This dissertation is concerned with the development of fully-automatic methods of verification, for message-passing based concurrent systems. In the first part of the thesis we focus on Erlang, a dynamically typed, higher-order functional language with pattern-matching algebraic data types extended with asynchronous message-passing. We define a sound parametric control-flow analysis for Erlang, which we use to bootstrap the construction of an abstract model that we call Actor Communicating System (ACS). ACS are given semantics by means of Vector Addition Systems (VAS), which have rich decidable properties. We exploit VAS model checking algorithms to prove properties of Erlang programs such as unreachability of error states, mutual exclusion, or bounds on mailboxes. To assess the approach empirically, we constructed Soter, a prototype implementation of the verification method, thereby obtaining the first fully-automatic, infinite-state model checker for a core concurrent fragment of Erlang. The second part of the thesis addresses one of the major sources of imprecision in the ACS abstraction: process identities. To study the problem of algorithmically verifying models where process identities are accurately represented we turn to the π-calculus, a process algebra based around the notion of name and mobility. The full π-calculus is Turing-powerful so we focus on the depth-bounded fragment introduced by Roland Meyer, which enjoys decidability of some verification problems. The main obstacle in using depth-bounded terms as a target abstract model, is that depth-boundedness of arbitrary π-terms is undecidable. We therefore consider the problem of identifying a fragment of depth-bounded π-calculus for which membership is decidable. We define the first such fragment by means of a novel type system for the π-calculus. Typable terms are ensured to be depth-bounded. Both type-checking and type inference are shown to be decidable. The constructions are based on the novel notion of Τ-compatibility, which imposes a hierarchy between names. The type system's main goal is proving that this hierarchy is preserved under reduction, even in the presence of unbounded name creation and mobility.


The recent deployment of multiprocessors (such as multicores) as the mainstream computing platform has given rise to a new concurrent programming impetus. In such a context it becomes extremely important to be able to design shared objects that can cope with the net effect of asynchrony and process crashes. This paper is a theory-oriented introduction to wait-free synchronization for such systems. It uses the adaptive renaming problem as a paradigm to explain the difficulties and subtleties of synchronization in presence of process crashes. Renaming is one of the most famous coordination problems studied in distributed computability. It consists in assigning new names to processes in such a way that no two processes obtain the same new name and the new name space be as small as possible. The paper visits the problem by presenting three solutions. This paper, that has a strong survey/short tutorial flavor, can consequently be considered as an introduction to both there naming problem and progress conditions for synchronization in presence of process crashes in the context of multiprocessor systems.


The systematic approach adopted by a service company and a Brazilian National Oil Company (NOC) to achieve the goal of safely abandoning wells with different completion types using light workover vessels is discussed. Having determined the abandonment methodology, the service company personnel developed processes and procedures to reach the objective. These include advances in coiled tubing (CT) rigup procedures and using a real-time telemetry system. This approach facilitated the timely and cost effective abandonment of more than 15 wells since 2017 in a safe and environmentally acceptable manner.


Objective
This study aimed to evaluate the clinical effects of providing extended comfort care to lung cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and its impact on cancer-related fatigue levels.

Methods
Using a retrospective data analysis approach, a total of 88 lung cancer patients receiving chemotherapy at our hospital from March 2021 to March 2022 were selected as research participants. They were divided into an observation group and a control group based on different nursing methods, with 44 patients in each group. The observation group received extended comfort nursing interventions, while the control group received routine nursing care. Patients' comfort levels in both groups were compared, and changes in cancer-related fatigue, self-efficacy, psychological state, coping style, sleep quality, and overall life quality were assessed.

Results
Following the nursing interventions, patients in the observation group exhibited better physical, psychological, spiritual, sociocultural, and environmental well-being compared to the control group (P < .05). The observation group also showed lower scores for emotional exhaustion, physical exhaustion, cognitive exhaustion, and overall exhaustion compared to the control group (P < .05). Moreover, patients in the observation group demonstrated higher levels of self-efficacy on the health promotion strategy questionnaire (Supph) (P < .05) and lower scores on the self-rating anxiety and depressive symptoms scales (P < .05) after receiving nursing care. In terms of coping style, patients in the observation group exhibited lower avoidance and yield scores but higher face scores than the control group (P < .05). The observation group also reported higher overall life quality scale item grades (P < .05) and lower Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) scores (P < .05) compared to the control group.

Conclusions
Extended comfort care for lung cancer patients during chemotherapy improves emotional and physical comfort and effectively reduces cancer-related fatigue levels. These findings have significant implications for clinical practice.


Background Currently, the anti-Nuss operation is widely used as standard surgery for pectus carinatum, but the installation and removal of the Nuss steel bars can be difficult, time-consuming and traumatic. To further simplify the procedure, we designed a new steel bar to facilitate minimally invasive surgical correction of pectus carinatum. Methods From January 2018 to July 2021, 112 patients underwent minimally invasive repair of pectus carinatum (MIRPC) with the new steel bar in our centre. Two generations of bars were designed during our study period, and symmetric and asymmetric deformities were treated. After 2 years of follow-up, the bar and stabilizers were removed. The effects and complications of minimally invasive repair using the new bar to correct pectus carinatum were reviewed. Results The mean patient age was 14.46 years. The mean operation duration was 67.74 minutes. The mean hospital length of stay was 3.64 days. The Haller index of the patients improved from 1.96 preoperatively to 2.78 postoperatively. The complications included pneumothorax, pleural effusion, wound infections, nickel allergy, screw loosening, wire breakdown, bar fraction and overcorrection leading to excavatum. Seventy-two patients (64.3%) underwent bar removal, with 63 patients (87.5%) achieving excellent or good results. The deformity recurred in 2 patients (2.8%) during follow-up. Conclusions MIRPC with our newly designed steel bar can achieve good results and is effective in repairing both symmetric and asymmetric carinatum deformities.


An approximate anisotropic yield function is presented for anisotropic sheet metals containing spherical voids. Hill's quadratic anisotropic yield function is used to describe the anisotropy of the matrix. The proposed yield function is validated using a three-dimensional finite element analysis of a unit cell model under different straining paths. The results of the finite element computations are shown in good agreement with those based on the yield function with three fitting parameters. For demonstration of applicability, the anisotropic Gurson yield function is adopted in a combined necking and shear localization analysis to model the failure of AA6111 aluminum sheets under biaxial stretching conditions.


Similar to the standard effective-range expansion that is done near the threshold energy, we obtain a generalized power-series expansion of the multi-channel Jost-matrix that can be done near an arbitrary point on the Riemann surface of the energy within the domain of its analyticity. In order to do this, we analytically factorize its momentum dependences at all the branching points on the Riemann surface. The remaining single-valued matrix functions of the energy are then expanded in the power series near an arbitrary point in the domain of the complex energy plane where it is analytic. A systematic and accurate procedure has been developed for calculating the expansion coefficients. This means that near an arbitrary point in the domain of physically interesting complex energies it is possible to obtain a semi-analytic expression for the Jost-matrix (and therefore for the S-matrix) and use it, for example, to locate the spectral points (bound and resonant states) as the S-matrix poles.


BACKGROUND Laryngoscopy and endotracheal intubation, a painful procedure, frequently used in airway management is commonly associated with undesired haemodynamic changes like hypertension, tachycardia and arrythmias. Thus, this study was designed to compare haemodynamic stability to laryngoscopy and intubation using single drug induction with etomidate and combined drug induction with propofol and ketamine. METHODS This was a double blind randomised controlled trial, a total of 90 patients of both sexes, aged between 18 - 60 years, who were scheduled for elective surgeries under general anaesthesia in regional institute of medical sciences (RIMS) operation theatre (OT) were divided into two groups. Group PK received propofol (1.5 mg / kg) + ketamine (0.5 mg / kg) and Group E received etomidate (0.3 mg / kg) as induction agents. The haemodynamic parameters (systolic blood pressureSBP, diastolic blood pressure-DBP, mean arterial pressure-MAP, heart rate-HR) were recorded before induction, immediately after induction, 1, 3 and 5 mins after intubation. Side effects like myoclonus and post-operative nausea and vomiting were also noted. RESULTS SBP, DBP, MAP which were recorded, before induction considered as the baseline, and after induction, were comparable between the two groups. SBP, DBP and MAP compared at 1, 3 and 5 mins after intubation showed statistically significant difference between the two groups with propofol-ketamine group showing better haemodynamic stability. The HR between both the groups at various time intervals were comparable and not considered statistically significant. The side effect associated after induction was myoclonus in 14 patients in Group E i.e. 31 % and post-operative nausea vomiting was observed in 8 patients in Group E i.e. 18 %. CONCLUSIONS Thus, in view of haemodynamic stability during laryngoscopy, intubation and side effect profile; propofol and ketamine combination proves to be a better alternative compared to etomidate according to our study. KEYWORDS Propofol, Ketamine, Etomidate, Haemodynamic Stability


Background: Epigenetic regulation plays vital roles in the oncogenesis and treatment of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). The H3K9me3-specific histone methyltransferase SUV39H1 is an epigenetic gene that promotes the progression of a variety of malignancies. However, the roles of SUV39H1 in DLBCL remain unclear.Methods: Initially, the Oncomine, Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia (CCLE), UALCAN and Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA) databases were searched to explore the expression of SUV39H1 in DLBCL. The clinical parameters and pathological sections of 61 successive patients, including 47 cases of DLBCL and 14 cases of reactive lymphoid hyperplasia, were collected from January 2019 to November 2020. Immunohistochemistry was conducted to verify the results of the database search. Finally, relevant parameters and pathological results were combined to analyze the expression of SUV39H1.Results: We found that the expression of SUV39H1 in DLBCL tissues was higher than that in normal and other cancer tissues (P<0.05) in database and immunohistochemistry analyses. Among the analyzed clinical parameters, only tumor size was closely associated with SUV39H1 (P=0.037), suggesting that patients with high SUV39H1 expression are less likely to develop tumors over 7.5 cm in size. Regarding survival, the group with high SUV39H1 expression had a lower survival rate than the group with low SUV39H1 expression in terms of 10-year disease-free survival (DFS) according to the database analyses (P=0.035). However, SUV39H1 was revealed as an independent predictor of overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) in patients from both databases and our hospital (P>0.05).Conclusion: SUV39H1 expression is higher in DLBCL tissues than in normal and other cancer tissues, indicating that DLBCL patients may not develop bulky tumors over follow-up and suggesting that SUV39H1 might serve not only as a predictive factor in the clinic but also as a target for the epigenetic therapy of DLBCL.


As the number of security incidents had been sharply growing, the issue of security-defense draws more and more attention from network community in past years. Firewall is known as one of the most popular security-defense mechanism for corporations. It is the first defense-line for security infrastructure of corporations to against external intrusions and threats. A firewall will filter packets by following its policy rules to avoid suspicious intruder executing illegal actions and damaging internal network. Well-designed policy rules can increase the security-defense effect to against security risk. In this paper, we apply association rule mining to analyze network logs and detect anomalous behaviors, such as connections those shown frequently in short period with the same source IP and port. From these anomalous behaviors, we could inference useful, up-to-dated and efficient firewall policy rules. Comparing with the method proposed in [18], we utilize incremental mining to handle the increasingly changed traffic log data. The proposed method can highly enhance the execution performance in data analyzing. Experimental results show that the execution efficiency of our method is better than that of traditional methods when dealing with large-sized log files.


This longitudinal study describes and analyses the shifts in students' perceptions on the usefulness of language learning strategies (LLS) when learning Spanish as a foreign language, and explains the roles that these learning strategies play at various moments in time during students' language learning journey at the undergraduate level. The richness of this investigation lies in the examination of the changing roles and the perceived usefulness of these strategies over a period of 3 years by using a mixed-method approach. Its main contribution is twofold. On the one hand, it offers practical insights within the linguistic field of language acquisition that can be applied to the learning of foreign languages by students with no previous knowledge of them. On the other hand, its longitudinal design not only goes beyond the traditional quantitative approach that offers a limited snapshot view, but also captures changes in strategy use over time while providing details on why strategies were or were not used in the new language at different proficiency levels. The study found some strategies that were initially perceived as useful and helpful at the beginning of the journey were later perceived as neutral, useless or obstructive by the same group of students who had become more proficient in the foreign language. And, conversely, other strategies that were initially perceived as neutral, unhelpful or frustrating, were later perceived as necessary to improve language proficiency, useful and stimulating by the same cohort of students. In this respect, it was found that the perceived role played by these strategies alternated between essential roles to catalytic roles, imperceptible roles, retarding roles and preventing roles, and vice versa.Contribution: The main contribution of this study is that it shows that students' perceptions on the usefulness of certain LLS over time are influenced by their level of proficiency. This in turn influences, and is influenced by, language attitudes and language learning policy, which fall under the scope of this journal.


The laser cooling of a helium atomic beam in the 2s3S1 metastable state has been demonstrated. Using a single-mode LNA (La1-xNdxMgAl11O19) laser resonant with the 2s3S1-2p3P2 transition, the metastable atoms are cooled by the Doppler cooling method combined with the Zeeman-tuning technique. To monitor the velocity distribution, the Doppler profile of the 2p3P2-3d3D3 transition is observed. As a result, the most probable velocity of the metastable helium atoms, which is initially 750 m/s, is decelerated to 90 m/s.


In industrialised countries such as England and Wales, unintended injury (which ranges from sprains in sport to hospitalisation and death due to drugs or transport crashes) is the leading cause of death in children aged 0 to 14 years, and a major cause of death in young adults aged 15 to 24. It is also a major cause of ill health and disability in these age groups. There is a large body of research on young people and their perceived propensity to take risks. Common sense suggests that an increased willingness to place oneself at risk will result an increased likelihood of physical injury. However, given that pathways to injury are complex and not always well understood, the UK Department of Health commissioned a large systematic review to examine this multifaceted issue.

Drug use
• The review found that the use of drugs is associated with an increased risk of accidental death among young people and that 12–24 year olds are less at risk than those immediately older. However, risk of death increases with length of drug use, so there is value in targeting interventions at this age group.
• Many more young men than women die from drug overdoses, because more men take drugs, but those women who do use drugs are at higher risk. Certain other groups of young people are more at risk than others. These include young people in deprived areas and men who have recently been released from prison.
• There was a clear disjunction of views between young people who used drugs and those who did not. The young people who did not take drugs regarded them as risky and stated that media images about possible negative consequences dissuaded them from trying them, while those who did tended not to believe 'official' messages about possible harms and did not perceive taking drugs as being dangerous. Cannabis in particular was singled out as possibly being good for you, with some young people believing it to be cheaper than alcohol. The recent reclassification of cannabis and the subsequent debate may have helped to reinforce this view.
• The burden of the more serious injuries – as demonstrated by the mortality statistics – is carried by young people in the lower socio-economic groups.
• In road injuries, drugs are found in the bloodstream of more young fatal accident victims than older age groups; however, it is difficult to assess whether drugs actually contributed to the accident.
• Driving on cannabis was thought to be more acceptable than drink-driving and not thought to be dangerous.

Alcohol use
• Almost everyone admitted to hospital for alcohol poisoning is aged between 11 and 17. After a sharp peak among 14 and 15 year olds, hospital admissions for injuries with alcohol involvement decline slowly between the ages of 16 and 30.
• Correlational studies have shown that alcohol puts the drinker at an increased risk of injury, that young people are more likely to have injuries than older people, and that young men are more at risk than young women. In the one study that examined ethnicity, minority ethnic status did not increase alcohol-related injuries, and may in fact have had a protective association.
• Views studies found that young people say that they do not commonly mix alcohol and other drugs. Most young people reported that drinking places them at greater risk of injury, though some did not. The younger teenagers – 14 and 15 year olds – felt most in danger of injury when drinking. Young people felt that they learned to manage their drinking through experience and that unsupervised, outdoor drinking was the most dangerous and was more common among younger teenagers (with injuries being considered less common in licensed venues). Peers encourage both drinking and drunken pranks, but also protect one another when they have become more vulnerable as a result of drink. Young people felt that drinking reduces their perceptions of danger and some stated that injury as a result was inevitable. Most young people were cautious about getting very drunk, though being sick as a result of drinking is common and not regarded as serious. Bad experiences – whether to self or someone else – might change behaviour in the short- but not long-term.
• One study which examined attempts to reduce alcohol-related injuries found some evidence that motivational interviews in A&E departments are more effective than information handouts.

Drink-driving
• Drink-driving was generally considered dangerous and not socially acceptable, whereas driving on cannabis was more acceptable and not thought to be dangerous. Some young people stated that a lack of public transport (or alternatives, such as taxis) made it more likely that they would drink and drive.
• Interventions based on models of behaviour change to reduce drink-driving are ineffective or have a negative effect. Combining different approaches has more effect than using a single approach. Education or skills training has either negative or no effects on driver behaviour and subsequent accidents, possibly because these approaches lead to over-confidence or early licensing.
• Legislation and enforcement on reducing drink-driving has been found to be effective.


According to the literature and the personal experience of the authors there seem to exist many controversies on the treatment of pancreatic pseudocysts, partly due to the lack of definitions and to the fact that prognosis is different based upon the pathophysiology of the lesions. We report 4 cases of pancreatic pseudocysts successfully treated with a multidisciplinary approach, stressing the role of pharmacology and of artificial nutrition and endoscopy on the outcome of these lesions.


The aim of this paper is to discuss the type of education introduced by the colonialists, which encourages brain-drain, human capital flight and underdevelopment. The paper gives a brief on the indigenous African education which is considered outstanding because of its harmony with the socio-economic and political life of the society both in material and spiritual sense. The paper traces the root of the present Nigerian type of education to colonialism when the colonialists destroyed the existing African political and economic system and autonomy by dismantling the pre-colonial model of education and replaced it with new formal schooling for brain-drain and mental confusion for underdevelopment. The finding of the paper reveals that the education introduced by the colonialists in Nigeria was not an education for the realization of Nigeria's national development goals. The educational system is not relevant to the immediate environment and was not designed to promote the most rational use of human, material and social resources that would enhance indigenous and home-grown development nor does it create confidence and pride in people as members of African society. The paper utilizes secondary source of data as its methodology. The paper concludes that the neo-colonial system of education in operation in Nigeria since colonial days failed to make impact on the development of human and material resources and other potentialities because of its incompatibility with the immediate environment leading to brain-drain and human capital flight and the nation continue to be moving backward giving room for underdevelopment. The paper recommends that the system of education should incorporate the indigenous needs and values and work hand in hand with the modern type, its philosophy and curriculum should also include both the formal and informal type of indigenous education with emphasis on practical application rather than one-way concentration on certificates. Keywords: Neo-Colonial Education, Brain-Drain, Human-Capital-Flight, Underdevelopment, imperialism, Global Liberalism, National Development


Background Early onset neonatal sepsis is an important cause of morbidity and mortality but remains a diagnostic challenge. C-reactive protein (CRP) is widely used to assist diagnosis of infection and monitor treatment response. CRP is synthesised by the liver in response to interleukin 6 within 6–8 h of tissue injury. Despite widespread use in infants with suspected sepsis, little is known about CRP responses after birth in the absence of infection. Objective To describe postnatal CRP responses in asymptomatic term and preterm infants with no evidence of infection Methods Data was collected from infants admitted to a tertiary NICU during two discrete time periods (Sept–Oct 2012; Apr–May 2013) who had blood taken for culture. CRP values and time from birth were recorded. Infants with symptoms of infection or a positive blood culture were excluded from analysis, as were those with congenital anomalies. Remaining infants were subdivided by gestational age. Normalised CRP curves were generated by linear interpolation between measured values, assuming CRP half-life of 18h. Individual subjects were ranked by CRP response and centile curves derived. Results 219 babies were screened in the study period. After exclusions, 85 infants (70 term, 15 preterm) remained. The median (range) birthweight and gestation were 3560 g (2080–4820 g) and 40+4 weeks (37–43) respectively in the term group and 1814 g (975–3020 g) and 34+2 weeks (27+5–36+4) in the preterm group. In asymptomatic term neonates, CRP peaked at 24 h of age, with the 75th centile 9.3 g/dL, 90th centile 21 g/dL, 95th centile 24 g/dL. In preterm babies, CRP peaked at 48 h, 90th centile=5 g/dL, 95th centile=19 g/dL. Excluding infants with risk factors for infection, 90th centile values remained raised in both groups. Conclusions We describe CRP centiles in infants without symptoms of infection in the first days after birth. A substantial proportion of uninfected term and preterm infants had raised CRP values, with more than 10% being sufficiently high (>10g/dL) to prompt further invasive investigations (current UK guidelines). We demonstrate raised CRP values, unrelated to infection, in a significant number of infants. Further characterisation of CRP responses in non-infected infants is needed to optimise use of this common test.


In this paper, the performance of Kim-chi refrigerator with three evaporator and one compressor was investigated in employing propane and isobutane (R290/R600a) refrigerant mixture as an alternative refrigerant of R134a. The drop-in test was performed by varying both refrigerant charge and capillary tube length in order to find both the performance and reliability of a small multi-refrigeration system. Results show that the power consumption is decreased by about and COP is increased by about , respectively as compared to the baseline system using R-134a. In addition, the propane/isobutane refrigerant mixture system took advantage of the minimization of modification and redesigning of system components because thermodynamic properties such as saturation pressure, temperature, normal boiling point(NBP) characteristics are similar to those of R134a. The reduction of sales cost is caused by the decrease of refrigerant cost per unit mass and refrigerant charge amount necessary for the refrigeration system.


The spindle checkpoint delays sister chromatid separation until all chromosomes have undergone bipolar spindle attachment. Previous studies have revealed BUB3, as an essential spindle checkpoint protein and its extensive sequence similarity with Rae1 (Gle2), a highly conserved member of WD40 repeat protein family throughout their length which was first shown to be involved in mRNA export. However, the recent discovery of Rae1 as an essential mitotic checkpoint protein, based on the studies from mouse and drosophila, has renewed the interest in its function during cell division. Study of evolution of proteins involved in checkpoint might throw light on evolution of eukaryotic cell cycle regulation. Here we report the evolutionary relationships between these two WD40 repeat family proteins. Amino acid sequences of BUB3 and Rae1 homologs were retrieved from various databases and phylogenetic analysis was performed with the MEGA program. Multiple sequence alignments of these two protein homologues with the ClustalX software revealed specific amino acid signatures corresponding to the protein function and also few amino acids, which are conserved in BUB3 and Rae1 indicating some common overlapping function. Data indicated a common ancestral origin of these two important proteins and further suggest that, BUB3 mediated cell cycle checkpoint might have evolved with compartmentalization of genetic material into the nucleus in eukaryotes.


ABSTRACT The basic sanitation systems are not enough to meet the sanitary requirements in the rural areas of Brazil. Hence, a decentralized anaerobic system was developed by Embrapa to enable the treatment of domestic sewage. The treated sewage effluent (TSE) should be applied to completely replace the N from mineral fertilizer required by corn plants, a typical crop cultivated by Brazilian smallholder farmings for animal feed. Hence, the purpose of this study was to investigate the corn crop responses to the use of TSE as fertilizer. A field experiment was carried out in a sandy clay loam soil at São Carlos, state of São Paulo, Brazil, over 2018-2019 summer growing season of a hybrid corn cultivar with dual aptitude (grain and silage production). Four treatments about application of different nutrient sources were evaluated in a randomized block design with three replications: 1- NPK: urea, simple superphosphate and potassium chloride as nutrient sources; 2- EfPK: TSE as N source + PK from mineral fertilizers; 3- Ef: TSE only; 4- PK: mineral fertilizers only. TSE was applied to crop by short and closed-end furrow irrigation. TSE can be used as a source of nitrogen mainly and other nutrients for corn crop nutrition based on the knowledge of effluent nutrient concentrations. TSE split application through fertirrigation can lead to corn yield parameters close to those from NPK application using only mineral fertilizers as nutrient sources. The reuse of this wastewater is feasible for small-scale corn production which is typical of Brazilian smallholder farming.


The effects of either food restriction or a low protein diet on the plasma volume expansion of pregnancy was determined in Sprague-Dawley rats. Rats fed ad libitum a standard diet or fed a 25% casein diet were used as controls. Both the food restricted and protein restricted rats had a significant reduction in body weight and fetal and placental weights. The total plasma volumes were also significantly lower in the restricted groups. Plasma volume expressed per 100 g of maternal net body weight or 100 g of conceptus weight was significantly reduced only in the rats fed the 6% casein diet. Correlations between plasma volume and maternal net body weight or conceptus weight in the control groups suggested that although the conceptus can influence the degree of expansion of maternal plasma volume, maternal factors such as net body weight are more important determinants of plasma volume expansion.


Purpose: Beta-keto amphetamines are a new generation of designer drugs which have gained popularity among abusers in the last decade. A sensitive and reliable method for the diagnostics of individuals who abuse these substances is very important, especially in the case of overdose or concomitant use during a drug substitution therapy. Methods: We developed a quantitative HPLC-tandem mass spectrometry method for the determination of methcathi- none and 4-methylmethcathinone in urine, based on an easy liquid-liquid extraction technique coupled to fast reversed phase chromatography. Results: For both analytes we obtained a linearity range from 0.5 to at least 2000 ng/mL. In different urinary matrices the accuracy for 4-methylmethcathinone was within 9% and for methcathinone within 17% recovery of the target concentration. The repeatability and the intermediate precision of 50 different test series were between 2 and 14%. The limit of quantification was established to be 2 ng/mL for methcathione and 0.8 ng/mL for 4-methylmethcathinone. Conclusions: The described HPLC-tandem mass spectrometry method is reliable and robust and has the advantage of accurate selectivity, avoiding wrong positive results. It is convenient for clinical laboratories involved in the control of drug substitution therapy or the confirmation of drug consumption.


Environmental heterogeneity is a major determinant of plant population dynamics. In semi-arid Kalahari savannas, heterogeneity is created by savanna structure, i.e. by the spatial arrangement and temporal dynamics of woody plant and open grassland microsites. We formulate a conceptual model describing the effects of savanna dynamics on the population dynamics of the animal-dispersed shrub Grewia flava. From empirical results we derive model rules describing effects of savanna structure on several processes in Grewia's life cycle. By formulating the model, we summarise existing information on Grewia demography and identify gaps in this knowledge. Despite a number of such gaps, the model can be used to make certain quantitative predictions. As an example, we apply the model to investigate the role of seed dispersal in Grewia encroachment on rangelands. Model results show that cattle promote encroachment by depositing substantial numbers of seeds in open areas, where Grewia is otherwise dispersal-limited. Finally, we draw some general conclusions about Grewia's life history and population dynamics. Under natural conditions, concentrated seed deposition under woody plants appears to be a key process causing the observed association between Grewia and other woody plants. Furthermore, low rates of recruitment and high adult survival result in slow-motion dynamics of Grewia populations. As a consequence, Grewia populations interact with savanna dynamics on long temporal and short to intermediate spatial scales.


PURPOSE
To assess for ectopic ocular calcification in a series of patients with hypophosphatasia (HPP) treated with asfotase alfa, a recombinant tissue-nonspecific alkaline phosphatase.

METHODS
This is a retrospective analysis of subjects enrolled at Duke University Medical Center in ENB-009-10 (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01163149), a randomized controlled trial of asfotase alfa in adolescents and adults with HPP. Seven patients between the ages of 45 and 66 years diagnosed with HPP based on clinical features and low serum alkaline phosphatase levels were enrolled at our site. Subjects were randomized to receive either daily subcutaneous injections of asfotase alfa or no treatment. After 24 weeks, during the open-label extension phase, all subjects received treatment for at least 4 years. All subjects underwent comprehensive eye examinations at baseline and at 24-week intervals throughout the study to assess for development of ocular calcifications.

RESULTS
By week 120, all 7 subjects developed asymptomatic white refractile deposits in the interpalpebral perilimbal conjunctiva. Biopsy of the conjunctival lesions in 2 subjects revealed elastosis with subepithelial calcification. The lesions were nonprogressive and in 5 subjects exhibited some degree of regression.

CONCLUSIONS
Asfotase alfa was invariably associated with development of mild focal conjunctival calcification, likely through disinhibition of hydroxyapatite crystal propagation. The calcifications were not symptomatic or vision-threatening and should not preclude enzyme replacement therapy for patients with this rare and often debilitating disease.


Background: Farmers have an increased risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and psychological distress. The potential role of psychological distress in worsening COPD symptoms has been reported among the general population, but no studies have examined this relationship among farmers with COPD, which is the purpose of this study. Methods: This study used the data from the 2017 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). Farmers reporting both psychological distress and COPD symptoms were included in this study (n = 239). Both unadjusted and adjusted logistic regressions were used to explore the association among psychological distress, age, health status, smoking, and COPD symptoms, with crude and adjusted odds ratio (OR) and 95% CIs reported. Findings: The unadjusted analysis suggested that COPD symptoms were significantly associated with psychological distress among farmers (OR = 2.05 [1.18, 3.58]). While adjusted models showed the significant association between COPD symptoms and psychological distress among farmers after controlling for smoking, age, and health status (adjusted OR = 2.08 [1.10, 4.01]). Conclusion/Implications for Practice: These results suggest that psychological distress is associated with an increased risk of COPD symptoms in farmers, which is consistent with observations from studies in non-farmers. Occupational health professionals need to provide screen for COPD among farmers as well as psychological distress screening and mental health promotion among farmers with COPD.


The electrical resistivity of vacuum deposited chromium-copper alloy films has been measured and compared with the values calculated using Fuchs-Sondheimer theory. It is observed that the resistivity can be explained assuming diffuse scattering with an electron mean free path of 376 AA.


In this paper, a blind identification for authenticity of infinite light source images was proposed. The inconsistency in light source direction resulted from image forgery is used to identify image authenticity. According to the error function of the actual light intensity and calculated light intensity and the constraint function of infinite light source to light beam, Hestenes-Powell multiplier method is used to calculate the light source direction of different objects and their background in infinite light source images. The image authenticity is determined based on the consistency between the light source direction of the object and its background. Experimental results showed that the authenticity of infinite light source images could be identified by the inconsistency in light source direction and the detection rate can reach 83.7%. The performance in terms of detection rate and time complexity of the proposed blind identification is superior to that of the existed method.


: Canine is the cornerstone of the arch, and has a strategic position . The current study involves assessment of attractiveness of smile based on canine shape and position.The study was done in a university hospital setting of Saveetha Dental College.The study was designed to be a cross sectional retrospective study. The study was based on the photographic analysis of the position, shape and prominence of canine and its effect on the perceived esthetics of the smile. 70 photographs of patients were selected from the institution's database, and evaluated. The perceived esthetics of each smile was graded on scale of 1-5, 5 being excellent aesthetics. The obtained data was tabulated and statistical analysis was done using SPSS( Version 23) . There was a statistically significant association with the position(p=0.012) and shape(p=0.006) and cervical prominence of the canine(p=0.000) with the perceived esthetics. The position and characteristics of the canine play a major role in the perception of aesthetics of the smile. A better understanding of these factors could highly improve the process of teeth selection or the rehabilitation of smiles


Mutations and altered expression of deubiquitinating enzymes (DUBs) profoundly influence tumor progression. Ubiquitin-specific protease 1 (USP1) is a well-characterized human DUB reportedly overexpressed in and associated with maintaining the mesenchymal stem cell status of osteosarcoma (OS); however, the potential mechanisms of USP1 in OS remain poorly understood. In this study, we identified that USP1 directly interacts with Transcriptional Co-Activator With PDZ-Binding Motif (TAZ) in OS cell lines, and with mechanistic analysis indicating that the anti-OS effects of USP1 inhibition could be partially attributed to TAZ instability, with its reduced nuclear accumulation responsible for a subsequent decrease in the expression of downstream genes associated with the Hippo signaling pathway. Moreover, pharmacological inhibition USP1 by ML323 presented the similar effects on Hippo signaling pathway and suppressed OS growth and metastasis both in vitro and in vivo. Taken together, our results revealed a novel molecular mechanism underlying the function of USP1 in OS and a potential role of ML323 as a therapeutic strategy for the clinical treatment of OS.


This paper presents the results of using Roget's International Thesaurus as the taxonomy in a semantic similarity measurement task. Four similarity metrics were taken from the literature and applied to Roget's. The experimental evaluation suggests that the traditional edge counting approach does surprisingly well (a correlation of r=0.88 with a benchmark set of human similarity judgements, with an upper bound of r=0.90 for human subjects performing the same task.)


The main aim of a disassembly process is to reuse components and reduce the negative impact it has on the environment. Reaching an efficient and effective sequence of disassembly has become one of the major concerns in this field. This article refers to the use of iterative deepening A* search (artificial intelligence), in the design of the disassembly sequence. This method is applied to the state diagrams, a simple representation of the different states in a disassembly sequence. This way, the design process gains efficiency by finding the final sequence in the first iteration; therefore removing the need to analyse all possible sequences, since the best possible sequence is known in the first iteration. The method can also be applied to mechanical, electromechanical and electronic appliances with the aim of obtaining components for reuse or final disposal. Experimental results demonstrate the applicability and effectiveness of the methodology.


There is unanimous agreement on the need for primary stabilisation of non-infected and infected non-unions of long tubular bones. It is possible to draw up a general schema. With regard to the type of bone transplant usually required, we can make use of purely cortical, corticospongy and spongy bone chips. It is also possible to delimitate the appropriate fields of indication. An essential prerequisite for the proper healing of a bone graft is the stability and satisfactory vascular reaction of the transplant bed. The article describes and discusses the results of such treatment of non-infected and infected non-unions of long tubular bones, taking the above-mentioned aspects into consideration.


Background: breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women worldwide, although breast screening with Mammography can reduce mortality in breast cancer. Women perceived fear, barriers, benefit, and self-efficacy can affect their decision to participation in Mammography screening.
Objectives: The major objectives of this study were to assess the levels of women's perceived Mammography screening, and to find out the relationships between women's perceived Mammography screening and some women's demographic variables such as age, marital status socioeconomic status, and family history of breast cancer, to Find out the correlation between entire perceived Mammography variables, and to predict the effect of perceived barriers on fear.Methodology: A Descriptive analytical study was carried out in April 1, 2013 to June 20, 2013.A purposive (non-probability) sample of 100 women who were attending the outpatient clinic at National Center for Early Detection of Cancer in Medical City. Data was collected through the use of the Health Belief Model HBM scale questionnaire and the process of the self- administrative report for each woman as a method for collections data. The questionnaire was modify to achieve the objectives of the study, which consisted of two parts; the first part is concerned with the demographic characteristics of the women and ; the second part consist of four subscales measure four concepts including perceived benefits, perceived self -efficacy, perceived barrier, and perceived fear
Results: Results of the study indicate that most of the women at high level of perceived fear. There were significant relationships between women's perceived Mammography screening and their socioeconomic status, there were significant relationships between perceived benefits with barriers, self-efficacy, and there were significantrelationships between Perceived barriers and self- efficacy, and there were a significant relationship between perceived fears on barriers
Conclusions: work at increase health awareness for women about Mammography screening throughout increase educational programs in all media types and elevate awareness levels for all health providers to play an important roles for women's' awareness to attending the Mammography screening centers.
Recommendation: Health providers who work with women in Mammography screening units need to assess women perception of Mammography screening in order to plan, implement, and evaluate psychological health education programs. And public health education should promote awareness of breast cancer and emphasize the advantages of earlier presentation and diagnosis of this disease.


A numerical technique for solving some physical problems on a semi-infinite interval is presented. Two nonlinear examples are proposed. In the first example the Volterra's population model growth is formulated as a nonlinear differential equation, and in the second example the Lane–Emden nonlinear differential equation is considered. The approach is based on a rational Legendre tau method. The operational matrices of derivative and product of rational Legendre functions are presented. These matrices together with the tau method are utilized to reduce the solution of these physical problems to the solution of systems of algebraic equations. The method is easy to implement and yields very accurate results.


This paper deals with the voltage regulation of DC micro grid system using photovoltaic and battery coupled single-ended primary-inductor converter (SEPIC) converter. SEPIC converter is a DC-to-DC boost converter, it can produce non pulsating DC current with less ripples when compared to buck and buck boost converters. Non pulsating DC current is the demanding condition required in maximum power point tracking (MPPT) applications and battery charging. This paper presents the simulation of the converters for both open and closed loop systems. Firstly, the proposed PV coupled SEPIC converter and the battery coupled buck boost converters are integrated to regulate the voltage in micro grid, and it is compared with the conventional methods in terms of output voltage, ripple voltage and power. The ripple voltage has been reduced to 0.1 V from 0.3 V in the proposed method. Secondly, PI and PID controllers are employed individually to SEPIC and buck boost converter for the voltage regulation of the DC micro grid system. The performance of the closed loop analysis is done in terms of time domain specifications, and it reveals that PID controller has the better response. The proposed system is simulated using MATLAB/Simulink and the prototype has been developed to verify the simulated results.


The presynaptic α-synuclein is a prime suspect for contributing to Lewy pathology and clinical aspects of diseases, including Parkinson's disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, and a Lewy body variant of Alzheimer's disease. Here we examined the pathogenic mechanism of neuronal cell death induced by α-synuclein. The exogenous addition of α-synuclein caused a marked decrease of cell viability in primary and immortalized neuronal cells. The neuronal cell death appeared to be correlated with the Rab5A-specific endocytosis of α-synuclein that subsequently caused the formation of Lewy body-like intracytoplasmic inclusions. This was further supported by the fact that the expression of GTPase-deficient Rab5A resulted in a significant decrease of its cytotoxicity as a result of incomplete endocytosis of α-synuclein.


Boreal peatlands may be vulnerable to projected changes in the wildfire regime under future climates. Extreme drying during the sensitive postfire period may exceed peatland ecohydrological resilience, triggering long‐term degradation of these globally significant carbon stocks. Despite these concerns, we show low peatland evapotranspiration at both the plot‐ and landscape‐scale postfire, in water‐limited peatlands dominated by feather moss that are ubiquitous across continental western Canada. Low postfire evapotranspiration enhances the resilience of carbon stocks in such peatlands to wildfire disturbance and reinforces their function as a regional source of water. Near‐surface water repellency may provide an important, previously unexplored, regulator of peatland evapotranspiration that can induce low evapotranspiration in the initial postfire years by restricting the supply of water to the peat surface.


Abstract The paper is focused on the practical knowledge transfer problems in higher education engineering. The objective is to improve the knowledge transfer in order to facilitate rapid workplace integration. The curriculum and the practical training of students at University Politehnica Timisoara, Department of Automation and Applied Informatics are presented and discussed. The implication of companies in the students' practical training is highlighted. A practical knowledge transfer system is proposed, based on logical distribution of the requirements for a single practical application, transversally, to the curriculum courses. The initial changes in the curriculum, introduced after the Bologna Declaration, are presented for the previously mentioned department. Ideas and questions were released which can be clarified, interpreted and criticized, providing a discussion base that can be benefic to the academic and industrial community. The presented changes were discussed with the economical zonal partners (companies: Continental Automotive, Hella, Nokia, Yazaki, Huf, Flextronics, etc.), being appreciated and sustained by the companies.


The CCI-Creative City Index was commissioned in 2010 by the Beijing Academy of Science & Technology's Beijing Research Center for the Science of Science. John Hartley was asked to develop a new creative global city index. The brief was to improve on the existing indexes with a specific focus on creative industries and the sources of creative development.

This report, by John Hartley, Jason Potts, Trent MacDonald, with Chris Erkunt and Carl Kufleitner, sets out the new model we have developed, which we call the CCI Creative City Index (CCI-CCI). It presents the results of a pilot application of the index to six cities: London, Cardiff, Berlin, Bremen, Melbourne and Brisbane.

The index incorporates many elements from other global and creative city indexes, but also adds several new dimensions relating to creative industries scope, micro-productivity, and the economy of attention.

The report and Excel spreadsheets of index calculations can be found on this site.


Brian Goldman works both sides of the gurney. By training, he is a veteran emergency department physician at Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital. By calling, he is host of White Coat, Black Art, the provocative CBC Radio program that places the medical profession itself under a microscope.

Since 2007, Goldman — he's been called a "radio shock doc" — has been taking an insider's look at such touchy topics as physician error, queue-jumping, burnout among medical professionals, the role of nurse practitioners and physician assistants in an overburdened system, good (and not so good) medical Samaritans and the potential health risks posed by overworked and sleep-deprived residents.

"Time was you were supposed to keep it all inside your head and your heart," says the 54-year-old Goldman. "But our culture has evolved to be more revelatory and I think most medical professionals really want to unburden themselves. The experiences they have are lonely and intense enough as it is."

The seeds of Goldman's divided professional life can be traced back to his high school days in Toronto. Despite doing "really well" in the arts and only "acceptably well" in maths and sciences, he decided to take what he saw as the surest route to success. "The smart kids were going into professions like medicine," he says. "So if you wanted to identify with the smart kids, you did what they did." And so he enrolled in medicine at the University of Toronto. But something didn't feel quite right.

"Even back then, my passion was clearly for writing," he says. "I just didn't realize how important it was."

In the fall of 1979, Goldman's simmering ambivalence finally boiled over. He was in the midst of a two-month elective at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Md., on course to becoming a pediatric neurologist — and unable to sleep. "The insomnia just got worse," he recalls, "except for one day. That was the day I was supposed to present rounds — do a case and a little bit of a roundup and impress my superiors — and that was the morning I finally slept in."

He took it as a sign. "It was one of those moments of stunning reversal," he says, "that in retrospect made it so clear that I was heading in the wrong direction."

Goldman returned to Toronto in a state of mind he describes as "totally confused." Back home, he dragged himself through an unhappy internship at the Hospital for Sick Children.

Then, in desperation, he switched to internal medicine.

More significantly, though, he took a first step toward acknowledging his unrequited passion for self-expression. He enrolled in a freelance writing course. His instructor saw some promise in him and urged him to call the Globe and Mail and pitch a story on the role of estrogen receptors in breast cancer. "I remember my hands were shaking," he says. "But the editor said, 'Great, when can you get it in?'" And with those few words, a writing career was launched.

Goldman scrawled out that first story in a longhand and got his mother to type it up. The Globe published it in 1981. He was hooked. He soon shifted to emergency medicine, working 8–10 nights a month to supplement — and complement — his growing writing habit. In 1984, he joined Mount Sinai in Toronto. He's still there, wearing the twin coats of emergency department physician and medical journalist, with a slight emphasis on the latter.

"I think I'm a storyteller who practises medicine," he says. "But I put a lot of effort into becoming a physician, and I was determined to make a go of it on some level, even as I explored this other part of me."

From print, Goldman soon branched into other media. He became a contributor to Sunday Morning and Ideas on CBC Radio and to The National and The Health Show on CBC Television. In October 1988, he hit the journalistic jackpot with a Sunday Morning scoop on Connaught Laboratories' purchase of untested blood products from the United States, an exercise in recklessness that ultimately led to the infection of more than 20 000 Canadians with hepatitis C and HIV.

His favourite medium? "Oh, radio," he replies. "It allows you to tell stories that are intimate, very personal. With radio, you can be driving a car or making dinner and still be engaged."

In about 2005, Goldman came up with what he calls a "hare-brained idea" for a book. It was to be called Medical B.S. All 25 publishers he shopped it to thought it was a bad idea — "too negative," he says. But buoyed by two unexpected publishing successes with similarly scatological titles, philosopher Harry Frankfurt's scholarly On Bullshit and Laura Penny's Your Call Is Important To Us: The Truth About Bullshit, Goldman persisted.

"I felt I'd put my finger on something," he says. "So I took my book proposal and turned it into a radio proposal. The idea was to take what health professionals say in nurses' and doctors' lounges, and make those conversations public so as to give the listener the feeling they are eavesdropping. And I wanted physicians and nurses to say, 'That sounds like us, we could be having that conversation.'"

White Coat, Black Art debuted in the summer of 2007 with a pull-no-punches attitude and a snappy catch-phrase: "That's medicine from my side of the gurney."

Goldman quickly hit his stride that first season with a two-parter on medical error, in which several highly regarded physicians talked about their own mistakes on the job, some of which even resulted in the death of patients. "It was raw and unvarnished, and it was what made White Coat important," he says.

Important, perhaps, but far from universally embraced.

"Most of my colleagues are appreciative of the show, but certainly there are vested interests that think it's too revealing," he says. "Every once in a while, I'll find out that people I interviewed for a show had some difficult conversations with their bosses afterwards."

One prominent physician who has adopted a grin-and-bear-it attitude to Goldman's brand of revelatory journalism is new CMA president Jeff Turnbull.

"Having the light shone upon us is uncomfortable at times," says Turnbull. "But, as we attempt to transform the health care system, it's important we have an informed public. My sense is that anything that demystifies what we do, that makes medicine more transparent and shows physicians to be human is a good thing. In that way, I think Dr. Goldman is doing a service to the medical profession."

With 69 episodes of White Coat under his scrubs, Goldman's perception of his role has evolved.

"It's changed from being simply informing to trying to be transformative," he says. "It's amazing what I see in my travels, the little pockets of innovation, people solving problems that seem to be intractable — I see now that they aren't. There are fixes to be had."

Goldman, by his own accounting, has learned two key lessons from his professional juggling act, both bordering on the miraculous. "Personally, I have learned that there are miracles for people, satisfying changes to be had in mid-career," he says. "As for my colleagues, the people whose stories I tell, it's just that they get up every day, and despite all the obstacles, they do what they do."

A Brian Goldman sampler
On the Canadian system. "The concept that we have of providing health care regardless of the ability to pay is a wonderful thing, and I think it would be shame to destroy it though lethargy, apathy and inertia. I think we have an ethical responsibility to do all we can to protect it."

On the fallibility of physicians. "I think we need to honour the simple fact that physicians are human, that they make mistakes like everybody else. Listen to any newscast these days, read any paper: medical errors are all around us. I think physicians are among the most ethically grounded people you will ever meet, but they have been willfully blind to the inherent lack of safety in our health care system. Decades after the airline industry came up with a similar safeguard, we're talking about surgical checklists. It's wonderful that we are, but it's decades late."

On the best use of human resources: "We don't want to have overqualified people doing everything. We have to figure out who we need to deliver care, who has the right mix of skill and experience and education. I envision a system that has much more in the way of nurse practitioners, physicians' assistants —what they call in the United States mid-level medical practitioners — meeting the more basic health needs of Canadians, and then a smaller number of highly paid, highly motivated and very happy family physicians, and an even smaller number of highly qualified and even more highly paid specialists."

On the crisis in family medicine. "Right now in family medicine there is a fundamental, existential crisis. They have to sort it out and they probably have to sort it out by themselves. They can continue as they are, trying to be all things to all people, while, at the same time, there are centrifugal forces pulling them in the direction of specialization. So you've got family physicians who are only doing emergency medicine or pain management or palliative care, and family physicians who only do obstetrics or anesthesia — all of them are specialists."

On perspective and change. "I think medical professionals often lack perspective. They're so caught up in just trying to make it through the day without stepping on too many land mines that they don't have time to think more broadly. I can tell you who does have time to think more broadly: organized medicine. And organized medicine has not served physicians well for a couple of generations. Organized medicine has a nasty habit of acting like an entrenched bureaucracy, of acting as a brake on meaningful change."


Reliable tools for artefact rejection and signal classification are a must for cosmic ray detection experiments based on CMOS technology. In this paper, we analyse the fitness of several feature-based statistical classifiers for the classification of particle candidate hits in four categories: spots, tracks, worms and artefacts. We use Zernike moments of the image function as feature carriers and propose a preprocessing and denoising scheme to make the feature extraction more efficient. As opposed to convolution neural network classifiers, the feature-based classifiers allow for establishing a connection between features and geometrical properties of candidate hits. Apart from basic classifiers we also consider their ensemble extensions and find these extensions generally better performing than basic versions, with an average recognition accuracy of 88%.


A BSTRACT . We present a geometric multi-level optimization approach that smoothly incorporates box constraints. Given a box constrained optimization problem, we consider a hierarchy of models with varying discretization levels. Finer models are accurate but expensive to compute, while coarser models are less accurate but cheaper to compute. When working at the fine level, multi-level optimisation computes the search direction based on a coarser model which speeds up updates at the fine level. Moreover, exploiting geometry induced by the hierarchy the feasibility of the updates is preserved. In particular, our approach extends classical components of multigrid methods like restriction and prolongation to the Riemannian structure of our constraints.


Background: The left ventricular problem is a prominent acute myocardial infarction (AMI) complication. It has been demonstrated that rapid reperfusion reduces mortality and improves left ventricular (LV) function. There is a dearth of information on left ventricular thrombus (LVT) in the current era of primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI). Aim: To estimate the frequency of left ventricular thrombus in patients who have experienced an acute anterior wall myocardial infarction at Karachi's leading cardiac hospital. Study design: Cross-sectional study Place and duration of study: Department of Cardiology, National Institute of Cardiovascular Disease, Karachi from 1st July 2021 to 31st December 2021. Methodology: Three hundred and fifty five patients of both genders age between 40 and 80 years were diagnosed with acute anterior wall myocardial infarction and underwent purcutaneous coronary intervention were enrolled. Results: There were 286 (80.6%) males and 69 (19.4%) females. The mean age was 56.29±11.04 years. Two patients (6%) experienced in-hospital mortality, while 56 patients (15.8%) had left ventricular thrombus. Conclusion: Acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction frequently results in the development of left ventricular thrombus. Keywords: Myocardial infarction, Left ventricular thrombus, Frequency


Social media has rapidly transformed the ways in which adolescents socialize and interact with the world, which has contributed to ongoing public debate about whether social media is helping or harming adolescents. The COVID-19 pandemic has magnified both the challenges and opportunities of adolescents' social-media use, which necessitates revisiting the conversation around teens and social media. In this article, we discuss key aspects of adolescent social-media use and socioemotional well-being and outline how these issues may be amplified in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. We use this as a springboard to outline key future research directions for the field, with the goal of moving away from reductionist approaches and toward a more nuanced perspective to understand the who, what, and when of social-media use and its impact on adolescent well-being. We conclude with a commentary on how psychological science can inform the translation of research to provide evidence-based recommendations for adolescent social-media use.


Central American and Mexican Pinguicula species are characterized by enormous divergence in size and color of flowers and are pollinated by butterflies, flies, bees, and hummingbirds. It is known that floral trichomes are key characters in plant–pollinator interaction. The main aim of our study was to verify our hypothesis that the distribution and diversity of non-glandular and glandular trichomes are related to the pollinator syndromes rather than the phylogenetic relationships. The studied sample consisted of Central American and Mexican species. In our study, we relied on light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy with a phylogenetic perspective based on ITS DNA sequences. The flower morphology of species pollinated by butterflies and hummingbirds was similar in contrast to species pollinated by flies and bees. Species pollinated by butterflies and hummingbirds contained low diversity of non-glandular trichomes, which occurred mostly in the tube and basal part of the spur. Surprisingly, in P. esseriana and P. mesophytica, non-glandular trichomes also occurred at the base of lower lip petals. In the case of species pollinated by flies/bees, we observed a high variety of non-glandular trichomes, which occurred on the surface of corolla petals, in the tube, and at the entrance to the spur. Furthermore, we did not identify any non-glandular trichomes in the spur. The capitate glandular trichomes were of similar morphology in all examined species. There were minor differences in the shape of the trichome head, as well as the length and the number of stalk cells. The distribution and the diversity of non-glandular and glandular trichomes and pollinator syndromes were mapped onto a phylogenetic reconstruction of the genus. Most micromorphological characters appear to be associated more with floral adaptation to pollinators and less with phylogeny.


While machine learning systems can be highly accurate in their training environments, their performance in real-world deployments can suffer significantly due to distribution shifts. Real-world distribution shifts involve various input distortions due to noise, weather, device and other variations. Many real-world distribution shifts are not represented in standard domain adaptation datasets and prior empirical work has shown that domain adaptation methods developed using these standard datasets may not generalize well to real-world distribution shifts. Furthermore, motivated by observations of the sensitivity of deep neural networks (DNN) to the spectral statistics of data, which can vary in real-world scenarios, we propose Fourier Moment Matching (FMM), a model-agnostic input transformation that matches the Fourier-amplitude statistics of source to target data using unlabeled samples. We demonstrate through extensive empirical evaluations across time-series, image classification and semantic segmentation tasks that FMM is effective both individually and when combined with a variety of existing methods to overcome real-world distribution shifts.


Mirror neurons (MirNs) within ventral premotor cortex (PMv) and primary motor cortex (M1), including pyramidal tract neurons (PTNs) projecting to the spinal cord, modulate their activity during both the execution and observation of motor acts. However, movement is not produced in the latter condition, and mirror responses cannot be explained by lowlevel muscle activity. Relatively reduced activity in M1 during observation may help to suppress movement. Here, we examined the extent to which activity at different stages of action observation reflects grasp representation and suppression of movement across multiple levels of the mirror system in monkeys and humans. We recorded MirNs in M1 and F5 (rostral PMv), including identified PTNs, in two macaque monkeys as they performed, observed, and withheld reach-to-grasp actions. Time-varying population activity was more distinct between execution and observation in M1 than in F5, and M1 activity in the lead-up to the observation of movement onset shared parallels with movement withholding activity. In separate experiments, modulation of short-latency responses evoked in hand muscles by pyramidal tract stimulation revealed modest grasp-specific facilitation at the spinal level during grasp observation. This contrasted with a relative suppression of excitability prior to observed movement onset or when monkeys simply withheld movement. Additional cortical recording experiments examined how contextual factors, such as observing to imitate, observing while engaged in action, or observation with reduced visual information, modulated mirror activity in M1 and F5. Finally, single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in healthy human volunteers was used to examine changes in corticospinal excitability (CSE) during action observation and withholding. Overall, the results reveal distinctions in the profile of mirror activity across premotor and motor areas. While F5 maintains a more abstract representation of grasp independent of the acting agent, a balance of excitation and inhibition in motor cortex and spinal circuitry during action observation may support a flexible dissociation between initiation of grasping actions and representation of observed grasp.


Stadium screens around the globe – such as the 2013 arrivals of the massive scoreboards at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia or the JumboTron at Reliant Stadium in the United States – are increasingly an integral part of the sport event experience. This study, which postulates that stadium screens go beyond television, defines the huge screens as sportmediated screens and explains their characteristics from theoretical, spatial, time, and functional perspectives. The stadium, as the mixed reality in which real space and mediated space coexist, is a new arena for cultural interface. As a representative media platform in the stadium, the sport-mediated screen can be described by the characteristics such as hyper-mediacy, remediation, and glance. The sport-mediated screen is not just ambient television located away from reality, but rather it is media itself in reality. Thus, it escalates the reality as a simulator. With the sport-mediated screens the stadium becomes a media itself and could be called as sport-mediated space.


A variational approach is formulated and implemented for numerically solving a system of nonlinear two-point boundary value problem (BVP) with coupled boundary conditions modeling the power evolution in cascaded fiber Raman laser with the fiber Bragg gratings at the ends of the cavity. The nonlinearity is treated by successive linearization and the coupled boundary conditions are naturally incorporated into the system through integration in the variational setting. A global approximation of the dependent variables in terms of Legendre polynomials is used to provide a stable Lagrangian interpolation representation as well as the Legendre-Gauss quadrature for accurate numerical evaluation of integrals in the variational formulation. An initial approximate solution is constructed for the delicate convergence to the solution. The approach is validated against an approximate analytic solution and some exact integrals of the variables. The numerical experiments show exponential (spectral) accuracy achieved with much lower resolution in comparison to a widely available BVP solver. Further numerical experiments are performed to reveal the physical characteristics of the underlying model.


This study applies Matsusaka's Model which is a dynamic model to the Panama sugar industry. In this model diversification can be a value-maximizing strategy even if specialization is generally efficient. The central idea is that firms are composed of organizational capabilities that can be profitable in multiple businesses and that diversification is a search process by which firms seek businesses that are good matches for their capabilities. Two major sugar cane industries in Panama with their diversified pattern were analyzed to provide concrete and reliable information about their achievements. By the application of the equations content in the model; this study attempt to determinate whether or not this model could explain Sugar Cane industry in Panama. This model would be oriented to determinate diversification pattern on first; following that it would provide corporate and organizational capabilities by mixing internal and external input. Twenty years of production had been provided for those organizations. Diversification patter differs by firm. Two kind of diversification pattern had been showed up. Concentric diversification, where the new business produces products that are technically similar to the company's current product but that appeal to a new consumer group and Conglomerate diversification, where the new business produces products that are totally unrelated to the company's current product and that appeal to an entirely new consumer group.


The article argues that the notion of a 'religious market' is essentially a metaphor. It focuses analytic attention on certain aspects of the competition for allegiance among different forms of religion but at the expense of misrepresenting other core features. The attraction of the model for social scientists may well have as much to do with the normative character of the language of economic markets today as with the intrinsic analytic force of the model. The epistemological and ontological bases of the model are seldom examined though their implications are reductionist. The common use of the market model is also problematic in reinforcing the largely discredited, but still influential, assumption that the growth of Protestant 'fundamentalism' in developing societies is a function of American cultural and economic imperialism. The main body of the text examines the author's own selective use of the market metaphor in research on Latin American Pentecostals, highlighting both what is illuminated and what is distorted by the model. The discussion covers: the structuring of the religious 'market'; entrepreneurship, with particular reference to the pastorate; converts as 'clients' or 'customers'; the 'marketing strategies' of religious bodies; 'market niches'; and the 'pre-conditions of demand'. The article concludes that the market model tends to obscure the importance of the transformative processes in conversion. The market model should be employed with caution and without assuming its uniquely 'scientific' status as a methodological tool in the study of conversion and of the growth or decline of religion.


In large flexible software systems, bloat occurs in many forms, causing excess resource utilization and resource bottlenecks. This results in lost throughput and wasted joules. However, mitigating bloat is not easy; efforts are best applied where savings would be substantial. To aid this we develop an analytical model establishing the relation between bottleneck in resources, bloat, performance and power.
 Analyses with the model places into perspective results from the first experimental study of the power-performance implications of bloat. In the experiments we find that while bloat reduction can provide as much as 40% energy savings, the degree of impact depends on hardware and software characteristics. We confirm predictions from our model with selected results from our experimental study.
 Our findings show that a software-only view is inadequate when assessing the effects of bloat. The impact of bloat on physical resource usage and power should be understood for a full systems perspective to properly deploy bloat reduction solutions and reap their power-performance benefits.


A new thermochromic material formed by doping into the ferroelectric crystal is presented. The change of colour from green (room temperature) to red (low temperature) under polarized light observation is accompanied by a strong temperature-induced dichroism at low temperature. The origin of these phenomena is investigated through the polarized charge transfer spectra associated with complexes formed in the title compound, and their dependence on temperature in the 10-300 K range. Attention is paid to correlating the optical spectra with the local structure around . The results are compared with those obtained in the tribromide and , and the tetrabromide and crystals, where forms complexes of nearly symmetry, and tetrahedral distorted complexes of symmetry, respectively. An interesting feature is the presence of a strongly polarized absorption band at 15 800 in , which is responsible for the observed dichroism and thermochromism. The existence of this band is associated with the formation of highly distorted complexes in the monoclinic host crystal. The enhancement of dichroism exhibited by this crystal with decreasing temperature is noteworthy. The analysis of the spectra reveals that this unusual thermal behaviour can be explained in terms of thermally activated reorientations rather than structural changes of the complex.


In the western Region, colorectal cancer is a leading cause of cancer incidence and mortality with well-documented disparities among the various racial and ethnic groups represented in this Region. Early detection is key to colorectal cancer; and it has the advantage of offering preventive care when polyps are removed during colonoscopy. As a GMaP/BMaP partnership, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and San Diego State University have been working on building a research hub in Region VI (Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, Hawaii, Guam, and American Samoa); to conduct a needs assessment of colorectal cancer and resources to decrease colorectal cancer in the Region. A review of secondary data provided us with information regarding colorectal cancer incidence and mortality among underserved populations in the Region. We also developed and distributed SurveyMonkey questionnaires to community members and academic partners in Region VI. We constructed a needs assessment of colorectal cancer in Region VI and work that was being done to address colorectal cancer. A key finding was that community/academic partnerships are needed to launch activities to control colorectal cancer in the Region. The needs assessment indicates that communities are key partners in activities to reduce the rate of colorectal cancer incidence and mortality. All of the state comprehensive cancer programs in the region are focusing on colorectal cancer. Collaboration between community and academic partners is a promising approach to reduce this disease. Future study will include integrating the GMaP and BMaP supplement pilot projects into the plans for a regional implementation plan address combating this disease. Citation Information: Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2011;20(10 Suppl):B12.


Extract of the chaste tree Vitex agnus-castus (VAC) is common used in treatments related to premenstrual symptoms, as well as mastodynia cyclic and hyperprolactenemia, and also other somatic symptoms and physic of Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS), in addition there also are reports about its usage in the luteal phase disorders of menstrual cycle and on menopausal symptoms. There are not many data regarding the effects of VAC available in PMS syndromes and other female conditions. Hence, this bibliographical review has aimed to search for an enhanced insight about the action mechanism of extracts of the fruits of VAC, its clinical effectiveness and pharmacological effects besides the action relief of severe symptoms of Premenstrual Syndrome, primarily in hyperprolactenemia and mastodynia, including the menopause itself and the luteal phase disorders. Therefore, we have verified a greater amount of studies related to the usage and effectiveness of the extract of the chaste tree regarding the relief in cyclical mastodynia and hyperprolactemia of PMS, which it has proven its valid endurance and inhibition against mild pain by dopaminergic principles of VAC.


Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP), a heterogeneous genodermatoses, has a variable clinical spectrum ranging from mild freckling and photosensitivity to severe skeletal and neurological abnormalities and cutaneous malignancies. Herein, we present the case of a 4-year-old boy with XP group G who presented with a pellagroid rash.


This thesis project focuses on the representation of the heroine in three works of contemporary modern Punjabi literature. More specifically, I address questions regarding the importance of the heroine in literature as well as the manner in which she is portrayed. Part of the work I have done is historical in scope, as each of the heroines is constructed in accordance with the needs and perspectives of the time of her creation. I argue that the preoccupation of writers centralizing their work around women was to address the rebellion that each heroine undertakes against their subordinate position in society. However, the rebellions that occurred took place within specific historical circumstances and within larger projects within which women's roles would be defined. The first chapter begins with Sikh reformist Bhai Vir Singh's Sundri written in 1898. Bhai Vir Singh constructs a role model Sundri, to re-energize a sleeping community. Problematically, through this process his heroine Sundri has to sacrifice her sexuality and is transformed into a goddess whose perfection is unattainable. The second chapter analyzes a literary movement that emerges alongside the nationalist movement. Gurbaksh Singh Preetlari's novel Anviahi Maa (Unmarried Mother) was published in 1942. The heroine of this novel is a Bengali woman named Prabha who is shunned from society for being a woman who expresses and acts on her desire. The final chapter investigates the politics of desire in Shiv Kumar Batalvi's Loona (1965). The women in this verse play are brought to the forefront to reveal the injustices that have been committed toward them by the patriarchal society that they are trapped in. Within these three works I analyze the constructed boundaries from which these heroines cannot escape. I critique the context in which each author defends or abandons his heroine. I argue in conclusion that that there is no appropriate space in Indian society or Punjabi literature for women to present themselves as sexual beings, without being chastised.


OBJECTIVE
To determine effects of blood contamination on western blot (WB) analysis of CSF samples for detection of anti-Sarcocystis neurona antibodies, and on CSF albumin and IgG concentrations, albumin quotient (AQ), and IgG index in horses.

DESIGN
Prospective in vitro study.

SAMPLES
Blood with various degrees of immunoreactivity against S neurona was collected from 12 healthy horses. Cerebrospinal fluid without immunoreactivity against S neurona was harvested from 4 recently euthanatized horses.

PROCEDURE
Blood was serially diluted with pooled nonimmunoreactive CSF so that final dilutions corresponded to 10(-3) to 100 microliters of blood/ml CSF, and WB analysis was performed on contaminated CSF samples. Number of RBC, albumin and IgG concentrations, AQ, and IgG index were also determined.

RESULTS
Antibodies against S neurona were detected in CSF contaminated with 10(-3) microliters of strongly immunoreactive blood/ml. In CSF samples contaminated with 10 microliters of blood/ml, AQ remained within reference range. Volume of blood required to increase IgG index varied among blood samples and was primarily influenced by serum IgG concentrations. Number of RBC in contaminated samples was correlated with volume of blood added, but not with degree of immunoreactivity detected in contaminated CSF samples.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE
During collection of CSF from horses, contamination with blood may introduce serum antibodies against S neurona at concentrations sufficient for detection by WB analysis, thus yielding false-positive results. When blood is moderately or strongly immunoreactive, the amount of contaminating albumin may be small enough as to not increase AQ above reference range. In these cases, AQ and IgG index should be interpreted with caution.


Here, we report a method to improve the properties of thermoplastic starch (TPS) by surface ultraviolet (UV) cross-linking. TPS sheets were prepared by injection molding and coated with an ethanol solution of photo-initiator TPO (2,4,6-trimethyl benzoyl diphenyl phosphine oxide), then, irradiated by UV with different wavelengths for 15 min. Untreated and irradiated TPS sheets were characterized using tensile and bending tests, impact tests, dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) and infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). FTIR spectra showed that UV irradiation can effectively trigger surface cross-linking of TPS sheets. The mechanical and dynamic mechanical properties of the TPS were improved and the optimized properties were obtained by 308 nm UV irradiation. A tensile strength of 4.1 MPa, a bending strength of 2.7 MPa, an impact strength of 96.8 kJ m−2, and the corresponding activation energy of 251.22 kJ mol−1 were obtained. The water contact angle and moisture absorption of the samples were also investigated and the 308 nm UV irradiated sheets have a contact angle of 74°. Moisture absorption rate as a function of the square root of time showed a sigmoid curve including a linear stage which conforms to Fick's second law. The samples irradiated by 308 nm UV had the lowest equilibrium moisture absorption rate M∞ and the longest time T0 to enter into the Fick's diffusion stage and the lowest slope K and diffusion coefficient D. All samples displayed biodegradable properties when buried in soil. This method has potential applications for agricultural mulch films, packing and medical film products.


The design of feedback-linearizing controllers for discrete-time nonlinear plants, using input/output/state measurements only, is typically addressed via indirect design. In this paper we propose the use of a new technique, based on a virtual reference direct design approach. Such a technique reduces the control design problem into a standard nonlinear approximation problem, without calling for the preliminary identification of the model of the plant. As compared with the existing data-based methods, the new approach requires less computational effort, while taking full advantage of the nonlinear approximation software tools already available.


Existing studies have highlighted the importance of informal safety communication among workers at construction sites. However, there is still a lack of empirically tested theoretical models with valid and reliable scales for describing and measuring construction workers' informal safety communication (CWISC). Accordingly, this study aimed to fill this need by developing an instrument to assess the communication performance of construction workers. Four stages of scale development were described: construct formation, item generation, factor extraction through the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) (n = 219), and scale assessment through the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) (n = 156). Using questionnaire data drawn from construction workers in China, the CWISC was verified to be a three-dimensional construct including citizenship safety communication (CSC), self-needed safety communication (SSC), and participatory safety communication (PSC). The corresponding CWISC scale with 12 items was shown to have acceptable internal consistency reliability, as well as content, convergent, and discriminant validity. The CWISC scale could serve as an instrument to assess and identify the weaknesses in informal safety communication performance of construction workers. In turn, this information could help supervisors implement appropriate management practices to those workers to enhance workplace informal safety communication. Related studies taking a multidimensional CWISC into account were expected to be carried out.


In this paper, we applied a method for quantifying several left intraventricular hemodynamic parameters from 4D Flow data and its application in a proof-of-concept study in dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) patients. In total, 12 healthy volunteers and 13 DCM patients under treatment underwent short-axis cine b-SSFP and 4D Flow MRI. Following 3D segmentation of the left ventricular (LV) cavity and registration of both sequences, several hemodynamic parameters were calculated at peak systole, e-wave, and end-diastole using a finite element approach. Sensitivity, inter- and intra-observer reproducibility of hemodynamic parameters were evaluated by analyzing LV segmentation. A local analysis was performed by dividing the LV cavity into 16 regions. We found significant differences between volunteers and patients in velocity, vorticity, viscous dissipation, energy loss, and kinetic energy at peak systole and e-wave. Furthermore, although five patients showed a recovered ejection fraction after treatment, their hemodynamic parameters remained low. We obtained several hemodynamic parameters with high inter- and intra-observer reproducibility. The sensitivity study revealed that hemodynamic parameters showed a higher accuracy when the segmentation underestimates the LV volumes. Our approach was able to identify abnormal flow patterns in DCM patients compared to volunteers and can be applied to any other cardiovascular diseases.


Scholars have recently drawn attention to a range of controversial issues posed by the use of computer vision for automatically generating descriptions of people in images. Despite these concerns, automated image description has become an important tool to ensure equitable access to information for blind and low vision people. In this paper, we investigate the ethical dilemmas faced by companies that have adopted the use of computer vision for producing alt text: textual descriptions of images for blind and low vision people. We use Facebook's automatic alt text tool as our primary case study. First, we analyze the policies that Facebook has adopted with respect to identity categories, such as race, gender, age, etc., and the company's decisions about whether to present these terms in alt text. We then describe an alternative---and manual---approach practiced in the museum community, focusing on how museums determine what to include in alt text descriptions of cultural artifacts. We compare these policies, using notable points of contrast to develop an analytic framework that characterizes the particular apprehensions behind these policy choices. We conclude by considering two strategies that seem to sidestep some of these concerns, finding that there are no easy ways to avoid the normative dilemmas posed by the use of computer vision to automate alt text.


As an alternative of Romania's sustainable development, rural tourism is considered to be an assembly of productpriceconsumption, which awards the country multiple opportunities for integration into European structures. Taking into consideration the Government Decision no. 20/2012 on the approval of multi-annual programmer for destinations, forms and tourism products development, the 3rd article, the 1st line, e item "actions regarding a specialized ranking of reception structures with accommodation in the hydropathical (spa) and rural tourism in Romania", as well as the measures covered in the Strategic and Operational Marketing Plan for Romania during 2011-2015, the National Authority for Tourism together with the National Organization for Rural, Ecological and Cultural Tourism, The Partnership Federation in Romanian Tourism and the Management, Economic Engineering in Agriculture and Rural Development at the University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine in Bucharest launch the pilot project: "A thematic specialization of tourism and agritourism guest houses in Romania".


We used a large domain, large eddy simulation (LES) of tropical deep convection to investigate the properties of 3‐D cloudy updrafts and the near cloud environment (NCE) directly adjacent to them. We show for the first time that the properties of the air in the NCE of deep convection imply the existence of a subsiding shell like that which is already known to exist around shallow convection. We show that there is negative buoyancy in the NCE due to mixing and evaporative cooling, and that there is significant negative net mass flux in the NCE relative to the cloudy updraft mass flux. This demonstrates that the "subsiding shell" viewpoint of the NCE region of shallow cumulus updrafts can and should be applied to deep convective updrafts as well.


The integration of genomics into nutritional sciences has illuminated the complexity of genome responses to nutritional exposures while offering opportunities to increase the effectiveness of nutritional interventions, both clinical and population based. Nutrients elicit multiple physiological responses that affect genome stability, imprinting, expression, and viability. These effects confer both health benefits and risks, some of which may not become apparent until later in life. Nutritional genomics challenges us to understand the reciprocal and complex interactions among the human genome and dietary components in normal physiology and pathophysiology. Understanding these interactions will refine current definitions of benefit and risk and lead to the establishment of dietary recommendations that have a high predictive value, minimize the risk of unintended consequences, and account for the modifying effects of human genetic variation. Furthermore, nutritional genomics will enable the design of effective dietary regimens for the prevention and management of complex chronic disease. This review focuses on new perspectives that have been presented to the nutritional sciences by the advent of genomics, and new challenges that demand attention because of their potential impact on, and immediate translation into, current public health nutrition recommendations and interventions.


Medical procedures such as lung biopsy and brachytherapy require maneuvering through tubular structures such as the trachea and bronchi to reach clinical targets. We introduce a new method to plan configurations for active cannulas, medical devices composed of thin, pre-curved, telescoping lumens that are capable of following controlled, curved paths through open or liquid-filled cavities. Planning optimal configurations for these devices is challenging due to their complex kinematics, which involve both beam mechanics and space curves. In this paper, we propose an optimization-based planning algorithm that computes active cannula configurations through tubular structures that reach specified targets. Given the target location, the start position and orientation, and a geometric representation of the physical environment extracted from pre-procedure medical images, the planner optimizes insertion length and orientation angle of each lumen of the active cannula. The planner models active cannula kinematics using a physically-based simulation that incorporates beam mechanics and minimizes energy. The algorithm typically computes plans in less than 2 minutes on a standard PC. We apply the method in simulation to anatomy extracted from a human CT scan and demonstrate configurations for a 5-lumen active cannula that maneuver it through the bronchi to targets in the lung.


Abstract. A complete and updated list of 1,066 species and subspecies of the superfamily Curculionoidea recorded from Poland until the end of 2017 is provided, including over 290 comments on all taxonomic, nomenclatural and faunistic changes made since the first edition of the checklist published in 2005. An additional 37 species in the list are considered as erroneously recorded and excluded from the fauna of Poland. An update of the index of genera and subgenera, together with their type species, is provided separately. The following two new synonyms are recognised: Bruchela rufipes nigritarsis (Reitter, 1916) = B. rufipes rufipes (Olivier, 1790) (Anthribidae: Urodontinae), Otiorhynchus proximus iteratus Magnano, 2001 = O. proximus proximus Stierlin, 1861 (Curculionidae: Entiminae). Six species are resurrected from synonymy with the species given in parentheses: Squamapion serpyllicola (Wencker) (S. minutissimum (Rosenhauer)), Polydrusus thalassinus Gyllenhal (P. formosus (Mayer)), Phyllobius vespertinus (Fabricius) (Ph. pyri (L.)), Microplontus melanostigma (Marsham) (M. rugulosus (Herbst)), Otiorhynchus smreczynskii Cmoluch (O. rotundus Marseul), Romualdius angustisetulus (Hansen) (R. scaber (Linnaeus)). Phyllobius fessus Boheman is replaced in the list with Ph. jacobsoni Smirnov due to the former misidentification of Polish specimens. Brachysomus strawinskii Cmoluch is transferred from subgenus Hippomias to Brachysomus s. str. Eleven new weevil species have been discovered in Poland since 2005, including the still unpublished records of Pachycerus madidus (Olivier). The occurrence in Poland of four species, having hitherto only uncertain old records, has been confirmed with recent findings. The number of dubious species in Poland increased to 27 after the inflow of uncertain data in the literature and probable cases of extinction.