Background: Sex dimorphism in the prevalence, onset, development and
progression of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is well recognized, but the
mechanisms whereby sex hormones are believed to confer cardioprotection are
still not fully understood. Objective: This study more closely delineates the effect of 17β-Estradiol (E2) on the expression and signaling of the cardiac NP
and NOS systems, well-known cardioprotective modulators of the cardiac
hypertrophy (CH) response, that both contribute to downstream production of
cyclic guanosine 3',5'-monophosphate (cGMP). Materials and Methods: Ovariectomized (OVX) female ANP+/+ and ANP-/- mice, 6 - 7 weeks old, were subjected to a five-week
treatment with E2 (100 μg/100 μL/day) or vehicle (VEH). Left ventricle from
these treatment groups, along with that from age-matched male ANP+/+ and ANP-/- mice was used to assess expression of these systems by
real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR). Left ventricle tissue and plasma cGMP were
measured by enzyme immunoassay to assess alterations in resultant downstream
signaling. Results: NP system
expression was unchanged across genotype, sex and E2 treatment. Sex-specific
differences in NOS system expression were observed; female mice showed an
increased expression of NOS system genes that were significantly elevated in
all but one of the E2 treatment groups. Left ventricle tissue cGMP remained
unchanged across genotype, sex and E2 treatment. Plasma cGMP levels were
unchanged in ANP+/+ treatment groups. In ANP-/- treatment
groups, plasma cGMP in the female OVX-E2 mice was significantly higher compared
to male and female OVX-VEH mice. Conclusion: These findings demonstrate that in the absence of ANP, E2 upregulates cardiac
NOS system expression to produce cGMP. This study confirms the importance of
the cardiac NOS system in females; this particular system may be a promising
future target for sex-specific treatments and therapies for CVD in women.


Intake and exhaust manifold systems are integral parts of modern high‐performance reciprocating engines, enabling major increases in efficiency, specific power output and emissions control. In contrast, the intake (suction) and exhaust (discharge) systems of compressors are generally an after‐thought having the primary purpose of reducing pressure pulsations to tolerable levels. Compressor "manifold" systems reduce pulsations by adding damping that causes pressure losses, reducing the overall compression system efficiency. Improperly designed pulsation control systems increase the adiabatic horsepower required from the compressor cylinders, especially on higher speed compressors. Research over the last five years has explored the development of compressor suction and discharge systems that reduce system pressure losses, while simultaneously augmenting and increasing the compressor efficiency and specific flow output. Previous GMC papers have reported the results of computer simulation studies, lab testing, and field testing of reciprocating compressors with tuned performance augmentation networks (PAN TM ). Simulations and actual tests confirmed that properly configured PANs were effective in controlling compressor pulsations with very little system pressure loss. Field testing, in cooperation with El Paso Corporation, further confirmed that pulsation bottles, choke‐tubes and orifices could be successfully eliminated from reciprocating compressor systems, replaced by PANs that demonstrated excellent pulsation control, acceptable vibration, and 60 to 80 percent less system pressure loss on low ratio, variable speed pipeline applications. While earlier papers reported PAN developments that utilized a combination of wye‐branches and delay loops to control pulsations with reduced system pressure losses, this paper focuses on more recent research with advanced compressor manifold systems that (similar to modern high‐performance engines) tune the entire compressor system to increase the suction pressure when the cylinder's suction valves are open and reduce the discharge pressure when the discharge valves are open. This provides a major breakthrough that reduces the required adiabatic horsepower by as much as 15 percent, in addition to eliminating more than 90 percent of the typical pulsation control system pressure losses. For low compression ratio applications, the combined horsepower reductions with PAN systems can reach 30 percent compared with conventional bottle/choke‐tube/orifice systems.


We present a study of PSR J1723−2837, an eclipsing, 1.86 ms millisecond binary radio pulsar discovered in the Parkes Multibeam survey. Radio timing indicates that the pulsar has a circular orbit with a 15 hr orbital period, a low-mass companion, and a measurable orbital period derivative. The eclipse fraction of ∼15% during the pulsar's orbit is twice the Roche lobe size inferred for the companion. The timing behavior is significantly affected by unmodeled systematics of astrophysical origin, and higher-order orbital period derivatives are needed in the timing solution to account for these variations. We have identified the pulsar's (non-degenerate) companion using archival ultraviolet, optical, and infrared survey data and new optical photometry. Doppler shifts from optical spectroscopy confirm the star's association with the pulsar and indicate a pulsar-to-companion mass ratio of 3.3 ± 0.5, corresponding to a companion mass range of 0.4 to 0.7 M☉ and an orbital inclination angle range of between 30° and 41°, assuming a pulsar mass range of 1.4–2.0 M☉. Spectroscopy indicates a spectral type of G for the companion and an inferred Roche-lobe-filling distance that is consistent with the distance estimated from radio dispersion. The features of PSR J1723−2837 indicate that it is likely a "redback" system. Unlike the five other Galactic redbacks discovered to date, PSR J1723−2837 has not been detected as a γ-ray source with Fermi. This may be due to an intrinsic spin-down luminosity that is much smaller than the measured value if the unmeasured contribution from proper motion is large.


This paper deals with the construction of an optimal quadrature formula for the approximation of Fourier integrals in the Sobolev space $L_2^{(1)}[a,b]$ of non-periodic, complex valued functions which are square integrable with first order derivative. Here the quadrature sum consists of linear combination of the given function values in a uniform grid. The difference between the integral and the quadrature sum is estimated by the norm of the error functional. The optimal quadrature formula is obtained by minimizing the norm of the error functional with respect to coefficients. Analytic formulas for optimal coefficients can also be obtained using discrete analogue of the differential operator $d^2/d x^2$. In addition, the convergence order of the optimal quadrature formula is studied. It is proved that the obtained formula is exact for all linear polynomials. Thus, it is shown that the convergence order of the optimal quadrature formula for functions of the space $C^2[a,b]$ is $O(h^2)$. Moreover, several numerical results are presented and the obtained optimal quadrature formula is applied to reconstruct the X-ray Computed Tomography image by approximating Fourier transforms.


The hypothesis proposed in this review is that normal diurnal rhythms in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis are highly regulated by activity in medial hypothalamic nuclei to effect an interaction between corticosteroids and insulin such that optimal metabolism results in response to changes in the fed or fasted state of the animal. There are marked diurnal rhythms in function of the HPA axis under both basal and stress conditions. The HPA axis controls corticosteroid output from the adrenal and, in turn, forward elements of this axis are inhibited by feedback from circulating plasma corticosteroid levels. Basal activity in the HPA axis of mammals fed ad lib peaks about 2 h before the peak of the diurnal feeding rhythm, and is controlled by input from the suprachiasmatic nuclei. The rhythm in stress responsiveness is lowest at the time of the basal peak and highest at the time of the basal trough in the HPA axis activity. There are also diurnal rhythms in corticosteroid feedback sensitivity of basal and stress-induced ACTH secretion which peak at the time of the basal trough. These rhythms are all overridden when feeding, and thus insulin secretion, is disrupted. Corticosteroids interact with insulin on food intake and body composition, and corticosteroids also increase insulin secretion. Corticosteroids stimulate feeding at low doses but inhibit it at high doses; however, it is the high levels of insulin, induced by high levels of corticosteroids, that may inhibit feeding. The effects of corticosteroids on liver, fat, and muscle cell metabolism, with emphasis on their interactions with insulin, are briefly reviewed. Corticosteroids both synergize with and antagonize the effects of insulin. The effects of stress hormones, and their interactions with insulin on lipid and protein metabolism, followed by some of the metabolic effects of injury stress, with or without nutritional support, are evaluated. In the presence of elevated insulin stimulated by glucocorticoids and nutrition, stress causes less severe catabolic effects. In the central nervous system, regulation of function in the HPA axis is clearly affected by the activity of medial hypothalamic nuclei that also alter feeding, metabolism, and obesity in rats. Lesions of the arcuate (ARC) and ventromedial (VMN) paraventricular (PVN) nuclei result in obesity and hyperactivity in the HPA axis. Moreover, adrenalectomy inhibits or prevents development of the lesion-induced obesity. There are interactions among these nuclei; one mode of communication is via inputs of neuropeptide Y (NPY) cells in the ARC to the VMN, dorsomedial nuclei, and PVN.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)


Having served a full term with the English lit. department at Sir George Williams University, in Montreal, as well as visiting the University of Toronto, and even venturing into the hurricane's eye, Simon Fraser U., I'm now an authority on student unrest, the new militants, and the generation gap. An affluent society's modish problems. I am also, suddenly, resentfully, thirty-eight years old, teeth loosening, hangovers more onerous, teetering on the precipice of middle-age, which naturally sours my conclusions. The student militants, though sometimes engaging, are mostly know-nothing paper tigers. Though they are served by the occasional inspired original teacher (and I honour no man more), they are also asked to endure too many professors who are mediocre and running embarrassingly scared.


The results of a study that assesses the effect of adding small amounts of calcium carbonate as fluxing agent on fired Clay bricks are presented. The paper aims to improve the energy demand of fire clay bricks manufacture through the reduction of firing temperature and process duration. The paper shows that additions in the range of 2-5 % (wt) of clay improves compressive strength of bricks fired at temperature around 900 oC and sintering times between 1-3 hours. This effect would be caused by modifications of the mineralogical transformations through which clay minerals undergo in the presence of calcite, which reduces sintering temperature in clays containing mainly montmorillonite. This paper presents a broad study of the changes of phisico-chemicalmechanical properties at both macroscale and microscale levels. The results show a consistent increase in compressive strength, associated with the formation of the phase anorthite within the reaction products. These results were tested in real prototypes, where the compressive strength of the manufactured bricks increased by 40-50%, while the energy demand decreased by 30-50%


The main aim of this global review and systematic analysis was to investigate the impacts of previous land use system, climate zone and forest type and age on soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP), in the different soil layers (0-20, 20-60 and 60-100 cm), following afforestation. We collected 85 publications on SOC, TN and TP stock changes, covering diﬀerent countries and climate zones. The data were classified into groups depending on these investigated parameters and analyzed using R version 3.6.1. We found that afforestation significantly increased SOC and TN stocks in the 0-20 and 20-60 soil layers, with values of 45% and 44% for SOC, 30% and 22% for TN, respectively, but had no impact on TP stock. Previous land use systems had the largest influence on SOC, TN and TP stocks, with greater accumulations on barren land compared to cropland and grassland. Climate zone influenced SOC, TN and TP stocks, with significant accumulations in the moist than in the dry climate zone. Afforestation with broadleaf deciduous and broadleaf evergreen forests led to greater SOC, TN and TP accumulations in each soil layer throughout the investigated profile (0-100 cm), compared to coniferous forests. Afforestation for <20 years had significantly increased SOC and TN stocks only at the soil surface (0-20 cm) whilst afforestation for ≥ 20 years had significantly accumulated them up to 100 cm soil depth. TP stock did not change with the forest age, suggesting that it may become a limiting factor for carbon sequestration under the older-age forest. Following afforestation, the change of soil bulk density had inverse relationships with SOC or TN stocks changes but had no effect on TP stock change.


This working paper examines how U.S. migration management techniques affect the flow of undocumented migrants from Mexico and Mexican migrants' degree of socio-economic reorientation. The findings support the hypothesis that stricter U.S. border enforcement increases migrants' detachment from their place of origin, and that this in turn leads to a net increase in the volume of illegal Mexican migration. Estimates suggest that the increase in border enforcement in the 1990s induced between 245,000 and 360,000 Mexicans per year to migrate illegally. The results also suggest that narrowing the U.S. – Mexican wage gap would reduce both the extent of illegal Mexican migration and the degree of migrants' detachment from their place of origin. In addition, the results indicate that guest-worker programs, which facilitate continuing attachment to the migrant's place of origin, might be a desirable option in the short-term.


The experiments were carried out on 30 rabbits with whole body heating to lethal temperatures. During the process of heating records were done of the rectal temperature, arterial blood pressure, heart rate, ECG and action potentials in the aortic nerves. It was found that heating the animals up to 41.5 degrees and to 43 degrees C increased initially slightly the arterial blood pressure but then decreased this pressure gradually. The heart rate increased during heating but decreased steeply at temperatures preceding death. The fall of the arterial blood pressure was associated with a decrease in the frequency of action potentials in the aortic nerves. The appearance of isolated action potentials within several minutes after heart arrest suggests spontaneous activity of certain baroreceptors.


Structural organization of alpha- and beta-subunits of Na+,K+-ATPase in the membrane, the enzyme oligomeric structure, and mechanisms of ATP hydrolysis and cation transport are considered. The data on the structure of cation-binding sites and ion-conductive pathways of the pump are reviewed. The properties of isoforms of both subunits are described. Special attention was paid to the ATP modifying effect on Na+,K+-ATPase. To explain the rather complex dependence of the Na+,K+-ATPase activity on ATP concentration, a hypothesis is proposed, which is based on the assumption that the membrane contains the enzyme protomer exhibiting high affinity to ATP and an oligomer having low affinity to the nucleotide and characterized by positive cooperative interactions between subunits. Data on the Na+,K+-ATPase phosphorylation by protein kinases A and C are reviewed.


Management of public transportation in Indonesia, especially Jakarta, as the capital city of the country, is lagging behind the developed countries in the world and lagging behind seeing progress in Southeast Asian countries, thus directly affecting the low competitiveness of investment and the level of national tourist destinations. This paper aims to explore rail-based public transportation in Kuala Lumpur and compare with conditions in Jakarta. The method used is a descriptive analysis by tracing public transportation through comparative study activities in students of the Master of Public Administration. The results of a comparative study show that the public transportation system in Kuala lumpur especially rail-based transportation is still better than Jakarta. This is because the mode of transportation has been integrated as the Klang Valley Integrated Rail Transit, including; KL Monorail, LRT (light rapid transit), KTM Commuter, KLIA Express / KLIA Transit, and MRT (Mass Rapid Transit).


We propose a novel technique for reconstructing charged particles in digital tracking calorimeters using reinforcement learning aiming to benefit from the rapid progress and success of neural network architectures without the dependency on simulated or manually-labeled data. Here we optimize by trial-and-error a behavior policy acting as an approximation to the full combinatorial optimization problem, maximizing the physical plausibility of sampled trajectories. In modern processing pipelines used in high energy physics and related applications, tracking plays an essential role allowing to identify and follow charged particle trajectories traversing particle detectors. Due to the high multiplicity of charged particles and their physical interactions, randomly deflecting the particles, the reconstruction is a challenging undertaking, requiring fast, accurate and robust algorithms. Our approach works on graph-structured data, capturing track hypotheses through edge connections between particles in the detector layers. We demonstrate in a comprehensive study on simulated data for a particle detector used for proton computed tomography, the high potential as well as the competitiveness of our approach compared to a heuristic search algorithm and a model trained on ground truth. Finally, we point out limitations of our approach, guiding towards a robust foundation for further development of reinforcement learning based tracking.


A fully-integrated sensing system is proposed for wideband complex dielectric detection of materials under test (MUT). The system utilizes a ring oscillator-based phase-locked loop (PLL) for wide tuning range and precise control of the sensor's excitation frequency. Characterization of both real and imaginary MUT permittivity is achieved by measuring the frequency difference between two voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs): a sensing oscillator, with a frequency that varies with MUT-induced changes in capacitance and conductance of a delay-cells' sensing capacitor loads, and a MUT-insensitive reference oscillator that is controlled by an amplitude-locked loop (ALL). The fully integrated system is fabricated in 0.18 μm CMOS, and occupies 6.25 mm<;sup>2<;/sup> area. When tested with common organic chemicals (ϵ'<;30), the system operates between 0.7-6 GHz and achieves 3.7% maximum permittivity error. Characterization is also performed with higher ε<;sub>r<;/sub>' water-methanol mixtures and phosphate buffered saline (PBS) solutions, with 5.4% maximum permittivity error achieved over a 0.7-4.77 GHz range.


Cyclotides are macrocyclic peptides that have exceptionally stable structures and been reported to penetrate cells, making them promising scaffolds for the delivery of peptide inhibitory sequences to target intracellular proteins. However, their cellular uptake and cytosolic localization have been poorly understood until now, which has limited their therapeutic potential. In this study, the recently developed chloroalkane penetration assay was combined with established assays to characterize the cellular uptake and cytosolic delivery of the prototypic cyclotide, kalata B1. We show that kalata B1 enters the cytosol at low efficiency. A structure-activity study of residues in loop 6 showed that some modifications, such as increasing cationic residue content, did not affect delivery efficiency, whereas others, including introducing a single hydrophobic amino acid, did significantly improve cytosolic delivery. Our results provide a foundation for the further development of a structurally unique class of scaffolds for the delivery of therapeutic cargoes into cells.


The "Associations' Agreement on Criteria to Determine Use of System Charges for Electric Energy" is the underlying concept for imbalance settlement and network use charges in Germany's electricity market. It introduces a concept of balance groups to assign these costs to market participants. In order to take small customers' load behavior into consideration, simplified methods with synthetic or analytic load profile processing are defined. This paper discusses this general framework and derives the requirements for a computer-based tool to support distribution companies. An example from real life based on a data warehouse concept and a modern three-tier architecture is presented.


An adaptive method combining wavelet transform (WT) with the bivariate shrinkage function (BSF) with local variance estimation is presented for rejecting the strong clutter from Doppler ultrasound signal. The raw Doppler signal is decomposed by the undecimated WT in which the fast algorithm of translation invariant discrete wavelet transform (TIDWT) is adopted, and then the scale and wavelet coefficients selected in terms of clutter frequency range are shrunk by BSF. The clutter is first reconstructed by updated coefficients. This new method was validated by simulated carotid Doppler signal, and compared to static high pass filter (HPF). The improvements including spectrogram and signal-to-clutter (S/C) ratio by the new method over HPF was noticeable. For the simulated signal with S/C ratio -20 dB, the improvement in S/C ratio was 22.66 by the new method, but 22.05 by HPF. The mean spectrum further indicated that the new method effectively reject clutter and simultaneously possess nicer retention of blood components.


Interest in thin clients is very high today because of frustration with the growing total cost of ownership of personal computers. Unfortunately, thin clients may not meet the usability goal of crisp interactive response. This paper shows that the adequacy of thin-client computing is highly variable, and depends on both the application and the available network quality. For intensely interactive applications, the tight control of end-to-end network latency required by thin clients may be hard to guarantee at large scale. The paper advocates the concept of stateless thick clients, and describes how they may reduce total cost of ownership while preserving good interactive performance. This research was partially supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under grant numbers ANI-0081396 and CCR0205266, and by the Intel Corporation. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF, the Intel Corporation or Carnegie Mellon University. All unidentified trademarks mentioned in the paper are properties of their respective owners. University. f.^V;


To decipher the Nkx2-5 mediated transcriptional networks that govern fate decisions in multipotent cardiac progenitor cells, a transcriptome analysis revealed that Ets related protein 71 (ER71) was a downstream target of Nkx2.5 in the developing mouse heart. We further demonstrated that ER71 was essential for development of primitive hematopoiesis, the endothelial/endocardial lineages and cardiac development resulting in early (E8.0-E9.0) embryonic lethality of the ER71 null embryo. Transcriptome analysis of the ER71 null and WT littermate embryos support the hypothesis that lineage specific gene expression associated with the hematopoietic, endothelial/endocardial and cardiovascular lineages are absent or significantly dysregulated in the ER71 null embryo. To examine whether ER71 is a novel marker of a common mesangioblast progenitor population, a 3.9 kb ER71-Cre transgenic animal was engineered and mated with the Rosa lox-stop-lox-LacZ reporter mouse model. We observed that ER71 expressing cells daughter the hematopoietic, endothelial/endocardial and a subset of the myocardial lineages early during development (E9-E11). To complement these fate mapping studies, we generated the 3.9 kb ER71-EYFP transgenic mouse model and utilized FACS analysis to define the population or populations of cells in which ER71 is expressed (E7.5-E9.5). We further crossed the ER71-EYFP reporter into the ER71 null background to determine the stage at which the development of the affected lineages is aborted. Together, these studies support the conclusion that ER71 functions in uncommitted progenitor cells to affect embryonic heart development as well as endothelial and hematopoietic lineage commitments.


We present the results of a mid-infrared survey of 11 outer Galaxy massive star-forming regions and 3 open clusters with data from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). Using a newly developed photometric scheme to identify young stellar objects and exclude extragalactic contamination, we have studied the distribution of young stars within each region. These data tend to support the hypothesis that latter generations may be triggered by the interaction of winds and radiation from the first burst of massive star formation with the molecular cloud material leftover from that earlier generation of stars. We dub this process the "fireworks hypothesis" since star formation by this mechanism would proceed rapidly and resemble a burst of fireworks. We have also analyzed small cutout WISE images of the structures around the edges of these massive star-forming regions. We observe large (1–3 pc size) pillar and trunk-like structures of diffuse emission nebulosity tracing excited polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon molecules and small dust grains at the perimeter of the massive star-forming regions. These structures contain small clusters of emerging Class I and Class II sources, but some are forming only a single to a few new stars.


This paper explores a media-ecological perspective on film-education practice. Drawing from their own experiences of teaching film (at the Austrian Film Museum and the KurzFilmSchule, Hamburg) the authors challenge monolithic theories of film education, suggesting instead that film
 education practices are shaped by context, and are relational to the spaces and institutions in which they take place. While the paper takes as its core point of departure Alain Bergala's The Cinema Hypothesis , its intention is to shift the way we look at and reflect on film education
 from one text towards a multiplicity of practices. Finally, the essay considers the extent to which each of these regional theorizations are bound to their specific conditions of practice and the extent to which they still carry within them a shared understanding of the aims of film education.


Semiconductors or metal nanoparticles (NPs) using their monolayer bindings with self-assembly chemicals are an attractive topic for device researchers. Electrical performance of such structures can be investigated for a particular application, such as memory device. Currently, Au NPs has been reported to show a substantial potential in the memory applications. In this study, Au NP and gluing layer were fabricated through a new method of monolayer formation of a chemical bonding or gluing.
 In this study, a new NPs memory system was fabricated by using organic semiconductor, i.e., pentacene as the active layer, evaporated Au as electrode, SiO 2 as the gate insulator layer on silicon wafer. In addition, Au NPs coated with binding chemicals were used as charge storage elements on an APTES (3-amino-propyltriethoxysilane) as a gluing layer. In order to investigate chemical binding of Au NP to the gate insulator layer, GPTMS (3-glycidoxy-propyltrimethoxysilane) were coated on the Au NPs. As a result of that, a layer of gold nanoparticles has been incorporated into a metal-pentacene-insulator-semiconductor (MPIS) structure. The MPIS device with the Au NP exhibited a hysteresis in its capacitance versus voltage analysis. Charge storage in the layer of nanoparticles is thought to be responsible for this effect.


Unpaired image-to-image translation (I2I) is an ill-posed problem, as an infinite number of translation functions can map the source domain distribution to the target distribution. Therefore, much effort has been put into designing suitable constraints, e.g., cycle consistency (CycleGAN), geometry consistency (GCGAN), and contrastive learning-based constraints (CUTGAN), that help better pose the problem. However, these well-known constraints have limitations: (1) they are either too restrictive or too weak for specific I2I tasks; (2) these methods result in content distortion when there is a significant spatial variation between the source and target domains. This paper proposes a universal regularization technique called maximum spatial perturbation consistency (MSPC), which enforces a spatial perturbation function $(T)$ and the translation operator $(G)$ to be commutative (i.e., $T\circ G=G\circ T)$. In addition, we introduce two adversarial training components for learning the spatial perturbation function. The first one lets $T$ compete with $G$ to achieve maximum perturbation. The second one lets $G$ and $T$ compete with discriminators to align the spatial variations caused by the change of object size, object distortion, background interruptions, etc. Our method outperforms the state-of-the-art methods on most I2I benchmarks. We also introduce a new benchmark, namely the front face to profile face dataset, to emphasize the underlying challenges of I2I for real-world applications. We finally perform ablation experiments to study the sensitivity of our method to the severity of spatial perturbation and its effectiveness for distribution alignment.


Two hundred sixty-two patients with 50% or greater obstruction of at least one coronary artery on the initial study underwent recatheterization 2–182 months later and were evaluated for progressive arterial changes. Progression was considered present if (1) a change from less than total obstruction to total obstruction occurred in any vessel; (2) a change from 70% or less to 90% or more occurred in any vessel; (3) a change from 30% or less to 50% or more occurred in any vessel not initially obstructed by 50%; or (4) a 20% or more increase in obstruction was noted in any vessel already narrowed 50% or more. Of the 262 patients, 116 of 238 men (49%) and 12 of 24 women (50%) met the criteria for progression. Risk factors determined at the time of the initial catheterization in patients who met the criteria for progression were compared with risk factors in patients who did not. No significant difference could be found between the groups in relation to family history, blood pressure, diabetes, smoking habits, weight, cholesterol levels, triglyceride values, initial ECG and initial catheterization findings.The frequency of detecting progressive arterial changes tended to increase as the interval between studies increased (p < 0.001). The frequency of multiple vessel progression increased as the interval between studies increased. Progression was more frequent in patients younger than 50 years than it was in patients 50 years and older.


Background: It is important to determine prognostic factors for the outcome of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) at an early stage. The time taken for symptoms to spread from spinal or bulbar regions to both (time to generalization; TTG) is considered a strong predictor of survival; however, this has rarely been studied in Asian populations. The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate potential factors affecting prognosis in Chinese patients with sporadic ALS, with a focus on the association between TTG and overall survival. Methods: Seventy-one patients with sporadic ALS who were hospitalized at Chinese PLA General Hospital from 2009 to 2016 were followed up until December 2017. Survival analysis was performed using univariate Kaplan-Meier log-rank and multivariate Cox proportional hazards models. The clinical data of the patients were recorded and analyzed. Variables studied were age at symptom onset, sex, site of symptom onset, diagnostic latency, TTG, diagnostic category, ALS Functional Rating Scale-revised score, percent predicted forced vital capacity (FVC%), and disease progression rate (DPR) at diagnosis. Results: The mean age at onset was 54 (SD = 10.2) years, and the median survival time from symptom onset was 41 months (95% confidence interval: 34–47). By univariate analysis, factors independently affecting survival were age at symptom onset (Log rank = 15.652, P < 0.0001), TTG (Log rank = 14.728, P < 0.0001), diagnostic latency (Log rank = 11.997, P = 0.001), and DPR (Log rank = 6.50, P = 0.011). In the Cox multivariate model, TTG had the strongest impact on survival time (hazard ratio = 0.926, P = 0.01). Conclusions: TTG can be used as an effective indicator of prognosis in patients with sporadic ALS.


Data discovery refers to a set of tasks that enable users and downstream applications to explore and gain insights from massive collections of data sources such as data lakes. In this tutorial, we will provide a comprehensive overview of the most recent table discovery techniques developed by the data management community. We will cover table understanding tasks such as domain discovery, table annotation, and table representation learning which help data lake systems capture semantics of tables. We will also cover techniques enabling various query-driven discovery and table exploration tasks, as well as how table discovery can support key data science applications such as machine learning and knowledge base construction. Finally, we will discuss future research directions on developing new table discovery paradigms by combining structured knowledge and dense table representations, as well as improving the efficiency of discovery using state-of-the-art indexing techniques, and more.


In working environments all over the world, fluorescent tubes are by far the dominating light source. Still, there have been very few studies on the impact of the non-visible flicker from fluorescent tubes. The purpose of the study was to compare the impact on subjective well-being, performance and physiological arousal of fluorescent light powered by conventional and high-frequency ballasts. Thirty-seven healthy males and females were subjected to either condition in a laboratory office on two separate occasions with 1 week in between. Although the methodology was quite extensive, only a few general effects were observed. However, when the light was powered by the conventional ballasts, individuals with high critical flicker fusion frequency (CFF) responded with a pronounced attenuation of EEG alpha waves, and an increase in speed and decrease in accuracy of performance. These results may be understood in terms of heightened arousal in the central nervous system in response to the pronounced light modulation caused by the conventional ballasts. In order to alleviate this potential stress source, it is recommended that fluorescent lighting be powered by electronic high-frequency ballasts of good quality.


Drawing mainly from the Tazanian experience this study
attempts to review the principal issues in the legal regulation of
prices, by identifying both the general and specific importance
of law in this respect. The position I shall present is that
legal control is both necessary and desirable for the welfare
and social development of the people. The key issue is whether
the market-place will perform its function satisfactory: Will
it produce socially desirable results? If it will not, why will
it not? And will legal regulation help to do the job a little
better?
In an attempt to answer some of these questions,
first of all, outline the basic issues raised by the study in
the first Chapter. Then I examine the general case for price
controls - the theory about the controls, the motives and reasons
for their imposition and the manner in which they are effected
in different economic systems. This is done in Chapter Two. Relying
most on the available literature on the regulatory process, this
Chapter also looks at the relationship between law and economic
regulation and concludes that the effectiveness of law depends
on the existence of a conducive socio-economic environment. In
Chapter Three I describe the past record of price control laws
in Tanzania. I conclude that despite the failure in the past,
the controls still constitute an important policy instrument
in the transition to socialism. In Chapters Four and Five I describe
the manner in which the current regulations are implemented and
the problems encountered. I conclude that the operational performance
of the controls is constrained by internal and external influences on the economic and political life of the country. In the concluding
Chapter I assess the impact of the controls: Do the controls
work? Do people buy goods at the controlled prices? Why today
the controls are almost popularly accepted as worthwhile? I conclude
that while there may be no measurable economic gains derived
by consumers, the controls have a stabilising effect on the social
and political front. In the final section I argue that the
future success of the legislation depends on creating a correspondence
between the economic structures and the control system. What
makes the controls ineffective is not so much defects in the
law but the contradictions between the orientation of and functioning
of the economic system and the ideological commitment.


Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is a genetic disease that results from either heritable or spontaneous autosomal dominant mutations in the NF1 gene. A second-hit mutation precedes the predominant NF1 neoplasms, which include myeloid leukemia, optic glioma, and plexiform neurofibroma. Despite this requisite NF1 loss of heterozygosity in the tumor cell of origin, nontumorigenic cells contribute to both generalized and specific disease manifestations. In mouse models of plexiform neurofibroma formation, Nf1 haploinsufficient mast cells promote inflammation, accelerating tumor formation and growth. These recruited mast cells, hematopoietic effector cells long known to permeate neurofibroma tissue, mediate key mitogenic signals that contribute to vascular ingrowth, collagen deposition, and tumor growth. Thus, the plexiform neurofibroma microenvironment involves a tumor/stromal interaction with the hematopoietic system that depends, at the molecular level, on a stem cell factor/c-kit-mediated signaling axis. These observations parallel findings in other NF1 disease manifestations and are clearly relevant to medical management of these neurofibromas.


Cardiac arrythmias are frequent complications in acute and chronic renal failure and they may well account for sudden unexplained death in these patients. Based upon our recent study, we strongly believe that among other causative factors, focal degeneration of myocardium is the commonest and the most potentially dangerous cause of cardiac arrythmias. We suggest in emergency instances, ouabain to be used instead of digitalis which appears to be quite safe with dramatic results in cardiac arrythmias of these group.


Cryptococcus neoformans is a fungal pathogen most commonly causing meningitis in immunocompromised patients. Current therapies are inadequate, and novel antifungal targets are needed. We have identified by proteomics two thiol peroxidases that are differentially expressed at 37°C, the temperature of the mammalian host. Consistent with their antioxidant role, we show that the genes encoding these thiol‐specific antioxidants, TSA1 and TSA3, are transcriptionally induced when C. neoformans is exposed to hydrogen peroxide. Genome sequence analysis of C. neoformans revealed a third thiol peroxidase, TSA4. We constructed single, double and triple mutants of the thiol peroxidase genes through homologous recombination and analysed their function by comparing the growth of these mutants with that of the wild‐type strain. The tsa1Δ mutant shows sensitivity to hydrogen peroxide and t‐butylhydroperoxide, as well as significant growth retardation at 25°C and 38.5°C. The tsa1Δ mutant is also sensitive to NO, demonstrating a link between oxidative and nitrosative stress pathways. In two mouse models of cryptococcosis, the tsa1Δ mutant is significantly less virulent.


Current treatment strategies for type 2 diabetes are still characterized by a number of shortcomings including side effects and lack of long-term effectiveness when using pharmaceuticals, absence of personalized guidelines for lifestyle interventions, and insufficient knowledge on the role of gut microbiota to justify fecal transplants. Moreover, current diagnostic tests have limited sensitivity and specificity, with no opportunities for large-scale screening. A better understanding of the underlying mechanisms of type 2 diabetes is thus desired to make progress in disease management and diagnosis.This study implemented a strategy of fecal metabolomics to assess the pathology of type 2 diabetes. Hereby, feces was targeted as this specimen can be obtained non-invasively and captures the interactions between the host, gut microbiota, diet, and other exposomal factors. Methodologies were established for both the polar and non-polar (lipidome) metabolome fraction. The lipidomics methodology covers all eight lipid classes (defined by LIPID MAPS) whereas the method for polar metabolomics targets ten different polar to medium-polar classes. Both methods apply generic extraction and mass detection through UHPLC-Q-ExactiveTM Orbitrap MS and were used to map the fecal metabolome, thereby considering individuals without (n=22) and with hyperglycemia (n=17) (UZ Ghent EC 2016/0673). Fecal fingerprints enclosed 7061 lipophilic and 10214 polar species, whereby associated intensity data matrices were subjected to multivariate statistics. Valid OPLS-DA models (p-values ≤ 1.4e-7) were generated by which the fingerprints of healthy individuals and diabetes patients could be compared. Hereby, significant discrepancies were noted within both metabolome fractions, leading to the selection of 96 lipids and 105 polar metabolites with discriminating power. The use of any resulting biomarkers may lead to better and personalized disease management in terms of prediction, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up. Moreover, based on revealed metabolic networks, alternative treatment targets may arise. Eventually, coupling these data to metagenome data may support fecal transplants. Acknowledgements : VLAIO


The American Association for the Surgery of Trauma challenged the trauma community to improve a 22 per cent average removal rate for retrievable inferior vena cava filters (r-IVCFs). Since 2006, we maintained a "filter registry" documenting all IVCFs placed in trauma patients. Our goal was to improve removal rates for r-IVCF. Patients receiving an IVCF before implementation of filter registry, 2003–2005, comprised the control group. Patients receiving an IVCF after implementation of filter registry, 2006–2009, comprised the study group. Data obtained included age, gender, Injury Severity Score (ISS), length of stay (LOS), mortality, filter inserted, placement indication, removal rates, and reasons why removal did not occur. Fisher exact test and chi square were used for nominal variables. Stepwise logistic regression analysis was used to define predictors of removing and not removing an IVCF. Three hundred seven patients received an IVCF, 142 preregistry and 165 post-registry. No significant difference existed between groups in age, gender, ISS, placement indication, or mortality. A significant difference existed between groups in LOS and presence of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism. A total of 98.2 per cent of postregistry patients received a Günther Tulip filter and all retrievals were performed by Interventional Radiology. Retrieval rates improved, 15.5 to 31.5 per cent post registry (P < 0.001). No differences existed in lost to follow-up (LTF) between groups. Univariate analysis identified age, IVC clot, DVT, and LTF as predictors for not removing a filter. Stepwise logistic regression revealed the filter registry independently predicts the removal of an r-IVCF. A filter registry is effective in improving rates of removal for r-IVCFs.


An earlier study has shown that patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy may improve after the infusion of fresh frozen plasma or high dose intravenous immunoglobulin. We studied 8 such responding patients with neurophysiological techniques. Before treatment all patients had decreased compound muscle action potentials (CMAP) and slowing of conduction. During several courses of treatment a progressive increase of the CMAPs occurred and in 5 patients a correlation between the CMAPs of the abductor pollicis brevis muscle and grasp force could be demonstrated. In 2 patients, increase in strength was correlated with shortening of the distal motor latency; no significant relationships were found between strength and conduction velocity. Different patterns in the distribution of conduction failure were observed. In 2 patients, lesions were distributed along the length of the motor fibres, whereas the sensory system was spared. In another 2 patients the lesions, most likely demyelinating, were localized distally and included the sensory system. The 4 remaining patients were more difficult to classify, but individually showed greater resemblance to one or other of the two described patterns. Different patterns of conduction failure may reflect different pathogenetic mechanisms.


Autistic symptomatology is described as resulting from three processes which have become integrated in clinical presentation. The basic deficit is hypothesized as an inability to participate in information exchange through systems of emotional communication. These systems have been extensively studied in lower animals and a direct phylogenetic line, from posture display to facial expression to human empathy, can be traced in evolutionary advance.


Increased frequency of microsatellite DNA instability (MSI) has been detected in the sputum of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between MSI in sputum cells and exacerbation frequency, which is an important parameter in the clinical course of the disease. Induced sputum samples and peripheral blood obtained from 36 patients with COPD at stable state were analysed. The control group consisted of 30 nonsmoking healthy subjects. DNA was extracted and analysed for MSI using the following microsatellite markers: RH70958, D5S207, D6S2223, D6S344, D6S263, G29802, D13S71, D14S588, D14S292 and D17S250. Following MSI analysis, exacerbations were recorded for 3 yrs in total. No MSI was detected in healthy nonsmokers. A total of 18 (50%) out of 36 patients exhibited MSI in their sputum cells. Patients who exhibited MSI showed significantly increased frequency of exacerbations compared with patients that did not. In addition, a significantly increased frequency of purulent and of severe type exacerbations was found in patients exhibiting MSI. Patients positive for marker G29802, D13S71 or D14S588 presented increased exacerbation frequency. The significant association between microsatellite DNA instability and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbations indicates that somatic mutations could be involved in the pathogenesis and natural history of the disease.


At the turn of the twentieth century, Vienna emerged as a great cultural centre that stood at the forefront of developments in music, psychology, and the natural sciences. Equally influential, and still tremendously popular today, are the designs of the Wiener Werkstatte, or Vienna Workshop, a group that was at the heart of the city's cultural scene and whose collaborators included such luminaries as the architect Josef Hoffman, the designer Koloman Moser, and the painters Gustav Klimt, Oskar Kokoschka, and Egon Schiele. This guide to the arts and crafts of fin-de-siecle Vienna is an excellent introduction to their work in all media - from architecture, furniture, ceramics, and glass, to silver, fashion, and textiles, bookbinding, toys, painting, and the graphic arts - as well as a survey of the cultural development of this pivotal period.


The interaction between footings placed at close proximity affects the ultimate bearing capacity, settlement, and tilt of adjacent footings, especially under seismic loading. This paper reports the numerical finite element analysis to investigate the interference effect on the seismic bearing capacity of closely spaced rigid strip footings for a wide range of footing spacings, friction angles and horizontal acceleration factor. The results are presented in terms of seismic efficiency factors, and their variation was computed with respect to the change in the spacing ratio between the two footings. The results revealed that the increase in the earthquake acceleration leads to a reduction in efficiency gains owing to the failure zone of footings interfere altering the performance of the footings.


This paper considers the findings of academic studies and research on entrepreneurship and looks at what explains the evolution of entrepreneurship in post-transformation countries. Posttransformation countries include Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and other former socialist countries in Europe and former Soviet Asia. The paper shows that there are differences between these countries, even those integrated in the European Union (EU), and the most developed countries of Western Europe and North America. Perhaps less obvious, differences are significant and growing between the countries that are now integrated in the European Union and those that follow a different path. The paper shows that these differences are only in part of policy nature and tend to acquire systemic nature and have great influence over the features and role of entrepreneurship. The paper stresses the importance of entrepreneurship for former transformation countries and shows that the features and role of entrepreneurship and the entrepreneur are not invariant to the context where they arise and act. This is true in general, but is particularly so in the case of systemic change and is largely dependent on the quality of institutions. The study of entrepreneurship is important to highlight similarities and assess and explain differences and divergence among countries.


Odisha is a mineral reach state in India but the economy of the state mainly dependents on agricultural. The western part of the state is reach with industrialization whereas the eastern part of the state is reached with highly futile lands. In eastern part, one of the costal district is Jagatsinghpur. In this district, majority of the population belongs to rural areas; therefore rural sector is the main source of economic development. Development of rural areas is essential for the enhancement of overall economy and for the betterment of rural communities. Another interesting fact about rural Odisha is the economic activity of a family is concentrate at the male members. The women are play the role of housewife to a great extends. The aim of the present study was to find the impact of microcredit on economic status of the WSHG members in rural areas of district Jagatsinghpur. The universe for the present study was all WSHG of the said district. The Sample of 442 respondents was selected from the targeted population using random sampling technique. A survey was conducted with the help of a close ended structured questionnaire. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to draw the results from the study. Through descriptive analysis, the study clearly demonstrated that microcredit has played a positive role in improving the economic status of members of WSHGs. In this regard the study observed that microcredit played the positive role in changing and improving the economic status of rural women.


Carcinoma of the male breast is said to be rare. A review of the records at the histopathology laboratory of the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex, Ile-Ife, confirms the universal assertion that carcinoma of the male breast is very rare. In over nineteen years of its existence, the laboratory recorded only 10 cases of carcinoma of the male breast. This gives an incidence rate of 1.9% of a total of 513 cases affecting both male and female breasts. All cases were infiltrating ductal carcinoma: there were two cases of papillary, one each of colloid and clear cell carcinoma while the remaining were "not otherwise specified". The age range was 40-80 years with an average of 56.9 years. There was left-sided preponderance with eight cases in the left breast and two cases in the right breast. Six cases had evidence of metastasis either at the time of initial diagnosis or some months after simple mastectomy.


This paper presents an improved high-gain amplifier circuit with low-frequency servo loop to remove DC offset and 1/f noise in UHF RFID receiver. Compared to AC coupling amplifier, the circuits can overcome DC saturation and reduce the distortion of the baseband signal in various data rate. Based on the UHF RFID data rate as example, the paper gives the circuit design model and detailed parameters, and the simulation and practical experiments are carried out to validate the circuit model. Keywords-UHF; RFID; amplifier; DC offset; servo loop


Sensory evaluation and electronic nose (E-nose) technology were applied to study two formulations of a new product intended to have organoleptic characteristics similar to those of Ilex paraguariensis (Saint Hilaire) infusions. Infusions prepared from I paraguariensis, called 'yerba mate' in South America, possess distinct sensory properties that were described by trained panellists using a lexicon of 17 terms. The two commercial products were formulated by combining various flavour components and processed as instant powders for infusion. Results from the sensory panel showed that it would be necessary to change the product formulation in order to achieve desirable yerba mate characteristics. Odour, mouthfeel and sweetness intensities would have to be improved. The E-nose had an array of 32 sensors which were able to discriminate between infusions prepared from yerba mate and from the instant powders. Using stepwise discriminant analysis, the group of sensors that contributed to this classification was identified. The response of these sensors correlated (P < 0.05) with yerba mate odour, mouthfeel and sweetness attributes. Comparison of the results obtained by the two methodologies enabled the E-nose procedure to be improved and showed that this methodology is suitable for food product development and is a good complement to sensory evaluation. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry


A facile and convenient synthesis of substituted pyridines has been developed via a one-pot multicomponent reaction of easily available 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds, aromatic aldehydes, malononitrile and alcohol in the presence of NaOH under mild conditions. A series of functionalized pyridines were thus obtained by this multicomponent reaction, in which four new bonds were formed in a highly chemo- and regioselective manner, and alcohol played dual roles as both reactant and reaction medium. Particularly valuable features of this protocol including mild conditions, simple execution, broad substrate scope, and good yields of products make it an efficient and promising synthetic strategy to build pyridine skeleton.


In this paper the singularly perturbed initial boundary value problems for the nonlocal reaction diffusion system are considered.Using the iteration method and the comparison theorem,the existence and its asymptotic behavior of solution for the problem are studied.


The vegetative phase of development of the main shoot apex lasts over 5 plastochrons after germination. The endosperm has a sufficient store of nutrition for this period. At the beginning of this phase the apex has a one-layer tunica. The cells of the latter divide above the level of bulge formation for leaf primordia, exclusively anticlinally, although somewhat lower within the leaf bulge periclinal divisions may occur. The cells immediately under the first tunica layer in the apical part grow tangentially to the surface. These cells divide only anticlinally forming gradually the second tunica layer. In the course of the entire phase the shape of the meristeanatic caulis from the tip to the 4th frustum remains unchanged.


Related to the actual project in the new Qi Daoliang tunnel between Lanzhou and Lintao highway, select 300-meter calculation range along the tunnel vertically including fault-rupture zone and effect fault-rupture zone, utilize 8 -node, 6-plane block element to scatter the calculating range, at the same time, use the deduced 8 -node, three dimensional jointed element to imitate the transformation gap of the tunnel lining, employ three-dimensional elasto-plastic static finite element program to analyze stress and transformation state of surrounding rock and lining in different construction stages of the new Qi Daoliang tunnel. Through the analysis and comparison of the calculation result of the three conditions: not placing transformation gap through, placing one transformation gap in the middle of the fault-rupture zone, placing two transformation gaps in the beginning and the end of the fault-rupture zone etc, we can get the following points: ①The gallery transformation in the fault-rupture zone and the plastic area in the surrounding rock are obviously bigger than the non-fault-rupture zone. ②Owing to the effect of fault-rupture zone, the increasing range of internal force of the initial support and twice lining is about 10% to 30%. ③Placing the transformation gap in the fault-rupture zone can obviously play a role in releasing lining internal force and transformation energy in the surrounding rock. ④In the start and end changing point of fault-rupture zone, the transformation gap should be placed in the tunnel lining.


Telecom trends such as smooth migration towards higher data rates and higher capacities for multimedia applications, and provision of various services (text, audio, video) from different standards with the same wireless device require integrated designs that work across multiple standards, can easily be reused and achieve maximum hardware share at minimum power consumption. This can be achieved by using adaptive circuits that are able to trade off power consumption for performance on the fly. Realization of the adaptivity function requires scaling of parameters such as current consumption to the demands of the signal-processing task. This paper describes adaptivity design concepts and application of design for adaptivity to multi-standard circuits and systems for wireless communications. An exploratory multi-standard RF front-end is discussed with phase-noise tuning, noise-figure tuning, and input-intercept point tuning requirements of 21 dB, 12 dB, and 7 dB, respectively.


This study investigated whether functional transcranial Doppler ultrasound (fTCD) is a suitable tool for studying hemispheric lateralization of language in patients with pre-perinatal left hemisphere (LH) lesions and right hemiparesis. Eighteen left-hemisphere-damaged children and young adults and 18 healthy controls were assessed by fTCD and fMRI to evaluate hemispheric activation during two language tasks: a fTCD animation description task and a fMRI covert rhyme generation task. Lateralization indices (LIs), measured by the two methods, differed significantly between the two groups, for a clear LH dominance in healthy participants and a prevalent activation of right hemisphere in more than 80% of brain-damaged patients. Distribution of participants in terms of left, right, and bilateral lateralization was highly concordant between fTCD and fMRI values. Moreover, right hemisphere language dominance in patients with left hemispheric lesions was significantly associated with severity of cortical and subcortical damage in LH. This study suggests that fTCD is an easily applicable tool that might be a valid alternative to fMRI for large-scale studies of patients with congenital brain lesions.


Ferrous ion-induced lipid peroxidation in rat liver mitochondria has a lag in the induction period. The characteristics of the lag were investigated under various conditions. This lag period lengthened proportionally to increased temperature (4 degrees approximately 37 degrees C). In the presence of inorganic phosphate the lag period lengthened, reaching a maximum at about 20 degrees C, and then shortened with increased temperatute. Elongated lag periods were shown in heat-treated or protein digested mitochondria. Shortened lag periods were shown in snake venom-treated mitochondria. On the other hand, almost no lag was observed in the peroxidation of the lipid extracted from mitochondria. The lag period also varied with incubation temperature. The results suggested that certain factors, which determined lag of the induction period in membrane lipid peroxidation associate with reaction-temperature and the lipo-protein structure in mitochondrial membranes.


Pseudorabies has been controlled efficiently in China for many years by vaccination. However, it suddenly broke out in many pig farms in 2012-2013 in southern China. In this study, a systematic investigation that included virus isolation, genetic and pathological studies, and immunogenicity analysis was carried out with the aim of understanding the pathogenetic and antigenic features of novel isolates of pseudorabies virus (PRV). Of 38 tissue samples collected from pigs with clinical signs of pseudorabies on 13 farms in 4 provinces in southern China in 2012-2013, 29 showed wild-type PRV infection by polymerase chain reaction. Sequence analysis of 5 isolates from the 4 provinces showed that they belonged to a relatively independent cluster that shared 2 insertions of a single amino acid in the gE gene and 1 insertion of 7 amino acids in the gC gene. In experiments, isolate ZJ01 caused death in 100% of pigs that were either 14 or 80 days old. The serum antibodies to the commercial PRV vaccines had significantly lower neutralizing activity against the ZJ01 isolate than against the vaccine strains. The antigenic relatedness between ZJ01 and the vaccine strains was 0.378 to 0.455. These findings indicated that a novel, highly virulent PRV strain with antigenic variance had spread widely in southern China.


British composer Brian Lock merges the composition styles of Alexander Goehr, Henryk Gorecki and Witold Lutoslawski in his innovative works for instrumental sounds and electronics. His most recent work for flute, Sonic Archaeologies No.1, was premiered at the University of North Texas by Mary Karen Clardy, flute; Brian Lock, piano/electric keyboard; and Daniel Pardo, laptop/live mixing. The purpose of this dissertation is to provide flutists with artistic and technical guidance in preparing this work for flute, prerecorded orchestra, interactive electronics and improvisatory accompaniment. Sonic Archaeologies No. 1, a piece in five movements (Black Rain, Psychomania, Kodo, Susperia, and Deep in the Machine), incorporates contemporary techniques to create sounds other than the Western concert flute, with the use of live reinforcement devices such as microphones and time-based audio effects within a D.A.W. (Digital Audio Workstation.) Reggae, Hip-Hop and cinematic styles are juxtaposed within the work, fusing current genres with traditional rhythmic forms like the ones found in a bourree. As the solo instrument, flute provides more textural than melodic elements, and the performer is required to interact with an unpredictable sonic soundscape as a result of the improvisatory element of the keyboards and computer. The notation of Sonic Archaeologies No.1 invites interpretation blending and altering traditional sounds through microphones and a processed signal flow. The performance guide will address acoustical considerations when the flute sound is being manipulated by dynamic and time-based processors in live performance; the interaction between the flute, electronics and acoustic spaces; the elements of sound production that provide interpretation of contemporary popular styles; and the opportunities for the performer to find, explore and develop artistry beyond the limitations of music notation.


We present data from different epochs in 1978, 1987-1991 and 1996 from the black-hole candidate 4U1630-47. For the first time we present almost complete coverage of the outbursts which started in 1987, 1988 and 1996. We find that the outburst behaviour of 4U1630-47 is more complex than previously realized. The source shows outbursts with durations on the order of ~100-200 days and sometimes intervals of long-term X-ray activity.
The relatively short outbursts which occurred in 1987 and 1996 exhibited different colour behaviour: the outburst in 1987 showed softening of the X-ray spectrum, whereas the outburst in 1996 showed hardening of the X-ray spectrum, as the outbursts proceeded.
The outburst which started in 1977 may have lasted for up to ~10 months, whereas the outburst which started in 1988 showed activity for up to ~2.4 years. Such long-term activity is reminiscent of that seen in GRS1716-249 and in the galactic superluminal sources GRS1915+105 and GROJ1655-40.
We refine the outburst ephemeris of 4U\1630-47 and find that the outburst recurrence time scale may have changed from ~600 days to ~690 days between the 1984 and 1987 outbursts. If the recurrence interval of ~690 days continues, the next outburst of 4U1630-47 is predicted to occur in 1998 January.


ABSTRACT Down syndrome (DS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder of known genetic cause, with a wide array of oral and systemic manifestations. The aim of the present study is to determine the level of oral hygiene status and practice of a group of individuals with DS in Benghazi/Libya. In this cross–sectional study 124 individuals were recruited from The Rehabilitation Centre of Special Needs in the city of Benghazi, Libya. Questionnaires were distributed among the attendees, covering oral health aspects and diet habits. Oral examination was conducted to evaluate oral health status among individuals with DS. The data were analysed descriptively and inferentially (including Chi-square test and Fisher's exact test) using the Statistical Package for Social Science version 20 (SPSS). Most of DS individuals brush their teeth once daily (62%), spending less than one minute in brushing (44%). For diet habits, more than half (55%) eat sweet snacks between meals. For the dental status, 47% of the subject had zero DMFT, followed by score 2 in 21%. The highest percentage in Oral hygiene Index (OHI) was scored 1 by 46% of participants. The zero CPITN score was seen in 54.5%. Our results have shown a weaker tendency of DS towards oral hygiene. This should strengthen our goal of guiding and encouraging parents of individuals with DS to be more cautious in providing help and supervision of their individuals' practice of oral health care.


Structural analysis of the loaded welded connection of plates requires the determination of the design strength of the plate specially in bridge Structures. Simple welded shear tab connections are used regularly in structural engineering practice. Many engineers who still use Allowable Stress Design use the elastic method in designing these connections. To determine the stresses in a plate at the welded joint of a simple shear tab connection using finite element analysis, and to compare those results to the simplified elastic analyses used in structural engineering practice. In particular we will look at the tension and compression stresses at the extreme fibers of the weld connection along with the shear stress at the middle of the weld. ANSYS will be used for the finite element analysis. In conclusion, both the finite element analysis approach and the allowable stress design approach result in almost identical maximum shear stresses in the plate at the welded joint. The two approaches do not provide similar results for the maximum tension and compression stresses at the ends of the joint.


The roughly thirty non-Austronesian languages spoken on the islands of Timor, Alor, and Pantar have long been assumed to be related, but their relationship was rigorously demonstrated only recently. Substantial strides have been made in recent years toward understanding the history of this language family, though so far, determining the origin of the Western Pantar synchronically phonemic geminate stops has proven to be a challenge. No independent evidence for reconstructing geminates has been put forward, but there is also no obvious conditioning environment for gemination. The present article demonstrates that positing a system of stress based on moraic trochees in Proto-Timor-Alor-Pantar allows an accurate statement of the environment of gemination in Western Pantar, as well as explaining several independent characteristics of the vowels and prosody of the daughter languages.


The Clinic for Special Children is a small non-profit pediatric medical facility that specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of genetic disorders among the Amish and Mennonite people of Pennsylvania. Our research leads to the discovery of pathogenic sequence variants and permits the rapid and cost-effective use of molecular genetic testing in our patient population. A current focus of our work is identification of all mutations segregating in the Plain populations of southeastern Pennsylvania for use in diagnostic testing. Presently, over 75 different mutations have been characterized in our patients.

The unique properties of young isolated populations such as the Amish and Mennonites facilitate rapid gene-mapping studies. Disease gene identification strategies, namely candidate gene localization and genome-wide mapping, have been employed with much success using Affymetrix GeneChip microarrays. Over the past 2 years, we have mapped four novel phenotypes and identified the causative gene: (1) sudden infant death with dysgenesis of the testes (SIDDT), (2) cortical dysplasia and focal epilepsy (CDFE), (3) a recessive cardiomyopathy, and (4) LYK5 deficiency. Eight other novel phenotypes have been mapped as well, but the gene has yet to be identified.

In addition to standard genotyping applications, DNA copy number changes are also detectable using SNP microarrays. The clinic laboratory has been exploring the utility of microarray copy number detection for performing "molecular karyotypes." In our patients, we have detected several chromosomal abnormalities, some of which are below the resolution of standard karyotype analysis.

SNP microarray technology holds great promise as a useful diagnostic tool. The clinic laboratory is currently developing a custom diagnostic microarray that will accommodate several clinical applications on one platform. In addition to genome-wide SNP coverage for disease gene mapping and copy number analyses, this custom microarray will contain all known mutations from the Plain communities, permitting comprehensive molecular genetic testing.


OBJECTIVE
To report the complications and long-term outcome of female dogs with intramural ectopic ureter(s) (iEU) undergoing cystoscopic-guided laser ablation (CLA) and determine the effect of post-CLA neutering on urinary continence.

STUDY DESIGN
Retrospective clinical study.

ANIMALS OR SAMPLE POPULATION
Thirty-four client-owned dogs.

METHODS
Medical records of female dogs that had iEU-CLA were reviewed. A 10-point continence score was assigned before, immediately after, and at a minimum of 12 months postprocedure via owner telephone contact. Neutering status prior to and postprocedure was recorded.

RESULTS
Continence scores increased in all dogs after CLA (p < .0001, mean duration of follow-up: 63.9 ± 5.7 months) with an increase of the median score from 2 (preprocedure) to 10 (postprocedure). A urethral tear occurred in 2/34 dogs immediately after the procedure, successfully managed conservatively. Mild hematuria was present in 2/34, lasting less than 48 h. Postoperative urinary tract infections were documented in 6/34 dogs. Two dogs died of urinary-related issues at 1 and 5 months after CLA. Complete and near-complete urinary continence (scores 9 and 10/10) was achieved in 26/32 dogs including 3 dogs requiring medical (2) or surgical interventions (1). Post-CLA neutering did not affect continence scores (p = .44).

CONCLUSION
A large proportion of dogs regained and maintained full continence after CLA alone. Subsequent medical or surgical therapy allowed further improvements when needed. Post-CLA neutering did not negatively impact urinary continence score.

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE
The beneficial effect of iEU-CLA in female dogs is long standing and not affected by postprocedural neutering.


Minimum wages and cash transfer (CT) programmes are two major social protection policies in developing countries aimed at alleviating poverty and redistributing income. While a lot of attention, and debate, has been put in place around the establishment of these policies, little attention has called the issue of how these policies have been implemented in practice. In the first part of this thesis, I evaluate the effects of the national minimum wage (NMW) policy of Ecuador where apart from registering increases in the legislated level of the minimum wage there are also increases in the intensity of its enforcement. In the second part, I evaluate the impact of the largest CT programme in the country, the Bono de Desarrollo Humano (BDH), which has no enforced conditionalities attached to it.
In Part I, I provide evidence of the effects of increases in the two components of the NMW on employment, wages and monetary poverty (Chapters 2), and on wage inequality (Chapter 3). The findings go in line with the predictions of the traditional competitive two-sector model.
In Chapter 2, I find that the increases in the two components of the NMW policy increased wages of male covered workers and reduced the probability of remaining employed in the covered sector for the less-skilled workers, the labourers. The increase in wages for male covered workers, who remained employed in the covered sector, reduced the probability of being poor for this group of workers and their families. I find that most of the labourers who lost their jobs in the covered sector migrated to the uncovered sector and others became unemployed. Additionally, I find that the increase in labour supply in the uncovered sector reduced the earnings of uncovered self-employed individuals.
In Chapter 3, I find that the increases in the two components of the NMW policy reduced wage inequality by increasing the wages of workers located up through the 60th percentile of the wage distribution. Additionally, I estimate that the increases in the two components of the NMW account for approximately 50% of the reduction in wage inequality we observe for the period 2000-2016.
In Part II, Chapter 4, I analyse the effects of the BDH on the components of food expenditure and find that the programme increased food expenditure on protein-rich products such as meat, chicken, milk, eggs, etc. Additionally, I find that the beneficiary families with under-5s spend significantly more on this kind of products and significantly less on sugar and sweets, and on meals outside the house. However, unlike other conditional CT programmes in the region, I did not find that the BDH increased expenditure on fruits and vegetables.


The phylogenetically-derived secondary structures of telomerase RNAs (TR) from ciliates, yeasts and vertebrates are surprisingly conserved and contain a pseudoknot domain at a similar location downstream of the template. As the pseudoknot domains of Tetrahymena TR (tTR) and human TR (hTR) mediate certain similar functions, we hypothesized that they might be functionally interchangeable. We constructed a chimeric TR (htTR) by exchanging the hTR pseudoknot sequences for the tTR pseudoknot region. The chimeric RNA reconstituted human telomerase activity when coexpressed with hTERT in vitro, but exhibited defects in repeat addition processivity and levels of DNA synthesis compared to hTR. Activity was dependent on tTR sequences within the chimeric RNA. htTR interacted with hTERT in vitro and dimerized predominantly via a region of its hTR backbone, the J7b/8a loop. Introduction of htTR in telomerase-negative cells stably expressing hTERT did not reconstitute an active enzyme able to elongate telomeres. Thus, our results indicate that the chimeric RNA reconstituted a weakly active nonprocessive human telomerase enzyme in vitro that was defective in telomere elongation in vivo. This suggests that there may be species-specific requirements for pseudoknot functions.


This paper presents a detailed analysis on the influence of misalignment errors of optical components in an orthogonal two-axis Lloyd's mirror interferometer, which can fabricate two-dimensional grating structures in a single exposure. In an ideal condition, defect-free two-dimensional grating structures can be fabricated by the interferometer. However, in a real case, visible stripes caused by misalignment errors of the optical components in the interferometer always appear on the fabricated grating structures. In this paper, theoretical analysis and experiments are carried out to analyze the influences of the misalignment errors of the optical components in the orthogonal two-axis Lloyd's mirror interferometer.


Authors report their experience in enteral nutrition (E.N.) on maxillo-facial surgery. From 1987 to 1989, 24 patients were subjected to enteral alimentation in the Department of Maxillo-Facial Surgery of the 2nd School of Medicine of "Federico II" University of Naples (Italy). 50% of patients suffered from head and neck tumours, and 50% suffered from traumatic lesions. Before treatment, patients' nutritional conditions were evaluated by anamnesis, azotic balance, hydroelectrolytic balance, anthropometric, bioumoral, and immunologic parameters. Basal energy expenditure was calculated through Harris-Benedict formula. Patients were checked every week, and E.N. allowed a rapid and adequate caloric increase.


Seismicity maps based on A value, b value, and return period for earthquakes with magnitude 6 and above have been prepared for the European area using the Kaila and Narain (1971) method. For the preparation of these maps, a modified relation A = 6.36b − 1.00 has been used instead of the earlier relation where A and b are constants in the cumulative regression curve represented by log N = A − bM. The A-value seismicity map also shows regional tectonics superimposed on it, thus yielding the seismotectonic map of Europe. These seismicity maps reveal that the European area consists of seven main high seismic activity zones named as the Balkan high, the Aegean high, the Apennine-sicilian high, the Alps high, the Carpathian high, the Saharan-Pyrenees high and the Iceland-Arctic high which are described in detail with their relationship to regional tectonics. The b values determined by the new method and shown on the b-value seismicity map are compared with those determined by other workers using earthquake regression curves for various regions of Europe and they show a very good agreement with each other.


Tuberculosis is on the rise due to the increasing prevalence of multi-drug resistant strains. Further understanding of the host response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) may lead to the identification of host-derived factors as potential therapeutic targets, circumventing bacterial resistance. We have identified hypoxic signalling, via hypoxia inducible factor 1 alpha Hif-1α, as a host-derived signalling pathway that modulates the host response to infection.

There is a lack of whole organism, in vivo , models in which to study TB. Zebrafish embryos are transparent and fluorescent transgenic lines allow detailed imaging of leukocytes. Mycobacterium marinum (Mm), a close relative of Mtb, is becoming a well-accepted model for the study of TB. Hif-modulated embryos were infection with Mm and the host response was investigated.

Hif signalling was observed in infected macrophages early in pathogenesis but not at later stages. Stabilisation of Hif-1α led to decreased bacterial burden, an effect that was demonstrated to be dependent on inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), a bacterial killing mechanism of leukocytes. Hif-1α stabilisation primed neutrophils with increased iNOS, allowing them to better deal with Mm infection. Furthermore, live Mm were able to decrease neutrophil iNOS levels over the timecourse of pathogenesis, indicative of a reprogramming of leukocytes by Mm to allow bacterial survival.

Our data show that Hif and iNOS are important host derived immune modulators that are initially activated after Mm infection only to be downregulated later in pathogenesis. Maintaining Hif/iNOS levels may be a novel therapeutic strategy that circumvents the problem of multi-drug resistance.


Scope Wearables are no longer just for early tech adopters, with mainstream adoption expected to drive sales worth $34 billion by 2020. [1] But what exactly are they? The devices presently flooding the market offer various functions – from activity tracking to mobile payments to personal security – all united by the fact that they use sensors embedded into everyday products such as watches, shoes and necklaces.


The Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf operates a superconducting linear accelerator for electrons with energies up to 35 MeV and average beam currents up to 1.6 mA with bunch charges up to 120 pC. The electron beam is employed to produce several secondary beams including X-rays from bremsstrahlung production, coherent IR light in a Free Electron Laser, superradiant THz radiation, neutrons, and positrons. The secondary positron beam after moderation feeds the Monoenergetic Positron Source (MePS) where positron annihilation lifetime (PALS) and positron annihilation Doppler-broadening experiments in materials science are performed. The adjustable repetition rate of the continuouswave electron beams allows matching of the pulse separation to the positron lifetime in the sample under study. The energy of the positron beam can be set between 0.5 keV and 20 keV to perform depth resolved defect spectroscopy and porosity studies especially for thin films. Bulk materials, fluids, gases, and even radioactive samples can be studied at the unique Gamma-induced Positron Source (GiPS) where an intense bremsstrahlung source generates positrons directly inside the material under study. A Na-based monoenergetic positron beam serves for offline experiments and additional depth-resolved Doppler-broadening studies complementing both accelerator-based sources.


When determining which machine learning model best performs some high impact risk assessment task, practitioners commonly use the Area under the Curve (AUC) to defend and validate their model choices. In this paper, we argue that the current use and understanding of AUC as a model performance metric misunderstands the way the metric was intended to be used. To this end, we characterize the misuse of AUC and illustrate how this misuse negatively manifests in the real world across several risk assessment domains. We locate this disconnect in the way the original interpretation of AUC has shifted over time to the point where issues pertaining to decision thresholds, class balance, statistical uncertainty, and protected groups remain unaddressed by AUC-based model comparisons, and where model choices that should be the purview of policymakers are hidden behind the veil of mathematical rigor. We conclude that current model validation practices involving AUC are not robust, and often invalid.


In this paper we propose the use of Kernel Principal Component Regression (KPCR) in order to model the nonlinear interaction between heart rate (HR) and respiration. We used wavelets in order to decompose the respiratory signal in 2 different frequency bands; namely, the low frequency band (LF) 0-0.078Hz, and the high frequency band (HF) 0.078-2.5Hz. We used the decomposed respiration as regressors in the KPCR model. Using the results provided by KPCR we computed the coupling between HR and the respiration in the LF and HF bands, separately. We evaluated the predictive power of these scores using the Physionet Sleep Apnea Dataset. In addition, we compare these results with the ones previously reported in our group, where we used a linear model based on orthogonal subspace projections and wavelet regression. We found that the features extracted using the nonlinear model improved the classification rate for apneic episodes when compared to the linear model, AUC =92.36 vs AUC = 88.29%.


Cationic oligo-p-phenylene ethynylenes are very effective light-activated biocides and biosensors but degrade upon exposure to light. In this study, we explore the photochemistry of a class of "end-only" compounds from this series, which have cationic moieties on the ends of the backbone. Product characterization by mass spectrometry reveals that the photoreactivity of these molecules is higher than that of a previously studied oligomer and that the primary products of photolysis result from the addition of water or oxygen across the triple bond. In addition, a product suggesting the addition of peroxide or other reactive oxygen species across the triple bond was observed. To explore avenues by which the photodegradation of these compounds can be mitigated, the effects of complexation with sodium dodecyl sulfate micelles on their photochemistry was explored. Classical molecular dynamics simulations revealed that compounds that were protected from photolysis by SDS buried their phenylene ethynylene backbones into the interior of the micelle, protecting it from contact with water. This work has revealed a molecular basis for the protection of a novel class of light-activated biocides from irradiation that is consistent with the proposed photochemistry of these compounds. This information can be useful for developing photodegradation-resistant biocidal materials and applications for current compounds and leads to new molecular design.


Using the 2006 East Asian Social Survey, the current study examines the relationship between wives' employment status and their marital satisfaction in China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. The results show that full-time housewives are more satisfied as compared to full-time employed wives in Taiwan, while part-time employed wives are less satisfied than full-time employed wives in China. Wives' marital satisfaction is also associated with their gender role attitudes, husband's housework participation, and a number of family members in Japan and South Korea. The relationship between wives' employment and their marital satisfaction varies even among four East Asian countries, where gender climate is relatively similar.


An increase in life expectancy and the number of older and elderly men, an improvement in the quality of medical care and socio-economic factors in most countries contributed to an increase in the number of patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Currently, improvement of the quality of life is the mainstay of strategy for managing patients with BPH, as well as prevention of complications and the need for surgery. In this regard, the pharmacotherapy with 1-adrenergic blockers (1-AB) is widely used as an effective method for improving lower urinary tract symptoms and reducing the risk of BPH progression. Given that the quality of life is becoming increasingly important in evaluating the efficiency of BPH treatment, including therapy in elderly patients, it is necessary to take into account its effect on sexual function, when choosing a particular drug. The use of 1-AB can be accompanied by side effects manifested by various sexual disorders. Alfuzosin does not adversely affect sexual function in men with BPH, may improve erectile and ejaculatory function and should be considered as the drug of choice, especially in sexually active men and patients who already suffer from worsening ejaculatory function while using another 1-AB.


Chitin is one of the most abundant natural polysaccharide on earth. Different crustaceans, molluses, marine diatoms, insects, algae, fungi and yeast synthesize it. According to the amount of chitin produced annually over the world, it is second abundant polymer next to cellulose. Recent investigations confirm the suitability of chitin and its derivatives in chemistry, biotechnology, medicine, and food processing, environmental protection and also used as a safe excipient in drug delivery formulations. Our present study focused that on the isolate the prawn shell waste and conversion to chitosan.Chitosan was characterized using IR spectrum and compared with standard to confirm the presence of chitosan in the shell of prawn. We attempted to incorporate latex milk of Euphorbia neriifolia, which has potent medicinal properties with chitosan and check its antimicrobial activity. The results of the present study proved the antimicrobial activity exhibited by the samples incorporated in medical textiles on test organisms.


This presents a motion and force estimation system of human fingers by using an Electromyography (EMG) sensor module and a data glove system to be proposed in this paper. Both EMG sensor module and data glove system are developed in such a way to minimize the number of hardware filters in acquiring the signals as well as to reduce their sizes for the wearable. Since the onset of EMG precedes the onset of actual finger movement by dozens to hundreds milliseconds, we show that it is possible to predict the pattern of finger movement before actual movement by using the suggested system. Also, we are to suggest how to estimate the grasping force of hand based on the relationship between RMS taken EMG signal and the applied load. Finally we show the effectiveness of the suggested estimation system through several experiments.


A microgrid (MG) is always prone to the uncertainties of its demand variation and generation of its non-dispatchable renewable sources, particularly when operating in the islanded mode. Such events can push voltage and/or frequency of the MG beyond their desired range of operation. This chapter reviews the control and management techniques to retain the voltage and frequency of such MGs within a predefined safe zone. Suitable real time, corrective, and preventive controllers are discussed on the generation and demand side, which aim to satisfy various objectives at different time instances. First, the necessity of such controllers and mechanisms is explained in both grid-tied and islanded modes and during the transition between these modes. Then, islanding detection and its impact on MG management are briefly discussed. Afterwards, the MG's control architecture is outlined, and the existing approaches in the literature are described briefly. Finally, three case studies on different aspects of MG control are reported to show the applicability and criticality of such services for MG operation. The emphasis of the case studies is on the islanded MG operation because frequency and voltage issues are more pronounced for those types of MGs. In particular, a new generalised droop-based controller is explained in Section 2.4.1 as an example of advanced power-sharing strategies for voltage and frequency regulation with the plug-and-play feature. In Section 2.4.2, the primary frequency control problem is tackled from the demand control perspective, where demand response (DR) resources are altered to provide frequency and voltage regulation within a short period of time. Finally, a corrective and preventive controller is outlined and explained in Section 2.4.3. The corrective controller takes action immediately after the occurrence of an event that violates the voltage or frequency by defining the least cost solution among available options. In the preventive controller, generation and load demand forecast are used to predict unexpected events in very short horizons that can lead to voltage/frequency violations and take suitable actions beforehand.


A high-throughput liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometric (LC-ESI-MS) method for screening of sirolimus on dried blood spots (DBS) was developed and validated. It involves solvent extraction of a punch of DBS followed by reversed-phase LC on a relatively new monolithic column consisting of a silica rod with bimodal pore structure and detection by ESI-MS. The run time was less than 3 min with a very low backpressure at a flow rate of 0.5 mL/min. The method can analyze more than 100 samples in an 8 h working day, including sample preparation. The assay was linear from 1 to 100 ng/mL. The mean recovery was 92.42%. The mean inter-day and intra-day precisions were 1.23 and 1.41%, respectively. The developed method is simple, rapid and useful for clinical applications.


Background: Primary care practitioners are being called upon to work with their patients to reduce dementia risk. However, it is unclear who should do what with whom, when, and under what circumstances. Objective: This scoping review aimed to identify clinical guidelines for dementia risk reduction (DRR) in primary care settings, synthesize the guidelines into actionable behaviors, and appraise the guidelines for specificity. Methods: Terms related to "dementia", "guidelines", and "risk reduction" were entered into two academic databases and two web search engines. Guidelines were included if they referred specifically to clinical practices for healthcare professionals for primary prevention of dementia. Included guidelines were analyzed using a directed content analysis method, underpinned by the Action-Actor-Context-Target-Time framework for specifying behavior. Results: Eighteen guidelines were included in the analysis. Together, the guidelines recommended six distinct clusters of actions for DRR. These were to 1) invite patients to discuss DRR, 2) identify patients with risk factors for dementia, 3) discuss DRR, 4) manage dementia risk factors, 5) signpost to additional support, and 6) follow up. Guidelines recommended various actors, contexts, targets, and times for performing these actions. Together, guidelines lacked specificity and were at times contradictory. Conclusion: Currently available guidelines allow various approaches to promoting DRR in primary care. Primary care teams are advised to draw on the results of the review to decide which actions to undertake and the locally appropriate actors, contexts, targets, and times for these actions. Documenting these decisions in more specific, local guidelines for promoting DRR should facilitate implementation.


Insurance as one of the business priorities that have very high chances in Indonesia, but the mechanism of insurance claims are quite complicated so that the effect on public confidence for the use of insurance products. Therefore every insurance company should be able to improve service quality. PT. Prudential Life Assurance Branch Bandung has earned awards for quality of service is good, but in running the business, PT. Prudential Life Assurance Branch Bandung is inseparable from the problem of dissatisfaction quality of service perceived by the customer. Based on these descriptions, the problem points in this study is: How is the quality of service at PT. Prudential Life Assurance Branch Bandung? What is the level of consumer knowledge in PT. Prudential Life Assurance Branch Bandung? What level of customer's decision in choosing Takaful products in PT. Prudential Life Assurance Branch Bandung? How to influence the level of service quality to the customer's decision in choosing Takaful products in PT. Prudential Life Assurance Branch Bandung? How to influence consumer knowledge on the level of customer's decision in choosing Takaful products in PT. Prudential Life Assurance Branch Bandung? How to influence service quality and consumer knowledge together on the level of customer's decision in choosing Takaful products in PT. Prudential Life Assurance Branch Bandung? The research method used is quantitative approach with descriptive research regresional properties. Source data used are primary data source with data collection interviews and questionnaires. Data analysis tool used is multiple linear regression. The results showed that the implementation of service quality, customer knowledge and customer decision at PT. Prudential Life Assurance Branch Bandung has been rated as good, visible from each value of the cumulative score of 3893 or 75.8% (X1), of 2106, or 76.1% (X2), and 1890 or 79.7% (Y). There is a partial effect on quality of service to the level of purchasing decisions, and the level of consumer knowledge on purchasing decisions, as seen from the significant value of each msing of 0.000 F table, which means that the variable X jointly affect Y, and reinforced by the significant value of 0.000 <0.05. This means that the variables X1 and X2 together significantly influence the variable Y.