Repetitive gonioscopy of children with congenital aniridia confirms the presence of an angle abnormality which can be progressive and cause glaucoma. This abnormality features obstruction of the trabecular meshwork by variable mixtures of anterior migration of the peripheral iris and thickening of the uveal meshwork associated with a vascular net over exposed trabecular meshwork adjacent to the anterior edge of the iris. Preliminary results of prophylactic gonio-surgery in 28 eyes of 16 children with an average age of 4 years was reported. This surgery was performed without complication and produced a permanent exposure of the trabecular meshwork to the anterior chamber for an average of 8 circumferential hours, if two procedures were performed. Preliminary results suggest a stabilization of eye pressures at least through childhood and encourage the continuation of these prophylactic operations on selected eyes with congenital aniridia. Therapeutic goniotomy for established acquired glaucoma in congenital aniridia cannot be relied on, but may be a benefit for early detected cases or for glaucoma associated with aniridia in infancy.


The basic analysis and synthesis approaches for multirate sampled-data control system are reviewed. After giving the definition and some properties of multirate system are given, its origination, development and design methods are discussed in detail. Finally, some remarks, expectations and conclusions on the present research status and the research directions are given.


Claudins (CLDNs) play crucial roles in the formation of tight junctions. We have reported that abnormal expression of CLDN2 confers chemoresistance in the spheroids of human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells. A food composition, which can reduce CLDN2 expression, may function to prevent the malignant progression. Here, we found that ethanol extract of Brazilian green propolis (EBGP) and kaempferide, a major component of EBGP, decrease CLDN2 expression. In the two-dimensional culture model, EBGP decreased the tight junctional localization of CLDN2 without affecting that of zonula occludens-1, an adaptor protein, and enhanced paracellular permeability to doxorubicin, a cytotoxic anticancer drug. EBGP reduced hypoxic stress, and enhanced the accumulation and sensitivity of doxorubicin in the spheroid of A549 cells. Kaempferide dose-dependently decreased CLDN2 expression, although dihydrokaempferide and pinocembrin did not. The phosphorylation of Akt, a regulatory factor of CLDN2 expression, was inhibited by kaempferide but not by dihydrokaempferide. The 2,3-double bond in the C ring may be important to inhibit Akt. Kaempferide decreased the mRNA level and promoter activity of CLDN2, indicating that it inhibits the transcription of CLDN2. In accordance with EBGP, kaempferide decreased the tight junctional localization of CLDN2 and increased a paracellular permeability to doxorubicin, suggesting that it diminished the paracellular barrier to small molecules. In addition, kaempferide reduced hypoxic stress, and enhanced the accumulation and sensitivity of doxorubicin in the spheroids. In contrast, dihydrokaempferide did not improve the sensitivity to doxorubicin. Further study is needed using an animal model, but we suggest that natural foods abundantly containing kaempferide are candidates for the prevention of the chemoresistance of lung adenocarcinoma.


Chemistry is widely perceived as difficult. Specialized language, mathematical and abstract conceptual nature, and the amount of content are often cited reasons. Researchers have been trying to explain how students should be helped in learning chemistry better. This paper reports the results of a survey to identify the chemistry units in standard nine that are perceived as being difficult by students in Kerala state stream. The sample consists of 1382 standard X students, both males and females, from three high schools from that many revenue districts in Kerala. Six chemistry units were listed in a chart and presented to students so that each student may opt any one unit that s/he thinks the most difficult. The result shows that majority of pupil faces difficulty mainly in the unit on Periodic Table and Chemical Bonding. Since conceptual understanding in chemistry is related to the ability to explain chemical phenomena through the use of macroscopic, molecular and symbolic levels of representation; the authors suggests that innovative learning strategies be used by teachers at all levels of chemistry education to enhance the students' motivation to learn chemistry. Innovation in science education can contribute to the favourable learning environment in schools. Adopting innovative instructional strategies appropriate to the nature of the topic can create a good and favourable environment in classroom. This may in turn make further learning easier for students.


OBJECTIVE
Autopsy determination of fatal hemorrhage as the cause of death is often a difficult diagnosis in forensic medicine. No quantitative system for accurately measuring the blood volume in a corpse has been developed.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
This article describes the measurement and evaluation of the cross-sectional areas of major blood vessels, of the diameter of the right pulmonary artery, of the volumes of thoracic aorta and spleen on MDCT, and of the volumes of heart chambers on MRI in 65 autopsy-verified cases of fatal hemorrhage or no fatal hemorrhage.

RESULTS
Most cases with a cause of death of "fatal hemorrhage" had collapsed vessels. The finding of a collapsed superior vena cava, main pulmonary artery, or right pulmonary artery was 100% specific for fatal hemorrhage. The mean volumes of the thoracic aorta and of each of the heart chambers and the mean cross-sectional areas of all vessels except the inferior vena cava and abdominal aorta were significantly smaller in fatal hemorrhage than in no fatal hemorrhage.

CONCLUSION
For the quantitative differentiation of fatal hemorrhage from other causes of death, we propose a three-step algorithm with measurements of the diameter of the right pulmonary artery, the cross-sectional area of the main pulmonary artery, and the volume of the right atrium (specificity, 100%; sensitivity, 95%). However, this algorithm must be corroborated in a prospective study, which would eliminate the limitations of this study. Quantitative postmortem cross-sectional imaging might become a reliable objective method to assess the question of fatal hemorrhage in forensic medicine.


Diallel crosses among eight corn (L.) inbreds that differed for their response to (Nisikado and Miyake) Shoemaker race T (Nisikado & Miyake race T), were made both on Texas male sterile (T) and on normal (N) cytoplasms. These crosses were evaluated for their reaction to inoculation with race T both as seedlings in the greenhouse and as plants in the field.Single crosses produced in N cytoplasm were heavily infected by spores of the fungus in greenhouse tests but extensive lesions did not develop, and the fungus caused relatively little damage. Differences for disease ratings among the hybrids in the N cytoplasm were not significant either in the greenhouse or in the field. Crosses in the T cytoplasm responded differentially to this fungus. Except for crosses with Mp305 as one of the parents, the average disease severity for all crosses with a given parental line was as expected, based on the original evaluation of the parents as lines. However, disease ratings on the crosses in the greenhouse did not agree well with those obtained in the field.Crosses produced in T cytoplasm yielded 69% of their normal counterparts in 1972 and 22% in 1973. Differences were noted among hybrids produced in the T cytoplasm. The most resistant hybrid yielded 63% of its normal counterpart in 1973 while the most susceptible hybrid yielded only 1% of its normal counterpart. Thus, we found that necular gene resistance could overcome part, but not all, of the susceptibility associated with T cytoplasm to this disease.Additive genetic variances accounted for most of the differences among hybrids produced in T cytoplasm. However, nonadditive and reciprocal variances were significant for some characteristics.


We introduce the theory of div point sets, which aims to provide a framework to study the combinatoric nature of any set of points in general position on an Euclidean plane. We then show that proving the unsatisfiability of some first-order logic formulae concerning some sets of multisets of uniform cardinality over boolean variables would prove the Erd\"os-Szekeres conjecture, which states that for any set of 2^(n-2)+1 points in general position, there exists n points forming a convex polygon, where n is greater than or equal to 3.


This paper explores the relationship between the debt ratio of Brazilian football clubs and several potential determinants, both financial and sports-related. Our explanatory variables are Current Ratio, Return on Assets, Score Percentage, Size, 12 Biggest Clubs, Access (to specific championships, e.g. Libertadores da America), Division, Title (won at time t) and Relegated (at time t). Data was collected from several publicly available channels and our sample was mostly decided according to this availability. The time range adopted was 2010-2013. The model employed was Generalized Estimating Equation. Our results suggest that debt ratios are more associated with their popularity or their participation in the highest division of its main championship rather than titles held, access to different competitions or relegation to lower levels. We believe that our findings may be useful for both practitioners, who might know the impact of their sports-related choices in their clubs' debts, and policymakers, that could prepare differentiated policies for specific groups (e.g divisions).


Colour is an essential part of information handling. Computer science (informatics) students usually do not get a formal education in colour science, but show interest in self-study of the subject. Hypertext and multimedia presentations can be used with advantage in such situations. A CD-ROM based self-study manual has been prepared for informatics students to teach them colour science. The tutorial is built up by starting with some general errors, recommendations for good practice and links to guide the students to more profound understanding of the underlying colorimetric knowledge and functioning of display hardware systems.


BACKGROUND
The objective of this study is to evaluate prognostic factors of non-metastatic renal cell carcinoma using univariate and multivariate statistical methods.

METHODS
390 patients who were performed radical surgery in our hospital between 1960 and 1994 were entered to this study. Kaplan-Meier method with log-rank test and Cox's proportional hazard model were used for statistical analysis.

RESULTS
Chief complaints, tumor localization on kidney, tumor size, fever, hemoglobin, C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, immunosuppressive acidic protein, operative method, blood loss, histologic grade, cell type, pT, pN and pV revealed to have prognostic statistical significance in the univariate analysis. Whereas, sex, age, blood type, hypertension, affected side and preoperative embolization did not. In the multivariate analysis of the preoperatively evaluable factors, CRP, tumor size and tumor localization proved to be significant prognostic predictors in this order. When the pathological factors were included to the multivariate analysis, pV, historogic grade and pN revealed to be significant prognostic predictors in this order.

CONCLUSION
These results suggest that pathological factors were significant prognostic predictors for non-metastatic renal cell carcinoma.


In addition to covering topics related to informed consent for research, genetic research with human biospecimens, ethics committee review of research protocols, and research with children and other vulnerable populations, the journal publishes work on rapid developments in science and medicine that bring new challenges to the ethical, regulatory, and policy frameworks that govern research with humans in the United States and elsewhere.


Drawing on the job demands–resources model, this study examined the effect of workplace conflict as a work demand on job-related well-being (proxy by job satisfaction) while assessing the direct and buffering roles of job resources (employee development and supervisor support). The study employed a survey data from 130 employees of a major local government institution in Accra, Ghana, and the data were analysed using multiple regression and Hayes' PROCESS macro moderation technique. The findings revealed that while workplace conflict has a significant negative effect on employee job-related well-being, employee development and supervisor support have significant positive effects but their interactions with workplace conflict show insignificant effects on employee job-related well-being. Our study provides new empirical evidence to extend the workplace conflict and employee well-being literature generally, and within the local government setting in particular. Furthermore, it contributes to the job demands–resources model by validating the dual pathways (job resources and job demands) of improving well-being while suggesting that a mismatch between the level of job demands and job resources may render their interactive effects ineffective.


Cancer affects more men than women; evidence shows that men are almost 40%more likely than women to die from cancer (Men's Health Forum, 2009). The three cancers that only affect men are penile, prostate and testicular cancers, with prostate cancer being the most common of all cancers in men. This article provides an overview of the health of men in the UK from a male cancer perspective. It suggests that gender is a significant determinant of health status, and that the nurse must take this into account when providing health services and when planning and devising strategy and policy. There are complexities and inter-relationships between gender and social class, ethnicity, disability, sexuality and age that are associated with male health. Ways in which the challenges faced by men and ways in which men access health services are discussed. Further research is needed to address this important healthcare issue.


Topcolor and topcolor-assisted technicolor provide examples of dynamical electroweak symmetry breaking which include top-condensation, thereby naturally incorporating a heavy top quark. In this note we discuss the roles of the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio (NJL) and large-N approximations often used in phenomenological analyses of these models. We show that, in order to provide for top-condensation but not bottom-condensation, the top-color coupling must be adjusted to equal the critical value for chiral symmetry breaking up to O(1/N) in any theory in which the isospin-violating "tilting" interaction is a U(1) gauge interaction. A consequence of these considerations is that the potentially dangerous "bottom-pions" are naturally light. We also show that the contributions to ρ− 1 previously estimated are of leading-order in N , are not included in the usual NJL analysis, and are the result of "vacuum-alignment". email@example.com email@example.com


Ann Arbor Classification: Stage II: Involvement of two or more lymph node regions on the inferior side of the diaphragm (II) or localized involvement of a single associated extralymphatic organ or site and its regional lymph node(s) with or without involvement of other lymph node regions on the same side of the diaphragm (IIE). Note: T he number of lymph node regions involved may be indicated by a subscript. Qeios · Definition, February 7, 2020


– A morphometric analysis of three different populations of Hipposideros cervinus in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, was performed using voucher specimens deposited in the UNIMAS Zoological Museum that had been collected from the three different geographical regions (populations) of Kubah National Park, Tubau and Niah National Park. A total of 27 characters, derived from external, cranial and dental measurements, were used. The measurements were recorded and analyzed using Discriminant Function Analysis (DFA) with the SPSS Version 18.0 software. The highest character loading for Functions 1 and 2 were the canine molar length or maxillary tooth row length (C1M3L) and the ear length (EL), with standardized canonical discriminant function coefficient values of 0.680 and 0.711, respectively. These two characters are identified as the best predictors to distinguish the three populations based on their morphological measurements. Accordingly, it is proposed that the different types of habitats, foraging behavior and food availability are among the factors that could lead to morphological variations among H. cervinus populations.


A new structure of optically-controlled microwave switches is studied. By analyzing the equivalent schematic representation, the ON/OFF ratio of photoswitching systems is enhanced. A 15.4 dB ON/OFF ratio at a microwave frequency of 20 GHz was measured on Si samples with this new configuration, top-excited by a continuous laser diode at a 671 nm wavelength. Such efficient devices can be directly incorporated in passive and active microwave circuits to be switched with the advantages of optics.


Several neurodegenerative diseases, like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's are linked with protein aggregation into amyloid fibrils. Conformational changes of native protein into the β-sheet structure are associated with a significant change in the vibrational spectrum. This is especially true for amide bands which are inherently sensitive to the secondary structure of a protein. Raman amide bands are greatly intensified under resonance conditions, in the UV spectral range, allowing for the selective probing of the peptide backbone. In this work, we examine parallel β-sheet forming GGVVIA, the C-terminus segment of amyloid-β peptide, using UV–Vis, FTIR, and multiwavelength Raman spectroscopy. We find that amide bands are enhanced far from the expected UV range, i.e., at 442 nm. A reasonable two-fold relative intensity increase is observed for amide II mode (normalized according to the δCH2/δCH3 vibration) while comparing 442 and 633 nm excitations; an increase in relative intensity of other amide bands was also visible. The observed relative intensification of amide II, amide S, and amide III modes in the Raman spectrum recorded at 442 nm comparing with longer wavelength (633/785/830 nm) excited spectra allows unambiguous identification of amide bands in the complex Raman spectra of peptides and proteins containing the β-sheet structure.


Juicy fruit, healthy vegetables, herbs for all the ailments, delightful flowers, a shelter under the spreading branches of an old tree - can plants be something more for man, and can they be even equal to him? Where is their place in the world, which is dominated by man and his helpers - animals? This article leads the reader through the thoughts and beliefs of ancient peoples, showing their respect for everything that lives until the modern times, when scientists try to relate the definition of intelligence and consciousness to plants. Myths from various parts of the globe, illustrate how important a role plants had in the past, that they were much more than food, medicine, or refuge. Since the beginning of time, without new technologies, people felt the power of nature and respected the otherness of creatures, wandering with them, step by step, with fear and awe. Plants, though "immobilised", could create, and decided on the world's fate, and were messengers between men and other organisms, an essential link, unique and holy. Today, when one can analyse plants' functions and behaviour, observe how they communicate with the world, using all of the senses not located in specific organs, but spread all over the organism, man starts to notice what his ancestors saw a long time ago: that plants remember, decide, learn and give humans a wide range of opportunities. Having far more senses than man, showing humans a different kind of consciousness and intelligence, not centralised, to which one is used to, but dispersed, though not less efficient, plants are becoming very interesting subjects of scientific research.


A rare case of coronary artery bypass grafting in a patient with right aortic arch was presented. A 62-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with angina pectoris. Coronary angiography revealed total obstruction of left anterior descending artery and jeopardized collateral from right coronary artery. Aortography disclosed right aortic arch associated with retroesophageal anomalous left subclavian artery. As the symptom of neither the vascular ring nor the subclavian steal syndrome was recognized, left internal thoracic artery along with the saphenous vein was used for bypass conduit. The patient is doing well without any troubles 7 months after the operation. Attention should be made to use left internal thoracic artery in a patient with right aortic arch.


Data Mining is the process to extract hidden predictive information from large databases. In Bioinformatics, data mining enables researchers to meet the challenge of mining large amount of biomolecular data to discover real knowledge. Major research efforts done in the area of bioinformatics involves sequence analysis, protein structure prediction and gene finding. Proteins are said to be prominent molecules in our cells. They involve virtually in all cell functions. The activities and functions of proteins can be determined by protein sequence motifs. These protein motifs are identified from the segments of protein sequences. All segments may not be important to produce good motif patterns. The generated sequence segments do not have classes or labels. Hence, unsupervised segment selection technique is adopted to select significant segments. Therefore Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) entropy method is adopted to select significant sequence segments. In this proposed work, weighted K-Means and Adaptive Fuzzy C-Means have been applied to the selected segments to generate granules, since large amount of segments cannot be grouped or clustered as such. Each granules generated by weighted K-Means algorithm are further clustered by using the K-Means algorithm and granules generated by Adaptive Fuzzy C-Means algorithm are clustered by using Weighted K-Means. The two proposed models are compared with K-Means granular computing model. The experimental results show that Adaptive Fuzzy C-Means with Weighted K-Means technique produces better results than K-Means and weighted K-Means granular computing methods.


In the era of the social web, many people manage their social relationships through various online social networking services. It has been found that identifying the types of social relationships among users in online social networks facilitates the marketing of products via electronic "word of mouth." However, it is a great challenge to identify the types of social relationships, given very limited information in a social network. In this article, we study how to identify the types of relationships across multiple heterogeneous social networks and examine if combining certain information from different social networks can help improve the identification accuracy. The main contribution of our research is that we develop a novel decision tree initiated random walk model, which takes into account both global network structure and local user behavior to bootstrap the performance of relationship identification. Experiments conducted based on two real‐world social networks, Sina Weibo and Jiepang, demonstrate that the proposed model achieves an average accuracy of 92.0%, significantly outperforming other baseline methods. Our experiments also confirm the effectiveness of combining information from multiple social networks. Moreover, our results reveal that human mobility features indicating location categories, coincidence, and check‐in patterns are among the most discriminative features for relationship identification.


As rice imports surge ahead of production in Ghana, increasing rice production and yields has become a priority. Annual per capita consumption of rice in Ghana grew from 17.5 kg during 1999–2001 to 24 kg during 2010–2011. President Mahama, concerned with rising importation costs, suggested that rice should be produced locally (Asare†Boadu & Syme 2014). As only 5 percent of global production is traded, local production would also protect consumers from price shocks in the world rice market (World Bank 2013). While substantial investments in national rice production have been made, local production is still not able to keep up with growing demand for rice in Ghana.


This new paperback brings to a Western readership the ground-breaking Toynbee-Kosuge Theory for the first time. The author, a native Japanese speaker, has been able to leap over the world's toughest language-barrier, which has prevented even the most eminent Western political scientists from accessing indigenous documentary evidence in detail. Is Japan going to become a bankrupt state? What will happen to the Chinese economy? And how can Europe and the United States stand up to these unprecedented challenges? Will the West survive such a gigantic financial earthquake and Tsunami with possibility of nuclear confrontation from the East? Almost eighty years ago the British historian argued that its continuing adherence to ancient Chinese political beliefs presented a giant obstacle for the modernization of Japan. Only by perceiving that the old ideology that formed successful Eastern civilizations is still in place, and at the heart of the governance of the 'modern' states in the region, can the West understand the logic behind the recent alarmingly developing political struggles in East Asia. By introducing the real meaning of Arnold Toynbee's arcane analysis, together with the newest thoughts of other experts on this broad issue, Tony Kosuge convincingly warns us of its vital implications to the current world politics and economy.


Aim: To evaluate the structure and dynamics of functional phytoplankton groups (FGs) over a macrophyte cover gradient and their relations with environmental variable in small, shallow clear-water lake. Methods: Physical, chemical and phytoplankton analyses were made between August 2014 and June 2015 at three points on the Santa Lucia lake (Paraiba, Brazil). Tukey and Wilcoxon tests were applied to the data followed by CCA and Anova. Results: The submerged macrophyte cover and phytoplankton biomass presented high spatial and temporal uniformity. The increase in rainfall induced small variations in functional groups, promoting increase the N group and reduction of the SN. Conclusion: The homogeneity in the composition and structure functional groups along macrophyte cover confirm the tendency that in small and shallow lakes communities of limnetic and shoreline zones tend to be similar.


Objective: We report a patient died within 72 hours after community-acquired bloodstream infection caused by klebsiella pneumoniae and klebsiella variicola in China. Measurements: A 52-years male was admitted to hospital due to unknown high fever, cough and headache. He had the medical history of diabetes and Gout. Patient's condition deteriorated rapidly after symptom onset. Anti-viral, anti-positive coccal treatments combined with the anti-fungal therapy were administered before examination results were released. The laboratory examinations including the blood routine, culture of blood sample, chest CT and abdominal ultrasonography were tested. Additionally, the PMseq-DNA Pro High throughput gene detection was used to screen the source related to fungi, bacteria, mycobacteria, mycoplasma/chlamydia, parasites and viruses. Main results: All examinations excluded the viruses, fungi, mycoplasma/chlamydia infection and parasitic infection. Treatments including anti-fungi, anti-virus and antibacterial drug across a broad-spectrum failed to improve patient's symptoms. Patient's condition worsened and rapidly entered sepsis and subsequent sepsis shock, with death occurring 72 hours after symptom onset. The classic bacterial culture only revealed the klebsiella pneumonia infection, and klebsiella is sensitive to antibiotics used for this patient. While PMseq-DNA Pro high throughput gene detection of the blood sample was acquired one day after the patient died, which showed the mixed infection of klebsiella pneumoniae and klebsiella variicola. Conclusion: It is a very rare case reported previously that patient died from bacterial infection within short period of time. Klebsiella variicola could contribute to illness rapid progression in this case. Classic method is limited in guiding the anti-infection therapy for complex cases, early genetic detection should be recommended in the diagnosis and management of complex infection. and the manifestations of severe infection.


In this paper, we propose a novel mobile access coordinated wireless sensor network (MC-WSN) architecture for reliable and efficient information exchange. In conventional sensor networks with mobile access points (SENMA), the mobile access points (MAs) traverse the network to collect information directly from individual sensors. While simplifying the routing process, a major limitation with SENMA is that a transmission is made only if an MA visits the corresponding source node; thus, data transmission is limited by the physical speed of the MAs and the length of their trajectory, resulting in low throughput and huge delay. The proposed MC-WSN architecture resolves this problem and provides an efficient solution for time-sensitive information exchange. In MC-WSN, the delay is effectively managed through hop number control. We analyze the throughput of the network, and show that the throughput of the MC-WSN is independent of the physical speed or the trajectory length of the mobile access point. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is demonstrated through simulations.


In a large distribution center of Herlitz AG, Berlin, we invesigated the elevator subsystem of the fully automated pallet transportation system. Each elevator may carry one pallet and has to serve eight levels. The goal is to minimize the average resp.\ the maximum flow time. The variants of this elevator control problem have been subject of recent theoretical research and are known as online-dial-a-ride problems. In this paper we investigate several online algorithms for several versions of online-dial-a-ride problems by means of a simulation program, developed on the basis of the simulation library AMSEL. We draw statistics from samples of randomly generated data providing for different load situations. Moreover, we provide preliminary studies with real production data for a system of five elevators connected by a conveyor circuit, as can be found at the Herlitz plant. We show which algorithms are best under certain load situations and which lead to break downs under particular circumstances.


The LiMg x Mn 1-x PO 4 /C (x = 0, 0.02, 0.04, 0.12) composite cathode was successfully prepared by a combination of spray pyrolysis and wet ballmilling with heat-treatment. The composite cathode had narrow particle size distribution with an average particle size of 99 nm. The Mg doping on the Mn site led to the electrochemical performance enhancement of the composite cathode, which was confirmed by cyclic voltammetry, ac impedance spectroscopy, and charge-discharge tests. The Mg-doped composite cathode exhibited a high discharge capacity in lithium cell, which remarkably increased with an increase in the charge cutoff voltage under galvanostatic charge-discharge. The LiMg 0.04 Mn 0.96 PO 4 /C cathode exhibited a discharge capacity of 154 mAh g -1 (above 93% of the theoretical value) at 0.1C when charge-discharged galvanostatically to 4.9 V. Along with enhanced discharge capacity, the cell exhibited a good rate capability under the galvanostatic charge-discharge. Under the trickle mode conditions, the cell exhibited discharge capacities of 154, 136, 106, and 74 mAh g -1 at 0.05, 0.1, 1, and 5C, respectively.


Recent trends in the marketing of functional foods suggest that multiple-benefit products are becoming more common. Yet it is unclear which consumers are most interested in, or best served by, such novel or new generation functional foods. With emerging scientific evidence of efficacy and more diverse products offered for sale, a broader range of consumers are likely to become interested in dietary interventions to enhance health. Consumers will likely respond based on a range of motivation, health conditions, and knowledge levels suggesting "one size will not fit all." Given such an evolving marketing environment, this paper presents 1 research technique exploring differences in consumer preferences and valuations for a novel functional food product—a tomato juice containing soy. A discrete choice experiment is applied to examine consumer valuation of this novel functional food. Data were collected from 1704 households in Ohio through a mail survey. The choice experiment manipulates whether or not the product is organic, whether it contains natural or fortified nutrients, and product price. Estimates of consumer willingness to pay a premium price are based on conditional logit and mixed logit models, which permit an examination of consumer preference and valuation heterogeneity for key product attributes. Results indicate that health benefits and ingredient naturalness are positively valued, but such preferences and valuations depend on an individual's education, income, and food purchase behavior. Naturally occurring nutrients are preferred over fortification. Considerable heterogeneity is found in the data suggesting that a range of market segments may exist.


Education is widely considered as the most important path to social mobility in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), yet there are very few studies of the extent to which it fulfills this promise. In this paper we use survey data from seven MENA countries to understand the relationship between schooling attainment of youth and the circumstances into which they are born, namely gender, parent education, and type of community. We consider both the probability of entry and of reaching secondary school using censored ordered probit. We find an alarming degree of inequality of opportunity in attainment in most of these countries, especially in Iraq and Yemen. Previous results of inequality of opportunity in MENA in achievement show that building a level playing field in learning requires much more than free provision of schools; the results of this study find the same for attending and staying in school.


There is a dearth of studies that consider the impacts of parental illness specifically on engagement and achievement levels of adolescents in school. This literature review presents the knowledge and ideas that have been established in the research on parental illness and adolescent schooling over the last twenty years, and identifies the methodological, conceptual, and theoretical strengths and weaknesses that surface in this area of study. A noteworthy observation from this review is that greater qualitative-based research designs are needed in this area of study, as this can allow for a more in-depth and personalized understanding on the impacts of parental illness. The overall intention of this review is to lay the groundwork for devising, improving, and implementing multiple pathways and hypothesis for future studies to consider. Assuming a variety of research directions and taking into consideration the limitations that are currently present (such as the shortcomings outlined in this review) would certainly lead to both theoretical/scholarly and practical benefits.


There are distinct advantages for an economy and its businesspersons of being able to predict the probability of the financial failures of large firms. This paper examines the extent to which the judgements of county courts can predict such failure. The research builds and tests corporate failure prediction models using combinations of financial ratios, non-financial information and events that occurred during the sampled life span of the companies. We used a sample of 6,867 healthy and bankrupt British firms provided by a Credit Research Centre and an established Credit Agency. Results from our analysis showed that the best performing or most accurate model is the one that contains all three of the above independent variables. Financial ratios were least predictive of financial failure, whereas most non-financial information was highly predictive in each model. The best predictor was information obtained from county court judgements. Introduction The main objective of this paper is to use logistic regression to determine a set of input variables or covariates that could best predict the event of large companies entering the failure stage. The idea is to construct models using a set of financial ratios, as has been undertaken in many previous studies (Beaver, 1966; Altaian, 1968, 1984; Barnes, 1987; Chen & Shimerda, 1981; Zavgren, 1983; Crapp & Stevenson, 1987), and then test the impact of non-financial information on the predictive qualities of the models. Works done by Gilbert , Menon and Schwarte (1990), Poston, Harmon and Gramlich (1994), Wilson, Summers and Hope (2000) and Wu (2004) indicate the shortcomings of using financial ratios only in failure prediction models. By incorporating other types of information, these studies show that the predictive ability of the models is enhanced. In this research, non-financial information such as firms' age, and event information such as the accounts being qualified as the going concern status of firms and the timeliness of firms lodging their last accounts are used as predictors. The last two variables are defined as 'event' variables, as these variables are happenings or events that occurred during the life span of the companies. The importance of the firms' age can be seen from studies conducted by many. Altaian (1983) and Hudson (1986, 1987) found that the mortality rate among newly incorporated firms is high. After leaving the 'honeymoon' period (Hudson, 1 986), when mistakes are made and debts start to accumulate, the firms enter the risky phase. The risky phase is when the firm is above two years old but less than nine years old. A study by Flagg, Giroux and Wiggins (1991) shows that a qualified opinion can distinguish failed firms from the healthy ones. In fact, firms receiving two different forms of audit reports have two different financial characteristics (LaSaIIe, Anandarajan & Miller, 1996). Failing firms are also found to delay publishing their annual accounts compared to their healthy counterparts (Whittred & Zimmer, 1984; Lawrence, 1983). The information on the time lag in publishing the annual accounts has been used in Peel (1989) and Keasey and Watson (1987, 1988). Besides these non-financial variables, this research explores the possibility of using information obtained from county court judgements and the firms' numbers of employees. It also explores whether or not the information that the firms that have subsidiaries could be used as a predictor. We could not find any literature that indicates that information from county court judgements are been used in corporate failure study. Thus, this is the first study that analyses the information value of county court judgements in relation to corporate failure prediction model. For each company we have information on the number and value of county court judgements (CCJ) that have been lodged against the company and not settled. It is expected that companies entering a period of financial distress will have more CCJ's lodged against them by trade creditors. …


Aiming at the correlation relationship among eleven safety factors when petrochemical dock system is established, this paper deeply analyzes the lateral and longitudinal relations between these factors by using the Interpretative Structure Modeling (ISM) method of system engineering. And it also establishes four layers hierarchical explaining a structure model which reveals the influence level and the relationship among various factors on petrochemical dock system security. First, security management, which is the highest level of these effect factors in petrochemical dock system. The second level includes the technology and equipment of dock handling, the rear reservoir tank layout, transportation equipments, supply-distribution facilities and public support facilities; all of those belong to the middle level and interconnect with each other. The third level contains the dock building layout and channel water conditions, which belong to the intermediate level and interconnect with each other. The fourth level is the basic level, including meteorological and hydrological conditions, geological conditions and the surrounding buildings, which are the environmental conditions of building petrochemical dock. Distinguishing the functional levels and inter-relations of the main safety influence factors can provide theoretical guides and references for grasping the establishment, planning, design and construction of petrochemical dock system.


The booming computational thinking and deep learning make it possible to construct agile, efficient, and robust deep learning-driven decision-making support engine for the operation of container terminal handling systems (CTHSs). Within the conceptual framework of computational logistics, an attention mechanism oriented hybrid convolutional neural network and recurrent neural network deep learning architecture (AMO-HCR-DLA) is proposed technically to predict the container terminal liner handling conditions that mainly include liner handling time (LHT) and total working time of quay crane farm (TWT-QCF) for a calling liner. Consequently, the container terminal oriented logistics generalized computation (CTO-LGC) automation and intelligence are established tentatively by AMO-HCR-DLA. A typical regional container terminal hub of China is selected to design, implement, execute, and evaluate the AMO-HCR-DLA with the actual production data. In the case of severe vibration of LHT and TWT-QCF, while forecasting the handling conditions of 210 ships based on the CTO-LGC running log of four years, the forecasting error of LHT within one hour is more than 97% and that of TWT-QCF within six hours accounts for 89.405%. When predicting the operating conditions of 300 liners by the log of five years, the forecasting deviation of LHT within one hour is more than striking 99% and that of TWT-QCF within six hours reaches up to 94.010% as well. All are far superior to the predicting outcomes by the classical algorithms of machine learning and deep learning. Hence, the AMO-HCR-DLA shows excellent performance for the prediction of CTHS with the low and stable computational consuming. It also demonstrates the feasibility, credibility, and realizability of the computing architecture and design paradigm of AMO-HCR-DLA preliminarily.


PURPOSE
To verify the prevalence of vocal complaints and their association with sociodemographic, economic, occupational, and behavioral factors among the population of Community Health Agents (CHA).

METHODS
This is a cross-sectional and analytical study conducted in the city of Montes Claros, MG, in which 674 CHA participated. Data were collected via a self-administered questionnaire that includes sociodemographic, economic, behavioral, occupational, and voice-use aspects based on the Screening Index for Voice Disorder (SIVD). Bivariate analysis was performed by Pearson's chi-square test and Poisson multiple regression with robust variance to verify the association between the variables.

RESULTS
There was a high prevalence of vocal complaints, the most cited being dry throat, throat clearing, tiredness when talking, and hoarseness. We observed a significant association between female gender, lack of restful sleep, alcohol use, regular to very poor self-rated health, and anxiety.

CONCLUSION
There was a significant percentage of vocal complaints, and the associated factors found will guide actions to promote vocal and general health.


Within 1 wk of liquid culture in granulocyte/macrophage colony- stimulating factor (GM-CSF), normal B10 BR (H-2k I-E+) mouse liver nonparenchymal cells (NPC) formed loosely adherent myeloid cell clusters that have been shown to contain dendritic cell (DC) progenitors in similar studies of mouse blood or bone marrow. Mononuclear cell progeny released from these clusters at and beyond 4 d exhibited distinct dendritic morphology and were actively phagocytic. After 6-10 d of culture, these cells strongly expressed CD45, CD11b, heat stable antigen, and CD44. However, the intensity of expression of the DC-restricted markers NLDC 145, 33D1, and N418, and the macrophage marker F4/80, intercellular adhesion molecule 1, and Fc gamma RII was low to moderate, whereas the cells were negative for CD3, CD45RA, and NK1.1. Splenocytes prepared in the same way also had a similar range and intensity of expression of these immunophenotypic markers. Unlike the splenic DC, however, most of the GM-CSF-propagated putative liver DC harvested at 6-10 d expressed only a low level of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II (I-Ek), and they failed to induce primary allogeneic responses in naive T cells, even when propagated additionally in GM-CSF and tumor necrosis alpha and/or interferon gamma-supplemented medium. However, when 7-d cultured GM-CSF- stimulated liver cells were maintained additionally for three or more days on type-1 collagen-coated plates in the continued presence of GM- CSF, they exhibited characteristics of mature DC: MHC class II expression was markedly upregulated, mixed leukocyte reaction stimulatory activity was increased, and phagocytic function was decreased. Similar observations were made when Ia+ cells were depleted from the GM-CSF-propagated cells before exposure to collagen. Further evidence that the GM-CSF-stimulated class IIdim or class II-depleted hepatic NPC were immature DC was obtained by injecting them into allogeneic B10 (H-2b I-E-) recipients. They "homed" to T cell-dependent areas of lymph nodes and spleen where they strongly expressed donor MHC class II antigen 1-5 d later. These observations provide insight into the regulation of DC maturation, and are congruent with the possibility that the migration of immature DC from normal liver and perhaps other organ allografts may help explain their inherent tolerogenicity.


This paper presents two models of budbreak on canes of 'Hayward' kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa). A conventional 'chill unit' (CU) type model is compared with an alternative 'loss of potential' (LOP) approach, which assumes that the number of buds developing in spring depends on climate and node position-dependent bud-to-bud interactions that vary in duration and intensity. Both models describe how temperature, and application of a dormancy-breaking chemical, determine the overall amount of budbreak for whole canes. However, the LOP model does so by describing patterns of budbreak along canes. To do this, the cumulative influence of distal neighbours is assumed to cause a progressive fall in the capacity for bud development over the autumn-winter period, an influence that gets stronger as temperature rises. The LOP model also assumes that the rate of decline varies along the cane, as a function of some inherent bud property. These two factors mean that buds towards the base of the cane break less often under the suppressive influence of distal neighbours, while low temperature ('chilling') increases budbreak by diminishing the intensity of suppression relative to bud development rate. Under this scenario, dormancy-breaking chemicals (such as hydrogen cyanamide, HC) enhance budbreak by diminishing the duration of suppression. Models were calibrated using daily temperature series and budbreak proportion data from a multi-year regional survey, and were then tested against independent data sets. Both models were run from a fixed start date until the time budbreak was almost complete, or until a standard date. The fitted models described 87 % of variation in amount of budbreak due to site, year, HC and node position effects in the original data set. Results suggest that the correlation between chilling and the amount of budbreak can be interpreted as a population-based phenomenon based on interaction among buds.


Neural progenitors or stem cells (NSCs) show great promise in drug discovery and clinical application. Yet few efforts have been made to optimize biocompatible materials for such cells to be expanded and used in clinical conditions. We have previously demonstrated that NSCs are readily cultured on substrates of certain recombinant spider silk protein without addition of animal- or human-derived components. The question remains however whether this material allows differentiation into functional neurons and glia, and whether such differentiation can take place also when the NSCs are cultured within the material in a pseudo-3D context. Here we demonstrate that "foam"-like structures generated from recombinant spider silk protein (4RepCT) provided excellent matrices for the generation and multicellular analysis of functional excitatory neurons from NSCs without addition of animal- or human-derived components. NSCs isolated from the cerebral cortices of rat embryos were cultured on either 4RepCT matrices shaped as foam-like structures without coating, or on conventional polystyrene plates coated with poly-L-ornithine and fibronectin. Upon treatment with recombinant proteins including the growth factor BMP4 or a combination of BMP4 and the signaling factor Wnt3a, the cortical NSCs cultured in 4RepCT foam-like structures differentiated efficiently into neurons that responded to glutamate receptor agonists, such as AMPA, to at least the same extent as control cultures. Matrices derived from recombinant spider silk proteins thus provide a functional microenvironment for neural stem cells without any animal- or human-derived components, and can be employed in the development of new strategies in stem cell research and tissue engineering.


Methods of preparing test specimens in laboratories are particularly important. It also holds true in terms of compaction procedure in predicting pavement performance. The currently available laboratory compactor cannot adequately replicate field compaction conditions, especially the Stone Mastic Asphalt (SMA) mixture. The essential element of SMA mixture comprises of stones that are placed next to or on top of each other, and therefore are greatly affected by the compaction procedure. Conclusion of different studies have indicated that rolling wheel compactor, simulates properties that are closer to field compaction. Turamesin was developed as an improved method of laboratory slab roller compactor, to provide a solution for the problem of producing laboratory specimens, which would represent materials laid and compacted in the field. This paper gives an overview of Turamesin and discusses the findings of the units' first phase Pilot Study, conducted in order to provide specific information, to improve procedures for slab preparation and compaction, also determining the criteria for slab compaction and performance of Turamesin. Turamesin is able to compact, a slab area measuring; 600 mm by 500 mm, according to clients' specified thicknesses, with number of passes up to 75, within 15 minutes time period. One compacted slab could produce up to 16 cylindrical core specimens of 100 mm diameter. Turamesin has shown great potential to be adopted as standard laboratory slab compactor, for asphalt mixtures and seemes to be capable of simulating field compaction in terms of operational procedures. However, improvement of the Turamesin will need significant amount of research to develop and finalize the optimum procedures.


STUDY OBJECTIVES
The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychological and psychosocial impact of tracheostomy on the caregivers of patients who have undergone tracheostomies.

SETTING
Rehabilitation facility.

PARTICIPANTS
Sixty-three lay caregivers of inpatients and outpatients with various underlying diseases who have undergone tracheostomies.

METHODS
At the beginning of the study, the 63 caregivers completed a previously validated questionnaire designed to assess the problems related to caring for patients with chronic diseases. Approximately 1 year later, 40 of the 63 caregivers completed the same questionnaire a second time. The results were analyzed statistically in order to investigate the caregivers' perceptions of the factors associated with their own particular situation.

RESULTS
The answers of the 40 subjects who completed the questionnaire twice revealed the existence of perceived strain persisting over time, which was greater in female caregivers and in those caring for patients who had had a tracheostomy for < 14 months. The younger caregivers (age < 59 years) and those caring for patients receiving nocturnal ventilation expressed a continuing need for information about the disease. Finally, the caregivers said that they, as well as their patients led very restricted personal lives.

CONCLUSIONS
Tracheostomy causes a substantial amount of caregiver strain, which should be taken into account when deciding on any treatment plan.


A systematic approach to modeling coupled distributed dynamical systems by formulating them as partial differential equations and algebraic constraints (PDAEs) is presented. Several advantages of the PDAE formulation are listed and discussed. The challenges of ensuring well-posedness are also touched upon. The PDAE system is converted by semi-discretization into a corresponding DAE system. It is subsequently realized for the purpose of simulations using a recently emerging control based approach. Thus, the typical requirement of consistent initialization is avoided for a large class of systems. The PDAE formulation and the numerical solution approach are illustrated through a particular application: modeling of fluid-structure interactions in arterial hemodynamics.


In the end of 2015 the Swedish government made a complete turnaround regarding its former generous migration policy. Through examination of previous and recent decisions made by the swedish government, this study aims to contribute to a better understanding of this unique situation. It does so by applying Elinor Ostrom's theory of sustainable management of common resources onto the swedish universal welfare modell. By classifying whether the policies can be considered as steps in a sustainable direction or not, the essey seeks to find whether Ostrom's theory, former soleley applied on natural resource pools, is compatible with sheer welfare policies, in this case migration, thus offering a better understanding of the phenomenon. The study finds that even though the theory very well could be applied to the said policy area, it would be done with no regard of the ever so important moral and ideological values which characterizes the universal welfare model.


This article examines and critiques Canadian regulation of foreign media by focusing on a series of conflicts over the purpose and role of the Chinese press in Canadian society. While globalization entails increased connection across borders, introducing foreign media can also import social conflicts. In this way, national media regulators can find themselves caught up in complex and unfamiliar geopolitical contests. To illustrate how media globalization is a site of cultural struggle, I point to three cases in which Canadian authorities weighed in on the controversial Chinese-language news. Distribution decisions from these authorities tended to refuse consideration of political and economic inequalities among media stakeholders. Calling attention to these inequalities, the article asks if guiding regulatory principles of pluralism and multiculturalism are sufficient to recognize new forms of power in a more multipolar media world.


Objective of this research was to develop root media containing expanded rice hull (ERH) and carbonized rice hull (CRH). To achieve this, the physico?chemical properties of two materials were analysed and blended with peatmoss (PM) or coir dust (CD) with various ratio. Based on the physical properties of the blended materials, 4 root media were selected for future experiment. After the analysis of pH and EC of the selected root media, the kinds and amount of pre-planting nutrient charge fertilizers (PNCF) incorporated into each root medium were varied, and then, final chemical properties of the root media were analysed. The total porosity (TP), container capacity (CC), and air-filled porosity (AFP) were 81.3%. 39.9%, and 41.4% in ERH and 77.6%, 64.1%, and 13.5% in CRH, respectively. The percentage of easily available water (EAW, from CC to 4.90 kPa tension) and buffering water (BW, 4.91-9.81 kPa tension) were 11.37% and 5.27%, in ERH and 17.26% and 14.28% in CRH, respectively. The pH of ERH was 7.1, but it was extremely high in CRH such as 11.2. The EC and CEC were 1.31 dS?m -1 and 12.1 meq?100 g -1 in ERH and 6.53 dS?m -1 and CEC 7.79 meq?100 g -1 in CRH, respectively. The ranges of TP, CC and AFP in 4 selected media (PM+ ERH, 6:4, v/v; CD + ERH, 8:2; PM + CRH, 7:3; CD+CRH 6:4) were 89.2-90.3%, 67.3-81.8%, and 8.3-21.9%, respectively. The pHs and ECs in root media containing peatmoss such as PM + ERH (6:4) and PM + CRH (7:3) were 4.0-4.3 and 0.33-0.365 dS?m -1 , whereas those of CD + CRH were 7.4-7.9 and 1.282 dS?m -1 . The pHs and ECs, however, analysed before and after the incorporation of PNCF in each root medium were not significant different. This result indicated that the incorporated fertilizers in PNCF to adjust medium pH did not dissolve enough to influence medium pH, but it is very normal in root media containing dolomitic lime and sulfur powder in adjusting pH. The Information obtained in this study may facilitate an effective formulation of root media containing rice hulls.


Developing innovative products and services benefits from collaboration within multidisciplinary design teams. Design teams gather and generate large quantities of data, including user research, information on competing products and applicable technologies, and new design ideas; however, teams often struggle to synthesize this diverse design information. Collaboration can break down if they cannot form a shared understanding of the design problem. This dissertation examines current design practices to construct theoretical models of the design process and to develop new tools to help design teams create, communicate, and collaborate. It explores how information tools are used to support collaborative design processes, and suggests forms for future tools. It presents a series of qualitative research studies, i.e., survey and interviews with professional and student designers as well as observations of face-to-face student design team meetings. The analysis of surveys and interviews with professional designers offer a descriptive characterization of how design teams use technology to share information with each other in practice. These studies also inform a new conceptual framework--the sharing spiral -- that describes how information is shared throughout individual and collaborative design tasks, across user research and conceptual design phases. With this new framework guiding qualitative analysis of observations of face-to-face student design team meetings, nine challenges to information sharing are identified. This dissertation proposes design guidelines for new design collaboration technology, based on these challenges. Finally, it applies these guidelines to a new system, Dazzle . Dazzle is an information sharing tool for face-to-face design teams that allows teammates to share, log, and annotate shared design resources. This dissertation offers a new understanding of information sharing in design practice, and has implications for improving design practice and the development of future design tools.


A survey on human activity recognition using wearable sensors used wired communication device. For a survey on human activity recognition using wearable sensors used wireless communication device. The recognition of human activities has been approached in two different ways, namely using external and wearable sensors. In the former, the devices are fixed in predetermined points of interest, so the inference of activities entirely depends on the voluntary interaction of the users with the sensors. In the latter, the devices are attached to the user. In the feature extraction technique, the image from the camera is feed into the system, where we use the classifiers to extract the features of the images. We use two techniques in this project, namely (i) Feed forward neural network (ii) General regression neural network. The feature extraction uses two techniques. Testing and training. In the training phase, couple of the user images are processed and updated in the system. So during the testing phase, when images are feed into the system, the system compares with the existing training data and validates the images.


Abstract 2582 Survival of adult patients with acute monocytic leukemia remains dismal. We proposed the hypothesis that bone marrow (BM) adipocytes abundant in aging marrow microenvironment play a role in chemoresistance of AML cells. We have reported that BM adipocytes promote monocytic differentiation, activation, and survival of monoblastic leukemia cells (ASH, 2012).In this study, we examined the molecular mechanism of BM adipocytes causing survival and differentiation of monoblastic leukemia cells. Monoblastic leukemia cell line U937 and primary samples from acute monoblastic leukemia patients (n=6) were co-cultured with BM-derived marrow stromal cells (MSC) and MSC-differentiated adipocytes. Under limiting serum conditions, MSCs and adipocytes inhibited spontaneous cell death of U937 cells with decrease in subG1 fractions, more prominently in co-cultures with adipocytes than with MSCs (% subG1 fraction; cultured alone 23.9+9.0, co-cultured with MSC 15.7+1.9%, co-cultured with adipocytes 11.9+1.2%, p=0.04). Adipocytes but not MSC moderately reduced spontaneous apoptosis in primary leukemic blasts (n=6, p=0.02). We next focused on adipocytokines, lepin and plasminogen activator inhibitor 1(PAI-1), both implicated in cancer progression, as potential mediators of the protective effects by adipocytes. mRNA levels of leptin, leptin receptor and PAI-1 were up-regulated in MSC-derived adipocytes during adipocytic differentiation (relative expression to GAPDH, leptin: MSC 0, adipocyte 123.3+35.0; leptin receptor: MSC 0.16+0.05, adipocyte 4.47+0.37; PAI-1: MSC 314.9+46.5, adipocyte 3766.1+656.2). High level of secreted leptin was confirmed by ELISA in adipocyte conditioning medium (MSC 23.1+2.9, adipocyte 110.0+4.6 pg/mL). In serum-starved conditions, human recombinant leptin (5ng/mL) stimulated cell growth of monoblastic U937 cells known to express leptin receptor (35.8+7.9% increase of viable cell number at 48 hours, p=0.02) and inhibited apoptosis (%subG1 fraction; control 26.2+3.9, leptin16.4+4.1%, p=0.04).Human recombinant PAI-1 inhibited spontaneous and ara-C-induced apoptosis in U937 cells (11.2+1.1% and 15.1+1.7% decrease of Annexin V posivitity p=0.01). These results suggest that BM adipocytes produced leptin and PAI-1contribute to support myeloid leukemia cells survival within BM microenvironment. We next focused on molecular changes in U937 cells co-cultured with adipocytes. We found up-regulation of monocyte/macrophage differentiation gene PPARg and of PPARg target genes, CD36 and FABP4, by quantitative RT-PCR (relative expression to GAPDH, control vs co-culture with adipocytes: PPARg: 8.8+0.9 v.s.18.8+2.6, CD36; 105.0+11.8v.s.425.7+35.6; FABP4: 0.27+0.03v.s.153.7+12.8). The purity of U937 cells separated from adipocytes was confirmed by lack of CD90 mRNA expression by PCR. PPARγ is known to promote monocytic differentiation and uptake of oxidized cholesterol through the induction of scavenger receptor CD36, a protein marker of mature monocytes/macrophages. The up-regulation of cell surface CD36 expression by co-culture with adipocytes was indeed found in U937 cells and in 4 of the 6 primary AML samples by flow cytometory (increase in CD36 MFI: U937; 230.28, Pt samples; 46.4+20.2). These data suggest that BM adipocytes promote monocytic differentiation of monoblastic leukemia cells. In summary, our findings indicate that secretion of leptin and PAI-1 by BM adipocytes supports leukemic cell survival, while PAI-1 primarily and directly inhibits apoptosis of AML cells. It is conceivable that increased adipocyte content of BM in elderly AML patients may negatively affect the responsiveness of monocytic leukemia cells to chemotherapy. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


This article therefore analyzes how, since the armed revolution of 1910 and during the construction of the revolutionary state, the various factions and governments resorted to the celebration of Independence and the worship of Miguel Hidalgo, "The Father of the Nation" as grounds for justifying his aspirations and access to political power. The author show that the various features and processes begun with the revolution determined the new interpretations and uses of national history designed to obtain political legitimacy from the symbolic level to justify the authority of the new power groups that took the place of the displaced Porfirian political class.


Congenital pericardial defect is an uncommon anomaly due to the congenital absence of the pericardium. In this case, it was associated with diaphragmatic hernia and incidentally discovered during thoracoscopic left upper lobectomy for lung cancer. The thoracoscopic dissection of the hilar structures was complicated with arrhythmia and hypotension. Thus, we converted thoracoscopy to thoracotomy, and the lobectomy was successfully performed. The pericardial defect and diaphragmatic hernia were not repaired, but the vessels and bronchial stump were covered to avoid heart injury. Postoperative course was unremarkable and at six-month follow-up patient did not have any problems.


The wide spreading of the need for information is rapidly changing the competitive scenario. The issue of external communication documents, allowing interaction between enterprises and different entities, cooperate in defining the new ways for social responsibility. Organisations, in fact, must anticipate increasingly dynamic and complex changes in the competitive scenario. So, as many authors have shown, production of information is a fundamental quality to develop a legitimation from stakeholder. The main goal of this research is to investigate, from an empirical point of view, how companies in Italy communicate through reporting and if it's possible to establish an unique method adopted by most of them. It is necessary to evaluate if reporting tools can be identified among standards issued by scholars or institutions in Italy, through an analysis to extrapolate the parts showing connections toward all stakeholders. The first part of the research is aimed to identify which Italian companies are currently reporting their social activity towards all the subjects who, directly or indirectly, deal with them. The size of the company and its quotation are not to be considered a fundamental matter for the survey, since it is not important to evaluate the relationship between the size of a company and its social behaviour, but to understand if enterprises want to report toward their own stakeholder, and to analyse how that is done. The analysis is based on the extrapolation of indicators that truly represent the relationship between the firm and its stakeholder. It is necessary to find out if they are adopted by all the companies in the same sector, and if they have different weights. Then a benchmarking technique must be chosen to identify, inside the documents issued by the companies, social reporting indicators and to find real Key Performance Social Indicators for each activity sector. Benchmarking can be defined as a continuous monitoring technique of management, in order to search for and get excellence, using comparison institutionalised procedures with the best existing reference converted in performance standards. As a consequence, it may be considered as the most suitable method to identify social performance indicators to rely with stakeholder. After having identified a benchmark among a number of companies doing social reporting over the last five years, it becomes possible to try to define some Key Performance Social Indicators. This makes possible to propose them as reference indicators to draft social reports in the next years and to allow the stakeholder to compare the social reporting activities of each company in any sector.


The development of the students' positive attitudes towards chemistry greatly contributes to the comprehension, learning and retention of the cognitive elements of chemistry. Furthermore, the positive attitudes, cognitive skills and knowledge will help the future citizens in being continuously informed, making judgments and taking decisions on issues related to chemistry. In this report the results of our research on the 11th grade students' attitudes towards chemistry are described. A questionnaire (Likert scale) with 30 items was developed and validated for the purpose of this research. It was administered to 576 students from seven schools. The students' attitudes towards chemistry were examined in relation to sex, course specialization and parents' educational level accordingly. Moreover, the correlation between students' attitudes and their achievements both in chemistry and in school was also determined.


In this paper, we describe a methodology for the efficient extraction and model order reduction of large on-chip interconnects. We propose a methodology that results in simulation time reduction by at least an order of magnitude, compared to commercial model order reduction software, by adopting frequency domain vector fitting to reduce the number of poles required to represent the interconnect. The proposed methodology supports multi-port order reduction while assuring passivity of the resulting reduced network. We verify the proposed methodology on an LC voltage controlled oscillator implemented in CMOS technology and extracting parasitic resistances, capacitances, and inductances. Moreover we verify the proposed methodology on a memory design.


Abstract Although selective attention to threatening information is an adaptive mechanism, exaggerated attention to threat may be related to anxiety disorders. However, studies examining threat processing in children have obtained mixed findings. In the present study, the time-course of attentional bias for threat and behavioral interference was analyzed in a community sample of 8–18-year-old children (N=33) using a pictorial dot probe task. Threatening and neutral stimuli were shown during 17 ms (masked), 500 ms, and 1250 ms. Results provide preliminary evidence of an automatic attentional bias for threat at 17 ms that persists during later, more controlled stages of information processing (500 and 1250 ms). Furthermore, participants showed a delayed response to threat-containing trials relative to neutral trials in the 500 and 1250 ms condition, which may indicate interference by threat. Together, these results suggest that an attentional bias for threat precedes behavioral interference in children. Furthermore, results indicate that performance in daily life can be temporarily interrupted by the processing of threatening information. In addition, results of earlier studies into selective attention in children using tasks based on behavioral responses may have been confounded by interference effects of threat. For future studies, we recommend to take behavioral interference into account.


The densification behaviour of aluminium, iron and alumina powders under cold isostatic pressing (CIP) are examined. For this purpose, a unit which can withstand up to 650 MPa pressure was designed and constructed. With this pressure unit, aluminium, iron and ceramic powders, having different hardness values and different particle sizes, were pressed and their mechanical behaviours were investigated at pressures between 100 and 500 MPa. Attained densities were about 100% for aluminium, 90% for iron and 65% for alumina powders. Pressing resulted in significant increases in the microhardnesses of iron and aluminium powders. Light and scanning electron microscopy examinations revealed that severe plastic deformations took place in the powders of aluminium and iron, and no plastic deformation was observed in alumina powders.


This article examines the association between cohabiting partners' educational homogamy and transition to marriage. This paper enriches previous studies with its comparative dimension to find out if and how the association differs in countries with different meanings of cohabitation – in Austria, Poland, and the Czech Republic. It also examines if and how the association between the transition to marriage and educational homogamy is changing over time. Using data from the first wave of the Generations and Gender Survey (GGS), the analysis shows that the transition to marriage depends on partners' relative education only in countries where cohabitation and marriage are two very different institutions – Poland and the Czech Republic. Educational hypergamy and hypogamy are not associated with the transition in the same way. In cohabitations where the man is more educated, the probability of marriage is half that compared to homogamous cohabitations, whereas cohabitations with a more educated woman are not significantly different from homogamous cohabitations. Over time, the association between relative education and the transition to marriage has not changed.


The Matrix Element Method (MEM) is a powerful multivariate method allowing to maximally exploit the experimental and theoretical information available to an analysis. The method is reviewed in depth, and several recent applications of the MEM at LHC experiments are discussed, such as searches for rare processes and measurements of Standard Model observables in Higgs and Top physics. Finally, a new implementation of the MEM is presented. This project builds on established phase-space parametrisations known to greatly improve the speed of the calculations, and aims at a much improved modularity and maintainability compared to previous software, easing the use of the MEM for high-statistics data analyses.


We found a clear b-value variation associated with the rupture of asperities based on investigations of spatial and temporal distributions of frequency-magnitude relation for earthquakes in the northeastern (NE) Japan subduction zone. We used the Tohoku-University earthquake catalogue in the period from January 1, 1981 to October 3, 2001 after correcting artificial magnitude shift and removing artificial events. Spatial distribution of b-value is compared with the locations of asperities estimated on the plate boundary east off NE Japan. Estimated b-value decreases with increasing depth. Anomalously high b-values are observed in two areas off-Iwate and off-Fukushima regions, and asperities do not intrude into them. Temporal variation of b-value for presently analysed six asperities shows a remarkable increase in b-value after the rupture of each asperity. Then the b-value decreases gradually. These observations suggest that b-value reflects the stress change occurring in the vicinity of the asperities.


BACKGROUND Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a prevalent and debilitating gastrointestinal condition. Research has reported persistent, low-grade mucosal inflammation and significant overlaps between patients with IBS and those with dyspepsia, suggesting a possible pathogenic role of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) in IBS. This study therefore aimed to provide the first systematic review and meta-analysis on the association between H. pylori infection and IBS. AIM To investigate the association between H. pylori infection and IBS. METHODS Using the keywords "H. pylori OR Helicobacter OR Helicobacter pylori OR infection" AND "irritable bowel syndrome OR IBS", a preliminary search of PubMed, Medline, Embase, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Web of Science, Google Scholar and WanFang databases yielded 2924 papers published in English between 1 January 1960 and 1 June 2018. Attempts were also made to search grey literature. RESULTS A total of 13 clinical studies were systematically reviewed and nine studies were included in the final meta-analysis. Random-effects meta-analysis found a slight increased likelihood of H. pylori infection in patients with IBS, albeit this was not statistically significant (pooled odds ratio 1.47, 95% confidence interval: 0.90-2.40, P = 0.123). It must also be acknowledged that all of the available studies reported only crude odd ratios. H. pylori eradication therapy also does not appear to improve IBS symptoms. Although publication bias was not observed in the funnel plot, there was a high degree of heterogeneity amongst the studies included in the meta-analysis (I2 = 87.38%). CONCLUSION Overall, current evidence does not support an association between IBS and H. pylori infection. Further rigorous and detailed studies with larger sample sizes and after H. pylori eradication therapy are warranted.


Schizophrenia is a complex, often debilitating chronic mental disorder that affects approximately 1% of people worldwide. Recently, there has been growing interest in identifying non-invasive biomarkers of schizophrenia. Understanding the molecular and structural mechanisms underlying clinical features of schizophrenia and patients' drug response is an important step in identifying biomarkers and potential targets for novel medications, treatment strategies, and interventions. The primary objective of this dissertation research was to use non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging techniques, specifically magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), to examine the neurochemical and structural correlates of symptoms, cognition, and treatment response to antipsychotic medication in patients with schizophrenia. Based on our previous work, we focused on the mesocorticolimbic regions and their related white matter connections. In the first study, we demonstrated the feasibility of acquiring single-voxel MRS measurements at 3T from the substantia nigra of patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls. We found a positive correlation between glutamate and cognition in controls but not schizophrenia patients, demonstrating the utility of MRS for investigating neurometabolite abnormalities underlying cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia. In the second study, we used MRS to test the hypothesis that antipsychotic treatment alters glutamate, N-iv acetylaspartate, and the glutamate/N-acetylaspartate ratio in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and hippocampus of patients with schizophrenia. We found that regionally specific glutamate abnormalities are present in unmedicated patients and that antipsychotic medication appears to modulate glutamate function in a manner that is regionally specific. We also demonstrated that glutamatergic measurements may become useful trait markers and predictors of treatment response. In the third study, we used DTI to assess white matter integrity and proton MRS to assess neuronal integrity in the ACC and hippocampus. We found widespread white matter abnormalities in patients with schizophrenia that appear to be driven by loss of myelin integrity. We also demonstrated the utility of a multi-modal neuroimaging approach to help further our understanding of the relationship between white matter microstructure and neurochemistry in distinct regions connected by white matter tracts. v " This is the way it's supposed to be because this is the way it is. " Miranda Johnson " This is what we're here for, to help each other. This is what life is about. " Adrienne C. Lahti vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS


Repair and strengthening of reinforced concrete (RC) beams is commonly carried out by "jacketing". Jacketing is the addition of concrete or cement mortar and steel reinforcement to an existing beam. This paper describes an experimental investigation into the behavior of reinforced concrete beams strengthened by jacketing. Static load tests to failure were carried out on five reinforced concrete shallow beams. The mortar used in the jacket was non-shrink cement grout. The steel bars were fixed to the beams by using two inexpensive and simple anchorage systems i.e., epoxy anchorage system and mechanical expansion anchors with steel plate anchorage system. Based on experimental results, it was noted that jacketing using mortar and steel bars is very effective method to enhance ultimate load carrying capacity of RC beams compared with control beams. Proposed anchorage systems were proved effective to securely attach the steel bars to the beam. The anchorage system with mechanical anchors is resulted into higher load carrying capacity of RC beams compared with epoxy anchorage system. The control beam failed at the peak ultimate load of 23.70 kN. The RC beams jacketed using epoxy anchorage were failed at 13% to 27% higher peak load compared with control beam, whereas RC beams jacketed using mechanical anchors were failed at 84% to 105% increased load compared with control beam.


Rate-dependent anomalies such as the transconductance and output resistance lowfrequency dispersion in GaAs MESFETs are analyzed through a frequency-domain, smallsignal two-carrier drift-diffusion two-dimensional model accounting for the dynamic behaviour of deep levels and allowing for a backgate electrode. Results are discussed concerning the low-frequency dispersion of the small-signal parameters for MESFET epitaxial devices having deep substrate acceptor impurities or on semi-insulating intrinsic substrate, with or without backgating.


The technique of submental intubation in patient with multiple facial fracture and skull base fracture was originally described by Altemir. Not only is intermaxillary fixation feasible when using this surgical technique but a good field of vision is acquirable, and postoperative complications due to tracheostomy can be prevented. After Altemir presented submental intubation, many modified techniques were reported, applicable not only to trauma patients but also to elective surgeries such as orthognathic surgery including Lefort II or III osteotomy. This technique is easy to use, rapid and free of complications compared to alternative intubation method especially tracheostomy for multiple facial trauma patients.


Electricity production based on fossil fuels emits air pollutants and greenhouse gases (GHG). Today electricity and heat production contribute up to 42% of CO2 emissions. Therefore, the decrease of these emissions is considered a priority worldwide. One component of the Paris Agreement focused on decreasing the world's mean electrical CO2 emission factor to 65.0 g CO2 kWh-1 by 2040. Based on official statistics of 18 years (2001–2018), we obtained this indicator for Ecuador. It varied between 188.6 and 397.4 g CO2 kWh-1. The lowest values were 188.6 and 197.1 g CO2 kWh-1, corresponding to 2017 and 2018 respectively, which were the years with the highest participation of renewable sources (73.6% and 72.3%, respectively, mainly hydropower) and the lowest contribution of fossil fuels facilities (26.3% and 27.3%, respectively). The promotion of hydropower facilities produced a decrease in the emission factors during the last two years. From 2001 to 2018, the mean performance of the Ecuadorian power facilities has been 0.36. The lowest historical emission factor (188.6 g CO2 kWh-1) was three times the world's mean value expected in the Paris Agreement. Based on the trend of the historical emission factors, we estimated that the contribution of fossil fuel facilities should be lower than 9.0% for decreasing to 65.0 g CO2 kWh-1. The increase in the performance of power facilities in Ecuador is a priority to reduce the emissions of both air pollutants and GHG. If the efficiency of power facilities increases to 0.45–0.55, their contribution can increase to 11.3%–13.8%, respectively. Although the magnitude of electrical emission factors expected by the Paris Agreement is an essential reference, the proper participation of fossil fuel facilities in Ecuador must be defined, additionally taking into account the potential influence of climate change on hydropower production. As occurred in 2010, hydropower energy can be severely affected by dry seasons.


way may occur from day to day and from observer to observer; certainly such changes of themselves could not be taken to indicate any alteration in the efficiency of the cardiovascular system. What cardiac tonics are used? And what are " gentle " cardiac tonics? Why 6 to 8 pints of fluid a day? It is difficult to understand how such quantities of fluids are going to benefit a patient with fibrillation, as restrict:on of fluid is one of the standbys of treatment of the failing heart. Clinical details are not given, but if these patients were not in failure, then cardiac tonics and excess fluid do not seem to ha\e been indicated for patients where fibrillation was apparently paroxysmal. In any ca'e I imagine that different observers would arrive at widely varying carciac indices when confronted with a fibrillating heart. The statement that " the blood-pressure figures in themselves mean little" is most disturbing. A simple example will indicate the danger of such an assumption. A patient might be in marked left ventricular failure with a blood pressure of 200/140. This would give, according to definition, a cardiac index of 43 %,b, which indicates a " fair surgical risk.". Were the cardiac index to be generally adopted as an important criterion of operative risk-and, as Mr. Dodd makes little mention of other findings in his patients, one assumes that lie attaches great importance to it-one hesitates to think of the large number of patients denied operation when urgently needed, and the equally large number who would be operated on when in no fit state.-I am, etc.,


Abstract This article reads Bashar al-Asad's rule through the prism of social activism and, in particular, through the field of charities. The sociopolitical transformations Syria experienced between 2000 and 2010—the shift in state–society relations, the opening of the civic arena, and economic liberalization—are explored through the activities of charitable associations, including their interactions with other Syrian actors, and we argue that they reflect the unraveling of the old social contract. The Syrian leadership outsourced important state welfare functions to charities while also creating nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) under its own control and supporting developmental NGOs loyal to the regime. These NGOs differed from the existing charities in terms of their social base, financial backgrounds, motivations, modes of institutionalization, and public relations strategies, and enabled the authoritarian regime to pursue a new strategy of divide-and-rule politics. At the same time, subcontracting poor-relief measures to charities eroded the regime's political legitimacy and helped sow the seeds of the 2011 uprising.


In Reply.— Our study addressed the hypothesis that psychoactive substances, including alcohol, as they were used by homosexual men before and just after their enrollment in the Multi-center AIDS Cohort Study (MACS) in 1984 through 1985, did not enhance HIV-induced immunodeficiency. We offer the following response to comments on our findings. First, both Drs Drexler and Brown and Dr Badgley emphasize the absence of data on the role of these substances in promoting seroconversion. We intentionally excluded the analysis of the effects of these psychoactive substances on initiation of infection. Early reports from the MACS 1,2 and other reports have recognized potentially important relationships between use of these substances and the prevalence of HIV infection. A more complete analysis of MACS data on these relationships is in preparation. Assessment of such influences on new acquisition of HIV infection or antibody will be more difficult because of the relatively small numbers


Abstract:When the London newspaper the True Sun abruptly ceased publication in December 1837 its parliamentary reporters considered the compensation offered them inadequate. Among "expert" witnesses called during the court proceedings which followed was John Dickens. The dispute is noteworthy because it centered on the terms on which newspapermen like John and Charles Dickens were employed.


We have developed a novel method for tissue fixation, including subsequent paraffin-embedding and sectioning, that allows the complete pathological analysis of all types of human soft tissues. Furthermore, it maintains additional positive features relevant to immunohistochemistry and molecular pathology. The so-called HOPE-technique (Hepes-Glutamic acid buffer mediated Organic solvent Protection Effect) comprises a protection-solution with an organic buffer, acetone as the only dehydrating agent, and pure paraffin of 52-54 degrees C melting temperature. Although the exact mechanism of protection has still to be elucidated, it seems rather unlikely that chemical bindings occur during the whole process of fixation, which is described and compared with the standard formalin-paraffin technique. Essentially, HOPE-fixed sections show formalin-like morphology. However, the sections are somewhat difficult to handle because of their fragility. This is due to the absence of any type of protein cross-linking and the dynamic processes of immersion and outflow of the HOPE protection solution. HOPE-fixed sections provide an excellent preservation of proteins and antigenic structures for differential analysis by immunohistochemical and/or enzyme histochemical techniques. However, their most remarkable feature is the extremely low degradation of nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) combined with good results obtained by in situ hybridization techniques. In conclusion, HOPE fixation may become a valuable additional tool in modern pathology.


Background:To assess heat production using osteotomes under conditions simulating implant placement in D3, D4 bone. Material and Methods:Implant osteotomes were tested (Winsix, Biosafin, Italy). Site preparations were performed on porcine ribs through a compressive fashion. The ribs were partially immersed in a custom-made water bath/water pump system that maintained the baseline temperature at 36°C. Temperatures generated at different depths (2, 5, and 9 mm) during a series of 25 osteotomies were measured using 3 thermocouples connected to a digital thermometer. Results:The mean temperatures never exceeded 37°C and were all significantly lower than those reported during preparation with standard implant drills. Statistical evaluation of the temperature during implant site preparation showed slight significant variations between the baseline values and those of the different depth preparations. Conclusions:Within the limits of this study, the production of heat during implant preparation using osteotomes shows significant variations at different depths. However, these variations are not clinically relevant because they never increased over the values that negatively affect bone that may jeopardize osseointegration.


Prior research suggests that corporate boards and directors play important roles in firm strategy and performance. In this paper, we examine an important yet underexplored avenue and focus on their role in overcoming multilevel psychic distance (PD) faced by internationalizing small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) originating from an emerging market. Analyzing Indian Fintech SMEs, using multiple case studies, our findings reveal that boards contribute important network-level resources and knowledge about foreign markets, which in turn assists internationalizing SMEs in mitigating PD. We demonstrate that the human and social capital of boards' play important, yet, distinctly different, roles in mitigating PD at pre- and post-internationalization phases. At the pre-internationalization phase directors' prior international and industry experience, as well as board interlocks and prior connections, are most valuable, whereas, at the post-entry phase, transnational boards, and those with stronger trust-based personal relationships (i.e., greater depth of social capital (Haynes and Hillman, 2010), facilitate faster experiential learning. Taken together, our findings contribute novel insights into the mechanisms through which boards affect the outcomes of firms operating, and originating from, extreme institutional environments. We further draw implications for research and practice.


The xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes N-acetyltransferases (NATs) are important for the biotransformation and/or bioactivation of drugs and carcinogens. NATs are coded for in humans by two distinct genes, designated NAT1 and NAT2. NAT1, which was originally thought to be monomorphic, was recently reported to exhibit variation in human populations. Recent studies suggested that a genetic polymorphism of NAT1 may be associated with colorectal cancer risk. The distributions of NAT1 allele and genotype frequencies in unrelated individuals among Indian (n = 140), Malay (n = 122) and Chinese (n = 181) populations in Singapore were characterized by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism and allele-specific-polymerase chain reaction. The allelic frequencies of NAT1*3, NAT1*4, NAT1*10 and NAT1*11 among Indians were 0.3, 0.51, 0.17 and 0.02, respectively. The corresponding NAT1 allelic frequencies in Malays were 0.29, 0.30, 0.39 and 0.02, respectively, and were similar to those in Chinese in the region. The allelic frequencies of NAT1*3, NAT1*4, NAT1*10 and NAT1*11 among Chinese were 0.33, 0.35, 0.30 and 0.02, respectively. These findings are of importance for the determination of cancer risk in these populations. In addition, nucleotide changes at positions 350-351 (GG to CC) and 497-499 (GGG to CCC) of the NAT1 gene were not found in the alleles of the populations studied.


Suppose, now, that he is drifting towards B with a velocity equal to that of the wind, and travelling at right angles to AB with such a velocity that he can move along horizontally without falling towards the earth. Suddenly a gust overtakes him from the direction of A. He at once turns towards it, and his velocity relative to it is sufficienlt to raise him in the air. It tends to carry him more rapidly towards B; and when his velocity relative to it has sunk to the same value as before, and he again travels horizontally, 4e turns again at right angles to the line AB, but in the opposite direction to that which he had before. Presently the force of the gust diminishes, and the wind seems to blow towards him from the direction A. He accordingly turns towards it again, rising from the ground till his velocity relative to the air has asisumed its former value, and he moves horizontally, turning again at right angles to the line AB, and the cycle is completed. He thus


AN EARLIER paper1 has described the use of X rays to measure the thickness of steel as it is being rolled in a hot-strip rolling mill. The great success of this method of measurement has stimulated study of the possibilities of using other types of radiation in a similar manner. Of these, beta rays appear to hold the greatest promise at the present time.


Abstract The number of women serving in the Armed Forces is growing and readiness has been decreed as the number 1 priority for the total Army. Provision of contraception and unintended pregnancy rates higher than the general population are two key factors in readiness of female soldiers. An in-depth review of women's healthcare in the military identified these two areas of women's health as greatly understudied. Long-acting reversible contraception provides effective and cost-efficient method for contraception and a proven way to decrease unintended pregnancy. Increased research and focus into these two areas of women's health is crucial to providing the best care for our female service members.


Cloud-to-ground lightning events were monitored during 1995, by a radiofrequencies electromagnetic detection system located in Belem-PA, Brazil. Simultaneously, the pluviometric precipitation was recorded by a FUESS-type pluviograph, located next to the EM-sensors. The relations between cloud electrification and the growth rate of cloud drops, as well as the rain gush after the occurrence of nearby lightning have been observed for a long time, but so far no satisfactory explanation has been offered for these phenomena. Nevertheless, the evident correlation between the frequency of occurrence of the above mentioned type of lightning and the accumulated precipitation levels observed around Belem, led the authors to try to quantify such a relation. Linear regressions between the number of lightning occurrences and the precipitation measured at monthly and hourly intervals, resulted in close parallel lines. The results presented in this work show that in spite of the theoretical difficulties mentioned, EM lightning detection systems have the practical potential to estimate precipitation, when adjusted for a given area of the Earth.