Previous methodological and applied studies that used binary logistic regression (LR) for detection of differential item functioning (DIF) in dichotomously scored items either did not report an effect size or did not employ several useful measures of DIF magnitude derived from the LR model. Equations are provided for these effect size indices. Using two large data sets, the authors demonstrate the usefulness of these effect sizes for judging practical importance: the LR adjusted odds ratio and its conversions to the delta metric, the Educational Testing Service (ETS) classification system, and the p metric; the LR model-based standardization indices, using various weights for averaging stratum-specific differences in fitted probabilities; and a p metric classification system. Pros and cons of these effect sizes are discussed. Recommendations are offered. These LR effect sizes will be valuable to practitioners, particularly for preventing flagging of statistically significant but practically unimportant DIF in large samples.

http://www.jwalkonline.org/docs/Grad Classes/Spring 08/modmeas/class 11/Monahan et al. (2007).pdf


There exists a problem of endpoint effect in EMD, which makes the result of decomposition not perfect. The paper comes up with a kind of envelope correction method to suppress the endpoint effect on this question about periodical signal. The result shows that, the method can solve the problem on distortion of envelope, and improve the accuracy of decomposition.


We describe a pixel-based approach to range processing for obstacle detection and autonomous driving as an alternative to the traditional image- or map-based approaches. The pixel-based approach eliminates the delays due to image acquisition and map building and permits the integration of traversability evaluation and path generation into a single module without the latency involved in distributed systems. We describe the algorithm used for updating a local map using individual range pixels, for detecting obstacles on the fly, and for generating steering commands. We illustrate the performance of the algorithm using an implementation of a cross-country driving system with a scanning laser range finder.<<ETX>>


Universidad Nacional Aut6noma de M~ico, Aim The main objective of this study is to document the biogeographical Morelia, Michoactin, Mexico patterns, endemism and degree of conservation of the species of Ficus (Moraceae) in Mexico. There are over 750 species of the genus Ficus distributed worldwide, and Mexico practically represents its northernmost limit in the American continent. Detailed studies at regional scales may help to understand the biogeography of large genera such as Ficus.


In place of the regular column by Mr. Cooke, this month we are running a short review of one British company's optical activities, prepared by Our Man in England, George Fishter.


There are many types of steroids with various roles and functions. Corticosteroids have an important role to play in a variety of physiological processes in the body, including stress response, immune response, regulation of inflammation, carbohydrate metabolism, protein metabolism, blood electrolyte levels and behaviour. These drugs fall into two categories: glucocorticoids and mineralocorticoids. Whereas mineralocorticoids promote sodium retention in the kidney, and therefore control electrolyte and water levels, glucocorticoids control carbohydrate, protein and fat metabolism and are anti-inflammatory in nature. When taken at high doses, corticosteroids can produce many adverse side effects; therefore, the lowest possible effective dose should always be given for a minimum period. Care should always be taken with withdrawing from a course of systemic steroids, and tapering should always be based on a patient's individual needs.


This paper highlights the significant changes introduced with the F-revision of MIL-STD-810, "Test Method Standard for Environmental Engineering Considerations and Laboratory Tests." The major emphasis on test tailoring presented in Part One of the document is described. Significant features of each test method in Part Two are briefly summarized. Detailed discussions of each test method are beyond the scope of this document.


The ability of exogenous estrogen to elicit gonadotropin surges was determined at approximately monthly intervals in postpartum female rhesus monkeys nursing their infants, in postpartum females whose infants were weaned at birth, and in pregestational females that served as foster mothers to these weaned infants. The stimulatory action of estrogen on gonadotropin secretion was abolished or severely inhibited for the first 6 months of nursing in both natural and foster mothers. In contrast, the administration of estrogen to postpartum females, whose infants were weaned at birth, elicited luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) surges on the first trial 30 days after delivery. The abolition of the positive feedback action of estrogen in nursing mothers was associated with a suppression of basal serum gonadotropin levels. These findings demonstrate that the protracted inhibition of gonadotropin secretion in lactating female rhesus monkeys is occasioned by the presence of a suckling infant and is independent of antecedent events associated with gestation and parturition.


Purpose

The aim of the study was to evaluate the prognostic value of free fatty acid (FFA) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) in predicting colorectal neuroendocrine tumours (NETs).
Methods

One hundred patients with pathologically diagnosed colorectal NETs in 2011-2017 were enrolled, and the levels of FFA, HDL-C, low-density lipoproteincholesterol (LDL-C), triglycerides (TGs), cholesterol (CHOL), apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1) and apolipoprotein B (ApoB) between colorectal NET patients and healthy controls matched by age and sex were compared. In addition, the association of clinicopathological characteristics and follow-up data with FFA and HDL-C was analysed.
Results

FFA was overexpressed (0.55±0.23 vs. 0.48±0.11, P= 0.006) and HDL-C was underexpressed (1.31±0.41 vs. 1.41±0.29, P=0.046) in colorectal NETs. FFA ≥0.52 mmol/L predicted lymph node metastasis (LNM) (χ2 = 5.964, P=0.015), and HDL-C ≤1.0 mmol/L predicted tumour size ≥2 cm (χ2 = 5.647, P=0.017). No significant association was found between FFA and tumour size (P=0.142) or HDL-C and LNM (P=0.443). FFA ≥0.52 mmol/L (χ2 = 6.016, P=0.014) and HDL-C ≤1.0 mmol/L predicted worse overall survival (OS) (χ2 = 5.488, P=0.019). FFA ≥0.52 mmol/L in combination with HDL-C ≤1.0 mmol/L predicted an even worse prognosis in terms of OS (χ2 = 4.818, P=0.028).
Conclusion

FFA ≥0.52 mmol/L and HDL-C ≤1.0 mmol/L were promising cut-off values in predicting LNM, tumour size and worse OS in colorectal NETs.


In May 2008 the FAA completed an assessment regarding inspections at major airlines. The assessment concluded with findings that the FAA failed to perform more than 100 recommended safety reviews at major air carriers in recent years. According to an article published in the Wall Street Journal, the importance of this examination became clear earlier in 2008 because of revelations that FAA managers allowed Dallas, Texas based Airline Southwest Airlines to fly airplanes that hadn't undergone mandatory structural safety inspections. The article also stated that The FAA hadn't reviewed Southwest's system for complying with agency safety directives since 1999. The researcher will provide a qualitative approach and collect opinion data to support the previous stated questions. The researcher also intends to research possible examples of more efficient ways for the FAA and the Airline industry to manage and communicate issues that could possibly lead to deviations in federal regulations, and that could subsequently lead to an incident or accident. Since the Air Transportation Oversight System (ATOS) program is designed to support the airline regarding possible issues within their perspective departments, the interface with the FAA ATOS program needs to be reviewed to determine if the ATOS program should be voluntary or mandatory. Essential voluntary programs such as the Internal Evaluation Program (IEP), Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP), Maintenance Safety Action Program (MSAP) and Dispatch Safety Action Program (DSAP) require oversight by the FAA. There is a need to determine the effects of ATOS becoming mandatory or voluntary and the effects of the FAA ATOS system interface has on the voluntary airline safety programs. The researcher intends to answer the following two questions explicitly to support this ongoing issue with the FAA and the airline industry; since the ATOS system was designed for the FAA to provide active oversight to the airlines from a system safety perspective and for the airlines to communicate their oversight to the FAA: • Should ATOS become voluntary or a regulation for Air Carriers; Should the IEP continue to be voluntary? • Should there be more active oversight within the FAA regarding its interface with the Air Carrier?


Complete 1H-nmr assignment has been achieved of the stoichiometric 1:1 complex of the antitumor agent mitoxantrone with the duplex oligomer [d(CpGpCpG)]2. The techniques used included 2D-COSY, 1D-NOE and 2D-HH-INADEQUATE. Comparisons of 1H and 13C chemical shift changes upon addition of drug suggest symmetrical intercalative binding to the center of the tetramer. NOE difference measurements and 31P studies suggest binding of the terminal OH groups of the side chains to the central phosphate groups such that the methylene groups are proximate to C(3)6, C(3)6 and G(4)8 base protons all in the major groove. The data suggest that the side chains bind to the neighboring base pairs from the intercalation site. This is in accord with independent evidence of G,C base preference for binding from spectroscopic and electron microscopy studies.


Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of a simple method to minimize gastric inflation in unprotected airways during resuscitation procedures. Methods: Ventilation of an airway simulator by use of a hose extended mask with leak and without leak and with or with- out additional oxygen (15 litres per minute). Experimental settings with artificial lung at a compliance = 300ml/ kPa and resistance = 0,5 kPa/ l/ s. Lower oesophageal sphincter pressure = 0,5 kPa. Results: Tidal volumes were significantly lower with integrated leak than with the leak proof mask (medians: 406 vs. 681ml), gastric inflation was significantly reduced by use of the mask with leak (medians: 2300 ml vs. 7300ml) and inspi- ratory oxygen fraction was significantly higher when oxygen was added. Conclusion: Gastric inflation may markedly be reduced, however not excluded, when a mask with a prefabricated leak is used instead of achieving a leak proof mask ventilation technique. With additive oxygen only the inspiratory oxygen frac- tion will be significantly higher which supports the benefit of additional oxygen.


Subject area

Urban poverty, mobilization, leadership, communication

Study level/applicability

This case is intended for graduate/postgraduate and MBA courses that discuss management issues in relation to corporate social responsibility, business and society or global issues. This case was successfully tested in an MBA course on sustainable development. These teaching notes result from this in-class experience.

Case overview

The morning of January 22, 2009. Cali, Colombia – Alicia Meneces was a member of the inaugural panel of the Simposio Internacional: Microfinanzas y Construccion de Paz (International Symposium: Microfinance as a Tool for Peacebuilding). The panel was composed of Alvaro Uribe (President of the Republic of Colombia), Enrique Garcia Rodriguez (President of the Development Bank of Latin America-CAF) and Luis Alberto Moreno (President of the Inter-American Development Bank). Her presence contrasted with that of the other panelists on several accounts: she was the only woman, she was the only panelist with direct and daily experience in poor neighborhoods and she was the only one familiar with the everyday processes of community mobilization in relation to microcredit in underprivileged communities. The case focuses on the message that Alicia Meneces intended to deliver to the audience of the Symposium based on her trajectory as a woman, as a community leader, and as the founder of the first Grameen microfinance institution in Colombia.

Expected learning outcomes

After using this case, students will be able to improve their understanding of poverty traps in developing countries; appreciate the challenges of living in poverty and the mechanisms of poverty production; and understand different forms of leadership.

Supplementary materials

Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email email@example.com to request teaching notes.


Discrete movement sequences are assumed to be the building blocks of more complex sequential actions that are present in our everyday behavior. The studies presented in this dissertation address the (neuro)cognitive underpinnings of such movement sequences, in particular in relationship to the role of perceptual information and the development of automaticity in such skill. The majority of the empirical chapters focusses on the role of perceptual information in sequential behavior, and specifically examines the context-dependence of sequencing performance. The notion of context-dependence – which originates from the literature on verbal memory, but has also been reported for motor skill – holds that memory retrieval is better in the environment in which the memory trace was initially acquired as opposed to retrieval in a different environment. First, a new form of context-dependence is explored, namely context-dependent filtering. It was investigated whether the continuous pairing of an irrelevant stimulus along with imperative stimulus results in the learning of (filtering out) the irrelevant information. If this would be the case, sequencing performance is assumed to be hindered when the learned pairs of irrelevant and imperative stimuli are changed during testing. Second, the notion of context-dependence for memory-based sequencing skill was studied, specifically differentiating between the sensitivity to perceptual changes of sequence preparation versus execution processes. These chapters on the effects of perceptual changes on sequencing performance also address the role of practice in this matter. In another chapter, developmental differences regarding the cognitive mechanisms underlying discrete sequence skill were investigated by studying whether preadolescent children, like young adults, learn to perform sequential movements in an automatic fashion. Previous studies demonstrated that the development and use of motor chunks for sequencing performance was limited in middle-aged and elderly. It has been suggested that this relates to the degeneration of frontal and other brain areas with older age. As these areas are known to mature during childhood, it could be hypothesized that sequencing skill differs between children and young adults as well. Finally, the neural basis of sequencing performance was addressed. The changes with practice in cognitive processes underlying sequence production were related to changes in brain areas that are involved in the production of discrete movement sequences.


BACKGROUND Hourglass-like constriction neuropathy is a rare neurological disorder. The main clinical manifestation is peripheral nerve injury with no apparent cause, and the pathomorphological change is an unexplained narrowing of the diseased nerve. The diagnosis and treatment of the disease are challenging and there is no accepted diagnostic or therapeutic approach. CASE SUMMARY This report describes a rare hourglass constriction of the anterior interosseous nerve in the left forearm in a 47-year-old healthy male who was treated surgically and gradually recovered function over a 6-mo follow-up period. CONCLUSION Hourglass-like constriction neuropathy is a rare disorder. With the development of medical technology, more examinations are now available for diagnosis. This case aims to highlight the rare manifestations of Hourglass-like constriction neuropathy and provides a reference for enriching the clinical diagnosis and treatment experience.


Coarse-grained elastic network models (ENM) of proteins can be used efficiently to explore the global mobility of a protein around a reference structure. A new Hamiltonian-replica exchange molecular dynamics (H-RexMD) method has been designed that effectively combines information extracted from an ENM analysis with atomic-resolution MD simulations. The ENM analysis is used to construct a distance-dependent penalty (flooding or biasing) potential that can drive the structure away from its current conformation in directions compatible with the ENM model. Various levels of the penalty or biasing potential are added to the force field description of the MD simulation along the replica coordinate. One replica runs at the original force field. By focusing the penalty potential on the relevant soft degrees of freedom the method avoids the rapid increase of the replica number with increasing system size to cover a desired temperature range in conventional (temperature) RexMD simulations. The application to domain motions in lysozyme of bacteriophage T4 and to peptide folding indicates significantly improved conformational sampling compared to conventional MD simulations.


Many bivalve mollusks have one or more separate post-metamorphic stages which are functionally distinct from the late juvenile or the adult. The benthic plantigrade and the planktonic postlarva are defined and reviewed here. The plantigrade is a developmentally obligatory stage in most bivalves. Various anatomical or conchological features, depending on taxa, are intermediate between the veliger and the juvenile. The plantigrade is benthic but highly mobile, via the foot and byssus, relative to the adult, although in some highly mobile bivalves, the plantigrade is functionally similar to the adult. The plantigrade may enter the water column briefly, but not nearly to the extent that the postlarva does. The planktonic postlarva is a non-obligatory stage, usually developmentally synonymous with the plantigrade, but functionally distinct. A specialized byssus or similar drogue is used by the postlarva for extended planktonic drifting. The plantigrade may serve simply as a developmentally intermediate stage between the larva and the juvenile, it may increase a species' options when selecting a habitat by its ability to relocate, or it may occupy a different habitat than later stages. The planktonic postlarva can either increase the dispersal ability of a bivalve, or, like the plantigrade phase, it can permit an ontogenetic niche shift. Planktonic postlarvae for three species not previously shown to exhibit this phase (Anadara transversa, Geukensia demissa, and Tellina agilis) are reported and described here.


This paper discusses the concept of social security and criticizes the ILO definition of the concept as too limited to analyse non-Western social security systems. It develops an alternative definition which includes, firstly, the protection by society of individuals or social groups against a fall in their standards of living as a result of temporary adversities, and, secondly, the promotion by society of the standards of living of those individuals or groups that are below an acceptable minimum level. This wider definition is justified by arguing that social security is a universal necessity. The paper further discusses principles and forms of social security systems, methods of redistribution, and determinants of social security systems


Post-war research on the role of heavy metals in the environment was stimulated by a new sensitivity towards nature, the increasing impact of human activities on the environment, continuous progress in analytical chemistry and the development of radioecology. Nowadays, very low concentrations of total metal can be quantified in the various compartments of the ecosystem (e.g. water, sediment, suspended particles, plants and animals), and the physical and chemical forms of the metal identified. A current difficulty is how to evaluate the role of the various metal forms in the natural ecosystem. The major issues to be tackled are: variations over time of metal species in relation to the influence of environmental variables; the fact that the availability of the metal varies with the plant and animal species; the ability of the organism to select the metals and their forms; the influence of suspended particles and chelating substances on metal uptake, detoxification strategies and synergic and antagonistic effects. The advantages and disadvantages of monitoring using bioaccumulator organisms are discussed.


In this paper, a new method of motion estimation and imaging interval selection of ISAR System is proposed. In this method, based on the 1D-to-3D reconstruction algorithm, the motion path of the rigid target can be reconstructed firstly using the ID range data of some scatterers extracted from the high-resolution range image of ISAR. Then according to the inertia of the target, the reconstructed motion path is fitted as a smoother trace with the rotation angles estimated effectively. Finally, the Hough Transform is utilized to extract a section of linear path on the 2D plane of the two rotation angles as the selected optimum interval of the ISAR imaging. Simulation results confirm that the method we proposed is effective and can be applied flexibly in current ISAR imaging techniques.


Introduction: Maintenance of a peritoneal membrane is essential for maintaining long-term peritoneal dialysis (PD). Peritoneal protein loss (PPL) is basically the loss of an essential nutrient, which may lead to malnutrition. We aimed to evaluate the association between PPL and sarcopenia in PD patients. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study from September 2017 to November 2020 on all PD patients (n = 199). Finally, the patients were divided into tertiles based on the PPL level as follows: low, middle, and high. PPL (mg/day), appendicular lean mass (ALM) using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, and handgrip strength (HGS) were evaluated. Sarcopenia was defined using cut-off values from the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia. Results: The median PPL (interquartile range, interval) in the low, middle, and high tertiles were 4,229 (904, 1,706–5,111), 6,160 (760, 5,118–7,119), and 8,543 (2,284, 7,145–24,406) mg/day, respectively. HGS in the low, middle, and high tertiles was 23.4 ± 9.2, 23.8 ± 8.9, and 23.6 ± 8.3 kg, respectively (P = 0.967). The ALM index in the low, middle, and high tertiles was 6.0 ± 1.3, 6.0 ± 1.2, and 6.5 ± 1.1 kg/m2, respectively (P = 0.061). Multivariate analyses did not reveal significant differences in HGS and ALM index in among tertiles. The proportions of patients with sarcopenia in the low, middle, and high tertiles was 24 (36.4%), 19 (28.4%), and 21 (31.8%), respectively (P = 0.612). Conclusion: The present study showed that PPL is not independently associated with muscle mass, strength, and sarcopenia in PD patients.


PURPOSE
To find the gene(s) responsible for macular telangiectasia type 2 (MacTel) by a candidate-gene screening approach.

METHODS
Candidate genes were selected based on the following criteria: those known to cause or be associated with diseases with phenotypes similar to MacTel, genes with known function in the retinal vasculature or macular pigment transport, genes that emerged from expression microarray data from mouse models designed to mimic MacTel phenotype characteristics, and genes expressed in the retina that are also related to diabetes or hypertension, which have increased prevalence in MacTel patients. Probands from eight families with at least two affected individuals were screened by direct sequencing of 27 candidate genes. Identified nonsynonymous variants were analyzed to determine whether they co-segregate with the disease in families. Allele frequencies were determined by TaqMan analysis of the large MacTel and control cohorts.

RESULTS
We identified 23 nonsynonymous variants in 27 candidate genes in at least one proband. Of these, eight were known single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with allele frequencies of >0.05; these variants were excluded from further analyses. Three previously unidentified missense variants, three missense variants with reported disease association, and five rare variants were analyzed for segregation and/or allele frequencies. No variant fulfilled the criteria of being causal for MacTel. A missense mutation, p.Pro33Ser in frizzled homolog (Drosophila) 4 (FZD4), previously suggested as a disease-causing variant in familial exudative vitreoretinopathy, was determined to be a rare benign polymorphism.

CONCLUSIONS
We have ruled out the exons and flanking intronic regions in 27 candidate genes as harboring causal mutations for MacTel.


Inservice education is a form of continuing professional education provided by the health care employer at the worksite. The purposes of this study were to describe current inservice practices in clinical laboratories and to explore laboratory managers' perceptions of the job impact and cost-worthiness of specific inservice education activities. A written survey was mailed to 237 hospitals in Ohio to gather data. Results of the study (61% usable return) were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Notable findings include: Most laboratories do not have an inservice budget; most important for cost worthiness and job impact are new employee orientation, policy and procedure discussions, and instruction on instrumentation. The report discusses ratings of several inservice activities in terms of their value for improving employees' knowledge, skills, and attitudes.


The accelerating and focusing wake fields that can be excited by a short laser pulse in a hollow underdense plasma are examined. The evacuated channel in the plasma serves as an optical fiber to guide the laser pulse over many Rayleigh lengths. Wake fields excited by plasma current at the edge of the channel extend to the center where they may be used for ultrahigh gradient acceleration of particles over long distances. The wake field and equilibrium laser profiles are found analytically and compared to two‐dimensional (2‐D) particle‐in‐cell (PIC) simulations. Laser propagation is simulated over more than ten Rayleigh lengths. The accelerating gradients on the axis of a channel of radius c/ωp are of order of one‐half of the gradients in a uniform plasma. For present high‐power lasers, multi‐GeV/m gradients are predicted.


Distributed representations of words learned from text have proved to be successful in various natural language processing tasks in recent times. While some methods represent words as vectors computed from text using predictive model (Word2vec) or dense count based model (GloVe), others attempt to represent these in a distributional thesaurus network structure where the neighborhood of a word is a set of words having adequate context overlap. Being motivated by recent surge of research in network embedding techniques (DeepWalk, LINE, node2vec etc.), we turn a distributional thesaurus network into dense word vectors and investigate the usefulness of distributional thesaurus embedding in improving overall word representation. This is the first attempt where we show that combining the proposed word representation obtained by distributional thesaurus embedding with the state-of-the-art word representations helps in improving the performance by a significant margin when evaluated against NLP tasks like word similarity and relatedness, synonym detection, analogy detection. Additionally, we show that even without using any handcrafted lexical resources we can come up with representations having comparable performance in the word similarity and relatedness tasks compared to the representations where a lexical resource has been used.


The magnetic anomaly patterns due to thin lateral deposits of ore can be very similar to those due to deposits in extended magma root structures which potentially may be more important from a geophysical point of view. New forms of the solutions for the anomalous magnetic field due to vertical cylinders and to thin disks are given; these are suitable for fast computation. For various values of the local magnetization vector of the body, the measured anomaly patterns are obtained and features are identified which serve to differentiate the patterns due to a thin disk from those due to a semi-infinite vertical cylinder.


The phonon density of states in the monoclinic phase of tetracyanoethylene is investigated at 20 K using inelastic neutron scattering, and found to be in fair agreement with theoretical calculations based on a semi-rigid molecule model and 6-exponential pair potentials. The results provide support for the atom-atom potential model which was used to explain the relative stability of different phases in this solid. The monoclinic crystal structure at 295 K is also refined using powder neutron diffraction data with a higher resolution than in earlier reports. Comparison is made with the molecular geometry in the cubic phase.


Hyperbolic neural networks have shown great potential for modeling complex data. However, existing hyperbolic networks are not completely hyperbolic, as they encode features in the hyperbolic space yet formalize most of their operations in the tangent space (a Euclidean subspace) at the origin of the hyperbolic model. This hybrid method greatly limits the modeling ability of networks. In this paper, we propose a fully hyperbolic framework to build hyperbolic networks based on the Lorentz model by adapting the Lorentz transformations (including boost and rotation) to formalize essential operations of neural networks. Moreover, we also prove that linear transformation in tangent spaces used by existing hyperbolic networks is a relaxation of the Lorentz rotation and does not include the boost, implicitly limiting the capabilities of existing hyperbolic networks. The experimental results on four NLP tasks show that our method has better performance for building both shallow and deep networks. Our code will be released to facilitate follow-up research.


INTRODUCTION
Plasma imatinib levels vary widely in patients with the chronic myeloid leukemia-chronic phase, and studies have shown improved hematological, cytogenetic, and molecular responses in patients with the higher trough imatinib levels.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
We analyzed 50 consecutive patients with the chronic myeloid leukemia-chronic phase and performed plasma imatinib levels at 1 month and 12 months and correlated them with complete hematological response at 3 months and molecular response at 12 months, respectively.

RESULTS
Trough plasma imatinib levels at 1 month correlated well with complete hematological response at 3 months (P = 0.007) and levels at 12 months correlated with molecular response at 12 months (P = 0.04). Compliance to imatinib also significantly correlated with imatinib levels at 1 month (P = 0.0008) and imatinib levels at 12 months (P = 0.0002).

CONCLUSION
Plasma imatinib levels may be of benefit in patients not achieving desired response at defined time intervals. The plasma level monitoring also helps in the assessment of drug compliance.


Recent as well as historical critiques of association theory, which is based on automatic linking mechanisms, lead to a consideration of an alternative: organization theory. The latter theory postulates that human memory is organized, instead, in a nested, hierarchical fashion that structures storage and retrieval. Organization theory also postulates that there is a limit of four expandable units in organized memory and that the same limit is found in recall and production units.


Biological-control-based-integrated-pest-management of major pests occurring on sweet pepper in greenhouse during summer season was tried. As many as 2.1 Orius laevigatus per ㎡ were released in two times on June 6 and 19, and the population of thrips was kept under control and accordingly the damage was negligible throughout the season. To control aphids, a total of 0.8 Aphidius colemani per ㎡ were released in four times, 0.2 of them at a time, flonicamid on May 14 and July 18 and pymetrozine on June 14 and September 4 were sprayed on the spots of high aphid occurrence to reduce the release of the wasp, and the density of aphids was kept under control. Whitefly was controlled successfully by releasing a total of 343.4 Amblyseius swirski per ㎡ in nine times, 38.1 of them at a time, from May 9 until November 12 and dinotefuran was sprayed on November 12 when the density of whitefly increased up to 200 per trap. Tetranichus kanzawai was controlled by both Phytoseiulus persimilis which was released a total of 44.4 per ㎡ in five times 8.9 of them at a time from May 23 to September 10, and the A. swirski which was released for the control of whitefly.


A rapid enzyme immunoassay (EIA) membrane test, the Directigen respiratory syncytial virus (Becton Dickinson), was compared with cell culture, an indirect immunofluorescence (IF) test, the Monofluokit respiratory syncytial virus (Diagnostics Pasteur), and a conventional enzyme immunoassay antigen test, the Abbott respiratory syncytial virus enzyme immunoassay in nasal aspirates specimens from children with suspected respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) bronchiolitis. The sensibility and specificity of the Directigen, respiratory syncytial virus were 91% and 98% respectively, as compared with those of culture, and of 93% and 86% as compared with the Monofluokit respiratory syncytial virus. In the comparison of the two enzyme immunoassays, Directigen respiratory syncytial virus detected more positive specimens: 68/127 than the other: 46/127. Directigen respiratory syncytial virus is a very rapid test, (15-min), sensitive and specific, which can be used as an alternative technique for detection of respiratory syncytial virus in nasal samples when viral isolation or immunofluorescence direct are not available.


Based on recent research in fluency instruction, the authors present a scenario in which a teacher focuses her fluency instruction on authentic fluency tasks based in performance. Beginning with establishing a student-friendly definition of fluency and culminating with student engagement in fun fluency activities, this article explores the possibilities for bringing joy back into repeated reading practice. Directions for creating a fun fluency kit for classroom use are included.


Medical nutrition therapy (MNT) is integral to diabetes (DM) management, but little is known about MNT use in youth and young adults. The SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth study assessed MNT use among 1476 participants with type 1 DM (T1D) and 245 with type 2 DM (T2D) who had up to 3 research visits over 5.2 years (range 1.7-11.5). Participants reported often, sometimes, or never using each of 10 MNT strategies, which we categorized with 5 mutually exclusive groups: often using across visits; start using at later visits; sometimes using across visits; stop using at later visits; or never using at every visit. We used general linear models to examine A1c levels at the most recent visit (mean 11.0 [range 6.3-17.0] years after DM diagnosis) for each MNT strategy, adjusting for sociodemographic and DM-related variables. Most participants with T1D reported often counting carbs (n=1080, 75%), while half (n=107, 47%) of those with T2D reported often limiting sweets. Table presents significant associations of A1c levels with MNT use by DM type. In T1D, mean A1c differed significantly across MNT use of 7 strategies, but only for 2 strategies in T2DM. For both T1D and T2D, A1c did not differ by use of dietary exchanges, drinking more milk, or eating more fruits/vegetables. Our data suggest that often using most MNT strategies is related to relatively better glycemic control in T1D, but this applies to fewer MNT strategies for T2DM. Disclosure K.A. Sauder: None. J.M. Stafford: None. N.S. The: None. E.J. Mayer-Davis: None. J. Thomas: None. J.M. Lawrence: None. G. Kim: None. K.R. Siegel: None. E.T. Jensen: None. A.S. Shah: None. R. Dagostino: Consultant; Self; Amgen, AstraZeneca, Celgene, Daiichi Sankyo. D. Dabelea: None. Funding National Institutes of Health


Background: Elderly people tend to experience biological, psychological, social, and spiritual changes due to the aging process. Changes in their psychology lead to a feeling of loneliness and depression, which have a negative impact on their physical health and overall well-being. Nurses as care providers, need to ensure they are always beside the elderly to prevent them from being lonely. This study, therefore, aims to determine the relationship between caring nurses and the level of loneliness of elderly. Design and Methods: This is an observational analytic design study with a cross sectional approach. Simple random sampling was used to obtain data from a total of 113 elderly people in home care. Furthermore, the CBI 24 Items and UCLA Loneliness Version 3, were used for data collection, while Spearmen's Rho Test with a level of ρ <α = 0.05 was used for its analysis. Results: The results showed that caring nurses tend to prevent the emergence of loneliness in the elderly with a Spearmen's Rho test P at 0.00015 (P≤0.05) and correlation coefficient r of -0.686. Conclusions: In conclusion, there is a relationship between caring nurses and the level of loneliness in the elderly. Significance for public health Elderly people experience biological, psychological, social and spiritual changes. Psychological changes lead to a feeling of loneliness and depression, which have a negative impact on their physical health and overall well-being. Nurses, as care providers, need to ensure they are always beside the elderly to prevent them from being lonely. This study describes the relationship between caring nurses and the level of loneliness in elderly.


In a previous paper we have shown that all minimum-uncertainty packets are unitarily equivalent to the coherent states and that coherence may be viewed as stationary minimality. In this note we give some additional information relating to the nature of the unitary-equivalence structure. We also give a new calculation of some matrix elements of the operator that implements the unitary equivalence which is not subject to the shortcoming inherent in the original calculation.


Aging leads to numerous transitions in brain physiology including synaptic dysfunction and disturbances in cognition and memory. With a few clinically relevant drugs, a substantial portion of aging population at risk for age-related neurodegenerative disorders require nutritional intervention. Dietary intake of polyphenols is known to attenuate oxidative stress and reduce the risk for related neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), stroke, multiple sclerosis (MS), Parkinson's disease (PD), and Huntington's disease (HD). Polyphenols exhibit strong potential to address the etiology of neurological disorders as they attenuate their complex physiology by modulating several therapeutic targets at once. Firstly, we review the advances in the therapeutic role of polyphenols in cell and animal models of AD, PD, MS, and HD and activation of drug targets for controlling pathological manifestations. Secondly, we present principle pathways in which polyphenol intake translates into therapeutic outcomes. In particular, signaling pathways like PPAR, Nrf2, STAT, HIF, and MAPK along with modulation of immune response by polyphenols are discussed. Although current polyphenol researches have limited impact on clinical practice, they have strong evidence and testable hypothesis to contribute clinical advances and drug discovery towards age-related neurological disorders.


Background

Earlier literature has documented age related decline in executive functions (EF) in normal aging adults, yet it is unclear whether age related EF decline is linked with quality of life (QoL) possibly mediating the link between age and QoL. Therefore, the study hypothesized that selective EF components would mediate the association between age and QoL domains in young substance abuser men and family history of substance use would moderate these mediated associations.
Method

A sample of 212 young substance abuser men (105 positive family history and 107 negative family history of substance use) performed on performance measures assessing selective EF components—inhibition and cognitive flexibility. Also, they reported their QoL on self-report measure of WHOQOL.
Results

Mean scores of the sample on all QoL domains were lower than expected by chance. Also, the participants with positive family history of substance use compared to those with negative family history scored significantly lower on all QoL domains except physical QoL. Mediation analyses revealed that of two EF components, only inhibition mediated the negative association of age with psychological, social, and environmental QoL. Furthermore, family history of substance use moderated all the significant mediations with stronger indirect negative associations in participants having a family history of substance use compared to those with no such history.
Conclusion

It is concluded that inhibitory control, which is vulnerable to aging, substance use, and family history of substance use, is an important factor related to QoL in young substance abuser men.


INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: To understand the decision making process in men diagnosed with localised prostate cancer (LPC) who are attending a combined clinic (CC), deciding between robotic prostatectomy and radiotherapy. METHODS: Men diagnosed with clinically significant LPC who were suitable for either robotic assisted radical prostatectomy (RP) or radiotherapy (RT) were eligible for recruitment. Participants attended a CC at a tertiary referral centre (Liverpool Hospital, Sydney), where they consulted a urologist and radiation oncologist regarding treatment options. A mixed-methods design was used. Initial treatment preferences and final treatment choices were collected via questionnaires. Consultations at the CC were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Consultations were analysed in NVivo using a study-specific coding framework. A sub-set of participants (n = 25) completed semi-structured interviews outlining their beliefs, values and decision-making process. Interviews were thematically analysed. RESULTS: Fourty-one patients who were approached (89%) consented to participate in this study (n=2 declined; n=3 non-responders). Patient mean age was 66 years old. Mean pre-op PSA was 9.1. The most prevalent grade was ISUP grade II (47%) followed by ISUP III (19%). Twenty-eight (68%) participants ultimately chose robotic prostatectomy (RP), 12 (29%) chose radiotherapy (RT), and 1 (2%) deferred treatment. Initial treatment preference was recorded in 36 patients. 17 out of 21 (81%) patients with an initial preference ultimately retained their original choice, whilst 4 (19%) patients changing their preference from RP to RT. In the 13 patients who were unsure about treatment before the CC, 8 (62%) subsequently chose RALP, and 5 (38%) chose RT. Interviews revealed that treatment choice is largely dependent on clinicians' recommendations and participants did not routinely compare specific side effects of each treatment. In patients who were undecided or changed preference, factors which played a significant role in decision-making included treatment delivery, side effects, age and comorbidities (71% of patients). There was a strong patient belief that robotic prostatectomy provided a more definitive cure (74% of RP patients), whilst older men preferred radiotherapy as it had a perceived lesser impact on lifestyle (66% of RT patients). CONCLUSIONS: Men who already had an initial treatment preference were unlikely to change their ultimate decision following the combined clinic consultation. In undecided patients, tailored discussion focusing on patient and treatment factors contributed to their treatment choice. Early involvement in a combined clinic can benefit the undecided patient in making a balanced and informed decision. Source of Funding: None


Decision support systems represent an important tool offering assistance with the decision making process in a variety of applications. This paper starts with recalling the basic principles and structure of decision support systems in medicine from a general perspective. Their effect in terms of both potential and limitations for finding the diagnosis, prognosis and therapy are overviewed from the points of view of health care effectiveness and patient safety. The authors are particularly interested in the specialty field of psychiatry. They discuss its specific challenges and analyze the slower penetration of telemedicine tools to psychiatry compared to other clinical fields. Finally, they claim that the development of decision support systems play a key role in the development of the concept of information-based medicine in general as well as to the particular context of information-based psychiatry. Decision Support for Mental Health: Towards the Information-based Psychiatry


The authors have observed 5 cases of atlanto-axial instability in children aged from 18 months to 8 years. All the cases were seen after severe trauma and presented with abnormal neurological signs. All patients were first treated conservatively and were operated on secondarily by atlanto-axial fusion using graft and wiring for persistent radiological instability between the atlas and axis. In two cases instability was due to an atlanto-axial subluxation with rupture of the transverse ligament; one of these was reduced by traction. In one case there was an anterior subluxation without fracture. In one case there was a fracture of the odontoid process in which instability persisted in spite of bony union of the fracture. In the last case, the odontoid process was intact shortly after the trauma but its central portion disappeared secondarily. The cause of this disappearance is discussed.


Customer loyalty and satisfaction are crucial for the success, prosperity and survival of a business. However, customers' preferences differ according to their attitudes towards products and services, as well as the culture and conditions in which they live, which can influence their preferences when choosing a business. More than 90% of all businesses are small and medium-sized enterprises, and about 50% of private businesses in Europe and 80% in Africa are family businesses. These businesses are considered the engine of economic development and growth and are instrumental in job creation. However, if these businesses were not favoured by their customers, they would have no chance to survive and fight poverty, which is typical of African countries. Our study, therefore, identifies and compares what type of company customers from developing countries (represented by the Mbulu region, Tanzania) prefer and whether their preferences are similar compared to respondents from more developed countries (represented by Liberec, Czech Republic). By testing several hypotheses, a dependency was found between customers' attitudes when choosing a company and their place of origin. African respondents prefer large non-family businesses to small or medium-sized family businesses, while European respondents prefer small or medium-sized family businesses.


This paper presents the results of studying the effect of dry-leaved Chamerion angustifolium (L.) Holub dry powder on quality indicators of wheat bread, in which part of the highest-grade wheat flour was replaced by 3, 5 and 10% of powder. The study showed that the addition of narrow-leaved powder in different amounts (3, 5 and 10% by weight of wheat flour) at the stage of cooking, the dough has a different impact on the quality indicators of the products. With the increase in the amount of the infusion of narrow-leaved powder, the organoleptic and physico-chemical indicators change: the color of the product changes from dark golden to dark brown, the presence of the additive increases in taste and smell, but the products have the correct form, without explosions and cracks, elastic, very soft crumb, with a thin-walled and uniform porosity. With an increase in the amount of the added additive, the porosity decreases, but it does not reach the lower limit of the standard. Acidity and humidity increase, which negatively affects the quality and reduced shelf life of the finished product. Therefore, it is proposed to use dry powder of narrow-leaved fireweed in the amounts of not more than 3% by weight of the flour. Studies have shown that during storage at the bakery product with a 3% additive of dry leaf powder for 72 hours, the total crumb strain is reduced by 32 units. AP-4/2 penetrometer, while in the control sample - by 44 units. Thus, the process of staling bread with the addition of narrow-leaved fireweed powder is slower than that of the control sample, and the recommended shelf life of the finished product is 72 hours.


Linopirdine [DuP 996, 3, 3-bis(4-pyridinylmethyl)-1-phenylindolin-2-one], a putative cognition enhancing drug, increases acetylcholine release in rat brain tissue and improves performance in animal models of learning and memory. The mechanism whereby linopirdine enhances acetylcholine release has been proposed to involve inhibition of the M-type K+ current (IM). Our study examines the selectivity of linopirdine for IM by determining its effects on other ionic currents present in rat hippocampal CA1 neurons using patch clamp techniques. Linopirdine was found to block voltage-gated, calcium-activated and leak K+ currents in a dose-dependent manner. Of the seven currents measured, linopirdine was most selective for IM with an IC50 of 2.4 +/- 0.4 microM, followed by IC (measured as a medium afterhyperpolarization tail current, ImAHP) with an IC50 of 16.3 +/- 2.4 microM. Both IM and IC were completely suppressed by linopirdine. At a concentration of 100 microM, linopirdine weakly inhibited the K+ leak current, IL, the transient outward current, IA, the delayed rectifier, IK, and the slow component of IAHP, by 28 +/- 8, 37 +/- 10, 36 +/- 9 and 52 +/- 10 percent, respectively. The mixed Na+/K+ inward rectifying current, IQ, was essentially unaffected by linopirdine (IC50 >300 microM). These results indicate that linopirdine selectively blocks IM at concentrations </= 3 microM, the approximate EC50 for acetylcholine release enhancement. Inhibition of other voltage-gated and calcium-activated K+ currents could also contribute to enhanced neurotransmitter release by linopirdine at intermediate (IC) and high (IL, IA, IK, IsAHP) concentrations.


The effects of sodium bicarbonate and sodium citrate ingestion on 600 m running performance were assessed in 11 female track athletes and four trained female non-athletes. The subjects ingested either sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3), sodium citrate or placebo approximately 2.5 hrs prior to the test runs in doses of 0.3 g/kg body weight in a double blind cross over design. Prior to and after exercise NaHCO3, H+, and lactate (HLa) concentrations were measured and running times were recorded. Pre- and post-experiment baseline testings were also performed. Data analysis was conducted using a Manova Repeated Measures design and dependent "t"-test. Although differences in running times were found 121.5 s, 119.9 s, 120.4 s in bicarbonate, citrate and placebo treatments respectively, they were not significant. The pH and concentrations of NaHCO3 were significantly elevated prior to and after the exercise when alkalinizing agents were ingested (p < 0.001). In bicarbonate treatment, prior to exercise pH was 7.40 and [NaHCO3] was 28.4 mEq/l, and after the exercise pH was 7.14 and [NaHCO3] was 17.9 mEq/l. In citrate treatment, prior to exercise pH was 7.40 and [NaHCO3] was 27.1 mEq/l, and after the exercise pH was 7.13 and [NaHCO3] was 16.6 mEq/l. There were no significant differences among the pre-exercise (2.3 mmol/l, 2.1 mmol/l, 2.2 mmol/l in bicarbonate, citrate and placebo treatments respectively) and after-exercise (11.8 mmol/l, 11.9 mmol/l, 11.0 mmol/l bicarbonate, citrate and placebo, respectively) HLa concentrations. This study demonstrated that, although alkali ingestion resulted in significant shifts in the blood acid-base balance, it failed to affect the 600 m running performance.


Isolated lamb hearts were perfused for eight hours at 38± with stroma-free hemoglobin solution (SFHS). The preservation of cardiac structure and function was studied. Control hearts perfused with blood (N = 6) developed no ventricular failure or significant weight gain (13% ± 5), showed no alteration of cellular ultrastructure, and little interstitial edema. Hearts perfused with 7% (N = 7) or 11% (N = 5) SFHS contracted less well, became edematous (22% and 44% weight gain) and showed altered mitochondria, capillary endothelial swelling and hemoglobin extravasation into the interstitial space. The addition of 5–7% albumin to SFHS (N =9) markedly reduced interstitial edema (weight gain 11% ± 13), preserved mitochondria, prevented endothelial swelling, and limited transcapillary escape of hemoglobin. Thus isolated hearts perfused with SFHS develop vascular endothelial damage and an increase in capillary permeability. The addition of plasma proteins to the perfusate protects against this injury.


Electrofocusing could be usefully employed to characterize humic substances, but careful investigation is needed because of possible interactions of humic substances with carrier ampholytes. In the present work, three fractions of humic substances which originated bands in different parts of the pH gradient during electrofocusing were isolated by preparative electrophoresis in phosphate buffer pH7 from 0.1 M Na4P2O7 extracts of the A horizon of a lithic Rendoll (Fusine) and of leonardite. Infrared spectra and E4/E6 ratios showed distinct compositional differences among different fractions, while corresponding fractions from humic substances of different origin displayed evident similarities. In both cases, infrared spectra showed a progressive increase in carboxyl groups and a corresponding decrease in ketonic and quinonic carbonyl groups, passing from fractions with the lowest electrophoretic mobility and highest apparent isoelectric points (H) to those with the highest electrophoretic mobility and lower apparent isoelectric points (L). Electrophoretic fractions from the protorendzina soil were also analyzed by pyrolysis gas chromatography (Py-GC). Results confirmed information obtained by spectroscopic methods and showed that the H fraction had the most complex composition with covalently linked polysaccharide and protein derived parts and was composed of poorly humidified materials.


Abstract The present work is Part 3 of a novel salt extraction process towards the extraction of metal values from slag, low-grade ores, etc. The electrochemical behaviour of different metal ions, Cr(III), Cr(II), Cu(II), Fe(III), Mg(II) and Mn(II) was studied using cyclic voltammetry (CV) at 827°C in (CaCl2–)NaCl–KCl system with a tungsten or glassy carbon electrode. The deposition process of Cr(III) species was found to be consisted of two electrochemical steps, while, in the case of other species, the deposition only involves one step. The deposition potentials and diffusion coefficients were determined from the cyclic voltammetrys. Electrodeposition of chromium was performed using a two-electrode cell under constant voltage, and pure dendrite and nodular-like crystals of chromium were obtained. The present study provides a good understanding of the electrochemical behaviour of these metal ions in molten salts, and thus is helpful to this novel salt process for the recovery of metal values from slag or other materials.


Abstract Oriented films and powder samples of the phospholipid ʟ-α-dipalmitoyl phosphatidylethanol amine (DPPE) were studied by X-ray fiber diffraction techniques. The specimens were photographed under a complete range of hydration at room temperature. Two polymorphic forms were found. One of them was present in oriented films. It showed a close packing of DPPE molecules lying parallel to the normal to the bilayer plane. The other form, observed in the powder samples, had the molecules tilted by about 25°. Both forms were characterized by their unit cell dimensions, space groups, molecular conformations and packing arrangements.


This paper describes a new structurally motivated phenomenological approach. Such assumption was made that the ACL can be idealized as being composed of a homogeneous matrix in which two non-interacting families of densely distributed extensible fibers are embedded. A nonlinear stress-strain characteristic exhibited by multiple collagen fibers was represented by the tri-linear curve. Then a constitutive equation for the ACL composite was formulated. Using the finite element method, a 3-D finite deformation and stress distribution of the ACL as a function of knee flexion were introduced through simulation and their graphic representation was made.


Investments Bernadete Ozorio Davis Ka-Chio Fong Capitalizing on the recent developments in casino gambling in Macao and the dominance of Chinese gambling at Macao casinos, the purpose of this research was to study how Chinese behaved in gambling and how these behaviors related to another risk taking activity, investment, which has been documented to be in a different risk taking domain from gambling. A survey was carried out in Macao with casino gamblers as the target respondents. In addition to socio-economic data, each respondent was asked about the extent of his gambling involvement and his responses to some standardized investment decision making situations. Bet-to-income ratio was used to assess a respondent's risk taking behavior in casino gambling. The questionnaire developed by MacCrimmon and Wehrung (1988) was used to assess risk taking propensities in the area of investment. Results showed that gamblers appeared to be taking high risk while gambling. In addition, the degrees of risk taking in the two domains were significantly and positively correlated. The quest for instant rewards either for quick profits or for satisfying strong immediate sensations and excitement might possibly explain the correlation.


Background & objective: Each year millions of Muslims embark on a religious pilgrimage called the "Hajj" to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. The mass migration during the Hajj is unparalleled in scale, and pilgrims face numerous health hazards. Performing the tasks of pilgrimage is stressful and laborious and as such requires immense mental and physical fitness on the part of the pilgrims. But a substantial proportion of the pilgrims lack it. Besides, the hot and dry environment and untold overcrowding predispose them to the risk of many communicable diseases. The present study, was therefore, intended to find the pattern of diseases among Bangladeshi Hajj pilgrims at Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out on Bangladeshi Hazz pilgrims in Mecca Saudi Arabia over a period of 1 month from mid-September to mid-October, 2015. A total of 710 pilgrims (18 or > 18 years) attending at Bangladeshi Hazz Medical Center (BHMC) in Mecca, Saudi Arabia during the period were consecutively included in the study after having voluntary verbal consent obtained from them. Diseases were diagnosed mainly on the basis of clinical signs and symptoms with provision of only random and fasting blood sugar estimation and ECG. The diagnosed diseases were grouped into major and minor problems or conditions and were treated as out-patient basis. Result: In the present study upper middle-aged (50 – 60 years) and elderly (≥ 60 years) pilgrims together formed nearly 73% of the patients with mean age of the patients being 56 years. Males were a bit higher than the females with male-female ratio being roughly 11:9. The study demonstrated that the commonest cause of out-patient visit was respiratory illness (41.2%) followed by diabetes (17.2%), peptic ulcer disease (PUD) (11.7%) and cardiovascular diseases (10.7%)(which included hypertension, new onset ischemia or exacerbation of preexisting ischemic heart diseases). A few (3.2%) of the patients presented with diarrhoeal diseases (loose motion or dysentery). Other minor ailments were allergy or dermatitis, insomnia, paronychia, anxiety, UTI, hemorrhoids, epistaxis, glossitis, oral ulcer, earache, conjunctivitis, worm infestation, spot bleeding etc., accounting for 4.8% of the patients. Conclusion: The study concluded that respiratory illness is the most common health problems among pilgrims visiting to Mecca, Saudi Arabia followed by diabetes, PUD and cardio-vascular diseases. The pilgrims should be educated in their home country before starting for pilgrimage as how to maintain their health in their new and challenging environment and Bangladesh Hazz Mission in Mecca should ensure enough medical support to them.


In this paper, we have presented our proposal for reconceptualization and operationalization of Type C (cancer-prone) personality. Based on theoretical analyses, taking into account both the literature on Type C and models of personality structure, we have proposed a two-facet structure of Type C, comprising Submissiveness (the interpersonal aspect) and Restricted Affectivity (the intrapersonal aspect). The study devoted to the validation of the measure of Type C involved 232 participants aged 18–70 (M = 29.35, SD = 8.93; 54% male). We used (a) our proposed measure of Type C personality and (b) the Circumplex of Personality Metatraits Questionnaire (CPM-Q-SF; Strus and Cieciuch, 2017), assessing personality metatraits. The measure of Type C proved to have acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha was 0.85 for Submissiveness and 0.78 for Restricted Affectivity). The measurement model in confirmatory factor analysis with two latent variables proved to be well-fitted to the data. We have also confirmed the hypothesis concerning the location of the two facets of Type C personality close to each other in the theoretically predicted area between the Delta-Plus/Self-Restraint and Beta-Minus/Passiveness metatraits (in the Circumplex of Personality Metatraits). The clinical value of the theoretically refined Type C can be tested in the next step in research on patients with cancer.


Introduction: Endometriosis is characterized by the presence of endometrial cells anywhere outside the uterine cavity. Endometriosis has been encountered on surgical scars especially resulting from a cesarean section recently. Our aim was to investigate the patients with abdominal wall endometriosis in our clinics where all the patients having this disease are managed via surgical resection. We also compared them with the patients presented in the literature. Methods: A study was conducted on the patients with histopathological diagnosis of abdominal wall endometriosis as a case series. All the subjects were analyzed through a comprehensive medical assessment including documentation of the detailed history and physical and gynecological examination based on the patients' medical records. Results: A total of 53 patients diagnosed with abdominal wall endometriosis were included in this study. The mean age and the mean body mass index of the patients were 32.6 ± 6.5 years and 25.2 ± 3.5 kg/m2, respectively. A total of 49 patients had at least one operation history, mainly cesarean section. The most common sites for abdominal wall endometriosis were skin and the region containing the rectus abdominis muscle and rectus sheath, 56.6% and 18.9% respectively. The main symptom was the pain getting worse during menstruation and the presence of a mass in all patients. The main diagnostic tools in all patients were detailed history and physical examination, ultrasonography, and then histopathological confirmation after surgical excision. Conclusion: Abdominal wall endometriosis is a common diagnosis mainly due to increased cesarean section rate. Clinical suspicion has the most important place in correct diagnosis and management of abdominal wall endometriosis.


In constructing a very long undulator it is convenient to separate the undulator into a number of sections with a constant gap distance between the sections. The properties of the radiation spectrum expected in such an undulator were investigated assuming ideal short undulators for each section. It is shown that the peak height and width of the spectrum do not deteriorate if the radiation phases of the sections are matched to each other, even with a large gap distance. This can be realized by adjusting the field strength of the three-pole wigglers installed in each gap.


A reflection on time spent in Florence which precipitated memories of an extraordinary woman whom the author had met during her first year or professional nursing. In this essay the author introduces the reader to the work of Carol Bowman, an imaginative scholar who created a bridge which spanned the study of humanities and the treatment of addictions.


This paper describes a new methodology for carrying out quantitative extraction of cloxacillin from drinking and river water samples using a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) as a selective sorbent for solid-phase extraction (MISPE). Several polymers were synthesized via thermal polymerization using cloxacillin as a template, methacrylic acid (MAA) as a functional monomer, ethyleneglycoldimethacrylate (EGDMA) as a cross-linker and different solvents as porogens. Binding characteristics of the adequate molecularly imprinted and non-imprinted (NIP) polymers were evaluated via batch adsorption assays following the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms and Scatchard assays. The parameters related to the extraction approach were studied to select the most appropriate polymer for cloxacillin determination. Using the optimized MIP as the SPE sorbent, a simple sample treatment methodology was combined with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to analyze cloxacillin residues in drinking and river water. Under the optimum experimental conditions, the MISPE methodology was validated using spiked samples. The linearity for cloxacillin was assessed within the limits of 0.05–1.5 µg L−1 and the recovery percentage was higher than 98% (RSD < 4%). The limits of detection and limits of quantification were 0.29 and 0.37 µg L−1 and 0.8 and 0.98 µg L−1 for drinking and river water, respectively. The selectivity of MIP against other ß-lactam antibiotics with similar structures (oxacillin, cefazoline, amoxicillin and penicillin V) was studied, obtaining a good recovery higher than 85% for all except cefazoline. The proposed MISPE-HPLC methodology was successfully applied for the detection of cloxacillin in drinking water from Canal de Isabel II (Madrid) and river water from the Manzanares River (Madrid).


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to examine the interrelationship between human papilloma virus (HPV) and retinoblastoma protein (pRb) in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN).

METHOD
Archival material from 33 oropharynx, 40 oral cavity was selected for study based on the availability of tissue from the primary tumors prior to surgery. HPV detection was done using general primer GP5 (+)GP6(+) mediated PCR enzyme immunoassay (PCR-EIA) and typed with type-specific probes. Monoclonal antibodies specific for pRb was used for immunohistochemical detection of Rb protein in these primary tumors.

RESULT
HPV DNA was detected in 12.3% of tumors. All were HPV 16 DNA. When stratified, 18.0% of oropharyngeal cancers was positive compared with 7.5% of oral cavity tumors; pRb negative was 12.3%. HPV positive patients tended to present with a higher stage and lymph node metastasis. In spite of the higher stage at presentation, survival in patients with HPV positive and pRb negative SCCHN was significantly longer than that of HPV-negative patients.

CONCLUSION
Patients with HPV-positive tumors may have a survival advantage relative to patients with HPV-negative tumors. This indicates that HPV-positive and pRb-negative tumors are sensitive to radiotherapy.


In this paper, we consider a q-analogue of the Borel-Laplace summation where q>1 is a real parameter. In particular, we show that the Borel-Laplace summation of a divergent power series solution of a linear differential equation can be uniformly approximated on a convenient sector, by a meromorphic solution of a corresponding family of linear q-difference equations. We perform the computations for the basic hypergeometric series. Following J. Sauloy, we prove how a fundamental set of solutions of a linear differential equation can be uniformly approximated on a convenient domain by a fundamental set of solutions of a corresponding family of linear q-difference equations. This leads us to the approximations of Stokes matrices and monodromy matrices of the linear differential equation by matrices with entries that are invariants by the multiplication by q.


Abstract The watershed events of September 11, 2001; the anthrax attacks; Hurricane Katrina; and H1N1 necessitated that the United States define alternative mechanisms for disaster response. Specifically, there was a need to shift from a capacity building approach to a capabilities based approach that would place more emphasis on the health care community rather than just first responders. Georgia responded to this initiative by creating a Regional Coordinating Hospital (RCH) infrastructure that was responsible for coordinating regional responses within their individual geographic footprint. However, it was quickly realized that hospitals could not accomplish community-wide preparedness as a single entity and that siloed planning must come to an end. To reconcile this issue, Georgia responded to the 2012 US Department of Health and Human Services concept of coalitions. Georgia utilized the existing RCH boundaries to define its coalition regions and began inviting all medical and nonmedical response partners to the planning table (nursing homes, community health centers, volunteer groups, law enforcement, etc). This new collaboration effectively enhanced emergency response practices in Georgia, but also identified additional preparedness-related gaps that will require attention as our coalitions continue to grow and mature.(Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;10:174–179)


Electron microscopy (EM) can provide images of cells with a spatial resolution that significantly surpasses that available from light microscopy (LM), even with modern methods that give LM "super resolution." However, EM resolution comes with costs in time spent with sample preparation, expense of instrumentation, and concerns regarding sample preparation artifacts. It is therefore important to know the limitations of EM as well as its strengths. Here we describe the most reliable methods for the preservation of fission yeast cells currently available. We describe the properties of images obtained by transmission EM (TEM) and contrast them with images from scanning EM (SEM). We also show how one can make three-dimensional TEM images and discuss several approaches to address the problem of localizing specific proteins within cells. We give references to work by others who have pursued similar goals with different methods, and we discuss briefly the complex subject of image interpretation.


We analyze the space of bivariate functions that are piecewise polynomial of bi-degree <= (m, m') and of smoothness r along the interior edges of a planar T-mesh. We give new combinatorial lower and upper bounds for the dimension of this space by exploiting homological techniques. We relate this dimension to the weight of the maximal interior segments of the T-mesh, defined for an ordering of these maximal interior segments. We show that the lower and upper bounds coincide, for high enough degrees or for hierarchical T-meshes which are enough regular. We give a rule of subdivision to construct hierarchical T-meshes for which these lower and upper bounds coincide. Finally, we illustrate these results by analyzing spline spaces of small degrees and smoothness.


Risk management is a major issue for companies. But risk and risk management, although a sensitive and current subject, are rather ill-defined, which cause difficulties to companies, and specifically small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The research presented proposes an innovative and generic approach based on fundamental hypotheses:  • Risk is the most powerful driver and issue in industrial activities and management by risk is a high level management approach integrating all other company preoccupation.  • Management by risk is a global process, and a driver for business process innovation. Its deployment needs to be supported by a knowledge base coupled to a decision support system. This approach has been developed notably through the European project PRIMA (Project RIsk MAnagement), IST-1999-10193, 00-02. The specific case of the SME is finally considered.


Introduction: Health care quality is a global issue. The health care industry is undergoing a rapid transformation to meet the ever-increasing needs and demands of its patient population. Hospitals are shifting from viewing patients as uneducated and with little health care choice, to recognizing that the educated consumer has many service demands and health care choices available. The closest most tool for measuring consumer experiences is the occasional patient satisfaction survey.
Objective: To assess patient satisfaction with services provided in a tertiary care hospital situated in rural Haryana.
Material & Methods: A cross –sectional study was conducted among patients (aged 18-80 years). A multistage sampling technique was used to select the respondents. A total of 450 patients attending various outdoor and indoor departments of the MM Institute of Medical Sciences and Research were taken for the study purpose. A self designed, pretested, semi structured questionnaire was developed to draw the patient's satisfaction to the health care services.
 Results: Overall, 89.1% of the patients were satisfied with the services received from MMIMSR, while the remaining 10.9% were dissatisfied. Specifically, 90.9%, 78.6% and 74.6% of the patients were satisfied with patient provider relationship, medical care and information and support. However, 20.7% and 13.0% of the patients were dissatisfied with organization of care and cost of care respectively. Patients and their relatives complained about cost of drugs, delayed reports and long appointments for ultrasound and other radiological investigations.
Conclusion: With the necessary inputs from the patients and the attendants by pointing various drawbacks or deficiencies should always be taken care of by the hospital administration that will turn into a good result of improvement in the hospital services to the satisfaction of the patients.


Cu-Se compound powders are synthesized by hydrothermal co-reduction from CuSO4•5H2O and SeO2 in deionized water at 120~200 °C. The phases and morphology of the products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) respectively. Experimental results show that, the CuSe phase can be synthesized at 120,150,180 and 200 °C, however, the purity phases become more with the temperature decreasing. It indicates that the reaction is more incomplete at lower temperature. Hexagonal flakes with side length 100~400 nm can be observed in the products at 150,180 and 200 °C, among which only the product prepared at 180 °C has the hexagonal flakes with good dispersity and homogeneous size with 200 nm length.


. Microfiltration/ultrafiltration (MF/UF) Adsorptive polyamide-6 (PA-6) membranes were prepared using wet phase inversion process. The prepared PA-6 membranes are characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), porosity and swelling degree. In this study, the membranes performance has examined by adsorptive removal of copper ions from aqueous solutions in a batch adsorption mode. The PA-6/H 2 O membranes display sponge like and highly porous structures, with porosities of 41-73%. Under the conditions examined, the adsorption experiments have showed that the PA-6/H 2 O membranes had a good adsorption capacity (up to 120-280 mg/g at the initial copper ion concentration ( C 0 ) = 680 mg/L, pH7), fast adsorption rates and short adsorption equilibrium times (less than 1.5-2 hrs) for copper ions. The fast adsorption in this study may be attributed to the high porosities and large pore sizes of the PA-6/H 2 O membranes, which have facilitated the transport of copper ions to the adsorption. The results obtained from the study illustrated that the copper ions which have adsorbed on the polyamide membranes can be effectively desorbed in an Ethylene dinitrilotetra acetic acid Di sodium salt (Na 2 EDTA) solution from initial concentration (up to 92% desorption efficiency) and the PA-6 membranes can be reused almost without loss of the adsorption capacity for copper ions. The results obtained from the study suggested that the PA-6/H 2 O membranes can be effectively applied for the adsorptive removal of copper ions from aqueous solutions.


We argue that the most cost-effective way toward finding Earth-like planets is through the development of two new technologies: photon-counting p-channel CCD's and external occulters for starlight suppression. To make our case, we compare the costs and scientific performance of different-size space telescopes with and without these two technologies. We find that not only does a 4-m telescope with an external occulter and with photon-counting, p-channel CCD's cost significantly less than a 8-m coronagraphic telescope using conventional CCD's, but it can search the spectrum of 30% more planets for evidence of habitability and life. We therefore strongly recommend that NASA support the development of photon-counting p-channel CCD's and external occulters as soon as practicable so that the results of these technological developments can inform NASA's decision-making for missions to find Earth-like planets.


Background and Objective: Anesthesiologists need to be familiar with perioperative changes in
blood volume (BV); however, there is no standard method for repeated evaluation
of BV over a short interval of time. We evaluated BV in the operation room
using repeatable estimation methods. Method: Eighty-five ASA physical status I-II patients scheduled to undergo
endoscopic urosurgery using irrigation fluid under general anesthesia at Nippon
Medical School Hospital were included in this study. Irrigation with 3% sorbitol
in water was commenced after establishment of general anesthesia and volumetric
fluid balance, which was defined as control water balance (WB). Hematocrit
(Hct), colloid osmotic pressure (COP), total protein (TP) and albumin (Alb)
were repeatedly determined before and during anesthesia. BV was calculated
using Allen's formula and the changes in Hct, COP, TP and Alb. Main Outcome Measures: The main outcome was the accuracy of measuring changes in BV (△BV) calculated using the four serum markers. WB and the
estimated △BV calculated from Hct, COP, TP and Alb (△BV-Hct, △BV-COP, △BV-TP,
and △BV-Alb) were analysed using Pearson's correlation coefficient test and Bland-Altman analysis. Results: Sixty-five patients were excluded. In the remaining 20 patients, there was a
significant correlation between WB and △BV-COP (R2 = 0.72; P △BV-TP (R2 = 0.59; P △BV-Alb (R2 = 0.57; P △BV-Hct (R2 = 0.06). Conclusion: △BV-COP, △BV-TP
and △BV-Alb had correlation with WB. However, since COP can be measured
repeatedly with simplified instruments under selected clinical circumstances,
while TP and Alb cannot. COP is the most useful marker to measure △BV during perioperative
period. Hct does not allow precise estimation of △BV.


The melting of the eutectic compound of sodium chloride and water has been investigated in detail by differential scanning calorimetry and nuclear magnetic resonance. It has been found that the melting point of the eutectic compound of sodium chloride and water is - 21.7°C, and not -22.3°C as it has been reported in the literature. The latter value is assigned to the melting of the oxygen adduct of the eutectic compound. The oxygen adduct is formed in salt solutions with concentrations below 0.2 mol/1 NaCl; the formation is maximal at around 0.1 mol/1 NaCl. The latter salt concentration is almost equal to that of the human blood and of the physiological saline water for mammals. It is referred to as the physiological salinity. These findings should have a fundamental connection with physicochemical and physiological problems in nature, and suggest that the physiological salinity plays a role of basic importance in biological systems. An interpretation for the findings is also presented.


Successfully transitioning to a more sustainable building sector will require schools of architecture to explore new methods, approaches and formats for learning. Challenging some of the outdated values and assumptions at the core of the architecture profession starts in the design studio, where early professional identities, relationships and understandings of collaboration are forged. While there is an increasing focus on inter- and transdisciplinary learning in today's higher education landscape, investigations into the pedagogy of the design studio are both relatively limited and disproportionately dominated by theory based on Donald Schön's ideas on the "reflective practitioner". In reality, the lack of any kind of coherent training for teaching staff means that most often approaches tend to reproduce that which the teachers themselves experienced during their own studies. The paper uses a series of autoethnographic vignettes to describe design studio teaching at Natural Building Lab from the perspective of a university educator based on the example of a masters design studio in winter 2021-22. Etienne Wenger's Communities of Practice model, and specifically the four dimensions of design for learning, are used to unpack and discuss some of the dialogies at work in studio learning. The study should be seen as a form of practice-based research, using teaching formats as a way to actively gain new insights into new forms of practice with a focus on sustainability and student-empowerment. The paper provides an intimate and personal insight into some of the questions and challenges facing educators, students and project partners as participants in emergent and collective learning processes.


Background: Studies demonstrate the change in nature of dissociation in accordance with increasing age but there is dearth of literature studying the differential influence of personality factors in childhood and adolescent dissociation respectively. Personality attributes putatively determine the overt expression of nature of dissociative symptoms in childhood and adolescent dissociative symptoms differentially. Objective: Aim of this study was to compare the personality profiles of children and adolescents onset dissociative disorder. Methods: 60 subjects with diagnosis of dissociative disorders were included in this study with 30 subjects with 8-12 years of age and 30 adolescents with 13-16 years of age. Children in the age group of 8-12 years were given children personality questionnaire (CPQ) and adolescents were given 16 PF (form B) which are a paper-pencil self-administered questionnaires. Results: Both the groups were comparable for various socio-demographic and clinical variables except habitat and education. Children in younger age group were found to be more serious, taciturn, internally restrained, depressed and apprehensive. Adolescents on other hand were more aggressive, stubborn and aggressive. Conclusions: Dissociation in childhood and adolescents is a malleable developmental phenomenon determined by core personality attributes.


Composites have been identified as the most promising and discriminating material now accessible in the twenty-first century. Currently, composites reinforced with high-performance fibers of synthetic or natural materials are gaining traction as the market's need for lightweight materials with high strength increases. Outstanding performance not only does a fiber-reinforced polymer composite have a high strength-to-weight ratio, but it also exhibits excellent qualities such as increased durability, stiffness, damping property, flexural strength, corrosion resistance, wear, impact, and fire. Composite materials have found uses in various industrial sectors, including mechanical, construction, aerospace, automotive, biomedical, and marine. Because their constituent elements and fabrication techniques primarily determine the performance of composite materials, it is necessary to investigate the functional properties of various fibers available worldwide, their classifications, and the fabrication techniques used to fabricate the composite materials. A survey of a broad range of high-performance fibers is offered, together with their qualities, functionality, categorization, and production procedures, to identify the optimal high-performance fiber-reinforced composite material for crucial applications. Due to their superior performance in a wide variety of applications, high-performance fiber-reinforced composite materials have emerged as a viable alternative to solo metals or alloys.


A Simple and precise HPLC method was developed for the simultaneous estimation of Ramipril and Amlodipine in pure drug and pharmaceutical dosage forms. The separation was carried out using C18 Column (250 × 4.6 mm i.d. 5 μm particle size), with mobile phase compressing of Acetonitrile, Sodium phosphate buffer and Methanol in the ratio of 50: 20:25 v/v/v, pH= 6.8 (pH adjusted with OPA). The flow rate was 0.8 ml/min and the detection was carried out using PDA detector at 210 nm. The retention times were 2.64 and 7.45 mins for Ramipril and Amlodipine respectively. Calibration curves were linear with correlation coefficient 0.998 and 0.996 over concentration range of 1 - 16 µg/ml for Ramipril and 0.2 – 3.2 µg/ml for Amlodipine respectively. Recovery was found in between 100.21% and 100.82% for Ramipril and Amlodipine respectively. Method was found to be reproducible with relative standard deviation (R.S.D) for intra and inter day precision less than 2%. The method was validated by evaluation of different parameters such as accuracy, linearity, precision, LOD and LOQ.


Background and objectives Several recent studies highlighted the importance of special gene loci related to gout and hyperuricaemia. However, it is remarkable that only a minor fraction of hyperuricemic population produces the symptoms of gout. Discussing the pathomechnism of gouty inflammation a potential autoinflammatory explanation has emerged recently. Induced by MSU crystals, the pathologic activity of a multi-protein complex (NLRP3 inflammasome) might be responsible for the increased activation of interleukin 1-beta (IL-1β), a cytokine playing a central role in inflamation. Toll-like receptors (TLR2–4) have also been studied for the stepped-up production of pre- IL-1β, the pre form of the active metabolit. Human erythrocytes express numerous membrane proteins, several of them already identified as homologue proteins to those with specific function in other tissue, such as urate transporters. Our objective was to verify genetical variations, single nucleotid polymorphisms (SNP) leading to hyperuricemia and gout. We also analysed these gene loci coded proteins linked to elevated urate level, using a unique technique (EryTest) based on the presence of special membrane proteins on human erythrocytes. Materials and methods We studied the results of three groups. Patients with gout, control patients with hyperuricemia but with no arthritic event and patients with normal serum uric acid level. Specific monoclonal antibodies and IgG control were used for quantitative flow cytometry to determine proteins. Polymorphism specific and control primers were used for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) detecting SNPs. Results Increased level of CARD8 polymorphism was found in the gout group compared to the two control groups. Decreased ABCG2 protein expression was detected in heterozygous individuals in gouty and hyperuricemic groups compared to normouricemic controls. Conclusions We presume that depending on complex genetic and environmental factors, patients with CARD8 polymorphisms may have increased inflammatory response and those with decreased ABCG2 protein expression may have higher serum urate levels. From the clinical introduction of EryTest, a simple and rapid clinical method in the evaluation of hyperuricemia is expected. To confirm recent results of genetic variability and the clinical use of EryTest, further investigation is planned.


Since cardiotoxicity is a life threatening late effect, a reduction of cardiotoxicity in the treatment of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is essential. This review is a compilation of the current knowledge about cardiotoxicity after AML treatment and of how future directions in treatment may affect its incidence. A total of six studies concerning AML and cardiotoxicity were identified. The incidence of late subclinical cardiotoxicity varied between 1·3 and 15·3%, and late clinical cardiotoxicity varied between 1·3 and 9·3%. Cumulative dose of anthracyclines (ACs) and history of relapse were the most common risk factors identified. No conclusions could be drawn about new, potentially less toxic ACs. Differences in treatment data and variations in study populations made comparisons uncertain. The echocardiographic techniques used in the majority of the studies are inferior to more modern echocardiographic methods. This decreases reproducibility and may increase the risk of overestimation of cardiotoxicity. In summary, AML cannot be cured today without ACs. However, some ACs may cause less cardiotoxicity than others. Furthermore there is currently no consensus on equipotent doses of ACs and risk factors for cardiotoxicity. Further research including randomized trials is needed to evaluate whether or not the potentially less cardiotoxic agents fulfil their promise.


Sample surveys conducted by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) are the most widely used sources of household level information about consumption, employment, and other socio-economic indicators in India. The representativeness of samples, the wide range of topics surveyed, and the availability of a long-time series are some of the reasons for the appeal of NSSO data for research and policy. This paper assesses the quality of the NSSO data for Nagaland and Jammu and Kashmir, which lie in India's politically restive ethno-geographical periphery. It argues that the NSSO data for these states during 1973-2014 lack representativeness and inter-temporal comparability due to faulty sampling frames, frame and sample non-coverage, and biased samples. It quantifies the impact of data quality on statistics of interest to policy-makers. The paper shows that the estimates of monthly per capita consumption expenditure (MPCE) are sensitive to non-coverage and argues that the incidence of poverty is underestimated because NSSO surveys failed to capture the complete distribution of consumption expenditure due to non-coverage. In Nagaland, the degree of non-coverage was so high that in most years between 1993-94 and 2011-12 the state's poverty headcount ratio was the lowest in the country despite the possible overestimation of its poverty line. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of the use of non-representative survey data. Put together, the unreliability of government statistics in Jammu and Kashmir and Nagaland highlights systemic problems that have wider implications for our understanding of the relationship between state, statistics, and policy-making.


Microwave holography is an established technique for measuring the surface accuracy of large reflector antennas. It suffers from the disadvantage that the resulting surface error map is spatially bandlimited. Most large reflectors are constructed with panels, and misaligned panels give discontinuities in the surface error which cannot be resolved. This can lead to incorrect assessment of panel positions. Significant improvement can be obtained by recognizing at the outset that the reflector surface is approximated by a collection of individual rigid panels. The method of successive projections is used to incorporate information about the panel boundaries into the data reduction process. It has been applied successfully to measured data for a 26-m diameter radiotelescope, and an investigation of a large number of simulated experiments indicates that good results maybe achieved while minimizing measurement time. >


The Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education has implemented the Entrepreneurship Development Initiative to enhance the entrepreneurship education programs in higher learning institutions in order to produce more young entrepreneurs who can create their own jobs. These programs have always been amended to make sure that the structure of the programs fits the challenging and demanding world outside. The purpose of our study is to evaluate the effectiveness of entrepreneurship education program in Malaysian public universities. This study involves of 320 final year students in Bachelor of Entrepreneurship program from six public universities in Malaysia (IPTAs). The primary data are collected to reveal students' perceptions of the effectiveness of the entrepreneurship program and their knowledge about entrepreneurship. The results of this study suggest that an increase in business plan, risk thinking, locus of control and self-achievement lead to increase the level of effectiveness of the entrepreneurship program. The findings of the study are significant as they provide practical insight into the entrepreneurship education practiced by the Malaysian public universities. In addition, the study also contributes to the present literature on the entrepreneurship education program in Malaysia, particularly in presenting the effectiveness of the universities in conducting entrepreneurship education programs. Hence, the findings of this study may give significant contributions to the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education to improve the education policy in the future, and other higher education institutions are ideally placed to expose students to environments which foster entrepreneurial skills. Keywords : Entrepreneurship Education, Public Universities, Program Effectiveness JEL Classifications : A22, I125, I128


BackgroundIn vitro studies have shown that the vasomotor response of internal mammary artery to vasoactive agents differs from that of saphenous vein. Methods and ResultsTo assess whether the response in vivo to methylergometrine and to nitrates differs in saphenous vein grafts, internal mammary artery grafts, and coronary arteries, 25 patients were studied more than 6 months (range, 6-96 months) after surgery. Angiograms of saphenous vein grafts (n=11) or mammary artery grafts (n=14) were obtained in basal conditions, after intravenous infusion of 0.4 mg methylergometrine, and after intragraft infusion of 1 mg isosorbide dinitrate. Computerized quantitative angiography was used to assess the changes in luminal diameter of the bypass graft and ofthe grafted coronary artery (n=11). Methylergometrine reduced the diameter ofsaphenous vein grafts by 6.9±7.4%, fom 3.26±0.71 to 3.05±0.76 mm (p<0.01), and that of grafted coronary arteries by 9.3±7.2% (NS compared with saphenous vein grafts), from 2.08±0.49 to 1.89±0.49 mm (p<0.005). The diameter of internal mammary artery grafts did not change significantly, from 3.27±0.42 to 3.25±0.44 mm (−03±5.1%, p<0.02 compared with saphenous vein grafts and p<0.002 compared with coronary arteries). After isosorbide dinitrate, the diameter of both grafted coronary arteries and mammary artery grafts increased significantly (respectively to 2.46±0.62 mm and 3.44±0.43 mm), the vasodilatation being greater (p<0.002) in coronary arteries (+17.8±9.8% in proportion to basal diameter, p<0.001) than in mammary grafts (+5.5±33%, p<0.001). The diameter of saphenous vein grafts returned to control values (3.28±0.70 mm, NS compared with basal); the changes in luminal diameter after nitrates (+0.7±3.1%, NS) were significantly smaller than for mammary artery grafts (p<0.0l) and for grafted coronary arteries (p<0.001). ConclusionsUnlike internal mammary artery grafts, saphenous vein grafts constrict in response to methylergometrine and do not dilate in response to nitrates. These differences in vasomotor response could reflect heterogeneity in the sensitivity of vascular smooth muscle to these agents or differences in the basal level of vasomotor tone.


ObjectivesTo evaluate the necessity of adaptive planning in helical tomotherapy (TOMO) for head and neck cancer in terms of dosimetric influence on the parotid gland. MethodsThirty-one patients underwent curative TOMO for head and neck cancer from April 2006 to April 2007. For each patient, neck diameter was monitored together with body weight at first cervical spine level through mega-voltage computed tomography during the TOMO course. Ten of 31 patients, with significant weight loss (>5%) and/or neck diameter decrease (>10%), were selected for dosimetric analysis, and parotid dose was recalculated at the fourth and last week of TOMO. Xerostomia was estimated by Radiation Therapy Oncology Group criteria. ResultsThe median dose was 69.96 Gy (range, 54 to 69.96 Gy) and there was no grade 3 or greater complication. Ten patients with significant neck diameter decrease and/or weight loss showed frequent grade 2 acute xerostomia (P=0.02). The volume percentage of daily fractional dose over 0.75 Gy for the parotid gland (V0.75 Gy) increased by 23.6% at the end of TOMO. ConclusionsFor patients with significant anatomic contour change; neck diameter decrease (>10%) or weight loss (>5%), adaptive planning using mega-voltage computed tomography can identify dosimetric changes and reduce deleterious side effects such as xerostomia.


In order to reveal a possible carbon exchange between carbon dioxide of the fuel and the bone apatite during the cremation process an experiment was set up using fossil fuel. Two setups were constructed, one using natural gas and one using coal. In both experiments, a carbon substitution in the apatite was revealed.