Abstract. The Yangtze River basin is home to more than 400 million people and contributes to nearly half of China's food production. Therefore, planning for climate change impacts on water resource discharges is essential. We used a physically based distributed hydrological model, Shetran, to simulate discharge in the Yangtze River just below the Three Gorges Dam at Yichang (1 007 200 km2), obtaining an excellent match between simulated and measured daily discharge, with Nash–Sutcliffe efficiencies of 0.95 for the calibration period (1996–2000) and 0.92 for the validation period (2001–2005). We then used a simple monthly delta change approach for 78 climate model projections (35 different general circulation models – GCMs) from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) to examine the effect of climate change on river discharge for 2041–2070 for Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5. Projected changes to the basin's annual precipitation varied between −3.6 and +14.8 % but increases in temperature and consequently evapotranspiration (calculated using the Thornthwaite equation) were projected by all CMIP5 models, resulting in projected changes in the basin's annual discharge from −29.8 to +16.0 %. These large differences were mainly due to the predicted expansion of the summer monsoon north and west into the Yangtze Basin in some CMIP5 models, e.g. CanESM2, but not in others, e.g. CSIRO-Mk3-6-0. This was despite both models being able to simulate current climate well. Until projections of the strength and location of the monsoon under a future climate improve, large uncertainties in the direction and magnitude of future change in discharge for the Yangtze will remain.


The ability of adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) to induce lung maturation was evaluated in fetal lambs. One member of 14 twin pairs between 114 and 138 days of gestation was infused intravenously with 0.5 mg ACTH over 5 days. The lungs of treated versus control lambs were judged more mature by morphologic criteria by the use of light and electron microscopy and by biochemical criteria by the use of lamellar-body-rich cell fractions. None of 5 premature lambs treated with ACTH and allowed to breathe showed evidence of hyaline membrane disease, while 3 untreated control lambs showed typical hyaline membranes.


Modern communication and electronic technology have produced a complex secondary electromagnetic environment within which we are all immersed. Ultimately patterns will be generated that are intimately congruent with those generated by the human brain during memory consolidation. Their strategic patterning within educational contexts could facilitate learning and memory consolidation. Human volunteers exposed to a weak patterned magnetic field whose electrical equivalent produces long-term potentiation or memory enhancement in a variety of contexts, showed a significant increase in the retention of narrative details 20 min after the field was applied over the left temporal lobe but not the right temporal lobe; scores for the latter group did not differ from sham-field subjects. The effect size of the memory enhancement was sufficiently large, accommodating 60% of the variance, to have educational and practical applications. The changes required about 15 minutes to be apparent and were related to the expected quantitative changes in brain activity. These results, which replicate previous experiments, indicate there is a potential technology that could be developed to enhance memory capacity and to promote vocational advantages for the average person in the 21 st century.


Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is a lethal, genetic disease caused by mutations to the CFTR chloride channel. The most common CF causing mutation is the deletion of F508 from the first Nucleotide Binding Domain (F508del-NBD1). This mutation leads to a thermally unstable domain and a misfolded, nonfunctioning CFTR. Replica Exchange MD simulations were used to simulate seven NBD1 constructs including wt and F508del-NBD1 both alone and in the presence of known rescuing mutations as well as F508del-NBD1 in complex with a known small (ligand) stabilizer. Analyzing the resulting trajectories suggests that differences in the biochemical properties of the constructs result from local and coupled differences in their dynamic profiles. A comparative analysis of these profiles as well as of the resulting trajectories reveals how the different perturbations exert their deleterious, rescuing, and stabilizing effects on NBD1. These simulations may therefore be useful for the design and mechanism-of-action analysis of new NBD1 stabilizers.


Literature output on any field normally measured using the bibliometric analysis. This paper presents bibliometrics analysis of the Indian literature output on Alzheimer's disease research. Alzheimer's disease research data has been downloaded from 'Scopus' data base. For this study, publications commencing from 1970-2016 (47 years) has been downloaded from the database. A total of 2676 data have been identified. The objectives of the study are: To ascertain the global research output and the Indian research production on Alzheimer's disease; to examine the collaborating countries with Indian authors in research production in Alzheimer's disease; To identify the Indian organizations conducting the research in Alzheimer's disease; To compare and measure the growth rate of literature published and To identify the top source titles of journals and contributors who publish research articles on Alzheimer's disease. The major findings of the study are: research productivity at the global level and at Indian level reveals the linear trend; India stands 15th position at the global level in the research contribution in the Alzheimer's disease; there is no much productivity from India during 1976 to 1981 in the field of Alzheimer's disease; there exists fluctuation by year after year as far as RGR and Dt is concerned; Indian authors have collaborated with more scientists from United States followed by United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia and awareness on research on Alzheimer's disease seems to be effective since 2009 onwards.

Keywords: Alzheimer disease, Indian contribution, Bibliographic analysis, Relative growth Rate, Doubling time.


This paper deals with automatic refinement-based specifications of feasible Control Tasks in Embedded Control Systems. By considering the Plant architecture, we model at first time the system with an abstract model according to the Net Condition Event System formalism and we automatically refine thereafter this model in different steps to define and specify Control Tasks that have to be checked in each step. This approach optimizes the development cost of complex Embedded Systems and it is applied on two Benchmark Production Systems FESTO and EnAS available in our research laboratory to prove its benefits.


The subject of the analysis are guild names created by players in the World of Warcraft MMORPG. Guilds are organizations that give structure to virtual micro-communities created in the game. Their names reflect the specific nature of the World of Warcraft gaming environment. The article discusses the names of Polish-speaking guilds in terms of their consistency with the world presented. Four types of onyms were distinguished: consistent with the Warcraft universe; referring to the game mechanics and the way the game is played; referring to players and their communities and taken from other areas of culture.


Abstract Silver, ZnO and CuO nanoparticles (NPs) are increasingly used as biocides. There is however increasing evidence of their threat to "non-target" organisms. In such a context, the understanding of the toxicity mechanisms is crucial for both the design of more efficient nano-antimicrobials, i.e. for "toxic by design" and at the same time for the design of nanomaterials that are biologically and/or environmentally benign throughout their life-cycle (safe by design). This review provides a comprehensive and critical literature overview on Ag, ZnO and CuO NPs' toxicity mechanisms on the basis of various environmentally relevant test species and mammalian cells in vitro. In addition, factors modifying the toxic effect of nanoparticles, e.g. impact of the test media, are discussed. Literature analysis revealed three major phenomena driving the toxicity of these nanoparticles: (i) dissolution of nanoparticles, (ii) organism-dependent cellular uptake of NPs and (iii) induction of oxidative stress and consequent cellular damages. The emerging information on quantitative structure–activity relationship modeling of nanomaterials' toxic effects and the challenges of extrapolation of laboratory results to the environment are also addressed.


Spin polarized density functional theory has been used to investigate the structural stability and electronic properties of extrinsic and intrinsic defects in boron nitride nanotubes. Carbon substitutional defects under nitrogen rich and boron-rich growth conditions have the lowest heats of formation compared to boron and nitrogen antisites. Creating a defect reduces the band gap of the nanotube in both armchair and zig-zag geometries. We show that the substitutional carbon atom affects the electronic properties of the nanotube in such a way that it transforms from insulator to a semiconductor or metal. Antisites are stable in the reverse atmosphere and have the main characteristic that among all defects they have the highest heats of formations in both the zig-zag and armchair nanotubes.


Software traceability is a fundamentally important task in software engineering. The need for automated traceability increases as projects become more complex and as the number of artifacts increases. We propose an automated technique that combines traceability with a machine learning technique known as topic modeling. Our approach automatically records traceability links during the software development process and learns a probabilistic topic model over artifacts. The learned model allows for the semantic categorization of artifacts and the topical visualization of the software system. To test our approach, we have implemented several tools: an artifact search tool combining keyword-based search and topic modeling, a recording tool that performs prospective traceability, and a visualization tool that allows one to navigate the software architecture and view semantic topics associated with relevant artifacts and architectural components. We apply our approach to several data sets and discuss how topic modeling enhances software traceability, and vice versa.


Objectives: To compare the nebulized salbutamol alone with combination of nebulized salbutamol and ipratropium for acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in terms of mean length of stay.
Study Design: Quasi-experimental study
Place and Duration of Study: Department of Medicine, Military Hospital, Rawalpindi Pakistan. Study was carried out over a period of six months from May to Nov 2017.
Methodology: A total of 300 patients of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (150 in each group) were recruited in the study. Group A received nebulized salbutamol (5mg) alone and Group B received a combination of nebulized salbutamol (5mg) and ipratropium bromide (0.5mg).
Results: Mean age of the patients was 66.4±6.4 years and 65.7±6.8 years in Group-A and B, respectively. In Group-A, there were 136(90.7%) and in Group-B 134(89.3%) were males while 14(9.3%) and 16(10.7%) were females in Group-A and B, respectively. Mean duration of disease in Group-A was 5.2±2.4 years and in group-B 6.0±1.6 years. Comparison of mean length of stay (days) revealed in hospital between nebulized Salbutamol alone 5.0±0.5 days with combination of nebulized Salbutamol and Ipratropium 4.3±0.6 days with p-value <0.001.
Conclusion: In conclusion, the routine addition of nebulized ipratropium bromide to salbutamol appears to be of benefit in the treatment of acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and in terms of mean length of hospital stay.


Background: Anemia is one of the most widespread nutritional deficiency diseases. It affects all age groups and both sexes in most states of India. Profoundly affected groups are adolescent girls (74%–98%). Anemia in adolescents is a critical public health problem in India. Lack of nutritional knowledge is one of the most significant reasons of nutritional problems and consequently improper practice, which can lead to several complications.

Objectives: (1) To know knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding anemia among adolescent girls. (2) To know treatment-seeking behavior regarding anemia among adolescent girls.

Materials and Methods: It is a cross-sectional study conducted among adolescent school girls aged 11–15 years from five government schools under urban field practice area of JJM medical college, Davangere. The study was conducted from 1st September to 30th November 2014 for a period of 3 months by using a pre-designed, pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaire.

Result: Age of students ranged from 11 to 15 and the mean age was 13 years. One hundred sixty (91%) had heard of anemia; 53 (33%) girls told poor diet is the only cause for anemia; 49 (31%) told tiredness is the only feature of anemia; 20 (13%) answered anemia impacts on physical growth, learning process, and decreases work capacity; and 88 (55%) girls told they will consult doctor and takes iron tablets.

Conclusions: The study has highlighted good knowledge but poor attitude and practice toward anemia among adolescent girls.


It remains a challenge to generate the uniform and large-area cold plasma at atmospheric pressure. In this paper, we report a method to generate a reliable and homogeneous brush-shaped plasma plume running at atmospheric pressure. The plasma brush (110 mm in length and 10 mm in width) is mainly composed of well-aligned and hollow optical fibers. Current-voltage measurements indicate that the brush-shaped plasma plume consists of glowlike pulsed discharge with their pulsewidths of several microseconds. The generation of the He/O2 glowlike discharge is further proved by the uniform distribution of O atoms along the transverse location of the plasma brush. This brush-shaped plasma plume is used for the application in the plasma inactivation of Candida albicans cells. About 97% of Candida albicans cells with a population of 105 spores are killed when exposed to the O2/He (volume ratio: 5/95) brush-shaped plasma plume for 150 s. Analysis indicates that plasma-activated species, such as O radicals, may play a crucial role in killing the resistant Candida albicans cells.


Experiments with layers of salt and sugar solution separated by a diffusive interface are described. Interfacial waves were spontaneously generated by the convection once the system evolved to a critical value of the density-anomaly ratio Rρ≡βΔS/αΔT. The waves locally modulated the interfacial fluxes by modifying the interface thickness and thereby organized otherwise random convective motions into large-scale circulations. In turn, the waves themselves persisted for unusually long times owing to energy input from the organized convection. The dependence of the wave speed on the layer properties and channel dimensions was successfully predicted by assuming that coupling requires a matching of the wave and convection speeds, and that the system selects waves of an amplitude for which this resonance can occur. This 'wave–convection coupling' also appeared to increase the interfacial fluxes at low Rρ. The interaction of waves and convection may be important for oceanic thermohaline staircases and other systems where convection is driven by interfacial fluxes.


The present study examined the power of measures of early preschool behavior to predict later diagnoses of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD)/conduct disorder (CD). Participants were 168 children with behavior problems at age 3 who underwent a multimethod assessment of ADHD and ODD symptoms and were followed annually for 3 years. Fifty-eight percent of 3-year-old children with behavior problems met criteria for ADHD and/or ODD/CD 3 years later. Using a diagnostic interview and rating scales at age 3, the authors could accurately predict later diagnostic status for 3/4 of children for ADHD and for 2/3 of children for ODD/CD. Predictive power of the best models did not increase significantly at age 4 and age 5 compared with age 3. Results provide support for the validity of early diagnoses of ADHD, although caution is needed in making diagnoses because a significant minority of children with early hyperactivity and inattention do outgrow their problems.


-A parametric analysis of the coherent electromagnetic losses due to scattering from volume weak inhomogeneities is reported. It is shown that even in the case of very weak inhomogeneities, the loss could be appreciable in a resonance region and thus play a more dominant role than conductivity losses.


The gut microbiome of an animal has a strong influence on the health, fitness, and behavior of its host, and is thus a critical component of the animal itself. Most research in the microbiome field has focused on human populations and commercially important species. However, researchers are now considering the link between endangered species conservation and the microbiome. In Hawai'i, several threats have caused widespread population declines of Hawaiian honeycreepers (subfamily Carduelinae). These threats, and the environmental changes that result, can have a significant effect on the avian gut microbiome and may even lead to disruption of microbial function. However, no previous study has explored the natural patterns of the gut microbiome of a honeycreeper species in the wild. This project used amplicon-based sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene to characterize the gut microbiome of two critically endangered species of Hawaiian honeycreepers. The two species differed significantly in both alpha and beta diversity. Intraspecific variation of the gut microbiome among individual birds was a major factor. However, small but significant differences also exist between sampling location and sexes. This baseline knowledge will help inform management decisions for these honeycreeper species both in their native habitats and in captivity.


Using data from 144 village-level governments in India's Tamil Nadu state, this paper investigates political reservations for women and whether the gender of village government leaders influences the provision of village public goods. A knowledge test of village government presidents and a survey about the interaction between village presidents and higher-level officials reveal that female village government presidents have much lower knowledge of the village government system than do their male counterparts and have significantly less contact with higher-level government officials. Although male and female presidents provide similar amounts of some public goods, there is strong evidence that village governments led by a woman built fewer schools and roads—two public goods that require relatively more contact and coordination with higher-level officials.


In the fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) of lymph nodes, the deliniation of low grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) from high grade NHL by means of morphology may be difficult. To gain additional diagnostically helpful criteria, cytophotometric analysis of the DNA content was applied. 117 specimens of NHL were examined, including 51 cases of low grade NHL (14 centroblastic-centrocytic, 9 centrocytic, 14 lymphoplasmocytoid immnocytomas and 14 chronic Iymphocytic leukemias) and 66 cases of high grade NHL (15 centroblastic, 18 immunoblastic, 7 Burkitt and 26 lymphoblastic). The smears were stained with Feulgen and were evaluated by image analysis (CAS 200, Becton- Dickinson). The 5 c exceeding rate differed significantly (p = 0.0081) between low- and hig-grade NHL. In the group of low grade NHL, clearly aneuploid cases were not found (Auer type I 32%, type II 62%, type III 6% of cases). The high grade NHL's showed histograms Auer type II (10% of cases), type III (62% of cases) as well as clearly aneuploid type IV (28% of cases). In summary, image cytophotometry can be used along side morphology to differentiate between low and high grade lymphomas in morphologically difficult cases.


This paper describes the modelisation of the Elekta XVI Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) machine components with Geant4 and its validation against calibration data taken for two commonly used machine setups. Preliminary dose maps of simulated CBCTs coming from this modelisation work are presented. This study is the first step of a research project, GHOST, aiming to improve the understanding of late toxicity risk in external beam radiotherapy patients by simulating dose depositions integrated from different sources (imaging, treatment beam) over the entire treatment plan. The second cancer risk will then be derived from different models relating irradiation dose and second cancer risk.


In this paper, we have used a fuzzy net trained by the particle swarm optimization (PSO) technique for classification task of data mining. Fuzzy net uses a single layer neural network to reduce the complexities associated with multi-layer perceptron (MLP). In addition, we trained the network by using PSO to obtain optimal weight vectors, which reduces the problem of being trapped into a local minimum. From the simulation study, it is observed that the fuzzy swarm net (FSN) gives a promising result. Further, we compared the result obtained from FSN with multi-layer perceptron (MLP) radial basis function (RBF). The results obtained from FSN draws a clear edge between FSN and RBF and a competitive result with MLP.


Cardiac resynchronization therapy improves clinical symptoms and prognosis of heart failure patients. However, it has been shown that up to 40% of patients do not respond to this therapy. Three main determinants of cardiac resynchronization therapy response have been identified: left ventricular dyssynchrony, left ventricular lead position, and extent and location of myocardial scar tissue. Two-dimensional echocardiography is the first imaging technique to evaluate patients who may be candidates for cardiac resynchronization therapy. However, a multimodality approach based on 3-dimensional imaging techniques may provide a more comprehensive evaluation of these patients by combining the assessment of the aforementioned pathophysiological determinants of cardiac resynchronization therapy response. 2011 Sociedad Española de Cardiologı́a. Published by Elsevier España, S.L. All rights reserved. Técnicas de imagen tridimensional en el tratamiento de resincronización cardiaca


Addresses robust performance analysis problems for linear time-invariant systems depending on uncertain parameters. It is well known that, in the case of affine parameter dependence, we can deal with such problems based on standard LMI (linear matrix inequalities) characterizations and the concept of quadratic stability. However, in the case of rational parameter dependence, we need another effort to arrive at numerically tractable conditions. The paper clarifies that some previously developed dilated LMI characterizations are useful in dealing with such robust performance analysis problems. The dilated LMIs also allow us to employ parameter-dependent Lyapunov variables, which are known to be quite effective in reducing the conservatism resulting from a quadratic (parameter-independent) Lyapunov variable.


Recombinant protein G has been utilized in the purification of antibodies from various mammalian species based on the interaction of antibodies with protein G. The interaction between immunoglobulin and protein G may not be restricted to the Fc protion of antibodies, as many different or Fab fragments can also bind to protein G. I found both FAb of 145-2C11, a hamster anti-mouse antibody, bound to the protein G-sepharose. Interestingly, Fab and of 145-2C11 did not bind to the protein A-sepharose. The binding of Fab and of 145-2C11 to protein G provided a useful method to remove proteases, chopped fragments of the Fc region, and other contaminating proteins. The remaining intact antibody in the protease reaction mixture can be removed by using a protein A-sepharose, because the Fab and portions of 145-2C11 did not bind to protein A-sepharose. The specific binding of Fab and portions of 145-sC11 to a protein G-sepharose (though not to a protein A-sepharose) and binding of intact 145-2C11 to both protein A- and G-sepharose will be useful in developing an effective purification protocol for Fab and portions of 145-2C11.


High levels of pollutants often occur in urban environments and can pose a threat to human residents as well as local wildlife. The Flint, Michigan water crisis was caused by the corrosion of pipe infrastructure, resulting in high levels of lead (Pb) leaching into the drinking water. Irrigation with contaminated water may have introduced lead into the soil causing another source of exposure to humans as well as wildlife. A widespread songbird species, the American robin (Turdus migratorius), feeds heavily on earthworms and ingests large amounts of soil during foraging. This study investigated the impact of the Flint water crisis on American robin blood lead levels (BLL) during the breeding season in southeast MI by comparing BLL of birds captured at irrigated sites of Flint to those captured at unirrigated sites in Flint, irrigated sites in a nearby city (Ypsilanti) and rural sites. Robins captured at irrigated Flint sites had nearly double BLL compared to unirrigated Flint sites and all other control sites. Body condition declined with increasing BLL at these irrigated sites of Flint, suggesting a measurable fitness impact of lead at these levels. Because BLL in American robins is known to reflect soil lead levels and soil lead is a known driver of BLL in children, robins may act as a bioindicator for urban communities. Further research should determine the efficacy of using robin BLL as a bioindicator of soil lead and how lead might be impacting body condition and other long-term fitness metrics in urban wildlife.


We study the effect of chain rigidity on the behavior of semiflexible polymers in the vicinity of flat walls in a slit, and of surfactants at the liquid-liquid interface between immiscible liquids. Using molecular dynamics simulations, it is demonstrated that the impact of bending angle forces is particularly strong within the depletion layer at the phase boundary whereas at distance Re away from the interface, where Re is the mean distance between the ends of a semiflexible chain, the contribution of these non-local triplet interactions to pressure tensor virtually disappears. The present study also demonstrates that growing stiffness of the macromolecules leads to an increase in surface tension and total pressure.


RFID middleware is the bridge between the hardware of RFID and application program. At present the proliferation of RFID tags and readers will require dedicated middleware solutions that manage readers and process the vast amount of captured data, this paper analyzes the requirements and propose a design for such an RFID middleware, The paper has done a lot of research in some key technologies on the design and implementation of RFID middleware this design is always used in Enterprise Information Public Service Platform.


20648 Background: The BEMA drug delivery system was designed for rapid oral transmucosal drug delivery with dose to dose reliability of plasma concentrations and ease of patient use. BEMA Fentanyl ...


Recently, number of applications including social networks, stock market trading and sensor network devices generate a massive amount of data in the streaming form. Streaming data have characteristics different from static data, such as streaming data arrives continuously at high speed with huge amount. Mining and discovering information from these data is a non-trivial issue. Most of traditional algorithms have limitations to deal with streaming data, so there are new issues raised and need to be taken into consideration while developing techniques for mining association rules from such data. In this paper, a technique to mine an association rules from streaming data efficiently is proposed. The proposed technique develops a tree structure called Fast Update Frequent Pattern Tree (FUFP-Tree) that reduce the number of traversing between tree nodes in both inserting a new transaction and extracting an association rules between items. Also, to avoid congestion during inserting incoming streaming data to FUFP-Tree, a sliding window approach is used to divide incoming data equally to all available windows. The complexity and the performance of this technique are investigated, and a dataset of storehouse is used to test the proposed technique and measure its efficiency. The efficiency of the proposed technique is compared with other most related algorithms.


Displacement of spin-labeled drugs from drug-specific antibodies in human serum can be measured by use of electron spin resonance. This "spin immunoassay" has advantages of speed, simplicity, and small volume requirements over other standard techniques such as gas-liquid, liquid-liquid, or thin-layer chromatography. Unlike radioimmunoassay, there is no need to separate free and bound label and there are no radiation hazards. We present clinical and experimental data showing how this method can be applied to the routine determination of morphine and diphenylhydantoin concentrations in serum.


Occupational accidents in the Finnish local government sector in 2004 are analysed by gender, age and occupation class in order to identify particular risk groups. The accident data are compared with data concerning the number of employees, using frequency distributions and accident incidence rates. The possibilities of providing occupation class-specific accident incidence rates are also discussed. According to the results, commuting accidents are more common and severe in the local government sector than in general in Finland. In the local public sector occupational accidents more often involved women than men. Compared to other age groups and occupational classes, occupational accidents are more common in the age band of 45–54 and in the occupational class of medical and nursing work. However, compared to the employees' data, men and younger employees had an increased workplace accident risk, while women and older employees had an increased risk of commuting accidents. The highest accident incidence rate was in farming and animal husbandry work. Currently, the calculation of occupation class-specific accident incidence rates is difficult. Improving the consistency of the occupation classifications used in the various data sources would facilitate more reliable calculation of rates.


Background: Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) from the skin secretions of amphibians are now considered as a potential alternative to conventional antibiotics. Phylloseptins are a family of AMPs identified in the skin secretions of Phyllomedusinae tree frogs which exhibit highly con-served structural characteristics. This study examines the structure–activity relationship of the newly discovered phylloseptin, Phylloseptin-PHa (PSPHa) from Pithecopus hypochondrialis . Materials and methods: PSPHa and modified analogs were produced by solid phase synthesis and purified by reverse-phase HPLC. Rationally designed modified analogs incorporat-ing changes in significant physicochemical parameters such as hydrophobicity, hydrophobic moment and net charge were investigated to determine their influence on secondary structure, antimicrobial activity, membrane permeabilization and cytotoxicity. Results: Overall, we found that when rationally designing AMPs by altering their primary structure it is important to keep a balance between hydrophobicity and charge. Conclusion: This study provides new insights which will help in the future development of AMPs as alternatives to conventional antibiotics for the treatment of Staphylococcus aureus and methicillin-resistant S. aureus infections.


The wheat quality requirements are diverse and depend on the wheat species cultivated, the expected end-use product and the environment in which it is produced. In this study, 34 bread wheat varieties were evaluated for several physico-chemical and rheological parameters including thousand-kernel weight, grain moisture content, grain protein content, wet and dry gluten contents, sedimentation Zeleny test value and Hagberg falling number. It was observed that the extreme min and max values vary depending on the genotype evaluated and the test used, suggesting the difficulty of grouping all the desirable characteristics in the same genetic background. The results also show that there was a positive correlation of the Zeleny sedimentation value with grain moisture content, protein content, wet and dry gluten at phenotypic and genotypic levels. This test can be used to predict the wheat technological quality during the milling process. Furthermore, this study offers to breeders' valuable information which, in future breeding programs, can be used to develop high yielding and adapted genotypes, and appreciated by the rheological and technological quality of their end-use product.


T he anhydrous, levorotatory isomer of a synthetic hydrazine derivative of the neurotransmitter dopamine. Carbidopa, a peripheral dopa decarboxylase inhibitor, is used as an adjunct with levodopa to prevent levodopa degradation to dopamine in extracerebral tissue, thereby decreasing the peripheral side effects of levodopa. Carbidopa does not penetrate the blood brain barrier; therefore, it does not interfere with the central nervous system (CNS) metabolism of levodopa to the active neurotransmitter dopamine which, in high concentrations in the brain, has antiparkinsonian effects. Qeios · Definition, February 7, 2020


Poverty is a historical and class-conditioned social phenomenon. The people who are in the condition of poverty have limited resources (material, cultural, social, etc.). The long-term poverty measurements by applying the relative and subjective method have enabled identification of the basic profiles of poverty in the Republic of Macedonia. The condition of poverty directly affects the following: the material status, the social status, the bio-mental condition and the culture of living and behaviour of the people who are in that condition. The consequences of the condition of poverty are numerous; we will address the housing, nutrition, health condition, family relations, education, as well as social communication. The purpose of this work is to examine, describe and explain the consequences of the condition of poverty with the three basic groups of poor families: traditionally poor, newly impoverished households and chronically poor families by using the data from the qualitative measurements. The poor people have had difficulties adjusting to the newly emerged situation in the Republic of Macedonia. The family members have mostly tried to escape the newly emerged situation in the grey economy. Reproduction of the second generation of poor families is evident. The generalizations referred to regarding the researched problem arise from the qualitative research conducted on a sample of 60 families which were followed throughout a ten-year period.


The focus of this research is on the duality of the student-athlete lifestyle among varsity student-athletes at McMaster University regarding the social support services being offered on campus. Our study sought to examine the awareness, knowledge, and perceptions of the student-athlete population regarding social support resources that are offered to them on campus. We collected a sample size of 75 McMaster varsity student-athletes. Using an anonymous online survey, we collected opinions and perceptions from 75 self-identified varsity athletes at McMaster University. Our findings indicated that McMaster University varsity student-athletes do not hold a negative perception of accessing social support services on campus. However, the findings suggest a lack of awareness among the study population regarding the social support services available for student-athletes. Our research suggests there is a need for greater visibility of available services as well as promotion of help-seeking behaviours as student-athletes were found to be more willing to use services when recommended by athletic faculty members and staff. We hope that the collected data will help to provide feedback about the perceptions of social services on campus within the McMaster University athletic community.


Fungal infections are emerging as major health challenges in recent years. The development of resistance against existing antifungal agents needs urgent attention and action. The limited classes of antifungal drugs available, their tendency to cause adverse effects, lack of effectiveness, etc., are the major limitations of current therapy. Thus, there is a pressing demand for new antifungal drug classes to cope with the present circumstances. Glucose is the key source of energy for all organisms, including fungi. Glucose plays a crucial role as a source of carbon and energy for processes like virulence, growth, invasion, biofilm formation, and resistance development. The glucose transport and sensing mechanisms are well developed in these organisms as an important strategy to sustain survival. Modulating these transport or sensor mechanisms may serve as an important strategy to inhibit fungal growth. Moreover, the structural difference between human and fungal glucose transporters makes them more appealing as drug targets. Limited literature is available for fungal glucose entry mechanisms. This review provides a comprehensive account of sugar transport mechanisms in common fungal pathogens.


OBJECTIVES
To determine the average treatment effect (ATE) of primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pPCI) versus medical treatment (MT) on in-hospital outcomes across the spectrum of frailty in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).

METHODS
Adult patients hospitalized for STEMI between October 2015 until December 2017 from the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database were retrospectively analyzed and stratified by the Hospital Frailty Risk Score into low, intermediate, and high frailty risk subgroups. Propensity score matching analysis was performed to estimate the ATE of pPCI in each frailty subgroup. The primary outcome was all-cause in-hospital death.

RESULTS
A total of 429,070 patients were included in the final analysis, with 28.4% at an increased frailty risk. Frail patients were significantly less likely to receive pPCI (85.6%, 47.2%, and 22.6% for low, intermediate, and high frailty risk groups). Rates of adverse in-hospital events including death, cerebrovascular event, and major bleeding were significantly higher in patients with increased frailty risk. pPCI was associated with a significant reduction of in-hospital death in low (-8.0%), intermediate (-14.6%), and high (-14.7%) frailty subgroups, compared to MT (P<.001).

CONCLUSIONS
pPCI was associated with reduced rates of in-hospital death in patients with frailty presenting with STEMI. These findings suggest a benefit of pPCI in this complex patient population, although based on observational data. Long-term effects and safety need to be investigated in future studies.


Objective Gender differences, including differences in the prevalence, subtypes and the effectiveness of treatment, are generally recognized in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Although serotonin type 3 receptor (5-HT3R) antagonists appear to be more effective in women with diarrhea predominant IBS (IBS-D) than they are in men, the mechanisms underlying these effects remain unclear. The aim of the present was to investigate the gender differences in 5-HT signaling. Methods The subjects were selected from outpatients with IBS-D and healthy controls. Their rectal mucosal S100A, tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH) and 5-HT transporter (5-HTT, SERT, SLC6A4) mRNA expression levels were measured. Clinical symptoms were evaluated using the gastrointestinal symptom rating scale (GSRS) and the self-rating depression scale (SDS). Results The study population of 100 subjects included 47 IBS-D patients and 53 age- and gender-matched healthy controls. The S100A9 (5.20 vs. 1.90, p=0.001) and SLC6A4 (2.00 vs. 1.00, p=0.019) mRNA levels in the rectal mucosa of women with IBS-D were significantly higher than those in men. Among the healthy controls, the S100A10 expression levels in men were higher than those in women (1.33 vs. 0.82, p=0.005). The S100A8 and S100A10 expression levels in women with IBS-D were positively correlated with their diarrhea scores (r=0.55 and 0.58, p<0.05). Conclusion 5-HT signaling might be a major contributor to the symptoms of IBS in men, and the differences may be associated with the effectiveness of 5-HT3R antagonists.


Investigations of the planting distance effect on the growth, productivity and fruit quality of dwarf apples in 14–15-yearold orchard were carried out at the Experimental Orchard of the Institute of Horticulture, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, in 2014–2015. The aim of the study was to evaluate the influence of planting distances on the growth, productivity and fruit quality of 'Auksis' apple trees on rootstock P60 in the mature 14–15 year old orchard. Fruit trees were spaced at the following distances: 3 × 1.5 m, 3 × 1.2 m, 3 × 1 m and 3 × 0.75 m. Based on the obtained results apple trees spaced at 3 × 1.25 m (2667 trees/ha) could be recommended for achieving high yields and good-quality fruits. If cultivated apple cultivars are not winter hardy or not resistant to bark diseases, apple trees on P60 rootstock could be planted at the distance 3 × 1 m or even more densely in order to achieve as high as possible yield in the young orchard.


Flow shapes in M are Imbrium, Copernicus, Tycho and Aristarchus have been related to lava properties by assuming that lavas have Bingham rheology. A universal formula which expresses flow dimensions in terms of fluid properties, flow rates and slopes has been derived theoretically and tested by means of experimental models and data from terrestrial lava flows. It is now possible to determine flow rates and yield stresses - both of which are related to the composition of lavas - from photographs of flow remnants. Results are presented for the lunar flows under study. Flow rates in Mare Imbrium are found to be very high by terrestrial standards. This is an important clue to the mechanism of formation of lunar sinuous rifles, which may be products of erosion by melting beneath turbulent lava flows.


The results of a recent phase-shift analysis of the experimental data have been used to construct equivalent local potential models for the low angular momentum states of the proton-proton system. The equivalent local potential for the 1S0 state is found to be quite different from that obtained from the Livermore phase-shifts and to be an improvement on the Reid 1S0 potential at intermediate distances. The difficulties experienced with the previous 3P0 and 3P1 phase-shifts are not encountered with the new data. The triplet tensor potential differs from most other phenomenological results but is similar to that of the Paris potential and thus reflects the effects of omega exchange. A simple nonlocal potential for the set of even states 1S0, 1D2 and 1G4 and one for the set of odd states 3P0, 3P1, 3P2-3F2, 3F3 and 3F4-3H4 are presented.


The microstructure of plasma sprayed ceramic coatings is characterized by the existence of splats along with other morphological features such as interlamellar and globular pores, intrasplat microcracks and splat boundaries. These various process-dependant microdefects extremely influence physical and mechanical properties such as thermal conductivity and elastic modulus and then influence coating behavior. In this approach, the process involved in the cavitation erosion of plasma sprayed ceramic coatings have been studied using the ultrasonic vibratory technique. The weight loss occurring during fifteen minute intervals of exposure to cavitational erosion was determined, the surface of specimens and the wear debris were examined by Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) . The results suggest that the improvement in coating performance could be achieved by controlling the effective contact between lamellae of which the coating is made up using the plasma spray conditions, such as sufficient preheat, short standoff distance and slow gun traversing movement.


Creating and Sustaining Competitive Advantage develops a unified strategic framework to explain the phenomena of competitive advantage and firm value creation in dynamic environments. Through a new strategic value creation theory, it explores how a firm can measure and sustain its competitive advantage through management incentives, capital market forces, organizational culture and structure, and social complexity. It also considers how management can utilize their resources and capabilities, shadow options, product market forces, customer needs, and organizational learning as a means to differentiate them from the competition. With an innovative approach to theory and research, it will be positioned to inform both scholars and practitioners in management, business strategy, and entrepreneurship on the process of competitive and sustainable value creation.


Circula trifenestrata is a kind of golden silkworms that are native wild habitat tropical areas like Indonesia. This gold silkworm living on host plants such as cashew nut, avocado, cocoa, soursop, mango, quinine and kedondong. Sidomulyo is largest coffee producer in Jember, and avocado crops are very abundant population because these plants shade the coffee plants. People assume that this type of worm that attacked the plant avocado is a kind of pest caterpillars can spend the leaves quickly and reduce the productivity of harvesting the fruit so that the caterpillars are often exterminated by farmers. The purpose of this study was to determine the outlook and development strategy pests into gold silk as potential Kab.Jember Sidomulyo village. Respondents who used an avocado farmer in the village of Sidomulyo, using analysis of FFA (Force Field Analysis) that identify factors driving and inhibiting factors in an activity will be achieved. The results showed the total value of the park on the driving factor is equal to 1.59 (D2 silkworm cocoon abundance of gold in avocados) while the number of inhibiting factors in the amount of 1.40 (H4 has been no development of silkworm farming gold in Kab.Jember). It shows that the value of the driving factors is greater than the value of the park in an inhibiting factor. Therefore, the cultivation of silkworms in Jember has the advantage to improve the prospects and potential development of silkworm gold C.trifenestrata in Jember.


We demonstrate an extended short-wave infrared (e-SWIR) photodetector composed of an InAs/GaAs(111)A heterostructure with interface misfit dislocations. The layer structure of the photodetector consists simply of an n-InAs optical absorption layer directly grown with a thin undoped-GaAs spacer layer on n-GaAs by molecular beam epitaxy. The lattice mismatch was abruptly relaxed by forming a misfit dislocation network at the initial stage of the InAs growth. We found high-density threading dislocations (1.5 × 109 cm-2) in the InAs layer. The current-voltage characteristics of the photodetector at 77 K had a very low dark current density (<1 × 10-9 A cm-2) at a positive applied voltage (electrons flow from n-GaAs to n-InAs) of up to ∼+1 V. Simulation of the band structure revealed that the direct connection of GaAs and InAs and the formation of interfacial states by the misfit dislocations play significant positive roles in suppressing dark current. Under illumination with e-SWIR light at 77 K, a clear photocurrent signal was observed with a 2.6 μm cutoff wavelength, which is consistent with the bandgap of InAs. We also demonstrated e-SWIR detection at room temperature with a 3.2 μm cutoff wavelength. The maximum detectivity at 294 K exceeds 2 × 108 cm Hz0.5 W-1 for the detection of e-SWIR light at 2 μm.


Normal growth is one of the major goals in the treatment of children with type 1 diabetes. We prospectively monitored the linear growth and metabolic control of 44 children (13 boys) with type 1 diabetes from the time of diagnosis to the attainment of adult height and analyzed the relationship between the height and the age at diagnosis, metabolic control, and genetic target height. At diagnosis, girls at puberty were taller (height in standard deviation score: 0.60 +/- 0.94, p = 0.022), while boys (-0.03 +/- 0.67) and prepubertal girls (0.24 +/- 0.86) were similar to the age-controlled children. During the following years, they lost height compared to their height at diagnosis (p = 0.009), but they still attained an average final height (-0.13 +/- 0.66 in boys, -0.05 +/- 0.86 in girls) correlated with their height at diagnosis (r = 0.37, p = 0.014), as well as their genetic target height (r = 0.78, p < 0.005). The final height as well as the reduction in height was not linearly correlated with the age at diagnosis. The mean HbA1c level of the 44 children was 10.33 +/- 1.74%, boys had better control compared with girls (mean HbA1c 9.45 +/- 1.28 v.s. 10.71 +/- 1.78%, p = 0.013). The final height or the reduction in height was not linearly correlated with the mean HbA1c level.


Cold-formed steel Z section beams are widely used as the secondary structural members in buildings to support roof and sheeting or side cladding. In general, cold-formed steel sections are slender elements and have open and/or asymmetric cross-sections, where centroid and shear centre do not coincide. Therefore, during bending the section twists and deflects in both lateral and transverse direction resulting in the reduction of stiffness. Currently, design codes for this section use classical bending theory, which assumes load-deflection relationship to be linear and does not consider the effect of bending-torsion in the calculation of deflection. In CFS members for serviceability and deformation consideration, it is essential to consider the loss of stiffness due to the use of thin elements. Hence, this paper presents numerical investigations using the finite element method to check the accuracy of the linear analysis. A geometrical nonlinear analysis using ANSYS is performed on Z-beams with different section size and thickness to study the sectional deformation on its performance under bending. The obtained deformation verified the effect of bending-torsion in CFS cross-section. The predicted deformation characteristic curves at mid-span are examined and compared with linear solutions and maximum deflection predicted by serviceability limit states. The comparison showed that there is a significant difference in displacement between FEA nonlinear solutions and linear solutions, as well as serviceability deflection.


In this article, we consider the colour image transmission using integer wavelet transform(IWT) coding with the aid of for Multi-input Multi-output (MIMO) - Code Division Multiple Access(CDMA) system over correlated Rayleigh fading channel. IWT is computationally faster and more memory-efficient and hence in our consider work, we implement lossy compression technique based on IWT to achieve sufficient coding efficiency. Further, MIMO system based on Vertical Bell Laboratories Layered Space-Time architecture(VBLAST) is realized both at the transmitter and receiver ends to increase data rate. Furthermore, we consider turbo coded system to achieve better picture quality with less signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and minimum mean square error (MMSE)-MUD detector at the receiver to suppress noise and Multi-user interferences (MUI). Our simulation study reveals that our considered IWT transform coding technique with MMSE detector achieves better colour picture quality with compression ratio of 4:1 at low level of SNR.


Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) is a numerical method to solve the probabilistic load flow (PLF) problem. Comparing to analytical methods, MCS for PLF has advantages such as flexibility, general purpose, able to deal with large nonlinearity and large variances, and embarrassingly parallelizable. However, MCS also suffers from low convergence speed and high computational burden, especially for problems with multiple random variables. In this paper, we proposed a Quasi-Monte Carlo (QMC) based method to solve the PLF for radial distribution network. QMC uses samples from low-discrepancy sequence intended to cover the high dimension random sample space as uniformly as possible. The QMC method is particularly suitable for the high dimension problems with low effective dimensions, and has been successfully used to solve large scale problems in econometrics and statistical circuit design. In this paper, we showed that the PLF for radial distribution system has the similar properties and can be a good candidate for QMC method. The proposed method possesses the advantage of MCS method and significantly increases the convergence rate and overall speed. Numerical experiment results on IEEE test feeders have shown the effectiveness of the proposed method.


. – We demonstrate the possibility of a stable equilibrium multi-lamellar ("onion") phase in pure lamellar systems (no excess solvent) due to a sufficiently negative Gaussian curvature modulus. The onion phase is stabilized by non-linear elastic moduli coupled to a polydisperse size distribution (Apollonian packing) to allow space-filling without appreciable elastic distortion. This model is compared to experiments on copolymer-decorated lamellar surfactant systems, with reasonable qualitative agreement.


Image formation in multiphoton fluorescence microscopy through double-layer turbid tissue media is investigated using Monte Carlo simulation. With the help of the concept of the effective point spread function, the relationship of image resolution and signal level to the thickness and scattering properties of the double-layer turbid media under single-, two-, and three-photon excitation is revealed. Results show that for a double-layer turbid medium of a given thickness, small particles in the top layer result in a quicker degradation of signal level than large particles in the top layer. This model is then applied to study the penetration depth of multiphoton fluorescence microscopy through human skin tissue which exhibits a layered structure. It is predicated that using 3p excitation leads to a signal level up to two orders of magnitude higher than that under 2p excitation, while diffraction-limited image resolution can be maintained for skin tissue of thickness up to 500 μm.


Hypertension affects about 25% of the adult population worldwide. It ranks as the leading chronic risk factor for mortality, accounting for 13.5% of all deaths. Half of all strokes and ischaemic heart disease events are attributable to high blood pressure (BP).1 ,2

Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is now recognised as a risk factor for the development of hypertension in European and the US International Guidelines. OSA and hypertension are linked in a dose-response fashion. This is true even when the usual confounding factors such as age, alcohol, tobacco consumption and Body Mass Index are taken into account.3 In a large prospective observational cohort followed for more than 12 years, it has been shown that compared with controls, the adjusted HRs for incident hypertension were twofold greater among patients with severe OSA who declined continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy.4

At least four meta-analyses derived from 32 randomised controlled trials (RCTs) have demonstrated that CPAP, the first-line therapy for moderate to severe OSA syndrome, reduces 24 h mean BP by approximately −2 mm Hg (pooled estimated effect).5–8 In these meta-analyses, heterogeneity is a clear concern with some of the analysed studies excluding hypertensive patients, while others only included hypertensive patients. Furthermore, the presence and/or the description of antihypertensive classes of medications are poorly reported. The first strength of the study by Bratton et al 9 is to restrict the investigation to a homogeneous group with minimally symptomatic OSA. Whereas CPAP treatment is clearly indicated in sleepy symptomatic OSA, CPAP prescription with the aim of reducing cardio-metabolic risk in minimally symptomatic patients remains a frequent clinical practice. This should be argued because CPAP effects on hypertension appear to be limited mainly to the more severe and symptomatic patients, with little benefit observed in patients who did not feel sleepy during …


News creation and consumption has been changing since the advent of social media. An estimated 2.95 billion people in 2019 used social media worldwide. The widespread of the Coronavirus COVID-19 resulted with a tsunami of social media. Most platforms were used to transmit relevant news, guidelines and precautions to people. According to WHO, uncontrolled conspiracy theories and propaganda are spreading faster than the COVID-19 pandemic itself, creating an infodemic and thus causing psychological panic, misleading medical advises, and economic disruption. Accordingly, discussions have been initiated with the objective of moderating all COVID-19's communications, except those initiated from trusted sources such as the WHO and authorized governmental entities. This article presents a large-scale study based on data mined from Twitter. Extensive analysis has been performed on approximately one million COVID-19 related tweets collected over a period of two months. Furthermore, the profiles of 288,000 users were analyzed including unique users' profiles, meta-data and tweets' context. The study noted various interesting conclusions including the critical impact in term of reach level of the (1) exploitation of the COVID-19 crisis to redirect readers to irrelevant topics and (2) widespread of unauthentic medical precautions and information. Further data analysis revealed the importance of using social networks in a global pandemic crisis by relying on credible users with variety of occupations, content developers and influencers in specific fields. In this context, several insights and findings have been provided while elaborating computing and non-computing implications and research directions for potential solutions and social networks management strategies during crisis periods.


The embezzlement of funds from religious organizations, particularly in western church institutions, is becoming more common. Such scandals have raised concerns about their internal control systems. Despite the lack of any reported financial scandals in mosques, there is a growing concern as to whether they experience the same deficiencies as other religious institutions
do.Our study examines the internal control procedures related to the receiving income and disbursing funds in West Malaysia's state mosques. A questionnaire survey and informal interviews were used to collect the data. The results indicate that these mosques have a strong internal control system vis-a-vis these two activities.
This study also reveals that their practice of several basic control activities (e.g., segregating duties, recording financial transactions, and authorizing particular activities) is satisfactory. Though this is an exploratory study, the results may provide a benchmark
for further studies examining internal control practices in religious organizations.


The results of medical-genetic examination of population in five villages of Taimir have been presented. Among them 824 dolgans (aborigines) have been inspected. The prevalence of rheumatism is in average 3,23%. The frequency of rheumatism in the southern subpopulation was higher, than in the North. Analysis of pedigrees has shown family aggregation of rheumatism which correlated with theoretically expected according to recessive hypothesis. Investigations of genetic markers have shown important distinction of rheumatic patients from population on ABC and Hp.


We present a detection of the Sunyaev–Zel'dovich (SZ) decrement associated with the luminous red galaxy (LRG) sample of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The SZ data come from 148 GHz maps of the equatorial region made by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope. The LRG sample is divided by luminosity into four bins, and estimates for the central SZ temperature decrement are calculated through a stacking process. We detect and account for a bias of the SZ signal due to weak radio sources. We use numerical simulations to relate the observed decrement to Y200 and clustering properties to relate the galaxy luminosity to halo mass. We also use a relation between brightest cluster galaxy luminosity and cluster mass based on stacked gravitational lensing measurements to estimate the characteristic halo masses. The masses are found to be around 1014 M .


Supplementary feeding programmes (SFP) that were functioning in Somali refugee camps were evaluated in March 1981 in order to describe their process of operation and to measure their effect on the refugees' nutritional status. While those children enrolled in SFPs gained weight, many malnourished children in camp had not been identified so that the programme's overall effectiveness was reduced. Even among children who attended SFPs regularly, the rate of weight gain diminished rapidly each succeeding month of attendance. This underlines that supplementary feeding is a short-term, remedial measure in disaster relief and should be quickly incorporated into a broader plan for relief assistance so that resources can be used most efficiently.


Although most NoSQL Data Stores are schema-less, information on the structural properties of the persisted data is nevertheless essential during application development. Otherwise, accessing the data becomes simply impractical. In this paper, we introduce an algorithm for schema extraction that is operating outside of the NoSQL data store. Our method is specifically targeted at semi-structured data persisted in NoSQL stores, e.g., in JSON format. Rather than designing the schema up front, extracting a schema in hindsight can be seen as a reverse-engineering step. Based on the extracted schema information, we propose set of similarity measures that capture the degree of heterogeneity of JSON data and which reveal structural outliers in the data. We evaluate our implementation on two real-life datasets: a database from the Wendelstein 7-X project and Web Performance Data.


A new method of skeletal scintigraphy offering axial views of the pelvis is described. The anatomy, method of examination, limits and advantages of the axial pelvis views are given by reporting on the scintigraphic examinations (167 axial pelvis views) of 50 patients with 52 increased uptakes of the isotope in the pelvis region. The standard ventral and dorsal pelvis views represented all increased uptakes. However, when employing the axial views the localisation and extent of the tracer accumulation could be more precisely determined in 73%. In 27% no additional information was given. This new method is characterized by the opportunity of distinguishing more clearly between the increased bone uptakes and the activity in the urinary bladder. This distinction was given in 24% of increased bone uptakes in the regions of the pubic bones, the symphysis, the sacrum and the coccyx.


Monolayer cultures of KB cells were treated for 48 hr with different doses of mitomycin-C and the resulting lesions were studied by light and electron microscopy. In the experiments carried out with 0.1 and 1.0 µg/ml doses the resulting changes were observed from 1 to 168 hr after the beginning of the treatment.

The first alteration observed was swelling of nuclei. The most striking changes, however, occurred in nucleoli. Redistribution and segregation of the nucleolar constituents could be observed usually in enlarged nucleoli. The first signs of this redistribution were seen at about 9 hr after the beginning of the treatment, but the segregation was completed at 72–96 hr; at this time 4 distinct zones (A—D) could be distinguished which were similar to those observed after actinomycin-D or 4-nitroquinoline- N -oxide treatment. Differences could be seen, however, concerning the time of appearance of these lesions, possibly related to different mechanisms of action of the 2 drugs. The behavior of the segregated zones towards enzymatic digestion was also similar to that reported for actinomycin-D treatment.

The cytoplasmic alterations were moderate and could be observed only in a late stage of treatment. Finally, abnormal nuclear configurations, pycnosis, karyorrhexis and vacuolization could be seen in disintegrating cells. However, among the surviving cells, an increasing number of multinucleated giant cells appeared. Within these cells some nucleoli still showed the pathologic pattern of the drug effect.


BACKGROUND
Spot urine sampling seems to be a reliable screening method for the detection of microalbuminuria in hypertensive patients. It remains unclear whether microalbumin measurement alone or calculation of the albumin/creatinine ratio (ACR) are more reliable for the detection of microalbuminuria in non-selected hypertensive patients.

METHODS
Following collection of a spot, midstream urine sample, urine was collected for 24 h for the measurement of microalbumin in 264 hypertensive patients. We compared microalbumin concentration in the spot urine with microalbumin measured in the 24-h urine sample and examined the utility of the ACR in evaluating microalbuminuria in hypertensive patients. Pathologic microalbuminuria was assumed when the microalbumin concentration exceeded 30 mg/l in the 24-h urine sample. Diagnostic performance is expressed in terms of specificity, sensitivity, positive (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV), and area under receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC).

RESULTS
A total of 47 samples (17.8%) showed pathologic microalbuminuria in the 24-h urine sample. The diagnostic performance expressed as AUC was 0.94 (95% CI 0.90-0.98) for microalbumin measurement alone and 0.94 (95% CI 0.89-0.97) for ACR. The PPV and NPV were 44.2 and 97.9% for microalbumin measurement alone. ACR revealed a PPV of 29.3% and a NPV of 96.2% for males and 42.9 and 98% for females, if a cut-off value of 2.5 mg/mmol for males and of 4.0 mg/mmol for females was used.

CONCLUSIONS
The ACR did not provide any advantage compared with microalbumin measurement alone, but requires an additional determination of creatinine and the use of gender-specific cut-off values. Therefore, measurement of microalbuminuria alone in the spot urine sample is more convenient in daily clinical practice and should be used as the screening method for hypertensive patients.


Introduction: The concepts of collaboration and interprofessional (IP) education were introduced to healthcare professions in the 1970s; however, it was not until the late 1990's that the care provided by IP teams was recognized as important to the delivery of patient care. When institutions of higher learning include IP education in the curricula, students have the opportunity to immerse in collaborative learning experiences rather than being isolated in the traditional "siloes" of individual healthcare professions. The purpose of this work is to report the ongoing implementation, assessment, and improvement of an annual inter-university, multi-department simulation exercise developed to promote collaboration, collegiality, and communication within a healthcare setting.Methods: Faculty from two universities in west Texas collaborated to provide a clinical simulation experience focusing on IP teamwork and cultural and spiritual diversity. Multiple scenarios were created and developed by faculty from the participating disciplines who were aided by the latest Clinical Practice guidelines. The evidence-based scenarios addressed various chronic medical conditions and gender, ethnic, religious, psychosocial, and cultural competence issues.Results: Several themes emerged through the multiple debrief sessions and analysis of qualitative data: a) increased knowledge of the others' discipline and role, b) communication skills, c) increased cultural awareness, d) trust, and e) increased knowledge of disease process as it related to their own and others' disciplines.Conclusions:The findings suggest an unanticipated opportunity arising from the simulation experience for faculty and students to develop the skillset necessary to work within experimental medicine.


Levels in 146Nd have been studied using the (n, n' gamma ) reaction with reactor fast neutrons. Excited states up to 3.2 MeV were populated. Angular distributions of gamma rays with respect to the neutron beam have been measured. Seven new states at 1602.7, 1918.9, 2119.5, 2208.4, 2756.9, 3058.6 and 3179.0 keV have been proposed and assigned as Jpi =0+, 4+, 2+, 2+, (1,2), 5+ and (3,5)+ respectively. Spin values of eleven of the previously known levels have been determined for the first time and spin restrictions placed on seven additional levels. The angular distributions of gamma rays from twelve other levels were consistent with their previously established spin assignments. The mixing ratios for several gamma transitions were deduced and compared, where possible, with values obtained by the 'complete alignment method' and with those previously reported by other authors. The levels of 146Nd have been compared with IBA model predictions.


Eu3+ ions were incorporated in sol and gel by a sol-gel processing using 3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane (CH2OCHCH2O(CH2)(3)Si(OCH3)(3), GPTMS) and ethyl silicate (TEOS) as precursors. The basic chemical-physical properties such as DTA curve, FT-IR spectra and specific surface area were recorded. The characteristics of their optical spectra were measured and investigated. The results indicate that the emission intensity of Eu3+ ion in ormocer is much higher and the global line width is wider than those in SiO2 gel. The relationship between the composition and structure of gels and the fluorescence intensity and width were discussed. The obtained ormocer shows good mechanical strength, which can be cut and polished in machine without broken.


Being able to communicate with students in schools is essential and critical. Richard Burke discusses the significance of communication and other issues in this integral work. In an innovative manner, Communicating With Students in Schools presents an extensive set of exercises for developing skills in communication, leading to better motivation, discipline, and rapport.


The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of parasite clearance on the immunological profile of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from chagasic patients submitted to specific drug therapy. PBMC were examined by flow cytometry and proliferative responsiveness to Trypanosoma cruzi‐related stimuli. Three groups of patients were studied: not treated (NT), treated not cured (TNC) and cured (C). All data were compared to values from uninfected individuals (NI). NT displayed a lower percentage of CD3+ cells as compared to NI, while TNC and C had mean values that were between those from NI and NT. Infected patients had double the percent of CD3+ HLA‐DR+ cells, independent of the efficacy of the treatment. Thus, absence of circulating parasites did not reduce T cell activation in Chagas' disease. NT displayed a higher percentage of CD5+ B cells as compared to NI, while TNC and C had mean values between those from NI and NT. In contrast to the phenotypic data, the in vitro mean proliferative responses to parasite‐related stimuli of PBMC from C were reduced to the low mean levels observed in NI. These striking differences were statistically different from the high responses seen in NT and TNC. Our data suggest that proliferative responses of PBMC from C reflect immunological changes due elimination of parasite. However, successful treatment did not alter the levels of peripheral T cell activation.


The growth of deep reinforcement learning (RL) has brought multiple exciting tools and methods to the field. This rapid expansion makes it important to understand the interplay between individual elements of the RL toolbox. We approach this task from an empirical perspective by conducting a study in the continuous control setting. We present multiple insights of fundamental nature, including: an average of multiple actors trained from the same data boosts performance; the existing methods are unstable across training runs, epochs of training, and evaluation runs; a commonly used additive action noise is not required for effective training; a strategy based on posterior sampling explores better than the approximated UCB combined with the weighted Bellman backup; the weighted Bellman backup alone cannot replace the clipped double Q-Learning; the critics' initialization plays the major role in ensemble-based actor-critic exploration. As a conclusion, we show how existing tools can be brought together in a novel way, giving rise to the Ensemble Deep Deterministic Policy Gradients (ED2) method, to yield state-of-the-art results on continuous control tasks from OpenAI Gym MuJoCo. From the practical side, ED2 is conceptually straightforward, easy to code, and does not require knowledge outside of the existing RL toolbox.


BaBiO3 (perovskite) polycrystalline semiconducting material was synthesised by sol-gel chemical method. Structure of the sample was characterised by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD). Grain, Grain boundary topography and chemical composition of the samplestudied by using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometry (EDS). Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) was used for the study of band structure. The result of XRD characterization was indicated as theBaBiO3 is monoclinic perovskite and crystalline size is 85 nm. SEM image of the BaBiO3 showed the grain size of 85 nm. The FT-IR spectroscopy study showed that, the BaBiO3 has absorbent peak at 1420 cm-1


Disclosed is a system for amplification of ultrashort optical pulses. The disclosed system has reduced size and increased robustness, reliability and cost-effectiveness. The disclosed invention is particularly effective in chirped pulse amplification (CPA) systems wherein pulses are stretched, amplified, and re-compressed. According to one aspect of the invention a compact stretcher is used with a bulk compressor, and compatibility between them is achieved by inserting a telescope in the path of the collimated beam. Alternatively, compatibility between the stretcher and the compressor is achieved by creating nonlinearly chirped bragg grating in the fiber stretcher. According to another aspect of the invention, a fiber and a bulk amplifiers are used to amplify the pulse, and compatibility between them is achieved by inserting a doubling crystal in the path of the pulse between the two amplifiers. Another aspect of the disclosed amplification system is the pumping of a laser amplifier with a laser pump of the same material as the laser amplifier, but operating under different conditions.


BACKGROUND
Despite the impact of new-onset diplopia on the quality of life, there are few studies concerning new-onset diplopia in seniors. This study aimed to describe the epidemiology, etiology, prognosis, and outcome of different treatments in the older adults compared with younger adult patients presenting with new-onset binocular diplopia.

METHODS
A retrospective chart review of patients ≥18 YO with new-onset binocular diplopia presenting between 2010 and 2021. Data collected included age at presentation, gender, duration of time since diplopia onset, imaging results, known trigger, etiology, treatment, and follow-up.

RESULTS
Two hundred ten patients were included. Of them, 75 patients were ≤65 YO (35.7%, the "younger adult group") and 135 > 65 YO (64.3%, the "older adults group"). The common etiology in both groups was neurogenic (54.7% ≤ 65 vs 62.2% >65, P = 0.29). Cranial nerve palsies were more commonly microvascular in the older adults (96.0% vs 74.1%, P = 0.005), whereas tumor-related cranial nerve palsies were more frequent in younger adults (14.81% vs 2.04%, P = 0.03). A restrictive etiology was observed in 20% of younger adult compared with 11.1% of older adults group (P = 0.08). Sagging eye syndrome (SES) was the second most common etiology in the older adults group at 11.9%, compared with 1.3% in the younger adult group (P = 0.01). Decompensated phoria/tropia appeared in 16% of younger adult group compared with 11.9% of older adults (P = 0.4), with an obvious trigger (mostly cataract surgery) in the latter (80% older adults vs 20% younger adults, P = 0.019). Positive imaging findings were found in 46.7% of patients ≤65 compared with 25.3% of >65 (P = 0.01) and complete spontaneous resolution of diplopia was noted in 32.1% of the older adults compared with 11.8% of younger adults (P = 0.003).

CONCLUSIONS
Neurogenic diplopia was the most common etiology for both groups, but is more prominent in the older adults. Noticeable findings in the older adults were SES diagnosis, identification of triggers for impaired fusion/diplopia, and a paucity of positive findings in imaging results. It is important to know these differences not only for managing seniors better, but also to minimize symptoms of binocular diplopia after lens-related procedures.


Existing algorithms for learning Bayesian network require a lot of computation on high dimensional itemsets which affects accuracy especially on limited datasets and takes up a large amount of time. To address the above problem, we propose a novel Bayesian network learning algorithm MRMRG, Max Relevance-Min Redundancy Greedy. MRMRG algorithm is a variant of K2 which is a well- known BN learning algorithm. We also analyze the time complexity of MRMRG. The experimental results show that MRMRG algorithm has much better efficiency and accuracy than most of existing algorithms on limited datasets.


We propose a thermal bidirectional gap model to describe the thermal directional emission from row crop canopies. An important concept of overlap index is used in this model to express the correlation between the gaps in the Sun and view directions. Detailed directional thermal emissions, row structure, LAI, component temperatures were measured in the experiment taken in Shunyi China, 2001. These data are used to validate our model. As an illustration, we compared our bidirectional gap model with the model that doesn't consider gaps (Kimes model) and the model only consider gaps in view direction. It is found that our model gives out the closest results to the field measurements.


We present a computationally efficient scheduled formulation of model predictive control (MPC) for constrained nonlinear systems with large operating regions. We design a set of local predictive controllers with their explicit regions of stability covering the desired operating region, and implement them as a single scheduled MPC which switches between the set of local controllers and achieves nonlinear transitions with guaranteed stability. This algorithm is computationally efficient and provides a general framework for scheduled MPC design.


The purpose of this study was to determine separate and joint associations of race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status (SES) with psychological distress among older high-functioning adults and to examine 2 psychosocial resources that may explain these associations. Participants were 70-79-year-old individuals (n = 1,189) participating in the MacArthur Studies of Successful Aging program, a 3-site study of community-dwelling men and women. Participants represented the top third of their peers in terms of functional ability in 1988. Additive and interactive models were used to examine cross-sectional associations among race/ethnicity, SES, and distress. Although decreases in distress generally occur with aging, findings suggest that social structural factors can influence distress even among elderly people. Blacks were less distressed than Whites when SES was controlled. There was a gradient between education and distress among Whites but not among Blacks. Measures of social support and control did not mediate effects of race/ethnicity on distress. These results differ from those of previous studies and indicate that age and functional status should be considered in examinations of relationships among race/ethnicity, SES, and distress.


In this paper, a reliable method for detecting human faces in color images is proposed. This system firstly detects skin color in YCgCr and YIQ color space, then filters binary texture and the result is morphological processed, finally converts skin tone to the preferred skin color configured by users in YIQ color space. The real-time adjusting circuit is implemented and some of simulation results are given out. Experimental results demonstrate that the method has achieved high rates and low false positives, another advantage is its simplicity and minor computational costs.


Summary The biochemical mechanisms involved in the synergistic anti-neoplastic activity of combinations of azaserine and certain purine analogs was studied in a subline of Sarcoma 180 that neither was inhibited by purine analogs alone nor responded in a synergic manner to their combinations with azaserine. 6-Chloropurine, 6-thioguanine, 6-mercaptopurine, and their ribonucleosides inhibited the incorporation of glycine-2-C 14 into nucleic acid guanine of Sarcoma 180; in addition, the purinethiols decreased the incorporation of glycine into nucleic acid adenine of this neoplasm. In the purine analog-resistant neoplasm (Sarcoma 180/TG), the analogs did not decrease the utilization of isotopic glycine for the biosynthesis of guanine nucleotides; however, 6-thioguanine and 6-thioguanosine both inhibited the formation of adenine nucleotides de novo . Azaserine markedly depressed the synthesis of purine nucleotides de novo in both tumors. 6-Thioguanine and its ribonucleoside decreased the conversion of both hypoxanthine-8-C 14 and guanine-8-C 14 to nucleic acid purines in both cell lines. Thioguanine mononucleotide was formed from thioguanine by both tumors; however, considerably more thioguanine nucleotide was present in the sensitive cells than in the resistant ones. This difference appeared to be attributable to a greater capacity of Sarcoma 180 to maintain an intracellular concentration of analog nucleotide. Pretreatment with azaserine caused an increase in the quantity of acid-soluble thioguanine nucleotide, as well as an increase in the amount of 6-thioguanine associated with the nucleic acids in both neoplasms.


Suture is a generic term for all materials used to bring served body tissues together and to hold these tissues in their normal position until healing takes place. The success of a suture is generally linked to its mechanical performance such as tensile and knot strength. Extensive research has been done on sutures, the majority of which focuses on tissue response to sutures, mechanical properties, knot properties, wound infection and degree of absorption. In this study, it is aimed to investigate the mechanical performance (tensile and knot strength) of materials such as polyester (PES), silk, polypropylene (PP) and polydioxanone (PDO). The obtained results showed that the mechanical performances of sutures are affected by sutures materials, sutures size and knot type. The developed model (tenacity  95 (cN/tex) and elongation 85 (%)) expresses with rather high accuracy the relation between independent variables and dependent variable and that experimental work results were acceptable as accurate.


Evidence suggests that there is a greater prevalence of pain, particularly chronic pain, in the older than in the younger population. This review looks at how dementia affects older people's ability to report pain, and indicates that pain is poorly assessed and managed in people living with dementia, in particular in care and acute settings. The review also reports findings from two recent studies looking at ways of improving the assessment and management of pain in acute settings. Multi-dimensional, patient-centred approaches to assessing and managing pain in those living with dementia are required, and future research should focus on innovative and practical approaches that can be applied in care home and acute settings.


To study further the origin remanence in red beds, the volcanogenic Copper Harbor Conglomerate has been investigated using both paleomagnetic and petrographic techniques. Paleomagnetic results suggest the presence of two magnetic components, both possessing a westerly and shallow or normal Keweenawan direction. One component (in the vicinity of declination 294°, inclination −7.6) comprises approximately 30% of the total natural remanent magnetization, is removed by alternating field demagnetization following chemical demagnetization, and shows a consistent inclination error that is controlled in sense and amount by the dip of the cross beds in which the samples were taken. The low coercivities of this component suggest that the magnetization resides in magnetite. This and the inclination error due to the bedding indicate that the component is a detrital remanent magnetization.

The predominant component (declination 286.5°, inclination 0.0°, based on six sites) is removed by chemical demagnetization and shows no consistent relationship between inclination and dip of the cross beds, which suggests that it is a postdepositional magnetization. This component resides in hematite that is removed during the chemical demagnetization procedure. Petrographic studies show that hematite is present authigenically as pigment and as partly to wholly martitized grains. Martitization may have occurred before or after deposition; petrographic results are at present inconclusive. A pole position calculated from this postdepositional component (168.3°E, 11.2°N) is similar to poles from the overlying Nonesuch Shale and Freda Sandstone, which suggests that the remanence was acquired before the end of Freda deposition.


In this paper, we introduce SciANN, a Python package for scientific computing and physics-informed deep learning using artificial neural networks. SciANN uses the widely used deep-learning packages Tensorflow and Keras to build deep neural networks and optimization models, thus inheriting many of Keras's functionalities, such as batch optimization and model reuse for transfer learning. SciANN is designed to abstract neural network construction for scientific computations and solution and discovery of partial differential equations (PDE) using the physics-informed neural networks (PINN) architecture, therefore providing the flexibility to set up complex functional forms. We illustrate, in a series of examples, how the framework can be used for curve fitting on discrete data, and for solution and discovery of PDEs in strong and weak forms. We summarize the features currently available in SciANN, and also outline ongoing and future developments.


Many fungi were collected at Mt. Umyeon from July, 2012 to Oct. 2012. They were identified. As the resulting, They were compposed of 3 divisions, 2 subdivisions, 5 classes, 3 subclasses, 17 orders, 5 families, 85 genera and 151 species. Among them dominant genus was Amanita . Anthrocobia , Ascocoryne , Erionema are newly genera to Korea. Following species are unrecorded in Korea : Calvatia giganeta , Amanita eliae , A. magniverrucata , A. sinensis , Inonotus tomentosus , Tylopilus rigens , Russula medullata , Anthrocobia maurilabra , Ascocoryne sarcoides , Erionema aureum and Fuligo candida . They were desinged Korean common names by authors.


The swing curve is depending on the rotation speed of the spinner and the thickness of the photoresist. The thickness should be thick enough to prevent the unexposed area from being etched. It is also need to be uniform so that the image of the pattern to be developed later is in focus at all points on the resist surface. The variation of the photoresist thickness will impact the overall yield of the devices. In this respect, the photoresist thickness needs to be characterized carefully. Therefore, an experiment was set up to determine the right thickness and exposure time to control the critical dimension of the pattern. Photoresist coater and stepper are the main equipment used in this experiment. Positive photoresist is utilized as a pattern transfer medium and elipsometer is employed for film thickness measurement. 24 wafers are used in this experiment. The wafers are separated into 2 sets, each set which consists of 12 wafers have all the thickness variation. This to test the effect of standing resist before exposure and development to the dose-to-clear. The first set is coated, exposed and development. However, the second set is exposed and developed two days after being coated. After the wafer went through the standard cleaning procedure, the wafers were then coated using standard recipes which the spin speed ranging from 6500 to 7600 rpm in 100 rpm incremental with the designated rpm fro 1.2 μm photoresist thicknesses is in the middle. Subsequently, the photoresist thickness of each wafer is measured using elipsometer. Then, the exposure process is done by creating job that will expose the wafers in 20 by 10 arrays of small squares of open field with size 2×2 mm. The exposure is done in such a way where the exposure time will step up to the right and step down to the left from the center after ea


Distributed systems with different levels of dependence to central services have been designed and used during recent years. Pure peer-to-peer systems among distributed systems have no dependence on a central resource. DHT is one of the main techniques behind these systems resulting into failure tolerant systems which are also able to isolate continuous changes to the network to a small section of it and therefore making it possible to scale up such networks to millions of nodes. This survey takes a look at P2P in general and DHT algorithms and implementations in more detail.


This work categorizes a number of patents related to Bacillus thuringiensis insecticidal crystal proteins. The patents are classified into groups according to the type of toxins appearing in the claims. The purpose of the summary is to promote the application of B. thuringiensis insecticidal crystal proteins and the development of patentable technologies.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of chlamydia in women attending a family planning clinic and to explore the feasibility of making chlamydia screening part of the routine procedure for all women. This study also investigated clinical and demographic parameters that may be associated with chlamydial infections.

METHODS
Subjects were 239 female patients who attended the Planned Parenthood Clinic in Wichita, Kansas, during July 1990. Subjects included all patients receiving pelvic examinations regardless of indication. Each subject was screened for C. trachomatis using Testpack Chlamydia (Abbott Labs).

RESULTS
Of the 239 women screened, 11 (4.6%) had positive Testpack Chlamydia tests. Young age (< 24 years), self-reported bleeding, and inflammation found on Papanicolaou exams were positively associated with chlamydial infection.

CONCLUSION
These parameters provide additional information for the clinician deciding who should be screened for chlamydia infections.


The article analyzes the concept formation of civil society, effective interaction of an individual and society as a guaranty for the development of civil society, determines factors of its effectiveness: the formation of social capital, the person on the basis of dialogue, partnership and national consolidation; attempts are made to analyze theoretical generalization of civil society in the developed countries of the West and the initial stages of the civil society in Ukraine. It is noted that the state and civil society within the democratic system are interested in dialogue, partnership and efficiency of their interaction improvement.


Abstract
 The Oriental Skylark Alauda gulgula is a widespread species, but its natural history is poorly understood, especially at high altitudes. In this study, we collected breeding information on Oriental Skylarks at an altitude of 3,400 m on the northeastern part of the Tibetan Plateau and examined the effects of nest-site characteristics on nest success. The birds arrived in the study area in April, built nests in tufts of tall grass on the ground and laid their eggs (gray with brown speckles) between May and July. Clutch size averaged 3.3 eggs. Incubation was mainly by the female and lasted 12.4 days. The young left the nest when 9.7 days old. During the breeding season, individual skylarks made 2–3 breeding attempts. Nesting success, as measured by the proportion of nests from which at least one young fledged, was 41.3%. Predation accounted for the majority of failed nests. Some predators (e.g. carnivores) took both skylarks and Mountain Pikas Ochotona curzoniae, although the pikas, as the dominant mammals of the region were the key resource for their common predators. GLMM results show that the density of pika burrows around Oriental Skylark nests significantly influenced nesting success, while other potential variables were not statistically significant. Pika burrow density around successful nests was significantly lower than that around failed nests implying that an indirect effect of the presence of sympatric prey species with shared predators greatly influenced the nesting success of sympatric birds. Avoiding spatial interactions with coexisting key prey species of locally common predators is a successful strategy for improving nesting success.


Primary malignant melanotic tumors of the esophagus are extremely rare, as evidenced by the fact that only three have been found in the literature, namely those of Baur (1), Joliat (2), and Voss (3). Metastatic melanomas however, are not unusual in the gastro-intestinal tract, where they may involve either the mucosa or submucosa. In the present case, as well as in those reported previously, the diagnosis of esophageal tumor was not made until after death, since there were no signs of esophageal obstruction. Case Report J. R., a man aged sixty-nine, entered St. Luke9s Hospital July 6, 1933, complaining of a feeling of fullness in the epigastrium and the expectoration of large amounts of mucus, over a period of six weeks. Expectoration was usually accompanied by some coughing, and occurred a few minutes after eating. There had been a loss of forty pounds in weight during this time. Thirty years before admission the patient had punctured the left eyeball. This healed promptly and produced a scar of the right cornea, which caused complete blindness in that eye. Since the healing of the eye there had been no further change in its appearance. Other than this the patient had always been in good health.


A facile and scalable solvothermal high-temperature treatment strategy was developed to construct few-layered ultrasmall MoS2 with less than three layers. These are embedded in carbon spheres (MoS2-C) and can be used as advanced anode material for lithium ion batteries (LIBs). In the resulting architecture, the intimate contact between MoS2 surface and carbon spheres can effectively avert aggregation and volume expansion of MoS2 during the lithiation-delithiation process. Moreover, it improves the structural integrity of the electrode remarkably, while the conductive carbon spheres provide quick transport of both electrons and ions within the electrode. Benefiting from this unique structure, the resulting hybrid manifests outstanding electrochemical performance, including an excellent rate capability (1085, 885, and 510 mAh g-1 at 0.5, 2, and 5 A g-1), and a superior cycling stability at high rates (maintaining 100% of the initial capacity following 500 cycles at 0.5 A g-1). Using identical methods, molybdenum carbide and phosphide supported on carbon spheres (Mo2C-C, and MoP-C) were prepared for LIBs. As a result, MoS2-C exhibits outstanding lithium storage capacities due to its specific layered structure. This study investigates large-scale production capabilities of few-layered structure ultrasmall MoS2 for energy storage, and thoroughly compares lithium storage performance of molybdenum compounds.


Despite its rise as a prominent solution to the data inefficiency of today's machine learning models, self-supervised learning has yet to be studied from a purely multi-agent perspective. In this work, we propose that aligning internal subjective representations, which naturally arise in a multi-agent setup where agents receive partial observations of the same underlying environmental state, can lead to more data-efficient representations. We propose that multi-agent environments, where agents do not have access to the observations of others but can communicate within a limited range, guarantees a common context that can be leveraged in individual representation learning. The reason is that subjective observations necessarily refer to the same subset of the underlying environmental states and that communication about these states can freely offer a supervised signal. To highlight the importance of communication, we refer to our setting as socially supervised representation learning . We present a minimal architecture comprised of a population of autoencoders, where we define loss functions, capturing different aspects of effective communication, and examine their effect on the learned representations. We show that our proposed architecture allows the emergence of aligned representations. The subjectivity introduced by presenting agents with distinct perspectives of the environment state contributes to learning abstract representations that outperform those learned by a single autoencoder and a population of autoencoders, presented with identical perspectives of the environment state. Altogether, our results demonstrate how communication from subjective perspectives can lead to the acquisition of more abstract representations in multi-agent systems, opening promising perspectives for future research at the intersection of representation learning and emergent communication.