Antenatal parent education(APE) is the key to solve numerous contemporary issues using education such as lessening brain development gap and reducing maternal and infantile mortality. Many researchers have examined existing APE on and off-line which have shown merits as well as limitations. Many of them urged research on alternatives to compensate the limitations, and the potential of education using ICTs such as Smartphone has been highlighted more recently. This study aims to analyze the current APE using Smartphone application comparing international users and Korean users with content analysis to conceptualize Smartphone efficiency for APE. The finding of content analysis was that parents need informing and supporting functions the most. Monitoring and shaping functions were regarded useful among users in terms of personalized APE. This result was accorded to both international and Korean users.


Optimization of timing behaviour of manufacturing systems can be regardedas a scheduling problem in which tasks model the various productionprocesses. Typical for many manufacturing systems is that (collectionsof) tasks can be associated with manufacturing entities, which canbe structured hierarchically. Execution of production processes for severalinstances of these entities results in nested finite repetitions, whichblows up the size of the task graph that is needed for the specification ofthe scheduling problem, and, in an even worse way, the number of possibleschedules. We present a subclass of UML activity diagrams whichis generic for the number of repetitions, and therefore suitable for thecompact specification of task graphs for these manufacturing systems.The approach to reduce the complexity of the scheduling problem exploitsthe repetitive patterns. It reduces the original problem to a problemcontaining the minimum amount of identical repetitions, and afterscheduling of this much smaller problem the schedule is expanded tothe original size. We demonstrate our technique on a real-life examplefrom the semiconductor industry.


A gallstone ileus is an unusual form of bowel obstruction. Colonic gallstone ileus is rare, difficult to diagnose, and still has a high mortality rate. We present a case of biliary ileus caused by an impacted gallstone, causing necrosis and perforation of the rectosigmoid junction. A Hartmann's procedure was performed to treat the perforation and the obstruction. Cholecystectomy and closure of the cholecysto-colonic fistula were delayed until restoration of the intestinal continuity.


Objective:To evaluate the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and %body fat (%Fat) in collegiate football athletes (FBA) compared with age-matched/gender-matched general population volunteers (comparison group, CG) and compare body composition and overweight/obese frequencies by BMI between FBA and CG. Design:Cross-sectional. Setting:Two Division I-A (D-IA) universities in Texas. Integrative Health Technologies (San Antonio, Texas) laboratory. Participants:Football athletes (n = 156, 20.0 ± 1.3 years, 185.6 ± 6.5cm, 103.3 ± 20.4 kg). Comparison group (n = 260, 21.5 ± 2.7 years, 179.0 ± 7.6 cm, 86.3 ± 20.9 kg). Statistical Analysis:Body mass index and bone densitrometry (DEXA) body composition were assessed. Regression was used to predict %Fat from BMI in CG and FBA. To compare %Fat, fat mass (FM), fat-free mass (FFM), and weight (WT) between CG, FBA, linemen, and non-linemen, 1 × 4 analysis of variance was used. Chi-square analysis was used to compare the frequency of BMI ≥25 between groups. Results:Body mass index differently predicted %Fat for CG (r2 = 0.643, SE = 6.258) and FBA (r2 =0.769, SE = 4.416). Body mass index cutoffs for overweight/obese corresponded to the following %Fat in each group [BMI ≥25 = 19.9% (CG) and 11.1% (FBA); BMI ≥30 = 27.3% (CG) and 20.2% (FBA)]. Football athletes had significantly higher WT, BMI, FFM, and frequency of BMI ≥25 with lower %Fat and FM than CG (&agr; < 0.05). Linemen had the highest WT, BMI, FFM, %Fat, and frequency of BMI ≥25. Conclusions:The relationship between BMI and %Fat differed between CG and FBA. Using current BMI thresholds for obesity in FBA may result in misleading inferences about health risk.


Following the terrorist events of September 11, 2001, several members of INCOSE have become involved in international, regional, and local activities to respond to those events that have shaken the international community. A charter for the INCOSE Systems Engineering Initiatives Technical Committee (SEITC) and an Anti‐Terrorism International Working Group (ATIWG) were established in October 2001. INCOSE ATIWG members are applying the multidisciplinary approach of systems engineering to understanding all facets of terrorism. The ATIWG convened a special panel at INCOSE 2002 in Las Vegas, NV, using the same name as the title of this paper. Rather than lose the information conveyed during that session, many of the panelists agreed to join their efforts to coauthor this paper and document much of what was said.


The main objective of this study has been to identify inattentive children within the context of their classroom and to verify how they perceive and are perceived by their colleagues within this context. The sample consisted of six to nine-year old school children from a government school. Data were collected by means of individual interviews with the subjects and with their teachers and addressed with the aid of statistic proofs. These have0 allowed the definition of two different groups: one, in which problems with attention identified and the other, in which this did not happen. A great number of negative attitudes in relation to colleagues and the school noticed within the group of children with attention problems, who also characterized as the most rejected and least accepted by the classroom colleagues, who configured their components as less popular. These results have enabled the identification of important variables interfering with the learning process of inattentive children, broadening the possibilities of intervention capable of minimizing the problems faced in a classroom on a daily basis.


Summary: Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from strains of Pseudomonas syringae pv. morsprunorum isolated from plum and cherry contained a uniform core region, which, in all cases, was composed of 2-keto-3-deoxyoctonic acid, heptose, glucosamine, galactosamine, rhamnose, glucose, alanine, ethanol-amine and phosphate. Lipid A contained glucosamine, phosphate and the fatty acids 3-OH 10:0, 12:0, 2-OH 12:0, and 3-OH 12:0. Sidechains of LPS from two virulent plum isolates were composed of glucose and rhamnose, and were susceptible to hydrolysis by rhamnanase from the typing phage A7, which uses LPS as its binding site. Phage A7-resistant mutants of the virulent cherry isolate C28 contained rough LPS, did not adsorb A7, and displayed reduced virulence towards cherry. An avirulent, phage A7-resistant mutant of a plum isolate contained smooth LPS with sidechains of a high glucose content that were resistant to phage hydrolysis. Loss or alteration of sidechains therefore correlated with loss of virulence.


intelligence be classified Abstract In this paper, we have recently created self-driving cars and self-parking systems in human-friendly cars that can provide high safety and high convenience functions by recognizing the internal and external situations of automobiles in real time by incorporating next-generation electronics, information communication, and function control technologies. And with the development of connected cars, the ITS (Intelligent Transportation Systems) market is expected to grow rapidly. Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) is an intelligent transportation system that incorporates technologies such as electronics, information, communication, and control into the transportation system, and aims to implement a next-generation transportation system suitable for the information society. By combining the technologies of connected cars and Internet of Things with software features and operating systems, future cars will serve as a service platform to connect the surrounding infrastructure on their own. This study creates a research methodology based on the Enhanced Security Model in Self-Driving Cars model. As for the types of attacks, Availability Attack, Man in the Middle Attack, Imperial Password Use, and Use Inclusive Access Control attack defense methodology are used. Along with the commercialization of 5G, various service models using advanced technologies such as autonomous vehicles, traffic information sharing systems using IoT, and AI-based mobility services are also appearing, and the growth of smart transportation is accelerating. Therefore, research was conducted to defend against hacking based on vulnerabilities of smart cars based on artificial intelligence blockchain.


Consider a database that represents information about moving objects and their location. For example, for a database representing the location of taxi-cabs a typical query may be: retrieve the free cabs that are currently within 1 mile of 33 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago (to pick-up a customer); or for a trucking company database a typical query may be: retrieve the trucks that are currently within 1 mile of truck ABT312 (which needs assistance); or for a database representing the current location of objects in a battlefield a typical query may be: retrieve the friendly helicopters that are in a given region, or, retrieve the friendly helicopters that are expected to enter the region within the next 10 minutes. The queries may originate from the moving objects, or from stationary users. We will refer to applications with the above characteristics as moving-objects-database (MOD) applications, and to queries as the ones mentioned above as MOD queries.
In the military MOD applications arise in the context of the digital battlefield (see [1]), and in the civilian industry they arise in transportation systems. For example, Omnitracs developed by Qualcomm (see[2]) is a commercial system used by the transportation industry, which enables MOD functionality. It provides location management by connecting vehicles (e.g. trucks), via satellites, to company databases. The vehicles are equipped with a Global Positioning System (GPS), and they automatically and periodically report their location.


Purpose: This study aimed to explore the complication rates of radical cystectomy in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer and identify potential risk factors. Methods: A total of 553 patients were included: 131 were operated on via an open approach (ORC), 242 patients via a laparoscopic method (LRC), and 180 by a robot-assisted procedure (RARC). Patient age, gender, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score, urinary diversion type, preoperative albumin level, body mass index (BMI), pathological (TNM) stage, and surgical times were collected. The severity of complications was classified according to the Clavien-Dindo scale (Grades 1–5). Results: The surgical technique was significantly related to the number of complications (p < 0.00005). Grade 1 complications were observed most frequently following LRC (52.5%) and RARC (51.1%), whereas mostly Grade 2 complications were detected after ORC (78.6%). Those with less severe complications had significantly higher albumin levels than those with more severe complications (p < 0.05). Patients with an elevated BMI had fewer complications if a minimally invasive approach was used rather than ORC. The patient's general condition (ASA score) did not impact the number of complications, and urinary diversion type did not affect the severity of the complications. Mean surgical time differed according to the urinary diversion type in patients with a similar TNM stage (p < 0.005); however, no difference was found in those with more locally advanced disease. Longer operation time and lower protein concentration were associated with higher probability of complication rate, that is, Clavien-Dindo score 3–5. Conclusions: The risk of complications after RC is not related to the type of urinary diversion, and can be reduced by using a minimally invasive surgical technique, especially in patients with high BMI.


Abstract This paper conducts an empirical analysis of the financial instability hypothesis on Dutch data. The main literature on this topic has been reviewed, and various financial fragility indexes to determine whether Dutch firms are in a hedge, speculative, or Ponzi regime are discussed. To do empirical analysis, 340 publicly-listed private Dutch firms from various industries were selected, and these panel data include observations from 2005 to 2019. This period includes three cases of falling GDP of the Netherlands: 2008–2009, 2011, and 2014. We use for our empirical analysis three financial fragility indexes. After identifying the regime of firms according to these criteria, we chose an index developed by Nishi to make a logistic regression. We use the Nishi approach to determine what affects a firm's probabilities of becoming a Ponzi and thereby confirm Minsky's hypothesis on Dutch data. According to our analysis, significant factors of the probability that Dutch private non-financial companies will be a Ponzi firm are profitability, interest rate, industry output, and crisis. Both accumulation of financial fragility due to "destabilizing stability" and austerity policy were reasons for economic crises in the Netherlands in the last decades.


In this paper we propose a method of constructing quasi-cyclic low-density parity-check (QC-LDPC) codes of large length by combining QC-LDPC codes of small length as their component codes, via the Chinese remainder theorem. The girth of the QC-LDPC codes obtained by the proposed method is always larger than or equal to that of each component code. By applying the method to array codes, we present a family of high-rate regular QC-LDPC codes with no 4-cycles. Simulation results show that they have almost the same performance as random regular LDPC codes.


Objective A decrease in advanced breast cancer incidence is considered an early indicator of breast cancer mortality reduction in a screening programme. We describe trends in breast cancer incidence according to tumour size and age in three French administrative areas, where an organized screening programme was implemented during the 1990s. Methods Our study included all 28,092 invasive breast cancers diagnosed from 2000 to 2010 in women living in three areas (Hérault, Isère, Loire-Atlantique). Age, year of diagnosis, and size of tumour at diagnosis was provided by the three area cancer registries. Poisson regression models were fitted to estimate changes in incidence over time, after adjustment for age and administrative area. Results From 2000 to 2010, the incidence rate of large (tumour size >20 mm) breast cancer linearly decreased in women aged 50–74 (target age of the screening programme) from 108.4 to 84.1/100,000 (annual percent change = −1.9%, p < 0.001). No change in large breast cancer incidence rate was found in women aged 20–49, or older than 74. Conclusions A decreasing trend in incidence of large tumour size breast cancer in the target age of the screening programme is demonstrated for the first time in France. The overall 20.9% linear decrease over 11 years in these three areas is encouraging and should be closely monitored and extended to other areas of France, where the screening programme was generally implemented only in 2004.


As diagnostic and surveillance activities are vital to determine measures needed to control antimicrobial resistance (AMR), new and rapid laboratory methods are necessary to facilitate this important effort. DNA microarray technology allows the detection of a large number of genes in a single reaction. This technology is simple, specific and high‐throughput. We have developed a bacterial antimicrobial resistance gene DNA microarray that will allow rapid antimicrobial resistance gene screening for all Gram‐positive and Gram‐negative bacteria. A prototype microarray was designed using a 70‐mer based oligonucleotide set targeting AMR genes of Gram‐negative and Gram‐positive bacteria. In the present version, the microarray consists of 182 oligonucleotides corresponding to 166 different acquired AMR gene targets, covering most of the resistance genes found in both Gram‐negative and ‐positive bacteria. A test study was performed on a collection of Staphylococcus aureus isolates from milk samples from dairy farms in Québec, Canada. The reproducibility of the hybridizations was determined, and the microarray results were compared with those obtained by phenotypic resistance tests (either MIC or Kirby‐Bauer). The microarray genotyping demonstrated a correlation between penicillin, tetracycline and erythromycin resistance phenotypes with the corresponding acquired resistance genes. The hybridizations showed that the 38 antimicrobial resistant S. aureus isolates possessed at least one AMR gene.


Camptothecin (CPT) is a topoisomerase I inhibitor that acts against a broad spectrum of cancers. Unfortunately clinical application of CPT is limited by insolubility, instability, and toxicity problems. To circumvent these delivery problems of CPT, we propose biocompatible, targeted sterically stabilized micelles (SSM) as nanocarriers for CPT (CPT-SSM). SSM composed of polyethylene glycol (PEGylated) phospholipids are attractive nanocarriers for CPT delivery because they are sufficiently small to extravasate through the leaky microvasculature of tumor and inflamed tissues for passive targeting. The purpose of this study was to develop a novel method of preparing CPT-SSM based on its pH dependent, reversible carboxylate-lactone conversion chemistry. CPT carboxylate was added to SSM at pH 5 that favored the formation of active but hydrophobic CPT lactone for spontaneous association with SSM. The kinetics of CPT conversion and CPT-SSM formation, and the effect of varying CPT-PEGylated phospholipid molar ratio on CPT-SSM properties and CPT solubilization were evaluated. CPT converted gradually from the carboxylate form to lactone, and CPT-SSM were formed after 12 h incubation. The mean size of CPT-SSM was approximately 14 nm. CPT solubilization (approximately 12 microg/ml) and other CPT-SSM micelle properties did not change significantly with increasing CPT to PEGylated hospholipid molar ratios using this novel method, unlike the coprecipitation/reconstitution technique previously reported. This reproducible CPT solubilization in SSM was attributed to avoidance of drug aggregate formation by this method. The advantages of our solvent pH change method to prepare CPT-SSM support further investigations of this approach to other hydrophobic drugs similar to CPT in chemistry and also CPT molecular solubilization in other nanocarriers.


The emergence of local energy communities (LECs) introduces new concepts and dynamics to the operations of distribution grids. An important part of LECs is the shared ownership or control of assets such as photovoltaic systems and batteries. The aim of this article is to investigate how degradation impacts the investment and operation of a community battery which performs multiple services in a LEC. Two different grid tariffs are investigated: energy-based and demand charges. The case study set in Norway 2030 shows that the lifetime of the battery is significantly shortened when not considering degradation, highlighting the need to include cyclic degradation in models that investigates the profitability in investment and operational problems with batteries. In the case of a demand charge grid tariff, the expected lifetime was shortened by 6 years.


The Old Kingdom (about 2650-2150 B.C.E.) was the first golden age of Egyptian culture, a period that determined the form and character of Egyptian art for centuries to come. From the Third through the Sixth Dynasty, not only were the pyramids built in vast construction efforts, but artists working in an array of mediums and techniques-- stone, wood, precious metals, monumental statuary, reliefs, and wall paintings-- created masterpieces that still have the power to move us more than four millennia later. This splendid volume, published to accompany a landmark exhibition organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Reunion des Musees Nationaux in Paris, and the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, brings together 115 Old Kingdom masterworks from museum collections throughout the world. Included are sculptures executed with such an acute observation of musculature and body movement that they brought an unprecedented realism to the rendering of men, women, children, and animals. Several depictions of family groups in particular show the sensitivity with which Old Kingdom artists illuminated human relationships. Individual masterpieces include the monumental statue of Hemiunu, thought to be responsible for the construction of the Great Pyramid at Giza; groups representing the Fourth Dynasty king Menkaure with a queen and various deities; and a unique alabaster statuette showing the Sixth Dynasty queen Ankh-nes-meryre II holding her son, the child king Pepi II, in her lap. In addition, there are delicate relief carvings that provide some of the earliest, most joyful artistic representations of daily life, stunning decorative-art pieces (jars, vases, jewelry, even a musicalinstrument), and a number of rare Old Kingdom wall paintings. The lively text by Dorothea Arnold offers an overview of the history, society, and art of the Old Kingdom and an informative discussion of each of the illustrated works. All of the pieces were newly photographed for the book by Bruce White.


Aim of Study: Bio lm of Candida albicans signify as a complex cellular congregation with major implication in pathogenicity. This kind of lifestyle of fungus as a biofilm can inhibit immune system function and antifungal therapy, thus complicates the treatment of infectious diseases, particularly in field of chronic infections associated with medical devices. In this study effects of Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles and Ethylene Diamine Tetra_Acetic Acid (EDTA) were evaluated on C. albicans biofilm by using the different techniques. Methods: TiO2 nanoparticles were synthesized from precursor Titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4). To assay biofilm formation ability of yeast cells, C.albicans strains (ATCC10231 and ATCC76615) were grown in a at-bottom 96-well microtiter plates and antifungal effects of TiO2 and EDTA were evaluated on C.albicans biofilms using ATP bioluminescence and tetrazolium salt (XTT) reduction assays. Furthermore, morphology of biofilms after 48 h was observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Results: Synthesized TiO2 nanoparticles and EDTA had effective antifungal properties at the concentration of 5.14, 8.09 μg/ml for fluconazole susceptible strain and 5.35, 11.33 μg/ml for fluconazole resistant strain of C.albicans biofilms compared to fluconazole drug (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Using TiO2 nanoparticles can be considered as a new agent in field of prevention of fungal biofilms especially biofilms formed on the surface of medical devices.


The case study applies to an Indian offshore production field which consists of 4 unmanned well head platforms (A1, A2, A3 and AB) and a chartered hired FPSO connected via PLEM to the hub platform AB. The producing wells use gas lift supplied from gas compressors located on the FPSO. Liquid produced is evacuated by tankers and excess gas is exported to an adjacent field via a 16" × 46 km pipeline. New discoveries with total oil in-place volume of 75.55 MMt and associated gas with greater than 30% CO2 have posed a challenge to bring into production. The gas compressors on the FPSO were designed to for gas with maximum 12% of CO2 and as the FPSO is a leased asset, the increased CO2 in the feed was considered "a strict no-no". Also, excess gas is exported via and must have less than 6% CO2 to meet the export pipeline specification.
 A concept study was done to identify a feasible method to produce the higher CO2 gas without major changes in FPSO handling facilities. In the technology selection: Solvent adsorption, Absorption beds and Membrane system were evaluated for their usage at an unmanned platform. The selection criteria included: required foot-print & weight, moving parts and minimum intervention. The study recommended a membrane system be used.
 This project has many firsts for Offshore India such as: Membrane based CO2 removal, a low BTU hot flare for reject stream disposal and Micro-turbines for meeting basic power requirement. All this will be discussed with fabrication pictures and implementation details. Scheduled offshore platform commissioning is in January 2021.


We study outage regions for energy-constrained multi-hop and adaptive multi-route networks with an arbitrary number of relay nodes. Optimal power allocation strategies in the sense that outage probability is minimized are derived depending on the distances between the transmit nodes. We further investigate the rate gain of adaptive multi-route and multi-hop over direct transmission. It is shown that a combined strategy of direct transmission and adaptive multi-route outperforms multi-hop for all values of rate R. It can be stated that cooperation strategies are beneficial for low-rate systems where the main goal is a very low outage probability of the network. As the rate is increased, direct transmission becomes more and more attractive.


The objectives of this study were to analyze energy input-output and to identify the energy use patterns for sunflower production in the mechanized rain fed agricultural schemes eastern Sudan. The results revealed that the total energy input used to produce sunflower was 1671.33 MJ ha-1 and the total energy output was 11882.83 MJ ha-1. Sunflower production was efficient in energy consumption. The result showed that the energy ratio of output to input was greater than seven. The results indicated that the average net energy, the energy productivity and the specific energy was 10211.5 MJ ha-1, 0.28 kg. MJ-1 and 3.52 MJ kg -1, respectively. Fuel energy input was the highest among the energy input items while hand labor energy input was lower. These results indicate the dependence of sunflower production in rain fed agricultural schemes eastern Sudan on machinery. This necessitated the availability and readiness of the relevant and appropriate machineries as well as sufficient amount of fuel. The results also revealed that the energy profitability was 6.11 and human energy profitability was 1165.83 MJ h-1.The direct energy input was greater than the indirect energy input. Similarly, non-renewable energy was much greater than renewable energy. The established information is useful to manage and to sustain the productivity of sunflower crop in the mechanized rain fed schemes eastern Sudan


The aim of the work was to evaluate the ocular manifestations in the patients with COVID-19 and its role in the prediction of the course and the outcome of the disease.

 This retrospective study was conducted at two tertiary referral COVID-19 isolation hospitals in two major university hospitals in Egypt. Two hundred and twenty-eight patients were enrolled in the study. The medical records of patients who had clinically confirmed COVID-19 between 1/5/2020 to 15/7/2020 were retrospectively reviewed. Data were collected from patient charts, including age, sex, accommodation, ocular manifestations, fever, headache, cough, dyspnea, anosmia, cyanosis, abdominal pain, anorexia, liver, kidney, cardiac manifestations, CT, X-ray finding, blood tests, and outcome of the disease.

 Thirty-four patients with ocular manifestation were finally enrolled in the study with a mean age of 42.1 years; 20 patients (58.8%) were men. The incidence of ocular manifestation was 14.9% (34/228). All patients with ocular manifestations had conjunctivitis (redness, epiphora, foreign body sensation), which had been treated and resolved completely within 10 days in all patients without any permanent ocular damage. There was a trend between the presence of ocular manifestations and the associated milder disease course, although this trend was not statistically significant.

 Ophthalmic manifestation is common in patients with COVID-19 and it occurs more frequently in patients with mild to moderate form of COVID-19, but it could not predict the patient's mortality.


Burial diagenesis, those changes in rock composition, mineralogy, and texture which occur below the zone of near-surface water circulation, generally becomes the dominant control on rock porosity at depths below a few hundred meters. Experimental, observational, and geochemical data show that porosity loss through burial diagenesis results from both physical and chemical compaction. In near-surface sections, dewatering, grain reorientation, grain breakage, and other mechanical processes lead to sediment/rock porosities as low as 30%. Continued porosity loss requires a combination of mechanical compaction, chemical dissolution at grain contacts and along solution seams, and reprecipitation as intergranular cement. Through these mechanisms carbonate rock porosity may be red ced to values near zero in "semi-closed" systems without significant introduction of allochthonous cementing material. Therefore, cementation may occur in systems where the only fluid movement is water expulsion. Significant rates of noncompactional fluid flow increase the likelihood of cementation and make the identification of cements more complex. Such cements may be deposited by hydrothermal, artesian, or thermally convective fluids. Current research suggests that a combination of geochemical and petrographic criteria may eventually serve to distinguish cements of various origins. Figure Empirical observations in various basins indicate that patterns of porosity loss with depth are predictable (Fig. 1). These relationships provide general standards against which individual case studies of diagenesis may be compared. In many regions, these standards provide predictive tools for estimating porosity prior to drilling. In other areas, the standards allow identification of anomalously high porosity and focus attention on mechanisms which preserve early porosity or generate porosity at depth. Factors already shown to be important include geopressuring, early oil migration, hydrothermal alteration, diagenesis of organic matter, and dolomitization. Comparisions of oil field porosities with standard curves allow us to refine our basic understanding of diagenesis as well as our ability to predict reservoir quality. End_of_Article - Last_Page 546------------


A 0.18‐μm CMOS low‐noise amplifier (LNA) operating over the entire ultra‐wideband (UWB) frequency range of 3.1–10.6 GHz, has been designed, fabricated, and tested. The UWB LNA achieves the measured power gain of 7.5 ± 2.5 dB, minimum input matching of −8 dB, noise figure from 3.9 to 6.3 dB, and IIP3 from −8 to −1.9 dBm, while consuming only 9 mW over 3–10 GHz. It occupies only 0.55 × 0.4 mm2 without RF and DC pads. The design uses only two on‐chip inductors, one of which is such small that could be replaced by a bonding wire. The gain, noise figure, and matching of the amplifier are also analyzed. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE , 2011.


As qualitative research undertakings are not independent of the researcher, the "indissoluble interrelationship between interpreter and interpretation" (Thomas & James, 2006, p. 782) renders it necessary for researchers to understand that their text is a representation, a version of the truth that is the product of writerly choices, and that it is discursive. Endlessly creative, artistic and political, as there is no single interpretative truth, the interpretative process facilitates the refashioning of representations, the remaking of choices and the probing of discourses. As a consequence of the particularity of any researcher's account, issues pertaining to researcher identity and authorial stance always remain central to research endeavours (Kamler & Thomson, 2006, p. 68; Denzin & Lincoln 2011, pp. 14-15). Therefore, researchers are encouraged to be reflexive about their analyses and research accounts (Elliott, 2005, p. 152), as reflexivity helps spotlight the role of the researcher as narrator. In turn, spotlighting the researcher as narrator foregrounds a range of complex issues about voice, representation and interpretive authority (Chase, 2005, p. 657; Genishi & Glupczynski, 2006, p. 671; Eisenhart, 2006). In essence, therefore, this paper is reflective of the challenges of "doing" qualitative research in educational settings. Its particular focus-the shaping of beginning primary teachers' identities, in Ireland, throughout the course of their initial year of occupational experience, post-graduation- endeavours to highlight issues pertaining to the researcher as narrator (O'Sullivan, 2014).


Various handheld devices, in the first place mobile phones, have strong needs regarding 2D vector & bitmap graphics capabilities, including high performance and quality requirements. OpenVG is one of widely used low-level 2D vector graphics API's. Currently, fully dedicated OpenVG semiconductor chips are relatively expensive and require high power consumption. In contrast, full software implementations show lower performance even with almost 100% of CPU usage, which would disrupt other concurrent applications. In this paper, we present a new cost-effective way of accelerating OpenVG, based on wide-spread and inexpensive multimedia-processing hardwares, presently on the mobile phones. Through an extensive use of these multimedia processors, we successfully accelerated our AlexVG, an OpenVG software-based implementation, especially on its fundamental OpenVG features: bit-block transfer, masking, scissoring, color conversion, image transformation, etc. This accelerated implementation comes with a lower power consumption. It exhibits appropriate performance, reaching more than 20 frames per second, even for complicated graphical user experiences. Its CPU utilization ranges from 20% to 30%, while the remaining CPU power remains available for other real-time tasks and user applications. This implementation is now commercially available and used in several mid-tier mobile phones.


Network survivability has been recognized as an issue of major importance in terms of security, stability and prosperity. A crucial research problem in this context is the identification of suitable pairs of disjoint paths. Here, "disjointness" can be considered in terms of either nodes or links. Accordingly, several studies have focused on finding pairs of either link or node disjoint paths with a minimum sum of link weights. In this paper, we investigate the gap between the optimal node-disjoint and link-disjoint solutions. Specifically, we formalize several optimization problems that aim at finding minimum-weight link-disjoint paths while restricting the number of its common nodes. We establish that some of these variants are computationally intractable, while for other variants we establish polynomial-time algorithmic solutions. Finally, through extensive simulations, we show that, by allowing link-disjoint paths share a few common nodes, a major improvement is obtained in terms of the quality (i.e., total weight) of the solution.


Background Humidified high-flow nasal cannula (HHFNC) has become an increasingly common treatment modality, used to provide respiratory support for bronchiolitis patients. In our UK paediatric unit, we have seen the proportion of bronchiolitis patients receiving HHFNC increase from 3% in 2016/17 to 13% in 2017/18 to 21% in 2019/20. However, at the time of initiating this project, guidelines on how HHFNC weaning should be performed were not provided at a local or national level. This is of particular importance in the current SARS CoV-2 pandemic as HHFNC is categorised as an aerosol generating procedure, so it is advantageous to minimise the length of time patients spend on HHFNC through efficient weaning. Objectives We investigated how efficiently patients were weaned from HHFNC, and whether providing a specific weaning plan was associated with more efficient weaning. Methods The medical records of all patients presenting to our centre under 1 year of age diagnosed with bronchiolitis between 01/10/2019 and the 11/02/2020 were reviewed (n=70). Of these, 14 patients (20%) were placed on HHFNC for longer than 3 hours. For these patients, we calculated the total length of time on HHFNC and time taken to wean from HHFNC. We then assessed whether a specific weaning plan was documented for each patient, judging a specific weaning plan to be one in which there were instructions as to how the flow rate or fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO2) should be reduced with respect to time. Results The median time spent on HHFNC was 2.1 days. A median of 1.0 day was spent weaning from HHFNC, however there was a large range in weaning time, from 3.5 hours to 4.0 days. We found specific weaning plans were documented for 4 patients. Patients who had a specific weaning plan documented were weaned from HHFNC more quickly (mean = 14.75 hours) than those who did not (mean = 34.6 hours); Welch's t-test, t(11.93) = 2.26, p = 0.043. Conclusions This project showed a high proportion of time spent on HHFNC, in our unit, was spent weaning. It provided evidence that weaning can be more efficient when specific guidance is provided. Therefore, we created new Trust guidelines for standardised HHFNC weaning in bronchiolitis patients. These guidelines are in-line with the RCPCH guidance published on the 18/09/2020, in light of concerns about HHFNC and its classification as an aerosol generating procedure. It is planned to repeat the data collection for the 2020/21 bronchiolitis season to assess whether this new guidance both improves the efficiency of HHFNC weaning whilst remaining safe. However, this may be challenging with the unusually low rates of bronchiolitis we are seeing so far this season!


In this study we have used recurrence analysis (RA) to classify ERPs that appear from episodic memory retrieval in old/new recognition task. Since RA is based on embedding phase space, we have used correlation dimension and autocorrelation function in order to estimate embedding dimension and the lag time between successive components of each of embedding space vectors alternatively. According to RA the rates of classification have been improved in comparison to pervious study. We have obtained 98.9% accuracy for train data and 97.7% for test data. Furthermore we could classify ERPs with line interference noise using RA.


A rich stream of research has identified numerous antecedents to employee compliance (and noncompliance) with information security policies. However, the number of competing theoretical perspectives and inconsistencies in the reported findings have hampered efforts to attain a clear understanding of what truly drives this behavior. To address this theoretical stalemate and build toward a consensus on the key antecedents of employees' security policy compliance in different contexts, we conducted a meta-analysis of the relevant literature. Drawing on 95 empirical papers, we classified 401 independent variables into 17 distinct categories and analyzed each category's relationship with security policy compliance, including an analysis for possible domain-specific moderators. A meta-analytic relative weight analysis determined the relative importance of each category in predicting security policy compliance, while adding robustness to our findings. At a broad level, our results suggest that much of the security policy compliance literature is plagued by suboptimal theoretical framing. Our findings can facilitate more refined theory-building efforts in this research domain and serve as a guide for practitioners to manage security policy compliance initiatives.


BACKGROUND
Mortality from breast cancer is high in low- and middle-income countries, in part because most patients have advanced stage disease when first diagnosed. Case-finding may be one approach to changing this situation.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
We conducted a pilot study to explore the feasibility of population-based case finding for breast cancer by community health workers (CHWs) using different data collection methods and approaches to management of women found to have breast abnormalities. After training 8 CHWs in breast problem recognition, manual paper data collection and operation of a cell-phone software platform for reporting demographic, history and physical finding information, these CHWs visited 3150 women >age 18 and over they could find--from 2356 households in 8 villages in rural Bangladesh. By 4 random assignments of villages, data were collected manually (Group 1), or with the cell-phone program alone (Group 2) or with management algorithms (Groups 3 and 4), and women adjudged to have a serious breast problem were shown a motivational video (Group 3), or navigated/accompanied to a breast problem center for evaluation (Group 4).

RESULTS
Only three visited women refused evaluation. The manual data acquisition group (1) had missing data in 80% of cases, and took an average of 5 minutes longer to acquire, versus no missing data in the cell phone-reporting groups (2,3 and 4). One woman was identified with stage III breast cancer, and was appropriately treated.

CONCLUSIONS
Among very poor rural Bangladeshi women, there was very limited reluctance to undergo breast evaluation. The estimated rarity of clinical breast cancer is supported by these population-based findings. The feasibility and efficient use of mobile technology in this setting is supported. Successor studies may most appropriately be trials focusing on improving the suggested benefits of motivation and navigation, on increasing the numbers of cases found, and on stage of disease at diagnosis as the primary endpoint.


Ecological and socio-economic indicators are used as proxies for attributes of ecosystems and human communities, respectively. End-to-end models are used to predict how ecosystems will respond to alternative management actions and changing environmental conditions. Despite the importance of these two tools for Ecosystem-Based Management (EBM), there has been limited integration of ecological indicators directly into end-to-end models; the former are typically calculated post hoc with output from the latter. Here we explore how ecological indicators can be better incorporated into end-to-end models and examine the importance of this union with regards to cumulative impacts and indirect effects, setting management objectives, practical indicator selection, and applications to management. We conclude that the inclusion of ecological indicators in end-to-end models is not only feasible, but provides needed guidance on describing ecosystem status relative to strategic as well as tactical ecosystem-level management goals, and will escalate the implementation of EBM.


We start with a brief account of complex decision making problems, and advocate the use of modern approaches to real world decision making emphasizing the concept of a decision making process that involves more factors and aspects like: the use of explicit and tacit knowledge, intuition, individual habitual domains, non-trivial rationality, different paradigms, etc. We stress the need for computer based decision support systems that should exhibit some "intelligence" which is meant in an individual and collective perspective, and give an overview of main types of decision support systems. We present some new so-called computing paradigms that try to attain a synergy, and bridge the gap between the human user and computer systems that is mainly caused by the fact that natural language is the only fully natural means of communication and articulation for a human being but it is "strange" to the computer. We advocate the so-called: human centric computing, human centered computing, human computing, etc. that can help bridge this gap.

Then, we present Zadeh's paradigm of computing with words (and perceptions) as a tool that may help bring computing closer to the human being by an explicit use of (quasi)natural language in many phases of computing, problem solving, etc.

We indicate relations between the computing with words and human centric computing paradigms, and indicate - first - that the former can be viewed as an attempt at providing proper tools to implement the latter, and that both can play a crucial role in intelligent decision support systems.

We show some implementations of using linguistic data summaries in a business context and show that they can be viewed as extremely human consistent data mining tools, notably for novice users.


With the threat of the emerging and reemerging infections (especially viral), it is time to gear up our health care facilities to tackle this menace. This short observational study conducted in the Out Patient Department of Emergency Department (ED), Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh in the month of August to October 2009 was done to analyze the efforts of preparedness of a pioneer institute of India PGIMER, Chandigarh when threatened by epidemic of H1N1 influenza. The information on existing policy, planning and it's implementation regarding H1N1 were obtained. Data pertaining to infrastructural facilities, overcrowding and patient flow in the ED of PGIMER with respect to tackling of infectious outbreaks especially H1N1 influenza was collected. The data was also taken from laboratory registers of biochemistry and hematology labs present within the ED. The hospital census data pertaining to ED was obtained and analyzed. It was observed that the planning regarding pandemic influenza was initiated in PGIMER in August 2009, two months after first case of H1N1 was detected in Chandigarh.
A multidisciplinary committee was constituted. Nodal officers were identified and channel of flow of information within the hospital and with the local health departments was established. A Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) was developed for managing H1N1 patients. PGIMER regularly updated its H1N1 plans in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW). According to "hospital pandemic influenza planning checklist" by Centre of Disease Control, Atlanta, PGI fared well. Though the efforts were started late, but these were satisfactory. However, it was observed that ED had overcrowding, non- systematic patient flow, high patient load and high Average Length of Stay (AL S). The hospital ED was reasonably well prepared to tackle H1N1 situation except few lacunae at the policy and implementation level that needed to be addressed immediately.


Published in 1879 in the Tahzīb ul-Akhlāq as well as in book form, Maulana Altaf Husain Hali's Musaddas on the Ebb and Flow of Islam (better known as Musaddas-e Hālī) is a unique text. The poem, which recalls a glorious Islamic past and mourns its decline in India, both drew on the Urdu shahr āshob tradition that had developed since the eighteenth century as well as innovatively developed a very Arabic "flavour" and style that was uncommon at the time. While C. Shackle and J. Majeed have analysed Hali's use of typical Arabic literary devices in their excellent study and edition of the Musaddas, they conceded that "the overt influence of Arabic poetry is less easy to establish". However, new evidence from the Aligarh Institute Gazette of 1878 brings another piece to the puzzle and enables us to situate Hali's Musaddas in its broader historical and literary context: indeed, two articles written by Sayyid Ahmad Khan in January of that year show that Hali's masterpiece was in fact conceived as an Urdu re-adaptation of an Arabic classic, al-Rundi's famous Lament for the fall of Seville.


Anterior epistaxis is commonly treated with Merocel nasal packing insertion. A 63-year-old male patient showed a cerebrospinal fluid rhinorrhea and pneumocephalus immediately after insertion of a Merocel tampon used for spontaneous right anterior epistaxis. He later developed fever and headache. This clinical report is to highlight how the nasal merocel should be positioned by specialized personnel and to describe how to manage this type of complication.


Metabolome refers to small molecules inside the biological sample. This review focuses on human health and COVID-19 from a metabolome point of view. The metabolome includes endogenous and exogenous metabolites. Endogenous metabolites contain natural compounds such as nucleic acids, amino acids, vitamins, fatty acids, and sugars. Exogenous metabolites include food additives, environmental toxicants, drugs, and xenobiotics. Human health is a physical, mental, and social well-being state without any disease. Many factors influence human health, such as human lifestyle, background, social, and economic state. The human diet provides principal nutrients in food that sustenance human life. There are 7 main nutrients (fats, proteins, minerals, carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins, and water). Human exercise is body movement that improves or sustains human physical fitness and health. Human exercise supports human growth and recovers human strength. Human sleep is a natural regular state of mind and body. It is changed consciousness and declines both sensory and muscle activities. Human sleep maintains memory, mood, and biological function. The viral shape of the crown is the reason for its name. The World Health Organization report reveals that this virus occurred first in animals (1940) then occurred in humans (2003). The COVID-19 occurred in Wuhan state in China in December 2019.There are 4 types of coronavirus: Alphacoronavirus, Betacoronavirus, Gammacoronavirus, and Deltacoronavirus. The 4 known types of this virus (COVID-19, MERS, SARS-CoV, and SARS-CoV-2) are under the Betacoronavirus classification. In conclusion, the metabolome has an important role in human health and COVID-19.


Karl Marx, who was tremendously fond of the vampire as metaphor, famously wrote, "If money, according to [Marie] Augier, 'comes into the world with a congenital blood-stain on one cheek,' capital comes dripping from head to foot, from every pore, with blood and dirt" (834). Suggestive of a newly risen corpse, this is, perhaps, a subtle allusion to Marx's even more often quoted assertion that "capital is dead labour, that, vampire-like, only lives by sucking living labour, and lives the more, the more labour it sucks" (257). Either way, this is probably the only subject on which Marx and Thomas Nelson Page's Old South planters might agree. For them, capital--especially paper money, whose value can shift independently of the more material values of practical commodities--is a kind of specter. This is especially important to the way we read Dracula and Red Rock. We know that ghosts and monsters--both representive of the gothic past--should be bound in history (real or imagined), but in both novels, the fight against blood-sucking monsters (Dracula and Jonadab Leech, respectively) stands in for another more fundamental anxiety over values: that dangerous ideologies from the past might reconstitute themselves and, in the process, destabilize the present. In the looming sense that monsters might emerge from the past, this is by necessity and design a discourse of blood and dirt. It might not seem, at first, that there is much to suggest a comparison between Thomas Nelson Page's Red Rock (1898) and Braham Stokers Dracula (1897), but at their cores, both novels mourn the end of one era while trying to influence the one to come. Page's reconstruction romance says goodbye to the Old South and attempts to shape--at least within the realm of fiction--the new place a postbellum South will occupy in the national consciousness. Stoker's novel, similarly, seems to shrug off the final elements of Victorian sensationalism while trying to embrace the technological optimism of the twentieth century. To put it simply, in Dracula, a group of conspicuously modern figures face the specter of their gothic past before they can move into the future; the heroes of Red Rock, carefully negotiating the tight passage between continuity and progress, similarly work to generate a place for the South within the United States. What connects these texts most fundamentally, then, is their parallel response to the cultural crisis that the end of the nineteenth century was generating on either side of the Atlantic. Although Jerzy Sobieraj contends that Page's most successful topic was "the Old South and the emergence of the new," his reading of Red Rock does not simply recount the stock narrative of postbellum regional strife (81). "The fact that, after the Civil War, the traditional agrarian South started being bombarded with the new industrial ideas was due not only to the Northern victors. The social and economic changes that threatened the agrarian South," he argues, "characterized the whole of late nineteenth-century society" (Sobieraj 81). In this, he echoes the sentiments of Dr. Cary, who warns a group of overconfident young men who cannot believe secession will actually lead to war, asking "No war? We are at war at this time--with the greatest power on earth: the power of universal progress. It is not the North that we shall have to fight, but the whole world" (31). This threat to traditional nineteenth-century southern culture lets Page frame an approach to Reconstruction that might allow readers to focus less on the historical particulars of slavery and secession and more on the discursive structures they reveal. Although Earl Bargainnier's point that Red Rock is both "a novel of sectional reconciliation" aimed at attracting readers from outside the South as well as an attempt to create "a myth of what [Page] considered a great lost civilization" acknowledges Page's ambivalence about the Old South, the key to understanding the novel's approach to these issues is its treatment of blood and dirt as essential signifiers (45). …


A previously undescribed virus, (VPLLT) causing mottling, chlorosis, leaf wrinkleness and retarded growth on Capsicum annuum varieties California Wonder", Blanco del Pais and P.R. Wonder, was isolated at the Agricultural Experiment Station 2 years ago. VPLLT is not inactivated by heating at 85° C, can be diluted to 1-100,000, and is still active after 14 days at room temperature (29° C). It is not serologically related to tobacco mosaic virus, tobacco severe etch virus, Puerto Rican pepper mosaic virus, tobacco ringspot virus, green mottle mosaic (cucumber #3) virus, squash mosaic virus, potato virus X, sugarcane mosaic virus, and MMV (Puerto Rico isolate) of squash mosaic virus. No transmission of VPLLT was obtained using the aphid species A. gossypii and M. persicae as vectors. The virus easily passes through a Millipore 0.45 µ  filter, and is not immunologically related to TMV or PRPMV. It was found that P.R. Wonder and Cuaresmeno hot pepper, two varieties highly-resistant to PRPMV, are fully susceptible to the VPLLT virus.


Background: Visual heuristics of pathology diagnosis is a largely unexplored area where reported studies only provided a qualitative insight into the subject. Uncovering and quantifying pathology visual and nonvisual diagnostic patterns have great potential to improve clinical outcomes and avoid diagnostic pitfalls. Methods: Here, we present PathEdEx, an informatics computational framework that incorporates whole-slide digital pathology imaging with multiscale gaze-tracking technology to create web-based interactive pathology educational atlases and to datamine visual and nonvisual diagnostic heuristics. Results: We demonstrate the capabilities of PathEdEx for mining visual and nonvisual diagnostic heuristics using the first PathEdEx volume of a hematopathology atlas. We conducted a quantitative study on the time dynamics of zooming and panning operations utilized by experts and novices to come to the correct diagnosis. We then performed association rule mining to determine sets of diagnostic factors that consistently result in a correct diagnosis, and studied differences in diagnostic strategies across different levels of pathology expertise using Markov chain (MC) modeling and MC Monte Carlo simulations. To perform these studies, we translated raw gaze points to high-explanatory semantic labels that represent pathology diagnostic clues. Therefore, the outcome of these studies is readily transformed into narrative descriptors for direct use in pathology education and practice. Conclusion: PathEdEx framework can be used to capture best practices of pathology visual and nonvisual diagnostic heuristics that can be passed over to the next generation of pathologists and have potential to streamline implementation of precision diagnostics in precision medicine settings.


A low-complexity joint range and Doppler frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radar algorithm based on the number of targets is proposed in this paper. This paper introduces two low-complexity FMCW radar algorithms, that is, region of interest (ROI)-based and partial discrete Fourier transform (DFT)-based algorithms. We find the low-complexity condition of each algorithm by analyzing the complexity of these algorithms. From this analysis, it is found that the number of targets is an important factor in determining complexity. Based on this result, the proposed algorithm selects a low-complexity algorithm between two algorithms depending the estimated number of targets and thus achieves lower complexity compared two low-complexity algorithms introduced. The experimental results using real FMCW radar systems show that the proposed algorithm works well in a real environment. Moreover, central process unit time and count of float pointing are shown as a measure of complexity.


In flowing water the incipient motion of sediment can be affected by the presence of microbial biofilm growth. This article documents a series of flume experiments using non‐uniform sediments, in which sediment entrainment was investigated for cases where the sediment was immersed in deionized water, so that no biofilm developed, and for cases where a bio‐sediment was cultivated by placing the sediment in a mixture of natural water and nutrient solution. Differences in entrainment and the velocity at incipient motion were measured over an eight week period, as biofilm grew. It was found that the incipient motion phenomena were quite distinct between the two kinds of sediment. Sediment with biofilm was more stable and, over time, incipient velocity increased to a threshold level, before declining. Biofilm development is clearly an important control on the stability of sediments, especially in eutrophic water bodies. Two incipient velocity formulas were derived for sliding and rolling conditions. Film water theory was utilized to describe the cohesive force between sediment particles and the adhesive force generated by biofilm was introduced into the formula derivation; the time variation characteristics of biofilm strength and the features of the substrate were also taken into consideration. Such analyses can help to predict sediment transport changes due to biofilm presence in nutrient‐rich water bodies.


Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in diabetic patients representing a huge health and economic burden. Alarming recent data described diabetes as an unprecedented worldwide epidemic, with a prevalence of ~6.4% of the world population in 2010, while the prevalence of CKD among diabetics was approximately 40%. With a clinical field hungry for novel markers predicting DN, several clinical and laboratory markers were identified lately with the promise of reliable DN prediction. Among those are age, gender, hypertension, smoking, sex hormones and anemia. In addition, eccentric left ventricular geometric patterns, detected by echocardiography, and renal hypertrophy, revealed by ultrasonography, are promising new markers predicting DN development. Serum and urinary markers are still invaluable elements, including serum uric acid, microalbuminuria, macroalbuminuria, urinary liver-type fatty acid-binding protein (u-LFABP), and urinary nephrin. Moreover, studies have illustrated a tight relationship between obstructive sleep apnea and the development of DN. The purpose of this review is to present the latest advances in identifying promising predictors to DN, which will help guide the future research questions in this field. Aiming at limiting this paramount threat, further efforts are necessary to identify and control independent modifiable risk factors, while developing an integrative algorithm for utilization in DN future screening programs. © Versita Sp. z o.o.


The objective of this work was to study the effect of enzymatic treatment, shear stress and temperature on the rheological behavior of blackberry juice. The juice was submitted to enzyme hydrolysis during 30 minutes using Rapidase enzyme at different concentrations (200, 400 and 600ppm). After incubation step the juice viscosity was analyzed at 20, 25, 30 and 35 o C to shear rate varying between 0 and 100 s -1 . Experimental data were obtained in a concentric cylinders rheometer model AR-G2. The hydrolyzed blackberry juice presented pseudoplastic behavior with the flow consistency index very sensitive to temperature changes.


Background Immune-checkpoint blockade (ICB) of programmed-death-1 (PD-1) with pembrolizumab or nivolumab is approved for treating recurrent/metastatic (R/M) head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). NadiHN and ADRISK are phase IIB trials investigating in locally advanced (LA) HNSCC having low or high risk of recurrence the potential benefits from adding nivolumab to post-operative radiotherapy or pembrolizumab to cisplatin-based radio-chemotherapy. Methods Along five randomized controlled ICB trials including NadiHN and ADRISK, blood samples were taken before and after starting ICB in n=25 patients. Concentrations of vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF), CCL2 (MCP-1), interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-8, interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), and CXCL10 (IP-10) pre- and post-ICB in EDTA-anticoagulated plasma and serum were compared. We used receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves to identify optimal cutoff for defining subgroups before analyzing overall survival (OS) applying Kaplan–Meier plots and multivariate Cox regression. Results We detected huge heterogeneity between cytokine patterns in pre-and post-ICB plasma and serum. We observed high correlation between concentrations of some cytokines. Despite absent systematic OS differences after ICB with pembrolizumab or nivolumab or between LA-HNSCC versus R/M HNSCC patients, we noticed improved outcome of patients having lower IFN-γ concentrations pre- and post-ICB and following ICB reduced concentrations of VEGF, IL-6, and IL-8 but not MCP-1. Contrarily, increases in IL-6, IL-8, and VEGF levels correlated with impaired outcome. Multivariate Cox regression revealed five independent OS predictors among cytokines; using natural logarithms of their hazard ratios to estimate an individual's risk of dying, three cytokine-expression pattern (CEP)-risk groups with no death within mean (95% confidence interval) follow-up of 29.2 (22.1–36.2) months and median OS of 11.3 (8.8–13.8) and 2.9 (0.4-5.4) months were found. Conclusion Whereas individual pre- or post-ICB cytokine concentrations in serum or plasma alone failed to predict the survivor group, CEP-risk groups may support the identification of individual patients with long-lasting benefit from ICB.


Chemical carcinogenesis can be subdivided at least into two stages, i.e., initiation and promotion, in the mouse skin carcinogenesis model. There is considerable evidence supporting the relevance of the above concept to chemical carcinogenesis of other organs. Initiation represents the stage in which a carcinogen interacts with DNA and causes irreversible damage on the genome. Subsequent repeated exposure to a tumor promoter leads to a phenotypic expression of the initiated cells to tumor cells. In our living environment, a larger number of carcinogens may exist and exposure to a minute amount of carcinogen even once may be sufficient to generate initiated cells; therefore, prevention of carcinogenesis at the stage of initiation is not an easy task. In contrast to the initiation stage, the promotion stage is essentially reversible, and a relatively long period is required to accomplish this process. Therefore, prevention of chemical carcinogenesis in the promotion stage seems more practical than preventing carcinogenesis in the initiation stage. There is much evidence suggesting that arachidonic acid cascades play important roles both in the initiation stages. There is much evidence suggesting that arachidonic acid cascades play important roles both in the initiation and promotion stages. In the two-stage skin carcinogenesis, inhibitors of arachidonic acid cascades, especially lipoxygenase inhibitors, effectively prevent tumor formation by inhibiting the stage of tumor promotion caused by different types of tumor promoters. Although at present, the role(s) of lipoxygenase pathways in the mechanism of tumor promotion is not fully understood, the potential use of lipoxygenase inhibitors for the prevention of chemical carcinogenesis is anticipated.


Nowadays the leading techniques for diagnosing and
revealing the different diseases are image processing. And there
is an increase in the cases of cancer these days. The unrestricted
development of cells cause's lumps which leads to brain tumor
also called glioblastoma. There are mainly two types of tumor
benign which has covering over the tumor and malignant is the
one which spreads throughout the places. Earlier the
development of unrestricted cells used to be diagnosed by doctors
physically through monitoring the image by which the results
were not used to be precise sometimes. But time along boarding
of medical fields lead to different medical facilities by which the
results could be precise. The broadly approach method of
imaging that scrutinizes the internal structure of the human race
is Magnetic resonance Imaging. This approach of imaging
techniques is also used for detecting brain tumors. The detection
of glioblastoma processes has machine vision methods such as
Image pre-processing, Segmentation in Image, Feature
extraction and classification. Several image segmentation and
image classification techniques are available for detecting tumor
of the brain. Convolution neural networks (CNN) based
classifiers are proposed to prevail the limitations. This CNN is
such a classifier which is used to differentiate between the
competent data and the trail data, from which the results could
be obtained.


Our current understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying host-parasite interaction in the establishment of persistent infections transmitted through blood transfusion permits us to develop strategies for their prevention. Because of rigorous screening to prevent transmission of blood-borne infections, the transfusion of blood and blood products has already achieved an unprecedented level of safety. The "window period" viraemia can be further reduced by screening donated blood with nucleic acid testing (NAT) technology now being introduced in Europe and the U.S.A. Both immunological and virological risks of transfusion can be reduced by photodecontamination and universal leukofiltration performed at the blood processing facilities. Unquestionably, progressive improvements in transfusion safety leads to an escalation in the cost of our blood supply; therefore, cost effectiveness, quality control, and regulatory issues have become topics of considerable importance in responding to our society's expectation of risk-free hemotherapy.


Background: The present study was the first one of its own kind conducted in the study area. Throughout the world digestive system diseases and their related symptoms are widely prevalent. People of Chitral still heavily rely upon therapeutic plants to cure digestive disorders. Aim of the study: The present study was conducted in order to document the traditional uses of medicinal plants for the cure of digestive disorders in Laspur Valley of Chitral. Methods: Ethnomedicinal data was obtained from 200 inhabitants of the area through face to face interviews and semi-structured questionnaires. To analyze data quantitatively, Use-Value (UV), Familiarity-Index (FI), Family Importance Value (FIV), Consensus-Index (CI), and Informant Consensus Factor indices (ICF) were applied. Results: A total of 44 medicinal plants were documented. The recurring life forms were herbs (75%), shrubs (15.91%) and trees (6.82%). The most frequently utilized part was the leaves (43.18%). To prepare medicine leaves were used unprocessed in fresh/dried form, as powder, and decoction, and were usually taken orally. The FI value was led by Coriandrum sativum (0.285). The family Apiaceae had the maximum FIV value (46.5). The value of "CI" was highest for Coriandrum sativum . ICF values for Dysentery, Vomiting and Intestinal Disorders (1.0) presented the maximum consensus factor. Conclusion: The practice of using therapeutic plants to cure digestive disorders by medicinal plants is still prevalent in the study area. Key words: Quantitative ethnomedicinal; indigenous medicinal plants; digestive disorders; Laspur valley; Northern Pakistan


Abstract
Background and Aim: Considering the importance and the role of low birth weight in the mortality
and morbidity of neonates and the costs of care, the aim of this study is to determine the incidence and
related factors of low birth weight in Hajar hospital in Shahr-e-Kord
Material and method: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 5102 infants who were born in
Hajar hospital during the year 2005. Data was gathered from mother, pediatrics physician (physical
examination), and mothers' and infants' records. SPSS was used for data analysis (Chi-square and
multiple logistic regression tests) and P<0.05 was considered significant.
Results: Out of 5102 infants, 434 (8.5%) were low birth weight (CI=7.5%-9.5%). The Odds ratio of
low birth weight was about 16.5 in multifetal pregnancy versus singleton pregnancy, and about 10 in the
gestational age less than 37 weeks versus gestational age more than or equal to 37 weeks (P<0.0001).
Low birth weight was seen 2.5 folds in females infants compared with the males (P=0.04). Also, it was
2.75 folds in the mothers aged less than 20 years versus the mothers aged more than or equal to 20 years
(P=0.04). Primiparous women had Low birth weight infabnts 3.69 folds incomparison with the
multiparous women (P=0.01). In logistic regression, multifetal pregnancy, prematurity and sex were
determined as the most important factors related to low birth weight.
Conclusion: The incidence of low birth weight in Hajar hospital in shahrekord was similar to the
other sites in Iran. Prevention of preterm labor, educational intervention programs for high risk mothers
specially the young women aged less than 20 years and primiparous and promotion of the quality of
prenatal cares in multifetal pregnancis can be effective in prevention of low birth weight.


A new method for automated coronal loop tracking, in both spatial and temporal domains, is presented. Applying this technique to TRACE data, obtained using the 171 Å filter on 1998 July 14, we detect a coronal loop undergoing a 270 s kink-mode oscillation, as previously found by Aschwanden et al. However, we also detect flare-induced, and previously unnoticed, spatial periodicities on a scale of 3500 km, which occur along the coronal loop edge. Furthermore, we establish a reduction in oscillatory power for these spatial periodicities of 45% over a 222 s interval. We relate the reduction in detected oscillatory power to the physical damping of these loop-top oscillations.


With the advancement in technologies, the last decades have seen a sea change in the way people interact and communicate. For instance, contents, services and applications previously executed locally or on a local network are gradually finding its way to the cloud. As people and environment changes, so must education in order to be able to adapt and embrace to this paradigm shift in the educational landscape. Cloud-based education has thus arisen and has since gathered a lot of interests in the recent years. This paper thus describes the issues that need to be solved in order to arrive at cloud education, including integration, ownership, security and assessment, and offers a holistic approach to cloud education. It also put forward a new perspective in embedding mobile cloud education, an amalgamation between cloud-learning and mobile-learning domains, within a holistic intelligent campus environment.


It is shown that the efficiency of a pulsed e-beam sustained discharge overtone CO laser in the multiline regime achieves 16% and in the single-line regime its efficiency is 0.75%. The theoretical and experimental data are in good agreement taking into account the local specific energy input.


Physical education contributes greatly to the physical, psychological and intellectual development of individuals. The awareness of the students of the coaching department about the concept of physical education should basically be revealed. The aim of this study is to reveal the perceptions of students studying in the coaching department about physical education through metaphors. Phenomenology design, one of the qualitative research designs, has been used and the concept of "Physical Education" constitutes the phenomenon of the study. The study group of the research consisted of 112 students who were studying at the Department of Coaching in the Faculty of Sport Sciences of U ş ak University in the 2018-2019 Academic Year. Convenience sampling was used to determine the study group. As our knowledge of the concept of physical education increases, its volume will constantly expand. Therefore, the concept of physical education can be compared to a warehouse. It has a potential that cannot find its full expression in the language due to its storage feature. Our study did not change the nature of the concept of physical education after all. However, with the experimental work we have done on this subject, we can say that it contributes the content of the concept of physical education as "an occupation that requires effort", "an occupation that provides physical benefit", "an occupation that increases performance", "an occupation that enhances the appearance", "an occupation with an element of harmony and balance" and as an "emotional benefit". The aim of this study is to reveal the perceptions of students studying in the coaching department about physical education through metaphors.


Equity is an unresolved issue on the Spanish healthcare agenda. This paper explores the importance that health professionals give to social determinants of health and the means they possess to address them. It also analyzes the relationship between food insecurity and increases in certain diseases. One of its objectives is to ascertain how increasing uncertainty is being addressed in primary healthcare services. We present a qualitative study carried out in six primary care centers in the cities of Reus and Tarragona between 2018 and 2019, involving 19 practitioners active in the areas of nursing, family practice, and social work. Results indicate that the lack of resources in primary care centers makes it difficult to integrate a social determinants of health approach, and thus to mitigate inequalities. Furthermore, a lack of structural actions diminishes the ability to respond to citizens' healthcare needs.


We report on three patients in whom ipsilateral blindness developed following carotid endarterectomy. Fundoscopic examination of the retina documented ischemia and the visual field defects were permanent. In one patient, the internal carotid artery was patent and thought to be the conduit for embolization to the eye. Two patients had chronic occlusion of the internal carotid artery, and blindness resulted from atheromatous emboli to the eye through the external carotid artery in one and from postoperative thrombosis of the external cartoid artery in the other. Our experience calls attention to this infrequently reported complication of carotid endarterectomy and emphasizes the importance of the external carotid artery, especially when the internal carotid artery is occluded.


Background and Aim The data related to the association between hepatitis virus infections and diabetes mellitus (DM) are conflicting. The aim of this study was to investigate the seroprevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) and to determine the risk factors affecting the prevalence in Turkish patients with type 1 DM and type 2 DM. Methods The study consisted of 736 diabetic and 505 nondiabetic patients. Serological investigation for the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and the HCV antibody (anti-HCV) was performed with a third-generation commercial chemiluminescence assay. The presence of HBsAg was considered as indicator of HBV infection. The HCV infection in the patients with positive anti-HCV was confirmed by a real-time polymerase chain reaction assay. The patients were divided according to their HBV and HCV infection status, and their demographic features, diabetes properties, general risk factors, and aminotransferase levels were analyzed. Results There was no significant difference in the seropositivity rate for the HBsAg (3.8% vs 3.0%, P > 0.43; odds ratio, 1.292; 95% confidence interval, 0.683–2.444). However, anti-HCV seropositivity was significantly increased in the DM group (3.3% vs 1.8%, P < 0.03; odds ratio, 2.398; 95% confidence interval, 1.025–5.609). Increased aminotransferase levels and a history of blood transfusions were positively correlated with both HBV and HCV infection. Moreover, a history of surgical procedures and high glycated hemoglobin A1c levels were positively associated with HBsAg antigen seropositivity. Conclusions Although no significant difference in the seropositivity of the HBsAg was determined, a high prevalence of HCV infection was detected in the DM patients compared to healthy controls.


A 54-year-old woman presented with a 6-month history of swelling on the right side of her face. On physical examination she was found to have a huge mass in the right nasal cavity. Magnetic resonance images of the paranasal sinuses revealed a soft tissue mass in the right maxillary sinus and a mass was also seen in the left maxillary sinus. On histopathologic examination, the tumor had a lobular structure with infiltrating margins. Two cell types, an outer layer of myoepithelial and an inner layer of duct-like cells, were found. On immunohistochemical examination, myoepithelial cells stained positively for calponin, p63, GFAP, S-100 protein, alpha-smooth muscle actin cytokeratin-14. The tumors were resected completely and no recurrence or metastasis was found 30 months after surgery. We describe here an unusual case of epithelial-myoepithelial carcinoma (EMC) arising from the paranasal sinuses. This is the first case report in the literature describing bilateral EMC in the maxillary sinuses.


Because of the important role of rock mass structural properties on its mechanical behavior, determining the qualitative and quantitative properties of has been a subject of intense research. In this regard, numerous techniques such as scanline surveying, cell mapping, and geologic structure mapping have been proposed. However, applying such field surveying techniques for rock mass properties involves spending substantial costs and times and high risks. Besides, due to the errors induced by operations, measurements, systematic errors, etc., the results of these techniques are not accurate and precise enough. Short-range digital photogrammetry is an state-of-art technique applied for surveying rock mass characteristics. Through this novel approach, rock mass surface is imaged, the obtained images are analyzed, and rock mass characteristics are determined, and finally, the technique is validated by comparing the obtained results with field surveys. In the present work, two digital photogrammetry based methods including digital image processing and laser-based imaging are implemented in rock mass characterization. The results show that short-range digital photogrammetry can be effectively employed in rock mass structure characterization. Moreover, this approach, unlike the existing traditional ones, involves low costs, high speed, and sufficiently accurate and precise results.


BACKGROUND
Diabetes is a chronic disease, with high prevalence across many nations, which is characterized by elevated level of blood glucose and risk of acute and chronic complication. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has one of the highest levels of diabetes prevalence globally. It is well-known that the treatment of diabetes is complex process and requires both lifestyle change and clear pharmacologic treatment plan. To avoid the complication from diabetes, the effective behavioural change and extensive education and self-management is one of the key approaches to alleviate such complications. However, this process is lengthy and expensive. The recent studies on the user of smart phone technologies for diabetes self-management have proven to be an effective tool in controlling hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels especially in type-2 diabetic (T2D) patients. However, to date no reported study addressed the effectiveness of this approach in the in Saudi patients. This study investigates the impact of using mobile health technologies for the self-management of diabetes in Saudi Arabia.

METHODS
In this study, an intelligent mobile diabetes management system (SAED), tailored for T2D patients in KSA was developed. A pilot study of the SAED system was conducted in Saudi Arabia with 20 diabetic patients for 6 months duration. The patients were randomly categorized into a control group who did not use the SAED system and an intervention group whom used the SAED system for their diabetes management during this period. At the end of the follow-up period, the HbA1c levels in the patients in both groups were measure together with a diabetes knowledge test was also conducted to test the diabetes awareness of the patients.

RESULTS
The results of SAED pilot study showed that the patients in the intervention group were able to significantly decrease their HbA1c levels compared to the control group. The SAED system also enhanced the diabetes awareness amongst the patients in the intervention group during the trial period. These outcomes confirm the global studies on the effectiveness of smart phone technologies in diabetes management. The significance of the study is that this was one of the first such studies conducted on Saudi patients and of their acceptance for such technology in their diabetes self-management treatment plans.

CONCLUSIONS
The pilot study of the SAED system showed that a mobile health technology can significantly improve the HbA1C levels among Saudi diabetic and improve their disease management plans. The SAED system can also be an effective and low-cost solution in improving the quality of life of diabetic patients in the Kingdom considering the high level of prevalence and the increasing economic burden of this disease.


At zygotic genome activation (ZGA), changes in chromatin structure are associated with new transcription immediately following the maternal-to-zygotic transition (MZT). The nuclear architectural proteins, cohesin and CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF), contribute to chromatin structure and gene regulation. We show here that normal cohesin function is important for ZGA in zebrafish. Depletion of cohesin subunit Rad21 delays ZGA without affecting cell cycle progression. In contrast, CTCF depletion has little effect on ZGA whereas complete abrogation is lethal. Genome wide analysis of Rad21 binding reveals a change in distribution from pericentromeric satellite DNA, and few locations including the miR-430 locus (whose products are responsible for maternal transcript degradation), to genes, as embryos progress through the MZT. After MZT, a subset of Rad21 binding occurs at genes dysregulated upon Rad21 depletion and overlaps pioneer factor Pou5f3, which activates early expressed genes. Rad21 depletion disrupts the formation of nucleoli and RNA polymerase II foci, suggestive of global defects in chromosome architecture. We propose that Rad21/cohesin redistribution to active areas of the genome is key to the establishment of chromosome organization and the embryonic developmental program. Author Summary During the first few hours of existence, early zygotic cellular events are regulated by maternally inherited molecules. From a defined timepoint, the zygotic genome gradually becomes active and is transcribed. How the zygotic genome is first held inactive before becoming rapidly activated is poorly understood. Both gene repression and activation mechanisms are involved, but one aspect that has not yet been investigated is how 3-dimensional chromosome structure influences genome activation. In this study, we used zebrafish embryos to model zygotic genome activation. The multi-subunit protein complex, cohesin, and the DNA-binding protein CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF) both have well known and overlapping roles in 3-dimensional genome organization. We depleted cohesin subunit Rad21, or CTCF, to determine their effects on zygotic genome activation. Moderate Rad21 depletion delayed transition to zygotic gene expression, without disrupting the cell cycle. By contrast, moderate CTCF depletion had very little effect; however, strong depletion of CTCF was lethal. We surveyed genome-wide binding of Rad21 before and after the zygotic genome is activated, and determined what other chromatin factors and transcription factors coincide with Rad21 binding. Before genome activation, Rad21 was located at satellite DNA and a few noncoding genes, one of which (miR-430) is responsible for degrading maternal transcripts. Following genome activation, there was a mass relocation of Rad21 to genes, particularly active genes and those that are targets of transcriptional activators when the zygotic genome is switched on. Depletion of Rad21 also affected global chromosome structure. Our study shows that cohesin binding redistributes to active RNA Polymerase II genes at the onset of zygotic gene transcription. Furthermore, we suggest that cohesin contributes to dynamic changes in chromosome architecture that occur upon zygotic genome activation.


It is revealed that instability of interface between photoactive layer and electron‐transporting layer (ETL) is one of the causes of the rapid degradation of organic photovoltaics (OPV) performance during initial operation (burn‐in loss) under the light soaking. The stability of OPV is greatly enhanced by applying a robust ETL composed of TiO2 nanoparticles (TNPs). The TNPs bound with π–π interactive 3‐phenylpentane‐2,4‐dione (TNP–Ph) form more robust ETLs than those bound with van der Waals interactive 3‐methyl‐2,4‐pentanedione TNP (TNP–Me). The OPV with TNP–Ph maintains 73% of its initial power conversion efficiency (PCE) after 1000 h of light soaking, whereas the PCE of OPV with TNP–Me substantially reduces to 25% of initial PCE. The impedance analysis reveals that the burn‐in loss is due to increase of resistance at the TNP ETL/photoactive layer interface during the light soaking. The transmission electron microscopy analysis shows that the TNP–Ph maintains most clear and robust interface with photoactive layer after the light‐soaking test. This is attributed to the strong π–π interaction between phenyl rings of TNP–Ph. However, the TNP–Me bound with van der Waals interactive organic ligands penetrates the photoactive layer during the light‐soaking test.


Recently, we have shown that the physiological roles of a multifunctional protein fructose 1,6-bisphosphatase 2 (FBP2, also called muscle FBP) depend on the oligomeric state of the protein. Here, we present several lines of evidence that in HL-1 cardiomyocytes, a forced, chemically induced reduction in the FBP2 dimer-tetramer ratio that imitates AMP and NAD+ action and restricts FBP2-mitochondria interaction, results in an increase in Tau phosphorylation, augmentation of FBP2-Tau and FBP2-MAP1B interactions, disturbance of tubulin network, marked reduction in the speed of mitochondrial trafficking and increase in mitophagy. These results not only highlight the significance of oligomerization for the regulation of FBP2 physiological role in the cell, but they also demonstrate a novel, important cellular function of this multitasking protein—a function that might be crucial for processes that take place during physiological and pathological cardiac remodeling, and during the onset of diseases which are rooted in the destabilization of MT and/or mitochondrial network dynamics.


In mathematics there is a wide class of knot invariants that may be expressed in the form of multiple line integrals computed along the trajectory C describing the spatial conformation of the knot. In this work it is addressed the problem of evaluating invariants of this kind in the case in which the knot is discrete, i. e. its trajectory is constructed by joining together a set of segments of constant length. Such discrete knots appear almost everywhere in numerical simulations of systems containing one dimensional ring-shaped objects. Examples are polymers, the vortex lines in fluids and superfluids like helium and other quantum liquids. Formally, the trajectory of a discrete knot is a piecewise smooth curve characterized by sharp corners at the joints between contiguous segments. The presence of these corners spoils the topological invariance of the knot invariants considered here and prevents the correct evaluation of their values. To solve this problem, a smoothing procedure is presented, which eliminates the sharp corners and transforms the original path C into a curve that is everywhere differentiable. The procedure is quite general and can be applied to any discrete knot defined off or on lattice. This smoothing algorithm is applied to the computation of the Vassiliev knot invariant of degree 2 denoted here with the symbol (C). This is the simplest knot invariant that admits a definition in terms of multiple line integrals. For a fast derivation of (C), it is used a Monte Carlo integration technique. It is shown that, after the smoothing, the values of (C) may be evaluated with an arbitrary precision. Several algorithms for the fast computation of the Vassiliev knot invariant of degree 2 are provided.


"Psychology of Economic Self-Determination of Person and Community" is an annual seminar on Economic Psychology. The 2nd seminar was co-organized by Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu (Romania), Institute of Social and Political Psychology NAPS of Ukraine, and CISES s. r. l. & PSIOP (Italy). In forthcoming seminars psychologists and economists are invited to discuss the following topics of Economic Psychology: Psychological peculiarities of national economic policy; Money, income and savings attitudes; Psycho-economic aspects of organizational activities; Entrepreneurship psychology; Economic consciousness and economic socialization; Psychology of consumer behavior; Psychology of richness and poverty; Social representations paradigm for research in Economic Psychology; Pedagogical basis of economic consciousness development. Ideas for cooperation and participation are warmly welcomed on firstname.lastname@example.com


This dissertation covers the pharmacognostic parameters of the
leaves of Punica granatum, Var. Ganesh belonging to the family:
Punicaceae, such as macroscopical, microscopical including powder
analysis and physical standards like ash values, extractive values, etc have
been studied and presented. Microscopical studies reveals the presence of calcium oxalate
prismatic crystals, druses in the mesophyll region and uniform
parallel striations in the upper epidermis along with usual leaf tissues. The preliminary phytochemical studies reveals the presence of
alkaloid, carbohydrate, glycoside, phytosterol, tannins, proteins,
flavonoids, terpenoids in leaf powder. TLC of the chloroform, acetone and ethanol extracts of leaves of
P.granatum shows the presence of ursolic acid. The percentage of ursolic acid in chloroform, acetone, ethanol
extracts were determined by HPLC as 20.34, 0.32, 0.15 respectively. The commercial exploitation of ursolic acid is recommended.
Acute toxicological study In the present study it was confirmed that
the chloroform extract was nontoxic and the LC50 value was 2100 ppm and
it need further evaluation in animal model by acute & chronic toxicological
studies. Preliminary invitro AChE inhibitory activity
The Ellman method for the Acetyl cholinesterase assay was
standardized and validated.
The preliminary observation of the various extracts of leaves of
P.granatum by invitro study showed significant AChE inhibitory activity in
the following order in a dose dependent manner .
Chloroform extract > ethanol extract > acetone extract.
The IC50 value for chloroform acetone, ethanol extracts were 1.8, 2.1,
1.8mM respectively. It is comparable with the standard drug tacrine.
It is concluded that it can be optimistic that the present investigation
present a herbal drug of a safe and potential chemotherapeutic target in the
treatment of Alzheimer's disease and commercial exploitation of ursolic acid
extraction. AChE inhibitors, which enhance cholinergic transmission by
reducing the enzymatic degradation of acetylcholine, are the only source of
compound currently approved for the treatment of Alzheimer's Disease
(AD) by U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) and European
medicines Agency (EMEA).


If you happen to be reading this paragraph, you may consider stopping since you are performing an impossibly improbable act. There are 5 × 109 people in the world, 2.5 × 10 H paragraphs in the world libraries, 10 x'°6x possible letter combinations in a paragraph with 750 characters, and 8 x 10 ~5 rain have elapsed since the origin of the universe. Your reading this paragraph at this moment could not possibly occur because it has a probability of 10-1,o98. Of course, you are reading it and thus showing my argument's fallacy, just as Samuel Johnson kicked the cat to prove its existence against Bishop Berkeley's idealism. On April 25 and 26, 1966, The Wistar Institute held a symposium on "Mathematical Challenges to the Neo-Darwinian Interpretation of Evolution" (Moorhead and Kaplan 1967) in which some mathematicians and physical scientists, skippered by Dr. Murray Eden of MIT, held the neo-Darwinian account of evolution to be wanting because of the enormous improbability that, say, a particular protein consisting of 146 residues would arise by chance combination of the 20 possible amino acids. The critics failed to understand that (1) all events in the real world have infinitesimal a priori probabilities and (2) natural selection is not a random process. Point (1) was well made by botanist Conway Zirkle, of the University of Pennsylvania, during the discussion of Eden's paper in the symposium's first session. I will quote Dr. Zirkle at some length:


Abstract In 1994, the newly elected democratic government of South Africa adopted a number of strategies to open up the mining sector to historically disadvantaged South Africans which include women, as part of its economic empowerment policy. Although well intended, the integration of women into the traditionally maledominated workforce created many challenges. The main objective of the study on which this paper was based was to critically analyse workplace relations struggles, accompanying the deployment of women in the core business of the mining sector. Quantitative and qualitative research paradigms were used. The research revealed numerous workplace relations challenges including, among others, acceptance by male co-workers, inequality issues, discrimination and sexual harassment. The paper concludes by making recommendations that can be implemented and used by employers, employee relations practitioners and labour experts to create a work environment free from conflict and conducive to constructive and harmonious workplace relations.


In order to obtain a better understanding of immune system dysfunction in chronic African trypanosomiasis, we have assessed primary B cell responses to helper T cell-independent and -dependent antigens in C57BL/6 mice infected with the human pathogen, Trypanosoma rhodesiense. Mean survival time of infected mice was 38 days. All animals exhibited fluctuating parasitemias until 5 to 7 days before death when parasitemias remained high. Thymus size decreased as infection progressed, but spleen size increased up to 20 X normal. The proportion of macrophages (nonspecific esterase-positive cells) and B cells or B cell progeny (Ig+) increased in spleen, whereas the proportion of T cells (θ+) decreased. However, in a terminal mouse with enlarged spleen, the absolute increase in total cell numbers reflected a 1.7 X increase in T cells, an 11.2 X increase in B cells, and a 21 X increase in macrophages compared to controls. The ability of infected mice to mount primary in vivo splenic PFC responses to helper T cell-independent antigens (SIII, PVP) was elevated throughout most of infection when compared to control animals responses; serum antibody responses to SIII or PVP paralleled the enhanced PFC responses. The terminal phase of infection was marked by a failure of B cells to respond to these antigens. The elevated primary splenic PFC responses observed during infection to T-independent antigens such as SIII may be attributed to loss of suppressor T cell control, since infected mouse spleen cells did not respond to low-dose priming with SIII. Primary in vivo B cell responses to helper T cell-dependent antigens (SRC, TNP-KLH) were initially elevated when antigen and parasites were given on the same day, but detectable primary splenic PFC responses to these antigens could not be induced after several days of infection. Suppression of PFC responses to TNP-KLH in infected mice could be completely abrogated if helper T cells were carrier-primed in animals before infection. On the basis of our studies, we suggest that intrinsic B cell function is intact and elevated throughout most of infection, but that a terminal failure of B cells precedes death. We further suggest that a loss of function of accessory and regulatory cells (helper and suppressor T cells) may be responsible for the irregularities in B cell function observed during chronic African trypanosomiasis.