The need to adopt an electronic health record (EHR) system in United States (U.S.) hospitals seems to be more and more obvious when evaluating the benefits of improved patient safety, quality of care, and efficiency. The purpose of the study was to identify the status of EHR systems in U.S. hospitals in regard to the core functionalities implemented (as identified by the Institute of Medicine) and to determine if there was a significant relationship between perceived level of benefit and risk with the use of each core functionality, as well as if there was a significant relationship between the status of the EHR system and size of hospital. A national survey of U.S. hospitals was conducted to answer the research questions. The results showed that 37% had some components in all of the core functionalities of an EHR system, while 27% were using at least some functionalities. Health information and data, administrative processes, and results management were the three core functionalities that a majority of hospitals had as a part of their EHR system. A significant positive correlation between perceived benefits and risks was found in all of the eight core functionalities. There was no significant relationship found between status of EHR system and size of hospitals.


The present paper is concerned with a study of design methods for soft magnetic materials such as those used in radio broadcast receivers and similar apparatus. The design of such devices as interstaged transformers calls for more than choosing points on curves in a standard handbook and computing mechanical or electrical details by ordinary power transformer theory. Radio transformer design is usually complicated by the effect of passing d-c space current through the winding or by the use of an air-gap to prevent saturation of the core by uni-directional current. The procedure to follow when one of these disturbing effects is present is not very difficult, but it becomes somewhat involved if an efficignt design is wanted when both are present. In this paper an attempt is made to present a workable method of taking account of these disturbing effects. The method intvolves the determination of the apparent and maximum obtainable permeabilities of the magnetic materials so that a proper conclusion nay be arrived at by an application of simple engineering methods.


. Bicycle for urban transportation in emerging countries still relies on "upright" bicycle which is unchanged since the 20 th century. In a tropical emerging country such as Indonesia, a bicycle must be ergonomically designed because it may be used in a long run. On the other hand, bicycle rider may face various traffic conditions. Additionally, weather makes trip become heavy and takes a lot of energy. This research aims to develop and test a new bicycle concept for an urban transportation in the tropical emerging country. A multi-criteria decision method was used to select a right bicycle concept. Then the concept was detailed into a bicycle design. We used biomechanics model and simulated finite element method to verify its frame strength. After the design verified, we built a full bicycle prototype and compare it with a commercially available urban bicycle with equal specifications. The comparison tests include physiological tests and a subjective test for several terrain and traffic conditions. The new concept is an ergonomic bicycle based on rear wheel drive recumbent bike. Based on the overall test result, it can be concluded that the new bicycle concept is promising and still appropriate for the next development.


Typical wireless power transfer (WPT) systems on the market charge only a single receiver at a time. However, it can be expected that the need will arise to charge multiple devices at once by a single transmitter. Unfortunately, adding extra receivers influences the system efficiency. By impedance matching, the loads of the system can be adjusted to maximize the efficiency, regardless of the number of receivers. In this work, we present the analytical solution for achieving maximum system efficiency with any number of receivers for capacitive WPT. Among others, we determine the optimal loads and the maximum system efficiency. We express the efficiency as a function of a single variable, the system kQ-product and demonstrate that load capacitors can be inserted to compensate for any cross-coupling between the receivers.


Deciding whether a faulty circuit can be rectified at a given set of nets to match its intended specification constitutes a critical problem in post-verification debugging and rectification. Contemporary approaches which utilize Boolean SAT and Craig Interpolation techniques are infeasible in proving the rectifiability of arithmetic circuits. This paper presents a novel approach using symbolic computer algebra to prove the rectifiability of a faulty finite field arithmetic circuit at a given set of m nets. Our approach uses a word-level polynomial model and an application of a Gröbner basis decision procedure. The finite fields corresponding to the datapath word-length (n) and the patch word-length (m) may not be compatible. We make new mathematical and algorithmic contributions which resolve this disparity by modeling the problem in an appropriate composite field. Experiments demonstrate the efficacy of our word-level approach to ascertain multi-fix rectifiability compared to contemporary approaches.


Microprocessors and programmable LSI circuits provide increasingly cost-effective alternatives to traditional hardwired electronic or electromechanical circuits and subsystems used in automatic control, data processing, communication, and instrumentation. The design engineer, however, must learn new skills, i.e., digital system architecture and programming, in order to take advantage of this rapidly evolving new technology. This paper describes the experience of developing an effective approach to microcomputer education for both students and practicing engineers at the University of California, Berkeley.


Aiming at the increasingly serious pipeline damages because of the artificial factors, we investigate the characteristic of seismic signals and develop a monitoring and pre-warning system for security of pipelines based on multi-seismic sensors. There were many sensors and processing modules to acquire the seismic signals generated by the ground targets. The non-stationary signal analysis method based on empirical mode decomposition was used to process the seismic signals. The target feature vectors were composed of the normalized kurtosis extracted from the decomposition results. The single sensor's judgment was made by the main normalized kurtosis values in the important decomposed frequency bands. In this system there are many same sensors and modules, this D-S evidence reasoning was to fuse the recognition results for improving the target recognition accuracy. Then the last judgment was made. For target localization, it proposed a novel passive localization method based on TDOA (time difference of arrival). The seismic signals generated by different targets were acquired by many geophones and detection modules. As a new time-frequency method, Hilbert-Huang transform was used to process the signals and obtained the characteristic frequencies and appearance time. The arrival time difference, the sensor location and the relative position of target and sensors were analyzed and the target localization can be achieved. The processing methods above were proved effective by the experiment data analysis.


The use of social network sites to investigate potential employees is a new practice with few studies examining how employers use social network sites for screening applicants. The purpose of this paper was to investigate how employers use social network sites for the selection process. Participants were industry recruiters attending a career fair; 50% of the recruiters reported using social network sites to screen applicants. Negative information from the internet was rated as more important than positive information of the applicants. Recruiters use social network sites more for management level and front-of-the-house employees than entry level and back-of-thehouse applicants.


Background Developing low-cost yet scalable interventions for youth depression and anxiety symptoms in low-income regions such as countries in Sub Saharan Africa is a global mental health priority. We developed and intend to evaluate one such intervention for adolescent depression and anxiety in Kenya. The intervention, named Shamiri (a Swahili word for 'thrive'), draws upon evidence-based components of brief interventions that involve nonclinical principles rather than treatment of psychopathology (e.g. growth mindset, gratitude and virtues). Methods Between 400 and 500 high-symptom Kenyan adolescents (ages 13-18) will be randomized to either the four-week Shamiri group intervention or a group study-skills control intervention of equal duration and dosage. Participating adolescents will meet in groups of 8-15, led by a high-school graduate trained to deliver Shamiri as a lay-provider. Adolescents will self-report primary outcome measures (depression and anxiety symptoms) and secondary outcome measures (e.g., perceived social support, perceived academic control, self-reported optimism, etc.) at the 2-week intervention midpoint, 4-week post-intervention endpoint, and 2-week post-intervention follow-up. We predict that adolescents in the Shamiri group, when compared to the study-skills control group, will show greater improvements in primary outcomes and secondary outcomes. Discussion Results may suggest that a brief, lay-provider delivered, school-based intervention may reduce internalizing symptoms, improve academic outcomes and other psychosocial outcomes in high-symptom adolescents in Sub-Saharan Africa. Trial Registration Pan African Clinical Trials Registry. Trial ID: PACTR201906525818462. Registered 12th June 2019. https://pactr.samrc.ac.za/TrialDisplay.aspx?TrialID=8185


In the applications of solar magneto-seismology, the ratio of the period of the fundamental mode to twice the period of its first overtone, P1/2P2, plays an important role. We examine how field-aligned flows affect the dispersion properties, and hence the period ratios, of standing modes supported by magnetic slabs in the solar atmosphere. We numerically solve the dispersion relations and devise a graphic means to construct standing modes. For coronal slabs, we find that the flow effects are significant for the fast kink and sausage modes alike. For the kink ones, they may reduce P1/2P2 by up to 23% compared with the static case, and the minimum allowed P1/2P2 can fall below the lower limit analytically derived for static slabs. For the sausage modes, while introducing the flow reduces P1/2P2 by typically ≲ 5% relative to the static case, it significantly increases the threshold aspect ratio only above which standing sausage modes can be supported, meaning that their detectability is restricted to even wider slabs. In the case of photospheric slabs, the flow effect is not as strong. However, standing modes are distinct from the coronal case in that standing kink modes show a P1/2P2 that deviates from unity even for a zero-width slab, while standing sausage modes no longer suffer from a threshold aspect ratio. We conclude that transverse structuring in plasma density and flow speed should be considered in seismological applications of multiple periodicities to solar atmospheric structures.


This paper shows the basic numerical calculation methods for measuring linewidths between 45-80nm using normal and oblique incident lightwaves to control the resist and silicon linewidths for the next-generation semiconductor circuits. The shape measurement method by nondestruction and noncontact, using the light wave scattering method is called Scatterometry. While using the scatterometry with the actual manufacturing process, it is necessary to compare the characteristics in proportion to the trench shape with the measured values in the real-time. In this paper, we use the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method as the numerical analysis method. FDTD method takes a lot of time to analyze with the Maxwell equation in the time domain until the electromagnetic fields are stabilized. Then, the examinations on the methods for shortening the FDTD calculation times are carried out by using the periodicity and the sub-grids. By using the periodicity and the incident plane waves, we only calculate the electromagnetic fields in the half pitched region of the grooves. Next, FDTD divides the analytic region into main- and sub-grids. We only allocate the silicon substrates and air parts to the main-cells. The sub-grids are created by dividing in the main-grids in the resist parts, because the resist parts have to be exmained with the minute groove changes. The oblique incidence analysis is important for ellipsometry and many other applications. It is ascertained for silicon that the amplitude reflectance calculated by using FDTD agreed well with Fresnel's law for TE and TM modes to the largest angle. Then, the oblique incidence amplitude reflectance for the resist grooves on silicon is calculated. Finally, we confirm the FDTD analysis is effective to obtain the reflected light characteristics close to the real photolithographic models.


Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate four visualizations that represent affective states of students.

Design/methodology/approach

An empirical-experimental study approach was used to assess the usability of affective state visualizations in a learning context. The first study was conducted with students who had knowledge of visualization techniques (n=10). The insights from this pilot study were used to improve the interpretability and ease of use of the visualizations. The second study was conducted with the improved visualizations with students who had no or limited knowledge of visualization techniques (n=105).

Findings

The results indicate that usability, measured by perceived usefulness and insight, is overall acceptable. However, the findings also suggest that interpretability of some visualizations, in terms of the capability to support emotional awareness, still needs to be improved. The level of students' awareness of their emotions during learning activities based on the visualization interpretation varied depending on previous knowledge of information visualization techniques. Awareness was found to be high for the most frequently experienced emotions and activities that were the most frustrating, but lower for more complex insights such as interpreting differences with peers. Furthermore, simpler visualizations resulted in better outcomes than more complex techniques.

Originality/value

Detection of affective states of students and visualizations of these states in computer-based learning environments have been proposed to support student awareness and improve learning. However, the evaluation of visualizations of these affective states with students to support awareness in real life settings is an open issue.


The main purpose of this paper is to introduce and investigate degenerate Poisson distribution which is a new extension of the Poisson distribution including the degenerate exponential function. We then provide several properties of the degenerate Poisson distribution such as the first and the second raw moments and difference operator property. Moreover, we acquired the skewness and the kurtosis for the degenerate Poisson distribution. We also derive its moment generating function by which we define the degenerate Bell polynomials and give a connection for these polynomials related to the unsigned Stirling numbers of the first kind.


Weather plays a prominent role in yield and productivity of blueberry farms in Florida. The consecutive winters of 2010–11 and 2011–12 were very different with regards to chill accumulation and incidence of late winter freezes. During the 2010–11 winter, chill accumulation was above average and no severe freezes occurred after bloom initiation. Conversely, during the 2011–12 winter, chill accumulation was below average, especially in south Florida, and two back-to-back freezes occurred in mid-February after initiation of bloom and spring growth. Moreover, in 2011–12 most of the chilling occurred relatively late in the winter. By 28 Dec. only 16 h of chilling was recorded in Polk County, FL. Hydrogen cyanamide, a growth regulator used to assist in satisfying chill requirements, was more effective in northcentral Florida than in south Florida. Hydrogen cyanamide is typically most effective when plants are fully dormant and significant natural chilling has occurred before its application, conditions which were more likely to have occurred in north-central Florida than in central or south Florida during the 2011–12 winter. The combined effects of below average chill accumulation and severe freezes reduced statewide production in 2012 compared to 2011. In north-central Florida freeze damage was highly variable depending on cultivar, location, and the freeze protection system employed. Generally, early-flowering cultivars, such as 'Snowchaser', 'Meadowlark', and 'Springhigh', sustained greater damage than later-flowering cultivars, such as 'Emerald' and 'Jewel'. In south Florida, most cultivars showed symptoms of insufficient chilling; bloom was delayed and protracted, and yields were below average. Generally, the best production occurred south of Ocala and north of I-4 where modest amounts of chill were recorded and freezes were not severe.


Intraperitoneal injection of the hydrocarbon oil pristane into normal mice leads to a lupus-like autoimmune syndrome. Although advances in defining the roles of cellular and humoral mediators involved in this syndrome have been made, the mechanisms that initiate a break in tolerance leading to autoimmunity remain unknown. We describe in this study that pristane induces apoptosis both in vivo and in vitro. Pristane arrests cell growth and induces cell death by apoptosis via the mitochondrial pathway of caspase activation in a dose-dependent manner. Nuclear autoantigens created by pristane-induced apoptosis of lymphoid cells within the peritoneal cavity in the setting of a profoundly altered cytokine milieu may be the initiating event in the development of autoimmunity in this syndrome. These findings suggest that apoptosis may be a critical initial event in the pathogenesis of pristane-induced lupus and are of potential relevance for human systemic lupus erythematosus.


A major question in Fe-based superconductors remains the structure of the pairing, in particular whether it is of unconventional nature. The electronic structure near a vortex can serve as a platform for phase-sensitive measurements to answer this question. By solving the Bogoliubov–de Gennes equations for LiFeAs, we calculate the energy-dependent local electronic structure near a vortex for different nodeless gap-structure possibilities. At low energies, the local density of states (LDOS) around a vortex is determined by the normal-state electronic structure. At energies closer to the gap value, however, the LDOS can distinguish an anisotropic s-wave gap from a conventional isotropic s-wave gap. We show within our self-consistent calculation that in addition, the local gap profile differs between a conventional and an unconventional pairing. We explain this through admixing of a secondary order parameter within Ginzburg–Landau theory. In-field scanning tunneling spectroscopy near a vortex can therefore be used as a real-space probe of the gap structure.


The Nutrition and Oral Health Study (NOHS) was established to study the interrelationship of oral health status, dietary intake, and education, and to define their relative impact on the middle aged and elderly. Two hundred forty-seven partially or fully dentate (at least 6 teeth) subjects returned two food diaries over a 16-month period. Despite the investigators' efforts to enroll from a socio-economically diverse Boston population, the volunteers were health-conscious, with 85% having been to the dentist within the last year; 95% brushed, and 60% flossed daily. More than half the volunteers had attended college. With the exception of cholesterol intake, which was high in both the higher- and lower-educated males, most individuals, despite their dentate status, sought good nutrition. People who wore dentures consumed more refined carbohydrates and sucrose. As the number of teeth declined, Vitamin A, crude fiber, and calcium declined, while cholesterol rose. These factors may have a significant implication for general health.


Stress dependent rock physics models are being used more routinely to link mechanical deformation and stress perturbations to changes in seismic velocities and seismic anisotropy. In this paper, we invert for the effective non-linear microstructural parameters of 69 dry and saturated sandstone core samples. We evaluate the results in terms of the model input parameters of two non-linear rock physics models: A discrete and an analytic microstructural stress-dependent formulation. The results for the analytic model suggest that the global trend of the initial crack density is lower and initial aspect ratio is larger for the saturated samples compared to the corresponding dry samples. The initial aspect ratios for both the dry and saturated samples are tightly clustered between 0.0002 and 0.001, whereas the initial crack densities show more scatter. The results for the discrete model show higher crack densities for the saturated samples when compared to the corresponding dry samples. With increasing confining stress the crack densities decreases to almost identical values for both the dry and saturated samples. A key result of this paper is that there appears to be a stress dependence of the compliance ratio BN/BT within many of the samples, possibly related to changing microcrack geometry with increasing confining stress. Furthermore, although the compliance ratio BN/BT for dry samples shows a diffuse distribution between 0.4 and 2.0, for saturated samples the distribution is very tightly clustered around 0.5. As confining stresses increase the compliance ratio distributions for the dry and saturated samples become more diffuse but still noticeably different. This result is significant because it reaffirms previous observations that the compliance ratio can be used as an indicator of fluid content within cracks and fractures. From a practical perspective, an overarching purpose of this paper is to investigate the range of input parameters of the microstructural models under both dry and saturated conditions to improve prediction of stress dependent seismic velocity and anisotropy observed in time-lapse seismic data due to hydro-mechanical effects related to fluid production and injection.


A design-oriented mathematical model for integrated DC/DC buck converters is presented in this paper. The analysis takes into account the main conduction power loss due to the switches channel resistance in on-state and, starting from the efficiency specification and other constraints, sets the guidelines for the sizing of the output power stage of the DC/DC converter. The model also considers the design of the driver stages, calculates the switching power loss and adjusts the efficiency to obtain the effective value. A CMOS DC/DC converter with Pulse Frequency Modulation (PFM) control in Discontinuous Conduction Mode (DCM) has been designed following such a criteria, validating the accuracy of the model in different loading conditions.


The present investigation was aimed to prepare aqueous based leaves extract of C. papaya and determine the stability of extracts by adding preservatives on long term storage. The stable extract was considered for haematological changes and clotting time in wister rat. The constituent of papaya leaves was extracted using distilled water. The phytochemical investigation was carried out using standard literature procedure. The stability of extract was determined based on the turbidity of extract. The ability of extract to resistance in microbial growth was determined by agar disc diffusion technique (zone of inhibition) in different strains of bacteria. The haematological parameter like platelet count, RBC and clotting time was determined on wister rat for 21 days. The percentage yield of the extract was 19.5%.The phytochemical investigation proof the presence of tannins, saponins, cardiac glycosides and steroids as a major constituent in the extract. The stability result showed the extract contained propyl paraben and methyl paraben (0.3% v/v) as a preservative are more stable. The efficacy of the extract was determined on wister rat. The body weight of both test and control groups was stable during the trial. This study clearly showed increasing platelet and RBC count in healthy rats after feeding with a short course of papaya leaf extract. The clotting time also increased in the case of the test. without causing any acute toxicity.


CLINICAL QUESTION
A 26-year-old woman presented with asymptomatic skin coloured to whitish keratotic papules on the vulva, inguinal folds and inner thighs of 6 years duration. She had no similar lesions elsewhere and no family history. A biopsy was taken from one of the papules.Review the high-quality, interactive digital Aperio slide at http://virtualacp.com/JCPCases/jclinpath-2018-205434/ and consider your diagnosis. WHAT IS YOUR DIAGNOSIS?: Darrier's diseaseHailey-Hailey diseaseGenital wartsPapular acantholytic dyskeratosis of genitocrural areaPemphigus vegetansThe correct answer is after the discussion.

DISCUSSION
Papular acantholytic dyskeratosis (PAD) of the genitocrural area is a peculiar acantholytic dermatosis with dyskeratosis localised to the vulva and inguinal folds with possible extension to the thighs and perineum.1 It mainly involves young or middle-aged females.1 Cases affecting males and involving genitalia, thighs and perianal region have been reported.2 It represents an allelic variant of Hailey-Hailey disease as heterozygous mutations in ATP2C1 gene (intron 5 and exon 24) have been reported in some cases.3 Clinically, PAD of the genitocrural area is typically characterised by solitary or grouped keratotic flesh coloured or white papules.1 Other clinical presentations include: vesicles, bullae, patches and plaques.4 Although the lesions are mainly asymptomatic, patients may experience variable degrees of itching or burning sensation.Histopathologically, the lesions show hyperkeratosis, hypergranulosis, acanthosis and acantholytic dyskeratosis in the spinous layer (figure 1). Typically, direct immunoflourescence (DIF) is negative.5 jclinpath;jclinpath-2018-205434v1/F1F1F1Figure 1Photomicrograph representing histopathological findings: hyperkeratosis, hypergranulosis, acanthosis and acanthloytic dyskeratosis involving the spinous layer; 254×143 mm.The most important differential diagnoses of this sporadic condition include: Darier's and Hailey-Hailey, both of which are familial. Hailey-Hailey involves also other flexural areas and presents with eroded crusted lesions with foul odour. Pathologically, the acantholytic process in PAD of the genitocrural area is rather focal compared with the broad zone of acantholysis in Hailey-Hailey, and columns of parakeratosis overlying suprabasilar acantholysis are characteristic of Darier's disease. Although, some cases of PAD of the genitocrural area can present with vesicles and bullae, the presence of dyskeratotic cells and the negative DIF speaks against pemphigus.Treatment options for this condition include topical and systemic retinoids. Cryotherapy and laser have been also reported to be effective. Topical steroids might be effective in reducing pruritus.


Brain Breaks Physical Activity Solutions (BBPAS) is a web-based structured physical activity (PA) video that is specifically designed for school settings and can stimulate a student's health and learning. The purpose of this study is to measure the effect of BBPAS on the stages of change, decisional balance, processes of change, self-efficacy and leisure-time exercise among Malay ethnic primary school children. A validated Malay version of three of the five constructs was derived with sound validity and was used in the present study. A total of 159 male and 163 female children aged 10 to 11 years old, mean (SD) = 10.53 (0.50), were recruited from two schools in Kelantan, Malaysia. Purposive sampling was used to divide the children into intervention (n = 177) and control (n = 145) groups. Children in the intervention group underwent BBPAS activity for an accumulated 30 min per week, while children in the control group were not involved in the BBPAS intervention. Mixed factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to examine the effect of BBPAS on the study variables. A mixed ANOVA showed significant changes (time effect) on cognitive process, F(1, 320) = 5.768, p-value = 0.017; behavioural process, F(1, 313) = 5.736, p-value = 0.017; and internal feeling, F(1, 312) = 6.050, p-value = 0.014. There was also a significant difference between groups on cons, F(1, 316) = 7.504, p-value = 0.007. A significant interaction effect was observed for stages of change, F(1, 319) = 7.861, p-value = 0.005; pros, F(1, 316) = 31.311, p-value = 0.001; internal feeling, F(1, 312) = 4.692, p-value = 0.031; and behavioural process, F(1, 313) = 7.312, p-value = 0.007. In conclusion, BBPAS was successful in improving four of the five constructs, and thus, should be recommended to be used in schools throughout Malaysia.


Tourism is the act of travel for the purpose of recreation. It is an industry of moving, housing and entertaining people. It is one of the world's largest service industries and fastest growing economic sectors in terms of generating gross revenue as well as earning of foreign exchange. Nowadays the Internet and the developments in ICTs have revolutionized the entire tourism industry all over the world. It provides new tools and enables new distribution channels to create a new business environment. In order to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of transactions, to reduce the cost of transactions and to provide the one stop services to the customers, tourism market needs a new ICT based business model to grow tourism industry in the states of Maharashtra and Goa. In this paper we propose a new ICT based tourism business model that includes the modern tools of ICT which affects the tourism business as a whole.


: This study aims to invent a new, low-cost, and faster method of prosthetic socket fabrication, especially in Indonesia. In this paper, the photogrammetry with the 3D printing method is introduced as the new applicative way for transradial prosthetic making. Photogrammetry is used to retrieve a 3D model of the amputated hand stump using a digital camera. A digital camera is used for photogrammetry technique and the resulting 3D model is printed using a circular 3D printer with Polylactic acid (PLA) material. The conventional casting socket fabrication method was also conducted in this study as a comparison. Both prosthetic sockets were analyzed for usability, and sectional area conformities to determine the size deviation using the image processing method. This study concludes that the manufacturing of transradial prosthetic sockets incorporating the photogrammetry technique reduces the total man-hour production. Based on the results, it can be implied that the photogrammetry technique is a more e ffi cient and economical method compared to the conventional casting method. The 3D printed socket resulting from the photogrammetry method has a 5–19% area deviation to the casting socket but it is still preferable and adjustable for the transradial amputee when applied to the stump of the remaining hand.


A recent research has studied different views of suppliers and customers have of solution projects that include both provided goods and rendered services. The goal of the research is to help the suppliers and customers to understand each other better, and therefore make solution projects more profitable for the suppliers and be more effective for the customers. We are involved in an infrastructure improvement project that shares many characteristics of a solution project. Our early experience suggests introducing a contractor view that is different from the supplier and customer views. Our experience also indicates that effective requirements engineering, under the constraint of lengthy and complex contractual requirements is of great importance for the project success.


Abstract We describe a rapid sex-identification method for the forest musk deer (Moschus berezovskii) using PCR based on zinc-finger protein-encoding genes (ZFX/ZFY) located on the X and Y chromosomes. Fragments of the ZFX and ZFY genes were amplified and sequenced. The ZFX and ZFY fragments were identical in length and 94% similar in nucleotide sequence. Specific primers for forest musk deer sex identification were designed on the basis of sequence differences between ZFX and ZFY. All the primers were multiplexed in single-tube PCR. Both male and female forest musk deer showed amplification bands of 447 bp and 212 bp separated in agarose gels. A sex-specific 278-bp band was amplified only from males. These results show that testing by PCR for the presence of the 278-bp sequence is a rapid and reliable method for sex identification.


Edge Computing (EC) allows users to access computing resources at the network frontier, which paves the way for deploying delay-sensitive applications such as Mobile Augmented Reality (MAR). Under the EC paradigm, MAR users connect to the EC server, open sessions and send continuously frames to be processed. The EC server sends back virtual information to enhance the human perception of the world by merging it with the real environment. Resource allocation arises as a critical challenge when several MAR Service Providers (SPs) compete for limited resources at the edge of the network. In this paper, we consider EC in a multi-tenant environment where the resource owner, i.e., the Network Operator (NO), virtualizes the resources and lets SPs run their services using the allocated slice of resources. Indeed, for MAR applications, we focus on two specific resources: CPU and RAM, deployed in some edge node, e.g., a central office. We study the decision of the NO about how to partition these resources among several SPs. We model the arrival and service dynamics of users belonging to different SPs using Erlang queuing model and show that under perfect information, the interaction between the NO and SPs can be formulated as a sub-modular maximization problem under multiple Knapsack constraints. To solve the problem, we use an approximation algorithm, guaranteeing a bounded gap with respect to the optimal theoretical solution. Our numerical results show that the proposed algorithm outperforms baseline proportional allocation in terms of the number of sessions accommodated at the edge for each SP.


Giant cell tumor of bone (GCTB) seldom occurs in the head or face. This article reported a case that GCTB occurred simultaneously in the temporal bone and mandibular condyle, and analyzed their clinical and pathological features.


Institutes: 1 Coimbra University Hospital (CHUC), Urology and Renal Transplantation, Coimbra, Portugal, 2 University of Coimbra Faculty of Medicine, Institute For Biomedical Imaging and Life Sciences (IBILI), Coimbra, Portugal, 3 University of Coimbra Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Immunology, Coimbra, Portugal, 4 University of Coimbra Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Anatomical and Molecular Pathology, Coimbra, Portugal, 5 University of Zurich, Viral Immunobiology, Institute of Experimental Immunology, Zurich, Switzerland, 6 University of Coimbra Faculty of Medicine, Laboratory of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Institute For Biomedical Imaging and Life Sciences (IBILI), Coimbra, Portugal, 7 University of Coimbra Center For Neurosciences and Cell Biology (CNC), Immunology and Oncology Laboratory, Coimbra, Portugal


Digital mobile communications comes to company sites. No cabling is required and the employees can be reached at any time at any place. However, planning of wireless digital networks is quite different from planning traditional wire-based systems. Small, local radio transmitters (senders) have to be installed to provide the wireless devices with signals. The specifics of radio wave propagation at the installation site have to be taken into account. POPULAR is an advanced industrial prototype that allows to compute the minimal number of senders and their location given a blue-print of the building and information about the materials used for walls and ceilings. It does so by simulating the propagation of radio-waves using ray tracing and by subsequent optimization of the number of senders needed to cover the whole building. Taking advantage of state-of-the-art techniques for programmable application-oriented constraint solving, POPULAR was among the first practical tools that could optimally plan cordless communication systems. In this paper, we introduce the basics of this real-life application and show how easy it is to implement the necessary constraints to solve the problem. ∗Work was done while the authors were at ECRC, Munich, Germany


Abstract Ebola virus (EBOV) related health complications have presented a great threat to the healthcare system in the endemic regions. The outbreaks of 2013-2016 and 2018-2020 brought along a huge healthcare burden for the afected communities. Knowing the seriousness of the matter, a series of research experiments have been actively carried out to devise efective therapeutics, drugs, and vaccination protocols against the Ebola virus disease (EVD) in the past decade. The purpose of this piece of literature is to shed light on vaccination protocols being clinically evaluated for EVD. A methodological approach has been adopted to gather relevant data from the latest publications. The compiled data include the molecular mechanistic insights into Ebola infection and a brief overview of diferent vaccination strategies: inactivated and DNA vaccines, virus-like particles and replicons, reverse genetic and recombinant approaches, entry, ion, and gene expression inhibitors, and some repurposed drugs. This data will help the scientific community to get a comprehensive overview of therapeutic interventions against Ebola that could be related to modifying EBOV vaccines and designing other antiviral vaccinations. Having said that, further work in modern therapeutic design is pertinent to tackle and lessen the healthcare burden expected from such outbreaks in the future.


This paper investigates the strategic pricing to Euroland as it is implemented by exporters of 18 countries (Eurozone and non Eurozone). Initial findings support that general export-prices convergence is faster within Eurozone then elsewhere and seems to have accelerated in the Euro-age. The average mark-up variations in reaction to exchange rate evolution are studied, based on theoretically founded premises, to shore up the idea that Euro-market's structure underwent modifications as consequence of the monetary union. Results suggest that firms have responded to exchange rate elimination irrespective of member status and proceeded to gauge across members pricing reaction to exchange rate fluctuations.


In the present study, electron beam welding bead-on-plate of electrolytic pitched copper (ETP-Cu) plate was carried out to study the behavior of different defects formed in the weld by varying the beam oscillation amplitudes. The defects like spattering, spiking and porosity were considered in this study. Spattering and spiking phenomena were determined with visual inspection and image analysis software, respectively. Porosity measurement was conducted with X-ray tomography. Spattering was found to decrease with the oscillation amplitude up to the optimized value and then, it showed an increasing effect with it. Spatters in the weld also contributed to the pore formation in the weld by the inside pores available in it. Spiking was found to be more dynamic, and not directly related to the oscillation amplitude. But, in general, it was increasing with the increase of amplitude. Spiking was found to have a linear relationship with mean diameter of pores, which implied that a weld with the sharper spikes was more prone to large size root pores in the weld. Mean diameter and volume fraction of the pores were tending to increase with oscillation amplitude; however, there were discontinuities in the trend at the optimized amplitude value. An optimized value of oscillation amplitude was found to be useful for suppressing these defects in the weld. However, a random oscillation amplitude could be more detrimental to the quality of the weld joint.


All-inorganic halide perovskite crystals are considered excellent optical host lattices for various dopants to obtain wavelength-tunable emissions with ultra-broad bands even over a wide spectral range. Here, a series of Mn2+-doped bulk ligand-free CsCdCl3 (CCC) perovskite crystals with a hexagonal shape and size of about 1 millimeter (mm) have been prepared by a facile hydrothermal method. These CCC:Mn2+ (CCC:Mn) crystals emit the representative orange-red photoluminescence (PL) of Mn2+ (4T1(G)-6A1(S)) in the centers of hexagonal octahedrons coordinated with six Cl- ions. A fine-tuning of the Mn2+ concentration from 1 to 50 mol % Cd2+ induces a substantial red shift of emission spectra from 570 to 630 nm due to the shrinkage of the crystalline host lattice, and the maximum intensity of emission is achieved at 20 mol % Mn2+ doping. A further increase in the Mn2+ concentration causes a decrease of the PL intensity due to the phase transition from CCC to CsMnCl3·2H2O (CMCH). The strong excitation bands at 360, 370, 420, and 440 nm can make the excitation of the emissive CCC:Mn crystals possible with ultraviolet (UV) and blue chips for application in white light-emitting diodes (WLEDs). The similarity of the Mn2+-concentration-dependent emission spectra excited by various wavelengths indicates that there is only one type of site for Mn2+ occupation in CCC.


In the past decade, quantum diffusion Monte Carlo (DMC) has been demonstrated to successfully predict the energetics and properties of a wide range of molecules and solids by numerically solving the electronic many-body Schrödinger equation. With O(N3) scaling with the number of electrons N, DMC has the potential to be a reference method for larger systems that are not accessible to more traditional methods such as CCSD(T). Assessing the accuracy of DMC for smaller molecules becomes the stepping stone in making the method a reference for larger systems. We show that when coupled with quantum machine learning (QML)-based surrogate methods, the computational burden can be alleviated such that quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) shows clear potential to undergird the formation of high-quality descriptions across chemical space. We discuss three crucial approximations necessary to accomplish this: the fixed-node approximation, universal and accurate references for chemical bond dissociation energies, and scalable minimal amons-set-based QML (AQML) models. Numerical evidence presented includes converged DMC results for over 1000 small organic molecules with up to five heavy atoms used as amons and 50 medium-sized organic molecules with nine heavy atoms to validate the AQML predictions. Numerical evidence collected for Δ-AQML models suggests that already modestly sized QMC training data sets of amons suffice to predict total energies with near chemical accuracy throughout chemical space.


High oxygen reduction (ORR) activity has been for many years considered as the key to many energy applications. Herein, by combining theory and experiment we prepare Pt nanoparticles with optimal size for the efficient ORR in proton-exchange-membrane fuel cells. Optimal nanoparticle sizes are predicted near 1, 2, and 3 nm by computational screening. To corroborate our computational results, we have addressed the challenge of approximately 1 nm sized Pt nanoparticle synthesis with a metal-organic framework (MOF) template approach. The electrocatalyst was characterized by HR-TEM, XPS, and its ORR activity was measured using a rotating disk electrode setup. The observed mass activities (0.87±0.14 A mgPt -1 ) are close to the computational prediction (0.99 A mgPt -1 ). We report the highest to date mass activity among pure Pt catalysts for the ORR within similar size range. The specific and mass activities are twice as high as the Tanaka commercial Pt/C catalysis.


A novel attitude control method based on micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) actuators, developed by Li et al. Each actuator (called pseudowheel) comprises four small beams of electro-thermal materials. If these beams undergo the transverse deformation in a clockwise rotation, the spacecraft rotates in counterclockwise direction in order to conserve the system angular momentum. However, when the actuator is off, the beams come to their undeformed configurations because of their elastic properties. This problem can be overcome by employing a sequence of large rotations caused by deflecting actuators about two or three orthogonal axes to produce a net attitude change. The kinematics of all rotation sequences is considered and then the rotating angles of MEMS actuators are derived by solving a set of nonlinear equations in terms of attitude angles of the spacecraft and rotating angles of the MEMS actuators. This paper presents further researches based on the work of Li et al. Such as study of rotation sequences, kinematics analysis of spacecraft, and simulation of attitude motion. Assuming the conservation of system angular momentum and employing inverse kinematics, the time response of attitude motion of the spacecraft is simulated. This approach not only just searches a possible solution based on an open-loop control strategy, but also determines a set of optimal rotating rates of MEMS actuators, which can produce a minimum kinetic energy required for attitude control. The proposed approach may be particularly useful for the attitude control of miniature spacecraft.


The possibility of reducing AC losses in superconducting Bi-2223 tapes with the aid of the reversible motion of flux lines is investigated. It was found that the AC loss was reduced by reducing the size of superconducting filaments, and the behavior was explained by the theoretical model of Campbell. To get a sufficient reduction of AC losses at 77.3K from the prediction using the critical state model, it is necessary to reduce the filament thickness below 2.5μm.


BACKGROUND
Several chronic inflammatory disorders, such as rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus, have been linked to an increased risk of cerebrovascular accident (CVA), but the data on polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) remains unclear.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies that reported odds ratio, relative risk, hazard ratio, or standardized incidence ratio comparing the risk of CVA in patients with PMR versus non-PMR controls. Pooled risk ratio and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated using a random-effect, generic inverse variance method of DerSimonian and Laird.

RESULTS
Three retrospective cohort studies and one cross-sectional study were identified and included in the data analysis. We found a significantly elevated CVA risk in patients with PMR, with the pooled risk ratio of 1.87 (95% CI, 1.43-2.43). The statistical heterogeneity was high, with an I2 of 91%.

CONCLUSIONS
Our study demonstrated a statistically significantly increased CVA risk among patients with PMR.


The main goal of the sports clubs is to produce benefit and create the
social values for the society. Furthermore, it has also commercial
dimension that was transformed from the show business aspect of sports
clubs. Therefore, they undertake the role in the world as economic
organizations. One of the most popular sports all around the world is the
soccer (football). By taking into consideration the activities of professional
soccer clubs on and off the field of play, it's getting more important to
manage them as a business organization. Since the soccer clubs are
business organizations they have the similar managerial functions such as
organizing, marketing and financing. Professional soccer clubs also have
some strategic objectives concerning with the efficiency, effectiveness,
competitiveness, and improving the market share. In order to survive and
have the efficient and effective clubs they should measure and manage the
performance of the clubs in different perspectives both on and off the field
of play. A comprehensive approach is convenient to measure the
performance of the clubs. The soccer clubs are liable to fulfill the
expectations of a wide variety of stakeholder groups like fans, players,
employees and staff, sponsors, suppliers, shareholders, broadcasters, sport
media, local environment, soccer association, government, and legal
authorities. In order to satisfy the needs and expectations of the
stakeholders, soccer clubs should set up a multidimensional performance
management system which concerns all perspectives. By bringing a
comprehensive system to performance measurement and management,
the balanced scorecard provides an integrated framework that can help
the clubs to evaluate the financial and non-financial activities. This study
reviews the management structures, business functions and the
operations of the soccer clubs and the performance measurement systems
used by them. In the study we develop a Balanced Scorecard model for
soccer clubs. A classical balanced scorecard has four perspectives:financial, costumer, internal process and learning and growth. In the
Soccer Balanced Scorecard we will use the following four perspectives:
financial sustainability perspective, fans perspective, internal process
perspective, and infrastructure perspective. We analyze the performance
management systems of the soccer clubs by classifying them base on their
strategic priorities since the strategic objectives of the giants and the
middle level teams are different. In the study after developing the
perspectives of the soccer balanced scorecard we defined strategic
objectives, performance measures relating to these objectives,
performance targets for each measure and initiatives. In the study, it is
suggested that if soccer clubs use the balanced scorecard as a strategic
performance management tool it may help them to be strategy focused
and may better serve their missions.
Keywords: Soccer Clubs, Performance Measurement and Management,
Balanced Scorecard


Background: Diabetes melitus (DM) is a multisystem metabolic disease due to abnormal insulin secretion, work and insulin function, or both. Abnormalities in the secretion or work of insulin cause abnormalities in the metabolism of carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Phytochemical test of duku seeds showed that all extract fractions contained flavonoids and terpenoids, whereas acetone and residual fractions contained alkaloids and saponins. Most plants that contain bioactive compounds such as flavonoids, saponoid, saponins and triterpenoids have antioxidant activity and other mechanisms as substances that have the potential to cause hypoglycemic effects. The goal of this research was to determine the effecacy of duku seed extract (Lansium domesticum Corr) on decreasing HbA1c levels.

Method: In vivo, pre-and post-test design has been conduction at Animal House Faculty of Medicine, Sriwijaya University from April 2019 to June 2019. Twenty-four white rat weighing between 150-200g, divided into 4 groups. Rat were acclimated for 7 days, after acclimation rats were induced with alloxan 160 mg / kg intraperitoneally. The first, second, third group were given duku seed extract 50, 100, and 150 mg / kg of duku seed extract, and the fourth group was given glimepiride 0.018ng / kg / day. All treatments were given orally for one week. The data obtained were analyzed by normality test, paired t test, ANOVA, and Post Hoc test by using STATA.

Results: The rat were homogen on weight and HbA1C. Treatment of 50 and 100 mg / kg duku seed extract in rats showed a significant difference (p = 0.05) on day 7. Blood HbA1C levels decreased by 14.87% in duku extract 50mg / kgBB, while in seed extract 100 mg / kg body weight HbA1C levels reduced by 9.45%.
Conclusion: The administration of duku seed extract (Lansium domesticum) in diabetic rats can reduce blood HbA1C levels.

Keywords: Duku seeds (L.Domesticum), alloxan, HbA1C, Diabetes melitus, in vivo


Prepared by the Highway Innovative Technology Evaluation Center (HITEC), a CERF/IIEC Innovation Center. This report describes a HITEC evaluation designed to determine the basic capabilities and limitations of the INTER-LOK System for use as a technically viable, precast mechanically stabilized earth retaining wall system. The evaluation was conducted based on design, construction, performance, and quality assurance information outlined in the HITEC Protocol. The INTER-LOK System features a cross-shaped, segmental precast concrete facing panel connected to metallic rebar and anchor plate type of soil reinforcement attached to the facing panels by a keyplate that interlocks with the facing panels.


The rapid proliferation of wireless ad-hoc networks and mobile computing applications has changed the landscape of network security. In this paper, we use hybrid approach that have both misuse and anomaly intrusion detection system using cross feature analysis for obtaining the trained data and test data from the trace file and to model the intrusion detection pattern. Apart from detection based on trace data, we proposed an innovative technique which operates through the implementation of battery consumption based detection on wireless ad-hoc networks by correlating attacks with their impact on device power consumption on the fly. The proposed system monitors power behavior to detect potential intrusions by noting irregularities of power consumption. This proposed and implemented work of the IDS using Network Simulator (NS-2) has achieved high detection rate and low false positive rate.


The topic of athlete nutrition has been discussed amongst competitors, coaches, and nutrition professionals since the dawn of the Modern Olympic Movement in 1896 and has led to many strategies to help athletes compete at a higher level. Endurance athletes have been studied around the world. However, studies conducted with elite distance runners at altitude have focused mainly on male athletes in Kenya or Ethiopia. Despite the efforts of researchers over the years in the area of athlete nutrition there has been little research that specifically focuses on elite female distance runners and little evidence is available about the dietary habits and beliefs of these athletes. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify the macronutrient and fluid intakes of female distance runners and to determine if current fad diets and specific athletic events impact their eating habits. Seven female elite distance runners (six of European and one of Asian descent) training at altitude completed the study. Their specific events ranged from the 5-K to ultra-marathon. The athletes entered their food, fluid and physical activity for six weeks and submitted a report weekly to the researcher. The data was entered by the researcher into myfitnesspal.com which tabulated the data. The results recorded into Excel spreadsheets for each athlete. At the end of the six weeks, all data was compiled to get a total intake for each athlete and the group as a whole. Mean, minimums, maximums, and standard deviations were used for data analysis. At the end of the six weeks, a telephone interview was conducted with each athlete to determine their eating habits, attitudes towards food, how others impacted their eating and if they were following a fad diet and why. Results indicated that these athletes reported lower mean carbohydrate (51±19.4% of calories) and higher protein (19±6% of calories) intake than is recommended per the Joint Statement of the ADA, DC and ACSM (2009). Fat and fluid consumption were adequate, but overall calories taken in were a little lower than calories expended. The athletes avoided soy, high fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, dairy, and fried foods and focused on eating more fruits and vegetables. Five of the seven athletes were following a gluten free diet because they felt it gave them a competitive edge, increased performance, and reduced GI distress. Based on the results of this study, coaches and athletes should focus on perceived exertion in workouts, macronutrient amounts and overall calories to ensure the athlete is able to compete at a high level.


This paper presents an optimization-based approach to the design of asymmetrical filter structures having the maximum number of return- or insertion-loss ripples in the passband such as those based upon Chebyshev function prototypes. The proposed approach has the following advantages over the general purpose optimization techniques adopted previously such as: less frequency sampling is required, optimization is carried out with respect to the Chebyshev (or minimax) criterion, the problem of local minima does not arise, and optimization is usually only required for the passband. When implemented around an accurate circuit simulation, the method can be used to include all the effects of discontinuities, junctions, fringing, etc. to reduce the amount of tuning required in the final filter. The design of asymmetrical ridged-waveguide bandpass filters is considered as an example. Measurements on a fabricated filter confirm the accuracy of the design procedure.


Self-supervised learning (SSL) algorithms can produce useful image representations by learning to associate different parts of natural images with one another. However, when taken to the extreme, SSL models can unintendedly memorize specific parts in individual training samples rather than learning semantically meaningful associations. In this work, we perform a systematic study of the unintended memorization of image-specific information in SSL models -- which we refer to as d\'ej\`a vu memorization. Concretely, we show that given the trained model and a crop of a training image containing only the background (e.g., water, sky, grass), it is possible to infer the foreground object with high accuracy or even visually reconstruct it. Furthermore, we show that d\'ej\`a vu memorization is common to different SSL algorithms, is exacerbated by certain design choices, and cannot be detected by conventional techniques for evaluating representation quality. Our study of d\'ej\`a vu memorization reveals previously unknown privacy risks in SSL models, as well as suggests potential practical mitigation strategies. Code is available at https://github.com/facebookresearch/DejaVu.


As a result of increased accuracy of staging and decreased patient morbidity, lymphatic mapping and sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy for breast cancer has enjoyed a rapid acceptance into clinical practice. Despite the use of lymphatic mapping techniques to obtain nodal staging information, many controversies remain. We have attempted to highlight the major controversies in this report.


Aspergillus fumigatus is commonly associated with allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis in patients with severe asthma in which chronic airway neutrophilia predicts a poor outcome. We were able to recapitulate fungus-induced neutrophilic airway inflammation in a mouse model in our efforts to understand the underlying mechanisms. However, neutrophilia occurred in a mouse strain-selective fashion, providing us with an opportunity to perform a comparative study to elucidate the mechanisms involved. Here we show that TNF-α, largely produced by Ly6c+CD11b+ dendritic cells (DCs), plays a central role in promoting IL-17A from CD4+ T cells and collaborating with it to induce airway neutrophilia. Compared with C57BL/6 mice, BALB/c mice displayed significantly more TNF-α–producing DCs and macrophages in the lung. Lung TNF-α levels were drastically reduced in CD11c-DTR BALB/c mice depleted of CD11c+ cells, and TNF-α–producing Ly6c+CD11b+ cells were abolished in Dectin-1−/− and MyD88−/− BALB/c mice. TNF-α deficiency itself blunted accumulation of inflammatory Ly6c+CD11b+ DCs. Also, lack of TNF-α decreased IL-17A but promoted IL-5 levels, switching inflammation from a neutrophil to eosinophil bias resembling that in C57BL/6 mice. The TNF-αlow DCs in C57BL/6 mice contained more NF-κB p50 homodimers, which are strong repressors of TNF-α transcription. Functionally, collaboration between TNF-α and IL-17A triggered significantly higher levels of the neutrophil chemoattractants keratinocyte cytokine and macrophage inflammatory protein 2 in BALB/c mice. Our study identifies TNF-α as a molecular switch that orchestrates a sequence of events in DCs and CD4 T cells that promote neutrophilic airway inflammation.


One of the most important factors affecting photosynthesis and metabolism is light absorbance by leaves and penetration through the canopy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of planting density and tree development stages on photosynthetic activity, photosynthetic pigments, and carbohydrates in apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) trees in a combined way. The apple tree, Auksis, was grafted on dwarfing rootstock P 22. Space between rows was 3 m, trees were planted in 2001 in four distances: 0.25 m, 0.50 m, 0.75 m, and 1.00 m. Measurements and leaf samples were taken in the end of May (leaves fully expanded BBCH 20–25), in the middle of July (beginning of apple maturity BBCH 73–75) and at the end of August (harvest time BBCH 87–88) according BBCH—growth stages. Photosynthetic rate was significantly the lowest in the spring and tended to rise until fruit ripening, when it increased up to 19.4% compared to spring. Significantly the highest chlorophyll b and carotene α and β contents were found at the BBCH 73–75. The lowest levels of fructose and sorbitol in leaves were found at BBCH 73–75. The amount of starch accumulated in the leaves increased three times in summer compared to spring. Reduced distance between trees to four times (from 1 m to 0.25 m) showed clear competitive stress, as the decrease of photosynthetic rate (up to 36.4–38.6%) and total starch (up to 37–53%) was observed. The photosynthetic behaviour of apple trees was significantly affected by the development stage during the particular season which is related with physiological changes of metabolites transport and their distribution during fruit ripening and leaf senescence.


A modified time-domain least-squares (MTLS) finite impulse response filter design method for transforming musical notes is introduced. The method is based on a new criterion called total harmonic gain to noise ratio (THGNR) in addition to the least-squares criterion. The THGNR criterion aims to reduce the noise gain of the filter. Compared to the time-domain least-squares finite impulse response filter design method, the MTLS offers a better solution, which has low noise gain and small time-domain distortion.


The power of industrial systems that see, sense, move, and cut parts increased last year, and better systems emerged for controlling manufacturing processes and communicating with other systems. Powerful manufacturing software was also under development to let designers `make' and `test' new parts on a computer screen rather than by trial and error during manufacturing. Specific developments examined are the miniaturization of programmable controllers; the emerging need for a tenfold jump in the resolution of vision systems; the increased use on the production floor of computers, which have been developed to withstand unfavorable operating conditions and abuse; the introduction of local area networks consistent with the Manufacturing Automation Protocol, for communication among programmable controllers and other data processing systems; advanced sensors; and software that simulates the manufacturing process, allowing designs to be tested before they are produced.


Correlated selection responses in lactation mean somatic cell score (LSCS) were estimated for groups of cows selected for high protein yield and low mastitis frequency, respectively. Selection for increased milk production resulted in an unfavorable correlated response for LSCS, whereas direct selection against clinical mastitis resulted in a favorable correlated selection response. After 6 cow generations, the genetic difference between the high protein yield group and the low mastitis group was 0.3 units LSCS, equivalent to a difference in somatic cell count of approximately 15,000, assuming deviations from a population mean LSCS of 4.1.


Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) causes a lethal tick-borne zoonotic disease with severe clinical manifestation in humans but does not produce symptomatic disease in wild or domestic animals. The factors contributing to differential outcomes of infection between species are not yet understood. Since CCHFV is known to have tropism to kidney tissue and cattle play an important role as an amplifying host for CCHFV, in this study, we assessed in vitro cell susceptibility to CCHFV infection in immortalized and primary kidney and adrenal gland cell lines of human and bovine origin. Based on our indirect fluorescent focus assay (IFFA), we suggest a cell-to-cell CCHF viral spread process in bovine kidney cells but not in human cells. Over the course of seven days post-infection (dpi), infected bovine kidney cells are found in restricted islet-like areas. In contrast, three dpi infected human kidney or adrenal cells were noted in areas distant from one another yet progressed to up to 100% infection of the monolayer. Pronounced CCHFV replication, measured by quantitative real-time RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) of both intra- and extracellular viral RNA, was documented only in human kidney cells, supporting restrictive infection in cells of bovine origin. To further investigate the differences, lactate dehydrogenase activity and cytopathic effects were measured at different time points in all mentioned cells. In vitro assays indicated that CCHFV infection affects human and bovine kidney cells differently, where human cell lines seem to be markedly permissive. This is the initial reporting of CCHFV susceptibility and replication patterns in bovine cells and the first report to compare human and animal cell permissiveness in vitro. Further investigations will help to understand the impact of different cell types of various origins on the virus–host interaction.


Arsenic mobilisation from anthropogenic sources can have a significant impact on water resources andpose a serious concern to human health. Therefore, the objectives of this investigation were to determinethe levels of arsenic contamination in water resources and evaluate the associated human health risks tothe local residents from a mining environment in Fiji. Concentrations of arsenic were determined at fifteensampling stations located at Dakavono Creek, Lololevu Creek and Nasivi River in the Vatukoula GoldmineRegion over a period of time. Arsenic levels in the water resources ranged from 0.87-43.03 μg l-1, whereby20% of the samples exceeded the drinking water guideline set by the World Health Organisation (10 μg l-1).Concentrations of arsenic did not show significant temporal variations (ANOVA, p > 0.05) however,significant variation (ANOVA, p < 0.05) were observed between the sampling stations. The data werefurther used to assess the health risks of the water for drinking and recreational use. The use of the waterfor drinking (ingestion pathway) and recreational purposes (dermal pathway) showed high non-carcinogenic(hazard index > 1) and carcinogenic (cancer risk > 10-4) health risks with respect to arsenic exposure atseveral sampling stations, particularly in children. Overall, the carcinogenic risk from arsenic exposurethrough the ingestion pathway was much greater than that of dermal pathway for the inhabitants in thestudy area. These findings could assist with the formulation of necessary policies in order to ensure thelong-term management of water resources and mitigate health risks for inhabitants in mining locations ofFiji.


The constitutional courts play a paramount role within the European judicial area and form a specific branch of the judicial network, including the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and the European Court of Human Rights. Within the European Union (EU) with its specific compound structure, in which national legal orders and Union law reciprocally influence, complement, determine and affect each other, national constitutional courts and the CJEU are not only assigned with the common task to enforce EU law, but also to preserve its limits, first and foremost the principle of conferral and the constitutional identities of the Member States. The respect for these limits is an essential prerequisite for the Member State's participation in the EU and repeatedly enshrined in the Treaties. In order to be able to fulfil this common tasks all sides need to engage in sincere cooperation and a dialectic process, the potential of which must not be curtailed by hierarchical perceptions.Whereas the national (constitutional) courts are obliged to respect the CJEU's authority to ultimately decide on the interpretation of EU law in principle, it is the CJEU's obligation to take their referrals seriously and thoroughly adress concerns brought forward. The constitutional courts of the Member States are assigned with the constitutional responsibility to accompany the process of European integration in order to ensure that sovereign rights are only transferred in line with the respective provisions as well as that the excercise of competences respects the limits laid down in the Treaties and does not interfere with the constitutional identities of theMember States. It is of course again for the CJEU to review whether EU institutions, bodies, offices, and agencies act within their mandate in the first place including a quite large tolerance for different interpretations. To the extend the CJEU, however, fails to assume this responsibility, it is for the constitutional courts of the Member States to step in. The desirable success of the European integration largely depends on an orderly, sustainable and generally accepted process in the long run to which the network of constitutional courts can make a decisive contribution, provided it is designed and lived as a true cooperation among equals. In this regard it is not only necessary to intensify the joint efforts, but also to evaluate possibilities to enhance the involvement of the national courts, in particular the establishment of a reverse preliminary ruling procedure.
duty to give reasons, administrative measure, participation, administrative procedure


Summary The restoration of native forests is an important priority for forestry and conservation organizations in the United Kingdom. The economic case for public sector support for native woodland restoration in the United Kingdom rests almost entirely on the provision of non-market benefits related to wildlife, landscape and recreational opportunities. This paper describes a discrete choice contingent valuation (CV) to estimate the value of the non-market benefits of restoring two native pinewood forests in Affric and Strathspey. If only the willingness to pay (WTP) of those who supported the restoration plan was considered, the average benefit estimate per household was £35 for Affric and £53 for Strathspey. When the compensation required by a small proportion of respondents who preferred the! current moorland landscape, was estimated mean WTP was unchanged for Affric, but fell to £24 for Strathspey. The study highlights the need to take account of non-market benefits and costs when evaluating land use change, otherwise benefits may be overestimated and there is a possibility that the wrong projects will be selected. The sensitivity of CV values to the scope of the environmental change are also investigated and the issue of embedding discussed.


The blueberry (Vaccinium ashei Read) pruning system currently used is based on studies performed at edaphoclimatic conditions different of our reality. Thus, it was assessed the effects of different fructifi cation pruning intensities on production and fruit quality of two blueberry genotypes. The trial was performed in a commercial orchard in Pelotas – RS. The experimental design was a complete randomized block, in a factorial design (2x4) with four replications. Seven year old plant of Rabbiteye group, cultivars 'Briteblue' e 'Woodard', were undergone to the pruning intensities light, moderate drastic and no pruning (control) during the winter of 2010 and 2011 (fi rst two weeks of august). The parameters assessed were average plant yield, estimated yield per area, fruit fresh weight, fruit diameter, soluble solids, pH and titratable acidity. According to the results, pruning intensity affects harvest anticipation. As the pruning intensity increased, there was a trend of increased fruit size. The productivity of Briteblue blueberries decreases as pruning intensity increases. Briteblue are more productive and show greater fresh fruit weight than Woodard


A wide range of bio-imaging methods have evolved using ultrafast lasers, including numerous variants on multiphoton fluorescence excitation microscopy (MPE) and other types of non-linear optical effects. Laser manufacturers have supported these cutting edge imaging techniques with a variety of new laser tools and accessories. This article reviews recent developments in ultrafast lasers and examines some research that exploits their performance.


This experiment was conducted to investigate the herbicidal activity of naturally developed d-Limonene on the control of Sicyos angulatus L. which is destructive to biodiversity and ecosystem under greenhouse and open field condition. Among the tested concentrations, most efficacy of early foliar application(leaf stage with 1.5 and 3) of d-Limonene was found in 70 mg mL-1, followed by 35 mg mL-1, 17.5 mg mL-1 in that order under greenhouse condition. The higher the d-Limonene concentration, the better the effect in greenhouse condition. In leaf stage with 2, 3 and 5 under open field condition, the higher the d-Limonene concentrations, the higher the weeding effect. The remarkable effect was, particularly, found in d-Limonene with 70 mg mL-1 while little was found in the plants with d-Limonene with 35 mg mL-1. In the case of 15 leaf stage of S. angulatus L. treated with d-Limonene under outside treatment effect was low. The treatment effect of d-Limonene under open field compared with greenhouse condition was more significant. It can be recommended that d-Limonene with 70 mg mL-1 could control S. angulatus L. by 5 leaf stage.


This paper presents the design, development, and evaluation of PuzzleMesh, an agnostic service mesh composition model to process large volumes of data in edge-fog-cloud environments. This model is based on a puzzle metaphor where pieces, puzzles, and metapuzzles represent self-contained autonomous and reusable software artifacts encapsulated into containers and published as microservices. A piece represents the integration of apps with I/O interfaces (loops/sockets), parallel processing, and management software. A puzzle represents a processing structure (e.g., workflows) built coupling pieces through loops and sockets. Puzzles integrate structures with a microservice architecture, implicit continuous dataflows, and transparent data exchange management software. A metapuzzle represents a recursive assemble of puzzles. A mesh represents a pool of pieces, puzzles, and metapuzzles available for designers to choose artifacts to build services. A prototype developed using PuzzleMesh model was evaluated through case studies about the automatic construction of processing services for the acquisition, pre-processing, manufacturing, preserving, and visualizing of satellite imagery. A qualitative comparison revealed that PuzzleMesh provides a flexible way to build reusable and portable services and to improve the usability of the services. The case study also revealed that PuzzleMesh yielded better performance results than other state-of-the-art tools.


This paper proposes a high-efficiency 3-kW hybrid ESS with emergency power supply. The proposed system enables efficient use of power from photovoltaic (PV) cells and energy storage system (ESS). The proposed system can operate as an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) when grid fault occurs, providing seamless transfer from grid-connected mode to stand-alone mode. The LLC converter for PV achieves ZVS turn-on of switches and ZCS turn-off of diodes, and the isolated bidirectional DC-DC converter for ESS achieves ZCS turn-off regardless of load condition, resulting in high efficiency. The efficiency and performance of the proposed hybrid ESS has been verified by a 3-kW prototype.


Business network dynamics and change in business networks are most often discussed from the perspective of a focal business relationship and business relationships, for example customers and/or suppliers, connected to the focal dyad. This type of studies focus on how one relationship influences another directly connected relationship. Most often the indirectly connected business relationships, such as customers' customers, are not considered. This means that we still know very little about how change spreads further in business networks. The purpose of this paper is to elaborate further on the spread of change in business networks by focusing on the process following the ending of a business relationship. For understanding this process of change in business networks we propose a framework that is inspired from the study of earthquakes in seismology, here called "netquakes" (Dahlin, Havila & Thilenius, 2004). When enough "stress" is involved in the relationship it needs to be released. In some situations this "stress" leads to termination of the business relationship. This, in turn, could start a netquake process in the surrounding business network. The strength of the netquake process can be observed through the effects of the ending business relationship in the connected relationships. The higher the effect in the business network the stronger the netquake. The ending of the business relationship, in turn, "releases energy" into the business network causing uncertainty that can be observed by the effects in the business network. The ending of some business relationships "shake the ground" far away from the ending business relationship, whereas some business relationships end without any effect on the surrounding business network. We illustrate our discussion on the different types of netquake processes by three empirical examples.


The impact of an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) event, such as an acute myocardial infarction (MI), is not limited to the acute management phase; patients face an elevated risk of residual atherothrombotic events that commonly requires chronic management for months or even years. Significant advances have been made in both the acute and chronic management of patients with acute MI over the past decade, resulting in improved prognoses. One of the hallmarks of modern treatment strategies is more aggressive antiplatelet treatment regimens. However, the risks of further ACS events, stroke and premature death remain elevated in these patients, and addressing this residual risk is challenging owing to interpatient variability, differences in management strategies between centres and countries, incomplete understanding of the specific pathophysiology of post‐ACS thrombosis and limitations of current therapeutic approaches. The recent approval in Europe of the direct oral anticoagulant rivaroxaban for use in this setting in combination with clopidogrel and acetylsalicylic acid offers another strategy to consider in the management of these patients, and clinical strategies in this area continue to evolve. In this review, we chart the progress made over the past decade in reducing the burden of secondary thromboembolic events after acute MI and discuss the current position of and future perspectives on the inclusion of oral anticoagulants into care pathways in this setting.


Win–win outcomes for biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction are the holy grail of integrating conservation and development and are rarely met. Domestication of valued local species and introduction of high valued crops can help prevent depletion of wild resources. We compared three commodities from the forest–agroforestry interface of the East Usambara Mountains in Tanzania at different stages of domestication: (a) Allanblackia stuhlmannii, a local tree with valuable edible kernel oil; (b) butterflies, with an international market chain for pupae sold to butterfly gardens and (c) cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum), an introduced shade tolerant spice from India with established global markets. Data on production systems, institutional set-up and profitability were collected through focus group discussions, interviews with key individual informants and literature review. Cardamom has become a major support for rural livelihoods, generating 9 million USD for 750 tons of product in the area, or 850 USD per year for 10,600 households. Allanblackia and butterflies generate only 1% of that income for the landscape. For Allanblackia (around 20 USD per year for 5000 households), the transition from a forest product collected from the wild to being an agroforestry commodity is in an early but critical stage, where the slow growth of the trees and inadequate research attention to production systems, as well as modest farm gate price, currently limit farmer interest but are the focus of ongoing research. Butterflies (approximately 200 USD per year for 350 households) have had the fastest domestication pathway, with continuous innovation into new products and use, linked to international markets. There is gender-sensitive integration with household tasks and compatibility with homegarden agroforestry systems, while due attention is given to institutional arrangements of its local business scheme. Cardamom's economic success has made it a 'villain' to forests conservation, as forest transformation to cardamom agroforestry retains only half of the forest trees, and is a step towards further change. Differences in institutional settings of these three domestication pathways relate to their potential to reconcile biodiversity and livelihood concerns and suggest that a socio-ecological system approach to domestication is a prerequisite for a biological–technical one to achieve societal goals.


In this work, we consider the problem of self-supervised Moving Object Detection (MOD) in video, where no ground truth is involved in both training and inference phases. Recently, an adversarial learning framework is proposed [32] to leverage inherent temporal information for MOD. While showing great promising results, it uses single scale temporal information and may meet problems when dealing with a deformable object under multi-scale motion in different parts. Additional challenges can arise from the moving camera, which results in the failure of the motion independence hypothesis and locally independent background motion. To deal with these problems, we propose a Multimotion and Appearance Self-supervised Network (MASNet) to introduce multi-scale motion information and appearance information of scene for MOD. In particular, a moving object, especially the deformable, usually consists of moving regions at various temporal scales. Introducing multiscale motion can aggregate these regions to form a more complete detection. Appearance information can serve as another cue for MOD when the motion independence is not reliable and for removing false detection in background caused by locally independent background motion. To encode multi-scale motion and appearance, in MASNet we respectively design a multi-branch flow encoding module and an image inpainter module. The proposed modules and MASNet are extensively evaluated on the DAVIS dataset to demonstrate the effectiveness and superiority to state-of-the-art self-supervised methods.


: As critical language pedagogies are being implemented in heritage language (HL) settings, there is an increasing need to examine the impact of critical approaches in Spanish HL speakers. The present study examines how the development of HL learners' critical language awareness (CLA) influences ethnic identity formation in a university-level course that adopts a critical approach to HL instruction. As part of the curricular content, a CLA instructional intervention, consisting of a 4-week unit (10 h), was implemented. First, to measure ethnic identity, at the beginning (pre) and at the end of the semester (post), students completed the Ethnic Identity Scale (EIS) and provided comments with their answers. Additionally, in order to examine CLA development before and after the intervention, participants completed an existing questionnaire, which addresses topics such as language variation, language ideologies, and bilingualism. Overall, the results show that students' CLA levels increased from "somewhat high" to "high". Furthermore, participants reported different ethnic–racial identity statuses, which moved toward ethnic identity achievement. Higher CLA levels were associated with an achieved positive status. These findings can contribute to a better understanding of the link between students' CLA and ethnic identity in HL educational settings, where a critical language pedagogy is applied.


Capacitance-Voltage (C- V) measurements are an established method for determining the bulk dopant concentration Nbulk of semiconductor devices. The extraction of Nbulk requires knowledge of the surface area of the space-charge region (SCR). For textured solar cells, this surface area is enlarged, depending on texture and bias voltage. The amount of enlargement is a priori unknown, and there is no simple way of measuring directly it. In this paper, models that were previously proposed in the literature are employed to describe the SCR area. Substantial deficiencies in these models are revealed by comparison with a 3-D numerical simulation of the SCR geometry used as a benchmark. This approach leads to the development of a new analytical model that can properly describe the bias-voltage dependence of the surface area enlargement. C-V measurements over a large bias-voltage range are performed on various solar cells with different textures and resistivities. The new analytical model is employed to correct the measurement data for the influence of surface area enlargement. Thus, Nbulk can be extracted without explicit knowledge of the enlargement. Comparison with four-point probe measurements shows excellent agreement, demonstrating the power of the new method to enable the C-V technique for use in Nbulk determination for textured solar cells.


Every year,1.8 billion tonnes of climate changing greenhouse gas emmissions are released by the degradation and burning of Indonesia's peatlands, four percents of global greenhouse gas emmissions from less than 0.1 percent of the land on earth. Research show how,through growing demand for palm oil, the world's largest food,cosmetic and biofuel industries are driving the wholesale destruction of peatlands and rainforests. Overlaying satellite imagery of forest fires with maps indicating the locations of the densest carbon stores.Statament of research have been able to pinpoint carbon ‗hotspots'.Indonesian province of Riau on the island of Sumatra,to document the current activities of those involved in the expansion of palm oil.The area of peatland in Riau is tiny,just four million hectares,about the size of Taiwan.Yet Riau's peatlands store 14.6 billion tonnes of carbon,if these peatlands were destroyed,the resulting greenhouse gas emmissions would be equivalent to one year's total global emmissions.Growing concerns regarding global warming and the impact of carbon emmissions on the environment have resulted in several initiatives on emmissions control which will encourage the use of renewable fuels and energy,Those represents tremendous opportunities for oilseed growers and processors. Research Methods for Climate Change a brand popular marketing opportunity for palm oil with qualitative research so that focus carbon trading as an implications global warming,stocks carbon which fluctuation climate change including sun temperature,water precipitation and relative humidity. The idea of producing endless efforts supply chain management of inexpensive and climate friendly fuel from what sprouts from soil seems almost too good to be true for a world worried about global warming,yet keen not to change its life style aspirations or the efficiency of its vehicles, and it is too good to be true,just look at the volume involved.


ABSTRACT Liu Y.Q.; Zhang X., and Wu Q.Y., 2018. Effects of Landscape Pattern Change on Non-point Source Pollution in Coastal Zone. In: Shim, J.-S.; Chun, I., and Lim, H.S. (eds.), Proceedings from the International Coastal Symposium (ICS) 2018 (Busan, Republic of Korea). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 85, pp. 756–760. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. The coastal zone is characterized by the concentration of human activities, the change of environment, and the ecological environment is vulnerable to the disturbance of human and natural factors. Since the coastal zone is the terminus of the inland water system, contaminants accumulate in the landscape space and eventually converge along the water in the coastal zone. Under the premise that point source pollution is gradually controlled, the problem of non-point source pollution is becoming more and more serious with the development of human activities. The change of landscape pattern is an important aspect in the study of non-point source pollution, and the temporal and spatial complexity of the landscape pattern of coastal zone will affect the generation and transmission of non-point source pollution. With the help of remote sensing and GIS spatial analysis technology, this paper aims to study the influence of landscape pattern changes on the non-point source pollution of coastal zone by using the data of long-term landscape pattern and non-point source pollution monitoring. Based on the analysis of the differences of the non-point source pollution in different landscape patterns, the results provide a reference for optimizing the landscape pattern and improving the ecological environment quality of the coastal zone.


Human-computer interaction in intelligent space is more complex and requires higher design principles. Gesture is an important interactive modal because of its natural and nonconflicting feature. The gesture interaction patterns of various devices fall into four types, i.e. barehanded/auxiliary touch/touchless mode. Gesture interaction meeting the demand of intelligent space should satisfy several development requirements, including multi-device collaboration, user-centered interaction and task-oriented design, each of which will be elaborated on.


OBJECTIVE
To ascertain whether patients at discharge from a municipal teaching hospital knew their discharge diagnoses, treatment plan (names and purpose of their medications), and common side effects of prescribed medications.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
From July to October 1999, we surveyed 47 consecutive patients at discharge from the medical service of a municipal teaching hospital in New York City (Brooklyn, NY). Patients were asked to state either the trade or the generic name(s) of their medication(s), their purpose, and the major side effect(s), as well as their discharge diagnoses. Patients were excluded if they were not oriented to person, place, and time, were unaware of the circumstances surrounding their admission to the hospital, and/or did not speak or understand English.

RESULTS
Of the 47 patients surveyed, 4 were excluded. Of the remaining 43 patients, 12 (27.9%) were able to list all their medications, 16 (37.2%) were able to recount the purpose of all their medications, 6 (14.0%) were able to state the common side effect(s) of all their medications, and 18 (41.9%) were able to state their diagnosis or diagnoses. The mean number of medications prescribed at discharge was 3.89.

CONCLUSIONS
Less than half of our study patients were able to list their diagnoses, the name(s) of their medication(s), their purpose, or the major side effect(s). Lacking awareness of these factors affects a patient's ability to comply fully with discharge treatment plans. Whether lack of communication between physician and patient is actually the cause of patient unawareness of discharge Instructions or if this even affects patient outcome requires further study.


Within IS outsourcing research there is an ongoing discussion whether formal contracts and relational norms function as substitutes or as complements to each other. However, even those deals which are based on relational norms usually comprise a contract as their foundation. We therefore aim at analyzing differences in contracting between both governance modes (i.e. contract-based or based on relational norms) and exploring their impact on outsourcing satisfaction. Based on a survey with 335 Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) deals in the German banking industry we show that clauses on problem resolution are most important in BPO contract design. Furthermore, we find that deals focusing on formal governance put a lot of emphasis on the design of Service Level Agreements (SLAs) whereas deals focusing on relational governance pay special attention to the unambiguousness of outsourcing objectives.


Background and Aims: Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery significantly improves glucose metabolism independently of surgery-induced weight loss; partly due to the increased postprandial secretion of the insulinotropic gut hormone glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1). Mouse studies have shown that intestinally derived ketone bodies inhibit GLP-1 secretion from enteroendocrine L cells, and it was recently suggested that RYGB-induced downregulation of intestinal ketogenesis contributes to the increased GLP-1 secretion after RYGB. We investigated the intestinal expression of genes involved in ketogenesis and postprandial plasma GLP-1 responses before and after RYGB. Materials and Methods: Twenty obese individuals underwent mixed meal tests and anterograde enteroscopy with gut mucosal biopsy retrieval before and 3 months after RYGB. A global gene expression analysis was performed on the mucosal biopsies. Here, we report the expression of genes involved in ketogenesis and postprandial plasma GLP-1 responses. Results: We observed a significant 7.6-fold downregulation of the gene encoding 3-hydroxy-3- methylglutaryl-CoA synthase 2 (HMGCS2) (the rate-determining enzyme in ketogenesis) in the alimentary limb after RYGB. The proglucagon gene encoding GLP-1 was significantly upregulated after surgery and postprandial plasma GLP-1 responses increased significantly after RYGB. Conclusions: RYGB-induced downregulation of intestinal HMGCS2 gene expression in obese individuals may indicate reduced intestinal ketogenesis; supporting the notion (originating from animal studies) that reduced ketone body-mediated inhibition of L cells constitute a contributor to postprandial hypersecretion of GLP-1 after RYGB. Disclosure C. Legart: None. T. Jorsal: None. C.A. Hagemann: Employee; Self; Gubra. D. Worm: None. C.B. Juhl: None. A.R. Andries: None. C. Zhang: Employee; Self; Gubra. N. Vrang: Board Member; Self; Gubra. Employee; Self; Gubra. Stock/Shareholder; Self; Gubra. K. Rigbolt: Employee; Self; Gubra. J. Jelsing: Board Member; Self; Gubra. Stock/Shareholder; Self; Gubra. T. Vilsboll: Advisory Panel; Self; AstraZeneca, Mundipharma International, Novo Nordisk A/S, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. Consultant; Self; Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Lilly Diabetes, Medscape, Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., Sanofi. F.K. Knop: Advisory Panel; Self; AstraZeneca, Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., Mundipharma International, Novo Nordisk A/S, Sanofi. Consultant; Self; Carmot Therapeutics, Inc., Eli Lilly and Company, Novo Nordisk A/S. Research Support; Self; AstraZeneca, Gubra, Novo Nordisk A/S, Sanofi, Zealand Pharma A/S. Speaker's Bureau; Self; AstraZeneca, Lupin Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., Norgine B.V., Novo Nordisk A/S.


The elderly is at bigger risk for getting COVID-19 virus, and a particularly vulnerable group are people placed in homes for the elderly and frail. The aims of the study were: (1) to examine differences in the respondent's experiences of social isolation, loneliness and perception of social support, (2) to examine correlations between the dimensions of social isolation and the experience of social support with the experience of loneliness, and (3) to examine whether dimensions of social isolation and perceived social support are risky psychosocial significant predictors of loneliness. The cross-sectional study was conducted on 98 participants from three nursing homes in Croatia, EU. It used Social Provision Scale, the shortform Loneliness Scale and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. The results indicate that people who are single are lonelier, and if they do not have descendants are less likely to contact their family and at the same time they report a weaker social support experience. Loneliness is a statistically positive thing with a social provision dimension, information availability, and a significant negative correlation with the experience of social support. The dimensions of social provision, access to information and perceptions of social support contribute to the experience of loneliness. The constant exposure to negative information about the pandemic, the insecurity and anxiety of the people who communicate with them, make the users of homes for the elderly and infirm even more vulnerable to the development of loneliness.


Following a 12‑year history of unexplained primary infertility, a couple achieved a spontaneous quadruplet pregnancy by natural conception. The pregnancy was complicated by pregnancy‑induced hypertension. She had an elective caesarean section at 37 weeks and was delivered a set of monochorionic tetra‑amniotic quadruplets. The immediate postnatal and early neonatal periods were uneventful. Keywords: Quadruplet pregnancy, spontaneous, term delivery