Laboratory scale development of a two site micro enzyme linked immuno assay kit is described. The kit comprises rabbit anti human alphafetoprotein (AFP), anti human AFP IgG peroxidase conjugate and standard AFP. All the above reagents were prepared in the laboratory. The kit is eminently suitable for early screening of blood sample of pregnant women for neural tube defects of their fetuses and for the quantitation of AFP as a tumor marker. The assay kit was used to determine AFP in 76 sera from women at different stages of pregnancy. During 1st trimester AFP level was 18 to 119 ng/ml, during 2nd trimester the concentration varied from 85 to 302 ng/ml and during 3rd from 103 to 580 ng/ml. No evidence for maternal antibody to AFP was found. The above data agree with AFP level in pregnant women reported by earlier workers, using RIA or ELISA. The present ELISA kit would hopefully be much cheaper than internationally available ELISA kits for human AFP.


We study theoretically layered spin systems where long-range dipolar interactions play a relevant role. By choosing a specific sample shape, we are able to reduce the complex Hamiltonian of the system to that of a much simpler coupled rotator model with short-range and mean-field interactions. This latter model has been studied in the past because of its interesting dynamical and statistical properties related to exotic features of long-range interactions. It is suggested that experiments could be conducted such that within a specific temperature range the presence of long-range interactions crucially affect the behavior of the system.


A flow chart depicting energy flow in the transportation sector of the United States economy in 2005 has been constructed from publicly available data and estimates of national energy use patterns. Approximately 31,000 trillion British Thermal Units (trBTUs) of energy were used throughout the United States in transportation activities. Vehicles used in these activities include automobiles, motorcycles, trucks, buses, airplanes, rail, and ships. The transportation sector is powered primarily by petroleum-derived fuels (gasoline, diesel and jet fuel). Biomass-derived fuels, electricity and natural gas-derived fuels are also used. The flow patterns represent a comprehensive systems view of energy used within the transportation sector.


Landslide monitoring can be performed using many different methods: Classical geotechnical measurements like inclinometer, topographical survey measurements with total stations or GNSS sensors and photogrammetric techniques using airphotos or high resolution satellite images. However all these methods are expensive or difficult to be developed immediately after the landslide triggering. In contrast airborne technology and especially the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) make response to landslide disaster easier as UAVs can be launched quickly in dangerous terrains and send data about the sliding areas to responders on the ground either as RGB images or as videos. In addition, the emergency response to landslide is critical for the further monitoring. For proper displacement identification all the above mentioned monitoring methods need a high resolution and a very accurate representation of the relief. The ideal solution for the accurate and quick mapping of a landslide is the combined use of UAV's photogrammetry and GNSS measurements. UAVs have started their development as expensive toys but they currently became a very valuable tool in large scale mapping of sliding areas. The purpose of this work is to demonstrate an effective solution for the initial landslide mapping immediately after the occurrence of the phenomenon and the possibility of the periodical assessment of the landslide. Three different landslide cases from Greece are presented in the current study. All three landslides have different characteristics: occurred in different geomorphologic environments, triggered by different causes and had different geologic bedrock. In all three cases we performed detailed GNSS measurements of the landslide area, we generated orthophotos as well as Digital Surface Models (DSMs) at an accuracy of less than ±10 cm. Slide direction and velocity, mass balances as well as protection and mitigation measurements can be derived from the application of the UAVs. Those data in addition are accurate, cost- and time-effective.


species of fungi, most of which were discovered during his studies of the fungous diseases of the cranberry. Three new genera are described: Plagiorhabdus (2 spp.), Bothrodiscus, and Acanthorhynchus.-O. STAPF (Jour. Linn. Soc. Bot. 38:6-17. 1907) has established a new genus (Hallieracantha) of Acanthaceae, to include species from Borneo and the Philippines heretofore referred to Ptyssiglottis; i9 species are recognized, ii of which are new.-R. LAUTERBORN (Ber. Deutsch. Bot. Gesells. 25:238-242. 1907) has described a new genus (Thioploca) of sulfur bacteria, belonging to the Beggiatoaceae.-J. M. C.


This study explored the self-presentation strategies of male and female professional tennis players on the visual-based social media platform, Instagram, and explored the differences that exist between genders relative to fan engagement. A total of 963 Instagram posts were analyzed through content analyses of the top ten most followed professional male and female tennis players. Findings suggest that down-to-earth posts were the most common selfpresentation strategy for both genders; however, male athletes were found to post in a wider variety of categories. Sport specific presentations of self (athletic competence, behind-the-scenes and celebratory) were found to be significantly more popular among male athletes, constituting 46.1% of their sample, compared to 24.5% of the female athlete sample. Fan engagement rates revealed that followers of male athletes engaged with celebratory content the most, while followers of female athletes engaged most with sexualized content.


A commonly used design criterion for predicting the onset of crack link up at a multiple site damage (MSD) is when the sum of the plastic zones of two adjacent cracks is equal to the remaining ligament (Swift 1985, Broek et al 1994). The collapse load predicted by this criterion, however, will differ with the analytical plastic zone and in general, will yield a nonconservative load. Recently, Pyo et al (1997) have shown that the T* integral, which was designed for elastic-plastic fracture mechanics, can predict the extent of stable crack growth and the subsequent collapse load of wide-panel MSD experiments (deWit et al, 1994). The purpose of this paper is to present experimental/numerical results on stable crack growth and linkup of idealized MSD based on the T* integral.
 Moiré interferometry was used to determine the orthogonal displacement fields surrounding stably growing cracks in 0.8 mm thick 2024-T3 aluminum specimens with two or three cracks. Fatigue precracked cracks extended toward each other from two circular holes, which were 25.4 mm apart to simulate fastener holes in airplane fuselage, close to the outside edges of the specimens. A longer center crack from a center hole in the wider, three-crack specimens with three holes spaced 25.4 mm apart, provided information on the lead crack effect. T*ε integral, where ε is the distance of an elongating integration contour from the stably growing crack, was evaluated from the Moiré data using the procedure established by Okada et al (1996). ε in all studies was equated to the specimen thickness. An elastic-plastic finite element (FE) model of the fracture specimens were executed in its generation mode (Kobayashi, 1979) by inputting the measured Moiré displacement data along the width, 20 mm away from the crackline, of the specimen. T*ε integral was evaluated using an equivalent domain integral (Nikishkov et al, 1987).
 The experimentally and the FE determined T*ε's were in excellent agreement with each other. Moreover, the T*ε variation with stable crack growth closely followed the stable crack growth results generated previously using standard fracture specimens (Omori et al, 1998). Thus stable crack growth data generated by standard fracture specimens can be used to predict crack growth of MSD cracks. Collapsed load was reached when the remaining ligament exceeded the tensile strength of the 2024-T3 sheet and the two cracks rapidly propagated toward each other in the two-crack specimens. For the three-crack specimen, the lead crack propagated toward the smaller two MSD cracks.


The Chinese medicine formula Chanling Gao (CLG) exhibits significant tumor inhibitory effects in colorectal cancer (CRC) nude mice. However, the detailed mechanisms remain elusive. CRC in situ nude mouse models were treated with CLG. Small animal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) tracked tumor progression, and overall health metrics such as food and water intake, body weight, and survival were monitored. Posttreatment, tissues and blood were analyzed for indicators of tumor inhibition and systemic effects. Changes in vital organs were observed via stereoscope and hematoxylin-eosin staining. Immunohistochemistry quantified HIF-1α and P70S6K1 protein expression in xenografts. Double labeling was used to statistically analyze vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and CD31 neovascularization. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to determine the levels of VEGF, MMP-2, MMP-9, IL-6, and IL-10 in serum, tumors, and liver. Western blotting was used to assess the expression of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway-related factors TGF-β1 and smad4 in liver tissues. CLG inhibited tumor growth, improved overall health metrics, and ameliorated abnormal blood cell counts in CRC nude mice. CLG significantly reduced tumor neovascularization and VEGF expression in tumors and blood. It also suppressed HIF-1α, EGFR, p-PI3K, Akt, p-Akt, and p-mTOR expression in tumors while enhancing PTEN oncogene expression. Systemic improvements were noted, with CLG limiting liver metastasis, reducing pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and IL-10 in liver tissues, decreasing MMP-2 in blood and MMP-2 and MMP-9 in tumors, and inhibiting TGF-β1 expression in liver tissues. CLG can enhance survival quality and inhibit tumor growth in CRC nude mice, likely through the regulation of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway.


The paper examines the similarities of authorial style in the depiction of war in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Half of a Yellow Sun and Hilary Mantel's Bring up the Bodies. Using the Systemic Functional Grammar as theoretical model, it investigates the deployment of the register of war in the achievement of linguistic style by both Adichie and Mantel. The theory sees language from a social semiotic perspective, using linguistic choices a language user makes as a measure of deliberate and conscious decisions in the ultimate fulfilment of functions. Going by Halliday (1985: 38) definition of register as a functional variety of language, that is language variability according to use, the authorial deployment of same in the overall attainment of style in the selected texts is investigated. The findings reveal that not only do both authors show similar thematic interests in both novels, but that they also exhibit stylistic patterns that suggest perceived affinities to almost the same literary and linguistic influences.


A thin flexible inextensible rope fed continuously from a fixed height and falling on a horizontal plane usually forms a circular coil. This phenomenon is analysed as a geometrically nonlinear free-boundary problem for a linearly elastic rope. The stiffness and velocity of the rope, the height from which it is fed and gravity are taken into account. The problem is solved by using a numerical continuation scheme. The coil radius is determined as a function of the various parameters. Tables and graphs of the results are presented.


Worldwide half of women start pregnancy with overweight/obese, which greatly increases the risk of pregnancy and birth complications. Recommendations to improve preconception care emphasize the need to ensure that women of reproductive age understand factors that increase the obstetric and perinatal risks connected with high body mass index (BMI).
Aim. Study whether women who start pregnancy with overweight were known of the increased risks of the gestational complications associated with a high (BMI) and the barriers and limitations that women had to optimize their body weight before conception.
Materials and methods. total of 117 pregnant were enrolled in the research. The first group included 68 overweight women (BMI 25.0-29.9 kg/m2), the second - 49 normal body weight women (BMI 18.5-24.9 kg/m2) before pregnancy. Two questionnaires were used: "Questionnaire on the assessment of the level of knowledge of women about the risks associated with overweight during pregnancy" and "Barriers and limitations that women had to optimize body weight before conception". Patients filled out the presented questionnaires individually during the first antenatal visit (9-12 weeks). The results were statistically analyzed using Statistica 10.0 program pack (StatSoft Inc., USA) and Microsoft Excel statistical analysis package. The differences between the groups were considered statistically significant at p<0.05.
Results. It was shown that the majority of women knew that overweight increased the general risk of pregnancy complications regardless of the woman's BMI. However, the chances of underestimating the high risk of operative delivery in overweight patients were (OR=3.80; 95% CI: 1.83-7.87; p<0.001 and OR=3.69; 95% CI: 1.58 -8.64; p=0.004), premature birth (OR=2.96; 95% CI: 1.47-5.95; p=0.003 and OR=2.99; 95% CI: 1.31-6 .83; p=0.015), adverse neonatal outcomes (OR=2.96; 95% CI: 1.47-5.95; p=0.0031), and especially fetal congenital anomalies of development (OR=5.50; 95 % CI: 2.62-11.54; p<0.001 and OR=12.38; 95% CI: 4.56-33.58; p<0.001) among patients of the first and second groups, respectively. An underestimation of the risk of diabetes, caesarean section, premature birth, and negative perinatal outcomes, and especially congenital fetal abnormalities, has been confirmed if weight loss occurs before conception. The main barriers and limitations for women to optimize their weight before pregnancy were insufficient basic knowledge about the risk of gestational, especially perinatal complications during pregnancy and childbirth associated with overweight, family culture and habits, unsuccessful repeated irregular attempts to weight lose, lack of information and consulting medical professionals on this issue. Only 14.7 % of women reported that they were satisfied with their appearance and health and did not need to lose weight.
Conclusions. Being overweight, usually caused by incorrect lifestyle, including dietary choices and lack of physical activity, has long-term negative health consequences for women and their children. The preconception, pregnancy, and postpartum periods are unique opportunities for intervention to establish sustainable healthy lifestyles. It remains relevant to develop programs aimed at improving women's knowledge about overweight as a factor of high obstetric and perinatal risks, and lifestyle modeling with the aim of optimizing body weight at the preconceptional stage.


Introduction: Multiple Disorders of Sleep and Wakefulness with excessive movement, sleepiness or insomnia are common, affecting most children at some period of life. Profoundly affect the quality of life and even put it at risk. The aim of this study was to analyze sleep disorders in childhood . Literature Review: A review was made on aspects of normal sleep ontogenesis and management of sleep disorders most prevalent in childhood. Were selected scientific articles in SciELO database, using the keywords sleep disorders and childhood. Second, the literature studied can classify the sleep disorders in four clinical groups: a) are those in which primary sleep disorder is the main or only symptom, eg, nightmares, night terrors, insomnia, hypersomnia, sleep paralysis and narcolepsy b) secondary sleep disorders is only one aspect of a complex clinical change, such as schizophrenia, depression or thyroid dysfunction c) parasomnias activities are not indicative of pathology when awake, but they are certainly not during sleep as sleepwalking, bedwetting, bruxism and nocturnal jactatio capitis d) clinical changes that can be influenced by sleep, but little influence, such as paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria. In pediatric clinic the most frequent parasomnias and changes primary sleep. The insomnia generally results from poor educational practice and / or emotional disturbances. Remember that children with obstructive sleep disorders have worse results in the test of learning and memory. Conclusion: Sleep disturbances are very frequent complaints in pediatric outpatient clinics, and a correct diagnosis is essential for the establishment of appropriate therapy. In most cases, clinical history is sufficient for the diagnosis and assuring parents the mercy of the problem, and the best treatment.


Plasmas produced by second harmonic electron cyclotron heating (ECH) in the HSX stellarator provide the first evidence of transport improvement due to quasisymmetry in a stellarator. Comparisons are made between plasmas in the base quasihelically symmetric (QHS) configuration and two neoclassically degraded configurations which lack quasisymmetry (Mirror configurations). It is found that the plasma breakdown occurs more easily in the QHS configuration, indicating improved confinement of the breakdown electrons. The stored energy in the QHS configuration is up to six times larger than discharges in the Mirror configurations, and evidence is shown for enhanced prompt loss of trapped particles when the Mirror field is applied. The momentum damping rate is measured to be factors of three to four less in the QHS configuration than the Mirror configuration.


Lymphatic filariasis is the second leading cause of permanent and long term disability in the world. The most widely used drug in the treatment of Lymphatic filariasis is Diethylcarbamazine, Invermectin and Albendozole. These drugs have marked activity against microfilariae and are much less effective against adult worm. This warrants the need for developing an effective and safe drug, which could kill or sterilize the adult worm. Cassia occidentalis Linn, Oldenlandia herbacea L.Roxb, Sida acuta Burm.f, Clitoria ternatea Linn and Euphorbia hirta Linn were selected for the present study. Adult Setaria digitata, a filarial parasite of cattle were used as the test organism for screening the macrofilaricidal activity of the selected plants. Methanolic extract of medicinal plants were used for the study. Worm motility assay was performed and all the plant extracts showed complete immobilization of worms at 10 mg/ml at the end of 4 hours incubation period. MTT formazan colorimetric assay for viability of worms were carried out. Cassia occidentalis, Oldenlandia herbacea and Sida acuta exhibited > 50 % of formazan inhibition at 4 hours. Clitoria ternatea and Euphorbia hirta exhibited <50 % of inhibition at 4 hours. Oldenlandia herbacea exhibited 65.67, 78.6 and 85.66 % of inhibition for the concentration of 1, 5 and 10 mg/ml respectively. The study identified Oldenlandia herbacea as a potential macrofilaricidal agent.


The paper presents results of media monitoring during the election campaigns held in Bulgaria between 2014 and 2019 – after the adoption of the new Electoral Code in 2014 until the last local elections in 2019. The main research question is to what extent the media as mediators in the election campaigns know, respect and comply with the legal regulations concerning their activities during such campaigns. The results outline the models of legal socialization of the Fourth Estate in the election campaigns. They also show patterns of compliance and violation of the legal framework. In addition, they reflect the way in which the media work to change the regulations in question. The research sample included between 117 and 180 media service providers in various election campaigns. There were representatives of all media subfields – traditional media, new media, yellow media, brown media, Prokopiev's media, Peevski's media, as well as Russian and American "propaganda media". The period of research includes almost two full election cycles ‒ two parliamentary elections, two European elections, two local elections, and one presidential election which was held after the clear definition of the legal framework for media in the 2014 Electoral Code. No changes were made to this framework during the study and prior to the publication of this paper. This leads to conclusions regarding the electoral legislation and the regulation of the media system in the electoral process.


IPTV providers employ third party content recommendation service to help end users find personalized content, and at the same time increase content sales and gain competitive advantage over other IPTV providers. However current implementations of recommendation services are mostly centralized where all the information about the users' profiles is stored on a dedicated server. A common fear among users is that their user profile data being misused by recommendation provider. Also sharing profile data makes the end users vulnerable to attacks like insider attacks, where an employee of the recommendation service may compromise the confidentiality and integrity of their profiles. For these reasons, privacy aware users intentionally decline to use recommendation or even provide inaccurate or wrong information because they consider it as untrusted service. On the other hand, to build an accurate recommendation model the user must reveal information that is typically considered private such as watching history, previous buying behaviour, content ratings, etc. Further privacy concerns arise when the user data are stored in countries that have privacy laws different from the country where the service is consumed. This poses a severe privacy hazard, since the users profiles are fully under the control of recommendation provider and stored in locations that are not legally bound to ensure the privacy of its users. Due to different legal structures that relate to data privacy laws in different legal jurisdictions maintaining user profile privacy is not a trivial solution. Regardless of the official legal framework requirements, when outsourcing users' profiles the private data should be kept safe when it is in the possession of any third party service. In this paper we introduce a private recommendation method using collaborative filtering techniques. The method preserves the privacy of its users when using the system and allows sharing data among different users in the network. We also introduce two obfuscations algorithms that protect users profile privacy as well as preserve the aggregates in the dataset to maximize the utility of information to provide accurate recommendations. Using these algorithms provides the privacy of users personal profiles.


Abstract.
 The best way to reduce problems related to invasive species is by preventing introductions into potentially susceptible areas. The purpose of this study was to create distribution models for the invasive gastropod Achatina fulica Bowdich, 1822 in South America in order to evaluate its potential geographic distribution and identify areas at potential risk. This mollusc, considered one of the 100 world's worst invasive alien species, is the focus of intense concern due to its impact on agriculture, human health, and native fauna. We tested two commonly used ecological niche modeling methods: Genetic Algorithm for Rule-Set Prediction (GARP) and Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt). Models were run with occurrence points obtained from several sources, including the scientific literature, international databases, governmental reports and newspapers, WorldClim bioclimatic variables, and altitude. Models were evaluated with the threshold-independent Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) and Area Under the Curve (AUC). Both models had consistent performances with similar areas predicted as susceptible, including areas already affected and new potentially susceptible areas in both tropical and temperate regions of South America.


Abstract A 5.4-m sequence of peat and marl overlying a basal clay in a northern Belize wetland was studied to assess salinity changes over the past 7000 yr. The distribution of ostracods, gastropods, and foraminifers revealed initially freshwater conditions in a terrestrial wetland, changing to at least mesohaline conditions by about 5600 yr B.P. The mesohaline conditions corresponded to the formation of an open-water lagoon (and precipitation of a lacustrine marl) that was contemporaneous with rapidly rising sea level in the area. A mangrove peat filled the lagoon by 4800 yr B.P. probably as a result of increasingly shallow waters as sea level rise slowed and marl precipitation continued. A new lagoon began to form sometime after 3400 yr B.P. Freshwater ostracods and gastropods found in the marl of this lagoon suggest that it formed under near-limnetic conditions. Freshwater input likely resulted from massive deforestation by the Maya that began by 4400 yr B.P. Subsidence of the mangrove peat likely permitted the formation of a lagoon. A peat has filled the lagoon since at least 500 yr B.P.


A method of preoperative localization of the site of gastrointestinal bleeding by selective catheterization of the branches of the abdominal aorta has been developed. This was first established experimentally in dogs. By use of the Seldinger percutaneous retrograde femoral-arterial catheterization, the celiac, superior mesenteric, and inferior mesenteric arteries were selectively catheterized. In the dog bleeding points were surgically constructed in various portions of the gastrointestinal tract, including the colon, by means of a catheter placed in a small segmental artery and passed through an enterotomy directly into the lumen of the intestine. The contrast medium was injected automatically and serial films were taken at 1-second intervals for 18 seconds. By varying the diameter of the catheter used, different rates of bleeding were obtained. This technique was successful in demonstrating bleeding points of 0.5 ml per minute and above. This method was then applied to a series of selected patients with


Caudal regression syndrome (CRS) is a congenital disorder which is seen vertebral anomalies in varying degrees from lower thoracic spineto the level of the coccyx. We present a case of CRS which is not intended operation for orthopedic deformities considering functionality. 2, 5 year-old girl referred to our clinic with complaints about walking disability, knee and foot deformities. Patient's mother with unregulated diabetes did not have a history of drug use, radiation exposure and serious illness during pregnancy. Diagnosis had been put during antenatal follow-ups. On physical examination, her lower extremities were hypoplastic and had no muscle activity. Her hips were flexed and abducted, but did not have contractures. Her knees had 75 degrees of flexion contractures with popliteal webs and feet had equinovarus deformity. Frog belly was present due to abdominal muscles weakness. Also hypoplasic labia majora has been identified. In lumbar MRI, spinal cord was terminated at 6th thoracic (T6) vertebrae and the last solid vertebrae level was at T10. Patient who has been following by urology with clean intermittent catheterization had also severe urological problems including horseshoe kidney, neurologic bladder, vesico-ureteral reflux and grade 2 hydronephrosis. Orthopedic consultation was made for her deformities. They decided that ambulation unexpected patient's knee flexion contractures were helping sitting balance. Because of this operation was not considered. Prognosis, treatment options, strength exercises for upper extremities, skin care were told to parents and patient was taken to follow. CRS is a rare congenital abnormality which is associated with orthopedic deformities, as well as urological, anorectal and cardiac malformations. Treatment requires a multidisciplinary approach. It should not be forgotten that purpose of rehabilitation is not to correct all deformities but increase the functionality of everyday life.


Involvement of angiotensin II and angiotensin IV in the defensive (tail flick test) and learned drinking behavior of rats was studied. It was found that angiotensin II was involved in drinking behavior of rats to a greater degree than angiotensin IV. On the contrary, angiotensin IV produced a stronger effect on the defensive behavior than angiotensin II. Individual features of rat behavior were revealed.


The logistics platform (PL) can be understood as a place where different actors in the supply chain could be integrated in the same physical location and with this, obtain a greater synergy among the various logistical processes. That enabling an improvement in the level of logistical service provided to the client and representing a competitive advantage for the permanence of these organization's in the market where they operate. The objective of this research was to elaborate a framework of performance indicators that could be used in the governance of logistics platforms based on bibliographical research on performance indicators in the business environment and logistics indicators. To achieve the proposed objective, a multiple cases study with leaders of logistic platforms located in Zaragoza, Valencia, and Barcelona in Spain was carried out. As a result a set of twenty seven performance indicators were identified. That presented a high degree of importance and can contribute to the governance of logistics platforms. The results from this study can contribute to observations and applications regarding the use of indicators in the governance of logistics platforms.


The loss function plays a central role in the theory and practice of forecasting. If the loss is quadratic, the mean of the predictive distribution is the unique optimal point predictor. If the loss is linear, any median is an optimal point forecast. The title of the paper refers to the simple, possibly surprising fact that quantiles arise as optimal point predictors under a general class of economically relevant loss functions, to which we refer as generalized piecewise linear (GPL). The level of the quantile depends on a generic asymmetry parameter that reflects the possibly distinct costs of underprediction and overprediction. A loss function for which quantiles are optimal point predictors is necessarily GPL, similarly to the classical fact that a loss function for which the mean is optimal is necessarily of the Bregman type. We prove general versions of these results that apply on any decision-observation domain and rest on weak assumptions. The empirical relevance of the choices in the transition from the predictive distribution to the point forecast is illustrated on the Bank of England's density forecasts of United Kingdom inflation rates, and probabilistic predictions of wind energy resources in the Pacific Northwest.


Aims To identify the nature of prescribing errors on the renal unit, determining type of error, timing, medication involved, prescriber and repeat offenders and risks for prescribing errors. Methods Prospective audit of drug errors made on our electronic prescribing system (EPR) reported by pharmacists and nurses. Data collected on a data record sheet over a 2 week period on 4 occasions between August 2011 and February 2011. This period encompassed 1 time point for previous trainees (end of post) and 3 time points for subsequent trainees (start, mid-point and end of post). Results 102 errors were identified over the 4 audit blocks (21 in August 2010, 13 in September 2011, 48 in November 2011 and 20 in February 2011).The overall approximate calculated error rate was 3.0%. 44% of errors were made during the weekday daytime shifts, 31% at night time, 11% over the weekend and 14% at evening shifts. 58% of errors were made by the SpR, 47% of which were made at night. 19% of SpR errors were related to paracetamol prescribing. 38% of all errors were due to 'incorrect frequency' followed by 'unadministrable dosage' (17.6%) and 'incorrect dosage' (14%). Paracetamol, Prednisolone, Methylprednisolone, Ranitidine Morphine, Nystatin and Alfa-Calcidol were the 7 most incorrectly prescribed drugs. There was no significant difference between the performance of the previous and subsequent trainees (p=NS). Conclusions The majority of errors were made by the SpRs during the weekday daytime however the error rate at night was disproportionately high. The most common error encountered was 'incorrect frequency' followed by 'unadministerable dosage'. Recommendations Reinforcement of safe prescribing at junior doctors' induction. Structured training of EPR for all junior doctors (renal and non-renal), highlighting common mistakes/prescribing errors. Senior pharmacist briefing on common errors at the end of the grand round. Modification of EPR program to facilitate correct and complete prescribing. Planned re-audit following implementation of these actions.


The dispersed fluorescence spectra following the excitation of several A<--X vibronic bands of HCCl and DCCl at visible wavelengths were successfully acquired in a discharge supersonic free jet expansion using an intensified charge-coupled device detector. The dispersed fluorescence spectra reveal more details of the X(1) A(') state vibrational structure in these molecules than previous reports. Dispersed fluorescence spectra of all four isotopomers (HC(35)Cl, HC(37)Cl, DC(35)Cl, and DC(37)Cl) were obtained. These dispersed fluorescence spectra exhibit the vibrational structures up to approximately 6000 cm(-1) above the zero-point level and determine the vibrational structures of HC(37)Cl and DC(37)Cl. Complete vibrational parameters including fundamental frequencies, anharmonicities, and coupling constants were determined for the HCCl/DCCl X(1) A(') state. Furthermore, perturbations from the background triplet state a(3) A(") and emission to triplet state levels were observed in the spectra. The singlet-triplet energy gap from the zero-point level could be determined to be 2167 cm(-1) (6.20+/-0.05 kcal/mol) in HCCl and to be 2187 cm(-1) (6.25+/-0.05 kcal/mol) in DCCl. Additionally, some of the A<--X excitation spectrum are reported for HCCl and DCCl.


This paper investigates the quality evaluation of H.264-encoded digital videos when transmitted over IEEE 802.11 wireless networks. To accomplish this task, we use a no-reference video quality metric based on a data hiding technique. The impact of IEEE 802.11 DCF parameters on the quality of H.264-encoded videos is studied through a detailed analytical model for saturated single-hop networks under perfect channel conditions. The numerical results obtained indicate that, in spite of the fact that the minimum contention window size has a significant impact on other network performance metrics (e.g., throughput, delay, and jitter), it is not as relevant as the retransmission limit parameter as far as perceptual video quality is concerned. Such observation leads to the fact that, depending on the number of nodes in the network, one must trade faster video streaming for buffering space by using the retransmission limit parameter as a key parameter control in the design of adaptive multimedia-oriented IEEE 802.11 wireless networks.


The phenomenological model of transition «low-conductive phase – electrolytic phase» in crystals with own structural disordering is offered. The application of this model allowed to describe the behavior of thermodynamical characteristics of such crystals in the transition area and to propose an expression for the baric dependence of transition temperature. Analytical expressions for thermocinetical coefficients and for correlation between electric and thermal conductivity of solid electrolyte are obtained.


Person re-identification aims at matching pedestrians observed from non-overlapping camera views. Feature descriptor and metric learning are two significant problems in person re-identification. A discriminative metric learning method should be capable of exploiting complex nonlinear transformations due to the large variations in feature space. In this paper, we propose a nonlinear local metric learning (NLML) method to improve the state-of-the-art performance of person re-identification on public datasets. Motivated by the fact that local metric learning has been introduced to handle the data which varies locally and deep neural network has presented outstanding capability in exploiting the nonlinearity of samples, we utilize the merits of both local metric learning and deep neural network to learn multiple sets of nonlinear transformations. By enforcing a margin between the distances of positive pedestrian image pairs and distances of negative pairs in the transformed feature subspace, discriminative information can be effectively exploited in the developed neural networks. Our experiments show that the proposed NLML method achieves the state-of-the-art results on the widely used VIPeR, GRID, and CUHK 01 datasets.


NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has come up with a technique to decrease exposure to harmful x-rays in mammographies or breast radiography. Usually, physicians make more than one exposure to arrive at an x-ray film of acceptable density. Now the same solar cells used to convert sunlight into electricity on space satellites can make a single exposure sufficient. When solar cell sensor is positioned directly beneath x-ray film, it can determine exactly when film has received sufficient radiation and has been exposed to optimum density. At that point associated electronic equipment sends signal to cut off x-ray source. Reduction of mammography to single exposures not only reduced x-ray hazard significantly, but doubled the number of patient examinations handled by one machine. The NASA laboratory used this control system at the Huntington Memorial Hospital with overwhelming success.


Rainfed agriculture in the semi‐arid tropical (SAT) regions of India is greatly influenced by water shortages caused by low, highly variable, and erratic rainfall. However, apart from water shortages, crop productivity in these regions is also affected by low fertility. Little effort has been devoted to diagnosing and managing the nutrient‐related problems in farmers' fields in the SAT regions of India. The ongoing integrated watershed management program by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi‐arid Tropics and its partners provided the opportunity to diagnose the soil infertility‐related problems by soil testing, develop nutrient management protocols, and determine on‐farm crop responses to fertilization in the SAT zone of India. This article discusses examples from recent research on the diagnosis of multinutrient deficiencies and on‐farm crop responses to fertilization. Results of analyses of soil samples from farmers' fields in several districts of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh states and Junagarh district, Gujarat, showed that almost all farmers' fields had low organic carbon (C), low to moderate available phosphorus (P), and generally adequate extractable potassium (K). However, the widespread deficiencies of sulfur (S), boron (B), and zinc (Zn) were most revealing; their deficiencies varied with nutrient, district, and state. On‐farm trials conducted during three seasons (2002–2004) in three districts of Andhra Pradesh showed significant yield responses of maize, castor, groundnut, and mung bean to the applications of S, B, and Zn over farmer's input treatment, and the yield responses were larger when these nutrients were added along with nitrogen (N) and P. It is concluded that the deficiencies of nutrients such as S, B, and Zn are widespread and are holding back the potential of rainfed production systems. Clearly, nutrient deficiencies can be diagnosed by soil testing.


Solitary CNS Lymphomatoid granulomatosis (LG), a rare lymphoproliferative disorder, was discovered in a patient collecting rare neurological disorders. A patient diagnosed with Charcot-Marie-Tooth type 4C (SH3CT2) and Myasthenia Gravis, treated with mycophenolate, presented with musical hallucinosis, described as choral music occurring in short bursts. Investigations deemed this secondary to hearing loss. Neuro-imaging revealed a cerebellar cavernoma and a developmental venous anomaly, thought to be incidental. A rapidly expanding, right frontal lesion was noted on subsequent imaging. Biopsy of this lesion revealed a florid inflammatory infiltrate composed of small lymphocytes, macrophages and non-caseating granulomata. Immunohistochemical staining for CD20 showed moderate numbers of B-lymphocytes, positive for Epstein Barr virus-encoded small RNA, suggesting a diagnosis of LG. Immunosupression is a risk factor for EBV mediated lymphoproliferative disorders. SH3TC2 is involved in myelination and maintenance of the node of Ranvier and mutations disturb interactions with the GTPase Rab11. Outside of the peripheral nervous system mutated Rab11 molecules are known to have neoplastic potential through prevention of the normal function of binding the oncogene Evi5, potentially explaining the development of LG as another rare disorder. Despite tenuous links, these rare neurological disorders appear unrelated in this individual.


A surface feature characteristic of the Galore Creek copper deposits is a set of well-developed closely-spaced fractures, termed sheet fractures. The formation of these fractures is attributed to the widespread presence of anhydrite, a hydrothermal alteration mineral associated with copper. The fractures apparently developed as a consequence of the volume increase due to hydration of the anhydrite to gypsum by meteoric water.The Galore Creek deposits have many characteristics of porphyry copper deposits, in many of which anhydrite or gypsum has been reported. Anhydrite may be responsible for the development of sheet fractures elsewhere.


The translation of advertisements is not like any kind of translation which is done across languages; rather it is done in the mind automatically, to convey meaning that advertisers want to be extracted; therefore, it is usual for companies and businesses to select special elements. Illustrations can provide audiences with a sense of personal identity and an awareness of cultural heritage. The present study aims to investigate pictures accompanying advertisements as an intersemiotic translation. This study takes pieces of advertising texts as well as the pictures accompanying them to show the translational relationships. Then, the study attempts to reveal the importance of pictures and the role they may play in conveying meaning. Within the first step, advertising texts containing both linguistic and visual elements were collected. Then they were studied based on the interrelationship between texts and images; an attempt was made to identify different ways in which illustrations are employed by text producers to translate linguistic elements. The corpus included the advertising texts which are collected from a wide variety of sources including internet, shops and newspapers. When all samples were studied and strategies were identified, the number and percentage of each strategy was counted and the results were presented in tables. The data analysis revealed that illustrations play an important role in translating the textual elements.


To evaluate the effects of preparation conditions of a 'green' soy-based adhesive(SBA), Viscozyme L was employed to hydrolyze the polysaccharides in defatted soy flour (DSF) for preparing SBAs, and plywood bonded by SBAs with Pinus massoniana veneer was then produced. Effects of enzymolysis pH, temperature, time, and additive amount of the Viscozyme L on water-insoluble substances content (WISC) and bonding strength (boiling-water test) of SBAs were investigated. Results showed that bonding strength increased first then decreased as enzymolysis pH and temperature were increased. WISC decreased with increasing pH and decreased first then increased as temperature increased. WISC decreased and bonding strength improved slowly with the increasing time. Bonding strength improved slowly as additive amount of Viscozyme L increased. WISC decreased as the added amount of Viscozyme L increased and then decreased slowly at the added amount of Viscozyme L of about 50 FBG and beyond. SBAs prepared by Viscozyme L action on soy flour slurry decreased WISC and improved bonding strength. The suitable preparation conditions of SBA for plywood are as follows: enzymolysis pH 5.2, temperature 50 oC, and time 20 min, and the additive amount of Viscozyme L depended on the application condition.


The areas of pepper growing in passive protected cultivation regions with mild winter conditions are expanding. Simple plastic-covered structures facilitate protected pepper production during the winter. A typical crop is planted at the middle of the summer and ripe fruits are harvested during the fall, winter and spring seasons. Environmental conditions inside such structures are more extreme than those prevailing in climate-controlled greenhouses or outdoors. During the beginning of the production season when flowering and fruit set occur, the plants are exposed to extremely high day and night temperatures; these can be up to 45 and 25°C, respectively. In order to prevent even higher temperatures shading is applied. In the middle of the season, during the winter, minimum night temperatures are in the range 4-10°C, with infrequent frosts, and insufficient radiation. During this period growth continues and fruits are set, develop and ripen. It is proposed that cultivars which can thrive in such harsh conditions should be bred. Sufficient fruit set must occur under both high and low temperatures. The minimum night temperature for proper fruit set of blocky pepper was thought to be 18°C. Selection from a wide range of genetic variation under low night temperatures, led to the development of cultivars that can set normally shaped fruits at temperatures under 8-10°C. Those cultivars are also characterized with vigorous plants. Such cultivars fail to set under high temperatures during the beginning of the season. Special agrotechniques such as removal of shading, nitrogen starvation, and water stress seem to induce flower development and fruit set under high temperatures. This in turn extended the period of fruit setting, leading to a longer production season, and higher yields. It can be concluded that appropriate genetic advancement through breeding, combined with suitable agrotechnical means, can provide farmers with sustainable production systems.


This is an empirical paper that explores the factors affecting the change in the savings balances in China. After extensive reading of existing studies, we will use the WLS regression model to conduct a regression analysis of several classical factors affecting the change in the savings balances and the new factors proposed in this paper, based on the reality of Eastern-Western differences in China. We provide evidence that six variables out of the eight factors we study are strongly correlated with the change in the savings balances. Further, we find that except for the Child dependency ratio, the other five variables are positively correlated with the change in savings balances. The purpose of this paper is to encourage the market to adjust development strategies, the government to adopt more targeted policies, and the society to give strong help to better guide residents' savings behavior by analyzing the factors that affect the change in savings balances at a macro level.


One problem that arises repeatedly in systems security is that a system needs to interact with another component running on a remote machine controlled by a different (potentially malicious) principal. In a typical client-server system, the server cannot be sure that the code it is actually interacting with is actually the intended client and not a malicious impostor client. In a system that depends on a network of independently operated machines (e.g., Tor), a user cannot ensure that the other principals it interacts with (e.g., Tor relays) actually behave as intended and don't contradict the purpose of the system (e.g., track or censor user connections). Systems that outsource computation to the cloud cannot be completely confident that the cloud provider actually performs the desired computation (and no other malicious behavior, e.g., leaking sensitive data and/or algorithms). Trusted hardware has been proposed as the solution to this class of problems. The key feature of a trusted hardware is isolation; dedicated hardware components can have isolated storage (either volatile or non-volatile) that can be protected from external access. Trusted hardware can also have secrets (e.g., cryptographic keys) embedded in the chip; these secrets can be used enforce and attest to the confidentiality and integrity of stored values. In recent years, there has been a push towards building secure hardware components that implement these features and using this hardware as a root of trust for building new, more secure systems.


In the first part of the study, 70 aquarium fish of different species, originating from stocks from the Czech Republic, were pathomorphologically examined for the presence of granulomatous lesions. Granulomas were diagnosed in 44 (62.9%) fish. From these, acid fast rods (AFR) were found in 29 (65.9%) by staining according to Ziehl-Neelsen (Z-N). In the remaining 26 (37.1%) fish without granulomatous lesions, the presence of AFR was microscopically proven in 3 (11.5%) fish. In the second part of the study, direct microscopic examinations according to Z-N and culture examinations for the presence of mycobacteria were carried out in 17 randomly selected fish of the Apistogramma cacatuoides, Trichogaster leeri, Trichogaster trichopterus, Pterophyllum scalare, Paracheirodon axelrodi species with the pathomorphological discovery of granulomas. Mycobacteria were culturally found in 12 (70.6%) fish. Mycobacterium marinum, pathogenic for fish, was isolated from 6 fish, of which in one M. triviale was found at the same time and in two M. avium mixed serotypes 6, 8 and 9 (genotype IS901–, IS1245+). M. gordonae was isolated from a further 6 fish, of which in two M. avium mixed serotypes 6, 8 and 9 (genotype IS901–, IS1245+) was also isolated at the same time. A mixed infection of more species of mycobacteria was therefore found in five fish. In these it may be assumed that the mycobacteria of the M. triviale and M. avium mixed serotypes 6, 8 and 9 (genotype IS901–, IS1245+), non-pathogenic for fish, came from the water environment and "merely contaminated" the tissues of the fish.


Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) is a clinicopathological entity of not fully explained etiology charac− terized by focal and segmental occurrence of lesions. It is currently believed that primary FSGS is caused by alter− ations in glomerular epithelial cells (podocytes). FSGS is one of the most frequent causes of nephrotic syndrome in adults. The course of the disease is strongly influenced by proteinuria or nephrotic syndrome and renal insuffi− ciency at presentation. The prognosis of FSGS is poor because there are no spontaneous remissions and because of resistance to treatment. FSGS has a high recurrence rate after kidney transplantation with loss of graft function in half of affected individuals. The efficacy of treatment of FSGS depends on histopathological findings in renal biopsy and clinical presentation, especially on the intensity of proteinuria. There is no uniform standard of thera− py for FSGS. A six−month course of steroids and/or cyclosporine A (CsA) as well as ACE inhibitors and/or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) and lipid−lowering agents are recommended. In steroid−dependent patients or those with frequent relapse of proteinuria, cyclophosphamide with prednisone should be administered. In steroid−resistant nephrotic syndrome the podocine gene mutation (NPHS2 gene) should be assessed to avoid pro− longed and ineffective treatment with adverse effects and evaluation before further kidney allograft transplantation, with a low risk of recurrence in homozygous mutation patients (Adv Clin Exp Med 2008, 17, 2, 221–226).


The drug addict generally has an extremely difficult time terminating drug use and remaining abstinent. A partial explanation can be found in an investigation of the relative meaning of the drug for the addict within his social context rather than viewing the drug simply as a pharmacological agent. The idea that addiction is a social phenomenon within the addicts family suggests a relationship between the functioning of the families of addicts and their inability to tolerate abstinence. Because the abuse of heroin or barbiturates by one family member can result in "rewards" for all family members, the family, in behaving as if the addict cannot control his drug use, functions in such a way as to reinforce the addiction.


ABSTRACTThe estimation of a reliable rock-physics model (RPM) plays a crucial role in reservoir characterization studies. We assess different methods in deriving a reliable RPM that will be used in conjunction with amplitude-versus-angle inversion for the characterization of a clastic reservoir located in offshore Nile Delta. The reservoir zone is located in gas-saturated sand channels surrounded by shale sequences within a depth interval ranging between 2.3 and 2.7 km. One theoretical and three empirical approaches to derive a RPM are analyzed: The theoretical RPM is established using the well-known rock-physics equations valid for granular materials, whereas the empirical RPMs are derived using one multilinear stepwise regression and two nonlinear regression procedures based on neural networks (NNs) and genetic algorithms (GAs). A proper calibration and validation of the derived RPMs is conducted by using the extensive log suite of four existing wells drilled over an area of 100  km2. For the investigat...


Staphylococcus aureus bears a type 7b secretion system (T7bSS) that assembles in the bacterial envelope to promote the secretion of WXG-like proteins and toxic effectors bearing LXG domains. Cognate immunity proteins bind cytosolic effectors to mute their toxicity prior to secretion. ABSTRACT Staphylococcus aureus bears a type 7b secretion system (T7bSS) that assembles in the bacterial envelope to promote the secretion of WXG-like proteins and toxic effectors bearing LXG domains. Cognate immunity proteins bind cytosolic effectors to mute their toxicity prior to secretion. T7b-secreted factors have been associated with the pathogenesis of staphylococcal disease and intraspecies competition. We identified earlier strain WU1, an S. aureus ST88 isolate that caused outbreaks of skin and soft tissue infections in mouse breeding facilities. WU1 was also found to persistently colonize the nasopharynx of animals, suggesting a strong host adaptation. In this manner, WU1 colonization and infectivity in mice resembles that of methicillin-sensitive and -resistant S. aureus strains in humans, where nasal carriage is a major risk factor for invasive infections. Here, animals were colonized with wild-type or T7-deficient WU1 strains or combinations thereof. Absence of the T7bSS did not affect colonization in the nasopharynx of animals, and although fluctuations were observed in weekly samplings, the wild-type strain did not replace the T7-deficient strain in cocolonization experiments. Bloodstream infection with a T7b-deficient strain resulted in enhanced survival and reduced bacterial loads and abscesses in soft tissues compared to infection with wild-type WU1. Together, experiments using a mouse-adapted strain suggest that the T7bSS of S. aureus is an important contributor to the pathogenesis of invasive disease.


Abstract Deconstruction challenges the authority of the language of social work's grand narratives and thus exposes the profession's dearest notions to a fresh examination, interpretation, and evaluation. "ScienZart," a postmodern art project co-performed with a computer, blends art and science to create a research tool that deconstructs the social work text. Rooted in conceptual art and postmodern social science, "ScienZart" provides a means for unmasking the taken-for-granted worldview of social work by demystifying the language of the profession and by uncovering verbal life at the edge of chaos, around the circle of the unexpressed, and at the margins.


Proceedings: AACR 101st Annual Meeting 2010‐‐ Apr 17‐21, 2010; Washington, DC

As men age past 40, their chance of developing prostate cancer increases exponentially each year. The mechanism by which age influences the risk of prostate cancer remains largely unknown, hindering the development of effective preventive interventions. As one ages, there are significant changes in immune response regulation and outcome. This includes an age-related loss of appropriate T cell function. This loss of appropriate T cell function is associated with a change from anti-inflammatory to pro-inflammatory cytokine production as well as decreased appropriate immune surveillance. We hypothesize that one mechanism by which age increases the risk for prostate cancer may be through these alterations in immune response by the T cells. To date, the specific contribution of an aging immune system to prostate cancer initiation and progression has been difficult to determine because of the lack of appropriate model systems to evaluate this phenomena. We have recently begun studies investigating the contribution of an aging T cell population to prostate cancer progression using a highly unique and innovative animal model, the glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase-1 (GPAT-1) knock out mouse. The GPAT-1 KO young mouse has a T cell phenotype which mimics old wild type mice. We have recently initiated a series of in vitro studies to evaluate the effects of exposure of sera from GPAT KO mice on pro-inflammatory signaling in LNCaP prostate cancer cells. Exposure to sera from young GPAT KO mice resulted in strong induction of NF-κB activity in LNCaP cells compared to both the sera from the age-controlled wild type mice and the sera-free conditions. We are currently evaluating the significance of this NF-κB induction as well as the induction of other pro-inflammatory pathways by the GPAT KO mouse sera in promoting a more aggressive phenotype in our cancer cells. Additionally, LNCaP cells exposed to conditioned media from stimulated T-cells from the GPAT KO mice demonstrated induction of Akt phosphorylation. Previous studies have shown an important role for NF-kB and Akt in promoting inflammation and survival in prostate cancer cells. Currently, we are evaluating how GPAT KO mouse sera might promote a more aggressive phenotype in LNCaP prostate cancer cells. These studies would be the first to demonstrate a specific modulation of prostate cancer signaling by sera from mice that directly reflect an aging T cell phenotype suggesting that age-related loss of appropriate T cell function might contribute to the increased risk for prostate cancer in the elderly.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2472.


Acute arterial strokes in children are rare but can potentially cause lasting and often permanent neurological deficits. Mechanical thrombectomy has a well-established efficacy and safety profile in adult stroke management, but in the pediatric population, it is yet to be proven efficacious and safe. We present a case of a seven-year-old male who presented with multiple episodes of generalized tonic-clonic seizures after sustaining a neck injury by falling from a trampoline. National Institutes of Health (NIH) on presentation was 21. Neurological exam revealed dilated nonreactive pupils, dysconjugate gaze, severe dysarthria, bilateral ptosis, and movement of upper and lower extremities only to noxious stimuli. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of brain without contrast revealed infarcted areas in the left pons, midbrain, and cerebellar regions. Computed tomographic angiogram (CTA) of head demonstrated left vertebral artery dissection with associated complete occlusion of the distal basilar artery. Successful recanalization was achieved with mechanical thrombectomy six hours after presentation. Mechanical thrombectomy treatment resulted in a significant neurological recovery with NIH of 1. This case supports the growing evidence of the efficacy and safety of mechanical thrombectomy in children.


ABSTRACT Previous studies have highlighted the efficacy of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) inhibitors, including monoclonal antibodies and soluble receptors, in the treatment and management of intestinal bowel disease (IBD). However, because of the immunogenicity of xenogeneic TNF-α inhibitors, antidrug antibodies (ADAs) can be triggered after repeated administration. An alternative way to target TNF-α is active immunization to elicit the production of high titers of neutralizing antibodies. In this study, we prepared a xenogeneic TNF-α protein vaccine and studied the protective effects in experimental colitis models. The xenogeneic TNF-α protein vaccine could overcome self-tolerance and induce TNF-α-specific neutralizing antibody. Moreover, the xenogeneic TNF-α protein vaccine could protect mice from acute and chronic colitis induced by dextran sodium sulfate (DSS). One possible explanation for this protective effect is the production of TNF-α-specific neutralizing antibody, which absorbed the biological activity of mouse TNF-α (mTNF-α) and failed to induce T lymphocyte apoptosis. In summary, use of the xenogeneic TNF-α protein vaccine may be a potent therapeutic strategy for IBD.


The major challenge in producing good quality lettuce in the semiarid region is the climatic factors such as high temperature, high luminosity and low air relative humidity, which affect the quality characteristics of leafy vegetables. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the quality of lettuce cultivars of Crisphead (Angelina, Amelia and Taina), Mimosa (Mila, Mimosa and Lavinia), Green-leaf (Scarlet, Vera, Isabella and Vanda) and Loose-leaf (Elisa and Regiane) in four seasons: summer (12/21/2012), autumn (3/21/2013), winter (06/21/2013) and spring (09/23/2013) in the conditions of Mossoro, Rio Grande do Norte state. The experimental design was a complete randomized block with four replications. The following characteristics were quantified: pH, titratable acidity, soluble solids (SS) and total soluble sugars. The quality of the lettuce was influenced by the cultivar and environmental conditions. Lower titratable acidity was recorded for Green-leaf and Loose-leaf groups in the summer and for Crisphead groups in the autumn. The highest content of soluble solids were achieved in autumn for cultivars Vera, Vanda, Isabela, Elisa and Regiane; to Lavinia, Angelina, Amelia and Taina, and summer and autumn stood out from the other growing seasons for this trait. Cultivars Scarlet, Angelina and Amelia had higher levels of total soluble sugars in the summer; Mila and Lavinia in spring; Elisa and Regiane in winter and Taina in spring.


PURPOSE
Long-term adverse neurobehavioral sequelae frequently are observed in pediatric patients treated for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). To clarify the relative contribution of cranial irradiation (CRT) therapy and drug therapy to these outcomes, we evaluated neuropsychologic outcomes associated with different doses of CRT and intravenous (IV) methotrexate (MTX) in long-term survivors.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Fifty-one patients treated for ALL on Dana-Farber Cancer Institute protocol 81-01 were evaluated by standardized cognitive and academic achievement tests. These children had been assigned at diagnosis to a standard-risk (SR) or high-risk (HR) group and received 1,800 cGy or 2,800 cGy CRT, respectively. A subgroup of these patients was randomized to receive MTX during remission induction, either as a single low dose (LD; 40 mg/m2) or a single high dose (HD; 4 g/m2) with leucovorin rescue.

RESULTS
Sex and MTX randomization jointly predicted the intelligence quotient (IQ). Fifty percent of girls versus 14% of boys exhibited low IQ (less than 90; P = .01); 80% of girls who received HD MTX versus 25% of girls who received LD MTX exhibited low IQ (P = .03). In contrast, risk group better predicted performance on tasks sensitive to verbal memory and/or coding.

CONCLUSIONS
We conclude that (1) significant neurotoxicity occurred principally in girls; (2) increased dose intensity of IV MTX was associated with lower IQ, but only in girls; and (3) increased dose of CRT may have been associated with impairment of verbal memory and coding.


Important principles for repair of bilateral complete cleft lip are symmetry, primary orbicularis continuity, proper prolabial size and shape, median tubercle and mucocutaneous ridge formation from lateral lip tissue, and early construction of nasal tip and columella with anatomic placement of the alar cartilages. A two-stage repair employing techniques based on these concepts is described. At the initial procedure, the lateral crura are positioned and a tiny biconcave prolabium is shaped in anticipation of the changes with growth. The second stage (nasal correction) includes apposition of the alar genua, medial crural relocation, and intranasal transposition of banked forked flaps without disjunction of the columella-labial angle. The complete bilateral cleft lip is a four-dimensional problem.


Carrier aggregation is one of the key techniques for the advancement of long-term evolution (LTE- Advanced) networks. This article proposes a quality- of-experience (QoE)-based carrier scheduling scheme for networks with multiple services. The proposed scheme aims at maximizing the user QoE, which is determined by both the application-level and network-level quality of services. Packet delay, as an essential factor affecting QoE, is first discussed under the context of QoE optimization as well as the data rate. The component carriers are dynamically scheduled according to the network traffic load by the proposed novel scheme. Simulation results show that our approach can achieve significant improvement in QoE and fairness over conventional approaches.


Statistical and diblock copolymers of bis(trimethylsiloxy)methylsilyl methacrylate (MATM2), a hydrolyzable monomer containing a silylester and a siloxane group, and methyl methacrylate (MMA) were synthesized by the RAFT process. The controlled character of the MATM2 RAFT polymerization using 2-cyanoprop-2-yl-dithiobenzoate (CPDB) or S-(2-cyanoprop-2-yl)-S-dodecyltrithiocarbonate as chain transfer agents was assessed by linear pseudo-first-order kinetics, linear molar mass growth with monomer conversion and low molar-mass dispersity. The hydrolysis kinetics of pMATM2 homopolymers was investigated by in situ1H-NMR and compared to several methacrylic homopolymers bearing hydrolyzable tri-alkylsilylester side groups. pMATM2-block-pMMA diblock copolymers were synthesized by in situ chain extension with methyl methacrylate, using pMATM2-CPDB as a macro-CTA. p(MATM2-stat-MMA) statistical copolymers were synthesized by simultaneous polymerization of MATM2 and MMA by the RAFT process. The monomer reactivity ratios for MATM2 (r1 = 1.29) and MMA (r2 = 0.62) were obtained from the Mayo Lewis equation using the least-squares method. All the copolymers synthesized by the RAFT process had molar masses close to the targeted values and low dispersities (ĐM < 1.15). DSC analysis and contact angle measurements revealed the influence of the copolymer microstructure (statistical or diblock) on their glass transition temperature and surface energy.


What does it mean to belong? On the one hand, belonging is the dynamic, internal,
intimate, individual experience of relating to others and being part of a 'we' that remains
undetermined. On the other hand, belonging is the result of an external act of
attribution, a fixed assignation of identity. Both are essentially carried in and through
language.
I propose that belonging is made possible by the act of coming to speaking and the
experience of being heard. I explore this possibility through a social art practice that
works with the poetic, emotive, reflexive and phatic function of the word, especially
when spoken, and of the photographic image, still or moving. My research outputs,
often the results of encounters and collaborations taking place in specific places,
function as examples of what it means to belong.
Throughout this research project, I draw on the experience of living in between one's
mother tongue and other languages in order to demonstrate how immersing oneself in a
language different from the language one grew up in radically reconfigures a subject's
identity and sense of belonging. The Bulgarian-French psychoanalyst, literary theorist
and poet Julia Kristeva writes that in between silence, your element is silence. Breaking
that silence and coming to speaking and writing in a new language transforms the
relation between subject and language into a dynamic and emancipatory relation,
reassessing what makes a language maternal and proposing a reformulation of what it
means to belong.
The experience of belonging is connected to the practice of place. Over the past couple
of years, I have developed my research in between three different kind of places: the
fine art research seminar room, conversing with fellow researchers who live in between
languages, the Masbro community centre in Hammersmith, London, working with the
students and teachers of English as a Second Language (ESOL) classes, and my home,
which is the place where I live with my family, welcome my relatives and friends and
develop my work.


In this paper, we consider the self-deployment of wireless sensor networks. We present a mechanism which allows to preserve network connectivity during the deployment of mobile wireless sensors. Our algorithm is distributed and is based on a subset of neighbours for motion decision. Our algorithm maintains a connected topology regardless of the direction chosen by each sensor. To preserve connectivity, the distance covered by the mobile nodes is constrained by the connectivity of the node to its neighbours in a connected subgraph like the relative neighbourhood graph (RNG). We show the connectivity preservation property of our algorithm through analysis and present some simulation results for the full coverage problem.


MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, non-coding RNAs that negatively regulate gene expression. It has been reported that miRNAs are involved in host-virus interaction, but evidence that cellular miRNAs promote virus replication has been limited. Here, we found that miR-23a promoted the replication of human herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) in HeLa cells, as demonstrated by a plaque-formation assay and quantitative real-time PCR. Furthermore, interferon regulatory factor 1 (IRF1), an innate antiviral molecule, is targeted by miR-23a to facilitate viral replication. MiR-23a binds to the 3′UTR of IRF1 and down-regulates its expression. Suppression of IRF1 expression reduced RSAD2 gene expression, augmenting HSV-1 replication. Ectopic expression of IRF1 abrogated the promotion of HSV-1 replication induced by miR-23a. Notably, IRF1 contributes to innate antiviral immunity by binding to IRF-response elements to regulate the expression of interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) and apoptosis, revealing a complex interaction between miR-23a and HSV-1. MiR-23a thus contributes to HSV-1 replication through the regulation of the IRF1-mediated antiviral signal pathway, which suggests that miR-23a may represent a promising target for antiviral treatments.


Time-Correlated Single Photon Counting (TCSPC) has been long recognized as the most sensitive method for fluorescence lifetime measurements, but often requiring "long" data acquisition times. This drawback is related to the limited counting capability of the TCSPC technique, due to pile-up and counting loss effects. In recent years, multi-module TCSPC systems have been introduced to overcome this issue. Splitting the light into several detectors connected to independent TCSPC modules proportionally increases the counting capability. Of course, multi-module operation also increases the system cost and can cause space and power supply problems. In this paper, we propose an alternative approach based on a new detector and processing electronics designed to reduce the overall system dead time, thus enabling efficient photon collection at high excitation rate. We present a fast active quenching circuit for single-photon avalanche diodes which features a minimum dead time of 12.4 ns. We also introduce a new Time-to-Amplitude Converter (TAC) able to attain extra-short dead time thanks to the combination of a scalable array of monolithically integrated TACs and a sequential router. The fast TAC (F-TAC) makes it possible to operate the system towards the upper limit of detector count rate capability (∼80 Mcps) with reduced pile-up losses, addressing one of the historic criticisms of TCSPC. Preliminary measurements on the F-TAC are presented and discussed.


The radium isotopes 226Ra and 228Ra
were analyzed in surface water at six points in the neighborhood of a mine of
phosphate, associated with uranium, in the region of Santa Quiteria, state of
Ceara, Brazil. Water samples were collected during twenty months, filtered and
the concentrations of activity determined in the soluble and particulate
phases. The results were analyzed using the Principal Component Analysis (PCA)
for ordination of environmental data, and also by ANOVA, Tukey and Z tests to
compare sets of data considering the radionuclides, the two analyzed phases and
the six collecting points. The PCA identified four groups that included all
collecting points, using aggregation features such as radionuclide and analyzed
phase. The first group is composed by the samples of 226Ra in the
soluble phase; the second group by samples of 226Ra in the
particulate phase; the third one by 228Ra in the soluble phase, and
finally, the fourth group by 228Ra in the particulate phase. This last group has two discrepant points (01 and
06). Statistical analysis identified differences between the concentrations of
activity of radionuclides (228Ra higher than 226Ra) and
in analyzed phases (soluble phase higher than the particulate one) but showed
no differences between sampled points.


By convention, osteoporosis has been described in two categories: 1) primary (involutional or postmenopausal), and 2) secondary, in association with a wide variety of pathologic disorders. Primary osteoporosis is the ultimate consequence of progressive bone loss, which starts in the middle of the fourth decade. Given the apt name of "adult bone loss," it is considered to be a universal phenomenon in that it afflicts all people of all races and both sexes. However, careful analysis of past studies generates evidence that not every person of advanced age loses bone. The etiology of "adult bone loss," and thus of primary osteoporosis, is conceded to be unknown or at least controversial. Nevertheless, the complex dependencies of bone metabolism on the functional integrity of major organ systems imply a multifactorial etiology. The age‐related progressive declines in functional reserves of major organ systems may indicate that primary osteoporosis evolves secondarily to a protracted suboptimal metabolic support of bone remodeling. Further confirmation of this hypothesis may have important implications for the prophylactic management of primary osteoporosis.


In this work we show the application of Sailfish to the study of fluid dynamics in porous media. Sailfish is an open-source software based on the latticeBoltzmann method. This application of computational fluid dynamics is of particular interest to the oil and gas industry and the subject could be a starting point for an undergraduate or graduate student in physics or engineering. We built artificial samples of porous media with different porosities and used Sailfish to simulate the fluid flow through in order to calculate permeability and tortuosity. We also present a simple way to obtain the specific superficial area of porous media using Python libraries. To contextualize these concepts, we test the Kozeny–Carman equation, discuss its validity and calculate the Kozeny's constant for our artificial samples.


The occurrence of calcium lactate crystals (CLC) in hard cheeses is a continual expense to the cheese industry, as consumers fail to purchase cheeses with this quality defect. This research investigates the effects of the protein concentration of cheese milk and the pH of cheese on the occurrence of CLC. Atomic absorption spectroscopy was used to determine total and soluble calcium concentrations in skim milk (SM1, 8.7% total solids), and skim milk supplemented with nonfat dry milk (CSM1, 13.5% total solids). Calcium, phosphorus, lactic acid, and citrate were determined in cheeses made with skim milk (SM2, 3.14% protein), skim milk supplemented with ultrafiltered milk (CSM2, 6.80% protein), and nonfat dry milk (CSM3, 6.80% protein). Supplementation with nonfat dry milk increased the initial total calcium in CSM1 (210 mg/100 g of milk) by 52% compared with the total calcium in SM1 (138 mg/100 g of milk). At pH 5.4, soluble calcium concentrations in CSM1 were 68% greater than soluble calcium in SM1. In cheeses made from CSM2 and CSM3, total calcium was 26% greater than in cheeses made from SM2. As the pH of cheeses made from SM2 decreased from 5.4 to 5.1, the concentration of soluble calcium increased by 61.6%. In cheeses made from CSM2 and CSM3, the concentrations of soluble calcium increased by 41.4 and 45.5%, respectively. Calcium lactate crystals were observed in cheeses made from SM2 at and below pH 5.1, whereas CLC were observed in cheeses from CSM2 and CSM3 at and below pH 5.3. The increased presence of soluble calcium can potentially cause CLC to occur in cheese manufactured with increased concentrations of milk solids, particularly at and below pH 5.1.


Between 1976 and 1982 four hundred consecutive patients underwent coronary artery bypass surgery and were operated by the same surgical team: 345 men (88.5%) and 46 women (11.5%). The average age was 56 years (7.5% were over 75 years of age); 86% of patients were infunctional classes III and IV; 46% had triple vessel disease and 9.25% had severe stenosis of the left main stem. Left ventricular ejection fractions were decreased in 26% and very poor in 4.5% of patients. The average number of bypass grafts was 1.72 per patient and the operative mortality was 3.5%. The 10 year survival rate was 81% and 75% of these patients still thought that their condition had been improved by surgery although only 30% were completely asymptomatic and had had no further coronary event. A comparison with a control population of the same age showed better survival in the surgical group in patients surviving operation. Contrary to traditional thinking, the surgical patients suffered relatively few deaths of cardiac causes but as many, if not more, of cancer. The operated patients died of approximately the same diseases as the control population of the same age but in lower proportions for each cause of death (17 cardiovascular deaths in the control population compared with 13 in the operated group; 18 versus 10 deaths of cancer, and 18 versus 8 deaths of other causes in the control and operated patients, respectively).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


The wavelet-compressed images suffer from coding artifacts, such as ringing and blurring, due to quantizing the transform coefficients. To reduce such coding artifacts, we propose a new image enhancement algorithm based on regularized iterative image restoration. The proposed algorithm uses multiple constraints to simultaneously suppress the coding artifacts and preserve the original high-frequency components. We also present the hierarchical implementation for the proposed algorithm. Spatial adaptivity plays a role in keeping the edge from spreading out to other pixels which have different directional characteristics.


During laser-induced, breakdown-based medical procedures in human eyes such as posterior capsulotomy and vitreolysis, shock waves are emitted from the location of the plasma. A part of these spherically expanding transients is reflected from the concave surface of the corneal epithelium and refocused within the eye. Using a simplified experimental model of the eye, the dominant secondary cavitation clusters were detected by high-speed camera shadowgraphy in the refocusing volume, dislocated from the breakdown position and described by an abridged ray theory. Individual microbubbles were detected in the preheated cone of the incoming laser pulse and radially extending cavitation filaments were generated around the location of the breakdown soon after collapse of the initial bubble. The generation of the secondary cavitation structures due to shock wave focusing can be considered an adverse effect, important in ophthalmology.


In support of his noncognitivist view on ethics, Quine appeals to the claim that there are no ethical observation sentences. I argue that, given one of Quine's definition of 'observation sentence', this claim is false, while, given another, it is true. However, if taken strictly, no sentence satisfies the condition imposed by that definition. And even if it might be argued that the condition is satisfied to a higher degree by some nonethical sentences than by any ethical sentence, the relevance of this consideration is unclear. I conclude that the argument fails to vindicate noncognitivism.


Background Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is an important indicator for designing care and treatment services for patients with diabetes. This is especially true given its rapid increase among the elderly population in Vietnam. HRQoL data in elderly diabetic Vietnamese are currently limited. This study aimed to 1) measure the HRQoL of elderly patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) in Vietnam and 2) identify related factors and their relationship with HRQoL. Patients and methods A cross-sectional study was conducted. We recruited 171 patients aged ≥60 years with T2DM at the Outpatient Department, National Geriatric Hospital from June to November 2015. Patients were asked to evaluate their health status using the EuroQol Five Dimensions Three Levels (EQ-5D-3L) and the Visual Analog Scale (VAS). Sociodemographic, diabetic treatment, and management characteristics were collected. Multivariate Tobit regression was used to determine which factors were associated with HRQoL, and the strength of this relationship. Results Patients reported some problems in all areas of the EQ-5D: pain/discomfort (50.9%), mobility (33.3%), anxiety/depression (24.0%), usual activities (21.1%), and self-care (10.5%). The mean EQ-5D index score was 0.80 (SD=0.20), and the mean EQ-VAS was 57.5 (SD=14.4). Patients who were male, lived in an urban area, could afford treatment, were taking fewer medications, and monitored blood pressure often (1–4 times a week) had a higher EQ-5D index when compared to other groups. Meanwhile, a longer duration of diabetes and older age were negatively associated with the EQ-5D index. Patients with any comorbidity had lower VAS scores than their counterparts. Conclusion The presence of diabetes and comorbidity were responsible for a significant decrease in HRQoL. Screening and identifying health problems, providing prompt treatment, and facilitating self-management among patients have the potential to increase diabetic patients' HRQoL.


The European DEMO is a pulsed device with pulse length of 2 hours. The functions devoted to the heating and current drive system are: plasma breakdown, plasma ramp-up to the flat-top where fusion reactions occur, the control of the plasma during the flat-top phase, and finally the plasma ramp-down. The EU-DEMO project was in a Pre-Concept Design Phase during 2014-2020, meaning that in some cases, the design values of the device and the precise requirements from the physics point of view were not yet frozen. A total of 130 MW was considered for the all phases of the plasma: in the flat top, 30 MW is required for neoclassical tearing modes (NTM) control, 30 MW for burn control, and 70 MW for the control of thermal instability (TI), without any specific functions requested from each system, Electron Cyclotron (EC), Ion Cyclotron (IC), or Neutral Beam (NB) Injection. At the beginning of 2020, a strategic decision was taken, to consider EC as the baseline for the next phase (in 2021 and beyond). R & D on IC and NB will be risk mitigation measures. In parallel with progresses in Physics modelling, a decision point on the heating strategy will be taken by 2024. This paper describes the status of the R & D development during the period 2014-2020. It assumes that the 3 systems EC, IC and NB will be needed. For integration studies, they are assumed to be implemented at a power level of at least 50 MW. This paper describes in detail the status reached by the EC, IC and NB at the end of 2020. It will be used in the future for further development of the baseline heating method EC, and serves as starting point to further develop IC and NB in areas needed for these systems to be considered for DEMO.


INTRODUCTION
This study aimed to assess the immune response in infants who received the three-shot hepatitis B vaccine in Malaysia.

METHODS
Consecutive infants born between March 2002 and April 2010 who received three doses of hepatitis B vaccine at a community clinic in Malaysia were enrolled in the study. Screening for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and antibody against HBsAg (anti-HBs) was performed after the completion of primary immunisation, at approximately one year of age.

RESULTS
A total of 572 infants (median age 9.3 ± 2.7 months; range 6.3-48 months) were screened for immune response to hepatitis B vaccination - 553 (96.7%) infants had adequate levels of anti-HBs (≥ 10 IU/L). Of the 440 mothers whose HBsAg status was known, 14 (3.2%) were positive for HBsAg. None of the 14 infants who were born to HBsAg-positive mothers were positive for HBsAg, and all but one infant had anti-HBs level ≥ 10 IU/L. Gender, gestational age and maternal HBsAg status were not found to significantly affect the subsequent immune response in infants following vaccination.

CONCLUSION
The proportion of Malaysian mothers who are positive for HBsAg remains high. The three-shot hepatitis B vaccine, given as part of universal vaccination against hepatitis B, provides adequate anti-HBs in the vast majority of infants in a community setting in Malaysia.


Boneless beef (U.S. Utility chucks or triangles; U.S. Choice plates) was ground (0.95 cm plate), standardized to 26% fat, reground (0.38 cm plate) and divided into two lots. One lot remained in Plant A and the other lot was shipped via air-freight to Plant B. On the same day and at the same time, meat at both Plants was formed into patties. Half of the patties at Plant A were precooked in a moisture-controlled oven broiler, half of the patties at Plant B were precooked in an open-hearth broiler; the remaining patties at each Plant were not precooked and were frozen in the raw state. Precooked and raw patties at both Plants were frozen (°30°C) in spiral air blast freezers, boxed, air-freighted to College Station, Tex. and Beltsville, Md. and stored at °20°C. Frozen patties were cooked to 63°C (11 mm at 190°C) and palatability was evaluated by an 84-member consumer panel and by an 8-member trained panel. Pre-cooking of ground beef patties: (a) reduces cube space-weight dimensions, thus economies would accrue in packaging-transportmg-distributing such product in comparison to requirements for raw patties; (b) increases total weight loss by approximately 1.8–9.4 percentage points; (c) resulted in increased moisture retention but increased loss of fat during final heating of product; (d) increases incidence of off-flavors by 7–16 percentage points and decreases flavor desirability if performed by use of a moisture-controlled oven broiler; (e) increases tenderness of heated patties; and (f) has no apparent effect on amount of organoleptically detectable connective tissue, flavor intensity or ready-to-serve appearance. It is very doubtful that the advantages in size reduction and tenderness are sufficient to offset the disadvantages in off-flavor incidence, in cooking-freezing-heating losses, in energy required to cool trie product after precooking, and in the necessity to use heat twice (once for precooking, once for heating prior to being served) to prepare the product for ultimate consumption.


Aims: To compare heat generation when using irrigating solution at 5°C and 25°C during preparation of an implant site in bone using the tools of ELIT implant systems. Materials and Methods: Thermocouple technology was used to measure temperature level generated while drilling during osteotomy procedure for implant place in a bovine femoral cortical bone model. Drilling was accomplished by using milling machine .External irrigation at a constant ratio was used. The temperature of this irrigating solution was stabilized at 5°c and 25°C and The drilling depth was 8 mm and diameter of 2mm. Heat measurements were recorded after the final drilling for each irrigating solution in addition to time necessary to drop to base line level was recorded . Results: Results showed that cooled solution at 5 °C can decrease the temperature to a significant level better than solution at room temperature. In addition time needed to return to base line temperature levels is less than when using solution at room temperature. Conclusions: It can be concluded that the using cold irrigating solution can decrease the heat generated at implant site preparation consequently leading to decrease damage in the bone.


A grazing study was conducted in a semi-arid mulga (Acacia aneura) woodland to determine the relative importance of variables controlling sheep production in this environment. The study was based on six sheep stocking rates (0.3-0.8 sheeplha) with the exclusion of other large herbivores including kangaroos and feral goats. The availability of forage and its components, together with the wool growth and live weight of the sheep were measured every three months for seven years from October 1986. Annual rainfall accounted for 60% of the annual variation in live weight gain per head and 79% of the variation in wool growth per head. Stocking rate accounted for an additional 10% of the variation. Rainfall accounted for this large proportion of variation by its strong influence on the yield of green leaf which accounted for 78% of the variation in live weight gain and 66% of the variation in wool growth. Green leaf was a determinant of sheep production because of its superior crude protein content and digestibility compared to dry leaf and stem. The species comprising this green leaf had an influence on sheep production only during drier years when the presence of palatable perennial grasses became important to sheep production. The frequency and yield of perennial grasses were greatly diminished at high stocking rates. This change in forage composition caused a decline in sheep productivity as detected by a loss of linearity in the relationship between stocking rate and live weight gainlhead. We conclude that adjusting stocking rates is required in this environment for maintenance of long-term sheep productivity and landscape function. The loss of palatable perennial C, grasses over much of the region has reduced livestock productivity and increased the variability in forage availability. Stock numbers should be adjusted at critical times to avoid losing perennial grasses that are important for sheep production in drier years. New grazing strategies are required to restore these grasses to the region.


The UK can't have it all. Its proposal to maintain a deeply integrated trade and economic relationship with the EU alongside its rejection of the key obligations, institutions and enforcement mechanisms necessary for securing such result is inherently contradictory. If there is one thing certain about the final outcome of the negotiations for a post Brexit UK-EU trade agreement, is that the degree of market access that it will deliver will be lower than the current one. Against this background, this paper explores how the parties can use their treaty-making capacity wisely, taking advantage of the proximity, long-standing common values and European identity shared by them in order to design a second-best alternative that meets UK demands and, at the same time, is capable of delivering a degree of economic integration as closest as possible to current levels.


This article is based on in-depth interviews carried out with producers involved in the restoration of Ellis Island Immigration Station, New York and those responsible for turning it into a successful national heritage site which opened to the public in 1990. The buildings on Ellis Island operated as an Immigration Station between approximately 1892 and 1924 during which time they processed over 16 million migrants of predominantly European origin. An analysis of interviews conducted as well as readings of Ellis Island taken from archives, folklore and US popular culture suggest that the site is imbued with the spectropolitics of its politically emotive immigrant processing past. Rather than dismissing the spectrality associated with Ellis Island as folkloric or irrational, the article attempts to untangle the different meanings attributed to the `ghosts' that circulate through the buildings and material objects that inhabit the island. It suggests that a number of `tropes' of ghostliness can be associated with the island; uncanny ghosts which defy the sanitizing force of the restoration; conjured ghosts, which are deliberately invoked by producers for various political and economic purposes, and the ghosts of deconstruction which make any meta-narrative of immigration history at Ellis Island a precarious if not troubling achievement.


The evolution of mobile devices and accessories and server virtualization leading to a review of common architecture of networks. The architecture of many traditional networks is hierarchical which is formed with the use of Ethernet switch nodes in a tree structure. This architecture will be more tangible when the client-server communications are discussed, but such a static architecture is not sufficient for dynamic communications and the needs of companies in the field of data centers and media servers. It is almost impossible to face with the current needs of the market by using common network architectures. Companies of information technology use the manual processing and management tools in the level of machine to deal with issues like recession or budget cuts. Companies which providing telecommunication services are faced with the same challenges because the demand for accessing to broadband of dynamic networks, dramatically is increasing; Also, the profit of these companies will compromise with increasing the costs of central equipment and reducing the income. In our representing method, we are trying to improve and enhance the reliability which is an important factor for SDN networks. In this study, the reliability of SDN networks will increase and the rate of accurate data transmission will significantly improve. The research method of this study is the scientific research. The review and study of target research will be discussed in the first part. In the second part, we examine the basic concepts of the subject and represent an available problem. In the third part, we introduce the proposed approach and offering a theoreticallaboratory case in connection with that. Then in the fourth part of the study, we practically examine and evaluate the proposed method with the represented laboratory example. At this stage, methods of data analysis are simulations and cooperation with previous methods. Also, we presented some graphs with the outputs of simulations which show the enhancement of the reliability of the proposed method and we conclude in the final part.


Introduction: Lobular capillary hemangioma (LCH) is caused by exuberant neovascular response to infection, local irritation (e.g., trauma), or hormonal influence (e.g., pregnancy and consumption of oral contraceptive pills). Pyogenic granuloma is considered to be a misnomer. Although the gingiva is involved in most of the cases, there are is rare cases of extragingival involvement. Herein, we reported a case of LCH associated with the dehiscence of the underlying bony hard palate. Case Report: A 50-year-old woman presented with a gradually increasing swelling over hard palate for 2 years. She was a hypertensive patient and mishri user (using tobacco-containing teeth cleaning powder) with known diabetes. She had undergone a teeth extraction 2 years ago. The palatine swelling was reddish-blue, sessile with a lobulated surface, firm in consistency, and non-tender with a of size 4×3 cm. The computed tomography (CT) scan revealed bony dehiscence of the underlying palate. Histopathological examination after excision and curettage was suggestive of LCH. Conclusion: The LCH is common in females due to cyclical hormonal changes. Our case was presented in the fifth decade of life. The etiological factors for the patient could be mishiri usage or iatrogenic trauma of teeth extraction rather than mere hormones. The dehiscence of the underlying palatine process of the maxilla could be due to the acquired invasive nature of the lesion. No recurrence was observed in our patient since the elimination of the lesion and strict abstinence from mishiri till this date.