To accomplish effective cancer imaging and integrated therapy, the multifunctional nanotheranostic Fe3O4-MTX@HBc core-shell nanoparticles (NPs) were designed. A straightforward method was demonstrated for efficient encapsulation of magnetic NPs into the engineered virus-like particles (VLPs) through the affinity of histidine tags for the methotrexate (MTX)-Ni2+ chelate. HBc144-His VLPs shell could protect Fe3O4-MTX NPs from the recognition by the reticuloendothelial system as well as could increase their cellular uptake efficiency. Through our well-designed tactic, the photothermal efficiency of Fe3O4 NPs were obviously improved in vitro and in vivo upon near-infrared (NIR) laser irradiation. Moreover, Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) results showed that the Fe3O4-MTX@HBc core-shell NPs were reliable T2-type MRI contrast agents for tumor imaging. Hence the Fe3O4-MTX@HBc core-shell NPs may act as a promising theranostic platform for multimodal cancer treatment.


The results of studies devoted to the development of the optical frequency standard based on a diode-pumped 1064-nm single-frequency ring Nd:YAG laser with intracavity frequency doubling are presented. The laser frequency was stabilised by saturated absorption resonances in molecular iodine at the second-harmonic frequency of the laser (at 532 nm). The saturated absorption resonances were observed in an external luminescent cell. The relative long-term frequency stability achieved in experiments was ~6×10-15. The physical and technical factors affecting the long-term frequency stability and reproducibility are investigated.


Presently an effort has been made to determine the effectiveness of probiotics against marine pathogenic bacterial load ingested by Artemia franciscana nauplii. In this experiment Artemia franciscana nauplii was allowed to ingest pathogenic bacterial strains, viz. Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi, Salmonella paratyphi, Vibrio cholerae and Shigella sp. Probiotic organism (Bioremid) was used against the pathogenic strains on Artemia franciscana nauplii. On completion of the experiment it was observed that the use of Probiotic organism (Bioremid) reduced the pathogenic bacterial load, especially that of Shigella sp. on Artemia franciscana.


A comparative study between the modified and unmodified nanosilica to fine tune the morphological and thermal properties of a model low-density polyethylene (LDPE) – ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) thermoplastic elastomer blend system is explored in this article. The nanosilica
 particles were melt-blended with the LDPE/EVA system through the variation of the sequence of addition. The blends were compression molded, and their morphological and thermal properties were evaluated. The incorporation of nanosilica particles produced a drastic improvement in thermal stability
 as compared to the control blend. The morphological studies clearly indicated that modified nanosilica had a homogeneous dispersion in the bi -component polymer matrix leading to strengthening of silica-polymer interface. Interestingly, after modification the sequence did not play a major
 role in affecting the morphology of this system. Overall, although the properties of the unmodified nanosilica filled blends are strong functions of the sequence of addition, but, interestingly, the properties of the modified nanosilica filled blends do not depend much on the preparation procedure.


Techniques for the separate/joint optimization of error-feedback and realization are developed to minimize the roundoff noise subject to L2-norm dynamic-range scaling constraints for a class of 2-D state-space digital filters. In the joint optimization, the problem at hand is converted into an unconstrained optimization problem by using linear-algebraic techniques. The unconstrained problem obtained is then solved by applying an efficient quasi-Newton algorithm. A numerical example is presented to illustrate the utility of the proposed techniques.


Date Presented 4/17/2015 In this proof-of-concept study, we tested the feasibility of using a standardized measurement framework to inform a stroke rehabilitation program design in which person ability and task difficulty were matched and progressed over nine therapy sessions. Results indicate improved upper-extremity motor skills.


Strained ring systems are regarded as privileged coupling partners in directed C-H bond functionalization and have emerged as a potential research area in organic synthesis. The inherent ring strain in these systems acts as a driving force, allowing the facile construction of diversified structural scaffolds via integrating C-H activation and ring-scission. The mechanistic underpinnings allows the implementation of a plethora of C-H bonds across plentiful organic substrates, including the less reactive alkyl ones. Considering the synthetic space, this area will foster developments of novel synthetic methods in chelation guided C-H functionalization. This review will focus on recent developments in transition-metal catalyzed chelation assisted concomitant C-H activation and ring scission of strained rings to attain molecular complexity.


In a homogeneous finite-state Markov process, we consider the occupation times, that is, the times spent by the process in given subsets of the state space during a finite interval of time. We first derive the distribution of the occupation time of one subset and then we generalize that result to the joint distribution of occupation times of different subsets of the state space by the use of order statistics from the uniform distribution. Next, we consider the distribution of weighted sums of occupation times. We obtain forward and backward equations describing the behavior of these weighted sums and we show how these lead to simple expressions for that distribution.


ABSTRACT We are currently investigating the role of ToxR-mediated gene regulation in Photobacterium profundum strain SS9. SS9 is a moderately piezophilic ("pressure loving") psychrotolerant marine bacterium belonging to the family Vibrionaceae. InVibrio cholerae, ToxR is a transmembrane DNA binding protein involved in mediating virulence gene expression in response to various environmental signals. A homolog to V. choleraeToxR that is necessary for pressure-responsive gene expression of two outer membrane protein-encoding genes was previously found in SS9. To search for additional genes regulated by ToxR in SS9, we have used RNA arbitrarily primed PCR (RAP-PCR) with wild-type and toxRmutant strains of SS9. Seven ToxR-activated transcripts and one ToxR-repressed transcript were identified in this analysis. The cDNAs corresponding to these partial transcripts were cloned and sequenced, and ToxR regulation of their genes was verified. The products of these genes are all predicted to fall into one or both of two functional categories, those whose products alter membrane structure and/or those that are part of a starvation response. The transcript levels of all eight newly identified genes were also characterized as a function of hydrostatic pressure. Various patterns of pressure regulation were observed, indicating that ToxR activation or repression cannot be used to predict the influence of pressure on gene expression in SS9. These results provide further information on the nature of the ToxR regulon in SS9 and indicate that RAP-PCR is a useful approach for the discovery of new genes under the control of global regulatory transcription factors.


One of the most significant factors influencing the health of older men is their engagement in physical activity. Although the benefits of physical activity are well-established, inactivity tends to increase with aging, with men being at a significant risk of sedentary behaviour. Aging men may face significant pressures to embody dominant masculine ideals, affecting their motivations and experiences with physical activity. The purpose of this qualitative study was to enhance understanding of older men's contextualized experiences with physical activity in their day-to-day lives, with an emphasis on the influence of masculinities on these experiences. These experiences were situated within socioecological and masculinities frameworks to assist healthcare providers develop health promotion interventions that are specific to older men, facilitating healthy aging and enhancing quality of life in this subpopulation. Four older men, over the age of 65, participated in in-depth data collection methods including an initial sit-down interview, three walk-along sessions, and photovoice, resulting in 2.17 hours of video, 10.17 hours of audio, and 54 pictures across the four men. An interpretive descriptive approach to data analysis was used to identify key areas of the men's personal experiences with physical activity. Data analysis resulted in three key themes: Aging Male Bodies, Out in the Community, and Social Connectedness and Physical Activity. Findings from this study add to the growing knowledge around connections between older men, physical activity, and masculinities. Understanding the intersections between these factors will enhance understanding of older men's experiences with physical activity in the context of their day-to-day lives, and assist healthcare providers develop health promotion programs targeted to the unique needs of older men.


When we deal about fertility future evolution, it is generally believed – above all among people who do not deal with this topic – that in order to achieve an intrinsic rate of population natural increase equal to zero, able to ensure the constancy of its total amount over a long period ("zero population growth"), it is sufficient to reach a TFR equal, more or less, to 2.10 that must be kept steady in time having, as counterpart, fundamentally growing population for higher values and fundamentally decreasing population for values below the above mentioned level of reference (R=2.10). However, even nowadays, where the death rate is very high, in order to achieve an intrinsic rate of population natural increase equal to zero, it is necessary to start from total fertility rates, which are fundamentally as higher than 2.10 as higher is, at different ages, the mortality for women under 50. Under this consideration, we have pointed out the problem of singling out the so called replacement threshold of the TFR, assuming that it is not correct to interpret it as a fixed value, more or less equal to 2.10. In these pages we have briefly drawn – rather than demonstrated – the reader attention to the fact that for a TFR equal to 2.50 we have, considering the changes in mortality rates, values of net fertility rate which deeply vary, going from a value of 0.770 (for a life expectancy at birth equal to 20.0 years) to a value of 2.426 (for a life expectancy at birth equal to 80 years) as in the analysed case, and reaching a value which is very near to 2.100 for a life expectancy at birth equal to 62.5 years.


If element $z$ of a lattice effect algebra $(E,\oplus, {\mathbf 0}, {\mathbf 1})$ is central, then the interval $[{\mathbf 0},z]$ is a lattice effect algebra with the new top element $z$ and with inherited partial binary operation $\oplus$. It is a known fact that if the set $C(E)$ of central elements of $E$ is an atomic Boolean algebra and the supremum of all atoms of $C(E)$ in $E$ equals to the top element of $E$, then $E$ is isomorphic to a subdirect product of irreducible effect algebras ([18]). This means that if there exists a MacNeille completion $\hat{E}$ of $E$ which is its extension (i.e. $E$ is densely embeddable into $\hat{E}$) then it is possible to embed $E$ into a direct product of irreducible effect algebras. Thus $E$ inherits some of the properties of $\hat{E}$. For example, the existence of a state in $\hat{E}$ implies the existence of a state in $E$. In this context, a natural question arises if the MacNeille completion of the center of $E$ (denoted as ${\cal M}{\cal C}(C(E))$) is necessarily the same as the center of $\hat{E}$, i.e., if ${\cal M}{\cal C}(C(E))=C(\hat{E})$ is necessarily true. We show that the equality is not necessarily fulfilled. We find a necessary condition under which the equality may hold. Moreover, we show also that even the completeness of $C(E)$ and its bifullness in $E$ is not sufficient to guarantee the mentioned equality.


This paper presents a set of propagation rules to solve cumulative constraints. As in our previous paper on jobshop scheduling [8], our goal is to propose to the CLP community techniques that allow a constraint satisfaction program to obtain performances which are competitive with ad-hoc approaches. The rules that we propose are a mix of an extension of the concept of task intervals to the cumulative case and the use of a traditional resource histogram. We also explain how to use a branching scheme inherited from operations research to address complex multi-resources problems (similar to the use of edge-finding for jobshop scheduling). We show that the complex propagation patterns associated with our rules make a strong arguments for using logic programming. We also identify a phenomenon of phase transition in our examples that illustrates why cumulative scheduling is hard.


The topic of this study is land legislation and its implementation in Hungary between 1944 and 1967. In the paper, the different types of communist land policy methods were analysed, focusing on abolishing private land ownership and private land use. In this context, the fundamental elements and development of land legislation, furthermore basic trends and changes in land structure are assessed. The land law was not codified in the communist dictatorship, but the attempts of such codification are explored in the paper, which occurred during the "new course" (1953/1954–1955), started around the revolution in the autumn of 1956, and a third in 1962 after mass collectivization. As a result of political change and the aftermath of the revolution, private farmers received twice land back in private ownership and private use. The analysis points out that strengthening private land ownership had a better chance in the "new course" than after the revolution in 1956. Land transfer and lease were restricted from 1948 but increased between 1953 and 1955, and again between 1956 and 1959 during the relaxed agrarian policy. The regulations were implemented in a radical fashion between 1948/1949 and 1953 generally, and legislation on land use, land consolidation, and "waiver" multiplied efforts to abolish private farms. Because of this reason, the idea of the gradual transformation of the countryside was abandoned, "kulaks" were discriminated and their estates liquidated. Imre Nagy and others recognized the paradox situation and initiated corrections, which paved the way and did result in a whole new economic policy in July 1953. On the other hand, after 1956, the new regime set a new upper limit of private farms and started another wave of expropriation. The records indicate that the main method of taking private land in state ownership was "waiver" of land and expropriation until 1967. Private land ownership was finally abolished by creating cooperative ownership. The study can be considered a case study to the account of the legal, economic, and social history of the communist dictatorship.


By frequency-band extracting, we experimentally and theoretically investigate time-delay signature (TDS) suppression and entropy growth enhancement of a chaotic optical-feedback semiconductor laser under different injection currents and feedback strengths. The TDS and entropy growth are quantified by the peak value of autocorrelation function and the difference of permutation entropy at the feedback delay time. At the optimal extracting bandwidth, the measured TDS is suppressed up to 96% compared to the original chaos, and the entropy growth is higher than the noise-dominated threshold, indicating that the dynamical process is noisy. The effects of extracting bandwidth and radio frequencies on the TDS and entropy growth are also clarified experimentally and theoretically. The experimental results are in good agreements with the theoretical results. The skewness of the laser intensity distribution is effectively improved to 0.001 with the optimal extracting bandwidth. This technique provides a promising tool to extract randomness and prepare desired entropy sources for chaotic secure communication and random number generation.


Stress affects the pathophysiology of cutaneous immune reactions, including contact hypersensitivity (CH) in individuals sensitized with sensitizing hapten, where local endothelial cell activation plays a critical role. To clarify the effects of stress in cutaneous immune reactions, we selected a CH model using annoying sound as a stress. Furthermore, we conducted the stress experiments by using selectin-deficient mice to determine the involvement of selectin molecules regarding local endothelial activation. Auditory stress augmented CH responses in the present study. Namely, ear thickness and mast cell numbers were significantly increased in stressed CH mice. mRNA expression of preprotachykinin-A, a precursor of substance-P; interferon-gamma; interleukin (IL)-4; IL-6; and tumor necrosis factor-alpha significantly increased in stressed CH mice. Furthermore, stressed L-selectin-deficient mice showed significant decreases in all parameters mentioned above relative to stressed wild-type mice in CH response. Meanwhile, treatment with anti-L-selectin Ab resulted in a significant decrease in ear thickness and mRNA levels of interferon-gamma, IL-4, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha, but failed to significantly reduce preprotachykinin-A mRNA levels and mast cell numbers. Our results indicated that auditory stress enhances CH response and that the augmentation of this CH response might be mediated through L-selectin, but not through P- or E-selectin pathways.


INTRODUCTION During charting operations west of the Mississippi Delta area, the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey explored in detail the submarine valley that had been discovered previously in a locality 30 miles south‐west of the Passes. The writer was fortunate in being able to accompany the survey vessel during these operations. The large domes and ridges discovered in the vicinity of the valley were not anticipated and open up a new problem for marine investigations. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This work was assisted by a grant from the Geological Society, which covered expenses incidental to the trip. Thanks are due also to the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey and particularly to Captain F. S. Borden, of the Hydrographer, the vessel on which the survey was made. The cooperation of Dr. Marcus Goldman, Dr. J. B. Reeside, Mr. L. G. Henbest of the United States Geological Survey, and Mr. J. T. Richards . . .


Compact expressions to calculate the transition energies, absorption line strengths, and rotational line strengths of circular dichroism for the excitonic states in a helical arrangement of N identical chromophores are presented. The absorption spectrum A(ν) and the CD spectrum C(ν) are given in terms of the same function G(ν,α) as A(ν) = a(1)G(ν,0) + a(2)G(ν,α), C(ν) = (s(1) - s(2))G(ν,α) + s(3)(d/dα)G(ν,α). The function G(ν,α) depends only on the helical angle α and the number N of interacting chromophores. An analytical expression can be given when only next-neighbor interactions are considered. All other structural parameters of the system (e.g. orientation of transition dipoles and the translation vector of the helix) enter only into the prefactors a(j) and s(j).


In the much-heralded war for talent, it's hardly surprising that companies have invested a lot of time, money, and energy in hiring and retaining star performers. For most CEOs, recruiting stars is simply more fun; for one thing, the young A players they interview often remind them of themselves at the same age. For another, A players' brilliance and drive is infectious; you simply want to be in their company. Besides, in these troubled times, when businesses are so vulnerable, people who seem to have what it takes to turn around a company's performance are almost irresistible. But our understandable fascination with star performers can lure us into the dangerous trap of underestimating the vital importance of the supporting actors. It's true that A players can make enormous contributions to performance. Yet, as the authors have found, companies' long-term performance--even survival--depends far more on the unsung commitment and contributions of their B players. These capable, steady performers are the best supporting actors of the corporate world. Companies are routinely blinded to the important role B players serve in saving organizations from themselves. They counter-balance the ambitions of the company's high-performing visionaries, whose much-esteemed strengths, when carried to an extreme, can lead to reckless or volatile behavior. In this sense, B players act as a stabilizing force for charismatic A players who might otherwise destabilize the organization. Unfortunately, organizations rarely learn to value their B players in ways that are gratifying for either the company or these employees. As a result, they see their profits sinking without understanding why. This article will help you to rethink the role of your organization's B players. The authors show how you can mentor and nurture B players to ensure their continued participation in the company.


Current automotive safety systems restrict the vehicle to the linear region of operation where the sideslip angle is small. Recent research in the field has discovered that drifting possesses unstable equilibria in which the vehicle is controllable even after the handling limits in the linear region have been exceeded. This thesis presents the design and simulation of a feedback linearization controller that, by using yaw rate as input to controlling the sideslip angle, is able to find the equilibrium point corresponding to the initial velocity and the desired yaw rate. Simulation results show that the controller is able to achieve a yaw rate within 5 degrees of the desired yaw rate. It is demonstrated that utilization of drifting techniques increases the maneuverability of the vehicle compared to normal cornering. Based on the successful handling of coupling in actuator authority at high angles of sideslip, feedback linearization as a control design tool is recommended for further development of controllers in the LocalHawk project. The LocalBug simulator has been improved by the addition of a dc motor model that includes selection of front, rear and four wheel drive. Measurement of the moment of inertia of LocalBug and recording of true noise data, which is added to the simulator output, has increased the fidelity of the simulator. Validation of the simulator shows that the simulation results largely is in agreement with logged test data, except for the case of hard breaking where the simulation model is inclined to experience a spin.


The occasion of the partial solar eclipse in Malaysia occurred on 9th March 2016 covered almost 60% to 90% of the whole Sun. During the maximum time of partial solar eclipse, some of the solar radiations and sunlight was blocked to reach the Earth's surface. In order to see this effect to a radio signal, the analysis of radio signal pattern before and during solar eclipse at Balai Cerap KUSZA, Merang, Terengganu was done. The radio signal measurement was taken in the wideband frequency region from 0Hz to 9GHz. The radio signal data had been analysis to compare between before and during the eclipse by calculating their average.Initial analysis shows that there a different number of peak signal between two observations. Then, the solar radiation data during the partial solar eclipse also was analysed. Furthermore, solar events data from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) also added into this work. It shows that there not enough prove that the partial solar eclipse affect the radio signal pattern.


The distribution of Cu, Zn, Fe, Mo, Se, As, Cd and Pb was determined in the organs of sheep that died of Cu intoxication from a Cu plants emissions. Simultaneously, quantitative and qualitative changes in the ovaries were evaluated. In sheep that died of copper intoxication, the highest Cu levels were in the liver (1797 +/- 946.1 mg/kg dry matter) and the kidneys (425.5 +/- 426.4 mg/kg dry matter). The liver and kidneys accumulated Zn, whereas Fe was primarily accumulated by spleen and kidneys. Selenium was mainly in the ovaries and uterus (7.72 +/- 4.88 and 5.30 +/- 5.33 mg/kg dry matter respectively). The ovaries and the uterus were the organs that accumulated As, Cd and Pb, respectively. Histological changes in the number of ovarian follicles and the increased occurrence of primary atretic follicles indicated alterations in the membrane structures and organelles of oocytes and in the follicular cells of the stratum granulosum.


We present a new analysis of 843 photographic plates of Pluto taken by Carl Lampland at Lowell Observatory from 1930–1951. This large collection of plates contains useful astrometric information that improves our knowledge of Pluto's orbit. This improvement provides critical support to the impending flyby of Pluto by New Horizons. New Horizons can do inbound navigation of the system to improve its targeting. This navigation is capable of nearly eliminating the sky-plane errors but can do little to constrain the time of closest approach. Thus the focus on this work was to better determine Pluto's heliocentric distance and to determine the uncertainty on that distance with a particular eye to eliminating systematic errors that might have been previously unrecognized. This work adds 596 new astrometric measurements based on the USNO CCD Astrograph Catalog 4. With the addition of these data the uncertainty of the estimated heliocentric position of Pluto in Developmental Ephemerides 432 (DE432) is at the level of 1000 km. This new analysis gives us more confidence that these estimations are accurate and are sufficient to support a successful flyby of Pluto by New Horizons.


The aim of this paper is to introduce a life cycle perspective on the notion of failure of engineered products. Usually failure is seen as an event that can occur during the utilization stage of products. Moreover, most definitions describe failure in terms of manifest termination of expected performance. The life cycle perspective expands this view by including failures occurring outside the utilization stage, and offers a categorization of phenomena that are arguably also taken as failures in engineering. The paper starts by considering previous attempts to take the life cycle into account when dealing with product failure. A definition of failure suitable for the life cycle approach is proposed and applied to categorize a number of case stories and examples of failure occurring in different stages of the life cycle, confirming the engineering credibility of the approach. Moreover, it shows that the life cycle approach affords applying the notion of failure to events that can occur after the products are removed from service and are related to their sustainability.


Despite of the increasing importance of environmental mycobacteria, detection and identification of mycobacteria from environmental sources including water have been fraught with technical difficulties. Although, several protocols to optimize isolation of mycobacteria from water sources have been reported, standard method has not yet been established. In this study, usefulness of cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC), a cationic quaternary ammonium compound, for the isolation of environmental mycobacteria from diverse water samples was evaluated. For this, water samples from diverse water sources such as effluent water, lake water, and underground water were collected, treated with diverse concentrations of CPC, and plated on the solid agar plates. Subsequently individual colonies grown on the plates were sequence analyzed for identification of each colony. In brief, the results from this study showed that the growth of mycobacteria was enhanced by use of CPC as a pre-treatment reagent to water samples by inhibiting growth of other non-mycobacteria in water. In fact, the effect of CPC to decontaminate non-mycobacteria for isolation of mycobacteria was better than 1~4% of NaOH, which is a routinely used decontaminating reagent widely employed for culturing mycobactera from sputum specimens. Therefore, the results from this study seems to support that the CPC pre-treatment may be useful for isolation of mycobacteria from diverse sources including clinical specimens which are often contaminated with other bacteria.


A novel structure, namely the stubbed waveguide cavity (SWC), is introduced in this paper. The SWC consists of a main TE201 mode cavity which is loaded with a pair of E-plane waveguide stubs. The stubs behave as two embedded half-mode cavities supporting a TM110 and TE011 mode, respectively. Three poles and two transmission zeros can be controlled with high design flexibility by properly dimensioning the various structural design parameters. The SWC is particularly suitable for the implementation of symmetric transmission zeros extremely close to the passband edges. The experimental results of a K-band prototype prove the feasibility of this new waveguide cavity.


The World Health Organization antenatal care guidelines 2016 have emphasized maternal nutrition assessment and provision of a set of nutrition-relevant interventions. This Data Note describes the current levels of key maternal nutrition interventions during pregnancy, summarizing the National Family Health Survey-4 (2016) data from 640 districts of India.


Question: A 61-year-old man presented with severe upper abdominal pain. He had a history of moderate alcohol intake, but no prior pancreatic disease. On physical examination he was afebrile with upper abdominal tenderness and voluntary guarding. Laboratory studies were notable for: aspartate aminotransferase, 118 U/L (normal, <48); alanine aminotransferase, 114 U/L (normal, <55); creatinine 3.8 mg/dL (normal,<1.3); and lipase, 3,843 U/L (normal, <73). A computed tomographic (CT) scan of the abdomen without contrast was obtained (Figure A). Urgent endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography was performed and biliary sludge and 1 stone were removed. He developed progressive multiorgan failure over the next week, including septic shock requiring vasopressor support, acute renal failure requiring dialysis, and hypoxemic respiratory failure necessitating mechanical ventilation. Subsequently, a CT-guided fine-needle aspiration of a peripancreatic fluid collection revealed polymicrobial growth of Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterococcus casseliflavus, and Candida albicans. What is the diagnosis? Look on page 1429 for the answer and see the Gastroenterology web site (www.gastrojournal.org) for more information on submitting your favorite image to Clinical Challenges and Images in GI.


Acinetobacter baumannii plays a significant role in infecting patients admitted to hospitals. Many A. baumannii infections, including ventilation-associated pneumonia, wound, and bloodstream infections, are common for intensive care and burn units. The ability of the microorganism to acquire resistance to many antibiotics, disinfectants, and dehydration assures its long-term survival in hospital settings. The application of bacteriophages is a potential tool to control A. baumannii infections. Bacteriophage AP22 lytic for A. baumannii was isolated from clinical materials and classified as a member of the Myoviridae family. The phage had an icosahedral head of 64 nm in diameter and a contractile tail of 85-90 nm in length. According to restriction analysis, AP22 had 46-kb double-stranded DNA genome. The phage AP22 exhibited rapid adsorption (> 99% adsorbed in 5 min), a large burst size (240 PFU per cell), and stability to the wide range of pH. The bacteriophage was shown to specifically infect and lyse 68% (89 of 130) genotype-varying multidrug-resistant clinical A. baumannii strains by forming clear zones. Thus, it could be used as a candidate for making up phage cocktails to control A. baumannii-associated nosocomial infections.


INTRODUCTION
The aim of the present study was to assess knowledge and therapeutic preferences in the treatment of patients suffering from hand eczema in general practice.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
A questionnaire was mailed to 700 Danish general physicians. Based on the case report of a man suffering from contact eczema on the hands and forearms for 4 months, the general physicians were asked to make a diagnosis, prescribe medication, advise the patient about general skin protection and consider a referral to a dermatologist.

RESULTS
451 (64%) completed the questionnaire. The diagnosis contact eczema was made by almost all respondents (98%). A more potent topical steroid was the most frequently prescribed medication, alternatively in combination with an antibiotic component. A subgroup (16%) wanted to prescribe a less potent topical steroid. Only 20% of the respondents wanted to refer the patient to a dermatologist at the first consultation.

CONCLUSION
Danish general physicians recognise the symptoms of contact eczema. The medical treatment is predominantly in agreement with general recommendations. A minor group would choose a less potent medication which could result in an inferior treatment. Attention should be paid to the fact that patients suffering from contact eczema which lasts more than one month ought to be referred to a dermatologist.


The fat-tailed Awassi sheep is the only sheep breed in Syria adapted to the harsh environmental conditions and it is distributed all over the country. There are about 13.5 million heads of Awassi sheep in Syria contributing 78%, 30 % and 100 % of the total red meat, milk and wool production, respectively. Awassi sheep is the most important livestock animals, grazing on poorly developed wheat and barley fields and on the remains of crops such as wheat and corn. The price of mutton of the Awassi breed, which is in high demand in Syria, was about 35 % higher than beef in 1995. These animals are raised under three husbandry systems (extensive, semi-intensive, and intensive). To improve Awassi sheep the General Commission for Scientific Agricultural Research (GCSAR) in Syria established few stations located across the country. The commission intends to produce specialised lines of animals for milk and meat production. Its target is to distribute those animals to farmers and test the on-farm performance of the sheep. Despite this effort, Awassi sheep in Syria produce on average 200—300 kg milk per year compared to Israel, which was able to double milk production (over 500 kg) of its strain through intensive selection. This study aims to analyse breeding objectives and effective breeding programs. During the first step of the study productions systems characterised, breeding objectives determined and local as well as regional breeding activities implemented by sheep producer identified. In a second step the effective of government breeding stations with regard to their impact will be evaluated and alternative breeding programs including a "young ram" scheme analysed in relation to genetic progress and the operational challenges.


Precise control of capillary flow is of great importance in open-channel microfluidic technology. We report a compelling strategy to achieve unidirectional liquid flow in open capillary channels. The key flow-rectifying feature is a microfluidic junction between two open channels: a small cross-section, shallower channel, and a large cross-section, deeper channel. Liquids flow from the large channel to the small channel, but flow in the opposite direction is blocked at the junction. Experiments and computational analysis show that rectification follows directly from the Gibbs criterion for flow over step edges. The unidirectional flow behavior is independent of the liquid contact angle and surface tension and also of changes in channel dimensions, suggesting broad applicability for controlling flow. Specifically, we show that the junction structure can be utilized to facilitate the fabrication of electronic devices from functional inks delivered to open capillaries.


A kinetic study of defluoridation of drinking water was carried out using the electrocoagulation/ electroflotation process in two
batch reactors of identical volume (20 L): a stirred tank reactor (STR) and an external-loop airlift reactor (ALR). When the
evolution of fluoride content was independent of stirring speed, experimental results showed that the kinetics of fluoride removal
could be modelled using a variable-order-kinetic (VOK) approach coupled with a Langmuir–Freundlich adsorption model in the
STR. Conversely, when mixing was less efficient, which is the case in the ALR, experimental data could be fitted adequately
only using a pseudo-first-order model. The variable order kinetic (VOK) model derived from the langmuir-freundlish equation
was applied to determine the kinetics of fluoride removal reaction by electroc oagulation (EC). Synthetic solutions were
employed to elucidate the effects of the initial fluoride concentration, the applied current and the initial acidity on the simulation results of the model. The proposed model successfully describes the fluoride removal in Airlift reactor in comparison with the experimental results. In this study two EC cells with the same capacity (V=20 L) were used to carry out fluoride removal with aluminum electrodes, the first is a stirred tank reactor (STR) the second is an airlift reactor (ALR). The comparison of energy consumption demonstrates that the (ALR) is advantageous for carrying out the defluoridation removal process.


The linear separability effect refers to a benefit in search performance observed in a feature-search task, where target and distractor features vary along a continuous feature dimension: Search performance is best when there is a boundary in feature space that separates the distractor features from the target feature. However, the role that distractor heterogeneity plays in this effect is not well understood. Here, we reexamined this effect in the context of a new predictive procedure from Lleras et al. (2019) that quantifies the impact of distractor heterogeneity on search performance. Experiments 1A and 1B measured people's performance in homogeneous search conditions where they searched for the target among one type of distractor. The parameters observed in Experiments 1A and B were then used to predict search times in Experiments 2 and 3, where the target was presented in heterogeneous displays containing two types of distractors. The results show that total variance accounted for was 95% to 98%, without including any factor indexing the linear separability rule. The results demonstrate that heterogeneous search in orientation space is a function of target-distractor similarity and interitem interactions. The study highlights the robustness of the predictive procedure and demonstrates the generalizability of the method to estimate interitem interactions to new stimulus types. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).


Driven by the need to deliver new, lead-free, eco-friendly solder pastes for soldering electronic components to Printed Circuit Boards (PCB), electrically conductive adhesives (ECAs) based on epoxy, carbon nanotubes (CNT), and exfoliated graphite (EG) were designed. The rheology of the adhesives prepared is paramount for the success of the deposition process, which is based on stencil printing. Thus, a rheological analysis of the process was first performed. Then, an experimental protocol was defined to assess the relevant viscoelastic characteristics of the adhesives for stencil printing application. Different composite formulations of epoxy/CNT/EG were produced. Their rheological characteristics were established following the designed protocol and benchmarked with a commercial solder paste. The thermal and electrical properties of the composite formulations were also characterized. As a result, a new, electrically conductive adhesive was delivered with potential to be an eco-friendly alternative to the solder paste currently used in stencil printing of PCB.


This study assessed characteristics of sexual dysfunction in sleep apnea and the efficacy of treatment with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). Twenty-two men with sleep apnea syndrome and also sexual dysfunction served as subjects in this study. Tests included physical, psychological, neurological, and penile vascular examinations, along with polysomnography, nocturnal penile tumescence (NPT), and penile rigidity. All patients clinically had a history of snoring and difficulty getting and maintaining erections. Results indicate that erectile dysfunction in patients with sleep apnea could be related to patient's age and chronic cerebral hypoxia due to apnea. Treatment with CPAP relieved erectile dysfunction in one-third of these patients.


The aim of this paper is to address the problem of Mobile Learning for life-long training, especially Remote Laboratories through the problem of the remote control of devices. We present a global approach of this problem according to one of the main difficulty due to the m-learning situation : the lack of rich user interactions and the cost of dedicated software. The primary goal of this paper is to describe the framework which allows the remote control, and especially its independence to the devices, the adaptation of the interface to the media used (computer, smartphone, IPTV) and the security issues in order to allow the use of this framework in a real enterprise Information System. We propose a special study on the security issues in such an architecture in such an architecture by explaining why we have made the choice of adopting identity federation technologies as a mean to reach remote devices hosted in different Information Systems. We also describe how the Graphic User Interface can be adapted to the context (level of user expertise and media used to control the device) through a proxy engine, which adapts the interface according to learning policies.


The NASA Advanced Composite Consortium (ACC), which includes as its members Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, Boeing, GE, UTC, Aurora, Orbital ATK, NASA, and FAA has embarked on an ambitious mission to reduce aircraft structural certification timeline by 30% using a combination of technologies, one of which is high fidelity progressive damage computational methods. A highly structured process is adopted to accomplish this mission where the progressive damage methods are first verified and validated before it is applied to structures of increasing complexity akin to a typical building-block approach currently adopted for structural certification of aircrafts. This study focuses on the verification of two methods for studying progressive interlaminar damage; the cohesive zone method embedded in Abaqus native cohesive element and a beta version of the Discrete Cohesive Zone (DCZM) model, acquired through the University of Michigan, implemented as a user defined element within Abaqus. The methods are verified by predicting delamination initiation and growth in the Double Cantilever Beam (DCB), the End Notched Flexure (ENF), and the Mixed Mode Bending (MMB) and comparing the predictions to high fidelity numerical solution obtained using Virtual Crack Closure Technique (VCCT). The lessons learned in the verification exercise are then applied to a validation exercise of a three-point bend doubler problem. For the doubler, in addition to modeling the interlaminar progressive damage, the intralaminar progressive damage is modeled using two continuum damage models; NASA's CompDam and a beta version of the Enhanced Schapery Theory (EST), acquired through the University of Michigan. Analysis predictions for the doubler using the different progressive damage techniques are compared.


Bent tail is a mouse model for human neural tube defects. Bent tail mice are characterized by a shortened, kinked tail. We have observed numerous aberrations in Bent tail embryos including exencephaly, rotation defects and occasionally omphalocele, orofacial schisis and situs abnormalities. Exencephaly was seen in >10% of all embryos and resulted from a closure defect of the hindbrain. Bent tail maps to the proximal part of the X chromosome. By haplotype analysis we have appointed the Bent tail locus to a 1.1 cM interval between markers DXMit159 and DXMit143. Subsequent analysis has revealed the presence of a deletion in all affected animals. The deletion is approximately 1 Mb in size and encompasses the gene for ZIC:3, a zinc finger transcription factor expressed in murine neuroectoderm and dorsal axial mesoderm during neurulation. ZIC:3 is a homolog of the Drosophila segmentation gene odd-paired. Although the Bent tail phenotype probably is the result of the deletion of several genes, combining data on ZIC:3 expression and function of ZIC: genes in the mouse shows that deletion of Zic3 alone is compatible with a major role of this gene in the congenital malformations of the Bent tail mouse. In man, mutations in ZIC3 are associated with situs abnormalities. These patients occasionally also show spina bifida, indicating that genetic variation in human ZIC3 may contribute to other congenital malformations, including neural tube defects.


Understanding the response of soybean [Glycine mas (L.) Merr.] cultivars to insect defoliation is important for identifying differences in insect tolerance and compensation among soybean genotypes, for assessing yield loss differences among cultivars, and for determining if a single economic injury level (EIL) can be used for all cultivars. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the relative tolerance of selected soybean cultivars to insect defoliation. Field experiments were conducted in 1994 and 1995 on three indeterminate soybean cultivars: Dunbar, Corsica, and Clark. Sequential defoliation (46-66%) was imposed manually at the R2 stage (reproductive development of soybean at full flowering), guided by an insect consumption model. Leaf area index, percent light interception, growth, and yield data were determined. Because of ample rainfall during the soybean growing period in 1994, defoliation did not affect soybean yield; all cultivars compensated for all levels of defoliation via delayed leaf senescence and compensatory regrowth, which enhanced the light interception capacity of defoliated soybean canopies. In 1995, however, defoliation caused a significant yield reduction (15-70%) in all cultivars; this yield reduction was greater for Dunbar than the other two cultivars. In both years, yields were directly related to the light interception capacity of soybean canopies after defoliation. There were significant EIL differences among soybean cultivars. Large differences in EILs among cultivars suggest a need to revise existing EILs for defoliating pest species.


Autonomous vehicles are advanced driving systems that are well known for being vulnerable to various adversarial attacks, compromising the vehicle's safety, and posing danger to other road users. Rather than actively training complex adversaries by interacting with the environment, there is a need to first intelligently find and reduce the search space to only those states where autonomous vehicles are found less confident. In this paper, we propose a blackbox testing framework ReMAV using offline trajectories first to analyze the existing behavior of autonomous vehicles and determine appropriate thresholds for finding the probability of failure events. Our reward modeling technique helps in creating a behavior representation that allows us to highlight regions of likely uncertain behavior even when the baseline autonomous vehicle is performing well. This approach allows for more efficient testing without the need for computational and inefficient active adversarial learning techniques. We perform our experiments in a high-fidelity urban driving environment using three different driving scenarios containing single and multi-agent interactions. Our experiment shows 35%, 23%, 48%, and 50% increase in occurrences of vehicle collision, road objects collision, pedestrian collision, and offroad steering events respectively by the autonomous vehicle under test, demonstrating a significant increase in failure events. We also perform a comparative analysis with prior testing frameworks and show that they underperform in terms of training-testing efficiency, finding total infractions, and simulation steps to identify the first failure compared to our approach. The results show that the proposed framework can be used to understand existing weaknesses of the autonomous vehicles under test in order to only attack those regions, starting with the simplistic perturbation models.


The dispersion stability of silica aggregates in the rubber matrix is one of the concerns for silica-filled compounds. Silica aggregates tend to flocculate due to their poor compatibility with the rubbers and consequent strong tendency for self-association. The flocculation process can occur during compound storage as well as at the onset of vulcanization. This present work studies the kinetics of the flocculation process in silica-reinforced natural rubber (NR) compounds by following the changes of the storage modulus during thermal annealing under conditions applied for vulcanization. The results demonstrate that silica flocculation can be effectively suppressed by increasing compound dump temperature and amount of silane, as these result in a better degree of dispersion, higher degrees of hydrophobation, and filler–rubber interaction. The compounds containing highly dispersible silicas exhibit greater filler–rubber interaction, but their flocculation processes develop faster when compared to the compounds filled with conventional silicas. Epoxidation of NR clearly influences the filler–rubber interaction but shows no clear evidence of a change of flocculation rate.


The twentieth-first century we live in is called a "terror era." As Baudrillard says, the governing system of this century tends to suffer from implosion as it is devoted to using all its power for the security to respond to the "terror era." In this situation, power increasingly forms its surveillance system, and paranoia from the upper classes invades every corner of the society through a surveillance network. Simultaneously, most people suffer from depression caused by a change of the system into a capitalism of taste. And paranoia and depression are combined in acts of terror by individuals. Such an act tends to aestheticize terror, mixing reality with poetry. The paper calls this phenomenon "poetic terror" or "aestheticization of terror." This corresponds, in Walter Benjamin's words, with an "aestheticization of politics." This correspondence can be understood easily, considering that terrorists are currently often into right-wing ideologies. Importantly, as is well-known, Benjamin set the politicization of art against the "aestheticization of politics." The violence of poetry is what can be set against "poetic terror," which is the aestheticization of politics in our times. The pure violence of poetry, which is "means with no ends," stands against the symbolic violence of a system that leads to depression and fascism. This violence of poetry also generates and forces the formation of other life ― animal becoming. This is a violent process of changing that other life into an unknown being, deconstructing the life hardened by the systemized symbolic violence. Therefore, the images of poetry resulting from this process are inevitably violent. Furthermore, the "collective innervation" created through the violent images of poetry opens a possibility of politics that can stimulate and organize a new desire.


More datasets are becoming available on the web. This provides new opportunities for data-driven systems that can entertain and inform. We introduce prediction games, data-driven games modeled after fantasy sports. We hypothesize that prediction games can motivate people to explore and analyze online datasets in order to develop their own understanding of the data's domain and to improve their data analysis skills. The mechanics of prediction games revolve around activities where players analyze historical data and information resources to make predictions about future events. This paper describes the iterative design of a prediction game engine and one of its implementations: Fantasy Climate.


Sufficient fault-ride-through (FRT) of large wind power plants (WPPs) is essential for ensuring transmission-grid operational security. The majority of FRT studies do not include all disturbances originated in the transmission grid or include disturbances not relevant for operational security. Using knowledge of power quality, this paper provides a guide to stakeholders in different aspects of FRT for wind turbines (WTs) and wind power plants. This work details the characteristics of the most common disturbances originated in the transmission grid, how they propagate to the wind turbines terminals, and how they impact the dynamic behavior of a large WPP. This work shows that the details of the voltage disturbances at the WT terminals should be considered and not just the voltage disturbance in the transmission grid. Moreover, detailed representation or characterization of voltage dips is important in FRT studies. The simplified models used in the literature are insufficient. This paper strongly recommends that distinct events and additional characteristics as the phase-angle jump and oscillations in the transition segments are considered in FRT analysis.


Mitochondria are relevant for cancer initiation and progression. Antibodies against mitochondrially encoded cytochrome c oxidase II (MTCO2), targeting a mitochondria specific epitope, can be used to quantitate the mitochondria content of tumor cells. The present study evaluated the impact of the cellular mitochondrial content on the prognosis of patients with breast cancer using immunohistochemical analysis on 2,197 arrayed breast cancer specimens. Results were compared with histological tumor parameters, patient overall survival, tumor cell proliferation using Ki67 labeling index (Ki67LI) and various other molecular features. Tumor cells exhibited stronger MTCO2 expression than normal breast epithelial cells. MTCO2 immunostaining was largely absent in normal breast epithelium, but was observed in 71.9% of 1,797 analyzable cancer specimens, including 34.6% tumors with weak expression, 22.3% with moderate expression and 15.0% with strong expression. High MTCO2 expression was significantly associated with advanced tumor stage, high Bloom-Richardson-Elston/Nottingham (BRE) grade, nodal metastasis and shorter overall survival (P<0.0001 each). In multivariate analysis, MTCO2 expression did not provide prognostic information independent of BRE grade, pathological tumor and pathological lymph node status. Additionally, significant associations were observed for high MTCO2 expression and various molecular features, including high Ki67LI, amplifications of HER2, MYC, CCND1 and MDM2, deletions of PTEN, 8p21 and 9p, low estrogen receptor expression (P<0.0001 each) and progesterone receptor expression (P<0.0001). The present study demonstrated that high MTCO2 expression was strongly associated with a poor prognosis and unfavorable phenotypical and molecular tumor features in patients with breast cancer. This suggests that the mitochondrial content may have a pivotal role in breast cancer progression.


Pati Dwarf Kopyor coconut originated from Pati, Central Java is one of the Kopyor coconut populations from Indonesia. Three varieties of Pati Dwarf Kopyor coconut, namely: Kopyor Green Dwarf, Kopyor Brown Dwarf and Kopyor Yellow Dwarf out of six potential varieties have been officially released as local superior varieties by the Minister of Agriculture, Republic of Indonesia at the end of 2010. The objectives of this research were to evaluate the stability of Kopyor fruit production among provenances of Pati Dwarf Kopyor coconuts. Evaluations were conducted especially for the three recently released varieties of Kopyor coconuts. Observations were carried out in 2011 and the collected data were then compared with Kopyor fruit production data collected in 2009 -2010. In three different locations, representatives of 10 Kopyor coconut provenances for each Kopyor variety were observed; therefore, a total of 90 trees were evaluated in this experiment. Observations were conducted for number of total bunches per palm, number of total fruits/per bunch, and the number of harvested Kopyor coconut fruits/per bunch. Three bunches were selected for each of the evaluated provenance. Results of the observation indicated that the observed yield and yield parameters of three Pati Dwarf Kopyor coconut varieties fluctuated by the year of observations. However, in general the observed yield and yield parameters among three varieties were similar. The average number of total bunches observed among three varieties evaluated ranged from 9.6-12.1 bunches per palm; the average number of fruits/per bunch ranged from 5.3-12.4; and the average number of harvested Kopyor fruits/per bunch ranged from 2.0-3.8. The estimated number of total fruits/palm/year among the three varieties ranged from 53.8-128.1 and the percentage of Kopyor fruit production observed among the three varieties evaluated ranged from 24.8-38.9 %. The estimated number of total harvested Kopyor fruits/palm/year ranged from 20.5-39.2, respectively. Rainfall pattern might affect directly or indirectly toward yield and yield components of three Pati Dwarf Kopyor coconut varieties.


An asymmetric formal synthesis of fasicularin (1) is described. This natural product, isolated from the extracts of the marine invertebrate Nephteis fasicularis, has shown modest cytotoxicity towards Vero cells. Fasicularin is among only two members of the cylindricine family of natural products, along with lepadiformine (2), to possess a trans A-B ring junction. Key steps of this approach to 1 involve a siloxy-epoxide semipinacol rearrangement of 5 to 6, a B-alkyl Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reaction by using enol trifluoromethanesulfonate 19 and a substrate-directed hydrogenation reaction of 24. This formal synthesis also highlights the difficulty in the incorporation of the thiocyanate functionality present in 1.


This paper presents an efficient method for the timing verification of concurrent systems, modeled as labeled Timed Petri nets. The verification problems we consider require us to analyze the system's reachable behaviors under the specified time delays. Our geometric timing analysis algorithm improves over existing ones by enumerating the state space only partially. The algorithm relies on a concept called pre-mature firing and a new, extended notion of clocks with a negative age. We have tested the fully automated procedure on a number of examples. Experimental results obtained on highly concurrent Petri nets with more than 6000 nodes and 10/sup 210/ reachable states show that the proposed method can drastically reduce computational cost.


OBJECTIVE
We report a rare case of paraffinoma of penis. A one-stage surgical treatment achieved optimal aesthetic and functional results.

METHODS
We evaluated a 32-year-old man who self injected paraffin into his penis to facilitate erection and increase potency. After two months of paraffin oil injection, sclerosis and retraction produced a deformity of the penis with erectile dysfunction. Complete removal of the compromised skin and subcutaneous tissue was performed and, simultaneously, a pedicled scrotal flap was accurately prepared, directly turned up and wrapped around the penile shaft with interrupted 3-0 silk sutures. The scrotal incision was then closed.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSION
Treatment by excision of granulomatous tissue and plastic reconstruction in a one-stage procedure, as also reported in the literature, is the only treatment that is able to achieve an effective result, both cosmetically and functionally. Excellent aesthetic and functional results were found at 34-months follow-up.


A new method is proposed for the simultaneous measurement of the ultrasonic wave velocity and the thickness of a solid plate with access from only one side. A line-contact transmitter and a line-contact receiver were placed on the same side of the specimen, and the times of flight were measured for varying distance between the transducers. The ultrasonic wave velocity and the thickness of the specimen can be simultaneously determined from the relationship between the time of flight and the ultrasonic beam path. A least-squares fitting routine was employed to increase the accuracy of the measurements. Experimental results for several specimens of different materials as well as different thicknesses show good agreement with those measured by conventional methods.


Any serious attempt to establish the value of low energy γ-ray astronomy as an observational science must ensure that new telescopes are capable of detecting a significant number of celestial sources. Furthermore, the instruments should combine the high sensitivity with a fine angular resolution imaging capability. Since it is impossible to focus γ-ray photons, the only way to manipulate them is to cast a shadow onto a suitable detector. A single pinhole, in an opaque material, above a position sensitive detector, will cast an image of the sky onto this plane. However, the small effective aperture of a pinhole leads to a very low sensitivity instrument and, since γ-ray telescopes are constrained to operate in a regime of low signal to noise, a larger aperture is required. The optimum solution under these conditions, is to construct the absorbing mask from an array of pinholes, such that the open fraction is one half. This is the principle of the coded aperture mask technique. In this paper we describe a telescope, for operation on a dedicated spacecraft, which has the capability of locating point sources of "Y -radiation with a precision of one or two arc minutes. The sensitivity of this instrument which operates over the range 10 keV - 3 MeV, is such that, for observations lasting one day, one will be able to detect sources having an intensity of lx10uph cm`keV1. With this sensitivity at least 1000 sources should be accessible during the two year observing period.


In most of the developing countries education among women has been accorded a low priority. The norms of gender behaviour and the perceived domestic and reproductive role of women which was remarkable stable over a period of time have adversely affected the women's education. In addition, forces like negative social attitude, prejudices, restrictions and beliefs also contributed to keep women out of education field. The only goal placed before a woman was to train themselves to be good housewives. After Independence female education gained importance and led to changing traditional attitudes within family and the society. However, the fact that one amongst the major and fundamental problem for women in India is the high percentage of illiteracy. A considerable literacy gap still exists between men and women even after 65 years from Independence. As a result, women have been exploited and deprived of their rights and prevented from the process of empowerment. Hence, it is imperative to understand the educational status of women. The present book is one such modest attempt in understanding the educational status of women with the factors contributing to it.


A key issue in drug development is to understand the hidden relationships among drugs and targets. Computational methods for novel drug target predictions can greatly reduce time and costs compared with experimental methods. In this paper, we propose a network based computational approach for novel drug and target association predictions. More specifically, a heterogeneous drug-target graph, which incorporates known drug-target interactions as well as drug-drug and target-target similarities, is first constructed. Based on this graph, a novel graph-based inference method is introduced. Compared with two state-of-the-art methods, large-scale cross-validation results indicate that the proposed method can greatly improve novel target predictions.


Many common neurological and neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease, dementia and multiple sclerosis, have been associated with abnormal patterns of apparent ageing of the brain. Discrepancies between the estimated brain age and the actual chronological age (brain age gaps) can be used to understand the biological pathways behind the ageing process, assess an individual's risk for various brain disorders and identify new personalised treatment strategies. By flexibly integrating minimally preprocessed neuroimaging and non-imaging modalities into a population graph data structure, we train two types of graph neural network (GNN) architectures to predict brain age in a clinically relevant fashion as well as investigate their robustness to noisy inputs and graph sparsity. The multimodal population graph approach has the potential to learn from the entire cohort of healthy and affected subjects of both sexes at once, capturing a wide range of confounding effects and detecting variations in brain age trends between different sub-populations of subjects.


A taxonomy is presented that extends M.J. Flynn's (IEEE Trans.Comput., vol. C-21, no.9, p.948-60, Sept. 1972), especially in the multiprocessor category. It is a two-level hierarchy in which the upper level classifies architectures based on the number of processors for data and for instructions and the interconnections between them. A lower level can be used to distinguish variants even more precisely; it is based on a state-machine view of processors. The author suggests why taxonomies are useful in studying architecture and shows how this applies to a number of modern architectures.<<ETX>>


The transverse mass distributions of protons produced in Au-Au collisions at 8 A GeV and Pb-Pb collisions at 158 A GeV are calculated by using the Monte Carlo method in the framework of the multisource ideal gas model. It is found that our calculated results are in agreement with the experimental data in nucleus-nucleus collisions at high energies.


La-TiO2-GO nanocomposites were successfully synthesised via sol-gel method. Structures, morphologies and photocatalytic activities of the as-synthesized nanocomposites were determined using X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Raman spectroscopy (RS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy was used to estimate band gap energies. The photocatalytic activities of the as-synthesized nanocomposites were evaluated for the degradation of Acid Blue 40 in aqueous solutions under simulated solar light. The photocatalytic results show that the as-synthesized La-doped TiO2-GO (0.3% La) nanocomposite shows good photocatalytic activity and can be considered as a promising photocatalyst for the degradation of organic pollutants in water. The good photocatalytic efficiency is ascribed to the cooperative effect of improved visible light absorbance and separation of charge carriers due to the combined effect of La and the GO in the composite. Analysis from Total organic carbon (TOC) shows a high degree of complete mineralisation of Acid Blue 40 (TOC removal of 75%) which decreases the formation of possible degradation byproducts. Due to the stability of La-TiO2-GO (0.3% La) nanocomposite, it was reused for five times reaching 84.0% maximum degradation efficiency during the five cycles. Copyright © 2017 VBRI Press.


Sera from patients treated with atovaquone-proguanil (Malarone™) have previously been shown to inhibit the mosquito transmission of Plasmodium falciparum, though the inhibition was not complete and the effect declined 2 weeks after treatment. In marked contrast, the inhibition of transmission of P. berghei by human sera (fed to mosquitoes, with P. berghei gametocytes, via membrane feeders) from volunteers treated with atovaquone-proguanil was total up to day 28 post-treatment and still very significant at day 56. In view of the short half-lives of atovaquone and proguanil, this was unexpected, and further experiments, reported here, were undertaken. In contrast to the incomplete blockade of infectivity of P. falciparum by serum taken 4 days post-treatment, such serum was totally inhibitory against P. berghei at a 1:10 000 dilution, indicating a remarkable sensitivity of P. berghei and demonstrating an unusual difference between the two Plasmodium species in response to a drug. The inhibitory effect on P. berghei after day 4 was caused by atovaquone and mainly through blockade of development from ookinete to oocyst. Despite previous information on the rapid elimination of atovaquone by patients, the present data indicate that low concentrations of this drug may persist in the plasma for some weeks after treatment.


A gray clay formation dated in the lower Pleistocene, near S. Procopio (Reggio Calabria), has been examined mineralogically and paleontologically: this formation keeps trapped a thin ash level in the lower part of the series. This deposit, examined by particle size apparatus, chiefly consists of silty sands, while could be referred to sandy silts after the adding of a solution of $NaOH$. The main component is illite tending to a mixed-layer component as illite-montmorillonite, associated with quartz, calcite, $Na$-feldspar, iron oxides, micas, chorites and garnet: calcium carbonate, mainly organogen, reaches a 22%. Attemberg limits confirm a medium plasticity; some principal geotechnical parameters have been determined too. The thin ash level differs for some volcanic glasses and a few altered femics.
Paleontologically, these clays present faunistic associations very rich in planktonic as well as bentonic Foraminifera, Ostracoda and Mollusks with specimens that confirm the lower Pleistocene datation in the «Carata Geologica d'Italia F. 254 I $NE$». The faunizone exhibits clearly bathyal conditions in most of the formation except for n. 2 a and 4 a with much coastal fauna characterized hy Bittium reticulatum, Iuiubinus spp., small Ammonia infundibulum, Elphidium crispum. Datation in this work is referred to Emiliano, but besides well known species as Hyalinea balthica, Globigerina pachyderma, other much important chronologically are Globorotalia pseudobesa, Rectobolivina columellaris, Uvigerina bradyana, Astrononion salentinum Bolivina karreriana. Besides Foraminifera of sure datation some other are reworked from lower and medium Pleistocene, as Globorotalia crassaformis, Globorotalia puncticulata.


Background: Orthopaedic surgeries require sensitive protocol for prevention of infection pre and post-surgery. Antibiotic-prophylaxis has been reported for reducing risk of infection in orthopaedic surgeries such as removal of implants. Aim: To assess the effect of prophylactic antibiotics in orthopaedic surgery. Study design: Retrospective study Place and duration of study: Dept. of Orthopaedics, Khyber Teaching Hospital, Peshawar from 1-1-2020 to 31-12- 2020. Methodology: One hundred and ten patients within 18-75 years were divided into two groups. Each group had 55 patients. Group 1 were given prophylactic antibiotics pre-operative as a single dose while group 2 were given only saline. All patients were admitted for removal of orthopaedic implants in foot, ankle or leg. Patients 30 days record was observed for any surgical-site infection. Results: The mean age of patient was 42.95±10.8 years. Group 1 and Group 2 had more males than females. There were 10.9% and 9.09% diabetic patients within group 1 and group 2. The 30 days assessment of post implant removal orthopaedic surgery showed a decrease of surgical-site infection in group 1. Surgical-site infection decreased by a rate of 5.4% among patients who were given cefazolin antibiotic. Conclusion: The effect of prophylactic antibiotic reduces chance of surgical-site infection in orthopaedic surgery. Keywords: Antibiotic-prophylaxis, Orthopaedic surgery, Implant-removal, Surgical-site infection


BACKGROUND
Project BREAK! was designed to test the efficacy of an intervention to increase student participation in the reimbursable School Breakfast Program (SBP). Two schools developed grab-n-go menus, added convenient serving locations, and allowed eating in the hallway. This follow-up study investigated faculty and staff perspectives of how the SBP changes influenced schools.

METHODS
Project BREAK! high schools were located near Minneapolis, Minnesota, enrolled over 1200 students each and were 70% to 90% white. Interviews with school personnel (N = 11) and focus groups with teachers (N = 16) from the 2 intervention schools were conducted. The Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) framework guided the question development.

RESULTS
Analysis of the interviews identified the following DOI constructs as most prominently mentioned by school personnel and teachers: advantages for students and faculty/staff, minimal staff time required, communication of the changes, support of social relations between students and faculty/staff and trialability of the program.

CONCLUSION
There appears to be numerous advantages for both students and school personnel to improving SBP access. The relative advantages of Project BREAK! appear to outweigh the negatives associated with extra time and effort required by staff. Communication about the changes is an area that needs strengthening.


Introduction: Comorbidities have a significant influence on the clinical course of IPF. However, their prognostic impact is not fully understood. Methods: Patients with IPF were selected from the database of our tertiary referral center for interstitial lung diseases and reviewed for details on patient comorbidities, their frequency per patient and overall survival data. . Results: Between 1/2004-12/2011, 272 IPF patients were identified: 75% male, 74% ex-/smokers (median 30 PY), medians: age 70 years, vital capacity 72% predicted, diffusion capacity 44% predicted. Comorbidities were found in 88% of patients and the number of comorbidities per patient was 1 in 19%, 2 in 19%, 3 in 21% and g3 in 29%. In a comorbidom analysis (n=107) after a median follow up of 56 months, median survival was 42 (95% CI 23-61) months. Median survival was significantly longer in patients with ≤ 3 comorbidities (n=70, 60 months) compared to patients with 4 comorbidities (n=37, 25 months, p=0,03). In a multivariate analysis, survival was significantly influenced by lung cancer (HR 5.7, pl0.0001), depression (HR 4.4, p=0.007) and cardiovascular diseases (HR 2.32, p=0.015). Coronary artery disease (univariate, p=0.047) and diabetes mellitus (HR 1.84, p=0.067) were of borderline significance. Conclusion: Comorbidities are frequent in IPF patients and their cumulative incidence impacts on survival, especially lung cancer and depression. Future research should focus on improved screening and treatment of comorbidities in these severely compromised patients and assess the potential impact on quality of life and survival rates.


The method of psychological and pedagogical design in the process of a teacher work with children under school age is examined in this article This method is applied by teachers due to the current need for innovation in the process of children's development. Using this method is also determined by the requirements for the teachers in organisation of the educational process. It is also presented the method of phased realization of the activity with the help of the project method.


We demonstrate the power of the Gaussianization transform (GT) for modeling image content by applying GT for optical coherence tomography (OCT) denoising. The proposed method is a developed version of the spatially constrained Gaussian mixture model (SC-GMM) method, which assumes that each cluster of similar patches in an image has a Gaussian distribution. SC-GMM tries to find some clusters of similar patches in the image using a spatially constrained patch clustering and then denoise each cluster by the Wiener filter. Although in this method GMM distribution is assumed for the noisy image, holding this assumption on a dataset is not investigated. We illustrate that making a Gaussian assumption on a noisy dataset has a significant effect on denoising results. For this purpose, a suitable distribution for OCT images is first obtained and then GT is employed to map this original distribution of OCT images to a GMM distribution. Then, this Gaussianized image is used as the input of the SC-GMM algorithm. This method, which is a combination of GT and SC-GMM, remarkably improves the results of OCT denoising compared with earlier version of SC-GMM and even produces better visual and numerical results than the state-of-the art works in this field. Indeed, the main advantage of the proposed OCT despeckling method is texture preservation, which is important for main image processing tasks like OCT inter- and intraretinal layer analysis. Thus, to prove the efficacy of the proposed method for this analysis, an improvement in the segmentation of intraretinal layers using the proposed method as a preprocessing step is investigated. Furthermore, the proposed method can achieve the best expert ranking between other contending methods, and the results show the helpfulness and usefulness of the proposed method in clinical applications.


This study explores the meaning of Punjabi Sikhs' lived experiences of caring for a relative with dementia. The Department of Health (DoH) recognises that people caring for a person with dementia (PWD) are the most vulnerable of all carers to experiencing psychological problems. Six Punjabi Sikh respondents were recruited and semi-structured interviews conducted. Their accounts were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Three themes emerged from this analysis 1) Surface and Depth of Dementia: Confused and Transparent Awareness 2) I'm Stuck and Winded up in Dis-ease and 3) Still I Kept Going: Perseverance as Transcending Limits. These findings indicate that emotional, relational, social, spiritual and physical perceptions of dementia aetiology do not necessarily exclude understanding of dementia as an illness or prevent professional help-seeking or diagnosis. Participant accounts also indicated that personal meaning of caring for a PWD as dis-ease (or as involving limited support) can be transcended through engaging with Sikh specific spiritual concepts such as Seva and Simran. Caring in this context has been found to extend beyond the interpersonal to hold transpersonal meaning. Punjabi Sikh experiential understandings of such phenomena are demonstrated as being synergistic with Counselling Psychology's therapeutic relationship model. This connection provides scope for professionals to employ a broad conceptualisation of culturally sensitive phenomenological and transpersonal psychological support in this context. The thesis provides tentative guidelines for practice whilst indicating methodological limits to inform provisional suggestions for future research in this area.


We introduce biased gradient oracles to capture a setting where the function measurements have an estimation error that can be controlled through a batch size parameter. Our proposed oracles are appealing in several practical contexts, for instance, risk measure estimation from a batch of independent and identically distributed samples, or simulation optimization, where the function measurements are "biased" due to computational constraints. In either case, increasing the batch size reduces the estimation error. We highlight the applicability of our biased gradient oracles in a risk-sensitive reinforcement learning setting. In the stochastic nonconvex optimization context, we analyze a variant of the randomized stochastic gradient algorithm with a biased gradient oracle. We quantify the convergence rate of this algorithm by deriving nonasymptotic bounds on its performance. Next, in the stochastic convex optimization setting, we derive nonasymptotic bounds for the last iterate of a stochastic gradient descent algorithm with a biased gradient oracle.


Aims: To design and validate a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay targeting the 16S rRNA gene of Mycoplasma genitalium. Methods: Primers were designed that were complementary to the 16S rRNA gene sequence of M genitalium. After optimisation of the reaction conditions, the PCR was tested against nine M genitalium strains, a dilution series of M genitalium DNA, and a panel of common microorganisms. The PCR was also challenged in parallel with a published assay against 54 urine specimens from men with urethritis. Results: The expected 341 bp product was produced on amplification of material from all M genitalium strains and from none of the other microorganisms tested. The lower limit of detection was 50 genome copies. The new assay detected M genitalium DNA in nine of 54 men with urethritis, in comparison with eight positive specimens detected with the alternative PCR. Conclusions: This novel PCR targeting the M genitalium 16S rRNA gene has been optimised and now provides a sensitive and specific alternative or addition to the available MgPa gene targeting assays.


This study was concerned to explore aspects of the maternal speech environment of mentally retarded children. Eight mothers were observed in interaction with their retarded children and compared with mothers on non-retarded infants who had been matched in terms of various socio-economic indices and language behaviour. The mothers of the retarded children were found to be significantly more stimulating vocally, more responsive and less directive than the controls. The findings are discussed in terms of possible reasons for such differences and the implications for the child.


Hemolysis is a problem associated with a variety of red cell pathologies and physiologies not limited to the transfusion of cells. Various pathways lead to the observed outcomes when a hemolytic event occurs. Each event, and the pathway it follows, is based on characteristics of the red cell, the location in which the hemolysis occurs, and the interaction of the immune system. The severity of an event can be predicted with the knowledge of how these 3 factors interface. Although not all hemolytic events are alike, similarities may exist when the pathways overlap.


IMPORTANCE
There is a trend toward treating conjunctival lesions suspected to be ocular surface squamous neoplasia (OSSN) based on the clinical impression.

OBJECTIVE
To describe the presentation of OSSN and identify clinical features that distinguish it from benign lesions and subsequently evaluate their recognizability.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS
Prospective multicenter study in Kenya from July 2012 through July 2014 of 496 adults presenting with conjunctival lesions. One histopathologist examined all specimens. Six additional masked ophthalmologists independently examined photographs from 100 participants and assessed clinical features.

EXPOSURES
Comprehensive history, slitlamp examination, and photography before excision biopsy.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES
Frequency of clinical features in OSSN and benign lesions were recorded. Proportions and means were compared using χ2, Fisher exact test, or t test as appropriate. Interobserver agreement was estimated using the κ statistic. Examiners' assessments were compared with a reference.

RESULTS
Among 496 participants, OSSN was the most common (38%) histological diagnosis, followed by pterygium (36%) and actinic keratosis (19%). Patients with OSSN were slightly older (mean [SD] age, 41 [11.6] vs 38 [10.9] years; P = .002) and tended to have lower levels of education than patients with benign lesions (P = .001). Females predominated (67% of OSSN vs 64% of benign lesions; P = .65). Human immunodeficiency virus infection was common among patients with OSSN (74%). The most common location was the nasal limbus (61% OSSN vs 78% benign lesions; P < .001). Signs more frequent in OSSN included feeder vessels (odds ratio [OR], 5.8 [95% CI, 3.2-10.5]), moderate inflammation (OR, 3.5 [95% CI, 1.8-6.8]), corneal involvement (OR, 2.7 [95% CI, 1.8-4.0]), leukoplakia (OR, 2.6 [95% CI, 1.7-3.9]), papilliform surface (OR, 2.1 [95% CI, 1.3-3.5]), pigmentation (OR, 1.5 [95% CI, 1.0-2.2]), temporal location (OR, 2.0 [95% CI, 1.2-3.2]), circumlimbal location (6.7% vs 0.3%; P < .001), severe inflammation (6.7% vs 0.3%; P < .001), and larger mean (SD) diameter (6.8 [3.2] vs 4.8 [2.8] mm; P < .001). All OSSN signs were also observed in benign lesions. There was slight to fair interobserver agreement in assessment of most signs and diagnosis (κ, 0.1-0.4). The positive predictive value of clinical appearance in identifying OSSN was 54% (interquartile range, 51%-56%) from photographs in which prevalence was 32%.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE
With overlapping phenotypes and modest interobserver agreement, OSSN and benign conjunctival lesions are not reliably distinguished clinically. Point-of-care diagnostic tools may help.


Androgen excess is a central feature of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which affects 6% to 10% of young women. Mammals exposed to elevated androgens in utero develop PCOS-like phenotypes in adulthood, suggesting fetal origins of PCOS. We hypothesize that excess androgen exposure during early embryonic development may disturb the epigenome and disrupt metabolism in exposed and unexposed subsequent generations. Zebrafish were used to study the underlying mechanism of fetal origins. Embryos were exposed to androgens (testosterone and dihydrotestosterone) early at 26 to 56 hours post fertilization or late at 21 to 28 days post fertilization. Exposed zebrafish (F0) were grown to adults and crossed to generate unexposed offspring (F1). For both generations, global DNA methylation levels were examined in ovaries using a luminometric methylation assay, and fasting and postprandial blood glucose levels were measured. We found that early but not late androgen exposure induced changes in global methylation and glucose homeostasis in both generations. In general, F0 adult zebrafish exhibited altered global methylation levels in the ovary; F1 zebrafish had global hypomethylation. Fasting blood glucose levels were decreased in F0 but increased in F1; postprandial glucose levels were elevated in both F0 and F1. This androgenized zebrafish study suggests that transient excess androgen exposure during early development can result in transgenerational alterations in the ovarian epigenome and glucose homeostasis. Current data cannot establish a causal relationship between epigenetic changes and altered glucose homeostasis. Whether transgenerational epigenetic alteration induced by prenatal androgen exposure plays a role in the development of PCOS in humans deserves study.


Abstract The demand for wood materials in the construction of building field is on the rise. This leads to the depletion of natural resources and encourages deforestation. The polymeric composite materials reinforced with natural fiber are being used as a wood substitute and is also used for fabricating interior parts of the automobiles. Acacia fiber is also added to the polyester resin, since it is good in compressive and tensile strength. In this current investigation, the hybrid composite specimens were fabricated by hand lay-up process with sisal and acacia fibers reinforced in polyester matrix. The mechanical strength in terms of tensile, compressive, and impact were determined by varying the average length of fibers and concluded that the mechanical properties were enhanced by the addition mentioned natural fibers and also suggested that these fibers are best alternative to the future applications. Keywords: Polyester resin, sisal, acacia, hand lay-up process, mechanical properties Cite this Article Ravichandran G, David Biju, Joshy John et al. An Experimental Investigation on Hybrid Polymeric Composite Materials Reinforced with Sisal & Acacia Fiber. Journal of Materials & Metallurgical Engineering. 2018; 8(3): 19–24p.


The performance history and long-term behavior of the dams mainly comprises of the internal erosion process of graded glacial soil associated with washout of fine grained particles from a dam's filling material by seepage. Internal erosion initiates generally by concentrated leak erosion, backward erosion, and/or suffusion. 30 existing dams comprising broadly graded soils of glacial origin that is, moraines and tills have been reviewed. These are all dams that have differing extents, and have experienced incidents of internal erosion. Incidents are most likely to occur early-on, since almost half of the dams reviewed experienced incidents during first filling or within the first year of service. The most common signs that precede an internal erosion related incident are increase in leakage, muddy leakage and pore-pressure variations in the dam body.


As many critics have noted, Ernest J. Gaines's novels comprise an extended treatise on black male identity in the United States. Yet the novels do not produce one static viewpoint; instead, they demonstrate Gaines's struggle with the question of black masculinity over the course of his lifetime. His earlier novels, such as Catherine Carmier, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, and In My Father's House, represent the difficulties black men face while constructing their masculine identity in the face of structural and individual racism. But with each new novel, Gaines increasingly focuses on his vision for a different black masculinity based in social negotiation. A Gathering of Old Men, for example, presents black men banding together to demand their manhood against white oppression and racism. Gaines's latest novel, A Lesson Before Dying, offers an even more cohesive vision of black manhood and its potential for radical change. The title of Gaines's latest novel stands enigmatically over the text. The reader opens A Lesson Before Dying with several questions to answer: What lesson? Who teaches the lesson? Who learns the lesson? Who dies? Within the first few chapters, these enigmas seem to be easily resolved: the lesson teaches how to be a man, and it will be taught to Jefferson by Grant Wiggins before Jefferson dies in the electric chair. These easy answers, however, prove not to be the whole story, as Gaines problematizes the question of manhood throughout the text. (1) Gaines reproduces rural southern life in the 1940s, then sets up the real issue: what does it mean to be a black man? In answering this question, critics of the novel have divided into two camps: those who see Gaines's answer as defining an individualist masculinity and those who see him as promoting a communal sense of identity. (2) However, critics on both sides must contend with the other side's formulation. This essay will argue that the tension between the individual and the community is vital to Gaines's construction of black masculinity, as he offers us a vision in which individuals must socially construct their individual identities through the locus of communal connections. The traditional definitions given in the novel's first few chapters, definitions rooted in an individualist, phallocentric model, do not work for the African-American male; as bell hooks notes, they do "not interrogate the conventional construction of patriarchal masculinity or question the extent to which black men have historically internalized this norm" (89). In an attempt to reverse these ideologies, Gaines defines a different black masculinity in A Lesson Before Dying, a communal, socially constructed masculinity. This new masculinity is a more dynamic system in which reciprocity and responsibility play major roles. Given a South that dehumanizes and oppresses African Americans through the legacy of slavery and the oppression of Jim Crow, Gaines realizes that African-American males must define their manhood against a white patriarchy determined to emasculate them. John Roberts argues, "Because his fiction focuses on the peculiar plight of black Americans in the South, Gaines must consider an additional level of significance--the strong communal bonds characteristic of southern black folk culture" (110). Gaines, however, is concerned with the transcendence of this plight even as he recognizes the inherent cultural and historical contingencies that shape human interaction. Gaines suggests that African-American males define their individual masculinity through a collective enterprise that involves the communal bonds of which Roberts speaks; as bell hooks notes, "Changing representations of black men must be a collective task" (113). REPRESENTING THE TRADITION "I was not there, yet I was there": Grant Wiggins opens the narration of A Lesson Before Dying with this enigmatic sentence, one which, in a sense, encapsulates our reading experience as well as Grant's predicament (Gaines 3). …


Using a two-period duopoly model with vertical differentiation, we show that there exists a unique subgame perfect equilibrium where the first entrant supplies a lower quality and gains higher profits than the second entrant. We also prove that this entry sequence is socially efficient. JEL Classification: C73, D43, L13


Physical activity (PA) and sleep contribute to better children's health. Nonetheless, the bidirectional relationship between both of these health-related factors is unclear when using objective measures. The aims of this study were (1) to describe the PA (light PA and moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and sleep (duration, latency, and efficiency) patterns of children and compare them with recommendations, and (2) to analyze the bidirectional association between PA levels and sleep patterns in 470 Spanish children according to sex (average age of 8.4 (0.4) years, 51.9% boys). A tri-axial accelerometer and sleep logs were used to measure PA (light PA and MVPA) and sleep patterns (duration, latency, and efficiency) in the children for seven consecutive days. Linear mixed models were conducted to analyze the bidirectional association (PA → sleep and sleep → PA) adjusted for the child, the sex, the school, and the day of observation. The results showed that, overall, the children did not meet the sleep duration recommendations per day. Regarding the bidirectional association, increased light PA and MVPA during the day was related to decreased sleep duration but an improvement in sleep efficiency that night. However, sleep duration and sleep efficiency were only related negatively and positively to light PA the following day, respectively. Regarding sex, light PA was associated with decreased sleep duration in both sexes, although the average value was lower in boys. In addition, light PA was also related only to an improvement in sleep efficiency the same night in both sexes, with girls generally having more efficient sleep. More studies in a representative sample of children that use objective measures to corroborate these results are needed.


Various scientific studies have explored the causes of violent behaviour from different perspectives, with psychological tests, in particular, applied to the analysis of crime factors. The relationship between bi-factors has also been extensively studied including the link between age and crime. In reality, many factors interact to contribute to criminal behaviour and as such there is a need to have a greater level of insight into its complex nature. In this article we analyse violent crime information systems containing data on psychological, environmental and genetic factors. Our approach combines elements of rough set theory with fuzzy logic and particle swarm optimisation to yield an algorithm and methodology that can effectively extract multi-knowledge from information systems. The experimental results show that our approach outperforms alternative genetic algorithm and dynamic reduct-based techniques for reduct identification and has the added advantage of identifying multiple reducts and hence multi-knowledge (rules). Identified rules are consistent with classical statistical analysis of violent crime data and also reveal new insights into the interaction between several factors. As such, the results are helpful in improving our understanding of the factors contributing to violent crime and in highlighting the existence of hidden and intangible relationships between crime factors.


Any one who treats a large number of allergic patients has had his share of emergencies. The very fact that he is dealing with hypersensitive individuals makes him more liable to accidents than other doctors. These experiences make him pause to reflect on and ponder over them, searching both for their causes and for ways of avoiding future occurrences. In the present article my own solution to this problem will be discussed, if, indeed, such a solution is possible. The subject will be presented under three headings: (A) accidents arising from skin tests, (B) accidents arising from treatment with allergenic extracts and (C) other emergencies in allergic patients. DIAGNOSIS Since parts 1 and 2 are concerned solely with the allergic reaction, I shall dwell briefly on its diagnosis and differential diagnosis. Regardless of whether such a reaction results from an injection of pollen extract; of animal serum, of an organic