We have designed a micro flywheel energy storage system in which the flywheel stores electrical energy in terms of kinetic energy and converts this kinetic energy into electrical energy when necessary. The flywheel is supported by two radial permanent magnet passive bearings. Permanent magnet passive bearings use the repulsive forces between two sets of permanent magnets so that contact free rotation is possible. A set of voice coil actuator provides the axial stability, resulting in a complete magnetic levitation. The toroidally-wound BLDC motor which has high efficiency and little additional negative radial stiffness is used for motoring and generation. Micro flywheel energy storage system is optimally designed to have the maximum energy storage capacity. In this paper, we present the design equation for the components in a micro flywheel energy storage system and the optimal design process for these components..


In this paper, we propose an exploratory study about the usefulness of multilingual corpora in areas related to the study of language, translation and, in particular, of simultaneous interpreting. After a brief overview of corpus-based interpreting studies as well as of some existing electronic interpreting corpora, we move on to describe the compilation stages of a bidirectional multimedia corpus (PT--EN/EN--PT). This is followed by an example of how the corpus can be explored, which focuses on the issue of anaphoric relations. The aim of this study if twofold: on the one hand, to convey the relevance of this type of resource as a repository of authentic simultaneous interpreting data; and, on the other hand, to demonstrate that by analysing it from a linguistic perspective it may be possible to identify sensitive areas in simultaneous interpreting (e.g. anaphora), which may prove an important contribution for interpreter training.


The Aims of this research was conducted to evaluate, isolate and identificate of the pineapple peel as source of probiotics bacteria and identified of potentially to be used as supplement for feed of ruminant. The research were divided into three stages. The first stage were done to identification of nutrient and phytochemical contens of pineapple peel, the second stage were to isolation and identification of microbial bacteria from pineapple peel. The third stage were done carried out of the best carrier for microbial life (rice brand, crown, leaf and pineapple peel). Bacterial isolation was performed according to Hadioetomo method (1993). Identification of gene sequence were done PCR. The results ofthe research that in the first stage nutrient content of the pineapple peel there were 3.85% ash; 27.09% crude fiber; 1.15% crude fat; and 8.78% crude protein; 59.13% BETN. The Pineapples peel contained of phytochemicals there were 9 mg beta-carotene, alkoloid, flavonoids, triterpenoids, and phenolic. The results of the second stage of this research show that of the isolation of bacteria presented in the peel of pineapple had five bacterial isolates. The five bacterial isolates were than identified by DNA extracting with conducted molecular PCR. The results squencing showed that the bacterial of  Stenotrophomonas maltophilia strain W8-1 16S rRNA, Bacillus pumilus strain L 1 16S rRNA, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia strain Dh 16S rRNA, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia strain PBBC9 16S rRNA, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia strain PBBC9 16S rRNA. Fifth isolates selected one of them as a potential bacteria as probiotic bacteria is both the bacterial isolate Bacillus Pumilus strain L 1 16S rRNA. The Conclusion that the experiment carried out of Bacillus Pumilus bacteria strain L 1 16S rRNA were suitable to growing in the pH of 6 - 7.5, temperature of 37-50 o C and in the carrier of rice bran. Bacillus Pumilus bacteria strain L 1 16S rRNA gene to be used feed supplements for ruminant. Keywords : Exploration, pineapple peel, probiotic, Supplement


In order to evaluate the statistical significance of an experimental result, it is necessary to have some quantitative estimate of the variability due wholly to errors of measurement. Even though determinations of influenza virus infectivity have long been made using the mouse as a test animal, no detailed analysis of the errors involved has heretofore been carried out. In this paper the results of experiments designed to determine the variation encountered in the measurement of mouse infectivity titers of influenza virus preparations are presented and discussed in detail.


The present study is aim to find out the a beach groundwater induced due to the Wave and Tidal impact in Van island, Gulf of Mannar, Tamilnadu. The Island is located near the away from 5km from Thoothukudi down of NE direction. The study area was studied using 2D ERI (Electrical Resistivity Imaging) study for wave and tidal impact in the Van Island. The electrical method five profiles were used to monitoring the water induced area were observed in the Island. The lithostratigraphical sequence map was prepared from 2D ERI technique. The studies were carried out using resistivity meter, cable, electrodes and Res2DINVsoftware. The electrical method, we find out the geological formation of the study area such as beach sand with shell material and limestone, calcareous sandstone were identified in the Island. The high wave and low tidal activity is creating the clay deposits are enriched in the surrounding region of Island. The following study used to compare the coastal upliftment in neotectonic activity in the gulf of mannar coast were computed with the Island and coastal terrace formation.


Tailgut cysts are rare congenital lesions. They are believed to develop from remnants of the embryonic hindgut. Malignancy in tailgut cyst is extremely unusual. We experienced a case of a carcinoid tumor arising within a tailgut cyst at the presacral space. A 40-year-old woman was admitted for acute anal pain. Digital rectal examination revealed a 2-cm-sized submucosal tumor in the posterior midline rectum 4 cm above the anal verge. On sigmoidoscopic examination, the overlying rectal mucosa seemed to be intact. We performed a transanal incisional biopsy. The pathological diagnosis of the tumor biopsy revealed a malignant neuroendocrine tumor. The patient underwent an abdominoperineal resection. The tumor proved to be mutilocular cysts with a solid component. The cysts were diagnosed as tailgut cysts that were lined by a variety of epithelial types, including inner columnar cells, outer cuboidal cells, and transitional cells. The solid component in the cysts was confirmed as a carcinoid tumor on microscopic examination. Six months after the operation, she was found to have liver and brain metastases.


In this paper, with a new approach, a new fractional HermiteHadamard type inequality for convex functions is obtained by using only the right Riemann-Liouville fractional integral. Also, to have new fractional trapezoid and midpoint type inequalities for the differentiable convex functions, two new equalities are proved. Our results generalize the studies [1, 4, 6]. We expect that this study will be lead to the new fractional integration studies for Hermite-Hadamard type inequalities.


Caenorhabditis elegans is a model organism with well-defined neurophysiological characteristics.  Movement in C. elegans is mediated through concurrent contraction on one side of the body and relaxation on the other at the neuromuscular junction (NMJ).  Contraction and relaxation are mediated through cholinergic and GABAergic signaling respectively.  The goal of the current study was to further elucidate these mechanisms of mobility via exposure to nicotine, an acetylcholine receptor agonist, and toluene, which produces mobility impairment in mice, humans, and C. elegans .  Results confirm that acute 10-minute toluene exposure decreases overall motor responsiveness measured one hour later ( p 0.10). Finally, mobility impairment following acute toluene exposure was reversed with 30 μM nicotine application ( p >0.10). Interestingly, application of 30 μM nicotine alone produced impaired mobility at a level similar to the toluene alone condition and resulted in a significant increase in post-synaptic p unc-49 ::UNC-49::GFP ( p <.05) but no change in presynaptic p unc-47 ::SNB-1::GFP expression.  These results suggest that toluene exposure is acting pre-synaptically to increase GABA signaling and that nicotine exposure causes an up-regulation of GABA-A receptors.  Taken together, these findings support that the mobility impairment following exposure to these two drugs may result from an imbalance between cholinergic and GABAergic signaling.  Current studies aiming to further our understanding of the neurophysiology of C. elegans mobility examine responsiveness, relative mRNA expression and GFP expression following nicotine, toluene, and GABA application.


The field-emission (FE) characteristics were investigated for cone-shaped multi-walled carbonnanotube (MWCNT) bundles fabricated by using an oxygen plasma. Uniformly-distributed coneshaped MWCNT bundles of varying ratios of diameter to height were obtained through control of the ion energy and dose of the irradiating plasma. In addition, the FE properties could be improved by controlling the inter-tip distance to minimize the field-screening effect. Results suggest the possibility of developing a plasma-assisted method for the fabrication of MWCNT-based FE tips.


Dynamic eccentric contraction causes muscle damage consisting of: myofibrills disorganization, Z-lines disruption and cell membrane lesions.
This damage is indirectly evidenced by a massive, delayed (4th-5th day) CK release in the serum. Negative work induces also a clinical condition defined as "Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness" (DaMS), characterized by delayed onset (8-24h) muscle pain, lowering in muscle pain threshold (24-4Bh), swelling of the exerted limb (72h). Stiffness and restricted range of movement in the joints related to the exerted muscles are also described, but the phenomena are less investigasted. The aim of this study was to evaluate the range of knee joint mobility before and after a standardized eccentric effort. Twelve healthy runners, aged 24-35 years, were examined. They performed a step-test (20' duration, 15 cycles/min), to exert the quadriceps femoris muscle of one side eccentrically. The day before the test, all the subjects underwent evaluation of Pressure Pain Threshold (PPT) of the exerted muscle and Passive Joint Mobility (PJM) of the knee. These evaluations were repeated immediately after the test and on the following 6 days; on the same days, the perceived pain was also measured by means of a force-transducer equipped with a 2.5 cm diameter rounded probe and a digital analyser (unit:Kg/f), applied on 12 pre-established spots on the quadriceps muscle surface; the mean of the 12 recordings was taken as, the final threshold value. PJM was measured by means of a manual goniometer on prone subjects; the exerted lower limb was moved from the rest position to the maxmal pain-free flexion; the degree at which the subject felt the minimum discomfort was recorded. Student's "ttest" for paired data was employed for statistical analysis. PPT showed a significant decrease after 24 and 4Bh in the exerted muscle, while pain reached maximum value at the 4Bh measurement. PJM showed a significant reduction 24-72h after the effort. DaMS is a complex phenomena, whose explanation is still unclear; particularly the temporal dissociation between symptoms and signs of muscle damage. The reduction of PJM has been attributed to edema of the connective tissue, due to the eccentric contraction stress. However the maximal thickness of the eccentrically exerted limb is usually found at 72h, while the reduction of PJM starts at 24h. The results of the present study show that the temporal pattern of PJM reduction is fairly similar to that of pain and hyperalgesia. This could suggest a reflex origin of the phenomenon, due to painful symptoms, through a tonic activation of antagonist muscles.


The article analyzes two types of practice involved in medical training - case presentations and the annotation of consultations in medical records - that play a fundamental role in divesting patients of their personal qualities and reconstituting them as an objective body, a set of organs, the site of a lesion and the object of intervention. The ethnographic material presented here is the result of observing case presentations made by students to their tutors in a cardiology outpatient clinic at the University Hospital of UFBA. The article highlights the role of scientific and technological conceptions in this process. It also shows that both the case presentations to tutors (a descriptive and performative type of speech) and the written notes in medical records (a training practice that both shapes speech and reflects it, thereby authorizing the student) are procedures for objectifying the patient that depend on interpretation, although this takes place in surreptitious form.


Fluorescent magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers (FMMIPs) were prepared in a one-pot sol–gel polymerization process using Mn-doped ZnS quantum dots (QDs) as a fluorescent core, N-nitrosodiphenylamine (NDPhA) as a template, (3-aminopropyl) triethoxysilane (APTES) as a functional monomer, and tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) as a cross-linker. These FMMIPs could be used for sensing NDPhA based on their fluorescence quenching. The fluorescence intensity of the FMMIPs decreased as the concentration of NDPhA increased in the range of 0–120 μM, with a detection limit of 0.69 μM. The FMMIPs exhibited selectivity towards NDPhA over their structural analogs N-nitrosodiethylamine and sulfanilamide. Finally, the FMMIPs were successfully applied to detect NDPhA in tap water and seawater samples, and the average recoveries of NDPhA at different spiking levels ranged from 93.1% to 105.2% with relative standard deviations below 8.4%. This work provides a simple fabrication method for fluorescent magnetic MIP sensors, which can be used for the rapid determination and separation of nitrosamines from complex matrices.


Abstract. Rini DS. 2019. Short Communication: Sequence variation of DREB2 gene as a potential molecular marker for identifying resistant plants toward drought stress. Nusantara Bioscience 11: 35-43. Drought stress is the most destructive environmental factor affecting agricultural productions worldwide. Drought stress affects around 60 million hectares of agricultural land in Indonesia. Therefore, the selection of crops that can grow well and survive under drought is necessary to overcome the problem of decreased crop yield during stress conditions. DREB2 (Dehydration Responsive Element Binding2) belongs to the Transcription Factor (TF) gene families as a master regulator of plant responses under stress. Due to increased expression by stress, this gene can be used as a molecular marker to identify resistant plants toward drought. However, study the sequence variation of DREB2 is required to understand the character of this gene related to its function at a molecular level. The sequence of DREB2 in several plants was obtained from NCBI and aligned to determine the similarity of the regions. Even though variations were found in N-terminal of DREB2 sequences studied, there was a high similarity of the sequences in the DNA binding domain. It has been predicted that this domain is part of a conserved region in the sequence of DREB2 gene. This domain is then proposed to be used for primer designing purposes to study DREB2 gene expression between plant species.
 Keywords: DREB2, drought stress, sequence variation


Background Osteoarthritis (OA) is the commonest condition to affect human joints. It is a major cause of pain, disability and handicap, and a difficult condition to treat. Pharmacological treatment has been limited to the use of analgesics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and the controversial use of intra-articular steroid injections. None of these options provide a truly effective treatment. Viscosupplementation has only recently become available in the UK. Hyaluronon in synovial fluid has multiple functions in joint homeostasis. It is reduced in concentration and molecular weight in OA. Therefore viscosupplementation would not only remove pathological synovial fluid (by prior joint aspiration) but also restore the molecular weight and concentration of hyaluronan.1 Objectives We wished to evaluate viscosupplementation for OA of the knee, and to ascertain which patient groups would derive the most benefit from Hyalgan. Methods We have an ongoing dedicated visco-supplementation clinic. Patients are assessed to ensure suitability and are also advised about weight reduction (if appropriate) and quadriceps exercises. They attend weekly for the course of 5 injections. The patients are asked to complete a WOMAC Questionnaire pre-course and at 6 weeks, 3 and 6 months after treatment. This is a health status instrument for measuring clinically important patient relevant outcomes to anti-rheumatic drug therapy in patients with osteoarthritis of the hip or knee.2 No ethical approval was required. Results Comparing pre-course WOMAC scores with all time intervals a statistically significant difference at 6 weeks (paired T test p = 0.0081) was found. Patients were sub-divided into 2 groups according to WOMAC scores, 1600. (Maximum score 2400, indicating maximum severity). These groups were also compared. Results to reach statistical significance were WOMAC changes at 6 weeks and 6 months in the >1600 group, compared to pre-course where p = 0.0053 and p = 0.023 respectively (unpaired T test). Conclusion From our study patients reported an improved WOMAC at 6 weeks. Those with score >1600, pre-course do better than those with scores inconclusive but do appear to offer some benefit to patients.3 As with intra-articular steroid injections in this condition, it is difficult to predict who will benefit.4 Our work would suggest that patients with higher initial scores on WOMAC questionnaire may respond better. References Marshall KW. Intra-articular hyaluronan therapy. Curr Opin Rheumatol. 2000;12(5):468–74 Bellamy N, et al. Validation study of WOMAC. J Rheumatol. 1988;15:1833–40 Wen DY. Intra-articular hyaluronic acid for knee osteoarthritis. Am Fam Physician 2000;62(3):565–70 Jones A, Doherty M. Intra-articular corticosteroids are effective in osteoarthritis but there are no clinical predictors of response. Ann Rheum Dis. 1996;55(11):829–32


AmlaPitta and ParinamaSula are two major diseases encountered by present day physicians. This article describes the clinical and demographic aspects of AmlaPitta and ParinamaSula.


Effective coastal zone management requires an educated community with an understanding of the implication of their actions. One particular group that requires guided education includes engineers, who are responsible for suggesting, designing, implementing, managing and monitoring many schemes within coastal zones. While engineers are required to undergo continual training throughout their professional careers, a suitable starting point for focused integrated coastal management training can be identified during their undergraduate years. Through a carefully designed industry affiliates programme, coastal orientated educational activities can lead to enhanced learning through a combination of practical interactions and academic pursuits in coastal engineering and management. Student surveys show that the programme is an effective learning tool that warrants consideration within any engineering degree.


Automatically extracting keyphrases from scholarly documents leads to a valuable concise representation that humans can understand and machines can process for tasks, such as information retrieval, article clustering and article classification. This paper is concerned with the parts of a scientific article that should be given as input to keyphrase extraction methods. Recent deep learning methods take titles and abstracts as input due to the increased computational complexity in processing long sequences, whereas traditional approaches can also work with full-texts. Titles and abstracts are dense in keyphrases, but often miss important aspects of the articles, while full-texts on the other hand are richer in keyphrases but much noisier. To address this trade-off, we propose the use of extractive summarization models on the full-texts of scholarly documents. Our empirical study on 3 article collections using 3 keyphrase extraction methods shows promising results.


In the CA1 region of adult guinea pig hippocampal slices, long trains of theta frequency (5 Hz) stimulation produced a small enhancement of basal synaptic transmission but depressed the strength of synaptic transmission at synapses that had recently undergone long-term potentiation (LTP). Five hertz stimulation delivered immediately prior to high-frequency stimulation also inhibited the subsequent induction of LTP. The depression of potentiated synapses by 5 Hz stimulation (depotentiation) was blocked by 2-amino-5-phosphonovalerate and was observed only during the early phases of LTP. Furthermore, the protein phosphatase inhibitors okadaic acid and calyculin A blocked both depotentiation and the ability of 5 Hz stimulation to inhibit subsequent LTP, suggesting that protein phosphatases are involved in the ability of 5 Hz stimulation to modulate synaptic plasticity in the CA1 region of the hippocampus.


In the absence of legislative action on climate change by the federal government and many states, a number of proponents of reducing greenhouse gas emissions have turned to the courts. In the case of American Electric Power Co. v. Connecticut, the U.S. Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments about whether common law nuisance claims may be brought against power companies for their greenhouse gas emissions. The author discusses oral arguments in the case and argues that, however the court may rule, the decision could be one of the most important in the field of environmental law because it touches on so many legal areas. In addition, the author says the court's ruling in AEP could have significant effects on several other climate change-related cases pending in federal courts.


Colletotrichum trifolii is a fungal pathogen responsible for anthracnose
 disease in alfalfa. The isolates of C. trifolii were obtained from diseased
 alfalfa stems collected from field in Serbia. It was determined by
 pathogenicity examination that four isolates (Luc-7, Luc-17, Luc-27, Luc-33)
 can cause stem lesions on inoculated alfalfa plant. Our isolates were
 compared using reference isolates of C. trifolii (CBS 158.83). Isolates on MA
 and CDA developed olive green to grey colonies with white margin, while the
 substrate got dark olive green color. Conidiophores were hyaline, varied in
 length and produced a succession of conidia apically. Conidia were hyaline,
 straight, rounded at the ends, and non-septated with average size 7.85x3.87
 μm. Average sizes of appressoria were 7.5-16.5 x 5.5 x 8.9 μm. The polymerase
 chain reaction (PCR) with one set of specific primers was used for the
 detection of examined isolates of Colletotrichum trifolii. Amplification of
 desired DNA fragment (590 bp) was determined using specific primer pair
 TB3-F/TB3-R. Achieved results of amplification indicated that the isolates
 Luc-7, Luc-17, Luc-27, as well as CBS 158.83, had traits of C. trifolli.
 Amplification and band on about 430 bp appeared in isolate Luc-33, which also
 belonged to C. trifolli species.


In Reply Ms Mastroianni and Dr Henry question statements in our Viewpoint justifying no-fault compensation schemes for injuries associated with vaccines administered as part of routine clinical practice and in nonemergency situations while using as examples experimental vaccines available during times of public health emergencies. They further suggest that we have not addressed the legal complexities involved in the case of maternal immunization. Our proposal was intended to apply only to recommended, not experimental vaccines, and we regret any confusion the use of examples of vaccines still in development may have caused. Mastroianni and Henry argue this distinction is important because "research-related injuries are rarely covered by any no-fault compensation scheme." We disagree to the extent the writers suggest that there is not a compensation system to address injuries occurring during clinical trials. As Henry has written elsewhere: "almost every developed country in the world [except the United States] relies on [self-insurance or clinical trial insurance] to meet the needs of injured research subjects," and clinical trial sponsors in the United States routinely purchase insurance to cover researchrelated injuries.1 The far larger gap in protecting against serious adverse events globally is for populations immunized after vaccines are recommended and delivered. In the influenza A H1N1 context, for example, recommended vaccines were supported by trials enrolling between 721 and 2768 adults, whereas 61 million persons were vaccinated against the virus after approval.2 Mastroianni and Henry explain the emergency and nonemergency no-fault compensation statutes in the United States. A similar system would not only be possible but welcomed under the complementary global system we advocated. However, other approaches are possible. Some countries may unify their statutory approaches to compensation for routine and emergency vaccinations or give greater authority to certain administrative authorities to declare qualifying vaccines eligible for no-fault compensation during public health emergencies. Although it is true that the 21st Century Cures Act made explicit the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program's coverage of fetal injury claims, before 2016 special masters (trial judges who hear evidence and issue decisions under the program) interpreted the statute broadly so that fetal injuries might be claimed,3 although it is undoubtedly better to have clarity about classes of vaccines, circumstances, and patients who might be eligible for no-fault compensation. Mastroianni and Henry's comments suggest the value of working toward a broader framework for no-fault compensation, although the system must also account for country-level differences in resources, personnel, and administrative infrastructure.


Introduction Informal waste picking has both economic and environmental benefits, however there are many health risks associated with this activity. This cross sectional descriptive study assessed the respiratory health risks and dust (PM2.5) exposure among informal waste pickers operating at the New England landfill site in the Msunduzi Municipality. Data was collected from 102 informal waste pickers using a validated questionnaire adapted from the British Medical Research Council and American Thoracic Society. Our study population comprised of 66.4°/o women with a mean age of 36.7 years. Women reported greater use of safety shoes and gloves compared to men. Very few participants used dust masks or respirators. Results showed a high prevalence of chronic cough (57o/o), wheeze (51°/o) shortness of breath (31.6°/o) and cough with phlegm (29.0°/o) among all participants. Among those who reported having ever smoked, there was a significantly higher prevalence of cough with phlegm (45.2°/o p=0.02) and wheeze (73.1°/o, p= 0.05). Similarly, there was a bivariate association between current smoking and wheeze (p=0.02) and between ever smoked and wheeze {p< 0.05). A random sample of 28 waste pickers was chosen from the 102 participants for personal sampling. The levels and distribution of time weighted average to PM2.5 were calculated during an 8 hour working period. Average personal sampling levels of PM2.5 were very high compared to environmental levels. Personal sampling results showed a maximum exposure of 431 J.,Jg/m 3 and a mean of 187.4 J.,Jg/m 3 compared to a maximum level of 27.9 J.,Jg/m 3 and a mean of 16.5 J.,Jg/m 3 for environmental sampling. Mean personal sampling results significantly exceeded recommended eight hour time weighted average for South African National Standard for Occupational Exposure Limit (Republic of South Africa OHS ACT 85 of 1993), World Health Organisation and United State Environmental Protection Agency guidelines for PM2.5, while the environmental mean was within guidelines. This study showed that waste pickers are exposed to high levels of PM2.5 while working at the landfill site. Limited or no use of personal protective equipment increases risk of dust exposure and adverse respiratory effects. The relatively high prevalence of cough, shortness of breath and wheeze symptoms among these informal waste pickers may be linked to exposure to dust at the landfill site


To run the euro-region economy easily (saving from the awful impacts of crown), the European Central Bank (ECB) has reported countless measures since the start of the COVID-19 emergency. This reaction has set off apprehensions of a future expansion in swelling. We presume that the measures presented by the ECB during the emergency and the subsequent expansion in the size of its asset report, regardless of whether it were to be lasting, may prompt inflation. Central banks have found a way to keep their economies above water during the COVID-19 lockdowns. In the euro region, the European Central Bank (ECB) has facilitated essentially the states of its renegotiating activities and has reported another resource buy program to guarantee that its financial approach keeps on being very much communicated to all nations of the money related association. The European Central Bank worked by making cash and proficiently supplanting the credit framework by subbing cash for credit which may get terrible impacts the since quite a while ago run.


The economic development of modern society requires continuous improvement of transport and their efficiency throughout the span of 24 hours. Drowsiness may be a serious risk to the safety of employees, passengers and third parties. Sleepiness at the wheel is responsible for 5% to 30% of road accidents. Several pathophysiological factors governing the driving skills were studied: lifestyles, work schedules, prolonged wakefulness, stress, and sleep disorders. Screening of sleep disorders and education of workers at proper sleep hygiene are fundamental keys to the safe transport. The individual initiatives to reduce the risk of drowsiness should be framed in a more general safety effort of the institutions.


We present stellar age distributions of the Milky Way bulge region using ages for ∼6000 high-luminosity ( ), metal-rich ([Fe/H] ≥ −0.5) bulge stars observed by the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment. Ages are derived using The Cannon label-transfer method, trained on a sample of nearby luminous giants with precise parallaxes for which we obtain ages using a Bayesian isochrone-matching technique. We find that the metal-rich bulge is predominantly composed of old stars (>8 Gyr). We find evidence that the planar region of the bulge ( kpc) is enriched in metallicity, Z, at a faster rate (dZ/dt ∼ 0.0034 Gyr−1) than regions farther from the plane (dZ/dt ∼ 0.0013 Gyr−1 at kpc). We identify a nonnegligible fraction of younger stars (age ∼2–5 Gyr) at metallicities of +0.2 < [Fe/H] < +0.4. These stars are preferentially found in the plane ( kpc) and at Rcy ≈ 2–3 kpc, with kinematics that are more consistent with rotation than are the kinematics of older stars at the same metallicities. We do not measure a significant age difference between stars found inside and outside the bar. These findings show that the bulge experienced an initial starburst that was more intense close to the plane than far from the plane. Then, star formation continued at supersolar metallicities in a thin disk at 2 kpc ≲ Rcy ≲ 3 kpc until ∼2 Gyr ago.


Rheumatic diseases may be active during pregnancy necessitating drug treatment in order to control maternal disease activity and ensure a successful pregnancy outcome. The great majority of patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases are young females in their reproductive years, willing to have babies. Patients with systemiclupus erythematosusand antiphospholipid syndrome diagnosis have probable complications during pregnancy so they need preventive medical care. Pregnancy in women with rheumatic diseases represents a challenge for patients and physicians and requires optimal shared decision-making strategies. Specific preconception care should be offered to women with rheumatic diseases to optimize and increase the chances of a successful pregnancy. We made a literature review in order to study the useful of the preconception advice in pregnant women with rheumatic diseases.


Web services have become a primary mechanism for consuming resources available on the Internet. As more and more services are published on the Web, automated service discovery is critical to consumers to identify relevant and reliable services efficiently. In this paper, we enhance the Web Service Crawler Engine (WSCE) framework by introducing comparison measures to allow for more accurate identification, discovery and ranking of relevant Web services. To discover services effectively, we need to be able to measure and compare the similarity among services. Most ontology-based and IR-based discovery techniques assume that service input/output are simple data types when calculating service similarity. However, real-world services published on the Web usually have complex data types input/output parameters. Furthermore, a good match of parameters does not guarantee good usability and good reliability. The relevant services must be further evaluated by users' past experiences, based on both objective and subjective measures, to make optimal solution selection possible. This paper proposes a service matchmaking algorithm that considers the complex data types of service input/output parameters, as well as experience-based objective and subjective measures for ranking. Experiments show that our approach performs better than previous works that only consider simple data types.


This paper examines the ethical issues of conflict of interest raised by the burgeoning development of physician involvement in for-profit entrepreneurial activities outside their practice. After documenting the nature and extent of these activities, and their potential for conflicts of interest, the paper assesses the major arguments for and against physicians' referral of patients to facilities they own or in which they invest. The paper concludes that an outright ban on such activity seems ethically warranted.


To study the mechanism of heat-induced protein aggregates, skim milk was heated at 55, 65, 75, 85, and 95°C for 30 s. Then, the sulfhydryl content, surface hydrophobicity, and secondary structure of heat-treated skim milk were studied. Treating skim milk at different temperatures induced a decrease in sulfhydryl content (75.9% at 95°C) and an increase in surface hydrophobicity (44% at 95°C) with a disrupted secondary structure containing random coil, β-sheet, and β-turn of skim milk proteins. The change in these properties facilitated aggregate formation through disulfide bonds and hydrophobicity interaction. Microstructural observation also showed a higher degree of aggregation when skim milk was heated at 85 and 95°C. The result of two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis demonstrated that the aggregates consisted of a high proportion of κ-casein, β-lactoglobulin, and other whey proteins.


Background: Hospital facilities are an essential part of healthcare systems, making the assessment of their quality and sustainability pivotal. Most existing evaluation tools lack a holistic and validated approach, while predominantly excluding the built environment. The Italian hospital evaluation tool SustHealth v2 addresses the shortcoming of existing applications through its structured and more integrated approach; there is the need for further testing it. Methods: The study aims to test for the first time in an international case study the multicriteria assessment tool previously developed and validated. The tool assesses social, environmental, and organisational qualities in hospitals with an online survey containing 199 closed questions sent to German hospitals. A total of 14 full replies have been collected and the resulting data analysed through descriptive statistics and heat maps identifying patterns in ownership and size. Results: Within the sample, higher scores are reported in Social Quality, while lower in Environmental and Organisational Quality. Respondents performed well in the sustainability dimensions of health promotion, waste management, and patient safety. Improvements can be achieved in energy management, facility management, and technological innovation criteria. Private hospitals slightly outperform both public and non-profit clinics. The findings presented in this study suggest a non-linear relationship between sustainability and hospital size since the highest scores were obtained by either small or large facilities. Conclusion: The study highlighted strengths and limitation of SustHealth v2. Further testing and comparison are encouraged in different context.


Background
Ankle sprains are common musculoskeletal injuries in the athletic population that have been addressed with prevention strategies that include bracing and balance training. Many authors have examined ankle sprain incidence after bracing or balance training in athletes at different levels of competition and in various sports. No systematic review has analyzed the results of both interventions.

Purpose
The purpose of this review was to compare the effect of balance training and bracing in reducing the incidence and relative risk of ankle sprains in competitive athletes, with or without prior injury, across different sports.

Design
Systematic review, with meta-analysis.

Methods
A literature search of four databases was conducted for randomized control trials that reported ankle sprain incidence published from 2005 through 2016. Included articles studied high school, college, or professional level athletes with or without a history of a prior sprain, who received bracing or balance training as an intervention compared to a non-intervention control group. Methodological study quality was assessed by two reviewers using the PEDro scale, with scores ≥5 considered moderate quality. Group incidence and relative risk were determined to assess the preventative effect of bracing or balance training compared to control.

Results
From 1832 total citations, 71 full-text articles were reviewed, and eight articles were included in the study. Methodological quality of the available evidence contained in the systematic review was moderate. Five studied the effect of balance training, two studied the effect of bracing, and one studied the effect of bracing and balance training compared to the control condition. In all eight studies, athletes in the control condition did not receive any intervention. Athletes who wore braces had fewer ankle sprains (p=0.0037) and reduced their risk of sprains by 64% (RR=0.36) compared to controls, based on analysis of 3,581 subjects. Athletes performing balance training had fewer ankle sprains (p=0.0057) and reduced their risk by 46% (RR=0.54) compared to controls, based on analysis of 3,577 subjects.

Conclusion
The findings of the current systematic review and meta-analysis support the use of bracing and balance training to reduce the incidence and relative risk of ankle sprains in athletic populations. Clinicians can utilize this information to educate their patients on wearing a brace or performing balance training exercises to decrease the risk of an ankle sprain.

Level of evidence
Level 1a.


A 65-year-old man sustained blunt abdominal trauma in an automobile accident which resulted in severe acute ischemia of the right lower leg and foot. Complete arteriography showed extensive aortoiliac arteriosclerosis and embolic occlusion of the distal right popliteal artery. Prompt embolectomy accomplished limb salvage and confirmed the diagnosis of traumatic artheromatous embolization.


Existing accounts of leadership are underpinned by two dominant approaches: functionalist studies, which have tried to identify correlations between variables associated with leadership; and interpretive studies, which have tried to trace out the meaning-making process associated with leadership. Eschewing these approaches, we turn to an emerging strand of literature that develops a critical approach to leadership. This literature draws our attention to the dialectics of control and resistance and the ideological aspect of leadership. However, it largely posits a negative critique of leadership. We think this is legitimate and important, but extend this agenda. We posit a performative critique of leadership that emphasizes tactics of circumspect care, progressive pragmatism and searching for present potentialities. We use these tactics to sketch out a practice of deliberated leadership that involves collective reflection on when, what kind and if leadership is appropriate.


The aim of this study to test the effect of organic selenium supplementation in the diets of Nile tilapia broodstock. Growth, reproductive performance and performance of fingerlings were evaluated. Eighty adult fish were used, with average weight of 121.7 g and divided into groups of four animals (3 female and 1 male) stocked in 20 tanks with 1.5 cubic meters. The fish were fed five diets containing different levels of organic selenium (0.0, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, and 1.0 mg kg -1 ration). In the experimental period, females from all tanks were captured and the eggs collected. The experimental design was entirely randomized, with five treatments and four replicates. To evaluate progeny performance, the fingerlings were shared in four aquariums and fed during 30 days with commercial diet (45% CP). The supplementation with organic selenium did not affect the productive performance as with the reproductive parameters of the broodstock (p > 0.05). On the other hand, the broodstock fed with 0.50 mg of organic selenium produced fingerlings that presented improved weight gain (p < 0.05) compared to fish fed the control diet.


Both the overall aging of the population and its exposure to higher noise levels have increased the tendency to hearing loss and the importance of improved hearing aids for speech perception. This article reviews improvements in conventional electroacoustic hearing aids, as well as recently developed alternative classes of speech-perception aids, including surgically implanted cochlear stimulators, and vibrotactile, electrocutaneous and optical stimulating devices. It is concluded that the most effective aid for the vast majority of hearing-impaired persons is, and will remain for the immediate future, the electroacoustic hearing aid. In those cases for which no benefit is demonstrated for the electroacoustic aid, generally meaning persons with profound hearing loss, either the cochlear implant or a tactile aid may provide some improvement in the understanding of speech. In rare cases, some speech understanding in the absence of lip reading is achieved by patients with cochlear implants, for unexplained reasons. This and other pressing questions about speech processing need to be addressed by the research community if more effective aids are to be developed for the use of the 36.5 million hearing-impaired persons expected in the U.S. by the year 2050.


Crowd localization is to predict each instance head position in crowd scenarios. Since the distance of pedestrians being to the camera are variant, there exists tremendous gaps among scales of instances within an image, which is called the intrinsic scale shift. The core reason of intrinsic scale shift being one of the most essential issues in crowd localization is that it is ubiquitous in crowd scenes and makes scale distribution chaotic. To this end, the paper concentrates on access to tackle the chaos of the scale distribution incurred by intrinsic scale shift. We propose Gaussian Mixture Scope (GMS) to regularize the chaotic scale distribution. Concretely, the GMS utilizes a Gaussian mixture distribution to adapt to scale distribution and decouples the mixture model into sub-normal distributions to regularize the chaos within the sub-distributions. Then, an alignment is introduced to regularize the chaos among sub-distributions. However, despite that GMS is effective in regularizing the data distribution, it amounts to dislodging the hard samples in training set, which incurs overfitting. We assert that it is blamed on the block of transferring the latent knowledge exploited by GMS from data to model. Therefore, a Scoped Teacher playing a role of bridge in knowledge transform is proposed. What' s more, the consistency regularization is also introduced to implement knowledge transform. To that effect, the further constraints are deployed on Scoped Teacher to derive feature consistence between teacher and student end. With proposed GMS and Scoped Teacher implemented on four mainstream datasets of crowd localization, the extensive experiments demonstrate the superiority of our work. Moreover, comparing with existing crowd locators, our work achieves state-of-the-art via F1-measure comprehensively on four datasets.


This paper deals with the problem of the electricity consumption forecasting method. An MPSO-BP (modified particle swarm optimization-back propagation) neural network model is constructed based on the history data of a mineral company of Anshan in China. The simulation showed that the convergence of the algorithm and forecasting accuracy using the obtained model are better than those of other traditional ones, such as BP, PSO, fuzzy neural network and so on. Then we predict the electricity consumption of each month in 2017 based on the MPSO-BP neural network model.


Freeways are originally designed to provide high mobility to road users. However, the increase in population and vehicle numbers has led to increasing congestions around the world. Daily recurrent congestion substantially reduces the freeway capacity when it is most needed. Building new highways and expanding the existing ones is an expensive solution and impractical in many situations. Intelligent and vision-based techniques can, however, be efficient tools in monitoring highways and increasing the capacity of the existing infrastructures. The crucial step for highway monitoring is vehicle detection. In this paper, we propose one of such techniques. The approach is based on artificial neural networks (ANN) for vehicles detection and counting. The detection process uses the freeway video images and starts by automatically extracting the image background from the successive video frames. Once the background is identified, subsequent frames are used to detect moving objects through image subtraction. The result is segmented using Sobel operator for edge detection. The ANN is, then, used in the detection and counting phase. Applying this technique to the busiest freeway in Riyadh (King Fahd Road) achieved higher than 98% detection accuracy despite the light intensity changes, the occlusion situations, and shadows. Keywords—Background Extraction, Neural Networks, Vehicle Detection, Freeway Traffic.


Background/aim Colorectal cancer is the seventh most common cancer in Egypt, constituting 3.47% of male cancers and 3% of female cancers. The aim of the current study is to evaluate the immunohistochemical expression of cytochrome C oxidase (CcO) as well as the nuclear morphometric measurements in colonic adenomas and adenocarcinomas. Materials and methods Sixty cases of colonic biopsies/specimens were involved in this study. The samples were received in the Department of Pathology of Kasr El-Aini Hospital, Cairo University, Egypt, and they were divided into three groups: 20 cases of normal control, 20 cases of colonic adenoma, and 20 cases of colonic adenocarcinoma. The expression of CcO was studied by immunohistochemistry in 60 formalin-fixed paraffin blocks. Nuclear morphometric parameters were evaluated using an image analysis system. The area percentage of the marker expression was correlated with nuclear morphometric parameters. Results Immunohistochemical study showed that 65% of control biopsies showed a significant difference with colonic adenocarcinoma cases in contrast and adenoma cases showed a nonsignificant difference with normal control biopsies. Mean areas percentages of CcO expression were significantly different between all three studied groups. The means of nuclear area, length, and perimeter showed a significant difference while means nuclear width and roundness showed a nonsignificant difference between all three studied groups. There was significant correlation between mean area percentage of CcO expression with mean nuclear area and perimeter in control, adenoma, and adenocarcinoma cases. Conclusion CcO protein is significantly expressed in the cytoplasm of normal colonic mucosa. It was significantly deficient in colonic adenocarcinoma. Nuclear morphometry can be introduced as a useful morphologic feature of patients with variable colonic lesions specially in combination with CcO.


In this paper the relations between two spreads, between two group delays, and between one spread and one group delay in fractional Fourier transform (FRFT) domains, are presented and three theorems on the uncertainty principle in FRFT domains are also developed. Theorem 1 gives the bounds of two spreads in two FRFT domains. Theorem 2 shows the uncertainty relation between two group delays in two FRFT domains. Theorem 3 presents the crossed uncertainty relation between one group delay and one spread in two FRFT domains. The novelty of their results lies in connecting the products of different physical measures and giving their physical interpretations. The existing uncertainty principle in the FRFT domain is only a special case of theorem 1, and the conventional uncertainty principle in time-frequency domains is a special case of their results. Therefore, three theorems develop the relations of two spreads in time-frequency domains into the relations between two spreads, between two group delays, and between one spread and one group delay in FRFT domains.


Staircase codes (SCCs) are typically decoded using iterative bounded-distance decoding (BDD) and hard decisions. In this paper, a novel decoding algorithm is proposed, which partially uses soft information from the channel. The proposed algorithm is based on marking certain number of highly reliable and highly unreliable bits. These marked bits are used to improve the miscorrection-detection capability of the SCC decoder and the error-correcting capability of BDD. For SCCs with 2-errorcorrecting BCH component codes, our algorithm improves upon standard SCC decoding by up to 0.30 dB at a bit-error rate of 10−7. The proposed algorithm is shown to achieve almost half of the gain achievable by an idealized decoder with this structure.


The problem of hygiene in the life-saving service has so far been a rarely discussed question. An ambulance used as a life-saving vehicle cannot be expected to measure up to the hygienic standards of an aseptic operating theatre. Keeping the level of pathogenic germs in ambulances low, is fundamental to the medical emergency service at large. The staff, including the physician, on emergency duty are most likely to come into contact with hospital germs. At any rate, care must be exercised so that pathogens are prevented from being transmitted from one patient to another. As far as cleaning is concerned, Figs. 3, 4 and 5 exemplifiy the problem of the so-called wet germs figs. 6, 7, 8 and 9 show the impression preparations from the hands of the physician on emergency duty, from the bed covering, from the medical apparatus and from the floor. The results yielded by 208 impression preparations from the staff and ambulance are supplemented by determining the air-borne germs and by 40 swabs taken from grooves, edges and dust accumulated in the ambulance. Further, the water containers were examined for clean and dirty water, as well as the damp areas as breeding places for "wet and puddle germs". This has already resulted in establishing several factors which justify the adoption of selective hygienic measures, but all those concerned are clear that the measures envisaged must also be practicable. Too little is ineffective, but too much detracts from the credibility of sanitary argumentation. In the near future, however, in order to be able to establish a generally valid set of measures, similar examinations must be carried out on a broad basis and under differing conditions in respect of physicians, medical staff, site and ambulance. Until this has been done, the examination results presented can only be regarded as provisional or as offering guidance data which need further supplementation.


Different control strategies have been released to solve the problems and improve the performance of hybrid electric vehicles. Energy storage power management is one of the most important parameters which affects on control strategy and other parts of a hybrid vehicle. In this paper a battery-ultracapacitor energy storage system and its control strategy based on minimizing the fuel consumption and operating the engine in efficient region has been developed. The simulation results prove this fact that ultracapacitors can be trustable secondary energy storage and increase the overall performance of system.


In this paper, we investigate how to determine the subframe length and data transfer rate for packet length control with rate adaptation in wireless LANs. Specifically, in order to reduce packet delay (i.e., to shorten the time of packet transmission), we propose a novel cross-layer design for packet length and rate control, which are jointly optimized among all layers. In our framework, a packet is divided into several subframes, and their sizes are adaptively changed. Unlike the conventional decision scheme, our criterion is calculated from both users' desired packet delay and channel state information (CSI). Moreover, we consider the combination between packet length control and rate adaptation. To demonstrate the effectiveness of our framework, we evaluate what in terms of fragmentation overheads and packet delay by computer simulation and numerical calculation. As a result, our method can reduce the overhead cost of packet fragmentation by 34.0% and 79.4% and reduce packet delay by 18.4% and 0.714% for bit error probabilities pb of 10−3 and 10−5, respectively.


Achillodynia is a generic term for various types of ailments in the region of the Achilles tendon. For adequate therapy a specific diagnosis is absolutely necessary. Besides an accurate anamnesis and the right choice of terrain and shoes, as well as a clinical examination where one has to specifically keep an eye on muscular imbalance between the gastrocnemius and the soleus muscle and disorders of the ligamentous control of the calcaneus caused by fibular ligament instabilities, a procedure such as radiology, ultrasound, and MR imaging is inevitable. From the differential diagnosis point of view a distinction between peritendinitis, mechanically triggered bursitis (calcaneal and subachilles), bony alterations of the calcaneus (calcaneus spur, Haglund exostosis persistent nucleus of the apophysis, fatigue fracture, etc) and a partial or total rupture (a one-time occurrence or multiple occurrences) has to be made. Occasionally, entrapment of the ramus calcaneus of the sural nerve causes calcaneal pain. If clinically not confirmed, lumbar pain ought to be taken into consideration (discopathy, Bechterew disease, etc). Metabolic disorders (especially uric acid) and underlying rheumatic diseases must be excluded. The therapy of achillodynia includes local and peroral antiphlogistic medication as a concomitant measure. More important is the causal influence of etiological factors, i.e., the correction of muscular imbalance, ensuring control of the calcaneus through bandages and adjustment of sport shoes, changes in training buildup and exercise intensity, just to mention a few. If necessary, surgically splitting the peritendineum, sanitation of a partial rupture, bursectomy and removal of mechanically obstructive exostosis must be done.


Power relations operate in any educational setting, and there may be particular vulnerabilities in a tradition conducted in the relative isolation of the music teaching studio. These vulnerabilities have been highlighted dramatically in recent years through high-profile cases of power abuse, but power is implicated in a wide range of contexts related to the studio, including cultural, gendered, pedagogical, artistic, institutional and interpersonal issues. It may be impossible to divest power of its negative connotations, but there is a good deal of theory focused on power, even if its terms are broadly political or philosophical, and subject to debate. This theoretical paper explores power relations with regard to the music studio, investigating popular conceptions and everyday usage before turning to scholarship focused on interpersonal and broader social perspectives. Some reflections are offered on the uses and abuses of power in the studio. A better understanding of its dimensions and usage can support the ongoing development of studio practices and contribute to the conversation that we need to have about power.


Link-state routing with hop-by-hop forwarding is widely used in the Internet today. The current versions of these protocols, like OSPF, split traffic evenly over shortest paths based on link weights. However, optimizing the link weights for OSPF to the offered traffic is an NP-hard problem, and even the best setting of the weights can deviate significantly from an optimal distribution of the traffic. In this paper, we propose a new link-state routing protocol, PEFT, that splits traffic over multiple paths with an exponential penalty on longer paths. Unlike its predecessor, DEFT, our new protocol provably achieves optimal traffic engineering while retaining the simplicity of hop-by-hop forwarding. A gain of 15 % in capacity utilization over OSPF is demonstrated using the Abilene topology and traffic traces. The new protocol also leads to significant reduction in the time needed to compute the best link weights. Both the protocol and the computational methods are developed in a new conceptual framework, called network entropy maximization, which is used to identify the traffic distributions that are not only optimal but also realizable by link-state routing.


Delays are a common feature of construction projects and frequently lead to disputes between the parties. In resolving these disputes it is essential to have a robust methodology for analysing delays. It is argued that current understanding of available delay analysis methodologies is inadequate and hindered by taxonomic confusion. There is a need for guidance on available delay analysis methodologies and an explanation of how these are implemented, and, as a result, models have been proposed that aid practitioners in the selection of a defendable and most appropriate delay analysis method under the specific circumstances of a project. This suggests an element of choice over the method to be selected: for example, the Society of Construction Law recommended the Time Impact Analysis methodology for undertaking a retrospective delay analysis. The question is whether this or any such methodology is necessarily appropriate.

There is general confusion over the selection of delay analysis methodologies. Here, it is proposed that this confusion can be reduced and delay analysis improved by an analysis of the latest research on the status of delay analysis in the UK, an analysis of common law guidance on methodology, an assessment of professional and research literature on delay analysis and research into what is being currently undertaken by experts in the field of delay analysis. This has been done using a mixed methods approach that included: (i) analysis of a questionnaire survey by the CIOB to understand the current state of time management in the UK construction industry; (ii) analysis of the industry guidance on delay analysis methodologies; (iii) a comprehensive review of related English Case Law; and (iv) an analysis of 27 case studies comprising programming expert reports that were presented as evidence in arbitrations. These multiple sources enabled the researcher to ascertain, in the case of each delay analysis methodology: (a) the dominant method actually used in disputes; (b) the details of its application; (c) the reasons for its selection; and (d) its level of accuracy and subsequent acceptability.

The research demonstrates that when time claims are accompanied by cost claims there is a dichotomy in the choice of appropriate methodology. There is a clear preference for prospective analysis of time issues, but a retrospective approach for claims that involve finance. At the same time, when a claim contains both elements, the courts appear to prefer a single approach, namely, the retrospective approach. This has resulted in the recommended method of undertaking delay analysis by the Society of Construction Law being not supported by English common law and ultimately to an increase in confusion within the Industry.

Given the courts' fundamental opposition to a method that better accords with forensic logic, it is expedient to recommend a 'best of the rest' method for delay analysis rather than adopt a formulaic approach to selecting the appropriate delay analysis methodology. Case study reviews have shown the Windows Analysis methodology is widely used and this is also widely accepted as the most accurate and appropriate methodology, although less well known than other less appropriate delay analysis methodologies.

Apart from its theoretical significance, the research should improve construction practitioners' understanding of delay analysis, and provide clarity on the evidence required to support a claim for an extension of time. It has the potential to reduce disputes over selection criteria and promote harmony between the construction and the legal professions over the appropriate method of resolving delay claims.


The semi-hydrogenation reaction of alkynes is important in the fine chemicals and pharmaceutical industries, and it is thus important to find catalytic processes that will drive the reaction efficiently and at a low cost. The real challenge is to drive the alkyne-to-alkene reaction while avoiding over-hydrogenation to the saturated alkane moiety. The problem is more difficult when dealing with aromatic substitution at the alkyne center. Simple photocatalysts based on Palladium tend to proceed to the alkane, and stopping at the alkene with good selectivity requires very precise timing with basically no timing tolerance. We report here that the goal of high conversion with high selectivity could be achieved with TiO2-supported copper (Cu@TiO2), although with slower kinetics than for Pd@TiO2. A novel bimetallic catalyst, namely, CuPd@TiO2 (0.8% Cu and 0.05% Pd), with methanol as the hydrogen source could improve the kinetics by 50% with respect to Cu@TiO2, while achieving selectivities over 95% and with exceptional timing tolerance. Further, the low Palladium content minimizes its use, as Palladium is regarded as an element at risk of depletion.


Fingerprint recognition is an important biometric application. This process consists of several phases including fingerprint segmentation. This paper proposes a new method for fingerprint segmentation using a modified Iterative Minimum Cross Entropy Thresholding (MCET) method. The main idea is to model fingerprint images as a mixture of two Log-normal distributions. The proposed method was applied on bi-modal fingerprint images and promising experimental results were obtained. Evaluation of the resulting segmented fingerprint images shows that the proposed method yields better estimation of the optimal threshold than does the same MCET method with Gamma and Gaussian distributions.


The problem of the diffraction of an arbitrarily polarized plane wave at the exit pupil of a nonideal corner reflector with flat faces is solved in the far-field approximation. The dynamics of the energy distribution in the diffraction patterns are studied as a function of the fabrication errors of the dihedral angles of the reflector and of the polarization of the radiation. The possibility of developing a potentially high-accuracy diffraction method of monitoring the quality of reflectors is discussed.


Introduction The safety profile of anti-TNF therapy in IBD has been examined in previous case series, however these have been in tertiary centres, have not included a control cohort, or review of primary care records. We aimed to review SAE including primary care recorded OI, in patients treated with anti-TNF compared to a thiopurine alone. Methods We studied two IBD cohorts: Cohort 1—All 212 anti-TNF treated patients between 1999 and 2010. Cohort 2—220 responders to an invitation sent to 365 patients treated with thiopurines only. A review of primary and secondary care records was conducted. A primary care OI was defined as any infection diagnosed or treated in primary care. Statistical analysis was performed using Stata V.12 software. Proportional hazard regression model was used to assess mortality. Other SAE and OI were studied using logistic regression, t-test, and χ2 with Fishers exact. Results Cohort 1: 137 (64.5%) CD patients. 170 (80%) received Infliximab (IFX) as their only anti-TNF treatment, 34 (16%) IFX and Adalimumab (ADA) and 8 (4%) ADA only. Cohort 2: 220 patients comprising 88 (40%) CD. The mean age at drug initiation was 35.3 (SD 16.1) yrs in cohort 1, 45.7 (SD 15.9) yrs in cohort 2 (p<0.0001). Median follow-up after drug initiation in cohort 1 was 2.7 years (0–11.0), total 714.9 yrs, in cohort 2 6.4 (0–30.8) yrs, total 1524  yrs. There were 8 (4%) deaths in cohort 1 (1 cardiovascular (CVS), 3 sepsis, 3 solid organ malignancies, 1 haematological malignancy) and 5 (2%) deaths in cohort 2 (2 CVS, 2 sepsis, 1 haematological malignancy). Cohort 1 patients had a higher mortality when corrected for age at diagnosis (HR 3.4 95% CI 1.1 to 10.5) Abstract PWE-233 figure 1. In cohort 1 there were two cases of demyelination (1 suspected), 1 TB reactivation, 40 in-patient treated infections, 8 malignancies, seven cases of Clostridium difficile and no drug induced lupus. Hospital recorded SAE did not differ between cohorts 1 and 2 and no risk factors were identified. The mean number of primary care recorded OI was 5.8 (SD 5.8) in cohort 1 and 4.5 (SD 4.2) in cohort 2.Abstract PWE-233 Figure 1 Conclusion The age at diagnosis adjusted mortality of IBD patients treat with anti-TNF is significantly greater than patients treated with thiopurines alone. Causality is unclear and may reflect underlying disease severity. Anti-TNF treated patients have similar rates of other SAE and primary care OI compared to patients treated with thiopurines alone. Competing interests None declared.


Objective: To study the effect of museum teaching in pathology from student's perspective. Material & Methods: 32 students from the 4th term batch of Malabar Medical College who were randomly selected. Verbal consent was taken from each student. Self-administered questionnaire were administered after the session. These questions were analyzed by the investigator. Result: A total of 32 students participated in this study. Mean age of study group was 21 yrs. 68.7% of students visited the museum at least once a week. 65.6% felt that the 20 minutes allotted for museum pathology sessions were not enough. 96.8% of the students agreed that the museum sessions contributed positively to the quality of learning in Pathology. 78.1% felt that it would be effective only for a small group constituting 6-10 students. All the students (100%) agreed that the pathology museum in the college required improvement. Conclusion: Pathology museum sessions are a powerful teaching method which will help in better understanding and effective learning of the subject. It is best conducted in small groups of 6 to 10 students.


Recently, Vivaldi antenna elements have been used by Roke to realize direction finding antenna array solutions for full horizon coverage. Unfortunately the Vivaldi elements used previously have certain limitations which make them unsuitable for use in a compact DF (direction finding) antenna array, in particular how the element phase centre position tracks with frequency. This paper describes the development of a wideband DF antenna array, based upon a circular array of eight inward facing slant-polarized Log periodic antenna elements. The array is suitable for both surveillance and DF applications within the 700 MHz to 6 GHz frequency range, and therefore provides the capability to intercept GSM, GPS, 3G, WiFi, WMAX, LTE as well as the primary radar bands. The small size and low weight of the array structure make it suitable for mounting to a UAV, for use on top of a vehicle, or for maritime environments.


An unexpected t(1;19) translocation is described in a fetus. Inherited from the mother, this translocation was found during the course of a normal prenatal diagnosis made for maternal age. The very short length of chromosomal translocated segments and their labelling pattern made high-resolution cytogenetic methods and fluorescence in situ hybridization techniques necessary for the correct identification of this karyotype rearrangement, both in mother and fetus. Different modes of meiotic segregation, leading to potential erroneous prenatal diagnoses, are discussed.


The primary ambition of this doctoral thesis is to provide an empirical basis for a better understanding of reading disability among school children. The current consensus in the research community is that most disabled readers fail in the acquisition of fast, accurate and automatic word recognition. The thesis includes a number of studies where normal and disabled readers are compared on various aspects of visual word recognition and related processes. The participants, about 100 disabled readers and 90 normal readers, were selected from a full cohort of 2nd graders (N = 2165) in the county of Kronoberg, Sweden, and were carefully matched on gender, non-verbal intelligence and school class. Extensive assessments of reading and spelling, cognitive ability, vision, eye movements, motor skill and socio-economic background were carried out as well as teachers' ratings of school behaviour. First, basic visual functions, including eye movements, were examined. Only minor differences between the groups were observed, such as a slightly lower contrast sensitivity and poorer control of binocular saccades among the reading disabled children. Some of the small differences in visual functions could be interpreted as reflecting differences in attention mechanisms. A new group test for assessing the growth of word recognition skill was developed; the Wordchains test. The course of development of word reading skill was examined in a cross-sectional study covering the whole period of compulsory schooling. A modified quadratic function yielded the best fit to the data, and the asymptote level was reached around the age of 18. Girls outperformed boys at all stages. A longitudinal study gave support for a deficit model of reading disability. In summary, 3 out of 5 of the children initially classified as reading disabled were stable poor readers seven years later. Only a minority (18%) followed a lag model, reaching a normal level by grade 9. For the reading disabled boys a growth curve analysis demonstrated that about 25% of the variance in slope (average rate of individual growth) could be explained by factors related to early reading skill and non-verbal intelligence. A wide range of neuropsychological and social variables failed to predict individual development in word reading. For the control group none of the independent variables explained the slope variance. Methodological issues involved in the growth study were analysed and discussed.


"This article examines the selection of international migration from Taiwan to the United States in terms of the skills and abilities of emigrants. Micro data from Taiwan and the U.S. are used to test Borjas' self-selection model (1987).... Based on the assumption that emigrants choose to move to the destination that can maximize their expected lifetime earnings and provide higher returns to their human capital, Heckman (1979) developed a two-stage method that allows one to correct the problem of selectivity bias and to estimate directions of the selection on the basis of observed characteristics (the levels of skills or education) and unobserved characteristics (innate ability or motivation) for both emigrants and non-emigrants." (SUMMARY IN FRE AND SPA)


The weevil subtribe Listroderina belongs in the tribe Rhytirrhinini (subfamily Cyclominae), and has 25 genera and 300 species in the Americas. The distributional history of this subtribe was reconstructed applying dispersal-vicariance analysis (DIVA) using its genera as terminals. The results suggest that Listroderina originated within an area presently represented by the Central Chile, Paramo, Puna, Patagonia and Subantarctic subregions of the Andean region. Posteriorly, the subtribe was affected by extinctions and was confined to Central Chile, Paramo and Subantarctic subregions. Later, extinctions and dispersals took place and the subtribe was restricted to the Paramo and Puna subregions. From there, a dispersal event to the Subantarctic subregion occurred, enlarging again the geographical range of the subtribe. Subsequently, a vicariant event separated the Puna and Paramo subregions from the Subantarctic one. While the Macrostyphlus generic group was confined to the Paramo and Puna subregions and from there dispersed to other areas, the Antarctobius, Falklandius, Listronotus, and Listroderes generic groups diversified in the Subantarctic subregion. The results obtained by DIVA may be linked to major geological events of South America. Thus, the geobiotic scenarios recorded in this subcontinent since the late Cretaceous could be used to interpret the biogeographical events which drove Listroderina evolution. © 2003 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2003, 80, 339–352.


Background: Preliminary results from the Success and Remagus trials showed that CTC detection by CellSearch® has adverse prognostic value in non-metastatic breast cancer. Moreover, several investigators have characterized HER2 expression on CTCs in early breast cancer. Since the majority of CTC-positive women with non-metastatic breast cancer have only 1 CTC detected / blood volume analyzed, we wanted to evaluate the inter-reader variability in this setting. This is a crucial step before moving forward with multi-lab/multi-center prospective testing of the clinical utility of the CellSearch® technology in non-metastatic breast cancer. Methods: Five galleries of CellSearch® images from 3 European and one US institution (a total of 307 images) were mailed to 22 independent readers from 14 European and US academic laboratories and 8 readers from two CellSearch® Veridex laboratories in a blinded fashion. These images came mainly from studies on CTC and/or HER2−positive CTC detection in breast cancer and included healthy women (negative controls), women with metastatic (positive controls) and non-metastatic disease (Pierga et al SABCS 2010, Pierga et al ASCO 2011, Riedthorf et al CCR 2010, Ignatiadis et al PLoS ONE 2011). Each reader reported the images as either CTC-negative or CTC-positive/HER2−negative or CTC-positive/HER2−positive. Kappa statistics were used to assess inter-reader agreement. The 8 Veridex readers were summarized by a majority voting system to derive a gold standard in order to compare each independent reader using discordance rates. Results: Kappa statistics showed moderate to good agreement between independent readers depending on the gallery evaluated (gallery 1 K: 0.55, gallery 2 K:0.57 gallery 3 K:0.64, gallery 4 K:0.72, gallery 5 K:0.85). These differences were attributed to differences in scoring difficulty of each gallery. Discordances in CTC-positive vs CTC-negative events between each reader and the gold standard ranged from 2.3%-31.3% with 7 readers showing discordance rates 14% as compared to the gold standard (median discordance rate: 9.3%). Image analysis showed that investigators with high discordance rates compared to the Veridex gold standard were not always taking into account "morphological characteristics" for defining an event as CTC-positive. Discordant results between readers were mainly due to discordance in CTC definition and to a lesser extent in the definition of HER2−positivity. Indeed, discordances in assigning a CTC-positive event as either HER2−negative or HER2−positive ranged from 0.3−13.7% with 19 readers showing discordance rates 10% (median discordance rate: 3.9%). Conclusion: In non-metastatic breast cancer, we observed low discordance between most independent readers and the gold standard for defining a CellSearch® event as CTC with very few readers showing high discordance rates. Concordance can be improved through appropriate training and the use of all the tools provided by the CellSearch® system for image interpretation. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2011;71(24 Suppl):Abstract nr P4-07-14.


Introduction: According to American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and other organisations such as the Society of Family Planning (SFP) and American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), abortion services are considered as an essential component of comprehensive healthcare. Such services are considered as a time-sensitive issue, as delay in getting comprehensive abortion services may be associated with significant impact on physical health, wellbeing and mental health of the individual. Aim: To determine proportion of women presenting to Gynaecologyy Outpatient Department (OPD) with unsupervised use of abortion pills and to estimate the percentage of anaemia among these women. Materials and Methods: The present observational study was conducted on 148 women attending the Gynaecology OPD in People's Hospital and seeking treatment for complications due to unsupervised use of abortion pills during the study period of 18 months. A thorough history was obtained and a thorough physical examination was conducted. Haemoglobin estimation and Ultrasonography (USG) was done to determine complications. Data was compiled using MS Excel and results were expressed in terms of frequency and percentages and mean±SD. Results: During the study period, a total of 360 cases with abortions were registered, of them 150 cases were unsupervised attributing to 41.7% cases. Out of 150 females with unsupervised abortions, 2 females did not give consent to participate and thus a total of 148 females were enrolled. Consumption of unsupervised abortion pills resulted in incomplete abortion in 77 (52%) cases, while complete abortion was reported in only 22 (14.9%) cases. Other complications observed in a few cases were septic shock, in 7 (4.7%) haemorrhagic shock in 4 (2.7%), secondary infertility in 3 (2%), inevitable abortion in 3 (2%), ruptured ectopic pregnancy in 3 (2%) and chronic ovarian ectopic in 1 (0.7%). Missed abortion was documented in 20 (13.5%) cases after complete examination and in 8 (5.4%) cases viable intrauterine pregnancy was diagnosed. Mild, moderate and severe anaemia was observed in 19 (12.8%), 98 (66.2%) and 12 (8.1%) females respectively. Conclusion: The unsupervised use of abortion pills not only increases maternal morbidity but also has been associated with life threatening complications such as septic shock, haemorrhagic shock, ruptured ectopic pregnancy etc. Anaemia is one of the most common complication of unsupervised pill consumption and preventing the latter may obviate the need for blood transfusion.


[formula: see text] Desymmetrization of 1,4-dien-3-ols and related compounds via Ueno-Stork radical cyclizations is reported. The stereochemistry of the cyclization is controlled by the acetal center. Excellent stereocontrol at C(4) and C(5) of the newly formed tetrahydrofuran rings is observed. Use of a chiral auxiliary allows the preparation of enantiomerically pure material. The utility of this method has been demonstrated by achieving a short synthesis of (+)-eldanolide, the pheromone of the male African sugarcane stem borer Eldana saccharina.


Euler, in addition to Dr. Gaddum, and there are addended commentaries by John Welsh, Andrew Wilson, and Maurice Tainter. Altogether this is a very useful and stimulating section. Walter R. Miles of Yale edits the selected psychomotor measurement methods and includes in this, the longest section in the book, methods for measuring physical work and strength, reaction time, coordinated motor response, manual dexterity, eye movement coordination, and motor tests of laboratory animals. Included in the list of authors for this section are Josef Brozek, Neal Miller, Walter Miles, L. P. Herrington, R. B. Ammons, H. E. King, and J. Clausen, and the Crawfords, among others. The fourth section concerns methods for study of peptide structure and is edited by Choh Hao Li. Here are to be found articles by J. C. Lewis, R. R. Porter, Henry Bull, Joseph Fruton, and Emil Smith. Most of the articles are directly practical and brief. The over-all editing performance is of good quality and the book is well indexed. References given in some of the sections unfortunately do not include titles of the articles, but each section has a fairly representative list of original sources. Naturally enough, the book suffers from the fact that methods covered within each section had to be limited to those thought to be most useful or most generally acceptable. The chief virture of Methods in Medical Research lies in its direction of attention toward the value of critical analysis of methods. One can even imagine the influence of this series of monographs giving rise to a more widespread practice of teaching the basic methods of research. This would in itself constitute a fundamental contribution to scientific development.


Introduction Fei-Liu-Ping ointment has been widely applied as adjunctive drug in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, there has been no systematic review of research findings regarding the efficacy of this treatment. Here, we provide a protocol for assessing the effectiveness and safety of Fei-Liu-Ping ointment in the treatment of NSCLC. Methods and analysis The electronic databases to be searched will include MEDLINE (PubMed), Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) in the Cochrane Library, Excerpt Medica Database (EMBASE), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), China Scientific Journal Database (VIP), Wanfang Database and Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM). Papers in English or Chinese published from inception to 2016 will be included without any restrictions. We will conduct a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trial if possible. The therapeutic effects according to the standard for treatment of solid tumours by the WHO and the quality of life as evaluated by Karnofsky score and weight will be applied as the primary outcomes. We will also evaluate the data synthesis and risk of bias using Review Manager 5.3 software. Dissemination The results of this review will offer implications for the use of Fei-Liu-Ping ointment as an adjunctive treatment for NSCLC. This knowledge will inform recommendations by surgeons and researchers who are interested in the treatment of NSCLC. The results of this systematic review will be disseminated through presentation at a conference and publication of the data in a peer-reviewed journal. Trial registration number PROSPERO CRD42016036911.


The nuclei of active galaxies are the most powerful long-lived sources of radiation in the Universe. They often outshine the host galaxy in which they reside and are able to eject outflows or jets of relativistic plasma that emit all the way from radio waves to the highest energetic gamma rays. To understand the mechanisms that govern AGN we have to go down to parsec or sub-parsec scales, where a central engine formed by a supermassive black hole and a surrounding accretion disc produces helical magnetic fields in which jets are thought to originate. The exact role of the magnetic field and its structure, the composition and dynamics of the ejected jets, as well as the feedback effect of the jets on the gas and dust that surrounds the central engine are however still far from understood. The SKA, with its superb sensitivity and polarization capabilities, will allow for a relevant advance on the field of relativistic jets and in active galactic nuclei and their connexion with the fueling material and star formation present in the vicinity of the central supermassive black hole.


The matrix elements of the zero-range $\delta$-force and the finite range Gogny-type pairing force are compared. The strengths of the $\delta$-interaction for rare-earth nuclei are adjusted. Pairing gaps resulting from different pairing interactions are compared to experimental ones.


Price-taking behavior seems to contradict rationality if a price effect is to be expected. This paper identifies a strategic effect between price-takers and non-price-takers on financial markets. It results from the liquidity reduction non-price-taking induces. Thus, a trade-off between the benefits of calculating price impacts correctly and market liquidity exists. It is shown that price-takers may benefit more from trading than their fully rational counterparts do. Moreover, it is demonstrated that when the choice of behavior is unobservable and decision costs exist an investor would profit more as a non-price-taker when his trading potential is large, and more as a price-taker when it is small. However, when the choice of behavior is observable it is the other way around. If various rounds of trading take place, an investor's terminal endowment converges to his risk tolerance share. Thus, an efficient allocation is obtained. Furthermore, a paradox concerning the endogenous choice of manners of calculation is identified.


Nanospray desorption electrospray mass spectrometry imaging (nano-DESI MSI) enables quantitative mapping of hundreds of molecules in biological samples with minimal sample pretreatment. We have recently developed an integrated microfluidic probe (iMFP) for nano-DESI MSI. Herein, we describe an improved design of the iMFP for the high-throughput imaging of tissue sections. We increased the dimensions of the primary and spray channels and optimized the spray voltage and solvent flow rate to obtain a stable operation of the iMFP at both low and high scan rates. We observe that the sensitivity, molecular coverage, and spatial resolution obtained using the iMFP do not change to a significant extent as the scan rate increases. Using a scan rate of 0.4 mm/s, we obtained high-quality images of mouse uterine tissue sections (scan area: 3.2 mm × 2.3 mm) in only 9.5 min and of mouse brain tissue (scan area: 7.0 mm × 5.4 mm) in 21.7 min, which corresponds to a 10-15-fold improvement in the experimental throughput. We have also developed a quantitative metric for evaluating the quality of ion images obtained at different scan rates. Using this metric, we demonstrate that the quality of nano-DESI MSI data does not degrade substantially with an increase in the scan rate. The ability to image biological tissues with high throughput using iMFP-based nano-DESI MSI will substantially speed up tissue mapping efforts.


Introduction: Extensive use of diagnostic radiology is the largest contributor to total population radiation doses. Thus, appropriate equipment and safe practice are necessary for good-quality images with optimal doses. This study aimed to perform quality control (QC) audit for radiography and fluoroscopy devices owned by private sector in Syria (2005-2013) to verify compliance of performance of X-ray machines with the regulatory requirements stipulated by the national regulatory body. Materials and Methods: In this study, QC audit included 487 X-ray diagnostic machines, (363 radiography and 124 fluoroscopy devices), installed in 306 medical diagnostic radiology centers in 14 provinces in Syria. We employed an X-ray beam analyzer device (NERO model 8000, Victoreen, USA), which was tested and calibrated at the National Secondary Standard Dosimetry Laboratory traceable to the IAEA Network of Secondary Standard Dosimetry Laboratories. Standard QC tool kits were used to evaluate tube and generator of the X-ray machines, which constituted potential (kVp), timer accuracy, radiation output consistency, tube filtration, small and large focal spot sizes, X-ray beam collimation and alignment, as well as high- and low-resolution and entrance surface dose in fluoroscopy. Results: According to our results, most of the assessed operating parameters were in compliance with the standards stipulated by the National Regulatory Authority. In cases of noncompliance for the assessed parameters, maximum value (28.77%) pertained to accuracy of kVp calibration for radiography units, while the lowest value (2.42%) belonged to entrance surface dose in fluoroscopy systems. Conclusion: Effective QC program in diagnostic radiology leads to obtaining information regarding quality of radiology devices used for medical diagnosis and minimizing the doses received by patients and medical personnel. The findings of this QC program, as the main part of QA program, illustrated that most of the considered diagnostic X-ray devices had acceptable performance and few of them need to be recalibrated for some parameters.


Basketball is one of a number of sports which, within the past decade, have seen an explosion in quantitative metrics and methods for evaluating players and teams. However, it is still challenging to evaluate individual off-ball events (e.g., screens, cuts away from the ball etc.) in terms of how they contribute to the success of a possession. In this study, we develop a deep learning framework DeepHoops to process a unique dataset composed of spatio-temporal tracking data from NBA games in order to generate a running stream of predictions on the expected points to be scored as a possession progresses. We frame the problem as a multi-class sequence classification problem in which our model estimates probabilities of terminal actions taken by players (e.g. take field goal, turnover, foul etc.) at each moment of a possession based on a sequence of ball and player court locations preceding the said moment. Each of these terminal actions is associated with an expected point value, which is used to estimate the expected points to be scored. One of the challenges associated with this problem is the high imbalance in the action classes. To solve this problem, we parameterize a downsampling scheme for the training phase. We demonstrate that DeepHoops is well-calibrated, estimating accurately the probabilities of each terminal action and we further showcase the model's capability to evaluate individual actions (potentially off-ball) within a possession that are not captured by boxscore statistics.


Introduction: Inner voice is estimated to occur at least a quarter of people's conscious waking life. Much research work asserts that inner voice plays various important roles in cognitive functions, such as self-regulation, self-reflection, and so on. Virtual cognitions are a stream of simulated thoughts people can hear while emerged in a virtual reality environment that intend to mimic the inner voice and thus simulating the effect of an inner voice. Presenting and manipulating virtual cognitions in learning and training may be a useful intervention method to affect people's behavior and beliefs. Exposing people to virtual cognitions, presented as an inner voice, requires the simulation of such voice and therefore understanding of the underlying sound parameters. Many researchers believe that there is a relationship between people's inner and outer voice, even suggesting that people's inner voice resembles the features of their own outer voice. The work presented here, therefore, explored people's perception of their simulated inner voice by considering several core sound parameters of their outer voice. Methods: Using a specially developed audio recording and modification software tool, 15 participants (11 males, 4 females) set key sound parameters to match their own voice recording with their perception of either their own inner or their outer voice. After reading aloud nine sentences, they modified seven sound parameters of the recordings: pitch, speed, echo and volume of sound with the frequency band (20-320Hz, 320-1280Hz, 1280-5120Hz, and 5120-20480Hz). Conclusion: The result of the study indicates that people's sound perception is different between inner and outer voice. Also, individual variations were found for the perception of inner and outer voice differences. For developers who want to simulate inner voice in a virtual environment, these findings suggest that inner voice has its own distinct characteristics compared to an outer voice. The volume setting for the frequency band of 1280-5120Hz can be based on group perception, whereas for speed and echo settings it might require individualization. © 2018, Interactive Media Institute. All rights reserved.


A 24-year old woman, heavy cannabis smoker with progressive Raynauld's phenomenon and digital necrosis is presented. Systemic sclerosis and other connective tissue disorders as well as arteriosclerosis and arterial emboli were excluded with appropriate laboratory examinations. Arteriography revealed multiple forearm, palmar and digital occlusions with corkscrew-shaped vessels. Based on these characteristic arteriography and clinical findings, the diagnosis of cannabis-arteritis was finally retained. With careful necrectomy, conservative wound dressings and secondary prostacyclin therapy a complete healing of digital necrosis was observed. There was no recurrence during the 6 month-follow-up. This observation demonstrates that cannabis may represent a possible cofactor in the pathogenesis of arteritis in young smokers. Early recognition is important to avoid irreversible complications such as loss of digits.


The mechanisms by which the duodenal mucosa absorbs iron are unknown. Insorption into absorptive cells of luminal iron bound to transferrin via receptor-mediated endocytosis has been hypothesized, but transferrin and transferrin receptor are absent in apical microvillous brush borders of small bowel biopsies taken from fasted patients and normal volunteers. We hypothesized that a normal iron-containing diet might induce the transient appearance of transferrin and transferrin receptor in apical brush borders of small intestinal absorptive cells in a normal mouse that was provided iron-containing chow until the moment of sacrifice. Light and electron microscopic immunolocalization of transferrin and transferrin receptor in proximal small intestinal absorptive cells was limited to basolateral membranes and coated pits of cells predominantly in the crypts and basal regions of the villi. Transferrin and transferrin receptor were not detected in apical microvillous brush border membranes of these enterocytes. In parallel immunolocalization protocols designed to show the ability to immunodetect other antigens at these locations, maltase and proteoglycan were demonstrated in apical microvillous brush border membranes and in basolateral membranes, respectively, in absorptive cells of small intestinal villous tip, base, and crypt regions. Furthermore, transferrin and transferrin receptor were immunolocalized in hepatocyte sinusoidal microvillus membranes. We conclude that food does not induce the appearance of immunodetectable transferrin and transferrin receptor in the apical microvilli of small intestinal absorptive cells and, therefore, that these iron transport proteins are not involved in the apical microvillous membrane transport of luminal dietary iron.


Autoimmune polyglandular syndromes (APS) comprise a wide clinical spectrum of autoimmune disorders. APS is divided into Type I, Type II, Type I and Type IV depending upon the pattern of disease combination. Ghronic diarrhoea is one of the many manifestations of APS and many aetiological factors have been suggested for it. Apart from the established aetiological factors, intestinal lymphangiectasia may be responsible for chronic diarrhea in some cases.Intestinal lymphangiectasia has been reported in Type I APS. We report a case of Type III APS with hypocalcaemia and hypothyroidism who had chronic diarrhea of long duration and was finally diagnosed to have intestinal lymphangiectasia.


This experiment was performed in faculty of Science labs, Babylon University, carried out during 2014-2015 for extraction, and Quantitative of essential oil t-anethole , from seeds , leaves and callus tissue of (pimipinella anisum L.). This study include sterilized anise seeds were germinated in free MS medium and callus induction from leaves (2cm pieces) by using same MS medium supplemented with plant regulator 2,4-Dichlorophenoxiactic acid (2,4-D) at different concentration (1, 2, 3) mg/l (induced phase). Callus tissue induced sub-cultured on MS medium with (BA) benzyl adenine at concentration of (1, 2, 3) mg/l and 2,4-D at concentration of 2 mg/l. Then, identically callus fresh weight sub-cultured on the same MS Medium supplemented with different concentration of NaCl (6, 9, 12 and 15Ds/m), Finally, comparisons study were made between in vitro and in vivo grown plant. Solution of control (t-anethole) used as standard. The content of t-anethole compound was done by using HPLC (high performance liquid chromatography), and compare of the quantity of t-anethole in callus with these content in seeds and leaves of mother plant. The result showed significant increased (P<0.05) of t-anethole production in callus tissue than the content in seeds and leaves of mother plant. Antioxidant enzymes activity like Catalase (CAT), were high in callus under different stresses conditions than in callus grown without stress. However, Proline was higher levels in callus under salt stress than in callus grown without stress.