In the Dutch SmartDairyFarming project, better decision support for the dairy farmer on daily questions around feeding, insemination, calving and milk production processes is made possible using a variety of big data sources containing static and dynamic sensor data of individual cows. This paper is concerned with the inherent semantic interoperability problem between the information in these data sources. Semantic alignment is achieved using ontologies and linked data mechanisms on a large amount of sensor data, such as grazing activity, feed intake,weight, temperature and milk production of individual cows at 7 dairy farms in The Netherlands. A Common Dairy Ontology (CDO) and a specific measurement ontology have been developed and used to transform the sensor data into 310GB of RDF triples, made accessible via a SPARQL interface on a triplestore. A few example applications have been developed to show how the CDO can be used for decision support and historic analysis. The performance of our linked data semantic solution is acceptable for analysis queries on large sets of data. Without optimization of queries the time for answering queries ranged from a few seconds to a couple of minutes.


The mass spectra of ion beams extracted from the impregnated-electrode type liquid gold-antimony ion sources have been investigated. Either eutectic alloy Au66Sb34 or intermetallic compound AuSb2 was used as the source material. The mass spectra were studied as a function of source current or as a function of source temperature, to investigate the behavior of Sb atoms. Analysis of liquid flow and evaporation within the ion source demonstrated that the alloy composition at the ionization point was determined by selective evaporation of Sb atoms, especially for the AuSb2 ion source. Relative intensities of multiply charged monomer ions strongly depended on the estimated concentration of Sb at the ionization point, which determined the evaporation field strength. Also, relative intensities of molecular ions were almost proportional to the estimated concentration of Sb. The present results indicated that ion formation in the liquid gold-antimony ion sources was dominated by the alloy composition at the ionization point. As a result, Au66Sb34 was found to be the preferred material.


Abstract Usually, the diagnosis of myocardial infarction based on patient symptoms, electrocardiogram (ECG) changes, and cardiac enzymes, is not a challenge for cardiologists. The correlation between coronary anatomy and the ECG territories that present ischemic changes can help the clinician to estimate which coronary artery presents lesions upon performing a coronary angiogram. In certain situations, the diagnosis of myocardial infarction can be difficult due to the lack of correlations between the clinical and paraclinical examinations and the coronary angiogram. In some cases, patients with chest pain and ST-segment elevation on the ECG tracing present with a normal coronary angiography. In other cases, patients without important changes on the ECG can present critical lesions or even occlusions upon angiographic examination. The aim of this article is to highlight the role of noninvasive coronary magnetic resonance and multi-slice computed tomography in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction and normal coronary angiography.


ABSTRACT Introduction: Sepsis is a dysregulated host response to infection that can lead to life-threatening organ dysfunction. Clinical and animal studies consistently demonstrate that female subjects are less susceptible to the adverse effects of sepsis, demonstrating the importance of understanding how sex influences sepsis outcomes. The signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) pathway are a major signaling pathway that facilitates inflammation during sepsis. STAT3 is abundantly expressed in white adipose tissue; however, little is known about the contribution of white adipose tissue STAT3 activation during sepsis. We hypothesize that adipocyte STAT3 inhibition during severe sepsis will exaggerate the inflammatory response and impact organ injury, in a sex-dependent manner. Methods: We generated STAT3 flox/flox (wild-type [WT]) and adipocyte STAT3 knock out (A-STAT3 KO) mice using Cre-lox technology. Studies were done in 12- to 16-week-old male and female mice. Polymicrobial sepsis was induced by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP). Control nonseptic mice did not undergo CLP (0 h CLP). Tissues were harvested 18 h after CLP. Body composition was determined by echo magnetic resonance imaging. Energy metabolism was determined by indirect calorimetry. White adipose tissue morphology was determined by hematoxylin and eosin staining, while STAT3 activation in the white adipose tissue was determined by western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry staining of STAT3 activation/phosphorylation at tyrosine 705. Plasma cytokines (TNF-α, IL-6, and leptin) were determined by luminex assay. Neutrophil infiltration of the lung and liver was assessed by myeloperoxidase activity assay. Histological signs of organ injury on lung and liver tissue were assessed by hematoxylin and eosin staining. Liver injury was further assessed by measuring plasma alanine and aspartate aminotransferase. In a separate cohort of mice, sepsis was induced by CLP and mice were monitored every 6–12 h over a 7-day period to assess survival rate. Results: We demonstrate that neither body composition nor energy metabolism is altered with adipocyte STAT3 inhibition in male or female mice, under nonseptic conditions. Sepsis was associated with reduced adipocyte size in female WT and A-STAT3 KO mice, suggesting that this event is STAT3 independent. Sepsis did not alter adipocyte size in male WT and A-STAT3 KO mice, suggesting that this event is also sex dependent. Although STAT3 phosphorylation at tyrosine 705 expression is negligible in male and female A-STAT3 KO mice, septic female WT and A-STAT3 KO mice have higher white adipose tissue STAT3 activation than male WT and A-STAT3 KO mice. Adipocyte STAT3 inhibition did not alter the proinflammatory cytokine response during sepsis in male or female mice, as measured by plasma TNF-α, IL-6, and leptin levels. Adipocyte STAT3 inhibition reduced lung neutrophil infiltration and histological signs of lung injury during sepsis in male mice. On the contrary, adipocyte STAT3 inhibition had no effect on lung neutrophil infiltration or lung injury in female mice. We further demonstrate that neither liver neutrophil infiltration nor histological signs of liver injury are altered by adipocyte STAT3 inhibition during sepsis, in male or female mice. Lastly, adipocyte STAT3 inhibition did not affect survival rate of male or female mice during sepsis. Conclusions: Our study demonstrates that sex influences white adipose tissue STAT3 activation and morphology during sepsis, which is not dependent on the presence of functional STAT3 in mature adipocytes. Furthermore, genetic inhibition of adipocyte STAT3 activation in male, but not female mice, results in reduced lung neutrophil infiltration and lung injury during sepsis. The results from our study demonstrate the importance of considering biological sex and the white adipose tissue as potential sources and targets of inflammation during sepsis.


Presented is a patient with primary sclerosing cholangitis, extrahepatic bile duct obstruction, and associated occlusion of the main portal vein, who was treated by peripheral biliary drainage. Radiological follow-up showed considerable improvement of the ductal strictures and bile excretion through the normal anatomical route. The patient remains well and anicteric 60 months after surgery.


The deprotonated Schiff base ligand in the title compound, [Ni(C8H8N3O2S)(C18H15P)]Cl, functions as an N,O,S-chelating anion to the phosphine-coordinated Ni atom, which exists in a distorted square-planar geometry. The hydroxy group forms an intramolecular O—H⋯O hydrogen bond. The two amino groups of the cation are hydrogen-bond donors to the chloride anion; the hydrogen bonds generate a chain structure running along the b axis.


The ability of low molecular weight amides to support amphiphile self-assembly is shown to be a general feature for this class of solvents. This report extends the number of known polar solvents which can support amphiphile self-assembly by five new amides; more than doubling the number of known amides able to serve as amphiphile self-assembly media. The formation of lyotropic liquid crystalline phases by cationic and non-ionic surfactants in these liquid amides is reported. The ability of a solvent to promote amphiphile self-assembly is governed by the "solvophobic effect" and is linked to the solvent cohesiveness. The Gordon parameter which is a measure of the solvent cohesiveness was found to provide a guide to an amides capacity to support lyotropic liquid crystalline phase diversity and thermal stability ranges of those phases. The "solvophobic effect" and steric hindrance factors were compared between amide's and protic ionic liquids possessing analogous chemical structures and also being able to promote amphiphile self-assembly.


The objective of this study is to relate the quality of concrete production to thecapability of the production process in such a way that the process capability could indicatethe level of production quality in batching plants. The main idea in this research is that theaccepting and refusing lab tests are not sufficient as quality indices and that the staticallyanalysis including control charts and capability calculations give biter image to theperformance levels of production process in batching plants . In this study, the productionconditions for a batching plant are investigated and the supervision is taken as the effectingfactor on the quality. Large number of testing data of compressive strength are analyzed.Results showed that it is necessary to use more detailed procedure than accepting andrefusing concrete tests.


Background: Benign prostatic hyperplasia is the most common cause of lower urinary tract symptoms in the elderly male and commonly treated by open prostatectomy in this environment despite newer safer options. The standard of care for benign prostatic hyperplasia is still the open prostatectomy procedure carried out by either the retro -pubic or transvescical route particularly in health institutions in developing countries where the resources for modern methods are not readily available. The authors' place of practice has practiced this method of managing BPH since the establishment of the institution over fifty years ago and has continued to do so despite becoming a University Teaching Hospital. Huge number of patients with BPH flock our Outpatient Clinics seeking for management of their BPH. The number of those embarking on medical tourism is also on the increase to have more modern techniques of treatment like TURP in view of its better outcome, thus further depleting our scarce foreign reserve. We therefore reviewed retrospectively the open prostatectomies (OP) carried out in the institution looking at the cost effectiveness, surgical complications and quality of life thereafter. Objective: To assess the outcome of OP carried out in Bingham University Teaching Hospital (BHUTH), between January; 2011 to January; 2017 in order to recommend options for improved outcome in terms of quality of life, cost effectiveness and patient safety. Design: A retrospective study of open prostatectomies done at Bingham University Teaching Hospital, formerly ECWA Evangel Hospital, Jos looking at the cost effectiveness, post-operative morbidity outcomes, length of hospitalization and quality of life thereafter. Setting: Bingham University Teaching Hospital, Jos, Nigeria. Methods: After obtaining ethical clearance from the BHUTH Health Research Ethics Committee for this study, we reviewed the medical records of 80 open prostatectomy patients from January 2011 to January; 2017 in order to document both medical and surgical complications arising from the surgeries. We also classified the complications documented using the modified Clavien method of classification for surgical operations. Results: We found a total of 108 OP that were carried out over the review period. Of the number only 80 cases were analysed. Those excluded were either due to incomplete documentation or existing comorbidities. Of the 80 OP patients analysed, statistical analysis showed that the mean age of the patients was 62+10 years and a range of 53 – x years. In this study 8% of the subjects had one form of complication or the other. Most complications were found to have occurred in the immediate post-surgery period. Other complications of OP that occurred in the early postoperative period were re-operated within 2 and 5 years respectively. Length of hospital stay ranged between five and twenty days. Conclusion: We conclude that OP procedure is still accompanied with substantial perioperative morbidity and mortality and this correlated well with the grade of the complication, particularly for high-grade complications. Open prostatectomy is still a valid operative procedure in a contemporary society, even where advanced techniques for transurethral approach to prostatectomy and laser and assisted robotic radical prostatectomy are available. However, where the human resources for modern techniques such as the transurethral Prostatectomy (TURP) are available, the armamentarium should be acquired to further reduce the occurrence of morbidity and even mortality recorded in this study. We also note that possible complications should be well explained to the patient at the preoperative encounter and documented. Keywords: Open prostatectomy, benign prostatic hyperplasia, Complications, Assisted robotic radical prostatectomy


Spatially resolved transcriptomic technologies show promise in revealing complex pathophysiological processes, but developing sensitive, high-resolution, and cost-effective methodology is challenging. Here, we report a dendrimeric DNA coordinate barcoding design for spatial RNA sequencing (Decoder-seq). This technology combined dendrimeric nano-substrates with microfluidic coordinate barcoding to generate high-density spatial DNA arrays with deterministically combinatorial barcodes in a resolution-flexible and cost-effective manner (∼$0.5/mm2). Decoder-seq achieved high RNA capture efficiency, ∼68.9% that of in situ sequencing, and enhanced the detection of lowly expressed genes by ∼five-fold compared to 10× Visium. Decoder-seq visualized a spatial single-cell atlas of mouse hippocampus at near-cellular resolution (15 μm) and revealed dendrite-enriched mRNAs. Application to renal cancers dissected the heterogeneous tumor microenvironment of two subtypes, and identified spatial gradient expressed genes with the potential in predicting tumor prognosis and progression. Decoder-seq is compatible with sensitivity, resolution, and cost, making spatial transcriptomic analysis accessible to wider biomedical applications and researchers.


This paper investigates the impact of ambient control in critical front-end processes. Gate-oxide reliability improvements and device implications for advanced sub-micron applications are described. Such processing limits exposure of wafers to clean-room air and promises reliability improvements, particularly where bare silicon or critical films are present on the wafer surface. Specifically, the benefits of environmental control between gate pre-clean and gate oxidation, gate oxidation and polysilicon deposition, and silicide deposition and annealing are presented.


The Amundsen Sea sector of the West Antarctic ice sheet has been losing mass in recent decades; however, long records of snow accumulation are needed to place the recent changes in context. Here we present 300 year records of snow accumulation from two ice cores drilled in Ellsworth Land, West Antarctica. The records show a dramatic increase in snow accumulation during the twentieth century, linked to a deepening of the Amundsen Sea Low (ASL), tropical sea surface temperatures, and large‐scale atmospheric circulation. The observed increase in snow accumulation and interannual variability during the late twentieth century is unprecedented in the context of the past 300 years and evidence that the recent deepening of the ASL is part of a longer trend.


Community-based forest management (CBFM) is a popular concept in many countries, covering over 400 million hectares worldwide. In Indonesia, CBFM is viewed as an important component of the forestry sector with the government's goal to establish 5.6 million hectares of CBFM by 2011 (twice the area of industrial plantation forests). The Indonesian government is pursuing CBFM as a strategy to reduce deforestation of tropical forests, to alleviate poverty in rural communities, and to contribute timber supplies to the processing industry. There has been a belief that CBFM can lead to a physical and socio-economic transformation at the local level. However, in practice, especially in Indonesia, this claim appears problematic because in over 35 years since it has been officially introduced it does not appear to have contributed significantly to address the problems of deforestation and rural poverty. Despite the government's ambitious goal for CBFM, there are several challenges, for instance the entrenched poverty of many rural communities and inconsistent and unsupportive policies of CBFM at the national, provincial, and local government. This paper is intended to explore, discusses, and criticize the implementation of CBFM policies in various countries and in particular in Indonesia. This paper also aims to explore its challenges in the future development in Indonesia.


Habitat fragmentation is widely assumed to have negative effects on populations and communities, but some effects of fragmentation are subtle, difficult to measure and not always negative. For stream fish, barriers to upstream passage, such as waterfalls or culverts with perched outlets, are a common cause of fragmentation. We explored the effects of barriers on a virtual stream trout population occupying a network of reaches in the inSTREAM individual‐based trout population model. The model includes daily habitat selection by individual fish, with barriers represented by assuming trout cannot move upstream past a barrier and move downstream over a barrier only if habitat above it offers low potential fitness. In 78‐year simulations of a resident trout population occupying the stream network of a 25‐km2 catchment, we varied barrier density and observed effects on population stability properties and demographics. Increasing barrier density decreased subpopulation persistence in first‐order tributaries but not larger streams. Barriers at tributary mouths reduced the population's resistance to extreme flows, but additional barriers caused no further loss of resistance. Barriers reduced overall abundance and biomass at intermediate and high densities and caused a small but surprising increase in biomass at low density. In comparison with fish in the remainder of the network, fish in isolated first‐order tributaries had higher survival early in life, smaller sizes at age and reproduced as smaller, younger individuals. Fish that passed over barriers contributed relatively little to downstream populations but, had they not moved, would have increased persistence and abundance of the tributaries they moved from. Relationships such as these would be very difficult to elucidate without a model representing individual behaviour. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Management of municipal solid waste (MSW) is one thing that is common in every city government, though service levels, environmental impacts and costs may vary depending on the level of funding, waste stream composition, waste management methodology and the habits of the people. Globally, the biggest waste management problem is the contribution of greenhouse gases to the environment. But classical waste management processes causes other problems like underground water contaminations, inefficient resource utilization, ozone depletion and toxic emissions into the environment, leading to environmental degradation and negative health implications. But the implementing of new technologies and habit change in waste handling and management can help in reducing or eliminating these problems. The paper attempts a synthesis of waste management strategies for solving the prolonged waste management problems of the Lagos mega city. Using a city-specific approach, it assesses typical success and failure factors. With a standing population of over 21 million people, generating over 10, 000 tonnes of waste daily, the application of knowledge based 'greenwaste' management approach in a strategic planning scenario are crucial in the face of the plan for the city to emerge as a sustainable city. Considering the waste stream composition, the variation in the settlement pattern of Lagos and the habit of the residents, the paper discusses the steps to be adopted to follow the impact factors and succeed in the execution of the 'greenwaste' management. The 'greenwaste' management supported by strategic planning, integrated with spatial analysis will eliminate all the negative effects of classical waste management, leading to integrated waste management hence a sustainable city. This is termed 'greenwaste' management in this paper.


A system for creating a container having a bottom and four lateral walls comprises a bottom member (1), four walls (2) and an arrangement (3) for interlocking said walls with respect to said bottom member so as to create a container. The arrangement comprises for each wall a first section (4) and the bottom has for each outer border thereof a second section (10). The second section allows introduction of the first section therein with a corresponding wall tilted outwards from a centre of a container to be created and has a part (12) forming a stop to the first section preventing lifting of the wall with respect to the bottom member in a vertical position of the former.


The computation of rotor losses is a crucial aspect in Permanent Magnet (PM) machine design. In particular, with the adoption of fractional-slot windings (which causes an increase of the space harmonics content of magneto motive force), the rotor losses assume a dominant role in the machine performance, since it is extremely difficult to measure them, their prediction is becoming more and more important. The aim of this paper is to study the rotor losses phenomenon going through different machine sizes rotational speeds and electrical loadings. The analysis is developed in order to provide the PM machine designers a guideline in rotor losses behavior.


In the past few decades, IC has been viewed as a crucial factor for improved financial performance of IT companies. Globally, the IT industry has shown positive trendlines and the tremendous importance of intangible resources as part of intellectual capital. Intellectual capital per se may not be a novel topic in the IT industry. Nonetheless, this paper focuses on determining which type of intellectual capital is paramount for financial success, which has remained an open puzzle. The aim of this paper is to analyse the human, relational, structural and innovation capital of IT companies and to measure their impact on financial performance. Moreover, the authors have analysed the impact of the intellectual capital elements on several key performance indicators as the most frequently used in these kinds of studies. In order to address this aim, the study collected primary data from 101 respondents – business owners, managers and experts from a rapidly growing IT ecosystem in South-East Europe. Most research has focused on developed countries for addressing similar topics. Therefore, the authors call out for additional research of this topic in other emerging and developing environments. The findings of this study indicate a positive effect of intellectual capital on business performance. This study raises awareness among business experts in the field of intellectual capital, and supports decision-making through the concept of identifying, managing and analysing intellectual capital and its effect on overall business results. Even though the IT industry has become global, this study draws exceptional attention to the interplay between IC and financial performance in a developing IT ecosystem setting.


12 Background: To compare toxicity profiles and biochemical tumor control outcomes between patients treated with high-dose image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) and high-dose intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) for clinically localized prostate cancer.

METHODS
186 patients with prostate cancer were treated with IGRT to a dose of 86.4 Gy with daily correction of the target position based upon kilovoltage imaging of implanted prostatic fiducial markers. This group of patients was retrospectively compared with a similar cohort of 190 patients who were treated with IMRT to the same prescription dose without, implanted fiducial markers in place (non-IGRT). In both groups the margins used for the prostate were the same. The median follow-up time was 2.8 years (range, 2-4 years).

RESULTS
A significant reduction in late urinary toxicity was observed for IGRT patients compared with the non-IGRT patients. The 3-year likelihood of urinary toxicity for the IGRT and non-IGRT cohorts were 10.4% and 20.0%, respectively (p=0.02).Multivariate analysis identifying predictors for late urinary toxicity demonstrated that, in addition to the baseline IPSS, IGRT was associated with significantly less late urinary toxicity compared with non-IGRT. The incidence of late rectal toxicity was low for both treatment groups (1.0% and 1.6%, respectively; p = 0.81). No differences in prostate-specific antigen relapse-free survival outcomes were observed for low- and intermediate-risk patients when treated with IGRT and non-IGRT. For high-risk patients a significant improvement was observed at 3-years for patients treated with IGRT compared with non-IGRT.

CONCLUSIONS
IGRT is associated with a reduction in late urinary toxicity and improvement in biochemical tumor control after definitive high-dose external beam radiotherapy compared with high-dose IMRT. These data suggest that, for definitive radiotherapy, the placement of fiducial markers and daily tracking of target positioning should be the preferred mode of external beam radiotherapy delivery for the treatment of prostate cancer.


OBJECTIVE
To describe the idea of palliative medicine and its forms of organization in the inpatient and outpatient sectors, and in particular to describe the projects for palliative medicine at the University of Cologne, specifying costs and the 1996 statistics of the palliative care unit.

CONTENT
Palliative medicine comprises the alleviative treatment, nursing and accompaniment of the incurably ill in the far advanced stage of disease, including the physical, mental, psychic, spiritual and social domains. The underlying concept is "to live until you die" and dying in dignity at the natural end of life. Facilities for palliative medicine in the hospital: palliative care unit, palliative care sector, palliative care consultation service; forms of organization in the outpatient sector: home care service, domiciliary palliative care service and outpatient hospice; independent facilities: hospices-inpatient and part-inpatient. Costs of palliative treatment in the projects of the University of Cologne: palliative care unit: 457.33 DM for one patient per day, 12,092.20 DM average costs per patient admission in 1996 (n = 186); home care service: 200.00 DM flat rate per patient per day; inpatient hospice in Cologne-Heimersdorf: 300.00 DM for one patient per day (home care service and hospice entail additional costs for medical treatment, medication and nursing accessories).

CONCLUSIONS
Palliative medicine is expensive; only a few patients have the benefit of this; relatives may suppose to be relieved of the burden of their responsibilities; however: the severely ill and dying patients of the hospital experience the best possible care at home or in a "family atmosphere"; gain in experience of palliative medicine and multiplier function, research; awaking our society to thoughts of their own hour of death and what comes after it.


An efficient global cell (module) placement strategy called hierarchical alternating linear ordering (HALO) which generates a global 2D placement of circuit modules by hierarchical application of linear ordering in alternating direction is described. It is explained why HALO should perform better than other typical, somewhat successful, analytical approaches such as min-cut, force-directed relaxation (FDR), or their variations. HALO is implemented in a program for standard cell placement. The remaining procedures in the standard cell placement, i.e. row assignment, feedthrough cell assignment, and intrarow assignment, are explained. Experimental results are given and discussed. The results on two benchmark circuits consisting of 752 and 2907 cells show a decrease of the half-perimeter routing lengths by 7% and 24%, respectively, compared to other available results. Total CPU time including the following detailed placement is less than half of that reported in previously published work.<<ETX>>


Abstract Sustainable thermal insulating materials produced from cellulosic fibers provide a viable alternative to plastic insulation foams. Industrially available, abundant, and inexpensive mechanical pulp fiber and recycled textile fiber provide potential raw materials to produce thermal insulating materials. To improve the fire retardancy of low-density thermal insulating materials produced from recycled cotton denim and mechanical pulp fibers, bio-based fire retardants, such as sulfonated kraft lignin, kraft lignin, and nanoclays, were coated onto sustainable insulating material surfaces to enhance their fire retardancy. Microfibrillated cellulose was used as a bio-based binder in the coating formula to disperse and bond the fire-retardant particles to the underlying thermal insulating materials. The flammability of the coated thermal insulating materials was tested using a single-flame source test and cone calorimetry. The results showed that sulfonated kraft lignin-coated cellulosic thermal insulating materials had a better fire retardancy compared with that for kraft lignin with a coating weight of 0.8 kg/m2. Nanoclay-coated samples had the best fire retardancy and did not ignite under a heat flux of 25 kW/m2, as shown by cone calorimetry and single-flame source tests, respectively. These cost-efficient and bio-based fire retardants have broad applications for improving fire retardancy of sustainable thermal insulating materials.


The historical memory of the Kazakhs, recorded in the historical legends, does not correlate with the modern representation of the medieval history of the Kazakhs. If the traditional historical memory is dominated by the notions of direct continuity between the Kazakhs and the Golden Horde, the scientific representation denies it. As a result of the predominance of such views in historical science, a myth about the absence of historical connection of the Kazakhs with a significant part of their modern ethnic territory is enshrined in the mass consciousness.


The goal of this experiment was to establish the effect of genotype, sex and intramuscular fat (IMF) content in the musculus longissimus lumborum et thoracis (MLLT) on the colour of pork. The values of meat colour parameters were balanced in both gilts and barrows without significant differences (p < 0.05). The average value of the lightness parameter L* was 61.35 ± 5.31 in barrows in our research and 60.14 ± 4.94 in gilts. The percentage of yellow spectrum b* ranged within a narrow zone of from 13.67 ± 2.14 (gilts) to 13.88 ± 2.02 (barrows). The colour saturation value (C*) for meat from barrows (14.42 ± 2,33) differed by just 0.21 from the meat from gilts (14.21 ± 2.51). The lightest meat with the highest L* value, was from pigs to be slaughtered with the highest IMF content (5.00 to 9.50%) 62.53 ± 4.26, or the group with a IMF content of 3.00 to 3.99% (62.12 ± 4.96). The lightness value was lowest (58.73 ± 5.43) in the group with the lowest IMF content (1.85 to 2.99%). To establish the effect of genotype on the colour of pork two hybrid combinations were monitored: (CLW × CL) × D and (CLW × CL) × (D × BL). Different paternal lines in the groups did not affect any of the meat colour indicators significantly.


Objective. We describe a series of patients with a previously unreported sonographic finding, the chorionic "bump," which is an irregular, convex bulge from the choriodecidual surface into the first‐trimester gestational sac. The pregnancy outcome is investigated in this series of patients and compared with the general population and infertility first‐trimester control groups. Methods. We prospectively noted a cohort of 15 cases with the chorionic bump on first‐trimester sonograms (in a total of 2178 patients) performed over 3 years at our institution (prevalence, 0.7%). We then compared pregnancy outcomes against 2 pregnant control groups (15 general, noninfertility patients and 15 infertility patients) who were maternal age and gestational age matched to our patient group. Results. The difference in outcomes between the patients with bumps and the healthy control subjects was statistically significant (7 live births versus 13 live births; P < .03), but the difference in outcomes between the patients with bumps and infertility control subjects was not statistically significant (7 live births versus 11 live births; P = .1). Bump size was not correlated with pregnancy outcome. In most patients with serial sonograms, the bump showed evolutionary changes typical for hematoma. Conclusions. The finding of a chorionic bump on the first‐trimester sonogram is associated with a guarded prognosis for the early pregnancy (live birth rate <50%); it probably represents a small hematoma that bulges into the gestational sac, and, in our series, most patients had a history of infertility treatments.


Research studies have observed associations of vitamin D with inflammation but data in representative older adult studies is lacking. We aimed to investigate the association of C-reactive protein (CRP) with vitamin D status in a representative sample of the older Irish population. The concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) and CRP was measured in 5,381 community dwelling Irish adults aged ≥50 years from the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA). Demographic, health and lifestyle variables were assessed by questionnaire and categorical proportions of CRP were generated by vitamin D status and age. Multi-nominal logistic regression was used to investigate the association of 25(OH)D and CRP status. The prevalence (mean; 95% confidence interval (95% CI)) of normal CRP status (0–5 mg/dL) was 83.9% (82.6–85.0%), elevated status (5–10 mg/dL) 11.0% (9.9–12.0%) and high status (>10 mg/dL) was 5.1% (4.5–5.8%). Mean (95% CI) CRP concentrations were lower in those with normal vs. deficient 25(OH)D status (2.02 mg/dL (1.95–2.08) vs. 2.60 mg/dL (2.41–2.82); p<0.0001). In a logistic regression analysis, those with insufficient or sufficient 25(OH)D status were less likely to have a high CRP status compared to those with deficient 25(OH)D status (insufficient: coefficient (CE) -0.732, 95% CI -1.12–0.33, p<0.0001; sufficient: CE -0.599, 95% CI -0.95–0.24, p = 0.001). In conclusion older adults with deficient vitamin D status had higher levels of inflammation as measured by CRP. Given that inflammation is an important pathological driver of chronic diseases of ageing, and that emerging evidence suggests that vitamin D therapy can reduce inflammation in some disease settings, optimising vitamin D status could represent an effective low risk/low-cost pathway to modulate inflammation in community dwelling older adults.


AIM
To study association of TAP1/TAP2 gene polymorphism with urogenital infections combined with joint lesions.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Of 139 patients examined 45 ones had inflammation caused by Chlamydia trachomatis (17 had joint disease), 42 had Mycoplasma hominis infection (joint lesions in 17 cases). Method of amplification was used on the basis of specific primers (ARMS).

RESULTS
Patients infected with C. trachomatis significantly more frequently had allele TAP1-02011 and TAP2-0201 (RR = 18.5, p < 0.01 and RR = 4.61, p < 0.05, respectively). Joint lesion in patients with chlamydial infection was associated with allele TAP1-02011 (RR = 11.92, p < 0.05). In mycoplasmosis association with joint lesions there is a significant link of joint syndrome with heterogeneous combination threonine/alanine in gene TAP2 position 565 (RR = 4.22, p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION
The findings can be used for predicting the joint syndrome development in patients with urogenital infection.


Obstructive sleep apnea, a breathing disorder in sleep characterized by intermittent and recurrent pauses in respiration, is also a major risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Accumulated evidence implicates the apnea-related multiple cycles of hypoxia/reoxygenation in promoting the formation of reactive oxygen species that oxidize and damage macromolecules and activate critical redox-sensitive signaling pathways and transcription factors. This activation facilitates the expression of sets of genes encoding proteins in various pathways, including inflammatory and lipogenic, as well as proteins essential to adaptation to hypoxia. Consequently, inflammatory and immune responses are activated, thus resulting in the activation of endothelial cells/leukocytes/platelets. These activated cells express adhesion molecules and proinflammatory cytokines that in turn may further exacerbate inflammatory responses and cause endothelial cell injury and dysfunction, promoting the development of cardiovascular morbidities in sleep apnea. No less important in activating such inflammatory cascades is the hyperlipidemia that is another characteristic of obstructive sleep apnea. Evidence supporting the existence of endothelial dysfunction and early clinical signs of atherosclerosis in these patients provides a firm support to the above chain of events. If left untreated, this cascade of events may eventually lead to overt cardiovascular morbidity.


The voice contains a wealth of information relevant for successful and meaningful social interactions. Aside from speech, the vocal signal also contains paralinguistic information such as the emotional state and identity of the speaker. The three empirical chapters reported in this thesis research the perceptual processing of paralinguistic vocal cues. The first set of studies uses unimodal adaptation to explore the mental representation of emotion in the voice. Using a series of different adaptor stimuli -human emotional vocalisations, emotive dog calls and affective instrumental bursts- it was found that aftereffects in human vocal emotion perception were largest following adaptation to human vocalisations. There was still an aftereffect present following adaptation to dog calls, however it was smaller in magnitude than that of the human vocalisation aftereffect and potentially as a result of the acoustic similarities between adaptor and test stimuli. Taken together, these studies suggest that the mental representation of emotion in the voice is not species specific but is specific to vocalisations as opposed to all affective auditory stimuli. The second empirical chapter examines the supramodal relationship between identity and emotion in face-voice adaptation. It was found that emotional faces have the ability to produce aftereffects in vocal emotion perception, irrespective of the identity of the adaptor and test stimuli being congruent. However, this effect was found to be dependent upon the adapting stimuli being dynamic as opposed to static in nature. The final experimental chapter looks at the mechanisms underlying the perception of vocal identity. A voice matching test was developed and standardised, finding large individual differences in voice matching ability. Furthermore, in an identity adaptation experiment, absolute difference in aftereffect size demonstrated a trend towards significance when correlated with voice matching ability, suggesting that there is a relationship between perceptual abilities and the degree of plasticity observed in response adaptation.


Proximal tubular reabsorption is of primary importance in the regulation of the homeostasis of inorganic sulfate, an electrolyte that is necessary for biosynthetic and detoxification reactions. The objective of the present investigation was to determine the effect of dietary sulfate deprivation, produced by a diet low in methionine, on the renal transport of sulfate. Female Lewis rats were fed a diet containing negligible amounts of sulfate and cystine and low in methionine (0.37%) or a control diet (methionine 1.12%, cystine 0.07%) for 8 days to examine the urinary excretion rate and renal clearance of sulfate. The sulfate excretion rate was decreased by day 4 of the low methionine diet and remained low. Both the urinary excretion rates and renal clearance values were significantly decreased on day 8 (144 +/- 71 vs. 517 +/- 264 mumol/12 hr in controls, mean +/- S.D., n = 7, P < .005 and 0.38 +/- 0.19 vs. 1.07 +/- 0.61 ml min-1 kg-1 in controls, n = 5-6, P < .05, respectively), although the serum sulfate concentrations were unchanged. In vitro transport studies were performed in kidney cortex brush border membrane (BBM) and basolateral membrane vesicles isolated from rats fed either the low methionine or control diet for 7 to 9 days. The Vmax for BBM sodium/sulfate cotransport was increased in kidneys from animals that received the low methionine diet (1.1 +/- 0.10 vs. 0.75 +/- 0.08 nmol mg of protein-1 10 sec-1 in controls, n = 5, P < .001); there were no significant differences in the Km.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


In this work, we compare standard wide-field fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) and structured illumination FLIM (SI-FLIM) as methods for the early detection of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Our technique, SI-FLIM, provides depth dependent fluorescence lifetime information of the oral epithelium, isolating the endogenous fluorophore of interest, NADH, from interfering fluorescence generated mainly by collagen in the lamina propria. Male golden Syrian hamsters (Cricetus auratus) were used as the animal model for OSCC. They were treated with a carcinogen, 7,12-Dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA), for a twelve-week period by applying the DMBA suspended in mineral oil to their cheek pouches 3 times per week. The progression of OSCC was monitored over a 12-week period with imaging beginning at the 6th week. The cheek pouch with lesions was imaged in a 3x4 grid (twelve total images), with each section of the grid being correlated with histopathological analysis. The NADH fluorescence channel, as a diagnostic indicator, was compared for both SI-FLIM and widefield FLIM. ROC analysis, in the task of distinguishing between mild dysplasia and normal tissue, showed that SI-FLIM (AUC=0.83, se=0.07) may be a better indicator for early cases of mild dysplasia when compared to widefield FLIM (AUC=0.63, se=0.07) with statistical significance.


Since the account of Rodolph Valltravers appeared in these pages (vol. 4, p. 216), further information has come to light which completes the picture of his activities. The chief source has been the guardbooks of the Royal Society of Arts, now returned to London, which, by the kindness of the officers of that Society and Mr Buchanan Dunlop, I have been able to peruse. The house at Romairon is still standing whence in 1684 his father Guillaume Vautravers, a tailor, set out for Berne, where in 1723 Rodolph was born. Of his youth little more is known except that in 1743 he wrote to Whitehall offering to organize a regular supply of political intelligence from France at very moderate cost. It is a pity that Oldenburg was no longer there to receive it. All accounts agree that Valltravers neglected no opportunity for promoting applied science. This emerges clearly from his letters to Dr Templeman, Secretary of the Society of Arts. ' December 22nd 1762, . . . Having apprised Mr. Hollis, Fellow of your Society, of sundry Particulars, concerning Sommer's Engine for eradicating Trees, give me leave to refer myself to those several letters, the contents of which you will find more fully explained in Mr Tscharner's annexed account. The Model will soon be compleat, and ready to be transmitted to your Society, if it be their Will and Pleasure. ' Dr Yth, Physician of this Place, of great Ingenuity, Candor and Modesty, has lately invented a very usefull kind of Press, adapted to various uses, on a new Combination of several mecanical Powers, exerting a much greater Strength, or Effect, than hitherto known, with less Force than ordinary.


THE increasing necessity for large‐scale calculation in the design of aircraft has, in recent years, emphasized the lack of adequate computational facilities and transferred attention from the problem of formulation to that of solution. Thus, unless a reliable simple theory is available, the designer is forced to base his design on approximate formulae which do not always reflect current trends in a fast developing science. The more elaborate theory is therefore usually applied as a check to the final design, and much valuable time is wasted while such computations are carried out, even if they do not indicate the need for major structural modifications.


Practicing in a low-resource environment presents unusual challenges with the management of even the simplest conditions when physicians must choose between investigating their patients and proceeding to intervention with patients′ limited resources. Failure to perceive light, inaccurate light projection, or sonographic evidence of retinal detachment are all reasons to avoid cataract surgery, as there is no hope of visual recovery. However, when a patient already accepts a blind eye, but wants cataract surgery to remove the cosmetic blemish of leukocoria, they may question the necessity of preoperative ultrasonography because of the additional expense involved. Market forces can be defined as the economic factors affecting the price, demand, and availability of a commodity. In recent times, market forces have played increasingly significant role in the accessibility of standard healthcare in Nigeria; as Medical Services in Public Hospitals are no longer free, and the majority of Nigerians fund their healthcare through out-of-pocket expenditure, which places a burden on the economically challenged and uninsured. The main objective is to emphasize the importance of ultrasonography in a blind eye for the purpose of determining the position of a suspected retinal detachment, and to introduce the black occlusive intraocular lens (IOL). This is a report of cosmetic cataract surgery performed in a blind eye, with failure to achieve desired results, due to anteriorly displaced retinal detachment. This case describes the difficulties encountered with cosmetic cataract surgery in a low resource setting and discusses the use of occlusive IOL to improve cosmetic outcome. Cataract surgery is to be avoided in the presence of total retinal detachment. However, black occlusive IOL implantation may provide a cosmetically acceptable outcome.


The paper discusses negative individuation and the hero myth as developmental concepts. It is suggested that in negative individuation healthy psychological development is hindered and goes astray. Aggression then becomes the central psychic system. Repressed anger is the core element in psychopathic narcissism (Diamond) and malignant narcissism (Kernberg). Both Diamond and Kernberg extend narcissistic personality structure to antisocial, psychopathic personality in an effort to better understand extreme violence. According to Freud, love (libido) and hate (the death drive) are the major motivational systems in the human psyche. In contrast to Freud, Jung sees libido as a life force in general, not simply as a sexual drive. Jung writes about evil and the shadow but does not present a comprehensive theory of the negative development of an individual's life. The concept of negative individuation connects the shadow and the death drive with psychopathology, psychiatry and psychotherapy. In this paper, I explore these concepts in the light of contemporary affect theory according to Kernberg. I also ask how ideology is tied to extreme violence and how it is possible that narcissistic personality structures can lead to such radically different outcomes as were manifested in the lives of Anders Behring Breivik and Steve Jobs.


The typical clinical manifestation of vasculitic peripheral neuropathy is sensory-dominant multiple mononeuropathy, although it can progress to distal-dominant sensorimotor polyneuropathy. It is painful in most cases. Peripheral nerves may be the most prone to produce symptoms of the vasculitis. Nerve conduction studies show reduced amplitude of M wave or sensory nerve action potential, which depends on the degree of injury of a nerve examined. Wallerian degeneration can cause pseudo-conduction block in the acute stage and temporal dispersion in the chronic stage. However, a definite diagnosis requires histological confirmation. Combined biopsy of the sural nerve and the peroneus brevis muscle can be performed by a single incision. Skin biopsy can also be performed. To increase the diagnostic yield, biopsy specimens are prepared in different manners to observe as many cross sections as possible: frozen unfixed, formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded, and glutaraldehyde-fixed epon embedded specimens, as well as teased fiber preparation of a nerve. Vasculitic peripheral neuropathy usually results from small-vessel vasculitis. There are still controversies regarding the classification of vasculitides. Differential diagnosis of vasculitis includes infection and lymphoma. Delayed diagnosis and treatment of neuropathy result in the impairment of ADL and QOL. Recovery from axonal degeneration usually takes time and is not always possible. Treatment includes corticosteroid, cyclophosphamide, and intravenous immunoglobulin administration; however, the intensity of treatment depends on the disease activity of vasculitis.


With the identification of novel antibiotics from nature being pivotal in the fight against human pathogenic bacteria, there is an urgent need for effective methodologies for expedited screening of crude extracts. Here we report the development and validation of a simple and dye-free antimicrobial assay in 96-well microplate format, for both determination of IC50 values and high-resolution inhibition profiling to allow pin-pointing of bioactive constituents directly from crude extracts. While commonly used antimicrobial assays visualize cell viability using dyes, the developed and validated assay conveniently uses OD600 measurements directly on the fermentation broth. The assay was validated with an investigation of the inhibitory activity of DMSO against Staphylococcus aureus, temperature robustness, interference by coloured crude extracts as well as inter-day reproducibility. The potential for high-resolution S. aureus growth inhibition profiling was evaluated on a crude extract of an inactive Alternaria sp., spiked with ciprofloxacin.


Abstract Schizophrenia is a severe non-curable illness of the brain with serious consequences if not properly treated and kept under control. Antipsychotic drugs have revolutionised the therapy and management of schizophrenia. However, patient compliance rates are notoriously poor due to the nature of the disease and troublesome side-effects, and are major causes of symptom recurrence. Although some new antipsychotic agents have been marketed to offer broader efficacy with much reduced side-effect profiles, the drug delivery systems for antipsychotics are still in the stage of conventional dosage forms, such as tablets, capsules and solutions, and need to be dosed at the frequency of 2-4 times daily. Doubtless, novel drug delivery systems, such as sustained and controlled release systems, will be useful for antipsychotics. They should reduce the frequency of dosing, enhance drug bioavailability and improve patient compliance. In this article, the specificity and characterisation of schizophrenia and pathophysiology, drug therapy, and the development and future prospects of neuroleptic drug delivery systems are reviewed.


Karounidiol [D:C-Friedo-oleana-7,9(11)-diene-3 alpha,29-diol] and 7-oxodihydrokarounidiol [7-oxo-D:C-friedo-olean-8-ene-3 alpha,29-diol], isolated from the seeds of Trichosanthes kirilowii, were examined for the effect on 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA, 1 microgram/ear)-induced inflammation, following application of this tumor-promoting agent, to the ears of mice. Both compounds inhibited the inflammatory activity induced by TPA and the 50% inhibitory dose for TPA-induced inflammation was 0.3 and 0.4 mg/ear, respectively. Furthermore, at 2 mumol/mouse, karounidiol markedly suppressed the promoting effect of TPA (1 microgram/mouse) on skin tumor formation in mice following initiation with 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (50 micrograms/mouse).


Well converged electronic structure calculations are employed to predict the relative energies of tautomers of thiazol-5(4H)-one/5-hydroxythiazole. Benchmarks established for this system are then employed to correct less complete levels of theory applied to the prediction of relative tautomer energies in substituted cases, including oxyluciferin. In the gas phase and aqueous solution, weak preferences for hydroxy and keto tautomers, respectively, are generally observed, but the magnitude is such that mixtures containing significant quantities of minor tautomers are predicted in most instances. The first pKa value for oxyluciferin is predicted to be 6.5, with phenolate tautomers dominating the anionic equilibrium. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


A 75-year-old man without overt heart failure showed an abnormally high level of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) in plasma: 600 pg/ml. The left ventricular endomyocardial biopsy revealed prominent vacuolar degeneration in the myocytes, most of which were positive for PAS stain and BNP immunoreaction. Ultrastructurally, degenerative changes of myocytes were marked, such as deposits of glycogen and lipofuscin granules in the cytoplasm, but the most prominent finding was giant vacuoles containing degraded mitochondria, glycogen granules, myofibrils, and myelin-like structures (autophagosomes). This case may belong to one of the unclassified cardiomyopathies characterized by prominent autophagic vacuoles.


ABSTRACT When an excavation is to extend beneath the water table the ground conditions may be improved by lowering the level of the water table beneath the proposed base of the excavation. Groundwater lowering is accomplished by removing water from the ground at a faster rate than recharge can occur. The most appropriate type of system of groundwater lowering depends mainly upon the soil conditions present at the site but the size of the excavation, the amount by which the water table has to be lowered and the length of time during which the excavation has to be maintained in a stable and workable condition also have to be taken into account. Settlement may occur as a result of groundwater lowering. If a site is surrounded by buildings then measures should be taken to prevent settlement taking place.


In 1902, the British government entered into a defensive alliance with Japan, a state that had surprised much of the world with its sudden rise to global prominence. For the next two decades, the Anglo-Japanese alliance would hold the balance of power in East Asia, shielding Japan from foreign rivals, and allowing Britain to concentrate on meeting the German challenge in Europe. Yet it was also a relationship shaped by its contradictions. On the one hand, Anglo-Japanese alliance legitimized Japan's participation in great-power diplomacy, and worked to counteract racist notions of a 'yellow peril'. On the other, Japan's defiance of established racial hierarchies made the alliance controversial across much of the British Empire. On the settlement frontiers of Australasia and North America, white colonial elites formulated their own responses to the growth of Japan's power, charged by the twinned forces of colonial nationalism and racial anxiety, as they designed immigration laws to exclude Japanese migrants, developed autonomous military and naval forces, and pressed Britain to rally behind their vision of a 'white empire'. On the eve of the First World War, Japan stood at the centre of a series of escalating inter-imperial disputes over foreign policy, defence, migration, and ultimately, over the future of the British imperial system itself. This account weaves together studies of diplomacy, strategy, and imperial relations to pose searching questions about how Japan's entry into the 'family of civilized nations' was complicated by ideas of race.


INTRODUCTION
Transsexual people receive cross-sex hormones as part of their treatment, potentially inducing hormone-sensitive malignancies.

AIM
To examine the occurrence of breast cancer in a large cohort of Dutch male and female transsexual persons, also evaluating whether the epidemiology accords with the natal sex or the new sex.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE
Number of people with breast cancer between 1975 and 2011.

METHODS
We researched the occurrence of breast cancer among transsexual persons 18-80 years with an exposure to cross-sex hormones between 5 to >30 years. Our study included 2,307 male-to-female (MtF) transsexual persons undergoing androgen deprivation and estrogen administration (52,370 person-years of exposure), and 795 female-to-male (FtM) subjects receiving testosterone (15,974 total years of exposure).

RESULTS
Among MtF individuals one case was encountered, as well as a probable but not proven second case. The estimated rate of 4.1 per 100,000 person-years (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.8-13.0) was lower than expected if these two cases are regarded as female breast cancer, but within expectations if viewed as male breast cancer. In FtM subjects, who were younger and had shorter exposure to cross-sex hormones compared with the MtF group, one breast cancer case occurred. This translated into a rate of 5.9 per 100,000 person-years (95% CI: 0.5-27.4), again lower than expected for female breast cancer but within expected norms for male breast cancer.

CONCLUSIONS
The number of people studied and duration of hormone exposure are limited but it would appear that cross-sex hormone administration does not increase the risk of breast cancer development, in either MtF or FtM transsexual individuals. Breast carcinoma incidences in both groups are comparable to male breast cancers. Cross-sex hormone treatment of transsexual subjects does not seem to be associated with an increased risk of malignant breast development.


Quantification of potentially toxic single mineral phases in natural dusts of heterogeneous composition is critical for health hazard assessment. For example, crystalline silica, a human carcinogen, can be present as respirable particles in volcanic ash such as quartz, cristobalite, or tridymite. A method to rapidly identify the proportions of crystalline silica within mixed dust samples, such as volcanic ash, is therefore required for hazard managers to assess the potential risk of crystalline silica exposure to local populations. Here we present a rapid method for quantifying the proportions of single phases in the mineral assemblage of mixed dusts using X-ray diffraction (XRD) with a fixed curved position-sensitive detector. The method is a modified version of the whole-pattern peak-stripping (PS) method (devised by Cressey and Schofield [Powder Diffr.11, 35–39 (1996)]) using an internal attenuation standard (IAS) but, unlike the PS method, it requires no knowledge of other phases present in the sample. Ten synthetic sample mixtures were prepared from known combinations of four pure phases (cristobalite, hematite, labradorite, and obsidian), chosen to represent problematic constituents of volcanic ash, and analyzed by XRD. Results of the IAS method were directly compared with those of the PS method. The proportions of cristobalite estimated using the methods were comparable and accurate to within 3 wt %. The new IAS method involved less sample preparation and processing and, therefore, was faster than the original PS method. It therefore offers a highly accurate rapid technique for determination of the proportions of individual phases in mixed dusts.


The author investigates the eikonal theory of charged-particle potential scattering in the presence of a laser when the collision time is much smaller than the laser period while the translational velocity of the particle is much larger than its classical oscillatory velocity in the field. The author's detailed numerical calculations show that for small scattering angles, previous eikonal results of the Kroll-Watson type, based on a stationary phase approximation (SPA), are inaccurate for differential cross sections and become worse as one increases the range and/or the strength of the potential. The author replaces the SPA by a different approximation, ideally suited to small-angle scattering and obtain excellent agreement with the 'exact' numerical results.


This article presents a low-noise transimpedance amplifier (TIA) designed for miniature ultrasound probes. It provides continuously variable gain to compensate for the time-dependent attenuation of the received echo signal. This time-gain compensation (TGC) compresses the echo-signal dynamic range (DR) while avoiding imaging artifacts associated with discrete gain steps. Embedding the TGC function in the TIA reduces the output DR, saving power compared to prior solutions that apply TGC after the low-noise amplifier. The TIA employs a capacitive ladder feedback network and a current-steering circuit to obtain a linear-in-dB gain range of 37 dB. A variable-gain loop amplifier based on current-reuse stages maintains constant bandwidth in a power-efficient manner. The TIA has been integrated in a 64-channel ultrasound transceiver application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) in a 180-nm BCDMOS process and occupies a die area of 0.12 mm2. It achieves a gain error below ±1 dB and a 1.7 pA/ $\surd $ Hz noise floor and consumes 5.2 mW from a ±0.9 V supply. B-mode images of a tissue-mimicking phantom are presented that show the benefits of the TGC scheme.


DOI: 10.4103/0975-9476.104423 What is health? The state of health of individuals and communities is determined by the four pillars: nutrition, lifestyle, environment, and genetics, in addition to access to health-care. Process of health seeking requires active participation of individuals and cannot be built merely through medical-care. Therefore innovative primary health-care programs, in addition to medical-care to counter diseases, should aim at building the four pillars of health. Ayurveda has strongly advocated healthy behavior (swa-stha vritta) involving ethical conduct and daily regimen as well as seasonal variations to diet and lifestyle.


Author Contributions: Dr Cawley and Mr Willage had full access to all of the data in the study and take responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis. Concept and design: Cawley, Frisvold. Acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data: Cawley, Willage. Drafting of the manuscript: Cawley. Critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content: All authors. Statistical analysis: All authors. Obtained funding: Cawley. Administrative, technical, or material support: Cawley. Supervision: Cawley.


To take the first step beyond keyword-based search toward entity-based search, suitable token spans ("spots") on documents must be identified as references to real-world entities from an entity catalog. Several systems have been proposed to link spots on Web pages to entities in Wikipedia. They are largely based on local compatibility between the text around the spot and textual metadata associated with the entity. Two recent systems exploit inter-label dependencies, but in limited ways. We propose a general collective disambiguation approach. Our premise is that coherent documents refer to entities from one or a few related topics or domains. We give formulations for the trade-off between local spot-to-entity compatibility and measures of global coherence between entities. Optimizing the overall entity assignment is NP-hard. We investigate practical solutions based on local hill-climbing, rounding integer linear programs, and pre-clustering entities followed by local optimization within clusters. In experiments involving over a hundred manually-annotated Web pages and tens of thousands of spots, our approaches significantly outperform recently-proposed algorithms.


The specificity of course of acute period of craniocerebral injury and organization of medical care support are the factors determining outcomes for this category of patients. The purpose of the study is to investigate changes in predictors of course of acute period course of craniocerebral injury under implementation of stream model of medical care organization. The sampling included 150 patients with moderate and severe craniocerebral injury based on data obtained in 2013 and 2019, respectively. The clinical characteristics of patients (gender, age, level of consciousness, alcoholic intoxication, type of injury) and the characteristics of organization of medical care (mode of admission, qualification of hospital physician, time prior to surgery intervention) were evaluated. The selection of predictors significant for prognosis of outcomes of acute period of craniocerebral injury was implemented on the basis of logit-regression analysis and artificial neural network technology. The sampling of patients was divided into groups on the basis of outcomes of acute period of craniocerebral injury. The groups with relatively favorable and unfavorable course of acute period of craniocerebral injury were identified. It is demonstrated that prior to implementation of stream model of medical care provision, the most significant factors determining outcomes of the acute period of craniocerebral injury were characteristics of organization of medical care of these patients. After implementation of stream model the leading predictors became clinical characteristics of patients.


Background: Nursing service quality can provide satisfaction to the patients and their families. Satisfaction occurs after analysing perceptions of service performance manifested in feelings of pleasure or disappointment. Based upon a survey during September 2019, one private hospital in central Indonesia found 30% of the family members were dissatisfied with nursing services. Respondents evaluated nurses were late replying to bells, and the explanation of nursing intervention was not recognized by family members.
Objectives: The study aimed to analyse the factors related to  family satisfaction toward nursing services.
Methods: A quantitative inferential with a cross-sectional approach. A purposive sampling was selected among 214 respondents. Data collection using a questionnaire that has been examined on validity and reliability which processed quantitatively and analysed with Fishers exact and logistic regression tests.
Results: More than half of the respondents were female and less than half were aged 26-35 years.  Half had higher education. There was a significant correlation between tangible (p=0.001), reliability (p=0.001), responsiveness (p=0.001), empathy (p=0.001) and assurance (p=0.001) with family satisfaction. Reliability remains the most dominant factor that affected family satisfaction. Good reliability has a 0.048 times greater chance of increasing  family satisfaction compared to poor reliability.
Conclusion: The family members were not satisfy with the nursing services. Management to improve nursing services might assess the families desire for the reliability of nursing services so expect satisfaction will increase.


Overtime the fashion world in Nigeria has largely depended on imported products. Statistics show that most of these products do not meet the socio-cultural and economic needs of the people. However, efforts made by fashion designers to bridge this gap by rolling out innovative fashion products and adequate skill-sets have suffered setbacks. To sustain this creative industry amidst the economic recession, this research explores the potential of architects -the master designers' contributions to the fashion enterprise as one that has the potential for significant growth. The research explored the frontiers of fashion design and how architects can get involved to improve processes, products, and services through mixed research methods encircling data collectedfrom literature reviews, interviews, case studies, and observation. The research results reveal that architects can function as fashion designers as 41 out of the 50 respondents constituting 95.3% of the studied population comprised of fashion designers and users were positive that the input of architects in the field of fashion is essentially needed to artfully realize the sustainable growth of the industry, 68% of the respondents strongly agreed that fashion designers share a similar skill set with architects, 44.9% of the respondents and 53.1% agree and strongly agree respectively that architects can become fashion designers, while 95.3% of the respondents are enthusiastic about seeing more architects in the fashion industry. The architects' richness in artistic skills and creativity encapsulated in their sufficient knowledge of anthropometrics and ergonometric, user preferences, elements and principles of design will bring a significant boost to the fashion industry with new and improved articles of clothing which will, in turn, generate revenue for them, promote the growth of the Nigerian Gross Domestic Product (GDP), propagate the nation's cultural heritage and tourism, stimulate her global recognition and attention


Background: Lifestyle modifications, especially improving nutritional patterns and increasing physical activity are the most important factors in preventing obesity and metabolic syndrome in children and adolescents. For this purpose, the following interventional study was designed to investigate the effects of educational programs for students, as well as the changes in diet and physical activity on obesity and components of the metabolic syndrome. Methods: This study is part of an interventional research project (elementary school) conducted on all students of Sama schools in Zanjan and Abhar in three levels;elementary, middle and high school, including 1000 individuals in Zanjan (intervention group) and 1000 individuals (control group) in Abhar in 2011. Interventions were based on educating students, teachers and parents, changes in food services and physical activity. We primarily measured anthropometric indices, fasting blood sugar, lipid profiles and blood pressure and completed standard nutrition and physical activity questionnaires. Also, blood insulin levels were randomly measured in a number of students. Data analysis was done by SPSS software Version 16.0. Results: Overall, 589 individuals (252 males, 337 females) entered the case group and 803 individuals (344 males, 459 females) entered the control group. After two years of intervention, the mean waist circumference (63.8±10.9) and diastolic BP (63.8±10.4) were significantly lower, however, the mean systolic BP (10.1.0±12.5), food score (25.0±5.0) and drinking score (12.1±2.3) were higher in the intervention group (p<0.001). Comparing the components of metabolic syndrome between the second year and at the time of recruitment within the intervention group, showed that although the number of overweight/obese individuals, individuals with hypertriglyceridemia and high LDL increased, while those with abdominal obesity, high BP, hyperglycemia, and insulin resistance decreased (p<0.001). On the other hand, in the control group, the number of individuals with high BP increased significantly. Conclusion: The prevalence of abdominal obesity and hypertension, which are the two major components of metabolic syndrome, are much higher in our study than the other regions of the country. However, interventions for modification of diet and increasing physical activity, are effective in lowering of their prevalence.


The largest moon in the solar system, Ganymede, is also the only moon known to possess a strong intrinsic magnetic field and a corresponding magnetosphere. Using the new version of Hall magnetohydrodynamic with embedded particle‐in‐cell model with a self‐consistently coupled resistive body representing the electrical properties of the moon's interior, improved inner boundary conditions, and the flexibility of coupling different grid geometries, we achieve better match of magnetic field with measurements for all six Galileo flybys. The G2 flyby comparisons of plasma bulk flow velocities with the Galileo Plasma Subsystem data support the oxygen ion assumption inside Ganymede's magnetosphere. Crescent shape, nongyrotropic, and nonisotropic ion distributions are identified from the coupled model. Furthermore, we have derived the energy fluxes associated with the upstream magnetopause reconnection of ∼10−7W/cm2 based on our model results and found a maximum of 40% contribution to the total peak auroral emissions.


Abstract. SAMP (subsystems and moving packets) is a recently developed method for modelling preferential flow and solute movement in porous media, and for determining the fate of "new" and "old" water and solute when the new enters a region containing the old. In a SAMP model, the modelled region (e.g. the unsaturated zone) is divided into cells, and the pore space within each cell is divided into many (often 100 or more) subsystems. Packets of water, containing solute, move within and between the cells, from subsystem to subsystem, thus simulating the bulk movement of water and solute. A theory is developed here for representing molecular diffusion in the liquid phase of porewater as interpacket diffusion, and this theory is implemented in the SAMP I one-dimensional vertical-column model. The model is found to exhibit appropriate sensitivity to its parameters, and is successfully calibrated against existing laboratory breakthrough data for tritium movement in Glendale silty clay loam. The quality of fit achieved to the laboratory data is found to be significantly better when interpacket diffusion is simulated than when it is not. The main parameters for the model are those for the matric potential and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity functions, and the only parameter requiring calibration is the internal scale, which affects both interpacket diffusion and the way packets move within the soil. Theoretical and numerical comparisons show there are similarities between the internal scale and the coefficient for solute exchange between the dynamic region and dead-space in the two-region (mobile-immobile) model of van Genuchten and Wierenga (1976).


Background: Finland and Sweden are neighbouring countries with a substantially higher incidence and mortality from coronary heart disease (CHD) in Finland. Migration from Finland to Sweden has resulted in a population of about 187,000 Finnish immigrants, with a higher risk of CHD than Swedes. The aim of the present study was to analyse the prevalence of CHD in migrants to Sweden compared with co-twins remaining in Finland. Methods: The study population consisted of twin pairs of the Finnish Twin Cohort Study where at least one twin had lived one year or more in Sweden, including 1,534 subjects and 251 complete twin pairs discordant regarding residency in Sweden. Emigrant twins were compared with non-migrant co-twins regarding prevalence of CHD in 1998. CHD prevalence was assessed by self-reported questionnaires validated using information from a clinical examination. Results: Self-reported CHD showed a good correspondence with clinical diagnosis. Differences in social and behavioural risk factors for CHD among men were small but emigrants were more physically active than non-migrants. Female emigrants had less overweight and better education, but were more often working class than non-migrants. Intra-pair comparisons restricted to migration discordant pairs showed a tendency towards a reduced prevalence of CHD in the migrant co-twins (0.6; 0.3—1.4). In analyses of all subjects disregarding pair status, emigrants showed a reduced prevalence of CHD compared with subjects always living in Finland (0.6; 0.4—0.9). Conclusion: Emigration from Finland to Sweden may be associated with a reduced prevalence of CHD. The causes are most likely multifactorial and may involve changes in dietary habits, physical activity, psychosocial factors, and inflammation.


Predators are known to select food of the same type in non-random sequences or "runs" that are longer than would be expected by chance. If prey are conspicuous, predators will switch between available sources, interleaving runs of different prey types. However, when prey are cryptic, predators tend to focus on one food type at a time, effectively ignoring equally available sources. This latter finding is regarded as a key indicator that animal foraging is strongly constrained by attention. It is unknown whether human foraging is equally constrained. Here, using a novel iPad task, we demonstrate for the first time that it is. Participants were required to locate and touch 40 targets from 2 different categories embedded within a dense field of distractors. When individual target items "popped-out" search was organized into multiple runs, with frequent switching between target categories. In contrast, as soon as focused attention was required to identify individual targets, participants typically exhausted one entire category before beginning to search for the other. This commonality in animal and human foraging is compelling given the additional cognitive tools available to humans, and suggests that attention constrains search behavior in a similar way across a broad range of species.


The ca. 51-kDa extracellular cytolysin of Vibrio vulnificus has been proposed as a virulence factor. We inactivated the structural gene for cytolysin in fully virulent, clinical V. vulnificus strains by both transposon mutagenesis and marker exchange techniques. Inactivation of the cytolysin did not affect virulence in our mouse models. The 50% lethal dose of cytolysin-negative strains was comparable to that of the cytolysin-positive parent strains after intraperitoneal inoculation with and without iron loading. Similar results were obtained after intradermal injection: cytolysin-positive and -negative strains had the same 50% lethal dose and caused comparable tissue damage. While we cannot say that the cytolysin has no effect on the pathogenesis of V. vulnificus infections, its role appears to be of much less importance than are other factors, such as encapsulation.


Objective:This paper assesses the effects of training in and implementation of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Chronic Pain (CBT-CP) in the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system on therapists' CBT-CP competencies and patients' pain-related outcomes. Methods:A total of 71 therapists participated in the VA CBT-CP Training Program. Patients included 148 Veterans treated by therapist training participants. Therapists completed a 3-day workshop followed by 6 months of weekly consultation. Therapy session tapes were rated by expert training consultants using a standardized competency rating form. Patient outcomes were assessed with measures of patient-reported pain intensity, pain-related cognitions, overall distress, depression, pain interference, and quality of life. The therapeutic alliance was also assessed. Results:Among the 71 therapists who participated in the training program, 60 (85%) completed all training requirements, including competency-based performance criteria. Of the 148 Veteran patients treated, 117 (79%) completed all CBT-CP protocol sessions. Intent-to-treat analyses indicated significant improvements in pain catastrophizing, interference, quality of life, and other domains, as well as on the therapeutic alliance. Discussion:Training in and implementation of CBT-CP in the VA health care system were associated with significant increases in therapist competencies to deliver CBT-CP and improvements in several domains for Veteran patients. Results support the feasibility and effectiveness of broad dissemination of CBT-CP in routine, nonpain specialty settings.


For effective functioning within a complex system, industrial and technological processes are supported by appropriate information-analytical processes that ensure the collection and analysis of information, as well as modeling and making control decisions for the industrial and technological process. A variety of neuro-fuzzy Petri nets with temporal fuzzy neurons is proposed. An example of con-structing a model of an industrial and technological process and the corresponding information-analytical processes is considered. The developed specialized software for modeling industrial and technological processes and the implementation of information-analytical processes is considered.


Imposing local boundary conditions in nonlocal/peridynamic models is often desired/needed. Fictitious nodes methods (FNMs) are commonly used techniques for this purpose but they are limited, in general, to domains with simple geometry. FNMs also mitigate the well-known peridynamic surface/skin effect at boundaries/surfaces. Here, we introduce a general algorithm that automatically locates mirror nodes for fictitious nodes in the mirror-based FNM, without requiring an explicit mathematical description of the boundary. The algorithm is based on computing a nonlocal gradient, at fictitious nodes, to determine the "generalized" normal direction to the boundary of a domain with arbitrary geometry. We test several FNMs on peridynamic diffusion problems with or without singularities, that exist in the corresponding local models, along the boundaries. We find that the mirror-based FNM works best in agreeing with the classical solutions. We then test the new algorithm with this FNM for diffusion problems in domains with complex geometries, including one with intersecting cracks. The algorithm is general and should work for any type of peridynamic model, including those for problems with moving boundaries and growing cracks, for which enforcement of local-type boundary conditions is desired. Since high accuracy is critical near boundaries of arbitrary shape (including corners, notches, crack tips) in a variety of problems, the new algorithm has potential for high impact.


Disseminated and recurrent infundibular folliculitis, henceforth referred to as D.R.I.F., is a very rare, puritic, follicular, benign disease of unknown etiology seen mostly in black males. It is often self‐limited and usually unresponsive to local or systemic treatment. However, vitamin A, either alone or combined with vitamin E, is occasionally effective. We report a case of a patient with D.R.I.F. treated successfully with isotretinoin.


The objective of this article is to determine prevalence of iron and vitamin A deficiencies among children and adolescents attended by a Family Health Strategy team in Itajaí, Santa Catarina State, and to assess relations between iron status and serum retinol. A nutritional census of the families was carried out. Socioeconomic and demographic data were collected. Hemoglobin concentration, hematocrite, serum iron and retinal were determined. Thirty-one out of the 156 enrolled families participated in the study. Only 39.1% of the children and 62.0% of the adolescents had their blood samples collected. Mean per capita income was 1.68+/-1.00 minimum wages. None of the parents was illiterate and most families (80.6%) owned their homes. All homes had public sewage and water supply, and 87.1% were made of brickwork. Iron deficiency was diagnosed in 16.7% of the children and 19.3% of the adolescents. Only one child had vitamin A deficiency. Significant correlations were found between serum iron and retinol among children, and among adolescents between serum retinol and hemoglobin concentration and hematocrite. We found mild prevalences of iron and vitamin A deficiencies, possibly due to the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics.


Dietary polyphenols derived from fruits and vegetables have been shown to lower blood pressure (BP) in both normotensive and hypertensive subjects. The current study was designed to investigate the effects of a grape seed extract (GSE) on BP, and the mechanisms underlying the putative BP lowering effect of polyphenols. The GSE was characterized by a very high (∼90%) total polyphenol content with particularly low molecular weights. Seventy untreated subjects with elevated BP levels (54% male; mean age 64 and daytime ambulatory SBP/DBP 136/82 mmHg) were included in this double-blind placebo-controlled, randomized parallel group study. After a run-in period of one week, the subjects consumed each day a capsule with GSE (MegaNatural®-BP, 300 mg per day) or a placebo capsule, during 8 weeks. Ambulatory BP was measured on 2 separate days for 12 hours (daytime; at 20 min intervals) at baseline and at end of intervention. Blood and urine were collected to measure mechanistic markers. Daytime ambulatory SBP/DBP decreased (-4.6/-2.1 mmHg) compared to baseline values, but these changes were not significantly different from the control group (-3.1/-1.4 mmHg, p > 0.1). Renin activity, endothelin-1 and NOx concentrations were similar in both study arms. Conclusion: Consumption of high polyphenol grape seed extract does not lower BP significantly compared to placebo in untreated borderline hypertensive subjects.


Mutans streptococci including Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus are aetiologically associated with the development of dental caries in humans and experimental animals. These organisms produce glucosyltransferases (GTases), which catalyse the synthesis of adherent glucan from sucrose, promoting the adherence of the organisms to the tooth surface. In addition, they release large quantities of acids from various dietary sugars. These are the essential virulence factors of mutans streptococci. We found that structural isomers of sucrose such as palatinose and trehalulose were not utilised by the organisms and no significant glucans or acids were produced. Another interesting sucrose substitute would be sugar alcohol; maltitol and palatinit are good examples. Other unique compounds developed recently are oligosaccharides rich in isomaltose and panose, which contain α (1→6) glucosidic linkage. They strongly inhibit glucan synthesis from sucrose by GTases, and cannot be degraded by most oral streptococci. These sucrose substitutes are now manufactured on an industrial scale. Enzymatic inhibition of GTases is an alternative measure to suppress caries development. Polymeric polyphenol compounds from oolong tea and hen egg yolk IgG specific for cell-associated GTase of mutans streptococci have been shown to exhibit marked GTase inhibition and decrease in caries development in rats. Keywords: dental caries, mutans streptococci, glucosyltransferase, palatinose, polyphenol, maltitol, passive immunity.


It is shown that a 4-recollement of derived categories of CM-finite algebras induces a 2-recollement of the corresponding Cohen-Macaulay Auslander algebras, which generalises the main theorem of Pan [S. Y. Pan, Derived equivalences for Cohen-Macaulay Auslander algebras, J. Pure Appl. Algebra 216 (2012), 355–363]. Moreover, both AuslanderReiten conjecture and Gorenstein projective conjecture are shown invariant under 3 (or 4)-recollement of unbounded derived categories of algebras. Mathematics Subject Classification (2010): 16G10; 18E30


Data mining is a form of artificial intelligence that uses automated processes to find information. Although its use in libraries is to be explored, data mining has been used successfully for several years in the scientific and business communities for tracking behavior of individuals and groups, processing medical information, and a number of other applications. This system has been designed for librarians to help them manage the library easily. Data Mining involves different kinds of technologies, solutions and techniques and because of its pattern-recognition features; it can be applied to a large database. Data mining software can relate one field to the other field in the database. It can be used to analyze the on-line users' behavior and to predict the future potential users. Here, we have applied data mining to library systems using artificial intelligence technology.


A colleague who is the head of a water planning agency in a large neighboring county and who was under some pressure to use the types of models discussed in this book told me, "You can either guess the input to the models or you can guess the results. As an engineer with long experience with the water systems that I manage I would rather guess the results because I have a feel for what is likely. If I use the models based upon very imperfect data my experience is completely ignored, and who knows what the results really mean."

Basta, Bower, and their coauthors have done an excellent job in summarizing the state of the art of the models available for analyzing natural systems with an eye to environmental quality management. What a sorry tale they tell. In the terrestrial, the aquatic, and the atmospheric environment the message is the same; the mathematical formulations have run ahead of the conceptual understanding of the underlying processes and the measurement of data on these processes.


Seventeen essays by Mary Hunter Austin (18681934), author of the western classic "The Land of Little Rain "(1903), demonstrate her wide-ranging interests and equally varied writing styles.Although she was born in Carlinville, Illinois, and graduated from Blackburn College, Mary Austin spent most of her writing career in California, New York, and finally Sante Fe, New Mexico. A well-known, popular, and prolific writer, Austin published thirty-three books and three plays and was closely associated with many important literary figures of her time, including H. G. Wells, George Bernard Shaw, Mabel Dodge Luhan, Jack London, and Willa Cather. Still best known today for her nature writing and southwestern cultural studies, Austin has been increasingly recognized for her work on feminist themes, including the play "The Arrow Maker, "the nonfiction "The Young Woman Citizen, "and the novels "A Woman of Genius "and "No. 26 Jayne Street. "What has been perhaps an overemphasis on Austin s nature writing has, since her death, eclipsed the fact that Austin was known during her lifetime as a colorful, eccentric, and controversial person whose direct and outspoken opinions engaged a wide variety of topics."Beyond Borders "demonstrates that variety. In addition to her monographs, Austin also published her short fiction and essays in periodicals. In fact, like many a writer earning a living from her work, Austin wrote prolifically for the magazine market, producing during her career over two hundred individual pieces published in over sixty periodicals. Although a collection of her short fiction appeared in 1987, Austin s nonfiction periodical work has remained uncollected until now.In support of Austin s essays, Reuben J. Ellis provides an introduction that establishes a biographical and historical context for Austin s work. In addition, each Austin essay is prefaced by brief introductory remarks by the editor. A selected bibliography of Austin s essays is also included."


Community engagement is a common course in college curricula of computer science and information systems. In this study, the authors analyze the benefits of digital storytelling, in a course engaging college students with high school students with developmental and intellectual disabilities. The authors discover that a project of storytelling progressively enables high engagement of the students, in importance, performance and satisfaction. The authors also discover that the project enables progressively high impact in the advocacy of these students for individuals with disabilities, in selfefficacy and sociality. The study will benefit instructors in any discipline evaluating digital storytelling technology as a service-learning tool.


Electrical relaxation studies of acid-form NAFION-117 membranes dried in situ at 3 80K in vacuum have been carried out. Significant electrical conductivity is found and the data are found to be non-Arrhenius. The results are converted to the electrical modulus representation and a conductivity relaxation is observed. A stretched exponential is best-fit to the conductivity relaxation and again, non-Arrhenius behavior is observed for the peak position. Finally, at low temperatures, a new dielectric relaxation peak is found which has an activation enthalpy of about 0.57 eV (13 kcal/mol). This relaxation is analogous to the Gamma-relaxation observed in mechanical relaxation studies.... Nafion, Electrical relaxation, Electrical conductivity, Ion-exchange membrane, Electric modulus.


To learn how effective medroxyprogesterone-acetate is for treating adenomatous hyperplasia of the endometrium, we prescribed a controlled therapy in a randomly selected group of 60 women in whom we had diagnosed adenomatous hyperplasia histologically. The endometria of these women were histologically evaluated before therapy was started and again after three months of therapy. The greatest rate of regression was shown by the 40-59 year old women with adenomatous hyperplasia of grade I (15 of 23 patients). The regression occurred with 50 mg/day within three to eight months. For the women with adenomatous hyperplasia of grade II severity, 100 mg per day were required to obtain a similarly good result. For those with adenomatous hyperplasia of grade III severity, 150 mg per day were needed. The over 60-year old patients required higher doses of MPA over longer time periods for equally good therapeutic results. The patients younger than 40 years of age received lower doses (10-40 mg daily) to maintain or regain their fertility. Their adenomatous hyperplasias regressed with 20-40 mg of MPA daily, whereas with a daily dose of 10 mg their adenomatous hyperplasias recurred. The number of cases here, however, is too small for a statistical analysis. Summarising our results we recommend treating patients with adenomatous hyperplasias of grade I and II severity with MPA until it can be proved histologically that the hyperplasia has regressed. The daily dose needed for grade I hyperplasias is between 50 and 100 mg per day, whereas for grade II between 100 and 150 mg are needed.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


The purpose of this study was to test a motivational model of sport dropout that integrates the 4 stage-causal sequence proposed by the Hierarchical Model of Vallerand (1997) and elements from achievement goal theory (Nicholls, 1989). The model posits that a task involving motivational climate facilitates, while an ego-involving climate undermines, perceptions of competence, autonomy, and relatedness. In turn, feeling incompetent, non autonomous, and unrelated to others undermines self-determined motivation toward handball which leads to the intention of dropping out of handball. Finally, such intentions are implemented later on. Three-hundred and thirty-five females handballers completed a motivation questionnaire and were followed for 21-months. Results from structural equation modeling analyses provided basic support for the model. Findings are discussed in light of their theoretical and applied implications.


In this paper, a new ATPG methodology is proposed to improve the quality of test sets generated for detecting delay defects. This is achieved by integrating timing information, e.g. from standard delay format (SDF) files, into the ATPG tool. The timing information is used to guide the test generator to detect faults through the longest paths in order to improve the ability to detect small delay detects. To avoid propagating faults through similar paths repeatedly, a weighted random method is proposed to improve the path coverage during test generation. During fault simulation, a new fault-dropping criterion, named dropping based on slack margin (DSM), is proposed to facilitate the trade-off between the test set quality and the test pattern count. The quality of the generated test set is measured by two metrics: delay test coverage and SDQL. The experimental results show that significant test quality improvement is achieved when applying timing-aware ATPG with DSM to industrial designs


In this study, we estimate the impact of the MHPAEA on mental health service use and spending among children. BACKGROUND: Families of children with mental health conditions face heavy economic burdens. One of the objectives of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) is to reduce the financial burden for those with intensive mental health service needs. Few researchers to date have examined MHPAEA's effects on children with mental health conditions and those with particularly high mental health expenditures. METHODS: A difference-in-differences approach was used to compare commercially insured children ages 3 to 18 years (in 2008) who were continuously enrolled in plans newly subject to parity under MHPAEA to children continuously enrolled in plans never subject to parity. Data included inpatient, outpatient, and pharmaceutical claims for 2008–2012 from 3 national commercial insurers. We examined annual mental health service use and spending outcomes. RESULTS: Among children with mental health conditions who were enrolled in plans subject to parity, parity was associated with $140 (95% confidence interval: −$196 to −$84) lower average annual out-of-pocket (OOP) mental health spending than expected given changes in the comparison group. Among children who were ≥85th percentile in total mental health spending, parity was associated with $234 (−$391 to −$76) lower average annual OOP mental health spending. CONCLUSIONS: MHPAEA was associated with increased financial protection on average for children with mental health conditions and among those at the higher end of the spending distribution. However, estimated reductions in OOP spending were likely too modest to have substantially reduced financial burden on families of children with particularly high mental health expenditures.