The following beautiful poem was found in a MS. notebook dated 1748. The date of the poem is unknown, but it must be older than the MS. We may put it provisionally at 1650–1700. The author's name occurs in the last couplet. Nothing is known about him, and there are many poets of the name.


New natural geometric characteristics are introduced for planar linear trees: the boundary set and the twist number. It turns out that the number of convexity levels of the boundary set is bounded above by a linear function of the twist number. As consequences of this general fact, some non-trivial assertions are obtained about the geometry of linear trees that are extremals of the length or weight functional.


This study was designed to assess the role of adenosine in the regulation of exogenous glucose utilization by myocardium. Perfusion of isolated rat hearts with buffer containing D-[3-3H]glucose and analysis of the coronary effluent for 3H2O production was used as an indicator of glycolytic flux. Initially, glycolytic flux was determined during five different conditions: 1) normoxia; 2) normoxia plus 100 microM adenosine; 3) normoxia plus 100 microM adenosine and 10 microM 8-(sulfophenyl)-theophylline (SPT), an adenosine receptor antagonist; 4) hypoxia; and 5) hypoxia plus 10 microM SPT. Both adenosine and hypoxia produced an approximate threefold increase in glycolytic flux that was attenuated by adenosine receptor blockade with SPT. Next, hearts were perfused during normoxic conditions with various concentrations of either R-phenylisopropyladenosine (PIA), an A1-adenosine receptor agonist, or 5'-N-ethylcarboxamidoadenosine (NECA), an A2-adenosine receptor agonist. Significant increases in glycolytic flux occurred with PIA, whereas NECA treatment resulted in only a marginal stimulation of glycolytic flux. These data provide evidence that: 1) exogenous adenosine stimulated glycolytic flux in the normoxic myocardium; 2) endogenous adenosine stimulated glycolytic flux during hypoxia; and 3) the effect of adenosine on glycolytic flux was mediated by interaction with A1-adenosine receptors.


New product development needs new engineering approaches. Knowledge is a key resource that impacts traditional, organisational, economic and innovative models. Through NICT (New Information and Communication Technologies), globalisation encourages the emergence of networks that overcome traditional organisation boundaries. International enterprises, European-Community Networks of Excellence or Clusters (competitiveness poles) indicate the need to define a new way of thinking. This new way moves towards an agile, continuous innovative use of knowledge. Based on an epistemic study of knowledge management best practices, four examples show the barriers that can be encountered today. This paper aims defining the key elements that enhance collaborative networks. The analysis of best practices from collaborative environments enables the design of high standard information systems and initiate knowledge ecosystems. A balance between formalism required to share knowledge and fuzziness of social networks triggers new initiatives. This ensures the validity of information exchange through virtual collaboration. It helps to maintain group coherence despite exceeding the natural maximum number of collaborators. Finally the main success or failure factors are highlights and commented to ease the transition from economic-driven to expertise-driven models is then facilitated.


The aim of this paper is to give a new proof of the complete characterization of measures for which there exists a solution of the Dirichlet problem for the complex Monge-Ampere operator in the set of plurisubharmonic functions with finite pluricomplex energy. The proof uses variational methods.


BACKGROUND: A large proportion of patients with a colostomy or an ileostomy develop parastomal hernias. The placement of a reinforcing material at the stoma site may reduce parastomal hernia incidence. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to assess the safety and efficacy of stoma reinforcement with sublay placement of non-cross-linked porcine-derived acellular dermal matrix at the time of stoma construction. DESIGN: This is a randomized, patient- and third-party assessor-blind, controlled trial. SETTINGS: This study took place in colorectal/general surgery institutions. INTERVENTIONS: Patients were prospectively randomly assigned to undergo standard end-stoma construction with or without porcine-derived acellular dermal matrix reinforcement. PATIENTS: Patients undergoing construction of a permanent stoma were eligible. A total of 113 patients (59 men, 54 women; mean age, 60 years; mean BMI, 25.4 kg/m2) participated: 58 controls and 55 with reinforcement. MAIN OUTCOMES MEASURES: The incidence of parastomal hernia, safety, and stoma-related quality of life were assessed. RESULTS: Intraoperative complications and blood loss were similar between groups. Quality-of-life scores were similar through 24 months of follow-up. At 24 months of follow-up, the incidence of parastomal hernias was similar for both groups (12.2% of the porcine-derived acellular dermal matrix group and 13.2% of controls). LIMITATIONS: Study limitations include the inclusion of ileostomy and colostomy patients, open and laparoscopic techniques, and small numbers of patients at follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Safety and quality-of-life data from this randomized control trial show similar outcomes in both groups. Prosthetic reinforcement of stomas was safe, but it did not significantly reduce the incidence of parastomal hernia formation. Clinical Trial Registration: Identification no. NCT00771407.


The most important factors which limit the reproducibility of He-Ne lasers stabilized on a hyperfine component of the R 127 127I2 line are examined. The considered factors are the following: curvature of the laser power profile, second and third frequency harmonic distortions, overlapping of neighbouring lines, molecular collisions. The reproducibility limitations connected to more fundamental effects (residual first order Doppler effect, second order Doppler effect and recoil effect) are stated. Guidelines for the control and the improvement of the reproducibility are given.


In Nigeria, deaths that occur in the first month of life make up 28% of all deaths under five years. Yet most of these deaths can be prevented by simple interventions, such as exclusive breastfeeding. This paper aims to address the challenges of reducing neonatal mortality in Nigeria by examining the efficacy of home-based, newborn care interventions and policies that have been implemented successfully in India. A comparison of similarities and differences between India and Nigeria was done using qualitative and quantitative data of various health indicators. The analysis included identifying policy-related factors contributing to India's newborn survival rates. A literature search of randomized controlled trials of community health worker interventions shown to reduce neonatal mortality was also conducted. While it appears that Nigeria spends more money than India on health per capita and as percent of GDP, it still lags behind India in its neonatal, infant, and under five mortality rates. Both countries have comparably low numbers of healthcare providers. In contrast to Nigeria, India's community health workers receive training on how to deliver postnatal care in the home setting. Three randomized controlled trials of home-based, newborn care strategies revealed that community health workers trained to provide a preventive package of interventions during multiple postnatal visits in rural India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan reduced neonatal mortality percentages by 54%, 34%, and 15-20%, respectively. To address the urgency of neonatal mortality, countries with weak health systems need to invest in evidence- based, newborn care interventions that utilize available human resources. The current available evidence of models of postnatal care provision demonstrates that home-based care and health education provided by community health workers can effectively reduce neonatal mortality rates. Abstract In Nigeria, deaths that occur in the first month of life make up 28% of all deaths under five years. Yet most of these deaths can be prevented by simple interventions, such as exclusive breastfeeding. This paper aims to address the challenges of reducing neonatal mortality in Nigeria by examining the efficacy of home-based, newborn care interventions and policies that have been implemented successfully in India. A comparison of similarities and differences between India and Nigeria was done using qualitative and quantitative data of various health indicators. The analysis included identifying policy-related factors contributing to India's newborn survival rates. A literature search of randomized controlled trials of community health worker interventions shown to reduce neonatal mortality was also conducted. While it appears that Nigeria spends more money than India on health per capita and as percent of GDP, it still lags behind India in its neonatal, infant, and under five mortality rates. Both countries have comparably low numbers of healthcare providers. In contrast to Nigeria, India's community health workers receive training on how to deliver postnatal care in the home setting. Three randomized controlled trials of home-based, newborn care strategies revealed that community health workers trained to provide a preventive package of interventions during multiple postnatal visits in rural India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan reduced neonatal mortality percentages by 54%, 34%, and 15-20%, respectively. To address the urgency of neonatal mortality, countries with weak health systems need to invest in evidence- based, newborn care interventions that utilize available human resources. The current available evidence of models of postnatal care provision demonstrates that home-based care and health education provided by community health workers can effectively reduce neonatal mortality rates. Abstract In Nigeria, deaths that occur in the first month of life make up 28% of all deaths under five years. Yet most of these deaths can be prevented by simple interventions, such as exclusive breastfeeding. This paper aims to address the challenges of reducing neonatal mortality in Nigeria by examining the efficacy of home-based, newborn care interventions and policies that have been implemented successfully in India. A comparison of similarities and differences between India and Nigeria was done using qualitative and quantitative data of various health indicators. The analysis included identifying policy-related factors contributing to India's newborn survival rates. A literature search of randomized controlled trials of community health worker interventions shown to reduce neonatal mortality was also conducted. While it appears that Nigeria spends more money than India on health per capita and as percent of GDP, it still lags behind India in its neonatal, infant, and under five mortality rates. Both countries have comparably low numbers of healthcare providers. In contrast to Nigeria, India's community health workers receive training on how to deliver postnatal care in the home setting. Three randomized controlled trials of home-based, newborn care strategies revealed that community health workers trained to provide a preventive package of interventions during multiple postnatal visits in rural India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan reduced neonatal mortality percentages by 54%, 34%, and 15-20%, respectively. To address the urgency of neonatal mortality, countries with weak health systems need to invest in evidence- based, newborn care interventions that utilize available human resources. The current available evidence of models of postnatal care provision demonstrates that home-based care and health education provided by community health workers can effectively reduce neonatal mortality rates.


The coupling between subsurface flow and geomechanical deformation is critical in the assessment of the environmental impacts of groundwater use, underground liquid waste disposal, geologic storage of carbon dioxide, and exploitation of shale gas reserves. In particular, seismicity induced by fluid injection and withdrawal has emerged as a central element of the scientific discussion around subsurface technologies that tap into water and energy resources. Here we present a new computational approach to model coupled multiphase flow and geomechanics of faulted reservoirs. We represent faults as surfaces embedded in a three-dimensional medium by using zero-thickness interface elements to accurately model fault slip under dynamically evolving fluid pressure and fault strength. We incorporate the effect of fluid pressures from multiphase flow in the mechanical stability of faults and employ a rigorous formulation of nonlinear multiphase geomechanics that is capable of handling strong capillary effects. We develop a numerical simulation tool by coupling a multiphase flow simulator with a mechanics simulator, using the unconditionally stable fixed-stress scheme for the sequential solution of two-way coupling between flow and geomechanics. We validate our modeling approach using several synthetic, but realistic, test cases that illustrate the onset and evolution of earthquakes from fluid injection and withdrawal.


The digital transformation forces a re-think of government policy as manufacturing business models increasingly transition from "bolts" to "bits". The road to Industry 4.0 implies important and pervasive changes in business dynamics, firm growth and the nature of competition. This report presents a framework for measuring the digital transformation of manufacturing industries, and maps the impact of digital technologies across these several dimensions: firm productivity growth, business dynamism, industry concentration, firm mark-ups and mergers and acquisition activity. It suggests policies that governments can use to facilitate digital adoption and reap the benefits of the digital revolution in manufacturing.


We present an analysis of 15 Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) at redshift (9 at ) recently discovered in the CANDELS and CLASH Multi-Cycle Treasury programs using WFC3 on the Hubble Space Telescope. We combine these SNe Ia with a new compilation of ∼1050 SNe Ia, jointly calibrated and corrected for simulated survey biases to produce accurate distance measurements. We present unbiased constraints on the expansion rate at six redshifts in the range based only on this combined SN Ia sample. The added leverage of our new sample at leads to a factor of ∼3 improvement in the determination of the expansion rate at z = 1.5, reducing its uncertainty to ∼20%, a measurement of . We then demonstrate that these six derived expansion rate measurements alone provide a nearly identical characterization of dark energy as the full SN sample, making them an efficient compression of the SN Ia data. The new sample of SNe Ia at usefully distinguishes between alternative cosmological models and unmodeled evolution of the SN Ia distance indicators, placing empirical limits on the latter. Finally, employing a realistic simulation of a potential Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope SN survey observing strategy, we forecast optimistic future constraints on the expansion rate from SNe Ia.


Providing employment-related services, including supported employment through job coaches, to individuals with developmental disabilities has been a priority in federal policy for the past twenty years starting with the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act in 1984. We take advantage of a unique panel data set of all clients served by the SC Department of Disabilities and Special Needs between 1999 and 2005 to investigate whether job coaching leads to stable employment in community settings. The data contain information on individual characteristics, such as IQ and the presence of emotional and behavioral problems, that are likely to affect both employment propensity and likelihood of receiving job coaching. We control for unobserved heterogeneity and endogeneity using fixed effects and instrumental variable models. Our results show that unobserved individual characteristics and endogeneity strongly bias naive estimates of the effects of job coaching. However, even after controlling for these, an economically and statistically significant effect remains.


When gene therapy is performed for the treatment of malignant tumors, gene transfer efficiency and selectivity are highly important. Polymer vehicle microspheres are a novel type of therapy, which have been developed rapidly in recent years and are able to control drug release, prolong the biological half-life of drugs, decrease side effects and achieve targeted delivery. The present study was designed to construct a polymer microsphere-encapsulated recombinant adenovirus with human tissue inhibitors of the matrix metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) gene, and to discuss its characterization for the purpose of liver cancer gene therapy. The microsphere was prepared from biodegradable poly-DL-lactide-poly(ethylene glycol) (PELA) encapsulating rAdTIMP-1, the recombinant adenovirus carrying TIMP-1, by a modified double-emulsion method. The particle morphology, diameter, virus encapsulation, loading rate and release kinetics of the rAd-microspheres were determined in vitro. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) HepG2 cells were transfected with the rAd-microsphere and the efficiency of transfection was assessed by fluorescent microscopy. The production and expression of TIMP-1 was identified by gelatin zymography and western blot analysis, and the invasiveness was detected by a matrigel matrix invasion assay. The microsphere encapsulating rAdTIMP-1 was successfully constructed with a diameter of 1.965 μm, encapsulation efficiency of 60.0%, a viral load of 10.5 x 10(8)/mg, a virus release of ~60% within 120 h and a total release time of >240 h. The resultant rAd-microspheres were able to efficiently transfect HepG2 cells with the transfection efficiency enhanced by ~90%. As a result, the transfected HepG2 cells had significantly increased TIMP-1 enzyme activity and the expression of TIMP-1 was detected by western blot analysis. In addition, the proliferation and invasion ability of the HCC cells was markedly inhibited by the rAd-microspheres. The resultant rAd-microspheres, PELA-encapsulated recombinant TIMP-1 adenovirus, had enhanced transfection efficiency and were able to markedly inhibit the in vitro biological behavior of HepG2 cells. This provides an experimental basis for this polymer application and may pave the way for prospective in vivo clinical trials and further comprehensive therapy for liver cancer.


The COVID-19 pandemic has compelled companies worldwide to explore their corporate responsibility toward the environment and society and achieve the global sustainability goals. Some are pessimistic, while others predict that companies will increase their sustainability disclosures amid the pandemic. Using panel data regression of nine banks listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange, the authors found a significant increase in sustainability disclosure during the pandemic. The increase occurred in total and in every dimension of sustainability (economic, environmental, and social). In addition, they found that state-owned banks disclosed more than private banks during the research period.
Keywords: disclosure, sustainability, pandemic, state-owned banks


This article explores the tools that lawyers can employ to build and sustain social change. These tools add a new dimension to scholarly research in the field by focusing on the role of lawyers as leaders as they seek to influence processes of social change, transform systems, and empower others to lead. This Article draws upon principles of social justice lawyering, which acknowledge that lawyers have a fiduciary duty to create equal justice under the law. It combines these frameworks with leadership theoretical perspectives since there is a dearth of research available on the role of lawyers as leaders in the context of social change. Another framework that informs this new type of lawyering is public policy advocacy. The combination of social justice lawyering practices, leadership skills, and public policy advocacy is referenced in this Article as the three pillars of "new social justice lawyering."


The majority of congenital heart disease (CHD) occurs as a sporadic finding, with a minority of cases associated with a known genetic abnormality. Combinations of genetic and environmental factors are implicated, with the recent and intriguing hypothesis that an apparently high rate of somatic mutations might explain some sporadic CHD. We used samples of right ventricular myocardium from patients undergoing surgical repair of tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) and hypoplastic left heart (HLH) to examine the incidence of somatic mutation in cardiac tissue. TOF is a common form of cyanotic CHD, occurring in 3.3 per 10,000 live births. HLH is a rare defect in which the left side of the heart is severely under‐developed. Both are severe malformations whose genetic etiology is largely unknown. We carried out direct sequence analysis of the NKX2–5 and GATA4 genes from fresh frozen cardiac tissues and matched blood samples of nine TOF patients. Analysis of NKX2–5, GATA4, and HAND1 was performed from cardiac tissue of 24 HLH patients and three matched blood samples. No somatic or germline mutations were identified in the TOF or HLH patients. Although limited by sample size, our study suggests that somatic mutations in NKX2–5 and GATA4 are not a common cause of isolated TOF or HLH. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Menopause, in many parts of the world, is considered as an important issue in a woman's life. It begins with the permanent cessation of menstruation and is a period of transition and adaptation to a new condition characterized by lack of estrogen and loss of reproductive capacity of the woman. The transition to this new reality is accompanied by a series of biological and psychosocial changes with a variety of physical and emotional symptoms. As every woman is different, so the experience of menopause varies. According to the literature, although the emergence of symptoms is a global phenomenon, women from different cultural backgrounds report different symptoms. The same applies to perceptions about the meaning of menopause. The aim of the present paper was to investigate, through recent literature data, these different perceptions and symptoms that women of different cultures attribute to menopause. The review showed important differences between women of different countries but also between women living in the same country.


Background South Africa started to lead the cross-culturally validation and use of the Primary Care Assessment Tool (PCAT) in Africa, when Professor Bresick filled a gap, as this continent was until then the only one that had never used it in evaluation of primary health care facilities until 2015. Aim The authors aim to demonstrate that after the consolidation of Bresick's team to an African version of PCAT, it had been adapted to household survey in Brazil. Methods In this letter, authors reflect on how Brazil had adapted PCAT to a national random household survey with Brazilian National Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) – the Brazilian Census Bureau. Results In the the beginning of 2019, Brazilian Ministry of Health brought back the PCAT as the official national primary health care assessment tool. Brazilian National Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) included a new module (set of questions) in its National Health Survey (PNS-2019) and collected more than 100 000 households interviews in about 40% of the country's municipalities. This module had 25 questions of the Brazilian validated version of the adult reduced PCAT. Conclusion We believe that IBGE innovation with the Ministry of Health can encourage South Africa to establish a similar partnership with its National Institute of Statistics (Statistics South Africa) for the country to establish a baseline for future planning of primary health care, for decision-making based on scientific evidence.


In post-traumatic brachial plexus lesions in adults, early repair will necessitate a variety of nerve grafting and nerve transfer procedures. In complete palsies, a graft is performed from a radicular stump, using intercostal nerve transfers, partial cross C7 transfer, and the distal spinal accessory nerve. This will provide elbow flexion and extension in 75% of cases, and shoulder abduction or rotation in 50% of cases. In the upper type palsies, ulnar-biceps transfer is the standard procedure. Grafting from a ruptured cervical root, when available, is performed to reanimate the shoulder. In C5 C6 and C7 palsies, extension of the wrist and fingers is provided by tendon transfers. In chronic palsies, elbow flexion and extension loss is treated by means of free muscle transfers, (latissimus dorsi or gracilis) combined with nerve transfers (intercostals or spinal accessory). Secondary procedures are routinely necessary following recovery of elbow flexion. For the shoulder-humeral shaft osteotomy or fusion, for the hand-cosmetic fusion of the wrist and distal radio-ulnar joint in the prone position, or palliative treatment in case of partial recovery. For such weak "plexic hands", we have developed a specific hierarchical functional scale, useful for surgical decisions.


OBJECTIVE
To assess the subjective and objective short- and medium- to long-term results of laser-assisted uvulopalatoplasty (LAUP) for snoring and obstructive sleep apnea.

DESIGN
A nonrandomized, prospective, before-after trial.

PATIENTS AND INTERVENTIONS
Twenty-five patients underwent a modified procedure of LAUP termed one-stage LAUP, and a matched control group of 24 patients underwent uvulopalatopharyngoplasty.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Subjective analysis of LAUP included a preoperative and 2 postoperative evaluations of the state of snoring (4 weeks and after a mean +/- SD of 12.2 +/- 9.9 months). A score on 5 other sleep-related symptoms was recorded before and after completion of LAUP. The objective polysomnographic outcomes were compared with a control group undergoing uvulopalatopharyngoplasty.

RESULTS
In 25 patients, improvement in the state of snoring significantly declined from 76% (n = 19) to 32% (n = 8), and worsening increased from 12% (n = 3) to 32% (n = 8) (P<.001). Evaluation of 5 other sleep-related symptoms showed that 52% of patients (n = 13) improved and 20% (n = 5) worsened. Polysomnography of LAUP patients showed that the mean postoperative respiratory disturbance index worsened significantly (33.1 +/- 23.1) compared with the preoperative one (25.3 +/- 14.3) (P =.05); also, 20% of the procedures were successful and 36% revealed marked worsening. The respiratory disturbance index of uvulopalatopharyngoplasty patients changed from 26.0 +/- 18.0 to 18.7 +/- 21.3, yet improvement did not reach statistical significance (P =.09). Furthermore, 58% (n = 14) of the surgical procedures were successful and only 8% (n = 2) revealed marked worsening.

CONCLUSIONS
The favorable, subjective, short-term results of modified LAUP deteriorated over time. The procedure might also lead to aggravation of existing apnea. These findings are probably related to progressive palatal fibrosis and velopharyngeal narrowing originated by the laser beam.


Certain retroviruses of animal and human origin are immunosuppressive, oncogenic, and neurotropic in their hosts. This pleiotropy is exemplified by the human T cell leukemia virus, type I (HTLV-I) [1]. Infection with HTLV-I is associated with an aggressive T cell malignancy, adult T cell leukemia (ATL) [2], a subacute or chronic leukemia that invariably terminates in a rapidly progressive malignant course, frequently associated with lymphadenopathy and hepatosplenomegaly, disseminated skin lesions, and a proclivity toward invasion of the central nervous system, lungs, and gastrointestinal tract. More recently HTLV-I has been linked to a chronic, slowly progressive neurologic condition characterized by spastic paraparesis. Because case studies have emanated from clusters in tropical areas, including the Caribbean basin, India, and Africa, the term tropical spastic paraparesis (TSP) is commonly applied to this entity [3]. A similar condition described in Japan is referred to as HTLV-Iassociated myelopathy (HAM) [4]. Twodistinctly disparate clinical conditions, hematologic malignancy and neurologic spastic paraparesis, in association with the same or similar viral agent, raises many provocative questions concerning viral infectivity and host-immune responsiveness. By exploiting the differences between ATL and TSP one may hope to gain new insights into the underlying pathogenesis of both retrovirus-associated diseases. One particular biologic marker of the leukemic state is the elaboration of a clonally expanded population of hematopoietic cells. Clonality of T lymphocytes in ATL is reliably demonstrated by the presence of a dominant T cell receptor beta chain gene rearrangement [5] and by a pattern of clonal integration of HTLV-Iproviral genome into host DNA [6]. Clearly, however, the demonstration of monoclonality is not restricted to cancer. For example, most cases of monoclonal gammopathy fail to progress to myeloma [7] and monoclonal T cell proliferations are found in clinically benign lymphomatoid papulosis [8], the Iymphoepithelial lesions in Sjogren's syndrome [9], and in T gamma Iymphoproliferative disease [10], a condition that may produce a limited lymphocytosis. In such patients the clonal


Recent guidelines by the American Society of Clinical Oncologists recommend that obese individuals receive chemotherapy based on their actual body weight (ABW) without dose reduction. Contrary to prior reports, our own data demonstrate that ABW-dosed chemotherapy or immunotherapy is as effective and well tolerated by obese mice as by lean mice. Nonetheless, obese mice develop significantly greater weight loss in a dose-dependent manner during the entire period that they receive therapy, with corresponding quantifiable reductions in visceral fat depots. This disparity is not explained by altered food intake, as both lean and obese mice experience less than a week of anorexia which does not recur after Cycle 1 of treatment. Furthermore, malabsorption is absent. These observations are relevant to multiple classes of chemo agents. Altered pharmacokinetics of chemotherapy agents in adipose tissue have been reported, yet the pharmacodynamics of obesity remain speculative. Fasting blood glucose monitoring demonstrates glucose level variances which are temporally linked to treatment, rendering it likely that chemotherapy and immunotherapy provoke adipose tissue lipolysis, or alternatively cytoreduction or immunomodulation of adipocyte progenitor cells. Understanding these effects could contribute to improved treatment regimens in the setting of obesity.


This paper presents Cool-Mem, a family of memory system architectures that integrate conventional memory system mechanisms, energy-aware address translation, and compiler-enabled cache disambiguation techniques, to reduce energy consumption in general purpose architectures. It combines statically speculative cache access modes, a dynamic CAM based Tag-Cache used as backup for statically mispredicted accesses, various conventional multi-level associative cache organizations, embedded protection checking along all cache access mechanisms, as well as architectural organizations to reduce the power consumed by address translation in virtual memory. Because it is based on speculative static information, the approach removes the burden of provable correctness in compiler analysis passes that extract static information. This makes Cool-Mem applicable for large and complex applications, without having any limitations due to complexity issues in the compiler passes or the presence of precompiled static libraries. Based on extensive evaluation, for both SPEC2000 and Mediabench applications, 12% to 20% total energy savings are obtained in the processor, with performance ranging from 1.2% degradation to 8% improvement, for the applications studied.


A numerically efficient globally averaged number density approach is used to simulate a reaction-diffusion system using a particle-based stochastic simulation algorithm called reactive multiparticle collision (RMPC) dynamics. Constant diffusivity of the particles is achieved through a time-varying rotation angle (also called collision angle). Variation in the diffusion coefficient between two different chemical species is achieved in one of two ways: (i) using a different kBT/m value for one species compared to the other, or (ii) using the same kBT/m value for both species, but using a different probability to free-stream for one species compared to another. For smaller diffusivities and larger spatial inhomogeneities, bath particles were necessary for the model to agree with the PDE solution. The latter approach was further used without a bath, and shown to be capable of producing Turing patterns after long simulation times. The significance of our work is that RMPC can serve as a feasible simulation tool for both short and long-term simulations, can handle spatial inhomogeneities, can model a fairly large range of diffusivities in a reaction-diffusion scenario, and is capable of producing Turing patterns. An advantage of this method includes more detailed system information in feasible simulation times.


Abstract We define a quasi-order on Borel functions from a zero-dimensional Polish space into another that both refines the order induced by the Baire hierarchy of functions and generalises the embeddability order on Borel sets. We study the properties of this quasi-order on continuous functions, and we prove that the closed subsets of a zero-dimensional Polish space are well-quasi-ordered by bi-continuous embeddability.


BACKGROUND
Resident physicians often encounter underprivileged patients before other providers, yet little is known about residents' attitudes and behaviors regarding these patients.

OBJECTIVE
To measure US resident physician attitudes regarding topics relevant to medically underserved patients, their behaviors (volunteerism) with underserved patients, and the association between attitudes and behaviors.

METHODS
In 2007 and 2008, 956 surveys on resident attitudes and behaviors about underserved patients were distributed to 18 residency programs in the United States. Survey content was based on existing literature and an expert needs assessment. The attitude assessment had 15 items with 3-point scales (range 0-1). The behavior assessment evaluated volunteering for underserved patients in the past, present, and future.

RESULTS
A total of 498 surveys (response rate  =  52%) were completed. Attitudes regarding underserved patients were generally positive and more favorable for women than men (overall attitude score 0.83 versus 0.74; P  =  < .001). Rates of volunteering for underserved patients were high in medical school (N  =  375, 76%) and anticipated future practice (N  =  409, 84%), yet low during residency (N  =  95, 19%). Respondents who volunteered regularly had more favorable attitudes than those who did not volunteer (overall average attitude score of 0.81 versus 0.73; P  =  <.001). Relationships between hours volunteered per-week and favorable attitudes about topics related to the underserved were significant across all 15 items in medical school and anticipated future practice (P value range of .035 to <.0001).

CONCLUSIONS
This survey revealed that US residents' attitudes towards topics regarding medically underserved populations are generally favorable. Rates of volunteerism for underserved patients were higher in medical school than during residency, and resident's anticipated rates of volunteerism in future practice volunteerism were approximately the same as rates of volunteerism in medical school. Resident attitudes are strongly correlated with volunteerism.


Introduction: A century ago, the orthodontic paradigm was geared towards achieving optimal occlusal contacts of the teeth and fifty years ago cephalometrics based diagnosis and treatment planning took over the orthodontic world. The present emphasis, however, is toward enhancing facial esthetics and creating a beautiful smile. This is all dependent on the perception of smile which tends to differ between orthodontists and other professionals. The objective of this study was to determine the perception of smile by orthodontists and general practitioners. Material and Methods : 31 smile photographs were given to 13 orthodontists and 13 general practitioners to rate them on attractiveness by using visual analogue scale on 6 attributes of smile mesh. SPSS version 17 for windows was used to analyze and compare the data. Results : There was no significant difference in the perception of a pleasing smile between the two groups, but the preferences varied between the two. There was weak correlation for different smile attributes between orthodontists and general practitioners. Conclusions : There is a difference in preference of various smile attributes among orthodontists and general practitioners in rating them on the attractiveness of smile.


Clopidogrel is an antiplatelet drug used for secondary prevention of myocardial infarction, and it is also used in patients with cerebrovascular ischemia. Patients with acute myocardial infarction tend to be on dual antiplatelet therapy for 12 months followed by aspirin lifelong to prevent the risk of stent thrombosis. The most common side effects of clopidogrel are bleeding, neutropenia, and rash; however, arthritis is also one of the rare side effects. We present a case of a 53-year-old patient who had a recent myocardial infarction and was commenced on dual antiplatelet therapy in the form of aspirin and clopidogrel. He started to have severe joint pain, particularly in his knees and shoulders, and was not able to mobilize anymore only three weeks after starting the medications. His clopidogrel was stopped and the patient showed dramatic improvement within three to four days after discontinuation with complete resolution one week later.


ABSTRACT Based on ethnographic reception analysis, cultural sociology, and psychoanalytic film analysis, this article explores a group of Scandinavian adult female fans of the gay couple Even and Isak from the teen serial SKAM. The aim is to acquire knowledge about what pleasures this group gains from watching and chatting online about this serial. We argue that through their pondering of the gay couple as a romantic fantasy, these women address and negotiate social contradictions regarding gender and sexuality that they encounter in Scandinavian post-feminist societies.


The use of aluminum roof is already widely used, but leads to the room temperature becomes hot due to the high thermal conductivity. So far the impact of the heat generated is reduced with the installation of plasterboard and make a high roof. In this study, the reduction of heat on the aluminum roof with the installation of a sponge of water flowed. The research objective to reduce the temperature in the room because the water has a high specific heat. Research carried out by making a miniature model of aluminum-roofed house placed in the middle of the field during the sunny day. The bottom side of the aluminum fitted with a sponge and then underneath waterproof plastic coated (banner MMT). Water flowed slowly to keep the temperature inside the miniature house. The variable that changed was the thickness of the sponge layer. The air temperature measured with a thermometer in the room space and the outside air temperature is measured with an infrared thermometer. Data analysis was done by plotting the relationship between a thick layer of sponge on the temperature inside the miniature house. Results obtained indicating that the air temperature in the house miniature dropped significantly 2 o C-8 o C lower than the outside air temperature.


Understanding gap-acceptance behavior is fundamental to safety and capacity analyses of two-way controlled intersections and roundabouts. Capacity models based on gap-acceptance theory rely on the critical headway parameter, whose estimation raises some difficulties: it depends on several external variables and cannot be observed directly. Existing methods, based on field observations, produce estimates that are mostly site-specific, which limits their applicability under different geometric and operational conditions. In this paper an alternative estimation method is proposed. The model is based on the interactions between the entry and opposing vehicles, described at microscopic level. It captures the complex interactions between the driver/vehicle dynamics and the intersection geometry, but is simple enough to be easily implemented in a spreadsheet. The model was calibrated based on a video recording of a roundabout in Coimbra, Portugal, and validated at other roundabouts, with different geometric and traffic characteristics. The resulting estimates are close to the results of conventional estimation methods, suggesting that the proposed model is a promising alternative to field observations, particularly for the study of nonconventional intersections.


The deformation of a viscoelastic drop suspended in a Newtonian fluid subjected to a steady shear is investigated using a front-tracking finite-difference method. The viscoelasticity is modelled using the Oldroyd-B constitutive equation. The drop response with increasing relaxation time λ and varying polymeric to the total drop viscosity ratio β is studied and explained by examining the elastic and viscous stresses at the interface. Steady-state drop deformation was seen to decrease from its Newtonian value with increasing viscoelasticity. A slight non-monotonicity in steady-state deformation with increasing Deborah number is observed at high Capillary numbers. Transient drop deformation displays an overshoot before settling down to a lower value of deformation. The overshoot increases with increasing β. The drop shows slightly decreased alignment with the flow with increasing viscoelasticity. A simple ordinary differential equation model is developed to explain the various behaviours and the scalings observed numerically. The critical Capillary number for drop breakup is observed to increase with Deborah number owing to the inhibitive effects of viscoelasticity, the increase being linear for small Deborah number.


The present invention provides a conductive composite comprising: a thermoplastic polymer; a carbon nanotube; and a conductivity-improving additive, wherein the conductivity-improving additive comprises two or more selected from among a phenol-based compound, a phosphate-based compound, and a polyalkylene-based wax compound. Thus, it is possible to provide a conductive composite having remarkably improved conductivity by reducing the surface resistance while maintaining the basic physical properties of a thermoplastic polymer resin.


Proceedings: AACR Annual Meeting 2014; April 5-9, 2014; San Diego, CA

Oncogenic transcription factors are an increasingly important target for anticancer therapies, as inhibition could allow the "reprogramming" of tumor cells leading to apoptosis or differentiation from the malignant phenotype. The STAT (Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription) proteins are transcription factors that modulate a number of cellular functions. These proteins can exist as monomers, dimerise to form homodimers, or form heterodimers with other family members. STAT3 induces the transcription of genes that control differentiation, inflammation, proliferation, and tumor cell invasion, and its over-expression has been implicated in many tumor types. The protein-protein interaction between two STAT3 monomers (i.e., the dimerisation event in the signalling cascade) has been identified as a valid target to inhibit DNA-binding and the resultant transcriptional activation.

An arylsulphonamidyl thiophene amide library has been synthesized based on a combination of pharmacophores from STAT3 dimerisation inhibitors reported in the literature and a previously reported IL-6 inhibitor (RH-06) that showed significant STAT3 dimerisation inhibition properties in cell free FP assay. The independent fragments of the designed molecules and the mature ligands were tested for their STAT3 dimerization inhibition potential using an in-house fluorescent polarisation assay and a time-resolved fluorescent resonance energy transfer assay (TR-FRET), and their cytotoxicity in tumor cells was evaluated using a MTT assay. Interestingly, two fragments, KSN-57-7 and KSN-57-9, showed significantly greater activity in both the biophysical (45% and 55% inhibition) and biological (IC50 = 6.5 and 7.4 µM) assays, respectively, compared to the mature ligands. The activities were significantly higher than the known STAT3 SH2 domain targeting compound STA-21 (35% inhibition), and comparable in activity to the natural hexapeptide pYLKTKF (42% inhibition).

Based on this, two focused libraries of analogues of KSN-57-7 and KSN-57-9 were synthesized, and members were examined in the TR-FRET and MTT assays. A number of ligands from both library types emerged as early lead compounds with low micromolar IC50 values against the STAT3-dependent MDA-MB-231 cell line (IC50 range 0.4 - 5.2 µM), and these are currently being studied in a number of molecular biology based assays to confirm their mechanism of action. Work on converting the lead fragments into a mature ligand is underway, and examples synthesized to date have either retained or enhanced activity, with the lead structure KSN-57-39 being the most potent PPI inhibitor based on both the TR-FRET and MTT assays (IC50 0.4 µM). The lead optimisation process is currently being guided by detailed Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations.

Citation Format: Kazi Sharmin Nahar, Christopher Chamberlain, Aanchal Grover, Paul Jackson, Khondaker M. Rahman, David E. Thurston. A fragment-based approach to the development of small-molecule STAT3 transcription factor inhibitors. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 1624. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-1624


The objective of the research is to achieve molecular markers for an economical, ornamental plant group in agriculture worldwide. These plants, Cymbidium aloifolium, Cymbidium atropurpureum, Cymbidium bicolor, Cymbidium chloranthum, Cymbidium dayanum, Cymbidium devonianum, Cymbidium ensifolium, Cymbidium finlaysonianum, Cymbidium haematodes, Cymbidium insigne, Cymbidium lancifolium, Cymbidium lowianum, Cymbidium mastersii, Cymbidium munronianum, Cymbidium rectum, Cymbidium roseum, Cymbidium sinense, Cymbidium tigrinum, and Cymbidium tracyanum in Thailand have been explored, collected and identified. DNA barcoding for a species specific marker was performed in order to provide further rapid, accurate, and automatable species identification for plants lacking flowers or having incomplete morphological characteristics and for the young plants that are massively grown on orchid cutting flower farms. The sequences of four standard regions as barcodes were tested for genetic distances. The genetic distances, means nucleotide variations in tag sequences based on rpoB, rpoC1, matK, and trnH-psbA spacer region sequences of the 19 species ranging from 0.012 to 0.546, 0.018 to 0.546, 0.052 to 0.385, and 0.026 to 0.528, respectively. DNA barcoding shows promise for molecular-based identification of Cymbidium species. The sequences have been deposited in GenBank.

 Key words: Cymbidium, matK, rpoB, rpoC1, species diversity, trnH-psbA.


In recent years, various attempts have been made to combine software and hardware fault tolerance in critical computer systems. In these systems, software and hardware faults may occur in many different sequences. The problem of how to incorporate these sequences in a fault-tolerant system design has been largely neglected in previous work. In this paper, a uniform software-based fault tolerance method is proposed to distinguish and tolerate various sequences of software and hardware faults. This method can be based on the recovery block or the n-version programming scheme, two fundamental software fault tolerance schemes. The concept of a fault identification and system reconfiguration (FISR) tree is proposed to represent the procedure of fault identification and system reconfiguration in a systematic way.<<ETX>>


Závoti (2002) presented the mathematical description of the interpolation method especially for modeling the orbit of artificial satellites, which is suitable for approaching only certain 9 points. The task in this form stems from Grafarend and Schaffrin's (1993) study. During the time passed since the elaboration of the method, the generalization of the algorithm became necessary in the case when we have an arbitrary amount of measurement points, which must be approached according to a certain principle. The generalized method was successfully applied for modeling geodynamical processes, for describing the motion of the Earth's poles and for analyzing economical time series.


This research was conducted to determine the effect of entrepreneurial competence on the development of Padas Stone Crafts, the influence of creativity on the development of Padas Stone Crafts and the influence of the use of social media on the development of the Padas Stone Craft Business. This research was conducted on a number of Padas Stone Carving Art Crafts in the Banjar Silakarang, Sukawati, Gianyar Bali. Data collection was conducted with a questionnaire to 36 respondents. The collected data was analyzed by multiple linear regression, analysis of determination and significance test with t test. The results showed that 1) The amount of the t-count for the entrepreneurial competency variable was 4.702> t table 1.697 with a significance level of 0.000. This means that partially entrepreneurial competence has a real influence on the development of the Craft Business. 2) The amount of the tcount for the creativity variable is 2.962> ttable 1.697 with a significance level of 0.006. This means that partially creativity has a real influence on the development of the Craft Business. 3) The amount of the tcount for the variable social media use is 2.116> t table 1.697 with a significance level of 0.042. This means that partially the use of social media has a real influence on the development of the Craft Business.


A new passive approach called Generalized Scene Reconstruction (GSR) enables "generalized scenes" to be effectively reconstructed. Generalized scenes are defined to be "boundless" spaces that include non-Lambertian, partially transmissive, textureless and finely-structured matter. A new data structure called a plenoptic octree is introduced to enable efficient (database-like) light and matter field reconstruction in devices such as mobile phones, augmented reality (AR) glasses and drones. To satisfy threshold requirements for GSR accuracy, scenes are represented as systems of partially polarized light, radiometrically interacting with matter. To demonstrate GSR, a prototype imaging polarimeter is used to reconstruct (in generalized light fields) highly reflective, hail-damaged automobile body panels. Follow-on GSR experiments are described.


Before I describe the work of the Business Archives Council I may perhaps be allowed to refer to my personal approach to the matters we are discussing here today, since my personal attitude is bound to colour all I have to say. I start from the position that whether we like it or not, and whatever we say here today, and whatever the business men of today do about it, the people of future generations will study history and write history. It is a study that satisfies something in our human nature—hosts of people, far outside the ordinary circles of scholarship, have a taste for history and will make some effort to satisfy that taste. And history has some educative value: it helps us to maintain a reasonable perspective when facing apparently novel situations. History will therefore continue to be written whether we do anything about business archives or not. The practical question is not between history and no history, but between history based on well‐assorted materials and history based on lop‐sided materials. For some materials will be preserved, in one way or another, particularly those relating to government and to legal questions, which have to be preserved for highly practical reasons. If business records are by‐and‐large destroyed, the picture drawn by future historians will be lop‐sided.


In this paper, we study the circle formation problem by multiple autonomous and homogeneous disc-shaped robots (also known as fat robots). The goal of the robots is to place themselves on the periphery of a circle. Circle formation has many real-world applications, such as boundary surveillance. This paper addresses one variant of such problem { uniform circle formation, where the robots have to be equidistant apart. The robots operate by executing cycles of the states wait-look-compute-move. They are oblivious, indistinguishable, anonymous, and do not communicate via message passing. First, we solve the uniform circle formation problem while assuming the robots to be transparent. Next, we address an even weaker model, where the robots are non-transparent and have limited visibility. We propose novel distributed algorithms to solve these variants. Our presented algorithms in this paper are proved to be correct and guarantee to prevent collision and deadlock among the swarm of robots.


Three-dimensional chromosome orientation was studied in thick sections of Vicia faba root meristem, using confocal microscopy and digital image analysis techniques. In the proliferative part of the root meristem, where the cells are organized in longitudinal files, it was expected to find dividing cells with a spindle axis parallel to the file axis and, occasionally, perpendicular to the file axis (resulting in a local file bifurcation). However, we observed a large number of oblique spindle axes. From metaphase to telophase there was a progressive increase in the rotation of the spindle axis. A 90° turn of the metaphase equator plane was never observed. Three-dimensional measurements of both the space occupied by the ana- and telophase chromosome configurations, and the size of the corresponding cortex cells, showed that most cells were too flat for an orientation of the spindle parallel to the file axis. Apparently, cell size limitations forced the spindle to rotate during mitosis. Consequently, the nuclei in the daughter cells were positioned diagonally in opposite directions, instead of on top of each other. In the majority of these cells, a transverse plane of division would intersect the nuclei. Therefore, the new cell wall was sigmoid shaped or oblique. Most daughter cells remained within the original cell file but, occasionally, in extremely flat cells the position of the daughter nuclei forced the cell to set a plane of division parallel to the file axis. This resulted in file bifurcation. It has been concluded that cell shape, the extent of spindle rotation and the position of the division plane are related.


This paper presents development of a new planar spiral feed for a satellite boresight reference antenna, operating at two widely separated frequency bands (2200-2300 MHz and 8000-8400 MHz). A stepped ground plane cavity with different quarter wavelength distances is proposed to provide unidirectional patterns at these frequency bands. A back lobe suppression of around 12 dB in 2 GHz band and better than 15 dB in 8 GHz band with a measured on-axis axial ratio of less than 3 dB is achieved for the dual band planar spiral feed with stepped ground plane cavity configuration. A boresight reflector antenna employing this feed has measured beamwidths of 7 degrees and 1.8 degrees respectively and gain of 26 dBi and 36 dBi at 2250 MHz and 8200 MHz.


This paper argues that the occurrence of a non-native species, such as purple loosestrife, on one's property does not constitute a nuisance in the context of background principles of common law. No one is injured by it. The control of non-native species, such as purple loosestrife, does not constitute a compelling public interest, moreover, but represents primarily the concern of an epistemic community of conservation biologists and ecologists. This paper describes a history of cases in agricultural law that establish that a public authority may enter private property to destroy a tree or other species but only to protect a compelling public interest, such as the apple industry in Virginia or the citrus industry in Florida, and only if it pays all the costs including just compensation. The paper argues a fortiori that if a public authority enters private property to control non-native or "invasive" species it must pay all the costs and indemnify the owner—contrary to what many state laws contemplate and the Environmental Law Institute recommends.


Introduction Around 300 people sustain a new traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI) in Australia each year; a relatively low incidence injury with extremely high long-term associated costs. Care standards are inconsistent nationally, lacking in consensus across important components of care such as prehospital spinal immobilisation, timing of surgery and timeliness of transfer to specialist services. This study aims to develop 'expertly defined' and agreed standards of care across the majority of disciplines involved for these patients. Methods and analysis A modified e-Delphi process will be used to gain consensus for best practice across specific clinical early care areas for the patient with TSCI; invited participants will include clinicians across Australia with relevant and significant expertise. A rapid literature review will identify available evidence, including any current guidelines from 2005 to 2015. Level and strength of evidence identified, including areas of contention, will be used to formulate the first round survey questions and statements. Participants will undertake 2–3 online survey rounds, responding anonymously to questionnaires regarding care practices and indicating their agreement or otherwise with practice standard statements. Relevant key stakeholders, including patients, will also be interviewed face to face. Ethics and dissemination Ethics approval for this study was obtained by the NSW Population & Health Services Research Ethics Committee on 14 January 2016 (HREC/12/CIPHS/74). Seeking comprehensive understanding of how the variation in early care pathways and treatment can be addressed to achieve optimal patient outcomes and economic costs; the overall aim is the agreement to a consistent approach to the triage, treatment, transport and definitive care of acute TSCI victims. The agreed practice standards of care will inform the development of a Clinical Pathway with practice change strategies for implementation. These standards will offer a benchmark for state-wide and potentially national policy.


: This paper investigates the thesis of token physicalism by examining what kinds of particulars there are and what it is for such particulars to be physical. It concludes that there is no coherent thesis of token physicalism that is strictly stronger than substance physicalism and strictly weaker than property physicalism on one or another of its interpretations, and spells out the implications of this for the project of defining minimal physicalism. In the course of the discussion the paper offers interpretations of the views of Davidson and Fodor and argues for an asymmetry between the concepts of the mental and the physical.


Abstract This paper is intended to address the work "Against logical form", authored by Johnson-Laird in 2010. In it, based on the theory of mental models, Johnson-Laird claims that the way people interpret sentences in natural language has nothing to do with logic. This is because that action is not related to logical forms. According to him, the mental activity is mainly linked to semantics and pragmatics. However, here, following arguments provided by López-Astorga, I try to show that the theory of mental models can be linked to syntactic structures. My main point is made by dealing with an argument given in the mentioned Johnson-Laird's paper. In principle, that argument seems to undermine proposals such as that of López-Astorga. However, the present work proposes otherwise.


This study involves an investigation of the feasibility of a tracer-based leak detection system for long-term interim plutonium storage. In particular, a protocol has been developed based on the use of inert tracers with varying concentrations in order to {open_quotes}fingerprint{close_quotes} or {open_quotes}tag{close_quotes} specific containers. A particular combination of tracers at specific ratios could be injected into the free volume of each container, allowing for the detection of leaks as well as determination of the location of leaking containers. Based on plutonium storage considerations, sulfur hexafluoride and four perfluorocarbon tracers were selected and should allow a wide range of viable fingerprinting combinations. A {open_quotes}high-low{close_quotes} protocol which uses two distinct chromatographic peak areas or concentration levels, is recommended. Combinations of air exchange rates, detection durations, and detectability limits are examined in order to predict minimum tracer concentrations required for injection in storage containers.


PURPOSES : The objective of this study is to evaluate the mechanical characteristics of castor oil based bio-polymer concrete for use of ultra thin overlays. METHODS : To evaluate the mechanical properties of bio-polymer concrete, the various laboratory tests including compressive, tensile, and flexural strength, and elongation tests were conducted on bio-polymer concrete specimens in this study. The mechanical characteristics of bio-polymer concretes were examined by changing the content of hardener and polymer binder to determine the optimum content for ultra-thin overlays. The bio-polymer concrete developed in this study was used for field trial test of the ultra-thin bridge deck pavement for verifying the workability and monitoring the long-term performance of materials. RESULTS : Test results showed that tensile and the flexural strength of bio-polymer concretes increase and the elongation of bio-polymer concrete decreases with increase of binder content. A field adhesive strength tests conducted on bridge deck pavement indicates the bio-polymer concrete has more than 2MPa of adhesive strength satisfy with the design criteria. CONCLUSIONS : The bio-polymer concrete with more than 20% content of castor oil was developed for ultra-thin overlays in this study. It is found from this study that the 35% of hardener content is most appropriate for maintaining the strength characteristics and flexibility.


The present study is a comparative study of the organizational commitment and occupational stress levels of employees of virtual team and traditional teams. The sample consisted of 100 employees from different software companies of which 50 were from traditional teams and another 50 from virtual teams. Assessment of the organizational commitment was done using Organizational Commitment Scale by Meyer, Allen and Smith (1993) and Occupational Stress is assessed by occupational stress checklist developed by the researcher based on the pilot study conducted. The obtained data was analyzed using the statistical technique of independent t-test to see the difference between traditional and virtual teams on the organizational commitment and occupational stress levels. Results indicate that the teams differ significantly on their organizational commitment level but do not differ significantly on their occupational stress levels. On organizational commitment scale they differed mainly on continuance and normative commitment and were found similar on affective commitment. This study has implications for future research in organizational psychology and socio cultural area. The study emphasizes on the need to understand this concept of virtual teams as it is a relatively new and upcoming field helping these teams to get more equipped and efficient.


This hypothesis is illustrated by 2 Aspergillus mycotoxicoses recorded in Israel. The lethal neurotoxic syndrome caused by A. clavatus toxins in sheep in Israel had different characterizations from toxicoses in England, South Africa and Australia, with quite dissimilar manifestations between the reported cases. Ochratoxin is a characteristic nephrotoxin, whereas an ochratoxin-induced toxicosis in poultry in Israel was manifested in affected geese by severe hepatotoxicity with only mild kidney damage, whereas broilers in the same incident showed severe ascites, hepatotoxicity and no kidney lesions. These findings may be explained by the finding of others that isolates of A. ochraceus produced ochratoxin and caused mortality, whereas 2 other strains did not produce ochratoxin, and yet still caused mortality, characterized by hepatopathy and ascites. Considering these facts, clinical toxicologists may therefore find diagnosis of mycotoxicoses to be fraught with difficulty, due to the uncertainty of basing clinical manifestations on "typical" previously reported cases.


Though empirically some research suggests the linkage of better communication effect with active users' presence, no existing clues are found on the user activeness at the micro level to contribute to the virtual community's aggregate-level health and vitality. This paper models the interpersonal communication process via a multi-agent, self-reasoning model. It considers each agent's information value and conformity value, two key constructs adopted in this paper. This paper adopts simulated experiments to identify active users based on individuals' behavioural characteristics, screen out typical users of different activeness levels, and reveal causalities among the outcomes. The findings show that users' activeness determines the information vitality and influence of information dissemination and substantially impacts the dynamics of user-groups. The author concludes with a discussion of the theoretical and methodological contributions and pinpoints these findings for marketers to improve online customer relationship management.


Articulating connections between child development and storytime practices, STEP into Storytime is a rich resource for both novice and experienced storytime presenters. StoryTime Effective Practice is an approach aimed at developing storytime programs that are beneficial and effective for mixed-age groups, keeping the emotional, social, cognitive, and physical development of children at the forefront. Discussing developmentally appropriate practice and how it is applied as a foundation for STEP, this manual takes readers through a three-part method that shows how easy it is to integrate best child development support practices into all storytimes.


Location-based Service (LBS) becomes increasingly important for wireless and mobile networks. In current LBS schemes, Service Providers (SPs) require users report their accurate locations, which can be illegally used by adversaries to infer sensitive information of users. Privacy disclosure raises serious concerns and limits the application of LBS. Previous solutions either rely on pre-installed centralized intermediary or assume cooperative users. Other distributed solutions, lacking of user obligation, only provide relatively poor anonymity. In this study, we propose a new solution of pseudonym change, which works for non-cooperative users and in the absence of intermediary. The basic idea behind our solution is ad-hoc anonymity. The proposed solution allows users to decide whether or not participating according to their own wills. In addition, artificially generated dummies mix up all the users who have participated in pseudonym changes at different times. Theoretical analysis demonstrates that asynchronous pseudonym change and dummy participation notably enhance privacy protection. We implement our solution on a real-world dataset of mobile phone users, which is collected at Boston, MA, and by the Reality Mining, MIT. The simulation results show that our approach significantly outperforms existing solutions.


In this paper, we focus on mechanism design for single leader Stackelberg problems, which are a special case of hierarchical decision making problems in which a distinguished agent, known as the leader, makes the first move and this action is followed by the actions of the remaining agents, which are known as the followers. These problems are also known as single leader rest follower (SLRF) problems. There are many examples of such problems in the areas of electronic commerce, supply chain management, manufacturing systems, distributed computing, transportation networks, and multiagent systems. The game induced among the agents for these problems is a Bayesian Stackelberg game, which is more general than a Bayesian game. For this reason, classical mechanism design, which is based on Bayesian games, cannot be applied as is for solving SLRF mechanism design problems. In this paper, we extend classical mechanism design theory to the specific setting of SLRF problems. As a significant application of the theory developed, we explore two examples from the domain of electronic commerce-first-price and second-price electronic procurement auctions with reserve prices. Using an SLRF model for these auctions, we derive certain key results using the SLRF mechanism design framework developed in this paper. The theory developed has many promising applications in modeling and solving emerging game theoretic problems in engineering.


Enhancing desk-based computer environments with virtual reality technology requires natural interaction support, in particular head and hand tracking. Todays motion capture systems instrument users with intrusive hardware like optical markers or data gloves which limit the perceived realism of interactions with a virtual environment and constrain the free moving space of operators. Our work therefore focuses on the development of fault-tolerant techniques for fast, non-contact 3D hand motion capture, targeted to the application in standard office environments. This paper presents a table-top setup which utilizes vision based volumetric reconstruction and tracking of skin colored objects to integrate the users hands and face into virtual environments. The system is based on off-the-shelf hardware components and satisfies real-time constraints.


The method and apparatus of the present invention utilize the fact that: the master disk manufactured by the same CD out of the physical manufacturing process of the master disk having the unique physical characteristics to identify the authenticity of the CD. For a true version of the disc (4) can be determined, and recording the recording specific data segment (2, 3) relative angular orientation. Subject to the same angular orientation relative to the section (5) measuring disc (2, 3) it has been ascertained. If the relative angular orientation at which the same can be concluded by measuring the optical disk from the same source and the true version of the optical disc thus true version. If no at which the correlation, measured by the optical disc can be identified as fake. Angular orientation relative to the information disc or other physical features, can be measured physically, or read data from the optical disk obtained in calculated.


Multiple sclerosis (MS) involves immune attacks on the CNS, leading to demyelination, axonal injury and increasing neurological dysfunction. Though T cells are implicated, the particular subsets and their antigenic targets remain unknown. In adult-onset MS, distinguishing immune responses that are consequences of, rather than cause of, injury, is difficult. In contrast, pediatric-onset MS offers an early window into disease mechanisms given the narrower gap from biological onset. We aim to identify and characterize disease-relevant antigen-specific effector T cell responses to traditional and novel antigenic targets involved early in the MS disease process.
 Our group has implicated target antigens and T cell subsets in pediatric-onset MS, by following patients from time of an initial presentation with acquired demyelinating syndrome and comparing those confirmed to have MS with those who remain monophasic. A CSF proteomic study implicated novel axo-glial apparatus molecules as early injury targets, rather than traditional compact myelin antigens. A series of multiparameter flow-cytometry panels applied to pediatric peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) revealed that MS children harbor abnormally increased frequencies and pro-inflammatory cytokine responses of particular effector T cell subsets compared to controls.
 We will develop assays, initially in fresh PBMC samples from adult MS and controls, then miniaturize the approach and validate it for use in the small numbers of available cryopreserved pediatric PBMC samples to quantify antigen-specific responses including proliferation and cytokine profiles of distinct disease-implicated T cell subsets to both traditionally and newly implicated antigens.


This article is devoted the analysis of Internet socialization of modern youth which on the one hand reproduces lines of real socialization, and with another – new ways and forms of social consolidation, opening a society as potential, and risks.


Introduction Inappropriate citation of retracted literature is a common problem in the general medical literature. In 2020, more than 2300 articles were retracted, a dramatic increase from 38 in 2000. By exploring a contemporary series of retractions by one research group, we aimed to evaluate if citations of retracted articles is occurring in the area of regional anesthesiology. Methods Using the Scopus database, we examined the full text of all the articles citing research articles coauthored by an anesthesiologist who had multiple articles retracted in 2022. After excluding the research articles citing non-retracted articles authored by the above mentioned anesthesiologist, we included in our analysis all the articles containing a retracted citation and published after the retraction notice. Results The search was performed on October 30, 2022, retrieving a total of 121 articles citing the researcher's work. Among the retrieved articles, 53 correctly cited non-retracted research and 37 were published before the retraction notice. Among the 31 remaining articles, 42 retracted research papers were cited. Twenty-five of the retracted articles were cited in the Discussion section of the manuscripts, 15 in the Introduction section, 1 in the Methods section (description of a technique), and one was cited in a review. No manuscript used the flawed data to calculate the sample size. Discussion In this contemporary example from the regional anesthesia literature, we identified that citation of retracted work remains a common phenomenon.


Purpose: The aim of this paper is to explore the growth of Indian's Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) equity inflow amid Covid-19 outbreak. Design/methodology/approach: in-depth review of current and previous literatures from journals and periodic publications of legitimate organizations both local and international on the evolution and the trend of Covid-19 pandemic as well as it impacts on Indian's FDI was conducted. Findings : The findings however revealed a major drop in net FDI flows globally, but on the contrary, a significant increase was recorded in India. Secondly, key sectors such as services sectors, computer software and hardware, telecommunications, trading, automobile, construction development, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals was revealed to have attracted the maximum FDI inflow to India amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Practical implications: The study recommended that a cohesive policy that further strengthens FDI by identifying and creating incentives for other main industrial sectors could further promote the continued attractiveness of FDI to India. Originality/value: The current study is an original contribution in the field of FDI inflow in India amid the COVID pandemic.


In what has been called the most controversial issue in the history of the judicial rulemaking process, a committee of the United States Judicial Conference has proposed a new Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure, FRAP 32.1, which would require all federal circuit courts of appeals to permit citation of their unpublished opinions (or orders). The proposed rule - scheduled for action by the Judicial Conference on September 20, 2005 - has produced a rare outpouring of 513 public comments. These come overwhelmingly from lawyers and judges in the Ninth Circuit; they are overwhelmingly opposed to Rule 32.1; and they overwhelmingly predict dire results if the rule is adopted. The proposed rule offers a natural experiment. The rule would require four federal circuits, the Second, Seventh, Ninth, and Federal, to do what the other nine circuits already do: let their unpublished opinions be cited. It should be possible, therefore, to examine the situation in the nine circuits where citation is allowed - the citable circuits - to see whether harmful effects have in fact come to pass when citation is permitted. This paper examines for that purpose two groups in citable circuits from whom one would have expected to hear of such adverse effects if they existed: (a) federal circuit judges, and (b) attorneys in federal public defender offices (federal public defenders). Judging by the comments filed (or not filed) in the FRAP 32.1 proceeding by federal circuit judges in the citable circuits, this paper concludes that those judges do not find that allowing citation produces adverse effects. The dog did not bark. With regard to federal public defenders, this paper first examines, as a backdrop, the comments filed in the FRAP 32.1 proceeding by public defenders in the Ninth Circuit. There were 62 such comments, all opposed to the rule and predicting harmful effects if it was adopted - but all unable to go beyond prediction, since the feared citation is prohibited in the Ninth Circuit. Nor could I look to comments filed on FRAP 32.1 by public defenders from the citable circuits, for public defenders outside the Ninth Circuit filed very few comments. I therefore sought the views of federal defenders in citable circuits through a different means, telephone interviews. I conducted thirty-six interviews with federal public defenders, spread through the nine citable circuits. Summaries of those interviews - the heart of this paper - show that federal public defenders in the citable circuits largely favor citability, and that they largely disagree with the views of their public-defender colleagues in the Ninth Circuit. The FRAP 32.1 proceeding also raises questions about notice-and-comment rulemaking as applied to rulemaking for courts. These questions include the extent to which the 513 comments on FRAP 32.1 were produced by organized lobbying efforts and employer compulsion, rather than sua sponte participation - and the extent to which such efforts are appropriate on the part of federal judges. In addition, the evidence suggests that views such as those of the 62 Ninth Circuit public defenders may represent, in some cases, not the views of the attorneys themselves, but rather the office policies laid down by their office chiefs. The paper finally seeks to put this study into context with studies conducted within the past year on similar subjects, using different methodologies, by the Federal Judicial Center and the Administrative Office of the Courts.


The submental artery island flap is a versatile option in head and neck reconstruction. This flap may be used for the coverage of perioral, intraoral, and other facial defects, leaving a relatively acceptable donor-site scar. In this study, the submental region of 13 formalin-fixed cadavers was dissected bilaterally. Comprehensive anatomical information regarding the pedicle of the flap and its relationship with the important adjacent structures is provided. The mean values of the measurements of the facial and submental arteries were as follows: the facial artery was 2.7 mm in diameter at the origin, and it crossed the mandibular border 26.6 mm from the mandibular angle. The origin of the submental artery was 27.5 mm from the origin of the facial artery, 5.0 mm from the mandibular border, and 23.8 mm from the mandibular angle. The diameter of the submental artery was 1.7 mm at the origin. The artery was found mostly to course superficial to the submandibular gland. In one case, the artery passed through the gland. The total length of the submental artery was 58.9 mm. The artery anastomosed with the contralateral artery in 92 percent of the cadavers. The submental artery was deep to the anterior belly of the digastric muscle in 81 percent of the cases. This study presents detailed anatomical data about the location, dimension, and relationship of the facial artery, the submental artery, and the submental vein that may be useful during dissection of the submental artery island flap.


Sex-reversal in Oreochromis niloticus is used to produce mono-sex males which are desired in aquaculture for better growth performances and population control. The present study was aimed at studying the effect of elevated fry rearing temperature on survival, sex ratios, and growth performances of O. niloticus populations of Lakes Chamo, Koka, and Ziway. Fries from five separate brood pairs of each population were either treated (T) in elevated fry rearing temperature of 36 ± 1°C or kept at room temperature of 24 ± 1°C as control (C) groups for 10 days (phase-I) and then grown in outdoor ponds for six months (phase-II). Survival rates in T groups (74.0 to 91.7%) were lower than that of C groups (83.3 to 97.0%) in all the three populations in phase-I but not in phase-II. Chamo population was better in survival rate (88.4% and 95.4% in Phase-I, and 95.4% and 95.3% in phase-II) than Koka population (85.8% and 91.3% in Phase-I, and 93.9% and 93.5% in phase-II) and Ziway population (80.2% and 88.6% in Phase-I and 90.2% and 91.9% in phase-II) both in T and C groups respectively. The Chamo population also attained significantly (p<0.05) higher mean final weight of 31.58 ± 6.78 g and 24.26 ± 6.67 g in T and C groups respectively, followed by that of Koka population with 21.70 ± 5.10 g and 18.83 ± 4.16 g while Ziway population with mean final weight of 17.49 ± 4.60 g and 16.81 ± 4.15 g was the least both in T and C groups. The overall sex ratios in T groups were skewed towards male but balanced in all C groups of each population.  Better growth was achieved only in T groups with higher male ratio than their corresponding C groups. The number of sensitive brooding pairs and the overall male ratio in T groups were higher in the Koka population (40%, 61.68%) than in Ziway (20%, 56.78%) and Chamo (20%, 56.39%) populations respectively. However, the sensitivity of sex reversal to elevated fry rearing temperature was wide between individuals within each population than across the three populations. Hence, sensitive individuals can be selected from the populations and their degree of sensitivity can be improved through continuous selection of progenies from temperature-sensitive parents.


The discovery of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) has opened a new era in materials science investigations and applications in traditional fields due to their unique structures and properties. Recently, MOF-based surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) has attracted much attention because MOFs can endow substrates with excellent properties to improve the sensing performance of traditional SERS substrates, such as molecular enrichment ability, selectivity, gas sensing capability, and additional chemical enhancement ability. Meanwhile, SERS can provide ultrasensitive fingerprint spectra for the rapid, non-invasive detection of trace analytes via effective SERS substrates. These advantages of the combination of MOFs and the SERS technique greatly advance the development of SERS and widen its application. To better understand this new application scenario, herein, we briefly introduce the recent progress of MOF substrates in SERS, mainly including the unique advantages of MOFs in the sensing performance improvement in SERS. Then, we present representative MOF-based SERS substrates. Furthermore, the SERS application of effective MOF-based substrates is also reviewed, including in food safety, environmental analysis, bio-medicine, real-time monitoring and other SERS applications. Finally, we present our conclusions and perspectives.


Background: We performed a follow-up study of an acute organotin poisoning case on the neurological sequelae that remained after 3 years since diagnosis. Case: In the previous study, a 43-year-old male was reported for acute organotin poisoning. After 3 years, the neurological sequelae were studied using neurological examination, cognitive tests, neurobehavioral tests (by CAYSYS 2000™), brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and ¹?F-fluorodeoxyglucose (¹?F-FDG) PET/CT. Upon neurological examination and other tests, orientation was improved compared to that 3 years before, but cerebellar ataxia, dysmetria and dysdiadochokinesia remained the same, with little change. Brain MRI showed cerebellar atrophy. ¹?F-FDG PET/CT revealed mildly decreased metabolic activity in the pons and in both cerebellar hemispheres. Discussion: This is the first brain MRI study on cerebellar atrophy caused by organotin poisoning. Cerebellar ataxia was confirmed by decreased metabolic activity in ¹?F-FDG PET/CT.


Arbutus pavarii Pamp is a medicinal plant commonly used by local tribes in East Libya for the treatment of many diseases, such as gastritis, renal infections, cancer and kidney diseases. In this study, the antibacterial activity of the leaf and stem bark extracts of the plant against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), as well as the metabolite profiles of the bioactive fractions, was investigated. The antibacterial activity was determined by disc diffusion method, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC), while the microbial reduction by the bioactive fraction was evaluated using time–kill test. The bioactive fraction was further subjected to ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (UHPLC-ESI-MS/MS) analysis to putatively identify the chemical constituents contained therein. All the extracts and fractions showed different levels of antibacterial activity on the tested MRSA strains. The highest total antibacterial activity, i.e., 4007.6 mL/g, was exhibited by the crude leaf methanolic extract. However, the ethyl acetate fraction of the leaf showed moderate to significant antibacterial activity against MRSA at low MIC (0.08–1.25 mg/mL). Metabolite profiling of this fraction using UHPLC-ESI-MS/MS resulted in the putative identification of 28 compounds, which included phenolic acids, flavan-3-ols and flavonols. The results of this study showed that the ethyl acetate fraction of Arbutus pavarii leaf possessed potential antibacterial activity against MRSA and hence can be further explored for pharmaceutical applications as a natural antibacterial agent.


Stephen JD O'Keefe. Spring-Verlag New York Inc. New York, USA. ISBN: 1493917781.

This book provides exactly what it says on the cover: a useful practical guide for multidisciplinary health professionals in nutrition support. It is, of course, strengthened by the expertise and reputation of Dr O'Keefe in the field, and I agree with Dr O'Keefe that the book's single authorship avoids overlap and allows focus on the common principles of nutritional support that are applicable to various disease states.

The book is divided into three parts: 'the principles' and 'the practice' of general nutrition support and a final part that reviews nutritional support in different diseases, along with a succinct overview of the more complex conditions of intestinal failure and small bowel transplantation.

Part …


Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) is an enabling technology to meet the growing demand for faster and more reliable communications in wireless networks with a large number of terminals, but it can also be applied for position estimation of a terminal exploiting multipath propagation from multiple antennas. In this paper, we investigate new convolutional neural network (CNN) structures for exploiting MIMO-based channel state information (CSI) to improve indoor positioning. We evaluate and compare the performance of three variants of the proposed CNN structure to five NN structures proposed in the scientific literature using the same sets of training-evaluation data. The results demonstrate that the proposed residual convolutional NN structure improves the accuracy of position estimation and keeps the total number of weights lower than the published NN structures. The proposed CNN structure yields from 2 cm to 10 cm better position accuracy than known NN structures used as a reference.


Most types of behavioural research are difficult to carry out, at least with acceptable rigour; investigation of the effects of ethanol upon speech is a good example of such a challenge. To date bur little research on the issue has been reported; the problem here appears to be the difficulty in developing and carrying our appropriate experiments. In response, the thrust of the present project was two-fold: ( 1) to address the robustness/accuracy of traditional investigational procedures and (2) to generate controlled pilot data on speech-intoxication relationships. First, both established and new methodologies were assessed and attempts were made to correlate the physiological approaches with the behavioural. Second, initial data was gathered on the suprasegmentals of speech. To accomplish these goals, carefully selected subjects were studied at a number of highly controlled levels of intoxication. It was found that traditional approaches resulted in difficulties with experimental precision whereas modified procedures could be used to overcome these problems. Second, while the aural-perceptual data did not correlate very well with the physiological, some information was gained as to how to assess motor speech deficits under controlled procedures. Finally, measures of FO shift exhibited an upward trend for most speakers, and duration was increased, as a function of increments in intoxication.


Ultrasound guided fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) is the first-line procedure in diagnosing thyroid nodules. However, emerging studies have reported its unsatisfactory cell sample for cytology evaluation. In this case report, shear wave elastography (SWE) guided FNAB on a thyroid nodule is presented. Biopsies were performed on both hard and soft areas of the same nodule on the SWE image. Cytological results demonstrated the sufficient diagnostic components and typical nuclear features of papillary carcinoma found on the specimen from the hard area. This case study indicates SWE is a useful complementary tool to conventional B-mode ultrasound in guiding thyroid nodule FNAB.


Hesperoides afromeridionalis gen. nov. and sp. nov. from the Republic of South Africa (Western and Eastern Cape Provinces and KwaZulu-Natal) is described. Despite some similarities with Hespera Weise, it exhibits major affinities with the genera attributed to the subtribe Aphthonini, especially with Aphthona Chevrolat and Montiaphthona Scherer. Data on distribution are supplied, along with preliminary ecological notes. Photomicrographs of main morphological characters, including male and female genitalia, and metafemoral extensor tendon are provided. Key to the six "hairy" flea beetle genera occurring in sub-Saharan African and their habitus photos are also given.


Aircraft design is an iterative process that requires an estimation of aerodynamic characteristics including drag and lift coefficients, stall behavior, velocity, and pressure profiles repeatedly, especially in the conceptual design phase. PanAir is a high-order aerodynamic panel method-based algorithm developed as a part of the Public Domain Aeronautical Software program mostly with NASA sponsorship. It is based upon potential flow theory and is used to numerically compute lift, induced drag, and moment coefficients of the aircraft in both subsonic and supersonic flight regimes. Quoting from developers it is the most versatile and accurate of all the linear theory panel codes. PanAir is a classical software that requires geometric data as an input in the form of a PanAir-compatible format; however, commonly used Computer-Aided Design Software packages no longer conform to the PanAir input format. Likewise, PanAir produces its output in a PanAir-specific output file which is not compatible with commonly used visualization software. The input geometry required by PanAir and its output, therefore, involves significant manual preand post-processing using intermediary software. The work proposed here is an automated pre and post-processor to be used together with PanAir. With the environment proposed in this work, manipulation of input and output data using several intermediary software to and from PanAir is bypassed successfully. The proposed environment is validated over a Cessna 210 aircraft geometry with a modified NLF (1)-0414 airfoil. The aircraft is numerically analyzed using PanAir together


We have introduced a novel water-soluble two-photon photoinitiator based on the host-guest interaction between 3,6-bis[2-(1-methyl-pyridinium)vinyl]-9-pentyl-carbazole diiodide (BMVPC) and cucurbit[7]uril (CB7) because most of the commercial photoinitiators have poor two-photon initiating efficiency in aqueous solutions. The binding ratio of BMVPC and CB7 was determined as 1:1 by isothermal titration calorimetry and quantum chemical calculation. The formation of the host-guest complex increases the two-photon absorption cross-section about five times, and improves the water solubility required as the photoinitiator for hydrogel fabrication. The BMVPC-CB7 inclusion complex was used as the one-component photoinitiator, and the polyethylene glycol diacrylate with promising biocompatibility was used as the hydrogel monomer to form the aqueous-phase photoresist system applied to two-photon polymerization microfabrication. A relatively low laser threshold of 4.5 mW, a high fabricating resolution of 180 nm, and the true three-dimensional (3D) fabricating capability in the aqueous solution have been obtained by using the as-prepared photoresist system. Finally, 3D engineering hydrogel scaffold microstructures with low toxicity and good biocompatibility have been fabricated and cocultured with living HeLa cells, which demonstrates the potential for further application in tissue engineering.


This note extends the prior work in L2 stability of self-triggered feedback systems, where the next task release time and finishing time are predicted based on the sampled states. A self-triggering scheme is proposed, which relaxes the assumption in the prior work that the magnitude of the process noise is bounded by a linear function of the norm of the system state. We show that the sample periods generated by this scheme are always greater than a positive constant. We also provide state-based deadlines for delays and propose a way that may enlarge those deadlines without breaking L2 stability.


Aim: The purpose of this study is to determine the levels of dental anxiety in patients who applied to the Necmettin Erbakan University Faculty of Dentistry during the COVID-19 outbreak and to evaluate the relationships of their anxiety levels to age, gender, education level, and the frequency of visits to dentists.
Methodology: There were 320 participants, including 163 females (50.9%) and 157 males (49.1%), aged from 18 to 65 years or older, who had applied to the Necmettin Erbakan University Faculty of Dentistry. The Corah Dental Anxiety Scale (CDAS) was used to determine the levels of dental anxiety (non-anxiety, little anxiety, anxiety, over anxiety, and excessive anxiety) and the anxiety groups (low or high). Descriptive statistics were presented in percentages. Data were analyzed using t-tests and one-way ANOVA and chi-square tests, at a significance level of p = 0.05.
Results: Among the participants, 38.1% were at the non-anxiety level, 44.1% had very little anxiety, 10.9% had anxiety, 5% had over anxiety, and 1.9% had excessive anxiety. With regard to the anxiety groups, 82.5% were in the low anxiety group, and 17.5% were in the high anxiety group. Age, education level, and frequency of visiting the dentist were not found to have any effects on dental anxiety (p > 0.05). However, the effect of gender with regard to dental anxiety was significant (p < 0.05), as females had higher dental anxiety levels than males.
Conclusion: While the effect of gender was found to be important in terms of dental anxiety, age, educational status, and the frequency of visiting the dentist did not have significant effects on dental anxiety. Females had higher dental anxiety scores and levels than males.

How to cite this article: Tunçdemir AR, Büyükerkmen EB, Savaş A. Evaluation of the dental anxiety levels of patients applying to the faculty of dentistry during the Covıd-19 pandemic. Int Dent Res 2021;11(Suppl.1):238-244.
https://doi.org/10.5577/intdentres.2021.vol11.suppl1.35

Linguistic Revision: The English in this manuscript has been checked by at least two professional editors, both native speakers of English.