We investigate various approximations to the correlation energy of a H2 molecule in the dissociation limit, where the ground state is poorly described by a single Slater determinant. The correlation energies are derived from the density response function and it is shown that response functions derived from Hedin's equations (Random Phase Approximation (RPA), Time-dependent Hartree-Fock (TDHF), Bethe-Salpeter equation (BSE), and Time-Dependent GW) all reproduce the correct dissociation limit. We also show that the BSE improves the correlation energies obtained within RPA and TDHF significantly for intermediate binding distances. A Hubbard model for the dimer allows us to obtain exact analytical results for the various approximations, which is readily compared with the exact diagonalization of the model. Moreover, the model is shown to reproduce all the qualitative results from the ab initio calculations and confirms that BSE greatly improves the RPA and TDHF results despite the fact that the BSE excitation spectrum breaks down in the dissociation limit. In contrast, second order screened exchange gives a poor description of the dissociation limit, which can be attributed to the fact that it cannot be derived from an irreducible response function.


Various defects in T cells and APC have been associated with lupus in (NZBxNZW)F1 (BWF1) mice. We and others have found that BWF1 mice exhibit lower number of CD4+CD25+ regulatory cells and impaired APC function. Lactobacilli have been shown to prevent colitis and diabetes in autoimmune-prone mice and are used to treat intestinal inflammation and allergic disease in humans. Since viruses and parasites can prevent lupus in BWF1 mice, we examined whether lactobacilli ingestion would have a similar effect. After feeding BWF1 mice with three different strains of lactobacilli, we found that both anti-dsDNA antibody production and lupus severity were delayed. Next, we tested the effect of lactobacilli ingestion on APC in vivo. We found that lactobacilli upregulated B7.1 on both macrophages and dendritic cells (DC) in the LN of BWF1 mice. Finally, we characterized the effect of lactobacilli and lipoteichoic acid (LTA), a bacterial cell wall component, on bone marrow-derived DC in vitro. Interestingly, we found that lactobacilli and LTA restored the expression of all costimulatory molecules and triggered production of high levels of IL-10 vs IL-12. Together, these data suggest that lactobacilli-mediated lupus prevention is associated with induction of IL-10 producing APC which may ultimately restore immune regulation in BWF1 mice.
 Supported by the Lupus Research Institute.


The recent evolution in electricity distribution systems has led to the development of new intelligent structures, better known as Smart Grids, Microgrids and Prosumers. The consequent advantages regard mainly both economy aspects and environmental safeguard. In a microgrid, producers and consumers can exchange energy in peer-to-peer way. Normally, the microgrid is connected to a Smart Grid in a single common point. In this case, the microgrid can be easily disconnected from the external grid and continue to work in "island" mode. In this condition, local production must be equal to the energy consumed, unless local storage systems are installed on site. In case of a bidirectional management, the source may change in load and vice versa. In this situation, a traditional transformer may work in an overload condition and the protection system may trip, provoking, in the worst conditions, a blackout. In order to avoid this condition, some solutions are here proposed and commented.


Research in politeness studies concerning the use of verbal language or strategies for negative orientation has received less attention compared to the opposite orientation. In view of this, the present study aims at examining impoliteness strategies used by Malaysian netizens in computer-medicated communication (CMC) and explore the way the strategies were employed in discussing the topic of drag queens' performance. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyse 254 impolite comments gathered in the form of words, phrases, and sentences based on Model of Culpeper's (2011) impoliteness strategies. The data were drawn from two music videos posted in YouTube.com and Instagram which depicts impoliteness in interaction amongst the users. The videos were chosen because the performance of drag queens or transvestite is amongst the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) issues that is persistently discussed by the netizens which often resulting in impolite comments. Findings showed that negative impoliteness was the most dominant type of impoliteness strategy used in their comments towards the issues. The second dominant type of impoliteness strategies used was sarcasm or mock politeness, followed by bald-on record strategy. Withhold politeness was not found to be used in the comments due to the nature the research context that is conducted in written discourse. The study revealed that impoliteness in CMC is veritably on the rise in Malaysia.


Background and Purpose: Contraversive Lateropulsion, also referred to as contraversive pushing, pusher behavior, and pusher syndrome, can be associated with increased hospital length of stay, increased health care costs, and delayed outcomes in persons with stroke. The purpose of this updated systematic review was to identify scales used to classify contraversive lateropulsion, investigate literature that addresses their clinimetric properties, and create a resource for clinicians recommending use in clinical practice. Methods: Three databases were searched for articles from inception to March 2017. The search strategy followed Cochrane Collaboration guidelines. The Consensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) checklist was applied to evaluate methodological quality. Results: Four hundred three records were screened. Seven studies met inclusion criteria. Four scales were identified: the Scale for Contraversive Pushing (SCP), the Modified Scale for Contraversive Pushing (M-SCP), the Burke Lateropulsion Scale (BLS), and the Swedish Scale for Contraversive Pushing (S-SCP). Psychometric property investigation was most robust for the SCP and the BLS. Cross-cultural validity has not been fully investigated in scales used outside of their country of origin. Discussion and Conclusions: The BLS is recommended for identifying contraversive lateropulsion. The scale assesses the presence of contraversive lateropulsion across several functional tasks, from rolling to walking, and is the only scale originally written in English. The BLS is the only tool to receive ratings greater than poor for reliability and responsiveness. The BLS should be implemented as soon as contraversive lateropulsion is suspected to guide frontline clinicians' initial plan of care, allow objective identification of change over time, and facilitate easier investigation of interventional efficacy. Video Abstract available for additional insights from the authors (see Video, Supplemental Digital Content 1, http://links.lww.com/JNPT/A177).


We report here a comparative study of the development and behavior of chondrocytes isolated from normal growth plate tissue, tibial dyschondroplasic lesions, and from articular cartilage. The objective of these studies was to determine whether the properties exhibited by chondrocytes in dysplasic lesions or in articular cartilage were due to their cellular phenotype, their environment, or both. We had previously analyzed the electrolytes and amino acid levels in the extracellular fluid of avian growth plate chondrocytes. Using these data, we constructed a culture medium (DATP5) in which growth plate cells essentially recapitulate their normal behavior in vivo. Here, we used DATP5 to examine the behavior of chondrocytes isolated from lesions of tibial dyschondroplasia (TD). We found that once isolated from lesion and grown in this supportive medium, dysplasic chondrocytes behaved essentially like normal growth plate cells. These findings suggest that the cause of TD is local factors operating in vivo to prevent these cells from developing normally. With respect to articular chondrocytes, our data indicate that they more closely retain normal protein and proteoglycan synthesis when grown in serum‐free media. These cells readily induced mineral formation in vitro, both in the presence and absence of serum. However, in serum‐containing media, mineralization was significantly enhanced when the cells were exposed to retinoic acid (RA) or osteogenic protein‐1 (OP‐1). Our studies support previous work indicating the presence of autocrine factors produced by articular chondrocytes in vivo that prevent mineralization and preserve matrix integrity. The lack of inhibitory factors and the presence of supporting factors are likely reasons for the induction of mineralization by articular chondrocytes in vitro. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Reye's syndrome is defined as fatty liver degeneration and acute encephalopathy following diffused abnormal mitochondrial activity. We reported a two year old girl admitted with lethargy and meningismus Despite no evidence of blood sugar decrease, history of previous viral disease or drug use, complete tests showed Reye syndrome as the final diagnosis. Conservative protocols and treatment including carnitine and antibiotic therapy were administered and finally, the patient was discharged in good condition. Normal blood sugar, no evidence of previous viral infection or drug use are uncommon manifestations in Reye's syndrome which were present in this case. Treatment included carnitine and antibiotic therapy with considerable response.


Background: Previous studies have demonstrated the ability to detect tumor DNA mutations by PCR methodologies within cell-free urinary DNA in metastatic cancer patients. This has opened up the possibility to use massively parallel deep sequencing approaches for more global profiling of tumor mutations using cell free urinary DNA from these patients.

Methods: In order to achieve clinical utility the sequencing of cell-free urinary DNA must overcome two technical hurdles: 1) the need for extremely high sensitivity, between 0.01-0.05% and 2) an ultra-short DNA footprint (∼30 bp). Here we report the development of a method using cell free DNA extracted from urine that enriches for extremely low levels of mutated tumor DNA and thereby provides a high detection sensitivity. Detection of the KRAS gene mutations were used as a model system; the developed assay utilizes a 31bp footprint, contains a pre-amplification step that specifically enriches mutated DNA fragments and detects 8 KRAS mutations at the codon 12 and 13 sites. Spiking experiments with DNA derived from cell lines harboring the KRAS G12D mutation were completed to determine the limits of sensitivity of our method.

Results: Mutant DNA input at amounts of 0.2%, 0.05%, 0.01% and 0.0% of the total DNA returned observed detection levels of 18.25%, 4.45%, 1.84% and 0.54% respectively as a percentage of the total sequence reads with the detection of mutant DNA of 0.01% within the theoretical limit of the assay. To test our assay, we sequenced 30 ng of extracted urinary DNA from a stage IV colorectal carcinoma patient with a known mutation at the G12D site. Enrichment of the mutation presented at a level of 13.06% of our total sequence, corresponding to an input amount of approximately 0.14% mutational load in the patient's urine. Ongoing analysis of a larger number of patients will be presented to further evaluate the clinical sensitivity and specificity of KRAS mutations.

Conclusion: Further development of massively parallel DNA sequencing to detect mutations from cell-free urinary DNA has the potential to monitor metastatic patients for response, non-response and the emergence of resistance mechanisms to molecularly targeted therapies.

Citation Information: Mol Cancer Ther 2013;12(11 Suppl):B177.

Citation Format: Jason C. Poole, Filip Janku, Veronica R. Holley, Jennifer J. Wheler, Funda Meric-Bernstam, Rayjalakshmi Luthra, Lorieta Leppin, Lafifa Hassaine, Karena Kosco, Mark G. Erlander. Non-invasive tumor mutation detection of cell-free urinary DNA using massively parallel deep DNA sequencing. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; 2013 Oct 19-23; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2013;12(11 Suppl):Abstract nr B177.


We propose a mechanism for a velocity-selective device which would allow packets of cold atoms traveling in one direction through a pulsed optical lattice to pass undisturbed, while dispersing atoms traveling in the opposite direction. The mechanism is generic and straightforward: for a simple quantum kicked rotor pulsed with unequal periods, the quantum suppression of momentum diffusion (dynamical localization) yields momentum localization lengths L which are no longer isotropic, as in the standard case, but vary smoothly and controllably with initial momentum.


OBJECTIVES
We examined the degree to which lay beliefs about the causes of disorders may predict beliefs about what constitutes appropriate treatment.

METHODS
We analyzed randomized vignette data from the MacArthur Mental Health Module of the 1996 General Social Survey (n=1010).

RESULTS
Beliefs in biological causes (i.e., chemical imbalance, genes) were significantly associated with the endorsement of professional, biologically focused treatments (e.g., prescription medication, psychiatrists, and mental hospital admissions). Belief that the way a person was raised was the cause of a condition was the only nonbiologically based causal belief associated with any treatment recommendations (talking to a clergy member).

CONCLUSIONS
Lay beliefs about the biological versus nonbiological causes of mental and substance abuse disorders are related to beliefs regarding appropriate treatment. We suggest areas for further research with regard to better understanding this relationship in an effort to construct effective messages promoting treatment for mental health and substance abuse disorders.


OpenCL has been designed to achieve functional portability across multi-core devices from different vendors. However, the lack of a single cross-target optimizing compiler severely limits performance portability of OpenCL programs. Programmers need to manually tune applications for each specific device, preventing effective portability. We target a compiler transformation specific for data-parallel languages: thread-coarsening and show it can improve performance across different GPU devices. We then address the problem of selecting the best value for the coarsening factor parameter, i.e., deciding how many threads to merge together. We experimentally show that this is a hard problem to solve: good configurations are difficult to find and naive coarsening in fact leads to substantial slowdowns. We propose a solution based on a machine-learning model that predicts the best coarsening factor using kernel-function static features. The model automatically specializes to the different architectures considered. We evaluate our approach on 17 benchmarks on four devices: two Nvidia GPUs and two different generations of AMD GPUs. Using our technique, we achieve speedups between 1.11× and 1.33× on average.


The application of modern control methods to automated driving of following vehicles on a highway can make the advanced transportation systems much more safe and efficient. This paper focuses on a computational approach to optimal control and stability analysis of the adjacent vehicles following in a single traffic lane of a highway in order to ensure the functional safety and assistance of automated driving systems. These vehicles are entirely automated as they have the ability to follow a line path at a high speed and reduce the distance that separates them while adjusting their responses automatically without intervention from humans (i.e. drivers). To meet such requirements for driving safety, this paper explores a new approach to string stability of following vehicles that travel in a straight line of a highway, using optimal control and Lyapunov stability theories. Consequently, sufficient conditions for string stability of a vehicle traffic using continuous-time Lyapunov function and matrix Riccati equation are presented. The search for a quadratic Lyapunov function is then formulated as a convex optimisation problem in terms of a linear invariant system towards a quadratic optimal criterion. The analysis of these methods for minimising the performance criterion is also given. Finally, the paper ends with a conclusion and perspective for future work.


Objective This study aimed to investigate the application value of multi-parametric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the diagnosis of iron deposition in the substantia nigra dense zone in Parkinson's disease (PD) and to evaluate the diagnostic value of the correlation among multi-parametric imaging indicators, clinical stage, and disease duration. Materials and methods Thirty-six patients with clinically confirmed PD and 36 healthy controls were enrolled. The disease course was recorded, and PD severity was graded using the Hoehn–Yahr (H–Y) scale. All subjects underwent magnetic sensitivity weighted imaging (SWI), neuromelanin magnetic resonance imaging (NM-MRI), and a T2*mapping sequence. Based on the fusion of the NM-MRI and SWI amplitude maps, phase maps, and T2*MAPPING value maps, NM-MRI was used to delineate the dense zone of the substantia nigra, which was divided into three sub-regions: upper, middle, and lower. In this way, the amplitude, phase, and R2* values of each sub-region and the average value of the sum of the three sub-regions were obtained simultaneously in the SWI amplitude, phase, and T2*MAPPING maps. The multi-parameter imaging indices were compared between the two groups, and the correlation between them and clinical indices was evaluated in the PD group. Results The upper (amplitude, phase value, R2* value), middle, and lower (amplitude) right substantia nigra compact zones were significantly different between the PD and control groups. The upper (phase value, R2* value) and middle (amplitude) areas of the left substantia nigra compact zone were also significantly different between the two groups (all P < 0.05). The mean values (amplitude, phase value, R2* value) of the right substantia nigra densification zone and the mean values (phase value) of the left substantia nigra densification zone were also significantly different (all P < 0.05). Amplitudes in the middle and lower parts of the right substantia nigra dense zone were negatively correlated with the H–Y grade (middle: r = −0.475, P = 0.003; lower: r = −0.331, P = 0.049). Amplitudes of the middle and lower parts of the dense zone of the left substantia nigra were negatively correlated with the H–Y grade (middle: r = −0.342, P = 0.041; lower: r = −0.399, P = 0.016). The average amplitude of the right substantia nigra compact zone was negatively correlated with the H–Y grade (r = −0.367, P = 0.027). The average R2* value of the compact zone of the left substantia nigra was positively correlated with the H–Y grade (r = 0.345, P = 0.040). Conclusion Multiparametric MRI sequence examination has application value in the evaluation of iron deposition in the dense zone of the substantia nigra in PD. Combined with NM-MRI, fusion analysis is beneficial for accurately locating the substantia nigra compact zone and quantitatively analyzing the iron deposition in different sub-regions. Quantitative iron deposition in the middle and lower parts of the substantia nigra dense zone may become an imaging biological indicator for early diagnosis, severity evaluation, and follow-up evaluation of PD and is thus conducive for clinical diagnosis and treatment evaluation.


Coronary heart disease (CHD) remains a major therapeutic challenge in the Western world, and strategies aimed at cholesterol lowering form the mainstay of treatment. Fluvastatin is an established 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitor ("statin") for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia. Its efficacy and safety have been established in numerous clinical trials. Emerging evidence now indicates that treatment with fluvastatin slows the progression of atherosclerotic CHD and reduces the incidence of cardiovascular morbimortality in the secondary prevention setting. This effect of fluvastatin cannot be explained by cholesterol lowering alone; nonlipid-related mechanisms (so-called "pleiotropic effects") undoubtedly contribute to a certain extent, and are probably linked to modulation of the mevalonate pathway. This review discusses the experimental evidence regarding the antiatherosclerotic and antithrombotic effects of fluvastatin that may contribute to its beneficial action on disease progression and clinical events. Such effects include decreased expression of adhesion molecules in monocytes and leucocyte-endothelium adherence responses, immunomodulation, prevention of low-density lipoprotein oxidation, inhibition of cholesterol esterification and accumulation, along with effects on smooth muscle cell proliferation and migration. Pleiotropic actions aimed at plaque stabilization (eg, decreased secretion of matrix metalloproteinases by macrophages), together with effects on platelet activity, tissue factor expression, and endothelial function, may contribute to an antithrombotic effect of fluvastatin. Taken together, the results of these studies indicate that the effects of fluvastatin, at therapeutic doses, may extend beyond cholesterol lowering.


Aim: Treatment switching and healthcare costs were compared among biologic-naive psoriasis patients initiating apremilast or biologics with ≥12 months pre-/post-index continuous enrollment in Optum Clinformatics™ Data Mart. Methods: After propensity score matching, switch rates (new therapy post-index) and days between index and switch were assessed. Total and per-patient per-month costs by service type were assessed. Results: Apremilast initiators (n = 533) were matched and compared with biologic initiators (n = 955). Twelve-month cumulative switch rates and days to switch were similar. Apremilast initiators had significantly lower total healthcare costs than biologic initiators; apremilast switchers and nonswitchers had significantly lower per-patient per-month costs than biologic switchers and nonswitchers, driven mainly by reduced outpatient pharmacy costs. Conclusion: Apremilast initiators had lower healthcare costs even with treatment switching.


BACKGROUND
In order to compare the long-term outcome of stented vs stentless aortic xenografts, a non-randomized, concurrent case-match trial was conducted on all consecutive patients operated between January 1992 and April 2000.

METHODS
Two hundred and ninety-two patients had stented (group 1) and 376 stentless (group 2) xenograft aortic valve replacement (AVR). Group 1 patients were older (75.0 +/- 4.1 vs 70.4 +/- 6.7 years, p = 0.01), while male gender and aortic stenosis were equally prevalent. NYHA functional class III-IV (85 vs 78%, p = 0.03) and associated procedures (53 vs 41%, p = 0.01) were more common in group 1. The aortic cross-clamping (79.7 +/- 27.8 vs 96.1 +/- 23.3, p = 0.001) and bypass (91.4 +/- 57.5 vs 128.5 +/- 34.0, p = 0.002) times were shorter in group 1. A case-match analysis identified 113 identical patient pairs, on the basis of age, gender, diagnosis, NYHA class, associated cardiac disease, and valve size.

RESULTS
The early mortality was higher in group 1 (5.3 vs 2.7%, p = 0.3), though not significantly. During follow-up (37 +/- 30 vs 43 +/- 35 months, p = 0.6), 26 late deaths were recorded (10.3 vs 13.6%, p = 0.4). The 8-year survival was comparable (76 +/- 7 vs 75 +/- 5%, p = 0.2), but freedom from cardiac (77 +/- 7 vs 90 +/- 4%, p = 0.02) and from valve-related death (78 +/- 7 vs 91 +/- 4%, p = 0.02) was higher in group 2. Freedom from structural deterioration (99 +/- 1 vs 98 +/- 2%, p = 0.7) and from reoperation (99 +/- 1 vs 95 +/- 3%, p = 0.2) at 8 years was similar. The late functional status was equally satisfactory (NYHA class I-II 92.7 vs 94.7%, p = 0.06).

CONCLUSIONS
The survival free from cardiac and valve-related mortality when stentless xenografts for AVR are used is superior to that achieved with stented grafts. Stentless AVR has the potential of conferring selective survival advantages late after operation.


This paper is devoted to the presentation and analysis of matrix representations of the genetic code. Principal attention is paid to a family of the genetic matrices which are constructed on the basis of Gray code ordering of their rows and columns. This Gray code ordering reveals new connections of the genetic code to: 8dimensional bipolar algebras; Hadamard matrices; golden matrices; Pythagorean musical scale, and an integer triangle attributed to Nicomachus, a Syrian mathematician from second century A.D. All of these mathematical entities possess symmetrical features. Some questions about silver means and Pythagorean triples are also described by these genetic matrices and their generalizations.


This paper reports the caliber of surfactant coated gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) as a carrier for antibiotic and investigates the possible interaction mechanism between AuNPs and antibiotic through different surfactants. Further, the antibacterial efficacy of the drug-AuNPs complex has been evaluated by the agar well diffusion method. The AuNPs used in this work were synthesized by the chemical reaction method using gold chloride (AuCl 3 ) as a precursor and sodium borohydride (NaBH 4 ) as a reducing agent. Further, the surfactant coated AuNPs were functionalized with a glycopeptide antibiotic named as vancomycin. The formation of the drug-AuNPs complex was confirmed by UV-Visible absorption spectroscopy. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was used to investigate the nature of the interaction between drug and AuNPs. The increase in the hydrodynamic size of drug coated AuNPs in comparison to bare AuNPs is also attributed to the formation of the drug-AuNPs conjugate. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was used to investigate the morphology of synthesized drug-AuNPs conjugate. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was carried out to study the crystalline structure of AuNPs and drug coated AuNPs. Antibacterial activity of synthesized samples has been tested against Gram-positive ( Staphylococcus aureus ) and Gram-negative ( Escherichia coli ) bacterial strain.


Vlasoulamine A (1), an unprecedented sesquiterpene lactone dimer featuring a fully hydrogenated pyrrolo[2,1,5- cd]indolizine core, and vlasoulones A and B (2 and 3), a pair of epimeric dimers formed from a proposed Diels-Alder [4 + 2] cycloaddition between a germacrane sesquiterpene lactone and a eudesmane sesquiterpene, were isolated from the roots of Vladimiria souliei. Their structures and absolute configurations were established by NMR, MS, and single-crystal X-ray spectroscopic analysis. Moreover, 1 exhibited neuroprotective activity when evaluated for glutamate-induced cytotoxicity, nuclear Hoechst 33258 staining, and measuring intracellular reactive oxygen species levels, using a rat pheochromocytoma PC12 cell-based model system.


Some galaxies contain compact nuclei, which emit vast amounts of energy over the entire electromagnetic spectrum from radio through gamma-rays, thus called active galactic nuclei (AGN). The powerful activity originates from the release of gravitational energy through accretion of material on to a supermassive black hole with a typical mass in the range of 10M⊙. Some of the gravitational energy is thermalized in the accretion disk to radiate ultraviolet and soft X-ray emission. Some is channeled into the generation of energetic particles (or jets) and produces X-ray through gamma-ray emission via inverse Compton scattering and radio through X-rays via synchrotron emission. This radiation from the vicinity of the black hole may heat circumnuclear dust in the obscuring torus of clouds, which is believed to exist on parsec scales outside the accretion disk. The warm torus can then be a source of a strong infrared emission. AGN tend to show large variety in their observational properties, such as luminosities, optical line properties, radio brightness, variability, and so on. In spite of such apparent diversity, it is widely believed that the various AGN are intrinsically the same. Just a few parameters inclination, accretion rate, and presence/absence of jets may be responsible for the apparent differences. However, details of the geometry of the nuclei, especially of the torus, are poorly known because their angular scales are very small and difficult to resolve spatially. The main goal of this thesis is to study the geometry of the nuclear emission region based upon unbiased survey data gathered from multiple wavebands. For this purpose, I take two approaches; one is to explore the correlation between hard X-ray and infrared luminosities using unbiased samples systematically for each AGN type. The other is to analyze variability of midinfrared emission for individual sources and for each AGN type statistically using two all-sky survey catalogs. This is the first large-scale systematic study of mid-infrared variability in AGN, probing timescales of several years separately for different types of AGN. For the first approach, I used all-sky surveys conducted by Swift in the hard X-ray (> 10 keV) band and by AKARI in the infrared band. The Swift/Burst Alert Telescope all-sky survey provides an unbiased, flux-limited selection of hard X-ray detected AGN. The hard X-ray band is rather insensitive to the photo-electric absorption due to the intervening clouds up to mildly Compton-thick (NH ∼1024 cm−2) column densities. In other words, the hard X-ray flux obtained by the survey reflects the intrinsic luminosity for all Compton-thin AGN and also for mildly Compton-thick ones, thus providing samples largely unbiased by obscuration. In the case of infrared observations, high angular resolution is crucial in order to properly separate AGN from stellar emission in the host galaxy. However, this was not possible until the advent of recent telescopes. The AKARI satellite completed an all-sky survey whose catalog was released just before the beginning of this research. This survey is several times more sensitive than previous ones, and was carried out at a much higher angular resolution of the order of arcseconds. Crosscorrelating the 22-month hard X-ray survey with the AKARI all-sky survey, I studied 158 AGN detected by both instruments. I find a strong correlation for most AGN between the infrared (9, 18, and 90 μm) and hard X-ray (14–195 keV) luminosities, and quantified the correlation for various complete subsamples of AGN. Partial correlation analysis confirms that the correlation is intrinsic; that is, the correlation between the luminosities remains significant after removing the contribution of redshift. Under the unification scheme of AGN, this result may be viewed as supporting clumpy torus models. The good one-to-one correlation between mid-infrared bolometric luminosities and hard X-ray ones for over four orders of magnitude indicates that the covering factor of torus will decrease with the increase of the intrinsic luminosity. The correlation for radio galaxies has a slope and normalization identical to that for Seyfert 1s, where we have a direct view of the nuclear regions in both hard X-rays and infrared, implying similar hard X-ray/infrared emission processes in both. In contrast, sources with large Comptonthick column densities show a large deficit in the hard X-ray band, because high gas column densities in the torus diminish their apparent luminosities even in the hard X-ray band. On the other hand, a few radio-loud sources (radio galaxies and blazars) show systematic deviations toward higher X-ray luminosities in the correlations as compared to radio-quiet sources. Origin of the broadband emission of radio galaxies is a matter of considerable debate. One possible explanation of this deviation (i.e., excess X-rays) is the contribution of jets to the hard X-ray emission. Observations of flux variability can be useful for isolating the jet contribution, because strong and rapid fluctuations are characteristic of beamed jet emission. Useful hard X-ray variability data are not yet available, but such data have recently become available in the mid-infrared band. Furthermore, mid-infrared variations can also potentially constrain the geometry of the dusty torus by measuring the response of the torus to changes of the nucleus emission. This leads to the second topic of my thesis to study mid-infrared variability of AGN systematically. I combine two mid-infrared all-sky surveys, i.e., the data released by AKARI and Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). WISE was launched about four years after AKARI and accomplished all-sky surveys with high sensitivity in several mid-infrared bands (particularly relevant for my work are the 12 and 22 μm bands). Because the bands observed by the two telescopes are slightly different, I calculated the flux ratio of WISE and AKARI after subtracting the contribution of band differences, for which the spectral slope calculated for each source was used. In addition, cross-calibration errors of the two telescopes are carefully examined. I find significant mid-infrared variations in 3 sources, 2 blazars and 1 radio galaxy, in either or both of the 9 and 18 μm bands. Although no significant variations are detected from the rest of the sources, low level variations may be hidden in statistical errors. Therefore, I tried to constrain the average sample variability for different AGN types, which was actually detected from Seyfert 1 in the 9 μm band. This is the first detection of variability from Seyfert 1 by using two mid-infrared all-sky surveys. I quantified the amplitudes of sample variability and found that the amplitude reaches ∼10% in 4 years for Seyfert 1 in the 9 μm band. If this variability is explained by the torus emission only, dust distribution in the torus should be compact, although other possibilities, such as jet contribution, cannot be excluded. Combining the results of the hard X-ray vs. mid-infrared correlations and mid-infrared variability, geometry and structure of the obscuring torus are discussed.


Lymphangioma is a rare benign disease with increased prevalence in children. Its symptomatology is varied, from absent until capable of causing acute abdomen. The ultrasound can, in most cases, establish a diagnosis; however, it relies on histopathological analyzes. Most of the time, it has a good prognosis. This report describes abdominal lymphangioma in adult, of rare appearance, showing the diagnosis methods and treatment.


The vibration analysis of horizontally curved beams is generally led to higher order shape functions using direct finite element method, resulting in more time-consuming computation process. In this paper, the weak-form mixed finite element method was used to reduce the order of shape functions. The shape functions were first considered linear which did not provide adequate accuracy. Accordingly, Adomian decomposition method was employed to enrich the shape functions. As a result, the error percentage reduced significantly. The present method was validated by solving different examples and comparing the results with those reported by other researchers.


Due to the rapid digitalization of healthcare, it is important to strengthen professionals' digital competence, particularly to support older professionals to stay in work until retirement age. People of different ages have different digital competencies. Younger generations are 'digital natives' who have learned to use digital devices fluently from a young age, while older generations have had to learn to use them in adulthood. The increasing number of new technologies causes in some cases stress, especially for more older healthcare workers. Intergenerational learning methods for developing digital competence may offer a way to narrow digital competence gaps in healthcare.
The aim of this scoping review was to identify current evidence regarding intergenerational learning methods for developing digital competence, and their outcomes. The results can be used to help develop methods for intergenerational digital competence development and improve healthcare professionals' digital competence. A scoping review was conducted across four databases (Scopus, CINAHL, Web of Science, ProQuest) without time limits. The search produced 2905 references, of which 23 studies are included in the review. Thematic analysis was used to analyze these studies' results.
The results showed that a key method for intergenerational digital competence development is reverse mentoring, where a less experienced person serves as a mentor to a more experienced one. Intergenerational digital competence development methods can be done one-on-one or in groups, in classes or on digital platforms. The outcomes of these methods illustrated that they promote mutual learning, increase the digital competence of older adults and the work life skills of young mentors, and narrow the gap between generations. Using such methods, it is possible to make better use of each generation's expertise. Intergenerational learning could suggest ways of narrowing the digital gap and enhancing intergenerational communication. Healthcare could benefit from implementing intergenerational learning methods for developing digital competence, increasing the digital competence of healthcare professionals, and narrowing the gap between generations.


The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of aging on the changes to the structure and function of coronary arteries in senile elderly patients with essential hypertension. Patients (aged 60-80 years) were divided into three groups. The 195 hypertensive patients were divided into four sub-groups according to the duration of hypertension. The changes to the coronary arteries (left and right) of all those patients were tested using the following index by 64 coronary computed tomography (CT) scans. The 24 h systolic blood pressure (SBP) and other blood biochemical parameters were assayed for all patients. We found that the value of the body mass index (BMI), total cholesterol (TC) and low density lipoproteins (LDL) were lower, but age and high density lipoproteins (HDL) were higher in the group of very elderly patients with hypertension (Group I; P<0.05) compared with those of a group of elderly patients with hypertension (Group III). The left anterior descending branch calcification score (CSLAD), total calcification score (CST), pulse pressure (PP), the left main branch calcification score (CSLM), the left circumflex branch calcification score (CSLCX) were significantly increased in Group I compared with Group III (P<0.01 and P<0.05, respectively). In addition, the 24 h SBP value for Group I was higher than in the 'very elderly without hypertension' group (Group II). Hence, in elderly patients, a decrease in the levels of BMI, HDL, TC and LDL accompanies aging. Furthermore, the decline of arterial compliance and increase in arterial stiffness develops with age. Aging is more likely to lead to atherosclerosis in the coronary arteries, particularly in the left main coronary artery and its main branches. Aging is an uncontrollable risk factor, which plays a crucial role in coronary artery atherosclerosis.


Asthma is an airway obstruction which is reversible, either spontaneously or in response to treatment. Repeated peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) measurements, up to six times daily, allows this characteristic reversibility to be recognised, to guide diagnosis and therapy. Chronic asthmatics may eventually become relatively irreversible, and then appear similar to chronic bronchitics - unless an adequate history is taken. The commonest world-wide allergen is the fecal pellet of the house mite. Modern therapy of asthma starts with inhaled beta 2 agonists, but difficulty in using metered dose inhalers is helped by the 'spacer', or reservoirs (e.g. 'Nebuhaler'). Interaction between slow-release oral theophyllines and beta 2 agonists by inhalation maximises bronchodilatation but minimises tremor. High-dose ipratropium inhalation, as isotonic wet nebulisation with a beta 2 agonist, is useful in acute severe asthma. High doses of inhaled topical steroid are valuable in the difficult asthmatic, but pituitary adrenal suppression occurs if dosage exceeds 1,500 micrograms/day. Cromoglycate and a beta 2 agonist by inhalation can prevent exercise-induced asthma. Long-term oral steroids (never over 10 mg/day) are only used if inhaled therapy (+/- oral slow-release theophyllines) fails. Acute severe asthma needs parenteral steroid, parenteral beta 2 agonist, high-dose beta 2 agonist by inhalation, oxygen and hospital admission. Ventilation is increased in the acute severe asthmatic with hypoxia and low PCO2. In 90 asthmatic deaths surveyed in Britain, half had failed to realise the severity.


Purpose: Ruxolitinib with lenalidomide and dexamethasone shows antimyeloma effects in vitro and in vivo. MUC1 leads to lenalidomide resistance in multiple myeloma cells, and ruxolitinib blocks its expression. Thus, ruxolitinib may restore sensitivity to lenalidomide. Therefore, a phase I trial was conducted to determine the safety and efficacy of ruxolitinib with lenalidomide and methylprednisolone for patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) who had been treated with lenalidomide/steroids and a proteasome inhibitor and showed progressive disease at study entry. Patients and Methods: A traditional 3+3 dose escalation design was used to enroll subjects in four cohorts with planned total enrollment of 28 patients. Subjects received ruxolitinib twice daily, lenalidomide daily on days 1–21 of a 28-day cycle, and methylprednisolone orally every other day. Primary endpoints were safety, clinical benefit rate (CBR), and overall response rate (ORR). Results: Twenty-eight patients were enrolled. The median age was 67 years and received a median of six prior treatments including lenalidomide and steroids to which 93% were refractory. No dose-limiting toxicities occurred. The CBR and ORR were 46% and 38%, respectively. All 12 responding patients were refractory to lenalidomide. Grade 3 or grade 4 adverse events (AE) included anemia (18%), thrombocytopenia (14%), and lymphopenia (14%). Most common serious AEs included sepsis (11%) and pneumonia (11%). Conclusions: This phase I trial demonstrates that a JAK inhibitor, ruxolitinib, can overcome refractoriness to lenalidomide and steroids for patients with RRMM. These results represent a promising novel therapeutic approach for treating multiple myeloma (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT03110822).


Abstract.This research aimed to increase the ability to understanding the concept of single and mixed subtance by applying Two Stay Two Stray learning model to all The V grade students of elementary school III Slogohimo Year 2018/2019. The subject of this research is the teacher and the V grade students ofSlogohimo Elementary School Year 2018/2019 which was there 32 students.The technique of data validity was used source and technique triangulation. The result of the data in this research showing that the ability to understand singgle and mixed subtance concept was intereased in each cycles. Preaction show the data 6,35%, in the cycles I show the data clasical completeness result from te class 46,9%, and then 90,6% in cycles II. Based on the description above we can conclude that the applying of Two Stay Two Stray learning model can increase the ability of V grade student III Slogohimo Elementary School Year 2018/2019 to understand the single and mixed subtance concept. Keyword :Two Stay Two Stray, The concept understanding, single and mixed subtance


In the photosynthetic culture of Rhodobacter sphaeroides with a suitable inoculation (2g/L), levulinic acid (LA) and precursors, glycine and succinate, were added with different concentrations. When levulinic acid (30 mmol/L) was added three times, plus the twice additions of glycine (60 mmol/L), significant enhancement of AlA production was observed. This phenomenon seemed to depend on low activity of ALAD(143.4 U/mg), which catalyzed the synthesis of tetrapyrroles from ALA and high ALA synthesis activity (149.1 U/mg), with release of suppression by twice additions of glycine. Finally ALA production increased up to 33.8 mmol/L. Fig 2, Ref 9


In October of 2001 and 2002, a leaf blight was reported affecting Vidalia onion (Allium cepa) cvs. Pegasus and Sweet Vidalia, respectively, in one field each. Lesions on onion seedlings began as a water-soaked, tip dieback that gradually blighted the entire leaf. Symptoms on onion transplants appeared as elongated, water-soaked lesions that typically collapsed at the point of initial infection. In both cases, disease was very severe on seedlings, and disease incidence was 50% or more in both fields. Warm temperatures combined with overhead irrigation and above average rainfall likely enhanced the severity and spread of disease. Disease was not detected on more mature onions once cool, dry conditions occurred later in the season, and no significant economic loss occurred. Seed was tested from seed lots of the aforementioned cultivars and Xanthomonas spp. were not found. Diseased tissue was macerated in sterile, phosphate-buffered saline, and 10 μl of the resulting suspension was streaked on nutrient agar plates. Yellow-pigmented, gram-negative, rod-shaped bacteria were isolated routinely from diseased tissue. Bacteria were catalase-positive, cellulolytic, oxidase-negative, amylolytic, proteolytic, and utilized glucose in an oxidative manner. Analysis of whole cell, fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) using the Microbial Identification System (MIS, Sherlock version 3.1; MIDI, Inc., Newark, DE) identified four representative strains of the bacterium as a pathovar of Xanthomonas axonopodis (similarity indices 0.75 to 0.83). Known Xanthomonas spp. from onion from Colorado and Texas (1,2) had similar FAME profiles when analyzed by the MIDI system. Onion plants were grown under greenhouse conditions for 2 months and inoculated by injecting the base of a quill with 1.0 ml of bacterial suspensions (1 × 107 CFU ml-1) of the Xanthomonas sp. isolated from Georgia, and negative controls were inoculated with 1 ml of sterile water. Disease symptoms developed on plants inoculated with bacterial suspensions in 4 to 7 days and Xanthomonas sp. was isolated from the lesions produced. Disease symptoms occurred when the same suspension was sprayed on onion foliage. No symptoms occurred on plants inoculated with 1 ml of sterile water. To our knowledge, this is the first report of Xanthomonas spp. affecting Vidalia onions. References: (1) T. Isakeit et al. Plant Dis. 84:201, 2000. (2) H. F. Schwartz and K. Otto. Plant Dis. 84:922, 2000.


As the final Global Goal, SDG 17's principal function is to establish partnerships in support of the achievement of the other Sustainable Development Goals. It includes targets in such areas as overseas development assistance, debt sustainability, technology transfer, capacity building, and international trade. It reflects a pattern set in the Millennium Development Goals, where the final goal is also the most instrumental, in that case MDG 8, which sought to establish a 'Global Partnership for Development'. SDG 17 underscores the importance of cooperation in the attainment of global development, recognising more broadly that partnerships are fundamental to the achievement of sustainable development. And yet SDG 17 also reveals many of the contradictions within the primarily voluntarist nature of the international community's approach to development. SDG 17 is reflective of an approach that possesses strong moral injunction but weak normative commitment. Thus, the chapter provides a critical analysis of SDG 17, focusing on three distinct issues. First, whether on their own terms, the targets within the Goal will contribute to the achievement of effective partnerships, or whether the systemic hurdles towards institutional reform remain as great as they always have done. Secondly, how far SDG 17 weakens still further the normative argument as to the existence of a positive obligation in international law on development cooperation. And thirdly, in the context of seeking to achieve the right to water in a domestic setting, how far SDG 17 provides legal certainty to such partnerships, especially those involving civil society. The chapter concludes that while SDG 17 promotes partnerships it has not given sufficient guidance to states in implementing them. The innate voluntarism of the cooperation that supports the Global Goals ultimately puts at risk their effective attainment, and there thus remains a necessity for the development of supportive legal frameworks.


The quality assurance system at Higher Education (especially in STKIP PGRI Tulungagung) is a must that must be done systemically, planning and sustainable through the establishment, implementation, evaluation, control and improvement of National Education Standards. In its implementation, the quality assurance system at STKIP PGRI Tulungagung has not run in accordance with the demands of the rules that are planned in a planned and consistent manner so that quality assurance is carried out sporadically.The study used a qualitative approach with the research subjects being policy makers (Chairperson, Deputy Chairperson and Head of the Quality Assurance Agency), as well as the academics of STKIP PGRI Tulungagung, data collection techniques, using observation, interviewing, and documentation techniques. Data analysis techniques use the Miles and Huberman models. And in checking the validity of the data, researchers extended their participation, observation persistence, triangulation and peer discussion.The results show that; first, quality assurance at STKIP PGRI Tulungagung has been carried out through the STKIP PGRI Tulungagung Education Quality Assurance Agency, while the quality assurance activities at STKIP PGRI Tulungagung are oriented towards strengthening and fulfilling the accreditation of study programs; second, the factors that become obstacles in quality assurance at STKIP PGRI Tulungagung are (a) the unavailability of quality manual documents; (b) the low level of leadership and academics, (c) human resources, (d) commitment, third communication technology systems, as well as strategies for improving quality assurance that must be carried out by institutions namely through meeting national quality standards.The findings above are recommended; first, to the leadership of STKIP PGRI Tulungagung to improve insight, commitment and quality awareness as well quality culture through establishment, implementation and evaluation, control and increase in the National Standards for Higher Education in the STKIP PGRI Tulungagung environment


Abstract : In July of last year, the Bush administration published the National Strategy for Homeland Security (NSHS) which, while commendable in many ways, failed to take into account the effects of globalization in planning for the nation's security. Safeguarding America's homeland in an era of globalization requires a more comprehensive approach based on a "global defense-in-depth." The NSHS amounts to little more than a strategic directive for the newly formed Department of Homeland Security (DHS), rather than a national strategy. It focuses principally on activities that take place within the nation's borders, making only a brief genuflection to the need for international cooperation. Other than a passing reference to Northern Command and its envisioned responsibilities in civil support, the NSHS fails to address the roles that the U.S. military's combatant commands should play. Finally, the NSHS fails to incorporate newly emerging technologies into an overarching strategic concept, or way, that would contribute to keeping Americans safe.


Control over crystal morphology of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) was investigated by simply changing the stirring speeds in the process of CaCO3 formation. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and powder X‐ray diffraction (XRD) measurements explore the morphology evolution of CaCO3 at varying stirring speeds. As the stirring speeds increase, rhombohedral calcite, spherical vaterite, and monoclinic crystal with coexistence of calcite phase and vaterite phase were formed, suggesting a facile control over calcium carbonate crystallization in constructing crystals with desired morphology. Moreover, almost pure vaterite spherical particles of narrow particle size distribution were formed at optimum stirring speed. Finally, also elucidated in this work is the mechanism investigation into the construction of various crystal forms via this simple route. (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)


Mongrel dogs lightly anesthetized with thiopental sodium were used as experimental animals. After suitable controls were taken the changes in renal blood flow, urine volume, venous blood pH, blood pressure and heart rate, respiratory rate and volume and relative blood cell volume were measured at intervals during inhalation of 30% carbon dioxide in oxygen for 30 minutes. No anesthetic was administered during the period when CO 2 was inhaled. No constant change in pH, hematocrit or heart rate was observed to result from the CO 2 inhalation. Respiratory rate increased throughout the experiments. The inhalation of 30% carbon dioxide in oxygen produced a marked reduction in renal blood flow, concomitant with a marked oliguria. The renal ischemia under these conditions was prevented by pharmacological block of the left renal nerves (by injection of 5 ml of .5% tetracaine into the peripelvic area of the kidney). The pharmacologically denervated kidney continued to secrete urine in somewhat diminished quantities while the undenervated kidney developed severe oliguria or anuria. It is postulated that the renal ischemia observed in these experiments is a component of a generalized centrally induced vasoconstrictor response to the inhalation of a high concentration of carbon dioxide.


Stratocumulus clouds (SC) often exist over the eastern subtropical oceans during the summer and have significant impacts on the surface radiation budget. Both atmospheric subsidence and lower troposphere stability (LTS) have been found to play important roles in maintaining SC. Using global climate model simulations, we find that irrigation in California's Central Valley results in a decrease of land surface temperature, leading to a smaller land‐sea heat contrast, and a corresponding reduction in sea breeze, subsidence, and LTS over the near‐coastal region. The decrease in LTS directly drives a reduction in modeled SC coverage, and it would arguably do so in reality because of the well‐known link between LTS and SC coverage. Consequently, simulated absorbed surface solar radiation over this region increases by 8 W/m2 (3.7%) due to the reduction in SC cover, resulting in the warming at the Earth's surface. This study has important implications for how SC can change with regard to future climate. In contrast to the general effects of climate change on the formation of SC, our results suggest that irrigation practices in the Central Valley may drive a decrease in nearby SC coverage.


This paper provides a new formulation for the pair-wise error probability for any coherently demodulated system in flat Rayleigh fading. The novelty of the result is that the resulting error rate expression is a polynomial function of the eigenvalues of a 'signal' matrix. This view also enables a simple new asymptotically tight bound on the pair-wise error probability. Examples of single and multiple transmit antenna systems are considered.


In this article we present some biographical material on P.L.M. Sylow, prove his theorem by Wielandt's method, and give a survey of the most important generalizations of the theorem that have appeared since its discovery 100 years ago. We note that the main result in Gaschutz' first paper on the theory of formations is a generalization of Sylow's theorem in the class of finite soluble groups. We list the objectives of this theory and state the results obtained over the first decade of its development.


Introduction: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) is the entrapment neuropathy which is diagnosed based on the clinical history, examinations and the electrophysiological findings. The Cross- sectional Area (CSA) measurement of the median nerve has emerged as an alternative to Nerve Conduction Studies (NCS) for diagnosis of CTS. This study was done to correlate NCS and Ultrasonography (USG) in clinically diagnosed CTS patients. Aim: To evaluate the diagnostic value of Cross-sectional Area (CSA) of median nerve at carpal tunnel inlet in patients with clinically and NCS confirmed Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) and to assess severity of the syndrome by NCS and its correlation with USG results. Materials and Methods: This was a hospital based, case-control study done on a total of 109 patients of CTS and analysed during the period from June 2017 to June 2019. Total 203 hands of the patients with abnormal NCS formed case group while 101 hands from healthy volunteers constituted the control group. All the patients underwent neurological evaluation by Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire (BCTQ) and were divided into mild, moderate and severe according to the score. An electromyography machine was used to perform electrophysiological studies of both the limbs in all subjects. CTS was diagnosed electro-diagnostically based on the American Association of Neuromuscular and Electrodiagnostic Medicine (AANEM) guidelines and were classified as mild (Grades 1 and 2), moderate (Grades 3 and 4), and severe (Grades 5 and 6) grades using Bland's electrophysiological grading scale. USG was performed for all the subjects and all the data of various investigations was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22.0 software. Chi-square test and Mann Whitney U-test were used as test of significance for qualitative data. Results: The mean age of subjects was 44.38±9.561 years. Strongly significant association was observed in BCTQ symptom, functional and total scores with NCS severity grading (p-value <0.001). Moderately significant association was found between BCTQ symptom and total scores with USG severity grading (p-value<0.02). Tunnel grade and NCS grade were found significantly correlated (p-value <0.001). The mean CSA cut-off value of 8.5 mm² at the inlet of carpal tunnel had a good sensitivity 86.21%, specificity 83.17%, Positive Predictive Value (PPV) 91.1% and Negative Predictive Value (NPV) 75%. Conclusion: The diagnostic accuracy of USG assessment and NCS was found to be correlated comparably and complement each other in all grades of CTS. USG, can be considered a preferable screening tool by the patients of CTS due to its painless nature and easy accessibility. It requires minimal time and many a times detects those structural abnormalities which have great therapeutic implications. In mild CTS cases, USG should always be combined with NCS for proper diagnosis as USG might give negative result.


This paper explains the studies of recent years on development of EPR system and the project risk and then illustrates respectively the external risks and internal risks of EPR project based on the theory. Taking the EPR project of G company the author actually took part in as an example, the author firstly applies fuzzy evaluating method to evaluate project risks and draw a clear distinction between the primary and the secondary to achieve overall evaluation for project risk. And then the author worked out a plan for the main risks of the project and applied multiple management methods to control. And in practical implementation steps, the author implemented management method in every segment and did supervising and controlling to gain the lowest negative influence resulting from risks. Lastly, the author concluded the effects of risks management, learned lessons and proposed perspectives.


Objective. A new ultrasonographic technique for detecting parenchymal stiffness of the pancreas is proposed. This technique measures changes in the diameter of the origin of the superior mesenteric vein (SMV) induced by deep inspiration. The origin of the SMV has extensive attachments to the pancreatic parenchyma; therefore, both physiologic enlargement and shrinkage of the venous lumen cannot occur without changes in the shape of the surrounding parenchyma. Therefore, increased parenchymal stiffness due to chronic pancreatitis (CP) may result in impaired changes in the venous diameter. To confirm this hypothesis, patients with CP and those with a normal pancreas were examined in this study. Methods. Twelve patients in each group were examined. Images of the origin of the SMV were obtained with a commercial ultrasound system. The smallest diameter of the SMV was measured during normal breathing. The patients were then asked to take a deep breath to increase the portal blood pressure followed immediately by the same measurements as performed during normal breathing, and the ratio of the change was calculated. Results. In the normal group, the diameter of the SMV changed by 79.5% ± 43.8% (mean ± SD), whereas a change of 1.4% ± 7.3% was observed in the CP group. The difference between the two groups was statistically significant (P < .0001). Conclusions. The physiologic change in the diameter of the origin of the SMV enhanced by deep inspiration may reflect the stiffness of the pancreatic parenchyma. Therefore, detection of an impaired diameter change may be useful for screening of CP.


Conjugated polymers (CPs) are emerging and appealing light harvesters for photocatalytic water splitting owing to their adjustable band gap and facile processing. Herein, we report an advanced mild synthesis of three conjugated triazine-based polymers (CTPs) with different chain lengths by increasing the quantity of electron-donating benzyl units in the backbone. Varying the chain length of the CTPs modulates their electronic, optical, and redox properties, resulting in an enhanced performance for photocatalytic oxygen evolution, which is the more challenging half-reaction of water splitting owing to the sluggish reaction kinetics. Our results could stimulate interest in these functional polymers where a molecular engineering strategy enables the production of suitable semiconductor redox energetics for oxygenic photosynthesis.


2,3,5-triphenyl tetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining, electrical conductivity, and electrical impedance (Z) analyses were used to assess freezing injury of 'Beautiful Arcade' apple (Malus ×domestica Borkh.) roots taken in late March from either the field or 3C-refrigerated storage (cold-stored). Lethal temperature (LT50) levels using TTC or electrical conductivity occurred at colder temperatures than those found using Z. Techniques varied in their ability to detect changes in cell viability with increasing cold stress. Listed in order of decreasing responsiveness they are electrical impedance (Z), electrical conductivity, and TTC vital staining. With the most sensitive technique, Z, two parameters— extracellular and total tissue electrical


(-)-Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), a green tea polyphenol, has been shown to have strong antibacterial, antiviral, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and chemopreventive effects. However it is unknown whether EGCG can recover alcohol-associated pancreatitis. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of EGCG on pancreatic enzyme activities and the expressions of pancreatic regenerating related markers, such as adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK), raf-1 kinase inhibitor protein (RKIP), and Regenerating gene 1 (Reg1), in mice pancreatic primary acinar cells. Our results revealed that activities of α-amylase and chymotrypsin were significantly increased in the cells treated with ethanol compared to the untreated control cells; however, the increased activities of both enzymes were markedly reduced by pretreatment with EGCG. Phosphorylation of AMPK and total expression of RKIP were decreased in the ethanol-treated primary acinar cells; however, these were both significantly increased in the EGCG-pretreated cells. In addition, when EGCG was treated, expression of Reg1 was markedly increased compared with that of the control or the ethanol-treated primary acinar cells, demonstrating that EGCG can modulate pancreatic regenerating related genes. Therefore, our findings suggest that EGCG may have therapeutic utility in the prevention or treatment of alcohol-associated pancreatitis.


Objective To explore a new method for the therapy ofavascular necrosis of the femoral head.Method The recombinant plasmid pCD-rbFGF was mixed with collagen and was implanted in the necrotic femoral head. Expression of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) was examined by RT-PCR and immunohistochemical method. Repair of the femoral head was observed by histological and histomorphometric analysis.Result Expression of bFGF was detected in the femoral head transfected with bFGF gene, indicating significant increase of angiogenesis 2 weeks after gene transfection and increased new bone formation 8 weeks after gene transfection on histomorphometric analysis (P < 0.01).Conclusion Transfection ofbFGF gene enhances bone tissue angiogenesis. Repair in osteonecrosis would be accelerated accordingly.


Recently it has become important to focus on the requirements of the system and how to take them and analyze them to determine the system infrastructure through which they will be relied upon in the rest of the system building. Some difficulties have been encountered in the process of understanding and analyzing the data taken from the user to convert it to UML diagrams. In this paper, we create a new approach that focuses mainly on increasing accuracy for this technique, reducing time in the systems of generating the use case of text written in natural language and finding solutions to some problems in current technologies because people need a smart and accurate system to meet their needs and save their time and increase the reliability of the reliance on software.


Background: Cytogenetics at diagnosis is the most important prognostic factor for adult acute myeloid leukemia (AML), but nearly 50% of AML patients who exhibit cytogenetically normal AML (CN-AML) do not undergo effective risk stratification. Therefore, the development of potential biomarkers to further define risk stratification for CN-AML patients is worth exploring. Methods: Transcriptome data from 163 cases in the GSE12417-GPL96 dataset and 104 CN-AML patient cases in the GSE71014-GPL10558 dataset were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus database for overall survival (OS) analysis and validation. Results: The combination of Wilms tumor 1 (WT1) and cluster of diffraction 58 (CD58) can predict the prognosis of CN-AML patients. High expression of WT1 and low expression of CD58 were associated with poor OS in CN-AML. Notably, when WT1 and CD58 were used to concurrently predict OS, CN-AML patients were divided into three groups: low risk, WT1low CD58high; intermediate risk, WT1highCD58high or WT1lowCD58low; and high risk, WT1high CD58low. Compared with low-risk patients, intermediate- and high-risk patients had shorter survival time and worse OS. Furthermore, a nomogram model constructed with WT1 and CD58 may personalize and reveal the 1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-year OS rate of CN-AML patients. Both time-dependent receiver operating characteristics and calibration curves suggested that the nomogram model demonstrated good performance. Conclusion: Higher expression of WT1 with lower CD58 expression may be a potential biomarker for risk stratification of CN-AML patients. Moreover, a nomogram model constructed with WT1 and CD58 may personalize and reveal the 1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-year OS rates of CN-AML patients.


Existing reinforcement learning environment libraries use monolithic environment classes, provide shallow methods for altering agent observation and action spaces, and/or are tied to a specific simulation environment. The Core Reinforcement Learning library (CoRL) is a modular, composable, and hyper-configurable environment creation tool. It allows minute control over agent observations, rewards, and done conditions through the use of easy-to-read configuration files, pydantic validators, and a functor design pattern. Using integration pathways allows agents to be quickly implemented in new simulation environments, encourages rapid exploration, and enables transition of knowledge from low-fidelity to high-fidelity simulations. Natively multi-agent design and integration with Ray/RLLib (Liang et al., 2018) at release allow for easy scalability of agent complexity and computing power. The code is publicly released and available at https://github.com/act3-ace/CoRL.


1. The behaviour of nuclear bag and nuclear chain intrafusal fibres in isolated cat muscle spindles with a blood supply, during stimulation of dynamic gamma axons, dynamic beta axons, or static gamma axons in ventral root filaments was observed and recorded on still and moving film. 2. Most spindles were controlled by one dynamic gamma axon (sometimes a beta axon) and three static gamma axons, one of which was often non‐selective in distribution. A large majority of fusimotor axons controlled one pole of the spindle only. 3. Dynamic gamma and beta axons produced focal contraction in only one of the two nuclear bag fibres in any spindle and this fibre was never activated by static gamma axons. Maximal tetanic contraction was attained slowly and the primary sensory spiral on this fibre was stretched by a small amount only. This fibre has been named the 'dynamic nuclear bag fibre'. 4. Static gamma axons produced either: (a) focal contraction in the second of the two nuclear bag fibres only; (b) local contraction in the bundle of nuclear chain fibres only; or (c) contraction in one nuclear bag fibre and the nuclear chain fibres together. Maximum tetanic contraction of this nuclear bag fibre stretched its primary sensory spiral considerably and the time to plateau was relatively short. This fibre has been named the 'static nuclear bag fibre'. 5. 'Driving' of the Ia afferent discharge could always be produced by non‐selective static gamma axons, frequently by static gamma axons controlling nuclear chain fibres alone, and was probably due to mechanical oscillation in nuclear chain fibres. It was never produced by dynamic gamma axons and on one occasion only by a static gamma axon controlling a nuclear bag fibre alone. 6. The conduction velocities of dynamic gamma and static gamma axons overlapped extensively, though dynamic gamma axons were absent from the lower end, and static gamma axons innervating nuclear chain fibres only were absent from the upper end, of the range of velocities. 7. The observations are correlated with spindle structure and histochemistry. Dynamic and static nuclear bag fibres are shown to correspond with 'bag1 fibres' and 'bag2 fibres', respectively (Ovalle & Smith, 1972). 8. The possible origin of the dynamic and static actions of fusimotor axons and the role of the dynamic and static intrafusal systems in motor control are discussed.


Cloud computing promises to change the way scientists will tackle future research challenges by providing transparent access to distributed heterogeneous data sources and to high-end computing facilities for performing computationally demanding and data-intensive modeling, simulation and analysis tasks. In this article we describe the Vienna Cloud Environment (VCE), a service-oriented Cloud infrastructure based on standard virtualization and Web service technologies for the provisioning of scientific applications, data sources, and scientific workflows as virtual appliances that hide the details of the underlying software and hardware infrastructure. The VCE is based on a virtual appliance model within a component-based service provision framework, which supports the configuration of application, data, and workflow services from a set of basic service components providing capabilities like job or query execution, data transfers, QoS negotiation, data staging, and error recovery. The virtual appliance model constitutes an easy way to provision applications, data sources, and workflows in the Cloud and a standard way of accessing and integrating the appliances into client applications. VCE has been developed and utilized in the context of several projects for the realization of IT infrastructures within bio-medical and molecular modeling domains.


Kenya's enduring ethnic violence is frequently explained with reference to the mobilization of ethnicity from above, and relatively little attention has been paid to the participation of ordinary people. Focusing on the violence that followed the 2007 general elections, this article explores how bottom-up processes of identification and violence interacted with incitement from above. It argues that autochthonous discourses of belonging and exclusion engendered an understanding of ethnic others as 'immigrants' and 'guests', and these narratives of territorialized identity both reinforced elite manipulation and operated independently of it. Kenya's post-election violence can thus be understood as a bottom-up performance of narratives of ethnic territorial exclusion operating alongside more direct elite involvement, organization, and incitement. The durability of these narratives, as well as their inherent plasticity, has significant implications for the potential for further violence and the prospects for democratization.


This study aims to ensure the company internal and to controlling the system of cash distribution at PT. Karya Manajemen Solusindo. The data collection that used in this research are by observing and conducting interviews with the finance department. The stages of the analysis technique are used by data collection, data reduction, data presentation, and final conclusions. The analysis method used is descriptive qualitative analysis. The results of this study show that the internal control contained in PT. Karya Manajemen Solusindo has not fully compatible with the four components of internal control according to Mulyadi's Theory. Components that are not appropriate are components of organizational structure, components of authorization and recording systems, good practical components


The study of fissures and caves formed by mass movement is important not only because they are a significant geohazard, but because such caves can be repositories for palaeogeographic information. In southern Britain, such open joints in solid strata are known as gulls. In the southern Cotswold Hills, a sequence of interbedded limestones and mudstones has been deeply dissected by the River Avon and its tributaries. Mass-movement and cambering has opened up narrow gulls and larger gull-caves to a far greater extent than had previously been realized. Surveys made inside the extensive abandoned Box Freestone Mine have allowed the spatial distribution of these features to be mapped. We found that the direction of extension is not always in the direction of topographic gradient; locally it can be influenced by the stratal dip direction. In some areas, abrupt changes in the orientation of valley sides have allowed mass movement in two directions, creating rectilinear networks of gull-caves. A quantitative assessment of the valley-ward extension of the strata caused by gulling was made in Box stone mines. Extension may often exceed 5%, and locally may reach 10% in discrete zones. Evidence of preferential dissolution along the NW-SE joint set in these gull-caves suggests former groundwater flow to the northwest, and not to the present River Avon valley. This indicates that the River Avon has subsequently captured the dip slope streams that fed the River Thames headstreams. The greatly enhanced flow of the River Avon after this capture caused rapid over-deepening of the valley, which triggered the original cambering and thus formation of the gull-caves themselves.


Randomness plays a major role in the interpretation of many interesting traffic flow phenomena, such as hysteresis, capacity drop and spontaneous breakdown. The analysis of the uncertainty and reliability of traffic systems is directly associated with their random characteristics. Therefore, it is beneficial to understand the distributional properties of traffic variables. This paper focuses on the dependence relation between traffic flow density and traffic speed, which constitute the fundamental diagram (FD). The traditional model of the FD is obtained essentially through curve fitting. We use the copula function as the basic toolkit and provide a novel approach for identifying the distributional patterns associated with the FD. In particular, we construct a rule-of-thumb nonparametric copula function, which in general avoids the mis-specification risk of parametric approaches and is more efficient in practice. By applying our construction to loop detector data on a freeway, we identify the dependence patterns existing in traffic data. We find that similar modes exist among traffic states of low, moderate or high traffic densities. Our findings also suggest that highway traffic speed and traffic flow density as a bivariate distribution is skewed and highly heterogeneous.


It is very difficult for architect to predict the reverberation time of auditorium in it's architectural basic design stage because it is dependent on volume and surface area of auditorium, number of audience, and finishing materials. The purpose of this study is to propose the easy prediction method of reverberation time of auditorium with balcony floor in the early design stage of it. For the purpose of it, the prediction method of reverberation time is developed by simplifying the shape of auditorium. And, the measured reverberation time of the existed auditorium is compared with the predicted value. As the result, the correlation coefficient of surface area between the real and the simplified shape of auditorium showed to be R²=0.9138 after regression analysis of them for examining the developed predicted model. The predicted reverberation time was good agreement with the measured value in the subject auditoriums in this study. And, the reverberation time nomograph is created on the basis of the developed prediction method of it by the number of audience and volume of auditorium.


The present study was conducted in Erzurum during the years 2010 and 2011 to determine the effects of different nitrogen and phosphorus doses on essential oil components of spearmint genotypes (Mentha spicata L. and Mentha villoso-nervata Opiz.). Two genotypes of Mentha spicata (genotypes 2 and 6) and one genotype of Mentha villoso-nervata (genotype 4) were tested under three nitrogen and phosphorus doses (0, 50, and 100 kg/ha) in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Essential oil components of the genotypes were determined and subjected to variance analysis. Effects of experimental year and nitrogen and phosphorus doses on investigated traits were found to be significant. Considering the experimental years of 2010 and 2011 and the nitrogen-phosphorus fertilizer doses, 1.8-cineole contents varied respectively between 2.12% and 3.98% (for nitrogen treatments) and between 2.42% and 3.77% (for phosphorus treatments); 4-terpineol contents varied between 1.34% and 2.74% and between 1.30% and 2.73%; pulegone contents between 3.41% and 9.64% and between 4.11% and 8.93%; carvone contents between 21.05% and 33.64% and between 21.77% and 33.54%; piperitone contents between 2.41% and 17.75% and between 2.04% and 17.60%; and finally caryophyllene between 3.98% and 4.93% and between 3.62% and 4.49%, respectively. The greatest 1.8-cineole content was observed in genotype 4 in the first year and in genotype 2 in the second year. Genotype 6 was prominent for 4-terpineol, pulegone, and caryophyllene contents in both years and genotype 4 was prominent for carvone content. The greatest piperitone content was observed in genotype 6 in the first year and in genotype 2 in the second year.


ABSTRACT There are several factors that led to the desire of employees to leave the company, one of which is the job stress and organizational commitment. Frequent occurrence of intention to quit very direct impact on the company. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of work stress and organizational commitment to the intention to quit. The study, titled "The Effect of Job Stress and Organizational Commitment Of Intention To Quit Employees at PT BPR Tish research design associative causal relationship with a sample of 35 people. Methods of data collection, observation, interviews, and questionnaires. The data analysis technique used is multiple regression analysis, the classical assumption test, regression test simultaneously (Ftest),  and partial regression test ) (ttest). Based on the results of analysis show that work stress variables and organizational commitment significant effect partially and simultaneously to the intention to quit employees on PT.BPR Tish in Batubulan. The implication of this study is to strengthen the previous theory, the formation of the theoretical basis of behavior used in conjunction with the intention to quit the behavior is influenced by factors of job stress and organizational commitment


Inflammatory abdominal aortic aneurysm (IAAA) is defined as an unusually thickened aneurysmatic wall, encircled by a wide dense perianeurysmal and/or retroperitoneal fibrosis with adjacent tissues adhesion, and is now considered as an extreme shape of the common phlogistic process involved in atherosclerotic plaque formation. Latest studies demonstrated that inflammation plays an important role in coronary disease and in other atherosclerosis manifestations. We introduce the clinical case of a patient with IAAA who developed an acute myocardial infarction 6 months after the surgical procedure on the aorta. Through a literature review about IAAA we stress the clinical usefulness of the inflammatory markers as independent predictors in management of patients with coronary disease and we present the hypothesis, related to the introduced case, of an advanced coronary disease, aggravated or clinically revealed after the cytokine storm related to important localized inflammatory engagements or great vascular surgery treatments.


The influence of polycrystalline diamond particle size on the cutting performance and wear mechanism of the cutting tool in the machining of high pressure laminated (HPL) flooring was investigated on a Liwei FXZ202 test rig, by brazing five types of SYNDITE polycrystalline diamonds (PCD) into one cutting tool for HPL flooring. The wear volume loss and worn surface profile of the cutting tool at a certain linear cutting distance were determined with an optical microscope and a scanning electron microscope, respectively. The results showed that the cutting tool made of PCD with coarser diamond particles had better wear resistance than the one made of PCD with finer particles. The cutting tool was characterized by intercrystalline fracture attributed to fatigue and partial cleavage fracture in the machining process. The cracks between the crystalline particles had great effect on the wear resistance of the PCD cutting tool.


Promoter methylation is an important mechanism in gene silencing and is a key epigenetic event in cancer development. Homeobox A5 (HOXA5) is a master regulator of the morphogenesis and cell differentiation to be implicated as a tumor suppressor gene in breast cancer, but its role in lung cancer is still unknown. In this study, we have investigated the methylation status of the promoter region of the HOXA5 gene in nonsmall cell lung cancers (NSCLCs) using nested and standard methylation‐specific PCR (MSP) and correlated the methylation status with clinicopathological features. With standard MSP analysis, HOXA5 methylation were found in 113 (81.3%) of 139 NSCLCs and 72 (51.8%) in their corresponding nonmalignant lung tissues. RT‐PCR and immunohistochemical analysis showed that HOXA5 methylation correlates with gene expression. Moreover, in the patients with stage I disease, HOXA5 methylation was more frequent in smokers than in never‐smokes (P = 0.01). There was no influence of HOXA5 methylation on survival in all NSCLCs or at stages II–IV. However, in the patients with stage I disease, HOXA5 methylation was associated with a borderline significantly worse survival (P = 0.09). These findings suggest that downregulation of the HOXA5 gene by aberrant promoter methylation occurs in the vast majority of NSCLCs and that it may play a role in the pathogenesis of NSCLC. Additional studies with larger sample sizes are required to evaluate the prognostic value of HOXA5 methylation in patients with stage I NSCLC. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


In human and mice ATP-binding cassette efflux transporter ABCG2 represents the main route for active drug transport into milk. However, there is no detailed information on the role of ABCG2 in drug secretion and accumulation in milk of dairy animals. We therefore examined ABCG2-mediated drug transport in the bovine mammary gland by parallel pharmacokinetic studies in lactating Jersey cows and in vitro flux studies using the anthelmintic drug monepantel (MNP) as representative bovine ABCG2 (bABCG2) drug substrate. Animals received MNP (Zolvix, Novartis Animal Health Inc.) once (2.5 mg/kg per os) and the concentrations of MNP and the active MNP metabolite MNPSO2 were assessed by high-performance liquid chromatography. Compared with the parent drug MNP, we detected higher MNPSO2 plasma concentrations (expressed as area under the concentration-versus-time curve). Moreover, we observed MNPSO2 excretion into milk of dairy cows with a high milk-to-plasma ratio of 6.75. In mechanistic flux assays, we determined a preferential time-dependent basolateral-to-apical (B > A) MNPSO2 transport across polarized Madin-Darby canine kidney II cells–bABCG2 monolayers using liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry analysis. The B > A MNPSO2 transport was significantly inhibited by the ABCG2 inhibitor fumitremorgin C in bABCG2- but not in mock-transduced MDCKII cells. Additionally, the antibiotic drug enrofloxacin, the benzimidazole anthelmintic oxfendazole and the macrocyclic lactone anthelmintic moxidectin caused a reduction in the MNPSO2 (B > A) net efflux. Altogether, this study indicated that therapeutically relevant drugs like the anthelmintic MNP represent substrates of the bovine mammary ABCG2 transporter and may thereby be actively concentrated in dairy milk.


Politicians often have underlying agendas when reacting to events. Arguments in contexts of various events reflect a fairly consistent set of agendas for a given entity. In spite of recent advances in Pretrained Language Models, those text representations are not designed to capture such nuanced patterns. In this paper, we propose a Compositional Reader model consisting of encoder and composer modules, that captures and leverages such information to generate more effective representations for entities, issues, and events. These representations are contextualized by tweets, press releases, issues, news articles, and participating entities. Our model processes several documents at once and generates composed representations for multiple entities over several issues or events. Via qualitative and quantitative empirical analysis, we show that these representations are meaningful and effective.


World is moving towards "Cloud Computing" as part of the advancement of Technology in general and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in specific. In simple form Cloud computing can be referred to as the application of computer for storing and accessing of data through the web enabled devices, rather than your computer's hard drive. Cloud computing is mainly performed functions are managing ,storing and processing data with help of internet.The present study aimed to see you how making the best use of the cloud storage application. There are many cloud storage providers that not only provide you the free cloud storage space but also with many other features. Some cloud storages are there in the market that not only provides the best user experience and incredible features, but helps users to enjoy the free services after the SignUp. It is clear from the study that all the cloud applications are easy to use for storage their personal and business data. Cloud applications such as mega, Media fire, Adrive, Surdoc cloud storage are easy to use and provide free storage space up to 50GB Microsoft is the largest company as measured by market cap. Its market share is $889.286B.


Purpose:To determine the effect of selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT) on intraocular pressure (IOP) peak and fluctuation induced by the water drinking test (WDT) in patients with open-angle glaucoma and ocular hypertension. Methods:Patients with open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension underwent the WDT before and after SLT within a 12-month period. No other changes to therapeutic regimen were permitted. IOP was measured with a Goldmann applanation tonometer at baseline and every 15 minutes for 45 minutes following a fluid challenge of 800 mL over 15 minutes. Baseline, peak, and percentage fluctuation in IOP from baseline were compared using a repeated measures analysis of variance with Bonferroni adjustment. Results:Twenty eyes from 20 patients were included in this study. The median patient age was 73±15 years (interquartile range) and 70% of patients were female. Ten eyes (50%) had a diagnosis of primary open-angle glaucoma and 10 eyes had ocular hypertension. Following SLT there was a statistically significant reduction in mean baseline IOP from 16.9±2.4 to 14.2±2.3 mm Hg (P<0.001), peak IOP from 21.9±3.7 to 16.9±3.1 mm Hg (P<0.001). Conclusions:Patients with open-angle glaucoma and ocular hypertension treated with SLT have significantly reduced peak IOPs and fluctuation in IOP in response to the WDT.


OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effects of an exercise program on handgrip strength (HS) in elderly women with low bone mass. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Thirty-six elderly women were randomized to the intervention group - GI (n = 18) and control group - GC (n = 18). Participants were evaluated by means of a HS test, using a handgrip dynamometer. GI performed strength, balance and functional mobility exercises, and GC performed stretching exercises. Both groups had sessions twice a week for 50 minutes, during 4 months. RESULTS: GI had a significant increase in handgrip strength equal to 31.38%. No differences were observed in GC. There were correlations between HS test and bone mineral density (BMD) of the femoral neck (r = 0.582, p = 0.003) and total femur (r = 0.485, p = 0.01). CONCLUSION: Results indicate a propensity to increase elderly HS, and showed significant correlations between HS and BMD.


The similarity law of gas discharge is not always valid due to the occurrence of some elementary processes, such as the stepwise ionization process, which are defined as the forbidden processes. To research the influence of forbidden processes on the similarity law, physical parameters (i.e., the electric field, electron density, electron temperature) in similar gaps are investigated based on the fluid model of gas discharge. The products of gas pressure p and dimensions are kept to be constant in similar gaps and the discharge model is solved with and without the forbidden processes, respectively. Discharges in similar gaps are identified as glow discharges and the typical similarity relations all are investigated. The results show that the forbidden processes cause significant deviations of similarity relations from the theoretical ones and the deviations are enlarged as the scaled-down factor k increases. If the forbidden processes are excluded from the model, the similarity law will be valid in argon glow discharge at low pressure.


In this paper we revisited phenomenological potentials. We studied S-wave heavy quarkonium spectra by two potential models. The first one is power potential and the second one is logarithmic potential. We calculated spin averaged masses, hyperfine splittings, Regge trajectories of pseudoscalar and vector mesons, decay constants, leptonic decay widths, two-photon and two-gluon decay widths, and some allowed M1 transitions. We studied ground and 4 radially excited S-wave charmonium and bottomonium states via solving nonrelativistic Schrödinger equation. Although the potentials which were studied in this paper are not directly QCD motivated potential, obtained results agree well with experimental data and other theoretical studies.


pects (David Sills, Norman Rasmussen, Gordon Burley and Gene Rochlin). In Section III, some attention is paid to the questions of nonproliferation, particularly the national and international social implications. In Section IV, the decisionmaking process is examined from the perspective of bureaucracy, probability assessments, politics, psychology, and anthropology (the self-interests of the experts and the decision-makers). The latter paper includes the intriguing statement: &dquo;Energy is as ubiquitous as money in our society, and different people's relationships to it are just as complex.&dquo;


Making use of computational fluid dynamics and FLUENT finite volume software, this study investigates the appropriate gridding pattern of free surface flow by structured grids. Investigated gridding space in each problem includes the determination of the shape of grid cells, their compression and distribution pattern according to users' preferences, which seems to be experimental rather than scientific; however, a slight difference in gridding condition may result in a great difference in numerical results. In this study, an open channel is modeled with different three dimensional grids and the results of model are compared by experimental results. Modeling results show that modeling accuracy improves as the result of a decrease in dimensions of grid cells to an extreme value; therefore, decreasing the dimensions of grid cells and increasing the number of cells lead to less accurate results. While the long side of cross section in cell locates in horizontal direction, using rectangular section cells represents more acceptable results than that of other cells with different structures.


Induction motor is the most widely used to obtain the driving force in the industrial site. Induction motor generates a high current at startup. Most of starting currents are often more than five times of rated current. This high starting current can cause problems such as the voltage drop in the system. In order to solve these problems, if the motor capacity is large, generally we use reactor starting method rather than direct on line starting method. When a high startup current passes through reactor, reactor can serve as a nonlinear elements. In this study, we analyzed that the current, torque and power of the induction motor are different from the change of linear and nonlinear components of the reactor magnetic field.


Persistent multiyear cold states of the tropical Pacific Ocean drive hydroclimate anomalies worldwide, including persistent droughts in the extratropical Americas. Here, the atmosphere and ocean dynamics and thermodynamics of multiyear cold states of the tropical Pacific Ocean are investigated using European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts reanalyses and simplified models of the ocean and atmosphere. The cold states are maintained by anomalous ocean heat flux divergence and damped by increased surface heat flux from the atmosphere to ocean. The anomalous ocean heat flux divergence is contributed to by both changes in the ocean circulation and thermal structure. The keys are an anomalously shallow thermocline that enhances cooling by upwelling and anomalous westward equatorial currents that enhance cold advection. The thermocline depth anomalies are shown to be a response to equatorial wind stress anomalies. The wind stress anomalies are shown to be a simple dynamical response to equatorial SST anomalies as mediated by precipitation anomalies. The cold states are fundamentally maintained by atmosphere-ocean coupling in the equatorial Pacific. The physical processes that maintain the cold states are well approximated by linear dynamics for ocean and atmosphere and simple thermodynamics.


Under the influence, perhaps, of the prevailing idea of evolution in all things, the conviction has been growing in the minds of geologists in recent times that the larger features of the earth's surface have grown from the earliest times, and therefore that the places of the continents and ocean-basins have been substantially permanent. Prof. Dana is largely the originator and expounder of this view, and he has applied it with great skill to the American continent. But while I believe the view is substantially true, I cannot but think that it may be, and has been, pushed too far. It is true indeed that the opponents of the view have attributed to its advocates a strictness in the use of the term 'permanent' which they have never urged. It is true that by permanence is meant only permanence of place, not of outline, and that substantial permanence is not inconsistent with very large changes by oscillation, especially at the end of the great Eras. But, making every allowance for such latitude of meaning, there has been, undoubtedly, some confusion of thought and looseness of statement on this subject. We give a few examples.


Hadronization in tau -> K K pi nu_tau decays is driven by both vector and axial-vector currents that we study, guided by the following principles: The 1/N_C expansion -worked out at leading order, considering only the contribution of the lightest spin one resonances-, approximate chiral symmetry at low energies and the appropriate asymptotic behaviour we demand to the associated form factors. All these features are implemented in the resonance theory. Most of its couplings are determined by imposing the short-distance requirements of vector and axial-vector spectral functions within QCD. We plan to improve our prediction of the hadronic spectra using recently available experimental data.