In the title compound, C17H19NO5, the cyclohexene ring is in a half-chair conformation and the isoxazole ring in an envelope conformation with the N atom as the flap. The C atoms in the 4- and 6-positions are of the same absolute configuration, whereas the C atom in the 5-position is of the opposite configuration, i.e. (4S*,5R*,6S*). The methyl fragment of the ethoxycarbonyl group at position 5 is disordered over two sets of sites in a 0.60:0.40 ratio. The crystal packing displays intermolecular N—H⋯O and O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds.


1. As in the blood of other insects, chloride forms only a small proportion of the total dissolved substances in the blood of Sialis lutaria larvae. (Chloride 0.15-0.35% NaCl, osmotic pressure 0.80-1.10% NaCl.) 2. Only after more than 5 weeks of starvation in distilled or tap water was the blood chloride reduced to below 0.10% NaCl. With a few days9 treatment in 1.0% NaCl it could be increased to 0.5% or higher. 3. The movements of chloride induced in this way were shown to occur through the external cuticle whose permeability to ions is thus very low. 4. There is no mechanism for the active uptake of ions from the external water, and the resistance to several weeks of starvation in glass-distilled water must be attributed solely to the very low permeability of the cuticle. 5. A large proportion of the non-chloride fraction of the total osmotic pressure is non-protein nitrogen, which is presumably amino-acid. 6. Large and rapid changes in blood chloride were induced by repeated blood extractions which were followed by restoration of most or all of the blood volume by the uptake of water. There was no corresponding alteration in the total osmotic pressure. 7. The concentration of non-protein nitrogen in the blood changes in such a way that the total osmotic pressure is not seriously affected by considerable dilution or concentration of the salts as indicated by chloride, which can be halved or doubled. 8. Estimations of protein nitrogen have suggested the possibility that changes in the non-protein nitrogen are made at the expense of the blood protein. 9. The mean normal protein nitrogen of the blood is approximately the same as that of mammals. But after 6 weeks of starvation it was reduced to about one-twentieth of the original, and in some cases to practically nil without apparent effect on the health of the larva. The initial level of non-protein nitrogen was, however, maintained throughout. 10. These results suggest that a compensatory regulation of the blood aminoacids is an important component of the osmo-regulatory mechanism.


The medical student as well as the medical practitioner has a mental concept of circulatory failure. He distinguishes between the central, or cardiac, and peripheral, or shock, type of failure. He is taught how to diagnose the chronic or progressive stages of cardiovascular diseases and learns how to recognize the signs, symptoms, and treatment of various forms of heart failure. In the larger centers, there are actual "heart stations" for diagnosis of the more complicated cardiac diseases. Even the smallest hospitals have equipment that is useful in aiding in the diagnosis of various forms of heart disease. But, with respiratory diseases, equipment for the teaching of diagnosis and therapy is lacking in all but a few large centers. Respiratory function units are available in only a few places. This would tend to make one think that there is no such entity as respiratory disease or that the cardiac function laboratories


Acute kidney injury (AKI) after severe burns is historically associated with a high mortality. Over the past two decades, various modes of renal replacement therapy (RRT) have been used in this population. The purpose of this multicenter study was to evaluate demographic, treatment, and outcomes data among severe burn patients treated with RRT (renal replacement therapy) collectively in burn unit at Mayo Hospital Lahore. Methods: This is an observational study. After institutional review board approval, an observational study was conducted. All adult patients aged 18 or older, admitted with severe burns that were placed on RRT for acute indications but not randomized into a concurrently enrolling interventional trial, were included. 71 subjects were enrolled during a 2 month period. Complete data were available in 70 subjects with a mean age of 51 ± 17, percent total body surface area burn of 38 ± 26% and injury severity score of 27 ± 21. Eighty percent of subjects were male and 34% were diagnosed with smoke inhalation injury. The preferred mode of therapy was continuous venovenous hemofiltration at a mean delivered dose of 37 ± 19 (ml/kg/hour) and a treatment duration of 13 ± 24 days. Result : Overall, in hospital, mortality was 50%. Among survivors, 21% required RRT on discharge from the hospital while 9% continued to require RRT 6 months after discharge. Overall mortality is comparable to other critically ill populations who undergo RRT. Most patients who survive to discharge eventually recover renal function. Conclusion: Most patients who survived to discharge eventually recovered renal function. Timely initiation of RRT with an individualized preference towards continuous modes at relatively higher than recommended doses has become standard practice in critically ill burns with AKI and is associated with a historically low mortality. Keywords: AKI (Acute Kidney Injury), Replacement, Burns.


Diffuse air pollution consists of an omnipresent complex mixture of pollutants that is emitted from many widely dispersed sources as traffic, industries, households, energy plants, waste incinerators, and agriculture. It can be deposited in relatively remote areas as a result of (long-range) airborne transport. It has a heterogeneous composition in time and space and consists of many known and unknown compounds. Given the unknown chemical identity and toxicity of many constituents of this mixture, it is virtually impossible to make a toxicological characterization of diffuse air pollution based on evaluations of the individual compounds. Alternatively, in the present thesis the integrated toxic potency and the subsequent effects have been studied of the air polluting mixture as a whole. Three objectives were defined: to determine the overall exposure to diffuse air pollution by measuring biomarker responses to relevant environmental samples; to determine possible (early-warning) effects of diffuse air pollution by analyzing biomarkers in ecologically relevant exposed organisms; to develop a strategic research concept for a toxicological risk characterization of diffuse air pollution based on overall exposure and effect assessments. To meet these objectives, the integrated toxic potency has been qualified and quantified in small-scale in vitro bio-assays (exposure assessment) and the possible changes in biochemical and physiological endpoints have been quantified by measuring biomarkers in organisms exposed to airborne pollution in the field (effect assessment). Biomarkers were selected based on their specific response to toxicants with a specific mode of action. Selected toxicants were [1] genotoxic compounds, including PAHs, [2] arylhydrocarbon receptor (AhR) agonists including dioxin-like compounds, [3] estrogenic compounds, and [4] esterase inhibitors. Most of these toxicants were known to be relevant airborne pollutants, except for the estrogenic compounds, of which the atmospheric presence had hardly been studied yet. Exposure and effects of diffuse air pollution have been compared between background locations and locations with notoriously exposure to traffic or to pesticide emissions. Genotoxic and AhR-activating potency was demonstrated for almost any of the of airborne particulate matter (APM) samples studied. APM collected at a relatively ghway, but differences were amply within one order of magnitude. In general, genotoxic potency could mainly be attributed to direct genotoxicants, rather than to compounds that first need to be metabolized to become genotoxic. However, during easterly wind conditions some APM samples contained relatively high indirect genotoxic potency with little differences between a highway and a background location. Trajectory analysis suggested that the different composition of pollutants in these samples is due to industrial pollutants that have been transported over long distances through the atmosphere. The AhR activating potency of APM was completely attributed to readily biodegradable compounds such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and not to stable congeners as dioxins or polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Differences among toxic potencies of APM collected next to a highway and in a background location were too small to be reflected in biomarker responses in small mammals. Actually, relatively high levels of aromatic DNA adduct in heart, lung, and liver and relatively low hepatic retinyl-palmitate levels were found in herbivorous bank voles ( Clethrionomys glareolus ) from the background location compared to the sampling locations closer to the highway. As these differences were not found in carnivorous common shrews ( Sorex araneus ), they were attributed to oral exposure to an actual deposition of airborne pollutants on the vegetation. Esterase inhibiting potency was demonstrated in rainwater using a specially adapted bio-assay. Esterase inhibition correlated with analyzed concentrations of organophosphate and carbamate insecticides in rainwater and significantly depended on sampling location, with highest potency in an area with intense horticultural practice (greenhouses). Maximum concentrations of individually analyzed pesticides and maximum esterase inhibiting potencies (expressed as dichlorvos equivalent concentrations) incidentally exceeded EC 50 -values for Daphnia and maximum permissible concentrations (MPCs) set for surface water in The Netherlands. Estrogenic potency was observed in all rainwater samples tested and differed significantly with sampling season. Highest estrogenic potency was found in spring, and correlated significantly with the presence of organochlorine compounds in the rainwater, although it could not be explained by the analyzed concentrations of these compounds. Incidentally, estrogenic potency (expressed as estradiol equivalent concentrations ) exceeded lowest observed effect concentrations reported in literature for vitellogenesis in male rainbow trout. In conclusion, rainwater was frequently polluted with estrogenic and esterase inhibiting compounds at concentrations above MPCs for surface water and incidentally at effect levels for aquatic organisms, also in relatively remote and seemingly unpolluted areas. Because rainwater pollutants are diluted by surface water and adsorbed by particles after deposition, aquatic ecosystems will be exposed to lower concentrations and are probably not directly at risk. Possibly, shallow and mainly rainwater-fed water pools are an exception, and further studies should focus on such pools, especially in remote areas. B ased on the experiences gained in the present study , a strategic research concept is proposed for the risk characterization of diffuse air pollution. The strategy includes several steps: [1] Relevant environmental samples are collected and adequately processed and their toxic potency is tested in bio-assays. [2] Bio-assay responses are compared to threshold levels for toxic effects. [3] For active environmental samples, a Toxicity Identity and Evaluation (TIE) procedure is proposed to identify the compounds that contribute most to its toxic potency. [4] In vivo responses should be studied in indicative organisms that are exposed via relevant routes of exposure to those compounds or groups of pollutants that exceeded thresholds levels in the bio-assays. [5] A risk assessment of diffuse air pollution can be made, based on the outcome of the exposure and effect assessments.


The salivary lactobacillus count was assessed during school attendance among 1734 7-15-yr-old children and related to the number of teeth erupting within each age group. The prevalence of extremely low lactobacillus counts (less than or equal to 10(3)) was inversely correlated with the number of erupting teeth (P less than 0.001) but the differences were small. High counts differed only by 7% between ages with the lowest and the highest mean number of erupting or exfoliating teeth tend to elevate the lactobacillus count in individuals. On a population level the effect is small.


Albuneidae is consists of nine genera, one of them is Albunea. Albunea distribution, in Indonesia has been reported by several previous researchers, including those on the coast of Cilacap, Kebumen, Yogyakarta, Aceh, and Bengkulu. Based on the results of a preliminary survey conducted at Parangkusumo Beach, Yogyakarta, has found crabs who have similar morphology as the species Albunea symmysta which is found before. Based on this situation a study was conducted to determine the certainty of the species name. This study aims to identify Albunea crabs from the Parangkusumo coast of Yogyakarta and to know all performance and meristic character who Albunea crabs originating from Parangkusumo has.This research was conducted using a survey method with purpossive random sampling technique. Sampling was carried out in the area Parangkusumo beach, Samples were taken twice with two weeks intervals , each time is repeated three times. The crabs from Cilacap is a collection of the Animal Taxonomy Laboratory Faculty of Biology Unsoed. Identification was carried out based on the morphologycal charcters, include performance and meristic. Data analysis of performance and meristic was carried out by making morphologycal descriptions
Based on observations of morphological performance and meristik, research results obtained are Albunea crabs obtained from Parangkusumo Yogyakarta are Albunea symmysta species that have carapace character with almost rectangular shape, have very long antenula, carapace with flat surface, have the first subchelate dactylus, has 9-12 anterolateral spines and has seven flagella antenna segments


The nucleotide genomic signal (NuGS) methodology is based on the conversion of symbolic nucleotide sequences into genomic signals, allowing the use of signal processing methods to investigate genetic information. The approach is adequate for both the large scale analysis of genomes and for the monitoring of local variations in genomic sequences, such as those caused by pathogen variability or by genomic inserts. The inserts can comprise retro-viruses, individual genes, or non-coding segments. Even when the inserts are not fully active viruses, they can still retain a significant pathogenicity when encoding viral enzymes that can facilitate the dissemination of some viruses, generating an increased susceptibility to the contamination with these pathogens. Inserts occur usually in complementary pairs, with the tendency to restore the original regularities of the host genome. The paper illustrates the NuGS methodology for two typical cases: the insert of the SPBc2 bacillusphage complete genome in the genome of Bacillus subtilis and the inserts of genes from the PE-PGRS family in the genome of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.


Background The Canada's Food Guide (CFG) is recognized as the most prominent authoritative guideline for healthy eating in Canada. In 2019, Health Canada released the latest iteration of the CFG with substantial changes to its messaging and format from the previous 2007 CFG. Objective This study compared the awareness, use, knowledge, and opinions of the 2007 and 2019 CFGs among parents with children aged 18 months to 5 years who are participants in a family-based intervention trial, the Guelph Family Health Study. Methods The sample consisted of 327 parents (59% women) who responded to questions about the 2007 CFG and 177 parents (60% women) who responded to questions about the 2019 CFG. Parents' awareness and knowledge of the 2007 and 2019 CFGs were compared using Pearson's Chi-Square, while parents' opinions of the two CFGs were compared using Wilcoxon Rank-Sum tests. To describe and provide context about how parents used the 2007 and 2019 CFG descriptive analysis was used. To analyze the open-answer comments parents provided for the 2007 and 2019 CFGs thematic coding was used. Results Awareness of the 2007 and 2019 CFGs was high with 94.5 and 90.4% of parents reported having heard about the 2007 and 2019 CFGs, respectively. Knowledge of the plate proportion recommendations in the 2019 CFG was significantly higher than knowledge of the recommended number of servings in the 2007 CFG with 93.4% of parents identifying the Vegetable and Fruit Plate Proportions in the 2019 CFG. Parents identified that the 2019 CFG was a helpful and trustworthy resource, and that it was easier to follow and understand, and more representative of their culture and traditional foods than the 2007 CFG. Conclusion Our results suggest that parents' knowledge of the 2019 CFG recommendations was higher than for the 2007 CFG recommendations. Parents also had more positive opinions about the 2019 CFG as compared to the 2007 CFG. Future research is needed to explore whether these higher levels knowledge of the 2019 CFG recommendation translate to healthier eating patterns among Canadian families.


Antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) specific for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has been described for HIV-infected individuals. To determine the antigenic specificity of this immune response and to define its relationship to the disease state, an ADCC assay was developed using Epstein-Barr virus-transformed lymphoblastoid cell line targets infected with vaccinia virus vectors expressing HIV proteins. The vaccinia virus vectors induced appropriate HIV proteins (envelope glycoproteins gp160, gp120, and gp41 or gag proteins p55, p40, p24, and p17) in infected lymphoblastoid cell lines as demonstrated by radioimmunoprecipitation and syncytia formation with c8166 cells. Killer cell-mediated, HIV-specific ADCC was found in sera from HIV-seropositive but not HIV-seronegative hemophiliacs. This HIV-specific response was directed against envelope glycoprotein but was completely absent against target cells expressing the HIV gag proteins. The ADCC directed against gp160 was present at serum dilutions up to 1/316,000. There was no correlation between serum ADCC titer and the stage of HIV-related illness as determined by T-helper-cell numbers. These experiments clearly implicated gp160 as the target antigen of HIV-specific ADCC activity following natural infection. Vaccines which stimulate antibodies directed against gp160, which are capable of mediating ADCC against infected cells, could be important for protection against infection by cell-associated virus.


A systematic database was constructed to investigate the frequency of reporting formulations and crude drugs described in Shang-Han-Lun, a famous formulary in traditional Chinese medicine. It contains 112 kinds of genuine formulations, but because of overlapping or repetition, the number of formulations total as many as 430. The best two frequently mentioned in the formulary were Da-cheng-qi-tang and Guizhi-tang. Da-cheng-qi-tang, which is Dai-joki-to in Japanese, is a formulation composed mainly of Rhizoma Rhei and Cortex Magnoliae used for the treatment of interior heat- and excess-syndrome. Guizhi-tang, Keishi-to, contains Radix Glycyrrhizae, Ramulus Cinnamoni, and Radix Paeoniae as major crude drugs and is used for the treatment of exterior cold- and deficiency-syndrome. It was revealed that Shang-Han-Lun explained directions for using 112 formulations prescribed for acute febrile diseases and the associated syndromes by revealed clinical cases treated with Da-cheng-qi-tang and Guizhi-tang.


A structures design methodology to minimize the area and power dissipation in bandgap voltage reference is presented. In this approach, basic equations of the bandgap core besides the area and power estimations and the offset effect are included to extract the optimum bias condition and the size of devices for minimum possible area and power in an acceptable performance. Based on the proposed methodology, a bandgap circuit in a 0.5/spl mu/m CMOS technology is fabricated which realizes a temperature coefficient of 20 ppm//spl deg/C and a standard deviation of 9.4mV without trimming. The entire circuit consumes 160/spl mu/A and the silicon area is 0.085mm/sup 2/. Measurements on 240 samples show a good agreement with simulations.


Recently, I.Cohen has presented causal and noncausal algorithms to modify the classic decision-directed approach for prior SNR. It is well-known that prior SNR is critical to trade off the musical noise level and the audible clearness level in spectral subtraction speech enhancement. However, all these algorithms conflict with statistical signal model more or less. To adjust smoothing parameters which play an important role on the recursive procedure of prior SNR and noise spectrum estimate more reasonably, we present novel speech uncertainty state model which capitalizes on the masking property of auditory system, and propose a new modified approach which employs speech uncertainty probability to make automatic adaptation of smoothing parameters. Novel algorithm is capable of eliminating musical noise meanwhile lowering speech distortion by remaining original speech in the case of inaudible noise under masking threshold. Experiments confirm that novel algorithm is superior to classic methods, particularly at low SNR environment.


W. G. Sebald wrote and published poetry from the early 1960s until his death in 2001. Even though Sebald's oeuvre is among the most assiduously studied in Germanistik today, however, his lyric poetry has yet to receive any serious attention by scholarly critics. Through close readings of two representative poems from Sebald's last years ("Ruhiges Novemberwetter" and "In Alfermee"), I seek to redress this neglect in the present article. These poems deal with well-known preoccupations of the author, such as landscape, memory, history, intertextuality, and death. On closer inspection, however, the details of their poetic form—their versification, phonetic patterning, imagery and semantic ambiguity—make it clear that they cannot be read as mere small-scale versions of his prose. Sebald's poems are complex and evocative works of great literary merit, which simultaneously partake of and question the generic specificity of poetry.


Abstract The concept of sustainable development has gained considerable attention in the field of natural resources law and policy since the United Nations Rio Conference of 1992. The practical application of the concept has, however, proved to be one of the major challenges of the 21st Century. Due to conflicting interests between various groups, the concept has struggled to be transformed from abstract theory to practical application. The field of transboundary water law and policy is not immune from this problem. While the concept has been mentioned in most agreements dealing with transboundary waters, it is not always clear what the normative prescription of such inclusion is. This can be seen by the varying attention that the concept, and in particular its core values, has received in recent transboundary water agreements. While the agreements show a clear commitment on the side of States to work towards sustainable development, they also demonstrate that the concept has yet to be clearly prescribed in legal terms. A review of recent transboundary water agreements leads to the conclusion that, while there are some positive signs, considerable work remains to be done in order to produce practical mechanisms designed to effectively and efficiently balance the need for development with the need to protect the environment.


The extent to which national culture and values are associated with economic and financial downturns has been largely unexplored in organisational studies. This reveals an important gap in the literature, which needs to be addressed, especially with regard to the recent global crisis. The goal of this text is to present the results of an empirical study designed to explore the relationships between national culture and economic crisis. The study was conducted in Portugal, which received international economic aid between 2008 and 2014, and it is original for two reasons: a) it shows how national culture is related to the various economic and financial aspects of the crisis; and, b) it studies these relationships over a period of 18 months. The research is based on a survey questionnaire for a global population, filled in by an average of 1,000 people in three key moments in time: November 2012, April 2012, and November 2013. The research was designed to capture individual perceptions regarding the economic and financial aspects of the crisis, as well as the country"s specific cultural aspects. The results show that some perceptions of cultural aspects suffered a significant rise from moment 1 to moment 2, followed by a decrease from moment 2 to moment 3. The sharp increase of individual perceptions in moment 2 coincides with a vast array of political and fiscal changes, which had histrionic impacts on the everyday life of individuals and families. Although this paper is based on individual perceptions regarding cultural, political, and economic factors, it shows that these macro variables act in conjunction during a crisis, which has important implications for the study of culture and politics. The paper ends with a discussion of such implications.


We adapted the Bem Sex-Role Inventory to survey therapists' beliefs about gender-appropriate behavior for hypothetical patients. We previously studied psychiatrists, finding that women were more likely to choose masculine or androgynous (high masculine and high feminine) traits as optimal for female patients while men were more likely to choose the undifferentiated (low masculine and low feminine) category for patients of either sex. In this study we used the same measure to compare psychologists and social workers to the psychiatrists, to determine the effect of medical education on these attitudes. We found that regardless of educational background, women were more likely to choose the androgynous category and men were more likely to choose the undifferentiated category. Women psychiatrists were more likely to choose masculine traits as optimal than were women non-physician therapists. Male therapists of all backgrounds were least likely to choose masculine traits as optimal for either male or female patients. Medical education per se does not seem to determine attitudes about gender-appropriate behavior. Men entering professions in which they are concerned about others' emotional well-being may have less stereotypically masculine beliefs about gender-appropriate behavior than women entering the same fields. Possible reasons for this difference are discussed.


The effect of the organic surfactants used as brighteners in nickel plating (butyne-1,4-diol) and zinc plating (Likonda ZnSRA, Likonda ZnSRB, and Karat) on the electrical conductivity and voltammograms of MK-40 and MA-40 heterogeneous ion exchange membranes is studied. Comparing the results obtained with the electrocapillary curves shows that the adsorption mode of the surfactants under study changes with variations in solution composition. The changes observed in the membrane properties, because of the adsorption of some surfactants under study, are reversible and can be eliminated


Everything is so abstract that will certainly lead to different conclusions and perceptions could even lead to a false perception of the message being delivered. That is why the implementation of the guidance and counseling should use the media to bear on guidance and counseling is effective. It is inevitable that the tools or media is required by anyone, let alone for an extension whose primary task is always interacting with others. Thus the extension should use the media in the process of counseling. Media will be able to help the educator to convey the message that the abstract to be real, can membankitkan individual spirit and can easily arouse the consciousness of the individual. Before using an extension media should be able to choose and use the right media with activities of counseling in order to run effectively and efficiently.


The experiments were carried out in the adult normotensive rats of Wistar strain and in the genetically hypertensive rats which were developed by Koletsky; the experiments were performed in the both sexes. The behavior of control and methyldopa treated rats were traced in the holeboard and in the elevated plus-maze. In the control animals when compared to the normotensive rats of both sexes, the genetically hypertensive rats of both sexes show elevated aversion towards open space and height (when the number of visits of centre and open arms is considered), elevated locomotor-exploratory activity and reduced rate of habituation of the latter activity; the genetically hypertensive males than show reduced percentage of time spent head dipping relative to the normotensive males. Methyldopa decreases locomotor-exploratory activity and increases intra-session rate of habituation of the latter activity in the both strains of rats. This drug shows in the first session decrease in the normotensive males and increase in the genetically hypertensive rats of both sexes the percentage of time spent head dipping. Methyldopa shows in the first session increase in the number of entries in centre and in open arms in elevated plus-maze solely in the genetically hypertensive rats of both sexes. When time spent in centre and in open arms of the elevated plus-maze is taken into consideration, methyldopa shows in the normotensive males decrease and in the genetically hypertensive males increase.


In this study a new combination of nonlinear backstepping scheme with off-line fuzzy system is presented for controlling a rotary inverted pendulum system to achieve better performance in nonlinear controller. The inverted pendulum, a popular mechatronic application, exists in many different forms. The common thread among these systems is their goal: to balance a link on end using feedback control. The purpose of this study is to design a stabilizing controller that balances the inverted pendulum in the up-right position.


The aim of this study was to develop a novel, simple and fast route to prepare ZnO nanorods (NRs) -Au nanoparticles (NPs) hybrids directly supported on a substrate to be used in gas sensor devices. The ZnO NRs were promptly grown on interdigitated Au electrodes Al2O3 substrates by chemical bath deposition at a low temperature. After that, Au NPs were deposited by sputtering. Results obtained by XRD, SEM, EDX and TEM showed the perpendicularly aligned growth of the ZnO NRs with a hexagonal base on the substrate and the Au NPs homogeneously covered the ZnO NRs surface. The ZnO NRs-Au NPs hybrids-based sensor exhibited an improved sensor response for H2 and O2 gases compared to the ZnO NRs at 300 oC. Due to the ability to prepare homogeneous hybrids with high surface directly supported on the substrate; the developed route might provide a convenient approach to preparing gas sensor devices.


Many feature transform methods have been used for radar target identification. But most of them are based on scatter matrices or other statistics of the data, which do not directly correlate to classification accuracy. In this paper, a Bayes-optimality based adaptive feature transform method is proposed for radar target identification using high resolution range profile results show that this method is effective on radar target identification.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate whether Tpeak-Tend interval (Tp-e) and Tp-e/QT ratio are associated with malignant ventricular arrhythmia in patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) for primary prevention.

METHODS
A cohort of 68 consecutive patients with chronic heart failure undergoing standard ICD for primary prevention indications (NYHA function class II-III, left ventricular ejection fraction ≤35%, systolic cardiomyopathy without prior malignant ventricular arrhythmia) were enrolled in this study. The patients were followed up for 18-48 months and were divided into high-risk group and low-risk group according to the occurrence of the endpoint events of sudden cardiac death (SCD), ventricular tachycardia (VT), or ventricular fibrillation (VF). Electrocardiographic and echocardiographic characteristics, Tp-e, and Tp-e/QT ratio were analyzed in all cases before ICD implantation.

RESULTS
During the follow-up, ICD shock for sustained ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation occurred in 11 patients; nonsustained ventricular tachycardia (NSVT) that did not require therapy was detected by ICD in 7 patients (high-risk group, 18 cases). ICD did not detect ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation in 50 patients (low-rsk group). Compared with the low-rsik group, the high-risk group had an increased Tp-e/QT ratio (0.27±0.04 vs 0.22±0.05 P<0.01) and an increased Tp-e (105±15 vs 90±17 ms P<0.01). ROC analysis revealed that a Tp-e/QT ratio ≥0.255 had a sensitivity of 72.2% and a specificity of 65.9%, and a Tp-e ≥103 ms had a sensitivity of 66.7% and a specificity of 67.9% for predicting VT and VF in these patients.

CONCLUSION
Increased Tp-e and Tp-e/QT ratio are associated with increased risks of ventricular arrhythmias in patients with ICD for primary prevention.


In this work, we investigated the effect of storage in solid-phase extender on buck semen conserved at 5 degrees C. Furthermore, we studied the effect of addition of cysteine to the extender and the washing of seminal plasma on sperm survival. In Experiment 1, milk-based extender (M) was used as a control to study the effect of solid media storage (G) and cysteine supplementation (C), and the combination of both (GC), on in vitro sperm survival of washed and non-washed semen, conserved up to 72 h at 5 degrees C. Motility, acrosome integrity (NAR) and hypo-osmotic swelling tests (HOST) were evaluated to assess in vitro sperm survival. In Experiment 2, an artificial insemination (AI) field trial was performed to compare G versus M. Solid media (G) maintained motility of spermatozoa during storage higher than any other extender (67% G versus 62% GC; 61% M and 59% C; P<0.05), but there was no difference in NAR or HOST between extenders (P>0.05). No improvement in sperm viability was obtained by addition of cysteine to the media. Washing of semen improved motility (65% versus 60%; P<0.05), NAR (70% versus 64%; P<0.05) and HOST (37% versus 28%; P<0.05). No significant differences in fertility were obtained between G and M extenders (47% versus 41%; P>0.05). In conclusion, washing of semen and dilution in gelatin-supplemented milk extender (solid storage) appears to be a successful method for goat semen storage at 5 degrees C.


According to Sexual Strategies Theory (D.M. Buss and D.P.Schmitt 1993), both men and women possess psychological adaptations for short-term mating. However, men may possess three adaptations that make it seem as though they are generally more 'oriented' toward short-term mating than women: (1) Men possess greater desire for short-term sexual relationships than women; (2) Men prefer larger numbers of sexual partners over time than women; and (3) Men require less time before consenting to sex than women. We review a wide body of psychological theory and evidence that corroborates the presence of these adaptations in men's short-term sexual psychology. We also correct some recurring misinterpretations of Sexual Strategies Theory, such as the mistaken notion that women are designed solely for long-term mating. Finally, we document how the observed sex differences in short-term mating complement some feminist theories and refute competing evolutionary theories of human sexuality.


Since Robert Koch identified Mycobacterium tuberculosis as causative agent of tuberculosis (TB) in 1882, TB research has developed in various fields, such as bacteriology, immunology, genomic study and genetic susceptibility. These research results have led to the knowledge concerning cellular immunity and the development of biochemical and gene diagnostic approach for M. tuberculosis, interferon-gamma release assay for latent TB infection and epidemiologic study using variable numbers of tandem repeats. After Selman A. Waksman isolated streptomycin, various drugs came to be used. Standard of the TB treatments has been revised several times up to now. Discovery of the novel drugs potential for multidrug-resistant TB is challenged. Close relationships among basic research, clinical medicine and health service are crucial to improving global control of TB.


This article contends that there is a legitimate place for exorcism in the church today, but urges caution in its use. It begins with a survey of biblical, theological, historical, and practical considerations which favor the recognition of exorcism as a valid form of ministry. It then examines claims that the teaching and practice of Jesus are not normative because (a) his knowledge was limited by the incarnation, (b) he consciously accommodated himself to a prescientific world view, (c) exorcism is not mentioned in the New Testament epistles, and (d) genuine possession was limited to the ministry of Jesus. The next section discusses the following difficulties inherent in the ministry of exorcism: (a) the diagnosis of cases where exorcism is appropriate, (b) the risk of aggravating the condition of a disturbed person, and (c) the tendency to develop beliefs and practices which lack biblical support. Some guidelines for the practice of exorcism conclude the article.


Conformal domes that are shaped to meet aerodynamic requirements can increase range and speed for the host platform. Because these domes typically deviate greatly from spherical surface descriptions, a variety of aberrations are induced which vary with the field-of-regard (FOR) angle. A system for correcting optical aberrations created by a conformal dome has an outer surface and an inner surface. Optimizing the inner surface is regard as static aberration correction. A deformable mirror is placed at the position of the secondary mirror in the two-mirror all reflective imaging system, which is the dynamic aberration correction. An ellipsoidal MgF2 conformal dome with a fineness ratio of 1.0 is designed as an example. The FOR angle is 0°− 30°, and the design wavelength is 4 μm. After the optimization at 7 zoom positions by using the design tools Code V, the root-mean-square (RMS) spot size is reduced to approximately 0.99 to 1.48 times the diffraction limit. The design results show that the performances of the conformal optical systems can be greatly improved by the combination of the static correction and the dynamic correction.


Evidence suggests that vitamin D may protect against the onset of diabetes. However, the mechanisms underlying the role of vitamin D on glycaemic status are unclear and warrant further investigation. We sought to determine the relationship between serum 25‐hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) and glycaemic status among intermediate‐to‐high‐risk patients scheduled for coronary angiography.


This study investigated the effect of the use of visualized case-based learning (VCBL) strategy on chemistry students' academic achievement. The theoretical framework for this study is based on Thorndike's idea of transfer of learning. A sample of one hundred and forty-five (145) senior secondary school II chemistry students drawn from four intact classes in two local government areas of Ibadan metropolis, were used for the research. Three well validated instruments were used to collect data. The VCBL package was developed following the Smith and Ragan Instructional System Design (ISD) Model (1999). This model comprises four stages: namely, Analysis, Design, Development and Implementation/Evaluation. Data were analysed by means of inferential statistics (ANCOVA, EMM and Tukey's post-hoc). Results showed that there is significant main effect of treatment on students' achievement in Chemistry (F (2, 248) =17.539; p<0.05; η2=0.124); implying that the posttest scores of students' achievement in achievement significantly differ between the treatment and conventional groups. It was concluded that VCBL strategy has the potential to enable students understand chemistry better by way of promoting transfer of learning. In light of this, implications were discussed and relevant suggestions made.


The city of Canberra (Australia national capital), is in the early phases of the design and implementation of a light rail rapid transit (LRT) system for this predominantly suburban community of approximately 350,000 people. In an effort to sustain community support, this project is being promoted as having far greater impacts outside the direct benefit to future commuters; especially its potential to change urban form, connectivity, accessibility and behaviour change, as well as attracting economic investment. This paper reports on the development of conceptual framework to identify the potential impact of LRT on the Canberra community using a co-benefits approach. The paper uses concepts developed by Walker and Salt (2012) as an organising principle to identify key variables of concern for the Canberra community with regards to the introduction of the LRT. This proposed conceptual model uses a matrix to identify the tangible (e.g. intermodal) and intangible (i.e. social and cultural) connections that are important to transforming people's behaviour, perceptions and expectations with respect to the LRT in Canberra. We establish a systematic approach to identifying the potential co- benefits and unintended consequences of LRT projects in the published literature. We argue that by adopting a conceptual framework based on resilience theory, researchers are better able to engage with the issues that are of most concern to the Canberra community. As part of a larger research project, this paper seeks to identify specific emergent impacts resulting from the development and early adoption of LRT in Australia's National Capital.


Petroleum is produced from the Sauk (M. Cambrian-L. Ordovician) a1d lippeganoe (M._ Ordovician-Silurian) successions in-Williston Basin. The best potential reservoirs are found in Deadwood Fm. sandstones (U. CambrianL. Ordovician), Winnipeg Gp. sandstones 1M. Ordovician), Bighom Gp. carbonates (U. Ordovician-L. Silurian) and the Interlake Gp. carb6nateslSilurian). Large proven and produced reseryes occur in the United States, especially in basement-involved, long-livdd structures iuCh as Cedai Creek and Nesson anticlines. Efforts to extend this production into Canada 6ave led to conceptually important discoveries, but reserves and reservoir performance have irot matched those of American fields. Petroleum systems analysis indicates at least three petroleum systems in this interval. The most important is the Bighorn-sourced oil from kukersitic source rocks. Other petroleum_systems have sources in Winnifeg Gp. shales an? an as yet unlocated interval inferred to occur in the Deadwood Fm. The former produces oils iesem6fing those with source rocks.in the_Bighorn G_p., while the-latter produces oils.that resembl'e oils with sources in th6 Devonian succession, although they have distinctive stable isotopic compositions. Geophysics, organic maturity and apatite fission track thermochronology -_indicate- geogr_ aphic and temporal variitions in baiement heat fiux controlled by geodynamics. The primary effect of thermal history variations is significant petroleum generation during the Carboniferous and Permian. !,xploration success hinges_on-.the timing anld preservition of tra! formation relative to petroleum generation. Therefore, the recent strateg-y 9{ {rit_ling current struitural highs should be augmented by a search for ancient structural and stratigraphic traps, of which Cedar Creek Anticline is the best example.


his study investigated that mice have higher metabolic rates in warmer environments than they do in colder environments. Studies have been administered to compare the different sizes of organisms. This experiment will focus on the expulsion of CO2 levels at different temperature including room temperature. The experiment will be tested in three trials with the first trial at 23 degrees Celsius, the second at 30 degrees Celsius, and the third at 15 degrees Celsius. The results of the experiment were expected to support our hypothesis although; the experiment resulted in the mice expelling more CO2 when placed in an environment cooled by ice than in an environment warmed by a heating pad. Contrary to our original hypothesis, the metabolic rate of the mice was in an elevated state in the cooled environment.


PURPOSE
To identify mutations in the TGFBI gene in Indian patients with lattice corneal dystrophy (LCD) or granular corneal dystrophy (GCD) and to look for genotype-phenotype correlations.

METHODS
Thirty-seven unrelated patients were studied, 18 with LCD and 19 with GCD. The diagnosis of LCD or GCD was made on the basis of clinical and/or histopathological evaluation. Exons and flanking intron sequences of the TGFBI gene were amplified by PCR with specific primers. PCR products were screened by the method of single-strand conformation polymorphism followed by sequencing. Mutations were confirmed by screening at least 100 unrelated normal control subjects.

RESULTS
Mutations were identified in 14 of 18 patients with LCD and in all 19 patients with GCD. In LCD, three novel heterozygous mutations found were glycine-594-valine (Gly594Val) in 2 of 18 patients, valine-539-aspartic acid (Val539Asp) in 1 patient, and deletion of valine 624, valine 625 (Val624-Val625del) in 1 patient. In addition, mutation of arginine 124-to-cysteine (Arg124Cys) was found in 8 of 18 patients and histidine 626-to-arginine (His626Arg) in 2 of 18 patients. Atypical clinical features for LCD were noted in patients with the Gly594Val and Val624-Val625del mutations. In GCD, 18 patients with GCD type I had a mutation of arginine 555-to-tryptophan (Arg555Trp) and 1 patient with GCD type III (Reis-Bucklers dystrophy), had the Arg124Leu mutation. Seven novel single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were also found, of which a change of leucine 269 to phenylalanine (Leu269Phe) was found in 12 of 18 patients with the Arg555Trp mutation.

CONCLUSIONS
Arg124Cys and Arg555Trp appear to be the predominant mutations causing LCD and GCD, respectively, in the population studied. The novel mutations identified in this study are associated with distinct phenotypes.


Oral cancer is a commonly occurring one worldwide. More than 90% of all oral cancers are squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). The molecular biological markers of oral SCC have been extensively studied to aid in prevention and prognosis. However, no marker has been universally accepted so far. Mast cells are important component of cancer stromal interaction. Their early recruitment in tumor microenvironment and multifarious function make them a burning topic of interest in the field of research. So mast cell may act as a new target for the adjuvant treatment of oral SCC. Therefore, the aim of the study was to compare the number and distribution of mast cell between different grades of oral SCC. In this cross sectional study the sample size was 100. After routine tissue processing and staining with Hematoxylin & Eosin (H/E) stains, slides of all cases were grouped as- well, moderate and poorly differentiated invasive squamous cell carcinoma according to Anneroth's grading system. Identification of mast cell was done by Toluidine blue stain. Distribution of mast cells was observed and number of mast cells was counted. The data was tabulated and statistical analysis was performed. Out of 100 cases, 66% patients belonged to Grade I, 28% Grade II and 6% Grade III. The mean±SD number of mast cells was 3.28±1.21, 1.59±0.58 and 0.44±0.17 in Grade I, Grade II and Grade III SCC, respectively. The p value was found to be highly significant (p<0.001). An inverse significant Pearson's correlation was found between number of mast cells and grades of oral SCC. The number of mast cell was slightly increased in oral SCC cases than normal. The number of mast cells also had an inverse association with histologic grade. So, in this observation mast cell is a good cellular indicator of tumor grade.


Significance The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has placed epidemic modeling at the forefront of worldwide public policy making. Nonetheless, modeling and forecasting the spread of COVID-19 remain a challenge. Here, we present and detail three regional-scale models for forecasting and assessing the course of the pandemic. This work is intended to demonstrate the utility of parsimonious models for understanding the pandemic and to provide an accessible framework for generating policy-relevant insights into its course. We show how these models can be connected to each other and to time series data for a particular region. Capable of measuring and forecasting the impacts of social distancing, these models highlight the dangers of relaxing nonpharmaceutical public health interventions in the absence of a vaccine or antiviral therapies. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has placed epidemic modeling at the forefront of worldwide public policy making. Nonetheless, modeling and forecasting the spread of COVID-19 remains a challenge. Here, we detail three regional-scale models for forecasting and assessing the course of the pandemic. This work demonstrates the utility of parsimonious models for early-time data and provides an accessible framework for generating policy-relevant insights into its course. We show how these models can be connected to each other and to time series data for a particular region. Capable of measuring and forecasting the impacts of social distancing, these models highlight the dangers of relaxing nonpharmaceutical public health interventions in the absence of a vaccine or antiviral therapies.


Performing a suitable traffic monitoring is a key issue for a smart city, as it can enable better decision making by both citizens and public administrations. For example, a city council can exploit the collected traffic data for traffic management (e.g., to define suitable traffic policies along the city, such as restricting the circulation of traffic in certain areas). Similarly, citizens could use those data to take appropriate mobility decisions. To measure traffic, a variety of detection methods can be used, but their widespread deployment through the whole city is expensive and difficult to maintain. Therefore, alternative approaches are required, that should allow estimating traffic in any area of the city based only on a few real traffic measurements. In this paper, we describe our approach for traffic flow modelling in the city of Zaragoza, which we are currently applying in the European project "TRAFAIR – Understanding Traffic Flows to Improve Air quality". The TRAFAIR project aims at the development of a platform to estimate the air quality in different areas of a city, and for this purpose traffic data plays a major role. Specifically, we have adopted an approach that combines historical real traffic measurements with the use of the traffic simulator SUMO on top of real roadmaps of the city and applies a trajectory generation strategy that complements the functionalities of SUMO (e.g., SUMO's calibrators). An experimental evaluation compares several simulation alternatives and shows the benefits of the chosen approach.


This paper delves into students' view on English-medium instruction (EMI) in two South European countries, Italy and Spain. In particular, two topics which have been less frequently investigated are addressed: the linguistic demands of students and the need students may feel for some form of language assistance. To this end, a paper-based questionnaire was given to 290 undergraduate students, 145 of whom being Italian (from the Department of Engineering) and 145 Spanish (from the Departments of Business Administration, Engineering, Economics, History, Economics and Law, Marketing, and Public Administration). The questionnaire contained close-ended and open-ended questions regarding their pre-university EMI experiences, whether content teachers should be assisted by language experts, and what aspect of EMI teaching should be paid heed to. The results revealed some agreement between the two nationality groups, with some interesting exceptions regarding the language skills students viewed as more difficult, and as a result, the areas in which they feel the need for language support. In general, both groups favoured language assistance, although they considered that this responsibility does not fall within the remit of content lecturers. The data also showed differences linked to the specific disciplines, thereby confirming the impact of students' specialization on the EMI experience.


We examined changes in the quality of drinking water stockpiled under various conditions for emergency use. The results indicated that the change in the quality of the stocked water was influenced mainly by the preservation period and not by the amount of water in the bottle. To maintain water quality, the amount of residual chlorine is less important than using sufficiently sterilized water, bottles and caps in the bottling process. Washing the bottles with a small amount of boiling water was not sufficient to ensure complete inhibition of microbial growth.


Occupational health nurses' ability to use email efficiently and effectively enhances their professionalism, responsiveness, and overall communications. Poorly written emails can damage the reputations of nurses and their organizations. Knowing when not to communicate by email is as important as being able to write effective emails. Many safeguards can be employed to prevent or minimize confusion and strengthen email communications. Names and addresses must be checked, appropriate subject lines used, and humor applied conscientiously. All emails should be proofread prior to sending, and replies must be carefully considered. Simple, colorless email backgrounds make downloading quicker. Sharp, clear fonts are easier on the eyes. Direct and defined requests and confirmations augment communication. Once "Send" is pressed, the email is out of the sender's control. Lack of network security, forwarding by others, and potential confidentiality breaches can lead to legal or public relations controversies. Email is an important business tool. Occupational health nurses must be competent in the skills of effective email communication, as it is an integral part of business and health care.


Treatment of hypertension in the elderly has hitherto been considered to be potentially dangerous. Three recent studies have clearly shown that in selected elderly hypertensives, blood pressure reduction very effectively reduces cardiovascular complications without causing unacceptable adverse effects. The impact on non–fatal stroke was most striking although a reduction in coronary events was also achieved. Thiazide diuretics were used in all three trials, and β–blockers were used in two. Thiazide diuretics had a major beneficial effect. In this review the applicability of these results to the whole unselected population of elderly hypertensives is considered, and the choice of therapy in different subgroups of patients discussed.


Aqueous extracts of humic substances constitute one of the alternatives in the group of products used in sustainable agriculture. They are fundamentally obtained from recyclable organic sources, such as compost and vermicompost. The objectives of this study were 1) to define the salinity tolerance of two sweet basil varieties submitted to NaCl-stress; 2) to evaluate the effect of humates as mitigator of NaCl-induce adverse effects and 3) to test the criteria that leaf relative water content (LRWC) and photosynthetic pigments are accepted as salinity tolerance indicators. The plants were subjected to three NaCl concentrations (0, 50, 100 mM) and one dilution (1/60 v/v) of humates isolated from vermicompost and a control (distilled water) in a completely randomized design with factorial arrangement with six replications. The study was developed under shade-enclosure conditions. The results showed that there is a differential response among varieties with respect LRWC and chlorophyll content. Napoletano was most NaCl tolerant than Sweet Genovese. The LRWC and chlorophyll content perhaps used as tolerance indicators, while defining the NaCl tolerance of sweet basil varieties. The capacity of humates isolated from vermicompost to mitigate NaCl-induced adverse effects in basil development has been proved, when improve some physiological indicators like LRWC and chlorophyll. The discussion of the differential response among basil varieties subjected to different NaCl concentrations and humates isolated from vermicompost is addressed.


 Abstract Law and development scholars have downplayed the role of formal law in China"s economic development in favor of informality. Through an analysis of the Chinese mortgage regime, this essay shows that formal legal institutions have in fact made a positive contribution to China"s economic development. The economic theory of self-enforcing contracts suggests that a contract is self-enforcing if the expected future gains from adhering to the contract exceed the current gain from a violation of the contract. In addition, economists argue for the importance of using informal contractual means to enforce contracts. For example, contractual parties may "take hostage" from the other contractual party to support exchange. (The term "hostage" signifies valuable property transferred by one contracting party to the other that may be forfeit in the case of breach of promise or non-performance by the transferring party. In 1983, Oliver Williamson argued for the importance of using hostages to support exchange in informal contractual settings.) But hostage used in informal contracts normally only deals with two contractual parties. This essay uses evidence from China"s developing formal property law covering mortgages to argue that when built upon and enforced by the formal law, the device of mortgages can cope with conflicts of interest among a large number of creditors. Analysis of the Chinese mortgage regime shows that there are clear limits to reliance upon informal contractual arrangements in Chinese economic


We study solutions for a rotating string on S 3 with a background NS-NS B-field and show the existence of spiky string and giant magnon as two limiting solutions. We make a connection to the sine-Gordon model via the Polyakov worldsheet action and study the effect of B-field. In particular, we find the magnon solution can be mapped to the excitation of a spin chain. We conjecture a B-deformed CFT to be the gauge theory dual to this background. Subject Index: 121, 181


Information disclosure is an important prerequisite and guarantee for the government to answer public health incidents in a timely manner, and is also a basic requirement for the management of emergencies. Evaluating the information disclosure on public health incidents is conducive to improving the quality of emergency information disclosure and comprehensively enhancing the emergency answer and treatment ability of public health incidents. In response to the complex uncertainties in the assessment of information disclosure on public health incidents, this paper proposes a new fuzzy multi-attribute evaluation method. First, a multi-attribute evaluation system for the assessment of information disclosure on public health emergencies is proposed. Then, a novel approach to information disclosure assessment is proposed on the basis of Dombi power divided Muirhead mean operators of fractional orthotriple fuzzy, which can fully consider the relationship between properties and the division of relationships within properties and reduce the distortion in the evaluation process. Meanwhile, it can avoid the impact of singular values on the overall evaluation outcomes of the government. In the end, the effectiveness and flexibility of the approach are validated through an empirical study of a real-life case with comparative analysis and sensitivity analysis.


Finite field transforms are offered as a new tool of spreading sequence design. This approach exploits orthogonality properties of synchronous non-binary sequences defined over a complex finite field. It is promising for channels supporting a high signal-to-noise ratio. New digital multiplex schemes based on such sequences have also been introduced, which are multilevel Code Division Multiplex. These schemes termed Galois-field Division Multiplex (GDM) are based on transforms for which there exists fast algorithms. They are also convenient from the hardware viewpoint since they can be implemented by a Digital Signal Processor. A new Efficient-bandwidth code-division-multiple-access (CDMA) is introduced, which is based on multilevel spread spectrum sequences over a Galois field. The primary advantage of such schemes regarding classical multiple access digital schemes is their better spectral efficiency. Galois-Fourier transforms contain some redundancy and only cyclotomic coefficients are needed to be transmitted yielding compact spectrum requirements.


Aim. Dependability simulation of a complex system starts with its structuring, i.e. partitioning into components (blocks, units, elements), for which probabilities of failure are known. The classical dependability theory uses the concept of structural function that allows ranking elements by their importance, which is required for optimal distribution of the resources allocated to ensuring system dependability. Man-machine systems are structured using an algorithmic description of discrete processes of operation, where the presence of clear boundaries between individual operations allows collecting statistical data on the probabilities of error that is required for modeling. Algorithmization is complicated in case of man-machine systems with continuous human activity, where the absence of clear boundaries between operations prevents the correct assessment of the probability of their correct performance. For that reason, the process of operation has to be considered as a single operation, whose correct performance depends on heterogeneous and interconnected human-machine system-related, technical, software-specific, managerial and other factors. The simulated system becomes a "black box" with unknown structure (output is dependability, inputs are contributing factors), while the problem of element ranking typical to the dependability theory comes down to the problem of factor ranking. Regression analysis is one of the most popular means of multifactor dependability simulation of man-machine systems. It requires a large quantity of experimental data and is not compatible with qualitative factors that are measured by expert methods. The "if – then" fuzzy rule is a convenient tool for expert information processing. However, regression analysis and fuzzy rules have a common limitation: they require independent input variables, i.e. contributing factors. Fuzzy cognitive maps do not have this restriction. They are a new simulation tool that is not yet widely used in the dependability theory. The Aim of the paper is to raise awareness of dependability simulation with fuzzy cognitive maps.Method. It is proposed – based on the theory of fuzzy cognitive maps – to rank factors that affect system dependability. The method is based on the formalization of causal relationships between the contributing factors and the dependability in the form of a fuzzy cognitive map, i.e. directed graph, whose node correspond to the system's dependability and contributing factors, while the weighted edges indicate the magnitude of the factors' effect on each other and the system's dependability. The rank of a factor is defined as an equivalent of the element's importance index per Birnbaum, which, in the probabilistic dependability theory is calculated based on the structure function.Results. Models and algorithms are proposed for calculation of the importance indexes of single factors and respective effects that affect system dependability represented with a fuzzy cognitive map. The method is exemplified by the dependability and safety of an automobile in the "driver-automobile-road" system subject to the driver's qualification, traffic situation, unit costs of operation, operating conditions, maintenance scheduling, quality of maintenance and repair, quality of automobile design, quality of operational materials and spare parts, as well as storage conditions.Conclusions. The advantages of the method include: a) use of available expert information with no collection and processing statistical data; b) capability to take into account any quantitative and qualitative factors associated with people, technology, software, quality of service, operating conditions, etc.; c) ease of expansion of the number of considered factors through the introduction of additional nodes and edges of the cognitive map graph. The method can be applied to complex systems with fuzzy structures, whose dependability strongly depends on interrelated factors that are measured by means of expert methods.


Tobacco has been an important agricultural product for the economy of Salonica in 19th century. Trade of tobacco, which were produced in Salonica countryside, strengthened the relationship between the Salonica economy and international markets. Regie Company participated in Salonica tobacco sector in the last quarter of the 19th century. All actors of tobacco sector, workers, merchants, other tobacco companies and especially tobacco farmers were affected -more or less- from the implementations of the Regie. This paper aims to discuss the production and trade of tobacco in Salonica before and after the Regie. The tobacco factory with its definite role in the economy of Salonica and tobacco smuggling will also be evaluated in the paper. Another issue of the paper is the activities of the "koldju" [guard] organization, which has been an instrument of the Regie to end the smuggling


Masitinib mesylate is a tyrosine-kinase inhibitor approved for the treatment of nonresectable or recurrent, Grade 2 or 3 mast cell tumors in dogs. This report describes nephrotic syndrome and acute kidney injury attributed to masitinib and illustrates the need for regular monitoring of serum creatinine concentration, urinalysis, and urine protein:creatinine ratio during its use.


ALMOST FORTY YEARS AGO Kroeber, and, in greater detail, Spier, on the basis largely of surface sherd collections, determined the essential outline of pottery development in the Zufii country of western New Mexico. The sequence they found ran as follows: black-on-white and black-on-red, then glazepainted ware (black glaze and white paint on red; glaze-on-white, and glazeand red-on-white), buffware, and modern painted. Shortly thereafter, Hodge established this sequence, with more detailed breakdown, on a stratigraphic basis, through his extensive excavations at the great historic Zufii site of Hawikuh. Very little field work has been done in late sites of the Zufii country since then, except for occasional collecting of surface sherds at various ruins already surveyed by Spier. Zufii pottery has been referred to in a few studies and compilations, relating to neighboring districts. In the Handbook of Northern Arizona Pottery, Colton and Hargrave assigned type names to a number of varieties of painted pottery in the Zufii country, up through the earlier glaze-paint types. Two years later, in 1939, a major study of historic Pueblo pottery by the late Dr H. P. Mera included a brief description and discussion, with type names, of the glaze-paint revival in the seventeenth century. For several years general review of the entire subject has been needed. The present discussion, a preliminary version of which was written originally in 1940-41 and held back in anticipation of other studies which have not yet appeared, is finally offered after suffering a couple of revisions. Of the several prehistoric elements which went into the makeup of the Zufii people, as seen darkly through the glass of ceramics, the most important appears to have been that represented primarily by "White Mountain Redware" of the Mogollon Rim or upper Salt-upper Little Colorado region.' Another element of major importance is that represented by the black-on-white ware, and associated culture of San Juan Anasazi type, centering in the area to the north of the Zufii country. This pottery and Tularosa Black-on-White and its variants, from the south and west, are classified together in taxonomy-chiefly because of the use of iron paint-under the designation "Cibola Whiteware."2 Tularosa Black-onWhite is, however, associated historically with the redware of the White Mountains region, though disappearing toward 1300 AD.


The Diagnosis of GI tract is a difficult task to detect a number of diseases specially in case of small intestine. Medical technology develops a major breakthrough in the area of diagnosis. The Capsule endoscopy creates a dramatic change in the diagnosis of the GI tract. Capsule endoscopy is approved by FDA Department. The capsule Used in Capsule endoscopy usually contains camera, A light bulb, battery and radio transmitter. The capsule moves in the body with the peristaltic movement. The procedure is simplest and not required special training. Capsule endoscopy becomes superior and most sensitive in diagnosing of lesions, crohn disease, Ulcerative colitis, Ulcers, Abdominal pain, Lymphoma, Carcinoid tumor etc. The swallowable camera capsule provides at least two images per second. Camera capsule are ingested orally and after 36 to 72 hours it can be excreted. After excretion the battery of the swallowable camera capsule is charged and ready for reuse. Capsule endoscopy is free from painful procedure and also provide more convenient data rather than endoscopy with more accuracy.The following article describes Recent approaches of the Swallowable camera capsule, Functioning and procedure with its application.


During the past years hospitals saw themselves confronted with increasing economical pressure (WB06, p. V). Therefore, optimizing the general operational procedures has gained in importance. The revenue of a hospital depends on the kinds and quantity of treatments performed and on the effcient use and utilization of the corresponding resources. About 25 − 50% of the treatment costs of a patient needing surgery incurs in the operating rooms (WB06, p. 58). Hence skillful management of the operating rooms can have a large impact on the overall revenue of a hospital. Belien and Demeulemeester (BD07) describe the planning of operating room (OR) schedules as a multi-stage process. In the first stage OR time is allocated to the hospitals specialties and capacities and resources are adjusted. In the second stage a master surgery schedule (MSS) is developed, that is a timetable for D days that specifies the amount of OR time assigned to the specialties on every individual day. After D days this schedule will be repeated without any changes. Hence, developing an MSS is a long-term problem. Finally, specialties will schedule specific surgeries within their assigned OR time. In this work we will focus on the development of the MSS that maximizes the revenue of the hospital. Our main focus will be to ensure that the capacities of the downstream resources, i.e. the bed capacities in the ICU and ward, will not be exceeded. Additionally, we hope that our formulation of the problem will lead to a leveled bed demand without significant peaks. We will incorporate the uncertainty of patient demand and case mix in our model. There have been several approaches on this subject, for example in (Fu15) and (BD07) and this work is in part inuenced by these advances.


Early cessation of the intensive glycemic treatment arm of the Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) trial because of a 22% excess of all-cause mortality compared with the standard arm (1) came as an unpleasant surprise to many observers. Since then, considerable discussion of the significance of this result has ensued along with various theories as to why it occurred. In the companion article, a respected statistician, John Lachin, proposes yet another hypothesis: that the finding was due to the play of chance (2). In response, this article will address three related issues: 1 ) Dr. Lachin's hypothesis; 2 ) a review of findings of post hoc analyses of the ACCORD data seeking support or lack of support for the other main theories; and 3 ) my own opinions on why continued study of the ACCORD data are needed, including a reformulation of one of the original theories regarding the cause of excess mortality.

### The play-of-chance hypothesis

"How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?" asked Sherlock Holmes of Dr. Watson in The Sign of the Four (1890).

Dr. Lachin's exposition of the theory that the apparent excess of mortality in ACCORD was due to the play of chance is very welcome. This possibility has not previously been given enough attention. The excess of deaths with the intensive glycemic treatment strategy was indeed not large, a 22% relative increase from 1.1 to 1.4% of participants affected per year (1). In absolute terms, it was 257 versus 203 deaths or an excess of 54 among 10,251 study participants. Had this been the primary end point, a direct comparison would have shown the level of statistical significance generally regarded as conclusive. But it was not the primary end point and repeated measurements …


The purpose of this paper is to investigate innovation and present a perspective on the various approaches to manufacturing innovation. It seeks to examine how the current array of change approaches have contributed to the body of knowledge on manufacturing innovation, and it hypothesises as to why, despite this wealth of knowledge, organisations still have difficulties in developing effective innovation processes. This paper proposes the need for a system-based approach to process-related innovation within manufacturing organisations. A number of key innovation levers to support the management of the innovation process are defined and a brief introduction is provided to the 'total effective integration' achieved by the Systems Innovation Manager software.


According to the job demands–resources (JD–R) model, job demands and resources evoke two relatively independent processes: health impairment and employee motivation. The robustness of the JD–R model was tested in two different occupational samples, the first of 654 Spanish employees and the second of 477 Dutch employees. Structural equation modeling analyses provided partial evidence for the two processes. Multigroup analyses showed that the structural paths of the model were invariant across countries, although the strength of the relationships differed. We conclude that the basic structure of the JD–R model is maintained, even when applied in different national and occupational contexts, when using different ways of gathering data (computerized versus paper and pencil), and when using slightly different measures to assess the key variables of the model.


Background: Plants are important sources of medicines. Herbal medicines in Lesotho are exposed to excessive exploitation and habitat
destruction. Comprehensive information to promote proper use and conservation of these herbal medicines is lacking. This study described the
uses of medicinal plants in Lesotho with comparative reference between practice and the literature, highlighting important ethno-medicinal
information and conservation status of the plants. Additionally, the study established a repository and monograph for the herbal medicines in
Lesotho.
Materials and Methods: Medicinal plant samples and information on their uses were obtained from herbalists in four districts of Lesotho
between January and May 2014 through questionnaire-based interviews. Samples consisted of roots, bark, stems or leaves and/or combinations.
Voucher samples were processed into powders, labelled, and stored in a repository. Information on the uses, plant parts used, geographical
distribution, known phytochemical components and conservation status of each plant was recorded in a Microsoft Access database.
Results: Seventy-eight local herbalists were interviewed and men (about 84%) dominated the practice of traditional medicine. Fifty-four herbal
medicine samples were collected and stored in a recently established Lesotho Herbal Medicines Repository (LHMR). The herbal medicines were
from 54 medicinal plant species and 46 genera belonging to 29 plant families. Asteraceae (about 20%) was the most common plant family.
Overall, 46% (n=54) of the prescriptions by local herbalists were similar to prescriptions in the literature at least in part. However, traditional
medicinal uses for 9% of the plant samples could not be confirmed from the literature. Local herbalists use different parts of medicinal plants
with roots being the most frequently (57%) used part. Twenty percent of the plants were threatened with extinction while the conservation status
of 7% of the plants was undocumented.
Conclusion: Training of local herbalists on sustainable harvesting and safe use of medicinal plants is recommended. The repository and
monograph is a useful reference and source of herbal medicine samples for researchers, which need to be expanded to include more medicinal
plants in Lesotho. Local herbalists in Lesotho have valuable indigenous information on medicinal plants that needs to be documented.


Purpose of review To summarize the data concerning approach to large adrenal tumors (LAT's), since recent guidelines published in 2016 recommend individual approach rather than clear size cut-off of a tumor that should be removed. Recent findings Although the risk of malignancy clearly correlates with the size of a lesion, tumor size of more than 4 cm in diameter represents only 31–61% specificity for the diagnosis of malignant tumor. Therefore, the risk of malignancy and decision about surgery should not be based only on the size of a tumor but assessed in terms of imaging studies, growth pattern during follow-up and new tool that is urine/serum steroid metabolomics. Summary Approach to patients with LAT's should be individualized. Patients with LAT's should be managed by an expert multidisciplinary team, that includes an endocrinologist, a radiologist, a pathologist, and an adrenal surgeon.


A simple extractive spectrophotometric method has been developed for estimation of pefloxacin in both pure and pharmaceutical dosage forms. The method is based on the formation of ion-pair complexes of the drug with four acid dyes namely bromothymol blue (BTB), bromocresol green (BCG), bromophenol blue (BPB), bromocresol purple (BCP) in acidic buffer solutions followed by their extraction in orgnaic solvent (Chloroform). The absorbance of the organic layer was measured at their respective wavelength of maximum absorbance against the corresponding reagent blank. The method has been statistically evaluated and is found to be precise and accurate.


T lymphocytes have been implicated in a variety of autoimmune diseases, and therefore one potential therapeutic approach would be to tolerize the pathogenic self-reactive T cells. In this study, we examined whether retroviral gene therapy could be used to induce tolerance and prevent autoimmunity using a transgenic mouse model for experimentally induced diabetes. In this model, the lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) glycoprotein (gp) is expressed on the beta-islet cells of the pancreas under the control of the rat insulin promoter (RIP). Previous work showed that the T cells specific for the gp remain unaware of the transgenic gp Ag expressed by the iselt cells, and infection with LCMV leads to immune-mediated diabetes. To tolerize the gp-specific pathogenic T cells, a retroviral vector (RV) expressing the LCMV gp was constructed, RV-gp. Replication-defective recombinant retroviruses were used to transduce bone marrow cells, which were subsequently infused into host RIP-gp transgenic animals. Unlike control animals, RV-gp chimeric animals did not possess T cells specific for the gp Ag as measured by proliferation and cytotoxic function, and further analysis suggested that tolerance of the gp-specific self-reactive T cells occurred by clonal deletion. Further experiments demonstrated that chimeric RIP-gp transgenic animals generated using bone marrow transduced with RV-gp did not develop experimentally induced diabetes. Our animal model demonstrates that retroviral gene therapy may cure immune-mediated diabetes by providing long lasting Ag-specific tolerance.


Approximately 36,000 units of red blood cells (RBCs) are used every day in the U.S. and there is a great challenge for hospitals to maintain a reliable supply, given the 42-day expiration period from the blood donation date. For many years, research has been conducted to develop ex vivo storage solutions that limit RBC lysis and maintain a high survival rate of the transfused cells. However, little attention is directed towards potential fractionation methods to remove unwanted cell debris or aged blood cells from stored RBC units prior to transfusion, which could not only expand the ex vivo shelf life of RBC units but also avoid adverse events in transfused patients. Such fractionation methods could also limit the number of transfusions required for treating certain pathologies, such as sickle cell disease (SCD). In this work, magnetic fractionation is studied as a potential technology to fractionate functional and healthy RBCs from aged or sickle cells. It has been reported that during ex vivo RBC storage, RBCs lose hemoglobin (Hb) and lipid content via formation of Hb-containing exosomes. Given the magnetic character of deoxygenated- or met-Hb, in this work, we propose the use of a quadrupole magnetic sorter (QMS) to fractionate RBCs based on their Hb content from both healthy stored blood and SCD blood. In our QMS, a cylindrical microchannel placed inside the center of the quadrupolar magnets is subjected to high magnetic fields and constant field gradients (286 T/m), which causes the deflection of the paramagnetic, Hb-enriched, and functional RBCs from their original path and their collection into a different outlet. Our results demonstrated that although we could obtain a significant difference in the magnetic mobility of the sorted fractions (corresponding to a difference in more than 1 pg of Hb per cell), there exists a tradeoff between throughput and purity. Therefore, this technology when optimized could be used to expand the ex vivo shelf life of RBC units and avoid adverse events in transfused individuals or SCD patients requiring blood exchange therapy.


Purpose: This article analyzes the influence of familiarity bias on respondents' decision-making process, using results from online experiments. Design/methodology/approach: A total of 255 research participants from post-Soviet countries completed 510 online tests that were presented in the form of investment games. In the games, the respondents were allowed to sell, buy, or hold two types of asset portfolios: familiar and unfamiliar assets. Findings: Holders of portfolios with familiar assets were 1.34 times more likely to be persistent in selling winners and holding losers and 1.10 times more likely to be persistent in buying fallen assets than holders of unfamiliar portfolios. Moreover, respondents who managed familiar assets tended to generate terminal result distributions with a kurtosis that was 27.8% higher than the distributions of those managing unfamiliar assets. Originality: Several academic studies have examined familiarity bias, the disposition effect, the positive feedback trading of individual investors, and risk-seeking trading; however, they investigated these topics separately. In the current study, we therefore created an online experiment to identify new aspects of investor behavior.


Background Transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) guided biopsy for prostate cancer is prone to random and systemic error and has been shown to have a negative predictive value of 70%. PRECISION and PRECISE are among the first randomised studies to evaluate the new MRI-targeted biopsy (MRI-TB) pathway with a non-paired design to detect clinically significant prostate cancer and avoid unnecessary treatment. The trials' results individually demonstrated non-inferiority of MRI-TB compared to TRUS biopsy. An individual patient data (IPD) meta-analysis was planned from the outset of the two trials in parallel and this IPD meta-analysis aims to further elucidate the utility of MRI-TB as the optimal diagnostic pathway for prostate cancer. Methods and materials This study is registered on PROSPERO (CRD42021249263). A search of Medline, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Registered Trials (CENTRAL), Web of Science, and ClinicalTrials.gov was performed up until 4th February 2021. Only randomised controlled trials (PRECISE, PRECISION and other eligible trials) comparing the MRI-targeted biopsy pathway and traditional TRUS biopsy pathway will be included. The primary outcome of the review is the proportion of men diagnosed with clinically significant prostate cancer in each arm (Gleason ≥ 3+4 = 7). IPD and study-level data and characteristics will be sought from eligible studies. Analyses will be done primarily using an intention-to-treat approach, and a one-step IPD meta-analysis will be performed using generalised linear mixed models. A non-inferiority margin of 5 percentage points will be used. Heterogeneity will be quantified using the variance parameters from the mixed model. If there is sufficient data, we will investigate heterogeneity by exploring the effect of the different conducts of MRIs, learning curves of MRI reporting and MRI targeted biopsies. Trial registration This systematic review is registered on PROSPERO (CRD42021249263)


On July 1, 2013, government has authenticated the PP No. 46 Year 2013 representating the MSMEs tax expenses. In order to help the middle and small industrial economics activity, the government give the taxation facility to small scale Taxpayer (MSMEs) with the tax final rate 1% which imposed to the shares of circulation bruto up to Rp 4,8 bilions a year. This research aimed to describe the implementation of MSMEs tax expenses based on PP No. 46 Year 2013 and its contribution to PPh Pasal 4 Ayat (2) in the work region of Tax Service Office Pratama South Malang. This research used a descriptive method. The results of this research showed that the average contribution of PP No. 46 Year 2013tax for the revenue of PPh Pasal 4 Ayat (2) during the five months since the implementation of PP No. 46 Year 2013 is amounted to 6.51% with criteria very less. Although the monthly amount of MSMEs tax revenue continues to increase. While the growth rate of the amount of taxpayers PP No. 46 Year 2013 is continuing to increase every month. Keywords : PP No. 46 Year 2013, MSMEs, PPh Pasal 4 Ayat (2),  Contribution


9–11 November 2008 Toronto, ON, Canada Northern Area Eastern Conf. 'Minimising infrastructure corrosion' and Int. Symp. 'Fundamental corrosion research in progress' Sergei A. Shipilov, Metallurgical Consulting Services Ltd.,, 309-330 Adelaide Street East, Toronto, ON M5A 4S9, Canada, fax z1 416 363 2588, email email@example.com, Internet www.nace.org/nace/content/sar_links/naec/ nae_first_announcement.pdf


Many engineering subjects rely on the interpretation of symbolic, numeric and graphic representations. Engineering students have challenges pertaining to their mathematical understanding of their actions with a computer algebra system (CAS). We investigated how a mathematical modelling task could mediate varied levels of mathematical understanding. When engineering students are exposed to a CAS environment, they habitually engage in programming activities without considering the computerised outputs. The purpose of this paper was to ascertain South African engineering students' actions that can mediate broader levels of mathematical understanding in a CAS by utilising the Pirie-Kieren model of growth in mathematical understanding. Thirteen participants agreed to engage collaboratively in a mathematical modelling task. The task was analysed by means of content analysis following a deductive research approach. The findings disclosed that engineering students interdepend on paper-and-pen, computerised and reflective actions in their growth of mathematical understanding. Engineering students can be assisted in mediated and folding-back actions in order to fluctuate back and forth on their way to a more sound mathematical understanding. Explicit planning and sequence of subtasks can support engineering students to merge new levels of mathematics understanding with past comprehensions. Thoroughly planned modelling tasks can mediate novel levels of mathematical understanding when engineering students learn with a CAS. tollgates.


PART ONE: THE FRAMEWORK AND CONTEXT OF AUDITING Debating Audit Expectations - Christopher Humphrey Auditor's Responsibilities with Respect to Corporate Fraud - Brenda Porter A Controversial Issue Independence - Peter Moizer Corporate Governance and Audit Committees - Paul Collier Audit Firms and the Audit Market - Chris Pong and Stuart Turley Changes in the Legal Environment - David Gwilliam Regulating the Auditing Profession - Prem Sikka Audit Markets in the European Union - Roger Meuwissen and Steven Maijoor Regulation in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands PART TWO: FORMING AN AUDIT OPINION The Auditing Practices Board and Auditing Standards in the UK - Roy Chandler Audit Reports - David Hatherly Developments in Audit Approaches - Andrew Higson From Audit Efficiency to Audit Effectiveness? The Audit Process in Practice - Mike Woodrow Audit Risk and Sampling - Stuart Manson Audit Automation - Stuart Manson, Sean McCartney and Michael Sherer Improving Quality or Keeping up Appearances? PART THREE: SPECIAL CONTEXTS The Auditor and the Smaller Company - Michael Page Auditing in the Financial Services Sector - John Tattersall The Audit Commission - Vanessa Couchman The Audit of Central Government - David Dewar


Summarizing the facts, we may say that the primitive arrangement of the cortex as it appears in the palaeo- and archipallium, shows two cell layers—the lamina granularis, which has mainly a receptive-correlative function, and the deep pyramids, which have a cortico-fugal and commissural efferent function.

The principle of this lamination is kept up in the neocortex, with this difference, however, that the receptive-correlative granular layer has given rise to supra-granular cells, which again are subdivided into two sub-laminae: the upper cells (II) still retain a smaller size, while the cells (III) lying nearer the granularis (IV) acquire a pyramidal form.

This differentiation of the supragranular cells does not seem very important. In some parts of the neocortex, in the regio retrosplenialis especially, the differentiation of the supragranular laminae fails.

In this area, according to Brodmann, whose observations I can only confirm, the lamina zonalis is still very wide, the original granular layer (IV) still large, and the lamina supragranularis, between the zonal and granular layers, is only poorly developed and shows no subdivision.

As far as concerns the cause of the development of the supra-granular layer, Kuhlenbeck, and later, but independently of him, Faul, have given the following neurobiotactic explanation of this process, which is perfectly in accordance with the facts.

As in the palaeocortex and in the archicortex the afferent cortical fibres, carrying corticopetal impulses, run in the zonal layer—a fact most fundamentally represented by the primary and secondary olfactory tracts—similarly in the neocortex, callosum fibres and part of the ascending thalamic fibres run in the more superficial parts of the cortex, between the surface and the granular layer.

Since therefore the space between the surface and the granular layer originally is an important region for corticopetal impulses, it is not strange that these impulses give rise to a much greater outgrowth of matrix cells of the granular layer in a superficial direction, and thus to the formation of supra-granular cell-layers, which, in maturing, at the same time acquire a larger size.


The germination of non-dormant (light treated) seeds of cranberry, (Vaccinium macrocarpon Ait. cv. Early Black) is inhibited by exogenous abscisic acid (ABA). Mechanical scarification enhances this inhibitory influence, almost complete inhibition occurring at 100 ppm ABA. Extracts of dormant seeds also inhibited germination whereas extracts of nondormant seeds did not. Gas-liquid chromatographic analyses indicate the presence of much higher amounts of ABA in the extracts of dormant seeds compared to non-dormant seeds. These observations suggest that ABA may be a controlling factor in cranberry seed dormancy.


GABAA receptors are chloride channels in the brain that are activated by binding with g-aminobutyric acid (GABA). The cDNA sequences of GABAA receptor subunits from two strains of mice with different sensitivities to isoflurane were compared to identify nucleotide mutations. Included 80 mice from two strains with different sensitivities to isoflurane on C57BL/6 background. Forty mice were from an isoflurane-sensitive strain (S group) and 40 mice were from a resistant strain (R group). RNA was extracted from brains of the mice, and cDNA were reverse transcribed using AMV reverse transcriptase. The amplified products were processed, sequenced, and analyzed for differences between the two strains. Chi-square analysis was performed to compare differences in nucleotide mutation frequencies between the two strains. No differences were identified in the α1-6, β2, β3, or γ1-3 nucleotide sequences and no single nucleotide polymorphisms were found in the comparison with the GenBank sequence for the GABAA receptor subunit. A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) at the nucleotide position 462 (C/G) in the β1 sequence was found. This SNP was observed in 5 mice from the sensitive strain and in 36 mice from the resistant strain. The Fischer exact test (P < 0.01) was used to compare two strains of mice for SNP in the cDNA sequence of the β1 subunit. Additional studies are required to understand whether the GABAA receptor is a specific target of inhaled anesthetic action or whether the identified SNP affects the action of the volatile anesthetic.


Primary spindle cell sarcoma of the prostate is exceedingly rare and accounts for 0.1% of all prostatic cancers. Typically, the disease course is rapid and portends a short and dismal prognosis. We report a case of prostatic stromal sarcoma (PSS) which likely lay dormant for several years after a transurethral resection of the prostate. This case is unique in that this cancer did not display the rapid growth of PSS in prior reports. Our patient received a cystoprostatectomy and an ileal conduit. This article describes a rare presentation of a rare tumor and a brief review of the literature.


Machine learning models that offer excellent predictive performance often lack the interpretability necessary to support integrated human machine decision-making. In clinical medicine and other high-risk settings, domain experts may be unwilling to trust model predictions without explanations. Work in explainable AI must balance competing objectives along two different axes: 1) Explanations must balance faithfulness to the model's decision-making with their plausibility to a domain expert. 2) Domain experts desire local explanations of individual predictions and global explanations of behavior in aggregate. We propose to train a proxy model that mimics the behavior of the trained model and provides fine-grained control over these trade-offs. We evaluate our approach on the task of assigning ICD codes to clinical notes to demonstrate that explanations from the proxy model are faithful and replicate the trained model behavior.


In late December 2019, a new disease reported at the time by an unknown pathogen was reported, which was later found to be a new variant of coronavirus, now called SARS-CoV2. This new disease had a very rapid global spread, causing multiple deaths in a short time, and which led to putting the entire world on health alert. In patients who have this disease, they present bilateral opacities in frosted multilobar glass with peripheral distribution. Some authors have suggested the use of ultrasound at the point of care for its early recognition. In this study, we evaluated the findings of lung ultrasound in 25 patients admitted to the General Hospital Dr. Enrique Cabrera, Mexico, with a diagnosis confirmed by RT-PCR of SARS CoV2. This small retrospective study suggests that artifacts like glass rockets with or without the Birolleau variant (White lung), confluent B-lines, thick irregular pleural lines, and variable size (subpleural) consolidations are typical findings of lung ultrasound in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. The presence of these findings is useful when evaluating patients with suspected COVID-19. In resource-limited and austere settings where chest radiography, CT, and RT-PCR are not available or the response time is long, lung ultrasound performed by trained personnel can be an aid in the diagnosis of COVID-19.