This paper proposes a three degrees of freedom (DOF) robotic ankle exoskeleton with compatible joint axes, named C-JAE. The device consists of three separate units to achieve triplanar motions. The plantarflexion-dorsiflexion and inversion-eversion are externally powered, whereas internal-external rotation is passively supported. C-JAE is capable of complying with the functional and ergonomic requirements of the biological ankle joint. This is achieved by accurately mapping exoskeleton axes of rotation with the oblique axes of rotation of talocrural and subtalar joints of ankle. All mechanisms including the drive units are located anterior to shank and foot segments to carry out robotic rehabilitation and/or to provide locomotion assistance for humans having mobility disorders. Control experiments were conducted to assess aptitude of C-JAE to carry out ankle rehabilitation exercises. The results verified potential benefits of the proposed design to generate desired movement patterns of daily activities while providing power-assistance.


Botnets are one of the most serious threats to internet security. A botnet is a network of computers on internet which are under the influence of a malware code, oblivious to the owner of that computer and sends out transmissions (virus or spam) to other computers on internet. Botnet can be utilized for DoS attacks, phishing, spamming and many other fraudulent activities. Therefore, it is important to detect botnets. In this paper we will describe the strategy for botnet detection by detecting the fast flux characteristics of a botnet. Through fast flux bot-master DNS uses different IP addresses so that no one would be able to detect the actual physical location of the server of the botnet. Thus, in our approach we are using K-means clustering to the DNS data to detect the fast flux.


Toll-like receptors 7, 8 and 9 (TLR7-9) comprise a subfamily of TLR. Activation of these TLRs has been linked to the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and psoriasis. Thus antagonists of these TLRs are being investigated for their therapeutic applications on these diseases. Bortezomib is a proteasome inhibitor known to suppress activation of these TLRs. This drug is approved for the treatment of multiple myeloma, and its inhibitory effects on autoimmune disorders such as psoriasis, RA, and SLE have also been investigated in animal models. In an attempt to develop novel TLR7-9 inhibitors, we searched the Gene Expression Omnibus database for gene expression profiles in cells treated with bortezomib. These profiles were then used as an input to screen the Connectivity Map database for chemical compounds with similar functions as bortezomib. Here we report that the antibiotic thiostrepton is a novel TLR7–9 inhibitor. Like bortezomib, thiostrepton effectively inhibits TLR7–9 activation in cell-based assays and dendritic cells. In contrast to bortezomib, thiostrepton is less cytotoxic to dendritic cells, and its inhibitory activity is more specific to TLR7–9. Thiostrepton inhibits TLR9 localization in endosomes for activation via two mechanisms. One mechanism is similar to the proteasome inhibitory function of bortezomib, and the other is through inhibition of endosomal acidification. In different animal models, thiostrepton attenuated LL37- and imiquimod-induced psoriasis-like inflammation. These results indicated that thiostrepton is a novel and specific inhibitor to TLR7–9.


The efforts to fabricate single embedded filament specimens of carbon and SiC fibers were unsuccessful largely due to the thermal stresses resulting from differences in thermal coefficient of expansion. Other factors appear to have been involved including embrittlement of the metal substrate by the H/sub 2/ gas in the chemical vapor deposition flow stream and reaction layers formed between the silicon carbide and the metal substrate. The carbon fiber may have been attacked by the CVD reactant. It is concluded that these differential stresses are so large as to make the embedded fiber test impractical for the study of interphase effects and stress transfer in fiber ceramic matrix systems.


The molecular structure of an anhydrous zinc 8-quinolinolate obtained by sublimation has been determined by means of X-ray diffraction. The complex forms triclinic crystals; a=11.858(1), b=13.019(2), c=10.834(1) A, α=106.56(1), β=109.00(1), and γ=74.14(1)°, space group P\bar1 (No. 2) with one [Zn(C9H6NO)2]4 molecule. The structure was solved by the heavy atom method and refined by the block-diagonal least-squares procedure to R=0.043 for 3320 non-zero reflections. The molecule is centrosymmetric and tetrameric; four [Zn(C9H6NO)2] units being connected by oxygen atoms of 8-quinolinolate ligands. Two types of bridging oxygen atoms were found. Two crystallographically independent zinc atoms take different geometries, hexa-, and pentacoordinations.


A simple test with a pen torch may help to distinguish between mild and serious ocular problems in patients who present with unilateral red eye.


BACKGROUND
Among natural calamities Earthquakes are more devastating, as much of the life and property is affected.

METHODS
The study was carried- out in Accident & Emergency Department of SKIMS, to determine personnel and medical profile of earthquake victims of October 2005, when the state was rattled by a major tremor. Data was obtained from Accident & Emergency Department. Total no of patients Admitted were 166, which were followed from admission to discharge/Death. Each patient was subjected to a pretested questionnaire indicating age, sex, rural/urban distribution, Glasgow coma score, out come of treatment and referral to other care facility.

RESULTS
The study revealed that children were mostly affected, being the valnerable group. Most of the patients had head and bone injuries. 143 patients out of 166 patients had a Glasgow coma score of 15. Only 9 patients died. The reason for better end result was because of initial first Aid, Rapid transportatation to Hospital and prompt treatment in the Hospital.

CONCLUSION
As Jammu and Kashmir falls in seismic zone 5, it needs a central trauma centre, having all the specialties and sub specialties under one roof. This will save precious time, as cross referral to other hospitals will not be needed.


Scholars maintain that the global reach of the internet encourages global connectedness and global activism. Using survey data from the 2010 United States Social Forum, this study extends research exploring internet use and transnational social movement activity by examining activists' use of four different internet technologies. The study examines how the use of communication, online social networking, collaboration, and multimedia sharing technologies relate to whether activists have a high level of international contact, believe they are part of a global social movement, and are affiliated with international movements. The results reveal that use of the four types of internet tools do not relate to global activism. Examining the intensity of internet use, the use of more types of online tools is related to high levels of international contact. The findings suggest that activists do use multiple internet technologies to maintain their networks with other activists around the globe.


Much work has been devoted to deriving and extending decomposable inequality and poverty measures. For example, the use of decomposition techniques to partition inequality into within-race group and between-race group components. This paper espouses this by using a decomposition technique based on the Gini coefficient to discern the relative importance of the major income components in determining overall income inequality. Such analysis shows which income components are more important than others in causing income inequality within any racial group or, more generally, a discussion of the sensitivity of the Gini coefficient to marginal changes in income sources. The use of sensitivity analysis in conjunction with the decomposition analysis helps identify key labor market, state welfare and asset ownership patterns integral to the generation of inequality in South Africa. Finally, a welfare index is derived as a weighted combination of average income and distributional changes. This paper uses 1993 Living Standards Measurement Study survey data. First, the decomposition analysis is illustrated using all African households. The bulk of the paper then analyzes rural African households in the former homeland areas of South Africa as an example of how such work can make more specific inputs into policy debates. The rural sample is first looked at as a whole and then the sample is divided into households above and below a Household Subsistence Level.


Abstract The 1980 Izu-Hanto-Toho-Oki earthquake is studied in detail using near-field strong motion seismograms recorded at Japan Meteorological Agency stations. A seismogram inversion method is applied to deduce the dislocation distribution and the character of rupture propagation during this earthquake. This earthquake involves left-lateral strike-slip motion on the almost vertical plane with a strike of N10°W. The fault plane is shallower than about 12 km in depth, and the length is about 20 km. The large dislocation (large seismic moment) occurs near the hypocenter and at the southern end of the fault plane. The rupture propagates southward from the central part of the fault plane and spreads to the shallow area of the northern part of the fault plane after a delay of about 5 sec relative to the initiation of this earthquake. The total seismic moment is about 7 × 10 25 dyne·cm. The aftershocks of magnitude equal to or greater than 4.0 take place in the areas where high stresses are expected to remain after this earthquake. The mechanical weakness of small submarine monogenetic volcanoes which are located above the source region seems to affect the rupture process of this earthquake.


Our objectives were to determine whether a fixed-timed artificial insemination (TAI) protocol could yield similar fertility rates to a protocol requiring detection of estrus and whether an injection of gonadotropin hormone-releasing hormone (GnRH) at CIDR (vaginal insert containing progesterone) insertion enhances pregnancy rates. Replacement beef heifers (n=2,077) from 12 locations were assigned randomly to each of four estrussynchronization protocols. All heifers received a CIDR for 7 days, and an injection of prostaglandin F2α(PGF) on the day of CIDR removal. For treatment EAI, heifers were observed for estrus for 84 hours after PGF administration and were inseminated 6 to 12 hours after observed estrus. Any heifer not detected in estrus was injected with GnRH, followed by TAI. For treatment GnRH+EAI, heifers were treated as those for EAI, but also received GnRH at the time of CIDR insertion. For treatment TAI, heifers received a single TAI at 60 hours after PGF administration. For treatment GnRH+TAI, heifers were treated as those for TAI, but also received GnRH at CIDR insertion. The percentage of heifers cycling at the initiation of estrus-synchronization was 91%; the percentage of cycling heifers among locations ranged from 78 to 100%. Overall pregnancy rates among locations ranged from 38 to 74%. Pregnancy rates were 57.3, 54.5, 53.1, and 49.1% for GnRH+EAI, EAI, GnRH+TAI, and TAI, respectively. Although no statistically significant differences in pregnancy rates among treatments were observed, the GnRH+EAI treatment achieved the numerically greatest pregnancy rates. In addition, the GnRH+TAI protocol provides an alternative that allows producers to synchronize heifers without detection of estrus.


an up-to-date summary of the operation of both natural and scientific processes that are central to the topic. More important is a constant theme of identifying and understanding variability in those processes that concern the interpretability of C dates. The first two chapters treat the natural processes that account for intrinsic atomic variability in samples. Chapter two particularly is useful because it brings together a diverse and important literature on major anomalies in the C record. These are changes that include both relatively long-term trends (thousands of years) and higher frequency or short-term changes (hundreds of years or less). Their operation results in a lack of equivalence between radiocarbon years and calendar years. A careful reading here will provide an understanding of why there is observed variation in natural C concentrations over time and space, the nature of those variations, and the means for correcting dates such as calibration with dendrochronologically dated samples. Chapters three and four describe the nature and sources of variation that may be associated with sample collection, pretreatment, and radioactive measurement. All of these chapters provide a rational basis for integrating technical information with that from archaeological or geological understanding of sample context in the key chapter 5, "Evaluation of Radiocarbon Data." This is a lucid and well-reasoned discussion that is recommended to all students and practicing professionals as required reading. The final chapter places the development of C dating in historical perspectives that are useful to any who aspire to understand the development of specific disciplines and of scientific inquiry in general.


While the often-heard complaint about time today is that of having too much to do and too little time, there are those who experience the opposite: they have difficulty filling the spare time that they have. This spare time can for some include times perceived to be empty of satisfying activity, and instead be associated with feelings of dissatisfaction, with frustration and boredom, and with time being spent in unproductive or even unhealthy pursuits. This paper uses the Australian Bureau of Statistics 1997 and 2006 Time Use Surveys to examine the characteristics and time use patterns associated with reporting to frequently have spare time that is difficult to fill. These analyses take a life cycle perspective to determine which men and women are at greatest risk of having this experience of time. These findings indicate that while a minority of people experience unfilled spare time, it is more common among the youngest men and women, especially those living with their parents, as well as men living alone, men and women with limited commitments to paid work or to caring, and those with a health problem and with a non-English-language background. Examining the reasons given for having unfilled spare time, lack of money is the main reason given, however other reasons also apply, and reasons differ for particular groups of people. Ill health, transport, having no friends or family nearby and lack of community facilities are some of those reasons. These data were also related to the patterns of time use to better understand the implications of having unfilled spare time for individuals' wellbeing.


Academic libraries, especially the college and university libraries in India, saddled with limited budget, meager technological know-how and human resources are facing continuous challenges to cope up with the growing users expectations in the age of digital revolution. Success of academic libraries depends on their ability to identify the vast and diffused knowledge resources in the library; find out ways of how to share the knowledge for future utilization. This requires academic libraries to reappraise their roles and responsibilities, to effectively contribute to their continuous endeavor to satisfy the needs of their diverse academic clientele. The article introduces the concept of knowledge and knowledge sharing and describes the role of knowledge sharing tools in sharing both tacit and explicit knowledge, within and outside the institute, to effectively improve library services under available budget and manpower.


The precursors of CIS and CIGS thin films were prepared by one-step electrodeposition in alcohol solution and then annealed in Ar atmosphere at 550°C for 30min. The influences of deposition potentials and salt concentrations on the morphology and composition of the thin films were studied in details. The films were characterized by X-ray diffraction(XRD), scanning electron microscopy(SEM), and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy(EDS). The results show that annealed films have pure CIS or CIGS phases with good crystallization and the morphology of the films are very uniform and dense. The high quality precursor films were obtained using optimized deposition parameters. Moreover the electrodeposition mechanism of CIS thin films was briefly discussed.


INTRODUCTION
Endoscopic screening reduces colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence and mortality. Individuals with a negative result are recommended to undergo rescreening within a 10-year interval, but evidence supporting this advice is limited.

METHODS
We performed a matched cohort study using prospectively collected data from 88,798 individuals in Sweden with normal mucosa at the first colorectal biopsy (aged ≥50 years) in the nationwide gastrointestinal epidemiology strengthened by histopathology reports (ESPRESSO) (1965-2016) and 424,150 matched reference individuals from the general population. Cox proportional hazards regression estimated multivariable hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of CRC incidence and mortality of incident CRCs up to 44 years of follow-up.

RESULTS
In the normal biopsy and reference groups, respectively, the 20-year incidences of CRC were 3.03% and 4.53% and the 20-year mortalities of incident CRC were 0.89% and 1.54%. The multivariable hazard ratio comparing the normal biopsy and reference groups was 0.62 for CRC incidence (95% CI = 0.58-0.66, P < 0.001) and 0.56 for mortality of incident CRC (95% CI = 0.49-0.64, P < 0.001). When assessed by time interval after biopsy, lower CRC incidence and mortality were observed throughout the follow-up. The association seemed weaker for proximal colon cancer than for rectal and distal colon cancer.

DISCUSSION
A normal colorectal biopsy was associated with lower CRC incidence and mortality for at least 20 years after the examination. Our findings confirm previous data and suggest that the screening intervals after a normal colonoscopy could be longer than the commonly recommended 10 years. It may be time to open the discussion for a revision of the international guidelines.


Inhibition of acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase (AChE and BuChE) as two major forms of cholinesterases (ChEs) is considered as the common approach for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The present study was done to explore the anticholinesterase inhibition property of coumarin Mannich base derivatives. A series of cumarin Manich bases were synthesized (4a-h) through one-pot tri-component reaction in an environmentally friendly condition and evaluated against AChE and BuChE by Ellman's assay. Ligand-protein docking simulation was also performed for the most active compound 4a. Additionally, the criteria of drug likeness of the target compounds was predicted using SwissADME web service. All compounds exhibited weak to moderate inhibitory activity against both AChE and BuChE enzymes. Compound 4a containing p-tolyl piperazin group showed the best activity against AChE (42.4 % at 32 µM), while compound 4g bearing phenylpiperazine moiety was the best BuChE inhibitor (43.9% at 32 µM). Ligand-protein docking simulation also exhibited that the main part of compound 4a in ChE inhibitory activity is amine moiety. Moreover, the prediction of "Lipinski's rule of five" showed that most target compounds can cross the BBB and have properties that would make them likely orally active compounds in humans. This study suggested that the synthesized cumarin Manich bases with some more structural modifications may be considered as a potential compound to target AChE and BuChE.


The ultrasound findings of 58 patients with AIDS and ARC were analysed retrospectively. In 55% an enlarged liver, in 62% an enlarged spleen, partially with focal lesions, and in 21% enlarged abdominal lymph nodes were diagnosed. The typical focal segmental glomerulosclerosis of the kidney was observed in one case, and cholangitis in 2 patients. Abdominal ultrasound is the first diagnostic procedure to be performed in patients with AIDS and ARC when abdominal pathology is suspected. With US-guided thin needle puncture of the lesions, a histological verification of the pathologic findings is possible.


By applying a recently published multistate approach (MSA) to the calculation of partial and total predissociation rates, a series of systematic ab initio computations of resonance positions and widths of rovibrational levels of the and electronic states up to the third dissociation continuum of the prototypical excimer and its isotopes , and have been carried out. The resulting resonance landscape, unique for each isotope, clearly displays all near degeneracies and crossings of levels, effects that account for the erratic phenomena observed in the spectra, such as anomalous line intensities, missing lines and band break-offs. Dipole transition probabilities for a number of bands have also been calculated, allowing predictions of observable emission lines to be made. The results demonstrate the validity of the MSA and show that this type of theoretical spectroscopy requires as input potential energies and coupling matrix elements of high accuracy.


The Treaty of Lisbon formulates ambitious goals for the European Union. It holds that the EU shall offer its citizens an area of freedom, security and justice, in which the free movement of citizens is guaranteed in combination with appropriate measures with respect to crime control. This wording – which explicitly establishes a relationship between citizenship, free movement and a common area of justice – raises certain expectations. Still, the promotion of free movement also induces conflicts of jurisdiction. EU law further encourages those conflicts by obliging Member States to establish extraterritorial jurisdiction, in order to prevent negative conflicts of jurisdiction. These types of conflict easily harm the position of the EU citizen. This contribution analyses this problem in light of the legality principle, a cornerstone of every criminal law system, which is also included in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. Its central argument is that with the transfer of powers from the national to the European level and the increasing horizontal intertwinement of national criminal justice systems and the resulting intensified cooperation, it is also increasingly difficult to protect EU citizens against arbitrary investigation, prosecution, conviction and punishment in Europe's area of freedom, security and justice. EU Charter rights therefore need to be interpreted in light of their new, transnational setting. This contribution concludes with a series of recommendations for a revised European framework for choice of forum in criminal matters.


This paper presents a GPU-based stereo matching system with good performance in both accuracy and speed. The matching cost volume is initialized with an AD-Census measure, aggregated in dynamic cross-based regions, and updated in a scanline optimization framework to produce the disparity results. Various errors in the disparity results are effectively handled in a multi-step refinement process. Each stage of the system is designed with parallelism considerations such that the computations can be accelerated with CUDA implementations. Experimental results demonstrate the accuracy and the efficiency of the system: currently it is the top performer in the Middlebury benchmark, and the results are achieved on GPU within 0.1 seconds. We also provide extra examples on stereo video sequences and discuss the limitations of the system.


PURPOSE
To further develop and perform patient testing of an x-ray scatter correction algorithm for dedicated breast computed tomography (BCT).

METHODS
A previously proposed algorithm for x-ray scatter signal reduction in BCT imaging was modified and tested with a phantom and on patients. A wireless electronic positioner system was designed and added to the BCT system that positions a tungsten plate in and out of the x-ray beam. The interpolation used by the algorithm was replaced with a radial basis function-based algorithm, with automated exclusion of non-valid sampled points due to patient motion or other factors. A 3D adaptive noise reduction filter was also introduced to reduce the impact of scatter quantum noise post-reconstruction. The impact on image quality of the improved algorithm was evaluated using a breast phantom and seven patient breasts, using quantitative metrics such signal difference (SD) and signal difference-to-noise ratios (SDNR) and qualitatively using image profiles.

RESULTS
The improvements in the algorithm resulted in a more robust interpolation step, with no introduction of image artifacts, especially at the imaged object boundaries, which was an issue in the previous implementation. Qualitative evaluation of the reconstructed slices and corresponding profiles show excellent homogeneity of both the background and the higher density features throughout the whole imaged object, as well as increased accuracy in the Hounsfield Units (HU) values of the tissues. Profiles also demonstrate substantial increase in both SD and SDNR between glandular and adipose regions compared to both the uncorrected and system-corrected images.

CONCLUSION
The improved scatter correction algorithm can be reliably used during patient BCT acquisitions with no introduction of artifacts, resulting in substantial improvement in image quality. Its impact on actual clinical performance needs to be evaluated in the future. Research Agreement, Koning Corp., Hologic Inc., Barco Corp Consultant Agreement, Fujifilm Medical Systems.


Proper treatment of patients with Cushing syndrome depends on knowledge of whether the condition derives from a pituitary or adrenal adenoma or an ectopic tumor that secretes adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). Fifty-seven patients with Cushing syndrome were prospectively evaluated to determine whether computed tomography (CT) of the pituitary gland is useful in diagnosing or excluding an ACTH-producing adenoma and in predicting the site of the adenoma within the pituitary gland. Findings on CT scans were normal in 35 of 50 patients with surgically confirmed Cushing disease and in seven patients with ectopic ACTH-producing tumors. Of the 15 patients with Cushing disease for whom CT results were abnormal, eight had macroadenomas and seven had microadenomas. This study demonstrates a low sensitivity (30%) and low diagnostic accuracy (39%) of CT in the detection of ACTH-producing pituitary tumors and indicates the need for alternative methods of confirming the pituitary origin of excessive ACTH secretion in most patients.


This work evaluated the effect of genotype by environment interaction in Andean common bean lines with white grains, in Central Southern Brazil, to identify lines with high agronomic performance, stability and adaptability, aiming to meet domestic demand and to increase the Brazilian participation in the foreign market of common bean. Nineteen trials with twelve Andean lines were conducted in 2007, 2008 and 2009, in Central Southern Brazil. Grain yield and other agronomic traits were evaluated. Data were subjected to analysis of variance and of adaptability/stability using Annicchiarico and modified AMMI methods. Significant differences were found between lines for all traits evaluated. Genotype by environment interaction was important for lines with Andean origin and white seed. The utilization of weighted mean of absolute scores and yield with the AMMI results enabled the identification of the most stable and adapted lines. Lines Poroto Alubia, CNFB 16211, Ouro Branco and WAF 160 were stable and adapted, using both methods. CNFB 16211 line presented high agronomic performance, stability and adaptability and therefore this line may be a new cultivar. USWA 70 and WAF 75 lines presented grain size similar to that required by the foreign market and superior to the Brazilian cultivars, besides favorable agronomic traits, and thus these lines may be indicated as new cultivars.


In this anecdotal account, the author finds electroconvulsive therapy to be a safe and effective treatment in depressed elderly patients, particularly those with histories of recurrent depressive episodes who fail to respond to good medication management. He reports that the use of ECT at Brawner Psychiatric Institute resulted in shorter hospitalization, decreased morbidity, and more cost-effective care in this patient population.


This study, undergirded by family systems theory, examined the extent to which parent and family-level factors correlate with adolescent obesity and depressive symptoms. We also considered whether these variables predict unique variance in adolescent obesity and depressive symptoms. The participants were a convenience sample of 77 racially diverse, predominantly early adolescents (aged 12 to 17) and their parents. Results from a series of linear and logistic regression analyses indicated that three of the study factors (parental weight history, family resources and adolescent weight history) significantly contributed to the variance in adolescents' body mass indexes and only one of the study factors (parental depressive symptomatology) significantly contributed to the variance in adolescents' rates of depressive symptomatology. These preliminary findings clarify how parent and family system factors might inform family and school-based intervention and treatment efforts for adolescent health outcomes.

Practitioner points
Family environment (measured in this study as family conflict and cohesion) should continue to be evaluated as a risk factor for obesity and depressive symptoms in racial and ethnic minority and non-minority families.
Family therapists as well as other practitioners (for example, primary care providers) should assess for family conflict when adolescents present with physical and psychological distress and disturbances.
Family therapists and other practitioners could be more effective if they established whether adolescent patients and their family members have the resources (for example, knowledge, financial ability and skills) needed to live a healthy lifestyle, as well as the coping strategies for maintaining their physical and psychological health.


Morphological and biochemical changes characterizing the degree of liver damage and the development of liver repair were studied in rats fed 21 days on a low protein diet (LPD), a standard diet (SLD) and a high protein diet (HPD) and then given a single i.p. injection of tetrachlormethane (CCl4) in a dose of 0.75 ml/kg body weight. The HPD was found to increase sensitivity to CCl4, but it also promoted the liver repair process, as seen from the increment in liver DNA synthesis and the total DNA content of the liver, increased ploidy of the hepatocytes and growth of the size of their nuclei and of the hepatocytes themselves. An increase in the total surface area of the membranes of the granular endoplasmic reticulum and the inner and outer membrane of the mitochondria, but a decrease in the surface area of the membranes of the smooth endoplasmic reticulum, were also observed after the administration of CCl4. The LPD raised liver resistance to CCl4, but the development of liver repair activity differed from the process after the SLD and HPD, since polyploidy of the hepatocytes (especially the growth of octaploid cells) predominated and there was also an increase in the number of binuclear hepatocytes. Cell hypertrophy was expressed less in rats fed on the LPD than in animals given the HPD. As far as liver repair was concerned, the HPD showed no explicit advantages over the SLD.


In this paper a new cylindrical monopole antenna with a modified base part is proposed. Inherently, the thick cylindrical monopole can cover the frequency range of 1.7- 2.9 GHz. But the modification in the coupling structure, as proposed in this work, produces an additional frequency range suitable for the high-band UWB in South Korea (7.2-10.2 GHz). Thus the proposed antenna can not only cover wireless services operating in the vicinity of 2 GHz, but also be used for the higher range applications. The measured results for antenna gain and radiation patterns at several frequencies are also presented.


Contraceptive discontinuation is the big problem that can threat Family Planning (FP) program. Indonesia is one of the countries in the world that has increased the contraceptive discontinuation, especially IUD. The aim of this study was to analyze the determinants of IUD discontinuation in Indonesia. A cross sectional study design was used in this study. Data of this study were based on the results of IDHS 2007, with 706 samples. This research was analyzed using univariable analysis, bivariable analysis using Chi-square, and multivariable analysis using Logistic Regression with each significance level α=0,05. Residence, religion, economic status, exposure to mass media, FP information, and follow up of FP didn't have significant relationship with IUD discontinuation. Age, parity, education, occupation, and FP discussion between husband-wife had significant relationship with IUD discontinuation. The factors that can be used to predict the IUD discontinuation were age, parity, and education.


A text-to-speech conversion system for Japanese, developed for the purpose of producing high-quality speech output, is presented. It consists of four processing stages: (1) linguistic processing, (2) phonological processing, (3) control parameter generation, and (4) speech waveform generation. An overview of the whole system is presented. The innovations introduced into the second and the fourth stages, i.e. rules for generating prosodic symbols from the linguistic information in the second stage and the configuration of a new type of terminal analog speech synthesizer designed as the fourth stage, are described. The validity of the approach is confirmed by the improvements both in the prosodic and in the segmental qualities of synthesized speech.<<ETX>>


We have evaluated the endemicity of the onchocerciasis in two villages of the district of Amou in Togo, Okpahoué et Onglo. We have studied 294 subjects including 136 males and 158 females representing the quarter of the population of the two villages (clinical investigation and exsanguine cutaneous biopsy): 111 persons are parasited by Onchocerca volvulus that means a prevalence rate of 37.7%. We can therefore say that the villages are in a state of "meso-endemicity". We have been able to find nodules by 20 persons among the 111 that give a percentage of 6.8 of the examined persons. Among children of 3 to 9 years old, the prevalence and the average microfilaremia are respectively 8.86 and 3.54%. Among the persons of 50 or older than 50, we found a prevalence rate of 65.95% and an average microfilaremia of 28.37.


The first total synthesis of glycocin F, a uniquely diglycosylated antimicrobial peptide bearing a rare S-linked N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) moiety in addition to an O-linked GlcNAc, has been accomplished using a native chemical ligation strategy. The synthetic and naturally occurring peptides were compared by HPLC, mass spectrometry, NMR and CD spectroscopy, and their stability towards chymotrypsin digestion and antimicrobial activity were measured. This is the first comprehensive structural and functional comparison of a naturally occurring glycocin with an active synthetic analogue.


1. Causes and determinants of hospital acquired infections. 2. Infection and its characteristics. 3. The chain of infection and the transmission of an infective agent. 4. Definitions and general c haracteristics of infections in hospitals. 5. Preventative strategies for hospital acquired infections. 6. Common hospital acquired infections in developed countries. 7. Infection control and surveillance.


A simple high-sensitivity receiver for simultaneously measuring the amplitude and phase of signals at radio and microwave frequencies is described. The receiver is built, for the most part, with standard (microwave) components and employs a modulation technique. The receiver sensitivity, depending on the information bandwidth, is of the order of -100 dBm. Information bandwidths ranging from a few Hz to several MHz are easily achieved.


Cassava peels which is available in large quantity as waste is being considered as a possible replacement for maize in chicken feeds due to the world shortage of cereals. This study examined the safety of collagen and reticulin fibres in the liver and kidney of broiler chicken, when the Aspergillus niger-hydrolyzed cassava peel meal (HCPM) was used as diet carbohydrate. HCPM was used as replacement for maize in chicken feeds at 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100%, respectively and were fed for 42 days. The animals were sacrificed and the liver and kidney were excised and fixed immediately in 10% formol-saline for 48 h. The tissues were processed for paraffin embedding. Sections were cut at 3 microns, dried for 30 min at 60°C and were stained using both Gordon & Sweet and Masson's Trichrome methods. The result showed the preservation of the reticulin and collagen fibres up to the 50% inclusion of HCPM as replacement for maize. The implication is that; the use of HCPM will make available for human consumption, half of the world maize cereals been consumed by the poultry birds.

 Key words: Aspergillus niger, cassava peels, cellulolytic enzymes, collagen fibre, reticulin.


For half a century, tremendous efforts have been invested in developing transport models as a decision aid for policy makers in designing effective policy interventions and deciding among costly public projects for the benefit of the population. Transport and activity-based models are often criticized for neglecting the "new mobilities" turn (Urry 2007, Cresswell 2006), namely multiple mobility aspects and rationales, including social, cultural, material, aesthetic and affective, in analyzing travel behavior. This paper aims at taking a tentative first step in bridging the gap between the traditional transport modeling approach and "new mobilities" research by suggesting a model framework that considers non-instrumental transport rationales, personal latent traits and intra-household decision dynamics.


Introduction: This case reports the relationship between treatment with topiramate and propensity for Metabolic Acidosis and stone formation in the kidneys in a pediatric patient.
Case Presentation: The patient is a 14 years old girl known to have Cerebral Palsy and Hydrocephalus for which she was treated with Ventriculoperitoneal shunt; along with congenital brain atrophy and epilepsy, presented with vomiting, anorexia, right loin pain. She had a past medical history of several anti-epileptic drugs including Phenobarbitone, Phenytoin, Carbamazepine, Levetiracetam. She was started on Topiramate for past 8 years. She looked unwell and hypovolemic but on examination was afebrile with stable vital signs. There was, however, tenderness at right loin and suprapubic area. Midstream Urine analysis showed urinary tract infection with many pus cells. Labs showed Leukocytosis, along with High Anion Gap Metabolic Acidosis. The final diagnosis was made for metabolic acidosis and nephrolithiasis precipitating urinary tract infection.
Conclusion: Topiramate has been reported to cause metabolic acidosis and nephrolithiasis which is more pronounced in pediatric patients than adult patients. Evidence-based on literature indicates a higher risk in children: 30-50% of adults and 70% of children using topiramate develop metabolic acidosis, while 1.5% of adults and 5% of children develop kidney stones.


This study proposes a novel tripartite alignment framework for internship studies to investigate alignment among student internship experiences, academic training in major programs, and career plans. Utilizing data from the College Internship Study, we examine demographic and programmatic factors associated with internship-major and internship-career alignment, and how these factors interact to affect overall internship satisfaction. While most students perceive their internships as relevant to their academic programs and career plans, a non-negligible group of students experience internship-major and internship-career misalignment, and the levels of misalignment vary across gender, race, major programs as well as their intersections. In particular, women engaged in paid internships report a lower level of internship-major alignment than women in unpaid internships, while this adverse effect is not found for men, indicating a potentially gendered trade-off between financial gains and academic training when making internship decisions. Moreover, while White students in health majors experience relatively higher internship-major alignment than business students, the same does not hold for Black and Latinx students, highlighting potential disparities in accessing quality internship programs in health sectors. Analyses further demonstrate that internship-major and internship-career alignment are positively associated with overall internship satisfaction. These findings provide preliminary insights into the tripartite internship-major-career alignment and its implications for students' internship experiences, informing potential strategies for diversifying the workforce and enhancing school-to-work transitions. We discuss future research directions adopting this novel framework.


Three triple-core chromophore derivatives based on anthracene and pyrene or chrysene moieties, 1,6-bis-(10-[1,1′;3′,1′′]terphenyl-5′-yl-anthracen-9-yl)-pyrene (1,6 DAP-TP), 6,12-bis-(10-[1,1′;3′,1′′]terphenyl-5′-yl-anthracen-9-yl)-chrysene (DAC-TP), and 2,7-bis-(10-[1,1′;3′,1′′]terphenyl-5′-yl-anthracen-9-yl)-pyrene (2,7 DAP-TP), were designed and synthesized. For 1,6 DAP-TP, anthracene was attached to the 1,6 positions of pyrene. In the case of DAC-TP, two anthracenes were connected to chrysene, located at the center position within the core, whereas in 2,7 DAP-TP anthracene was connected to the 2,7 positions of pyrene. All three materials had highly twisted core structures and bulky m-terphenyl side groups introduced into the core. Excimer emission was observed in the solid film state and can be interpreted as the result of anisotropic intermolecular alignment (orientation effect). The wavelength of excimer formation was controlled through the change of the center position of the triple-core chromophore, and the color coordinate of white light and efficiency could be controlled when the materials were used in an electroluminescence (EL) device. Excimer EL emissions of 1,6 DAP-TP, DAC-TP, and 2,7 DAP-TP were at 591 nm, 556 nm, and 538 nm, respectively, and CIE coordinate values of the devices were (0.37, 0.31), (0.30, 0.37), and (0.32, 0.44), respectively, showing single molecular white emission. 2,7 DAP-TP showed a white OLED efficiency of 6.01 cd A−1 at 10 mA cm−2.


We propose a novel random walk-based algorithm for unbiased estimation of arbitrary functions of a weighted adjacency matrix, coined universal graph random features (u-GRFs). This includes many of the most popular examples of kernels defined on the nodes of a graph. Our algorithm enjoys subquadratic time complexity with respect to the number of nodes, overcoming the notoriously prohibitive cubic scaling of exact graph kernel evaluation. It can also be trivially distributed across machines, permitting learning on much larger networks. At the heart of the algorithm is a modulation function which upweights or downweights the contribution from different random walks depending on their lengths. We show that by parameterising it with a neural network we can obtain u-GRFs that give higher-quality kernel estimates or perform efficient, scalable kernel learning. We provide robust theoretical analysis and support our findings with experiments including pointwise estimation of fixed graph kernels, solving non-homogeneous graph ordinary differential equations, node clustering and kernel regression on triangular meshes.


This prospective study assessed 54 consecutive ar throscopically assisted ACL reconstructions for the amount of postoperative pain relief provided by cold therapy, using the Hot/Ice Thermal Blanket. Twenty- six randomly selected patients undergoing this proce dure were compared to a control group consisting of 28 patients having the identical procedure in which the Hot/Ice unit was not used postoperatively. The initial ACL injury in both groups was sports related with the exception of three patients whose injury occurred while on the job. The Hot/Ice Thermal Blanket consists of two rubber pads (blankets) connected by a hose to the main cooling unit. The pads were applied to either side of the oper ated knee in the operative suite. The pads received fluid which was circulated from the main unit. The temperature of the fluid was set at 50° in the recovery room and the unit was run continuously until the time of discharge, which was approximately 4 days. Hot/Ice patients required 53% less injectable Demerol and 67% less oral Vistaril than patients in the control group. Hot/ Ice patients had made the conversion from injectable to oral pain medication an average of 1.2 days sooner than did their non-Hot/Ice counterparts. There was no appreciable difference in length of hospital stay. Physi cal therapy and nursing records documented a greater percentage of compliant patients in the Hot/Ice group. According to these records the Hot/Ice patients were more helpful in self-assistance, were out of bed and ambulating in the halls more quickly, and did their range of motion exercises with greater ease. The results of this study support the potential benefit in pain reduction by use of a Hot/Ice Thermal Blanket in the postopera tive recovery of patients undergoing ACL reconstruc tion.


Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) is a widely-used method for determining the interactions of different proteins with DNA in chromatin of living cells. Examples include sequence-specific DNA binding transcription factors, histones and their different modification states, enzymes such as RNA polymerases and ancillary factors, and DNA repair components. Despite its ubiquity, there is a lack of up-to-date, detailed methodologies for both bench preparation of material and for accurate analysis allowing quantitative metrics of interaction. Due to this lack of information, and also because, like any immunoprecipitation, conditions must be re-optimized for new sets of experimental conditions, the ChIP assay is susceptible to inaccurate or poorly quantitative results. Our protocol is ultimately derived from seminal work on transcription factor:DNA interactions(1,2) , but incorporates a number of improvements to sensitivity and reproducibility for difficult-to-obtain cell types. The protocol has been used successfully(3,4) , both using qPCR to quantify DNA enrichment, or using a semi-quantitative variant of the below protocol. This quantitative analysis of PCR-amplified material is performed computationally, and represents a limiting factor in the assay. Important controls and other considerations include the use of an isotype-matched antibody, as well as evaluation of a control region of genomic DNA, such as an intergenic region predicted not to be bound by the protein under study (or anticipated not to show changes under the experimental conditions). In addition, a standard curve of input material for every ChIP sample is used to derive absolute levels of enrichment in the experimental material. Use of standard curves helps to take into account differences between primer sets, regardless of how carefully they are designed, and also efficiency differences throughout the range of template concentrations for a single primer set. Our protocol is different from others that are available(5-8) in that we extensively cover the later, analysis phase.


On October 21, 1981, a magnitude 3.4 (ML) earthquake occurred in Long Island Sound, NY, approximately 40 km southeast of New Haven, CT. The earthquake was felt throughout most of Connecticut and Long Island, and the maximum intensity was IV (M.M.). Using two station subsets which surround the epicenter, our hypocentral solution was latitude 41.14 (41°08.1′), longitude −72.57 (−72°33.9′), depth 5.0 km at O.T. 16:49:07.1 UTC. The fault plane solution based on 27 P-wave first motions shows thrust faulting on NE-SW trending fault planes.


This paper adopts ordinary CCD cameras and IR filters to constitu te IR cameras for
a marker-based quadri-ocular tracking system. However, the IR filters will affect
the accuracy of the tracking system. Therefore, this paper analyses the refraction of
IR filters, and find IR filte rs will bring about the biggish radial distortion on imaging process. And then, this paper dir ectly uses Zhang's technique to calibrate the parameters of IR cameras in infrared environment by adjusting the imaging conditions of calibation. To improve the accuracy and satisfy the real-time requirement of the tracking system, a real-time method to correct the radial distortion is proposed in this paper. The experiments show that the speed of the correction method is satisfactory, and the accuracy of tracking system is effectively improved by the method.


The nonlinear inverse problem of the reconstruction of the electric conductivity of a cylindrical object embedded in a homogeneous space is addressed by approximating the operator that maps the conductivity into the scattered field at the second order. The problem is stated as the minimization of an error functional that can exhibit local minima. The geometrical properties of the quadratic operator are exploited to avoid the presence of local minima. Numerical results validate the theoretical analysis.


OBJECTIVE
In order to provide an overview of current knowledge, the literature was systematically examined for clinical studies, which evaluate the safety and effectiveness of bosentan in pediatric pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).

SOURCES
3 databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE and BIOSIS) were searched for the period January 2000 - October 2007 using the key words 'pulmonary arterial hypertension', 'bosentan', and 'pediatric patients/children'.

RESULTS
Of 165 identified publications, 21 clinical studies were selected: 1 interventional prospective, 6 observational prospective, 5 observational retrospective, and 9 case reports/case series. In the absence of controlled trials, these 21 studies represent the current evidence on the effectiveness and safety of bosentan in the treatment of pediatric PAH. Bosentan appears to improve long-term functional status and hemodynamics in children with PAH but improvement in exercise capacity is not consistently demonstrated. Promising results are reported for the combination of bosentan with other PAH-specific treatments although guidelines for instituting combination therapy have not been defined. Overall, no safety concern is raised by these studies; adverse events, including liver enzyme elevations, appear to be less frequent than reported in the adult PAH clinical trials.

CONCLUSION
Recent experience, although uncontrolled, suggests that bosentan is a well-tolerated and effective therapy for pediatric PAH.


Extracting information efficiently from game/simulation-based assessment (G/SBA) logs requires two things: a well-structured log file and a set of analysis methods. In this report, we propose a generic data model specified as an extensible markup language (XML) schema for the log files of G/SBAs. We also propose a set of analysis methods for identifying useful information from the log files and implement the methods in a package in the Python programming language, glassPy. We demonstrate the data model and glassPy with logs from a game-based assessment, SimCityEDU.


Studies on the ranging behaviour of birds often suggest that ranges vary seasonally with larger ranges in the non-breeding compared to the breeding season. However, due to limitations in tracking methods very little is known about the underlying processes driving seasonal differences in ranging behaviour, especially in fragmented, heterogeneous landscapes. Such knowledge is particularly important if movements deliver essential ecosystem functions such as seed dispersal. We contrasted the daily ranging behaviour between the breeding and non-breeding season of a frugivorous bird and demonstrate how larger seasonal ranges in the non-breeding season emerge through switching from a stationary home range behaviour to nomadism. We tracked movements of 29 male trumpeter hornbills Bycanistes bucinator across a fragmented landscape of eastern South Africa during different breeding and non-breeding seasons using high temporal resolution GPS data-loggers. Birds in the breeding seasons showed a typical, stationary home range pattern. In the non-breeding seasons birds, rather than expanding their stationary daily ranges, switched to nomadic movements that were characterized by shifts of the general location of daily ranges to a different area every couple of days. We also found that during the breeding seasons hornbills were mostly located in large continuous forests; birds in the non-breeding seasons frequently used forest patches within the agricultural landscape and residential areas. These seasonal differences in the movement behaviour of trumpeter hornbills may have important consequences for seed dispersal of plant species. Our findings show how seasonal range expansion of frugivorous birds may be driven by fundamental behavioural changes that have important consequences for ecosystem processes.


A digital-to-time converter (DTC) controls time delay by a digital code, which is useful, for example, in a sampling oscilloscope, fractional-N PLL, or time-interleaved ADC. This paper proposes constant-slope charging as a method to realize a DTC with intrinsically better integral non-linearity (INL) compared to the popular variable-slope method. The proposed DTC chip realized in 65 nm CMOS consists of a voltage-controlled variable-delay element (DTC-core) driven by a 10 bit digital-to-analog converter. Measurements with a 55 MHz crystal clock demonstrate a full-scale delay programmable from 19 ps to 189 ps with a resolution from 19 fs to 185 fs. As available oscilloscopes are not good enough to reliably measure such high timing resolution, a frequency-domain method has been developed that modulates a DTC edge and derives INL from spur strength. An INL of 0.17% at 189 ps full-scale delay and 0.34% at 19 ps are measured, representing 8-9 bit effective INL-limited resolution. Output rms jitter is better than 210 fs limited by the test setup, while the DTC consumes 1.8 mW.


OpenAI has recently released GPT-4 (a.k.a. ChatGPT plus), which is demonstrated to be one small step for generative AI (GAI), but one giant leap for artificial general intelligence (AGI). Since its official release in November 2022, ChatGPT has quickly attracted numerous users with extensive media coverage. Such unprecedented attention has also motivated numerous researchers to investigate ChatGPT from various aspects. According to Google scholar, there are more than 500 articles with ChatGPT in their titles or mentioning it in their abstracts. Considering this, a review is urgently needed, and our work fills this gap. Overall, this work is the first to survey ChatGPT with a comprehensive review of its underlying technology, applications, and challenges. Moreover, we present an outlook on how ChatGPT might evolve to realize general-purpose AIGC (a.k.a. AI-generated content), which will be a significant milestone for the development of AGI.


This article considers research designs that evaluate outcomes of behavioral interventions in field settings. It focuses on differences in efficacy estimates between observational studies (OSs) and randomized controlled trials (RCTs). The article contends that pretreatment motivation and in-treatment compliance both contribute to treatment outcomes. It proposes a 3-variable causal model in which pretreatment motivation produces positive treatment outcomes directly, and also indirectly, via in-treatment compliance. The article challenges the common notion that RCTs represent the gold standard in designs for evaluating the efficacy of behavioral interventions in field settings. The article's causal model predicts that OSs governed by self-assignment and RCTs of the same behavioral interventions both yield biased estimates of efficacy, although these effect-size biases are generally in opposite directions. OS estimates of efficacy are typically too large because of group differences in pretreatment motivation favoring the treated group over the untreated group. RCT efficacy estimates are typically too small because noncompliance in treatment conditions dilutes the impact of field interventions. Taken together, motivation and compliance thus account for the 2 expected efficacy biases: overestimation of effect sizes in OSs and underestimation in RCTs. Accordingly, the causal model predicts that, under most conditions, OSs will generate larger effect sizes than RCTs and thus a higher proportion of significant results. The article examines published outcome evaluations in 3 psychological domains: vocational counseling, precollege academic programs and home-visiting programs. Consistent with the model's directional prediction, studies in all 3 domains document a systematic efficacy difference between OSs and RCTs.


The success of modern burn therapy is based on an understanding of the pathophysiology and application of burn intensive care implying fluid resuscitation and management of pulmonary or other organ failure. With the development of early eschar excision and wound closure by immediate grafting, survival and cosmetic outcome were further improved. Especially in post-acute therapy, early physical rehabilitation, early reintegration, and early plastic surgical correction of the sequelae are indispensable for the outcome.


Introduction: Succinylcholine, is one of the most commonly used muscle relaxant for rapid sequence airway management. It increases the Intraocular pressure (IOP) which is deleterious in open globe injuries. We studied the effects of Inj. dexmedetomidine, a highly selective α2-adrenoceptor agonist, on IOP and hemodynamic responses to succinylcholine and tracheal intubation. Materials and Methods: Sixty ASA I–II patients, scheduled for elective non-ophthalmic surgeries requiring general anesthesia were randomly premedicated by intravenous Inj. dexmedetomidine 0.4 μg/kg (Group-D) or saline (Group-S) (30 patients each group). Heart rate (HR), mean arterial pressure (MAP), and IOP (using Schiotz tonometer) were measured 10 minutes before and after the premedication, 30 seconds after succinylcholine and at 1, 5 and 10 minutes after intubation. Results: Ten minutes after Inj. dexmedetomidine administration, there was marked decrease in IOP. After intubation there was a rise in IOP, however it remained below baseline IOP (p=0.315) and remained low at 10 minute after intubation (p<0.001) which was statistically significant. In the control group, there was a significant rise in IOP following Inj. succinylcholine and intubation which remained above baseline IOP even at 10 minute after intubation. HR, Systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and MAP markedly increased at 1 minute following intubation in the control group whereas in dexmedetomidine group, they remained below baseline (p<0.001). Conclusions: Intravenous dexmedetomidine at a dose of 0.4 μg/kg can be used for attenuation of rise in IOP associated with succinylcholine and tracheal intubation in patients with open globe injuries.


Faster degradation of iron based degradable implants in physiological media, particularly during the initial stages of implantation, poses difficulties in directly using them for clinical applications. The present study aims to deposit a zinc–zinc phosphate–calcium phosphate composite coating on pure iron by cathodic electrodeposition under varying current densities (2 to 5 mA cm−2) at 27 °C for 30 min to overcome the above mentioned limitation. The composite coating was characterized for the amount of coating deposited, surface morphology, elemental composition, nature of functional groups and phase contents. The corrosion behavior of composite coated pure iron in Hanks' balanced salt solution was determined by potentiodynamic polarization, electrochemical impedance and immersion studies. The bioactivity of the composite coated iron was evaluated by immersing it in simulated body fluid. The changes in the morphological features, elemental composition and nature of functional groups present on the surface layer were used to understand the extent of corrosion attack and mineralization. The findings of the study reveal that cathodic electrodeposition enables the deposition of a uniform, highly crystalline zinc–zinc phosphate–calcium phosphate composite coating on pure iron with a plate-like morphology. X-ray diffraction measurements confirm the presence of zinc, zinc phosphate and calcium phosphate phases. The zinc–zinc phosphate–calcium phosphate composite coated pure iron offered a better corrosion resistance than the uncoated one in Hanks' solution. The composite coating also exhibits good bioactivity in simulated body fluid. The study concludes that deposition of zinc–zinc phosphate–calcium phosphate composite coatings on pure iron will be useful to overcome the existing limitation of the higher rate of corrosion of pure iron during the initial stages of implantation.


Background : In Korea, the adoption of dental panoramic radiography devices is steadily growing, and diagnostic reference level (DRL) continues to increase in parallel with this phenomenon relative to that in other countries. Moreover, radiation dose is a risk factor for public health; however, to our knowledge, no study has investigated the cause of this rise in DRL. This study therefore sought to discern why the proposed DRL is high by measuring the use status and the dose area product (DAP) of panoramic devices. Materials and Methods : DAP was measured under standard adult exposure conditions to 41 panoramic devices in use at dental clinics in Incheon, and the differences between the groups were analyzed by stratifying them into below - the - DRL group and exceeding - the - DRL group. Results : Ultimately, the most significant cause of the increase in DRL in dental panoramic radiography was that patients were irradiated by the system in a high - definition mode using high tube voltage or were subjected to long exposure time. Conclusions : To protect public health from excessive radiation dose, dentists or radiologists must attempt to use the lowest possible radiation dose according to the "as low as reasonably achievable" principle while ensuring that sufficient image quality is attained for diagnostic and treatment purposes. In addition, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency needs to revise the current DRL, which is a third quartile value of the measured dose distribution, to an appropriate value by referring to the opinions of expert groups.


Abstract In the paper an application of the maximum principle to designing a cross section of a still frame under several loading schemes is presented. The optimal height of the web under minimum volume of still as a cost function is determined. In particular the implicit and explicit conditions of state variables at characteristic points of axis of symmetry under different loading schemes are presented.


This study compares the hepatic‐tissue cyclosporine concentrations in liver biopsy specimens from patients with and without cellular rejection after orthotopic liver transplantation. Nine patients without cellular rejection were studied, including five patients receiving intravenous cyclosporine who had biopsies on posttransplant day 7 and four patients receiving oral cyclosporine who had biopsies on day 21. In these patients no significant differences were seen in blood cyclosporine concentrations (mean ± S.D.) (310 ± 162 vs. 273 ± 310 ng/ml) and hepatic‐tissue cyclosporine concentrations (3,451 ± 1,262 vs. 3,545 ± 456 ng/gm). These nine patients without cellular rejection were then compared with eight patients with cellular rejection who were receiving intravenous cyclosporine, including seven patients who had biopsies on posttransplant day 7 and one patient who had a biopsy on day 14. In patients with and without cellular rejection blood cyclosporine concentrations were 330 ± 64 vs. 294 ± 146 ng/ml, and hepatic‐tissue cyclosporine concentrations were 1,879 ± 998 vs. 3,493 ± 936 ng/gm, p<0.01. We conclude that hepatic‐tissue cyclosporine concentrations are independent of the route of cyclosporine administration and that low hepatic‐tissue cyclosporine concentrations correlate with early cellular rejection after orthotopic liver transplantation. (HEPATOLOGY 1992;15:1086–1091).


Flexibility is a relevant topic in the field of green supply chains (GSC), as disturbances lead to additional transport and storage, frequently aggravated by energy-consuming air conditioning requirements. This paper discusses how simulation can support to establish flexible GSCs with specific focus on decreasing CO2 and energy consumption. For this purpose, the term flexibility is structured into categories, and methodological approaches driven by simulation in supply chains are studied. Flexibility requirements in the context of a GSC are analyzed and potential support derived for increasing this flexibility, gained by a join of simulation techniques, data models and morphological characteristics of flexibility. An approach for systematic flexibility analysis is presented on the grounds of a data mart that represents both internal and external factors influencing GSC scenarios.


This study analyzes the patterns and determinants of interlocal cooperation by examining the interlocal expenditures made in 2,684 American cities with a population over 10,000 and all 3,034 counties for the fiscal year 2002. This study found that metropolitan cities that have access to numerous municipal service providers in a county are more actively involved in interlocal cooperation than those that do not have such access. In the case of counties, city-dominated counties that have professional county administrators (or council-elected executives) are more likely to be involved in interlocal cooperative arrangements than countydominated rural counties with no professional county administrators (or elected county executives). This is because professional county administrators (or council-elected executives) in city-dominated counties could easily find municipal service providers in their county. Thus, the availability of qualified municipal service providers appears to be one of the most important factors in facilitating interlocal cooperation in American cities and counties. This study also found that the pattern and the level of interlocal cooperation diverge somewhat between cities and counties, in part due to differences in the functional responsibility between counties and cities.


While Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) have achieved tremendous success for LVCSR tasks, training these networks is slow. To date, the most common approach to train DNNs is via stochastic gradient descent (SGD), serially on a single GPU machine. Serial training, coupled with the large number of training parameters and speech data set sizes, makes DNN training very slow for LVCSR tasks. While 2nd order, data-parallel methods have also been explored, these methods are not always faster on CPU clusters due to the large communication cost between processors. In this work, we explore using a specialized hardware/software approach, utilizing a Blue Gene/Q (BG/Q) system, which has thousands of processors and excellent interprocessor communication. We explore using the 2nd order Hessian-free (HF) algorithm for DNN training with BG/Q, for both cross-entropy and sequence training of DNNs. Results on three LVCSR tasks indicate that using HF with BG/Q offers up to an 11x speedup, as well as an improved word error rate (WER), compared to SGD on a GPU.


This paper analyzes the safety and reliability problems of large precision instruments and equipment in highway transportation, aiming at reducing the vibration fatigue damage of equipment to the greatest extent from the perspective of road planning. Based on the dynamic response model of the equipment, the relationship between the ground spectrum response and the cumulative fatigue damage of the equipment is analyzed. Based on the method of probability and statistics, an equipment fatigue prediction model is established. Based on the study of the relationship between the roughness of pavement grade and the reliability of equipment, the low-risk path planning is proposed. This paper adapts the Dijkstra shortest path algorithm. Not only the basic information such as the length of the highway is considered but also the road factors related to the reliability of the equipment and the environmental factors affecting the driving safety are considered. Try to avoid the adverse environment which has a great impact on the reliability of the equipment, reduce the vibration fatigue of the equipment in the process of transportation, and improve the quality of transportation. Using geographic information system secondary development, database, global positioning system positioning, and other technologies, this paper provides users with the shortest path and low-risk path planning for reference, which has a certain practical significance for highway transportation of high reliability products such as vulnerable products, precision instruments, and special equipment.


Informatics in Primary Care publishes an abridged version of the Hayes report; probably the most significant review of the UK National Programme for IT: Connecting for Health. It sets out the principle that the top priority for the electronic patient record (EPR) is providing individual patient care. It is in many ways surprising that these principles need stating at all. However, it is all too easy for those charged with providing record systems to lose sight of this and for managerial goals to supplant the needs of effective patient care. It is conceivable that these may become the 'Hayes principles' which those developing health IT systems will forget at their peril:


Topological variety of robust networks from nanofibrils enables the formation of strong and tough particle constructs ubiquitously. Superstructured colloidal materials exploit the synergies between components to develop new or enhanced functions. Cohesion is a primary requirement for scaling up these assemblies into bulk materials, and it has only been fulfilled in case-specific bases. Here, we demonstrate that the topology of nanonetworks formed from cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) enables robust superstructuring with virtually any particle. An intermixed network of fibrils with particles increases the toughness of the assemblies by up to three orders of magnitude compared, for instance, to sintering. Supramolecular cohesion is transferred from the fibrils to the constructs following a power law, with a constant decay factor for particle sizes from 230 nm to 40 μm. Our findings are applicable to other nanofiber dimensions via a rationalization of the morphological aspects of both particles and nanofibers. CNF-based cohesion will move developments of functional colloids from laboratory-scale toward their implementation in large-scale nanomanufacturing of bulk materials.


The requirement of "building a higher-level National Fitness Public Service system centering on meeting the needs of the people" by the Chinese State Council is to guarantee and satisfy the demand of public through effective supply. However, despite of the clear purpose of the task, there is still a gap between the actual and the expected status of National Fitness Public Service supply. Based on the characteristics of the perspective of space, the purpose of this study is to examine how to measure and achieve the effectiveness of National Fitness Public Service's supply. By reviewing the literature, relevant results of the performance evaluation system of National Fitness Public Service are sorted to provide theoretical support for the value orientation, index selection and other processes of the evaluation system constructed in this study. Current regulations on National Fitness Public Service in various fields in China are classified, and representative indicators are compared, analyzed, and summarized as the reference basis for evaluation standards. The value orientation of the evaluation system is shown in three levels in the spatial dimension: "ensuring spatial justice", "adapting to spatial needs" and "building value consensus". The spatial evaluation system is constructed based on the three-dimensional evaluation dimensions of "supply capacity", "behavioral demand" and "The degree of spatial coupling", this evaluation system comprehensively reflects the subjective and objective evaluation results. The study shows that when exploring reasons for insufficient effectiveness, factors should be analyzed from both of supply and demand sides. The evaluation results of the evaluation system are characterized by being Relative and Developmental. The evaluation results should be based on the relative effectiveness results produced by comparison, and absolute judgment should be avoided. The relative evaluation results focus on finding the elements, links and mechanisms with deficiencies, avoid stopping at the judgment of pros and cons, and should promote self-perfection, stimulate self-innovation and finally achieve the goal of self-development.


In order to improve the energy efficiency in industrialised countries, energy demand management technologies are being introduced. In Russia, energy consumption is characterised by high natural gas usage. A decrease in demand volatility leads to the reduction of energy costs for industrial consumers. These factors indicate the feasibility of electricity and natural gas demand management. Simultaneously, Russian regions significantly differ in terms of the prospects for introducing integrated demand management. To examine the problem, we used statistical analysis, mathematical modelling and a method for constructing perceptual maps. Parameters of electricity and natural gas demand management in Russian regions were examined. As a result, we developed a methodology to assess the possibility of implementing energy demand management in various entities. This method is based on a system of indicators considering absolute and relative density of regions' electricity and natural gas demand, industrial energy consumption, and natural gas used to generate electricity. The analysis of the relevant indicators allowed us to construct energy demand volatility maps and a matrix indicating the effectiveness of proposed management tools. The research findings can be used when developing targeted programmes for energy demand management at the regional and federal levels.


The introduction of agricultural education in Nigeria educational system is necessary as it helps learners acquire knowledge and skills in agriculture which will improve the quantity and quality of agricultural production with a view to better the living standard of the people. Agricultural education has been progressing overtime due to the benefits derived from agriculture. The agricultural sector is a major source of livelihood for most citizens, but the paper noted that production hurdles have significantly stifled the performance of the sector. The paper argued that if the problems bedeviling agricultural sector as well as agricultural education such as inadequate funding, low societal acceptance, lack of qualified manpower, lack of good roads and infrastructures among others can be addressed, the Nigerian economy will be in a better shape as it relates to food security, employment of the youth and provision of raw materials. The paper finally concluded that agricultural education is an innovative programme aimed at self-reliant and employment creation in the country. Apart from the income generation and economic empowerment it can give to the youths, it preoccupies them and keep their minds out of mischief and violence, thereby, enhancing peace and national security which are of utmost importance to the Nigerian economy, and recommends adequate funding to acquire necessary tools and equipment, qualified teaching personnel and in-service training for the teachers as well as incentives for learners of agricultural science.


Tricholoma anatolicum H.H. Dogan & Intini was first published as a new species in 2003, and it is known as "Katran Mantari" in Turkey. It has great importance in trading and is also exported to Japan. However, there is no extensive information on its ecological status. To reveal its features of ecological status, we studied eight different places in Turkey in the years of 2005 and 2009. According to our results, this species makes an ectomycorrhizal association with Cedrus libani trees. The distribution area of the species is Taurus Mountain between 1,400 and 1,700 m elevations from the Mediterranean region. The morphological features of the species are closer to Tricholoma magnivelare (Peck) Redhead than the other members of Matsutake group. Its characteristic features are white to cream-coloured fruiting body, a special odour like tar, different aroma and cyanophilic spores. In general, it grows on well-drained and infertile sandy soil in C. libani forests, which are more than 25 years old. The fruiting period is from October to November and also grows in Mediterranean climate type. Key words: Ectomycorrhizal fungi, Matsutake group, Mediterranean region, Tricholoma anatolicum, Turkey.


Nowadays the complexity of competitiveness, innovation as one of the main advantages of survival of company considered. According to the needs of employees and needs to create satisfaction and improve the quality of life of employees and satisfaction, efficiency and effort will lead to more and better work efficiency. The present paper examines the relationship between the environment friendly concept and job satisfaction on service innovation has examined the mediating role of knowledge sharing. Friendly work environment and job satisfaction influenced the conceptual model shown on knowledge sharing. Moreover, the sharing of knowledge on service innovation and increased innovation services of company. The study aimed to investigate the impact of job satisfaction and work environment friendly on services innovation with mediator role of knowledge sharing in companies under supervision of Parstousheh in Gilan province. The population consisted of 16 companies under supervision of Parstousheh in Gilan province is chosen randomly. The tool measuring is standard questionnaire and 285 questionnaires were distributed. After collecting the questionnaires to assess the reliability of Cronbach's alpha for each of the components of a friendly work environment, job satisfaction, knowledge sharing and innovation services were used.


Aims Youth violence is the third leading cause of mortality amongst young people within the European Region. The World Health Assembly has passed multiple resolutions stating violence is a public health priority and encouraging a science based public health approach. In 2013, StreetDoctors, a charity comprising medical student and junior doctor volunteers, began teaching at-risk young people, about the immediate management of pre-hospital trauma; seeking to change perspectives towards violence in order to help reduce morbidity and mortality from violent injuries. Methods Young people, aged 12–18 years old, were identified through judicial processes. They attended two teaching modules, in centres across the United Kingdom, about haemorrhage control and managing the unconscious patient. Each session taught between 8–10 participants, with a validated, interactive module, by trained medical students and junior doctors. Qualitative and quantitative research was undertaken with immediate post-session surveys of 91 participants and staff from 16 teaching centres. The surveys involved a written Likert Scale and a group feedback session run by independent researchers. Results End of session evaluations with young people demonstrate: 93% agreed they understood the consequences of violence (91 responses) 89% agreed they could provide medical intervention to haemorrhaging/unconscious patient (83 responses) 85% said they would be willing to act if first aid was needed (87 responses) Young people's comments include "everything in the session was useful. I learnt how to do the recovery position and chest compressions" and "if it was my enemy I'd call an ambulance." Teaching centre surveys revealed, 100% agreed that the sessions helped young people to manage the haemorrhaging or unconscious patient, and 100% agreed that the session content made young people more aware of the medical consequences of violence (16 responses). Conclusion Simple, replicable and interactive education of haemorrhage control and cardio-pulmonary resuscitation can change perspectives on violence and increase willingness and ability to provide medical intervention. Teaching can equip young people with the skills to save another persons life, thus helping to reduce the morbidity and mortality from youth violence and act to deter from violence.


Insulin-like growth factors-I and -II (IGF-I and -II) are structurally related mitogenic polypeptides with potent growth promoting effects. These peptides and their corresponding IGF-I and -II receptors are selectively localized in the brain. To date, most of the effects of IGFs are believed to be mediated by IGF-I receptors whereas the significance of IGF-II receptor in mediating biological responses remains unclear. In the present study, we characterized the distribution of IGF-I and IGF-II receptor sites and investigated the effects of both factors on endogenous acetylcholine (ACh) release in adult rat hippocampus. [125I]IGF-I receptor binding sites are recognized by IGF-I> IGF-II> insulin, whereas [125I]IGF-II binding was competed potently by IGF-II> IGF-I but not by insulin. At the cellular level, IGF-I receptor sites were primarily noted in the molecular layer of the dentate gyrus and the CA2-CA3 subfields of the Ammon's horn whereas IGF-II sites were localized predominantly in the pyramidal cell layer of the CA1-CA3 subfields and in the granular cell layer of the dentate gyrus. IGF-I (10(-14)-10(-8) M) and des(1-3) IGF-I (10(-10)-10(-8) M) were found to inhibit whereas IGF-II (10(-14)-10(-8) M) potentiated K+-evoked ACh release from hippocampal slices. Tetrodotoxin altered the effects of IGF-I but not those of IGF-II suggesting that IGF-I acts indirectly via the release of other modulators whereas IGF-II acts directly on or in close proximity to the cholinergic terminals. The inhibitory effects of IGF-I were also observed in the frontal cortex but not in the striatum. In contrast, the stimulatory effects of IGF-II were evident both in the frontal cortex and striatum. Taken together, these results reveal the differential localization of IGF-I and IGF-II receptor sites in the hippocampal formation and the opposite role for these growth factors in the acute regulation of ACh release likely via two distinct mechanisms. Additionally, these data provide the first evidence for a direct role for IGF-II and its receptors in the regulation of transmitter release in the central nervous system.


Regulation of optical properties and electronic structure of two-dimensional layered ReS2 materials has attracted much attention due to their potential in electronic devices. However, the identification of structure transformation of monolayer ReS2 induced by strain is greatly lacking. In this work, the Raman spectra of monolayer ReS2 with external strain are determined theoretically based on the density function theory. Due to the lower structural symmetry, deformation induced by external strain can only regulate the Raman mode intensity but cannot lead to Raman mode shifts. Our calculations suggest that structural deformation induced by external strain can be identified by Raman scattering.


The objective of this study is to analyze the grammatical cohesive device especially the reference of a short story written by a famous author, Hans Christian Andersen entitled The Little Match Girl. The type of the study used in this case is descriptive qualitative research. This study is done by analyzing the short story by locating the references used in the story and then calculating the amount of the references and determining the type of references found in to two categories, Anaphoric and cataphoric references. Based on the analysis, it was found that the short story contain 87 (eighty seven) references, in which 81 (eighty one) references belong to the anaphoric category and 6 (six) references belong to cataphoric category.


Objective:To test the effects of an HIV/AIDS education program. Design:A quasi-experimental, nested cross-sectional design including baseline and 6-month follow-up surveys. Schools, stratified according to location, were randomly assigned to intervention (n = 6) or comparison conditions (n = 12). Setting:Public primary schools in Arusha and Kilimanjaro regions, Tanzania. Participants:A total of 2026 sixth and seventh grade pupils (average age, 14.0 years) participated at baseline (85%) and 1785 at follow-up. Intervention:The program was designed to reduce children's risk of HIV infection and to improve their tolerance of and care for people with AIDS. Local teachers and health workers attended a 1-week training workshop before implementing the program over a 2–3-month period (averaging 20 school hours per class). Main outcome measures:Self-reported exposure to AIDS information, communication regarding AIDS; AIDS knowledge, attitudes towards people with AIDS, attitudes towards having sexual intercourse, subjective norms regarding sexual intercourse, and intention to engage in sexual intercourse. Results:Following this program, intervention pupils reported significantly higher scores for the following outcome measures than pupils attending the comparison schools: AIDS information (13.1 versus 10.5; P= 0.0001), AIDS communication (10.9 versus 7.8; P= 0.0001) AIDS knowledge (14.5 versus 11.5; P= 0.0001), attitudes towards people with AIDS (9.0 versus 6.7; P= 0.0008), subjective norms (45.5 versus 43.9; P= 0.011), and intention (1.3 versus 1.4; P= 0.020). No program effect was seen for attitudes towards sexual intercourse (47.0 versus 46.3, P=0.44). Conclusions:These results indicate that it is feasible and effective to provide AIDS education for Tanzanian primary school children.


AbstractCross-linked chitosan–zeolite composite was prepared and characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscope. Adsorption of Cd(II) by the cross-linked chitosan–zeolite composite as a function of solution pH, contact time, initial Cd(II) concentration, and temperature was investigated systematically by batch experiments. The obtained results showed that the removal of Cd(II) was pH dependent and the optimum adsorption was achieved at pH 7.0. The adsorption process could be described by pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Thermodynamic parameters revealed the spontaneous and endothermic nature of the adsorption. The batch adsorption data could be well elucidated by the Langmuir model. The maximum adsorption capacity of Cd(II) on the cross-linked chitosan–zeolite composite at 25°C determined from the Langmuir model was 102.15 mg/g. The adsorbent was successfully regenerated using EDTA, HNO3, and HCl solution as desorbent, respectively.


Providing improved Information Security to the rapidly developing Cybernet System has become a vital factor in the present technically networked world. The information security concept becomes a more complicated subject when the more sophisticated system requirements and real time computation speed are considered. In order to solve these issues, lots of research and development activities are carried out and cryptography has been a very important part of any communication system in the recent years. Cryptographic algorithms fulfil specific information security requirements such as data integrity, confidentiality and authenticity. This work proposes an FPGA-based VLSI Crypto-System, integrating hardware that accelerates the cryptographic algorithms used in the SSL/TLS protocol. SSL v3 and TLS v1 protocol is deployed in the proposed system powered with a Nios-2 soft-core processor. The cipher functions used in SSL-driven connection are the Scalable Encryption Algorithm (SEA), Message Digest Algorithm (MD5), Secured Hash Algorithm (SHA2). These algorithms are accelerated in the VLSI Crypto-System that is on an Altera Cyclone III FPGA DE2 development board. The experimental results shows that, by hardware acceleration of SEA, MD5 and SHA2 cryptographic algorithms, the VLSI Crypto-System performance has increased in terms of speed, optimized area and enhanced level security for the target Cybernetic application.


Abstract
Background
The diagnosis of infective endocarditis (IE) is based on microbiological analyses and diagnostic imaging of cardiac manifestations. Echocardiography (ECHO) is preferred for direct visualization of IE-induced cardiac manifestations. We investigated correlations between bacterial infections and IE manifestations diagnosed by ECHO.
Methods
In this cohort study, data from patients aged 18 years or above, with definite or possible IE admitted at the Karolinska University Hospital between 2008-2017 were obtained from Swedish National Registry of Endocarditis. Bacteria registered as pathogen were primarily selected from positive blood culture and for patients with negative blood culture, bacteria found in culture or PCR from postoperative material was registered as pathogen. Patients with negative results from culture or PCR were excluded. IE manifestations diagnosed by ECHO and risk factors were obtained from the registry. Chi-squared test and two-sided Fisher's exact test was used for comparisons between categorical variables, and student's ttest was used for continuous numerical variables; two-sided and skewed variables were log-transformed before these analyses. Multivariable analyses were performed using logistic regression. Associations and the strength between the variables were estimated using odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). P< 0.05 was considered significant.
Results
The most common bacteria were Staphylococcus aureus(n= 268, 47%) and viridans group streptococci (n= 127, 22%). The most common manifestations were vegetation in the mitral (n = 222, 36%), aortic (n = 214, 34%), and tricuspid valves (n = 117, 19%). Correlations were seen between aortic valve vegetation and coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) and Enterococcus faecalis, between mitral valve vegetation and group B streptococci, tricuspid valve vegetation, andS.aureus, and between perivalvular abscesses and CoNS (all P< 0.05).
Conclusions
Correlations were found between certain bacteria and specific ECHO manifestations. Our study contributes to a better understanding of IE manifestations and their underlying bacterial etiology, which pathogens can cause severe infections and might require close follow-up and surgical treatment.


DVB-SSP is a new broadcasting system for hybrid satellite communications, which supports mobile handheld systems and fixed terrestrial systems. An upper layer, including erasure Reed-Solomon error correction combined with cyclic redundancy check. However, a critical factor must be considered in upper layer decoding. If there is only one bit error in an IP packet, the entire IP packet is considered as unreliable bytes, even if it contains correct bytes. If, for example, there is one real byte error, in an IP packet of 512 bytes, 511 correct bytes are erased from the frame. Therefore, this paper proposed upper layer decoding methods; LLR-based decoding. By means of simulation we show that the performance of the proposed decoding algorithm is superior to that of the conventional one.


It appears that the focus of occupational therapy on function has moved away from the concept to centre on assessments. Conceptual debate concerning function has been muted and lost in the technicalities of the measurement process and measurement theory. Numerous reviews of functional assessments have recently appeared in the occupational therapy literature.1–5 Current discussions appear to be driven by technical issues, such as the demonstration of the reliability and validity of specific measures, rather than the extent to which the design and structure of the measures form the most appropriate conceptualisation of function. A re-centring of this issue towards conceptual discussions and away from measurement technicalities is highly desirable. The purpose of this article is to review the ways function is currently perceived and to raise many of the questions that the profession must debate and resolve regarding this issue.


Background: Accumulating evidence indicates that various adipokines released from adipose tissue have been involved in abnormal insulin signalling in obesity and type 2 diabetes. However, it is not entirely clear whether these alterations in serum adipocyte concentrations are already present in the pre-diabetic state. The present study was designed to test the hypothesis that elevated levels of serum lepin an index of insulin sensitivity is independently associated with insulinemic indices among different subgroups of prediabetes.

Materials: Under an observational cross-sectional design a total of 116 Control subjects (M/F, 58/58) and 99 prediabetic subjects (55/44) consisting of 49 Impaired Fasting Glucose (IFG) and 50 Impaired Glucose Tolerance (IGT) were investigated. Serum glucose was measured by glucose-oxidase method. Serum insulin and leptin were measured by ELISA techniques. Insulin secretory function (HOMA%B), insulin sensitivity (HOMA%S) and Homeostasis Model Assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) were calculated from Homeostasis Model Assessment (HOMA).

Results: Compared to the Control, IFG and IGT subjects had significantly higher levels of serum leptin (ng/mL) (p<0.001) and HOMA-IR (p=0.001) respectively. However, compared to their Control counterparts, IFG and IGT subjects had significantly lower levels of HOMA%B (p=0.001) and HOMA%S (p=0.010). On binary logistic regression analysis, serum leptin (OR (95% CI): 1.074 (1.019-1.131), p=0.007) and reduced HOMA%S (OR (95% CI): 0.972 (0.950-0.995), p=0.015) were found to be significant determinants of IGT group after adjusting the effects of WC and TG. In the same analysis, serum leptin (1.109 (1.054-1.167), p<0.001) and reduced HOMA%B (0.966 (0.951-0.981), p<0.001) were found to be significant predictors of IFG group after adjusting the effects of WC and TG.

Conclusion: Elevated levels of serum leptin may have an association with the state of IFG and IGT of prediabetes and this association, in turn, is mediated by insulin secretory dysfunction and reduced insulin sensitivity during this disorder.


Objective— Increased vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) migration leads to intimal thickening which acts as a soil for atherosclersosis, as well as causing coronary artery restenosis after stenting and vein graft failure. Investigating factors involved in VSMC migration may enable us to reduce intimal thickening and improve patient outcomes. In this study, we determined whether Wnt proteins regulate VSMC migration and thereby intimal thickening. Approach and Results— Wnt2 mRNA and protein expression were specifically increased in migrating mouse aortic VSMCs. Moreover, VSMC migration was induced by recombinant Wnt2 in vitro. Addition of recombinant Wnt2 protein increased Wnt1-inducible signaling pathway protein-1 (WISP-1) mRNA by ≈1.7-fold, via &bgr;-catenin/T-cell factor signaling, whereas silencing RNA knockdown of Wnt-2 reduced WISP-1 mRNA by ≈65%. Treatment with rWISP-1 significantly increased VSMC migration by ≈1.5-fold, whereas WISP-1 silencing RNA knockdown reduced migration by ≈40%. Wnt2 and WISP-1 effects were integrin-dependent and not additive, indicating that Wnt2 promoted VSMC migration via WISP-1. Additionally, Wnt2 and WISP-1 were significantly increased and colocated in human coronary arteries with intimal thickening. Reduced Wnt2 and WISP-1 levels in mouse carotid arteries from Wnt2+/− and WISP-1−/− mice, respectively, significantly suppressed intimal thickening in response to carotid artery ligation. In contrast, elevation of plasma WISP-1 via an adenovirus encoding WISP-1 significantly increased intimal thickening by ≈1.5-fold compared with mice receiving control virus. Conclusions— Upregulation of Wnt2 expression enhanced WISP-1 and promoted VSMC migration and thereby intimal thickening. As novel regulators of VSMC migration and intimal thickening, Wnt2 or WISP-1 may provide a potential therapy for restenosis and vein graft failure.


Micro-ring resonator based on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) has been extensively studied due to its many advantages, thus promising to improve the optoelectronic integrated circuit performance. This paper highlights the study of the free carrier injection effect on the silicon rib waveguide with p-i-n diode structure integrated in the SOI micro-ring resonator. The free carrier concentrations have been modulated by the electrical signal that can cause change of refractive index of the micro-ring resonator. The device performances are predicted by using numerical modelling software 2D SILVACO and Finite Difference Time Domain method simulation software RSOFT. The results show the change of refractive index is maximized at a greater applied voltage. A shift in resonant wavelength of around 6.7 nm was predicted at 0.9V with 1.14x10-3 refractive index change. It is also shown that 8.5dB change of the output response obtained through the output.