Speckle contrast imaging is an established technique to obtain relative blood maps over wide field of views. Currently, its most accurate implementation relies on the acquisition of raw speckle images at different exposure times but requires modulation of a laser pulse in duration and intensity and precise synchronization with camera. This complex instrumentation has limited the use of multiple exposure speckle imaging. We evaluate here a simplified approach based on synthetic exposure images created from the sum of successive frames acquired with a 1 ms exposure time. Both methods have been applied to evaluate controlled flows in micro-channels. The contribution of noises to the speckle contrast have been quantified and compared. Dark, readout and shot noise contributions to the total contrast remains constant for modulated exposure, while all these contributions decrease with increasing exposure time for synthetic exposure. The relative contribution of noises to speckle contrast depends on the level of illumination, the exposure time and the flows that are imaged. Guidelines for accurate flow measurements in the synthetic exposure acquisition scheme are provided. The synthetic exposure method is simple to implement and should facilitate the translation of multiple exposure speckle imaging to clinical set-ups.


The paper examines the strategies of a Shi'a-affiliated Islamic organisation, namely Ahlul Bait Indonesia (ABI), in a soft campaign of portraying the good side of Shi'a to the followers of mainstream Muslims by ways of proclaiming their alliance rather than contention with the tradition of Ahlul Sunnah Wal Jama'ah , abbreviated as Aswaja , a tradition associated with Sunni Muslims in Indonesia. Basing on a case study of Ahlul Bait Indonesia (ABI) situated in Jakarta, I found that elite members of this organisation chose not to use 'Shi'a' as a tagline for their organisation's logo. This choice was partly, in my opinion, in fear of triggering protest from mainstream Sunni Muslims and in support of the government regulation on religious tolerance for not showing publicly their identity. Theoretically, this is called taqiyyah ( taqīyah , meaning 'fear'), an Islamic term that refers to the practice of denial of religion in the face of persecution. Another word for the term is kitmān (meaning 'acting cover-up, denying'), which has a more specific meaning denial by silent means. According to Shi'a doctrine, taqiyyah is permitted in dangerous situations that threaten life or property. This practice was traditionally carried out in Shi'a Islam when its followers were allowed to hide their beliefs while under persecution or pressure. The paper argues that this practice is actually also permissible in Sunni Islam in certain provisions and was originally practised by several Companions of the Prophet. Yet, later this practice became important for Shi'a Islam because of its followers' experiences as a persecuted religious minority. Keywords: Ahlul Bait Indonesia (ABI), Shi'a, Minority, Islam, Indonesia


This paper presents a real-time interacting distance teaching activity at the Politecnico di Milano (the Technical University of Milano, Italy). The human, organizational, and economic factors of the system's philosophy are introduced; current technologies, infrastructures, and implementations are examined. The distance teaching services, now in use, are presented together with a summary of their evaluation. Two types of upgraded designs of distance teaching classrooms are proposed and analyzed. Finally, the benefits and limits of distance teaching systems for the three basic services; lessons, seminars, and tutoring, are discussed. The basic parameters and limitations for examples of typical higher education distance teaching courses are also given.


Homeliness is associated with something friendly and well-known. The idea of homeliness in architecture and urban planning does not mean only people-friendly space. First of all, it means the city that is familiar to the citizens, what cannot be realized without specific conditions - creation of the feeling of being part of the community, possession and identity. The antithesis of the city - agricultural landscape - seems to be the perfect basis for them. Can the idea of homeliness be created based on the relationship between the town and its opposition? How can the "lost" agricultural landscape" work as a catalyst of the idea of homeliness and community integration?
In the article, there will be the attempt of answer to these questions given. New ideas, such Agrarian Urbanism or Urban Horticulture will be presented and discussed. Throughout the world, research is on-going to develop techniques for assimilating agriculture into an urbanism acceptable to the expectations of modern life. The ability to grow food has implications for communities on multiple levels: from food security and health issues, to ensuring a local economy and to the social benefits of a productive activity in which all members of a community can engage. In Agrarian Urbanism a whole society is involved with the growing of food: people can have gardens instead of yards, or community gardens and even window boxes if they live in an apartment. Can these ideas create new ways of thinking about the contemporary city?


Objective Adherence to treatment in many long-term conditions is recognised to be poor. Inadequate seizure control in epilepsy may therefore in some circumstances relate to poor adherence. There are only limited and methodologically flawed data on adherence in paediatric populations. Using a novel dataset for community pharmacy-dispensed medication we wished to assess the adherence to anti-epileptic drugs (AED) treatment both for individual children and for a whole population. We also aimed to correlate adherence with a series of clinical variables to identify factors that might predict adherence. Methods All children under 16 from the Tayside region who were receiving AEDs during one year epochs in 2000/1 and 2005/6 were identified. The University of Dundee has a database which captures every encashed community pharmacy prescription in Tayside. An Adherence Index was calculated by cross-linking hospital data to university data. This data was available both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Results The overall adherence was 69% (n=320). However only 30% of children encashed >90% of the prescribed AED dose (defined as good adherers), whereas 25% encashed less than half. Amongst good adherers, 34% were on monotherapy and 18% were on polytherapy. Seizure frequency had no effect upon adherence whether a child was seizure free or continued to have multiple daily seizures. For children on long term AED treatment, mean adherence fell from 73% to 64% over a 5 year period and even for the good adherers there was a 50% fall in adherence between 2000 and 2006. Conclusions We have described a novel population-based technique for assessing adherence to AED medication. Overall, adherence to treatment is poor and appears to be independent of seizure frequency. Adherence falls over time and is worse with polytherapy. Identification of these and other factors that might predict poor adherence may be helpful in the design and evaluation of interventions to improve epilepsy treatment.


We establish the dependence of the permittivity of oxidized ultra-thin silicon films on the film thickness by means of atomistic simulations within the density-functionalbased tight-binding (DFTB) theory. This is of utmost importance for modeling ultra-thin and extremely thin silicon-on-insulator MOSFETs, and for evaluating their scaling potential. We demonstrate that electronic contribution to the dielectric response naturally emerges from the DFTB Hamiltonian when coupled to Poisson equation solved in vacuum, without phenomenological parameters, and obtain good agreement with the available experimental data. Comparison with calculations of H-passivated Si films reveals much weaker dependence of permittivity on film thickness for the SiO2-passivated Si, with less than 18% reduction in the case of 0.9-nm silicon-on-insulator.


In this study we present a theoretical and experimental analysis of the application of photonic band stop filters on top of photovoltaic fluorescent concentrators in order to increase the photon collection efficiency. The light guiding effect of the fluorescent concentrator relies on total internal reflection. The escape cone of total internal reflection is their major loss mechanism. Our ray tracing simulation allows to calculate the beneficial effect of photonic band stop reflection filters, which reduce these losses, and to simulate the angular distribution of the light trapped in the concentrator. We present simulations of the optical properties of 1D and 3D photonic structures and how 3D structures are realized with colloidal opals. We also show that the application of a 1D photonic structure increases the efficiency of a real system by 20% relative. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)


For the design of mortar mixes for filling root piles, the Brazilian standard NBR 6122, establishes a minimum compressive strength of 20 MPa (28 days), minimum cement content of 600 kg/m3 and a water to cement ratio between 0.5 and 0.6 and allows the use of water-reducing admixtures; however, the definition of a minimum cement content is a controversial topic about the guarantee of durability. Besides, cement content at these levels, will lead to axial compressive strength higher than 20 MPa, which is the minimum required by the standard, without much technological effort. The present study shows the influence of cement content and water to cement ratio on capillary absorption of mortars. It was found that, cement content, water to cement ratio and grain size distribution have an influence on capillary absorption. The study also demonstrates that it is possible to obtain mortars with low absorption for cement content lower than 600 kg/m3 by controlling the overall grain size distribution and by adding chemical admixtures to control the amount of mixing water. However, for mortars where grain size control is not possible, such as mortars mixed on site, the minimum cement content of 600 kg/m3 should be used to ensure low permeability.


Eugenol is a naturally occurring compound that is present in a variety of plants and has previous been demonstrated to exert a number of bioactivities. However, the potential effects of Eugenol on cellular protection against oxidative stress remain poorly understood. In the present study, HEK-293 cells and the mouse fibroblast cell line NIH-3T3 cells were used as models to explore the effects of eugenol on H2O2-induced damage. Among the three natural compounds tested, namely eugenol, methyleugenol and acetyleugenol, eugenol was found to increase the transcriptional activity and expression level of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), a central regulator of cellular responses to oxidative stress, in a dose-dependent manner. The mRNA levels of Nrf2 target genes glutamate-cysteine ligase modifier regulatory subunit and glutathione S-transferase A1, were also found to be upregulated following eugenol treatment. Further study revealed that eugenol enhanced the stabilization and nuclear translocation of Nrf2. Additionally, treatment with eugenol was found to reduce intracellular ROS levels while increasing cellular resistance to H2O2, in a manner that was dependent on Nrf2. In conclusion, data from the present study suggest that eugenol is a protective agent against oxidative stress that exerts its effects through a Nrf2-dependent pathway, rendering eugenol and its derivatives to be promising candidates for the future development of antioxidants.


Angular fragment distributions from the dissociative recombination (DR) of HD(+) were measured with well directed monochromatic low-energy electrons over a dense grid of collision energies from 7 to 35 meV, where pronounced rovibrational Feshbach resonances occur. Significant higher-order anisotropies are found in the distributions, whose size varies along energy in a partial correlation with the relative DR rate from fast-rotating molecules. This may indicate a breakdown of the nonrotation assumption so far applied to predict angular DR fragment distributions.


ABSTRACT Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy is used to provide enteral nutritional support for patients with obstructive oropharyngeal or esophageal neoplasms. The placement of the catheter is considered safe, with few complications. Despite this, a specific complication that is considered rare, has been increasingly described in the literature, i.e., metastasis of head and neck cancer in the gastrostomy stoma. In this report, we described a case of metastasis of squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx in the gastrostomy site, and discussed the possible etiologies and alternatives, seeking to reduce the incidence of this complication.


Introduction Mask ventilation is one of the key components in the management of airway during general anaesthesia, particularly when laryngoscopy is challenging. Adequate mask ventilation provides anaesthesiologists a safe time in case of unanticipated or anticipated difficult airway situations. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of difficult bag-mask ventilation and intubation in patients having three or more predictors for difficult mask ventilation (DMV) in adult patients scheduled for elective surgery under anaesthesia. Methods A total of 294 patients requiring endotracheal intubation for elective surgical procedure having three or more risk factors were evaluated for the presence of difficulty in bag-mask ventilation and intubation by the anaesthesiologist. Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test and a multivariable stepwise logistic regression model were performed to identify predictors of DMV. Crude and adjusted odds ratio with 95% confidence interval were reported. Results In this study, the average age of the patients was 53.59±13.32 years with a 2:1 male-to-female ratio. DMV and difficult intubation (DI) were observed in 31.6% and 3% of patients, respectively. Multivariate analysis identified history of snoring, BMI (>35 kg/m2), presence of beard and Mallampati III or IV as independent predictors for DMV. Patients with multiple factors (≥3 factors) had a threefold (OR=2.57) increased risk of difficulty in mask ventilation and a nearly fivefold (OR=4.63) increased risk of difficulty with intubation. Conclusion In our study, the incidence of DMV was observed in 93 (31.6%) patients and DI was found in 9 (3%) patients. A simple DMV risk score may help to predict DMV better, potentially improving safety during difficult airway management, decreasing morbidity and mortality associated with it.


The development and evolution of conservative and surgical methods of treating patients with various ocular pathologies influence the priorities when selecting the method of eye removal.

PURPOSE
To perform comparative analysis of eye removal methods based on the results of own studies over a long period.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
The study analyses eye removal surgeries performed in Helmholtz Moscow Research Institute of Eye Diseases over the period of 1991 to 2016 and investigates the reasons of selecting enucleation and evisceration methods.

RESULTS
Over the period of 1991 to 2001, there were 968 eye removal surgeries performed in the department of traumatology, with reasons listed as trauma aftermath - 884 (91.3%) cases, outcomes of various diseases - 85 (8.7%) cases. From 2002 to 2016, a total of 2529 eye removal surgeries have been performed due to non-oncological reasons, of which 1337 (52.9%) were enucleation surgeries and 1190 (47.1%) - evisceration surgeries. However, over the last 15 years, there has been a clear tendency for changing priorities when selecting the method of eye removal: from 2002 to 2016, the number of eviscerations has increased by 4.2 times (from 16 to 66.6%), while the percentage of enucleations has decreased from 84 to 33.4%. The rise in frequency of eviscerations was noted in post-traumatic pathologies, including post-traumatic uveitis and preatrophy, and buphthalmos.

CONCLUSION
Analysis of clinical and statistical data accumulated over more than 10 years showed positive dynamics in the decrease of eye removal cases and changes in priority when selecting the method towards evisceration, which causes fewer complications, has better functional and esthetic results - especially considering the ongoing development of new evisceration techniques.


Certain logic functions such as the control units of VLSI processors are difficult to implement by random logic. Since the programmable logic arrays (PLAs) can implement almost any Boolean function, they have become popular devices in the realization of both combinational and sequential circuits. We present a low-power high-speed complementary-metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) circuit implementation of NOR-NOR PLA using a single-phased clock. Buffering static NAND gates are inserted between the NOR planes to erase the racing problem and shorten the duration of glitches such that the dynamic power is reduced in addition to the low static power dissipation, no ground switch, no charge sharing, and zero offset.


Determining the parametric VaR approach is very important in establishing the probability distribution of a risk factor. We assume that a normal distribution is symmetric; however, it has some limitations. This distribution is used for modelling asymmetric data or data that have only positive values, such as insurance claims. The aim of the paper is to find the best probability distribution for stock exchange index returns and for insurance claims. The paper is structured as follows. Firstly, we describe the typical probability distributions used in finance, namely normal, Student, logistic, gamma, exponential and lognormal distribution, and the methods of verification. Subsequently, parameters of the distribution types are estimated via the maximum likelihood method, and after that we calculate the value at risk. The VaR is calculated even though the time series do not correspond to the stated types of probability distribution; nevertheless, we calculate the value at risk for all the stated types of probability distribution because it is apparent that large mistake can arise if an incorrect type of probability distribution is used.


This paper describes the impact of religious identity and perceived parent-child psychological closeness on their value similarity in different religious contexts (contexts of religious minority and majority). The total sample includes 454 respondents. Parents and adolescent children of 118 Russian Orthodox Christian families from the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (with 72% Muslim population) and 109 Russian Orthodox families from the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania (with 91% Orthodox population) were surveyed using a questionnaire measuring values (Portrait Values Questionnaire-Revised - PVQ-R of Schwartz), religious identity and scales of perceived parent-child closeness assessed by parents and adolescents developed by the authors. The results of path analysis showed that religious identity of Russian Orthodox adolescents in the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic predicted parent-child value similarity, while the perceived psychological closeness of adolescents with their parents negatively related to their value similarity. In the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania parental religious identity and psychological closeness assessed by children predict the parent-child value similarity. In these two North Caucasus republics we also found that psychological closeness assessed by parents negatively related to parent-child value similarity. The discussion of the results is devoted to the role of religious context in the impact of religious identity and perceived psychological closeness on parent-child value similarity.


A fractional time derivative is introduced into the Burger's equation to model losses of nonlinear waves. This term amounts to a time convolution product, which greatly penalizes the numerical modeling. A diffusive representation of the fractional derivative is adopted here, replacing this nonlocal operator by a continuum of memory variables that satisfy local-in-time ordinary differential equations. Then a quadrature formula yields a system of local partial differential equations, well-suited to numerical integration. The determination of the quadrature coefficients is crucial to ensure both the well-posedness of the system and the computational efficiency of the diffusive approximation. For this purpose, optimization with constraint is shown to be a very efficient strategy. Strang splitting is used to solve successively the hyperbolic part by a shock-capturing scheme, and the diffusive part exactly. Numerical experiments are proposed to assess the efficiency of the numerical modeling, and to illustrate the effect of the fractional attenuation on the wave propagation.


In recent years, the world has suffered a multitude of crises. Financial and economic turmoil have disrupted the world economy through loss of income, jobs, and social stability. Intense natural disasters have devastated entire communities from Haiti to Japan, leaving a trail of fatalities and economic losses in their wake. Concerns about global warming have grown, as have fears about the spread of deadly contagious diseases. The inability to manage risk properly leads to crises and missed opportunities. This poses significant obstacles to attaining the World Bank Group's two main goals: ending extreme poverty by the year 2030 and boosting shared prosperity of the bottom 40 percent of the population in developing countries. Managing risk effectively is, therefore, absolutely central to the World Bank's mission. The World Development Report (WDR) 2014 demonstrates that effective risk management can be a powerful instrument for development, it can save lives, avert economic shocks, and help people build better, more secure futures. This report calls for individuals and institutions to move from being 'crisis fighters' to becoming 'proactive and systematic risk managers.' There is substantial evidence that recognizing and preparing for risk can pay off abundantly. For instance, many developing countries displayed resilience in the face of the recent global financial crisis because they had previously reformed their macroeconomic, financial, and social policies.


The objective of this three treatment, three period, single blind, cross-over trial was to evaluate the efficacy of three toothbrushes in a cohort of children undergoing fixed appliance orthodontic therapy. The brushes used were: (1) Dental Logic HP550 with regular brush head HP5924 (Philips, U.K.); (2) Braun Oral B Plaque Remover (D7) with dedicated orthodontic brush head OD5-1 (Braun AG, Germany); and (3) a manual dedicated orthodontic toothbrush (P35, Oral B Laboratories, Calif.). Sixty orthodontic patients, aged 10 to 16 years and wearing upper and lower fixed appliances, were screened and recruited with parental consent. After an oral soft tissue examination at baseline, the percentage of plaque-covered tooth surfaces and gingival bleeding sites were recorded using visible plaque and gingival bleeding indexes. Each subject was randomly allocated to one of three groups (n = 20) with brushing sequences 1-2-3, 2-1-3, 3-2-1. The first brush was given 2 weeks after baseline (visit 1). The time interval for using each brush was 4 weeks at the end of which visible plaque and gingival bleeding indexes were recorded and a further prophylaxis given. Statistical analysis was undertaken with analysis of variance. Data were analyzed on a site-specific basis; buccal smooth and interproximal surfaces, lingual smooth and interproximal surfaces. At baseline the mean visible plaque index for all subjects were; buccal smooth, 52.5% (+/- 22.5%); buccal interproximal, 70.5% (+/- 18.5%); lingual smooth, 68.5% (+/- 21%); lingual interproximal, 76% (+/- 16%). At visit 1, the plaque scores at all surfaces had reduced significantly compared to baseline, but there had been no active treatment. This was attributed to a Hawthorne effect. Subsequently, there were no significant effects on visible plaque (or gingival bleeding) indexes with any toothbrush at any tooth surfaces. This suggests that the new HP550 is equally effective as specifically designed orthodontic toothbrushes in removing plaque from patients with fixed orthodontic appliances.


Histamine, known to induce Ca2+ oscillations in endothelial cells, was used to alter Ca2+ cycling. Treatment of HUVEC (human umbilical-vein endothelial cell)-derived EA.hy926 cells with histamine for 1-3 days increased the levels of SERCA (sarcoplasmic/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase) 3, but not of SERCA 2b, transcripts and proteins. Promoter-reporter gene assays demonstrated that this increase in expression was due to activation of SERCA 3 gene transcription. The effect of histamine was abolished by mepyramine, but not by cimetidine, indicating that the H1 receptor, but not the H2 receptor, was involved. The histamine-induced up-regulation of SERCA 3 was abolished by cyclosporin A and by VIVIT, a peptide that prevents calcineurin and NFAT (nuclear factor of activated T-cells) from interacting, indicating involvement of the calcineurin/NFAT pathway. Histamine also induced the nuclear translocation of NFAT. NFAT did not directly bind to the SERCA 3 promoter, but activated Ets-1 (E twenty-six-1), which drives the expression of the SERCA 3 gene. Finally, cells treated with histamine and loaded with fura 2 exhibited an improved capacity in eliminating high cytosolic Ca2+ concentrations, in accordance with an increase in activity of a low-affinity Ca2+-ATPase, like SERCA 3. Thus chronic treatment of endothelial cells with histamine up-regulates SERCA 3 transcription. The effect of histamine is mediated by the H1R (histamine 1 receptor) and involves activation of the calcineurin/NFAT pathway. By increasing the rate of Ca2+ sequestration, up-regulation of SERCA 3 counteracts the cytosolic increase in Ca2+ concentration.


Providing realistic haptic feedback of virtual objects is critical for immersive VR experience, and there have been many approaches to simulate haptic properties. Most of them, however, are limited to a narrow modulation range of simulated perception. To overcome this limitation, the current paper examines the effect of multisensory pseudo-haptic feedback that combines control-to-display (C/D) ratio manipulation and electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) on simulated weight perception. In two experiments, we independently manipulated the C/D ratio and EMS status and observed the effects on the absolute and difference thresholds of simulated weight perception. From the absolute thresholds results, we specify the effective range of C/D ratio that can successfully induce weight perception and show that the range can be more than twice widened by multisensory pseudo-haptic feedback. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the sensitivity to weight difference increases as the standard C/D ratio decreases from the difference thresholds results, which provides practical design guidelines for assigning multiple levels of weight to virtual objects. This study contributes to understanding the psychological effects of multisensory pseudo-haptic feedback on simulated weight perception in virtual reality.


The innate immune system in humans has succeeded in developing numerous mechanisms against the injurious effects of bacteria, along with their toxins as a result of several thousand years of co-evolution. The oral mucosal surface represents such a unique environment, where despite being constantly exposed to microbes and their products, overt infection and damage is a rarity. An important component of the human oral cavity is saliva that is known to aid a wide variety of functions, which not only includes basic physiological activities like swallowing, but also preservation of the overall health of the oral cavity. Saliva flow that is diminished in either quantity or quality is often linked to development of numerous oral maladies. The oral cavity harbors a diverse and abundant microflora interacting with saliva. Saliva has innate immune functions and many direct interactions between saliva and bacteria have been described previously. We therefore chose to study the interaction between saliva and other components of the innate immune system in the oral cavity. Salivary lipids were found to improve antimicrobial peptide (AMP) synthesis and promote clearance of intracellular bacteria in keratinocytes. We also observed how saliva modulates the functions of the prime guardian leucocyte, the neutrophil. Saliva triggers a response via salival mucins, which stimulates neutrophils to undergo a rapid mode of cell death called NETosis, wherein the neutrophils extrude a web to catch microbes in the form of a DNA framework decorated with AMPs known as neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). These saliva-induced NETs had great capacity for entrapment and killing of bacteria. Lastly, we explored the effect of saliva on plasma, in presence of pathogenic streptococci. Streptococcal pharyngitis is defined by plasma exudation into a saliva rich environment. We found that upon intermixing with plasma, saliva triggers several proteolytic cascades within plasma that include the complement system and both arms of the coagulation systems. This results in clot formation that entraps bacteria of the oral flora. Using a well-characterized virulence factor, streptokinase, the important human pathogen Streptococcus pyogenes subsequently sequester and activate host plasminogen, enabling them to escape the clots. This thesis describes how saliva boost the function of other important components of the innate immune system in the oral cavity, namely keratinocytes, neutrophils and plasma and thereby shed light on some of the molecular mechanisms involved in health and disease. (Less)


Coronaviruses use diverse Spike (S) glycoproteins to attach to host receptors and fuse with target cells. Using a broad screening approach, we isolated from SARS-CoV-2 immune donors seven monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that bind to all human alpha and beta coronavirus S proteins. These mAbs recognize the fusion peptide and acquire high affinity and breadth through somatic mutations. Despite targeting a conserved motif, only some mAbs show broad neutralizing activity in vitro against alpha and beta coronaviruses, including Omicron BA.1 variant and bat WIV-1, and reduce viral titers and pathology in vivo. Structural and functional analyses show that the fusion peptide-specific mAbs bind with different modalities to a cryptic epitope which is concealed by prefusion-stabilizing '2P' mutations and becomes exposed upon binding of ACE2 or ACE2-mimicking mAbs. This study identifies a new class of pan-coronavirus neutralizing mAbs and reveals a receptor-induced conformational change in the S protein that exposes the fusion peptide region.


Proper data selection for training a speech recognizer can be important for reducing costs of developing systems on new tasks and exploratory experiments, but it is also useful for efficient leveraging of the increasingly large speech resources available for training large vocabulary systems. In this work, we investigate various sampling methods, comparing the likelihood criterion to new acoustic measures motivated by work in child language acquisition. The acoustic criteria can be used with or without pre-existing transcriptions or models. When applied to the problem of selecting a small training set, the best results are obtained using modulation spectrum features and a discriminant function trained on child vs. adult-directed speech. For large corpora, none of the methods outperforms random sampling, but reduced training costs are obtained by using multistage training and initializing with the small corpus.


Wireless sensor networks (WSN) are used in many scientific and technological fields. They are used in many mission critical events nowadays in which the information/message availability, authentication and integrity is most important phenomena for the rescue operation. It is imperative that WSN should be immune to jamming attack which is a form of denial of service attack in WSN.In navigation system where information is to be spread among several motes (approximated among untrusted receivers), availability of precise information is a must. Similar is the situation in emergency alert systems. General available techniques such as frequency hopping and direct sequence techniques cannot be applied in such scenario because these depend upon secret pair wise key which is shared between the sender and the receiver before communication. This dependency has adverse effect on network because it makes the system un-scalable as well as more attack prone, e.g. when a single mote is compromised by attacker whole system is hijacked by the attacker. In this paper, we introduce un -coordinated spread spectrum techniques which do not share secret key before communication.Un coordinated spread spectrum technique can handle the unlimited numbers (most of them malicious) of receivers. Using USS techniques, the message size increases and in this way slow down the transfer speed of the message. To overcome this demerit of USS, a novel approach is presented in the paper by combining the uncoordinated spread spectrum (USS) technique with mobile agent techniques. This scheme overcomes the shortcomings of USS.


Background:Porcine circovirus type 3 (PCV3) is a newly detected pathogen from pigs in the past few years. As the infection rate of PCV3 in the herd is getting higher and wider, the infection is more and more serious. The virus with unclear clinical symptoms and pathogenesis is also paid more and more attention. And detection of pathogenic antibodies has become an important issue. Methods:In this experiment, Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) was combined with Lateral flow dipstick (LFD) to establish a rapid and convenient detection method (LAMP-LFD). Results:The results showed that the band was darkened at a nucleic acid concentration of 0.2 pg/ μL using a conventional PCR method, and a clear detection line was observed at a nucleic acid concentration of 0.2 fg/μL using the LAMP-LFD method. The primer and hybridization probe are only compatible with PCV3.Compared to the PCR method, the LAMP-LFD method has a shorter time (about 1 h) and requires less instrumentation. Conclusions: The test results show that the LAMP-LFD method has extremely high sensitivity and specificity. The operation is simple and quick. The visual effect of the detection results is better than that of PCR and single LAMP test, which can bring convenience in practical production applications.


Regular homotopy classes of immersions of the k-dimensional sphere Sk into (k + n)-dimensional Euclidean space Rk+n are known to form finitely generated Abelian groups. It is known how to calculate the regular homotopy class of a generic immersion Sk → R2k in terms of its self intersection. A formula for the regular homotopy class of a generic immersion Sk → R2k-r, r = 1, 2 and k ≥ 4, is found. It involves only terms depending on the geometry of the self intersection of the generic immersion. It is shown that, for immersions S3 → R5, such a formula does not exist. More precisely, regular homotopy classes of immersions S3 → R5 constitute an infinite cyclic group. The classes containing embeddings form a subgroup. It is proved that this subgroup has index 24 and the obstruction for a generic immersion to be regularly homotopic to an embedding is expressed in terms of geometric invariants of its self intersection. It is shown that, up to regular homotopy through generic immersions, a generic immersion in the metastable range of a sufficiently high-connected manifold into Euclidean space depends only on the geometry of its self intersection. In the cases when the self intersection has dimension 0, 1, or 2, numerical invariants of self intersections are found and provedto give a complete classification of generic immersions. All finite order invariants of generic immersions Sk → R2k-r, r = 1, 2 and k ≥ 2r + 2 are found. It is showed that they are not sufficient to separate immersions which cannot be deformed into each other by regular homotopy through generic immersions. Two independent first order invariants J and St of generic immersions S3; → R5; are constructed. It is proved that any first order invariant is a linear combination of these.


Objectives: The purpose of this study is to report the rate of anatomic reduction, articular subsidence, and clinical outcomes for Schatzker II tibial plateau fractures treated with structural bone allografts. Design: This is a retrospective case series. Setting: Academic Level I Trauma Center. Patients/Participants: A trauma registry was used to identify 77 Schatzker II tibial plateau fractures. Intervention: Schatzker II tibial plateau fracture open reduction internal fixation and structural bone graft using either Plexur P (N = 29) or fibular allograft (N = 48). Main Outcome Measurement: The primary outcome was articular subsidence. Secondary outcomes included fracture malreduction and clinical outcomes including the Knee Outcome Survey Activities of Daily Living Scale, the Lower Extremity Functional Scale, and the Short Form (SF)-36. Results: No patients experienced subsidence > 2mm. This rate is significantly lower than published rates for autogenous iliac crest (30.3%, P < 0.0001) and calcium phosphate cement (8.7%, P = 0.0099). The rate of fracture malreduction was 11.7% (9/77); only 4 had more than 3 mm of residual incongruity. Average outcome scores were the following: Knee Outcome Survey Activities of Daily Living Scale, 81.7; Lower Extremity Functional Scale, 78.5; SF-36 physical component, 48.3; and SF-36 mental component, 53.1. There was no difference between patients treated with Plexur P or fibula with regard to the primary or secondary outcomes. Conclusions: The use of structural allograft resulted in a high rate of anatomic reduction and negligible rate of articular subsidence and good clinical outcomes in the treatment of this population of Schatzker II tibial plateau fractures. This compares favorably with historical results using nonstructural grafts. Level of Evidence: Therapeutic Level IV. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.


Pigmented Bacillus spp. with probiotic properties have been isolated. In the yellow‐/orange‐coloured strains, the carotenoid pigments present have been characterized. In contrast, the carotenoids present in the Bacillus isolates coloured red await identification. The present article reports progress on the elucidation of the pigment biosynthetic pathway in these red‐pigmented Bacillus firmus strains.


Organizations and environment (O&E) researchers focus on either organizational outcomes or environmental outcomes. In this article, the authors argue that these are significantly different approaches to O&E research. The first aims to contribute to organization theory and performance; the latter aims to improve environmental performance. With a starting position that most research published in influential general management journals is of the organizational outcomes variety, the authors reviewed O&E research published from 1995 to 2005 to test this theory. The authors found, in fact, that most research is directed at environmental outcomes. This finding suggests that the most influential general management journals are receptive to environmental research that does not fit neatly into the organizational boxes. Yet, the authors also find that there is room for O&E research to have considerably more impact than there has been so far. This is a call for more high-quality O&E research in general management journals.


Abstract High-resolution direct numerical simulations are performed to study the turbulent shear flow of liquid metal in a cylindrical container. The flow is driven by an azimuthal Lorentz force induced by the interaction between the radial electric currents injected through electrodes placed at the bottom wall and a magnetic field imposed in the axial direction. All physical parameters, are aligned with the experiment by Messadek & Moreau (J. Fluid Mech. vol. 456, 2002, pp. 137–159). The simulations recover the variations of angular momentum, velocity profiles, boundary layer thickness and turbulent spectra found experimentally to a very good precision. They further reveal a transition to small scale turbulence in the wall side layer when the Reynolds number based on Hartmann layer thickness $R$ exceeds 121, and a separation of this layer for $R \geq 145.2$. Ekman recirculations significantly influence these quantities and determine global dissipation. This phenomenology well captured by the 2-D PSM model (Pothérat, Sommeria & Moreau, J. Fluid Mech. vol. 424, 2000, pp. 75–100) until small-scale turbulence appears and incurs significant extra dissipation only captured by 3-D simulations. Secondly, we recover the theoretical law for the cutoff scale separating large quasi-two-dimensional (Q2-D) scales from small three-dimensional ones (Sommeria & Moreau, J. Fluid Mech. vol. 118, 1982, pp. 507–518), and thus establish its validity in sheared magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) turbulence. We further find that three-componentality and three-dimensionality appear concurrently and that both the frequency corresponding to the Q2-D cutoff scale and the mean energy associated with he axial component of velocity scale with the true interaction parameter $N_t$, respectively, as $0.063 N_t^{0.37}$ and $0.126N_t^{-0.92}$.


Because traditional method for tunable grating fabrication has harsh process condition, complex fabrication process, high costs and long cycle. Proposed a low-cost, simple process, can be prepared in large quantities gradient grating process method, based on self-assembly process using the rigid film/flexible substrate and oxygen plasma method prepared a micron scale gradient grating. Use of plasma free time controllability and excellent elastic of PDMS obtained the desired grating. First, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) was spin-coated layer of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) film on the thin film, two-layer film to be cured PDMS film after bending and treated with an oxygen plasma (plasma), in generating a rigid surface oxide layer, With flexible PET rigid layer applied uniform stress, when the stress exceeds the critical value, the PDMS substrate to form a self-assembled structure grating fold. Due to changes in prestressed bending, so the PDMS film formation period and height of the grating stepped fold, which is graded grating. Using visible light as the performance test light source for graded grating and selecting first-order diffracted as the detection target. The authors can see the grating has a good diffraction effects and achieves good spectral effect. Experiments show that graded grating has obvious diffraction grating, and the diffraction angle varies significantly, and can be widely used for stress measurement, the flexible gradient grating prepared by this method can also be used to detect changes in the stress strain as a miniature device, the future is expected for miniature spectrometer, scanners, optical communications and other fields.


Understanding and controlling polymorphism in molecular solids is a major unsolved problem in crystal engineering. While the ability to calculate accurate lattice energies with atomistic modelling provides valuable insight into the associated energy scales, existing methods cannot connect energy differences to the delicate balances of intra- and intermolecular forces that ultimately determine polymorph stability ordering. We report herein a protocol for applying Quantum Chemical Topology (QCT) to study the key intra- and intermolecular interactions in molecular solids, which we use to compare the three known polymorphs of succinic acid including the recently-discovered γ form. QCT provides a rigorous partitioning of the total energy into contributions associated with topological atoms, and a quantitative and chemically intuitive description of the intra- and intermolecular interactions. The newly-proposed Relative Energy Gradient (REG) method ranks atomistic energy terms (steric, electrostatic and exchange) by their importance in constructing the total energy profile for a chemical process. We find that the conformation of the succinic acid molecule is governed by a balance of large and opposing electrostatic interactions, while the H-bond dimerisation is governed by a combination of electrostatics and sterics. In the solids, an atomistic energy balance emerges that governs the contraction, towards the equilibrium geometry, of a molecular cluster representing the bulk crystal. The protocol we put forward is as general as the capabilities of the underlying quantum-mechanical model and it can provide novel perspectives on polymorphism in a wide range of chemical systems.


AN IMPORTANT prerequisite for early detection of arterial hypertension is reliable measurement of the resting blood pressure. General precautions necessary for proper registration of blood pressure relate to the patient, the examiner, and the instrument.1One caveat is the importance of a relatively uniform rate of cuff deflation. The optimal rate of deflation has not been determined but seems to be somewhere between 2 and 5 mm Hg/sec.1-3 Personal experience as well as observation of others indicates that most conventional sphygmomanometer valves are "sticky," and the desired rate and uniformity of deflation are practically impossible to attain. The purpose of this report is to describe a new sphygmomanometer valve that permits a predetermined rate of cuff deflation. The Valve The valve is shown in Fig 1. Operation is simple, depending on depression and release rather than rotation, as in the conventional valve. Depression of the push button opens


Background The global recognition of uncorrected refractive error as the main cause of vision impairment has increasingly demand for affordable, available and accessible refraction and spectacle dispensing services. Willingness to pay (WTP) for spectacles studies afford context-specific planning for integration of these services into eye care service delivery. The aim of this scoping review was to identify the rationales and the range of methods used when conducting WTP for spectacles studies. Methods We undertook this scoping review, using a search from EBSCO (host), Medline, PubMed, SCOPUS, Google Scholar and ProQuest databases. We also searched Google and eyecare organisation's websites for grey literature. We analysed the articles using the scoping review methodological framework proposed by Arskey and Marley. Results The search identified 237 from and only 14 were eligible. 79% (n=11) were published articles and 21% (n=3) were grey literature. All studies were from developing countries. Most of the studies reported rationales with a few that were vague. The majority of the studies used survey-based techniques, where the limitation and strengths were reported. Conclusion The scoping review highlighted the knowledge gap in reporting the WTP for spectacles methodologies that need to be considered in reporting future research. Keywords: Willingness to pay, spectacles, eyeglasses


Field Programmable Gate Arrays, FPGAs, are a widely available configurable hardware design that is commonly used in many domain-specific applications. However, the complexity of its programming interface is currently restricting its usage to highly qualified programmers dedicated to FPGAs. In order to democratize FPGAs, many efforts are concentrating on High-Level Synthesis, HLS: the process of compiling a high-level language to hardware. In that context we propose PyGA, a proof of concept of a Python to FPGA compiler based on the Numba Just-In-Time (JIT) compiler for Python and the Intel FPGA SDK for OpenCL. It allows any Python user to use a FPGA card as an accelerator for Python seamlessly. As expected, early performance results are encouraging, but not competitive with compiled CPU version. The study shows that, to avoid overhead that cannot be compensated otherwise, tightly coupled accelerator design such as Intel Xeon+FPGA are necessary to address larger code base with finer grain kernel. It also shows that without FPGA-specific programming effort, HLS compilation and runtime efforts remain to be done to be competitive with modern multi-core CPUs.


This study presents an efficient method for optimum design of plate and shell structures, when the design variables are continuous or discrete. Both sizing and shape design variables are considered. First the structural responses such as element forces are approximated in terms of some intermediate variables. By substituting these approximate relations into the original design problem, an explicit nonlinear approximate design task with high quality approximation is achieved. This problem with continuous variables, can be solved by means of numerical optimization techniques very efficiently, the results of which are then used for discrete variable optimization. Now, the approximate problem is converted into a sequence of second level approximation problems of separable form and each of which is solved by a dual strategy with discrete design variables. The approach is efficient in terms of the number of required structural analyses, as well as the overall computational cost of optimization. Examples are offered and compared with other methods to demonstrate the features of the proposed method.


Five mature wethers fitted with rumen fistulas were fed grass hay and a sugarbeet-pulp-based concentrate or maize silage and a cereal-based concentrate (50/50 digestible organic matter basis), or without with 5 g yeast supplement (Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Biosaf) per day in a latin square design. Diets were given for a 28-d adaptation period, followed by a 10-d collection period to determine digestibility and nitrogen retention data. Afterwards, rumen samples were taken on 3 consecutive days and analysed for volatile fatty acids, pH and ammonia. Digestibility and nitrogen balance were not affected by yeast treatment. Supplementation of yeast increased acetate: propionate ratio, butyrate, isoacids, pH and ammonia. The effects were more pronounced for the maize silage diet. These results demonstrate that the effect of yeast culture on rumen fermentation may depend on the nature of the diet. Living yeast cell number in the rumen fluid rapidly declined when dietary yeast was ceased. Furthermore, yeast cells survived the passage through the digestive tract.


Background
Total hip arthroplasty (THA) has emerged as a pivotal approach for addressing femoral neck fractures (FNFs), a prevalent type of fracture in older people. Restoring joint functionality following surgery significantly contributes to patients' overall well-being. Therefore, the implementation of rational and effective rehabilitation exercises is crucial.

Objective
This study aims to investigate the impact of phased rehabilitation management on patients with FNFs who have undergone THA.

Methods
In this prospective comparative study, a total of 89 patients were enrolled. Among them, 49 patients underwent phased rehabilitation management, while 40 patients received conventional postoperative rehabilitation. The evaluation encompassed a range of assessments, including the Harris Hip Score (HHS) for the evaluation of hip joint function, the Five-Times-Sit-to-Stand Test (FTSST) to quantify lower limb muscle strength, the Barthel Index to assess activities of daily living, and the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) to measure pain intensity. Furthermore, preoperative and postoperative serum levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), C-reactive protein (CRP), and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) were diligently measured to provide a comprehensive understanding of the patient's inflammatory responses.

Results
Overall, the study group exhibited a significantly higher average HHS after surgery compared to the control group. Notably, the VAS scores at 1 day and 3 days post-surgery in both groups demonstrated a reduced trend compared to preoperative values. This trend was more significant in the study group compared to the control group. The time taken for the FTSST in patients undergoing phased rehabilitation management was less compared to the control group. Furthermore, phased rehabilitation management was associated with more significant improvements in activities of daily living. Notably, IL-6 levels were higher in both the study and control groups at 1 day postoperatively than before surgery, while they decreased at 3 days postoperatively compared to the 1-day mark. The study group exhibited significantly lower levels of CRP (mg/L) and ESR (mm/h) compared to the control group.

Conclusions
Implementing phased rehabilitation management for patients with FNFs following THA improves hip joint function, lower limb muscle strength, daily living activities, pain intensity, and inflammatory response.


Gastrodia Rhizoma is a Traditional Chinese Medicine applied in the treatment of stroke, numbness of limb, headache and dizziness. However, its clinical effect is threatened by sulfur-fumigation used in the process of storage. This article employs content determination coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography fingerprint to investigate the effect of sulfur-fumigation on Gastrodia Rhizoma so as to evaluate the quality of Gastrodia Rhizoma. The result was that most active ingredient in Gastrodia Rhizoma decreased after sulfur-fumigation and the fingerprints analyzed by mathematical statistics between sulfur-fumigated Gastrodia Rhizoma and unfumigated Gastrodia Rhizoma have substantial differences, which reveals that sulfur-fumigation has a significant influence on the quality of Gastrodia Rhizoma. The conclusion of hierarchical clustering analysis, principal component analysis and partial least squares could validate each other, which implies that the method of mathematical statistics applied for assessing the quality of Gastrodia Rhizoma is effective and stable. The method not only affords a viable strategy for distinguishing Gastrodia Rhizoma whether sulfur-fumigated or not and assessment of the quality of Gastrodia Rhizoma, but also provides a reference for other herbal medicine that suffers from sulfur-fumigation.


The present invention relates to a method of receiving the e-mail mailbox (32) from the recipient terminal (1), the terminal may (30) connected to the e-mail and access the translation server (33) via a data transmission network. Mail service field (MIME) specifies the format of at least one valid data field. According to this method, through the network (30) from the mailbox (32) to the terminal (1) transfer the received mail service field (the MIME); the terminal (1), determining an effective data field format specified in the service field and compatibility between terminals (1) processing capacity; and in the compatibility, the terminal (1) transmits a control message to the translation server (33).


The book is devoted the experimental analysis of a new way of obtaining of silicon wafers from the powder raw materials intended for use as a base material for solar cells. Before the powder technology of obtaining of silicon wafers has not been considered as an alternative way of obtaining of base wafers for solar cells and substrates for films. The polycrystalline silicon wafers obtained by a method of molding and forming from a powder and also photo-electric structures with the p-n-junction formed on their basis also electro-physical and photo-electrical characteristics of plates and structures and processes of carrying over of a charge in them at photo-excitation are the basic object of research. Electro-physical characteristics of investigated wafers and photo-electric characteristics of structures are measured at the standardized stands. Impurity the structure on the fused sites and on grains boundaries of the poly-Si is defined by spectroscope «Cameca». The theoretical analysis of charge carrying process of in the poly-Si structures will be carried out under the well-known theory of physics of semiconductor devices with flat p-n-junction.


Access to finance is critical to accelerating growth and development in Africa. This paper presents recent trends in various sources of development finance and provides a critical assessment of the costs of meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the region. In the past three decades nearly all countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have implemented liberalization of the financial sector. During this period most countries eased or lifted bank interest rates caps, reduced interference in credit allocation decisions, lowered compulsory reserve requirements and entry barriers, and privatised many state owned commercial banks.


Abstract Background Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), one of the most common entrapment neuropathies, can, in fact, be considered as a socio-economic issue that reduces work productivity, increases disability, and requires prolonged rehabilitation. The imaging modality of choice in CTS imaging is the ultrasound (US), as several morphological parameters can be used in CTS diagnosis and follow-up. In recent years, US-guided CTS injection therapy has become an established treatment option for mild to moderate CTS. The authors of this review performed a literature search that revealed several differences in US-guided carpal tunnel injection in an attempt to unify individual stages of CTS injections protocol for future guidance: patient preparation, injection approach, needle positioning, injected medications, and injectate volume. The three approaches to carpal tunnel injections described in the literature, that is, the ulnar, radial, and longitudinal, can be implemented with single or multiple deposits and different injection volumes. Medications used for injections are corticosteroids, local anaesthetics, dextrose, saline, platelet-rich plasma, and progesterone. Conclusions Although no consensus has yet been reached as to which protocol should be used, the ulnar approach with a single deposit injected in large volumes should be considered as the first choice, while dextrose should be the first-line medication option. Furthermore, as terminological differences make it difficult to draw a uniform comparison the presented steps for US-guided carpal tunnel injection might serve as a guideline for future studies.


How is a historical event remembered, and how can that memory influence and enrich the archival record? This paper addresses that question by analyzing the memory trajectory of one well-remembered event in American history, the Homestead Strike of 1892. Tracking the traces of the strike, from tragic event to collective memory, it examines how the collective memory of an event enhances our ability to document and understand it in its entirety, demonstrating that while records may influence the memory of events, memory may also influence the production of records.


Space-time codes are the joint design of channel coding, modulation, transmit and receive diversity to provide the best tradeoff between data rate, diversity advantage, and code complexity. Specific codes improve the transmission performance in wireless fading channel by providing both the diversity advantage and the coding advantage, where channel state information (CSI) is available at the receiver. But in practice, it is very difficult to estimate the CSI accurately because of the characteristic of wireless fading channel: multi-path fading and time-variance. Hence, a theoretical study of the symbol error rate (SEK) for orthogonal space-time block codes (OSTBC) is presented in this paper, in the absence of perfect CSI. It is proved that the squaring method used to simplify the decoding of OSTBC in [Li Xiangming et al., 2001] could also be used when there is no perfect CSI at receiver. Using this squaring method, a closed-form expression of both SNR and SER for OSTBC can also be derived under these conditions. Simulation results show that performance in the presence of the channel estimation errors is less than that with ideal condition, and that more estimation errors, means more performance loss. It is also proved through the simulations that the BER bound increases slowly when the variance of channel estimation errors is less than some little value, e.g. 0.2. So in practice, it is important to keep the variance of estimation errors less than this value.


Carbonic maceration was compared with a more traditional method of producing red table wines and was found to produce wines with higher pH, less total acidity, malate, tartrate, and tannin, and a different sensory quality. The young wines produced by the special process were softer tasting and possessed a special "spicy" odor not present in the wines made with the traditional process. The wines produced by the special process were also more susceptible to induced malo-lactic fermentation.


Mitigating risk in decision-making has been a long-standing problem. Due to the mathematical challenge of its nonlinear nature, especially in adaptive decision-making problems, finding optimal policies is typically intractable. With a focus on efficient algorithms, we ask how well we can approximate the optimal policies for the difficult case of general utility models of risk. Little is known about efficient algorithms beyond the very special cases of linear (risk-neutral) and exponential utilities since general utilities are not separable and preclude the use of traditional dynamic programming techniques. In this paper, we consider general utility functions and investigate efficient computation of approximately optimal routing policies, where the goal is to maximize the expected utility of arriving at a destination around a given deadline. We present an adaptive discretization variant of successive approximation which gives an $\error$-optimal policy in polynomial time. The main insight is to perform discretization at the utility level space, which results in a nonuniform discretization of the domain, and applies for any monotone utility function.


We developed a tool for evaluating clinical information systems (CIS) by mapping a set of detailed functional requirements to specific elements of clinical scenarios. A team of primary care physicians, specialists, medical records professionals, and information systems staff defined detailed requirements for a new CIS at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care. The requirements were mapped to elements of clinical scenarios, which were provided to vendors for use in demonstrating their systems. Systems were rated as to how well they met the functional requirements in their demonstrations. This method of evaluating information systems provides an incremental advantage over use of requirements or scenarios by themselves.


Purpose: This study aimed to examine the relationships among social support(family support, medical team support), hope, anxiety, and depression in patients with hematologic cancers before they received hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) to obtain baseline data for developing a nursing intervention. Methods: The participants were 70 adult patients expecting to receive HSCT from 5 university hospitals in Seoul, Gyeonggi-do, and Jeollanam-do regions. A cross-sectional survey was done using standardized instruments for social support (Tae"s Family Support Scale and Professional Medical Support Scale), hope (Kim & Lee Hope Scale), anxiety and depression (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale). The data were analyzed by SPSS/WIN 19.0 program using frequency, percentage, item mean and standard deviation, t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson's correlation coefficient. Results: Hope was significantly correlated with social support (r=.40, p=.001), anxiety (r=-.40, p<.001) and depression (r=-.58, p<.001). Anxiety was correlated with depression (r=.54, p<.001). Conclusion: The findings of this study show greater social support for patients who expect to receive HSCT is significantly correlated to a higher level of hope, as well as low levels of anxiety and depression. In nursing practice, clinical nurses may develop a nursing intervention to reinforce social support and hope, as well as reduce anxiety and depression for patients preparing for HSCT.


Abstract The emplacement temperatures of accidental and juvenile fragments in the Habushiura pyroclastic density current (PDC) deposit were estimated using analysis of rock magnetism. The Habushiura PDC was generated in a costal or shallow offshore area during the early stage of the AD 886 phreatomagmatic eruption on Niijima Island, Japan. We collected 160 samples from 11 beds, which include three lithofacies types: a massive lapilli tuff (Facies A); a graded and/or diffusely stratified lapilli tuff (Facies B); and a swarm of large pumice (Facies C). Juvenile specimens from Facies A and C show a wide range of emplacement temperatures, from less than 150 °C up to 300 °C, in contrast with the emplacement temperatures lower than 150 °C of Facies B. Morphological features of the ash components and random changes in palaeomagnetic direction by stepwise thermal demagnetization indicate that low-temperature emplacement occurred by phreatomagmatic eruptions and ingestion of ambient air by the turbulent current. The emplacement temperatures of accidental fragments were up to 380 °C, which is higher than juvenile fragments. They are thought to have cooled more slowly than juvenile fragments due to the smaller surface area with respect to their volume.


The purpose of the current study was to develop and evaluate the efficacy of a school-based child sexual abuse prevention program for Taiwanese children. Forty-six Taiwanese children age 6 to 13 were divided into one of two groups based on their school grade and then randomly assigned to a skills-based child sexual abuse prevention program who received training immediately or a waiting-list control condition who received the training after a delay. Children's self-protection skills improved regardless of age after participation in the program. The program, however, did not successfully improve children's knowledge of sexuality and safety. Although future studies should modify the program content to better target knowledge of sexuality and safety, these results are promising for a pilot of this skills-based CSA prevention program in Taiwan.


Redistributive taxation should benefit those with low earnings capacity rather than those who choose a lower income to obtain tax savings. Several contributions have highlighted how public provision of work complements can discourage people from lowering labour supply to diminish taxable income. We show how tax avoidance, previously neglected, can alter the conclusions regarding public provision. Tax avoidance breaks the link between labour supply and reported income. An agent reducing his reported income to escape taxes may no longer forego a publicly provided labour complement because he may now lower his income by avoiding more rather than working less.


This study aimed to describe and compare the educational, social, and family profiles of adults with and without ADHD from two different settings: a prison and an outpatient psychiatric setting. A total of 542 participants, aged between 17 and 69 years, took part in the study. The participants consisted of four groups: a prison sample with ADHD (n = 69) and without ADHD (n = 183), and an outpatient psychiatric sample with ADHD (n = 218) and without ADHD (n = 72). The results showed that, firstly, there were some statistically significant differences between the groups in academic history, social and family situation, and the adoption of risk behaviors during adolescence and early adulthood. Secondly, some of these differences were related to diagnosis (ADHD versus non-ADHD) while others were related to the  sample being examined (prison versus psychiatric). The findings from the study showed the presence of significant implications in social, family, educational, and employment achievements both for adults with ADHD (both prison and psychiatric samples) and for adults without ADHD.


Heterocyclic compounds have gained notoriety in the pharmaceutical universe after studies in numbers. Such compounds make the spectrum of action and development of countless drugs more flexible, and may become a viable alternative for, mainly, or antimicrobial development. In this perspective, the aminonitriles that lead the subgroup of notoriety in this advance are inserted, since, through their characteristic characteristics, an example of stability and resistance to hydrolysis, offers a forceful interaction with pathogens. Also, this relationship is closely related to enzymatic interactions of metabolic functioning, mainly not that it concerns the functioning of carbonic anhydrase and its isoforms. Given this, it is inferred to optimize and understand the bibliographic data already available to expand the field of compound actions, thereby characterizing the recognition of its possibilities for applicability in various pathologies.


SLAC/SSRL and collaborators elsewhere are studying the physics of a single-pass, FEL amplifier operating in the 1 2 Å wavelength region based on electron beams from the SLAC linac at 15GeV energy. Hoping to reduce the total wiggler length needed to reach saturation when starting from shot noise, we have examined the benefits of making the first part of the wiggler resonant at a sub-harmonic wavelength ( e.g. 4:5 Å) at which the gain length can be significantly shorter. This leads to bunching of the electron beam at both the subharmonic and fundamental wavelengths, thus providing a strong coherent "seed" for exponential growth of radiation at the fundamental in the second part of the wiggler. Using both multi-harmonic and multi-frequency 2D FEL simulation codes, we have examined the predicted performance of such devices and the sensitivity to electron beam parameters such as current, emittance, and instantaneous energy spread.


ABSTRACT This paper examines the role of local government in the provision of housing across advanced economies in the contemporary economy and historically, while seeking to locate the Australian experience in a broader international perspective. The paper finds that ongoing challenges have given rise to policy innovation and new programmatic perspective. These developments have reflected non-systematic, and often disruptive, change rather than the continuation of predictable trends. The paper argues such evolution will continue and will be more likely to deliver benefits to the local government sector and housing affordability if acknowledged and enabled by more senior tiers of government. 本文探讨了在当代经济和历史上的发达经济体中,地方政府在提供住房方面的作用,同时试图从更广阔的国际视角来定位澳大利亚的经验. 报告发现,持续的挑战带来了政策创新和新的规划视角. 这些发展反映了非系统的、往往是破坏性的变化,而不是可预测的趋势的继续. 该论文认为,这种演变将继续下去,如果得到更高层政府的承认和支持,将更有可能为地方政府部门和住房负担能力带来好处.


This paper proposes a novel approach to content-based watermarking for image authentication that is based on Independent Component Analysis (ICA). In the scheme proposed here, ICA is applied to blocks of the host image and the resulting mixing matrix represents the features of the image blocks. Frobenius norm of the mixing matrix is adopted as the content-based feature. This is embedded as the watermark in a mid-frequency DCT coefficient of the block. This authentication technique is robust against incidental image processing operations, but detects malicious tampering and correctly locates the tampered regions. Povzetek: Predlagana je nova metoda avtentikacije slik.


Although there are several options for treating femoral bone defects resulting from trauma or nonunion surgery, the induced-membrane technique is now our treatment of choice. The technique consists of 2 stages, and both are critical to successful treatment. Stage 1 begins with debridement of bone and soft tissue and concludes with insertion of a cement spacer, bone stabilization, and soft-tissue coverage. Stage 2 is typically delayed 4 weeks or more and consists of carefully opening the induced membrane, removing the spacer, and inserting bone graft. While many studies show excellent union rates, good outcomes are technique dependent and the treating surgeon should be careful to avoid common surgical pitfalls. In addition, patient biology must be considered and optimized to further improve union rates and outcomes.


A 2-mm-thick plastic shell with 5-10-mm-thick tapered plastic spacer in the shape of a "pinna"-specific anthropomorphic mannequin (SAM) head model is being used for determination of the specific absorption rate (SAR) of cellular telephones for compliance testing against IEEE and the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) Safety Guidelines used in the U.S. and Europe, respectively. We have used three-dimensional computer-aided design files of the SAM Model with 1-mm resolution to calculate peak 1- and 10-g SAR for "cheek" and "15/spl deg/-tilted" positions of some typical telephones for comparison with those for three anatomic models of the head to show that the SAR obtained for SAM is up to two or more times smaller than for anatomic models. This is due to the shift of the high SAR locations to a low radiated fields region away from the antenna, particularly at 835 MHz, and a substantial physical separation from the absorptive phantom at 1900 MHz. Due to the use of lossless plastic for the "pinna," another handicap of the SAM model is the total lack of knowledge of 1- or 10-g SAR in the pinna tissues required by all safety guidelines (current or proposed). To remedy this situation, we propose a modified SAM with a lossy "pinna," for which 1- and 10-g SARs are relatively close to those for anatomic models, provided we use a fluid of higher conductivity than that currently used for compliance testing at 835 MHz. Lastly, we compare the implications of the current IEEE and ICNIRP guidelines and the newly proposed IEEE guidelines with a relaxed limit of 4.0 W/kg for any 10-g of tissue of the pinna for maximum allowable powers for cellular telephones at 835 and 1900 MHz to show that the newly proposed relaxed IEEE limits will allow radiated powers that may be 8-16 times those permitted by the current IEEE Standard and up to two times higher than those permitted under ICNIRP guidelines used in over 30 countries.


We have developed a new efficient optimization algorithm that uses the single equivalent moving dipole (SEMD) model to identify the electrical sources in the heart from body surface electrocardiographic (ECG) signals. In this paper we explored the ability of this algorithm to resolve the relative distance between epicardial pacing sites in an experimental animal model.


Epidemics are among the most costly and destructive natural hazards globally. To reduce the impacts of infectious disease outbreaks, the development of a risk index for infectious diseases can be effective, by shifting infectious disease control from emergency response to early detection and prevention. In this study, we introduce a methodology to construct and validate an epidemic risk index using only open data, with a specific focus on scalability. The external validation of our risk index makes use of distance sampling to correct for underreporting of infections, which is often a major source of biases, based on geographical accessibility to health facilities. We apply this methodology to assess the risk of dengue in the Philippines. The results show that the computed dengue risk correlates well with standard epidemiological metrics, i.e. dengue incidence (p = 0.002). Here, dengue risk constitutes of the two dimensions susceptibility and exposure. Susceptibility was particularly associated with dengue incidence (p = 0.047) and dengue case fatality rate (CFR) (p = 0.029). Exposure had lower correlations to dengue incidence (p = 0.211) and CFR (p = 0.163). Highest risk indices were seen in the south of the country, mainly among regions with relatively high susceptibility to dengue outbreaks. Our findings reflect that the modelled epidemic risk index is a strong indication of sub-national dengue disease patterns and has therefore proven suitability for disease risk assessments in the absence of timely epidemiological data. The presented methodology enables the construction of a practical, evidence-based tool to support public health and humanitarian decision-making processes with simple, understandable metrics. The index overcomes the main limitations of existing indices in terms of construction and actionability. Author summary Why Was This Study Done? – Epidemics are among the most costly and destructive natural hazards occurring globally; currently, the response to epidemics is still focused on reaction rather than prevention or preparedness. – The development of an epidemic risk index can support identifying high-risk areas and can guide prioritization of preventive action and humanitarian response. – While several frameworks for epidemic risk assessment exist, they suffer from several limitations, which resulted in limited uptake by local health actors - such as governments and humanitarian relief workers - in their decision-making processes What Did the Researchers Do and Find? – In this study, we present a methodology to develop epidemic risk indices, which overcomes the major limitations of previous work: strict data requirements, insufficient geographical granularity, validation against epidemiological data. – We take as a case study dengue in the Philippines and develop an epidemic risk index; we correct dengue incidence for underreporting based on accessibility to healthcare and show that it correlates well with the risk index (Pearson correlation coefficient 0.69, p-value 0.002). What Do These Findings Mean? – Our methodology enables the development of disease-specific epidemic risk indices at a sub-national level, even in countries with limited data availability; these indices can guide local actors in programming prevention and response activities. – Our findings on the case study show that the epidemic risk index is a strong indicator of sub-national dengue disease patterns and is therefore suitable for disease risk assessments in the absence of timely and complete epidemiological data.


In this paper, we consider code division multiple access (CDMA) - space frequency block coded (SFBC) downlink system and evaluate its performance over independent and identically distributed (i.i.d) Weibull fading channels. Specifically, we drive closed form bit error rate (BER) expressions for the M-ary quadrature amplitude modulation (MQAM) and M-ary phase shift keying (MPSK). We study the outage probability of the system by numerically inverting the Laplace transform of the cumulative distribution function of the instantaneous signal to noise ratio. The derived expressions are evaluated considering different amounts of channel estimation error, different M-ary size, different fading severities and different SFBC forms. Numerical results are provided to show the tradeoff between the different system parameters. The derived expressions can be used to assign channels to different users in a cross-layered fashion based on the conditions of their channels.


Intensive cultivation and post-harvest vegetable oil production stages are major sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Variation between production systems and reporting disparity have resulted in discordance in previous emissions estimates. To assess systems-wide GHG implications of meeting increasing edible oil demand, we performed a unified re-analysis of life cycle input data from diverse oil palm, soybean, rapeseed, and sunflower production systems, from a saturating search of published literature. The resulting dataset reflects almost 6,000 producers in 38 countries, and is representative of over 74% of global vegetable oil production. Determination of the carbon cost of agricultural land occupation revealed that carbon storage potential drives variation in production GHG emissions, and indicates that expansion of production in low carbon storage potential land, whilst reforesting areas of high carbon storage potential, could reduce net GHG emissions whilst boosting productivity. Nevertheless, there remains considerable scope to improve sustainability within current production systems.


Essential tremor (ET) is the most common movement disorder, in which the primary symptom is a prominent, involuntary 4–10 Hz movement. For severe, medication refractory cases, deep brain stimulation (DBS) targeting the ventral intermediate nucleus of the thalamus (VIM) can be an effective treatment for cessation of tremor and is thought to work in part by disrupting tremor frequency oscillations (TFOs) in VIM. However, DBS is not universally effective and may be further disrupting cerebellar-mediated activity in the VIM. Here, we applied biophysically detailed computational modeling to investigate whether the efficacy of DBS is affected by the mechanism of generation of TFOs or by the pattern of stimulation. We simulated the effects of DBS using standard, asymmetric pulses as well as biphasic, symmetric pulses to understand biophysical mechanisms of how DBS disrupts TFOs generated either extrinsically or intrinsically. The model results suggested that the efficacy of DBS in the VIM is affected by the mechanism of generation of TFOs. Symmetric biphasic DBS reduced TFOs more than standard DBS in both networks, and these effects were stronger in the intrinsic network. For intrinsic tremor frequency activity, symmetric biphasic DBS was more effective at reducing TFOs. Simulated non-tremor signals were also transmitted during symmetric biphasic DBS, suggesting that this type of DBS may help to reduce side effects caused by disruption of the cerebellothalamocortical pathway. Biophysical details in the model provided a mechanistic interpretation of the cellular and network dynamics contributing to these effects that can be empirically tested in future studies. Significance Statement Essential tremor (ET) is a common movement disorder, whose primary symptom is an involuntary rhythmic movement of the limbs or head. An area of the human tha-lamus demonstrates electrical activity that oscillates at the frequencies of tremor, and deep brain stimulation (DBS) in this area can reduce tremor. It is not fully understood how DBS affects tremor frequency activity in the thalamus, and studying different patterns of DBS stimulation may help to clarify these mechanisms. We created a computational model of different shapes of DBS and studied how they reduce different hypothesized generators of tremor frequency activity. A greater understanding of how DBS affects the thalamus may lead to improved treatments to reduce tremor and alleviate side effects in patients with ET.


Hydroxyl radical scavenging capacity estimation for lipophilic antioxidants is a challenge due to their poor solubility in aqueous radical generating and measuring systems. In this study, an electron spin resonance (ESR) method was developed and validated for its application in estimating the relative hydroxyl radical (HO*) scavenging capacity for lipophilic antioxidants under physiological pH using a Fenton Fe2+/H2O2 system for radical generation and acetonitrile as a solvent. The Fenton Fe2+/H2O2 system generates a constant flux of pure HO* under the assay conditions. The method was validated by linearity, precision, and reproducibility using selected known lipophilic antioxidants including alpha-tocopherol, lutein, beta-carotene, and BHT. The potential effects of commonly used water-miscible and water-immiscible organic solvents on the Fenton Fe2+/H2O2 HO* generating system as well as their possible interactions with the fluorescent and spectroscopic probes were also reported. In addition, the limitation of the ESR assay was described.


In this study, unit commitment (UC) problem is solved for an optimum schedule of generating units based on the load data forecasted by using artificial neural network (ANN) model and ANN model with autoregressive (AR). Low-cost generation is important in power system analysis. Under forecasting or over forecasting will result in the requirement of purchasing power from spot market or an unnecessary commitment of generating units. Accurate load forecasting is the first step to enhance the UC solution. Lagrange relaxation (LR) method is used for solving the UC problem. Total costs calculated for the actual load and two different forecasting load data are compared. Four-unit Tuncbilek thermal plant which is in Kutahya region, Turkey, is used for this analysis. The data used in this analysis is taken from Turkish Electric Power Company and Electricity Generation Company. All the analyses are implemented using MATLABreg.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the effect of exchange of tracheal tube for a laryngeal mask airway (LMA) on intratracheal extubation stress response under deep anesthesia level after surgery in elderly patients with hypertension.

METHODS
From October 2008 to June 2009, 40 hypertension patients aged from 65 to 78 years scheduled for upper abdominal surgery were randomly divided into 2 groups, one was extubated intratracheal tube when being awake (group TT, n = 20) and the other was extubated and exchanged for LMA under deep anesthesia (group LM, n = 20). The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) of the patients were I o rII. The data of mean arterial pressure (MAP), heart rate(HR), pulse oxygen saturation (SPO(2)), end-tidal carbon dioxide tension (P(ET)CO(2)) and rate pressure product(RPP) were recorded before induction of anesthesia (T(0)), suction (T(1)) and at 0 (T(2)), 5(T(3)), and 10 (T(4)) and 15 min (T(5)) after extubation tracheal tube or LMA in two groups. The indices mentioned above also were recorded before and after extubation in group LM. Blood samples were taken at T(0), skin incision, T(2), T(3), for determination of serum concentrations of blood glucose and cortisol. The airway adverse events in the recovery period were recorded.

RESULTS
Compared with group LM, MAP, HR and RPP were significantly higher at T(1), T(2), T(3) than T(0) in group TT (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the indices mentioned above during extubated intratracheal tube and exchanged for LMA under deep anesthesia in group LM (P > 0.05). The incidence rate of glossoptosis in group TT was significantly higher than those in group LM (P < 0.01), while complications, such as cough, bucking, breath holding during the recovery stage in group TT were more than those in group LM (P < 0.05). Compared with the baseline value, blood glucose and cortisol concentration level were significantly increased in group TT than in group LM (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS
Exchange of tracheal tube for LMA under deep anesthesia during recovery stage can decrease the stress response during the recovery stage and attenuate the harmful response of respiratory tract. It is suitable for the elderly patients with hypertension.


Purpose
This paper aims to explore the intermediary roles that public policies play in stimulating government agencies, businesses and civil society to engage in a corporate social responsibility (CSR) agenda.

Design/methodology/approach
Issues related to decision-making of public policies are increasingly complex. Therefore, analytical hierarchy process has been used to prioritize public policy practices for CSR in the UAE. Data were collected from experts working in businesses and civil society organizations.

Findings
Findings suggest that businesses and the civil society confirm the importance of standardization and law enforcement public policy practices in issues related to CSR in developing countries. The endorsing style of public policies was the least important approach to encouraging CSR implementation in the UAE.

Research limitations/implications
Results are derived from a limited amount of empirical data only in one country; therefore, these cannot be generalized. Future research from other countries is needed.

Practical implications
Outcomes from this study will help the government enhance its role as mediator among all agents and help with designing public policies that encourage adoption of CSR by business firms while maintaining competitiveness in the economy.

Originality/value
A framework consisting of five public policy categories – mandating, facilitating, partnering, endorsing and empowering roles – and 29 sub-policy practices is introduced. This study provides an important technique for analyzing the importance of public policies in promoting CSR. It offers insights into a population that shapes a CSR agenda.


Software engineering is one of the most utilizable research areas for data mining. Developers have attempted to improve software quality by mining and analyzing software data. In any phase of software development life cycle (SDLC), while huge amount of data is produced, some design, security, or software problems may occur. In the early phases of software development, analyzing software data helps to handle these problems and lead to more accurate and timely delivery of software projects. Various data mining and machine learning studies have been conducted to deal with software engineering tasks such as defect prediction, effort estimation, etc. This study shows the open issues and presents related solutions and recommendations in software engineering, applying data mining and machine learning techniques.


Abstract To harness the promises of digital transformation, different players take different paths. Departing from corporate-driven (e.g., the United States) and state-led (e.g., China) approaches, in various documents, the European Union states its goal to establish a citizen-centric data ecosystem. However, it remains contentious the extent to which the envisioned digital single market can enable the creation of public value and empower citizens. As an alternative, in this article, we argue in favor of a fair data ecosystem, defined as an approach capable of representing and keep in balance the data interests of all actors, while maintain a collective outlook. We build such ecosystem around data commons—as a third path to market and state approaches to the managing of resources—coupled with open data (OD) frameworks and spatial data infrastructures (SDIs). Indeed, based on literature, we claim that these three regimes complement each other, with OD and SDIs supplying infrastructures and institutionalization to data commons' limited replicability and scalability. This creates the preconditions for designing the main roles, rules, and mechanisms of a data republic, as a possible enactment of a fair data ecosystem. While outlining here its main traits, the testing of the data republic model is open for further research.


AIM
To investigate experimentally the effects of methionine enkephalin on signal transduction of mouse myeloma NS-1 cells.

METHODS
The antigen determinate of delta opioid receptor was designed in this lab and the polypeptide fragment of antigen determinate with 12 amino acids residues was synthesized. Monoclonal antibody against this peptide fragment was prepared. Proliferation of Mouse NS-1 cells treated with methionine enkephalin of 1 x 10(-6) mol x L(-1) was observed. The activities of protein kinase A (PKA) and protein kinase C (PKC) were measured and thereby the mechanism of effect of methionine enkephalin was postulated.

RESULTS
The results demonstrated that methionine enkephalin could enhance the proliferation of NS-1 cells and the effect of methionine enkephalin could be particularly blocked by monoclonal antibody. The activity of PKA was increased in both cytosol and cell membrane. With reference to PKC, the intracellular activity of PKC in NS-1 cells was elevated at 1 x 10(-7) mol x L(-1) and then declined gradually as the concentration of methionine enkephalin was raised. The effects of methionine enkephalin might be reversed by both naloxone and monoclonal antibody.

CONCLUSION
Coupled with the findings, it indicates that the signal transduction systems via PKA and PKC are involved in the effects of methionine enkephalin by binding with the traditional opioid receptors,and therefore resulting in different biological effects.


With the acceleration of urbanization, there are increasingly more high-rise buildings in cities. In turn, high-rise building collapse accidents occur frequently. The causes of the danger, in addition to the extremely severe stress, are predominantly due to the long-term role of unstable factors, resulting in an unrecoverable internal structure. Therefore, it is advisable to monitor the dynamic deformation of buildings to prevent accidents. However, there is no particularly mature application system on the market to enable this monitoring, so our research group has carried out a long-term research in this field. This paper introduces the design of a set of practical information systems by using information technology and the principle of close-range photogrammetry. The system used the photographing scale transformation-time baseline parallax (PST-TBP) method to analyse image data collected with a digital camera, implement close-range photogrammetry, and input the image data into a computer. A building deformation diagram is obtained using our own software. The associated deformation curve can clearly reproduce the building deformation trend to monitor the building health. We conducted many laboratory simulation experiments to verify the information system, and the verification results prove that this process is rigorous. To apply this information system to a real-life scenario as soon as possible, we further studied its application to high-rise buildings, improved the system by using data and experience obtained by monitoring the tallest local building, and achieved good results. Finally, combined with the development of current intelligent technology, directions for system improvement are explored.


Along with the development of Petra Christian University, the number of courses and students also grow significantly. Almost every program of study at Petra Christian University requires an invigilator. The way to spreading information and registration invigilator at Petra Christian University is still done manually. Each departement have difficulty in finding an invigilator, and students also have difficulty in finding information and vacancies about invigilator. Therefore, the need for a system such as a website that can be a liaison between students with department that require an invigilator. Based on the background of existing problems, the authors designed a web-based information systems that are in social media facebook using facebook API implementation and an email service for notifications. The information system is equipped with a feature list of the invigilator, feature to approve the invigilator, content overseen schedule, approve the schedule in case, invite the invigilator, notifications, import data from Excel files, and manage admin. The information system is made using CodeIgniter framework, PHP and HTML programming languge and MySQL database. Once the testing is done, a web-based information systems can run in facebook after login on facebook. Invigilator information system may be the link between courses that require an invigilator with students seeking jobs invigilator. Invigilator information systems can also provide email notification on facebook and students. This information system is getting the satisfaction score of 91.4% of respondents.


Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome is a rare disease among preterm infants. This syndrome was first described in 1985 in four infants with a gestational age of <30 weeks. Several explanations for this syndrome have been suggested namely the immaturity of Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Gonadal (HPG) axis, lack of negative feedback, increased sensitivity of Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) receptors due to mutation and high level of estradiol. In this report, a case of hyperstimulation syndrome in a newborn with gestational age of 30 weeks is presented and the probable mechanisms in the literature are discussed.


Often, our exploratory quests for books are highly complex endeavors which feature activities such as exploration, searching, selecting and comparing various books. Current systems for book search may not provide optimal support for this wide range of activities. The interactive Social Book Search Track investigates how users utilize different access interfaces in the context of two types of tasks, and evaluates a streamlined baseline interface and a rich multistage interface, potentially supporting different stages of search. In this paper, we analyze how these two types of interfaces influence user behavior, in terms of task duration, book selection and interaction patterns. Furthermore, we characterize the use of the different panels of the experimental multistage interface, as well as user engagement. We find initial evidence for the additional value of providing stage-based search support in the context of open-ended and focused book search tasks.


In non-vascular interventional radiology (IVR) such as percutaneous transhepatic cholangio-drainage (PTCD) and nerve block, the operator's hands are irradiated in primary x-ray field. In Over-table tube fluoroscopy system, operator's hands inevitably are exposed excessively to intensive primary radiation, whereas in the Under-table tube fluoroscopy system, they are irradiated weakly by attenuated radiation through the patient's body. For this reason, the dose to the operator's hands in Under-table tube fluoroscopy is less than in Over-table tube fluoroscopy. This paper proposes general formulas for estimating the absorbed dose on the operator's hands in two types of fluoroscopy. The formulas include factors affecting the absorbed dose on the operator's hand; distance from source to the operator's hands, x-ray transmittance of the patient and patient's bed, and back-scatter factor of the patient. Absorbed dose to imitated operator's hand was measured and estimated by formulas in two types of fluoroscopy for various phantom thicknesses and two field sizes using an ionization chamber. The difference between estimated absorbed dose and measured absorbed dose was less than 10%.