The company of Vítkovice Heavy Machinery a. s. (VHM) has significant experiences with the production of various types of forgings, which are delivered to the whole world. However it ́s appropriate to make an evaluation of process and find savings when introducing a new product into production or in case of rationalization of the product process itself. These savings may be due to reduction of production scrap (or necessary repairs on the product), reduce the time for production, possibly reducing the amount of material needed to manufacture etc. In this paper we describe the optimization of production of the forging with a flange. We have focused on reducing the occurrence of defects in the flange region. These defects were recorded after quenching of the forging through ultrasonic examination in the area of the flange around the perimeter of the inner hole of the forging. Since the resolution of this problem should led to considerable improvement of the economic situation in the manufacture, it was decided to analyze the overall production process. This analysis consist of detail description of production, metallographic analysis in the affected area, magnetic and penetration testing, measurement of hardness and residual stress of the forging and also in mathematical simulation of quenching including the quenching with segregated inclusion. On the basis of this analysis were proposed measures, which should eliminate the occurrence of these defects (without increasing of production costs).


The Neutron Standards Laboratory of CIEMAT has conducted the characterization of the independent spent fuel storage installation at the Trillo Nuclear Power Plant. At this facility, the spent fuel assemblies are stored in ENSA-DPT type dual purpose casks. Neutron characterization was performed by dosimetry measurements with a neutron survey meter (LB6411) inside the facility, around an individual cask and between stored casks, and outside the facility. Spectra measurements were also performed with a Bonner sphere system in order to determine the integral quantities and validate the use of the neutron monitor at the different positions. Inside the facility, measured neutron spectra and neutron ambient dose equivalent rate are consistent with the casks spatial distribution and neutron emission rates, and measurements with both instruments are consistent with each other. Outside the facility, measured neutron ambient dose equivalent rates are well below the 0.5 μSv/h limit established by the nuclear regulatory authority.


An extensive study on the feasiblity and the range of validity of the fork detector method for partial defect level verification of spent fuel has been accomplished. The range of validity and the limitations have been studied. It has been shown experimentally together with complementary model calculations that by measuring the neutron yield against the operator-declared burnup a verification on the partial-defect level can be attained, but not for all possible cases of spent fuel assemblies. The additional target of operator-data-independent verification cannot be achieved using only a fork detector. The model calculations support the experimental results and add to the confidence in the correction methods applied to the experimental data.


The authors present SECOND, a program for large-scale semiconductor device simulation with truly three-dimensional grids. Since 3-D simulations necessitate large computing resources, the choice of algorithms and their implementation become of utmost importance. The authors investigated the most commonly used numerical algorithms for the solution of the classical drift-diffusion equations. The study included coupled and noncoupled point and block schemes, direct and preconditioned iterative linear solvers, and several distinct ordering and coloring techniques. Structures with regular and irregular grids were analyzed. These algorithms were compared on a variety of machines including workstations, minisupers, and supercomputers. Results of transient simulations are presented to illustrate the approach. >


Abstract One of the important characteristics of an anemometer is its spatial resolution. A three-dimensional generalization is given of a method to calculate the transfer function as a function of the wavenumber, devised by Kaimal et al. for a sonic anemometer. The method has been applied to the sensor system of the pressure anemometer, a new type of wind vector measuring instrument. The results, given in a number of figures, show an extremum before the transfer function falls off to its final value.


Exact wave solutions are constructed for a cylindrical cold plasma bounded by a dielectric, taking into account possible particle sources. It is shown that the volume waves can either be amplified or damped because of their density dependence, while the surface waves are unaffected by the source.


DC distribution is now becoming the major trend of future mobile power systems, such as more-electric aircrafts and ships. As dc distribution has different nature to the conventional ac system, a new design of well-structured control and management methods will be mandatory. In this paper, a shipboard power system with dc distribution and energy storage system (ESS) is picked as the study case. To meet the requirement of control and management of such a large-scale mobile power system, a hierarchical control design is proposed in this paper. In order to fully exploit the benefit of the ESS, as well as to overcome the limitation in controllability, a novel inverse-droop control method is proposed, in which the power sharing is according to the source characteristic, instead of their power rating. A frequency-division method is also proposed as an extension to the inverse-droop method for enabling a hybrid ESS and its autonomous operation. On the basis of the proposed methods, the control methods for management and voltage restoration levels are also proposed to establish a comprehensive control solution. Real-time simulations are carried out to validate the performance of the proposed control design under different operating conditions. When compared to more conventional droop-based approaches, the new proposal shows enhancement in efficiency.


By Shengxi Li University of the Pacific 2022 Cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) and cyclins (Cyclins) are the core molecules in the regulation mechanism of the entire cell cycle. Cell cycle dysregulation is a common feature of human cancers, and inhibitors of cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) play a crucial role in cell cycle control and are one of the most promising areas of cancer therapy. We aspired to use our cyclindependent kinase 8 (CDK8) inhibitor, Q-12, as a probe for biomarker discovery for CDK8 inhibitor sensitive tumor types. Q-12 shows potent inhibition of cell viability and induction of apoptosis process in some triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and colorectal cancer cell lines in vitro. Western blot results indicate that Q-12 decrease p-STAT3 (Ser 727) stabilized p-STAT3 (Tyr 705) cause its upregulation. Cytokines are responsible for the increased phosphorylation of STAT3 (Tyr 705). Q-12 inhibit phosphorylation of CDK8 substrates STAT3 (Ser 727), STAT1 (Ser 727), E2F1 (Ser375) and reduce CDK8 protein levels. Q-12 initially increase E2F1 protein levels activated E2F1 and decrease Mcl-1 protein levels. All results suggest that STAT3 may not play a major role in cell death mechanism while E2F1 may play a major role. The main aim of the study is to investigate CDK8 inhibitor Q-12 effects on CDK8 and CDK8 substrates in triple negative breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-468, in order to better understand the mechanism of anti-proliferative effect of Q-12.


Establishing peace and reconstructing Africa's war-damaged economies are urgent challenges. For Africa to recover, communities must reconstruct, private sectors must revitalize, and states must transform themselves. Thus, unless communities rebuild and strengthen their livelihoods, neither reconstruction nor growth can be poverty-reducing. But communities cannot prosper unless private investment recreates markets and generates more employment. And neither communities nor entrepreneurs can realise their potential without a development state-one that is democratically accountable and dedicated to poverty-reducing development. The international community can do much to assist-through more aid, debt relief, and peacekeeping-but ultimately the future lies in the hands of Africans themselves.This book examines these themes in a selection of African countries that have gone through intense and prolonged conflict, and its policy conclusions are important for understanding the prospects for peace and recovery not only in Africa, but also in other 'post-conflict' societies across the world. It also discusses the cross-cutting issues of how economic and political reform interact with conflict resolution and 'post-conflict' reconstruction. This interaction is often neglected by both governments and donors. However, reform and reconstruction cannot be kept separate if conflict is to be halted and poverty reduced.The book is one of the first to undertake a thorough examination of the economic dimensions of recovery from war. It places particular emphasis on designing a recovery in which the poor participate, so that the benefits of reconstruction from war do not just flow to a narrow elite. In highlighting the tensions and opportunities that exist in achieving recovery from war, it contributes not only to the debate on economic policy making in Africa, but also to the design of better reconstruction and reform programmes.


A digital database for submarine glacial landforms and sediments formed in the Arctic during and since the Last Glacial Maximum was created in order to facilitate and underpin new research on palaeo‐ice sheets and tidewater glacier dynamics. The glacimarine database (GlaciDat) documents and standardises evidence of previous glacial activity as visible on the contemporary seafloor of fjords and continental shelves around Svalbard, Greenland, Alaska, northern Russia and north of 66°30′N in Canada and Norway. An extensive literature search was conducted to create GlaciDat, which compiles nearly 60 000 individual submarine landforms, more than 1000 sediment cores and 232 radiocarbon dates. Glacial landforms included are cross‐shelf troughs, trough‐mouth fans, grounding‐zone wedges, lateral moraines, overridden moraines, (mega‐scale) glacial lineations, drumlins, crag‐and‐tails, medial moraines, terminal moraines, debris‐flow lobes (including glacier‐contact fans), recessional moraines, De Geer moraines, crevasse‐fill ridges, eskers, hill‐hole pairs, crescentic scours, and submarine channels. They were digitised as point, line and polygon features alongside a list of their individual characteristics. Sediment core locations are attributed with a description of the sampled lithofacies and sedimentation rates where available. Landforms and sediments have been standardised according to predefined nomenclatures to make the glacial evidence as consistent as possible. Marine radiocarbon dates were included when thought to be relevant for constraining the timing of large‐scale palaeo‐ice dynamics. Outlines of bathymetric data sets, which have previously been used for glacial geomorphological mapping, were also included to give an overview of already investigated research areas. GlaciDat is available for download (https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.937782) and will aid researchers in the reconstruction of past ice dynamics and the interpretation of Arctic glacial landform–sediment assemblages. Moreover, as well as providing a comprehensive bibliography on Arctic glacial geomorphological and sedimentological research, it is intended to serve as a basis for future modelling of Arctic glacier and ice‐sheet dynamics.


The regularities of compaction process of foam polystyrene plastics in the liquid mediums have been discovered. The influence of medium nature, temperature and technological characteristics of foam polystyrene (imaginary density, shredding degree) on the kinetics of gas phase release in the conditions of polystyrene segmental mobility has been determined. The design and method of calculation of the reactor for the process of foam polystyrene degazation via the continuous scheme is offered.


The relationship between psychosocial factors and the occurrence and aggravation of peptic ulcer was studied in elderly people Thirty nine (14 male) ulcer patients and 79 (30 male) elderly people aged 65 years and over and living in the community were tested. Information on health status, medication, lifestyle, and psychosocial status was obtained by means of interviews using a questionnaire and from the clinical records of the ulcer patients. The same questionnaire was distributed to the residents. Logistic regression analysis adjusting for age disclosed that peptic ulcer was significantly associated with having an occupation and low exercise practice in men. However, the relationship weakened below statistical significance after adjusting for some physical risk factors besides age. Low education was significant but low instrumental support fell short of statistical significance with peptic ulcer in women even after adjustment for several physical risk factors besides age. Thus, the specific psychosocial factors might be independently associated with the occurrence and aggravation of peptic ulcer in at least elderly women.


The historical relationship between agricultural education and landscape architecture is often overlooked. Agricultural education in the United States is intimatdy tied to the university land-grant system. Landscape architecture has played a role in this system since its inception. Both Andrew Jackson Downing and Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr., for example, were instrumental in the establishment of land-grant agricultural colleges and landscape architecture. In the 19th century there were many courses in landscape gardening and design being taught in these colleges, but yet, this history is often overlooked. To provide an overview of that history, this paper reviews the evolution of agricultural education in the United States. This includes the establishment of agricultural and horticultural societies, early formal training in the plant sciences and the agricultural arts, and the founding of land-grant colleges. Next, the development of landscape architecture within those land-grant colleges and the people involved with that process is reviewed. Finally, the future of landscape architecture in relationship to agricultural education is discussed.


Primary erythromelalgia is a rare condition that's characterized by erythema, an increased skin temperature and burning pain in the extremities. The pain is often very severe, and treating erythromelalgia is frustrating and difficult. We report here on the case of a 12-year old girl with primary erythromelalgia in both lower extremities. The pain was refractory to medical treatment, but a bilateral sympathetic block with lidocaine and triamcinolone resulted in relief from the pain. Our experience with this disease demonstrates that sympathetic blocks are effective in improving the symptoms and they may be attempted on erythromelalgia patients who do not respond to other treatments, including medication and epidural blocks.


The concept of predictive maintenance using permanent sensors that monitor the integrity of an installation is an interesting addition to the current method of periodic inspections. Guided wave tomography has been developed to map the wall thickness using the travel times of guided waves. The method has been demonstrated for straight pipes. The extension of this method to bends is not straightforward because natural focusing occurs due to geometrical path differences. This yields a phase jump, which complicates travel time picking. Because ray-tracing is no longer sufficient to predict the travel times a recursive wave field extrapolation has been developed. The method uses a short spatial convolution operator to propagate a wave field through a bend. The method allows to calculate the wave field at the detector ring, including the phase jump as a consequence of the natural focusing. The recursive wave field extrapolation is done in the space-frequency domain. Therefore dispersion effects can be included easily in the forward modeling. Comparison with measurements shows the accuracy of the method. The tomographic reconstruction is based on the wave field extrapolation kernel.


Tire–pavement interaction was analyzed with measured three-dimensional (3-D) tire contact stresses at various load levels (35, 44, and 53 kN) and constant tire pressure (720 kPa). The combined effect of moving wheel load and 3-D contact stresses on flexible pavement response was evaluated with a developed 3-D finite element (FE) model, which incorporated the measured 3-D tire contact stresses, hot-mix asphalt (HMA) viscoelasticity, and continuous moving load by using implicit dynamic analysis. In FE modeling, a perpetual pavement design with 254-mm HMA placed on 305-mm lime-modified subgrade was exposed to dual tire loading. The critical pavement responses under two loading conditions (uniform contact stresses and measured 3-D contact stresses) at various load levels were calculated and compared. The 3-D tire contact stresses induced greater pavement stresses and strains at the pavement near surface (shear strains and octahedral shear stresses) and at deeper depths (transverse tensile strains and compressive strains) comparable to the uniform contact stresses; these results suggest that using uniform contact stresses could underestimate pavement damage, especially near-surface cracking potential and shear flow in perpetual pavement. The transverse tangential stresses induce the outward shear flow from the tire center and shear strain concentration at the pavement near surface. Increasing the wheel load mostly increases contact stresses at the tire edge and the corresponding shear strains and octahedral shear stresses. The difference between pavement responses caused by uniform contact stresses and 3-D contact stresses decreases when wheel load increases.


Marburg and Ebola viruses are members of the filovirus family that can be regarded as recently emerged. These viruses have caused sporadic outbreaks of fatal haemorrhagic disease in Africa, Europe and recently in the USA. The case fatality rates rank among the highest ranging from 33-80%. The mode of transmission of these viruses are clearly through close contact with blood and body fluids. Disease outbreaks have been amplified in hospital situations with poor blood precautions. In villages disease has been amplified through contamination with blood and fluids during nursing the sick and burial rituals. The source of the viruses has eluded discovery and new theories regarding the nature of these viruses are being entertained. The threat of new outbreaks in Africa is real since serological evidence of the presence of the virus has been documented in Kenya, Sudan, Zaire, Zimbabwe, Gabon, Cote-d'Ivoire and Gabon.


: Carrot ( Daucus carota L.) and cucumber ( Cucumis sativus L.) are underutilized root vegetable and fruit belonging to the Apiaceae and Cucurbitaceae family, respectively. A comparative study was carried out on proximate composition, amino acid profile and anti–nutritional factors of Daucus carota and Cucumis sativus . The proximate composition values (%) for Daucus carota and Cucumis sativus were found to be as follows: Moisture (5.06 and 4.39), ash (7.75 and 15.26), crude fat (6.09 and 4.83), crude fibre (13.04 and 18.25), crude protein (9.39 and 14.39) and carbohydrate by difference (58.67 and 42.90). The calculated fatty acids and metabolizable energy values were 4.87 and 3.86%; 1382.35 and 1152.64 kJ 100/g, respectively. The amino acid profiles revealed that Daucus carota and Cucumis sativus contained nutritionally useful quantities of most of the essential amino acids. The total amino acid (TAA), total essential amino acid (TEAA) (with His), total sulphur amino acid (TSAA) and essential aromatic amino acid (EArAA) for the Daucus carota and Cucumis sativus samples were 82.36 and 64.14; 22.93 and 30.11; 1.26 and 1.71; 2.13 and 2.66, respectively. However, supplementation of essential amino acids is required in a dietary formula based on the flour samples of Daucus carota and Cucumis sativus when comparing the EAAs in this report with the recommended FAO/WHO provisional pattern. The first limiting EAA in both samples was Met and Cys (TSAA). The antinutrient contents of Daucus carota and Cucumis sativus were also found to be as follows: Oxalate (241.67 and 142.45 mg/100 g), saponin (0.22 and 0.91%), alkaloids (2.85 and 2.23%), tannins (329.03 and 254.45 mg/100 g), cyanide (4.01 and 3.03 mg/100 g) and phytate (616.41 and 349.62 mg/100 g). These antinutritional factors have been shown to be deleterious to health or evidently advantageous to human and animal health if consumed at appropriate amounts.


Chryseobacterium indologenes and Enterococcus faecalis were isolated from activated sludge of textile wastewater treatment plant. These bacteria had the ability to decolorize several azo-dyes. Degradation of azo dyes was initiated by decolorization (reduction of azo bond) which occurred in anaerobic condition. In this study, we focussed on biodegradation of Orange II by pure culture of C. indologenes ID6016 and E. faecalis ID6017, and to determine the metabolite products of Orange II degradation. The degradation of Orange II by both bacteria was carried out in batch experiments using liquid medium containing 80 mg/l Orange II, under sequential static agitated incubation. During the bacterial growth under static incubation (6 h), 66.1 mg/l Orange II were decolorized by 35.54 mg/l biomass of E. faecalis ID6017, but no decolorization found with C. indologenes ID6016. Based on HPLC results, the decolorized Orange II products were identified as sulfanilic acid and amino-naphthol. These metabolites were probably used or degraded by C. indologenes ID6016 under agitated incubation.


With view to applications, we here give an explicit correspondence between the following two: (i) the set of symmetric and positive measures $\rho$ on one hand, and (ii) a certain family of generalized Markov transition measures $P$, with their associated Markov random walk models, on the other. By a generalized Markov transition measure we mean a measurable and measure-valued function $P$ on $(V, \mathcal B)$, such that for every $x \in V , P(x; \cdot)$ is a probability measure on $(V, \mathcal B$). Hence, with the use of our correspondence (i) - (ii), we study generalized Markov transitions $P$ and path-space dynamics. Given $P$, we introduce an associated operator, also denoted by $P$ , and we analyze its spectral theoretic properties with reference to a system of precise $L^2$ spaces.
Our setting is more general than that of earlier treatments of reversible Markov processes. In a potential theoretic analysis of our processes, we introduce and study an associated energy Hilbert space $\mathcal H_E$, not directly linked to the initial $L^2$-spaces. Its properties are subtle, and our applications include a study of the $P$-harmonic functions. They may be in $\mathcal H_E$, called finite-energy harmonic functions. A second reason for $\mathcal H_E$ is that it plays a key role in our introduction of a generalized Greens function. (The latter stands in relation to our present measure theoretic Laplace operator in a way that parallels more traditional settings of Greens functions from classical potential theory.) A third reason for $\mathcal H_E$ is its use in our analysis of path-space dynamics for generalized Markov transition systems.


A plasma display screen comprising a carrier plate, a transparent front plate, a ribbed structure of a number of essentially parallel, zigzaggedly configurated separating ribs composed of first essentially parallel segments arranged at a first distance from each other, and of second essentially parallel segments arranged at a second distance from each other that is larger than the first distance, and of third segments interconnecting the first and the second segments, and comprising a phosphor coating between the separating ribs, a number of elongated address electrodes arranged on the carrier plate substantially parallel to the orientation of the separating ribs, and a plurality of elongated discharge electrodes with transparent strip electrodes and bus electrodes, which are arranged on the front plate essentially orthogonally to the orientation of the separating ribs, said bus electrodes alternately comprising segments which are arranged parallel to the third segments of the separating ribs and segments arranged transversely to the first segments of the separating ribs.


Many attempts to explain extrasensory perception have focussed on the phenomenon of precognition, which may be defined as the supposed ability to obtain cognitive information about a future event that could not otherwise be anticipated through any known inferential process. Precognition is often considered more problematical than real-time ESP, because it requires that information somehow has to be transferred backwards in time. Nonetheless, there is considerable evidence for its occurrence. A meta-analysis published by Honorton and Ferrari (1989) covers all the forced-choice precognition experiments carried out from 1935-1987. The data base includes 309 series of experiments with over 50,000 participants and a total of nearly 2 million trials. A small but reliable effect was found (effect size r = .01, Stouffer Z = 6.02, p = 1.1 x [10.sup.9]). A more recent meta-analysis (Storm, Tressoldi, & Di Risio, 2013) included a further 33 precognition studies carried out from 1987-2010. A comparison of these meta-analyses shows no decrease in effect size over the entire survey period, during which the research quality improved considerably. It suggests that the early results could not have been artifacts of poor design. Because the targets used in the experiments were not selected until after the participants had made their guesses, the results give outstanding evidence for contacts with something in the future. However, the experiments do not tell us with what the contact is made. Is it direct contact with the inanimate target object or someone else's mental impression of that target? This is the alternative currently preferred by the majority of parapsychologists. Or is the contact with the participant's own future knowledge of the target, knowledge obtained when the participant receives feedback of the target information? This is the alternative I am proposing. Existing theories have already been reviewed (e.g., Carr, 2008; Rush, 1986; Stokes, 2007) and need not be further discussed here. However, several of the theories invoke the influence of a nonphysical consciousness, an interpretation which a majority of mainstream scientists would reject. The present theory adopts the materialist view in which conscious awareness is considered to occur only as an epiphenomenon of the neural processes involved. The theory explains precognition as information transfer from the brain in the future to the same brain in the present. The theory is based on the block universe model and on David Bohm's theory of the implicate order. It suggests that if similar structures are created at different places and different times, the structures may be said to "resonate," with a tendency to become more closely similar to one another. The principles are applied to the neuronal spatiotemporal patterns that are activated in the brain, to show how information transfer could be produced. For example, a pre-cognition would occur if the pattern activated at the time of the future experience of an event resonates with any similar pattern that is (spontaneously) activated in the present. This could enable the level of activation of the present pattern to build up to the threshold at which it produces the conscious awareness of an event similar to the event that will be experienced in the future. Thus, precognition is explained as a connection with the percipient's own brain in the future (a link with his or her future experience of the event), and telepathy might similarly be explained as a link with the brain of another person. This simplifies the concept of ESP considerably, because it eliminates the need for direct "clairvoyant" contact with the event itself. Furthermore, the theory explains the results of micro-PK experiments in terms of precognition, so that the theory may be considered to offer an explanation for most classes of psi phenomena. The present paper clarifies several of the issues raised in my earlier paper (Taylor, 2007), in which I attempted to show that retrieval from the past (ordinary memory) and retrieval from the future (precognition) may occur in much the same way. …


Two termite functional classifications (Abe's lifetypes and Donovan's feeding groups) are evaluated, and then synthesized to make a single unified 'lifeway' matrix classification with eight categories. The systematics and biogeography of the lifeway groups are outlined. The lifeways are then tested against other relevant data on termite ecology (stable isotopes, molecular probes, survey data) to show that they consistently reflect real distinctions in termite biology. The advantages and disadvantages of each lifeway are discussed in the context of energy availability, nitrogen balance, foraging and nest-building energetics, and biogeographical dispersal ability. Finally, an ecological evolutionary scheme is outlined for the global ecology of termites using the lifeway classification as a framework.


ACUTE oliguric renal failure complicating acute pancreatitis is rare and many standard texts fail to mention it. Russell Taylor (1949) found it only once in 110 such patients, and in 163 examined post mortem Blumenthal and Probstein (1959) found only one case where a lower nephron nephrosis seemed to be related to postoperative haemorrhage and shock, although albuminuria without evidence of further renal damage is not infrequent in acute pancreatitis (Siler and Wulsin, 1951). However, Balslov, Jorgensen and Nielsen described thirteen examples of renal failure in 1962 and reviewed 27 others from the world literature. The aetiology is not well understood, but causes such as shock (Beisel, Herndon, Myers and Stones, 1959), dehydration (Ducrot and Slama, 1960), anoxia (Beisel and others, 1959), bouts of fever (Edlund, 1950), fat emboli in glomerular capillary tufts (Lynch, 1954) and thrombi in renal vessels (Ducrot and Slama, 1960) have been suggested. Ducrot and Slama (1960) found acute pancreatitis as the cause of renal failure in seven of 400 patients with acute renal failure and Balslov and others (1962) found thirteen in their series of 300. Among 30 patients with acute pancreatitis admitted to the hospital over the past ten years none had acute renal failure. Four recent examples are described here who developed renal failure in the absence of any of the known causative factors mentioned above, and which was not recognized in two instances until late in the course of the patients' illness. The nature of the renal lesion is discussed.


Objective of our study was to determine the effectiveness of hysteroscopic surgery in the treatment of menorrhagia associated with uterine myomas. 25 women with clinical and ultrasonographic diagnosis of intramural or submucous myomas were treated for menorrhagia by hysteroscopic surgery: 9 by resection and 16 by resection and endometrial ablation. In both groups there was a significant decrease of dysmenorrhea. The mean number of pads used during the heaviest day of menses decreased significantly from 19.5 to 7.4 in women undergoing resection only, and from 20.8 to 2.9 in women treated by resection and endometrial ablation. 2 women of 9 became amenorrheic and no one underwent hysterectomy. 12 of 16 became amenorrheic and 2 underwent hysterectomy. Our study show that menorrhagia can be treated by hysteroscopic surgery of uterine myomas in some selected women.


Starting from the agent-based decentralized matching macroeconomic model proposed in Riccetti et al. (2012), we explore the effects of banking regulation on macroeconomic dynamics. In particular, we study the overall credit exposure and the lending concentration towards a single counterparty, finding that the portfolio composition seems to be more relevant than the overall exposure for banking stability, even if both features are very important. We show that a too tight regulation is dangerous because it reduces credit availability. Instead, on one hand, too loose constraints could help banks to make money and to increase their net worth, thus making the constraints not binding. However, on the other hand, if bank profits are tied to higher payout ratio (as it really happened along the deregulation phase of the last 20 years), then the financial fragility increases causing a weaker economic environment (e.g., higher mean unemployment rate), a more volatile business cycle, and a higher probability of triggering financial crises. Accordingly, simulation results support the introduction of the Capital Conservation Buffer (Basel 3 reform).


Reuse is a fundamental activity in software development lifecycle, which can be employed at any stage of development. Reuse of software artefacts, such as requirements, architectures, models, test cases among others, improves software quality and productivity. Because of its higher level of abstraction, requirements reuse (RR) is recognized as reuse approach that can provide more benefits in software development. A number of RR approaches are reported in the literature. These include domain-specific, pattern-based, ontology-based and general approaches. However, these approaches lack a strategy that could incorporate some key aspects of reuse, which are, reusable structure, variability modeling (VM) and traceability of software artefacts. In line with this, we make our contribution in this paper by (1) presenting the concepts and importance of software requirements patterns (SRP) and meta model for the enhancement of RR, (2) proposing a meta modeling strategy based on software product line engineering (SPLE), which comprises SRP, VM and traceability. We believe our proposal is novel and can support developers in SPL and model-driven engineering (MDE) benefit more from reuse in the course of software developments.


The reactions of iron(II) complexes [Fe(T(pt-Bu,i-Pr))(OH)] (1a, Tp(t-Bu,i-Pr) = hydrotris(3-tert-butyl-5-isopropyl-1-pyrazolyl)borate), [Fe(6-Me2BPMCN)(OTf)2] (1b, 6-Me2BPMCN = N,N'-bis((2-methylpyridin-6-yl)methyl)-N,N'-dimethyl-trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexane), and [Fe(L8Py2)(OTf)](OTf) (1c, L8Py2 = 1,5-bis(pyridin-2-ylmethyl)-1,5-diazacyclooctane) with tert-BuOOH give rise to high-spin FeIII-OOR complexes. X-ray absorption spectra (XAS) of these high-spin species show characteristic features, distinct from those of low-spin Fe-OOR complexes (Rohde, J.-U.; et al. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2004, 126, 16750-16761). These include (1) an intense 1s --> 3d preedge feature, with an area around 20 units, (2) an edge energy, ranging from 7122 to 7126 eV, that is affected by the coordination environment, and (3) a 1.86-1.96 A Fe-OOR bond, compared to the 1.78 A Fe-OOR bond in low-spin complexes. These unique features likely arise from a flexible first coordination sphere in those complexes. The difference in Fe-OOR bond length may rationalize differences in reactivity between low-spin and high-spin FeIII-OOR species.


Gestational surrogacy presents a unique form of parenthood: that which is biological but not genetic. This new form of parenthood demands a re-examination of the rights and duties that arise from the parent–child relationship. This article is concerned with the surrogate-born person's right to know his or her gestational surrogate, an aspect of the right to identity. The springboard for this analysis is draft legislation in Ireland that proposes the creation of a legal right to trace one's gestational surrogate. The purpose of this article is to interrogate the normative underpinnings of the legal right to know one's gestational surrogate, exploring whether instrumental or deontological/rights-based justifications provide a better theoretical basis for the creation of a legal right. The article begins by exploring the link between the gestational relationship and identity formation, drawing on current scholarship on the metaphysics and physiology of pregnancy. It goes on to consider instrumental justifications for the creation of a legal right to know one's surrogate, but argues that deontological or rights-based justifications provide the more compelling basis for creation of the legal right. The article concludes that this applies to all legal regimes that would seek to establish a legal right to know one's surrogate, and is especially apt in the case of the draft Irish legislation, due to the requirement of mandatory disclosure.


In the present study, a novel series of N-[4-(2-piperidine-1-yl-ethoxy) phenyl]acetamides were synthesized from 4-aminophenol and characterised by IR, 1 H-NMR, Mass spectral studies and elemental analysis. The antimicrobial potency of compounds is tested against variety of fungal and bacterial strains by disc agar diffusion technique. in comparison to to fluconazole and chloramphenicol respectively. Some of the synthesized compounds exhibit the potency comparable to that of standard drugs.


The five naturally occurring and one transplanted caribou (Rangifer tarandus granti) herd in southwestern Alaska composed about 20% of Alaska's caribou population in 2001. All five of the naturally occurring herds fluctuated considerably in size between the late 1800s and 2001 and for some herds the data provide an indication of long-term periodic (40-50 year) fluctuations. At the present time, the Unimak (UCH) and Southern Alaska Peninsula (SAP) are recovering from population declines, the Northern Alaska Peninsula Herd (NAP) appears to be nearing the end of a protracted decline, and the Mulchatna Herd (MCH) appears to now be declining after 20 years of rapid growth. The remaining naturally occurring herd (Kilbuck) has virtually disappeared. Nutrition had a significant effect on the size of 4-month-old and 10-month-old calves in the NAP and the Nushagak Peninsula Herd (NPCH) and probably also on population growth in at least 4 (SAP, NAP, NPCH, and MCH) of the six caribou herds in southwestern Alaska. Predation does not appear to be sufficient to keep caribou herds in southwestern Alaska from expanding, probably because rabies is endemic in red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and is periodically transferred to wolves (Canis lupus) and other canids. However, we found evidence that pneumonia and hoof rot may result in significant mortality of caribou in southwestern Alaska, whereas there is no evidence that disease is important in the dynamics of Interior herds. Cooperative conservation programs, such as the Kilbuck Caribou Management Plan, can be successful in restraining traditional harvest and promoting growth in caribou herds. In southwestern Alaska we also found evidence that small caribou herds can be swamped and assimilated by large herds, and fidelity to traditional calving areas can be lost.


efficiency of this method when compared to speech acquisi-. In hands-free speech recognition the speaker should be able to move freely in front of the speech acquisiti'on device. However, the speech signal is then submitted to variations due to the continuous change of position in the acoustic space. This paper focuses on the role of speaker head rotations as compared with static situations in anechoic conditions. The effect of speaker directivity in speech recognition performance degradation is demonstrated and a compensation method based on HMM composition is proposed to increase the performance.


The adaptive control issue of a class of linear time-varying plants with uniformly bounded but piecewise Lipschitz continuous parameters is considered. A pole-placement control strategy which allows the plant to be with fast varying parameters is employed, under the condition of the number of discontinuities of the plant parameters being small on average. For the case where plant parameters are partially unknown, an indirect adaptive control scheme is developed by combining the controller with an estimator with projection and normalisation. In addition, it is shown theoretically that the closed-loop system is stable in the bounded-input bounded-output sense. A simulation example is also given to show the applicability of the control scheme.


Abstract. Despite the important role of planktonic foraminifera in regulating the
ocean carbonate production and their unrivalled value in reconstructing
paleoenvironments, our knowledge on their ecology is limited. A variety of
observational techniques such as plankton tows, sediment traps and
experiments have contributed to our understanding of foraminifera ecology.
But, fundamental questions around costs and benefits of calcification and
the effect of nutrients, temperature and ecosystem structure on these
organisms remain unanswered. To tackle these questions, we take a novel
mechanistic approach to study planktonic foraminifera ecology based on trait
theory. We develop a zero-dimensional (0-D) trait-based model to account for the biomass of
prolocular (20 µm) and adult (160 µm) stages of non-spinose
foraminifera species and investigate their potential interactions with
phytoplankton and other zooplankton under different temperature and nutrient
regimes. Building on the costs and benefits of calcification, we model two
ecosystem structures to explore the effect of resource competition and
temperature on planktonic foraminifera biomass. By constraining the model
results with ocean biomass estimations of planktonic foraminifera, we
estimate that the energetic cost of calcification could be about 10 %–50 %
and 10 %–40 % for prolocular and adult stages respectively. Our result
suggest that the shell provides protection against processes other than
predation (e.g. pathogen invasion). We propose that the low standing biomass
of planktonic foraminifera plays a key role in their survival from
predation, along with their shell protection. Our model suggests a shift
from temperature as a main regulator of foraminifera biomass in the early
developmental stage to resource competition for adult biomass.


Introduction Radiation proctitis is a late effect of pelvic radiotherapy – which is commonly used to treat prostate cancer and female pelvic malignancy – and causes rectal bleeding, anaemia, diarrhoea and incontinence. Rectal bleeding post radiotherapy causes worry about bowel cancer and symptoms can force patients to become house bound with increased anxiety. Topical therapy with formaldehyde and argon plasma coagulation (APC) is time consuming and formaldehyde can damage healthy tissue (Andreyev HJN et al 2015). Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) can be used to treat large areas of neovascularisation (Zhou et. al. 2009). We treated a large cohort with symptomatic rectal bleeding to evaluate if ablative endotherapy is effective in treating anaemia in radiation induced proctitis. Methods A retrospective review of 37 consecutive male patients treated for rectal bleeding from radiation proctitis were identified; their haemoglobin before and after therapy was used. Those who were anaemic (Hb <130 g/dl) were further analysed to see if haemoglobin improved after endotherapy. Endoscopic therapy was delivered with either APC (ERBE) or RFA (HALO, Medtronic). Large areas were treated with RFA and smaller areas with APC. RFA probes are much more expensive than APC probes. Endoscopic therapy was repeated on an outpatient basis at 3–4 monthly intervals until all vessels were ablated or the patient was asymptomatic. Results Small areas were treated with APC, RFA was used for APC treatment failure, heavy bleeding requiring transfusion iron therapy, or intolerable bleeding. 37 patient's results showed an average increase in haemoglobin by 20.9 g/dL, a rise of 17.58%. Sub-group analysis looked 23 who were anaemic before the start of therapy and after treatment (Hb <130 g/dL), mean follow up was 8.97±1.5 months (range 1–38). No side effects were noted. No clinically significant stricturing was experienced.Abstract PTH-050 Table 1 Overall Mean Hb (n=37) (g/dL) Anaemic Mean Hb (n=23) (g/dL) Mean Prior Hb±S.E.M. 118.9±4.16 104.1±3.99 Mean End Hb±S.E.M. 139.8±2.55 135.4±3.32 Difference±S.E.M. 20.9±4.88 31.3±5.19 P Value <0.0001 <0.0001 % Rise 17.58% 30% Discussion Endoscopic ablative therapy increases haemoglobin in patients with radiotherapy induced neovascularisation. Improvement is most marked in those who are anaemic with a 30% increase in haemoglobin. Reversing anaemia removes the need for ongoing iron therapy or blood transfusions, as well as increasing patient's wellbeing. Reducing or stopping bleeding as evidenced with a sustained reversal of anaemia, will increase quality of life. We have used a pragmatic approach of combining RFA and APC to maximise treatment area and limiting therapy costs. There were no long term complications, although patients may experience a slight increase in bleeding in the initial 24–48 hours post-therapy. Treatment seems to be enduring with the reversal of anaemia being maintained for a mean of 8.97 months and up to 38 months.


Estrogen 2- and 4-hydroxylase (ESH), a microsomal enzyme which mediates the formation of catechol estrogens, has been studied in the kidneys of castrated male Syrian hamsters, a species uniquely susceptible to induction of renal carcinomas by both steroidal and stilbene estrogens. The apparent Km for estrone was 17.0 microM, and Vmax was 0.5 pmol per mg protein per min for ESH in renal microsomes derived from castrated hamsters. Different steroidal estrogen substrates exhibited decreasing catechol formation with hamster kidney microsomal preparations in the following order: estrone greater than d-equilenin greater than 17 beta-estradiol greater than equilin greater than ethynyl estradiol greater than estriol. Except for beta-dienestrol, the stilbene estrogens revealed levels of catechol formation that were similar to 17 beta-estradiol. These findings provide a rationale for the weak carcinogenic activity of ethynyl estradiol, estriol, and beta-dienestrol, since they were poor substrates for hamster renal ESH and for the relatively potent carcinogenic activity of the distal metabolite of diethylstilbestrol, indenestrol B/A, which exhibited substantial levels of o-hydroxylation when used as a substrate. Interestingly, ESH activity was significantly greater in the hamster kidney compared to corresponding rat tissue, and catechol estrogen formation was found to be 2.5- to 19-fold higher in the hamster kidney compared to the rat, using various steroidal and stilbene estrogen substrates. Moreover, the finding that a 3.5- to nearly 6-fold decrease, compared to untreated levels, in catechol formation in kidneys but not in livers of alpha-naphthoflavone-exposed hamsters, depending on the steroidal or stilbene estrogen substrate used, is consistent with the belief that the catechol estrogen pathway is pertinent to events leading to estrogen-induced renal tumorigenesis in the hamster.


Results and clinical outcome of a prospective multicenter clinical study involving 100 patients under-going a lumbar interbody fusion procedure using an unilateral approach to the spine to introduce a new surgical technique as a viable and less invasive alternative to standard posterior (PLIF) or transforaminal (TLIF) lumbar interbody fusion techniques : For certain indications clinical data show that unilateral lumbar interbody fusion (ULIF) offers the surgeon a considerable time advantage compared to standard lumbar interbody fusion techniques.


American Sign Language is used by the deaf-mute community in expressing their thoughts. Many applications have been developed to assist the deaf-mute person, but most of the application integrates on computer or in desktop. These leads to create a mobile application that will recognize hand pose into text. American Sign Language Alphabet Translator Android Application: Hand Shapes into Text is a mobile application that translates American Sign Language Alphabet into text. These applications translate the ASL alphabet to a person who is not capable in understanding the language of a deaf-mute person. The application used the process of hand segmentation and feature extraction to get information needed to extract the hand and data set that used to match the hand pose to display the equivalent letters. The study is successful in recognizing most of the alphabet hand shape as long as it is well detected.


Autonomic networking is an emerging approach for the research community to engineer systems and architectures that will increase the quality of service (QoS) and robustness of future network architectures. In this article, we investigate the key concept of adding a knowledge plane to enable the automated control and management of home resources taking into account wireless mesh topology basis. This new supplementary plane helps to make an intelligent decision to select network paths that have sufficient resources to satisfy the QoS requirements of the admitted connections.


The main objective of the project was to adapt and validate the Gembloux Dynamic Greenhouse Climate Model for the prediction and control of the microclimate of an operational greenhouse in Zimbabwe. The use of modelling as a microclimate control strategy is aimed at achieving optimal climate control through the provision of a more affordable alternative. Measurements of climate variables were taken in a central position within as well as outside a commercial rose greenhouse at Floraline Pvt. Ltd over the period November 2004 to February 2005. The first stage of the project involved assessing the homogeneity of the greenhouse air by comparing temperature and humidity measurements taken at five positions within the greenhouse structure. It was found that the greenhouse air was not homogeneous and the placement of air temperature and humidity sensors in the greenhouse was important for correct decision making. The model performance was analyzed by comparing the measured climate variables (air temperature and humidity) inside the greenhouse with those from the simulation using the Gembloux Dynamic Greenhouse Climate Model. This was done for two data sets, 3 to 11 November 2004 and 25 November 2004 to 01 December 2004; these were used as the calibration and validation periods respectively. In the study, both the direct and diffuse solar radiation had to be simulated as only the global radiation was measured whilst the stomatal resistance values used for the transpiration sub-model were 1800 s m-1 (maximum) and 200 s m-1(minimum).

Overall, the model underestimated the air temperature by up to 6 °C whilst the humidity was overestimated by up to 60 %. The root mean square errors (RMSE) for the calibration period were in the range 1.0 - 2.0 °C (daytime) and 0.2 - 0.8 °C (nighttime) for the air temperature. The vapour pressure had RMSE in the range 0.6 - 1.0 kPa (daytime) and 0.1 - 0.2 kPa (nighttime). The model deviated more from the actual measurements during the daytime because of increased temperature and vapour pressure differences between the inside and outside of the greenhouse. The differences between the simulated and measured air temperature was attributed to their volumetric heat capacities, arising from those of pressure (1013 hPa and 850 hPa respectively). There was a notable improvement in the nighttime simulation of the air temperature and vapour pressure during the validation period. The differences between the calibration and validation periods indicated errors in the simulation programme that were not picked up during the runs. Based on the air temperature results, the model has shown its potential for use in greenhouse microclimate prediction in Zimbabwe. The high correlation (r2=0.96) between the simulated and measured air temperature shows that the model has the potential for use in decision making. The model can be reliably used to determine the weekly greenhouse air temperatures because of the observed maximum difference of 2 °C between the simulation and actual measurements. However the model cannot be implemented without further calibration of the model parameters to improve the simulation of humidity, which was significantly different from the actual measurements. Humidity is an important variable in


Eighteen bacterial strains were isolated from Sea water collected from different sites of Red Sea, Egypt. They were screened for antagonistic activity against many bacterial pathogens. The most active antimicrobial producer (R6) which isolated from Safaga middle was identified as Bacillus badius strain AAUM using 16S rRNA phylogenetic analysis. The most control variables were selected from Plackett–Burman (PB) factorial design for the production of antimicrobial agent from Bacillus badius strain AAUM. It achieved 1.56-fold fold increase (against S. aureus) when grown in medium composed of g/l: peptone, 2.5; yeast extract, 5.0; sea water, 25ml; size of inoculum (3ml/50ml), adjusted to pH 9 and incubation period 20 hrs at 45oC. Immobilization using entrapment and adsorption techniques were applied to improve the productivity of cells. B. badius strain AAUM adsorbed on polyurethane foam realized 1.4-fold increase than the free cells. Reused of the adsorbed culture caused an increase of antimicrobial agent production by 1.14-fold than the free cells. The predicted crude antimicrobial spectra suggested that the B. badius strain AAUM can produce important and novel antimicrobial drugs.


Mozambique has announced that family planning is to be included in the maternal and child health system now being set up in the country. Explaining the move, Dr. Teresa Araujo, head of family planning in the Ministry of Health, stressed that government policy was to reduce maternal and infant deaths and disease, not to reduce births. Indeed, President Machel has said that Mozambique, with a present population of 10.3 million for an area the size of France and Britain combined, will face a labor shortage in 20 years' time: "The country will need, and be able to sustain, an increasing population". Some 750 nurse-midwives are to be trained to provide ante- and postnatal care, family planning, and care for children up to 5 years, as well as education on health and nutrition. But it is estimated that by 1984, when the 1st of the new mother and infant clinics opens, only 45,000 women will be using family planning - less than 1/10 of the 550,000 women who become pregnant every year. Although family planning will be available free to any woman who asks for it, it will be actively promoted only to women "at risk". Continued division within Frelimo on the issue means however that there has been no public discussion of family planning. The new family planning programme, which is to be funded with a $4 million grant from the UN Fund for Population Activities, will concentrate on IUDs and the pill, but Depo-Provera is to be used experimentally. Sterilization will be available to women over 35, usually only with permission from their husbands. Abortion remains illegal, except on health grounds. (Full text


For the 30 years from 1950 through 1979, the population of Rochester, Minnesota, averaged 45,800, resulting in almost 1.4 million person-years of observation. During that time, 11 cases of pheochromocytoma were diagnosed in this population; thus, the average annual incidence rate was 0.8 per 100,000 person-years. With the inclusion of two additional diagnosed familial cases, the incidence rate would be 0.95 per 100,000 person-years. Five of the 11 cases were diagnosed initially at autopsy.


Animal development requires coordination among cyclic processes, sequential cell fate specifications, and once-a-lifetime morphogenic events, but the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. C. elegans undergo four molts at regular 8–10 h intervals. The pace of the cycle is governed by PERIOD/lin-42 and other as-yet unknown factors. Cessation of the cycle in young adults is controlled by the let-7 family of microRNAs and downstream transcription factors in the heterochronic pathway. Here, we characterize a negative feedback loop between NHR-23, the worm homolog of mammalian retinoid-related orphan receptors (RORs), and the let-7 family of microRNAs that regulates both the frequency and finite number of molts. The molting cycle is decelerated in nhr-23 knockdowns, accelerated in let-7(-) mutants, and similar to wild type animals in let-7(-) nhr-23(-) double mutants. NHR-23 binds response elements (ROREs) in the let-7 promoter and activates transcription. In turn, let-7 dampens nhr-23 expression across development via a complementary let-7 binding site (LCS) in the nhr-23 3′ UTR. The molecular interactions between NHR-23 and let-7 hold true for other let-7 family microRNAs. Either derepression of nhr-23 transcripts by LCS deletion or high gene dosage of nhr-23 leads to protracted behavioral quiescence and extra molts in adults. NHR-23 and let-7 also co-regulate scores of genes required for execution of the molts, including lin-42. In addition, ROREs and LCSs isolated from mammalian ROR and let-7 genes function in C. elegans, suggesting conservation of this feedback mechanism. We propose that this feedback loop unites the molting timer and the heterochronic gene regulatory network possibly by functioning as a cycle counter.


The role of posture in vocal performance is recognized for many years. Speech therapists and singing teachers use this knowledge to correct bad postures to improve vocal quality with good results, although most of that knowledge is empirical.
This review evaluates the influence of posture and balance on voice.
Modification in posture secondary to exogenous stimulation can affect voice, while alterations to the voice production mechanism can cause modifications in posture.
Vocal effort results in segmental alterations of posture, accompanied by global postural changes. Dysphonic individuals demonstrate a greater displacement of the centre of gravity forward, which results in postural instability, increasing muscular work to maintain the posture and balance. After vocal rehabilitation, dysphonic patients presented an improvement in posture parameters in static and dynamic posturography.
Posturography evaluation of patients before and after vocal treatment may represent a clinically useful variable in evaluating the efficacy of vocal therapy.


Background : In a setting with high HIV prevalence and high fertility rates, addressing fertility issues of People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) is crucial. However, understanding of the factors associated with fertility decisions of PLWHA in Ethiopia is remarkably low. Objective : The study was conducted to assess factors associated with fertility decisions of PLWHA in South Wollo Zone, Northeast Ethiopia. Methods : The study was conducted from February 1 to March 30, 2008 using cross-sectional design. Quantitative data were collected from a sample of 458 men and 458 women using structured questionnaire. Qualitative data were also collected from six health care providers. Logistic regression was used to analyze the quantitative data. Results : The study showed that 18.3% of currently married PLWHA have decided to have a child. The factors found to be independently associated with current decision to have a child were higher family income [OR (95% CI) = 2.29 (1.23, 4.26)], partner's decision to have a child [OR (95% CI) = 36.4 (17.0, 77.5)], having knowledge on PMTCT [OR (95% CI) = 2.26 (1.44, 3.54)] and having partner with negative HIV test result [OR (95% CI) = 0.408 (0.219, 0.759)]. During in-depth interview the health care providers indicated the fertility related counseling service to be low. Conclusion : In spite of the fact that significant proportion of married PLWHA had decided to have a child, the fertility related counseling service is low. Improving fertility related counseling services to enable clients make informed fertility decision is mandatory. The factors identified to be associated with fertility decision could be of major importance and as such should be investigated further.


This article discusses the comparison between two methods developed for estimating a local heat transfer coefficient in two-dimensional cooled cylinders. The estimation procedure in based on the solution of an inverse heat conduction problem using temperature measurements taken inside the cylinder. The first method uses an analytical solution (integral transform) of the inverse problem under investigation. The second method uses the conjugate gradient method with the adjoint state equation approach to solve the same problem. The two methods were compared by considering several numerical examples involving test cases without and with measured errors. Finally, the two methods are compared using experimental data obtained in our laboratory. The presented results shows that the two methods give approximately the same results. However the implementation seems easier for the analytical method.


Background: The prevalence of obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS) in patients with schizophrenia is relatively high. Antipsychotics have been found to influence OCS. Objective: To determine whether induction or severity of OCS differs during treatment with olanzapine or risperidone in young patients with early psychosis. Methods: One hundred twenty-two patients with a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fourth Edition diagnosis of schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or schizophreniform disorder were randomized in a double-blind design to groups of 6 weeks' treatment with olanzapine (n = 59) or risperidone (n = 63), with a mean dose of 11.3 mg olanzapine and 3.0 mg risperidone at 6 weeks. Primary outcome measures were the mean baseline-to-endpoint change in total score on the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS). Results: Treatment with olanzapine was associated with greater decreases in Y-BOCS total score than treatment with risperidone in total group (N = 122: -2.2 vs -0.3, z = -2.651, P < 0.01), in patients with baseline Y-BOCS total score greater than 0 (n = 58: -5.1 vs -0.4, z = -2.717, P < 0.01), and in patients with baseline Y-BOCS total score greater than 10 (n = 29: -7.1 vs -0.6, z = -2.138, P = 0.032). Conclusions: In this randomized, 6-week, double-blind trial, we found a significant and clinically relevant difference in decrease in Y-BOCS scores favoring olanzapine compared with risperidone.


Sea
surface temperature (SST) has significant influence in the hydrological cycle
and affects the discharge in the stream. SST is an atmospheric circulation
indicator which provides the predictive information about the hydrologic
variability in the region around the world. Use of right location of SST for a
given location of stream gage can capture the effect of oceanic-atmospheric
interaction, improving the predictive ability of the model. This study aims on
identifying the best locations of SST at the selected stream gage in the state
of Utah that spatially covers the state from south to north, and use them for
next six-month streamflow volume predictions. The data-driven model derived
from the statistical learning theory was used in this study. Using an
appropriate location of SST together with local climatic conditions and state
of basin, an accurate and reliable streamflow was predicted for next six
months. Influence of Pacific Ocean SST was observed to be stronger than that of
Atlantic Ocean SST in the state of Utah. The SST of North Pacific developed the
best model in most of the selected stream gages. Each model was ensured to be
robust by the bootstrap analysis. The long-term streamflow prediction is
important for water resource planning and management in the river basin scale
and is a key step for successful water resource management in arid regions.


Informational and partisan theories of legislative organization predict that most committees will be representative of their parent chamber and most committee delegations representative of their parent caucus. Unfortunately, despite the universalistic claims of these theories, the preponderance of evidence comes from only one chamber of one legislature: the U. S. House of Representatives. If informational and partisan theories are generalizable beyond the Congress, outlying committees should be rare in state legislatures as well as in the House of Representatives. We use a variety of measures of member preferences (e.g., roll call measures, surveys, constituency characteristics) and simple difference of means tests to explore the generalizability of these theories by examining the prevalence of committee outliers in the lower houses of a sample of 12 states. Consistent with expectations, outlying committees are rare in the state legislatures we sample, especially among important control committees. This provides evidence that informational and partisan models of legislative organization are applicable beyond the U. S. Congress.


A coax-feed dual-polarised patch antenna with low cross-polarisation and high port isolation is presented. The proposed antenna contains two pairs of narrow slots along the diagonals and two pairs of T-shaped slots along the centrelines, which change the path of the current and keep the cross-polarisation under -38-dB. By introducing two short pins, the isolation between the two ports remains more than 40-dB in the whole bandwidth. Moreover, the proposed antenna achieving a 10-dB return loss bandwidth of 2.15-2.72-GHz has a compact structure, thus making it easy to be extended to form an array, which can be used as the base station antenna for WiMAX applications.


Dry sliding tests with electric current were carried out on a pin-on-disc system tribometer in this study, where copper-base powder metallurgy material and copper alloy QCr0.5 were used as the pin and the disc respectively. The researches were aimed at exploring relation between tribological properties and current stability of the couple under different loads. The results indicate that the current stability and friction coefficient increases with current and load. Moreover, co-effect between the current stability and tribological behavior has been found, which behaves in the way that the higher the current stability, the higher dynamic current collection capability and tribological properties.


BACKGROUND
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in late 2019, its far-reaching impacts have been globally witnessed across all aspects of human life, such as health, economy, politics and education. Such widely penetrating impacts cast significant and profound burdens on all population groups, incurring varied concerns and sentiments among them.

OBJECTIVE
This study aims to discern the concerns, sentiments and disparities of various population groups during the COVID-19 pandemic through a cross-sectional study conducted via large-scale Twitter mining.

METHODS
The study conducted in this work consists of three steps: first, tweets posted during the pandemic are collected and preprocessed on a large scale; then the key population attributes, concerns, sentiments and emotions are extracted via a collection of natural language processing procedures; at last, multiple analyses are conducted to reveal concerns, sentiments and disparities of population groups during the pandemic. Overall, this study implements a quick, effective and economical approach for analyzing population-level disparities during public health events. The source code developed in this study is released for free public use at https://github.com/cyzhang87/EmulatedQuestionnaireOnTwitter.

RESULTS
1,015,655 original English tweets posted between August 7 to 12, 2020, were acquired and analyzed to obtain the following results. Organizations are significantly more concerned about COVID-19 (OR=3.48 (95%CI: 3.39-3.58)) and have more 'Fear' and 'Depression' emotions than individuals. Females are less concerned about COVID-19 (OR=0.73 (95%CI: 0.71-0.75)) and have less 'Fear' and 'Depression' emotions than males. Among all age groups (below eighteen, nineteen to twenty-nine, thirty to thirty-nine, and above forty years old), the attention ORs of COVID-19, 'Fear' and 'Depression' increase significantly with age. It is worth noting that not all females pay less attention to COVID-19 than males. In the age group of above forty years old, females are more concerned than males, especially in the economic and education topics. Besides, males above forty and below eighteen years old are the least positive. Lastly, in all sentiment analyses, the sentiment polarities over political topics are always the lowest among the five concern topics across all population groups.

CONCLUSIONS
Through large-scale Twitter mining, this study reveals that meaningful differences regarding concerns and sentiments on COVID-19 related topics exist among population groups during the study period. Therefore, specialized and varied attention and supports are in need for different population groups. In addition, the efficient analysis method implemented by our publicly released code can be utilized to dynamically track the evolution of each population group during the pandemic or any other major events for better informed public health research and intervention.

CLINICALTRIAL


Diagnostic dilemma owing to radiological similarities between smear negative pulmonary tuberculosis and bronchogenic lung cancer pose a critical problem of late detection of the later with all its impact on the life of the victims.The aim of the study was to assess the magnitude and consequence of diagnostic dilemma between lung cancer and smear negative pulmonary tuberculosis. The retrospective observational study was conducted in the radiotherapy department of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata, West Bengal involving the lung cancer patients reported from February, 2009 to March, 2011. Out of the 76 lung cancer patients, 39.47% had exposure to anti tuberculosis treatment (ATT) before the actual diagnosis of lung cancer. Significantly higher proportion of rural patients was put on the ATT compared to their urban counterpart. Duration of symptoms before arrival was found significantly more among those who got ATT. Presence of any history of tuberculosis within the family was found to have significant association with the exposure to ATT before diagnosis as lung cancer. So in conclusion the treating physician must think twice before stamping a case as smear negative tuberculosis based on the radiological findings. High index of suspicion should also be maintained during treatment and follow-up of both smear positive and smear negative pulmonary tuberculosis as because the lung cancer may be preceded by or coexist with pulmonary tuberculosis.


Background The approximately 350 demosponge species that have been described from Antarctica represent a faunistic component distinct from that of neighboring regions. Sponges provide structure to the Antarctic benthos and refuge to other invertebrates, and can be dominant in some communities. Despite the importance of sponges in the Antarctic subtidal environment, sponge DNA barcodes are scarce but can provide insight into the evolutionary relationships of this unique biogeographic province. Methodology/Principal Findings We sequenced the standard barcoding COI region for a comprehensive selection of sponges collected during expeditions to the Ross Sea region in 2004 and 2008, and produced DNA-barcodes for 53 demosponge species covering about 60% of the species collected. The Antarctic sponge communities are phylogenetically diverse, matching the diversity of well-sampled sponge communities in the Lusitanic and Mediterranean marine provinces in the Temperate Northern Atlantic for which molecular data are readily available. Additionally, DNA-barcoding revealed levels of in situ molecular evolution comparable to those present among Caribbean sponges. DNA-barcoding using the Segregating Sites Algorithm correctly assigned approximately 54% of the barcoded species to the morphologically determined species. Conclusion/Significance A barcode library for Antarctic sponges was assembled and used to advance the systematic and evolutionary research of Antarctic sponges. We provide insights on the evolutionary forces shaping Antarctica's diverse sponge communities, and a barcode library against which future sequence data from other regions or depth strata of Antarctica can be compared. The opportunity for rapid taxonomic identification of sponge collections for ecological research is now at the horizon.


In manufacturing and servicing of electrical devices, insulation thickness has to be accurately measured. A cost effective and very user-friendly digital instrument is designed and named as Smart Logger. This consists of three parts, digital micrometer, auto tool and processing unit. The major drawbacks and the difficulties of the conventional methods of measuring lengths can be avoided by using this digital instrument. The digital micrometer device can be used to measure curvatures of arcs, spherical surfaces etc. as well as linear lengths similar to those measured by conventional micrometer screw gauge. The auto tool can be placed on any moving surface and the movement of the surface in 2D is measured. The main advantage of this device is the possibility to connect to any length-measuring device such as calipers, traveling microscopes and cathetometers without concerning the least measurement and the coincided amounts. The length measurements can be read directly from the display with a high accuracy. The processing unit is the heart of the instrument, which handles all the aforementioned components. It has a keypad to perform various operations, a digital display to read the measurement and a memory to store the measurements. Smart Logger 2.0 is the software, which is designed by using Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 programming software to interface the Smart Logger instrument with the computer through the serial port. The software is designed on Microsoft Windows environment and has various functions of device selection, calibration, restore, graph, file save/load and the serial port settings. In order to attain the maximum accuracy and the stability of measurements, this instrument is basically designed on digital electronics using economical good electronic components with high reliability.


Field research was conducted to characterize hemp dogbane crown root carbohydrates, to quantify crown root lipids, and to determine seasonal fluctuation of each. The effect of day length on the release of hemp dogbane crown bud dormancy was studied in growth chambers. Total nonstructural carbohydrate (TNC) levels fluctuated with seasonal lows occurring during bud to mid-flowering and seasonal highs in fall predormancy periods. Starch was the primary storage carbohydrate, comprising up to 39.6% of crown root dry weight at the highest seasonal level. Ethanol soluble reducing sugar levels were negatively correlated with seasonal starch levels, and appeared to be maltose and glucose accumulated before conversion to sucrose for translocation. Most lipids were in ethanol soluble fractions and were inversely correlated with seasonal TNC patterns. The maximum level of total lipids in crown roots was 6%. Lipids appeared to be by-products of metabolism in nonarticulated lacticifers and not a significant carbon energy source. An 18-h day length resulted in a 10-fold increase in intact, 2-yr-old crown root dormancy release compared with 10- or 14-h day lengths in growth chamber studies. Seasonal carbohydrate fluctuations in hemp dogbane suggest the most effective control with mowing or tillage would occur when applied at mid- to full flower before root carbohydrates begin to recover. The most effective translocation of phloem mobile herbicides to crown roots would occur after mid- to late flower through leaf senescence when carbohydrates are being stored in the roots.


Osseous metaplasia of the pericardium causing effusive-constrictive pericardial disease has not, to our knowledge, been reported in dogs. Clinical signs of right-sided congestive heart failure prompted examination of the dog of this report. Documented causes of constrictive pericardial disease in dogs include trauma and actinomycotic, mycobacterial, and fungal infections. These causes were ruled out in this dog. Immune-mediated disorders, as have been reported in people, also were considered unlikely on the basis of test results. It was concluded that this dog had idiopathic osseous metaplasia of the pericardium and pleura. Signs of right-sided congestive heart failure resolved after subtotal pericardiectomy was performed.


The constant improvement of both hardware and software related to mobile computing is enhancing the capabilities of mobile devices. The present day mobile phones can run rich stand alone applications as well as distributed client-server applications that access information via a web gateway. This changed environment brings new opportunities as well as constraints for mobile application developers. A move towards open source software offers several advantages for application developers and operating system vendors. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate how voice enabled mobile applications can be deployed economically using only open source software to access information from the Web. Swar-Suchak is a voice enabled mobile application for information retrieval in multiple languages. We describe two applications running on Swar-Suchak using the open source Android platform. By linking a mobile phone to a voice gateway, built with open source software, we are able to develop voice enabled web applications which are accessible ubiquitously by anyone, anytime.


Research has been conducted conducted research to improve the understanding of students and strengthening the character through the integration of passages qauliyah on lecture material development of animals. This research is descriptive research that is focused on the integration of learning materials to strengthen the character through the study of passages qauliah set forth in the form of a paper-making tasks in subjects Animal Development held in Biology Education Studies Program, Department of Mathematics and Science Education at the University of Riau FKIP semester year 2014/2015 teachings. The subjects were students of Biology Education Program S1 are taking courses totaling Animals Developments 31 people. Research parameters measured in this study is the ability of students to integrate the value - the value of character include: religious, honest, disciplined, hard working, creative, independent, curiosity and duties in the form of a report in the form of paper. The result showed the depth of material is relatively good student it is seen by the results of student papers, 48.4% (15 people) of students scored on the category A, 45.2% (14 people) of students scored at the category B and only 6, 5% (2) category students studying material enough in the development of the selected animals. It shows more than 90% of students are able to explore and discuss the materials specified (in the form of verses kauniyah) to explore and integrate verses qauliyah (verse Al-Qur, an). Based on the results and discussion of this study concluded that understanding and strengthening the character of the students can through the integration of passages qauliyah with lecture material development of animals in Semester 2014/2015 in Biology Education Studies Program, Department of Mathematics and Science Education FKIP Riau University Keywords: reinforcement, character, verses qauliah, materials, development of animals


Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) offer a great opportunity for learners to enjoy learning despite their location or timing. Nevertheless, motives vary between each student and another. In this workshop paper, we are delighted to open discussions on why undergraduates may enroll in their university's MOOCs? Are they looking for ECTS points? Or do they want to build a stronger background in their classes? We support answers to these questions using the Cryer scheme of Elton. Expected debates will summarize student motives in blended learning.


The present study aimed to determine the link between self-regulation skills of pre-school children and mothers' attitudes towards parenting. The research was performed with 392 mothers living in Hatay/Turkey with children aged 4-6. The data were collected using "The Self-Regulation Skills Scale for 4-6 year-old Children" and "The Parental Attitude Scale-Mother Form". The results indicate that girls have higher attention and behavioral regulation skills compared to boys. While children's working memory varies by age, it was seen that the order of birth did not change self-regulation scores. Parental attitudes are more negative among mothers aged 40 and over than those of younger ones, and mothers who completed primary education have lower levels of efficacy perceptions and show less affection to their children compared with high school and higher education graduates. A moderate positive correlation was discovered between the self-regulation skills of children and mothers' parental attitudes. The results are discussed within the scope of the related literature and recommendations are offered.


Sequential learning systems are used in a wide variety of problems from decision making to optimization, where they provide a 'belief' (opinion) to nature, and then update this belief based on the feedback (result) to minimize (or maximize) some cost or loss (conversely, utility or gain). The goal is to reach an objective by exploiting the temporal relation inherent to the nature's feedback (state). By exploiting this relation, specific learning systems can be designed that perform asymptotically optimal for various applications. However, if the framework of the problem is not stationary, i.e., the nature's state sometimes changes arbitrarily, the past cumulative belief revision done by the system may become useless and the system may fail if it lacks adaptivity. While this adaptivity can be directly implemented in specific cases (e.g., convex optimization), it is mostly not straightforward for general learning tasks. To this end, we propose an efficient optimal mixture framework for general sequential learning systems, which we call the recursive experts for dynamic environments. For this purpose, we design hyper-experts that incorporate the learning systems at our disposal and recursively merge in a specific way to achieve minimax optimal regret bounds up to constant factors. The multiplicative increases in computational complexity from the initial system to our adaptive system are only logarithmic-in-time factors.


With the latest automobile technology, though the third generation common rail system requires high injection pressures up to 1,800bar, the next generation diesel engine is expected to require more higher pressures than the third generation. The common rail pipe requires higher strength because it is one of the parts in the common rail system, which is influenced directly by fuel under high pressure. Preform design is very important for preventing head of the common rail pipe from folding in the heading process. In this study, die angle, curvature, outer diameter of die and length of trapped part are selected as main parameters to obtain best preform shape minimizing radius of folding. Therefore optimal design is carried out by finite element analysis and Taguchi method through main parameters. Results of the finite element analysis have good agreements with those of the experiments in the actual field.


Genetic testing is widely used in evaluating a patient's predisposition for developing a malignancy. In the case of cancer, when a functionally impactful inherited mutation (i.e. genetic variant) is identified in a disease-relevant gene, the patient is at elevated risk of developing a lesion in their lifetime. Unfortunately, as the rate and coverage of genetic testing has accelerated, our ability to make informed assessments regarding the functional status of the variants has lagged. Currently, there are two main strategies for assessing variant functions: in silico predictions or in vitro testing. The first approach is to build generalist computational prediction software using theoretical parameters such as amino acid conservation as feature inputs. These types of software can classify any variant of any gene. Although versatile, their non-specific design and theoretical assumptions result in different models frequently producing conflicting classifications. The second approach is to develop gene-specific assays. Although each assay is tailored to the physiological function of the gene, this approach requires significant investments. Therefore, there is an urgent need for more practical, streamlined and cost-effective methods. To directly address these issues, we designed a new approach of using alterations in protein subcellular localization as a key indicator of loss of function. Thus, new variants can be rapidly functionalized by using high-content microscopy. To facilitate the analysis of large amounts of image data, we developed a new software, named MAPS for machine-assisted phenotype scoring, that utilizes deep learning (DL) techniques to extract and classify cell-level phenotypes. This new Python-based toolkit helps users leverage commercial cloud-based DL services that are easy to train and deploy to fit varying experimental conditions. Model training is entirely code-free and can be done with limited number of images. Users simply input the trained endpoints into MAPS to accomplish cell detection, phenotype discovery and phenotype classification. Thus, MAPS allows cell biologists to easily apply DL to accelerate their image analysis workflow.


The paper investigates Hungarian voice actors' attitudes to the language quality of texts they have to read for dubbing and narrating foreign language audiovisual products as part of an overall study that is theoretically and practically supported by the most popular voice actors of present-day Hungary and the trade union of Hungarian voice actors. Besides summarizing some general results, the study focuses on a research topic emphasized by many participants: the problems of the pronunciation of foreign proper names in Hungarian dubbing and narration. The results are based on surveyanswers from 69 Hungarian voice actors with different personal and professional backgrounds. The participants name many factors that affect the final quality of the products and reveal many negative examples of topics presented in the paper. Since most foreign language audiovisual products released for Hungarian television, cinemas, film theatres, and even to the Hungarian consumers of online streaming services are dubbed or narrated in Hungarian, and this being the only accessible way of watching these products for most people, the quality of their language should be studied, regardless of the dichotomy of attitudes on watching audiovisual products in Hungarian or original (or other) languages. The results and the dissemination of these can help develop a quality assurance system for Hungarian dubbing that serves many millions of consumers.


Background: Learning motivation is something that encourages students to achieve success in competing to achieve academic achievement. One of the factors that influence the achievement motivation is the father figure. The interaction between father and child can shape the adolescent's perceived paternal role that includes cognitive, affective, interpretative, and evaluative perceptions of the paternal role. The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship between perceived paternal role and learning motivation in adolescents.

Subjects and Method: This was an analytic observational study with a cross-sectional design. The study was conducted at Junior High School 28 Palembang. A sample of 36 students was selected for this study by total sampling technique. The dependent variable was learning motivation. The independent variables were perceived paternal role. Learning motivation was measured by questionnaire based on McClelland theory. The paternal role was measured by questionnaire based on Rosenberg and Wilcox theory. The data were analyzed by Pearson correlation.

Results: Most adolescents (35 students, 97.22%) had a positive perceived paternal role. A total of 27 (75%) students had moderate learning motivation. Perceived paternal role was associated with learning motivation (r= 0.79; p<0.001).

Conclusion: Perceived paternal role can improve student motivation in learning.

Keywords: perceived paternal role, learning motivation, student


An anatomy based summarization method called Topic Summarization and Content Anatomy (TSCAN) was proposed to summarize the content of a temporal topic. TSCAN models the documents as a symmetric block association matrix, in which each block is a portion of a document, and treats each eigenvector of the matrix as a theme embedded in the topic. A temporal similarity (TS) function is applied to generate the event dependencies and context similarity to form an evolution graph of the topic. A unique feature of TSCAN is the introduction of the event segmentation process to extract the semantic construct event before summarization. An ontology database is used for analyzing the main topics of the article using NPL tool and protégé tool. Protégé can be customized to provide domain-friendly support for creating knowledge models and entering data. Specifically the Natural language processing is the process of a computer extracting meaningful information from natural language input and/or producing natural language output. After identifying the main topics and determining their relative significance, rank the paragraphs based on the relevance between main topics and each individual paragraph. Depending on the ranks, we choose desired proportion of Para-graphs as summary.


The movie set used to film the prologue of Cecil B. DeMille's 1923 silent movie classic The Ten Commandments was constructed in today's Rancho Guadalupe Dunes Preserve in California. Featuring a replica of a pharaonic Egyptian city, archaeologists from Applied EarthWorks, Inc. investigated the ruins in 2012 and again in 2014. DOI:10.2458/azu_jaei_v09i1_hamilton


BackgroundCurrently, 24 species of Encotyllabe Diesing, 1850 (Monogenea: Capsalidae) are listed in WoRMS, but the validity of many species has been questioned due to deficient or incomplete descriptions. On the other hand, almost all species in the genus have been described from one host species or closely related host species, suggesting host specificity, but other species, specifically Encotyllabe spari Yamaguti, 1934, have been reported at least from 19 species belonging to nine families in two orders (Perciformes and Scorpaeniformes) from Japan, the Arabian Gulf and Brazil. Concerning Brazilian records of Encotyllabe spari (but also as Encotyllabe cf. spari); seven host species belonging to four families and two orders have been reported as hosts for this species. The aim of this study was to describe two new species of Encotyllabe from Brazil, previously considered as E. spari.MethodsDuring 2016, we examined specimens of Orthophristis ruber (Cuvier) (Haemulidae) and Pagrus pagrus (Linnaeus) (Sparidae) caught off the coast of Cabo Frio, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil by local fishermen. Specimens of Encotyllabe were collected from the pharyngeal plates of the hosts. Morphological and morphometric (multivariate analysis of proportional measurements standardized by total length) and molecular analysis (LSU rRNA and cox1 gene) were performed in order to identify the collected monogenea. ResultsThe presence of two new species of Encotyllabe, Encotyllabe yamagutii n. sp. and Encotyllabe haemuli n. sp., parasitizing the pharyngeal plates of Pagrus pagrus and Orthopristis ruber, respectively, is strongly suggested by the three approaches used in this study. The main morphological differences from the most related species include a combination of body size, shape of the penis, and size and position of the testes.ConclusionsSpecimens of Encotyllabe, hitherto recorded as E. spari or E. cf. spari, belong to two new species. Our results suggest that the host specificity for members of Encotyllabe and specimens registered as E. spari, other than those from the original description, must be revisited.


This paper presents an idea of building a Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) based control for next generation electric wheelchairs. The aim is to explore the area of research on BCI based control to potentially develop a next generation of electric wheelchair which is able to benefit to paralyzed patients. This EEG interfacing development controls a wheel chair through a skid steering method. The mechanical part including the conventional steering can be eliminated. It also uses differential speed that controls the propulsion and turning. The system is neat, low cost and high dynamic performance; it can be used for stoke patent or disabled patents.


Established industries, which constitute by far the largest share of the manufacturing and service sectors in most developed economies, are on balance reasonably innovative. They engage in frequent changes in both product and process technologies which, although perhaps less spectacular (in a literal sense) than some of the innovations in newer industries, contribute substantially to their own productivity and competitiveness and to better macroeconomic performance. Through innovation, established industries not only benefit themselves but, in their role as consumers of new products and new ideas, they are also significant contributors to the growth of high-technology industries. The ability of established industries to engage in frequent technological upgrading is an important determinant of prosperity in economies at all levels of development and should be a major pre-occupation of both managers and policy makers (Robertson, et al., 2003; Robertson and Patel, forthcoming).


H3-α-methyl-norepinephrine (H3-α-Me-NE) is taken up by and stored in sympathetically innervated tissue such as heart and skeletal muscle. The initial uptake of this compound by cardiac muscle appears to be of the same magnitude as that previously reported for H3-norepinephrine and H3-metaraminol. The uptake and subsequent loss of H5-α-Me-NE by skeletal muscle, however, was considerably lower than that found in the heart. This may be due to a lower density of adrenergic innervation or a greater proportion of extracellular binding in skeletal muscle. Unlike norepinephrine, the initial accumulation of α-Me-NE in animals pretreated with reserpine is essentially normal. Reserpine partially inhibits the incorporation of H3-α-Me-NE by subcellular particles and therefore greatly reduces the retention of this amine. The incorporation of some H3-α-Me-NE into the particulate fraction of cardiac tissue of mice pretreated with high doses of reserpine may be evidence for a reserpine-resistant uptake mechanism in adrenergic granules. Protriptyline, a membrane pump inhibitor, blocks the uptake of H3-α-methyl-norepinephrine into both heart and skeletal muscle, although the blockade is less complete in the latter tissue. H3-α-methylnormentanephrine appears to be the principal metabolite of injected H3-α-Me-NE.


The clinical efficacy of tenoten (pediatric formulation) was comparatively studied in children with tick hyperkinesis. One hundred and thirty children (34 girls and 96 boys) aged 3 to 5 years were examined. The drug of comparison was persen in local ticks and fenibut in generalized ticks. An attempt was also undertaken to treat patients with generalized ticks (Tourette"s syndrome), by using tenoten (pediatric formulation). As shown by the results of the study, tenoten (pediatric formulation) is most effective in local ticks. In generalized hyperkinesis, tenoten is as effective as fenibut and the former is, in some cases, superior to the latter. Monotherapy with tenoten (pediatric formulation) is insufficiently effective in Tourette"s syndrome. Tenoten (pediatric formulation) has been also shown to diminish anxiety and to have a positive effect on the biological activity of the brain. The agent is safe and there have been no adverse reactions due to its use.


Scientific peer review, open source software development, wikis, and other domains use distributed review to improve quality of created content by providing feedback to the work's creator. Distributed review is used to assess or improve the quality of a work (e.g., an article). However, it can also provide learning benefits to the participants in the review process. We developed an online review system for beginning computer programming students; it gathers multiple anonymous peer reviews to give students feedback on their programming work. We deployed the system in an introductory programming class and evaluated it in a controlled study. We find that: peer reviews are accurate compared to an accepted evaluation standard, that students prefer reviews from other students with less experience than themselves, and that participating in a peer review process results in better learning outcomes.


The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) recognises the importance of equity in conservation. Yet there remains a lack of evidence directly addressing the relationship between equity and conservation. This briefing considers 40 papers that describe conservation interventions involving changes in governance quality and associated ecological outcomes. It highlights that equitable governance is important to effective conservation and is associated with positive ecological outcomes. Equitable governance is therefore a critical means to achieve GBF targets and should receive more political, financial and technical support, including being mainstreamed in National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans.