: The history of the Ruthenians (Rusyns) in Southern Hungary, later in Yugoslavia, was in the focus not only of the authors who were members of this national community, but also of Hungarian, Ukrainian and Yugoslav scholars and historians. In the socialist Yugoslavia the most significant contribution to the historiography of the Ruthenians in the Serbian language was the project of the Institute of History of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina – the papers of five historians with five different themes which are chronologically linked under a common title Iz istorije vojvođanskih Rusina do 1941. godine ( From the History of Vojvodinian Ruthenians until 1941 ), published in the Almanac of the Society of Historians of Vojvodina in 1977. Although it has been more than four decades since the publication of this collection of papers, it has still not been critically presented and assessed. We think it makes sense and justification to present this work, even after long delays, at least in a basic outline, to show how much and in which direction it pushed the limits of new knowledge and to draw the attention of future researchers to some shortcomings, anachronistic and ideologically motivated attitudes and obvious material mistakes.


We analyze heat generation as well as temperature distribution induced by accelerated electron impact on a target in a closed x-ray tube. For the sake of accuracy, we use Monte carlo analysis. This method gives accurate energy deposit in a medium with additional information such as secondary and backscattered electron as well as their paths. A Tungsten coated layer is divided by small rectangular cell which accumulate energy loss of primary electron beam. The cells and their accumulated energy datum are used for the input of finite element analysis. The Maximum temperature rising and temperature distribution were analyzed by transient heat analysis. Some temperature parameters such as target size and coating thickness were varied to investigate temperature sensitivity. Temperatures were compared each other to find primary variable that affect temperature rising on the x-ray target. The results will be helpful in development highresolution x-ray tube and related industries.


Abstract. Sustained accelerated soil erosion alters key soil
properties such as nutrient availability, water holding capacity, soil depth
and texture, which in turn have detrimental effects on crop productivity and
therefore reduce C input to soils. In this study, we applied a 1-D soil
profile model that links soil organic carbon (SOC) turnover, soil erosion
and biomass production. We used observational data to constrain the
relationship between soil erosion and crop productivity. Assuming no change
in effort, we evaluated the model performance in terms of SOC stock
evolution using published observational data from 10 catchments across
Europe and the USA. Model simulations showed that accounting for
erosion-induced productivity decline (i) increased SOC losses by 37 % on
average compared to a scenario where these effects were excluded, and (ii) improved the prediction of SOC losses when substantial soil truncation takes
place. Furthermore, erosion-induced productivity decline reduced
soil–atmosphere C exchanges by up to 30 % after 200 years of transient
simulation. The results are thus relevant for longer-term assessments and
they stress the need for integrated soil–plant models that operate at the
landscape scale to better constrain the overall SOC budget.


The study identifies and models internal controls of automated teller machine systems used by the banking industry. A reliability model of internal controls of ATM systems using series, parallel, and simple structures is presented. Control items and relationships are justified based on the engineering, computer, and auditing literatures. Use and limitations of this model are also discussed. An ATM case with fixed controls and a related questionnaire has been developed. A computerized decision aid programmed in the PC BASIC language for assisting design and evaluation of the ATM internal control system has been developed and evaluated. To evaluate the modeling effectiveness, a small group of graduate students in the EDP Auditing master program uses the decision aid to evaluate the ATM base by filling out the questionnaire. Computed values are compared with the user-assigned values to examine differences between model results and human judgements.<<ETX>>


It is believed that relic gravitons are squeezed during inflation. If so, quantum noise induced by them can be significantly enhanced in current interferometers. However, decoherence of the gravitons during cosmic history may change the degree of squeezing. As a first step for analyzing the decoherence of the gravitons, we assume the presence of a sizable magnetic field at the beginning of inflation and study conversion processes of the squeezed gravitons into photons during inflation in the case of minimal coupling between gravitons and photons. We solve the dynamical evolution of a coupled system of gravitons and photons perturbatively and obtain squeezing parameters for the system numerically and analytically. It turns out that the gravitons are robust against the decoherence caused by the cosmological magnetic fields. We also find that the conversion rate of gravitons into photons is at a few percent at most.


We report on the implementation of an algorithm and hardware platform to allow real-time processing of the statistics-based positioning (SBP) method for continuous miniature crystal element (cMiCE) detectors. The SBP method allows an intrinsic spatial resolution of ~1.6 mm FWHM to be achieved using our cMiCE design. Previous SBP solutions have required a postprocessing procedure due to the computation and memory intensive nature of SBP. This new implementation takes advantage of a combination of algebraic simplifications, conversion to fixed-point math, and a hierarchal search technique to greatly accelerate the algorithm. For the presented seven stage, 127 × 127 bin LUT implementation, these algorithm improvements result in a reduction from > 7 × 106 floating-point operations per event for an exhaustive search to < 5 × 103 integer operations per event. Simulations show nearly identical FWHM positioning resolution for this accelerated SBP solution, and positioning differences of <0.1 mm from the exhaustive search solution. A pipelined field programmable gate array (FPGA) implementation of this optimized algorithm is able to process events in excess of 250 K events per second, which is greater than the maximum expected coincidence rate for an individual detector. In contrast with all detectors being processed at a centralized host, as in the current system, a separate FPGA is available at each detector, thus dividing the computational load. These methods allow SBP results to be calculated in real-time and to be presented to the image generation components in real-time. A hardware implementation has been developed using a commercially available prototype board.


The main purpose of this paper was to establish the initial groundwork for a larger ethnographic fieldwork case study so that the novice English teachers could be more prepared to face the peculiarities of rustic schools particularly the issue of the learning environment where they would be posted to. For the purpose of this paper, it focussed on only decontextualizing the data on climate and effectiveness factors to determine the capacity and capability of the school. Initial data revealed that English was the 'killer subject' for this case school where the Primary School Assessment Examination (UPSR) was concerned. These data were obtained through peripheral observations, formal and casual interviews, classroom participation as well as document analysis.  The data from the study seemed to confirm the interrelationship of the climate and effectiveness factors to determine educational effectiveness of this low performing primary school.  The descriptive qualitative data from the study allowed me as the researcher to interpret and comprehend the scenario to craft a detailed depiction of the teaching and learning of the English language in this rustic primary school.  Hopefully, this would render a more holistic understanding not only on the feebleness and fortes of the school but more importantly on how novice English teachers as the initiators of the learning of the English language in the classroom could make more judicious decisions on how to uplift and improve academic performance among the pupils especially with regards to the teaching and learning of English language.


Restaurant business in Bangladesh has long history, but this sector is currently growing due to the rising market demand and growth. Many new restaurants are launched both at urban areas and country sides of Bangladesh at present, and doing the food business has become a recent trend among the entrepreneurs. Through this research project, entrepreneur's aspirations for doing the restaurant business in Bangladesh have been identified. At the same time, the major obstacles faced by the restaurateurs and the key success factors of restaurant business in Bangladesh have also been pin-pointed in this book. All of these issues are analyzed based upon the opinions and information provided by the interviewers (restaurateurs), Bangladesh Restaurant Owner's Association (BROA) and Bangladesh Beaurue of Statistics (BBS). Throughout this book, an overview of restaurant business in Bangladesh has been drawn with recommendations for further entrepreneurial development in this sector.


Absrract.-The U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) considers "distinct" populations of vertebrates to be "species" (and hence eligible for legal protection) but does not explain how distinctness should be evaluated. A review of the legislative and legal history of the ESA indicates that in implementing the ESA with respect to vertebrate populations, the Fish and Wildlife Senice and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) should strive to conserve genetic diversity scientifically but sparingly. Based on these precepts, NMFS developed a species policy to guide ESA listing determinations for Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp. According to the policy, a population (or group of populations) will be considered distinct if it represents an evolutionarily significant unit (ESU) of the biological species. The unifying theme of the NMFS species policy is the desire to identify and conserve important genetic resources in nature, thus allowing the dynamic process of evolutioa to continue largely unaffected by human factors. A review of case histories in which the NMFS policy has been applied shows that it is flexible enough to provide guidance on many difficult issues for Pacific salmon, such as anadromy versus nonanadromy, variation in life history patterns, and the role of hatchery fish in regards to the ESA. Collectively, these case studies also provide insight into approaches for dealing with scientific uncertainty. Some criticisms of the ESU concept (e.g., that it is too subjective and relies too much-or not enough-on genetics) are discussed, as is its applicability to biological conservation outside the ESA.


Eighteen compounds with a botryane skeleton have been obtained through chemical transformations of various toxins from the fungus Botrytis cinerea. During the course of these transformations, the C-10 carbon of the botryane skeleton was found to exhibit an interesting high regioselectivity to oxidizing and reducing agents. In addition, the cytotoxicity of 27 botryane derivatives was determined in vitro against Hs578T, MDA-MB-231, HT-1080, U87-MG, IMR-90, and HUVEC cell lines. The results of this study confirm that the cytotoxicity of botrydial (1) and its derivatives is related to the presence of a 1,5-dialdehyde functionality.


Anisotropic rotor configurations influenced by the presence of a large number of geometrical parameters in a permanent magnet assisted synchronous reluctance (PMASR) motor pose design challenges in obtaining a robust geometry satisfying the requirements of reduced torque ripple and high torque density. Therefore, the purpose of this work is to perform detailed geometrical sensitivity analysis of a 36 slot/4 pole permanent magnet assisted synchronous reluctance (PMASR) motor using h-indexing and level sensitivity analysis in order to specify a guideline for designers to prioritize the design variables for optimization. Systematic multi-level design optimization for multiple objectives is implemented by an NSGA-II algorithm aided by the finite element analysis tool, hardware prototyping and experimental validation. The optimized designs also exhibit better structural and thermal characteristics.


Abstract The effect of UV irradiation on unbleached and TCF-bleached dissolving pulp samples of different provenience, a beech sulphite and an eucalyptus prehydrolysis kraft pulp, has been analyzed according to the CCOA method, evaluating the changes in the molecular weight distribution, the total number of carbonyl groups and the carbonyl group profiles of each pulp. In the case of TCF bleached material, slightly more carbonyl groups were introduced into the kraft pulp as compared to the sulfite pulp. Cellulose degradation was relatively low in both pulps. In the case of unbleached sulfite pulps, the residual lignin had only a minor effect on the molecular weight distribution and the oxidation state of the cellulose, whereas for eucalyptus kraft pulp a pronounced introduction of carbonyl groups accompanied by severe degradation of cellulose was observed. The presence of hemicelluloses governed the photochemical behavior and the carbonyl profiles of the low molecular weight region of the cellulose.


Principally, this study gives an overview about the Neuronal oscillations appear throughout the nervous system in structures as well as, the range of frequencies of clinical and physiological interests for motor imagery EEG signal. In addition, a brief description about MI paradigm which is also known as movement imagery, which is a mental process through which a person imagines a physical action, such as jumping, or moving hands. In particular, event-related desynchronization (ERD) and synchronization (ERS). Finally, a set of studies have been listed towards highlights the advantages of using BCI Competition dataset which is a public dataset that have been widely used in the analysis of the EEG motor imagery signal methods and technique.


Abstract Background/Aim: DNA methylation is the most studied epigenetic modification in cancer. Ten-eleven translocation enzymes (TET) catalyze the oxidation of 5-methylcytosine (5-mC) to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5-hmC) in the DNA. In the current research, we aimed to evaluate the role of 5-hmC and TET enzymes in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients and their possible association with outcomes. Patients and Methods: ELISA was used to measure the 5-hmC levels in genomic DNA and qRT-PCR was used to evaluate TET1, TET2, and TET3 mRNAs expression levels in NSCLC tissues and their paired normal controls. Results: The levels of 5-hmC were significantly lower in NSCLC tissues than in normal tissues, with a mean ±SD of 0.28±0.37 vs. 1.84±0.58, respectively (t=22.77, p<0.0001), and this reduction was correlated with adverse clinical features. In addition, all TET genes were significantly down-regulated in NSCLC tissues in comparison to their matched normal tissues. The mean±SD level of TET1-mRNA was 38.48±16.38 in NSCLC vs. 80.65±11.25 in normal tissues (t=21.33, p<0.0001), TET2-mRNA level in NSCLC was 5.25±2.78 vs. 9.52±1.01 in normal tissues (t=14.48, p<0.0001), and TET3-mRNA level in NSCLC was 5.21±2.8 vs. 9.51±0.86 in normal tissues (t=14.75, p<0.0001). Downregulation of TET genes was correlated with poor clinical features. Conclusion: 5-HmC levels as well as TET1, TET2, and TET3 mRNA levels were reduced in NSCLC tissues. The reduced levels of 5-hmC and TET mRNAs were associated with adverse clinical features, suggesting that the level of 5-hmC may serve as a valuable prognostic biomarker for NSCLC.


Objectives. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of operator skill on microleakage in class V composite restorations. Materials and Methods. A total of 16 dentists and 25 dental students were enrolled, and 123 extracted teeth were allocated according to the adhesive being tested: Scotchbond Multipurpose, Adper Scotchbond 1 XT, and AdheSE. Each operator was asked to restore one tooth from each experimental group: two class V cavities were cut on each tooth and each adhesive was used on the same tooth before and after instructions for its use. After filling cavities with composite (Z100), the teeth were thermocycled. Results. For all of the tested adhesives, the mean microleakage score was lower for the dentists than for the students. The mean scores for the three tested adhesives were statistically similar before and after instructions for use. Conclusion. Our results indicate that the skill of the operator has a significant influence on microleakage.


Free spans constitute a threat to the integrity of offshore pipelines. Ocean currents and wave induced flow near the seabed can cause excitation of vortex induced vibrations (VIV), exposing the pipeline to cyclic loading which may result in fatigue failure. In extreme environmental events, waves and currents may cause significant bending moments due to VIV or direct wave loading, which may cause unacceptably high combined loading potentially resulting in pipeline failure. Safe and reliable free span design is therefore a key aspect of pipeline design in general.
 When free spans are located in close proximity to each other, modal response may cause span interaction, effectively coupling potential VIV or direct wave action response of two or more spans. Such spans configurations are called multi-spans. Treatment, and particularly identification of multi-span configurations has long been a challenge in the pipeline industry.
 In 2017, a new revision of the DNV GL recommended practice for free span pipeline design DNVGL-RP-F105 was issued. Among other subjects, the new revision provides significantly improved guidance on identification and classification of multi-span free spanning pipelines. The new guidance facilitates the option of automating identification, modal analysis and ultimately fatigue analysis of multi-span configurations.
 This paper demonstrates background for and benefits with01 the new revision of DNVGL-RP-F105 in systematic and automated treatment of multi-span identification, fatigue and extreme loading assessments based on recent experience from a selection of pipeline design and operations management case studies.


This paper deals with a single-server station (a computer) where each customer's demand comprises an independent random number of jobs (programs). Under certain assumptions, two cyclic disciplines are mathematically analyzed: (a) continuous job service—a round-robin discipline where the quantum's length is distributed as the service requirement of a job; (b) intermittent job service—a double round-robin discipline—in the first instance in terms of the jobs within the customer's demand, and in the second in terms of the customer himself.


We report on accurate measurements of Fickian diffusion coefficients in binary mixtures consisting of hydrofluoroether (a perfluoro compound of methoxy-nonafluorobutane or HFE-7100) with dissolved atmospheric gases CO2, N2, and O2 in the limit of an infinite dilution of the gas. We show that the use of optical digital interferometry (ODI) allows the determination of diffusion coefficients of dissolved gases with relatively small standard uncertainties for this class of experiments. In addition, we illustrate the ability of an optical approach to determine the gas concentration. We compare the capacity of four mathematical models, singly used in the literature, to obtain diffusion coefficients by applying them to the processing of a large amount of experimental data. We quantify their systematic errors and standard uncertainties. The temperature behavior of the diffusion coefficients measured in the range of 10 to 40 °C is consistent with the behavior of the same gases in other solvents available in the literature.


Pseudoaneurysm of the carotid artery is a potentially life-threatening complication of deep neck space infection. It clinically manifests by pulsatile neck swelling, lower cranial nerve palsy, and Horner's syndrome. There may be sentinel bleed from nose or oral cavity before the massive haemorrhage, from carotid artery rupture. We present a case of pseudoaneurysm of the internal carotid artery (ICA) following parapharyngeal and retropharyngeal space infection in an 8-month-old infant. Emergency carotid artery ligation was performed and the infant recovered well without any neurological sequelae.


Objective:Review data obtained from high-frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV) and mechanical test lung models with respect to delivered tidal volume, distal pressure transmission, endotracheal tube cuff leaks, and simulated clinical conditions. Design:Review of selected studies from PubMed, published abstracts, and institutional mechanical test lung data. Results:Tidal volume delivery during HFOV is altered by oscillatory pressure amplitude (&Dgr;P), frequency (Hz), percent inspiratory time (IT%), and patient variables. Distal (carinal) oscillatory pressure amplitude transmission is directly correlated with endotracheal tube diameter and peripheral airway resistance. Endotracheal tube cuff leaks promote egress of tracheal gas while attenuating distal oscillatory pressure amplitude and tidal volume transmission. Simulated clinical conditions (e.g., increased distal airway resistance, mainstem intubation) may increase observed &Dgr;P, whereas mean airway pressure is decreased with air leaks. Conclusion:Mechanical test lung and artificial trachea simulations may provide useful information on the interaction of HFOV with altered lung mechanics and may contribute to the formulation of HFOV clinical strategies. Important limitations of these models include absence of gas exchange, histologic and biologic markers, or hemodynamic data.


Ofhia is a common practice in the entire Igboland that whenever anybody dies, his or her people normally rally around in preparing shade where the kindred including the Chief mourners will stay to receive the visitors. Research was also observed in some other communities in Anambra State as to make the fact clearer. The Ofhia. or "Ima Ntu" has posed a big challenge to Anglican church in Ogidi in the recent past. The challenge existed between the Igbo traditional leadership and the Anglican church in Ogidi. The Igbo traditional leadership were of the view that church must observe the Ofhia in every burial, while the church maintained their stand to be using canopy as a more modern practice. The research preceded by oral interview especially of the key role players in the Igbo traditional leadership and Christian body in Ogidi whose responses were analyzed and synthesized. The Igbo traditional leader said no to new modern technology of using canopy as shade while the Christian body said no to old pattern of using palm fronts to prepare shade for the kindred and Chief mourners' corner for receiving visitors during burial. The paper is to draw a balance of accommodation, knowledge of modernism and dynamism between the Igbo traditional leadership and Christian church in Ogidi Anambra State to restore a mutual understanding and free flow of evangelistic out-reach in their church burial. It is also to draw a distinction between Igbo traditional burial and church burial in Ogidi.


Germany is part of the European Union and has taken pivotal roles among the other Members States. Germany faces trend as an immigrant country which currently more than ten per cent of population. More than 20 per cent of immigrant in Germany has background Turkey as ethnic origin. More than 85 per cent immigrant with Turkey background has affiliated with Islam as religion. Nowadays Germany has largest Muslim population in Western Europe after France. The active participation in society's affairs is one of the key elements of integration and should be accompanied by legal equality in the religious sector, the relationship between the state and the civil society is pivotal. Feminism is one of paradigm in the European Union and in the Member States scholarship. Moreover, woman has special position on Islamic view. Nowadays the term Islamic feminism is uprising around the globe. The important question that becomes research question is does Islamic feminism help in the debate for integration? To what extend? It is most important as a basic and fundamental research to comprehensive understanding the Muslim living in Germany. For answering this research question, I tend to make a hypothesis that Islamic feminism help in debate for integration which 21st century is the time of transmission the concept of Islamic feminism which is connected with the proposal to support integration process in the European Union and in the Member States towards good governance system. This can be proven by active participation of women in Germany Islamic organization. The participation aims to increase capacity development of Muslim women. This participation also arises integration awareness that can be described by some patterns which divided based on data from an empirical research using sequential exploratory method.


1. This study makes use of the pattern of synaptic connections between motoneurons and Ia afferents of triceps surae muscles in the cat to test the relative importance of synaptic identity, neuronal size, and neuronal topography as determinants of Ia-afferent connectivity and excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) amplitude. 2. The synaptic actions of single-Ia medial gastrocnemius (MG) afferents were measured by intracellular recording in MG and lateral gastrocnemius (LG) motoneurons. The spike-triggered averaging technique was used to measure EPSPs generated by homonymous or heteronymous Ia afferents and motoneurons, i.e., neurons supplying the same or different muscles, respectively. In agreement with earlier studies, the pooled sample showed that the number of functional connections and the size of EPSPs were both significantly greater for homonymous than for heteronymous neurons. 3. Afferent conduction velocity, motoneuron conduction velocity, rheobase current, and position of the motoneuron relative to the spinal cord afferent entry were all correlated with EPSP amplitude, but the amplitude difference between homonymous and heteronymous connections remained significant after the statistical removal analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) of the contribution of these variables. Stepwise multiple-regression analysis showed that synaptic identity explained the greatest fraction of the variance in EPSP amplitude (9%), with significant but smaller fractions accounted for by rheobase current or motoneuron conduction velocity. 4. In a separate experiment, the monosynaptic affects from both homonymous and heteronymous single-Ia afferents were examined in each of 88 MG or LG motoneurons. The single-Ia afferents used in this portion of the study were sampled from both MG and LG muscles and selected for similar conduction velocities and spinal cord entry points.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Abstract. The Colombian Ministry of Environment, Housing and Territorial Development issued the Policy for Integrated Water Resources Management in 2010, with the formulation of Basin Management Plans (POMCA) as a key component. The main purpose of these plans is to support land use planning and sustainable management of renewable natural resources. Since the announcement of the policy; however, advances in the formulation of POMCAs have been limited, due to the need of generating knowledge and the necessary information to formulate such plans. To contribute to the generation of such knowledge, we developed HidroCHEP: a Toolbox to support the formulation and hydrologic characterization of Colombian basins. In this paper, we report the design, architecture, implementation and use of the toolbox, to understand the climatic variability of the country and to improve predictions in ungauged basins. The use of the toolbox is illustrated and evaluated through its application in three pilot river basins (Pamplonita, Guali and Ceibas) each with different level of available hydrologic and climatic data. This paper focuses on the use of the toolbox for the development of one of the products required by the technical guide for the formulation of POMCA, in the Pamplonita river basin. Main advantages and disadvantages of its application are evaluated. It is demonstrated that the toolbox has the potential to support the formulation of POMCAs in the country and to contribute to integrated national water resources management.


Background COVID-19 has rapidly evolved to become a global pandemic due largely to the transmission of its causative virus through asymptomatic carriers. Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in asymptomatic people is an urgent priority for the prevention and containment of disease outbreaks in communities. However, few data are available in asymptomatic persons regarding the accuracy of PCR testing. Additionally, although self-collected saliva has significant logistical advantages in mass screening, its utility as an alternative specimen in asymptomatic persons is yet to be determined. Methods We conducted a mass-screening study to compare the utility of nucleic acid amplification, such as reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing, using NPS and saliva samples from each individual in two cohorts of asymptomatic persons: the contact tracing cohort and the airport quarantine cohort. Results In this mass-screening study including 1,924 individuals, the sensitivity of nucleic acid amplification testing with nasopharyngeal and saliva specimens were 86% (90%CI:77-93%) and 92% (90%CI:83-97%), respectively, with specificities greater than 99.9%. The true concordance probability between the nasopharyngeal and saliva tests was estimated at 0.998 (90%CI:0.996-0.999) on the estimated airport prevalence, 0.3%. In positive individuals, viral load was highly correlated between NPS and saliva. Conclusion Both nasopharyngeal and saliva specimens had high sensitivity and specificity. Self-collected saliva is a valuable specimen to detect SARS-CoV-2 in mass screening of asymptomatic persons.


The percentage of the patients with PaCO2 more than 60 Torr and PaO2 more than 50 Torr were 13% in the patients with tuberculosis sequela (N = 502) and 4% in the patients with chronic obstructive lung disease (COLD, N = 727), who were treated with home oxygen therapy in the western region of Japan. Patients with chronic respiratory failure caused by tuberculosis sequela have higher PaCO2 than patients with COLD. Although the prognosis of patients with hypercapnia and moderate hypoxemia is not necessarily poor, some patients may need treatment for severe hypoventilation to prevent respiratory muscle fatigue and abnormal breathing during sleep. In this study, nine patients with hypercapnic chronic respiratory failure caused by tuberculosis sequela were ventilated by Chest Negative Pressure Ventilation (CNPV). The patients were monitored as in polysomnography by transcutaneous PCO2 (PtcCO2) electrode and Respiratory Inductance Plethysmography (RIP). Tidal volume induced by CNPV was larger during mouth breathing (504 +/- 128 ml, mean +/- s.d.) than during nose breathing (438 +/- 109 ml) calculated from RIP in awake state (N = 7). Oxygen saturation measured by ear oximeter and PtcCO2 were 94.4 +/- 2.9% and 57.8 +/- 12.2 Torr in awake state. Following CNPV SaO2 and PtcCO2 were 95.7 +/- 3.0%, 42.7 +/- 12.1 Torr in awake state (N = 9) and 93.0 +/- 4.4%, 57.0 +/- 15.7 Torr in Non-REM sleep (N = 5), respectively. CNPV is effective in these patients in awake state. During Non-REM sleep, CNPV maintains the PtcCO2 level only in awake state.


Background Elimination of cancer cells by some stimuli like chemotherapy and radiotherapy activates anticancer immunity after the generation of damage‐associated molecular patterns, a process recently named immunogenic cell death (ICD). Despite the recent advances in cancer immunotherapy, very little is known about the immunological consequences of cell death activated by cytotoxic CD8+ T (Tc) cells on cancer cells, that is, if Tc cells induce ICD on cancer cells and the molecular mechanisms involved. Methods ICD induced by Tc cells on EL4 cells was analyzed in tumor by vaccinating mice with EL4 cells killed in vitro or in vivo by Ag-specific Tc cells. EL4 cells and mutants thereof overexpressing Bcl-XL or a dominant negative mutant of caspase-3 and wild-type mice, as well as mice depleted of Tc cells and mice deficient in perforin, TLR4 and BATF3 were used. Ex vivo cytotoxicity of spleen cells from immunized mice was analyzed by flow cytometry. Expression of ICD signals (calreticulin, HMGB1 and interleukin (IL)-1β) was analyzed by flow cytometry and ELISA. Results Mice immunized with EL4.gp33 cells killed in vitro or in vivo by gp33-specific Tc cells were protected from parental EL4 tumor development. This result was confirmed in vivo by using ovalbumin (OVA) as another surrogate antigen. Perforin and TLR4 and BATF3-dependent type 1 conventional dendritic cells (cDC1s) were required for protection against tumor development, indicating cross-priming of Tc cells against endogenous EL4 tumor antigens. Tc cells induced ICD signals in EL4 cells. Notably, ICD of EL4 cells was dependent on caspase-3 activity, with reduced antitumor immunity generated by caspase-3–deficient EL4 cells. In contrast, overexpression of Bcl-XL in EL4 cells had no effect on induction of Tc cell antitumor response and protection. Conclusions Elimination of tumor cells by Ag-specific Tc cells is immunogenic and protects against tumor development by generating new Tc cells against EL4 endogenous antigens. This finding helps to explain the enhanced efficacy of T cell-dependent immunotherapy and provide a molecular basis to explain the epitope spread phenomenon observed during vaccination and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy. In addition, they suggest that caspase-3 activity in the tumor may be used as a biomarker to predict cancer recurrence during T cell-dependent immunotherapies.


Abstract Objective The present study evaluated the contribution of 100 % orange juice (OJ) consumption to the intakes of macronutrients and energy and its impact on body composition. Design A cross-sectional study was conducted. The main exposure was OJ consumption based on two non-consecutive 24 h diet recalls. Macronutrient and energy intakes and body composition parameters were outcome measures. All statistical analyses were carried out using SAS and SUDAAN statistical software packages to allow for multistage sample designs. Setting The US population and its subgroups. Subjects The US population aged ≥4 years (n 13 971) from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2003–2006, conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics. Results In this US population, OJ consumers had lower BMI and healthier lifestyle behaviours (including lower alcohol consumption and smoking as well as higher exercise level) than non-consumers (P < 0·05). After adjusting for covariates, OJ consumers had higher daily intakes of carbohydrate, total sugar, total fat and energy than non-consumers (P < 0·01). However, these linear trends still remained even after OJ was removed from the food list of items consumed. Adult OJ consumers had lower BMI, waist circumference and percentage body fat than non-consumers (P < 0·01), as well as lower odds ratio for overweight and obesity (P < 0·01). These effects were not seen in children and adolescents, where there was no significant difference in BMI, waist circumference and percentage body fat in OJ consumers compared with non-consumers. Conclusions OJ consumption was associated with healthier body composition in adults; while there were no significant associations between OJ consumption and body composition in children and adolescents.


(Background): Effective prevention strategies and acute therapies have been established and distributed in recent years to reduce the global burden of stroke. However, beyond randomized clinical trials, limited data exist on the real-world impact of these measures. Our goal was to analyze whether the stroke-associated disability in the population decreased over time based on a state-wide stroke registry analysis. (Methods): Consecutive data from a state-wide inpatient stroke registry covering the entire federal state of Hesse, Germany, were obtained. The clinical data of 141,287 patients with ischemic stroke (ICD-10: I63) admitted between 2010 and 2019 were included. The primary outcome was the odds ratio for a change of modified Ranking Scale (mRS) at discharge over time, estimated by ordinary logistic regression and adjusted for age and sex. The secondary outcome was the odds ratio for a lower National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score at hospital admission. (Results): The absolute number of severely disabled (mRS 4–5) stroke patients at discharge decreased over time (2010: 3223 (equivalent to 53/100,000 population); 2019: 2429 [39/100,000 population]). The odds at hospital admission for a higher mRS at discharge decreased significantly by 3.7% per year (OR 0.963 (95% CI 0.960–0.966), p < 0.001). The absolute number of severely affected stroke patients (NIHSS > 15) at admission declined over time (2010: 1589 [26/100,000]; 2019: 1185 [19/100,000]; p < 0.001). The odds for a higher NIHSS score at admission to hospital decreased by 3.8% per year (OR 0.962 (95% CI 0.959–0.965), p < 0.001). Trends were most prominent for patients aged 80 years and older and for patients with atrial fibrillation but absent in patients <60 years. (Conclusions): Stroke-associated disability in the population steadily decreased between 2010 and 2019. The improved prevention of severe strokes in elderly patients may be a major driver of this observation.


and complicated pieces of literature accessible to nonspecialist readers in effective ways. While, undoubtedly, much of the stylistic flair and artistic playfulness can never be adequately translated, Paul Gwynne's highly readable prose version preserves the content and the urgency of Benci's fast-paced narrative. As a reader not trained in the classical tradition, I found Gwynne's commentary to be a helpful addition to his English text. While Gwynn devotes some attention to basic historical events, most of his remarks (398–681) pertain to matters of style. He provides detailed references to parallel passages in ancient epics in addition to highlighting more-recent poetic production that Benci would have been familiar with. This allows even nonspecialist readers to appreciate the playfulness and wit of Benci's poetry. Situating a readable translation within a detailed network of classical and post-classical references seems, to this reader, to be an effective way of bringing nonspecialist readers as close to the original text as possible. Jesuit Neo-Latin poetry seems to be one of the few remaining frontiers of Jesuit scholarship. It is under-studied yet fascinating. It is also full of peculiar challenges, not least linguistically. But with masterful presentations of Jesuit Latin poetry such as this, it is now possible for Benci—and, hopefully soon, a range of other equally important authors—to become more prominent among Jesuit scholars.


It is not enough to depend upon diffusivity to dissipate the heat from a gas laser. Under the circumstances, average power outputs are too limited. By generating flow within the gas and deriving the benefits of forced convection, performance is improved. But if flow can be used to improve power outputs, it also can be used to advance a step further and generate the conditions that are necessary for lasing action-thereby creating a gasdynamic laser. This article covers the theory behind such a device and describes an experimental unit that has proved the merit of the concept.


may have early complications as transposed colon ischemia and anastomotic fistula. Late complications as anastomotic stricture "redundant graft", ulceration, colitis, perforation, diverticulitis, or tumor in the colonic segment are reported4,5. Must be remembered that colorectal cancer has a high incidence; is the third leading cause of cancer diagnosed in men and second among women in the world12 and this colonic segment has a risk for malignancy too. There are 21 cases of adenoma/adenocarcinoma in transposed colon described in literature1,3-7. This case shows that all patient underwent to esophagocoloplasty and develops dysphagia during late follow-up should be investigated for malignancy and the initial diagnosis of stenosis of the esophagocolic anastomosis without biopsy should be evoid.


Abstract Background To evaluate the clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients with naïve septic arthritis caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Methods We conducted a retrospective review of adult patients with naïve septic arthritis at three tertiary-care hospitals from 2005 through 2017. Results Of the 101 patients with S. aureus naïve septic arthritis, 39 (38.6%) was identified MRSA. Compared with patients with methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA), patients with MRSA presented more frequently with nosocomial infection (1.6% vs. 17.9%; P = 0.005), and inappropriate antibiotics within 48h (0% vs. 74.4%; P < 0.001). The overall 30-day mortality was 4% and tended to be higher in MRSA group (1.6% vs. 7.7%; P = 0.296). The treatment failure was 23.8%, which was higher in the MRSA group (35.9% vs. 16.1%; P = 0.031). The independent risk factors for treatment failure were end-stage of renal disease with hemodialysis (odds ratio [OR] = 32.073; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.669–385.372; P = 0.006) and antibiotics duration less than 6 weeks (OR = 4.987; 95% CI: 1.204–20.662; P = 0.027) Conclusion MRSA septic arthritis was associated with more frequent nosocomial infection and delayed treatment compared with MSSA septic arthritis. Antibiotic therapy, for less than 6 weeks, may be cautioned for S aureus septic arthritis until better outcomes are assured. Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.


In this article I discuss the relationship between theories of identity and making practices in secondary art and design. Of particular interest is the way students are invited to explore identities in relation to a sense of self and the extent to which this is informed by schools' concern to make diversity visible through multicultural celebration, thus framing and possibly limiting exploration. It is notable that non-heternormative sexual identities remain largely invisible in the official curriculum and I examine the disjunction between this absence and their hypervisibilty in the mass media and its culture of confession/exposure. I revisit Michel Foucault's discussion of the history of sexuality as a way to understand the development of confessional discourses in modern culture and to provide an alternative and ambivalent reading of the power relations implicit in work exploring identities by art and design students. Specifically, I look at the position of gay and lesbian students and teachers, and ask whether their sexuality can figure within the injunction 'explore your identity'. Given the heteronormative culture of schooling, I end by recommending that individuals should be wary of outing themselves in the name of self-expression but that art teachers could use strategies of distancing to engage students with issues of sexuality and join with others to counter homophobia by queering the curriculum.


This paper describes continuous speech recognition experiments on a Romanian language speech database, by using hidden Markov models (EMM). We compare the recognition rates obtained in our ASR system realising front-ends based on features extracted by perceptual variants of cepstral analysis and linear prediction and by simple linear prediction. The best results obtained with 36 coefficients mel-frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCC) are used as basis to rank the front-ends based on LPC. The second rank is very promising for the performance obtained with 5 perceptual linear prediction (PLP) coefficients, obviously better at the last ranked performance of the simple linear prediction coefficients (LPC). We reorganized the database as follows: one database for male speakers, one database for female speakers and one database for both male and female speakers


Emerging infectious diseases affect the health of animal and human populations, but the impact goes beyond health as it extends to political, economic, social and environmental domains, as well as inter-state relations. Deeper understanding of these impacts aids public health authorities in their duties of protection and improvement of the health of their communities, promotion of healthy practices and research on disease, injury and threat prevention and mitigation. This empirical essay gathers insights from Cambodia, Hong Kong and Indonesia as they attempt to design and implement control and surveillance systems against avian influenza - an infectious disease.


Nanocrystalline fluorine doped tin oxide (SnO 2 :F) thin films were produced by the spray pyrolysis technique (SP) on glass substrates at a substrate temperature T s = 450 °C. The hydrated stannous chloride (SnCl 2 .2H 2 O) was used as a precursor and ammonium fluoride (NH 4 F) was used as the doping compound for one set of films, and hydrofluoric acid (HF) was used as the doping compound to produce another set of films. After exposure to atmosphere for about one month, a comparison between the compositional, morphological and optical properties of the films obtained by using the two doping compounds was performed by using scanning electron microscope (SEM) observations, X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and transmittance measurements. Both sets of films are found to be oxygen rich, but the films prepared by using NH 4 F have higher oxygen content. SEM images showed that the films prepared by using HF have larger grain size, and EDS analysis showed that these films have higher fluorine to oxygen ratio. In addition, the films prepared by using HF have lower transmittance and higher direct optical bandgap energy. These results are interesting for the use of SnO 2 :F  as a fore contact in CdS/CdTe solar cells.


Four ternary Ni-W-P alloy coatings with different W contents are obtained by four different formulations of electroless Ni-W-P plating bath. The effects of W content on the structure, hardness and corrosion resistance in 5% sulfuric acid solution are investigated. It is found that the structure of the ternary electroless Ni-W-P coating is greatly influenced by W content in the deposit. It is also found that the requisite content of phosphorus for amorphous Ni-W-P structure is less than that of Ni-P binary alloy coating, and the more tungsten exists, the less phosphorus is required. The hardness of the deposits will be enhanced as the deposit structures are changed from amorphous to mix-or nanocrystalline structures. The corrosion resistance of Ni-W-P ternary alloy is improved as W content increased, and the passivation of amorphous deposits is formed more easily than that of mix-structure and nanocrystalline deposits.


The in vivo uptake of 67Ga-citrate by staphylococcal abscesses in rats has been studied. The high accumulation of calcium and magnesium in the abscess and in the surrounding tissues appears to be responsible for the accumulation of 67Ga. The role of the mast cells in the inflammatory process which leads to a calcification (calciphylaxis) is discussed and related to their possible involvement in the case of tumor transplants.


A long‐term follow‐up study of 42 patients with West syndrome treated with high doses of sodium valproate is presented. Control of the hypsarrhythmic EEG pattern was achieved after two weeks for over three‐quarters of the patients with sodium valproate doses of 100 to 300mg/kg/day. Recurrence of hypsarrhythmia was observed most often in patients treated with doses lower than 200mg/kg/day. Other types of seizures appeared in half of the patients followed beyond two years of age. Monotherapy throughout follow‐up was possible for 30 patients. Autism occurred in only one infant, and 12 achieved normal mental status. The most common side‐effects were asymptomatic thrombocytopenia, vomiting and mild somnolence. Hepatic enzymes were not altered.


Insolvency Statistics in Canada for the 2011 year. Includes data on bankruptcies and proposals. Prepared by the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada. Table of contents


The doctor may now approach the patient with facial paralysis with the confidence that surgical treatment is possible to restore animation of the face. Strategies for facial restoration are based on the period of denervation of the facial muscles. If the period of denervation is one year or less, then cross-facial nerve grafting is used; if the period of denervation is more than one year, then the procedure involves cross-facial nerve grafting followed by a free microneurovascular muscle transfer after one year. A hemihypoglossal neurotization of the facial nerve is now included in the procedure, to maintain neurotrophic influences and to tone the facial musculature while minimizing the lingual atrophy that accompanied traditional XII-VII transfers. Eyelid function can be restored immediately with gold weight placement into the upper lid; this procedure eliminates the need for tarsorraphy. This article provides examples of each approach.


This paper deals with the optimal quadratic control problem for non-Gaussian discrete-time stochastic systems. Our main result gives explicit solutions for the optimal quadratic control problem for partially observable dynamic linear systems with asymmetric observation errors. For this purpose an asymmetric version of the Kalman filter based on asymmetric least squares estimation is used. We illustrate the applicability of our approach with numerical results.


Small Medium Enterprises (SME) is an activity of small business however then it is able to give big effect for economy in Indonesia. It can extend job field, having role in a process of distributing and raising social's income, and boosting create national stability. However, needing provisions to create it to compete globally. Utilizing the development of technology in this era is not to left behind with the Era's development.
Utilization of social media as promotion's tools to facilitate SME's marketing is a kind of strategy which always used nowadays. An easy access, wide network, quick method and cheap cost can give positive impact and big benefit for the performer of SME.
The result of this research showed that employ and utilization social media as promotion tools can increase capacity compete of SME refers to the sale increasing than using no social media. However, after look in the behind, there are a lot of SME which use no social media and utilizing social media yet to sell their product as online because of some reason.
Keywords: Small Medium Enterprises (SME), Social Media, Marketing online


Counting health personnel and defining migration is more complicated than one should think at first glance. Migrating health workers are not a homogenous group, and many factors cause people to migrate—not only low wages but also lack of professional development possibilities, poor job satisfaction, outdated equipment, unsafe environment, and more. The opposite factors encourage people to stay. Many countries, including high-income countries benefit from remittances from migrating individuals. The World Health Organization has installed a code of Practice on the international recruitment of health workers. Although member countries have committed to follow this Code, it is not widely adhered to. Planning for the future is difficult, also because there are so many unknown factors related to the development of health-care levels, policies, inflow and outflow and more. Action must be taken in both donor and receiving countries. In anesthesiology, there is a huge workforce deficit globally. The world would need 136,000 additional physician anesthesia providers today to achieve an absolute minimum of five per 100,000 population. This will not happen unless all countries follow those that already have taken proactive steps in leading the direction forward. Anaesthesiology Society involvement is crucial.


This study examined the distribution of reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate diaphorase (NADPH-d) reactivity and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) immunoreactivity in the lumbosacral dorsal root ganglia (DRG) in male guinea pigs. A differential distribution of NADPH-d reactivity and NOS immunoreactivity was detected in neurons of DRG at different segmental levels. There were numerically more intensely stained NADPH-d and NOS reactive cells in the rostral (L1-L3) DRG compared with those at the caudal (L6-S4) levels. In the corresponding DRG, NADPH-d reactivity was not paralleled by NOS immunoreactivity. This was evidenced by the wide distribution of afferent neurons in the lumbosacral DRG stained for NADPH-d, yet only a small number of them exhibited NOS immunoreactivity. Double labelling study has shown that some of the NADPH-d positive neurons were NOS negative. Ultrastructurally, NADPH-d reaction product was associated with the membranes of various subcellular organelles, including the rough endoplasmic reticulum (rER), Golgi saccules, mitochondria and some segments of the nuclear envelop, whereas NOS immune-precipitate was patchily distributed throughout the cytoplasm. Present results suggest that nitric oxide (NO) may function as a neurotransmitter in the afferent pathways at lumbosacral segments. On the other hand, in view of their marked disparity in numbers and the lack of total one-to-one correspondence, it seems likely that the NOS positive neurons represent only a subpopulation of the NADPH-d positive cells in the lumbosacral DRG.


Background: The amount and quality of evidence on how to effectively promote physical activity (PA) is low compared to what is known about the health effects of regular PA, especially in obese individuals. Aim: To evaluate the role of social support to promote walking in severely obese outpatients. Methods: The main hypothesis (increased social support promotes walking) was tested through a randomised, 2-armed, prospective (18 weeks) intervention study in 42 severely obese outpatients (study III). Three preparative studies were carried out. Study I was a cross-sectional comparison of PA in severely obese outpatients and a normal weight population. Study II evaluated the digiwalker SW-701 pedometer against the more versatile and sensitive MTI 7164 (formerly CSA) accelerometer. Study IV evaluated the Tanita BC-418 bioelectrical impedance monitor for estimating body composition against dual x-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Results: Study I found a clear inverse association between PA and BMI that was dependent on obesity status (strong correlation in the obese between PA and BMI, and weak or non-existent correlation in non-obese). Study II showed that the digiwalker pedometer was of sufficient quality to confidently detect changes in walking in the intervention study (study III). The Tanita BC-418 bioelectrical impedance monitor correlated well with DXA estimates of fatness, but underestimated both total and trunkal fatness (study IV). In the intervention study (study III) the group allocated to a more intensive support programme recorded 1794 more steps/d than the group allocated to standard support (P<0.01). Conclusions: Accelerometer data identified the need to promote PA in the severely obese. Pedometers were deemed sufficiently accurate to detect changes in walking. Finally, the intervention study provided support for the concept that social support promotes walking in the severely obese. LIST OF PUBLICATIONS I. Hemmingsson E, Ekelund U. Is the association between body mass index and physical activity obesity dependent? Int J Obes (in press). II. Hemmingsson E, Ekelund U. Mixed abilities of a criterion pedometer to monitor real life physical activity in obese individuals. Submitted for publication. III. Hemmingsson E, Hellénius M-L, Ekelund U, Bergström J, Rössner S. Impact of social support intensity on walking in the severely obese: a randomised clinical trial. Submitted for publication. IV. Neovius M, Hemmingsson E, Freychuss B, Uddén J. Bioelectrical impedance underestimates total and truncal fatness in abdominally obese women. Obesity 2006;14:1731-8.


This poster outlines the cultural and natural heritage of the San people. It explores the cultural and symbolic value of the Shepherd's Bush tree as "The Tree of Family". The poster includes photographs of Shepherd's Bush tree as well as San people.


NEW DIRECTIONS IN EDUCATION RESEARCH: USING DATA MINING TECHNIQUES TO EXPLORE PREDICTORS OF GRADE RETENTION Deanna Kelley-Winstead, Ph.D. George Mason University, 2010 Dissertation Director: Dr. Clifton D. Sutton The purpose of this study was to use classification trees and logistic regression to identify subgroups of students more likely to be retained. The National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88) was used to identify the sociodemographic, family background and school related factors associated with grade retention. The sample size for this study consisted of 10,140 students, 1,570 of which had been held back. The NELS data were obtained from student questionnaires and surveys with the students' parents, teachers, and school administrators. In order to identify the predictors of students more likely to be held back, models were built using classification trees and logistic regression. Overall, the current study identified the predictive factors of grade retention. Moreover, this study demonstrates the effectiveness of using classification trees in conjunction with stepwise logistic regression in educational research.


A good earnings quality is very significant as it leads to the effective disclosure and accordingly good corporate governance. This research attempts to utilize the association of newly-created Corporate Governance which measures from the Corporate Governance Scores of the Thai Institute of Directors (IOD) in the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) in the year 2011 as independent variable, which the higher IOD score usually reflext the higher level of Corporate Governance and earnings quality as the dependent variable which used the variance and risk, which measured using standard deviation. Standard deviation is a standard measure of investment risk. This IOD's score compares almost all listed firms with the criteria established in the principles of corporate governance. The chi-square was used to test this relationship at 95% confidence. Results of analysis highlights that the standard deviation of firms listed in the SET for year 2011 is have the associated with IOD Score. In summary, the high Corporate Governance measured by IOD score shows earnings quality. In this study means that the firm which has a high IOD score, which means high corporate governance will have earnings quality which measure by using standard deviation. However, the results of this study shows the relationship between the two variables. The reason behinds this result may due to the fact that eventhough there are many ways to measure quality earnings, for our study, we use only standard deviations to measure earnings quality.


In 1941, the Nazi regime revoked the long-established convention of typesetting German texts in Fraktur styles.1 This study examines the significance of the messages conveyed by letterforms in Nazi propaganda and the extent to which the regime put into practice its professed typographic policies. Taking into account different audiences and channels, it focuses on books by the Ahnenerbe institute controlled by Heinrich Himmler, the women's magazine Frauen-warte and the newspaper Volklischer Beobachter. Fraktur styles seem to have functioned as the main letterforms of the blood and soil ideology, but another strand of Nazi typography departed from Fraktur and probably translated the importance of the Oera Linda book and the Codex Aesinas in the image of a supposedly 'Aryan' past. Meanwhile, the Nazi propaganda incorporated forms and norms that it appropriated from modernist typography, a topic implicitly raised in the dispute between Max Bill and Jan Tschichold in 1946. Typography functioned as instrument for exclusion, racial discrimination and gender stereotyping and to mark the boundaries of the 'Aryan' community, challenging the notion of print-language as intrinsically inclusive expressed in Benedict Anderson's Imagined Communities.


As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt our lives in unimagined ways, families are reinventing daily rituals, and this is likely true for musical rituals. This study explored how parents with young children used recorded music in their everyday lives during the pandemic. Mothers (N = 19) of child(ren) aged 18 months to 5 years living in the United States played the role of home DJ over a period of one week by strategically crafting the sonic home environment, based on resources provided by the authors, in response to their children's mood and state. Using a newly developed data collection tool, inspired by the Experience Sampling Method, a total of 197 episodes were collected about children's engagement with recorded music. Findings showed that while mothers utilized music to fulfill various emotional needs, they tended to use it to maintain or reinforce their child's positive mood rather than to improve a negative mood. Also, mothers' reports suggested various ways that young children engaged with music, being aligned with the multimodal nature of their musical experiences. Lastly, mothers reported that their strategic approaches to use recorded music seemed to help their children feel less distressed and happier, and this, in turn, aided in the reduction of some of the burdens associated with parenting.


Random numbers are one of the key foundations of cryptography. This work implements a discrete quantum random number generator (QRNG) based on the tunneling effect of electrons in an avalanche photo diode. Without any post-processing and conditioning, this QRNG can output raw sequences at a rate of 100 Mbps. Remarkably, the statistical min-entropy of the 8,000,000 bits sequence reaches 0.9944 bits/bit, and the min-entropy validated by NIST SP 800-90B reaches 0.9872 bits/bit. This metric is currently the highest value we have investigated for QRNG raw sequences. Moreover, this QRNG can continuously and stably output raw sequences with high randomness over extended periods. The system produced a continuous output of 1,174 Gbits raw sequence for a duration of 11,744 s, with every 8 Mbits forming a unit to obtain a statistical min-entropy distribution with an average value of 0.9892 bits/bit. The statistical min-entropy of all data (1,174 Gbits) achieves the value of 0.9951 bits/bit. This QRNG can produce high-quality raw sequences with good randomness and stability. It has the potential to meet the high demand in cryptography for random numbers with high quality.


We introduce MemSum (Multi-step Episodic Markov decision process extractive SUMmarizer), a reinforcement-learning-based extractive summarizer enriched at each step with information on the current extraction history. When MemSum iteratively selects sentences into the summary, it considers a broad information set that would intuitively also be used by humans in this task: 1) the text content of the sentence, 2) the global text context of the rest of the document, and 3) the extraction history consisting of the set of sentences that have already been extracted. With a lightweight architecture, MemSum obtains state-of-the-art test-set performance (ROUGE) in summarizing long documents taken from PubMed, arXiv, and GovReport. Ablation studies demonstrate the importance of local, global, and history information. A human evaluation confirms the high quality and low redundancy of the generated summaries, stemming from MemSum's awareness of extraction history.


This work was motivated by recently reported experimental results on the delayed convergence of the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), which is the standard for inter-domain routing in the Internet. BGP is a path vector protocol. We investigate the convergence properties of path vector protocols and, in particular, their alleged effectiveness in dealing with the count-to-infinity problem that plagues conventional distance vec- tor protocols. We assume synchronous operation of the protocols, and we study the cases when a destination comes up, the network topology changes while preserving connectedness, and a destination goes down. It is known that path vector protocols do not count to infinity. We show that they may still count to the length of the longest possible path in the network, when a destination goes down. On the other hand, when a destination comes up or the topology of the network changes, convergence time depends on the diameter of the network. The length of the longest path in a network may differ substantially from its diameter. In order to further understand the convergence properties of path vector protocols, we simulated their behavior over random graphs. We verified that path vector protocols converge much more quickly when a destination comes up than when it goes down.


Intracellular recordings were made from CA1 and CA3 pyramidal cells and from dentate granule cells of the mouse hippocampal slice preparation. The passive electrical properties of the cells and their responses to electrical stimulation of the major antidromic and orthodromic pathways were explored. The majority of cells were impaled between 60 and 100 micron from the surface of the slice. Mean resting potentials were about -66 mV for dentate and CA1 cells and -61 mV for CA3 cells. Mean input resistances were 87, 78 and 73 M omega respectively, with a range of 30-160 M omega for all three populations. Action potential amplitudes ranged from 70 to 110 mV and were typically about 90 mV. Current-voltage (I-V) plots for all three populations were ohmic within a range 10-20 mV negative to the resting potentials. The chord resistance of the I-V relation was lower at more negative potentials and higher at more positive potentials than at the resting potential. Antidromic stimulation at intensities subthreshold for action potential invasion of the impaled cell gave rise to inhibitory post-synaptic potentials (i.p.s.p.s) in CA1 and CA3 cells. The reversal potential of the i.p.s.p.s lay between -65 and -75 mV. They were chloride dependent and could be attenuated by application of bicuculline methiodide. No recurrent i.p.s.p. was seen in dentate cells when using potassium-acetate-filled electrodes. If potassium-chloride-filled intracellular electrodes were used, thus raising the intracellular chloride ion concentration, an antidromically evoked, bicuculline-sensitive depolarizing post-synaptic potential (p.s.p.) could be evoked. Thus, a gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-mediated recurrent inhibitory pathway was present in the slice in all three cell populations but appeared to be difficult to evoke reliably in the dentate gyrus. Orthodromic excitation of CA1 and CA3 cells evoked an excitatory post-synaptic potential (e.p.s.p.) followed by a biphasic hyperpolarization. The early hyperpolarization, lasting about 50 ms, reversed at about -65 mV and was chloride dependent. The later hyperpolarization lasted up to 400 ms, reversed at about -85 mV, and was chloride independent. The e.p.s.p. evoked in dentate cells by stimulation of the perforant path was biphasic and was followed by a hyperpolarization lasting 300-600 ms. The hyperpolarization resembled the late hyperpolarization described above. The two components of the e.p.s.p. may have been produced by the combined activation of the medial and lateral components of the perforant path. Small-amplitude regenerative potentials have been seen in all three cell types.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)


The article presents the results of studying the phase composition and microstructure of the V-Al-N-C alloy, intended mainly for doping titanium alloys, but also of interest to manufacturers of structural steels. The V-Al-N-C alloy was obtained by the method of out-of-furnace aluminothermic smelting of a mixture containing vanadium pentoxide, aluminum powder, nitrided by the SHS method powdered V-Al-(17-20)N (wt.%) alloy and graphite in copper uncooled molds. The phase composition was determined by X-ray phase analysis (diffractometer DRON-2.0, radiation Cu-Kα, monochromator graphite). The microstructure and composition of the phases were investigated by X-ray microanalysis using a JSM-59000LV scanning electron microscope ( Japan) and an Oxford INCA Energy 200 energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer (United Kingdom). It is revealed that the matrix of the V-Al-N-C alloy, containing (wt. %): 73.9 V; 23.7 Al, 1.2 N, 0.69 C, and 0.08 O2, are represented by the solid solution of aluminum in vanadium. The main nitrogen-containing phase is aluminum nitride AlN of a cubic structure. The carbide phase can be identified as V2Al0.9C1.1. Nitride and carbide phases are distributed quite uniformly in the alloy matrix. The carbide phase in the structure of the V-Al-N-C alloy is predominantly in the form of threadlike crystals up to 100 μm in length. The nitride phase is represented by small (up to 10 μm) and large (30 ÷ 100 μm) inclusions of irregular geometric shape with rounded and pointed edges forming conglomerates of branched irregular shapes, which are located around the aluminum oxide Al2O3.


Pornography is a major threat to marriages, the family, and the society at large. It is not a private choice without public consequence. Pornography alters both sexual attitudes and behavior, undermining marriage, which in turn, undermines the stability of the entire community. THE FAMILY AND PORNOGRAPHY • Married men who are involved in pornography feel less satisfied with their conjugal relations and less emotionally attached to their wives. • Pornography use is a pathway to infidelity and divorce, and is frequently a major factor in these family disasters. • Couples affected by one spouse's addiction usually experience a loss of interest in sexual intercourse and good family relations. • Both spouses perceive pornography viewing as tantamount to infidelity. • Pornography viewing leads to a loss of interest in good family relations. Pornography affects all members of the family. Not only does it eliminate an affectionate family life, children can experience traumas related to encounters with their parents' pornographic material. A study of adolescents revealed that viewing sexually explicit internet materials significantly increased their uncertainties about sexuality, and it can lower their self-esteem and bring about feelings of loneliness 1 and depression. 2 Pornography devastates marriages, as husbands report to loving their spouses less due to the addiction, and the wives of these users have deep psychological wounds, with feelings of betrayal, mistrust, and anger towards their partner, sometimes requiring clinical treatment for trauma. 3 Pornography use and "cybersex" can often be just as damaging to family relationships as real-life infidelity, and this estrangement has tangible consequences: when viewing pornography becomes and addiction, 40 percent of "sex addicts" lose their spouses, 58 percent suffer considerable financial losses, and about a third lose their jobs. 4


Nanoparticle-based immunotherapeutic platforms are emerging as radically different, biocompatible alternatives for viral-vectors. Liposomal nanoplexes already showed potential for clinical translation of mutanome specific personalized cancer-vaccines in human. Here, we report a novel nanoparticle platform technology for neoantigen specific mRNA (neo-mRNA) vaccine delivery and demonstrated its potential for evoking T-cell mediated immune response against drug/radiation resistant glioma cells. Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is one of the most aggressive type primary brain tumors with high rate of recurrence and poor prognosis. Temozolomide (TMZ) chemotherapy in concurrence with radiation is less effective for patients with over-expression of DNA repair protein, O6-methyl guanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) or epidermal growth factor receptor variant III (EGFRvIII) mutation. Here, we developed a unique pathogen mimicking nanoparticle platform that can effectively encapsulate and transfect dendritic cells with mRNA vaccine specific to MGMT or EGFRvIII. MGMT/EGFRvIII mRNA was synthesized by in vitro transcription (IVT) from respective cDNA plasmid and 100-150nm sized nanoplex was formed with mRNA at the core with >90% encapsulation efficiency. This Nano-neo-mRNA vaccineTM platform was successfully delivered to human monocyte derived DCs with a transfection efficiency of 35-50% compared to 3-5% in the case of naked mRNA. The transfected DCs showed significant phenotypic expression of MGMT-GFP with MHC I/II and CD80/86 co-activation compared to the naked mRNA or vehicle control. The efficiency of vaccinated DCs to prime cytotoxic T-cells was demonstrated in co-cultures where the nanoplex showed efficient activation of T-cell-mediated cytotoxicity on MGMT or EGFRvIII expressing, TMZ/radiation resistant glioblastoma cells . Biocompatibility of the nano-carrier was demonstrated in primary human cells and animal models. Thus, we present a new, biocompatible nanoparticle platform technology for IVT-mRNA based cancer-immunotherapy. Citation Format: Manzoor Koyakutty, Navyashree A. Ramesh, Ashwathy Nambiar, Najuma Nujum Ambili Anna, Manju C. Abraham, Minu Anoop, Anjana Ramkumar, Nair Shanti, Vijay Harish Harish, Anusha Ashokan. Nano-neo-mRNA vaccine: A novel platform technology for cancer-immunotherapy [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Fourth CRI-CIMT-EATI-AACR International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference: Translating Science into Survival; Sept 30-Oct 3, 2018; New York, NY. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Immunol Res 2019;7(2 Suppl):Abstract nr B116.


Ependymomas are glial tumors that originate from the walls of the cerebral ventricles or from the spinal canal. The five-year survival for intracranial ependymomas in children is approximately 65%. Ependymomas exhibit a wide range of DNA copy number alterations that vary greatly in size and location. We hypothesize that an underlying protein network exists that is consistently compromised by such DNA copy number alterations in ependymomas. In this study, we analyzed an array-comparative genomic hybridization dataset generated by Johnson and colleagues [Nature 466(7306):632-6, 2010] to determine whether a protein interaction network could be identified that might be consistently functionally compromised in pediatric ependymomas. This cohort of 203 primary ependymomas consisted of 106 posterior fossa, 56 supratentorial, and 41 spinal ependymomas. The genes within each altered region were used to perform network analyses with GeneGo and Ingenuity to uncover protein networks that were altered in a significant number of tumors. For calculation of statistical significance, 100,000 samplings of randomly selected regions - equal in gene number to the regions of gain or loss - were performed. Indeed, some protein networks were found to be over-represented in the structural alterations exhibited by this cohort (p Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3002. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-3002


The macrophage has a major role in normal wound healing and the reparative process around implants. Murine macrophage-like cells RAW 264.7 were used to investigate the effect of titanium surfaces on macrophage activation and secretion of proinflammatory cytokines [interleukin (IL)-1 beta, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha] and chemokines (monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 and macrophage inflammatory protein-1 alpha). Four topographies were used: those produced by mechanically polishing, coarse sand blasting, acid etching, and sandblasting and acid etching (SLA). Macrophages were plated on the four titanium surfaces at a population density of 5 x 10(5) cells/mL/well. Tissue culture plastic and tissue culture plastic plus lipopolysaccharide (LPS) served as negative and positive control, respectively. In addition, all surfaces were tested for their effects on macrophages in the presence of LPS. Supernatants were collected for assays after 6, 24, and 48 h and the numbers of macrophages attached to the surfaces were quantified using the DAPI (4,6-di-amidino-2-phenylindole) assay. Cytokine and chemokine levels were measured with sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Statistical comparison between the surfaces and the controls was determined by using the two-way analysis of variance including interaction effect (two tailed and p < or = 0.05). Unstimulated macrophages increased their secretion of the proinflammatory cytokine (TNF-alpha) when attached to rough surfaces (acid etching and SLA, p < or = 0.05). In macrophages stimulated with LPS, the roughest surface SLA produced higher levels of IL-1 beta, IL-6, and TNF-alpha at 24 and 48 h than all other surfaces (p < or = 0.05). Surface topography also modulated the secretion of the chemokines monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 and macrophage inflammatory protein-1 alpha by macrophages. Unstimulated macrophages attached to the SLA surface down-regulated their production of chemokines (p < or = 0.05) whereas LPS-stimulated macrophages attached to the SLA surface up-regulated their production (p < or = 0.05). Moreover, the SLA surface was found to act synergistically with LPS as well as the combination of blasting and etching features of the SLA surface resulted in significant release of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines by stimulated macrophages at 24 and 48 h (p < or = 0.05). This in vitro study has demonstrated that surface topography, in particular the SLA surface, modulated expression of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines by macrophages in a time-dependent manner.


Abstract: The decade from 1990 to 2000 saw a total of seventy-eight top leadership elections involving forty-three of the forty-eight sub-Saharan African countries. Of these, only twenty-one elections led to power transition from an incumbent to an opposition political party in nineteen countries. Paradoxically, even where there was such transition, authoritarian tendencies persisted. Focusing on Kenya and Zambia, this article argues and seeks to demonstrate that the limited number of transitions from an incumbent regime to an opposition party and the persistence of authoritarianism are a function of political liberalization without democratization of political institutions and rules of the political game.


A minimum‐ordered set of elliptic integral equations is given for magnetic vector potential, axial and radial fields, the mixed gradient ∂B ρ/∂z for axially symmetric iron‐free current systems, and for mutual inductance and force between coaxial units. The units may be circular loops, cylindrical or plane annular current sheets, or coils of thick section. With full use of correlations, six basic equations suffice for all properties of loops, solenoids, or combinations. The axial solenoid field is calculated by a superior new method. Thick coils are analyzed with the solenoid rather than the loop as element. Magnetic properties are then integrated in radial depth by Gaussian numerical quadrature of variable order. This method can deal with coils whose sections are not rectangular, and whose current densities are a function of the cylindrical radius. No tables are used, and the procedure is simpler and faster than previous methods, for computer use or for solving smaller problems by hand. It has been coded as a unified set of programs for the IBM 7090. These will be described elsewhere; they can compute fields, and trace lines of force even within the windings, or force and mutual inductance between coils in contact, also self‐inductance of ideal solenoids or of thick cylindrical coils. Errors are normally less than one part per million, in extreme cases less than one per thousand.


The statistics of time delays between successive earthquakes has re- cently been claimed to be universal and to show the existence of clustering beyond the duration of aftershock bursts. We demonstrate that these claims are unjustified. Stochastic simulations with Poissonian background activity and triggered Omori- type aftershock sequences are shown to reproduce the interevent-time distributions observed on different spatial and magnitude scales in California. Thus the empirical distribution can be explained without any additional long-term clustering. Further- more, we find that the shape of the interevent-time distribution, which can be ap- proximated by the gamma distribution, is determined by the percentage of main- shocks in the catalog. This percentage can be calculated by the mean and variance of the interevent times and varies between 5% and 90% for different regions in California. Our investigation of stochastic simulations indicates that the interevent- time distribution provides a nonparametric reconstruction of the mainshock magnitude-frequency distribution that is superior to standard declustering algorithm.


We evaluated the newly available National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) National Occupational Hazard Survey (NOHS) job exposure matrix (JEM) by considering mesothelioma risk from asbestos exposure. We applied this system (NOHS-JEM) to the Los Angeles County Cancer Surveillance Program (CSP) to see how many cancer cases could be assigned asbestos exposure and how asbestos exposure affected mesothelioma risk. Using the same CSP data, our "experts" classified asbestos exposure simply by occupation and industry. Both exposure classifications were divided into low and high; the NOHS-JEM by the number of exposed people per couplet, and ours by judgements of intensity. Odds ratios (OR) for mesothelioma risk for low and high asbestos exposure for the NOHS-JEM were 2.0 (95% C.I. 1.2-3.4) and 2.5 (95% C.I. 1.2-4.8). For ours, corresponding risks were 1.6 (95% C.I. 1.1-2.4) and 6.3 (95% C.I. 2.5-15.1). Our system was able to assign more cases to couplets then the NOHS-JEM (35,895 to 22,369). Three limitations of the NOHS-JEM were that many occupation-industry couplets were not classified at all, many couplets associated with past asbestos exposure (before the 1972-1974 NOHS survey) were not classified as asbestos exposure, and no assessment of intensity was made. These limitations may apply to other exposures and should be carefully considered before the NOHS-JEM is applied to other case-control studies.


The IgH intronic enhancer region Eμ is a combination of both a 220-bp core enhancer element and two 310–350-bp flanking scaffold/matrix attachment regions named MARsEμ. In the mouse, deletion of the core-enhancer Eμ element mainly affects VDJ recombination with minor effects on class switch recombination. We carried out endogenous deletion of the full-length Eμ region (core plus MARsEμ) in the mouse genome to study VH gene repertoire and IgH expression in developing B-lineage cells. Despite a severe defect in VDJ recombination with partial blockade at the pro–B cell stage, Eμ deletion (core or full length) did not affect VH gene usage. Deletion of this regulatory region induced both a decrease of pre–B cell and newly formed B cell compartments and a strong orientation toward the marginal zone B cell subset. Because Igμ H chain expression was decreased in Eμ-deficient pre–B cells, we propose that modification of B cell homeostasis in deficient animals was caused by "weak" pre–B cell and BCR expression. Besides imbalances in B cell compartments, Ag-specific Ab responses were not impaired in animals carrying the Eμ deletion. In addition to its role in VDJ recombination, our study points out that the full-length Eμ region does not influence VH segment usage but ensures efficient Igμ-chain expression required for strong signaling through pre–B cells and newly formed BCRs and thus participates in B cell inflow and fate.


Novel blend composite films were prepared by mixing two kinds of immiscible polyimides (PIs), one containing sulfur (SD) and one containing fluorine (TF), with needle-shaped zinc oxide (n-ZnO) particles. Optical microscopy and cross-sectional SEM images revealed that vertical double percolation (VDP) structures were successfully formed in the PI blend films by spontaneous macro-phase separation. In the VDP structures, each phase is separately aligned along the out-of-plane direction, and the n-ZnO particles were selectively incorporated in the TF-rich phase. These blend composite films exhibited significantly higher thermal conductivity (TC) in the out-of-plane direction than blend composite films containing pyramidal ZnO (p-ZnO) particles. The wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) results revealed that the n-ZnO particles were more randomly oriented in the blend films than those in homopolymer films, in which the particles were preferentially aligned parallel to the film. The n-ZnO particles confined in the VDP structures and partially oriented along the out-of-plane direction contributed to the enhancement of the out-of-plane TC.


Mathematics occupies a central position in the school curriculum. It is a core subject from the primary through the junior secondary to the senior secondary school levels of the educational system. This important position occupied by the subject in the school curricula is borne out of the role of mathematics in scientific and technological development, a sine-qua-non in national building. However, the teaching of this important subject is beset with problems of societal values for it, there is the problem of inadequate and substandard learning materials and general attitudes among others. Therefore, the study investigated the pre-professional mathematics teachers' beliefs about factors that could contribute to the mathematics teaching effectiveness in secondary schools. A non-experimental study was carried out on the pre-service postgraduate students in Lagos State. Self constructed questionnaires were administered on sampled 115 postgraduate students. The sample consisted of male = 42.6%, female = 57.4%. Two instruments were used for data collection; mathematics teachers effectiveness scale (  = 0.782) and the likelihood for the occurrence of effectiveness factors happening in schools scale (  = 0.806). The collection of data lasted three weeks. The data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics, t-test and analysis of variance. the in


Since its early years of publication, the GSA Bulletin has been an outlet for paleontologists who want their results to reach a broad scientific audience. During the first 40 years, paleontologic papers featured a wide variety of subjects, including systematics, biostratigraphy, correlation, and paleogeography. After the Journal of Paleontology and other specialized journals began publication, applied paleontology characterized many of the Bulletin articles. From about 1930 to 1960, a series of correlation papers on the Phanerozoic systems dominated the Bulletin . Systematic studies were generally published as Special Papers or Memoirs , starting in the 1930s. Beginning in the 1950s and continuing to the present, the GSA and the University of Kansas Press have produced 36 volumes of the Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology , arguably the most significant paleontologic enterprise of the century. In the past 20 years, the Bulletin has contained many papers in which paleontology was applied to solving general geologic and biologic problems. Doubtless, this trend will continue, in both the Bulletin and in Geology , for many years to come.


SMEs in the life sciences industries face a fundamental challenge. On the one hand, high product development costs push companies into early internationalization to increase turnover and recover investments. On the other hand, they face tough hinders towards internationalization, such as financial and managerial resource limitations as well as the demand to follow local regulations. To date, little is known about how SMEs manage this challenge in practice. This paper presents an in-depth case study of the internationalization process of a Swedish SME from the medical technology industry, to develop a better understanding of how this challenge is handled in practice. Our findings outline some industry-specific characteristics affecting the internationalization process, such as the regulatory burden, complex buying patterns and lengthy lead times. These determinants lead to financial vulnerability, which has an impact on how (further) internationalization can be pursued. Being able to conduct business in English as well as the structure of the foreign country's healthcare organization are important factors when entering new geographical markets. International congresses and fairs are important events for developing new network links and building brand recognition. Existing international contacts also play a crucial role in the choice of the international distribution channels. Local network ties are important for developing the initial business idea development as well as to secure financing.


This article challenges two connected notions in the study of Tibetan Buddhism: that Buddhist monasticism is characterized by a pronounced move towards individualism, systematically detaching monks from relational social life; and that Tibetan Buddhist doctrines of karma represent an alternative mode of identity to those constructed within household life. By comparing the ritual practices and inheritance patterns associated with household groups in Ladakh with tantric ritual forms in local Buddhist (Gelukpa) monasteries, it is argued that they demonstrate pronounced structural similarities, centred on the shared symbolic construct of the household/temple as the source of socialized agency. An analysis of the meditative disciplines of Gelukpa monasticism is used to show how such training serves not to reniounce kinship and household values, but to transform them into modes of religious authority, essential to the social position of monks (trapa) and incarnate lamas (tulku) in Tibetan Buddhism.


A greedy algorithm for scheduling and digital printing with inputs in a polytope lying in an affine space, and vertices of this polytope as successive outputs, has recently been proven to be bounded for any polytope in any dimension in the case when the norm on errors is the Euclidean norm. This boundedness property follows readily from the existence of some invariant sets (both in the affine space and in the associated vector space), for the dynamics associated to the algorithm. We prove several general properties of such invariant sets under the assumption that the greed of the algorithm is driven by the Euclidean norm.


Power system stability is an important aspect which determines the stability of the system. This paper deals with the rotor angle stability of IEEE 9-bus system consists of three generators and nine buses. To demonstrate the performance of the system, a three phase fault is introduced on different locations. The nature of the rotor angle excitation voltage and speed for all three generators are discussed. As the fault is cleared the system takes its own time to settle down. Keywords: Transient stability, three phase fault, multi machine,


In 80 cases, breast reconstruction was performed as a secondary procedure at least one year after mastectomy for cancer. The prerequisite was absence of local recurrence and distant metastasis, good general condition and careful information on the result to be expected. In the majority of the cases reconstruction was accomplished in two stages: volume replacement with a prosthetic implant was followed after 3 months, by nipple-areolar reconstruction-usually from the opposite side. Capsulotomy or replacement of the prosthesis in case of asymmetry could be performed at this time. If necessary, skin replacement was done as a first procedure by means of a thoraco-epigastric or a latissimus dorsi myocutaneous flap. Aesthetic results are improving with experience and the positive psychological response of the patients is an encouragement to proceed in helping also patients with a rather poor prognosis.


Tuberculosis infection is prevalent in Korea and health care workers are vulnerable to tuberculosis infection in the hospital. The aims of this study were to develop and validate an education program that teaches senior medical students how to wear and choose the proper size and type of respiratory protective equipment (RPE), which may help reduce the risk of contracting Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) from patients. Overall, 50 senior medical students participated in this education program. Methods of choosing the proper type of RPE, performing a fit check of the RPE, and choosing a suitable mask size were taught by certified instructors using the real-time quantitative fit test (QNFT). The validity of education program was evaluated with qualitative fit test (QLFT) before and after the education as pass or fail. The education program was effective, as shown by the significantly pass rate (increased 30 to 74%) in the QLFT after the education program (p<0.05). Among study participants, changing mask size from medium to small significantly increased the pass rate (p<0.001). Incorporation of this program into the medical school curriculum may help reduce risk of MTB infection in medical students working in the hospital.


Agricultural productive services are important paths to realize the development of green agriculture, while the effect of agricultural productive services on the agricultural environment and its influencing mechanism are not yet clear. With the panel data of agricultural production in China from 2004 to 2019, by using multi-output stochastic frontier analysis with an output-oriented distance function, this study investigates agricultural environmental efficiency based on net carbon sinks. Then, this study explores the effect of agricultural productive services on agricultural environmental efficiency and its mechanisms by adopting ordinary least squares regression with fixed-effect panel model, causal steps approach, and spatial econometric method. The main findings are as follows: Firstly, agricultural productive services enhance agricultural productivity and agricultural environment by optimizing inputs and increasing outputs, and thus improve agricultural environmental efficiency. This result holds steadily after using instrumental variables to deal with endogeneity, changing the measurement of the dependent and independent variables, and subdividing the sample. Secondly, the pathways of agricultural productive services affecting agricultural environmental efficiency are mainly reflected in technology progress, planting structure adjustment, factor allocation optimization, and spatial spillover. Thirdly, due to the law of diminishing marginal returns, the impact of agricultural productive services on agricultural environmental efficiency is more significant when the level of agricultural productive services is relatively low. To improve agricultural environmental efficiency, we suggest implementing different productive service strategies in different regions, strengthening information integration, and improving infrastructure.


In the last decades, the Oncology field has faced an era where the pace of biotechnological advances has promised improvements in cancer diagnosis and treatment in a truly impressive manner. In this context, the enlightenment of cancer biology and carcinogenesis mechanisms have enabled not only more accurate diagnosis of the disease, therefore guiding more specific and efficient therapeutic approaches, but also allowing the discovery of novel biomarkers to fight cancer with molecular targets. Regardless the referred progress in medicine, there is still low tumor responsiveness index to classic chemotherapy regimens, and an epidemiology scenario that shows an increase in cancer-related mortality rate over the years. According to American Cancer Society, in January of 2006, about 11.6 million living Americans had already developed cancer during lifetime. For the year of 2010, there are expected over 1.5 million new cancer cases diagnosis and about 1,500 cancer-related deaths daily in the USA. In the present chapter, the focus will be given to two major types of cancer affecting women's health care: breast cancer(BC) and ovarian cancer(OVCA). Whereas BC accounts for near 23% of all cancers diagnosed and 13.7% of cancer-related deaths in women, OVCA, although not very incident (approximately 3.7% of cancer cases among women), correlates to an extremely high mortality rate of affected women (approximately 4.2% of cancer related deaths among women).


Ethyl ether extracts derived from coffee were tested for in vitro estrogenic and in vivo uterotropic activities. Coffee extracts, unlike tea and cocoa, were found to actively compete with 17 beta-estradiol for uterine cytosol binding sites. The biologically active fractions possessed an unique ultraviolet absorbance spectrum that excluded them from containing flavonoid, coumestan, or resorcyclic acid lactone constituents. Coffee extracts administered to immature female mice for 3 d in feeding studies displayed significant (p less than 0.05) uterotropic responses, which were similar to results obtained in mice treated with a standard 17 beta-estradiol dose. Additional studies in mice disclosed that coffee extracts did not reduce the uterotropic effect normally induced by 17 beta-estradiol when administered simultaneously with estradiol. The complete estrogenic effects of coffee constituents, coupled with their failure to inhibit a biological response evoked by estradiol, strongly suggest that coffee contains constituent(s) that are weakly estrogenic.