Motivation: Protein-protein interactions (PPI) are critical to the function of proteins in both normal and diseased cells, and many critical protein functions are mediated by interactions.Knowledge of the nature of these interactions is important for the construction of networks to analyse biological data. However, only a small percentage of PPIs captured in protein interaction databases have annotations of function available, e.g. only 4% of PPI are functionally annotated in the IntAct database. Here, we aim to label the function type of PPIs by extracting relationships described in PubMed abstracts.
Method: We create a weakly supervised dataset from the IntAct PPI database containing interacting protein pairs with annotated function and associated abstracts from the PubMed database. We apply a state-of-the-art deep learning technique for biomedical natural language processing tasks, BioBERT, to build a model - dubbed PPI-BioBERT - for identifying the function of PPIs. In order to extract high quality PPI functions at large scale, we use an ensemble of PPI-BioBERT models to improve uncertainty estimation and apply an interaction type-specific threshold to counteract the effects of variations in the number of training samples per interaction type.
Results: We scan 18 million PubMed abstracts to automatically identify 3253 new typed PPIs, including phosphorylation and acetylation interactions, with an overall precision of 46% (87% for acetylation) based on a human-reviewed sample. This work demonstrates that analysis of biomedical abstracts for PPI function extraction is a feasible approach to substantially increasing the number of interactions annotated with function captured in online databases.


Background: Thrombophilia is a common risk factor for venous thromboembolism. The objective of this study was to determine prevalence of inherited protein C and protein S deficiency in renal transplant candidates of Sindh Province, Pakistan.
Material & Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Department of Pathology, Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation, Karachi, Pakistan from 16-10-2010 to 15-4-2011. 300 renal transplant candidates were selected. Candidates with acquired thrombotic disorders, women taking oral contraceptives and patients taking anti-coagulants during previous one week were excluded. Venous blood samples were collected before starting dialysis procedure or at least two days after last dialysis session. Platelet-poor plasma (PPP) was parted using plastic pipettes and protein C and protein S were processed on coagulation analyzer. Sex, age groups (<40 and ≥ 40years), presence of protein C deficiency and presence of protein S deficiency were nominal variables and analyzed by count and percentage along with population parameters.
Results: 300 renal transplant candidates included 199 (66.33%) men and 101 (33.67%) women and 238 (79.33%) in age group <40 years and 62 (20.67%) cases in age group ≥40 years. Prevalence of protein C deficiency was 6.66% (20/300) and of protein S deficiency was 4% (12/300). Prevalence of PC deficiency was higher in men 5.33% than women 1.33%. Also prevalence of PS deficiency was higher in men 3.0% than women 1.0%. Prevalence of PC deficiency was higher in age group <40 years 5.67% than ≥40 years 1.0%. Also prevalence of PS deficiency was higher in age group <40 years 3.33% than ≥40 years 0.66%.
Conclusion: More prolonged and follow-up studies are needed to define the true significance of deficiency of protein C and S (coagulation inhibitors) in post-transplant settings.


The work [1] by Nguyen and Szalas is a pioneering one that uses bisimulation for machine learning in the context of description logics. In this paper we generalize and extend their concept learning method [1] for description logic-based information systems. We take attributes as basic elements of the language. Each attribute may be discrete or numeric. A Boolean attribute is treated as a concept name. This approach is more general and much more suitable for practical information systems based on description logic than the one of [1]. As further extensions we allow also data roles and the concept constructors "functionality" and "unquantified number restrictions". We formulate and prove an important theorem on basic selectors. We also provide new examples to illustrate our approach.


The insulinotropic action of L-leucine is thought to be tightly coupled with the metabolism of this amino acid in pancreatic islet cells. Consistent with such a view, the removal of extracellular K+ severely impaired L-leucine deamination and oxidation and L-leucine-stimulated insulin release. L-leucine increased the NH4+ content of islet cells. Exogenous NH4+ inhibited more markedly 45Ca net uptake and insulin release in islets exposed to L-leucine than in islets stimulated by D-glucose, D-glyceraldehyde or alpha-ketoisocaproate, all nutrients being used at concentrations of equal insulinotropic capacity. The islets exposed to L-leucine also differed from those stimulated with D-glucose by a somewhat higher 45Ca net uptake relative to insulin output, and an increased secretory activity in response to extracellular or intracellular acidification. It is proposed that in the islets exposed to L-leucine, an alteration in the islet content of NH4+ and possibly H+ interferes with the normal coupling between metabolic and secretory events.


This technical report describes our deep internationalization program for Gboard, the Google Keyboard. Today, Gboard supports 900+ language varieties across 70+ writing systems, and this report describes how and why we have been adding support for hundreds of language varieties from around the globe. Many languages of the world are increasingly used in writing on an everyday basis, and we describe the trends we see. We cover technological and logistical challenges in scaling up a language technology product like Gboard to hundreds of language varieties, and describe how we built systems and processes to operate at scale. Finally, we summarize the key take-aways from user studies we ran with speakers of hundreds of languages from around the world.


As a speculative vision of the future, the Urban Breathing Apparatus was designed to challenge thoughts on the hermetically sealed building. Architecture has been struggling for the ultimate hermetic seal since the introduction of air conditioning systems (artificial breathing apparatus), focusing more on the physical seal (skin) of the building and less about the immaterial substance inside, air. The urban fabric needs to be reconceptualized. A new way of thinking is needed for the static, hermetic seals of modern buildings as breathable thresholds, through principles of biological and technological processes to metabolize the contaminated interior and exterior air.


Objective To compare estimates of intervention effects between single centre and multicentre randomised controlled trials with continuous outcomes. Design Meta-epidemiological study. Data sources 26 meta-analyses totalling 292 randomised controlled trials (177 single centre, 115 multicentre) with continuous outcomes published between January 2007 and January 2010 in the Cochrane database of systematic reviews. Data extraction Data were extracted on characteristics of trials, single or multicentre status, risk of bias using the risk of bias tool of the Cochrane Collaboration, and results. Data synthesis The intervention effects were estimated with standardised mean differences. For each meta-analysis, random effects meta-regression was used to estimate the difference in standardised mean differences between single centre and multicentre trials. Differences in standardised mean differences were then pooled across meta-analyses by a random-effects meta-analysis model. A combined difference in standardised mean differences of less than 0 indicated that single centre trials showed larger treatment effects, on average, than did multicentre trials. Because single centre trials may be more prone to publication bias and may have lower methodological quality than multicentre trials, sensitivity analyses were done with adjustment for sample size and domains of the risk of bias tool. Results Single centre trials showed larger intervention effects than did multicentre trials (combined difference in standardised mean differences −0.09, 95% confidence interval −0.17 to −0.01, P=0.04), with low heterogeneity across individual meta-analyses (I2=0%, between meta-analyses variance τ2=0.00). Adjustment for sample size slightly attenuated the difference (−0.08, −0.17 to 0.01). Adjustment for risk of bias yielded similar estimates with wider confidence intervals, some of them crossing 0 (−0.09, −0.17 to 0.00 for overall risk of bias). Conclusions On average, single centre clinical trials with continuous outcomes showed slightly larger intervention effects than did multicentre trials. Further research is needed to investigate potential causes of these differences.


Climate change has both a direct and indirect effect on surface water quality. One of them is the increase in chemical weathering which causes the release of heavy metals in aquatic sediments. The toxicity of high concentration heavy metals and the phenomenon of algal bloom also become a threat to the freshwater environment. It is known that several types of algae can live, develop, and act as a biosorption agent for various types of heavy metals. The use of algae-based biosorbent also can reduce the level of global warming from the production of commercial adsorbents such as activated carbon. Hence, the objective of this study was to determine the capability of wild algae biomass from the lake Situ Agathis Universitas Indonesia, Depok West Java as a heavy metal biosorbent by elaborating on its biosorption performance, for the benefit of the wastewater treatment and the management of algae bloom. Removal efficiency zinc improved significantly by activation treatment with thermally and base treatments on wild algae biomass. The result from the experimental laboratory showed that the zinc removal up to 92.12% in 120 min by NaOH activation method at neutral pH. The obtained results suggest that the wild algae biomass is a promising benign and low-cost material for industrial wastewater treatment.


OBJECTIVE To study propanthelin bromide efficacy in preventing vasovagal syncope relapse. SETTING HGZ No. 3 IMSS, Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico, from 1992 to 1995. PATIENTS 10 patients with vasovagal syncope were selected from 41 syncope patients. DESIGN Prospective longitudinal. MEASURES clinical charts, neurologic and cardiologic evaluation, electrocardiogram, electroencephalogram, C.A.T., Holter, stress test and chest X rays were made. In 10 patients, 15 to 30 mg of propanthelin bromide thrice a day were administered, 12 month survey on was made measured. RESULTS Of the 10 patients, 7 were women mean age 18 years. In 9 of them no recurrence was evident abandoned 1 treatment, 4 had side effects. CONCLUSIONS Propanthelin bromide decreases vasovagal syncope episodes with few side effects.


Background Fat emulsions used in Australia for PN in preterm neonates have been based on either soybean oil (SO) or olive oil (OO). OO based lipid Clinoleic has high ratio of n-6 to n-3 fatty acids (9:1) this may not be ideal for LC-PUFA supply. Newly available SMOFlipid has appropriate ratio n-6 to n-3 fatty acids (2.5:1). SMOFlipid also contains OO (25%), coconut oil (30%) and SO (30%). Better lipid clearance, reducing the risk of liver toxicity, reduced oxidative stress, lower immune-activity and anti-inflammatory effects are other potential advantages of SMOFlipid. Method Preterm neonates (23–30 weeks) were randomised to receive Clinoleic or SMOFlipid emulsion for 7days using a standard protocol. Investigators and outcome assessors were masked to allocation. Plasma F2-Isoprostanes (lipid peroxidation marker), RBC fatty acids, vitamin-E were measured before and after the study. Blood culture positive sepsis and growth was monitored for safety. Results 30/34 participants (Clinoleic-15, SMOFlipid-15) completed the study. Both emulsions were well tolerated without any adverse events. F2-isoprostane levels were reduced in SMOFlipid group as compared to baseline. Eicosapentanoic acid (EPA) and vitamin-E levels were significantly increased in SMOFlipid group. Oleic and Linoleic acid levels were increased in both groups. No significant differences were noted in post study Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) levels in both groups despite higher levels of DHA in SMOFlipid. Conclusions SMOFlipid was safe, well tolerated and also showed beneficial effect in terms of reduction of oxidative stress by reducing lipid peroxidation levels in high risk preterm neonates.


Preliminary study of the solid waste treatment of Padang Beach tourist area has done in order to analyze solid waste generation, composition, the potency of recycling, and to recommend the appropriate treatment system applies on the tourist area. The study revealed that daily waste generated as 18.648 L, the components of the waste dominated by food waste 84.215%, plastic 9.254%, paper 2.087%, and non-metal ferrous 1.945%. The potency of recycling of the waste was food waste 91.732%, plastic 88.074%, metals 78.947% and glass 75.758%. By this study it is recommended that waste that has economic value such as plastic, paper, and metal should be collected and sold to the third party, biodegradable waste such as food waste and yard waste should be composted, while others waste that has potency to produce handy craft such as seashell, coconut shell, and sachet packaging should be collected and processed, all treatment activities can be done at the recycling center that located in the tourist area.


A recent theoretical analysis of the effect of non-linear elasticity on the toughness of biological materials as measured by tear tests emphasises the importance of considering energy storage in the legs of the test piece. This is supported by reference to practical results on tearing biological tissues.


An advancement in space technology promises more excitement and enthusiasm for the explorer to exploit the outer space. And 21st century promises an irresistible offer to tourist to visit the outer space. An introduction to space tourism by International Space Station ('ISS') indirectly affected the application of law of outer space particularly in term of definition of space tourist, liability and non-appropriation of outer space. This article attempts to identify the lacuna of outer space law in governing the space tourism. From the critical analysis which has been done by the writer, the writer concluded that the current outer space law has lacuna in its application to space tourism. Therefore, the writer proposesa new international treaty or agreement to govern the space tourism.


This paper aims to investigate the effect of risk governance on five-ASEAN banks operational risk disclosure and performance. The uniqueness of this paper lies in countries setting and risk governance index based on the most recent guideline of bank governance. This study uses 285 bank-year observations comprising handcollected data for the period 2010-2014. The results suggest that, consistent with the agency and stakeholder theory, risk governance practices can encourage the banks tend to improve operational risk disclosure while to decrease their ROA and P/E. However, these practices can positively affect these performances if mediated by the operational risk disclosure quality. This means that risk governance practices will encourage managers to present operational risk disclosures quality to improve bank performance.


Aims: Diabetes is the source of stress for people suffering from the disease. Diabetesrelated stress has numerous negative psychological effects. This study was conducted aiming at determining the role of type D personality in the effect of stress on HbAlc and cortisol secretion. Methods: the present correlational study which was a retrospective research, was conducted in 2011 and 2012 on all women with type II diabetes, who were member of Yazd Diabetes Research Centre, 80 patients were selected by multistage cluster sampling. They completed some questionnaires including the depression scale, anxiety scale (DASS), stress as well as type D personality questionnaires. Then, their fasting blood was tested and the effect of stress and personality type on HbAlc and cortisol level was evaluated. Data was analyzed using SPSS 18 software and statistical tests including Pearson correlation coefficient and stepwise regression analysis. Results: There were significant relationship between stress and personality type; cortisol and HbAlc; and cortisol and HbAlc. Based on the results of the regression analysis, stress factor by itself (p=0.001), and together with personality type (p=0.001) had effect on HbAlc. Moreover, stress factor by itself (p=0.002), and together with personality type (p=0.001) had effect on cortisol level. Stress and personality type scales explained 0.312 of the HbAlc variance and 0.28 of the cortisol variance. Conclusion: Stress and personality type are correlated with the level of cortisol serum and HbAlc. Moreover, personality type acts in line with the increase in the impact of stress on patients with diabetes.


Cell-Free Massive MIMO systems aim to expand the coverage area of wireless networks by replacing a single high-performance Access Point (AP) with multiple small, distributed APs connected to a Central Processing Unit (CPU) through a fronthaul. Another novel wireless approach, known as the unsourced random access (URA) paradigm, enables a large number of devices to communicate concurrently on the uplink. We consider a quasi-static Rayleigh fading channel paired to a scalable cell-free system, wherein a small number of receive antennas in the distributed APs serve devices equipped with a single antenna each. The goal of the study is to extend previous URA results to more realistic channels by examining the performance of a scalable cell-free system. To achieve this goal, we construct a coding scheme that adapts the URA paradigm to various cell-free scenarios. Empirical evidence suggests that using a cell-free architecture can improve the performance of a URA system, especially when taking into account large-scale attenuation and fading.


This paper presents a new iterative image super-resolution technique. Its main feature is its ability to account for a lack of knowledge of the so called Point Spread Function (PSF) of the imager. This ability is based on representing the ill-known PSF by mean of a maxitive kernel, i.e. an imprecise PSF. It also uses the nice properties of a fuzzy partition of the image plane for defining projection and back-projection operators whose particularity is to output interval-valued images instead of precise valued ones. Those operators transfer the imprecise knowledge on the PSF to the output imprecision. We propose some experiments illustrating the robustness of our approach with respect to the registration errors and its performance compared to very competitive earlier approaches.


ABSTRACT:  Cost is a measure of resources consumed. By assessing costs, pharmacoeconomic studies complement studies of efficacy and safety, helping to determine the relationships of treatment and outcome. Costs are divided into three categories, including direct cost (resources attributable to the intervention), indirect cost (resulting from reduced productivity), and intangible cost (incurred from pain and emotional suffering). Insurance companies, patients, doctors, and the society all have different perspectives with respect to costs. The present authors review different types of cost analyses and their use in studies of psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, and basal cell carcinoma treatment. Cost studies influence clinicians, policy makers, and third‐party payers' decisions regarding the implementation of particular therapies or programs. Collection of cost data needs to be incorporated into clinical trials to facilitate these decisions.


Background: The 31-gene expression profile (31-GEP) test uses 31 genetic markers obtained from the initial biopsy of a melanoma to assess melanoma-specific survival and sentinel lymph node positivity.
Objective: To assess the professional understanding, opinions, and clinical usage of the 31-GEP test by dermatologists.
Methods: Data from 589 unique dermatologists were collected during 2 virtual, nation-wide dermatology conferences via  an 18-question survey on practice demographics and their clinical use and opinion of the 31-GEP test.
Results: Participants reported that integrating the 31-GEP test may benefit patients by increasing knowledge and understanding (72.5%), personalizing treatment options (58.8%), and easing uncertainty about the future (59.7%). Benefits of using the 31-GEP test included identifying true negative patients in high-risk populations (65.6%) as well as true positives in low-risk populations (70.6%).A majority of participants also noted that if a patient received a 31-GEP Class 2B result, they would escalate subsequent management even if the lesions were classified as T1 (61.4%) or AJCC8 Stage I (59.0%). 84.9% of participants were somewhat to very likely to use 31-GEP testing for patient management or recommend this test to a colleague.
Limitations: Potential respondent-selection and recall bias.
Conclusion: Dermatologists are increasingly integrating the 31-GEP test into their melanoma clinical management decisions. As the 31-GEP test becomes more prevalent in practice, patients may benefit from decreased anxiety and uncertainty from enhanced prognosis, decreased need for unwarranted procedures such as sentinel lymph node biopsy and optimized allocation of healthcare resources.


Introduction: Total seal in the root apex for healing of periodontium is an important goal of endodontic surgery that is
obtained by application of various kinds of retrograde materials. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare
marginal adaptation of two retrograde materials (Gray MTA and Portland cement), using SEM.
Material & Methods: In this invitro study, 50 extracted single-rooted human teeth with mature apices, without decay,
absorption or root fracture were selected. The canals were instrumented by rotary system and filled with gutta-percha
and then 3 mm of the root-end was resected. Then a cavity was prepared at the root-end with 3 mm depth and 1 mm
width. Next, the teeth were divided into two groups of 25 teeth each. Each group was filled with one of the retrograde
materials (Gray MTA or Portland cement). After that, the teeth were resected longitudinally to create buccal and lingual
sections. Finally, the gap was determined and recorded in millimeter in two dimensions. The data were analyzed using
Mann-Whitney test and Fisher's Exact test.
Results: The mean gap in Gray MTA and Portland cement were 211.6µ and 326.3 µ, respectively. The difference was
not statistically significant.
Conclusion: There was no significant difference in marginal adaptation between Gray MTA and Portland cement.
Key words: Marginal adaptation, MTA, Portland cement, SEM.


In consideration of the well-known difficulties associated with the precise diagnosis of hemoperitoneum, the authors offer their personal experience in support of laparoscopy as a diagnostic aid in such dramatic events. They review 23 cases of emergency laparoscopy performed in the First Institute of Clinical Surgery of the University of Catania between January 1978 and January 1979. Recalling that the procedure was applied to patients as young as 3 and as old as 80, they confirm the opinion expressed from other quarters, namely that laparoscopy is an essentially harmless and rapid procedure conducive to very accurate diagnosis in view of appropriate planning of therapeutic treatment.


Placing a swirl nozzle composed of a yarn channel and an air-jet nozzle in a traditional ring spinning frame can reduce yarn hairiness. In this study, two types of swirl nozzles, namely, the circular swirl nozzle and the elliptical swirl nozzle, are designed to optimize the inside structure of the swirl nozzle and improve the yarn quality. Yarn performance is evaluated based on the hairiness, breaking strength, and evenness of the yarn. Experimental results show that the two types of swirl nozzles have effective effects on the ring yarn qualities compared with the traditional method. The mechanisms of the said effects can be explained via yarn de-twisting and re-twisting under the vortex action in the yarn channel. Yarn channels have different effects on yarn properties because of their different airflow patterns. The circular swirl nozzle is found to produce better yarn properties, including S3 value (the total number of hairiness equal to or exceeding 3 mm per 10 m), breaking strength, and evenness than the elliptical swirl nozzle under similar processing parameters


Cadmium (Cd) toxicity strongly influences plants growth and seed germination in crop plants. This pot trial had aimed evaluate the benefits of two different kinds of phosphorus (P)-fertilizer in the phytoremediation of Cd by Solanum nigrum L. The current pot experiment was conducted to evaluate the role of P-fertilizers in phytoremediation of Cd by Solanum nigrum L. Single superphosphate (SSP) contain 7 to 9% P and Di-ammonium Phosphate (DAP) contain 46% P had been applied in single and combine form in soil with different ratios (0:0, 100:0, 0:100, 50:50%) accompanied by diverse Cd levels (0, 25, 50 mg kg−1). Three weeks seeding were transferred into pots, and plants had been harvested afterward seventy days of growth in the pots. Significantly inhibited plant growth was observed in shoots and roots of Cd contaminated plants. Cadmium stress had stimulated oxidative stress in subjected plants. However, supplementation of P-fertilizers in an optimum manner significantly increased plant biomass along with enhancing antioxidants enzymatic activities and inhibiting oxidative stress. Maximum plant-growth had been noted in SSP + DAP supplemented plants in contrast to single SSP, DAP supplemented plants. Higher Cd concentrations observed in SSP + DAP supplemented plants over single treatment. It has been concluded that combination of SSP + DAP might be a better option to improve growth as well as uptake capacity of Solanum nigrum L. under Cd stress. However, a field study is recommended for detailed future investigations.


After removing the formwork of a monolithic fabricated and prestressed (unbonded prestressing) concrete slab with a cantilever, the measured deformations in the direction of the applied load at the end of the cantilever did not correspond to the calculated values for the required prestressing force. Therefore a non-destructive test in order to determine the existing prestressing force was necessary. The subsequent grab of the ends of the tendons was not possible, because the strands have been cut almost directly behind the wedges. This report describes a procedure, which offers the possibility to identify the existing prestressing force by measuring an applied transversal displacement of the tendon under a defined force.


Two decades of research describes the physical and mental stress experienced by caregivers, with little attention given to health promotion issues. The goal of this descriptive study was to identify and compare the health promotion behaviors (HPBs) used by older rural and urban women providing spousal care. Seventy-two women completed the Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile-II (HPLP-II) and a demographic survey. The most frequently reported HPBs related to interpersonal relations, spiritual growth, and stress management, while the least frequent related to physical activity. No significant differences existed on mean scores of the six subscales and overall HPLP-II of the rural and urban sample population.


Collaborative design activities are often centered around physical artifacts. Depending on the design activity, this can be the model of a building, paper crafts, carving artwork, or a new circuit to be debugged and evaluated. In a typical setting, collaborators are seated around a table and divide their attention between the design artifact under review, at least one laptop supporting measurements and information foraging, and of course their collaborators. Although these activities involve complex sets of tools and configurations, people can easily work together when they are present in the same space. This is because the physical presence of a partner affords peripheral awareness to inform where the partner's attention is and what they are doing. This peripheral awareness allows collaborators to coordinate actions and manage coupling to achieve a shared task. For example, it is quite easy to know when your partner switches their focus from a breadboard to you as a request to start a face to face discussion.


In this paper, we derive the Multidimensional Statistical Resolution Limit (MSRL) to resolve two closely spaced targets using a widely spaced MIMO radar. Toward this end, we perform a hypothesis test formulation using the Generalized Likelihood Ratio Test (GLRT). More precisely, we link the MSRL to the minimum Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) required to resolve two closely spaced targets, for a given probability of false alarm and for a given probability of detection. Finally, theoretical and numerical analysis of the MSRL are given for several scenarios (known/unknown parameters of interest and known/unknown noise variance) including lacunar arrays.


Most cases of back pain are the result of degenerative changes in the spine or are related to musculoskeletal elements. Pyogenic infections of the back can be subcategorized into cases involving the paraspinal epidural space, vertebral bodies, or the intervertebral disk spaces. Any region of the spine may be the site of diskitis, although the process most commonly involves the lumbar spine. Most cases of diskitis are managed with conservative therapy, including antibiotics and spinal immobilization using braces or corsets. Surgical therapy is generally reserved for patients with neurological complications, spinal instability, or progressive spinal deformity or those who fail to respond clinically to antibiotic therapy alone.


The successful use of femoral venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation to support an adult patient with extrinsic airway compression secondary to a large mediastinal tumor is presented. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation was continued until a combination of chemotherapy and radiation therapy allowed sufficient tumor shrinkage to permit decannulation. This method should be considered and available before manipulation of the airway in similar patients.


A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out in Obstetrics and Gynecology department, unit I of Dhaka National Medical College Hospital between June 2010 and May 2011. The objectives of the study were to find out the predisposing factors and to identify the organism causing post-operative wound infection. Out of 530 patients who underwent major abdominal surgery, 40 developed wound infection and were included in this study. Mean age of the population was 29.73 SD± 94, ranges 18 to 60 years, all were female, 75% of them were literate and 55% respondents came from middle class and affluent society. Sixty percent population was multiparous. Anaemia and raised blood sugar was found in 70% and 27% of the population respectively. The respondents under went caesarean section (71%), total abdominal hysterectomy (27%) and laparotomy (2%). Wound infection appeared within 5th day, 6th to 10th day and beyond 10th day of operation in 22.5%, 52.5% and 25% cases respectively. Wound discharge was serosanguinous in 50% cases. Bloody, purulent and no discharge was found in 10%, 30% and 10% wound respectively. Growth of Staphylococcus was noticed in 30% culture wound swab. Besides this, E coli, Pseudomonas, Klebsiella, Mycobacterium tuberculosis and other Coliform bacilli was found in 20%, 5%, 5%, 2.5% and 2.5% of growth. In 35% cases no growth of organism took place. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jdnmch.v18i1.12239 J. Dhaka National Med. Coll. Hos. 2012; 18 (01): 39-42


This paper proposed a watermarking algorithm for tamper-proof of web pages. For a web page, it generates a watermark consisting of a sequence of Space and Tab. The watermark is then embedded into the web page after each word and each line. When a watermarked web page is tampered, the extracted watermark can detect and locate the modifications to the web page. Besides, the framework of watermarked Web Server system was given.Compared with traditional digital signature methods, this watermarking method is more transparent in that there is no necessary to detach the watermark before displaying web pages. The experimental results show that the proposed scheme is an effective tool for tamper-proof of web pages.


Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) significantly burdens health services worldwide. As a simple and cost-effective method, the mathematical calculation of HbA1c is coming to be of value in areas with scarce resources. This study aimed to use calculated HbA1c to ascertain the prevalence of uncontrolled DM and correlate it with the risk factors for DM. Methods: In the River Nile State of northern Sudan, a cross-sectional study was conducted in five leading cities from May to August 2021. Patients diagnosed and recorded as having type 2 or type 1 DM were included in this study. Enzymatic methods were used to assess fasting blood glucose (FBG). We used the mean of three FBG readings for three months to calculate HbA1c using the equation {HbA1c = (FBG mg/dl) x 0.03+2.6}, which was used to compute the estimated mediocre blood sugar over the course of three months. Results: A total of 2047 diabetic patients from northern Sudan were studied for their DM control. Nearly two-thirds (65.2%) had uncontrolled DM. Of the patients studied, uncontrolled DM was significantly positively associated with older age, history of ischemic heart disease, and being a housewife. Multivariate regression analysis showed significant correlations between uncontrolled DM, an inactive lifestyle, and obesity. Conclusion: The prevalence of uncontrolled DM among known patients with diabetic in northern Sudan is high (65.2%). The inactive lifestyles of housewives and freelance workers, having type 1 DM, and being hypertensive and obese are risk factors significantly associated with uncontrolled DM and its related complications.


Workplace violence is internationally recognized as a major issue for many organizations and employees however the issue is more prominent in healthcare settings (Oostrom and Mierlo 2008). The Department of Health, Victoria requires that all levels of healthcare staff be educated about how to prevent, manage and report violence and aggression in the workplace. Education should be actively and openly supported by senior management and should be part of the induction program for all new staff in operational healthcare.
Witnessing the success of the Management of Clinical Aggression - Rapid Emergency Department Intervention (MOCA-REDI) at one of the facilities that took part in the initial MOCA-REDI trail sites in the Emergency Department (ED); it was considered that a widened approach to multiple settings within the healthcare sector would be more beneficial for staff and the organisation in managing clinical aggression and violence. This project used an experimental, pre-test post-test survey design to examine the relationship between acute general healthcare nurses' attitude to aggression and the management of aggression. A validated measurement tool, The Management of Aggression and Violence Attitude Scale (MAVAS) was utilised in this study.
This project sought to evaluate whether the introduction of the MOCA-REDI has the potential to affect general acute healthcare nurses' attitudes towards reasons for patient aggression and management of patients' aggression in an acute general health care setting. Fifty-three acute care general nurses completed the survey pre-test and post-test intervention. There were statistically significant shifts on fourteen of the twenty seven items (Wilcoxon Signed Ranked Test: p :5 0.001). There was concurrence from all participants that the training raised awareness about the environmental (external subscale) concerns in relation to violence and aggression within the workplace. There was near concurrence with the interactions between patients and staff (situational subscale) with all bar one item providing a statistically significant shift. There is evidence to demonstrate that the MOCAREDI program significantly modified general nursing staffs' attitudes towards the prevention of patient aggression using the Management of Aggression and Violence Attitude Scale.


The absorption by the mirrors of a laser operating under conditions of intracavity frequency doubling has been studied by photothermal radiometry. The absorption coefficient of the mirror for the fundamental wavelength increases when the second harmonic is incident on the mirror. The photoinduced absorption depends on the type of coating and on the intensity of the second harmonic.


The proper location of weigh-in-motion (WIM) stations in road networks is critical to effectively reduce the impact of overweight trucks. Truckers may quickly learn the locations of WIM stations, and take detours to bypass these checkpoints, with the aid of advanced navigation systems. This reaction needs to be considered in the location models for the deployment of WIM systems. This paper proposes a bilevel model to deal with the WIM location problem in a road network. The model includes an upper level and multiple lower level models respectively, represent the decision-making behavior of the law enforcement officials and truckers for different origin-destination pairs. The upper level model determines the optimal number and locations of WIM stations so as to minimize the damage due to evasive overweight trucks, considering the truckers' route choices. The lower level models simulate the truckers' route choices in response to the WIM locations determined by the upper level model. A heuristic is developed to efficiently solve the bilevel model, as it is difficult to obtain the exact solution. The proposed model and heuristic are evaluated using a test instance generated based on the Nevada road network. The results show that the heuristic outperforms a classical approach based on k shortest paths.


Evaluation of rice for resistance to rice blast disease caused by Pyricularia grisea usually is conducted in upland (nonflooded) disease nurseries, although all commercial U.S. rice is produced under flood irrigation. Upland rice is more susceptible to leaf blast than is flooded rice, and the magnitude of this differential susceptibility can vary among cultivars. This 2-year study was undertaken to determine (i) the relationship between rates of disease development (slow-blasting) in upland and flooded rice and (ii) the value to a rice breeding program of establishing a flooded blast nursery, a facility far more difficult to manage than an upland nursery. Among 200 rice lines compared for leaf blast susceptibility under upland and flooded cultures, only 7 were rated as slightly more resistant under upland culture and 136 rated more resistant under flooded culture. Disease ratings under upland and flooded cultures were highly correlated (R = 0.819). Among 14 preselected cultivars over 2 years, disease development curves under upland and flooded cultures were highly correlated (R = 0.990). The cultivars with intermediate susceptibility under upland culture appeared to benefit most from flooded culture. Upland culture provided more opportunities to assess slow-blasting than did flooded culture, since many lines that produced susceptible-type lesions in upland culture failed to do so under flooded culture. It was concluded that adequate information on comparative leaf blast resistance among rice lines was attainable from upland blast nurseries and that routine evaluation of rice breeding lines for blast resistance in flooded nurseries was not necessary.


Bacterial resistance caused by antibiotic therapy is a serious problem. Therefore, there is an urgent need to find alternative methods to overcome bacterial resistance. Herein, we synthesized a new type of iridium oxide (IrOx) as an alternative to antibiotics. Iridium oxide not only has good catalytic properties, but also has photothermal properties, and then realizes the "one body and two wings" strategy to enhance the antibacterial effect. Research results show that near-infrared light can enhance the peroxidase catalytic activity of IrOx and generate highly toxic hydroxyl radicals (·OH) by catalyzing hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Hydroxyl radicals have a high redox potential, which can overcome the drug resistance of gram-positive and negative bacteria. Importantly, IrOx has no obvious cellular and in vivo toxicity. Accordingly, the novel photothermal nanozyme is expected to be applied to bacterial infectious diseases, such as wound healing, sepsis, and implant-related infections.


Multichannel seismic reflection data were used to determine the evolutionary history of the forearc region of the central Aleutian Ridge. Since at least late Miocene time this sector of the ridge has been obliquely underthrust 30° west of orthogonal convergence by the northwestward converging Pacific plate at a rate of 80–90 km/m.y. Our data indicate that prior to late Eocene time the forearc region was composed of rocks of the arc massif thinly mantled by slope deposits; the forearc region probably lacked both major depositional basins and a tectonically attached accretionary prism of offscraped oceanic deposits. Beginning in latest Miocene or earliest Pliocene time, a zone of outer-arc structural highs and a forearc basin began to form. Formation of these companion intraarc structures may be linked to the late Neogene growth of an accretionary wedge that formed as the result of the deposition of a thick turbidite wedge in the Aleutian Trench. Initial structures of the zone of outer-arc highs formed as the thickening wedge underran, compressively deformed, and uplifted the seaward edge of the arc massif above a landward dipping backstop thrust. Forearc basin strata ponded arcward of the elevating zone of outer-arc highs. However, most younger structures of the zone of outer-arc highs cannot be ascribed simply to the orthogonal effects of an underrunning wedge. Oblique convergence created a major right-lateral shear zone (the Hawley Ridge shear zone) that longitudinally disrupted the zone of outer-arc highs, truncating the seaward flank of the forearc basin and shearing the southern limb of Hawley Ridge, an exceptionally large antiformal outer-arc high structure. Slivers of forearc basement rocks and overlying strata have been transported along the shear zone that is flanked by differentially elevated structures attributed to localized transpressive and transtensional processes. Uplift of Hawley Ridge may be related to the thickening of the arc massif by westward directed basement duplexes. In addition, the forearc is disrupted by structures transverse to the margin that occur where unusually high-stress accumulations have resulted in the rupture of repeated great earthquakes. It is likely that many ancient active margins evolved in tectonic and depositional settings similar to those of the central Aleutian Ridge. Great structural complexity, including the close juxtaposition of coeval structures recording compression, extension, differential vertical movements, and strike-slip displacement, should be expected, even within areas of generally kindred tectonostratigraphic terranes.


: E-learning optimization integrating Smartbot is the delivery of learning with recent technologies by allowing a student to learn aside from the traditional face to face classroom instruction. On the other hand, educators and trainers are empowering by allowing the use of technology to communicate with learners anytime in accessing learning resources to plan and deliver the lessons. This study is specifically addressed the (1) Measuring the dataset performance using Decision Tree. (2) Integration of Artificial Neural Network as a model basis for the Development of Smartbot E-learning (3) Development of Model of the SMARTBOT E-learning Platform. This study is conceptualizing the idea to use these gadgets as a form of a learning tool in assessing the predictive readiness of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) learners for Work Immersion of Senior High School through an android learning app environment with Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and chatbot integration. This learning tool will further be called SMARTBOT – a short term for smart robots.


OBJECTIVE: To examine the need for a standardized, systematized approach to document patient pharmacotherapy, workable in all pharmacy practice settings, and to propose a model to meet the identified needs. DATA SOURCE: A MEDLINE search was conducted, in addition to an assessment of current practices and a review of known sources of pharmacotherapy/pharmaceutical care evaluation and documentation methodology. CONCLUSIONS: Pharmacy lacks a universally accepted, standardized, systematized approach to document the evaluation of a patient's pharmacotherapy. An approach is presented that distills the concepts of pharmaceutical care into a manageable documentation format and provides a customization of the medical history and physical examination/subjective-objective-assessment-plan system to meet the unique needs of pharmacy. This approach provides a convenient format for notes for all pharmacists, applicable in any practice setting. It provides a starting point for decisions on what pharmacy wants and accepts as a standard to provide continuity of pharmaceutical care to patients, uniform communication with healthcare colleagues, appropriate instruction to students, data analysis to demonstrate the value of services, and needed guidance to software vendors, medical records departments, and third-party payers.


Background Musculoskeletal Ultrasound (US) is a valuable tool in the diagnosis and monitoring of rheumatic diseases. Invasive musculoskeletal procedures under US guidance improve technical accuracy and efficacy. However, patients complain of considerable pain during these procedures, which may compromise patient cooperation and technical efficacy. Peripheral nerve blocks (PNBs) allow an effective local anaesthesia, without significant adverse effects. Objectives To investigate the feasibility of PNBs in patients undergoing US-guided invasive procedures and their impact upon the pain induced by the procedure and its efficacy. Methods Consecutive patients requiring US-guided invasive procedures were recruited. Patients were randomly allocated, in blocks of 5, to two treatment groups. Group 1 had a local peripheral nerve block using 5ml of lidocaíne cloridrate 2% and Group 2 had a topical anaesthetic applied before the US-guided procedure. Demographic and clinical parameters and current therapies were registered. US examination of the anatomical region of pain was performed and effusion, synovial hypertrophy, hipoechoic tendon halus and Power Doppler (PD) signal were evaluated (synovitis, defined as the presence of effusion and/or synovial hypertrophy, was scored in gray-scale from mild to severe;PD signal was scored in a 0-3 scale). US evaluation and pain assessment were performed at baseline and 2 weeks after the US-guided procedure. Patients were asked to score the pain spontaneously felt at the region of interest over the previous week, using a Visual Analog Scale (VAS;0-100mm). Pain caused by the procedure was evaluated as above, 5 minutes after its performance. Efficacy of the procedure was defined as a reduction ≥1 point in synovitis and/or PD score and as a reduction ≥15mm in patient pain VAS. Comparison between groups was performed through Chi2 or Independent Samples T test, as adequate. p<0.05 was considered significant in statistical analyses. Results Sixty-one patients were included (Group 1=36;Group 2=25). Rheumatoid arthritis was the most frequent underlying rheumatic disease (34.4%). In Group 1, deep peroneous nerve block and an association of radial and ulnar nerve blocks were the most commonly PNBs executed (52.7% and 38.9%, respectively). No postblock complications were reported. Demographic and clinical parameters and patient pain VAS (previous week) were similar in both groups, although initial US gray-scale findings were significantly higher in Group 1 (p=0.04). The difference in the nature of procedures performed in the two groups was close to statistical significance (p=0.06). Efficacy based on pain responder rates was similar in both groups (66.7% vs 52.6%;p=0.34). Efficacy of the US-guided procedure (at 2 weeks) using responder rates was also similar in both groups (58.3% vs 52.0%;p=0.13). Pain caused by the US-guided procedure was significantly lower in Group 1 (3.36±2.86 vs 5.08±2.41;p=0.017). Conclusions PNBs were superior to topical anaesthetic in relieving pain due to musculoskeletal US invasive procedures. PNBs are simple and fully acceptable by patients. The differences in the degree of baseline US inflammation and in the nature of the procedures performed in each group, together with the small sample size, preclude final conclusions regarding potential differences in efficacy of the procedures performed under nerve blocks vs local anaesthetic. Disclosure of Interest None declared DOI 10.1136/annrheumdis-2014-eular.5575


Social Work is one of the oldest professions, dating back to pre-industrial societies - even though it may not then have been called social work. It is a profession that deals both with society and individuals. Social work has been changing as the society has evolved, which in turn entails changes in peoples behaviours. Society and the individual are caught in an intense and changing relationship whereby each one seeks to influence the other. Moreover social work seeks to influence society (and individuals within it) and society in turn seeks to set limit on what social workers should do and should not do. So, social work is situated in the middle pulled between the individual and society, the powerful and the excluded, negotiating, and at times in conflict with both.


In the transition period of Central and Eastern European countries to market economy the cooperative enterprise appears a mean, which tries to fill the institution's vacuum in the rural sectors of these countries. In addition to the problems that the agricultural production cooperatives had faced in the socialist period, the new economic conditions created new ones that the cooperatives in the former socialist countries will have to overcome. The object of this paper is to examine the evolution of Agricultural Production Cooperatives during the transition from centrally planned to market economy, the problems standing in the way of their development, their advantages and shortcomings, restricted production structure imposed by the macroeconomic environment, as well as their opportunities to suit the country's economic conditions. The paper considers the current status of the Agricultural Production Cooperatives and generalizes the main problems referring to their organization and management, investment process, etc. The possibilities for overcoming these problems are also analyzed and conclusions are derived about the lines of their development.


Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems have the potential to integrate seamlessly organizational processes using common shared information and data flows. The implementation of ERP systems involves sophisticated business processes integration and conflicts between different departments of the organization. Furthermore, it also costs organizations a huge amount of money and manpower. Therefore, even major ERP vendors cannot guarantee the success of implementation. Consequently, how to implement ERP systems successfully in an effective and efficient manner is an imperative issue in the field of enterprise information systems. Major ERP package vendors have recently used the concept of Best Practice (BP), which is related to transfer the past successful experience to the new ERP projects, to make the implementation effective and efficient. In this paper, we investigate the influences of the BP through a structured inductive study of an international conglomerate by examining their successful implementation of ERP projects. It is not surprising that the results of this study indicate that transplanting BP from the parent company to subsidiaries indeed plays a key role on the implementation of ERP systems. The results also reveal that successful transplanting of BP has positive impacts on the success in ERP implication, through reducing the cultural discrepancies, boosting project efficiency, and empowering coordination of systems integration.


This paper assesses whether the growth of informal construction employment and activities in Tanzania are a boon or bane for informal workers. It examines the importance of employment and income provision, employment conditions, and linkages between formal and informal firms. It also examines the determinants of earnings of workers and the challenges faced by the informal construction sector. The study finds that informal construction activities are important in providing employment and income to people, although a significant number of employees work without contracts and pensions. The level of informal sector earnings is also lower than that of the formal sector. The statistically significant results from regression analysis of the determinants of earnings, which are positively related to earnings are: age, education level, and number of years of experience. The policy implications of this study include: the need for informal construction employees to be affiliated to pensions and health insurance benefits; requirement of a mechanism to enable them to formalize easily in order for them to access credit and to expand their operations; improvement in their skills to enhance their income levels so as to reduce poverty; and to empower them to share in the growth of construction activities.


Natural polymeric drag reducing additives (DRA) extracted or obtained from natural resources started to gain attention and interest from researchers in an attempt to replace the existing artificial DRA. The present work aims to study the feasibility of the natural polymer extracted from plant sources in enhancing the liquid flow in microchannels. Due to the development of microfluidics technology as an economical and reliable method for testing different theoretical phenomena related to engineering fields and medical fields, microchannel was utilized replacing the conventional method by using pipes which can reduce the usage of the chemical and reagents significantly. Polymers were extracted from okra, aloe vera and hibiscus leaves using water extraction method. Different mucilage solution concentration was prepared by weight/weight basis after extraction by adding deionized water which acted as working fluid. Four microchannels which have a thickness about 200 μm with different clogging area simulating the human heart vessel size were fabricated using xurographical approach and then molded with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The experiment was conducted using an open-loop microfluidic system which connected to the costum made microchannels. The flow enhancement performance of different concentration of the additives ranging from 100 to 500 ppm was evaluated by recording the flow rate corresponding to the operating pressure (50 to 500 mbar). The flow behavior of the liquid flow with the addition of the additives was observed by utilizing micro-particle image velocimetry (μ-PIV) systems. It is important to highlight that the examined natural polymers have drag reduction properties. A non-linear relationship was obtained from this work between the concentration of the additives and percentage of flow rate increment (%FI). Increasing the polymer concentration increases the %FI until a limit which so-called critical concentration where beyond this point continuous increasing the concentration have an adverse effect on drag reduction. From the experimental results, hibiscus mucilage gives highest drag reduction performance by achieving higher %FI as hibiscus mucilage contained the highest composition of polysaccharides group. In most of the cases, increasing of the operating pressure resulted in the decreasing of %FI. Maximum flow increment up to 63.48% was achieved using 300 ppm of hibiscus mucilage at the operating pressure of 50 mbar. From the data obtained from μ-PIV systems, higher velocity was observed when the liquid was entering the narrowed area of the microchannel. The velocity remained high when the liquid exiting the semi-clogged part. The data from μ-PIV systems agreed with the experimental results where the addition of the additives increased the flow in the microchannel. The experimental results validate the potential use of these additives in medical fields to enhance the blood flow in semi-clogged blood streams which can be an alternative treatment for cardiovascular diseases. It was recommended that more new natural polymeric DRA should be investigated and explored the possibility of these polymers to dissolve or corrode the cholesterol which cause narrowing of the blood vessels.


Nationally there is a high prevalence of psychotropic medication prescription in individuals with learning disabilities and the role of the care worker is constantly changing in relation to the administration of medication to service users. However, little is known about care workers' views on such role changes. The aim of this study was to explore care workers' views on the use of psychotropic medication for people with learning disabilities and their role in the administration of it through the use of integrated methods (focus groups and individual interviews). The purposive sample included 24 care workers from sixteen care homes in a large mental health and learning disabilities NHS Trust. Medicalisation was utilised as a conceptual model of theorising and making sense of the relationships among the findings identified from the study. The findings were analysed through thematic analysis by utilising the Framework model. The data from the individual interviews and focus groups were explored together so that the findings of the study were based on the convergence of information from the different sources. The findings showed a mix of negative and positive opinions with regards to the use of psychotropic medication. Some participants discussed how medication has benefited the lives of service users, enabling them to be part of society and have a better quality of life. However, where specific protocols or guidelines were not in place it increases the possibility of inappropriate use and abuse. In common with previous research this study found clear relationships between service user choice and service user ability. The abler the service user, the more support they received in making choices. Many of the care workers have limited support in undertaking their role and this role is dependent on the power and status which they have within the service they work and the professional relationships they share. Access to formal training is minimal or often inadequate but most of the care workers valued a "learning on the job" style of gaining and sharing knowledge. In conclusion the findings indicate that social care services for people with learning disabilities follow a medical model with regards to medication management. However, a social care model governs the care workers that are employed and trained within these services. There appears to be discrepancies in this approach to service delivery as the two models of care are not always complementing each other and this impedes the care worker to effectively carry out their role in medication management.


Serving as a synthesis of previously published studies and digests, this paper focuses on Southeast Asian refugees in America to address the complex interaction between refugee-learners' ongoing construction of identity and the English as a Second Language (ESL) environment. Drawing on a wealth of historical and contemporary research on one of America's most prominent refugee populations, this exploration highlights the traits that constitute Southeast Asians as a unique group of learners due to their shared histories of trauma; social, cultural and religious influences; and ongoing sociocultural and linguistic negotiations of identity during resettlement. As a result, ESL programs and practitioners become critical to both language acquisition and sociocultural support of both Southeast Asian and other refugee-learners. Reflecting this dynamic nature of the learner-program relationship, this paper also offers curriculum- and teacher-specific suggestions for engaging and empowering both Southeast Asians and other refugee populations through ESL instruction. The goal of this survey is to raise awareness of refugee-learner identity and second language acquisition as a means of promoting further dialogue among ESL practitioners.


Contact and dispersive forces are important in the design of Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS). The influence of random surface roughness of Au films on capillary and Casimir forces is explored with atomic force microscopy in the plane-sphere geometry. In case of the Casimir force the experimental results are confronted to theoretical predictions for plane-sphere separations ranging between 20 and 200 nm. The optical response and roughness of the Au films were measured and used as input in calculations of the Casimir force. It is found that at separations below 100 nm the roughness effect manifests itself through a strong deviation from the usual scaling of the force as a function of distance. The difference with predictions based on perturbation theory can be larger than 100%. In addition, the capillary force was measured using an atomic force microscope between a gold coated sphere and gold surfaces with different roughness, i.e. from atomically flat up to 10nm rms roughness. A substantial decrease in the capillary force was observed with increasing RMS roughness up to a few nanometers. For smooth surfaces, in contact, the capillary force surpasses other force fields either the van der Waals/Casimir or the electrostatic force. For rougher films the different forces become comparable in magnitude. From these measurements two limits can be defined, i.e. a smooth limit where the whole surface interacts through the capillary force and a rough limit where only a single up to a few asperities yield a capillary contribution.


There is limited research demonstrating direct instruction (DI) as an effective language intervention for students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and developmental disabilities (DD). Existing research has shown that instruction using partial implementation of DI programs resulted in student learning (Ganz, 2007) and instruction using whole lessons resulted in positive instructional effects for students with ASD and DD (Ganz, 2007). However, it is not known whether DI is more effective than other language interventions. The purpose of this study was to compare DI to an established intervention, discrete trial teaching. Thirteen students with ASD or participated in the study and data were collected using curriculum-based assessment. An independent samples t-test indicated that there was a statistically significant difference in student performance for the group who received DI. Results and their implications will be discussed.


Introduction: The readiness of novice critical care nurses (NCCN) to perform efficiently has been doubted globally. Studies have reported that novice nurses have issues with their confidence and competence in handling critical patients in ICU. Their lack of confidence and competence may promote more harm to the patient's condition study aim is to explore the experience of novice critical care nurses when embarking in critical care areas.Methods: This study was carried out using a general qualitative design. Data were collected through an in-depth interview in exploring NCCN experiences, challenges, and needs while working in the critical care setting. They were recruited from a teaching hospital located in East Coast Malaysia. Data were organised and analysed manually using the thematic analysis approach. Finding: A total of 20 participants was recruited for the study. The majority of the participants are Malay, female, and graduated with Diploma in Nursing from Malaysia. The study reported three main themes; (1) Handling complex patients (2) Familiarised with the equipment and environment, and (3) Mixed feelings during the transition. Themes revealed in the study have proposed that NCCN is eager for support when embarking in the areas.Conclusion: Acknowledge the struggle faced by the NCCN may seem small to others. But it can free up some space in their mind to continue the growth expected and needed from them. Therefore, it could be beneficial to the health setting and patients' care.


As bread is the most relevant source of available carbohydrates in the diet and as lowering dietary glycaemic index (GI) is considered favourable to health, many studies have been carried out in order to decrease the GI of bread. The most relevant strategy that has been applied so far is the addition of fibre-rich flours or pure dietary fibre. However, the effectiveness of dietary fibre in bread in reducing the GI is controversial. The purpose of the present review was to discuss critically the effects obtained by adding different kinds of fibre to bread in order to modulate its glycaemic response. The studies were selected because they analysed in vivo whether or not dietary fibre, naturally present or added during bread making, could improve the glucose response. The reviewed literature suggests that the presence of intact structures not accessible to human amylases, as well as a reduced pH that may delay gastric emptying or create a barrier to starch digestion, seems to be more effective than dietary fibre perse in improving glucose metabolism, irrespective of the type of cereal. Moreover, the incorporation of technologically extracted cereal fibre fractions, the addition of fractions from legumes or of specifically developed viscous or non-viscous fibres also constitute effective strategies. However, when fibres or wholemeal is included in bread making to affect the glycaemic response, the manufacturing protocol needs to reconsider several technological parameters in order to obtain high-quality and consumer-acceptable breads.


This study aimed to investigate the impact of "purpose" as a principal leadership skill on the performance of two township schools using a quantitative research design and collecting data from the school principals, teachers and matric learners, using the 28-scale Servant Leadership Test as well as Gallup's Q12 Employee Engagement survey. The questionnaires addressed the key objectives, namely, the extent to which the principals of the participating schools exhibited servant leadership and their understanding of "purpose" as one word in leadership and how teachers and learners perceived the impact of a "one-word" purpose-driven leader on the performance of the selected schools. Although no relationship could be demonstrated between ''purpose'' and the performance of the two township schools, it became evident that a significant increase in Servant Leadership leads to a significant increase in engagement and performance, as measured by the matric pass rate. It is recommended that workshops be facilitated with principals and teachers in order to entrench ''purpose'' deeper throughout the schools. In addition, Servant Leadership training has to conduced to increase the leadership ability of the school principals. Future research in the area of ''purpose as one word'', as well as Servant Leadership as a principal skillset within the South Africa's public school's leadership is recommended.


In this paper we study symmetric motion planning algorithms, i.e. such that the motion from one state A to another B, prescribed by the algorithm, is the time reverse of the motion from B to A. We experiment with several different notions of topological complexity of such algorithms and compare them with each other and with the usual (non-symmetric) concept of topological complexity. Using equivariant cohomology and the theory of Schwarz genus we obtain cohomological lower bounds for symmetric topological complexity. One of our main results states that in the case of aspherical manifolds the complexity of symmetric motion planning algorithms with fixed midpoint map exceeds twice the cup-length.
We introduce a new concept, the sectional category weight of a cohomology class, which generalises the notion of category weight developed earlier by E. Fadell and S. Husseini. We apply this notion to study the symmetric topological complexity of aspherical manifolds.


The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in children with postmortem study. The records of 1618 autopsies performed during 1980-1989 at the Hospital Infantil de México Federico Gómez were reviewed. Characteristic cytomegalovirus inclusion bodies were identified, in one or several organs, in 47 cases (2.9% of the autopsies). None of these cases was cultured for viruses prior to or at the time of autopsy. Of the 47 cases, 24 (51%) with CMV were younger than 3 months and 38 cases (80%) younger than 12 months of age. In eight cases, the infection was judged as generalized and considered the cause of death. Two of these patients were premature and the infection was most probably intrauterine. The risk factor most frequently identified was secondary immunosuppression. The lung was the most common affected organ, followed by kidney, adrenals, pancreas, liver, brain and salivary glands. In seven cases the inclusion bodies were seen in the brain and in three others periventricular calcifications without inclusion bodies were observed. Although not a rarity in Mexico, CMV infection is not often suspected. Additional studies are needed in order to determine the prevalence of CMV infection in Mexico.


The 99th-percentile values of a large control group were used to determine the frequency and patterns of hyperimmunoglobulinemia (HIg) in 119 convalescents from viral hepatitis in whom Ig quantitation was performed on two occasions within 6 1/2 months after their acute episode. The mean levels of IgG, IgA and IgM, but not of IgD, were significantly higher in convalescents than in controls. There was no significant difference (p greater than 0.1) in the overall frequency of HIg (at least one Ig-class value greater than or equal to 99th percentile of controls) between the initial (30.2%; n = 119) and repeat (20.6%; n = 97) samples, though differences in the distribution of HIg patterns occurred between the two samples. At the time of repeat testing, 7 out of 77 subjects with normo-Ig, but 13 out of 20 with HIg had clinical and/or laboratory abnormalities (p less than or equal to 0.001).


Nowadays, occupational related diseases and accidents are considered one of the main causes for mortality worldwide. However, Kiken Yochi Training (KYT) is one of the interventions to reduce the incidence of unsafe behaviors at workplace, yet there are few evidence-based studies on its effectiveness. This study was aimed to identify the unsafe behaviors among workers in the construction industry in Iran and determine the influence of Kiken Yochi Training intervention on their reduction. In this study, the unsafe behaviors of workers in Atieh Sazan construction Company, Tehran, Iran, were investigated. For this purpose, 452 workers were randomly selected and 11733 observations regarding unsafe behaviors were reported. In the second phase, Kiken Yochi Training was applied over three months, then observations were recorded once again. Socio-demographic questionnaire and Tarrant's checklist were used. 25.69% of the recorded behaviors in the first phase and 18.57% after the intervention, were unsafe. Unsafe use of equipment and inappropriate ergonomic status were among the most common risky behaviors. The average percentages of unsafe behaviors before and after the intervention were reduced by about 36%. Kiken Yochi Training was effective in diminishing the unsafe behaviors among workers. There was a significant relationship between the number of unsafe behaviors, age, experience, type of occupation, educational status, and having a previous accident (P value <0.01). In the present study, it was concluded that the occurrence of unsafe behaviors among construction industry workers could be reduced by promoting awareness and raising knowledge. Moreover, it was recommended to have continuous monitoring, training sessions based on behavioral safety principles establishment, a safety culture in addition to reliance on academic experiences development.


Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a connective tissue disease characterized by progressive fibrosis of the skin and internal organs. SSc is an immunologically mediated disease. A prominent immunological abnormality in SSc patients is the presence of circulating autoantibodies against a variety of nuclear proteins. Furthermore, SSc is characterized by the presence of increased numbers of activated T cells, with the prevalence of CD4+ cells, present in the periphery of skin lesions as well as in other organs in the early stages of the disease. We have recently shown the existence of a predominant activation of IL-4-producing Th2-like T cells in patients with SSc, which may account for the major alterations which occur in this disease. SSc has clinical and serological similarities to chronic graft versus host disease (cGVHD), although there are some important differences. T cells, which orchestrate the tissue damage, are present in great amounts in the inflammatory infiltrates in SSc- and cGVHD-affected tissues. More importantly, T cells from cGVHD tissues produce Th2-like cytokines, thus showing a pathogenetic similarity with SSc. SSc has been postulated as a type of cGVHD resulting from the transplacental transfer of cells between mother and fetus. Very recently, we have shown that in SSc, the microchimeric T cells react with the maternal MHC antigens and are able to produce Th2-type cytokines. Both features are characteristics of cGVHD, supporting the hypothesis that SSc is a disease similar to cGVHD.


Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the most frequently occurring concomitant diseases in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). It is characterized by small airways and the hyperinflation of the lung. Patients with hyperinflated lung tend to have more reserved lung function than conventionally predicted after lung cancer surgery. The aim of this study was to identify other indicators in predicting postoperative lung function after lung resection for lung cancer. Patients with NSCLC who underwent curative lobectomy with mediastinal lymph node dissection from 2017 to 2019 were included. Predicted postoperative FEV1 (ppoFEV1) was calculated using the formula: preoperative FEV1 × (19 segments-the number of segments to be removed) ÷ 19. The difference between the measured postoperative FEV1 and ppoFEV1 was defined as an outcome. Patients were categorized into two groups: preserved FEV1 if the difference was positive and non-preserved FEV1, if otherwise. In total, 238 patients were included: 74 (31.1%) in the FEV1 non-preserved group and 164 (68.9%) in the FEV1 preserved group. The proportion of preoperative residual volume (RV)/total lung capacity (TLC) ≥ 40% in the FEV1 non-preserved group (21.4%) was lower than in the preserved group (36.1%) (p = 0.03). In logistic regression analysis, preoperative RV/TLC ≥ 40% was related to postoperative FEV1 preservation. (adjusted OR, 2.02, p = 0.041). Linear regression analysis suggested that preoperative RV/TLC was positively correlated with a significant difference. (p = 0.004) Preoperative RV/TLC ≥ 40% was an independent predictor of preserved lung function in patients undergoing curative lobectomy with mediastinal lymph node dissection. Preoperative RV/TLC is positively correlated with postoperative lung function.


Background: Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (ERBB2 or commonly known as HER2) missense mutations have been reported in 2-4% of breast cancers and occur primarily in the absence of HER2 gene amplification. Based on TCGA, approximately 60% of these tumors are hormone-dependent and express estrogen receptor (ER) a. Among ER+ breast cancers with HER2 missense mutations, more than 80% are in the HER2 kinase domain. We examined herein whether ER+/HER2 mutant breast cancer cells are resistant to anti-estrogen therapies and, thus, whether they should be treated with combined ER and HER2 inhibitors. Methods: Three common HER2 activating mutations (G309A, L755S, V777L) and wild type (WT) HER2 were incorporated into ER+ MCF7 cells using AAV-mediated homologous recombination. The isogenic incorporation of a heterozygous mutation more accurately represents primary human tumors as compared to transfection and overexpression of exogenous vectors. We examined cell viability and ER transcriptional activity, using an ERE-luciferase reporter, in response to estrogen deprivation and treatment with fulvestrant (a selective ER downregulator) and neratinib (an irreversible, pan-HER tyrosine kinase inhibitor), either alone or in combination. Signaling downstream mutant HER2 was examined by immunoblot analysis. In vivo anti-tumor efficacy of fulvestrant ± neratinib is currently being assessed in ovariectomized athymic mice bearing MCF7/HER2V777L xenografts. Results: MCF7 cells containing HER2 kinase missense mutations (L755S and V777L), but not cells with HER2WT or an extracellular domain mutation (G309A), were able to proliferate exponentially in estrogen-free medium. MCF7/HER2L755S and MCF7/HER2V777L were also resistant to 1 mM fulvestrant, despite fulvestrant9s ability to downregulate ER in these cells. Additionally, MCF7/HER2L755S and MCF7/HER2V777L showed increased levels of pERK and p70S6K. Treatment with 200 nM neratinib potently inhibited growth of MCF7/HER2L755S and MCF7/HER2V777L in estrogen-free conditions and resensitized them to fulvestrant while partially downregulating HER2 levels. Addition of 1 nM estradiol markedly rescued all three HER2 mutant cells from neratinib-induced cell death suggesting that the inhibition of both ER and mutant HER2 is required for tumor cell apoptosis. Using ERE-luc reporter assays, neratinib did not inhibit basal or estrogen-induced ER transcriptional activity or ERα Ser118 phosphorylation, thus not supporting HER2 mutation-to-ER crosstalk in these genetically engineered cells. This result also suggests that the ER and HER2 mutant pathways can operate independently and it is the dual pathway inhibition that results in synthetic lethality. Conclusions: These data suggest that, in ER+ breast cancers and similar to HER2 gene amplification, HER2 kinase domain mutations induce resistance to antiestrogen therapies. Therefore, we propose simultaneous therapeutic targeting of both ER and HER2 signaling pathways is required for maximal inhibition of ER+ breast cancers also harboring HER2 activating mutations, as is currently being investigated in the phase II SUMMIT trial (NCT01953926). Citation Format: Croessmann S, Zabransky DJ, Cutler, Jr. RE, Lalani AS, Park BH, Arteaga CL. Inhibition of mutant HER2 results in synthetic lethality when combined with ER antagonists in ER+/HER2 mutant human breast cancer cells [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2016 Dec 6-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(4 Suppl):Abstract nr PD2-05.


OBJECTIVE
Diabetic foot ulcers can have serious consequences, including amputation. This project aimed to develop and validate a diabetes care management model-a pocket guide on the prevention of foot ulceration to assist health professionals and scientific societies.

METHODS
An adaptation of the Iowa method of evidence-based practice to promote high-quality care was employed. After problems are identified, the Iowa method supports the development of an action plan for addressing them. An evidence-based protocol based on the five cornerstones of the 2015 guidance on the diabetic foot by the International Working Group on the Diabetic Foot was developed in two phases and validated using the Delphi technique.

RESULTS
A model was developed to promote these five cornerstones, which are the main recommendations for managing the diabetic foot. These are: foot examination; risk assessment for ulceration; education in diabetes; appropriate footwear; and treatment of pre-ulcerative lesions. To adapt this into a health information document, the management model was synthesised and designed as a pocket guide. The model's individual and global content validity indices surpass 0.78 and 0.90 respectively.

CONCLUSION
A management model was created and validated, and produced as a pocket guide to deliver instructions on the care and prevention of diabetic foot problems in people with diabetes.


Learning interpretable and human-controllable representations that uncover factors of variation in data remains an ongoing key challenge in representation learning. We investigate learning group-disentangled representations for groups of factors with weak supervision. Existing techniques to address this challenge merely constrain the approximate posterior by averaging over observations of a shared group. As a result, observations with a common set of variations are encoded to distinct latent representations, reducing their capacity to disentangle and generalize to downstream tasks. In contrast to previous works, we propose GroupVAE, a simple yet effective Kullback-Leibler (KL) divergence-based regularization across shared latent representations to enforce consistent and disentangled representations. We conduct a thorough evaluation and demonstrate that our GroupVAE significantly improves group disentanglement. Further, we demonstrate that learning group-disentangled representations improve upon downstream tasks, including fair classification and 3D shape-related tasks such as reconstruction, classification, and transfer learning, and is competitive to supervised methods.


A well-characterised 14-electron rhodium phosphine complex, [Rh(PiPr3)3][BArF4], which contains a beta-CH agostic interaction, is observed to undergo spontaneous dehydrogenation to afford [Rh(PiPr3)2(PiPr2(C3H5))][BArF4]; calculations on a model system show that while C-H activation is equally accessible from the beta-CH agostic species or an alternative gamma-CH agostic isomer, subsequent beta-H-transfer can only be achieved along pathways originating from the beta-CH agostic form.


The Archean-Proterozoic transition marks a time of fundamental geologic, biologic, and atmospheric changes to the Earth system, including oxygenation of the atmosphere (termed the Great Oxygenation Event; GOE), and the emergence of continents above sea-level. The impacts of the GOE on Earth's surface environment are imprinted on the geologic record, including the attenuation of mass-independent fractionation of sulfur isotopes (S-MIF). Temporally overlapping geologic and geochemical observations (e.g. a change in oxygen isotope ratio of sediment melts) imply the widespread subaerial emergence of continents was coeval with atmospheric oxygenation. Here we present triple sulfur isotope ratios in pyrite and oxygen isotope ratios in garnet and zircon in a global suite of Archean and Proterozoic sediment-derived granitoids. These crustal melts record an increase in average 18O/16O isotope ratio and a disappearance of S-MIF in the Paleoproterozoic. The coupled behaviour of sulfur and oxygen isotope signatures imply a potential causal link between the emergence of continents and atmospheric oxygenation at ~2.3 Ga.


Building energy conservation is a worldwide tendency. Due to the limitation of energy resource, although all countries have done a lot of researches on discovering new energy resource continuously, which is not enough to mitigate the tension of energy supply in a short time. As a result, many countries have paid attention on saving conventional energy, and "energy-saving" is called the fifth energy after coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear power. This paper mainly summarizes the background and meaning of building energy conservation, especially expatiates the theoretical method of thermal conductivity of composite wall in energy saving, including the research contents of domestic and foreign researches and the specific theory of thermal conductivity of composite wall. It aims to theoretically provide guidance on the energy-saving of composite wall.


Fibre type composition and fibre areas in skeletal muscle of anorexia patients were studied on biopsies from the m. quadriceps femoris in five male and five females, whose body weight was 2-3.5 SDs less than expected from the normal weight/height relationship. In two of the males, the muscles studies were also made after rehabilitation. A higher than normal percentage of type I fibres was found in the patients (male, 62 +/- 12, female, 69 +/- 7) whereas the percentage of type IIA fibres did not differ from normal individuals (male, 38 +/- 12, female 24 +/- 15). Of note was the observation that no type IIB fibres were found and some patients had an increased occurrence of the normally rare type IIC fibres. All muscle fibres were markedly atrophied with the mean cross-sectional area of type IIA fibres being significantly smaller (male, 26.1 +/- 3.7, female, 21 +/- 10.3, micrometers2 x 10(-2)) than the mean area of type I fibres (male, 34.1 +/- 4.7, female, 35.3 +/- 7.4), micrometers2 x 10(-2)). In the two males studied after rehabilitation (body weight increased 12 and 19 kg), mean fibre area increased by 40%. Our results suggested that a predominant part of the reduction in body weight and lean body mass, seen in adolescent children suffering from anorexia nervosa, could be accounted for by a loss of skeletal muscle mass. In the six subjects where marker enzymes of glycolytic (TPDH, LDH) and mitochondrial pathways (CS, HAD) were assayed, the former were 50% and the latter 10-20% below sedentary controls. Maximal oxygen uptake was only 35 (males) and 29 (females) ml/kg min-1; this contrasted with the physical activity pattern of these patients, yet was in line with their small muscle mass with its low oxidative potential.


Stripe-like and bubble-like patterns spontaneously form in numerous physical, chemical, and biological systems when competing long-range and short-range interactions banish uniformity. Stripe-like and the related nematic morphology are also under intense scrutiny in various strongly correlated electron systems. In contrast, the electronic bubble morphology is rare. Some of the most intriguing electron bubbles develop in the two-dimensional electron gas subjected to a perpendicular magnetic field. However, in contrast to bubbles forming in classical systems such as the Turing activator-inhibitor reaction or Langmuir films, bubbles in electron gases owe their existence to elementary quantum mechanics: they are stabilized as wavefunctions of individual electrons overlap. Here we report a rich pattern of multi-electron bubble phases in a high Landau level and we conclude that this richness is due to the nodal structure of the orbital component of the electronic wavefunction.


Interaction forces among residue pairs are determined from optimum folding pathways along which a protein represented as a coarse-grained chain of alpha-carbons goes from different initial configurations to a known native state. A dynamic optimization approach is employed that uses the coarse-grained model to compute the optimal folding pathways. The pair-wise interaction forces obtained in this manner are incorporated into the coarse-grained model which is then simulated to fold the protein from a new set of initial configurations in a predictive way. We show that the folding pathways predicted in this manner are near-optimal. We applied the technique to the secondary structures: helix and beta-sheet.


Teaching assistants need to have a particular understanding of how children's minds work and this book provides it. It outlines the psychology of human development, the psychology of learning and the psychology of institutions and groups. This entirely revised edition of the 2005 book is based on the current debates and practices of special education and inclusion, emphasising multiple perspectives. In the sections on development and learning, particular attention is devoted to - attachment theory - language development - working with disaffected teenagers - the emotional impact of loss, including discovering disability in a child - the psychological effects of abuse - cognitive curricula - learning empowerment through independence - The section on institutions and groups looks particularly at - processes in groups - working in breakfast and after school clubs - working in learning support units - leadership models - interpersonal communication - violence, aggression and bullying - emancipatory psychology


retinoblastoma gene. It is aimed particularly at those who are working in the general field of carcinogenesis. The level of the various contributions varies considerably and some could be read with interest and pleasure by those who only have a passing interest in the topic, while others are at a high technical level, not easy for the nonspecialist to understand. Similarly, the reports of the discussion which are interspersed with the specific contributions are really for the specialist. The contributors make up a galaxy of all the stars in the field, though like all stars some have been around for longer than others. Their contributions do make up a coherent whole and provide a timely overview of a topical and now rapidly advancing field. It is a well presented little book but it is a pity that the publishers could not afford to have it bound decently.


Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) presents the most challenging subtype with the poorest clinical outcome and no targeted therapy. Our lab previously showed that oncogenic MYC pathways are deregulated in human TNBC tumors and predict patients' poor prognosis. However, clinical development of small molecule inhibitors for MYC has not been successful yet. We identified a synthetic-lethal interaction in which inhibition of cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (CDK1) resulted in the selective killing of MYC overexpressing cancer cells. CDK1 is a mitotic kinase that regulates a large number of substrates and its inhibition causes proliferation arrest in all cells, which may be associated with toxicity. We hypothesize that the MYC-CDK1 synthetic lethality can be attributed to the loss of function of only one or a handful of CDK1 substrates. To identify those substrates, we combined bioinformatics analysis of gene expression data from patient samples and cell based screening approaches. We identified TPX2 depletion to efficiently kill MYC overexpressing cells, while sparing normal cells. Using analog-sensitive CDK1 we confirmed that TPX2 is a direct substrate of CDK1. TPX2 is highly overexpressed in TNBC and predicts patients' poor prognosis. Its loss of function efficiently kills TNBC cells in a MYC dependent manner. We hypothesize that TPX2 is a novel synthetic lethal interaction partner of MYC. Our studies will help elucidate the biology of MYC-driven cancer such as TNBC, which will eventually lead to the development of less toxic and more efficacious targeted therapies. Citation Format: Julia Rohrberg, Alexandra Corella, Sanjeev Balakrishnan, Andrei Goga. TPX2 overexpression is essential for the survival of MYC-driven triple negative breast cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 2822.


The cardiac Ca(2+)-independent transient outward K(+) current (I(to)), a major repolarizing ionic current, is markedly affected by Cl(-) substitution and anion channel blockers. We reexplored the mechanism of the action of anions on I(to) by using whole cell patch-clamp in single isolated rat cardiac ventricular myocytes. The transient outward current was sensitive to blockade by 4-aminopyridine (4-AP) and was abolished by Cs(+) substitution for intracellular K(+). Replacement of most of the extracellular Cl(-) with less permeant anions, aspartate (Asp(-)) and glutamate (Glu(-)), markedly suppressed the current. Removal of external Na(+) or stabilization of F-actin with phalloidin did not significantly affect the inhibitory action of less permeant anions on I(to). In contrast, the permeant Cl(-) substitute Br(-) did not markedly affect the current, whereas F(-) substitution for Cl(-) induced a slight inhibition. The I(to) elicited during Br(-) substitution for Cl(-) was also sensitive to blockade by 4-AP. The ability of Cl(-) substitutes to induce rightward shifts of the steady-state inactivation curve of I(to) was in the following sequence: NO(3)(-) > Cl(-) approximately Br(-) > gluconate(-) > Glu(-) > Asp(-). Depolymerization of actin filaments with cytochalasin D (CytD) induced an effect on the steady-state inactivation of I(to) similar to that of less permeant anions. Fluorescent phalloidin staining experiments revealed that CytD-pretreatment significantly decreased the intensity of FITC-phalloidin staining of F-actin, whereas Asp(-) substitution for Cl(-) was without significant effect on the intensity. These results suggest that the I(to) channel is modulated by anion channel(s), in which the actin cytoskeleton may be implicated.


Water quality variables were monitored during 3.5 years of research on pig-fish; duck-fish and chicken-fish systems. Early morning dissolved oxygen levels were often below 0.5 mg/l. Total ammonia levels were highest in chicken-fish systems with maximum levels exceeding 6 mg/l. Water quality sampling designs which measure the fluctuations in water quality variables are discussed. Species selection, control of manure loads, addition of new water, and aeration are presented as means to manage water quality in livestock-fish systems.


PURPOSE
To develop a Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) model for the validation of a prototype backscatter x-ray (BSX) imager, and optimization of BSX technology for medical applications, including selective object-plane imaging.

METHODS
BSX is an emerging technology that represents an alternative to conventional computed tomography (CT) and projective digital radiography (DR). It employs detectors located on the same side as the incident x-ray source, making use of backscatter and avoiding ring geometry to enclose the imaging object. Current BSX imagers suffer from low spatial resolution. A MCNP model was designed to replicate a BSX prototype used for flaw detection in industrial materials. This prototype consisted of a 1.5mm diameter 60kVp pencil beam surrounded by a ring of four 5.0cm diameter NaI scintillation detectors. The imaging phantom consisted of a 2.9cm thick aluminum plate with five 0.6cm diameter holes drilled halfway. The experimental image was created using a raster scanning motion (in 1.5mm increments).

RESULTS
A qualitative comparison between the physical and simulated images showed very good agreement with 1.5mm spatial resolution in plane perpendicular to incident x-ray beam. The MCNP model developed the concept of radiography by selective plane detection (RSPD) for BSX, whereby specific object planes can be imaged by varying kVp. 10keV increments in mean x-ray energy yielded 4mm thick slice resolution in the phantom. Image resolution in the MCNP model can be further increased by increasing the number of detectors, and decreasing raster step size.

CONCLUSION
MCNP modelling was used to validate a prototype BSX imager and introduce the RSPD concept, allowing for selective object-plane imaging. There was very good visual agreement between the experimental and MCNP imaging. Beyond optimizing system parameters for the existing prototype, new geometries can be investigated for volumetric image acquisition in medical applications. This material is based upon work supported under an Integrated University Program Graduate Fellowship sponsored by the Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy.


A compact mid-infrared (MIR) dual-gas sensor system was demonstrated for simultaneous detection of methane (CH4) and ethane (C2H6) using a single continuous-wave (CW) interband cascade laser (ICL) based on tunable laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS) and wavelength modulation spectroscopy (WMS). Ultracompact custom electronics were developed, including a laser current driver, a temperature controller and a lock-in amplifier. These custom electronics reduce the size and weight of the sensor system as compared with a previous version based on commercial electronics. A multipass gas cell with an effective optical length of 54.6 m was employed to enhance the absorption signal. A 3337 nm ICL was capable of targeting a C2H6 absorption line at 2996.88 cm-1 and a CH4 line at 2999.06 cm-1. Dual-gas detection was realized by scanning both the CH4 and C2H6 absorption lines. Based on an Allan deviation analysis, the 1 σ minimum detection limit (MDL) was 17.4 ppbv for CH4 and 2.4 ppbv for C2H6 with an integration time of 4.3 s. TDLAS based sensor measurements for both indoor and outdoor mixing ratios of CH4 and C2H6 were conducted. The reported single ICL based dual-gas sensor system has the advantages of reduced size and cost without influencing the midinfrared sensor detection sensitivity, selectivity and reliability.


This article surveys the research of the Evolvable Systems .Bio signal amplifier is design to achieve high input impedance excellent common mode rejection ratio(CMRR) and very low noise level and EEG is obtained by measuring electrical potential between varies points of the scalp using a bio signal amplifier shown in the figure [13]. It is a means of communication between brain and machine, with the help of brain peripherals interfacing. Information of neural activities of brain can be exchanged with the machine