The chisel plough is considered as a farm minimum tillage tool for
leaving mulch remaining on the soil surface. The quantity of carbon
dioxide that gets lost during tillage depends on the used implement;
the disk harrow causes bigger loss than the chisel plough. The chisel
plough has been introduced in Venezuela since 1973. The efficient
performance of the chisel plough is function of the position of the
bodies in the frame. The specific objectives consisted on relating the
number, distances and position of the shank with the bulk density,
water content, porosity, efficiency, field capacity, working depth,
draft requirement, weed control and clod size. An 82 kW John Deere 4240
tractor was used, and a mounted chisel plough Bonford Superflow
standard model of 7 mobile chisel, with a maximum working width of 2,44
m. A blocks design at random was used with eight treatments that
consisted on varying the number, position and distance of the shanks
with five repetitions. A conventional variance analysis was carried out
among the eight treatments and the differences among them were detected
by means of the Minimum Significant Difference Test with (p ≤
0.05). It was obtained: the apparent density between 1,49 and 1,63 Mg
m-3; the porosity between 32,59 and 37,78%; the depth between 24,86 and
28,80 cm, soil humidity between 10,63 and 14,58 cm3 cm-3; the best weed
control was for the position in V of five bodies, with 25 cm among
bodies. On concluded, recommending the appropriate positional order of
the bodies for the studied parameters, including weed residuals.


Metabolic changes and lipodystrophy in HIV patients are sequelae of antiretroviral therapy, although the pathophysiology is, in part, still not well understood. These thoughts should be taken into consideration in making the decision for beginning therapy; however, they should be regarded as having lower priority when immunosuppression is clearly present since the clinical significance of many changes is not certain at this time. Numerous therapy recommendations are presently insufficiently evidence-based or are experimental. Treatment in connection with clinical studies or within the scope of a documented application is desirable. In any case, whether the probable long-term damage through HAART caused metabolic changes justifies a therapeutic intervention with likewise potential toxicity should be carefully deliberated.


Social injustice is a phenomenon which occurred since long time ago and it still becomes a social problem nowadays, it is also depicted in many literary works, especially in the 19th century literary tradition in England. This research aims to find out the kinds of social injustice depicted along the plot story in Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist and to know how the main characters react and solve such social injustice they encounter in their daily communal life. The research is categorized as a descriptive qualitative research, using the sociological approach. The data are collected from primary data and secondary data. The primary data are taken from Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist through the description of events and characterizations, while the secondary data are from various books, journals, articles and some sources from internet. The research reveals that among many kinds of social injustice, poverty, social stratification and child labor are the most common issues depicted in Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist. The researcher also finds that most of characters that experience social injustice are those who come from the lower class. They suffer poverty and cannot do anything to change the condition. In order to stay alive, most of the characters who experience such kind of social injustice prefer to conduct criminal. In relation to the application of sociology of literature theory, it is found that social injustice like poverty, social stratification and child labor depicted in the novel are the representation of the real condition at the time the novel was written.


Cardiac rupture, such as ventricular free-wall rupture, ventricular septal perforation, and papillary muscle rupture, is a life-threatening complication of acute myocardial infarction. Herein, we report a very rare case of combining these three types of ventricular rupture. A 71-year-old woman underwent mitral valve replacement and left ventricular free-wall rupture repair after an acute myocardial infarction. She was transferred to our hospital under mechanical support by venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and intra-aortic balloon pump due to circulatory collapse. Transthoracic echocardiography revealed a left-to-right shunt caused by ventricular septal perforation. The patient underwent endoventricular patch plasty for septal defect closure. Unfortunately, a prolonged postoperative course led to the development of multi-organ failure followed by fatal outcome on day 32 postoperatively. To our best knowledge, this is the first reported case of ventricular triple rupture associated with acute myocardial infarction.


Very little has been written about why individuals often do not forgive or why their efforts to do so may not be successful. The existing literature concerning psychological concepts of forgiveness generally presumes them to be universally applicable without regard to individual differences in the forgiver's developmental maturity level, personality structure, or psychopathological state. This article expands and elaborates the author's earlier psychologically and theologically integrated model of forgiveness (Pingleton, 1989) to offer a psychodynamic understanding of how and why individuals may become pathologically resistant to or fixated in the forgiveness process. Accordingly, a paradigmatic depiction of relevant biblical principles and Object Relations developmental theory is introduced, from which diagnostic and psychotherapeutic implications for conceptualizing forgiveness failures are drawn.


This paper discusses the influence of Corporate Governance (CG) on Cost of Capital (CoC). The study revolves on the hypothesis that optimum capital structure at minimum cost is also an agenda item of CG. Thus this study explores the influence of CG on overall cost of capital as well as at its components level. The main goal is to prove that with improvement in CG performance, leads to reduction in information asymmetry among principal and agents, enabling agency cost to decline resulting in resetting guidance for required returns for equity and debt to a lower level. Main attention was paid to nature of correlation and OLS based econometric modelling of WACC to identify the lead indicators CG should influence to create an impact. This topic was chosen on the assumption that CG has a role to play in enabling financial competitiveness for the firm to fuel its ambitious growth path. The major findings of the paper are, there exist no statistically significant differences existing among the means for CoC among the CG categories, and with rise in CG, and required return on equity and required return on debt are declining by the direction of correlation. However, in CGPI category 1, study finds required return on debt rising as a possible outcome of corporate strategies in those companies. The above findings suggest that the implications on the CoC on the whole is an outcome of the strategy implementation which is a byproduct of CG performance. Overall, study concludes that there is a reduction in CoC with rise in CG performance.


The background of this research is the low quality of thematic learning and the use of less varied methods. The aim of this Classroom Action Research is expected to improve the quality of thematic learning through the Discovery Learning model for fifth grade students of SDN Legok Kebasen. This Classroom Action Research was conducted in 2 cycles, each cycle consisting of four stages, namely planning, implementing, observing and reflecting. The implementation of the action uses the Discovery Learning model with a systematics of initial activities, core activities and final activities. The results showed that students' learning completeness increased from 47.62% in the initial study to 66.67% in the first cycle and 90.48% in the second cycle. Student activity also increased from 23.86 in the initial study to 24.95 in the first cycle and 27.38 in the second cycle. The class average increased from 61.43 in the initial study to 70.00 in the first cycle and 75.24 in the second cycle. From the research results it can be concluded that the application of the Discovery Learning model can improve the quality of learning.


Raw counts from aerial surveys make no correction for undetected animals and provide no estimate of precision with which to judge the utility of the counts. Sightability modeling and double-observer (DO) modeling are 2 commonly used approaches to account for detection bias and to estimate precision in aerial surveys. We developed a hybrid DO sightability model (model MH) that uses the strength of each approach to overcome the weakness in the other, for aerial surveys of elk (Cervus elaphus). The hybrid approach uses detection patterns of 2 independent observer pairs in a helicopter and telemetry-based detections of collared elk groups. Candidate MH models reflected hypotheses about effects of recorded covariates and unmodeled heterogeneity on the separate front-seat observer pair and back-seat observer pair detection probabilities. Group size and concealing vegetation cover strongly influenced detection probabilities. The pilot's previous experience participating in aerial surveys influenced detection by the front pair of observers if the elk group was on the pilot's side of the helicopter flight path. In 9 surveys in Mount Rainier National Park, the raw number of elk counted was approximately 80–93% of the abundance estimated by model MH. Uncorrected ratios of bulls per 100 cows generally were low compared to estimates adjusted for detection bias, but ratios of calves per 100 cows were comparable whether based on raw survey counts or adjusted estimates. The hybrid method was an improvement over commonly used alternatives, with improved precision compared to sightability modeling and reduced bias compared to DO modeling. © 2013 The Wildlife Society.


Cross-correlation methods combined with electrostatic sensing technology offer a promising solution to the online continuous measurement of velocity of particulate solids in pneumatic pipelines. To obtain accurate velocity, the selections of sampling frequency and integral time are critical. The selection of sampling frequency is strongly influenced by the frequency characteristic of the signal. By using finite-element modeling (FEM), the frequency characteristic of the electrostatic sensor was analyzed. To illustrate the particle distribution and the velocity profiles' influence on the frequency characteristic of the electrostatic signal, an electrostatic velocimetry calibration apparatus was built. Based on the foregoing analysis and taking the measurement error of the transit time and the real application requirement into account, the principles of the selection of sampling frequency and integral time were described.


OBJECTIVE
To determine whether platelets obtained from cats expressed glycoprotein Ib (GPIb).

SAMPLE POPULATION
Platelets obtained from 11 specific-pathogen-free cats.

PROCEDURE
Platelets were analyzed by use of immunofluorescence microscopy, flow cytometry, sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, western immunoblot analysis, and immunoprecipitation.

RESULTS
Immunofluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry revealed the protein on the surface of feline platelets. Biochemical studies (western immunoblot analysis and immunoprecipitation) revealed a 140-kd membrane glycoprotein. Additional biochemical studies revealed that feline GPIb was sensitive to proteolysis, because platelet cytoskeletons prepared with low concentrations of a calpain inhibitor (ie, leupeptin; 100 microg/ml) had substantial proteolysis, and there was an association of protein fragments with the actin cytoskeleton.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE
Analysis of these results indicate that feline platelets express a 140-kd membrane protein that is recognized by monoclonal antibodies developed against GPIb. Application of standardized ELISA to quantitate glycocalicin, the water-soluble fragment of GPIb, may provide important information on the production of microvesicles, increased platelet turnover, and abnormal proteolysis.


Person re-identification (ReID) is now an active research topic for AI-based video surveillance applications such as specific person search, but the practical issue that the target person(s) may change clothes (clothes inconsistency problem) has been overlooked for long. For the first time, this paper systematically studies this problem. We first overcome the difficulty of lack of suitable dataset, by collecting a small yet representative real dataset for testing whilst building a large realistic synthetic dataset for training and deeper studies. Facilitated by our new datasets, we are able to conduct various interesting new experiments for studying the influence of clothes inconsistency. We find that changing clothes makes ReID a much harder problem in the sense of bringing difficulties to learning effective representations and also challenges the generalization ability of previous ReID models to identify persons with unseen (new) clothes. Representative existing ReID models are adopted to show informative results on such a challenging setting, and we also provide some preliminary efforts on improving the robustness of existing models on handling the clothes inconsistency issue in the data. We believe that this study can be inspiring and helpful for encouraging more researches in this direction. The dataset is available on the project website: https://wanfb.github.io/dataset.html.


As a walking assistive device, one of major goals should be reduce wearer's metabolic cost as much as possible. Toward this goal, this paper presents the preliminary study on a new soft wearable robotic suit for ankle and hip assistance for daily life activities. The presented robotic suit is lightweight, and it almost does not restrict the lower limb motion range. In addition, its structure is simple, and thus wearers can easily take the device on and off by themselves. Experimental results on two young subjects show that the robotic suit reduced metabolic cost with averaged reductions of 10.2 % and 6.8 %, respectively, by not drastically disrupting the normal walking biomechanics of the subjects.


Abstract:The inaugural issue of the avant-garde arts magazine S.Nob, published in June 1962 in Mexico City, featured a translation of the first page of Finnegans Wake. The translation, which featured two full pages of notes on the text, was the work of the magazine's editor, Salvador Elizondo, a young poet and cinema buff whose magazine served as a digest of recent experimental art and literature from Europe and the Americas. At once a critical survey, a critical guide, and a gesture of appropriation, Elizondo's annotated translation of the Wake's first page presents a microcosm of Joycean interpretation and contributes to the productive excess of this field. For this very reason, Elizondo's "Primera Página" serves as a constitutive gesture for the avant-garde group congregated around S.Nob, whose ranks featured European artists such as Leonora Carrington and Kati Horna as well as Latin-American artists and authors such as Elizondo, Jorge Ibargüengoitia, Juan Garcia Ponce, and Alejandro Jodorowsky-Prullansky. As demonstrated in the magazine's pages, Joycean avant-gardes such as the S.Nob group are as invested in rethinking the genealogies and mythic histories compiled in and by the Wake, as they are in standing at the forefront of the unfolding history of the immediate present.


Network equipments generate an overwhelming number of reports and alarms every day, but only a small fraction of these alarms require the intervention of network operators. Our goal is to build a system to automatically select the set of critical alarms, so that network operators can focus their time and effort on these critical events. As a first step, we focus on alarms from intradomain routing. Our key observation is that operators already use trouble ticketing systems to record all events that require their intervention. Hence, we can use the history of trouble tickets combined with intradomain routing messages to train a classifier. Then, we can apply this classifier online to process intradomain routing messages and single out the critical events. This paper shows the feasibility of this approach by using the k-nearest neighbor algorithm to build classifiers from IS-IS and trouble ticket data from two networks. Our results show that we can accurately pinpoint approximately 70% of critical events for both networks.


12-O-Tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) stimulation of PU-34 cells, a primate bone marrow stromal cell line, resulted in a prolonged elevation of interleukin-11 (IL-11) mRNA, which can be inhibited by protein synthesis inhibitors. Nuclear run-on assays and actinomycin D experiments demonstrated that the up-regulation of IL-11 gene expression is mainly controlled at the posttranscriptional level through the protein kinase C (PKC) pathway. Inhibition of PKC activity by calphostin C generated an IL-11 mRNA degradation intermediate in TPA-stimulated PU-34 cells. This intermediate retains the 5' untranslated region (5'UTR) and coding region of the IL-11 mRNA but has lost the poly(A) tail and the 3'UTR. The mechanisms underlying IL-11 mRNA stabilization were further investigated by transfections with a variety of chimeric IL-11 constructs and deletion mutants. Two important observations were made from these transient expression experiments: (i) the same 3'UTR of IL-11 mRNA shown to confer instability in one chimeric transcript may not function as a destabilizer in another chimeric RNA, and (ii) the 5'UTR, coding region, and 3'UTR all contribute to IL-11 mRNA decay, and labile IL-11 deletion transcripts are not necessarily stabilized by TPA stimulation. Our study suggests that multiple regions within the IL-11 mRNA are involved in TPA-stimulated IL-11 mRNA stabilization, possibly through a unique RNA folding conformation involving interactions of various RNA sequences within the IL-11 mRNA molecule.


Multiple scale distributions are multivariate distributions that exhibit a variety of shapes not necessarily elliptical while remaining analytical and tractable. In this work we consider mixtures of such distributions for their ability to handle non standard typically non-gaussian clustering tasks. We propose a Bayesian formulation of the mixtures and a tractable inference procedure based on variational approximation. The interest of such a Bayesian formulation is illustrated on an important mixture model selection task, which is the issue of selecting automatically the number of components. We derive promising procedures that can be carried out in a single-run, in contrast to the more costly comparison of information criteria. Preliminary results on simulated and real data show promising performance in terms of clustering and computation time.


The authors present a proposal to operationalize and assess the change of a type of eognitive confiict called implicative dilemma (iD) in the context of personal construct theory. In a sample of 87 patients, Dls and symptoms are ssessed at the beginning and the end ofthe psychotherapy process. Results suggest that psychotherapy reduces both of them. Moreover, ehe decrease of Dls seems tobe related with syrnptom improvement, for what, a relation is estimated between the presence of ID and symptom reduction, a result thai should be confirmed in controlled siudies. Ouerall, these results suggest te include protocols te work with dilemmas as a way to improve the bencflts of the psychotherapy for those patienis who have them.


Background Adiponectin is a fat tissue hormone which is involved in the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis(OA). The results of previous studies indicating its role in inflammation are contraversial(1,2). Objectives In this study we aimed to measure plasma adiponectin concentrations in obese and non-obese patients with knee osteoarthritis and to investigate the relation between plasma levels of adiponectin with clinical and radiological disease severity. Methods Sixty patients with knee osteoarthritis and twenty-five healthy controls were included in the study. Patients were divided into two groups. Group 1 (n=30) was the non-obese patients group with body mass index (BMI)<24.9 and group 2 (n=30) was the obese patients group with BMI>29.9. Healthy controls were accepted as group 3 (n=25). Patients were clinically evaluated by means of pain, functional disability, quality of life(QoL). Pain intensity was measured with visual analog scale(VAS), functional disability with Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) and QoL with short form 36 (SF-36). Also all patients were radiologically evaluated and graded according to Kellgren Lawrence(KL) scale by anteroposterior knee radiography. Fasting blood serum were collected from both patient and control groups to measure plasma concentrations of adiponectin by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Additionally, sedimentation rate, CRP, and RF were measured from the same blood sample. Results Serum adiponectin levels were significantly higher in OA patients than the control group (group 1= 123.54 ± 85.08, group 2=100.61 ± 57.34, group 3= 65.47 ± 39.36 p=0.018). There were no statistically significant differences between group 1 and 2 (p=0.487). There was a statistically significant correlation between adiponectin concentration and KL grading scores which means higher grades have higher adiponection levels. Additionally, there was a positive correlation between adiponectin levels, WOMAC total scores and VAS in OA patients independent of age and BMI (respectively r=0.583 p=0<001, r=0.326 p=0.012). SF-36 scores were inversely associated with adiponectin levels. There were no statistically significant correlation between sedimentation rate, CRP, RF levels of plasma and adiponectin concentration(p>0.05). In contrast to high adiponectin level with low BMI in healthy controls, we could not find any significant correlation between them in knee OA patients. Conclusions According to this pilot study results, plasma adiponectin concentrations were elevated in knee osteoarthritis patients and associated with both clinical and radiological disease severity. Thus, adiponectin levels can be taken into consideration in assessing disease severity in daily practice in future. References P Pottie, N Presle, B Terlain, P Netter, D Mainard, F Berenbaum. Obesity and osteoarthritis: more complex than predicted! Ann Rheum Dis. 2006;65(11):1403- 1405 Honsawek S, Chayanupatkul M. Correlation of plasma and synovial fluid adiponectin with knee osteoarthritis severity. Arch Med Res 2010; 41(8):593-8. Disclosure of Interest N. Cüzdan Coşkun Grant/research support from: TLAR-Turkish League Against Rheumatism, S. Ay: None Declared, D. Evcik: None Declared, D. Oztuna: None Declared


The realisation of the contribution of peasant agriculture to food security in the midst of scenarios of climate change, economic and energy crisis, led to the concepts of food sovereignty and agroecologically based production systems to gain much attention in the developing world in the last two decades. New approaches and technologies involving application of blended modern agricultural science and indigenous knowledge systems and spearheaded by thousands of farmers, NGOs, and some government and academic institutions are proving to enhance food security while conserving agrobiodiversity soil and water resources conservation throughout hundreds of rural communities in the developing world. Case studies from Latin America are presented to demonstrate how the agroecological development paradigm based on the revitalisation of small farms which emphasises diversity, synergy, recycling and integration, and social processes that value community participation and empowerment, proves to be perhaps one of the only viable options to meet present and future food needs. Given the present and predicted near future climate, energy and economic scenarios, agroecology has emerged as one of the most robust pathways towards designing biodiverse, productive, and resilient agroecosystems available today.


From the Enlightenment to the Nazi era, Jewish diaspora identity within the territory
of the Habsburg Monarchy and its successor states (the Austrian First Republic
and the Austrofascist system that existed between 1934 and 1938) vacillated
between Jews' sense of integration, assimilation, and belonging to the larger society
in which they lived and a sense of exclusion from it. Four historical turning points
were most relevant to the lives and perceptions of the Jewish population of Austria:
the 1780s, bringing legislation infused with the spirit of the Enlightenment; 1848 as
the first expression of participation by Jews in the political life of society at large;
the attainment of equal rights in 1867; and, beginning in 1879, anti-Semitism,
nationalism, and rejection of the integration of the Jewish population. The Jews of
the Habsburg Monarchy were ultimately the only discernable ethnic group to symbolize
the dynastic principle of the multi-ethnic state, in that they did not live in a
geographically defined region in which they constituted an identifiable majority;
with the collapse of the Habsburg Monarchy in 1918, their role became that of a
conspicuous and vulnerable minority.


This course applies the concepts of reaction rate, stoichiometry and equilibrium to the analysis of chemical and biological reacting systems, derivation of rate expressions from reaction mechanisms and equilibrium or steady state assumptions, design of chemical and biochemical reactors via synthesis of chemical kinetics, transport phenomena, and mass and energy balances. Topics covered include: chemical/biochemical pathways; enzymatic, pathway, and cell growth kinetics; batch, plug flow and well-stirred reactors for chemical reactions and cultivations of microorganisms and mammalian cells; heterogeneous and enzymatic catalysis; heat and mass transport in reactors, including diffusion to and within catalyst particles and cells or immobilized enzymes.


This collective volume arises from a Wellcome-funded conference held at the University of Warwick in 2014 about the "new" Galen discovered in 2005 in a Greek manuscript, De indolentia. In the wake of the latest English translation published by Vivian Nutton in 2013, this book offers a multi-disciplinary approach to the new text, discussing in turn issues around Galen's literary production, his medical and philosophical contribution to the theme of avoiding distress (ἀλυπία), controversial topics in Roman history such as the Antonine plague and the reign of Commodus, and finally the reception of the text in the Islamic world. Gathering eleven contributions by recognised specialists of Galen, Greek literature and Roman history, it revisits the new text extensively. See Less


We demonstrate that many-body localization of two-dimensional weakly interacting bosons in disorder remains stable in the thermodynamic limit at sufficiently low temperatures. Highly energetic particles destroy the localized state only above a critical temperature, which increases with the strength of the disorder. If the particle distribution is truncated at high energies, as it does for cold atom systems, the localization can be stable at any temperature.


The kinetics of the shrinking of polymer gels induced by ultracentrifugal fields is investigated. A theory is proposed to describe the diffusion process of polymer networks under centrifugal fields. The initial shrinking rate is proportional to the ratio of the centrifugal force to the frictional force of networks. The shrinking attains the stationary state as a result of the balance between the centrifugal force and the swelling force of networks. The characteristic time for shrinking is of the order of a2/D where a and D are the stationary displacement and diffusion constant, respectively. We also present the experimental data for the shrinking of the poly(acrylamide) (PAAm) gels under ultracentrifugal fields. The shrinkage increases linearly with time in the initial stage whereas it reaches the steady state in the long time limit as expected by the theory. Each of longitudinal elastic modulus and friction coefficient of the PAAm gels is evaluated from the data on the basis of the theory.


Although neural machine translation (NMT) has achieved impressive progress recently, it is usually trained on the clean parallel data set and hence cannot work well when the input sentence is the production of the automatic speech recognition (ASR) system due to the enormous errors in the source. To solve this problem, we propose a simple but effective method to improve the robustness of NMT in the case of speech translation. We simulate the noise existing in the realistic output of the ASR system and inject them into the clean parallel data so that NMT can work under similar word distributions during training and testing. Besides, we also incorporate the Chinese Pinyin feature which is easy to get in speech translation to further improve the translation performance. Experiment results show that our method has a more stable performance and outperforms the baseline by an average of 3.12 BLEU on multiple noisy test sets, even while achieves a generalization improvement on the WMT'17 Chinese-English test set.


The aim of this research was to explore the experience and consequences of stroke amongst young adults and their spouses through semi-structured interviews and qualitative analysis. Individuals who were aged between 18 and 50 years, who had experienced a mild stroke and who were at least three months post-stroke, were eligible for inclusion. Individuals with persistent communication impairment, which would result in difficulties in taking part in an interview, were excluded. Patient participants acted as gatekeepers to the recruitment of their spouses. Fifteen individuals participated in the study, eleven patients and four spouses. Accounts of participants' experiences were transcribed and analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Four super-ordinate themes emerged from patient accounts: (1) sudden and unexplained: will it happen again?; (2) changes in daily life; (3) trying to get better; and (4) relationship changes. Accounts from the spousal participants are encapsulated in the super-ordinate theme: loss and change. Findings demonstrate the ongoing difficulties experienced and negative impact stroke has on young adults and their partners. Ongoing cognitive impairments were a major barrier to carrying out daily activities, suggesting a need for greater recognition of such impairments among rehabilitation staff. Greater support is also required for spouses of young adults with stroke. Despite persistent difficulties, positive consequences of stroke were reported both by those directly affected and their spouses. Relationships were changed both positively and negatively following stroke. Insights gained in the current research contribute to a richer and more balanced understanding of the implications of stroke for young couples.


Distributed systems today are very vulnerable to malicious attacks, either from insiders or outsiders. When an attacker controls a component of the system, he may steal some sensitive information, create some false information, or prevent legitimate users from using the system. An intrusion-tolerant distributed system is a system which is designed so that any intrusion into a part of the system will not endanger confidentiality, integrity and availability. This paper describes two such systems we are developing: an intrusion tolerance CA system and a survivable repository, which are highly resilient to both insider and outsider attacks that compromise one or more components.


One of the great miracles of the Book of Mormon occurred when the brother of Jared asked the Lord to touch some clear stones so they would provide light inside the barges that would take his people across the ocean to the New World. To some modern readers, the story seems implausible. This article surveys a number of ancient and medieval accounts of glowing stones, including some said to have been used in Noah"s ark and the "fish" the Lord prepared to swallow Jonah. The parallels to the Jaredite story are remarkable and suggest an ancient milieu for the book of Ether.


Hippocampal and neocortical neural activity is modulated by the position of the individual in space. While hippocampal neurons provide the basis for a spatial map, prefrontal cortical neurons generalize over environmental features. Whether these generalized representations result from a bidirectional interaction with, or are mainly derived from hippocampal spatial representations is not known. By examining simultaneously recorded hippocampal and medial prefrontal neurons, we observed that prefrontal spatial representations show a delayed coherence with hippocampal ones. We also identified subpopulations of cells in the hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex that formed functional cross-area couplings; these resembled the optimal connections predicted by a probabilistic model of spatial information transfer and generalization. Moreover, cross-area couplings were strongest and had the shortest delay preceding spatial decision-making. Our results suggest that generalized spatial coding in the medial prefrontal cortex is inherited from spatial representations in the hippocampus, and that the routing of information can change dynamically with behavioral demands.


ions of this earlier theoretical study and translating them into a Gisual and visible relationship" of 537 black-and-white photographs whish accompany the text. Spaces takes the reader on a journey through the landscapes which have influenced Greenbie as well as through the personalities and design theories which have helped shape his personal outIook on design. The book then is a highly personalized testament to the principles with which he is concerned as a desimer. It is this personal perspective: which is perhaps the book's most interesting quality; it is also the source of some of the book's shortcomings. In Part I Greenbie examines private spaceshome space, street space, and village spaceand makes a case for the importance of a hierarchy of privacy in the design of these spaces. One cannot read the first half of the book without inevitably comparing it to Cotnmunilpr and Privap (Chesnayeff and Alexander 1963) and to A Pattern Laaguage (Alexander el al. 1977). These works are far more precise, systematic, and pointed in their directives to the designer. Greenbie, by contrast, shares the process of analysis and theory befdre application is discussed. As a result, many of his references to application are vague. In Part IT, "Public Spaces," Greenbie finally recounts the basic theory he outlined in De~ign for Diversity. One wishes he had introduced this conceptual framework and its accompanying vocabulary at the outset of the book, so that it might have served to tighten the book's focus by providing an analytical model to be consistentIy applied throughout the work. Greenbie modifies Edward T. Hall's "proxemics" to "proxernic," which he defines as a culturally homogeneous use of space, roughly equivalent to animal territoriality, and descriptive of the types of private and communal spaces discussed in Part I . He then coins the term "distemic" to describe spaces which are actively shared across cultures, These two types of space are iaterrelated, and both are essential for safe and sane urban environments. It is the farniIiarity and security of the home environment {proxemic space) which allow man to "face the uncertainties of ma1 human diversity" in distemic spaces. Greenbie does not consider the distinction between proxernic and distemic space as academic, but instead as one basic to planning for groups of people with conflicting outlooks. In the second half of the book he looks at a variety of distemic spaces to illustrate the application of his model as an analytical and predictive tool in planning and design. In the final chapter he examines urban parks, promenades, and "places for peace o f mind," urban features which he views as barorneters of the social health of cities. Greenbie feels that "only in urbane public spaces . . . , and in their physical opposite, quiet, natural landscapes, can an individual feel fully at one with the human race." The inevitable discussion of the wonders of CentraI Park follows. (Central Park is wonderful, but is almost too familiar and over-anaIyzed. Other monuments of landscape design warrant careful study, interpretation, and celebration.) Greenbie weaves his spatial journey for us through verbal images, poetic passages, and photographic images. He relies on the visual images as much, if not more so, than the text to simulate as closely as possible the dimensions of spatial awareness with which he is concerned. In most cases, the page layout and coordination of plazes with the text i s very effective. Unfortunately the quality of the photographic prints and the small size of many of them make it difficult to perceive the ambient qualities which


Porous TiO₂ nanotube arrays have been attracting much attention as optical sensing layers and surface layers of dental implants because they are stable in acid and biocompatible. To use them as the optical sensing layers, TiO₂ nanotube arrays with various structures were fabricated and obtained an optimized microstructure at 50 V, 50 min and 0.5 wt% of NH4F, 7.4 vol% deionized water in ethylene glycol. TiO₂ nanotube arrays which had diameters of ~73.54 nm and lengths of ~3.39 μm showed the best sensing performance. A Ti implant was also anodized at 60 V for 4 hr in an ethylene glycol electrolyte and TiO₂ nanotube arrays showed the pore diameter of 156.01 nm and the thickness of 6.87 μm. Recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (rhBMP-2), isobutylphenyl propionic acid, and sodium alendronate were loaded into the TiO₂ nanotube arrays on the surface of the Ti implant. For elution of these drugs, optical thickness changes of 2.4 nm, 3.5 nm and 3.1 nm were respectively observed for about 2.2 hr, 3.6 hr and 3.1 hr. The TiO₂ nanotube arrays were useful for drug loading and their elution interferometric sensing.


A holographic dual of a finite-temperature SU(Nc) gauge theory with a small number of flavors Nf<<Nc typically contains D-branes in a black hole background. By considering the backreaction of the branes, we demonstrate that, to leading order in Nf/Nc, the viscosity to entropy ratio in these theories saturates the conjectured universal bound eta/s> or =1/4pi. Given the known results for the entropy density, the contribution of the fundamental matter eta fund is therefore enhanced at strong 't Hooft coupling lambda; for example, eta fund approximately lambda NcNfT3 in four dimensions. Other transport coefficients are analogously enhanced. These results hold with or without a baryon number chemical potential.


Scientists and the general public alike encounter scientific terms such as climate change, global warming, greenhouse effect, and carbon dioxide a few times every day in newspapers, radio broadcasts, and television news, as well as in conversation. This is perhaps the first time in the history of science that a scientific issue has gotten so much attention from the public. As a scientist, I am pleased about the public's interest in science. Unfortunately, I have found that this great interest in climatology is largely the result of a proliferation of confusing stories in the media that are based on misinterpreted information about the greenhouse effect of carbon dioxide. Many people bring up several misunderstood issues when I discuss the present warming trend. Even some policy makers and government officials seem to be confused.


Practical utilization of direct measurements of the electrical energy stored at the interface of mechanically contacted metals has been used as a tool to demonstrate experimentally the effect of ion neutralization processes at the interface. Due to the presence of surface asperities, interfacial cavities filled with the gas from the surrounding space may play an important role in charge transport processes, since they provide additional current paths between the non ideally contacted spots of current carrying metallic interfaces. Measurements of the electrical energy stored at the interface were performed in stationary OFHC and silver based alloy contacts in a high vacuum environment (total pressure below 10/sup -5/ mbar). The composition of the surrounding space could be determined in situ by employing quadrupole mass spectrometry. The effect of small quantities of nitrogen, oxygen or SF/sub 6/ on the overall interfacial electrical energy has been investigated for the case of a contact operated at a constant current mode. The obtained experimental results demonstrate convincingly variations of the interfacial electrical energy depending on the composition of the surrounding space and the important role of the non ohmic transport processes across metallic interfaces operating under high charge injection rates.


The random incidence absorption coefficient is meas ured in a reverberation room according to the ISO35 4 or ASTM C423-09. According to these standards, the diffusivity of a re ve beration room is usually obtained with panel dif fusers. Besides the fundamental problem that a reverberation room with a highly abs orptive specimen is not diffuse, these panel diffus ers introduce a number of uncertainties in the resulting acoustical effective v olume and the total boundary surface of the reverbe ration room. As a part of more investigations with the aim to re duce the difference in measurement results between different laboratories, the possible use of volume diffusers instead of panel diff users is investigated with the aid of a 1:10 scale model, the real reverberation room at the Peutz laboratories and raytracing calculatio ns. From this investigation it can be concluded that vo lume diffusors can be used instead op panel diffuso rs to enhance the diffusitivity in a reverberation room. Besides the advantage that with volume diffusors the real volume and boundary area of the room are known, these investigations show that the use of volume di ffusors might even result in a higher degree of dif fus tivity than the use of panel diffusors. This is shown by comparing the spread of measurement results between different source and m icrophone positions in the reverberation room. Furthermore, the relative stand ard deviation between the different source – microp hone positions might be a good test for the qualification of the diffusitivit y of a reverberation room, especially with highly a bsorptive specimen present in the room.


Eyebrow duplication-syndactyly syndrome is characterised by partial duplication of the eyebrows and syndactyly of the fingers and toes. It has been described in three patients (a brother and sister and an isolated case). Skin hyperelasticity, hypertrichosis and long eyelashes, and abnormal periorbital wrinkling were also reported in some of the patients. Transmission recessive.


The relationship between structure and activity of acid-extracted and purified acrosin obtained from cauda epididymal hamster spermatozoa was studied. A four-step purification procedure of acrosin was used; it included 1.) acid extraction, 2.) gel filtration over Sephadex G-100 resin, 3.) ion exchange on CM-Sepharose CL-6B, and 4.) affinity chromatography on proflavin-Sepharose 4B. Analysis of the purified enzyme by high-performance liquid chromatography (300 SW + I-125) revealed a molecular weight of 44,000, which was identical to that obtained for acid-extracted acrosin. Slab-gel electrophoresis under nondenaturing conditions showed only one active band, as revealed with a highly sensitive assay using N alpha-benzyloxycarbonyl-L-lysine thiobenzyl ester as substrate. The radiation inactivation size of acid extracted acrosin was calculated to be 8400. This small unit could represent the active polypeptide portion of a larger monomer molecule or could represent the size of active subunits. Because acrosin is autocatalytic and highly active during fertilization, it is suggested that the active portion of the completely processed form of the enzyme is of small molecular weight.


Abstract Neotoxoptera formosana (Takahashi), the onion aphid, is an oligophagous pest that mainly feeds on plants from the Allium genus. It sucks nutrients from the plants and indirectly acts as a vector for plant viruses. This aphid causes severe economic losses to Allium tuberosum agriculture in China. To better understand the host plant specificity of N. formosana on Allium plants and provide essential information for the control of this pest, we generated the entire genome using Pacific Biosciences long-read sequencing and Hi-C data. Six chromosomes were assembled to give a final size of 372.470 Mb, with an N50 scaffold of 66.911 Mb. The final draft genome assembly, from 192 Gb of raw data, was approximately 371.791 Mb in size, with an N50 contig of 24.99 Kb and an N50 scaffold of 2.637 Mb. The average GC content was 30.96%. We identified 73 Mb (31.22%) of repetitive sequences, 14,175 protein-coding genes, and 719 noncoding RNAs. The phylogenetic analysis showed that N. formosana and Pentalonia nigronervosa are sister groups. We found significantly expanded gene families that were involved in the THAP domain, the DDE superfamily endonuclease, zinc finger, immunity (ankyrin repeats), digestive enzyme (serine carboxypeptidase) and chemosensory receptor. This genome assembly could provide a solid foundation for future studies on the host specificity of N. formosana and pesticide-resistant aphid management.


This paper reports the results of low-temperature flip-chip bonding of a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) on a micromachined Si substrate. Low temperature bonding was achieved by introducing the surface activation by plasma irradiation into the flip-chip bonding process. After the surfaces of the Au electrodes of the VCSEL and Si substrate were cleaned using an Ar radio frequency (RF) plasma, Au-Au bonding was carried out only by contact in ambient air with applied static pressure. At a bonding temperature of 100°C, the die-shear strength exceeded the failure criteria of MIL-STD-883.© 2005 ASME


Abstract: The aim of this study is to determine decay of magnetic field fluctuations in MHD turbulence for fourpoint correlation in a rotating system before the final period. Two, three and four point correlation equations have been obtained and the set of correlation equations is made determinate by neglecting the quintuple correlations in comparison to the third and fourth order correlation terms. The correlation equations are converted to spectral form by taking their Fourier-transforms. Finally, integrating the energy spectrum over all wave numbers. The energy decay of magnetic field fluctuations for four-point correlations in a rotating system is obtained and is shown graphically in the text.


Response of proximate and fatty acid (FA) composition of the green tiger shrimp Penaeus semisulcatus in relation to changing water temperatures during over wintering (for 8-weeks at 11-16°C) and then refeeding periods (at 28°C for a further 2weeks) was investigated in this study. The shrimps did not appear to need to catabolise their either body proteins or lipids during the overwintering period, as the feeding was not ceased completely. While muscle protein, ash and dry matter compositions of the shrimps did not change by changing temperature, lipid increased from 1% during the overwintering period to 1.2% during the recovery period (P<0.01). Saturated FAs (SFA), mono-unsaturated FAs (MUFA), and partially poly-unsaturated FAs (n-6 PUFA) declined, on the contrary, n-3 PUFA significantly rose in the muscle and hepatopacreas during the cold exposure. Shrimps tended to consume especially SFA and, to a lesser degree, MUFA under sub-optimal conditions (P<0.01). PUFA and LC-PUFA appeared to be selectively retained or even elevated in the shrimp muscle during the cold season. Over wintering strategy might generate additional benefit for a heathier food supply for human nutrition, as shrimps can be enriched for LC-PUFA, by simply keeping them under cold water temperatures (10-15°C) during overwintering period, with minimal cost of feeding.


Objective. To determine the outcome of fetuses with clubfoot diagnosed by prenatal sonography. Methods. We identified all fetuses scanned at our institution from May 1989 to May 2002 in whom clubfoot was suspected or diagnosed on prenatal sonography. From maternal and neonatal medical records, we collected the following information when available: unilateral or bilateral clubfoot, gestational age at diagnosis, other sonographic findings, and pregnancy outcome, including pathologic reports and neonatal findings at birth. Results. One hundred twenty‐one fetuses had prenatal sonographic suspicion or diagnosis of clubfoot. Twenty‐two had no follow‐up information, and 12 fetuses were terminated with fetal parts that could not be evaluated at pathologic examination, leaving 87 study cases. Outcome information was from neonatal records in 51 and from pathologic reports in 36. The gestational age at diagnosis ranged from 12.3 to 39.2 weeks, with a mean of 22.2 weeks. Forty‐two (48%) had unilateral clubfoot, and 45 (52%) had bilateral clubfoot on sonography. The false‐positive rate was significantly higher with unilateral clubfoot than bilateral clubfoot (12 [29%] of 42 versus 3 [7%] of 45; P < .05). Other anomalies were more common with bilateral clubfoot than with unilateral clubfoot (34 [76%] of 45 versus 23 [55%] of 42; P < .05), the most common being other musculoskeletal anomalies, neural tube defects, and cardiovascular anomalies. Of fetuses with information about chromosomes, the rates of aneuploidy were similar for unilateral and bilateral clubfoot (5 [28%] of 18 versus 10 [32%] of 31; P > .05). Conclusions. Fetuses with an antenatal sonographic diagnosis of clubfoot often have other anomalies, aneuploidy, or both. The false‐positive rate for diagnosis of clubfoot is higher for unilateral clubfoot than bilateral clubfoot. The rate of associated anomalies is higher with bilateral clubfoot than unilateral clubfoot.


Indonesia is the largest archipelagic country in the world, there are thousands of small islands that have to be managed. One of the main managements in small island is related with sanitation issue, especially the fecal (black water). This research is aimed to identify the characteristics of fecal disposal system in a small island and analyse the related factors affecting it. The research was conducted in Penyengat Island, Kepulauan Riau. Descriptive and Inferential Statistics were applied by using SPSS. The characteristics of fecal disposal system is determined by latrine and sewage disposal type. Meanwhile, the related factors included are settlement type, education, income, and ethnicity. The result shows that fecal disposal system of Penyengat is dominated with modern latrine (71.4% Gooseneck Latrine) and conventional sewage disposal (53.5% simple pit sewage). Preferency of fecal disposal type is related with settlement type, ethnicity, and highest education level of household members. Besides, the income level is not related with the fecal disposal type at all. The result of this research is expected as a reference of sanitation programs in small island.


The earliest UIMS provided primarily run-time facilities for interface management and a set of programming tools for the development of application from the implementation requirements with which many tool designers have approached UIMS design, there are also methodological requirements that have been seriously neglected. One reason is that interface design methodology is poorly understood and rarely axiomatic. Nevertheless, it is important that we formulate methodological theories and provide UIMS with tools that support them. This paper proposes a storyboard metaphor for the conceptual design of human-computer interfaces.


Paraconsistent and dialetheist approaches to a theory of truth are faced with a problem: the expressive resources of the logic do not suffice to express that a sentence is just true—i.e., true and not also false—or to express that a sentence is consistent. In his recent book, Spandrels of Truth, Jc Beall proposes a 'just true'-operator to identify sentences that are true and not also false. Beall suggests seven principles that a 'just true'-operator must fulfill, and proves that his operator indeed fulfills all of them. He concludes that just true has been expressed in the language.

I argue that, while the seven conditions may be necessary for an operator to express just true, they are not jointly sufficient. Specifically, first, I prove that a further plausible desideratum for necessary conditions on 'just true' is not fulfilled by Beall's proposal, namely that 'just true' ascriptions should themselves be just true, and not also false (or equivalently, that the 'just true'-operator iterates). Second, I show that Beall's operator does not adequately express just true, but that it merely captures an arbitrary proper subset of the just true sentences. Further, there is no prospect of extending the proposal in order to encompass a more reasonable subset of the just true sentences without presupposing that we have antecedent means to characterize the class of just true sentences.


Rupatadine (UR-12592, 8-chloro-6, 11-dihydro-11-[1-[(5-methyl3-pyridinyl) methyl]-4-piperidinylidene]-5H-benzo[5,6]-cyclohepta[1,2b]pyridine ) is a novel compound that inhibits both platelet-activating factor (PAF) and histamine (H1) effects through its interaction with specific receptors (Ki(app) values against [3H]WEB-2086 binding to rabbit platelet membranes and [3H]-pyrilamine binding to guinea pig cerebellum membranes were 0.55 and 0.10 microM, respectively). Rupatadine competitively inhibited histamine-induced guinea pig ileum contraction (pA2 = 9.29 +/- 0.06) without affecting contraction induced by ACh, serotonin or leukotriene D4 (LTD4). It also competitively inhibited PAF-induced platelet aggregation in washed rabbit platelets (WRP) (pA2 = 6.68 +/- 0.08) and in human platelet-rich plasma (HPRP) (IC50 = 0.68 microM), while not affecting ADP- or arachidonic acid-induced platelet aggregation. Rupatadine blocked histamine- and PAF-induced effects in vivo, such as hypotension in rats (ID50 = 1.4 and 0.44 mg/kg i.v., respectively) and bronchoconstriction in guinea pigs (ID50 = 113 and 9.6 micrograms/kg i.v.). Moreover, it potently inhibited PAF-induced mortality in mice (ID50 = 0.31 and 3.0 mg/kg i.v. and p.o., respectively) and endotoxin-induced mortality in mice and rats (ID50 = 1.6 and 0.66 mg/kg i.v.). Rupatadine's duration of action was long, as assessed by the histamine- and PAF-induced increase in vascular permeability test in dogs (42 and 34% inhibition at 26 h after 1 mg/kg p.o.). Rupatadine at a dose of 100 mg/kg p.o. neither modified spontaneous motor activity nor prolonged barbiturate-sleeping time in mice, which indicates a lack of sedative effects. Overall, rupatadine combines histamine and PAF antagonist activities in vivo with high potency, the antihistamine properties being similar to or higher than those of loratadine, whereas rupatadine's PAF antagonist effects were near those of WEB-2066. Rupatadine is therefore a good candidate for further development in the treatment of allergic and inflammatory conditions in which both PAF and histamine are implicated.


A novel scalable architecture for automating and speeding up content-based image retrieval (CBIR) on the Web is presented by using mobile multi-agent. Traditional Web CBIR functions are encapsulated in six agent classes via object-oriented idea. The retrieval domain is modelled as a multi-agent system, where, agent objects operate autonomously while cooperate with each other, and its coordination with outside environment can result in Web CBIR. During retrieval, the system can decide an optimized retrieval strategy by automatically analyzing initial query input with its repository, and through feedback, it can also make corresponding adjustment by intelligently deducing user intent and interest, without any human interference if necessary. Furthermore, the mobility enables the search agent to perform local image match at database source, which is expected to improve retrieval speed and reliability by minimizing network traffic and dependence on network status. In addition, the repository management agent with heterogeneous database classifying and indexing ability is also expected to further extend search range and ensure retrieval efficiency. Simulation results validate the effectiveness of this approach by significantly outperforming its traditional counterparts


This thesis sets out to estimate the effect of U.S. v. Apple Inc. et. al. (2013) on e-book prices by implementing a reduced form model, dummy variable approach (Nieberding, 2006), using a difference-in-differences analysis (Ashenfelter, 2013). This study follows from a deep history of relevant literature on constructing estimation of cartel overcharge models and using them to estimate but-for prices on real-world cartels (Connor, 2001; Clarke and Evenett, 2003; Frank and Schliffke, 2013). Here, I estimate the change in the accused publishers' e-book retail prices relative to Random House (the one publisher among the Big Six never accused of collusion) due to each of the accused publisher's respective settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice and the disbanding of their agency contracts with their retailers. I find a 16.7 percent average decrease in e-book retail prices from the time-period immediately before to immediately after each publisher's settlement date with the D.O.J. These findings suggest that e-book retail prices have been restored to their pre-collusion, competitive levels. Show full item record


Background: Globally, refractive error is a common cause of visual impairment in the paediatric age group. However, no previous vision screening study among primary schools children has been reported in Ebonyi State, South-Eastern Nigeria. This study aimed to screen primary school children in two rural primary schools in Nchokko Community of Igbeagu Izzi, Ebonyi State for refractive errors. Subjects and Methods This was point prevalence, cross- sectional study of all primary school children in the two primary schools at Nchokko community of Igbeagu village of Izzi local government area of Ebonyi State. The study population consists of all pupils present during the school eye health visit to this community on the 6 th of March 2012. Results There was a total of 213 pupils comprising of 107 males and 106 females (Ratio, 1:1) ages ranged from 5-15 years with a mean age of 9.6 ± 2.7 years. Refractive error was found in 2 patients (0.9%). Conclusion: The Prevalence of Refractive Error in the two rural primary schools at Nchokko community of Igbeagu village of Izzi Local Government Area of EbonyiState.was 0.9%. Key words: Nigeria, Refractive error, Rural, school children.


As spyware, adware, and other computer programs that surreptitiously monitor user behavior become more prevalent, the United States Congress and a number of state governments have proposed legislation to target this problem. This article argues that any legislative solution must require robust, meaningful notice to users about the ramifications of the software they are installing, so that users can give their informed consent to install the software and accept its terms and conditions. The article discusses the background of the technological innovations that led to the present day computing environment. It then explores some of the common questions and answers that arise concerning spyware and discusses the strengths and weakness of various state and federal legislative approaches.


A recent article (Leeds and Healey 1996) argues that the modal interpretation (Copenhagen variant) of quantum mechanics does not do justice to immediately repeated non-disturbing measurements. This objection has been raised before, but the article presents it in a new, detailed, precise form. I show that the objection is mistaken.


The present paper ardently deals with conceptual model of Environmental Vulnerability Maps of Bhandara and Gondia Districts of Maharashtra State, India. The Environmental Vulnerability maps of the district were prepared according to the guidelines provided by the International Hydrolgeological Programme (IHP), Central Pollution Control Board, New Delhi and WHO. The Bhandara and Gondia districts are the developing districts in the Vidharbha region of Maharashtra state. These districts cover an area of 9280 Sq.Km. with a population of about 2.3 Million. Lithologically the area essentially belongs to Achaean formations. There are many industries in the vicinity and many more are coming up in near future. There are many situations where environment is threatened by these existing industries. The methodology of environment vulnerability assessment and mapping outlined in the paper is an attempt to provide a comprehensive guide to interpret the environment and other relevant information with an understandable format of presenting the data. In order to protect environment of Bhandara and Gondia district, a legend model for Environmental Vulnerability Maps has been prepared, considering various parameters such as the industrial activities in the area, land cover/use data, municipal contaminating activities, mining activities, hydrogeological characteristics of upper aquifers, the lithology and nature of the soil zone for the area, various predominant contaminating sources etc., so as to facilitate the consistent and uniform planning of Bhandara & Gondia districts for sustainable development.


An efficient, one-pot, and convenient approach for the reaction of the same precursors, trialkyl(aryl) phosphines, acetylene diesters, and benzhydroxamic acids has been developed to produce two important classes of heterocyclic compounds: N-benzoylaziridines and 1,4,2-dioxazoles. The strategy utilizes the intermediate solvation as a key step in product selectivity. The usefulness of the developed approach has been confirmed in the unprecedented highly cis-selective formation of the N-benzoylaziridines. In addition, the procedure provides a green alternative method for the synthesis of 1,4,2-dioxazoles employing a β-cyclodextrin nanoreactor in aqueous media.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the current demands for professional continuing medical education (CME) in ophthalmic nurses and their influential factors, and to provide evidence for properly setting the curriculum of professional CME for nurses.

METHODS
Qualitative and quantitative analysis was performed on 60 nurses in an ophthalmic hospital by questionnaire survey and group interview.

RESULTS
Of the nurses surveyed, 49 (81.7%) thought the training time of professional CME needs to be adjusted, 40 (66.7%) referred to the training pattern, and 53 (88.3%) the training contents. The demanded courses of training mainly included professional nursing knowledge, professional nursing skills, and ophthalmic knowledge. Most nurses considered the influential factors for training were unreasonable training time and lack of applicability of some courses.

CONCLUSION
To improve the quality of professional CME for ophthalmic nurses, the training curriculum should be designed in consideration of ophthalmic characteristics, different work experiences of nurses, and different nursing positions, the training time should be arranged properly, and various training patterns should be adopted flexibly.


RSD Balung is a BLUD hospital, but the tariff determination had not been based on unit cost including the operation in the Installation of Hospital Operation Room Service Operations continue to show an increased, so operational expenses were increased. In JKN, there were several surgical actions that have a tariff difference that harms the hospital. The tariff claimed by hospital to BPJS was not as expected because the nominal tariff was less. The purpose of this research was to arrange tariff based on unit cost of operation cost action of room installation room of RSD Balung with Activity Based Costing (ABC) method. This research was a descriptive quantitative. The unit of analysis of this research was the Operation Room in RSD Balung by looking at the cost and service component of the service or the action to be done the operational action tariff analysis. Respondent was taken by pusposive sampling. The number of respondents in this study were 13 people. At the service of BPH, SC, and cataract in Operation Room RSD Balung there were difference of tariff either from BLUD tariff, tariff based on unit cost, and INA CBGs tariff. This difference was particularly evident from BPH services. This service was harming RSD Balung. While in SC and Cataract service, unit cost tariff was lower than BLUD tariff. Keywords: Unit cost, Tariff, BLUD, Operation room, INA-CBG's


Background Our recent work revealed that some chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients failing imatinib therapy carry the BCR-ABL1 V304D mutation, and is associated with poor clinical outcomes. BCR-ABL1 V304D variant has rarely been described in clinical specimens, and its location within the BCR-ABL1 Kinase Domain (KD) appears to be in an area of the protein not involved in the direct binding with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) such as Imatinib and Ponatinib. The present study integrates computational, structural, and molecular biology techniques to investigate the role of the BCR-ABL1 V304D mutation in kinase activity and TKI resistance. Materials and methods In silico experiments are used to probe whether, compared to the wild type (wt), the V304D mutation i) directly affects the kinase domain fold and/or thermodynamic stability and ii) if/how these effects might eventually interfere with BCR-ABL1 binding to the TKIs. Small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), fluorescence, and circular dichroism spectroscopy are employed for structural characterization of the wt/mutated kinase domain and their interaction with TKIs. Cell proliferation, protein phosphorylation, and kinase activity assays are performed (with/without) the TKIs to assess the effect of this mutation on BCR-ABL1 KD, its enzymatic and transforming activities. Results Our preliminary results show that BCR-ABL1V304D does not transform Ba/F3 cells, retains minimal kinase activity, and fails to activate downstream pathways. At the same time, the V304D BCR-ABL1 isoform partially protects cells from cytokine withdrawal and exhibits imatinib resistance. The SAXS-based structural model of the kinase domain mutant in complex with Ponatinib does not reveal major structural perturbations compared to the wild type protein. Molecular simulations on the SH2-linker-SH3-KD construct suggest a possible rationale for the TKI resistance seen in the clinic. Conclusions The preliminary results obtained indicate that BCR-ABL1V304D results in kinase inactivation, pan-TKI resistance mediated by lower control of protein autoinhibition via perturbation of the SH3 binding domain and very poor prognosis. Citation Format: Sabrina Pricl, Erik Laurini, Maurizio Fermeglia, Paola Storici, Barbara Giabbai, Marta Semrau, Matteo De March, Nicholas J. Donato, Alfonso Quintas-Cardama. Bcr-Abl1 V304D mutation in CML: friend or foe? [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; 2015 Nov 5-9; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2015;14(12 Suppl 2):Abstract nr B61.


In anticipation for intensive experimental e ort on B physics, theorists have introduced many ingenious ways to measure properties of the unitarity triangle. We review some of these methods. We will be critical in the hope that, if there is any defect in them, it can be remedied either theoretically or experimentally. Invited talk given (by A.I.S.) at the 7th International Symposium on Heavy Flavor Physics, Santa Barbara, July 7 { 11, 1997 (to appear in the proceedings). y Electronic address: firstname.lastname@example.com z Electronic address: firstname.lastname@example.com


New linguistic evidence about the classification of the Bantu languages does not support the current view that these languages spread as the result of a massive migration or 'expansion' by its speakers. Rather the present geographic distribution of Bantu languages is the outcome of many complex historical dynamics involving successive dispersals of individual languages over a time span of millennia and involving reversals as well as successes. This is as true for eastern and southern Africa, where a close correlation between the archaeological evidence documenting the diffusion of basic food-related technologies, including metallurgy and the spreading of Bantu languages has become an axiom, as it is elsewhere. The linguistic evidence concerning the dispersal of Bantu languages in these regions of Africa is completely incongruent with the archaeological record. The existing Bantu expansion hypothesis must be totally abandoned. The scrapping of the hypothesis will make room for more realistic and quite different interpretations and research hypotheses. For example, it follows that the local or regional contribution of speakers of other languages, autochthons and others, to the development of later cultures and societies was probably considerably greater than has hitherto been acknowledged and that the continuities in historical dynamics of all sorts between the Bantu-speaking parts of Africa and areas further north and west are greater than has been hitherto realized.


Generation intervals, defined as the time between when an individual is infected and when that individual infects another person, link two key quantities that describe an epidemic: the reproductive number, , and the rate of exponential growth, r. Generation intervals are often measured through contact tracing by identifying who infected whom. We study how observed intervals differ from "intrinsic" intervals that could be estimated by tracing individual-level infectiousness, and identify both spatial and temporal effects, including censoring (due to observation time), and the effects of susceptible depletion at various spatial scales. Early in an epidemic, we expect the variation in the observed generation intervals to be mainly driven by the censoring and the population structure near the source of disease spread; therefore, we predict that correcting observed intervals for the effect of temporal censoring but not for spatial effects will provide a spatially informed "effective" generation-interval distribution, which will correctly link r and . We develop and test statistical methods for temporal corrections of generation intervals, and confirm our prediction using individual-based simulations on an empirical network.


Identification of cis-regulatory motifs has been difficult due to the short and variable length of the sequences that bind transcription factors. Using both sequence and microarray expression data, we present a method for identifying cis-regulatory motifs that uses regression trees to refine results from simple linear regression of expression levels on motif counts. Analysis of expression patterns from two separate datasets for genes showing significant differences in expression between the sexes in Drosophila melanogaster resulted in a model that identified known binding sites upstream of genes that are differentially expressed in the germline. We obtained a strong result for motif TCGATA, part of the larger, characterized binding site of dGATAb protein. We also identified an uncharacterized motif that is positively associated with sex-biased expression and was assembled from smaller motifs grouped by our model. A regression tree model provides a grouping of independent variables into multiple linear models, an advantage over a single multivariate model. In our case, this grouping of motifs suggests binding sites for cooperating factors in sex-specific expression, as well as a way of combining smaller motifs into larger binding sites.


Modern automotive grade embedded platforms feature high performance Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) to support the massively parallel processing power needed for next-generation autonomous driving applications. Hence, a GPU scheduling approach with strong Real-Time guarantees is needed. While previous research efforts focused on reverse engineering the GPU ecosystem in order to understand and control GPU scheduling on NVIDIA platforms, we provide an in depth explanation of the NVIDIA standard approach to GPU application scheduling on a Drive PX platform. Then, we discuss how a privileged scheduling server can be used to enforce arbitrary scheduling policies in a virtualized environment.


Lest we become too focused on crystallized gold, two notable events involving gold nuggets have taken place recently. A major gold nugget (fig. 1), thought to be the second largest discovered in Colombia, was sold at the 2008 Denver Gem and Mineral Show by longtime gold dealer Steve Rice of Colorado Nuggets, Evergreen, Colorado. The 116ounce nugget(!) was found in September 2003 by a miner at the Yagua mine, Department of Guainia in eastern Colombia.


An efficient aryl to vinyl 1,4-palladium migration/Heck sequence was developed for the stereoselective synthesis of 1,3-dienes. High stereoselectivity was observed not only for 1,3-dienes bearing two similar aryl groups at terminal positions, but also for those with configurations shown to be unfavorable with previous methods.


In this thesis we study the data exchange problem where a set of users is interested in gaining access to a common file, but where each has only partial knowledge about it as side- information. Assuming that the file is broken into packets, the side-information considered is in the form of linear combinations of the file packets. Given that the collective information of all the users is sufficient to allow recovery of the entire file, the goal is for each user to gain access to the file while minimizing some communication cost. We assume that users can communicate over a noiseless broadcast channel, and that the communication cost is a sum of each user's cost function over the number of bits it transmits. For instance, the communication cost could simply be the total number of bits that needs to be transmitted. In the most general case studied in this thesis, each user can have any arbitrary convex cost function. We provide a polynomial time deterministic algorithm (in the number of users and packets) that finds an optimal communication scheme that minimizes the communication cost. To further lower the complexity, we also propose a simple randomized algorithm inspired by our deterministic algorithm which is based on a random linear network coding scheme. In the later chapters we consider a general form of side-information, where each user observes independent realizations of some joint random process. For such scenario, we provide a polynomial-time algorithm (in the number of users and packets) that finds an optimal communication rate allocations for all the users. Next, we study two extensions to the original data exchange problem. First, we consider the problem where not all users in the system are interested in obtaining the file, but they are willing to help users who are. Also, we explore the problem where each user can communicate only to its immediate neighbors through a wireline network. For both the problems, we provide a polynomial time algorithm that is inspired by the original data exchange problem.


Abstract Significant controversy has arisen over the role of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) in COVID-19 pathophysiology. In this prospective, observational study, we evaluated plasma angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) concentration and serum ACE activity in 52 adults with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection and 27 non-COVID-19 sick controls. No significant differences were observed in ACE activity in COVID-19 patients versus non-COVID-19 sick controls (41.1 [interquartile range (IQR): 23.0–55.2] vs. 42.9 [IQR 13.6–74.2] U/L, p = .649, respectively). Similarly, no differences were observed in ACE concentration in COVID-19 patients versus non-COVID-19 sick controls (108.4 [IQR: 95.8–142.2] vs. 133.8 [IQR: 100.2–173.7] μg/L, p = .059, respectively). Neither ACE activity (p = .751), nor ACE concentration (p = .283) was associated with COVID-19 severity. Moreover, neither ACE activity, nor ACE concentration was correlated with any inflammatory biomarkers.


Nutritional abnormalities almost uniformly accompany the metabolic disturbances of severe chronic liver disease and may adversely affect patient well-being and survival, especially surrounding liver transplantation surgery. The exact metabolic alterations responsible for malnutrition and its consequences in these patients have been debated and are a focus of this review. Disturbances in energy production and utilization, as well as macro- and micronutrient metabolism have been appreciated but are not always easily identified or quantifiable. Interestingly, the manifestations of poor nutritional status can vary substantially between patients, even in those having the same etiology and severity of illness. Proper assessment of patients with liver disease for malnutrition carries its own challenges, but some of the more easily applied techniques, such as anthropometry, can be comparable in accuracy to more sophisticated measuring tools. Gaining an appreciation and understanding of how nutritional disturbances develop and can contribute to morbidity and mortality will help combat inappropriate nutritional losses in this specialized group of patients. In many instances, simple adjustments in diet can offset losses and stabilize or improve the patient's nutritional status.


Abstract There are many disagreements and uncertainties among global land use/land cover (LULC) products, which make it unsuitable to apply these products directly to a specific region. In this study, Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) time-series data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) with 250 m spatial resolution, combining with geographic features, were used for LULC classification in the Qilian Mountains, northwest China. The authors tested the Random Forest (RF), the Classification and Regression Tree (CART), and the Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifiers. Their final classification product was also compared with 3 global LULC maps. The results showed that (1) topographic information could improve the classification results to some extent when they were integrated with spectral information in complex mountain regions; (2) the classification results using an RF classifier reached the highest overall accuracy (88.84%); (3) there was consistency with homogenous classes between our classification result and the 3 LULC products, but inconsistency with heterogeneous classes; and (4) the overall accuracy of this study was improved about 10% compared with the 3 LULC products. Therefore, this classification product is more suitable than global LULC products when considering complex terrain factors in mountain regions.


ABSTRACT Objective To explore the effects that impaired ability to sit-to-stand has on upright mobility and self-care in children with cerebral palsy and how this in turn may affect their caregivers. Methods A mixed methods research design was conducted with 25 children who had cerebral palsy with moderate to high mobility limitations (GMFCS levels III and IV) and their caregivers. Caregivers were interviewed about their child's mobility and self-care. The independence of each child's activities was rated using the mobility and self-care domains of the Functional Independence Measure for Children (WeeFIM). Results Two themes were identified from qualitative analyses: Difficulty in sit-to-stand was perceived by caregivers to reduce their child's ability to independently and safely perform mobility and some self-care tasks; and negatively impacted the caregivers physically and psychologically. Mobility and self-care WeeFIM scores showed that these children required moderate assistance, and that self-care tasks involving sit-to-stand (toileting and bathing) required more assistance than self-care tasks that would not be expected to involve sit-to-stand (eating and grooming). Qualitative and quantitative findings were convergent. Conclusions The ability to sit-to-stand independently may be an important precursor skill for independence in upright mobility and self-care for children with moderate to severe mobility limitations.


Toyohari Meridian Therapy (TMT) [東洋はり] evolved in Japan in the second half of the last century. Originally developed and practised primarily by blind acupuncturists, its theoretical basis lies in historical Chinese medical traditions [Birch, Felt 1999, Fukushima 1991]. Choice of acupuncture points is predominantly guided by Five Phase (Element) Theory. However, there is a startling difference between TMT and current Chinese traditional forms of acupuncture in terms of needling technique. Needles are not usually inserted in the 'root treatment' of TMTinstead, the qi is manipulated at the surface of the skin, with the tip of the needle only very lightly touching or not touching the skin in most cases. Another difference from current Chinese acupuncture is the notion, in TMT, that acupuncture points or acupoints are dynamictheir actual location whilst based on traditional notions of where acupoints are located anatomically as espoused by most modern acupuncture texts may differ slightly from the purported anatomical location. A key skill of the TMT practitioner is locating the acupoints, via the sense of touch using the lateral corner of the index finger near the fingernail. Once the 'live' acupoint is located, the practitioner forms a circle with their index finger and thumb, termed the 'oshide', at the surface of the skin, lightly touching the patient's body. The needle shaft is then inserted between the practitioner's thumb and forefinger so that the tip is above the acupoint, with the practitioner's thumb and forefinger grasping the needle shaft, whilst the handle of the needle is lightly held in the other hand. The practitioner then awaits the arrival of qi and applies particular needling techniques, depending on whether the aim is to supplement or drain. Diagnosis of the primary pattern (sho) and secondary sho depends on synthesis of data from a case history, abdominal diagnosis and pulse diagnosis. Unlike in traditional Chinese medicine, tongue diagnosis is not a feature of TMT. Abdominal diagnosis involves palpation of the skin and wall of the abdomen. The five phases and their corresponding


OBJECTIVE
To determine whether a pregnancy-adapted clinical and D-dimer-based algorithm, termed the "YEARS algorithm," can reduce the need for radiological imaging, including lung scintigraphy in pregnant women with suspected pulmonary embolism (PE).

PATIENTS AND METHODS
This retrospective study included all pregnant women with suspected PE between January 2014 and September 2019 who have undergone D-dimer testing and radiological imaging (computed tomography pulmonary angiography or lung perfusion scans) at presentation. Three criteria from the YEARS algorithm were assessed: clinical signs of deep vein thrombosis, haemoptysis, and whether PE was clinically considered as the most likely diagnosis. Patients who did not have to undergo imaging per the YEARS algorithm were defined as those with no YEARS criteria and a D-dimer of <1μg/mL (group 1) and those with 1-3 YEARS criteria and a D-dimer of <0.5μg/mL (group 2). Patients who had to undergo imaging were those with no YEARS criteria and a D-dimer ≥1μg/mL (group 3) and those with 1-3 YEARS criteria and a D-dimer ≥0.5μg/mL (group 4). Women with symptoms of deep-vein thrombosis had to undergo Doppler ultrasound: If positive, they were anticoagulated and excluded from this analysis, and if negative, they were evaluated further for the need of imaging based on other YEARS criteria and D-dimer level.

RESULTS
Of 117 pregnant women with suspected PE analyzed according to the YEARS algorithm five had confirmed deep-vein thrombosis by Doppler ultrasound, were anticoagulated and excluded from the analysis. Of the remaining 112 women (mean age; 30.4±5.7 years), 50 underwent computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA), 54 lung perfusion or ventilation-perfusion (V/Q) scan and eight both; PE was diagnosed in 7 (6.25%), two by CTPA, two by lung perfusion or V/Q scan and three by both. Thirty-three of the 112 women (29.5%) were in groups 1+2 and could, therefore, have avoided CTPA or lung perfusion scans per the YEARS algorithm. None of those 33 women had PE by CTPA or lung perfusion scans vs. 7/79 patients (8.9%) who required CTPA or lung perfusion scans per the YEARS algorithm.

CONCLUSION
The pregnancy-adapted YEARS algorithm can safely rule out PE in about one-third of pregnant women with suspected PE without the need for radiological imaging.


Background Falls are projected to be the 17th leading cause of death globally by 2030. Older adults are disproportionately affected. In the United States (U.S.), one in four adults 65+fall annually. By 2030, there will be 49 million falls among older adults and 12 million injuries in the U.S. each year. Description of the problem When not fatal, falls can cause brain injury, hip fracture, and loss of independence. In the U.S., there are more than 3 million emergency department visits, and over 8 00 000 hospitalizations each year due to falls. However, falls can be prevented. This presentation describes the overall cost of older adult falls in the U.S. and innovative approaches the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is pursuing to address this major health threat. Cost of older adult falls In total, $50 billion was spent to treat nonfatal falls in 2015, with government-funded programs (Medicare, Medicare) paying 75% of the total. Medical spending for fatal falls was $750 million. Most U.S. adults age 65+receive healthcare coverage through Medicare, a federally funded program. On average, Medicare pays approximately $10 000 per emergency department visit and $30 000 per fall-related hospital stay. CDC approach Given the health and economic burden, CDC encourages healthcare providers to screen, assess, and intervene to reduce patient's multiple fall-risk factors. Interventions that address multiple modifiable risk factors can reduce falls by 24%. The CDC is evaluating the effectiveness of clinical fall prevention in primary care, upon hospital discharge, and within community pharmacies. In primary care, older adults at risk for a fall who received a treatment plan to reduce their fall-risk were 40% less likely to have a fall-related hospitalization compared to those at-risk without a treatment plan. Conclusion Fall interventions offered in clinical settings can reduce healthcare expenditures and prevent falls worldwide.


Abstract Whether in the cosmetic or as therapeutic, the use of nanoparticles has been increasing and taking on global proportion. However, there are few studies about the physical potential of long-term use or use in special conditions such as chronic, AIDS, pregnant women and other special health circumstances. In this context, the study of the mutagenicity and the transplacental passage represents an important and reliable model for the primary evaluation of potential health risks, especially maternal and child health. In this study we performed mutagenicity, cytotoxic and transplacental evaluation of magnetic core mesoporous silica nanoparticles, radiolabeled with 99mTc for determination of toxicogenic and embryonic/fetuses potential risk in animal model. Magnetic core mesoporous silica nanoparticles were produced and characterized by obtaining nanoparticles with a size of (58.9 ± 8.1 nm) in spherical shape and with intact magnetic core. The 99 m Tc radiolabeling process demonstrated high efficacy and stability in 98% yield over a period of 8 hours of stability. Mutagenicity assays were performed using Salmonella enteric serovar Typhimurium standard strains TA98, TA100 and TA102. Cytotoxicity assays were performed using WST-1. The transplacental evaluation assays were performed using the in vivo model with rats in two periods: embryonic and fetal stage. The results of both analyzes corroborate that the nanoparticles can i) generate DNA damage; ii) generate cytotoxic potential and iii) cross the transplantation barrier in both stages and bioaccumulates in both embryos and fetuses. The results suggest that complementary evaluations should be conducted in order to attest safety, efficacy and quality of nanoparticles before unrestricted approval of their use. Graphical Abstract


Since 2005, an unresolved debate has questioned whether R-shaped vulnerability curves (VCs) might be an artefact of the centrifuge method of measuring VCs. VCs with R-shape show loss of stem conductivity from approximately zero tension, and if true, this suggests that some plants either refill embolized vessels every night or function well with a high percentage of vessels permanently embolized. The R-shaped curves occur more in species with vessels greater than half the length of the segments spun in a centrifuge. Many have hypothesized that the embolism is seeded by agents (bubbles or particles) entering the stem end and travelling towards the axis of rotation in long vessels, causing premature cavitation. VCs were measured on Robinia pseudoacacia L. by three different techniques to yield three different VCs; R-shaped: Cavitron P50  = 0.30 MPa and S-shaped: air injection P50  = 1.48 MPa and bench top dehydration P50  = 3.57 MPa. Stem conductivity measured in the Cavitron was unstable and is a function of vessel length when measured repeatedly with constant tension, and this observation is discussed in terms of stability of air bubbles drawn into cut-open vessels during repeated Cavitron measurement of conductivity; hence, R-shaped curves measured in a Cavitron are probably invalid.


Timing analysis of real time scheduling policies is concerned with the analysis of response times, because real-time constraints impose that tasks must complete before their deadlines. For the well studied earliest deadline first (EDF) and the fixed priority preemptive (FPP) policy, results are known under various assumptions about tasks. In this report we propose a mathematical model based on trajectories to represent and analyze the scheduling of recurrent tasks on one processor. We identify generic ideas and concepts such as majorizing work arrival functions, which allows to study scheduling policies separately from assumptions on tasks. We develop in particular a common approach for deriving response times bounds under policies that can be defined by priorities which are assigned to instances of tasks. Not only FPP and EDF but also the classical first in first out or the last in first out policies fall in this category. By developing the model as general framework for timing analysis we have also obtained some extensions of existing results about EDF and FPP.


OBJECTIVE: Fractalkine is a newly discovered chemokine that is expressed in placental tissue during pregnancy and is subsequently shed into the maternal serum. Although there are a few studies examining the relationship between fractalkine and preeclampsia, its role in isolated fetal growth restriction has not been investigated yet. In this study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between isolated fetal growth restriction and maternal serum fractalkine concentrations.
STUDY DESIGN: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 86 pregnant women, 25 of whom were diagnosed with fetal growth restriction in the third trimester, 23 were small for gestational age, and 38 were healthy controls. These three groups were compared in terms of maternal serum fractalkine concentrations.
RESULTS: While the highest mean maternal serum fractalkine concentration was found in the small for gestational age group at 23.31 ng/mL, it was determined as 18.06 ng/mL in the fetal growth restriction group and 16.03 ng/mL in the control group. We did not find a statistical difference between the groups in terms of fractalkine concentrations (p=0.258). When the patients with fetal growth restriction and small for gestational age were evaluated as a single group and compared with the control group, the mean fractalkine concentration in the fetal growth restriction+small for gestational age group was higher than the control group, but this difference was not statistically significant (p=0.214).
CONCLUSION: Maternal serum fractalkine concentration was higher in both fetal growth restriction and small for gestational age groups compared to healthy controls, but this difference was not statistically significant. The role of the fractalkine molecule in the development of fetal growth restriction remains to be clarified in future studies with larger series.


The effects of nipradilol, a new beta-blocking agent with vasodilating properties, on exercise tolerance were examined in eight patients with stable effort angina. Symptom-limited treadmill tests were performed two hours after administration of oral nipradilol (9 mg) or placebo in a double-blind manner. Exercise time to the onset of angina was significantly longer after nipradilol than after placebo (6.8 +/- 2.5 min versus 5.0 +/- 1.2 min, P less than 0.05). Exercise duration after nipradilol was not statistically different from that after 0.3 mg of sublingual nitroglycerin (7.2 +/- 1.9 min). Nipradilol significantly decreased heart rate both at rest and during exercise (P less than 0.01). Systolic blood pressure at rest did not change after nipradilol. However, an increase in systolic blood pressure during exercise was inhibited by nipradilol. The pressure rate product was significantly lower after nipradilol than after placebo. It is concluded that nipradilol improves exercise tolerance in patients with stable effort angina by decreasing the myocardial oxygen consumption during exercise.


With widespread adoption of AI models for important decision making, ensuring reliability of such models remains an important challenge. In this paper, we present an end-to-end generic framework for testing AI Models which performs automated test generation for different modalities such as text, tabular, and time-series data and across various properties such as accuracy, fairness, and robustness. Our tool has been used for testing industrial AI models and was very effective to uncover issues present in those models. Demo video link-https://youtu.be/984UCU17YZI