvest with either benzyladenine or trans-zeatin at either 10 or 50 ppm before packaging in perforated polyethylene bags and storage at 16C. The most pronounced effects were observed with benzyladenine at 50 ppm. Compared to controls, respiration rate was reduced 50% and ethylene production increased 40% throughout the first 4 days of storage. Total chlorophyll content had dropped 60% in controls, but was unchanged in cytokinin-treated florets, which had a 90% longer shelf life than controls. These effects depended on the amount of cytokinin applied and were of greater mag- nitude with benzyladenine than with zeatin.


Groundwater biota are particularly sensitive to environmental perturbations such as groundwater contamination. The diversity of prokaryotic and eukaryotic biota has been examined along a gradient of chlorinated hydrocarbon (CHC) contamination in the Botany Sands, an urban coastal sand-bed aquifer (Sydney, Australia). Molecular techniques were used to analyze the richness and composition of prokaryote and eukaryote assemblages using 16S and 18S rDNA, respectively. Taxon richness did not change significantly along the gradient for either prokaryotes or eukaryotes; however, significant shifts in assemblage composition were evident for both groups. Assemblage changes were most strongly correlated with concentrations of the major CHC, cis-1,2-dichloroethene, but the concentrations of a number of the contaminants were also correlated, making it difficult to infer if effects were due to any particular contaminant. The presence of cis-1,2-dichloroethene and other secondary ethenes suggests in situ breakdown of the primary CHCs via natural attenuation. The current focus of management of the Botany aquifer is to stop the contaminant plume reaching the adjoining estuary. This approach is clearly justified given the changes evident in the microbial assemblages in the groundwater, which are a likely consequence of the contamination.


ABSTRACT In 1949, in the wake of the USA's Displaced Persons Act of 1948, the American Committee for the Resettlement of Polish Displaced Persons received thousands of letters from refugees of peasant and worker background residing in camps in Germany and Austria. These potential immigrants appealed to the Polish diaspora for help with securing assurances of accommodation and work which would enable them to resettle in the USA. This paper investigates the discursive strategies of the authors and the wider meanings of their emigration endeavour. Firstly, it demonstrates that non-elite Displaced Persons (DPs) adopted the language of martyrology, patriotism, anti-Communism and freedom to maximise their chances of emigration. These DPs did not evoke the language of rights as they appealed to the traditional network of support, based on benevolence and familiarity. Secondly, it argues that the American Poles and Polish social elites played a crucial role in resettlement of the DPs, providing an additional layer of screening, here called 'the moral screening'. It is an example of how ethnic and cultural communities mediated the resettlement procedures supervised by international humanitarian organisations. Using a 'history from below' approach, this article argues that during this episode of migration, political and economic ideological underpinnings intertwined.


This review contrasts two of the more common forms of retinal emboli, i.e., cholesterol emboli and calcific emboli. These two forms vary in ophthalmoscopic appearance and in regard to significance.


Inspired by the thiazole-thiazoline cap group in natural product largazole, a series of structurally simplified bisthiazole-based histone deacetylase inhibitors were prepared and evaluated. Compound 8f was evaluated in vivo in an experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) model and found to be orally efficacious in ameliorating clinical symptoms of EAE mice.


Using two-color fluorescence dip spectroscopy, we observed two-photon absorption processes (TPA) in Rhodamine 6G occurring in concert with fluorescence depletion processes (FD). A nano-second pulse erase beam in the near-infrared region was applied to induce TPA together with FD. It was found that the fluorescence intensity strongly depends on the photon-flux of the erase beam and that the effective TPA cross-section for the nano-second laser pulse is smaller than that for a femto-second laser pulse. This phenomenon can be interpreted as resulting from FD induced by a multiple-excitation process.


In this paper we document a statistically significant, marginally greater probability of admittance into (at least one) medical school for children of doctors as compared to children of nondoctors. This fact can plausibly be explained as resulting from nepotism, in various forms, as well as from human capital transfers from first to (would-be) second generation doctors. After controlling for acquired human capital and other attributes of medical school applicants, we cannot reject nepotism as a cause-children of doctors are nearly 14 percent more likely to be admitted into medical school than are comparable nonfollowers.


Immediate and delayed hypersensitivity reactions can play a role in the pathogenesis of atopic dermatitis (AD). We tested 71 patients (median age 5 years) with AD for hypersensitivity to grass and birch pollen, Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, and Dermatophagoides farinae using atopy patch test (APT), skin prick test (SPT), and specific IgE measurement. The sensitivity (SE) and specificity (SP) of the tests were calculated on the basis of personal history of AD exacerbation, clinical AD score (SCORAD) changes, and the number of days with need for topical anti-inflammatory treatment (AITD) in relation to exposure to the allergens being tested. APT was positive in 45 patients, mostly to D. farinae (n=37). SPT and/or specific IgE were positive in 42 subjects, in most cases to grass and birch pollen (n=29). SE of APT reached 33%-56% for history, 33% for SCORAD, and 0%-60% for AITD; SP of APT was comparable for all three assessment standards (history, SCORAD, and AITD) (48%-67%). SE of SPT/specific IgE was higher for history (26%-63%) than for the other two standards of assessment (0%-67%); SP of SPT/specific IgE was also highest for history (69%-91%), and lower for SCORAD (59%-87%) and AITD (65%-80%). AD is often associated with hypersensitivity; its influence on AD, however, is clinically significant only in a minor group of patients. While personal history and SCORAD changes present themselves as possible standards in the evaluation of clinically relevant hypersensitivity in AD patients, the anti-inflammatory treatment days (AITD) appears to be unsuitable for this purpose.


We investigated the effect of DWac on the gut microbiota composition in mice with 2,3,6-trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid- (TNBS-) induced colitis. Treatment with DWac restored TNBS-disturbed gut microbiota composition and attenuated TNBS-induced colitis. Moreover, we examined the effect of DWac in mice with mesalazine-resistant colitis (MRC). Intrarectal injection of TNBS in MRC mice caused severe colitis, as well as colon shortening, edema, and increased myeloperoxidase activity. Treatment with mesalazine (30 mg/kg) did not attenuate TNBS-induced colitis in MRC mice, whereas treatment with DWac (30 mg/kg) significantly attenuated TNBS-induced colitis. Moreover, treatment with the mixture of mesalazine (15 mg/kg) and DWac (15 mg/kg) additively attenuated colitis in MRC mice. Treatment with DWac and its mixture with mesalazine inhibited TNBS-induced activation of NF-κB and expression of M1 macrophage markers but increased TNBS-suppressed expression of M2 macrophage markers. Furthermore, these inhibited TNBS-induced T-bet, RORγt, TNF-α, and IL-17 expression but increased TNBS-suppressed Foxp3 and IL-10 expression. However, Th2 cell differentiation and GATA3 and IL-5 expression were not affected. These findings suggest that DWac can ameliorate MRC by increasing the polarization of M2 macrophage and correcting the disturbance of gut microbiota and Th1/Th17/Treg, as well as additively attenuating MRC along with mesalazine.


Section 1: Introduction 1. What Happens When Mining Leaves? Section 2: Interpreting Mining Heritage 2. The Making of Two Mining Museums: Bowes and Beamish, North East England 3. Chinese Mining Heritage and Tourism in the Goldfields of the Pacific Rim 4. Pilgrimage in Heritage Tourism: Finding Meaning and Identity in the Industrial Past 5. Branding Beaconsfield: The Great Escape Puts Small Tasmanian Town on the Tourist Map Section 3: Transforming Mines into Heritage Attractions 6. Mining the Museum: A Rich Vein for Dissent 7. Transforming Working Mines into Tourist Attractions: Conceptual and Practical Considerations 8. Developing a Heritage Tourism Attraction in a Working Salt Mine: The Kansas Underground Salt Museum 9. Interpreting the Environmental Impacts of the Gold Rushes at the Castlemaine Diggings National Heritage Park 10. Sustaining the Benefits of Heritage Mining for Site, City and Region: Exploring the Success of Sovereign Hill Outdoor Museum Section 4: Traditional Mining Attraction Destinations 11. Flogging a Dead Horse or Creating Cultural Capacity? The Development and Impact of Mines as Alternative Tourist Destinations: A Case Study of South Wales, UK 12. The Benefits and Challenges of Implementing Tourism in Mining Communities Attractions 13. Geotourism Sites Development in Slovakia Geza 14. Mining Tourism in the Spanish Province of Huelva: The Case of the Mining Park of Riotinto Section 5: Globalization and the Future of Mining Attraction Destinations 15. Planning For the Future: Tourism Options for an Open Pit Mine, Vietnam 16. Mining Tourism in Ouro Preto (Brazil): Opportunities and Challenges 17. Mining Heritage, Local Development and Identity: The Case of Sardinia Giovanni Sistu 18. Developing Geological Tourism in the Bay of Fundy Region 19. From Mining Boom Towns to Tourist Haunts: Ghost towns and Mining Heritage Section 6: Lessons Learned 20. Lessons in Transforming Mines into Tourism Attractions


This paper presents a novel ring-laser type quasi-optical oscillator based on leaky-wave antenna, which can be used as an alternative to conventional configurations employing VCOs. It consists of a gain-control amplifier, a phase-shifter and a microstrip leaky-wave antenna. The feature of this structure is that the leaky-wave antenna not only serves as a radiation element, but also provides oscillation feedback. The beam-scanning capability of this quasi-optical oscillator is also demonstrated experimentally.


Growing evidence links DNA methylation to tumor immunity. The impact of DNA methylation (5 mC) on the microenvironment surrounding tumors and immunotherapy remains to be clarified. Through clustering gene expression of 20 DNA methylation regulators, this study aimed at systematically analyzing DNA methylation regulator patterns and tumor microenvironment characteristics of TCGA-GBM patients. Various subtypes of glioblastoma exhibit different tumor microenvironments and DNA methylation patterns. Each DNA methylation modification was then assigned a DNA methylation score (DMS). High DMS was associated with a good prognosis. In contrast, the low DMS group had a relatively low survival rate. A correlation was also found between high DMS and enhanced immunotherapy efficacy in two immune checkpoint blocking treatment cohorts. To conclude, identifying DNA methylation regulation patterns may prove critical to understanding glioblastoma progression and differentiation, as well as future therapeutic targets.


A quadric in RP 3 cuts a curve of degree 6 on a cubic surface in RP 3. The papers classifies the nonsingular curves cut in this way on non-singular cubic surfaces up to homeomorphism. Two issues new in the study related to the first part of the 16th Hilbert problem appear in this classification. One is the distribution of the components of the curve between the components of the non-connected cubic surface which turns out to depend on the patterns of arrangements (see Theorem 1). The other is presence of positive genus among the components of the complement and genus-related restrictions (see Theorems 3 and 4).


Primary bloodstream infection (BSI) is a leading, preventable infectious complication in critically ill patients and has a negative impact on patients' outcome. Surveillance definitions for primary BSI distinguish those that are microbiologically documented from those that are not. The latter is known as clinical sepsis, but information on its epidemiologic importance is limited. We analyzed prospective on-site surveillance data of nosocomial infections in a medical intensive care unit. Of the 113 episodes of primary BSI, 33 (29%) were microbiologically documented. The overall BSI infection rate was 19.8 episodes per 1,000 central-line days (confidence interval [CI] 95%, 16.1 to 23.6); the rate fell to 5.8 (CI 3.8 to 7.8) when only microbiologically documented episodes were considered. Exposure to vascular devices was similar in patients with clinical sepsis and patients with microbiologically documented BSI. We conclude that laboratory-based surveillance alone will underestimate the incidence of primary BSI and thus jeopardize benchmarking.


Computer assisted operation planning systems win more and more recognition in the field of surgery. These systems offer new possibilities to prepare an intervention with the goal to shorten the expansive time in the operation room required for the intervention. The safest and most effective surgical approach should be selected. But often, it is difficult to transfer the output of the planning system to the intra-operative situation and so to consider the planning results in the real intervention. At the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics (IGD) in Darmstadt and the Centre for Advanced Media Technology (CAMTech) in Singapore, methods are developed to bridge the gap between the external planning session and the intra-operative case: augmented reality (AR) techniques are used to overlap preoperative scanned image data as well as results of the planning session to the operation field.


We discuss the effect of stochastic resonance on a simple model of magnetic reversals. The model exhibits statistically stationary solutions and bimodal distribution of the large scale magnetic field. We observe a nontrivial amplification of stochastic resonance induced by turbulent fluctuations, i.e. the amplitude of the external periodic perturbation needed for stochastic resonance to occur is much smaller than the one estimated by the equilibrium probability distribution of the unperturbed system. We argue that similar amplifications can be observed in many physical systems where turbulent fluctuations are needed to maintain large scale equilibria.


Concentrating solar power (CSP) plants can provide dispatchable power with the thermal energy storage (TES) capability for greater renewable-energy grid penetration. To increase the market competitiveness, CSP technology needs to increase the solar-to-electric efficiency and reduce costs in the areas of solar collection from the heliostat field to the receiver, energy conversion systems, and TES. The current state-of-the-art molten-salt systems have limitations regarding both the potential for cost reduction and improvements in performance. Even with significant improvements in operating performance, these systems face major challenges to satisfy the performance targets, which include high-temperature stability (>650°C), low freezing point ( 650°C) at a reduced cost. The fluidized-bed CSP (FB-CSP) plant being developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has the potential to overcome the above issues with substantially lower cost. The particle receiver is a critical component to enable the FB-CSP system.This paper introduces the development of an innovative receiver design using the blackbody design mechanism by collecting solar heat with absorber tubes that transfer the radiant heat to flowing particles. The particle and receiver materials can withstand temperatures of >1000°C because the receiver can use low-cost materials, such as ceramics and stainless steel, and the solid particles can be any low-cost, stable materials such as sand or ash for particle containment and TES. The heated particles can be stored in containers for TES or supply heat for power generation. This study investigated the performance of convection, reflection, and infrared (IR) re-radiation losses on the absorber solar receiving side. We developed a flux model to predict the reflection losses from the absorber tubes based on the NREL SolTrace program, and conducted thermal modeling by using the Fluent Software. This paper presents the thermal modeling and results on the receiver performance. The receiver configuration may have broad applications for different heattransfer fluids (HTFs), including gas, liquid, or the solid particle-based system in our receiver development.Copyright © 2015 by ASME


The problem of modeling combustion within internal combustion engines is considered. A method is explained to evaluate the comprehensiveness, detail and predicting capability of a model. It consists of considering the equations for the most comprehensive and detailed model and in making successively more restrictive assumptions, thus getting progressively less detailed models. Particular attention is paid to the reasons for the assumptions, how they influence the accuracy of a model, and what basic information is missing. In so doing, the most detailed of the available models, and their predictive capabilities and limitations, are introduced. They include models for reciprocating and rotary engines, with uniform and stratified charges from dual carburetion and direct fuel injection. Examples of their results are given. One of them has been available since 1971, and another one is currently and fruitfully employed to aid the development of a production engine. Also introduced are more advance models presently under development and their applications. The equations of the most common and least detailed models are derived from the most general equations, thus evidencing their inherent limitations.


In this paper, we analyze the influence of social status on opinion dynamics and consensus building in collaboration networks. To that end, we simulate the diffusion of opinions in empirical collaboration networks by taking into account both the network structure and the individual differences of people reflected through their social status. For our simulations, we adapt a well-known Naming Game model and extend it with the Probabilistic Meeting Rule to account for the social status of individuals participating in a meeting. This mechanism is sufficiently flexible and allows us to model various situations in collaboration networks, such as the emergence or disappearance of social classes. In this work, we concentrate on studying three well-known forms of class society: egalitarian, ranked and stratified. In particular, we are interested in the way these society forms facilitate opinion diffusion. Our experimental findings reveal that (i) opinion dynamics in collaboration networks is indeed affected by the individuals' social status and (ii) this effect is intricate and non-obvious. In particular, although the social status favors consensus building, relying on it too strongly can slow down the opinion diffusion, indicating that there is a specific setting for each collaboration network in which social status optimally benefits the consensus building process.


ABSTRACT In 2014, there were 480 000 new cases of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) around the world, but only 25% of them were diagnosed and reported. Drug resistance in TB is necessarily a laboratory diagnosis. An urgent priority in everyday practice is to diagnose tuberculosis and rule out drug resistance as quickly and as accurately as possible. However, worldwide, only 12% of new bacteriologically confirmed TB cases and 58% of previously treated TB cases were tested for drug resistance in 2014. New tools for diagnosis of TB and drug-resistant TB have been introduced for clinical practice during the past decade. Those new tools can detect and identify drug resistance to antituberculosis drugs in less than 24 hours, and they should be urgently integrated into clinical practice, especially in high-burden regions. Ongoing transmission of TB generates new infections, and this infected population is the inexhaustible source of new TB cases. If we are really determined to stop the global TB epidemic, we need to treat active cases and also halt the transmission of the infection. The only strategy for preventing the development of active disease in individuals with subclinical infection is to give treatment for this latent infection. Global control of TB requires a huge investment of funds to address current detection and treatment gaps. We must reconsider our current strategy and combine social components with biomedical interventions. This will require the development of alliances between government and civil society, as well as leadership and true political commitment at the highest level of government.


Early recanalization of the occluded artery leads to better clinical outcomes in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) through protection of the time-sensitive penumbra. Intravenous administration of pharmacologic thrombolytic agents has been a standard treatment for AIS. To get better rates of recanalization, enhance the time window, and diminish the possibility of intracranial hemorrhage, endovascular thrombectomy was launched, with first authorization of the Merci clot retriever, a corkscrew-like apparatus, followed by approval of the Penumbra thromboaspiration system. Both devices lead to a high rate of recanalization. On the other hand, time to recanalization was on an average of 45 minutes, with most of the patients attaining only partial recanalization. More lately, retrievable stents have shown promise in decreasing the time to recanalization, and attaining a superior rate of complete clot resolution. The retrievable stent can be released within the clot to engage it within the struts of the stent, and afterwards it is taken back by pulling it under flow arrest. Neurointerventional techniques have a persistently ever-increasing and stimulating role in the management of AIS, as indicated by the advent of several important techniques. Stent retrievers have the capability to be ascertained as the most important approach to endovascular stroke treatment.


A new lithium containing iron(III) phosphite, LiFe(HPO3)2, has been synthesized via a solvent-free, low temperature, solid-state synthesis route. The crystal structure of this material has been determined employing single-crystal X-ray diffraction, which indicates that the compound has a three-dimensional structure formed by isolated FeO6 octahedral units joined together via bridging HPO3 pseudopyramidal moieties. This arrangement leads to the formation of channels along all the three crystallographic directions, where channels along the a- and b-axes host Li(+) ions. The compound was further characterized by TGA, IR, and Mössbauer spectroscopic techniques. Additionally, it has been demonstrated that this phase is electrochemically active toward reversible intercalation of Li(+) ions and thus can be used as a cathode material in Li-ion cells. An average discharge potential of 2.8 V and a practical capacity of 70 mAh·g(-1) has been achieved as indicated by the results of cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge-discharge tests.


Noninvasive brain stimulation (NIBS) techniques, including repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), have recently emerged as alternative, nonpharmacological interventions for a variety of psychiatric, neurological, and neurodevelopmental conditions. NIBS is beginning to be applied in both research and clinical settings for the treatment of core and associated symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) including social communication deficits, restricted and repetitive behaviors, irritability, hyperactivity, depression and impairments in executive functioning and sensorimotor integration. Though there is much promise for these targeted device-based interventions, in other disorders (including adult major depressive disorder (MDD) and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) where rTMS is FDA cleared), data on the safety and efficacy of these interventions in individuals with ASD is limited especially in younger children when neurodevelopmental interventions typically begin. Most studies are open-label, small scale, and/or focused on a restricted subgroup of individuals with ASD. There is a need for larger, randomized controlled trials that incorporate neuroimaging in order to develop predictive biomarkers of treatment response and optimize treatment parameters. We contend that until such studies are conducted, we do not have adequate estimates of the safety and efficacy of NIBS interventions in children across the spectrum. Thus, broad off-label use of these techniques in this population is not supported by currently available evidence. Here we discuss the existing data on the use of NIBS to treat symptoms related to ASD and discuss future directions for the field.


Seasonal flight activity of the speckled green fruitworm, Orthosia hibisci Guenee, was monitored from 1990 - 1993 with a commercial sex attractant in Pherocon 1-C sticky traps and UV light-traps hung in unsprayed apple orchards in the Okanagan (Summerland and Kelowna) and Similkameen Valleys (Cawston). Flights in the Similkameen began in late February each year but not before the second week of March in the Okanagan. Catches with sex attractant peaked around the end of March or early April in the Similkameen and peaked about 5 - 14 days later in the Okanagan. Males were caught earlier in light-traps than in sex-attractant traps, but females were caught in light traps about 6 days after the first males were caught with the sex-attractant. After this time lag, female catches in light traps paralleled male catches. Moths were caught in light traps for 1 - 2 weeks after catches with sex attractants had ended. Weibull functions were fitted to curves of cumulative percent catch with sex-attractant traps plotted against days or degree-days above 3°C air temperature (DD3°C) using Summerland traps. Among models fitted to the Summerland data, one using DD3°C after 1 January was the best predictor of flight activity in Kelowna and Cawston, where the errors in predicting 50% catch were about 1 and 2 days, respectively. A model using the date of first catch in a sex-attractant trap to start DD summations, called the biofix because it serves as a biological indicator of moth activity, predicted 50% catch within 3 - 4 days. The biofix model is recommended because it provides biological realism and less chance for error in years with unusual weather conditions. Models fitted to 10 data sets combined, predict that 50% catch will occur 166 DD3°C after 1 January, and 96 DD3°C after biofix, respectively. These models should aid in timing pest control measures, especially biorational pesticides that require accurate information on insect phenology to be most effective. Key words: Orthosia hibisci ; green fruitworm; monitoring; flight activity; degree days; modelling


The problem of sugarcane trash after harvesting is experienced by the world's sugarcane plantations, including those in Indonesia. Large amount of sugarcane trash left in the field makes difficulties in soil management and plant maintenance. Current practice done by the sugarcane plantations was "burning before soil tillage". However, the practice of burning cause unwanted impact to the environment and human health. Meanwhile, sugarcane trash still rich of nutrients for the land. The trash size is still long so that it should be reduced to improve composting process. The prototype was tested on 4 levels of reel rotational speeds and 4 levels of trash densities. During the tests, cutting torque and rotational speed of the reel were measured using a torque-meter and a digital tachometer. The prototype chopped up sugarcane trash of about 1.7 - 3.2 cm length. Higher trash density caused a higher cutting torque and cutting power, while higher rotational speed caused a lower cutting torque and a higher cutting power. The highest cutting torque was 4.03 kg.m, when chopped sugarcane trash of 32 kg/m3 in trash density on 400 rotational speed. Increasing the rotational speed caused a shorter trash size.
Keyword: cutting power, rotational speeds, sugarcane trash, cutting torque


The south-west region of Bangladesh has been experiencing water-logging at different sites where the polders have been constructed. The Kobadak River was connected with Mathabhanga in early 1970s, after getting cut off with its upstream flow from Mathabhanga River; the Kobadak had become tidally dominated river by its downstream. After being cut off from the upstream fresh water flow source, sedimentation rate became high over the years. Kobadak River adjacent people have been experiencing a great deal of environment and social losses due to the water-logging from the year 2000. The water-logging problem at the area of Jhikargacha, Manirampur,Keshabpur upazila of Jessore district and Kalaroa and Tala upazila of Satkhira district have been irritating over the years. The environmental components are affected adversely as the water quality degrades, wetland ecosystem affected by the stagnancy of water,terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity reduced due to the stagnancy of water for 4/5 months. Water on a vast swath of land and homesteads poses a serious threat to livelihood and environment and many of the vegetations and wildlife have become extinct due water-logging problem since 80s.


The eruption of Mount Pinatubo on 15 June 1991 produced the largest stratospheric volcanic aerosol cloud of the 20th century. About 20 megatons of SO2 was injected into the stratosphere, affecting global climate for years. In his Perspective,
 Robock
 discusses the climatic lessons learned from the Pinatubo eruption. An accompanying Perspective by
 Newhall
 et al .
 discusses the geologic insights gained from the eruption.


The authors describe a computer simulation of the Ising model of magnetism designed to be used as a teaching laboratory 'experiment' for physics undergraduates. The description emphasises the physical 'measurements' that can be obtained from such a simulation. One can study many details of the magnetic phase transition: the variation of magnetisation with temperature, and the behaviour of the thermodynamic functions of internal energy, specific heat, free energy and entropy. A magnetic field can be applied, leading to studies of hysteresis and domain behaviour. The program runs on a standard BBC 'B' Micro, using a 16*16*16 cubic matrix of sites with spin S<or=7/2 and either ferromagnetic or antiferromagnetic Ising coupling between nearest-neighbour sites. Physical results are in good agreement with those from real systems, and give the student a valuable insight into the behaviour of an interacting statistical system which is difficult to achieve without the use of computer simulation techniques.


The concept of "treatment resistance" has become all the rage in depression research. It is used to define populations in research studies and in treatment algorithms as a rationale for moving on from standard antidepressants to other therapies. In such algorithms, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is often bundled improperly with less effective neurostimulation-methods and experimental pharmacotherapies.


The practice of soil-cement reinforced layers to bear shallow foundations is a feasible option in low bearing capacity soils. This paper addresses the interpretation of plate load tests bearing on compacted artificially cemented sand layers of distinct sizes and shapes (cylindrical and prismatic) overlaying a weakly bonded residual soil stratum. Static load tests were carried out on a rigid circular steel plate (diameter of 300-mm) resting on sand-cement reinforced layers with distinct areas (diameters/widths of 450, 600, and 900-mm) and constant thickness of 300-mm. The results have shown two distinct failure modes that rely on the cemented layer's diameter/width: (a) the steel plate and the artificially cemented layer punch together into the weakly bonded residual soil, without the failure of the cemented layer, and (b) the artificially cemented layer fails. The combination of two traditional methods for predicting bearing capacity in soils was successfully applied considering the shape (and geometry) of the improved layer and the existence (or not) of interaction of the lateral of the cemented layers and the residual soil. Finally, this study highlights the importance of considering the shapes and sizes of soil-cement layers in the bearing capacity estimation (combining analytical solutions) of spread footings resting on treated layers above weakly bonded residual soils.


BACKGROUND
Enzymes of the glutathione S-transferase (GST) family are encoded by a set of polymorphic genes as an important part of cellular chemical defense. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible effect of GSTM1 deletion on susceptibility to developing clinical outcome of colorectal cancer in a group of CRC patients from Isfahan province, Iran, in comparison to age and gender matched control group.

METHODS
DNA was extracted from blood of 140 CRC patients and 90 healthy individuals and a set of sequence specific hybridization probes was used for GSTM1 genotyping by real-time PCR in Light-Cycler instrument. Chi-squared test was used to assess the statistical significance of observed differences between the patient and control subjects of different genders and ages. To estimate the risk for overall and stratified analyses, odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) computed with logistic regression.

RESULTS
No difference in GSTM1 null genotype frequency was found in CRC patients and controls stratified by gender (p value=0.14). The data were suggested a trend of increasing risk for GSTM1 null genotype in patients over 60 years old compared with controls (p value=0.05). GSTM1 null genotype carried an increase of the odds of developing CRC in patients over 60 years old (OR=2.7; 95% CI: 1.03-7.05). No significant association was found (P>0.05) between the GSTM1 null genotype with tumor site (right, left, rectum) or tumor differentiation (well, moderately).

CONCLUSION
Our findings suggest that the GSTM1 null genotype may contribute to colorectal cancer development in people over 60 years old.


This study was performed to investigate the levels of cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn) in water and rice samples taken from five sites on a stream used for agricultural water in the Jeon-buk area, Korea. The water samples were randomly collected by the recommendations of the World Health Organization, and rice samples were randomly collected from rice paddy. The water and rice samples were analyzed by the recommendations of Food Code of Korea and using inductively coupled plasma spectrometer. Although there was variation between sampling sites, the levels of the metals in rice were on average much higher than those in water. The ratios of metal levels of rice to water were: 8.0~35.4 for Cd; 2.2~7.2 for Cu; 5.9~18.3 for Pb; and 10.6~75.7 for Zn. These results suggest that there were transfer and bioaccumulation of the metals from the water to the rice taken place.


Layered structures can possess a high volumetric density of interfaces, which can result in novel magnetic properties. We report magnetic characteristics of two types of atomically layered structures, (001) oriented intermetallics with the CuAu(I) crystal structure and (111) oriented artificial multilayers. C-axis oriented superlattices of PtFe, PtCo, PdFe and PdCo with the layered CuAu(I) structure, possess large magnetic anisotropies and novel magneto-optic properties relative to the corresponding random alloys. These films are produced by annealing, with tetragonality and magnetic anisotropy developing in a fashion which depends on the initial bilayer period and annealing parameters. (111) oriented artificially grown Pd/CoCr multilayers are reported for perpendicular magnetic recording applications. Using a perpendicular contact probe transducer, the multilayers exhibit two times the readback signal of CoCr media. The multilayers can be made with low roughness suitable for contact recording, and can generate narrow readback pulses with large amplitude. Many aspects of Pd/Co performance, such as overwrite, can be predictably optimized for a given set of transducer properties. The reported results show that compositionally modulated structures can be made which have a wide variety of useful properties for perpendicular hard disk and magneto-optic recording.


Air corona discharge is one of the critical problems associated with high-voltage equipment. Investigating the corona mechanism plays a key role in enhancing the electrical insulation performance. An improved self-consistent multi-component two-dimensional plasma hybrid model is presented for the simulation of a direct current atmospheric pressure corona discharge in air. The model is based on plasma hydrodynamic and chemical models, and includes 12 species and 26 reactions. In addition, the photoionization effect is introduced into the model. The simulation on a bar-plate electrode configuration with an inter-electrode gap of 5.0 mm is carried out. The discharge voltage—current characteristics and the current density distribution predicted by the hybrid model agree with the experimental measurements. In addition, the dynamics of volume charged species generation, discharge current waveform, current density distribution at an electrode, charge density, electron temperature, and electric field variations are investigated in detail based on the model. The results indicate that the model can contribute valuable insights into the physics of an air plasma discharge.


Legibility refers to the physical appearance of printed materials: line lengths, type size, style of type face, space between lines and between letters, margins, and physical format are some of the factors that are involved. After the turn of the century, especially after 1925, research became fairly common in this area, but has been meager since 1950. From the 1800s, the best type of serifs, the effects of descenders and ascenders, brightness contrast between paper and ink, and other factors have been the topic of discussion and research. Based on the findings of various studies, speed rf reading is the most satisfactory measure of legibility of type face. Most publishers maintain that 10 or 11 point type is the smallest that should be used in books, but there is no agreement on this subject by modern authorities. Research indicates that two-point leading (the space between lines) appears to be optimal. There is great diversity in the application of factors such as size of page, margins, single and multiple columns, paragraph arrangements, and vertical and horizontal printing. Research indicates that black print on a white background is more legible than white print on a black background, and approximately three-fourths of readers prefer it in this manner. Factors affecting legibility typically are not determined by research, but by persons who publish printed material simply according to their own beliefs and opinions. (Contains 24 references.) (RS) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******w****************************************************************


The transcranial doppler (T.C.D.) is a non-invasive technique useful for the evaluation of vasospasm and intracranial hypertension in patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage (S.A.H.). Eighteen patients with recent S.A.H. were studied by means of T.C.D. device: in 14 patients the source of bleeding was a ruptured aneurysm of the circle of Willis, while the remaining 4 presented a negative four-vessels angiography. All the patients were studied 5 and 10 days after the bleeding. Our data showed that the ultrasonographic demonstration of vasospasm and/or I.C.H. is clearly related to the clinical status of the patients. No significant T.C.D. difference was noticed between the "sine materia" S.A.H. patients and the ones with ruptured aneurysm.


Glaucoma today has sophisticated means of diagnosis and a range of complex treatment modalities. Despite these recent acquisitions this disease continues to send to darkness in an annual pace, millions of individuals worldwide. Somewhere diagnosis and treatment is occurring delayed, or have lost their adequacy and their fine tuning. Finding and obtaining individual normal IOP of each eye with glaucoma may be the saving solution.


Positive family influences have a significant impact on addressing school barriers to academic success for students from socially disadvantaged backgrounds. Due to inequities and attitudes toward people with complex communication needs, positive family influences may be critical in the academic success of students using AAC. This study asked the following question of eight United States high school graduates who have used augmentative and alternative communication (AAC): How do family influences positively affect the ability of students who use AAC to succeed in the secondary academic environment? Five themes emerged from the qualitative analysis of participants' narratives: (a) the impact of the family in seeking appropriate education, (b) homework as a challenge that was made easier through the involvement of the family, (c) the role of the family in communicating the importance of education, (d) mothers as driving forces of support, and (e) family encouragement for self-determination. This research allows families and schools to recognize the needs of students and to take action to meet them. It identifies the needs of families and schools in establishing relationships with each other, in terms of supporting requirements for accommodation, learning, motivation, and self-determination of students with complex commmunication needs.


The energy security of each country is one of the main factors of its proper functioning. Currently, in the era of problems related to energy security resulting from, among other things, the war in Ukraine, this topic is particularly important. This article presents issues related to Poland's energy security, understood as the financial and economic stability of enterprises operating in the energy industry. This stability is considered in two aspects: macroeconomic, where the focus is mainly on the aspect of state intervention in market processes; and microeconomic, where factors determining the financial security of energy enterprises were identified, including internal and external factors affecting the functioning of these entities. In order to achieve the assumed research goals, the analysis of the indicated problems was based on non-reactive research, consisting in the assessment of the available information. It included studies of normative acts, official statistical data, industry reports and analyses, as well as data obtained in the form of a public information request. Two basic research methods were used in the work—dogmatic–legal and comparative analyses. The identification of factors affecting the security of companies in the sector was carried out on the basis of data on the entire energy sector in Poland for the years 2015–2021 on a semi-annual basis. Vector-autoregressive models were used for the analysis. As a result of the analyses, it was established that market failures and public safety are the premises justifying the public financing of enterprises in the electricity generation, transmission, distribution and trade sectors. At the same time, the conducted research showed that the level of financial security of energy enterprises in Poland was affected by the ratio of the value of goods and materials sold to net sales revenue, as well as the level of EBIT (earnings before deducting interest and taxes) margin, and among external factors, the level of GDP (gross domestic product), CPI (consumer price index) and Crude Oil were important.


The objectives of the research were: (1) to determine growth and yield response of two tomato varieties upon the application of POC super ACI, and (2) to obtain suitable concentrations of POC super ACI for tomato crop.This research was polybag trials using completely randomized design (CRD) with factorial analysis and 5 replications.  The first factor was the variety, consists of two levels: Ranti and Ratna.  The second factor was the concentration of liquid organic fertilizer, consists of 4 levels, namely 0.00; 0.75; 1.50; and 2.25 ml/l.  Data were analyzed using analysis of variance and if there was a significant difference, then the test used Least Significant Difference (LSD) at 5%. The results revealed that: (1) Treatment of varieties affected significantly on the plant height increment at age of 15, 30, 45, and 60 days after planting and harvesting; days to flowering; number of fruit per crop and fruit fresh weight. Ratna variety produce fruit weight of 239.63 g/polybag while Ranti was 79.08 g/polybag;  (2) The concentration of POC Super ACI affected significanlty on the plant height increment at age of 15, 30, 45, and 60 days after planting and harvesting; number of fruit per crop and fruit fresh weight.  The best fertilizer concentration was 1.50 ml/l water that can produce fruit fresh weight of 194.68 g; and (3) The interaction between varieties and fertilizer concentrations did not affect significantly on all variables observed.


Objective: Hypertension has become one of the health problems in the world. Based on Indonesia Basic Health Research 2013, the prevalence of hypertension is 25.8%. One of the anti-hypertension drugs is clonidine, an alpha-blocker. Although clonidine is not an option as first line therapy by the guidelines, this drug still plays some role in the management of hypertension, especially due to its availability, efficacy and low price in rural area. We evaluate clonidine compared with other anti-hypertension drugs to treat. Design and Method: Within October 2014 - December 2015, a case-control study was conducted among hospitalized patients with moderate to severe hypertension. Case group was patients treated by clonidine and combining it with two anti hypertension drugs (n = 45). Control group was random patients treated with at least two anti hypertension drugs (n = 90). The drug-combinations were described as Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Inhibitor (ACEi), Calcium Channel Blocker (CCB), Beta Blocker (BB) and Diuretics. Results: A total of 135 hospitalized patients were conducted in this study, 78 patients (57.8%) were female. All subjects were admitted with hypertension grade 3 according to the 2013 ESC/ESH guideline. Mostly reported comorbid include Stroke (29.6%), Diabetes type II (20.4%), and Chronic Kidney disease (16.1%). In mmHg, median systolic BP was 210 (160–300) and diastolic BP was 120 (100–190). There is significant difference of proportion between outcome and clonidine +/- other drugs (p = 0.007). Further analysis showed that the probability of mortality in patients treated without clonidine was 23%, compared to those with clonidine (OR 0.32, p = 0.03 95% CI 0.11–0.94). Conclusions: The reference control group had less risk of mortality than patients treated with clonidine. The administration of clonidine needs to be further evaluated especially as first line therapy in the management of grade III hypertension.


A recently published generalized gradient approximation functional within density functional theory (DFT) has shown, in a few paradigm tests, an improved KS orbital description over standard (semi)local approximations. The characteristic feature of this functional is an enhancement factor that diverges like $sln(s)$ for large reduced density gradients $s$ which leads to unusual properties. We explore the improved orbital description of this functional more thoroughly by computing the electronic band structure, band gaps, and the optical dielectric constants in semiconductors, Mott insulators, and ionic crystals. Compared to standard semilocal functionals, we observe improvement in both the band gaps and the optical dielectric constants. In particular, the results are similar to those obtained with orbital functionals or by perturbation theory methods in that it opens band gaps in systems described as metallic by standard (semi)local density functionals, e.g., Ge, $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-Sn, and CdO.