We report the design and synthesis of model heterodimeric coiled-coil proteins and the packing contribution of interchain hetero-hydrophobic side-chains to coiled-coil stability. The heterodimeric coiled-coils are obtained by oxidizing two 35-residue polypeptide chains, each containing a cysteine residue at position 2 and differing in amino acid sequences in the hydrophobic positions ("a" and "d") responsible for the formation and stabilization of the coiled-coil. In each peptide, a single Ala residue was substituted for Leu at position "a" or "d". The formation and stability of heterodimeric coiled-coils were investigated by circular dichroism studies in the presence and absence of guanidine hydrochloride and compared to the corresponding homodimeric coiled-coils. The coiled-coil proteins with an Ala substitution at position "a" were less stable than those with an Ala substitution at position "d" in both the homodimeric (Ala-Ala interchain interactions) and heterodimeric (Leu-Ala interchain interactions ) coiled-coils. The 70-residue disulfide bridged peptides (homo- and heterodimeric coiled-coils) can be readily separated by reversed-phase chromatography (RPC) even though they have identical amino acid compositions as well as in the hydrophobic "a" and "d" positions. The elution of the 70-residue peptides prior to their corresponding 35-residue monomers suggests that these proteins are retaining a large portion of their coiled-coil structure during RPC at pH2 and their retention behavior correlates with protein stability.


In this paper, I model a shock whereby financial intermediaries can better diversify borrowers' idiosyncratic risks. A sector-specific diversification improvement induces intermediaries to reallocate funds toward the shocked sector. As lending spreads fall, intermediaries build up leverage over time. The result is a fragile sectoral boom that can end in an economy-wide bust. This cycle is amplified if the diversification-shocked sector is higher-risk or more external-finance dependent. I apply the model quantitatively to the recent housing cycle. Feeding in a novel mortgage diversification index, the model generates the measured increase in household credit coincident with a 1-2% decline in mortgage spreads. In the subsequent bust, spreads in all sectors spike by 2% as aggregate output drops. JEL Codes: D14, G11, G12.


The Covid-19 outbreak and the subsequent lockdown have profoundly impacted families' daily life, challenging their psychological resilience. Our study aimed to investigate the immediate psychological consequences of the pandemic on Italian parents and children focusing on internalizing and post-traumatic symptoms. We also wanted to explore the impact of possible risk and resilience factors, e.g., lifestyle and behaviors, emotional and cognitive beliefs, on parents and children's reaction to the emergency distress. An online survey was administered during the country's nationwide lockdown to 721 Italian parents of at least one child aged between 6 and 18 years. The respondent completed the survey for himself/herself and his/her child. The survey included socio-demographic items and validated questionnaires on parents' post-traumatic stress symptoms, depression and anxiety levels, and on children's internalizing problems. Parents were asked to fill the questionnaires twice: once referring to the current emergency condition and once recalling how they and their child felt a few months before Covid-19 outbreak. Multiple regression analyses showed that specific demographic characteristics (i.e., sex and age) and psychological factors of children and parents, such as fear of contagion and the opportunity to think about possible secondary positive effects of the pandemic, had a predictive value on the presence of internalizing symptoms of both parents and children. Moreover, parents' behaviors during the lockdown period (i.e., employment status and sport practiced) were significantly related to their own internalizing symptoms; these symptoms, in turn, had a strong and positive predictive value on children's internalizing problems. Besides, analyses of variance showed that internalizing symptoms of parents and children were significantly higher during the Covid-19 pandemic than before it started. In addition to showing a direct effect of the pandemic on the psychological health of parents and children, the present results also give a series of important information on how parents perceive, and therefore influence, their children in this period of emergency. Our findings thus highlight the urgent need to provide parents with adequate support to take care of their own psychological wellbeing and to help their children coping with the direct and indirect effects of the pandemic.


Objective:The present study aims to compare bone mineral density (BMD) of healthy female patients with that of females with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS), as well as to determine the relationship between insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and BMD. Materials and Methods: Twenty-seven premenopausal women with FMS and 21 age-matched female controls were included in the study. Body mass index (BMI), IGF-1 and osteocalcin levels were assessed for all the cases. BMD measurements of the femoral neck and lumbar spine were done by using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Results: Lomber and femoral bone mineral density were significantly lower in FMS patients compared with controls (p<0.001). Serum concentrations of IGF-1 were significantly lower in FMS than those in healthy females (p<0.01). There was a significant correlation between IGF-1 and BMD (trochanteric and lumbar spine) in FMS patients. No difference was found between the groups with respect to serum osteocalcine levels. Conclusions: The results of the present study shows that routine BMD measurements should be done in premenopausal FMS patients, especially who have low levels of IGF-1. (Rheumatism 2008; 23: 118-23)


Calcific deposits in the menisci of the knees of 215 cadavera were characterized roentgenographically and crystallographically as part of a study of the pathological basis of calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate crystal deposition disease. Deposits of a primary type were found in multiple cartilages in 5.6 per cent of cadavera: in 3.3 per cent the deposits were composed of calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate (Ca2P2 O7-2H2O) and in 2.3 per cent, of dicalcium phosphate dihydrate (CaHPO4-2H2O). Solitary deposits of the secondary type, composed of hydroxyapatite, were found in 1.4 per cent of cadavera.
The implications of these findings are discussed as they affect (1) the possible prevalence of calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate crystal deposition disease, (2) the traditional classification of pathological calcification of cartilage, and (3) the roentgenographic interpretation of meniscal calcification. The crystalline compounds of the three-component system CaO—P2O5—H2O that persist in soil as fertilizer are the same as the compounds identified in the meniseal deposits. Appropriate data from the soil chemistry literature are cited briefly as they provide background for speculation and future work on the mechanisms and significance of pathological calcifications in cartilage.


The Pacific islands provide a good case study of how small island states have responded to the challenges of enforcing their fisheries laws and regulations. The Pacific islands, all of which are geographically small and are in their early stages of economic development, viewed the LOS Convention and the exclusive economic zone regime established as providing the opportunity for generating economic wealth. The area of ocean space under the Pacific islands' jurisdiction was inordinately disproportionate to the resources available to them to assert effectively their sovereign rights. The article examines how they have responded to the challenge. The article discusses the co-operative approach adopted by the Pacific islands and the innovative arrangements developed to control better the fishing activities of fishing states. The article concludes that, while considerable progress has been made, there is scope to improve on current arrangements to make them more effective.


Objective:  To analyze the correlation of the students in an Islamic boarding school intention toward oral health behavior by means of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) approach.  Material and Methods: A cross-sectional analytic study was conducted on 153 students of an Islamic boarding school who fulfilled the criterion. Data were obtained by a questionnaire and clinical examination . Data were presented as mean and standard deviation.  Results:  The highest score of the variable that affects behavior recorded from both male and female respondents was Subjective Norm (57.288 ± 12.828), followed by Attitude (25.627 ± 4.144). Meanwhile, the lowest score that affects behavior was Oral Health Knowledge (3.179 ± 1.402).  All study variables, according to the theory of planned behavior, such as knowledge, attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavior control, and intention had significant value to predict and assess behavior with p<0.05 .  Conclusion:  Attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and oral health knowledge in Private Boarding School's Santris influence the intention to improve oral hygiene behavior.


Objectives: As is true for all mechanical prostheses, bileaflet heart valves are prone to thrombus formation; reduced hemodynamic performance and embolic events can occur as a result. Prosthetic valve thrombosis affects the power spectra calculated from the phonocardiographic signals corresponding to prosthetic closing events. Artificial neural network–based classifiers are proposed for automatically and noninvasively assessing valve functionality and detecting thrombotic formations. Further studies will be directed toward an enlarging data set, extending the investigated frequency range, and applying the presented approach to other bileaflet mechanical valves. Methods: Data were acquired for the normofunctioning St. Jude Regent valve mounted in the aortic position of a Sheffield Pulse Duplicator. Different pulsatile flow conditions were reproduced, changing heart rate and stroke volume. The case of a thrombus completely blocking 1 leaflet was also investigated. Power spectra were calculated from the phonocardiographic signals and used to train artificial neural networks of different topologies; neural networks were then tested with the spectra acquired in vivo from 33 patients, all recipients of the St. Jude Regent valve in the aortic position. Results: The proposed classifier showed 100% correct classification in vitro and 97% when applied to in vivo data: 31 spectra were assigned to the right class, 1 received a false positive classification, and 1 was "not classifiable." Conclusion: Early malfunction detection is necessary to prevent thrombotic events in bileaflet mechanical heart valves. Following further clinical validation with an extended patient database, artificial neural network–based classifiers could be embedded in a portable device able to detect valvular thrombosis at early stages of formation: this would help clinicians make valvular dysfunction diagnoses before the appearance of critical symptoms.


Background Web-based reviews of physicians have become exceedingly popular among health care consumers since the early 2010s. A factor that can potentially influence these reviews is the gender of the physician, because the physician's gender has been found to influence patient-physician communication. Our study is among the first to conduct a rigorous longitudinal analysis to study the effects of the gender of physicians on their reviews, after accounting for several important clinical factors, including patient risk, physician specialty, and temporal factors, using time fixed effects. In addition, this study is among the first to study the possible gender bias in web-based reviews using statewide data from Alabama, a predominantly rural state with high Medicaid and Medicare use. Objective This study conducts a longitudinal empirical investigation of the relationship between physician gender and their web-based reviews using data across the state of Alabama, after accounting for patient risk and temporal effects. Methods We created a unique data set by combining data from web-based physician reviews from the popular physician review website, RateMDs, and clinical data from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services for the state of Alabama. We used longitudinal econometric specifications to conduct an econometric analysis, while controlling for several important clinical and review characteristics across four rating dimensions (helpfulness, knowledge, staff, and punctuality). The overall rating and these four rating dimensions from RateMDs were used as the dependent variables, and physician gender was the key explanatory variable in our panel regression models. Results The panel used to conduct the main econometric analysis included 1093 physicians. After controlling for several clinical and review factors, the physician random effects specifications showed that male physicians receive better web-based ratings than female physicians. Coefficients and corresponding SEs and P values of the binary variable GenderFemale (1 for female physicians and 0 otherwise) with different rating variables as outcomes were as follows: OverallRating (coefficient –0.194, SE 0.060; P=.001), HelpfulnessRating (coefficient –0.221, SE 0.069; P=.001), KnowledgeRating (coefficient –0.230, SE 0.065; P<.001), StaffRating (coefficient –0.123, SE 0.062; P=.049), and PunctualityRating (coefficient –0.200, SE 0.067; P=.003). The negative coefficients indicate a bias toward male physicians versus female physicians for aforementioned rating variables. Conclusions This study found that female physicians receive lower web-based ratings than male physicians even after accounting for several clinical characteristics associated with the physicians and temporal effects. Although the magnitude of the coefficients of GenderFemale was relatively small, they were statistically significant. This study provides support to the findings on gender bias in the existing health care literature. We contribute to the existing literature by conducting a study using data across the state of Alabama and using a longitudinal econometric analysis, along with incorporating important clinical and review controls associated with the physicians.


The transmission of digital video requires a large amount of bandwith. Such bandwidths are typically not available on typical computer networks. Apart from bandwidth, variable network latency has a considerable effect on video transmission. However, the human vision system is fairly tolerant to relatively poor quality moving images. It is argued that there are practical applications that can benefit from the ability to transmit low quality video images over general purpose computer networks. The generally improving network bandwidths and increasingly powerful digital video compression techniques make the whole problem practical. A protocol is proposed that can adapt to the available bandwidth and can tolerate some loss of data during transmission.


The satisfaction of customer is the power source of sustainable development of logistics enterprises. To implement customer satisfaction evaluation is one of the effective ways to promote the competitiveness of the logistics enterprises. Establish the logistics enterprise level analysis model and build the evaluation index system of logistics enterprise customer satisfaction By Delphi and AHP. Using the weighted average method to quantify the indicators of evaluation factors, then you will obtain logistics enterprise customer satisfaction comprehensive evaluation result. Finally, Ningbo Sea-land Logistics Company has carried on the analysis and evaluation, the evaluation results agree with the enterprise actual situation, it provides theory basis for further development and improvement of the logistics enterprise.


As the semiconductor fabrication groundrule has reached the 32nm node, in general there are several possible approaches for the photolithography solution such as the double exposure with 1.35 NA immersion, the high refractive index immersion, the extremely ultra violet (EUV) lithography, nanoimprint lithography etc. Among the four, the easiest approach seems to be the double exposure method at an effective numerical aperture (NA) of 1.35. However, there are still challenges in the design and optimization of the process, such as, the use of appropriate illumination condition, the choice of a good photoresist, and the design of an optical proximity correction (OPC) strategy. Besides these considerations, there is a question as whether we really need the double etch process. To study the double exposure mechanism, we have used a 248 nm deep-UV exposure tool and several well chosen photoresist (one is for Space application and the other is for Line application) to study the photo performance parameters in the merge of two photo exposures. At a numerical aperture (NA) around 0.7, the minimum groundrule we can achieve is the one for a 75 nm logic process with minimum pitch around 220 nm. One approach will be that the features with pitches wider than 440 nm are completed in a single exposure, which includes various isolated lines and spaces, line and space ends, two-dimensional structures, etc. This strategy essentially puts the single exposure pattern under the 0.18 um logic like pitches where mild conventional illumination can produce a balanced performance. Under typical illumination conditions, the photolithographic process under 0.18 um like ground rule is well understood and the optical proximity correction is not complicated. The remaining issues are in the dense pitches, where the double exposure kicks in. We have demonstrated that the double exposure with single development can achieve a process window large enough for a 75 nm logic like process and the OPC behavior such as line through pitch is manageable although OPC correction strategy may require substantial improvement to accommodate two individual exposures. In this paper, we will demonstrate the result of our study of the basic photolithographic performance indicators, such as the exposure latitude (EL), the depth of focus (DOF), the CD through pitch, the line edge roughness (LER) and the mask error factor (MEF) for the optimized process. And we will discuss the choice of photoresists for this special application. It seems that a photoresist with a balanced performance for both the line and space is necessary to realize a good double exposure process. In this paper, we will also present our simulation result of effective resist diffusion length to explore the limit of such approach.


Self-correction—a key feature distinguishing science from pseudoscience—requires that scientists update their beliefs in light of new evidence. However, people are often reluctant to change their beliefs. We examined self-correction in action, tracking research psychologists' beliefs in psychological effects before and after the completion of four large-scale replication projects. We found that psychologists did update their beliefs; they updated as much as they predicted they would, but not as much as our Bayesian model suggests they should if they trust the results. We found no evidence that psychologists became more critical of replications when it would have preserved their pre-existing beliefs. We also found no evidence that personal investment or lack of expertise discouraged belief updating, but people higher on intellectual humility updated their beliefs slightly more. Overall, our results suggest that replication studies can contribute to self-correction within psychology, but psychologists may underweight their evidentiary value.


Introduction Plant–microbe interactions play a vital role in the development of strategies to manage pathogen-induced destructive diseases that cause enormous crop losses every year. Rice blast is one of the severe diseases to rice Oryza sativa (O. sativa) due to Magnaporthe grisea (M. grisea) fungus. Protein–protein interaction (PPI) between rice and fungus plays a key role in causing rice blast disease. Methods In this paper, four genomic information-based models such as (i) the interolog, (ii) the domain, (iii) the gene ontology, and (iv) the phylogenetic-based model are developed for predicting the interaction between O. sativa and M. grisea in a whole-genome scale. Results and Discussion A total of 59,430 interacting pairs between 1,801 rice proteins and 135 blast fungus proteins are obtained from the four models. Furthermore, a machine learning model is developed to assess the predicted interactions. Using composition-based amino acid composition (AAC) and conjoint triad (CT) features, an accuracy of 88% and 89% is achieved, respectively. When tested on the experimental dataset, the CT feature provides the highest accuracy of 95%. Furthermore, the specificity of the model is verified with other pathogen–host datasets where less accuracy is obtained, which confirmed that the model is specific to O. sativa and M. grisea. Understanding the molecular processes behind rice resistance to blast fungus begins with the identification of PPIs, and these predicted PPIs will be useful for drug design in the plant science community.


Background: Appendicitis is a common cause of acute abdomen and appendectomy is the treatment of choice, which can be done either by open or laparoscopic approach. Laparoscopic appendicectomy (LA) has struggled to prove its superiority over the open technique. Objectives: This study aimed to compare the surgical outcomes and cost efficiency of laparoscopic versus open appendectomy. Material and Methods: This study was done in a tertiary care medical hospital in Lucknow, India. 150 consecutive patients who were diagnosed to have appendicitis and requiring surgical intervention were selected after obtaining their informed consent to participate in the study. 75 patients each were randomly chosen to undergo either open or laparoscopic appendectomy. Data was collected from each patient on the basis of clinical, preoperative findings as well as postoperative recovery and follow up. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS Version 17.0. Results: 63% of patients were male and 58.6% were under 25 years of age. Nausea and vomiting were the common symptoms. Laparoscopic appendectomy took more time than open appendectomy (45 mins Vs 55 mins). Pain was significantly lower in laparoscopic appendectomy compared to open appendectomy. Post operative complications, length of stay, time to return back to work were all lesser among patients who underwent laparoscopic appendectomy. Conclusion: As laparoscopic appendectomy is associated with fewer complications, shorter hospital stay, almost similar operative time, lower rate of intraabdominal abscess and marginally higher cost of treatment when compared to open appendicectomy, it can be recommended as the preferred approach of treatment for acute appendicitis. ABSTRACT ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER General Surgery


Recently, parallel computation has become necessary to take full advantage of the gains allowed by Moore's law. Many scientific and engineering applications exhibit data parallelism but might not make full use of it. Some ubiquitous operations such that the dot product can easily be parallelized and then make good use of available hardware, like multi-core or GPU. In this paper, we provide two slightly different algorithms to perform dot product calculations in a finite field using floating-point arithmetic and implement them on the GPU architecture. To do so, we pack input integers into floating-point numbers and exploit the computational capabilities of GPU to their full extent to get the result efficiently. Using error-free transformations, we show that it is possible to reach speedups between 10 or 40 with the parallel versions, with an algorithm using nearly no modular reduction.


Pluractionality is "the phenomen[on] where a certain derivational morphological marking on a verb [...] indicates that the event denoted by this verb is, in some sense, pluralized: repeated in time, distributed in various locations, holds of many participants, etc." (Greenberg 2010). In French, evaluative suffixes, when joined to verbal bases to build derived verbs, often function as pluractionality markers (e.g., mordre 'bite', mordiller 'nibble, lit. bite off small bites several times'). This paper focuses on the relation between evaluation and aspect/pluractionality and shows that verbal evaluation involves a modification of the internal structure of the event expressed by the verb, which in turn has an influence on its lexical aspect, and on its argumental structure.


Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.) is one of the most significant trees in tropical home gardens and important genus Artocarpus. The study was conducted to determine the effects of inorganic and organic fertilizer application on the physicochemical and sensory acceptability of jackfruit and identify which nutrient management scheme would give the best postharvest quality. Each replication had four sample trees per treatment. The treatments were designated as follows: T0 – control (no fertilizer application), T1 – inorganic fertilizer (0.830 kg complete fertilizer/tree + 3.329 kg solophos phosphate/tree + 0.726 kg KCl/tree), and T2 – vermicast (75 kg/tree). Analysis of variance and treatment comparison by the least significant difference were performed using the Statistical Tool for Agriculture Research (STAR). Application of organic and inorganic fertilizer significantly influenced the pulp width and circumference and core width of jackfruit. T1 gave bigger pulp circumference (11.38 cm), longest pulp length (7.13 cm) and highest number of pulp per fruit (138.75). The color a (redness/blueness) and b (yellowness) values, pH, total soluble solids (TSS), percent titratable acidity (%TA), vitamin C and juice yield were significantly affected by the application of organic and inorganic fertilizer. The b* values indicate the yellowness of the fresh-cut jackfruit pulp. It was observed that T1 and T2 had noticeably lower +b* than those without fertilizer application as indicated by the lower intensity of yellow color. Sensorial analyses of color, aroma, sweetness, firmness, flavor, and juiciness were not significantly influenced by fertilizer application. The two nutrient management schemes revealed comparable general acceptability of jackfruit.


Job performance is optimal when worker skills fit with defined dimensions for job role. This is termed "role breadth". The present study investigated this fitness. Also the relationship between autonomy, cognitive ability and performance in assessment centers with job performance according to role breadth was investigated. The research sample consisted of 139 managers of Isfahan governmental and private organizations who were selected using convenience sampling. For measuring these variables, simulation exercises in an assessment center, expanded form of Professional and Managerial Position Questionnaire (PMPQ), General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB), Job Characteristics Inventory (JCI) and organizational performance evaluations were used. Findings indicated that autonomy, cognitive ability, performance in assessment center, and role breadth variables are predictors of job performance and role breadth is a mediator. According to findings, increasing in autonomy of managerial jobs and selecting of volunteers wi th high cognitive ability through assessment centers for managerial jobs to maximum


Collections of documents are sets of heterogeneous documents, like a specific ancient book series, having proper structural and semantic properties linking them. A particular collection contains document images with specific physical layouts, like text pages or full-page illustrations, appearing in a specific order. Its contents, like journal articles, may be shared by several pages, not necessary following, producing strong dependencies between pages interpretations. In order to build an analysis system which can bring contextual information from the collection to the appropriate recognition modules for each page, we propose to express the structural and the semantic properties of a collection with a definite clause grammar. This is made possible by representing collections as streams of document images, and by using extensions to the formalism we present here. We are then able to automatically generate a parser dedicated to a collection. Beside allowing structural variations and complex information flows, we also show that this approach enables the design of analysis stages, on a document or a set of documents. The interest of context usage is illustrated with several examples and their appropriate formalization in this framework.


Scholars need to keep up with an exponentially increasing flood of scientific papers. To aid this challenge, we introduce Scim, a novel intelligent interface that helps experienced researchers skim – or rapidly review – a paper to attain a cursory understanding of its contents. Scim supports the skimming process by highlighting salient paper contents in order to direct a reader's attention. The system's highlights are faceted by content type, evenly distributed across a paper, and have a density configurable by readers at both the global and local level. We evaluate Scim with both an in-lab usability study and a longitudinal diary study, revealing how its highlights facilitate the more efficient construction of a conceptualization of a paper. We conclude by discussing design considerations and tensions for the design of future intelligent skimming tools.


Applications of networking to health care have focused on the potential of networking to transmit data and to reduce the cost of health care. In the early 198Os networks began forming among academic institutions; one of them was Bitnet. During the 1980s Internet evolved, which joined diverse networks, including those of governments and industry. The first step is to connect public health organizations such as ministries of health, the World Health Organization, the Pan-American Health Organization, and the United Nations. Computer-based telecommunication will vastly increase effective transmission of information. Networking public health workers in local health departments, academia, governments, industry, and private agencies, will bring great benefits. One is global disease telemonitoring: with new epidemiological techniques such as capture-recapture, accurate estimates of incidences of important communicable and non-communicable diseases can now be obtained. Currently all countries in the Americas except Haiti are connected through Internet. No systematic integration of telecommunication and public health systems across countries has occurred yet. On-line vital statistics could be usable almost instantaneously to facilitate monitoring and forecasting of population growth and the health needs of mothers and children. Linking global disease telemonitoring (morbidity data for non-communicable diseases) with environmental data systems would considerably improve understanding of the environmental determinants of disease. Internet is already linked to the National Library of Medicine through Bitnis. Computer based distance education is rapidly improving through E-mail searches. Reading materials, video, pictures, and sound could be transmitted across huge distances for low costs. Hundreds of schools are already networked together. On-line electronic journals and books have the potential for instantaneous dissemination of free information through gopher servers. Global public health needs to plan for a public health communication system that can reach all the public health workers in the world.


The intention of this study is to predict one year in advance whether a regarded firm will grow extraordinarily in the next year. This is crucial for private investors and fund managers who need to decide whether they should invest in a certain firm. Companies like Apple and Amazon have shown that people who recognized the potential of such companies at the right time earned a lot of money. The applied prediction models can also be used by politicians to identify companies which are eligible for funding, because growing companies oftentimes hire many employees. Since annual reports are often publically available for free, it is reasonable to take advantage of them for such a prediction. The prediction models are based on classification trees and forests because they have some very substantial advantages over other methods like neural networks, which are frequently used in literature. For instance, they do not have distributional assumptions, accept both quantitative and qualitative inputs, and are not sensitive with respect to outliers. Furthermore, they are easy to understand by humans and can deal with missing values, which is crucial for practical applications.


We used double-label quantitative autoradiography to study blood flow (with [131I]iodoantipyrine) and blood-to-tissue transport (with [14C]-alpha-aminoisobutyric acid) in 20 TE-671 medulloblastomas xenotransplanted into nude rats. Microscopically, two distinct patterns of tumor growth were observed: (a) a solid tumor mass; and (b) a tumor in which nearly all tumor cells were located perivascularly. These two tumor patterns differed markedly in values of blood flow (F) and the transfer constant (K) of alpha-aminoisobutyric acid. The solid tumors (N = 17) had averaged mean values of F = 36.8 +/- 5.3 (SE) and K = 8.0 +/- 0.7 ml/100 g/min. The perivascular tumors, which were fewer in number (N = 3), had averaged mean values of F = 83.8 +/- 9.8 and K = 0.4 +/- 0.06 ml/100 g/min. Calculated values of the net extraction fraction (En) of alpha-aminoisobutyric acid were 0.54 +/- 0.07 for the solid tumors and 0.009 +/- 0.001 for the perivascular tumors. K and En for the solid tumors are the highest for any brain tumor model reported to date. The high rates of blood-to-tissue transport may explain why intracranial TE-671 medulloblastomas in nude mice respond to treatment with water-soluble chemotherapeutic drugs, unlike most other brain tumor models.


From the Publisher:
The SPICE (Software Process Improvement and Capability Determination) Project is a joint effort by the ISO and IEC to create an international standard for software process assessment. This book covers both the theory of SPICE and its practical applications, including the lessons learned from the SPICE trials. It includes a valuable automated tool on CD-ROM to help you apply the concepts presented in the book. The text shows the evolution of the most recent developments in the SPICE project. It documents the major products and the empirical evaluations that have been conducted thus far. The book is jointly written by the key experts involved in the SPICE project. The theory chapters describe the rationale behind the architecture and the contents of the V1.0 and V2.0 document set and how to interpret them. The remaining chapters describe the applications and how that make use of the theory behind them.


Web Ontology Language (OWL) and Model-Driven Architectures (MDA) are two technologies being developed in parallel, but by different communities. They have common points and issues and can be brought closer together. Many authors have so far stressed this problem and have proposed several solutions. The result of these efforts is the recent OMG's initiative for defining an ontology development platform. However, the problem of transformation between an ontology and MDA-based languages has been solved using rather partial and ad hoc solutions, most often by XSLT. In this paper we analyze OWL and MDA-compliant languages as separate technological spaces. In order to achieve a synergy between these technological spaces we define ontology languages in terms of MDA standards, recognize relations between OWL and MDA-based ontology languages, and propose mapping techniques. In order to illustrate the approach, we use an MDA-defined ontology architecture that includes ontology metamodel and ontology UML Profile. Based on this approach, we have implemented a transformation of the ontology UML Profile into OWL representation.


The challenging characteristics of sensor nodes, including the constrained resources, the ad-hoc nature of their deployment and the vulnerability of wireless media, pose a need for unique security solutions. The advantages of Public Key Cryptography (PKC) for sensor network security are widely acknowledged and include resilience, scalability and decentralized management. Recent work has indicated that PKC is feasible in the wireless sensor network (WSN) environment, paving the way for many new security services and opportunities. However, the computational effort involved in performing PKC operations remains substantial. From an energy consumption perspective, it is imperative that the processing and communication resources be utilized only when required. To that end, PKC implementations are more vulnerable to Denial of Service (DoS) attacks, when compared to traditional security methods that require less resources. In particular, if a malicious party attacks a sensor node by repetitive requests to establish a key, the resources of the attacked node can be exhausted quite rapidly. In this paper, we propose a novel RSA-based framework for combating DoS attacks in WSN by ensuring that the malicious party will exhaust its resources prior to exhausting those of its counterparts. Under the proposed approach, the mathematical operations performed by the malicious party require two or three orders of magnitude more resources than those required by the attacked party. We also present three methodologies for establishing an ephemeral key, in which the proposed DoS mitigation mechanism is an embedded component. Implementation results on the Intel Mote 2 platform substantiate the clear advantages of the proposed method.


Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects is a highly awarded, New York-based firm offering master planning, architectural, interior and product design services. The firm, which cites 'process and principles' and 'order and intelligence' as its foundations, practices an architecture that grows naturally from a quest for ideas and answers, rather than a pre-determined aesthetic or rigid signature style. This approach is seen in the diversity of styles and project types presented in this major overview of Gwathmey Siegel's work. Selected from the more than 400 projects completed by the firm, the featured projects include residential, (including the multi-awarded Central Park South Apartment), higher education (including prestigious institutions such as Yale, Harvard and Princeton), art galleries, office buildings, and museums, including renovations and additions to Frank Lloyd Wright's iconic Guggenheim Museum in New York, one of the firm's most celebrated and critically acclaimed works. Other projects include the recently completed W Hoboken, a new landmark on the New Jersey riverfront and Glenstone, a much-awarded museum project outside Washington DC.Gwathmey Siegel & Associates is committed to sustainable design principles and building practices and is a member of the US Green Building Council.


One of the new matters of law emerged at the end of the process that was started with the industrial revolution and continues with technological developments is the issue of "moral right" that has subtitles such as patent right or copyright. "Moral rights", which has gained a commercial quality and generality, propounds a structure different than right concepts defined by legal systems. Some characteristics it bears such as not having a material asset or being different than the asset enlivens it differentiates these rights from "material property" rights. For this reason, moral rights have been handled via asserting different law theories and approaches by human law systems. The definition and nature of right and benefit concepts are handled at Islamic Law even if it is casuistic and the solutions necessary for the transfer of right and benefit in return for a fiscal cost together with Islamic jurisprudence presented by mujtahids. But, the answers of legal questions about newly met moral rights such as "copyright", approaching them in terms of Islamic law and creating solutions by abiding an Islamic jurisprudence system constitutes a necessity nowadays.


Abstract Emesopsis infenestra Tatarnic, Wall & Cassis, 2011 (Heteroptera: Reduviidae) is reported from New Zealand for the first time, based on a single specimen collected alive in the wild in Auckland in June 2013. The species was previously known only from Australia (Queensland) and the Loyalty Islands (New Caledonia).


The methodology used for the prediction of trips through the allocation of these according to the origin-destination (OD) survey, constitutes a traditional methodology to cover the demand of existing transport between the zones of analysis. When the transportation system fulfills the characteristics of a network (topology, routed arcs, nodes with commodity supply and demand, etc.) in addition, fleet restrictions are modeled as constraints on this network (capacity, transfer, flow balance, etc.); therefore the transportation system can be worked like a Multicommodity Network Flow Problem (or MCNF). If these data are contained in georeferenced databases, it offers the possibility of spatial analysis through specialized software, allowing the manipulation of such so it can be formulated as a minimum cost multicommodity network flow. The results offer better policies for the analyzed network than the results of the traditional methodology. Finally, the variations applied in the sensitivity analysis, purpose options such as: design for the future expansion, recommendations to the Master Plan of Electric Transport Systems, as well as of operating options to the present topology of the network.


Chronic wounds represent an aberrant biochemistry that creates a toxic proteolytic milieu which can be detrimental to the healing process. Rebalancing the wound microenvironment and addressing elevated protease activity (EPA) could therefore help facilitate healing. To understand how clinicians currently diagnose and manage excessive proteolytic activity, 183 survey responses from US wound specialists were collated and analysed to find out their perceptions on the role of proteases. The majority of respondents (>98%) believed proteases were important in wound healing and that a point‐of‐care (POC) protease test could be useful. This study yielded a low response rate (7·1%, n = 183); however, there were adequate data to draw significant conclusions. Specialists perceived that fibrin, slough, granulation tissue and rolled wound edges could indicate EPA. About 43% of respondents, however, failed to give a correct response when asked to review photographs to determine if excessive protease activity was present, and the perceived visual signs for EPA did not correlate with the wounds that had EPA; no statistical differences between professions were observed. Respondents chose debridement, wound cleansing and advanced therapies as important in reducing excessive protease activity. It was concluded that specialists have a need for POC diagnostic tests. On the basis of the responses to wound photos, it was determined that there were no visual cues clinicians could use in determining excessive protease activity. Additional research is recommended to evaluate the efficacy of a POC diagnostic test for protease activity and the treatments and therapies applied when EPA is found.


The number of motorized vehicles has increased from year to year, but this has not been matched by the increase in the number of vehicles that have re-registered at the SAMSAT (One Stop Integrated Service) Office in Bekasi City. With the activities of the investigating team, the investigating team plays an important role especially for tax actors who do not re-register at SAMSAT Bekasi City, where they remind taxpayers to pay motor vehicle tax. This study aims to analyze the effectiveness of the motor vehicle tax inspection team as well as the obstacles and efforts made in increasing motor vehicle tax revenue in Rawalumbu Village, Bekasi City. The author uses the theory of David Krech, Richard S, Cruthfied and Egerton L. Ballachey Danim (2012: 119-120) in a book entitled Leadership Motivation and Effectiveness. This research is expected to be useful academically and practically. The method used in this research is descriptive qualitative. The results showed that the performance of the motor vehicle tax inspection team in Rawalumbu Village, Bekasi City was effective when measured by Beni Pekei's (2016) effectiveness criteria with a score of 100.38%. The obstacles faced in the effectiveness of the investigating team are the distance that is too far, the taxpayer's data is not up to date, and inadequate supervision by P3DW and SAMSAT. Meanwhile, efforts have been made, among others, Rawalumbu Village to cooperate with investigative teams and sub-districts to update taxpayer data periodically and to conduct socialization and education to taxpayers.


This paper presents a simple approach for rendering isosurfaces of a scalar field. Using the vertex programming capability of commodity graphics cards, we transfer the cost of computing an isosurface from the Central Processing Unit (CPU), running the main application, to the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), rendering the images. We consider a tetrahedral decomposition of the domain and draw one quadrangle (quad) primitive per tetrahedron. A vertex program transforms the quad into the piece of isosurface within the tetrahedron (see Figure 2). In this way, the main application is only devoted to streaming the vertices of the tetrahedra from main memory to the graphics card. For adaptively refined rectilinear grids, the optimization of this streaming process leads to the definition of a new 3D space-filling curve, which generalizes the 2D Sierpinski curve used for efficient rendering of triangulated terrains. We maintain the simplicity of the scheme when constructing view-dependent adaptive refinements of the domain mesh. In particular, we guarantee the absence of T-junctions by satisfying local bounds in our nested error basis. The expensive stage of fixing cracks in the mesh is completely avoided. We discuss practical tradeoffs in the distribution of the workload between the application and the graphics hardware. With current GPU's it is convenient to perform certain computations on the main CPU. Beyond the performance considerations that will change with the new generations of GPU's this approach has the major advantage of avoiding completely the storage in memory of the isosurface vertices and triangles.


OBJECTIVE
To assess the effectiveness of an adjustable ankle-foot orthosis in the treatment of plantarflexion contractures after central nervous system injury or disease.

DESIGN
Prospective, nonrandomized, interventional trial.

SETTING
University medical center's acute inpatient rehabilitation hospital.

PARTICIPANTS
Nine ankles with plantarflexion contractures that could not be passively reduced to less than neutral position occurring in 6 patients with stroke or other acquired brain injury.

INTERVENTION
To assure differentiation between spastic deformity and true contracture, patients received a 2% lidocaine block of the posterior tibial nerve. The adjustable ankle-foot orthosis was then applied on the affected ankle for 23 hours per day for 14 days. Adjustments to increase dorsiflexion passive range of motion (PROM) ranged from 0 degrees to 4.5 degrees and were attempted every 48 to 72 hours.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Dorsiflexion PROM at the ankle with the knee extended.

RESULTS
Increased PROM (average, 20.1 degrees; range, 6 degrees--36 degrees ) was statistically significant (p =.0078). Complications related to pressure with erythema or blister formation associated with pain occurred in 44% of treated ankles at some time during the 2-week trial period.

CONCLUSION
Plantarflexion contractures can be significantly reduced by using the adjustable ankle-foot orthosis with minimal complications.


This paper will discuss the evolution of an operations-based organization to a project-based organization to facilitate successful deactivation of a major nuclear facility. It will describe the plan used for scope definition, staff reorganization, method estimation, baseline schedule development, project management training, and results of this transformation. It is a story of leadership and teamwork, pride and success. Workers at the Savannah River Site's (SRS) F Canyon Complex (FCC) started with a challenge – take all the hazardous byproducts from nearly 50 years of operations in a major, first-of-its-kind nuclear complex and safely get rid of them, leaving the facility cold, dark, dry and ready for whatever end state is ultimately determined by the United States Department of Energy (DOE). And do it in four years, with a constantly changing workforce and steadily declining funding. The goal was to reduce the overall operating staff by 93% and budget by 94%. The facilities, F Canyon and its adjoined sister, FB Line, are located at SRS, a 310-square-mile nuclear reservation near Aiken, S.C., owned by DOE and managed by Washington Group International subsidiary Washington Savannah River Company (WSRC). These facilities were supported by more than 50 surrounding buildings, whose purpose was to provide support services during operations. The radiological, chemical and industrial hazards inventory in the old buildings was significant. The historical mission at F Canyon was to extract plutonium-239 and uranium-238 from irradiated spent nuclear fuel through chemical processing. FB Line's mission included conversion of plutonium solutions into metal, characterization, stabilization and packaging, and storage of both metal and oxide forms. The plutonium metal was sent to another DOE site for use in weapons. Deactivation in F Canyon began when chemical separations activities were completed in 2002, and a cross-functional project team concept was implemented to successfully accomplish deactivation. This concept had to allow for continued operations in FB Line until 2005, while providing distinct task-oriented teams for deactivation of the FCC. Facility workers, always the most knowledgeable about any facility, were integral parts of the project team. The team defined the scope, developed a bottoms-up estimate, reorganized personnel to designated project teams, and developed a baseline schedule with about 12,000 activities. Training was implemented to prepare the facility workers to use project management tools and concepts, which were to execute the project, coordinate activities and track progress.


Heat shock proteins of the HSC70/HSP70 family are evolutionarily conserved chaperones that are involved in protein folding, protein transport and RNA binding. Arabidopsis HSC70 chaperones are thought to act as housekeeping chaperones and as such are involved in many growth-related pathways. Whether Arabidopsis HSC70 binds RNA and its function has remained an open question. Here, we show that the HSC70.1 chaperone binds its own mRNA via its C-terminal Short Variable Region (SVR) and inhibits its own translation. We propose that this negative protein-transcript feedback loop may establish an on-demand chaperone pool that allows for a rapid response to stress. Furthermore, we show that the SVR encoding RNA region is necessary for HSC70.1 transcript mobility to distant tissues and that HSC70.1 transcript and not protein mobility is required to rescue root growth and flowering time of hsc70 mutants. In summary, it seems that the Arabidopsis HSC70.1 chaperone can form a complex with its own transcript to regulate its translation and that both protein and transcript can act in a non-cell-autonomous manner maintaining chaperone homestasis between tissues.


Over the past two decades, a number of companies tried and failed to create a business model built upon editing (or filtering) movies for at-home viewers. Repeatedly, these entities encountered fatal obstacles—legal, business-related, or otherwise—in their endeavors to do so. Copyright protections proved to be the most difficult obstacle for these companies, and many filtering businesses infringed upon rights of reproduction, distribution, digital tampering, or first sale. These conflicts led to numerous litigations and legislative actions, culminating in the recent Disney Enterprises, Inc. v. VidAngel, Inc., a case that still has its effects playing out in courts and Congress. This article examines the copyright violations of past filtering endeavors and looks to find viable solutions that avoid the mistakes of the past, fit within copyright statutes, and offer a sustainable business model. Only by accomplishing all three of these tasks can any filtering service hope to survive in the future of the filtering market. * B.A. in Political Science, Brigham Young University, 2017. J.D. Candidate, University of Missouri School of Law, 2020. Associate Member, Business, Entrepreneurship & Tax Law Review, 2018–2019. Special thanks to Professor Gary Myers for his guidance and feedback. 1 Hodgson: The Fight to Filter: Navigating Copyrights to Legally Edit Films Published by University of Missouri School of Law Scholarship Repository, 2019 154 B.E.T.R. [Vol. 3 2019


Late side effects of chemotherapy were studied in 51 women who had received at least 300 mg of melphalan for ovarian cancer and had survived for at least three years. Hematologic, statistical, and cytogenetic methods were employed. Six cases of iatrogenic leukemia were found. They appeared to represent a hematologic entity that is fairly difficult to recognize. The risk of iatrogenic leukemia in women who survived for three years or more after melphalan treatment was calculated to be 950 times greater than the leukemia risk in the total female population. The cylogcnetic changes were studied with three methods focused on sister chromatid exchange, chromosome aberrations, and DNA damage. The sister chromatid exchange frequency showed a marked increase, but it was corrected within a few months. Chromosome aberrations expressed by chromosome rearrangements were increased in the peripheral lymphocytes and may persist for several years. The frequency of DNA strand breaks was decreased indicating the presence of DNA cross‐links. Any of these types of genetic alteration could be the initiating event in carcinogenesis.


Hirsutism, which is a common clinical problem in women of reproductive age, is characterized by excessive growth of terminal hair in the androgen-sensitive skin regions. It is the result of either androgen excess or increased sensitivity of the hair follicles to normal levels of androgens. The therapeutic options of hirsutism can be divided into systemic, topical, and dermato-cosmetic therapies. Patients should be informed that the response to systemic agents is slow; occurring over 3-6 months after therapy has begun. In this review, the diagnosis and treatment of hirsutism were summarized with update literature. Corresponding author: Gokalp Oner, Department of Obstetric and Gynecology, Van Baskale State Hospital, Van, Turkey, E-mail: email@example.com Received February 13, 2012; Accepted February 15, 2012; Published February 18, 2012 Citation: Oner G (2012) Hirsutism: Diagnosis and Treatment. J Metabolic Synd 1:e10 . doi:10.4172/2167-0943.1000e10 Copyright: © 2012 Oner G. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Definition Hirsutism is defined medically as excessive terminal hair that appears in a male pattern in women [1]. The causes of hirsutism can be divided into non androgenic factors, hirsutism caused by androgen excess, and idiopathic hirsutism (IH). Non androgenic causes of hirsutism are relatively rare. Non androgenic anabolic drugs cause a generalised growth of many tissues, particularly hair, generally leading to vellus hypertrichosis and not hirsutism [2]. Prevalence The prevalence of hirsutism is approximately 10% in most populations, with the important exception of Far-East Asian women who present hirsutism less frequently [3]. Although usually caused by relatively benign functional conditions, with the polycystic ovary syndrome leading the list of the most frequent etiologies, hirsutism may be the presenting symptom of a life-threatening tumor requiring immediate intervention. Androgenic causes are responsible in up to 80% of patients, and include polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which affects about 70-80% of hirsute women [4,5]; hyperandrogenic insulin-resistant acanthosis nigricans syndrome, affecting about 3% [6]; 21-OH-deficient non classic adrenal hyperplasia in 2-8% of patients; and, very rarely, ovarian or adrenal androgen-secreting neoplasms [7]. As it is known, PCOS is the most frequent cause of hirsutism and IH takes the 2nd place [2]. IH is responsible for approximately 1020% of all hirsutism cases [8]. It is seen more frequently in certain ethnic communities, particularly in women of Mediterranean ancestry. Pathogenesis The pathogenesis of IH is not fully understood. There is little information regarding the pathogenesis of IH in the literature. It has been postulated that 5α-reductase enzyme activity in hair follicles of these patients has increased significantly [9]. Thus, in hair follicles, conversion of testosterone to its more powerful and active metabolite, dihydrotestosterone (DHT) increases. Excessive hair growth may be due to the exaggerated response of hair follicles to normal androgen levels [6]. Also, there might be an alteration in androgen receptor function [10]. Almost all of the testosterone circulating in blood depends on sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) and albumin. In addition, in most IH patients, increased levels of 3α-androstanediol glucuronid showing 5α-reductase enzyme activity is determined [11]. This suggests that the description of IH is incorrect and in most patients, it is a result of peripheral androgen metabolism dysfunction. Recently, the paradoxically low gene expression levels of local 5α-reductase and aromatase in women with IH were found [12]. Additionally, insulin resistance occurs in nonobese patients with IH and appears to be related to android obesity [13].


The recent incorporation of new Data Mining and Machine Learning services within Cloud Computing providers is empowering users with extremely comprehensive data analysis tools including all the advantages of this type of environment. Providers of Cloud Computing services for Data Mining publish the descriptions and definitions in many formats and often not compatible with other providers. From a functional point of view, having the possibility to describe complete Data Mining services is fundamental to maintain the usability and especially the portability of these services independently of the software/hardware support or even the differences between cloud platforms. The main objective of this article is to design a Data Mining service definition which allows to compose with a single and simple definition a complete service, in such way a data mining workflow can be ported and deployed in different providers or even in a Market Place of this type of ready-to-consume services. This article presents a semantic scheme for the definition and description of complete Data Mining services considering both the management of the service by the provider (price, authentication, Service Level Agreement, ...) and the definition of the Data Mining workflow as a service. It represents a solid contribution for paving the way to the standardization and industrialization of Data Mining services. To asses the validity of the scheme a list of services from Data Mining providers have been described and an example of a full service for a Random Forest algorithm has been defined as a service. In addition, a practical scenario has been developed, creating a deployment platform for Data Mining services to give functional support to the scheme, illustrating the practical benefits of the proposal for the end user.


Rapid stabilization of general stochastic quantum systems is investigated based on the rapid stability of stochastic differential equations. We introduce a Lyapunov–LaSalle-like theorem for a class of nonlinear stochastic systems first, based on which a unified framework of rapidly stabilizing stochastic quantum systems is proposed. According to the proposed unified framework, we design the switching state feedback controls to achieve the rapid stabilization of single-qubit systems, two-qubit systems, and N-qubit systems. From the unified framework, the state space is divided into two state subspaces, and the target state is located in one state subspace, while the other system equilibria are located in the other state subspace. Under the designed state feedback controls, the system state can only transit through the boundary between the two state subspaces no more than two times, and the target state is globally asymptotically stable in probability. In particular, the system state can converge exponentially in (all or part of) the state subspace where the target state is located. Moreover, the effectiveness and rapidity of the designed state feedback controls are shown in numerical simulations by stabilizing GHZ states for a three-qubit system.


This research work proposes a new protocol that modifies AODV to improve its Performance using Ant Colony algorithm. The mobility behaviour of nodes in the application is modelled by the random waypoint model through which random locations to which a node move are generated, and the associated speed and pause time are specified to control the frequency at which the network topology is changed. The Optimized-AODV protocol, incorporates path accumulation during the route discovery process in AODV to attain extra routing information. It is evident from the results that OptimizedAODV improves the performance of AODV under conditions of high load and moderate to high mobility.


This workshop will examine everyday food science practices such as fermenting, brewing, or pickling edible materials, as well as foraging, bartering, or dumpster diving for food. We hope to gather a diverse group of HCI researchers, food practitioners, artists, and scientists to engage with these practices as deliberate alternatives to top-down production of both food and knowledge. Hands-on activities with food, as well as critical reflection and design exercise will envision new systems for food preservation and security, human health and nutrition, and everyday scientific literacy.


Introduction Interstitial pneumonia with autoimmune features (IPAF) refers to interstitial lung disease (ILD) with co-existing features of other clinical, serologic, or pulmonary features that suggest the presence of an underlying systemic autoimmune condition that does not fulfill the current rheumatologic criteria for connective tissue disorder (CTD). It is a relatively newly described clinical syndrome with only a handful of reports describing it. This study aimed at studying the clinical, radiological, and laboratory profiles of IPAF patients from a tertiary care hospital in South India. Methods This was an observational cross-sectional study conducted in a tertiary care hospital in South India over a period of one year. Patients diagnosed to have IPAF as per the European Respiratory Society (ERS)/American Thoracic Society (ATS) criteria were included in the study, and their demographics, clinical features, radiological features, and laboratory markers were collected along with a descriptive analysis. Results A total of 14,433 patients were screened during the study period. Twenty-four patients were diagnosed to have IPAF during the study period with a prevalence of 0.17%. Out of these 24 patients, 11 (45.8%) patients were males. The mean (M) ± standard deviation (SD) age was 47.8±10.7 years. Twenty-one (87.5%) of the patients reported having a cough, 18 (75%) patients had breathlessness, and 10 (41.7%) patients had digital clubbing. On radiological imaging, five (20.8%) patients had features of usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) and 14 (58.3%) had nonspecific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP). On pulmonary function testing, the M±SD forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1) was 56.4±13.9%. The M±SD forced vital capacity (FVC) was 44.2±24.1%. The M±SD FEV1/FVC ratio was 0.8±0.04. On performing diffusing capacity of the lungs for carbon monoxide (DLCO), the M±SD was 34.2±21.9%. Of the patients, 95.8% had a positive antinuclear antibody (ANA) while 25% of patients had a positive anti-AMA-M2. Conclusions The prevalence of IPAF in the studied population was very low. IPAF had nonspecific clinical features, pulmonary function tests, and radiological findings. Further large-scale studies are required from different parts of the world in order to understand the epidemiology of IPAF. Research is also required into developing effective management options for IPAF.


We report here the results of the analytical validation of assays that measure HER2 total protein (H2T) and HER2 homodimer (H2D) expression in Formalin Fixed Paraffin Embedded (FFPE) breast cancer tumors as well as cell line controls. The assays are based on the VeraTag technology platform and are commercially available through a central CAP-accredited clinical reference laboratory. The accuracy of H2T measurements spans a broad dynamic range (2-3 logs) as evaluated by comparison with cross-validating technologies. The measurement of H2T expression demonstrates a sensitivity that is approximately 7–10 times greater than conventional immunohistochemistry (IHC) (HercepTest). The HERmark assay is a quantitative assay that sensitively and reproducibly measures continuous H2T and H2D protein expression levels and therefore may have the potential to stratify patients more accurately with respect to response to HER2-targeted therapies than current methods which rely on semiquantitative protein measurements (IHC) or on indirect assessments of gene amplification (FISH).


Limited tryptic digestion of human serum low-density (LD) lipoprotein (rho 1.024-1.045 g/ml) under defined conditions permitted isolation by gel filtration chromatography of a stable, protein-deficient lipoprotein; the liberated protein was separated as a mixture of peptides of low molecular weight (less than 5000). Comparison of the chemical, physical and immunological characteristics of the trypsin-treated LD-lipoprotein with those of the native preparation revealed several differences, including (a) a diminished protein content (loss of some 20-25% of the total protein of LD-lipoprotein) and increased proportions of the various lipid components, except for triglyceride (probably resulting from a loss of bound free fatty acids with the liberated peptides); (b) a greater heterogeneity in particle size and slightly larger mean diameter; (c) a lower hydrated density and greater peak sf rate than the native LD-lipoprotein (d) an increased net negative charge; and (e) a partial immunological identity between LD-lipoprotein and the corresponding trypsin-treated fraction. While the amino acid compositions of the protein moieties of LD-lipoprotein and of trypsin-treated LD-lipoprotein were essentially identical, trypsin-treated apo-LD-lipoprotein was distinct in its complete solubility in urea-containing buffers at high concentrations, and also in its partial solubility in buffers lacking denaturing agents. Comparison of the apoproteins of the native and trypsin-treated LD-lipoproteins by electrophoretic techniques based on molecular weight revealed a transformation of the high-molecular weight material (greater than 250 000) characteristic of apo-LD lipoprotein into several polypeptide species (10 major forms) ranging in size from 161 500 to about 10 000. The largest of these (band b1: 161 500) could be completely dissociated into smaller components (b2: 93 500 and b3: 77 000) upon extensive heat treatment at 90 degrees C. Electrophoresis of the soluble fraction of apo-LD-lipoprotein and of that from its trypsin-treated counterpart in polyacrylamide gels containing urea at basic pH showed the disappearance of the small amounts (less than 5%) of C apoproteins of apo-LD-lipoprotein upon tryptic treatment. These results, which were highly reproducible in LD-lipoprotein preparations from different individuals, suggest that trypsin-treated LD-lipoprotein may provide a model for investigation of the organisation and structural role of the prinicipal apoprotein (apolipoprotein-B) in the LD-lipoprotein molecule.


This article explores the changes that occurred in Buddhism, both doctrinally and ethically, as a direct or indirect result of its tolerance of other faiths, particularly the indigenous animistic faiths it encountered in the course of spreading to various Asian countries. While the history of Buddhism's relationship to indigenous animistic religions differs in its particulars in each Asian country, this article suggests that the relationship between Buddhism and the animistic faith of Shintō in Japan is broadly representative of this larger, transnational phenomenon. Thus, a study of this interfaith relationship in Japan will facilitate a better understanding of the impact that Buddhism's tolerance of other faiths had on Buddhism itself.


: During intensive culture of South-American catfish, Rhamdia sapo fingerlings an epizootic similar to fin rot was developed. Aeromonas hydrophila and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were isolated and they were treated and controlled with daily short dip, 1 ppm Furanace. The disease was experimentally reproduced and we concluded that it is result of interaction of unfavorable environment conditions such as: low dissolved oxygen, increase of solids in suspension; host condition and the presence of Aeromonas hydrophila and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.


Even supported by nanotechnologies and nanomaterials, indicators in solid-state integrated electronics, such as the number of transistors, the power dissipation and the number of interconnections per chip, point out that progresses in microelectronics will slow down by 2015–2020. By 2025, the market may demand the exploitation of quantum behaviour in nanoscale systems and the development of a picotechnology in order to put all the power of the computer in a single molecule.


In modern literary histories of Telugu literature, no period shines as bright as King Kṛṣṇadevarāya's reign (1509–29). This period is noted for its bustling literary court from which a significant part of the Telugu canon emerged. These works, commonly referred to as the prabandhas, are often characterised as the Telugu counterpart of the Sanskrit mahākāvya/court poem and within this context, Kṛṣṇadevarāya's reign is called 'the golden age' of Telugu literature and the 'age of prabandha'. Close examination of the prabandhas indicates that despite common influences from Sanskrit and Telugu literature, each of the prabandhas, takes a radically different approach to poetry, convention, and language, and is innovative in extremely diverse ways.  As a case study, this article uses Kṛṣṇadevarāya's own celebrated Telugu poem, the Āmuktamālyada. Though Kṛṣṇadevarāya uses many of the conventions associated with Sanskrit courtly culture in general and with the mahākāvya in particular, he does so in unconventional ways. He gives everyday life a new, prominent role (previously unavailable to it in mahākāvyas) and is able to do so by creating a new type of division of labour between Sanskrit and Telugu. He also integrates new poetic realms such as the village and temple into the so-called courtly settings, creating a new mode of narration. Thus, examined outside the context of the golden age of the Telugu prabandha, the Āmuktamālyada emerges as a work in which previous schemes of power are inverted: the periphery and so-called margins—social, geographic, linguistic, and religious—create a new core which in turn, reflects Kṛṣṇadevarāya's unique personal and political worldview.


OBJECTIVE
To classify the sports events by the maximal oxygen uptake (MaxO2) and the maximal muscular voluntary contraction (MVC) and to collect the radial pulse wave of different sports events and discuss the pulse waveform and characteristic parameters.

PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS
304 professional athletes were enrolled from Beijing Muxiyuan Sports Technical School.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S)
Normalize each radial pulse waveform and let the waveform cycle and amplitude distribute in the range of 0-100. Analyze the relative time of the maximum point Tm, the abscissa X and ordinate Y of dicrotic notch, the pulse waveform area K and the pulse wave age index SDPTG.

RESULTS
According to the different degree of MaxO2 and MVC, the radial descending curves have the distinctive downtrend. The characteristic parameters of MaxO2 and MVC groups, such as Tm, X, Y, K and SDPTG are as well as different.

CONCLUSIONS
The pulse waveform changing trend of MVC (< 50%) group and MVC (> 50%) group are different while the sports have the same MaxO2. And the pulse waveform changing trend of MaxO2 (< 40%) group, MaxO2 (40-70%) group and MaxO2 (> 70%) group are as well as different while the sports have the same MVC. The various parameters of the most specific group F are the smallest suggests the sports in group F are the most benefit for the cardiovascular.


Abstract : The objective of the Folded Interconnection Network Development (FIND) program was to combine the rapidly emerging vertical cavity' surface emitting laser (VCSEL) based "smart pixel" technology with a new free-space optical interconnection (FSOI) architecture which maximally exploits the ability of three dimensional free space optics to overcome the interconnection bottlenecks of multiprocessor systems. To focus the research, ultrahigh throughput (-Tbit/sec) packet switching was selected as the key application area. The, FIND program analytical results included a comparison of FSOI-based approaches with the traditional chip-multi-chip-module/printed circuit board metallic interconnection hierarchy. This analysis yielded fundamental scaling laws based on the geometrical constraints associated with implementing high bisection bandwidth networks. The results proved that FSOI provides orders of magnitude advantage in size, weight, and power consumption for multiprocessor networks with bisection bandwidths greater than about 1 Tbit/sec. The experimental portions of the FIND program focused on the optomechanical issues related to the MCM based retroreflective architecture. A one lens per chip design philosophy was adopted. Key optical elements of the package were evaluated with one dimensional and two dimensional arrays of VCSELs. An optical interconnection module was then designed and fabricated. The module achieved 10 micron resolution and registration accuracy across an entire 10 X 10 cm multichip substrate.


We report a novel example of electro-mediated photoredox catalysis
(e-PRC) in the reductive cleavage of C(sp3)-O bonds of phosphinates
to alkyl carbanions. As well as deoxygenations, olefinations are reported which
are E-selective and can be made Z-selective in a tandem
reduction/photosensitization process where both steps are
photoelectrochemically promoted. Spectroscopy, computation and catalyst structural
variations reveal that our new naphthalene monoimide-type catalyst allows for a
more intimate dispersive precomplexation of its radical anion form with the
phosphinate substrate, facilitating a reactivity-determining C(sp3)-O
cleavage. Surprisingly and in contrast to previously
reported photoexcited radical anion chemistries, our conditions i) tolerate
aryl chlorides/bromides and ii) do not give rise to Birch-type reductions.


When the goal of inference is estimating causal effects, we usually have to face problems related to the fact that treatment assignment is not under the control of the investigator; in addition some studies may be affected by different sorts of post-treatment selection of observations due to, e.g., non response, truncation or censoring "due to death". All such complications require to somehow control for them, but the use of the standard statistical conditioning may be in general improper (Rubin, 1974; Rosembaum, 1984). In this paper we consider a specific post-treatment complication, namely the problem of nonignorable nonresponse on an outcome variable in observational studies. This is a typical topic usually known in the econometric literature as endogenous selection; here we tackle this problem specifically within a causal inference framework. By exploiting Principal Stratification (Frangakis and Rubin, 2002), we analyze and propose identification strategies in the presence of an instrumental variable for nonresponse. We focus on the different role and meaning of the instrumental variable, also by comparing our framework with a general nonseparable selection model setting. As a motivating example we consider a simplified evaluation study in the field of financial aids to firms, where typically missingness on the outcome variables, such as variables related to firms'performances, can rarely be assumed missing at random.


Objective: The aim of the present study was to determine neurocognitive profile in Children with Systemic (SLE) and Neuropsychiatric Lupus (NPSLE) describing differences in the seven cognitive areas proposed by the ACR (attention, memory, visuospatial processing, language, problem solving, processing speed, and executive function) between children with SLE and those with NPSLE and to understand the level of cognitive deterioration in children afflicted by SLE with and without neuropsychiatric changes. Method: Children with SLE and with NPSLE were evaluated using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-IV) and some selected subtests of the Neuropsychological Assessment for Children (NAC), which allowed us to measure the 7 cognitive areas proposed by the ACR. Both, SLE and NPSLE children performances were compared to scores obtained by children without any affection. Results: The area's most affected in the NPSLE group were attention, working memory, processing speed, memory, and visuospatial ability; in the SLE group, the area's most affected were processing speed, visuospatial ability, planning, and auditory memory. Conclusion: Based on our findings, it is concluded that frequently in both groups cognitive decline is present since early stages of illness, being more important in the NPSLE group. These deficiencies are heterogenous and with a multi-domain pattern.


This study aims to analyse energy scenarios of Bhaktapur Municipality through primary data survey of 165 houses as a function of household's characteristics. Three scenarios are considered business-as-usual (BAU), Sustainable Energy scenario (SED) and Accelerated Growth Scenario (AGS). BAU, SED and AGS show an expected energy growth at annual rates of4.08%, 3.71% and 4.01%; with economic growth of 4.6%, 7.0% and 9.2% respectively. Whereas, the electricity consumption per household in the SEDand AGS are 3,840KWh and 4,698KWh respectively, lies in tier-5 as per SDG. Fuel imported cost NRs. 471 million and NRs. 523 million can be saved in SED and AGS Scenarios respectively as compare to BAU scenario. Overall, under all three scenarios, it was found that total GHG emission in 2018 was 7.59 kilotons to nil in 2030 for SED and AGS.Furthermore,NPV value in AGS and SED scenarios are in negative value which means both scenarios is economically viable.


A simple energy-dependent optical potential is obtained which describes proton scattering from light nuclei in the energy range 50-160 MeV. The properties of the potential are compared with other available phenomenological potentials and with theoretical predictions. Some distorted-wave calculations for the (p, 2p) reaction are included to show the sensitivity to the choice of optical potential.


(PDD) (DDD) Objective: There is increasing trend among psychiatrists to use newer psychotropic medications in their practice. Assessing the pattern of prescription and setting standards according to it should become part of clinical practice. Keeping this in mind, present study was planned to highlight the utilization pattern, comparing it with other studies and assess safety outcomes. Materials and Methods: This was an observational and prospective study. One hundred forty-three (n=143) prescriptions were analysed and were followed up for 12 months. Patient on psychotropic drugs were screened for suspected Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) and were reported to AMC (Adverse Drug Reaction Monitoring Centre), Department of Pharmacology. Result: Total 514 drugs were prescribed in 143 prescriptions. Total number of antipsychotic drugs prescribed was 375. The average number of antipsychotic drugs per prescription was 2.62. Among Antipsychotics atypical antipsychotics (64.52%) were prescribed more than typical antipsychotics (39.02%). Most commonly reported ADR was weight gain (28.38%) followed by sedation (14.19%), tremor (12.16%) and akathisia (10.81%). 6.08% of ADRs were Gastrointestinal side effects. Weight gain was found exclusively in atypical antipsychotics while tremor and akathisia were found mostly in typical ones. Conclusion: Polypharmacy was avoided in prescriptions. Atypical antipsychotics were prescribed more than typical ones with olanzapine having highest percent drug utilisation. But this trend is increasing burden of obesity and metabolic syndrome in old age populations. The study results strongly suggest the need for healthcare team to focus on assessing and reporting suspected ADRs for enhancing the quality of monitoring and managing ADRs.


In order to improve the stability of high voltage electrolyte for 5 V-level LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 cathode material, adiponitrile (ADN) with high oxidation stability was selected as the main solvent, meanwhile, 2% fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC) as the additive with good film forming effect was also used. And then, the effect of 2 mol L−1 LiBF4-GBL/ADN+2% FEC on the electrochemical performance of LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 was explored at room temperature. The electrolyte system containing FEC can improve the cycle stability of the battery. At 1 C rate, the cycle capacity retention rate can reach 83% after 100 cycles, while the capacity retention rate of the electrolyte system without FEC and the ordinary commercial electrolyte system is only 77 and 68%, respectively. Besides, the rate performance of the battery with the addition of FEC also shows excellent performance, however, this kind of advantage is not obvious under the conditon of large rate. In addition, under the conditon of the synergistic effect between adiponitrile and fluoroethylene carbonate, the high-voltage electrolyte exhibits the good compatibility and lithium reversibility in the full cell with Li4Ti5O12 as the negative electrode.


Category: Other Introduction/Purpose: Clinical and elective experiences as well as the guidance of mentors are all critical factors in the pursuance of orthopedic residencies and fellowships. Women have historically been underrepresented in orthopedics. Some propose that the root cause lies in the lack of availability in the aforementioned factors. Previous studies demonstrated geographic differences in sex representation in orthopedic residency programs. Studies over geographic distributions of orthopedic foot and ankle (OFA) surgeons showed high variation in geographic density of OFA surgeons throughout the U.S. This study seeks to determine both the gender and geographic distributions of OFA surgeons as well as to determine geographic patterns between their training locations and current practices. Methods: AOFAS data regarding fellowship completion from 1988 through 2021 was analyzed with regards to gender and fellowship location. Internet searches were performed for all those identified within the database for their medical school, residency, and current practice location. This biographical data was obtained from their front-facing biographical webpage or hospital affiliation. States were placed into regions and subsequent divisions as defined according to the US Census Bureau definition: Northeast (New England and Middle Atlantic), Midwest (East North Central and West North Central), South (South Atlantic, East South Central, and West South Central) and West (Mountain and Pacific). Results: 1,088 OFA surgeons were analyzed. 168 (15.3%) were female and 922 (84.7%) were male. Female-held OFA fellowship positions increased over time, currently sitting at 13 (22% of all fellowship positions), with a maximum of 15 (25%) in 2017. Geographically, the Pacific had most females (n=26, 15.6% of females), while East South Central had least (n=10, 6.0%). The South Atlantic had most males (n=193, 20.9% of males) while East South Central had least (n=59, 5.3%). The region with the most OFA surgeons in total was the South Atlantic (n=218, 20.0% of the total) whereas the regions with the least were East South Central and New England (n=59, 5.4% in each). Conclusion: Although the amount of female OFA surgeons has increased, the numbers are still low. Geographically, the East South Central division of the U.S consistently had the least number of OFA surgeons whereas the South Atlantic division had the highest.


The novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, is causing a pandemic of unknown precedent, with huge healthcare challenges and worldwide disruptions to economic and social life. Lung transplant recipients and other solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients are immunosuppressed, and therefore are generally considered at an increased risk for severe infections. Given the current gap in knowledge and evidence regarding the best management of these patients, we conducted a systematic review of studies on SARS-CoV-2 infections and Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in SOT recipients, to evaluate the association between immunosuppression in these patients, SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 outcomes. The focus was the severity of the disease, the need for mechanical ventilation and intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, and rate of death. The literature search was conducted repeatedly between 16 March and 8 April 2020. We searched original papers, observational studies, case reports, and meta-analyses published between 2019 and 2020 using two databases (PubMed, Google Scholar) with the search terms: [transplant OR immunosuppression] AND [COVID-19 OR SARS-CoV-2]. Further inclusion criteria were publications in English, French, German and Italian, and reference to humans. We also searched the reference lists of the studies encountered. From an initial search of PubMed and Google Scholar, 19 potential articles were retrieved, of which 14 were excluded after full-text screening (not being case reports or case series), leaving 5 studies for inclusion. No further studies were identified from the bibliographies of retrieved articles. Based on the limited research, no firm conclusions can be made concerning SOT recipients, but the current evidence suggests that immunosuppression is most likely associated with a better outcome of SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 because it prevents hyperinflammation (cytokine storm) in this particular population. There is a need for further research that would allow results to be adjusted for other factors potentially impacting COVID-19 severity and outcome.


This study aims to evaluate the biofiltration ability of higher aquatic vegetation of the Selenga delta as a barrier for heavy metals and metalloids (HMM) flows into the Lake Baikal. Main aquatic vegetation species have been collected from deltaic channels and inner lakes: Nuphar pumila, Potamogeton perfoliatus, P. pectinatus, P. natans, P. friesii, Butomus umbellatus, Myriophyllum spicatum, Ceratophyllum demersum, Phragmites australis. Analysis of the obtained data showed that regardless of the place of growth hydatophytes spiked water-milfoil (M. spicatum) and the fennel-leaved pondweed (P. pectinatus) most actively accumulate metals. Opposite tendencies were found for helophytes reed (Ph. australis) and flowering rush (B. umbellatus), which concentrate the least amount of elements. This supports previous findings that the ability to concentrate HMM increases in the series of surface – floating – submerged plants. Regarding river water, the studied macrophyte species are enriched with Mn and Co, regarding suspended matter – Mo, Mn and B, regarding bottom sediments – Mn, Mo and As. We identified two associations of chemical elements: S-association with the predominant suspended form of migration (Be, V, Co, Ni, W, Pb, Bi, Mn, Fe and Al) and D-association with the predominant dissolved form of migration (B, U, Mo, Cr, Cu, Zn, As, Cd, Sn and Sb). Due to these associations three groups of macrophytes were distinguished – flowering rush and reed with a low HMM content; small yellow pond-lily and common floating pondweed with a moderate accumulation of S-association and weak accumulation of D-association elements; and clasping-leaved pondweed, fennel-leaved pondweed, and pondweed Friesii accumulating elements of both S and D groups. The results suggest that macrophytes retain more than 60% of the total Mn flux that came into the delta, more than 10% – W, As, and from 3 to 10% B, Fe, Co, Mo, Cd, V, Ni, Bi, Be, Cu, Zn, Cr, U, Al. The largest contribution is made by the group of hydatophytes (spiked water-milfoil and pondweed), which account for 74 to 96% of the total mass of substances accumulated by aquatic plants.


In this study, we developed a new fabrication process for a micromachined probe. The microprobe comprised a microcantilever, a nanotip and a supporting substrate, which are monolithically made of single-crystal silicon. The fabrication process started with a bilayer silicon wafer made up of a 20-µm-thick epitaxial Si layer with strong boron doping and a 400-µm-thick bulk Si substrate. The tip with a radius of curvature of 50 nm was formed by anisotropic etching followed by oxidation sharpening. Then a cantilever beam was released by the back etching of an etch-stop Si layer. The spring constants of cantilevers ranging from 0.03 to 0.4 N/m were determined by finite element analysis (FEA), static measurement using an atomic force microscope (AFM) system and dynamic measurement using a laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV) system. Most importantly, Young's modulus of thin-film materials could be confirmed using these methods. The developed probe was also equipped with a Pt heater to apply it to thermal machining on poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) substrates. The cantilever tip was heated to above 120°C, and the successful machining of a cavity and a submicron-scale straight line was demonstrated. The development of the probes could be crucial for the submicron-scale machining of plastic materials.


This paper aims to analyze the impediments to the development of entrepreneurship in Russia from the institutional perspective. To describe the institutional environment we use a concept of a three-dimensional institutional profile which classifies the institutions into three types: regulatory, cognitive and normative. These three dimensions imply three bases of legitimacy: entrepreneurship can be legitimized if it conforms to legal requirements (regulatory dimension), if it is seen as legitimate through a common frame of reference (cognitive dimension) and if it conforms to the existent moral base (normative dimension). We argue that one of the impediments to entrepreneurship development in Russia is that it is not seen as legitimate enough by the society at large. We explore the foundations for this through the regulatory dimension (the dynamic of the legal legitimation of entrepreneurial activity from the Soviet epoch to the present times), in the cognitive dimension (the stereotype of entrepreneur and its origins), and in the normative dimension (basic assumptions which relate to the fundamental moral dimensions of entrepreneurial activity: assumptions about money, wealth, and work).


This short country report, a result of
 larger Information for Development Program (infoDev) -
 supported survey of the Information and Communication
 Technologies (ICT) in education in Africa, provides a
 general overview of current activities and issues related to
 ICT use in education in the country. The government of Sao
 Tome does not consider ICT to be a priority sector, and
 there is currently no specific policy that addresses ICTs.
 Internet service is not yet liberalized, but there is some
 restructuring of telecommunications infrastructure underway.


A two-dimensional R-matrix propagation procedure is presented which provides an accurate numerical solution of the two-electron Schrodinger equation. Its application to the s-wave electron-hydrogen model problem establishes its numerical stability and illustrates its efficiency for electron-impact excitation of high Rydberg states, as well as for ionization in the threshold and intermediate energy regions, which have long defied accurate treatments.


The clinical study on RATTHA MOOLAM was carried out in Post graduate department of Maruthuvam, Government Siddha Medical College, Aringar Anna Hospital, Chennai – 106 during the period of 2015-2017.
A total of 40 patients were treated in the Outpatient department. The clinical and pathological assessment was carried out on the basis of Siddha and Modern aspects.
All the patients were treated with MOOLAROGA CHOORANAM, 1 Gm, daily with Honey for a duration of 48 days.
The Toxicological studies of the trial medicine reveal no toxicity.
The pharmacological studies reveal that, the trial drug has good styptic activity in rat models.
Most of the patients were in the age group between 31-40 years (42.5%).
Most of the patients were from Neithal nilam 77.5%.
Most of the patients were Office workers (27.5%) and home makers (22.5%)
Among 40 cases 72.5% comes under low economic status category
Among 40 patients, 7 patients (17.5%) were taking vegetarian food and 33 patients (82.5%) were taking mixed diet.
In paruvakaalam highest incident of cases, 13 cases (32.5%) were noted in Munpani kaalam
In Vatham, Abaanan (100%) was affected in all the cases.
In Pitham, Saathagam, Ranjagam, and Analagam were affected in 100%, 35% and 32.5% cases respectively.
In Iyyam, , Kilethagam was affected in 32.5% of cases.
In Ezhu udal thathukkal, Saaram (100%), Seneer (35%) were affected.
In Envagai thervu Nadi (100%), malam (100%) and Na (35%) were mostly affected.
Regarding naadi, Pitha vatha naadi (82.5%) was the most common naadi observed.
22.5% of patients show good improvement, 25% of patients shows mild improvement and 47.5% patients show moderate improvement and 5% of patients the improvement was poor.
Bio- statistical analysis of the clinical trial reveals significant p value < 0.0001 and concluded that the treatment is effective and significant.
CONCLUSION:
The drug, Moolaroga chooranam is a combination of nine herbs having astringent, laxative and anti-inflammatory properties.
Most of the ingredients of Moolaroga chooranam are indicated for hemorrhoids, which are mentioned in general characteristics in Siddha Materia medica. The taste of the trial drug is Astringent. As Rattha moolam is mainly due to the derangement of Pitha kutram, the astringent property of the drug neutralizes the Pitha kuttram. So, it is considered as Ethirurai maruthuvam.
The drug, Moolaroga chooranam did not show any toxicity in the Toxicological studies and thus proved to be safe for human administration.
From the Pharmacological studies it is evident that, the trial medicine has significant Styptic activity.
Treatment improved the functions of abana vaayu, which regularizes the bowel habits.
No adverse effects were reported during the course of the treatment.
The trial medicine gave good relief from the symptoms of Rattha moolam.
The trial medicine Moolaroga chooranam can give a better solution for RATTHAMOOLAM (BLEEDING PILES). Along with the trial drug supportive therapies like diet and changing of their lifestyles may control the disease.


Purpose: Smart eyewear, such as augmented or virtual reality headset, allows the projection of virtual content through a display worn on the user's head. This paper aims to present a mobile platform, named " CARTON " , which transforms a smartphone into smart eyewear, following a do-it-yourself (DIY) approach. This platform is composed of three main components: a blueprint to build the hardware prototype with very simple materials and regular tools; a software development kit (SDK) to help with the development of new applications (e.g. augmented reality app); and, finally, a second SDK (ControlWear) to interact with mobile applications through a Smartwatch.
Design/methodology/approach: User experiments were conducted, in which participants were asked to create, by themselves, the CARTON's hardware part and perform usability tests with their own creation. A second round of experimentation was conducted to evaluate three different interaction modalities.
Findings: Qualitative user feedback and quantitative results prove that CARTON is functional and feasible to anyone, without specific skills. The results also showed that ControlWear had the most positive results, compared with the other interaction modalities, and that user interaction preference would vary depending on the task.
Originality/value: The authors describe a novel way to create a smart eyewear available for a wide audience around the world. By providing everything open-source and open-hardware, they intend to solve the reachability of technologies related to smart eyewear and aim to accelerate research around it.