The aniline-assimilating bacterium Rhodococcus sp. AN-22 was found to constitutively synthesize cis , cis -muconate cycloisomerase (CatB) and muconolactone isomerase (CatC) in its cells growing on non-aromatic substrates, in addition to the previously reported catechol 1,2-dioxygenase (CatA). The bacterium maintained the specific activity of the three enzymes at an almost equal level during cultivation on succinate. CatB and C were purified to homogeneity and characterized. CatB was a monomer with the molecular mass of 44 kDa. The enzyme was activated by Mn 2+ , Co 2+ and Mg 2+ . Native CatC was a homooctamer with the molecular mass of 100 kDa. The enzyme was stable between pHs 7.0 and 10.5 and resistant to heating up to 90°C. Genes coding for CatA, B and C were cloned and named catA , B and C , respectively. The catABC genes were transcribed as one operon. The deduced amino acid sequences of CatA, B and C showed high identities with those from other gram-positive microorganisms. A regulator gene such as catR encoding a regulatory protein was not observed around the cat gene cluster of Rhodococcus sp. AN-22, but a possible relic of catR was found in the upstream region of catA . Reverse transcriptase-PCR and primer extension analyses showed that the transcriptional start site of the cat gene cluster was located 891 bp upstream of the catA initiation codon in the AN-22 strain growing on both aniline and succinate. Based on these data, we concluded that the bacterium constitutively transcribed the catABC genes and translated its mRNA into CatA, B and C.


Resonant behavior in a finite array that appears as (modulated) impedance or current-amplitude oscillations may limit the array bandwidth substantially. Therefore, simulations should predict such behavior. Recently, a new approach has been developed, called the eigencurrent approach, which can predict resonant behavior in finite arrays. A study of line arrays of either E- or H-plane-oriented strips and rings in free space and in half-spaces confirms our conclusion in earlier research that resonant behavior is caused by the excitation of one of the eigencurrents. The eigenvalue (or characteristic impedance) of this eigencurrent becomes small in comparison to the eigenvalues of the other eigencurrents that can exist on the array geometry. We demonstrate that the excitation of this eigencurrent results in an edge-diffracted wave propagating along the surface of the array, which may turn into a standing wave. In that case, the amplitudes and phases of the element impedances show the same standing-wave pattern as those of the excited eigencurrent. We demonstrate that the phase velocity of this wave is approximately equal to or slightly larger than the free-space velocity of light. Finally, we throw light on the relation between the excitation of eigencurrents with a small eigenvalue and the behavior of super directive arrays


The Australian Government's innovation statement, Backing Australia's Ability (DEST 2001) committed them to creating 21,000 university places over five years in science, technology and mathematics courses that will 'meet the needs of industry.' But little research exists on how to prepare science students for industry work. One of many critical reviews of undergraduate science education in America (National Research Council, 1995, p. 4) reported:

The needs of the workforce are changing. This dynamism of the labour market is putting a premium on students who have a broad knowledge of different subjects, skill in synthesising and communicating information and the ability to work in teams. Students educated with a narrow disciplinary focus and with solitary learning styles can have difficulties in adjusting to such an environment. Indeed, such difficulties are a dominant theme in the complaints made by business leaders about contemporary undergraduate education.

This paper reports what one successful innovation consultancy thinks makes scientists valuable to industry. It is the product of a 3-year qualitative study of commercial innovation and innovators (Steiner 1996). The consultancy studied employs 90+ physicists, chemists, computer scientists, engineers and industrial designers. After presentation of its empirical data, this paper explores philosophically why it is difficult to produce innovators like this through conventional science education. It suggests it is difficult to produce many of the characteristics of innovating scientists because they are the characteristics of scientific incompetence. It further suggests it takes courage to be incompetent and it concludes with some preliminary suggestions for how science educators can tap into the student places created to support industry by helping science students find the courage to be incompetent.


This paper considers improved H ∞ state-feedback control for discrete-time Markovian jump systems with incomplete knowledge of transition probabilities. To achieve the better H ∞ performance, this paper proposes two valuable approaches. First, under the assumption that the lower and upper bounds of unknown transition probabilities are known, the closed-loop stabilization conditions are represented as convex combination with these bounds. Second, a new lower bound lemma for the inversion of the matrix summation is investigated. This lemma enables the inversion of the matrix summation to be replaced by free variable which does not contain the transition probabilities. Thus, the H ∞ stabilization conditions consist of two parts which are transition probability independent part and dependent part. Finally, two numerical examples are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.


Summary

Green peas of two different maturities were used to evaluate the influence of the glass transition temperature (Tg′) and storage temperatures on quality loss during frozen storage. Young peas which have a lower tenderness rating (TR) value, possibly with less starch and higher sugar content than old peas, gave a lower Tg′ value. Quality attributes, including green colour and vitamin C, were measured over time when the peas were stored at −5, −12, −20, −25 and −30 °C, respectively. The results indicated that these qualities were maintained during frozen storage as long as the peas remained below or close to their Tg′. The loss of quality at different storage temperatures is relative to the difference between the storage temperature and the Tg′, where the bigger the difference, the greater the loss.


A methylamine-resistant mutant strain (4m3) of Anabaena variabilis ATCC 29413 was capable of growth at pH 7·0, but not at pH 9·0, in the presence of concentrations of methylamine that totally inhibited growth of the parent strain. Strain 4m3 showed a marked reduction, at pH 7·0 but not at pH 9·0, in the initial rapid and slower second phases of uptake of [14C]methylamine and ammonia, when compared with the parent strain, The rate of inhibition of nitrogenase activity, on adding ammonia at pH 7·0, was lower in strain 4m3 than in the parent strain and was attributable to a defect in the CH3NH+
3/NH+
4 transport system. Evidence that the second slower phase of [14C]methylamine uptake is associated with metabolism via glutamine synthetase (GS) was obtained using mutant strains partially deficient in GS. Unlike these GS-deficient strains, strain 4m3 did not liberate ammonia extracellularly unless treated with L-methionine-DL-sulphoximine. Growth of strain 4m3 in medium containing 3 mM-methylamine resulted in a restoration of the first phase of [14C]methylamine uptake, at pH 7·0, but not of ammonia uptake. However, growth in the presence of 3 mM-ammonia did not enhance the uptake of either methylamine or ammonia. Strain 4m3 is apparently deficient in the active CH3NH+
3/NH+
4 transport system, but has a CH3NH+
3 transport system which can be induced by growth in the presence of methylamine.


Self-criticism is considered as a harsh or punitive evaluation of the self. It is omnipresent in culture, in daily life as well as in psychotherapy. Self-criticism can lead to question oneself but can also open new perspectives and guide us. However, it can become excessive, rigid, and might turn out to be deleterious. This present article focuses on the concept of self-criticism in clinical psychology and psychotherapy and aims to review current knowledge about this topic. First, its definition and the reasons for its development in individuals will be presented. Second, a description of the links between self-criticism and psychopathology will be made, in particular regarding depression. Finally, the third part of this article will be dedicated to the therapeutic interventions that can reduce self-criticism.


Let G be a finitely presented group with solvable word problem. It is of some interest to ask which other decision problems must necessarily be solvable for such a group. Thus it is easy to see that there exist effective procedures to determine whether or not such a group is trivial, or nilpotent of a given class. On the other hand, the conjugacy problem need not be solvable for such a group, for Fridman [5] has shown that the word problem is solvable for the group with unsolvable conjugacy problem given by Novikov [9].


The refractive-index profiles of single-mode optical fibers are measured by the propagation-mode near-field method. The near-field pattern of a propagation mode is measured with a vidicon camera and a microscope to magnify the pattern. The presented system is very suitable for automatical and quick measurement of the refractive-index profile of single-mode fibers.


The complexity of tissue- and day time-specific regulation of thousands of clock-controlled genes (CCGs) suggests that many regulatory mechanisms contribute to the transcriptional output of the circadian clock. We aim to predict these mechanisms using a large scale promoter analysis of CCGs. Our study is based on a meta-analysis of DNA-array data from rodent tissues. We searched in the promoter regions of 2065 CCGs for highly overrepresented transcription factor binding sites. In order to compensate the relatively high GC-content of CCG promoters, a novel background model to avoid a bias towards GC-rich motifs was employed. We found that many of the transcription factors with overrepresented binding sites in CCG promoters exhibit themselves circadian rhythms. Among the predicted factors are known regulators such as CLOCK∶BMAL1, DBP, HLF, E4BP4, CREB, RORα and the recently described regulators HSF1, STAT3, SP1 and HNF-4α. As additional promising candidates of circadian transcriptional regulators PAX-4, C/EBP, EVI-1, IRF, E2F, AP-1, HIF-1 and NF-Y were identified. Moreover, GC-rich motifs (SP1, EGR, ZF5, AP-2, WT1, NRF-1) and AT-rich motifs (MEF-2, HMGIY, HNF-1, OCT-1) are significantly overrepresented in promoter regions of CCGs. Putative tissue-specific binding sites such as HNF-3 for liver, NKX2.5 for heart or Myogenin for skeletal muscle were found. The regulation of the erythropoietin (Epo) gene was analysed, which exhibits many binding sites for circadian regulators. We provide experimental evidence for its circadian regulated expression in the adult murine kidney. Basing on a comprehensive literature search we integrate our predictions into a regulatory network of core clock and clock-controlled genes. Our large scale analysis of the CCG promoters reveals the complexity and extensiveness of the circadian regulation in mammals. Results of this study point to connections of the circadian clock to other functional systems including metabolism, endocrine regulation and pharmacokinetics.


This paper explores the effect of estate and gift taxes on the after-tax rate of return earned by savers. The estate tax affects only a small fraction of households -- taxable decedents represented only 1.4 percent of all deaths in 1995 -- but the affected households account for a substantial fraction of household net worth. The estate tax can be viewed as a tax on capital income, with the effective rate depending on the statutory tax rate as well as the potential taxpayer's mortality risk. Because mortality rates rise with age, the effective estate tax burden is therefore greater for older than for younger individuals. The estate tax adds approximately 0.3 percentage points to the average tax burden on capital income for households headed by individuals between the ages of 50 and 59. For households headed by individuals between the ages of 70 and 79, however, the estate tax increases the tax burden on capital income by approximately 3 percentage points. The effects are even larger for older households. The paper also explores the fraction of the net worth held by households that are subject to the estate tax that could be transferred to the next generation with a program a per donee exemption from gift tax. While roughly one quarter of potentially taxable assets could be transferred in this way, actual levels of inter vivos giving are much lower than the levels that would one would expect if households were taking full advantage of this tax avoidance strategy.


A detailed analysis of an integrated optical finite impulse response filter architecture is presented. The output signal attenuation caused by the light propagation loss in a LiNbO(3) waveguide, and the diffracted light pulse time dispersion due to the tilted position of device electrooptic gratings, are analyzed. In addition, problems that arise from the inaccurate filter coefficient implementation as well as performance evaluation and design limitations are discussed. Finally, a low pass filter is designed, and its characteristics are compared to the theory.


User-driven applications belong to the new type of programs, in which users get the full control of WHAT, WHEN, and HOW must appear on the screen. Such programs can exist only if the screen view is organized not according with the predetermined scenario, written by the developers, but if any screen object can be moved, resized, and reconfigured by any user at any moment. This article describes the algorithm, by which an object of an arbitrary shape can be turned into moveable and resizable. It also explains some rules of such design and the technique, which can be useful in many cases. Both the individual movements of objects and their synchronous movements are analysed. After discussing the individually moveable controls, different types of groups are analysed and the arbitrary grouping of controls is considered.


Ketogenic Diet in Refractory Epilepsy: efficacy, evolution and long-term complications Background: Ketogenic diet (KD) represents an alternative in treatment of refractory epilepsy (RE). Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of the diet and the frequency of complications in patients belonging to the KD Program from Luis Calvo Mackenna Children's Hospital (HLCM). Methods: Evaluation of all children enrolled in the program between 1999 and 2004, with analysis every 6 months of the diet efficacy, digestive tolerance, nutritional status, cholesterol levels and nephrolithiasis. Results: 21 children were admitted, 14 boys, age between 6 months - 17 years-old. 76%, 71% and 67% of patients followed KD at 6, 12 and 18 months, respectively, with KD efficacy of 67%. At 12 months, 24% of patients did not present seizures. At 18 months, 85% remained close to ideal body weight (15% obesity) and height/age Z score decreased (-0,7 ± 0,4; p < 0,05). Total cholesterol significantly increased at 6 months (64% hypercholesterolemia; decreased to 15% at 18 months). 2 patients developed nephrolithiasis. Conclusions: The study shows high efficacy of the KD for treatment of refractory epilepsy, with low rate of complications. It should be considered as a therapeutic alternative for these patients. (Key words: ketogenic diet, refractory epilepsy, seizures, children). Rev Chil Pediatr 2007; 78 (5): 477-481


We consider a hybrid reinforcement learning setting (Hybrid RL), in which an agent has access to an offline dataset and the ability to collect experience via real-world online interaction. The framework mitigates the challenges that arise in both pure offline and online RL settings, allowing for the design of simple and highly effective algorithms, in both theory and practice. We demonstrate these advantages by adapting the classical Q learning/iteration algorithm to the hybrid setting, which we call Hybrid Q-Learning or Hy-Q. In our theoretical results, we prove that the algorithm is both computationally and statistically efficient whenever the offline dataset supports a high-quality policy and the environment has bounded bilinear rank. Notably, we require no assumptions on the coverage provided by the initial distribution, in contrast with guarantees for policy gradient/iteration methods. In our experimental results, we show that Hy-Q with neural network function approximation outperforms state-of-the-art online, offline, and hybrid RL baselines on challenging benchmarks, including Montezuma's Revenge.


Background Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) has been shown to predict neurodevelopmental outcome in term, asphyxiated newborns scanned at term age. Objective The purpose of this retrospective study was to evaluate if near-term MRS predicted neurodevelopmental outcome at 18-24 mo in VLBW preterm infants. Methods Thirty-six infants, BWt ≤ 1,510 g, GA ≤ 32 wk, were scanned between 35 and 43 wk postmenstrual age. They were assessed at 18-24 mo by the Mental Developmental Index (MDI) and the Psychomotor Developmental Index (PDI) of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development II. Based on their scores, they were divided into 2 outcome groups for each index, normal (≥ 85) and abnormal (< 85). MRS was performed on a 1.5 Tesla GE Healthcare scanner. Metabolite spectra were analyzed in 2 regions of interest: (1) combined left and right thalamus and basal ganglia and (2) left and right cortex. Choline and choline-containing compounds (Ch), creatine and phosphocreatine (Cr), and N-acetylaspartate (NAA) peaks were integrated and ratios of Ch/Cr, NAA/Cr, and NAA/Ch were calculated. This study was approved by the Panel on Human Subjects in Medical Research at Stanford. Results Based on the MDI, 24 (67%) infants were classified as normal and 12 (33%) as abnormal. Based on the PDI, 26 (76%) infants were classified as normal and 8 (24%) as abnormal. Unpaired t-tests did not demonstrate a statistically significant difference in Ch/Cr, NAA/Cr, or NAA/Ch between infants with normal and abnormal developmental outcome. Conclusion Near-term MRS did not predict neurodevelopmental outcome in VLBW preterm infants at 18-24 mo in contrast to reports of term infants studied near birth with asphyxia. Longitudinal studies in VLBW infants are needed to assess if abnormal developmental changes in MRS are seen in infants who are at risk for later abnormal outcome. Acknowledgment EMV was a summer medical student research awardee from the American Pediatric Society and Society for Pediatric Research.


In a recent article I have argued that a new balance has to be struck between universalism and selectivity in labor law. The current Article seeks to examine in more detail one particular aspect of this balance: the addition of selective regulations as a method of offering special protection to groups that are especially vulnerable. I use the context of the Israeli cleaning sector as a case-study. Workers in this sector are usually employed through contractors (indirectly), which has led to some unique vulnerabilities. The article considers three selective regulations introduced in this sector in recent years, all aimed at offering more protection to this group: judicial judgments concerning the right to severance payment, creating different rules for cleaners; the Act to Improve the Enforcement of Labor Laws, which created incentives for users' "clients" to ensure compliance by cleaning contractors; and new legislation that gives cleaners in the public sector a right to a minimum wage and other benefits somewhat above the minimum required by universal laws. Based on the analysis of these regulations and the particular context, I conclude with some proposals and some reservations about the appropriate use of selectivity in labor law.


Background: There is limited data evaluating the prescription practices for antithrombotic therapy in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) following elective percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Objective: This single-center, single-operator, retrospective cohort study aimed to evaluate trends of antithrombotic treatment strategies in patients with AF undergoing elective PCI. Methods: Patients with AF who electively underwent PCI performed by a single interventionalist between April 2013 and May 2018 were identified. The primary outcome was the antithrombotic therapy at discharge assessed by chart review: triple (TAT, triple antithrombotic therapy) or dual (DAT, dual antithrombotic therapy) antithrombotic therapy and vitamin K antagonist (VKA) or non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant (NOAC), respectively. Results: Of 6,135 screened patients, 259 met the inclusion criteria. Among these, 133 (51%) patients received NOAC- and 126 (49%) VKA-therapy. Compared with patients on NOAC therapy, patients treated with VKA had higher bleeding risk (mean HAS-BLED-Score; 2.3 vs. 2.0; p = 0.02) and more co-morbidities (estimated glomerular filtration rate <30 ml/min, 11 vs. 4%; p = 0.04; diabetes mellitus, 33 vs. 20%; p = 0.03; history of previous PCI, 37 vs. 21%; p < 0.01). TAT was prescribed more frequently if the prescription included VKA compared with NOAC (61 vs. 41%; p < 0.01). Prescription of TAT and VKA decreased throughout the observed period (2013: 100% vs. 2018: 6%; p < 0.01 and 2013: 91% vs. 2018: 28%; p < 0.01). Conclusion: These observational data from a single center registry show a decrease of TAT- and VKA- prescription in favor of DAT with NOAC. Whether these observations are consistent with national or global trends should to be evaluated in further studies.


Objective: To compare median and paramedian technique of spinal anaesthesia in terms of success rate, number of attempts, paresthesia, bloody tap and length of needle.Study Design: Comparative cross-sectional study.Place and Duration of Study: Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive care PNS Shifa Karachi over duration of one year from March 2007 to Feb 2008.Patients and Methods: This was a comparative cross-sectional study and 100 patients undergoing spinal anaesthesia for lower abdominal and lower limb surgeries were included. Hundred patients were divided into two separate groups. Group I was given spinal anaesthesia with median approach and Group II was given spinal anaesthesia with paramedian approach. In both the groups the patients were divided using non probability convenience sampling and patients were blind to the choice of technique of spinal anaesthesia used, however consent was obtained from every patient to be included in study.Results: The success rate of median approach was found to be 84%, with the first attempt success rate of 48%. Paresthesia was felt by 38% of patients and incidence of bloody tap was 6%. Length of needle required most of the time was between 4-6 cms. The success rate of paramedian approach was found to be 96%, with first attempt success rate of 70%. Paresthesia was felt by 20% of patients and incidence of bloody tap was 12%. Most of the time length of needle required was between 6-8 cms.Conclusion: Paramedian approach is associated with higher success rate with lesser number of attempts and decreased incidence of paresthesia.


Fire severity was evaluated in eight recent wildfires with standardized methods in adjacent treated and untreated stands. Sampled sites occurred in a variety of conifer forests throughout the Western United States. Treatments included reduction of surface fuels and crown fuels, both in isolation and in combination. Synthesis of our results indicates that treatment effectiveness is related to differences in tree size (mean diameter) between treated and untreated stands (p<0.001), as well as estimated historic fire frequency (p<0.1). Our results suggest that fuel treatments will be most effective when they complement ecosystem restoration objectives, such as the removal of small trees from ecosystems that historically experienced frequent fire.


This paper will discuss how the influence of different cutting fluid on surface hardness, how different spindle speed affect surface hardness, and are there interactions between cutting fluid and spindle speed on surface hardness of workpieces produced by conventional lathe. In this study, the variables that are varied are the cutting fluid and spindle speed. The cutting fluid used is: dromus, used oil SAE 40 and used cooking oil. While the spindle speed used is 370 rpm, 665 rpm, and 1040 rpm. Then the hardness of the workpiece surface is tested from the lathe process by varying the cutting fluid and the spindle speed. From the results of the hardness test on the surface of the workpiece, it can be concluded that: the greatest value of the surface hardness of the workpiece is obtained in the lathe process using dromus cutting fluid and the spindle speed used is 665 rpm. Whereas the smallest workpiece surface hardness value is obtained when using dromus cutting fluid using spindle speed of 1040 rpm. Cutting Fluid and Spindle Speed has a significant effect on surface hardness in the turning process of AISI 4140 steel


Recent advances in machine translation (MT) have shown that Minimum Bayes Risk (MBR) decoding can be a powerful alternative to beam search decoding, especially when combined with neural-based utility functions. However, the performance of MBR decoding depends heavily on how and how many candidates are sampled from the model. In this paper, we explore how different sampling approaches for generating candidate lists for MBR decoding affect performance. We evaluate popular sampling approaches, such as ancestral, nucleus, and top-k sampling. Based on our insights into their limitations, we experiment with the recently proposed epsilon-sampling approach, which prunes away all tokens with a probability smaller than epsilon, ensuring that each token in a sample receives a fair probability mass. Through extensive human evaluations, we demonstrate that MBR decoding based on epsilon-sampling significantly outperforms not only beam search decoding, but also MBR decoding with all other tested sampling methods across four language pairs.


INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Adolescents with spina bifida often show delays in community integration and independence, and, as adults, frequently experience social isolation, decreased opportunities, and reduced independence, placing their mental health at risk. Previous studies have identified increased anxiety and depression among adolescents and adults with spina bifida, but there are few consistent predictors of poor mental health in these patients. We hypothesise that similar risks to mental health are seen in patients with congenital urologic conditions that require ongoing care, and seek to characterise those risks and their association with urologic-related quality of life. METHODS: We administered a series of surveys to patients (18+) with congenital urologic conditions. Patient demographics and disease characteristics were collected, along with PROMIS surveys on anxiety, depression, social isolation and resilience as measured by the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale. Urologic quality of life was measured with the Neurogenic Bladder Symptom Score. PROMIS surveys were scored using the HealthMeasures Scoring Service, with a T-score of 50 representing the median general population, and data analysis done with STATA 15.1. RESULTS: 271 patients answered the survey questions on mental health. The majority of patients had a diagnosis of spina bifida (91.8%). Mean and median PROMIS t-scores for anxiety and depression were 55 (range 37-82) across the cohort, consistent with at least mild anxiety and depression. Social isolation scores were also above population means. Depression showed significant association (p=0.04) with NBSS quality of life scores, but not with age, household education, race, surgeries, urologic provider type, TRAQ score, or isolation. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with congenital urologic conditions are more socially isolated than the general population, and are at risk for clinically significant anxiety and depression, which was seen in over half this cohort. This risk does not change significantly with demographic characteristics, consistent with previous studies on the subject. Notably, we show a significant association between bladder symptom scores for quality of life and depression in these patients, which underlines the importance of quality urologic care for patients with congenital urologic conditions. Table. No title available. Source of Funding: None


Seventeen avian infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) isolates were isolated from broiler chickens showing respiratory and renal lesions. The isolated strains were characterized by real time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction used for N gene, and then RT-PCR and sequence analysis of the hypervariable region 3 of the S1 spike glycoprotein gene of six isolates. Six isolates showed 87.15% to 89.71 % and 87.27% to 90.82% amino acid sequence identity and 87.61% to 89.19 % and 87.91% to 89.72% nucleotide sequence identity to the Egyptian variant 1 and the IS/885 strains, respectively. The six isolates formed a distinct phylogenetic group with the Ck/Eg/BSU-2/2011 and Ck/Eg/ BSU-3/2011 (Var 2). Amino acid and nucleotide identities between the six Egyptian isolates and variant 2 (Ck/Eg/BSU-2/2011 and Ck/Eg/BSU-3/2011) ranged from 97.27% to 100% and 97.88% to 99.38%, respectively. The results indicate that the six isolates IBV/CK/Beh/101/013/S1,IBV/CK/Beh/204/013/S1,IBV/CK/Beh/105/013/S1,IBV/CK/Beh/1011/013/S1,IBV/CK/Beh/1017/013/S1,IBV/CK/Beh/2020/013/S1 can be considered a variant 2 as Ck/Eg/BSU-2/2011 and Ck/Eg/BSU-3/2011. This study demonstrates a constant evolution of IBV in Egypt that necessitates continuous monitoring to control the spread of infections, and the development and use of vaccines based on indigenous viruses.


. In-depth interviews are a method widely used by researchers, which are processed once transcribed. Currently, with the development of computer programming, the use of a natural language processing method to analyze such interviews has spread. There are dissimilar programs of various kinds, where lexicons offer highly useful benefits for researchers as they save time and increase efficiency. In essence, these expose how positive or negative a text related to a topic can be. Taking into consideration the usefulness of Neutrosophy for social phenomena and the treatment of indeterminacies, vagueness, and neutralities, it is convenient to establish as an objective of this paper: to develop a method for the sentiment analysis of the transcripts of in-depth interviews in Action Research based on natural language processing and Single Value Neutrosophic Numbers (SVNN). The most important characteristics to take into account in the in-depth interviews will be determined. Then the lexicon will be selected for the natural language processing of the research to fulfill its main objective.


The purpose of this article is to describe the guidelines for the family members on how to cope and support a person with a head injury. A qualitative explorative, descriptive and contextual research design was conducted utilizing individual in-depth face-to-face interview to gather data from family members of a person with a head injury. This study was conducted in three of the northern regions of Namibia, i.e. Oshana, Omusati and Ohangwena. Data was analyzed using Tech's method for content analysis. The results of this study showed that family members of a person with head a injury had varied and different experiences varying from different feelings, challenges and support to them. Based on these findings, the guidelines were developed to assist the family members of a person with a head injury on how to cope and support the person with a head injury. These guidelines may be implemented by any family who are taking care of a person with a head injury.


Image-derived features ("radiomics") are increasingly being considered for patient management in (neuro)oncology and radiotherapy. In Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), simple features are often used by clinicians in clinical practice, such as the size of the tumor or the relative sizes of the necrosis and active tumor. First order statistics provide a limited characterization power because they do not incorporate spatial information and thus cannot differentiate patterns. In this work, we present the methodological framework for building a prognostic model based on heterogeneity textural features of multimodal MRI sequences (T1, T1-contrast, T2 and FLAIR) in GBM. The proposed workflow consists in i) registering the available 3D multimodal MR images and segmenting the tumor volume, ii) extracting image features such as heterogeneity metrics and shape indices, iii) building a prognostic model using Support Vector Machine by selecting, ranking and combining optimal features. We present preliminary results obtained for the classification of 40 patients into short (≤ 15 months) or long (> 15 months) overall survival, validated using leave-one-out cross-validation. Our results suggest that several textural features in each MR sequence have prognostic value in GBM, classification accuracy of 90% (sensitivity 85%, specificity 95%) being obtained by combining both T1 sequences. Future work will consist in i) adding more patients for validation using training and testing groups, ii) considering additional features, iii) building a fully multimodal MRI model by combining features from more than two sequences, iv) consider survival as a continuous variable and v) combine image-derived features with clinical and histopatholoigcal data to build an even more accurate model.


Volt-VAr optimization (VVO) is usually performed by a central coordinator which provides the optimal setpoints of the control devices in the network for efficient voltage regulation in active distribution networks. However, such a central control scheme is prone to a single-point failure and results in privacy concerns. Conversely, distributed optimization methods decompose the entire network into subsystems such that local controllers compute a local optimization problem and have limited communication with their neighboring control agents, thereby enhancing data dignity. This work, therefore, adopts a distributed VVO approach which is based on the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM). The linearized Dist3Flow model (LinDist3Flow) is used as a convex grid model and the distributed VVO minimizes voltage deviation in an unbalanced active distribution system subject to limits on voltage magnitudes and inverter active and reactive power capabilities. Case studies implemented on the IEEE-123 node system and a 2522-node system demonstrate that ADMM-based VVO converges to the same solution as that obtained from the centralized VVO, but the performance of the ADMM algorithm is sensitive to the choice of the penalty parameter. Moreover, if the centralized formulation is convex and already tractable for even large-scale feeders, then solving the distributed counterpart might not necessarily provide any computational advantage but is still desirable for reasons such as data privacy and robustness to processor failure.


During the 18th century about 40 medical men who declared Russia their native country took their academic degree in Halle. This number is nearly identical with a group of medical immigrants coming from Halle of circa the same size, most of them remaining in the chosen home. For circa 70 persons of these two groups of physicians a permanent activity is to be proved during this century. Their lives and work were described in this series of contributions devoted to the interrelations of Russia and Halle in medicine of the 18th century.


An updraft Solar Tower power plant — sometimes also called 'solar chimney' — is a solar thermal power plant utilizing a combination of solar air collector and central updraft tube to generate a solar induced convective flow which drives pressure staged turbines to generate electricity. In the paper we first describe the functional principle of the Solar Tower and give some results from designing, building and operating a small scale prototype in Spain. Then future commercial Solar Tower systems like the one being planned for Australia are described. We present technical issues and basic economic data.Copyright © 2003 by ASME


Keyword: Pancasila; Proxy War; Indonesia; This article aim to contribute an idea regarding the importance of returning Pancasila as the state ideology and way of life to prevent Indonesia from going into deeper trap of nation problems. Pancasila as the ideology and life perspective has been abandoned by most of Indonesian citizens. It is not surprising that the Indonesian people are exposed to several national issues, such as horizontal conflicts, moral crises, economic disparities, and the threat of disintegration. All of this problem has a potential to trigger proxy war. This article is using three dimension framework of ideology, including, reality, ideal, and flexibility dimension. This study conclude that actualizing Pancasila may address the nation issues in Indonesia.


Data warehouses are used in many applications that depend on distributed systems. A data warehouse supports information processing by providing a single platform of integrated, historical data for doing analysis. Data warehouses provide the facility for integration in a world of unintegrated application systems. The contents of a data warehouse are evolved in an evolutionary, step-at-a-time fashion. A data warehouse organizes and stores the data needed for informational, analytical processing over a long historical time perspective. Data warehouses keep a materialized view (such as historical data), and user queries are processed using this view. The view has to be maintained to reflect the updates done against the base relations stored at the various distributed data sources. Detecting and extracting modifications from information sources is an integral part of a data warehouse. For unsophisticated sources, in practice it is often necessary to infer modifications by periodically comparing snapshots and backup copies of data from the source. This study considers the materialized view and its maintenance. Various implementation and performance evaluation of the differential snapshot algorithms have been compared for evaluation of suitable alternatives.


Drawing from current debates in social theory about the changing nature of knowledge, this book offers the most comprehensive sociological theory of the university that has yet appeared. The famous philosophical conceptions of the university from the Enlightenment to postmodern thought are discussed along with the major writings in modern social theory on the university, such as those of Weber, Parsons, Habermas, Gadamer, Lyotard and Bourdieu. In this far reaching contribution to the sociology of knowledge, Delanty views the university as a key institution of modernity and as the site where knowledge, culture and society interconnect. He assesses the question of the crisis of the university with respect to issues such as globalization, the information age, the nation state, academic capitalism, cultural politics and changing relationships between research and teaching. Arguing against the notion of the demise of the university, his argument is that in the knowledge society of today a new identity for the university is emerging based on communication and new conceptions of citizenship. It will be essential reading for those interested in changing relationships between modernity, knowledge, higher education and the future of the university.


Spontaneous aggregation of glycosylated, desialated, oxidized and malondialdehyde modified low density lipoprotein (LDL) as well as LDL of coronary heart disease patients has been discovered using methods for determination of light transmission fluctuations in suspensions and gel filtration. At the same time; LDL of healthy donors failed to aggregate under conditions of cellular culture. On the other hand, human aortic cells from unaffected intima incubated with modified LDL, but not native LDL of healthy donors, showed a rise in esterified cholesterol levels. There was a strong correlation between the degree of LDL aggregation and intracellular cholesterol ester accumulation (r-0.86, p 0.001, n-21). Removal of aggregates by passing preparations through and 0.1 um filter significantly inhibited the accumulation of cholesterol esters. The obtained data point to the essential, if not decisive, role of LDL aggregation in the processes of lipid accumulation by intimal cells in vitro.


Molecular dynamics simulations are performed to study the influence of surface and fluid impurities on water–carbon interactions. In order to quantify these interactions we consider the canonical problem of wetting of a doped flat graphitic surface by a water system with impurities. As model fluid impurities we consider aqueous solutions of potassium–chloride with molar concentrations up to 1.8 M. Quantum chemistry calculations are performed to derive pair potentials for the ion–graphite interactions. The contact angle is found to decrease weakly with increasing ionic concentration, from 90° at 0 M to 81° at 1.8 M concentration. The influence of solid impurities is found to be more significant. Thus, 10, 15, and 20% coverages of chemisorbed hydrogen result in contact angles of 90°, 74° and 60°, respectively.


Unsupervised question answering is an attractive task due to its independence on labeled data. Previous works usually make use of heuristic rules as well as pre-trained models to construct data and train QA models. However, most of these works regard named entity (NE) as the only answer type, which ignores the high diversity of answers in the real world. To tackle this problem, we propose a novel unsupervised method by diversifying answers, named DiverseQA. Specifically, the proposed method is composed of three modules: data construction, data augmentation and denoising filter. Firstly, the data construction module extends the extracted named entity into a longer sentence constituent as the new answer span to construct a QA dataset with diverse answers. Secondly, the data augmentation module adopts an answer-type dependent data augmentation process via adversarial training in the embedding level. Thirdly, the denoising filter module is designed to alleviate the noise in the constructed data. Extensive experiments show that the proposed method outperforms previous unsupervised models on five benchmark datasets, including SQuADv1.1, NewsQA, TriviaQA, BioASQ, and DuoRC. Besides, the proposed method shows strong performance in the few-shot learning setting.


We study constructing an algebraic curve from a Riemann surface given via a translation surface, which is a collection of finitely many polygons in the plane with sides identified by translation. We use the theory of discrete Riemann surfaces to give an algorithm for approximating the Jacobian variety of a translation surface whose polygon can be decomposed into squares. We first implement the algorithm in the case of $L$ shaped polygons where the algebraic curve is already known. The algorithm is also implemented in any genus for specific examples of Jenkins-Strebel representatives, a dense family of translation surfaces that, until now, lived squarely on the analytic side of the transcendental divide between Riemann surfaces and algebraic curves. Using Riemann theta functions, we give numerical experiments and resulting conjectures up to genus 5.


Despite therapeutic advances, the poor prognoses for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and intermediate and high-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) point to the need for better treatment options. AML and MDS cells express the myeloid marker CD33, making it amenable to CD33-targeted therapy. Lintuzumab (SGN-33), a humanized monoclonal anti-CD33 antibody undergoing clinical evaluation, induced meaningful responses in a Phase 1 clinical trial and demonstrated anti-leukemic activity in preclinical models. Recently, it was reported that 5-azacytidine (Vidaza™) prolonged the overall survival of a group of high risk MDS and AML patients. To determine whether the combination of lintuzumab and 5-azacytidine would be beneficial, a mouse xenograft model of disseminated AML was used to evaluate the combination. There was a significant reduction in tumor burden and an increase in overall survival in mice treated with lintuzumab and 5-azacytidine. The effects were greater than that obtained with either agent alone. As the in vivo anti-leukemic activity of lintuzumab was dependent upon the presence of mouse effector cells including macrophages and neutrophils, in vitro effector function assays were used to assess the impact of 5-azacytidine on lintuzumab activity. The results show that 5-azacytidine significantly enhanced the ability of lintuzumab to promote tumor cell killing through antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) and phagocytic (ADCP) activities. These results suggest that lintuzumab and 5-azacytidine act in concert to promote tumor cell killing. Additionally, these findings provide the rationale to evaluate this combination in the clinic.


This paper describes a general strategy for the fabrication of a microthermocouple based on the spatially defined electroless deposition of metal, followed by annealing and electroplating. We present scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy characterizations of the deposition and annealing process, as well as the performance of the microfabricated Ni-Ag thermocouple. The temperature-voltage curve for this Ni-Ag microthermocouple is linear over the range 0-50 degrees C with a slope of 61.9 degrees C mV(-1). The sensitivity of our temperature measurement, which is limited by the uncertainty of our calibration curve, is approximately 1 degrees C. The optimum figure of merit (Z(opt)) is 1.0 x 10(-5) for this type of Ag-Ni thermocouple. We have fabricated microthermocouples ranging in size from 50 to 300 microm. The microthermocouple was integrated into microchannels and used to measure the in-channel temperature rise caused by the following: (1) a simple acid-base reaction, HCl + NaOH --> H2O + NaCl, and (2) an enzyme-catalyzed biochemical reaction, H2O2 + catalase --> H2O + 1/2 O2. We have also profiled the temperature increase in the presence of electroosmotic flow for a 100-, 200-, and 300-microm channel.


The authors' main contribution is to build upon their earlier efforts by expanding the tissue model concept to cover a brain volume. Furthermore, processing time is reduced and accuracy is enhanced by the use of knowledge propagation, where information derived from one slice is made available to succeeding slices as additional knowledge. The system is organized as follows. Each MR slice is initially segmented by an unsupervised fuzzy c-means clustering algorithm. Next, an expert system uses model-based recognition techniques to locate a landmark, called a focus-of attention tissue. Qualitative models of slices of brain tissue are defined and matched with their instances from imaged slices. If a significant deformation is detected in a tissue, the slice is classified to be abnormal and volume processing halts. Otherwise, the expert system locates the next focus-of-attention tissue, based on a hierarchy of expected tissues. This process is repeated until either a slice is classified as abnormal or all tissues of the slice are labeled. If the slice is determined to be abnormal, the entire volume is also considered abnormal and processing halts. Otherwise, the system will proceed to the next slice and repeat the classification steps until all slices that comprise the volume are processed. A rule-based expert system tool, CLIPS, is used to organize the system. Low level modules for image processing and high level modules for image analysis, all written in the C language, are called as actions from the right hand sides of the rules. The system described here is an attempt to provide completely automatic segmentation and labeling of normal volunteer brains. The absolute accuracy of the segmentations has not yet been rigorously established. The relative accuracy appears acceptable. Efforts have been made to segment an entire volume (rather than merging a set of segmented slices) using supervised pattern recognition techniques or unsupervised fuzzy clustering. However, there is sometimes enough data nonuniformity between slices to prevent satisfactory segmentation.<<ETX>>


Luminex single antigen bead (SAB) assays used to detect HLA antibodies may artificially increase sensitisation in highly sensitised patients (HSP). The presence of denatured HLA (dHLA) within the assay enables antibodies specific to cryptic HLA epitopes to bind, such antibodies are not clinically relevant. We sought to exclude dHLA reactivity in a cohort of very HSP, calculated reaction frequency (cRF) 95%–100% and determine the effect upon sensitisation. Such patients have limited access to suitable donors and small changes in their HLA antibody profile, particularly where their cRF is 100%, can increase their opportunity of a transplant. We determined the presence of dHLA by aligning antibody reactivity which did not correspond to known HLA class I epitope mismatches with the results of assays modified to detect class I dHLA. 130 class I dHLA reactions were identified within 11 HSP, all of whom had clear sensitising events. cRF was corrected for dHLA, mean cRF 98.2% (93–100) pre and 95.5% (87–100) post correction (p = 0.0156). An increase in the number of predicted compatible donors (p = 0.0078) after dHLA correction was demonstrated. Two manufacturers SAB assays were used. A reduction of patients with 100% cRF was observed for both manufactures. dHLA is contributing to sensitisation in HSP and is detrimental to their chances of receiving a compatible transplant. The observed dHLA reactivity varied according to kit manufacturers (p = 0.0001), this is potentially a useful finding for laboratories wishing to discriminate between nHLA and dHLA, but without the resources required to regularly perform dHLA assay and epitope analyses.


Hart, Leary, and Rejeski have developed the Social Physique Anxiety Scale (SPA), a measure of the anxiety experienced in response to having one's physique evaluated by other people. The present study cross-validated the psychometric properties of this measure in a sample (N = 236) of adolescent competitive female gymnasts. Employing structural equation modeling, the proposed unidimensional factor structure of the SPA was supported, although some questions regarding the robustness of the fit are raised. Construct validity was demonstrated by significant inverse relationships between aspects of physical efficacy (perceived physical ability and physical self-presentation confidence) and degree of social physique anxiety. These findings are discussed in terms of possible alternative factor structures and integration of social anxiety and other psychosocial constructs to better understand physical activity behavior.


ABSTRACT Background: Universal Health Coverage has become a political priority for many African countries yet there are clear challenges in achieving this goal. Though social health insurance is considered a mechanism for providing financial protection, less well documented in the literature is evidence from countries in Africa who are at various stages of adopting this financing strategy as a way to improve health insurance coverage for their populations. Objectives: The study investigates whether social health insurance schemes are effectively and efficiently covering all groups. The objective is to provide evidence of how these schemes have been implemented and whether the fundamental goals are met. The selected countries are Ghana, Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya and Ethiopia. The study draws lessons from the literature about how policy tools can be used to reduce financial barriers whilst ensuring a broad geographic coverage in Africa. Methods: The study relies primarily on a review of literature, both documented and grey matter, which include key documents such as government health policy documents, strategic plans, health financing policy documents, Universal Health Coverage policy documents, published literature, unpublished documents, media reports and National Health Accounts reports. Results: The results show that each of the selected countries relies on a plurality of health insurance schemes with each targeting different groups. Additionally, many of the Social Health Insurance programs start by covering the formal sector first, with the hope of covering other groups in the informal sector at a later stage. Health insurance coverage for poor groups is very low, with targeting mechanisms to cover the poor in the form of exemptions and waivers achieving no desirable results. Conclusions: The ability for Social Health Insurance programs to cover all groups has been limited in the selected countries. Hence, relying solely on social health insurance schemes to achieve Universal Health Coverage may not be plausible in Africa. Also, highly fragmented risk pools impede efforts to widen the insurance pools and promote cross-subsidies.


Many species complexes have diversified rapidly and recently, resulting in morphologically diverse populations; however, the rapid pace of diversification often prevents identification of clear phylogeographic structure. Recently, the use of large genomic and reduced-representation genomic datasets has improved resolution of the evolutionary histories in such species and allowed identification of lineages on distinct evolutionary trajectories. The northern flicker (Colaptes auratus) and gilded flicker (Colaptes chrysoides) form a polytypic superspecies group with a complex taxonomic history. The superspecies group includes up to 13 described subspecies, which represent slight geographic variation among five main morphological groups: red-shafted flickers of western North America (cafer group), yellow-shafted flickers of eastern North America (auratus group), Cuban flickers of the Caribbean (chrysocaulosus group), gilded flickers of the U.S. south-west and Mexican north-west (chrysoides group), and Guatemalan flickers of Central America (mexicanoides group). These groups are largely differentiable by variation in feather shaft colour, malar colour, throat colour, crown colour, and back barring. Here, using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and hundreds of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), we characterized the genetic relationships and genomic distinctiveness of the five morphological groups. We found the mexicanoides group to be the most genetically distinct in both mtDNA (∼1.4% sequence divergence) and large SNP panels. The chrysocaulosus group is differentiated by a single basepair mutation in a small mtDNA fragment. In both mtDNA and SNP panels, there is little genetic distinctiveness between auratus, cafer, and chrysoides morphological groups, with evidence of admixture and a lack of fixed differences.


Abstract Background Evaluation of regional variation of prostate cancer (PCa) incidence and PCa-specific mortality is essential in the assessment of equity in a national healthcare system. We evaluated PCa incidence and PCa-specific mortality between different municipalities and hospital districts in Finland over 1985–2019. Material and Methods Men diagnosed with PCa in Finland from 1985 through 2019 were retrieved from Finnish Cancer Registry. Age-standardized PCa incidence and mortality rates were estimated by municipality and hospital district as well as municipality urbanization, education, and income level using hierarchical Bayesian modeling. Standard deviations (SD) of the regional rates were compared between periods from 1985–1989 to 2015–2019. Results We identified 123,185 men diagnosed with any stage PCa between 1985 and 2019. SD of PCa incidence rate (per 100,000 person-years) showed that the total variation of PCa incidence between different municipalities was substantial and varied over time: from 22.2 (95% CI, 17.1–27.8) in 1985–1989 to 56.5 (95% CI, 49.8–64.5) in 2000–2004. The SD of PCa mortality rate between all municipalities was from 9.0 (95% CI, 6.6–11.8) in 2005–2009 to 2.4 (95% CI, 0.9–4.8) in 2015–2019. There was a trend toward a lower PCa-specific mortality rate in municipalities with higher education level. Discussion Regional variation in the incidence rate of PCa became more evident after initiation of PSA testing in Finland, which indicates that early diagnostic practice (PSA testing) of PCa has been different in different parts of the country. Variation in the national PCa mortality rate was indeed recognizable, however, this variation diminished at the same time as the mortality rate declined in Finland. It seems that after the initiation period of PSA testing, PSA has equalized PCa mortality outcomes in Finland.


Geological research include lithology, geological structure,geomorphology, and petrography in Dabong, Kuala Krai, Kelantan located at coordinate 101 °20'E to102°41'E and 4°33'N to 6°14'N. The objectives of this research are updating the current geological map of the area, to detect and identify the potential groundwater between metamorphic areas and carbonate area using resistivity method. By using the resistivity method at Dabong, Kuala Krai, Kelantan for detect the potential groundwater sources at accurate location and depth can determine the geology condition of that area can he interpreted. To begin this analysis, two horizontal lines were chosen which were metamorphic area and limestone area for collect the resistivity data from ABEM Terrameter SAS 4000, Electric Selector (ES464) and LUND cable with electrode. Then, the data was analyzed using the RES2D software and the results of the analysis were represented in 2-dimensional image. The Schlumberger array was used to show that the both lines at the area are potential to produce groundwater sources with reading 1.58 to 28.5Ω at depth 13.4 meter to 31.3 meter in metamorphic area while resistivity reading in limestone area is 4.97 to 26.2Ωm an at depth 1.25 meter to 17.3 meter. After carried out this research, all objective has been passed. The geological map of study area has been update based on lithology found. Groundwater potential also was detected at metamorphic area and limestone area using resistivity method.


This study aims to propose a model to study organizational routines as a generative system based on time and innovation. Routines are intrinsically related to resources orchestration processes, learning, know-how accumulation and organizational expertise. Over time, combined with innovations, in-process, or via technological artifacts, routines may contribute to diversifying the portfolio of outputs able to add value to a company result. The study follows a qualitative approach, with an applied nature, and was made through multiple case studies. Data collection was through semi-structured interviews and was beaconed by protocol subject to peers validation. The main contribution is the model which is proposed to understand routines as a generative system able to diversify the outputs or organizational actions enhancing the results arisen from innovations. Results have confirmed the relation between routines and resources orchestrations process, incorporation and development of innovations, and organizational learning.


Oscillator configurations for integrated circuit (IC) applications where the quartz resonator can be connected between one pin of the IC and ground are presented. Excellent performance and good designability are obtained by applying negative feedback around a high-gain amplifier circuit and by including a symmetrical limiter in the feedback loop. The feedback mechanism provides an inherent buffering against load variations. Implementation examples in bipolar technology are discussed. A simple model for the negative impedance at the crystal port reveals methods for avoiding parasitic oscillations due to the shunt capacitance of the crystal. The performance of a semicustom integrated oscillator with simple structure is simulated and measured. In this oscillator, a novel start-up technique that ensures a stable and reliable start-up behavior is used. >


A modular and parametric approach to FE-modelling is presented which allows rapid virtual prototyping for MEMS and other microelectronics packages with respect to some topical reliability issues: Thermal management and thermo-mechanical fatigue. Thereby the method of automatic model generation by modular parametric modelling is outlined and some examples featuring the required solution techniques are given. This simulation procedure forms part of a comprehensive design optimisation process in the field of predictive engineering.


Century Art, William Rubin notes the relative paucity of scholarly works devoted to "primitivism—the interest of modern artists in tribal art and culture, as revealed in their thought and work."1 While considerable attention has been paid to primitivism in early-twentieth-century French and German art in the time since Rubin's 1984 publication, Western awareness of a parallel trend in Russia remains relatively limited to scholars and specialists. Yet, the primary characteristics that Russian artists' recognized and revered in primitive art forms played as profound a role in shaping the path of modern art and literature in Russia as they did in the artistic expressions of Western Europe. "Primitive" and "primitivism," as they are used in this text, are defined as art or an art style that reveals a primacy and purity of expression. There is little or no regard for laws dictated or imposed by nature, science, academic instruction, or convention. In no sense are these terms meant to be derogatory or pejorative, however. Indeed, so-called primitive artists bore with pride the names that their critics called them—barbarians or savages—and they were not offended by accusations that they were "uncivilized." The primitivist movement in Russia (1909–14) bridged the period between Symbolism (1904–08) and the styles that most distinguish the early Russian avantgarde—Cubo-Futurism, Alogism, and Rayism (1912–14), and Suprematism (1915–20). Embracing primitivism and Neo-primitivism (the latter was so named by its proponents in 1913), Russian artists such as Mikhail Larionov, Natalia Goncharova, Kazimir Malevich, and Olga Rozanova espoused the fundamental aesthetic principles and theories, set the priorities, and developed the courage to abandon naturalism in art in favor of free creation, pure expression, and, ultimately, abstraction. The present work focuses on the illustrated book as the ideal framework in which to examine primitivism in Russia. Through this medium, artists and writers of the emerging avant-garde achieved one of the most original responses to, and modern adaptations of, primitivism, and realized the primary goals and aesthetic credos set forth in their statements and group manifestos. These artists drew on a wide range of primitive art forms from their own country: Old Russian illuminated manuscripts, miniatures, wood carvings, icons, and hand-painted religious woodcuts; antiquities and works dating from pre-Christianized Russia (particularly those of the Scythians and other Asiatic peoples); folk art, such as lubki (popular prints, usually hand-colored), blockbooks, toys, shop signs, distaffs, and embroidery; and the work of "modern" primitives (children, selftaught artists, commercial sign painters, and the nomadic tribes of Siberia and Central Asia). The book form allowed Russian artists to explore new materials and techniques. Images could be reduced to their essentials, and elements of color could be embraced in their primacy. Collaborations between artists and poets increased the expressive potential of


Paddy and rice industry has been an important agricultural sub-sector to the economy even prior to the independence. Despite heavy government investments in the forms of infrastructure development, provision of input and price subsidies, to enhance the growth of paddy and rice industry, paddy production faces numerous risks. This study examines paddy farmers' attitudes towards risk. Data were collected via personal interview in North Terengganu Integrated Agriculture Development (Ketara) Terengganu Malaysia, as the study area. The purpose of the study is to develop a scale for assessing risk attitudes of paddy farmers. The study used a standard questionnaire to elucidate information pertaining to demographic and risk attitudes. Respondents were asked to respond to 47 statements about managing risk, using Likert scales as the measurement. A total of 235 farmers were surveyed. The set of 47 statements on how farmers manage risks were included to develop the final refined scale of risk attitude statements. Reliability analysis indicates which statements contribute in explaining the risk attitudes and by deleting the statements will affect the reflection of risk attitudes. Cronbach's coefficient alpha was employed to evaluate the degree of communal variation of risk attitudinal scale. From 47 statements, the analysis established a refined 24 items scale which can be applied to measure the risk attitude of paddy farmers in the study area. The refined 24 item scale has the levels of communal variation of 73% caused by risk attitude, which is in an acceptable alpha Cronbach range. The further study on the 24-items refined scale of paddy farmer's risk attitudes revealed that farmers in Ketara are slightly to risk seeking than a risk neutral person.


Objectives: α-lipoic acid (ALA) is a natural antioxidant which acts as a cofactor of bioenergetic mitochondrial enzymes. Along with its mitochondrial action, ALA and its reduced form have many biological functions resulting in a wide variety of actions such as anti-inflammation and antioxidant protection, scavenging reactive oxygen species, regenerating other antioxidant agents, such as vitamins C and E, and cytosolic glutathione, chelating the transitional metal ions (e.g. iron and copper), and modulating the signal transduction of nuclear factor. Methods: By selecting papers from PubMed, Science Direct, EBSCO, and databases, this review discusses the biochemical properties of LA, its mechanism of action, pharmacokinetics, and its possible therapeutic role in central nervous system diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Multiple sclerosis, stroke, and spinal cord injury. Results: ALA as an antioxidant and anti-inflammation agent has therapeutical effects on central nervous system diseases, especially multiple sclerosis and PD. Discussion: ALA can be considered as a potentially useful treatment in central nervous disorders.


Democratic country like Indonesia usually generates healthy, growing, and rooted from below political party. In Indonesia, political parties have long been known before Indonesia's independence. At that time, the political party became the medium of the founding father's struggle to fight against colonialism. Since Indonesia's Independence Day, the existence of a political party was admitted and supported by the government. This study needs to do from a political point of view. It will enrich learning and understanding the existence of political parties concerning the development of Political Science in Indonesia. The focus of this study is to describe how the political party's history and its role from Orde Lama until the Orde Baru era in Indonesia. This study uses a qualitative research method, and data interpreting will be analyzed using the descriptive analysis method. In the meantime, data validation will be checked and rechecked after collecting data. This study concludes that Indonesian politics has experienced a significant shift in values and practices. Indonesia must begin to review the political system, nation, and state.


The Indian derivatives market remains small despite a lengthy history, several committee recommendations, and continuous developments. The Indian derivatives market is dominated by institutional investors, with little participation from individual investors due to a lack of awareness and comprehension of the product. As a result, the objectives of this research are to establish the level of retail investor derivatives market awareness, as well as the relationship between awareness and derivatives market investment intention. A questionnaire- based survey is being conducted with a sample size of 30 respondents. The findings of the survey demonstrate that the majority of respondents have either average or below average derivatives market awareness, and that there is a strong link between awareness and derivatives market investment intention.


This study evaluates engineers' mental workload while maintaining digital systems in nuclear power plants (NPPs). First, according to the factors affecting the mental workload, a questionnaire was designed to evaluate the mental workload of maintenance engineers at the Second NPP in Taiwan. Then 16 maintenance engineers from the Second NPP participated in the experiment survey. The results indicated that the mental workload was lower in maintaining digital systems than that in analog systems. Finally, a mental workload model based on the neural network technique was established to predict the mental workload of maintenance engineers in maintaining digital systems. Through predicting mental workload, the manager can organize the human resources for each daily task to sustain the appropriate mental workload as well as improve maintenance performance. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


Background: Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer and the fifth deadly cancer among women in Iran. Educational interventions based on proper behavior promoting models can lead to early diagnosis of cervical cancer. The theory of planned behavior pays attention to social factors and motivation for following the significant others. The aim of this study was to determine the factors related to performing regular Pap smear test based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) among the females living in Fasa, Iran.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 700 participants. Then the educational intervention based on the results of cross-sectional study was conducted in form of a workshop for 50 women as the intervention group, and 50 women were considered as the control group. After all, the data were entered into the SPSS statistical software and were analyzed via logistic regressions analysis, paired t-test, independent t-test, chi-square test, and McNemar test.Result: According to the results, 45.7% of the patients had a history of undergoing a Pap smear test, and 20.7% of them performed this test regularly. The knowledge, attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control were the predictors of intention and behavior of Pap smear test among the women (P<0.05). These components accounted for 57.4% and 31.6% of the intention and behavior variance, respectively. After the intervention, a significant increase was observed in the mean scores of attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control in the intervention group compared to the control group. The results revealed no significant difference between the two groups concerning the behavioral intention (p=0.41) and performance of the Pap smear test (p=0.583). The number of the participants who had undergone the Pap smear test increased from 10 to 26 in the intervention group three months after the intervention. The results of McNemar test indicated that this difference was statistically significant.Conclusion: The results indicated an increase in the women's performance of the Pap smear screening test by appropriate planning, provision of educational packages based on the women's needs, and using effective subjective norms.This clinical trial is registered in the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (IRCT20160830029608N3).


This paper proposes an automatic technique to reduce the time spent in detection of the fault origin from field traces, by discovering hidden patterns in the traces.


We present the pollen analysis of a new sedimentary sequence taken at La Pouretère ( 1720 m), in the mountain vegetation zone of the Marcadau valley (central Pyrenees). The Lateglacial and Holocene chronology is supported by six 14C-dating results. The complementary analysis of some vegetal macroremains, stomata, pollen-clusters and the use of pollen influx allows us to elucidate the dynamic of mountain species such as Pinus and specially Abies but also to infer the unusual part played by Betula at the beginning of the Postglacial period.


Serum IL-2 and sIL-2R levels were measured with sandwith ELISA assay before and after surgery or transarterial embolization in 19 cases of primary hepatic carcinoma. The results show that pretreatment IL-2 levels of patients were significantly lower and sIL-2R expression was higher than those of normal control. IL-2 levels of patient were increased and sIL-2R expression was decreased after treatment. The results suggest that the changes of IL-2 level and sIL-2R expression may be closely related to treatment, recurrence and prognosis of patients with primary hepatic carcinoma.


Introduction: Aspirin is widely used for the prevention of venous thromboembolism (VTE) after total hip arthroplasty (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA). It is well-established that the bleeding and wound complication risk for aspirin is low or equivalent to the other anticoagulant agents, but there is still ongoing controversy regarding the efficacy of aspirin for VTE prophylaxis. The current HSE (2012) guideline suggests 72 h of enoxaparin and 4 weeks of Aspirin therapy. But is this practice still relevant with more recent guidelines, NICE (2021) and SIGN (2014) suggesting that Aspirin is not recommended as a single pharmacological agent for VTE prophylaxis. Method: A Retrospective review was performed of a single centre, between January 2016 and May 2021 assessing for symptomatic VTE post-THA and TKA. All the patients received enoxaparin and aspirin as per the HSE guidelines. Using NIMIS we assessed which patients received a workup for potential symptomatic VTE and who had a confirmed VTE within 3 months post-surgery. The secondary outcome was mortality within 3 months post-surgery. Results: A total of 1178 patients (721 undergoing THR and 457 undergoing TKR) were included in the study. The number of patients who received a workup for potential symptomatic VTE was 124 of 1178 (10.53%). VTE occurred in 13 of 721 patients (1.80%) of the THR patients and 1 of 457 (0.22%) of the TKR patients, and a total of 14 of 1178 patients (1.19%). Of these 7 (0.59%) patients developed a DVT and 7 (0.59%) a PE. No patients suffered a fatal pulmonary embolism within 90 days of index surgery nor any other cause of mortality. Conclusion: Aspirin is not only still relevant but can be considered as one of the most optimal pharmacological agents in preventing VTE after THA and TKA.


This paper makes four propositions. First, it argues that the euro's institutional design makes it function like the interwar gold exchange standard during periods of stress. Just like the gold exchange standard during the 1930s, the euro created a 'core' of surplus countries and a 'periphery' of deficit countries. The latter have to sacrifice their internal domestic economic equilibrium in order to restore their external equilibrium, and therefore have no choice but to respond to balance of payments crises by a series of deflationary spending, price and wage cuts. The paper's second claim is that the euro's institutional design and the EU's response to its 'sovereign debt crisis' during 2010-13 deepened the recession in the Eurozone periphery, as EMU leaders focused almost exclusively on austerity measures and structural reforms and paid only lip service to the need to rebalance growth between North and South.

As Barry Eichengreen argued in Golden Fetters, the rigidity of the gold standard contributed to the length and depth of the Great Depression during the 1930s, but also underscored the incompatibility of the system with legitimate national democratic government in places like Italy, Germany, and Spain, which is the basis for the paper's third proposition: the euro crisis instigated a crisis of democratic government in Southern Europe underlining that democratic legitimacy still mainly resides within the borders of nation states. By adopting the euro, EMU member states gave up their ability to control major economic policy decisions, thereby damaging their domestic political legitimacy, which in turn dogged attempts to enact structural reforms. Evidence of the erosion of national democracy in the Eurozone periphery can be seen in the rise of anti-establishment parties, and the inability of traditional center-left and center-right parties to form stable governments and implement reforms. The paper's fourth proposition is that the euro's original design and the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis further widened the existing democratic deficit in the European Union, as manifested in rising anti-EU and anti-euro sentiment, as well as openly Eurosceptic political movements, not just in the euro periphery, but also increasingly in the euro core.


One of the features of deterministic chaos is sensitive to initial conditions. This feature limits the prediction horizons of many chaotic systems. In this paper, we propose a new prediction technique for chaotic time series. In our method, some neighbouring points of the predicted point, for which the corresponding local Lyapunov exponent is particularly large, would be discarded during estimating the local dynamics and thus the error accumulated by the prediction algorithm is reduced. The model is tested for the convection amplitude of Lorenz systems. The simulation results indicate that the prediction technique can improve the prediction of chaotic time series.


A case is presented of a farmer aged 33 years who developed polyarthritis four to five days after having used formaldehyde for fumigation of his piggery. The farmer was admitted to the General Hospital in Herning for treatment. The course of the treatment was several months. Furthermore, two farm assistants and a bricklayer were exposed to formaldehyde in the piggery. They developed acute intoxication symptoms and, a few days after the exposure, arthralgia. There was no other collective exposure. Apart from the formaldehyde, there was a great amount of water in the piggery, leading to the conclusion that the exposure was due to the formaldehyde being absorbed in the water with following evaporation. In conclusion, a relationship between these particular circumstances of formaldehyde exposure and reactive arthritis is found to be likely.


New technological developments offer new collaborative design environments to designers. There is a great interest in these new tools however it is clear that we know very little about how these new design media would affect the way architects collaborate. The study reported in this paper characterizes the collaborative design behaviour of a pair of designers in a prototype which has a 3D modelling tool and 2D sketch pad. The experimental study involves collecting data while a pair of architects works on a prescribed design task. The collected data includes video, verbal protocol data, and screen images. Our study shows that while 2D sketching encourages development of design ideas, the 3D virtual world encourages collaborative modelling of design solutions, in particular designers collaboratively refine the 3D model to visually analyse the design idea as they effectively develop realistic design representations


We measured intracellular free calcium concentrations ([Ca++]i) in the subcellular compartments of Toxoplasma gondii infected living cells using microspectrofluorometry and Indo-1 staining. [Ca++]i mapping was defined in infected and uninfected cells and in the neoformed parasitophorous vacuole (PV) 24 and 48 hr after parasite inoculation. At 24 hr after infection, a [Ca++]i gradient (PV/cytoplasm) was observed in favor of the PV in 72% of infected cells (p<0.001). Inside of the PV (lumen and parasites), [Ca++]i values appeared to be homogeneously distributed. At 48 hr after infection, the parasites had replicated and formed typical rosettes of more than 16 parasites. At this step, a positive [Ca++]i gradient (PV/cytoplasm) was detected in all analyzed cells (p<0.001). This result suggests that the PV (lumen and parasites) represents an individual subcellular compartment within the host cell that includes an independent [Ca++]i. Moreover, after 48 hr the cytoplasmic [Ca++]i decreased significantly (39 nM) compared with that measured from uninfected cells (53 nM) (p <0.05). Furthermore, the exit of Toxoplasma mediated by the calcium ionophore 4BrA23187 was preceded by a rise of [Ca++]i to 1 mM in the PV. The [Ca++]i rise and the liberation of parasites from their host appear to be correlated. On the basis of these observations, we suggest that the increase of [Ca++]i in the vacuole may act as a signal that triggers the egress of T. gondii.


Poly(styrene) stars with 5, 8, and 18 arms were synthesized using living radical polymerization from iodinated glucose, sucrose, and cyclodextrin initiator cores, respectively. The polymerization system comprised of a half-metallocene iron carbonyl complex coupled with titanium(IV) isopropoxide. The reaction kinetics and the molecular weight development were consistent with a living/controlled radical polymerization mechanism. Poly(styrene) stars with a very narrow molecular weight distribution were obtained. Molecular weight analysis by gel permeation chromatography and NMR confirmed that the star structure was consistent with theoretical predictions. The star structure of the polymers was further verified by hydrolysis of the cores to retrieve the polystyrene arms, followed by molecular weight analysis.


Soil biota such as earthworms and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) play an important role in the stability of ecosystem, and the bioavailability of soil elements, in particular heavy metals, in soils. To examine the effects of these organisms, a 3×2×3 factorial experiment arranged as randomized complete design was set up to study the individual and combined influence of earthworms (Lumbricus rubellus L.) and AMF (Glomus mosseae and Glomus intraradices) on soil organic matter (OM), dissolve organic carbon (DOC), soil respiration, microbial biomass carbon (MBC), soil enzyme activity and glomalin production in a calcareous soil contaminated with 0, 10, 20 mg of Cd kg-1 soil cropped with sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) with three replications. Both earthworms and mycorrhizal fungi were able to survive in all the treatments with added Cd. Results showed that Cd pollution decreased all the measured microbial activities and properties in soil. Earthworm treatment increased DOC by 4-10% at all Cd levels. The amount of soil MBC in mycorrhizal treatments was greater (1.9-2.4 times) than that in non-mycorrhizal treatment, and AMF inoculation increased MBC/TOC ratio from 23% to 53% in Cd-polluted soils. Earthworm and AMF enhanced soil enzyme activity/MBC ratio, 10-18 and 40-54% for soil alkaline phosphatase and 4-9 and 40-55% for soil urease, respectively. The glomalin production increased at 20 mg kg-1 and was about 15% greater in G. mosseae than in G. intraradices species. Although soil respiration was decreased substantially with Cd pollution, inoculation of either earthworms or AMF enhanced soil respiration when compared with the corresponding controls.


This study was conducted to determine the effects of water accessibility of pre-weaning calves during milk feeding meal on performance, water intake behavior and some blood metabolites. Forty-eight Holstein calves (39.2 ± 5.8 kg of BW) were assigned to 4 treatments, which consisted of different water accessibility: 1) Ad libitum water (AW), 2) Water not available (WNA), 3) Water available after milk feeding (WAM) and 4) Water available before milk feeding (WBM). Resulted showed different water accessibility changed water consumption of calves. The water intake of AW (1.03 kg/d) and WBM (1.07 kg/d) treatments were higher than others. Starter intake of WBM decreased (P<0.05) as compared with others. Calves of WBM had higher (P<0.05) activity of serum AST. Blood Cl and K did not show the difference (P<0.05) among treatments. Serum TAC levels were higher (P<0.05) in WNA and WAM calves. Serum protein and HDL in WNA calves were higher (P<0.05) than others. These groups had higher (P<0.05) serum Na concentration than others. The different water accessibility of calves had no significant effects on health score, respiratory, fecal score and growth parameters. Treatments did not affect behaviors parameters. But the number of visiting water bucket of AW and WBM were higher than other groups. Acetic acid and propionic acid of AW calves significantly increased (P<0.05) as versus other treatments. Drinking water around milk feeding meal change water consumption, performance and improve some blood metabolites and rumen parameters of calves but did not influence growth parameters.


BACKGROUND
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has a high fatality rate and poses a great threat to human health. Astragaloside IV (AS-IV) is proven to attenuate cigarette smoke (CS)-induced pulmonary inflammation, based on which this research focuses on the mechanism of AS-IV in COPD.

METHODS
To evaluate the effects of AS-IV, CD4+ T cells received different concentrations of AS-IV. CD4+ T cell viability, T helper 17 (Th17)/regulatory T (Treg) markers and CXCR4 expressions in CD4+ T cells or spleen/lung tissues were detected by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide assay, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and Western blot. The proportions of Treg and Th17 cells were assessed by flow cytometry. Enzyme-linked immune sorbent assay was employed to determine cytokine contents in serum and lung tissues.

RESULTS
AS-IV with concentration exceeding 40 µM inhibited CD4+ T cell viability. In vitro, AS-IV suppressed the expressions of CXCR4, retinoid-related orphan receptor γt (RORγt), and interleukin (IL)-17A as well as Th17 cells but promoted the expressions of forkhead box p3 (Foxp3) and IL-10 as well as Treg cells, while CXCR4 overexpression reversed the effects of AS-IV. In vivo, AS-IV alleviated COPD, and CS-induced Th17/Treg imbalance in mice and reduced CS-induced down-regulation of IL-10 in serum and lung tissues and Foxp3 and up-regulation of IL-1β, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), IL-6, and IL-17A in serum and lung tissues and RORγt. AS-IV mitigated CS-induced CXCR4 up-regulation. Above effects of AS-IV on mice were offset by CXCR4 overexpression.

CONCLUSIONS
AS-IV restores Th17/Treg balance via impeding CXCR4 to ameliorate COPD.


National parks are one of the foundations of global biodiversity conservation and help protect the ecological environment and biodiversity. Assessing ecosystem integrity in national parks can help understand ecosystem balance, health, and biodiversity status. We introduce three methods to assess ecosystem integrity of national parks: IBI (Index of Biotic Integrity), TLA (Three Level Approach) and EIAF (Ecosystem Integrity Assessment Framework), respectively. IBI relies on high intensity field survey and laboratory analysis. Albeit expensive, time consuming and requiring high level of biological expertise in identifying species, the results are accurate and reliable. TLA, including Remote Assessment, Rapid Assessment and Intensive Assessment, offers great flexibility to assess the integrity of complex ecosystems. EIAF combines the advantages of IBI and TLA, expands the use of indicator species and optimizes scoring statistics. Hence, EIAF is one the most sophisticated assessment methods of ecosystem integrity for national parks. We also discuss •综述• © 生 物多 样性 Bio dive rsity Sci nce 第 1 期 代云川等: 国家公园生态系统完整性评价研究进展 105 综 述 some issues such as incomplete assessment indices, single assessment form and subjectivity of assessment methods in current studies. We propose that research on ecosystem integrity of national parks should combine the processes that join nature, economy and society. Such an interdisciplinary approach requires integrated research on sustainable socio-economic development and human health, and explore the relationship between invasive species and ecological environment. We also suggest the need to look for new indicator species that can reflect the state and change trend of ecosystem integrity and thus help develop a standardized assessment system for national parks.


The destruction of the insulin-producing b-islet cells of the pancreas by the immune system results in the development of type I diabetes. In their Perspective,
 von Boehmer and Sarukhan
 discuss the elegant demonstration in this issue (
 Yoon
 et al .) that the initiating autoantigen in this cascade of cell destruction is glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD). They go on to propose new therapeutic strategies to treat autoimmune diabetes based on inducing tolerance to the GAD antigen in individuals susceptible to developing the disease.


We study heat transfer in plane Couette flow laden with rigid spherical particles by means of direct numerical simulations. In the simulations we use a direct-forcing immersed boundary method to account for the dispersed phase together with a volume-of-fluid approach to solve the temperature field inside and outside the particles. We focus on the variation of the heat transfer with the particle Reynolds number, total volume fraction (number of particles) and the ratio between the particle and fluid thermal diffusivity, quantified in terms of an effective suspension diffusivity. We show that, when inertia at the particle scale is negligible, the heat transfer increases with respect to the unladen case following an empirical correlation recently proposed in the literature. In addition, an average composite diffusivity can be used to approximate the effective diffusivity of the suspension in the inertialess regime when varying the molecular diffusion in the two phases. At finite particle inertia, however, the heat transfer increase is significantly larger, smoothly saturating at higher volume fractions. By phase-ensemble-averaging we identify the different mechanisms contributing to the total heat transfer and show that the increase of the effective conductivity observed at finite inertia is due to the increase of the transport associated with fluid and particle velocity. We also show that the contribution of the heat conduction in the solid phase to the total wall-normal heat flux reduces when increasing the particle Reynolds number, so that particles of low thermal diffusivity weakly alter the total heat flux in the suspension at finite particle Reynolds numbers. On the other hand, a higher particle thermal diffusivity significantly increases the total heat transfer.


Food incompatibilities affect approximately 20% of the population and can be caused by allergy.  Many plant proteins act as sensitizing agents in humans upon repeated exposure. Wheat is a prominent allergen source and is one of the causes of baker's asthma, food and pollen allergy. On the basis of differential solubility, wheat grain proteins have been classified as salt-soluble albumins and gluten fraction or prolamins, which include gliadins and glutenins. Both proteins sources have been implicated in the development of wheat hypersensitivity. During the past years we have purified and characterized several proteins from wheat, barley and rye, which are associated with flour allergy. These allergens have a potential role as a biological defence against the insect infestation of the grain. Until recently gluten intolerance has been has been considered to be typical of celiac disease and wheat allergy. In the last the last few years, new digestive syndromes has been described. A new syndrome has been named non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) and eosinophilic esophagitis can be also due to wheat ingestion. The introduction of microarray techniques featuring a large panel of purified allergens has been a major advance in the diagnosis of allergic diseases. However, this technique has been hardly applied to the diagnosis and characterization of patients with occupational asthma due to wheat allergy. Here, we described these investigations, the most important pathologies associated with wheat, their prevention and treatment.


The controlled consensus problem of Networked Multi-Agent Systems (NMAS) consisting of different agent dynamics is investigated in this manuscript. Integrating with the pinning control method and direct adaptive control method, the global bounded consensus criteria is deviated. The consensus criteria obtained makes all agents dynamics achieve consensus in the sense of boundedness. Meanwhile, many previous consensus results referring to the identical case can be viewed as special cases of the present results. Finally, numerical simulations are discussed by demonstrating the effectiveness of the theoretical results.


Labeling data to use for training object detectors is expensive and time consuming. Publicly available overhead datasets for object detection are labeled with image-aligned bounding boxes, object-aligned bounding boxes, or object masks, but it is not clear whether such detailed labeling is necessary. To test the idea, we developed novel single- and two-stage network architectures that use centerpoints for labeling. In this paper we show that these architectures achieve nearly equivalent performance to approaches using more detailed labeling on three overhead object detection datasets.


Alcohol addiction is associated with cognitive impairment of clinically varying intensity and duration, which starts progressively while remaining often underestimated. Progressive brain damage can lead over time to a dementia syndrome. The diagnosis of cognitive deficits is of prime importance since it helps to optimize patient care and to decrease failure in re-insertion programs. Here we propose several screening tests which should give the practitioner the opportunity to make a basic cognitive assessment and to decide whether a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation is indicated. In alcohol addiction cognitive impairment is dominated by executive dysfunction of varying severity, which is also characteristic of alcohol dementia.


An application of hyperstructure theory on social sciences is presented. In social sciences when questionnaires are used, there is a new tool, the bar instead of Likert scale. The bar has been suggested by Vougiouklis & Vougiouklis in 2008, who have proposed the replacement of Likert scales, usually used in questionnaires, with a bar. This new tool, gives the opportunity to researchers to elaborate the questionnaires in different ways, depending on the filled questionnaires and of course on the problem. We study these filled questionnaires using hyperstructure theory. The hyperstructure theory is being related with questionnaires and we study the obtained hyperstructures which are used as an organized device of the problem and we focus on special problems. Article Information Corresponding Author: P. Nikolaidou; Received: July 2020; Accepted: August 2020. Paper type: Original.


Ubiquitin-specific protease 2a, a deubiquitinating enzyme, elevates MYC levels in prostate cancer cells via its stabilization of MDM2, undermining p53 regulation of microRNAs that target MYC mRNA.


Polymeric nanoparticles have attracted much attention as pharmaceutical delivery vehicles to prolong residence time and enhance the bioavailability of therapeutic molecules through the mucoadhesive phenomenon. In this study, chitosan:TPP nanoparticles were synthetized using the ionic gelation technique to analyze their mucoadhesive interaction with reconstituted porcine gastrointestinal mucus from a triborheological point of view under different pH conditions (pH = 2.0, 4.0, 6.0 and 7.0). The triborheological profile of the reconstituted mucus was evaluated at different pH environments through the oscillation frequency and the flow sweep tests, demonstrating that the reconstituted mucus exhibits shear thinning behavior regardless of pH, while its viscoelastic properties showed a change in behavior from a polymeric solution performance under neutral pH conditions to a viscoelastic gel under acidic conditions. Additionally, a rheological synergism analysis was performed to visualize the changes that occur in the viscoelastic properties, the viscosity and the coefficient of friction of the reconstituted mucus samples as a consequence of the interaction with the chitosan:TPP nanoparticles to determine or to discard the presence of the mucoadhesion phenomenon under the different pH values. Mucoadhesiveness evaluation revealed that chitosan:TPP exhibited strong mucoadhesion under highly acidic pH conditions, below its pKa value of 6.5. In contrast, at neutral conditions or close to its pKa value, the chitosan:TPP nanoparticles' mucoadhesiveness was negligible.