Zero-Shot Sketch-Based Image Retrieval (ZS-SBIR) aims at searching corresponding natural images with the given free-hand sketches, under the more realistic and challenging scenario of Zero-Shot Learning (ZSL). Prior works concentrate much on aligning the sketch and image feature representations while ignoring the explicit learning of heterogeneous feature extractors to make themselves capable of aligning multi-modal features, with the expense of deteriorating the transferability from seen categories to unseen ones. To address this issue, we propose a novel Transferable Coupled Network (TCN) to effectively improve network transferability, with the constraint of soft weight-sharing among heterogeneous convolutional layers to capture similar geometric patterns, e.g., contours of sketches and images. Based on this, we further introduce and validate a general criterion to deal with multi-modal zero-shot learning, i.e., utilizing coupled modules for mining modality-common knowledge while independent modules for learning modality-specific information. Moreover, we elaborate a simple but effective semantic metric to integrate local metric learning and global semantic constraint into a unified formula to significantly boost the performance. Extensive experiments on three popular large-scale datasets show that our proposed approach outperforms state-of-the-art methods to a remarkable extent: by more than 12% on Sketchy, 2% on TU-Berlin and 6% on QuickDraw datasets in terms of retrieval accuracy. The project page is available at: https://haowang1992.github.io/publication/TCN.


The CLECOS_P system was conceived for registering and automating the processing of clinical evaluations performed on patients with Parkinson's disease who undergo functional neurosurgery and/or neural transplant. CLECOS_P represents the first time a computerized system is able to offer--with high precision and considerable time-savings--an integral analysis of the evolutive behavior of the universe in integrated variables at the core assessment program for intracerebral transplantations (CAPIT). CAPIT is used internationally for the evaluation and follow-up of patients with this pathology who have undergone neural transplant. We used the so-called MEDSAC methodology for the preparation of this system. The methodology that was used for the design of an intelligent system aimed at medical decision-making was based on the quantitative analysis of the clinical evolution. At the present moment, there are 20 patients controlled by this system: 11 bilaterally transplanted, 9 unilaterally (registered in ranks of 3 months before operation up to 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, and 24 months after operation). The application of CLECOS_P to these patients permitted the evaluation of 400 clinical variables, where a better evolutive characterization of the patients was obtained, thus getting most favorable results with personalized therapeutic methods aimed at raising their quality of life. CLECOS_P is used in a multi-user environment on a local area network running Novell Netware version 3.11.


OBJECTIVES
The aim of the presented studies was to empirically analyze the relation between the symptoms of personality disorders and the structure of identity-related senses. The analyses were conducted within two models - based on Millon's theory of personality and DSM-IV personality disorder classification system.

METHODS
In the studies, a total of 197 university students of various majors were included. The authors used Polish version of the Millon Index of Personality Styles that assess personality styles and offers a Clinical Index to evaluate psychological adjustment, and Personality Disorder Types Questionnaire to obtain DSM-IV diagnoses. The intensity of the identity-related senses was measured using the Multidimensional Identity Inventory. Data were tested for normality, and then Student's t-tests and ANOVA tests were used to compare the structure of identity-related senses in individuals with a healthy personality and disordered personality.

RESULTS
Within Millon's model, three different patterns of disordered personality were found, and they all manifested some identity deficits. Most of the personality disorders covered by DSM-IV also significantly differed on the identity dimensions from healthy personality.

CONCLUSIONS
The results show that identity deficits should be considered as an important symptom of personality disorders, regardless of the adopted model of personality. The most disordered identity is observed in individuals falling into the group with odd or eccentric disorders and into the anxious or fearful cluster. The group with dramatic, emotional or erratic disorders is the most heterogeneous in terms of the level of identity disorganization.


The opioid system controls social behavior and it was hypothesized that it therefore plays a role in neuropsychiatric disorders such as autism that are characterized by social and communication deficits. Mice communicate via ultrasonic vocalizations. As pups, they produce ultrasonic vocalizations when isolated from dam and littermates. These calls serve an important biological purpose, since they elicit search and retrieval behavior in the mother. Administration of μ-opioid-receptor-agonists diminishes such isolation-induced ultrasonic vocalizations and μ-opioid-receptor knock-out mouse pups (Orpm –/–) emit fewer ultrasonic vocalizations during isolation than intact controls (Orpm +/+). In adulthood, male and female mice produce ultrasonic vocalizations during social interactions. However, little is known about occurrence and function of ultrasonic vocalizations produced by adult females. Here, we conducted a playback experiment in order to assess whether female ultrasonic vocalizations elicit changes in the recipient's behavior and whether a possible change in behavior is dependent on a functioning opioid system by comparing Orpm –/– mice with Orpm +/+ controls. Our results showed that female ultrasonic vocalizations elicit exploratory activity in male recipients and that elicitation of exploratory activity in response to female ultrasonic vocalizations is dependent on an intact opioid system, since such a response was not seen in Orpm –/– mice. Lack of exploratory activation seen in Orpm –/– mice is unlikely due to hearing deficits as shown by an auditory cued fear-conditioning-task. Hence, these findings support the phenotypic relevance of Orpm –/– mice for the study of autism.


Ethnic socialization has significant associations with African American children's academic motivation and psychological well-being. However, little is known about the role of ethnic socialization for families with Latin American and Asian backgrounds. In the present study, we examined if there were ethnic and generation differences among 524 11th grade adolescents from Mexican, Chinese, and European backgrounds in the frequency and the types of ethnic socialization messages that they received from their parents. Participants also responded to questions about discrimination experiences and academic motivation. Their grade point averages (GPAs) were collected from school records. Results indicated that adolescents from both Mexican and Chinese backgrounds reported more cultural socialization and preparation for bias messages than their peers from European backgrounds. Chinese adolescents reported more promotion of mistrust messages than their peers with European backgrounds. Moreover, promotion of mistrust messages negatively predicted academic achievement, whereas positive cultural socialization messages accounted for the higher levels of motivation among adolescents from Chinese and Mexican backgrounds as compared to their equally-achieving peers from European backgrounds. Ethnic socialization did not moderate the negative association between discrimination and achievement.


Antacids are commonly used drugs which are considered inert and free of pharmacological effect by many patients and physicians. They are weak bases that neutralize the gastric acid and relief pain. These weak bases dissociate to neutralize gastric acid and form neutral salts. The ultimate goal of antacid therapy is to reduce the concentration and a total load of acid in gastric juice to a pH 4 - 5. This in vitro study was promised to study the acid neutralizing capacity (ANC) of six commonly available antacids tablets in the Iraqi market by using back titration method. The highest ANC values were for Rennie (17.131± 0.083 and 16.926± 0.052 mEq) in two different hydrochloric acid (HCl) concentrations 1N and 0.5 N, respectively. The static analysis revealed that there was a significant difference of ANC in favor of Rennie versus other antacid tablets studied. The current in vitro study showed that ANC value is the most important factor in determining the potency of the antacid which may help in designing and manufacturing new antacid formulation.


Cloud computing is an innovative computing paradigm that can bridge the gap between increasing computing demands in computationally intensive tasks for digital design and manufacturing applications and limited resources, scalability, flexibility, and agility in traditional computing paradigms. In light of the benefits of cloud computing, cloud-based high performance computing (HPC) has the potential to enable users to not only accelerate computationally expensive tasks, but also to reduce costs by utilizing on-demand, ubiquitous, seamless, and user-friendly access to remote engineering application packages as well as remote HPC resources. However, due to uncertainty about computing performance on the cloud, many manufacturers find it challenging to justify and adopt Cloud-Based Design and Manufacturing (CBDM). Therefore, the objective of this research is to evaluate the performance of solving a large-scale engineering problem using finite element analysis on several public HPC clouds as well as introduce a new workflow for CBDM. A set of experiments is conducted to compare the performance of the public HPC clouds with that of a standard workstation and a dedicated in-house supercomputer. The performance metrics include elapsed time, speedup, scalability, and stability. Experimental results have shown that the Azure Cloud with 32 cores and the Nimbix Cloud with 16 nodes speed up the finite element analysis over a workstation with 8 cores by more than seven-fold and eight-fold. A dedicated in-house supercomputer speeds up the finite element analysis over cloud computing by approximately two-fold because of better I/O performance and larger memory. In addition, considerable variations of elapsed time for solving the finite element model with multiple nodes in the cloud were observed due to resource sharing in cloud computing. © 2016 The Society of Manufacturing Engineers. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.


Rubella is a viral disease with mild constitutional symptoms and generalized rashes. In childhood, it is an inconsequential illness, but when it occurs during early pregnant period, there are significant risks of heart defects, cataract, mental retardation to the fetus. The series of congenital defects induced by rubella is called 'congenital rubella syndrome'. Many research have been performed to find out more effective prevention program on rubella. The objectives of this study are, first, to calculate the incidence rate of acute rubella infection and congenital rubella syndrome in Korea, second, to evaluate economic efficiency of several rubella vaccination policies and to offer data for the most reasonable decision on vaccination policy. Study populations are 663,312 children of one year-old in 1992. The author has performed cost-benefit analyses according to the three vaccination policies-U.S.A.'s. U.K.'s and Sweden's. In this Study, the author got the incidence rate of acute rubella infection using the catalytic model. In the meantime, the author used 50 per 100,000 live births as the incidence rate of congenital rubella syndrome. The discount rate used in this study was 5 percent per annum. The sensitivity analyses were done with different discount rates (4%, 7%) and different incidence rate of congenital rubella syndrome (10,100 per 100,000 live births) : The study results are as follows: 1. Without vaccination, lifetime expenditures per patient for acute rubella infeciton amount to 14,822 won and the total expenditures to about 3.1 billion won. Meanwhile, lifetime expenditures per patient for congenital rubella syndrome amount to about 91 million won and the total expenditures to about 16.3 billion won without vaccination. 2. The cost of vaccination for a child of one year old was 2,322 won and the total cost for the one year old children was about 1.5 billion won (American style). The cost for vaccination of female children at fifteen was about 339 million won (Birtish style). And the cost of vaccination at one for both sex and female children at fifteen was about 1.9 billion won (Swedish style). 3. The benefit to cost ratios of vaccination of female children at fifteen that is the british mode of rubella vaccination, was 60.0 at the level of 80% population coverage and 48.6 at 100% coverage. It shows much higher benefit to cost ratio than those of the other two vaccination policies. 4. Both net benefits of vaccination at one (American style) and that of vaccinations at one and fifteen (Swedish style) range from about 17.0 billion to 17.8 billion won, those were larger than that of vaccinations of female children at fifteen (Birtish style, about 16.0 billion). 5. In marginal cost-benefit analysis of only additional program of revaccination, the benefit to cost ratios were 3.6 (80% coverage rate) or 0.6 (100% coverage rate). It implies that additional program was less efficient or inefficient. 6. In sensitivity analysis with different discount rates(4% or 7%) and different incidence rates of congenital rubella syndrome (10 or 100 per 100,000 live births), the benefit to cost ratios has fluctuated in wide range. However, all the ratios of vaccination of female children at fifteen were higher than those of the others. Even under the most conservative assumption, the benefit to cost ratios of all the rubella vaccination policies were higher than 3.3. In conclusion, all the rubella vaccination policies found to be cost-effective and particularly the vaccination of female children at fifteen was strongly recommended.


ABSTRACT Background: Inter-professional bedside rounding has been used to reduce communication deficits and improve patient outcomes. Our objective was to evaluate nurse and physician participation in inter-professional bedside rounds and perceptions of communication, teamwork, and care coordination, through a quality improvement (QI) intervention. Method: A web-based survey was completed by attending and resident physicians and nurses working on the general medical wards of an academic-affiliated Veteran's Health Administration Hospital (VHA). Responses were assessed using the chi-square statistic. Qualitative responses were grouped into themes for analysis to guide the intervention. A pre-existing electronic communication device was utilized in a novel way by resident physicians to facilitate nursing participation in bedside rounds. Perceptions of communication, teamwork, and care coordination between nurses and physicians prior to and after introduction of the electronic communication device were assessed. Direct observation was used to assess nursing presence during physician team rounds. Results: Following the intervention, both nurses and physicians agreed more nurses were alerted by physicians when rounds began and better communication between nurses and physicians occurred. However, technological barriers limited sustainability. Nursing presence on rounds increased from a baseline of 16.5% to 36% post-intervention. Conclusions: Implementation of a voice-activated, communication device on rounds facilitated improvement in perceptions of communication, teamwork, and care coordination, which may ultimately impact cultural change and patient outcomes.


Abstract This paper considers the occurrence of Mn-oxide-rich hydrothermal deposits in the modern oceans and presents a case history of Jurassic Mn-cherts from a Tethyan area in Southern Greece. Manganese-oxide hydrothermal sediments are known from a wide variety of oceanic settings, including both on and off the axis of spreading ridges, in back-arc basins, arc-related areas, rifts and in small ocean basins. These Mn-rich sediments differ markedly from the chemical composition of better known metalliferous deposits associated with high-temperature black smokers (i.e. Fe-rich ochres and Fe-Mn-rich umbers). The ancient example discussed in detail here is that of Late Jurassic Mn-rich cherts spatially associated with basic-intermediate composition volcanics within sutured oceanic units in the Peloponnese, S Greece. The Mn enrichment there is interpreted as related to hydrothermal activity associated with Late Jurassic off-axis volcanism, rather than to a spreading ridge source. The Mn is strongly fractionated from Fe and is concentrated in thin beds and laminations, interpreted as of primary depositional origin. The silica is assumed to be mainly biogenic, as reflected in an association with red radiolarian cherts. The source hydrothermal activity is likely to have been of low-temperature type. Similar Mn-oxide deposits occur elsewhere in the Mesozoic Tethyan area, including N Greece, SW Turkey, Cyprus and Oman, and in other orogenic belts (e.g. in California). There are also metamorphosed counterparts of Mn-rich hydrothermal deposits that include metalliferous pelites and cherts; e.g. Cyclades, S Greece and Franciscan Complex, California. The record of deep-sea hydrothermal deposits exposed on land following tectonic emplacement is biased towards off-axis Mn-deposits within abyssal sediments, since axial spreading ridges (including massive sulphides, umbers and ochres) are rarely preserved, owing to subduction.


In chronic pain, the state of suprasegmental brain structures (the cortex, limbic system, truncodiencephalic structures, which form the motivational-affective and cognitive components of pain behavior), actively affects pain afferentation as well. The purpose of the study was to comparatively analyze the parameters and topographic distribution of P300 cognitive evoked potential in patients with lower back pain. Sixty patients aged 22 to 60 years were examined. The authors made their clinical and neurological examinations, collected medical history data, and assessed back pain intensity by a visual analog scale. The findings were compared with the parameters of cognitive evoked potentials (the separating of P300 to count; keystroke in the recognition of significant stimuli; elaboration of a verbal and nonverbal visual stimulation protocol, by using emotionally significant stimuli). The processes of recognition and differentiation, those of directed attention, and the rate of information processing slowed down in patients with different stages of pain syndrome. The P300 separating procedure using the emotionally significant stimuli allows one to assess the specific features of chronization of pain syndromes and the presence of pain memory in the central nervous system of such patients. The estimation of P300 parameters over time or during treatment are of particular value for the optimization and evaluation of its efficiency.


Cities are becoming increasingly vulnerable for climate change and there is an urgent need to become more resilient. This research involves the development of the City climate scan Rotterdam (September 2017) methodology to measure, map, scan and assess different parameters that together give insight in the vulnerability of urban areas and neighborhoods. The research at recent City climate scan / Sketch your city in April 2018 used storytelling and sketching1 as main method to connect stakeholders, motivate action, evoke recognition in a jointly formulated goal, such as taking climate action. The city climate scan also involved the development of a set of measurement tools that can be applied in different urban neighborhoods in a low-cost low-tech approach with teams of stakeholders and practitioners. The city climate scan method was tested in different cities around the globe (Rotterdam, Manila and Cebu) in groups of young professionals and stakeholders in rapid urban appraisals.


In cross-sectional data sets from ten credit markets, we find that middle-aged adults borrow at lower interest rates and pay fewer fees relative to younger and older adults. Fee and interest payments are minimized around age 53. The measured effects are not explained by observed risk characteristics. We discuss several leading factors that may contribute to these effects, including age-related changes in experience and cognitive function, selection effects, and cohort effects.


The neurobiological mechanisms of depressive disorders, concerning the role of biochemical changes in cholinergic, serotonergic, dopaminergic, and other neurohumoral systems in the development of depression are reviewed. The modern approaches to pharmacotherapy of depressive disorders, with special accent on cholinergic drugs usage for treatment of depression are discussed in details.


Wireless sensor networks are often deployed to monitor scalar fields. Commonly, these networks employ a query-based architecture, where specific data are requested by the sink node, and the network responds. Contours or isolines are compact representations of the state of a scalar field, and are useful abstractions of scalar field behavior. Previously researchers have examined algorithms and policies for detecting contours in query-based sensor networks, but have only addressed individual components of the process. In this paper we present a set of algorithms for contour detection in WSNs, and associated oracle functions to provide an unbiased optimality comparison. We show that our algorithms, and in particular our response and aggregation policy provide near-optimal performance in simulated networks measuring physically realistic scalar fields.


Abstract : Observation of accelerated protons during the injection of rotating relativistic electron beams into neutral hydrogen (50 mTorr to 400 mTorr) indicated that ions from the beam-formed plasma are trapped and accelerated by a potential well at the beamfront. Measurements show that the number of accelerated protons decreases as the beamfront velocity is increased. Moreover, at a given velocity, the number accelerated is relatively insensitive to the neutral gas pressure.


Abstract The StratEx program used a self-contained space suit and balloon system to loft pilot Alan Eustace to a record-breaking altitude and skydive from 135,897 feet (41,422 m). After releasing from the balloon and a stabilized freefall, the pilot safely landed using a parachute system based on a modified tandem parachute rig. A custom spacesuit provided life support using a similar system to NASA's (National Aeronautics and Space Administration; Washington, DC USA) Extravehicular Mobility Unit. It also provided tracking, communications, and connection to the parachute system. A recovery support team, including at least two medical personnel and two spacesuit technicians, was charged with reaching the pilot within five minutes of touchdown to extract him from the suit and provide treatment for any injuries. The team had to track the flight at all times, be prepared to respond in case of premature release, and to operate in any terrain. Crew recovery operations were planned and tailored to anticipate outcomes during this novel event in a systematic fashion, through scenario and risk analysis, in order to minimize the probability and impact of injury. This analysis, detailed here, helped the team configure recovery assets, refine navigation and tracking systems, develop procedures, and conduct training. An extensive period of testing and practice culminated in three manned flights leading to a successful mission and setting the record for exit altitude, distance of fall with stabilizing device, and vertical speed with a stabilizing device. During this mission, recovery teams reached the landing spot within one minute, extracted the pilot, and confirmed that he was not injured. This strategy is presented as an approach to prehospital planning and care for improved safety during crew recovery in novel, extreme events. MenonAS, JourdanD, NusbaumDM, GarbinoA, BucklandDM, NortonS, ClarkJB, AntonsenEL. Crew recovery and contingency planning for a manned stratospheric balloon flight – the StratEx program. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2016;31(5):524–531.


Duties, tasks, different situations or decisions need to be resolved on a daily basis. However, it often happens that because of over-information from different sides, an excessive number of tasks, the fast pace of life, and so on we tend to procrastinate important tasks for later. This phenomenon can occur in almost every area, including the academic area. This contribution, therefore, addresses the occurrence of academic procrastination and the establishment and use of time management by university students. The main objective is to identify possible differences in procrastination and the right use of time management in a cross-cultural context. A research sample consisted of 292 students from the Uzhhorod National University and from the University of Prešov, on which we surveyed the rate of procrastination and rate of time management through our own questionnaire. Subsequent testing of the obtained data revealed that there are statistically significant differences in procrastination between Ukrainian and Slovak students, but differences in time management have not been confirmed.


The purpose of this thesis is to describe the prestige ranking of groups and persons in an urban African local community. On the one hand, this system of stratification is largely based on the normal urban differentiation of migrants into occupational categories. On the other hand, rural tribal structures alter the precise nature of the system between migrants of different tribes. Migrants of politically uncentralised, segmentary lineage tribes are distinguished from those of centralised tribes. Among the former the strong agnatic principle defines relatively highly solidary groups of kin, clan, and fellowtribesmen. Among centralised tribesmen a more bilateral kinship emphasis renders these groups less solidary and even insignificant. This difference in group solidarity is reflected in the existence of segmentary structures of formal voluntary associations among migrants of segmentary tribes, and in the absence of such associations among those of centralised tribes. There are other associations which are multi-tribal in composition and non-tribal in their aims. The point is taken that most ordinary migrants do not participate in formal voluntary associations. Yet, all these associations, both tribal and non-tribal, appear to symbolise the local system of stratification. They themselves are variously ranked, and appear to reflect a ranking of the groups in which the ordinary migrant is involved. The existence of urban tribal association among segmentary tribespeople is additionally significant in so far as it indicates the sometimes very strong obligations obtaining within corporate groups of kin and fellowtribesmen. A segmentary tribesman who aspires to higher urban statuses experiences more frequent and intense conflicts of role-expectation than a centralised tribesman. Non-tribal associations are common to both these sets of tribespeople. In this and other respects they reflect norms of neighbourhood and local relations. Networks of neighbourhood and local relations have special significance for a status aspirant of a segmentary tribe. Firstly, they provide him with a cross-cultural yardstick for evaluating his obligations to kin and fellow tribesmen. Secondly, they are the means by which he can indicate his lessening of such obligations as he becomes socially mobile.


An accurate computer-aided design of compact, low-cost, low-insertion-loss evanescent-mode waveguide bandpass filters with bilateral metallic E-plane fins is presented. The rigorous field distribution of the ridge waveguide eigenmodes is applied to the design. The design theory takes into account the influences of both the finite fin thickness and the higher-order mode interaction at all discontinuities. The numerical advantage of the transverse resonance method for solving the related cross-sectional eigenvalue problem is demonstrated for the design of quasi-high-pass and bandpass filters of different ridge gap widths and is compared with the classical standing wave and resonator mode-matching techniques. Computer-optimized design data are given for filters with passbands in X-band (8-12 GHz) and E-band (60-90 GHz), which achieve high skirt selectivity and wide stopband. The theory is verified by measurements. >


In brittle fracture applications, failure paths, regions where the failure occurs and damage statistics, are some of the key quantities of interest (QoI). High-fidelity models for brittle failure that accurately predict these QoI exist but are highly computationally intensive, making them infeasible to incorporate in upscaling and uncertainty quantification frameworks. The goal of this paper is to provide a fast heuristic to reasonably estimate quantities such as failure path and damage in the process of brittle failure. Towards this goal, we first present a method to predict failure paths under tensile loading conditions and low-strain rates. The method uses a $k$-nearest neighbors algorithm built on fracture process zone theory, and identifies the set of all possible pre-existing cracks that are likely to join early to form a large crack. The method then identifies zone of failure and failure paths using weighted graphs algorithms. We compare these failure paths to those computed with a high-fidelity model called the Hybrid Optimization Software Simulation Suite (HOSS). A probabilistic evolution model for average damage in a system is also developed that is trained using 150 HOSS simulations and tested on 40 simulations. A non-parametric approach based on confidence intervals is used to determine the damage evolution over time along the dominant failure path. For upscaling, damage is the key QoI needed as an input by the continuum models. This needs to be informed accurately by the surrogate models for calculating effective modulii at continuum-scale. We show that for the proposed average damage evolution model, the prediction accuracy on the test data is more than 90\%. In terms of the computational time, the proposed models are $\approx \mathcal{O}(10^6)$ times faster compared to high-fidelity HOSS.


Background: Clinical trials (CTs) play a significant role in timely enhancement of health-care quality. It aids us to find an effective and safe treatment. Clinical research is rapidly developing in India and more graduates from medical, paramedical, and other scientific fields are enrolling for clinical research training.

Aims and Objectives: The aims of this study were to know the knowledge and awareness of CT among undergraduate medical students.

Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional and questionnaire-based study conducted among medical students at a tertiary care hospital in South India from January to February 2022. These questions were designed for assessing knowledge and awareness about CT. After validation, students were administered the questionnaire through the Google form. The data were recorded and analyzed using Microsoft Excel (2019 version) and the results are explained in frequency and percentage.

Results: A total of 296 students were sent Google form-based questionnaire, out of which 278 responded with completely filled up questionnaire, giving a response rate of 94%. About 82% reported correctly that healthy normal human volunteers participate in phase 1 of CT. Majority of the students (95%) were aware what is informed consent. Only 98 (35%) students were aware that the request for authorization to conduct CT is given in form 44 as per drugs and cosmetics act. Around 43.16% responded correctly about the time period taken for completion of CT, majority of the students (90%) knew who is responsible for conduction of CT. One hundred and seventy (61.15%) reported correctly that adverse drug effects and new indication or use of the drug is studied in phase 4 and majority were aware that phase 4 is also known as post marketing surveillance. In the study, 204 (73.4%) students were aware that innovatory company of a new drug has to take approval from Institutional Review Board or Institutional Ethics Committee before phase 0 of clinical trial. Majority 240 (86.33%) of the students were aware what is pharmacovigilance. The last question in our study was to assess student's interest in taking up clinical research in future, only 41% of students showed interest in choosing clinical research as a career option.

Conclusion: In the present study, undergraduate medical students' knowledge regarding clinical trial was average and limited number of students expressed their interest in conduct of CT. A scientifically conducted research helps in evidence-based medicine, which, in turn, improves the patient care and promotes health. A great number of medical students may pursue research in future; hence, it is crucial for medical students to be knowledgeable about clinical research. Therefore, formal, educative, and regular training of medical students is required for choosing clinical research as a career option and conduct high-quality research.


The President of the United States is chosen directly by the Electoral College, although indirectly the citizens select the President. Different states currently employ two systems of electoral-vote allocation under the Electoral College framework: the widely adopted winner-take-all system and the system adopted by Maine and Nebraska. The properties of these two systems are analyzed against the backdrop of majority rule and the notion that every vote counts. Two variants of the existing systems are then introduced, using intuitive proportional rules to allocate electoral votes under the Electoral College. These proposed systems are compared to the existing winner-take-all system and to the Maine-Nebraska system. Further, the outcomes of three historical Presidential Elections are considered under different electoral allocation systems. This study highlights basic properties of the Electoral College and possible variants of the current system so that better judgments can be made in future debates.


[Purpose] A hand-held dynamometer (HHD) is less expensive than the isokinetic muscle strength measurement device, and research using HHD is gradually increasing. However, measurement is performed only at a low muscle strength level at which the heel does not take off or heel detachment occurs; therefore, fixation of the foot becomes a problem. This study aimed to determine the validation of measuring ankle plantar flexion strength (with the knee extended) using HHD. [Participants and Methods] Twenty healthy adults (14 males and 6 females) participated in this study. The chair used in this study was for swallowing videofluorography, which was fixed to a wall bar by the belt. The sensor was located at the third metatarsal head. After warming up, the participants sat in a long sitting position on the chair. We conducted the test two times. We used intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Bland–Altman analysis to assess reliability. [Results] The ICC(1, 1) and ICC(2, 1) results were all greater than 0.9. No fixed and proportional errors were present. [Conclusion] The measurement method of this study was both intra- and inter-examiner reliabilities, which were high, and we suggest that sufficient clinical application is possible.


Abstract Objective: To determine if a weight gain prevention intervention is acceptable to young women with a normal Body Mass Index and a moderately increased or high risk of breast cancer. Design: Qualitative semi-structured interview study involving 14 women aged 26–35 years who were registered with a Family History Clinic in Manchester, UK, due to family history of breast cancer. Participants' views were analysed thematically. Results: Four themes were produced: (1) perceptions of a healthy lifestyle: women's perceptions included health-related behaviours and subjective wellbeing; (2) construing a healthy weight: women rely on appearance, feelings and others opinions to construe weight instead of quantitative indicators; (3) configuring a useful programme: the idea of a programme that is remotely accessible; provides a point of contact; and promotes general wellbeing was appealing. Women believed information explaining the link between lifestyle and breast cancer would facilitate behaviour change; (4) the importance of will(power): women recognised that commitment to a programme is affected by time, money and readiness to change. Conclusion: A weight gain prevention intervention that focuses on wellbeing and behaviour change appears acceptable to many healthy weight women. Future research should examine whether women's expressed acceptability translates into actual acceptability of such a programme.


This work presents an updated dichotomous key to all snake species of Europe, based on morphological, morphometric and distributional characters. It gathers data from both the last dichotomous keys concerning European snake species and every following paper giving updates on taxonomic classification or the occurrence of new allochthonous species. The key includes 58 snake taxa, including 57species and one still unnamed taxon, distributed on the European territory, and photographic material for each species. The aim of this paper is to make the identification of all European snake species through a single manuscript more accessible, not only for researchers, but also for citizen science, thus enhancing data collection and assist species conservation.


New synchrotron x-ray microbeam methodology is used to analyze and test the reliability of interconnects. The early stage of plastic deformation induced by electromigration before any damages become visible has been recently revealed by white beam scanning X-ray microdiffraction during an accelerated test on Al interconnect lines. In the present paper, we provide a quantitative analysis of the dislocation structure generated in several micron-sized Al grains in both the middle region and ends of the interconnect line during an in-situ electromigration experiment. We demonstrate that the evolution of the dislocation structure during electromigration is highly inhomogeneous and results in the formation of randomly distributed geometrically necessary dislocations as well as geometrically necessary boundaries. The orientation of the activated slip systems and rotation axis depends on the position of the grain in the interconnect line. The origin of the observed plastic deformation is considered in view of constraints for dislocation arrangements under applied electric field during electromigration. The coupling between plastic deformation and precipitation in the Al (0.5% wt. Cu) is observed for the grains close to the anode/cathode end of the line.


Ga(III) compounds are highly promising candidates for antitumor therapy. The level of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) is significantly increased after Ga(III) complex treatment, but these complexes are redox-inactive. To investigate the effects of Ga(III) complexes on ROS levels, we synthesized three bis-ligated gallium(III)–2-benzoylpyridine-thiosemicarbazone complexes and studied their antitumor mechanisms. The structures of the Ga(III) complexes were identified by X-ray single-crystal diffraction. Cytotoxicity analysis demonstrated that the ligands and gallium complexes exerted a higher antitumor activity and a lower cytotoxicity than those of normal cells. The most active complex was C3, which exhibited a better antitumor viability than its related ligands and the anticancer agent 3-AP. Thus, the Ga(III) complexes not only transmitted the iron ions but also induced intracellular Ca2+ release. As a result, the ROS standards in redox-active iron complexes were increased. The mechanism involved the release of Cyt C from the mitochondria which lack membrane potential, and then the activation of the caspase family proteins stimulated cell apoptosis.


With the development of anti-human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) monoclonal antibodies, trastuzumab-based therapy has become the standard of care among patients with early or advanced HER2-positive breast cancer. However, real-world data have shown that up to a half of patients do not receive trastuzumab or any other HER2-targeted agent, mainly due to high treatments costs. The prospect of a more enlarged access to trastuzumab treatment lies in the use of biosimilars, as the European and the US patent of the reference products has or will soon expire. Biosimilars are biologics highly similar in terms of quality characteristics, biological activity, safety and efficacy to already approved biologics. The biosimilarity of any European Union (EU)-approved biosimilar is guaranteed based on the comprehensive comparability exercise which includes comparative analytical, non-clinical and clinical studies. In the matter of biosimilars' interchangeability and substitution, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have adopted different positions, triggering various discussions on the potential immunogenicity and efficacy in individual patients. As more biosimilars are gaining approval, the present review aims to offer concise information for oncologists and pharmacists about the production, approval, interchangeability, and substitution policies of biosimilars used in breast cancer therapy, with a special focus on trastuzumab.


Process migration has been added to the DEMOS/MP operating system. A process can be moved during its execution, and continue on another processor, with continuous access to all its resources. Messages are correctly delivered to the process's new location, and message paths are quickly updated to take advantage of the process's new location. No centralized algorithms are necessary to move a process.
 A number of characteristics of DEMOS/MP allowed process migration to be implemented efficiently and with no changes to system services. Among these characteristics are the uniform and location independent communication interface, and the fact that the kernel can participate in message send and receive operations in the same manner as a normal process.


An ELISA was developed for the identification of rotavirus immune complexes in pig faeces. The relationship between rotavirus antigens, rotavirus immune complexes and rotavirus antibodies of IgA class was examined.


Regulatory molecular networks have numerous pharmacological and medical applications. The oscillatory mechanisms and the role of oscillations in these regulatory networks are not fully understood. In this paper, we explore two oscillatory mechanisms: the hysteresis-based relaxation oscillator and the repressilator. We combine these mechanisms into one regulatory network so that only two parameters, the strength of an additional regulatory connection and the timescale separation for one of the variables, control the transition from one mechanism to the other. Our data support a qualitative difference between the oscillatory mechanisms, but in the parameter space, we found a single oscillatory region, suggesting that the two mechanisms support each other. We examine interactions in a basic population: that is, a pair of the composite oscillators. We found that the relaxation oscillation mechanism is much more resistant to oscillatory death as the cells are diffusively coupled in a population. Additionally, stationary pattern formation has been found to accompany the relaxation oscillation but not the repressilator mechanism. These properties may guide the identification of oscillatory mechanisms in complex natural regulatory networks.


In this paper, we deal with the interior stabilization problem of a flexible structure governed by a hyperbolic partial differential equation coupled to two ordinary differential equations. Contrary to the previous works on the system, the boundary control is subject to the presence of an infinite memory term. In order to deal with such a nonlocal term, the minimal state approach is invoked. Specifically, a localized interior control is proposed in order to compensate the infinite memory effect. Thereafter, reasonable assumptions on the memory kernel are evoked so that the closed‐loop system is shown to be well‐posed thanks to semigroups theory of linear operators. Furthermore, the resolvent method is used to establish the exponential stability of the system.


Background/Context Teaching to empower requires a critical focus on the unique challenges and opportunities of teaching in socially unjust educational environments. Effective teaching happens in an environment that engages students and teachers in critical investigation of content, knowledge, and activities. Critical learning environments simultaneously nurture the development of multiple perspectives and challenge the status quo. Establishing a critical learning environment is imperative in an educational system that is plagued with academic and social injustices. Therefore, teaching to empower necessitates that teachers, with the help of students, dismantle injustices through culturally responsive teaching, the development of agency and activism, the growth of multiple perspectives, and the capacity to challenge the status quo. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study The purpose of this chapter, a conceptual paper, is to lay the foundation for a framework of social justice action projects, which we differentiate from social action projects on the basis that social justice action projects are enveloped in critical race theory. Three educator vignettes are shared to illustrate how this framework functions in practice. We provide an example of a classroom teacher, a teacher educator, and a research perspective. Research Design This chapter, a conceptual paper, examines four components that we believe are essential for transforming social action projects into social justice action projects. Through personal narratives, we illuminate the challenges and successes of social justice action projects as they relate to learning, students, educators, and the community. Four of the authors, who are also researchers and educators, share autoethnographic experiences of their participation in social justice action projects in education. Data Collection and Analysis This chapter is a conceptual paper that seeks to illustrate the conceptual framework presented in the introduction of the chapter with three practical examples told from the point of view of the author teachers. Findings/Results When critical race theory acts as a framework for social action projects, these become social justice action projects, which, when properly applied, avoid many of the pitfalls that are common when social action projects do not serve the priorities of their community partners. For students, critical race-based pedagogies can serve to develop critical consciousness. Meanwhile, critical methods provide means by which students and community partners develop agency and activism. Conclusions/Recommendations Teaching through social justice action projects engages both students and teachers in critical dialogues that support empowered, action-oriented learning. While many effective teaching methods and strategies exist, the use of social justice action projects provides knowledge production, dialogue, and thinking beyond the whitewashed curriculum to create a world in which students, teachers, and community partners are empowered to make positive differences.


This paper presents a new subspace-based direction of arrival (DOA) estimation method based on the concept of well known propagator method (PM) and its noise subspace being invariant to power of the sources. With the objective of increasing the resolution, this paper introduces a new matrix on which partitioning is done and PM is employed. The proposed method has higher resolution capabilities than the conventional PM and the modified PM. The numerical results verify that the proposed method performance in RMSE and resolution is superior to the conventional PM, modified PM.


This article analyzes the development of the Egyptian workers' movement in the face of the 25 January Revolution through the notion of dialectical pedagogy. This Gramscian concept is extended by a Vygotskyan analysis of the reciprocal learning processes, which stimulate a proletarian activity system to overcome its economic-corporate predicament. The concrete case study of the Mahalla strike movement (2006–2008) elucidates the transformative-instructive dynamics of autoprolepsis and heterolepsis and the importance of solidarity in developing the worker Subject. The 25 January Revolution expanded the proletarian Zone of Proximal Development and created new possibilities and constraints for the development of the workers' movement.


Abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of technology-mediated TBLT (Task based language teaching) tasks where students must collaborate within an English as Foreign Language (EFL) course created to develop their English speaking abilities. A total of 25 students participated in this study and were assigned to groups of 4 to 6. Each group was asked to create seven five-minute video productions in English using their cell phone camera about topics assigned to them by the teacher over the course of one semester. The results of the pre-test and post-test indicated that the tasks were effective in improving students' English speaking abilities. Class observations and students' Facebook posts showed predominately positive perceptions towards the task of video making with their respective groups using technology tools. The bi-weekly video productions and the end-of-term survey revealed that the participants believe that technology-mediated TBLT in a collaborative learning environment was beneficial in increasing their English speaking abilities, which highlights the need to shift from teacher-centered activities to learner-centered activities within a collaborative learning environment.


Post-mortem studies carried out after recent power system blackouts have shown that time-stamped measurements from Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) would have helped to avert these blackouts if they were available. Consequently, there is the need to optimally locate these PMUs to provide information about the system's state. This paper proposes a novel method incorporating modal participation factors computed from the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the reduced Jacobian matrix obtained from the system's power flow with Binary Integer Programming (BIP), in solving the Optimal PMU Placement (OPP) problem while considering the system's voltage stability. The proposed method identifies the critical buses prone to voltage instability, determines the minimum number of PMUs required for complete topological observability, and the best locations to site the PMUs. The proposed method was tested on benchmark IEEE 14-bus, 30-bus, and 57-bus test networks. Analyses of the results show that the proposed method provides a better procedure for the strategic placement of PMUs in practical networks for voltage stability monitoring especially for the cases of phased (multi-stage) PMU placement limited by the availability of funds and communication channels. Thereby making it necessary to give priority to critical/voltage weak buses during the phased installation process.


There has been increased interest in conducting human absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) studies with low doses (up to 0.1 MBq) as opposed to regular doses (1.85-3.7 MBq) of radiocarbon (14 C). This is due to the fact that low-dose human ADME studies may be conducted without dosimetry calculations and will lead to lower human radiation exposure. Here, we sought to compare the outcomes of low-dose versus regular-dose human ADME studies in healthy volunteers. Forty oral human ADME studies conducted at PRA were surveyed, among which 12 were low-dose studies. The fraction of drug material absorbed was 67% ± 7% in the regular-dose studies (data for 13 studies) versus 39% ± 16% in the low-dose studies (data for 5 studies). The average total recovery of 14 C in excreta was 93% ± 5% for regular-dose studies, and 21 of 28 such studies showed recoveries more than 90%. For low-dose studies, average total recovery was 89% ± 9%, and 6 of 12 studies showed recoveries more than 90%. Metabolite profiling was successful in all cases reported (13 regular-dose studies and 5 low-dose studies). There was no obvious relationship between the total recoveries of 14 C in excreta and the proportion of 14 C excreted in feces, or between the total recoveries and the plasma elimination half-lives for parent or total 14 C, neither in the low-dose nor the regular-dose studies. A significant correlation was found between the fraction absorbed and the recovery in feces in the low-dose but not in the regular-dose studies, and no correlation was found between the fractions absorbed and the total recoveries in both types of studies. Low-dose studies were more often conducted on drugs that had a plasma elimination half-life of parent drug more than 100 hours (5 of 12 studies) than regular-dose studies (1 of 26 studies). We conclude that both low-dose as well as regular-dose human ADME studies provide adequate data to support decision making for further drug development.


Globalization has brought the idea of special instrument which will enable a country to be competitive in attracting investments. One of the most viable instruments is Special Economic Zones (SEZ). The success of SEZs development in China has inspired many countries to develop the same concept, including Southeast Asian countries. This paper aims to know how Thailand and Vietnam, as members of Southeast Asian countries, developing success special economic zones in their countries. Thailand has successfully brought the local economies to the global value chain through SEZ. While Vietnam has recorded remarkable economic growth through the development of SEZs. Using in-depth interview and thorough literature review as the main methodology, this paper will discover some aspects in comparing the development of SEZs in both countries. Several key success factors of Thailand founded in this research are: 1) clear incentive schemes; 2) strong government participation in promoting local economies; 3) good investment services. While in Vietnam, the success factors are: 1) strong government direction; 2) high-tax incentives.


This paper proposes a concatenated single-pulse modulation (C-PPM) for UWB systems by increasing the number of pulses in time symbol interval. Further adaptation of orthogonal codes to bipolar signal PPM is studied. The results obtained considered the possible application for high data transmission systems and multi-user environments.


An in vitro study was performed to test the ablative potential of a fiber-transmitted pulsed holmium laser (2.1 microns) applied to normal vascular wall, lipomatous plaques, and calcified plaques. Different fluences per pulse of 42, 80, 205, and 315 J/cm2 were used. Ablation of normal tissue and lipomatous plaques was achieved with all power settings. Effective ablation of calcified plaques, however, occurred only after a minimum fluence of 205 J/cm2, and the effect was significantly less pronounced compared to ablation of soft lesions.


Mr Khuram Shafi was awarded Institute and Campus Gold medal in Master of Business Administration in 2005 from CIIT, Pakistan. He has qualified M.phill degree in Management sciences in 2009 from IIUI, Pakistan. He has joined COMSATS Institute of Information Tec (CIIT),Pakistan in 2005 as a Lecturer. In 2009 he was promoted as an Assistant Professor with his outstanding performance both in academia as well as in Research. He has published his research work in well reputed International journals. He win many prizes during his work experiences as well as during studies e.g business plan competitions etc. He is also perusing his Doctorate degree. Professor Liu Hua was born in 1967. He was awarded Post-Doctorate degree in 2007. He has qualified for doctorate from Huazhong University of science & Technology. He has joined Huazhong University of science & Technology, Wuhan in 1991 and currently working as Professor of Business Management. He is working as senior analysist in China bank in Wuhan. He is also working as managing director in Taxation Institute of Wuhan. He has published his research work in well reputed journals.


Understanding the burden and risk factors of dengue virus (DENV) infection in Puerto Rico is important for the prevention of dengue in local, traveler and military populations. Using sera from the Department of Defense Serum Repository, we estimated the prevalence and predictors of DENV seropositivity in those who had served in Puerto Rico, stratified by birth or prior residence ("birth/residence") in dengue-endemic versus non-endemic regions. We selected sera collected in early 2015 from 500 U.S. military members, a time-point also permitting detection of early cryptic Zika virus (ZIKV) circulation. 87.2% were born or resided in a DENV-endemic area before their military service in Puerto Rico. A high-throughput, flow-cytometry-based neutralization assay was employed to screen sera for ZIKV and DENV neutralizing antibodies, and confirmatory testing was done by plaque-reduction neutralization test (PRNT). We identified one Puerto Rico resident who seroconverted to ZIKV by June 2015, suggesting cryptic ZIKV circulation in Puerto Rico at least 4 months before the first reported cases. A further six PRNT-positive presumptive ZIKV infections which were resolved as DENV infections only by the use of paired sera. We noted 66.8% of the total study sample was DENV seropositive by early 2015. Logistic regression analysis indicated that birth/residence in a dengue non-endemic region (before military service in Puerto Rico) was associated with a lower odds of DENV exposure by January—June 2015 (aOR = 0.28, p = 0.001). Among those with birth/residence in a non-endemic country, we noted moderate evidence to support increase in odds of DENV exposure for each year of military service in Puerto Rico (aOR = 1.58, p = 0.06), but no association with age. In those with birth/residence in dengue-endemic regions (before military service in Puerto Rico), we noted that age (aOR = 1.04, p = 0.02), rather than duration of Puerto Rico service, was associated with dengue seropositivity, suggesting earlier lifetime DENV exposure. Our findings provide insights into the burden and predictors of DENV infection in local, traveler and military populations in Puerto Rico. Our study also highlights substantial PRNT ZIKV false-positivity when paired sera are not available, even during periods of very low ZIKV prevalence.


Two-dimensional electrostatic potential of 45 nm technology semiconductor devices was mapped by electron holography with 2 nm resolution. The 2-D active dopant distribution was reconstructed by the inverse modeling of the electrostatic potential. Identically manufactured devices with and without a carbon co-implant were compared. The authors show that in the presence of the carbon co-implant, the two-dimensional diffusion of the boron halo implant during thermal processing is reduced. It is demonstrated that the carbon co-implant improves the control of the device short channel effects.


Phase change materials (PCM) have had a significant role as thermal energy transfer fluids and nanofluids and as media for thermal energy storage. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, can play a significant role in addressing several thermo-physical problems of PCMs at the atomic scale by providing profound insights and new information. In this paper, the reviewed research is classified into five groups: pure PCM, mixed PCM, PCM containing nanofillers, nano encapsulated PCM, and PCM in nanoporous media. A summary of the equilibrium and non-equilibrium MD simulations of PCMs and their results is presented as well. The primary results of the simulated systems are demonstrated to be efficient in manufacturing phase change materials with better thermal energy storage features. The goals of these studies are to achieve higher thermal conductivity, higher thermal capacity, and lower density change, determine the melting point, and understand the molecular behaviors of PCM composites. A molecular dynamics-based grouping (PCM simulation table) was presented that is very useful for the future roadmap of PCM simulation. In the end, the PCFF force field is presented in detail and a case problem is studied for more clarity. The results show that simulating the PCMs with a similar strategy could be performed systematically. Results of investigations of thermal conductivity enhancement showed that this characteristic can be increased at the nano-scale by the orientation of PCM molecules.


Animal production contributes substantially to global greenhouse gas emissions (about 14.5%). The so-called Carbon Footprint (CF) considers the greenhouse gas potential of climate relevant gases (e.g., CO2 x 1; CH4 x 23; N2O x 296) and is given in CO2-eq per g or kg product or per unit edible protein. The CF may help to assess the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the production of foods of animal origin such as milk, meat, eggs or fish. The CF may contribute to sensitizing producers and consumers to a more resource-efficient and environmentally-friendly production, to the consumption of food of animal origin, and to avoiding food wastage. The highest CF per unit edible protein is calculated for products of growing ruminants (beef and lamb), followed by milk and pork and eggs and poultry meat with the lowest values. Discrepancies in the results of various studies are mainly explained by different system boundaries, allocation methods and computation of emissions, especially with regard to land use changes, enteric methane emissions and nitrous oxide emissions. A more standardized approach for data collection and CF-calculations would be a very useful tool to compare CF between production systems, regions and countries, and an indicator for food labelling, and is considered in the first part of this paper. The second part of the paper deals with the potential to reduce climate relevant gases from animal production. Some specific influencing factors, such as plant and animal breeding, feed production, animal feeding as well as animal keeping, animal health and excrement management are analysed more in detail. Most attention has been spent to the methane reduction potentials in the rumen. The reduction of CF in ruminant production per product should focus on a lowering of methane emissions from enteric fermentation and an increase of low production levels as well a reduction of ineffective animal numbers. In the future, results of plant and animal breeding may also substantially contribute to lower GHG emissions. Furthermore, new potentials to improve protein supply for human nutrition should be used. The production of food of animal origin is a very complex process and selective consideration, i.e., focussing on single factors, does not provide an assessment that reflects the complexity of the subject. Recommendations for further research activities are given.


To better define the relationships between circulating autoantibodies and renal involvement in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), antibodies to both dsDNA and soluble cellular antigens were detected in sera from a large series of SLE patients. Significantly higher dsDNA binding activities and lower complement levels at onset were found in patients with renal disease; however, this was uniquely due to subjects with diffuse or focal proliferative glomerulonephritis. Patients with membranous nephropathy (MGN) showed very low dsDNA binding activities (6/9 of them being negative for dsDNA antibodies) and normal mean C3 and C4 levels. A comparison between patients with proliferative nephritis and patients without renal involvement with high dsDNA binding activities revealed significantly lower complement levels in the former group. No significant difference was observed in the prevalence of antibodies to soluble cellular antigens between patients with or without renal disease; however, nRNP antibody was two-fold more frequent in patients with MGN than in all other subgroups. This study highlights the close relationship between concurrently high anti-dsDNA and low complement levels and proliferative glomerulonephritis in SLE, and suggests that subjects with MGN may represent a subgroup of SLE patients showing peculiar serological features. Different mechanisms possibly involved in the pathogenesis of MGN in SLE are discussed.


Abstract This study deals with the steady state simulation of polyethylene plant using Aspen HYSYS V10 simulation model. Looped reactor model is used to mimic the behaviour of the suspension (slurry) polymerization process. Effect of various operating conditions like the inflow rate of the monomer ethylene on solvent, catalyst, co-monomer and hydrogen flow rate are studied.  Model predicted that the change in monomer flow rate linearly affected the process variables. Keywords: Catalyst, co-catalyst, co-monomer, monomer, polyethylene, solvent Cite this Article K. Nagamalleswara Rao, Aslam Abdullah. Aspen HYSYS Simulation of Suspension (Slurry) Process for the Production of Polyethylene. Journal of Polymer & Composites. 2018; 6(3): 31–34p.


Children's understanding of emotion in speech was explored in three experiments. In Experiment 1, 4- to 10-year-old children and adults (N = 165) judged the happiness or sadness of the speaker from cues conveyed by propositional content and affective paralanguage. When the cues conflicted (i.e., a happy situation was described with sad paralanguage), children relied primarily on content, in contrast to adults, who relied on paralanguage. There were gradual developmental changes from 4-year-olds' almost exclusive focus on content to adults' exclusive focus on paralanguage. Children of all ages exhibited greater response latencies to utterances with conflicting cues than to those with nonconflicting cues, indicating that they processed both sources of emotional information. Children accurately labeled the affective paralanguage when the propositional cues to emotion were obscured by a foreign language (Experiment 2, N = 20) or by low-pass filtering (Experiment 3, N = 60). The findings are consistent with children's limited understanding of the communicative functions of affective paralanguage.


Nursing students are exposed to different types of stress, with which they have to make adjustments. Self concept Influences their capability of adjustment. The study was done to find out the levels of self concept in different dimensions and levels of adjustment in different spheres of the auxiliary nursing and midwifery (revised) [ANM(R)] students, to find out the association between their self concept and adjustment with different sociodemographic factors and to assess the correlation between self concept and adjustment of these students. An observational cross-sectional study was conducted on the ANM(R) students of School of Nursing, Purulia, West Bengal from October 2008 to January 2009 with sample size 50. Chi-square test was done to find out statistical association. Majority of students (64%) had self concept above average category (145-192). Considering levelsof adjustment, majority of the students (56%) fell in the above average category (5572). Mean score of adjustment was highest in the health dimension (9.96) and lowest in the area of education (6.88). No significant association was found between self concept and age, education and family income. The associations of marital status and type of family with self concept are statistically significant. No significant association was found between adjustment and sociodemographic characteristics. Positive correlation was found between self concept and adjustment (correlation co-efficient r = 0.6109). This study has various implications for nursing administration, nursing education, nursing practice and nursing research.


PURPOSE OF REVIEW
Change of practice in the ICU, particularly the discontinuation of approaches, which are no longer felt to be beneficial, can be challenging. This review will examine this issue and outline current thinking regarding how to best approach it.

RECENT FINDINGS
Practices in medicine that do not provide patients benefit and possibly cause harm exist throughout medicine and are called low-value practices. Some low-value practices have successfully been removed from the ICU whereas others remain. The process of removing these practices from established care is often called deadoption. Low-value practices that are simply ineffective but produce comparatively less harm or cost, may represent a significant challenge to deadoption. Additionally, although no single intervention has been identified as the preferred method of deadoption of a low-value practice, we advocate for a multimodal approach.

SUMMARY
Deadoption in the intensive care unit of practices that either cause harm or are significantly costly relative to their benefit remains an elusive goal. Attempts at deadoption should target local ICU circumstances, while still encompassing the spectrum of care outside the ICU, engage nursing more fully, promote the use of local champions, especially peers, and recognize the requirement to seek sustainability.


Arid ecosystems cover ∼40% of the Earth's terrestrial surface and store a high proportion of the global nitrogen (N) pool. They are low-productivity, low-biomass, and polyextreme ecosystems, i.e., with (hyper)arid and (hyper)oligotrophic conditions and high surface UV irradiation and evapotranspiration. These polyextreme conditions severely limit the presence of macrofauna and -flora and, particularly, the growth and productivity of plant species. SUMMARY Arid ecosystems cover ∼40% of the Earth's terrestrial surface and store a high proportion of the global nitrogen (N) pool. They are low-productivity, low-biomass, and polyextreme ecosystems, i.e., with (hyper)arid and (hyper)oligotrophic conditions and high surface UV irradiation and evapotranspiration. These polyextreme conditions severely limit the presence of macrofauna and -flora and, particularly, the growth and productivity of plant species. Therefore, it is generally recognized that much of the primary production (including N-input processes) and nutrient biogeochemical cycling (particularly N cycling) in these ecosystems are microbially mediated. Consequently, we present a comprehensive survey of the current state of knowledge of biotic and abiotic N-cycling processes of edaphic (i.e., open soil, biological soil crust, or plant-associated rhizosphere and rhizosheath) and hypo/endolithic refuge niches from drylands in general, including hot, cold, and polar desert ecosystems. We particularly focused on the microbially mediated biological nitrogen fixation, N mineralization, assimilatory and dissimilatory nitrate reduction, and nitrification N-input processes and the denitrification and anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) N-loss processes. We note that the application of modern meta-omics and related methods has generated comprehensive data sets on the abundance, diversity, and ecology of the different N-cycling microbial guilds. However, it is worth mentioning that microbial N-cycling data from important deserts (e.g., Sahara) and quantitative rate data on N transformation processes from various desert niches are lacking or sparse. Filling this knowledge gap is particularly important, as climate change models often lack data on microbial activity and environmental microbial N-cycling communities can be key actors of climate change by producing or consuming nitrous oxide (N2O), a potent greenhouse gas.


Many institutional repositories have pursued a mixed metadata environment, relying on description by multiple workflows. Strategies may include metadata converted from other systems, metadata elicited from the document creator or manager, and metadata created by library or repository staff. Additional editing or proofing may or may not occur. The mixed environment brings challenges of creation, management, and access. In this article, repository efforts at three major universities are discussed. All three repositories run on the DSpace software package, and the opportunities and limitations of that system will be examined. The authors discuss local strategies in light of current thinking on metadata creation, user behavior, and the aggregation of heterogeneous metadata. The contrasts between the mission of each repository effort will show the importance of local customization, while the experience of all three institutions forms the basis for recommendations on strategies of benefit to a wide range of librarians and repository planners.


Prepared in dictionary format, this volume reexamines the uses of political trials. Through the conduct and context of key trials throughout history, the reader is made to understand an aspect of public life too easily misconstrued, although never neglected: the political side of litigation. Most of the trials in this volume were significant enough to continue to shape our interpretation of the law long after the court made its judgment and all appeals were completed. The dialogue they initiated may last for decades, even for centuries. Such trials provide us with an insight into the vital aspects of our public life, the civilizing capacity of politics.


The present study relies on the voices of survivors of past abuse to describe the amount, type, and impact of costs related to their experience of intimate partner violence (IPV). We use a content analysis methodology to present common themes that survivors face regarding financial recovery from past IPV. Costs are conceptualized within the Triumph Process Model of Overcoming IPV with an emphasis on "embracing freedom and power" and "emotional and physical healing" dimensions. Implications for recovering from IPV and service provision are discussed.


We present a technique for generating short far-infrared (FIR) laser pulses, with a linewidth close to the Fourier transform limit, changing the reflectivity of an InSb crystal by the photoelectric effect. The crystal is irradiated with an optically pumped CW FIR laser and its reflectivity at an FIR frequency is changed by the ionizing radiation of a pulsed Nd-YAG laser. A reflectivity change, from 18 to 90%, has been obtained. Shorter FIR pulses can be obtained using shorter ionizing laser pulses. Finally, double pulses separated by an arbitrary time interval and of chosen amplitude are obtained.


The purpose of the paper is to highlight the role of microfinance for women empowerment. The study is a descriptive study design. Many developmental activities and programs are implemented in the society but microfinance programs are strong rural based and deprived women oriented and targeted to the marginalized people. Microfinance is an effective and powerful instrument for women empowerment. The number of challenges ahead of women empowerment are poor economic status, illiterate, unskilled, unemployment, low access in land, housing, transportation, electricity and family decision. It is considered as one of the most effective poverty alleviation tools. Microfinance services are considered as an entry point or vehicle towards empowering women. Members of microfinance institution (MFIs) have more contribution to saving and income generating activities, household decision making and activities beyond household sector. Although many programs have been implemented for poverty alleviation, only microfinance programs are seen as poor and rural women based. Microfinance is one of the best alternatives to generate self-employment specially the poor women in the rural areas. It provides services to them who have no collateral to offer against the loans. Women who could gain access to microfinance services have been able to create self-employment opportunities and have been economically and socially empowered through increased income through small projects. Microfinance has a profound impact on the economic status, decision making power, knowledge and self-worthiness of women, community activities and self-help group programs. The study reveals that there is a positive relationship between microfinance and women empowerment. Microfinance becomes catalyst for social change and women's empowerment.


Inactivation of both alleles of the retinoblastoma susceptibility gene ( RB1 ), localised on chromosome band 13q14, is the crucial event for the development of retinoblastoma, a malignant tumour that originates from embryonal retinal cells.1, 2 Germinal mutation of one allele leads to a predisposition to retinoblastoma. Tumour development is initiated by inactivation of the second allele. In most families, the tumour predisposition segregates as an autosomal dominant trait with high (90%) penetrance3 and affected subjects usually develop bilateral multifocal tumours. Rare instances of familial retinoblastoma with low penetrance and variable expressivity have been described. In such families, patients develop retinoblastoma later than classical familial cases, there is a high rate of unilateral cases, and phenotypically normal obligate carriers are observed.4

A family with several cases of retinoblastoma has been identified (fig 1). Four members of the family were affected; three had unilateral retinoblastoma (III.5, IV.12, and IV.13), diagnosed at 12, 12, and 24 months, respectively, and one had bilateral retinoblastoma (IV-6), which developed at 11 months. Thus, with the exception of patient IV.13, the age of onset was not delayed compared to an average of less than 12 months in the majority of familial retinoblastoma. There were no cases of spontaneous osteosarcoma in this family, a secondary tumour recurrently found in patients with predisposition to retinoblastoma.5 However, the retinoblastoma of patient IV.6 was treated by radiotherapy (45 Gy) and 10 years later an osteosarcoma occurred in the irradiated field. It is well established that a germline mutation in the RB1 gene dramatically increases the probability of developing a radiation induced osteosarcoma.6 After ophthalmic examination of unaffected family members, no case of retinoma/retinocytoma, which may represent benign proliferation or tumour regression, was found. Altogether, these observations suggest the presence of a germline RB1 mutation linked to incomplete …


OBJECTIVE
To promote the hearing, improve the appearance, shorten the therapeutic course in congenital malformation of external and middle ear, the program of primary restoration has been designed.

METHOD
Under general or local anaesthesia a Z-shaped incision is made in skin. After turn up the flap A (defective ear) and flap B(retroauricular skin), a periosteal flap C with pedicle in front is made and elevated from mastoid. Then made frameworklize on mastoid and perform tympanoplasty. Once the myringograft is put properly the flap C is turn into the mastoidal cavity to serve as the lining of anterior wall. Flap A is sutured with the edge of retroauricular incision to serve as the lower part of new auricle. Then use the flap B to wrap a siliceous frame to make the upper part of new auricle. Finally, the naked walls of mastoidal cavity are lined with free skin graft and the cavity is packed with vaseline gauze for two weeks.

RESULT
Two cases of congenital malformation of external and middle ear were treated with the procedure mentioned above and were followed up for one and 3 years respectively. Both effects of shape and hearing were good.

CONCLUSION
The primary restoration for congenital malformation of external and middle ear designed by the authors is an excellent method worthy to be recommended.


A prospective study (NCT03112005) evaluated DR screening using the EyeArt AI eye screening system and dilated ophthalmoscopy by board-certified ophthalmologists against the ETDRS clinical reference standard (CRS) of adjudicated expert grading of 4-wide field stereoscopic fundus photographs. A total of 497 subjects with diabetes from 10 U.S. clinical centers underwent undilated 2-field fundus photography for analysis by the EyeArt system, dilated ophthalmoscopy, and dilated 4-wide field stereo fundus photography for the CRS. Performance (Table) of dilated ophthalmoscopy against CRS for identifying referable DR [moderate non-proliferative or higher on the International Clinical Diabetic Retinopathy severity scale or clinically significant macular edema] indicates significant variability across retina specialists and general ophthalmologists. In a previous study, this AI system has been shown to achieve sensitivity 89.0% [95% CI: 87.7-90.2%] and specificity 91.6% [95% CI: 91.0-92.2%] against 7-field ETDRS reference standard. We await the results of the EyeArt system in this multicenter study to verify its ability to provide a more consistent performance for detection of referable DR to facilitate DR screening in primary care and endocrinology clinics. Disclosure E. Ipp: Research Support; Self; Eyenuk Inc., Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation. V.N. Shah: Advisory Panel; Self; Sanofi US. Consultant; Self; Dexcom, Inc. B.W. Bode: Consultant; Self; ADOCIA, Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Novo Nordisk Inc. Research Support; Self; Becton, Dickinson and Company, Dexcom, Inc., Diasome Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Eli Lilly and Company, Eyenuk Inc., Insulet Corporation, National Institutes of Health, Novo Nordisk Inc., Sanofi Research & Development, Senseonics, Xeris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Speaker9s Bureau; Self; AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Novo Nordisk Inc., Sanofi US, Senseonics. Stock/Shareholder; Self; AgaMatrix, Glytec, LLC. S.R. Sadda: Consultant; Self; Carl Zeiss Meditec, Centervue, Heidelberg Engineering, Optos. Other Relationship; Self; Nidek. Other Relationship; Spouse/Partner; Topcon. Funding Eyenuk Inc.


As gemcitabine and curcumin have different targets in colon cancer cells, combination of them may bring benefits. Here, curcumin and gemcitabine were formulated into a biodegradable polymer platform for combination therapy for treatment of colon cancer. In doing so, a FDA approved biodegradable polymer mPEG-PLA (methoxyl-polyethylen glycol-block-polylactide) was chosen as a drug carrier. At first, a mPEG-PLA/Gem conjugate was designed. Thereafter, simply using this drug conjugate to encapsulate curcumin, polymeric micelles loaded with both curcumin and gemcitabine were obtained. Varying the feed ratio of the two drugs, a series of micelles with different ratios of curcumin and gemcitabine could be prepared. The as-prepared dual drug loaded nanoparticles showed spherical structures with mean diameters ranging from 118 nm to 149 nm by DLS. In vitro, M(Cur/Gem) almost showed greater synergy than free combination of curcumin/gemcitabine. In vivo, better antitumor effect and lower systemic toxicity of M(Cur/Gem) were observed on a murine xenograft model. The present study provides the possibility of combining curcumin and gemcitabine in a nanoparticle formulation, and translation of this combination may bring benefits for future clinical use.


This study sought first to identify individual items of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and demographic variables at baseline that predicted the trajectories of cognitive change among patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and second to quantify the risk of cognitive decline in such patients based on their pattern of failure of MMSE items. 187 MCI patients were evaluated serially with the MMSE for up to 3.5 years. Patients who followed a declining cognitive trajectory differed from the stable reference group in their baseline profile of MMSE test performance. Patient age and performance on delayed recall, constructional praxis, attention, and orientation to time and floor predicted future cognitive decline with good accuracy (79.9%) and specificity (86.4%), and moderate sensitivity (67.2%). These results are presented in the form of a simple clinical tool for quantifying risk of future cognitive decline in MCI.


The authors present a new technique for development and verification of secure systems in a modular way. At the heart of the technique is a general approach for coping with the composition of modules. In abstract system design, this composition approach is applied to determine security of the overall system and then to produce appropriate security requirements for its modules in terms of functional specifications. These modular security requirements enable different modules to have different security properties. In concrete system design, only correspondences between the modular security requirements and source code of the modules need to be demonstrated to ensure that the final system is secure. To handle changes of functional specifications during system development, dependencies among modular security requirements are analyzed. These can be used to locate the modules affected by changes, and to avoid unnecessary security reevaluation of other modules.<<ETX>>


INTRODUCTION
The reliability and validity of many evaluation tools leading to clinical decision-making for spinal manipulation are varied. We surveyed senior students and DC employees at one chiropractic college regarding 1) which analysis tools should be used and 2) factors that influence their choices.

METHODS
The survey queried which tools should be used on a routine patient encounter. Clinical evaluation tools included palpation, skin temperature analysis, leg length analysis, and radiographs.

RESULTS
Surveys were collected from 58 doctors of chiropractic (DCs) and 74 students. Respondents from both groups reported to most commonly use static palpation, followed by motion palpation and leg length analysis. DC respondents ranked evidence and personal experience high for rationale; student respondents frequently chose patient preference.

CONCLUSION
DC and student respondents reported use of clinical evaluation tools consistently. However, some variations in rationale were noted. It is important for educators to provide a balanced presentation of the strengths and limitations of clinical analysis procedures to support the development of well-justified evidence-based clinical decision-making skills.


This paper proposes a hierarchical Bayesian model based on spatial concepts that enables a robot to transfer the knowledge of places from experienced environments to a new environment. The transfer of knowledge based on spatial concepts is modeled as the calculation process of the posterior distribution based on the observations obtained in each environment with the parameters of spatial concepts generalized to environments as prior knowledge. We conducted experiments to evaluate the generalization performance of spatial knowledge for general places such as kitchens and the adaptive performance of spatial knowledge for unique places such as 'Emma's room' in a new environment. In the experiments, the accuracies of the proposed method and conventional methods were compared in the prediction task of location names from an image and a position, and the prediction task of positions from a location name. The experimental results demonstrated that the proposed method has a higher prediction accuracy of location names and positions than the conventional method owing to the transfer of knowledge. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT


The understanding of the role of vitamin D in maintaining optimal health has advanced sharply in the past two decades. There is mounting evidence for beneficial roles for vitamin D in reducing the risk of bone diseases and fractures, many types of cancer, bacterial and viral infections, autoimmune diseases, and cardiovascular diseases. Recently, several reports have also been published regarding the role of vitamin D in neuroprotection. This article develops the hypothesis that vitamin D can reduce the risk of developing dementia, presenting the evidence from observational and laboratory studies. The observational evidence includes that low serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] has been associated with increased risk for cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus, depression, dental caries, osteoporosis, and periodontal disease, all of which are either considered risk factors for dementia or have preceded incidence of dementia. The laboratory evidence includes several findings on the role of vitamin D in neuroprotection and reducing inflammation. Although this evidence is supportive, there do not appear to be observational studies of incidence of dementia with respect to prediagnostic serum 25(OH)D or vitamin D supplementation. Such studies now appear to be warranted.


This paper studies the invariant theory for its applications to computer vision. In the first part of the paper, three methods of invariant calculation are presented: 1. the infinitesimal method which gives a precise enumeration of the maximal number of independent invariants existing in a given problem; 2. the generalization and constraint method; 3. the use of canonical invariants associated with some transformations, which is, in our opinion, the method to be used primarily, for all problems where only simple elements (points, straight lines, conics) are involved. In the last part, invariants are applied to 3D vision problems: 3D invariant computation from multiple images in investigated in detail in the case of uncalibrated cameras. Experimental results are given on artificial data: this allows to study the robustness of invariants to increasing levels of noise. Some results are also given on real data to show that 3D invariants are usable in practice.


The U.K. government struggled to contain the outbreak of COVID-19. Its delay in introducing a lockdown, widespread testing of those who might be infected, and restrictions on the entry of visitors from countries where the virus was rife, as well as its decision to order the transfer of patients from hospitals to care homes without testing them, contributed to the high death toll from the virus. The government swiftly introduced measures to minimize the unemployment and business failures that might have resulted from the lockdown. It provided income support for employees and the self-employed, loans for businesses, and assistance for the unemployed. When the number of new COVID-19 cases began to fall, the government switched its attention to easing the restrictions imposed during the lockdown because of concerns about the deterioration in the economy.


A crisis considered by many as the worst since the Great Depression, and the first at the scale of a globalized world, reached in 2008 the world financial systems and global economy. Will this key point in history bring new rules for business? How will it affect firm corporate growth strategies? In this study we developed a research based on two key consequences that come out from this crisis: (1) new regulatory systems; and (2) new stakeholder perceptions on managerial practice. We evaluate the impact that a business environmental change is likely to have in corporate growth strategies. We find that the debt cost, the long term executive remuneration schemes and the shareholder risk aversion are likely to increase in the "new normal" business environment. The conclusions are likely to originate new benchmarks for financial investors, so that the evaluation on public firms s performance may be adjusted to a new set of indicators. Finding the correct firm positioning in the start of a new business environment is key. This study will support new benchmarks and managerial sight over the long term firm competitiveness and success.


An attempt was made in the present study to find out the biodegradation of the penicillin-G wastewater for the various operational conditions such as, initial substrate concentrations (13000, 10000, 6000, 4000 and 2000 mg of COD/l), agitation, addition of nutrients (glucose and ammonium chloride) and biomass dosages (2, 3, 4 and 5 g) in batch reactor using immobilized cells of Phanerochate chrysosporium, a white rot fungi. The highest COD removal efficiency was found at the initial substrate concentration of 2000 mg COD /l, under static condition using 4 g of biomass in the absence of nutrients i.e., carbon and nitrogen sources. The Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption models fitted well with the equilibrium data of the process studied. It was also observed that the experimental kinetic data followed the first order rate expression.


A common assumption is that students prefer to work together with students from similar cultural backgrounds. In a group work context, students from different cultural backgrounds are "forced" to work together. This might lead to stress and anxiety but at the same time may allow students to learn from different perspectives. The prime goal of this article is to understand how international and home students from different cultural backgrounds build learning and work relationships with other students in and outside their classroom using an innovative quantitative method of Social Network Analysis in a pre-post test manner. In Study 1, 50 Spanish and 7 Erasmus economics students worked in self-selected teams. In Study 2, 69 primarily international students in a postgraduate management program in the United Kingdom worked in randomized teams. The results indicate that in Study 1 learning ties after 14 weeks were significantly predicted by the initial team division and friendship ties. The seven international students integrated well. In Study 2, learning ties after 14 weeks were primarily predicted by the team division, followed by initial friendship ties and conational friendships. Although international students developed strong (multinationality) team learning relationships, international students also kept strong links with students with the same cultural background. As the initial team division had an 8 times stronger effect on learning ties than cultural backgrounds, these results indicate that the instructional design of team work has a strong influence on how international and home students work and learn together.


AIM
To describe the characteristics and outcomes of Acinetobacter baumannii (AB) infections in critically ill cancer patients and to evaluate the impact of AB on mortality and length of stay (LOS).

RESULTS
In a 4-year case-control study of critically ill cancer patients, we identified 161 patients with AB infections and 232 matched patients who were treated in the intensive care unit (ICU) during the same time period, but had no AB cultures. The case and control groups were matched for APACHE II, age, gender, type of malignancy, and mechanical ventilation. Most AB isolates were carbapenem-resistant (n=142, 88.2%). The majority of positive cultures were collected from the respiratory tract (58%) and blood (21.8%). The median ICU LOS and mortality rate for patients with AB infections were higher than those for the control group (12 days [IQR 6-23] vs. 3 days [IQR 1-7], p<0.0001 and 73.3% vs. 61.5%, p=0.015, respectively). AB infection was independently associated with ICU LOS and mortality: OR 1.108 (95% CI, 1.077-1.139), OR 1.658 (95% CI, 1.017-2.703), respectively.

CONCLUSION
AB infections in critically ill cancer patients were independently associated with increased mortality and increased ICU LOS. Measures to improve the outcomes of critically ill cancer patients infected with AB are necessary.


Summary Evolutionary game theory describes frequency-dependent selection for fixed, heritable strategies in a population of competing individuals using a payoff matrix, typically described using well-mixed assumptions (replicator dynamics). IsoMaTrix is an open-source package which computes the isoclines (lines of zero growth) of matrix games, and facilitates direct comparison of well-mixed dynamics to structured populations in two or three dimensions. IsoMaTrix is coupled with a Hybrid Automata Library module to simulate structured matrix games on-lattice. IsoMaTrix can also compute fixed points, phase flow, trajectories, velocities (and subvelocities), delineated "region plots" of positive/negative strategy velocity, and uncertainty quantification for stochastic effects in structured matrix games. We describe a result obtained via IsoMaTrix's spatial games functionality, which shows that the timing of competitive release in a cancer model (under continuous treatment) critically depends on the initial spatial configuration of the tumor. Availability and implementation The code is available at: https://github.com/mathonco/isomatrix.


I-V characterization of Ta-Ta2O5-MnO2 capacitors was investigated at different temperatures, and Poole–Frenkel (PF) emission saturation was experimentally observed. Under the saturation voltage, the I-V curves at different temperature converged, and the temperature dependency was vanished. Above the saturation voltage, the leakage current was decreasing as the temperature increased. In order to evaluate the effects of saturation voltages (VS) on time-to-failure (TTF) of the capacitors, VS were first determined at +2°C and +25°C, then voltage accelerating tests were conducted at 85°C under 1.6 times of rated voltage. .e distribution of VS and TTF of the samples were plotted and compared. It was shown that samples with lower saturation voltage failed earlier in the distribution of time-dependent dielectric breakdown. Comparing conventional methods for evaluating the quality of tantalum capacitors by measuring the leakage current at elevated temperature, the nondestructive measurement of saturation voltage at +2°C and +25°C may provide a novel and practicing approach tool to screening out capacitors with defected Ta2O5 layers.